Say hello to the final last chapter. I've been wondering whether I should do a sequel - I put up Hera giving a ski trip so that there might be an opening for a sequel should I want to write it. Anyway, I'm going to put up a poll on that too, so go vote if you have the time, okay? Tomorrow I'll be leaving for my 6-day trip, so I thought I won't put you readers to restless waiting and thus I am posting this. Okay, I shall begin.

Epilogue

It was midnight. It was a deathly quiet, so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. All of them had sunk into a deep sleep, having had a long night involving games and a little more than that. Only the youngest of them, the red-haired huntress, still lay awake, unable to sleep.

She moved slightly, yawning. How was it she was so dead tired yet couldn't get a wink of sleep? Tossing and turning, she recounted what had happened. A tiny smile made its way onto her face as she remembered the kiss she had given Archie, Jay's confession (to Theresa), her sudden revelation of her feelings, as well as Archie's favourable response to it. She blushed a little, feeling all tingly inside, something that had never happened before except with Pan, of which her feelings for him had strangely faded away.

She grinned, lying on her back and gazing at the ceiling. She was glad that her best friend had gotten together with Jay finally, and that Theresa had somehow managed to convince Jay into sucumbing into a relationship with her. Oh well, all's well ends well. While she was happy for her friend, she was absurdly happy that Archie and her had finally something solid to go on. Not just friends anymore... But something more than that. She didn't know how it would go, but she knew fate would lead them on, and she trusted him, as well.

Switching on the light groggily, she reached for the piece of paper beside the music box that Archie had given her. She smiled as her fingers came into contact with the slightly crushed paper. The music box was something Archie had given to her for her Christmas present; he had made it with his own two hands in Heph's workshop when she had been somewhere else. She knew he must have taken a lot of effort to build something as cool as that.

She still recalled the time that same night when he had, blushing, handed her the present that was lying under the tree, which was just waiting to be opened. He had also rushed upstairs to his room to fetch a piece of crumpled paper and he gave it to her. He told her it was some random poem he had written about her and he hadn't ever been meaning to give it to her, but now he didn't exactly care about keeping it secret anymore.

She couldn't help but smile as she brought the paper close to her face to read for probably the ten-thousandth time that night. It had pencil scrawls all over it, and looked tacky at first glance, but it was about the sweetest thing someone had ever done for her, considering she'd never exactly fallen in love and gone out with someone before.

I've never met a girl like you
One a friend so true
But I've never thought that I would
Fall in love
In love with you

It was once to me, just yet another day
Never once could I keep my despondency at bay
In life, I didn't see any meaning
On deteriorating hope, I was leaning

I was tired of trying
Sunken from fighting
This trapping lifestyle
Had been too meaningless for my liking

Trapped within my own fear
It didn't have a cure
No cure besides you
And you taught me how to trust - trust you

Before I knew you
I had been so blue
I was hopelessly lost in that endless, dark abyss
With countless of troubles and tragedies to list

You opened the door
You taught me how to soar
You are nothing like anyone I've ever seen
And nothing I'd ever have been

The way you care for me
We're just friends, to you, I can see
But I have to ask - am I just really another person to you?
I would say it doesn't matter, but I can't, because...
I love you.

She sighed with happiness, gently placing the paper on the side table. She was behaving nothing like herself and more like mushy Theresa, but she didn't care right now. She bit her lip, remembering what he had told her. That night, he had come to 'fess up all his sad past memories, which involved the cruel orphanage and the bullying treatment he had received... She shuddered to think that her purple-haired dork had undergone so many tragic moments.

He had thought that it'd make her distance herself away from him once he told her, of how scarred he was for life, but she didn't. She would never love him any less. Why would she? Instead, underneath that gruff, tough exterior, she saw someone strong, courageous and hurting, and that person was none other than her best friend, her now-boyfriend, sort-of. And that was what she loved about him. She had already known he must have been hiding something all along about his past, seeing how he used to zone out and get all grumpy when she mentioned her family. It hadn't been too difficult to guess, and that hadn't lessened his appeal, anyway.

Oh, she loved him, alright, she definitely did.

Flicking the light switch down, she closed her eyes. The room plunged into darkness and Atlanta smiled sleepily, letting sleep envelope her and carry her into her sweetest dreams.

--

I'm finally done. This time, I decided to use rhyming poems instead of abstract ones and I know that my rhyming ability just about makes anyone cringe. Sorry, next time I'd do abstract, it's easier and better, I guess. Part of the poem was adapted from my poem in my story, which I'm currently writing. It's called the Theresa story (not the COTT Theresa), yeah. It's just a tribute to my characters in that story. Anyway, it's completed, finally. And I've left you fans to wonder how Theresa convinces Jay! Maybe I'll do a flashback scene if I ever come to do the sequel. It's been nice writing this, and I'm glad you guys enjoyed it, please review!!