I know the story chapters have been shorter and the story seemed to be moving faster. But this is the last chapter. It's been fun writing this story, even though I did take a HUGE break right in the middle of it and another HUGE break at the end. I hope you enjoyed my story!

Disclaimer: I don't own Tuck Everlasting or any quotes from the book or movie used in my story.

*10 Years Later*

There are things in the world that never made sense to me. Mr. Jackson's death still makes no sense to me. For that day, I was almost certain he had shot himself. But, later on, he was dead. How? Had he really shot the air instead of himself? I hadn't been watching, so I don't know for sure… But wouldn't I have heard the bullet hit something else? As curious as I was on this topic to this day, I didn't bring it up. No one wanted to talk about it. And regardless of my curiosity, there was a fear in me that if I brought the subject matter up, somehow, Mr. Jackson would return. Somehow he would show up at our doorstep—now located in England—and declare that he hadn't died at all that day. I mean, couldn't it be possible? If the water was possible, who knew what was possible. I suppose that's what scared me the most.

With all the time in the world, you don't rush to get things done. And sure, at first I thought taking life slow was a nice and enjoyable way to live life. But after a couple more years, I got sick of it. It was slow and that left my mind to pondering the thoughts that haunted me. The man in the yellow suit, Mr. Jackson, and my parents—how were they? Where were they? I would have to write them another letter soon and see how they fared…

Then again, I didn't want to go back to my old way of life. Living in the fast speed of things again scared me also. I felt helpless in the world for a while. Perhaps I exaggerated too much though. Jesse told me once that if I worried too much, I would die of stress anyway, regardless of the water. But he had laughed the joke off in the end and hugged me and we'd gone on with the day knowing that it would never actually happen.

That night when we had escaped from the small town in France, we had kept travelling on for days and days. Eventually we decided to make our way to England, but we had to earn some money before we did so. Miles and Jesse found small jobs and made up enough money to get us where we needed to go, though. Once we had reached England, nothing went wrong either. In fact, I was happy, Jesse was happy—everyone was happy.

Jesse and I had even gotten married in England. I remember how happy Mae's face had been. She had cried and went through about how she never thought Jesse would have the chance to get married. Mae's happiness had made me even happier that day.

That was all about eight years ago, though. Jesse dared to go back to France with me after we got married. He told me he had promised to climb every step to the top of the Eiffel Tower with me—and that's exactly what we did. We stayed in Paris for a week and explored the town. On our second day there, we climbed the tower and overlooked the city. The view had been amazing, no doubt, but it didn't compare to the view back in Treegap. Sure you could see miles and miles of beautiful buildings, millions of people, and everything, but the painful memory of Jesse's "Eiffel Tower" back in Treegap sure did sound like a good place to go.

I think secretly we all had wanted to go back to Treegap. So we did. About three years after we had returned from France, Jesse and I made arrangements to go back to Treegap. Mae, Tuck, and Miles had all agreed they'd like to go back and see the town once more also. I had written my parents, telling them that I would be visiting them. I had written about Jesse, but I hadn't actually told my parents I had married him. Call me a coward, but I was afraid. I hadn't invited my parents to the wedding—in fact, it wasn't much of a wedding anyway. It was in the home we had in England and its guests consisted only of the Tucks. Plus, we hadn't signed any legal papers or anything—so all in all, I suppose we weren't actually married anyway, but we liked to think we were.

Arriving in Treegap brought no surprises though. It looked all exactly the same, including my old home. Walking inside, my parents were delighted to see me, though my mother did mention how she was disappointed in my current appearance, but I brushed it off, telling her I loved her. I told them of where I had gone in the world and what I had done. The small talk we had made me happy. I felt like I had never left my parents, which was a good feeling. Quite honestly, I can't say I've felt like my parents and I ever had a close relationship. That was a long time ago though.

The Tucks had wanted to return to Treegap once more, even though we knew going again could be a bit hazardous. So only two years ago, we went once more. I had met with my parents once more—and I decided it would be the last time I did so. My parents' age had caught up with them—it was obvious to tell how they had grown over the years since I had left them. But for me, I was still the teenage girl I was when I left. I had tried to make myself look a bit older—I had pinned back my hair and put on clothes that weren't really fitting for a fifteen year old girl's frame. I even attempted certain make-ups that I'd acquired in Paris, which I had never even used, before I visited my parents. In the end, it made no difference. I was pretty sure my parents could tell I was not growing at all.

I continued to write letters at least a couple times a year to my parents, but I no longer made any attempt to visit them. That's when I hit my slump. I wasn't nearly as old as the Tucks—all of them over a hundred years old—but I felt the effects of the water earlier than I thought I would.

Perhaps it was because of the fact that I knew I had lost a sense of connection with my parents. Sure, sending mail counted, but deciding not to see them again was a big step for me. It showed me just how difficult this life would be. The sad truth to it all was that I wondered if things would be easier once all the people I had all known were dead. Or would it just be that much harder?

I contemplated things so much it's only obvious that Jesse and the others noticed. In fact, that's when Jesse and I left the Tucks for a year. Where did we go? Oh, nowhere in particular. Jesse took me halfway around the world and back that year, though. He showed me different places he and Miles used to go to, places where the Tucks had lived before, and we even stayed one hotel that Jesse had stayed in so long ago that the owners had changed twice.

At first the trip really had no impact on me whatsoever. But it did eventually do the trick and Jesse had somehow managed to put the life back in me.

After a year of travelling, we settled back in with the Tucks and another year passed, which brings us to today…

"Winnie," Jesse came through the door with Miles, and they were both laughing as I looked up at them. Mae and I had stayed home and we were baking together.

"Hm?" I put down the spoon I was using, and Mae turned towards the two also.

He came over and kissed me swiftly before Miles told about what they had done in town that day. Jesse and Miles both currently held jobs at a port here. "Anyway," Jesse started, "Look what I got!"

He placed a large barrel of apples on the countertop. "Where'd you get these?" Mae asked him, in awe. There were so many.

We lived in a busy port city in England, so apples weren't as common here as fish or other things. Most of the apples they sold at the markets didn't look like these—they looked yellow and a bit like they had travelled too far to get here. "My boss gave 'em to me; apparently he has a son who lives a bit away from here and he brought 'im a couple barrels full because the harvest was good this year. He gave these to me."

I smiled and Jesse took one and bit into it. They did look delicious and I tried one also. Mae suddenly smiled, "How about apple pie?"

And so the rest of the evening, Mae and I worked on an apple pie to go with flapjacks for supper. Tuck returned too, eventually. He spent his days in the wood, which lie just beyond this city and took about a half an hours walk from our place. We liked our new home here, but we had all been happiest in Treegap. And Tuck was an outdoorsman it seemed. He enjoyed carving things into the wood and would often make various things out in the wood.

Today he came home with something he had carved for Mae. After sitting down to eat the flapjacks and apple pie, Tuck played music and Jesse danced around with me. It was just as if we were back in Treegap those many years ago. The wheel of time may have stopped for us Tucks, but at this moment it felt like maybe, just maybe, the wheel of time had begun to spin once more.

And this is the end guys. I know it's taken me so long to get this point and it's been difficult for me to honestly stick with this story. But I really didn't want to quit or give up on it. This is the first multi-chapter fanfiction I've ever written, so I feel that this was a great experience for me even if it was difficult. I hope that you guys enjoyed it and I'm sorry if it wasn't to your liking, but I've tried my best and I'm happy with it. :)

Lots of love and thanks for the ongoing support...

-JapanGirl0102