Epilouge

(The Watsons Go to Hong Kong)

And so thus it was, that John and Mary renewed their vows, and Sherlock renewed his vow to "Always watch over you. All 4 of you..."

"Sherlock, there's 3 of us...only 3..."Ellie noted.

"Are you pregnant?!"John asked, brows knitted, wondering fleetingly what else Mary had been up to during her "bad girl" days...

"No!" she protested, and gave him an anguished look, that he would have to continue to suspect her of wrong doing...

"No,I don't think I can carry to term...I went to see a doctor after I lost Ellie...and uh...She said it would be very hard after ...I have kinda fried my liver drinking..."

John looked crest-fallen. Sherlock hoisted Ellie up, "I said 4 because there's 1 more of us on the way..." he smiled beautifully at Ellie,who giggled.

"A suprise?"

"Yup..."

"I like those."

"The nice kind?Who doesn't darling?"

Sherlock turned to her parents. "A very good suprise. You want to use your powers for good? Well, fear not, there is a work that needs doing ..in China...It just so happens that I met an old acquaintance, beyond this veil of tears...Do you remember Soo Lin Yao,John?"

John swallowed, and gulped, "Yes..."

"Do you remember what forced her to work for the bosses?"

"She was an orphan?"

"There's some one I want you to meet. A little cousin of Soo Lin Yao ,who met with very like circumstance. Someone she wants to spare her same fate. Well ,you want to pay your penance by saving the world?Alright,then, you'll have to start somewhere?"

~So by and by the Watsons ended up, with their guardian angel Sherlock along for the ride, in Hong Kong ,China. And there, when they were "honey-mooning" in a fancy hotel, awaiting the Chinese new year(getting to China took them some time, Mary had to "dry out" first, in a rehab center on their way to Hollywood,which Ellie ended up seeing ,as promised, and which Sherlock despised ,as prophesied.)

And it turned out that Sherlock was not an angel, but one of the many despised among the Prophets ,after all, because there on the sidewalks of Hong Kong, selling firecrackers, and awaiting the doom of the bosses, when the New Year was over,and firecrackers were not needed any more, the Watsons ran across one boy that called himself "Arthur".

Sherlock knelt in front of Arthur, after John had bought Ellie a pack of firecrackers. Something was telling John, that Sherlock's words were about to come true, that this was the child which he foresaw, the one that would begin their "penance", and also pay a debt they somewhat owed Soo Lin Yao, when they failed to save her life.

"I'm not what I seem."Sherlock began.

"I know who you are. I've been waiting for you..."said the child,and Sherlock smiled.

"Your cousin sent me..."

"Yes...You are the Angel of Death...The Prophet of Shadows...And you know us ,the children of the shadows, because you are one of us, you always have been..."

"You've many friends who were also street children, who were sold to the Slave Trade. And you want them back...And I am a detective, in need of a job. I know an ex-assasin who needs a new career. And an ex-army-doctor who'd like to bind up the wounds of war, before they ever start to bleed. And there's a little girl that was never born, that needs a life, and a family,and you seem like the tough big-brother sort, aren't you? So,what do you say,Arthur?...Help the Watson's pay their debt?"

Arthur smiled, wrapping a firecracker in paper,as he thought, and studied John. "If the immortal Sherlock Holmes says he can follow this man...Then yes...yes I can do it.I have wanted a father since mine has left the world...And maybe...maybe some day ..."the boy smiled,and bowed, "I will grow to respect this man as such..."

Sherlock smiled, and looked back at John, smiling, and turning to the boy again. " This man is my light! My northern star! And just because I don't understand the solar system, doesn't mean I can't appreciate the stars for their light, nor does it mean I don't have the sense to know which one of them to follow. And what would be the point of my lying to you?I swear to you, on my lack of a life, that John Watson is a man you can trust. I would follow him to Hell, just to pull him away form the heat of the flame, and burn myself in the process..."

John swallowed a lump in his throat at this comment, mostly because it was true. He would.

The boy swallowed a lump of his own, "And she...she can be trusted too?"

Mary swallowed , waiting for Sherlock to show his doubt,

"She's like us...Born of shadows. But she just happens to know the power of forgiveness, the power of the broken chain...And if I needed someone to be my guide through Hell...I could count on Mary..."

"Very good, because we'll need a leader to follow through the hell we'd go through if you took my case..."

"I'm all ears.."

For the first time in the conversation the boy,around age 13, showed the tears signifying the pain a child more keenly feels.

"My sister...And 12 others...Sold to the drug runners...Disappeared...To a group of criminals that no one's ever heard of before. As much ghosts and shadows,as you and I..."

Sherlock smiled.

Stood up slowly,and turned to John and Mary, "Are you ready for your "sackcloth and ashes"?"

Arthur's eyes met John's ,and he knew that this was not penance ,but blessing,as today he may have gained a son...

"I'm ready for redemption..."

Sherlock drew a deep breath..."I feel the approach of fire...This..this...is brilliant!" He ran his fingers through his hair, eagerly,muttering "Data,data,data, we need data..."

Mary felt tears,thinking of the lost children,and how she who had orphaned so many, was now being commissioned to call the orphans home. Redemption may be in sight?

Arthur felt a pale shadow near his elbow then.

"Hello...I'm Ellie...your sister...if you like..."

~The End.