Me: WAAHHHHHHH!
Ian: *sighs* What is it now?
Me: Th-this is th-the l-last chapter!
Ian: I feel a deja-vu moment coming on...
Me: WAAHHHHHHH!
Ian: *sighs again* Let me guess. If I say the disclaimer, it will make you feel better?
Me: *sniff* A bit.
Ian: Fine. KTRose12 does not own The 39 Clues. Better?
Me: NO BECAUSE EVERYBODY PROBABLY HATES ME BECAUSE IT'S BEEN SO LONG SINCE I'VE UPDATED AND IT'S SO FREAKING SHORT! WAHHHHHHH!
Ian: Here's a tip. Tell them to start from the beginning and read the whole story through before they read this chapter.
Me: ...do you think that'll make it better?
Ian: Worth a try.
Me: Okay. Everyone...if you want...before you read this chapter, start from the beginning. Read the whole thing. Enjoy the story.
Dan found Amy in the library, curled up in her armchair. She was
hugging Saladin, who was giving Dan a desperate look that read, Get
me out of here!
Dan climbed up onto the chair and sat next to his sister. Both were
small enough to fit in the large chair, even with Saladin in their laps.
"You okay?" Dan asked.
Amy sniffed. Her eyes were red. "I'm okay," she said. "I don't care
about that stupid Ian Kabra and what he thinks."
"Yeah," Dan agreed. "Stupid Cobras."
"Dan?" Amy asked tentatively.
"What?"
"Why...why did they change?"
Dan scowled. "They didn't change. They're Kabras. They're just mean. We could never be friends."
"What's wrong?" Ian asked his sister as the two of them weaved through the crowd, searching for their mother.
"Nothing," Natalie replied. "Just..."
"Just what?'
Natalie took a deep breath, then said, "Do you think we really could have been friends with Amy and Dan?"
Ian frowned. "Of course not," he said.
"Why?"
"They're peasants. They're below us. We could never be friends."
And that's how it went on for years, at every Cahill reunion.
When Amy was nine and Dan was six, Ian tripped Dan as the younger boy
was running past, causing him to crash into Reagan and Madison Holt.
Even at six, those two could punch hard.
"Whoops!"
"Ahh!"
"Hey!"
"Watch it!"
"Ow!"
When Amy was ten and Dan was seven, Natalie snuck into Amy's room and
discovered a math test that she had gotten a B on.
And showed it to the Starlings.
Who then proceeded to tease and make fun of Amy for the rest of the day.
"Look at this."
"Oh my god, Amy, you're such an idiot!"
"W-where did you get th-that?"
"Natalie."
"Natalie? Why'd you do that?"
"You deserved it, peasant. You think you're so smart, don't you?"
When Amy was eleven and Dan was eight, Ian was home sick with the flu,
and Natalie stayed home with him.
Against Dan's protests and warnings, Amy sent Ian a get-well card.
A week later, Amy got a large envelope addressed to her in the mail.
Inside contained the shredded remains of her card.
"Amy, letter for you."
"Thanks."
"What's wrong?"
"N-nothing."
"Was that your card?"
"Yes."
"Told you he wouldn't like it."
When Amy was twelve and Dan was nine, Natalie fed Dan's ninja suit to
Arnold, the Holts' dog.
"Here, doggie..."
"Arf!"
"What...NATALIE!"
"Yes, peasant?"
"WHERE'S MY NINJA SUIT?"
"That dog over there stole it."
"Nooooo!"
When Amy was thirteen and Dan was ten, Ian and Natalie locked Dan and
Amy in the pantry, then jammed the doorknob so they were stuck in
there for hours before Grace found them.
"Hey!"
"L-let us out!"
"This isn't funny, guys!"
"Help!"
When Amy was fourteen and Dan was eleven, well...
"You'll decline the challenge, of course."
"We'd hate to see you suffer a painful death, wouldn't we?"
"Wh-what have you done to him?"
"Give me Franklin's vial."
"Poor excuses for Cahills."
"Don't play dumb. Although you are a natural—"
"We have got to stop meeting like this."
"Sayonara, suckers!"
"I thought you were a brave explorer."
"Lovely."
"How could I think that anyone would actually feel..."
"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here after you tried to kill us!"
"Wh-what do you want, Ian?"
"Please! Distant poor cousins, perhaps..."
"Nighty-night."
"I couldn't let him die."
"Promise you—you won't hurt her anymore if—if I—"
"Get out of my way."
"We haven't changed enough. But—we're trying."
And, after six years, they finally did.
Hope you guys did what I suggested. Hopefully, it made this short chapter more enjoyable. Anyway, moving on:
I'm not going to do specific response for reviews, because you all are wonderful and I'm just going to say thank you to all of you who reviewed. Also thank you to everyone who asked for a sequel–I'm not yet sure it I'll do it, but feel free to review with any suggestions, even if it's something small.
I've started a new multi-chapter, and I plan on starting to post it soon. I'm not going to give anything away, but keep an eye out for it!
This is probably the shortest authors note I've ever written. I want to thank everyone who's kept with this story all this time, and stayed (somewhat) patient in between chapters. Thanks to you all for putting up with my mega-slow updates XP Thanks to all my reviewers. Thanks to all my alerters. Thanks to all my readers. *sniff* Aww, I'm tearing up...
Amy: *hands tissue*
Me: Thanks...*blows nose*
Hope to see you in my review box for future stories!
5-Year-Old Dan: Roger that! Byeeeee!
-KT