Chapter Twelve: The Way We Were

Memories

Light the corners of my mind

Misty water-colored memories

Of the way we were

The car ride to the airport the following morning was long and uneventful. Christine and Kline were pretty much silent, playing with their baggage. Neither had much, although Christine had gone out and bought a new trench coat. She didn't wear it, though. Today she was wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. I don't know why she wouldn't wear it. It made her look cool.

Not that Kline was any better. She had taken one look at the baggage at my house and blanched. Christine had bought her a whole new wardrobe. She wore blue jeans and a white sweater. I didn't understand it, but I didn't dare question it.

Zeke and my mom drove us to the airport. My mom really liked Zeke, I think. Well, she liked him more than any other man she'd met before. I was glad she liked him. I would hate it if they hated each other. I had a sneaking suspicion, though, that my mom liked Zeke in more than one way, and the vice versa. I didn't mind, though. I needed a father figure.

Zeke stopped at the entrance of the airport and turned around to look at Christine and Kline, who were looking tiredly at the airport.

"I figure you kids will want some time to say good-bye. We'll be waiting here. It was a pleasure to meet both of you," Zeke said, talking to Kline and Christine. Kline grinned widely while Christine just gave him a small half smile.

"The same goes for us. We'll miss you, Zeke," Christine murmured. She gave the Irish fisherman a kiss on the cheek and then opened the door and jumped out. Kline shook Zeke's hand and followed. I climbed out of the car with them, intent on saying good-bye to them and not letting them disappear. Holmes must have thought the same thing, because I heard him slam the door and follow.

Christine and Kline set their baggage on the little x-ray thing and turned to face us once we were inside. Kline was smiling broadly.

"Well," she said with a final sort of tone in her voice. I had to choke back my tears.

'Don't sound so final... don't make it sound like it's forever... don't say good-bye!' my mind wailed at her. Kline, however, was not a mind reader. She couldn't tell that I was crying on the inside. I don't think she wanted to. I don't think she wanted to see my misery, in case it made her miserable. For her, I sucked it up again.

"Well, it was great to visit you guys," Kline finished. Her grin became broader as she looked at me.

Scattered pictures

Of the smiles we left behind

Smiles we gave to one another

For the way we were

"Jenny, I gotta admit, you have a wild life here in England. Much wilder than my own," she beamed. I smiled back, now struggling to hold back the tears. Kline raised an eyebrow at Holmes, who had been unusually silent this entire time.

"You take good care of my Jenny, you hear Sherlock? I don't care if you two aren't dating anymore, or whatever is going on between you two. I want you to keep her out of trouble. You're a great kid," she commented. Christine smacked her lightly on the arm.

"You're a kid, too, dummy," she teased. Kline smacked her back.

"I'm about a month older than all of you. That makes me the adult here," Kline shot back. Christine sighed.

"God help us all."

The two continued to bicker for a few minutes while I remembered all the little play fights they had had before. I would miss those fights so much. Sure, they were slightly annoying, especially when you were trying to do your homework around them. Or when they were attempting to help you with your homework and they got into a play fight about how to teach you. I had flunked that test because of them.

"Ahem," Holmes cleared his throat, dragging me out of my reminiscing and them out of their fight. They had the courtesy to look a little sheepish, though.

"Sorry," Christine muttered. I rolled my eyes.

"No hard feelings. We understand that you and Kline both act like two-year-olds," I retorted. The look of outrage on their face was enough to set me off laughing, allowing me to forget for the time being that they were leaving. Christine sighed.

"I'm really going to miss hanging out with you two. Even if it meant Kline was there and bugging the heck out of us. Like in the basement after Christmas. Remember when she kept getting in our faces? She's like an insatiable puppy dog, I swear. You want to smack her but you can't because-"

"Because she's so darn cute," Kline interrupted. Christine smirked.

"Actually, I was going to say that it would be animal abuse, but yours works too."

They started bickering again and it felt like old times. Always fun. So simple.

Can it be that it was all so simple then,

Or has time rewritten every line?

If we had the chance to do it all again,

Tell me, would we?

Could we?

Christine laughed and turned away from Kline, looking directly at me, her eyes sad, tired, but at the same time, excited and happy. They were painful to look at.

"I really am going to miss you, Jenny. I hope we get to see each other again... I mean, I don't think Kline and I will be visiting London again any time soon, and as for you coming back to Michigan to see your father? By the way Zeke and your mom were looking at each other, it looks like you might have a father again someday soon," she claimed, giving me a mischievous smile. Kline made kissing sounds from behind Christine, and her smaller friend turned and smacked her.

"Hey, shut up. I'm trying to say a proper farewell here."

That was it. Christine shouldn't have said it. With that single word, I burst into tears. Christine looked stunned and immediately backed up a bit before she patted me on the shoulder.

"Oh come on, don't cry Jenny. We might see each other again soon. You never know. Maybe Kline and I will get stuck on a case and need your expert help," suggested Christine. That only made me cry harder. She sighed helplessly.

"Ok, fine. Cry. You're going to get me going in a minute or two. Ok, Sherlock, I have to say good-bye real quick. I can feel the tears in my eyes. Listen honey, you're one great detective, but you need to take a break, you really do. I'm going to miss you so much. I'm going to miss the way that you can solve mysteries faster than me. I'm going to miss the way you always made fun of me. I'm going to miss all your annoying little quirks. Wait, no, I might not miss those, but I will miss you. Take care of her, will you?" Christine finished, looking hopelessly at me. I straightened up and threw my arms around her, giving her a large hug. She tensed and then hugged me back. I could tell she was crying by now, too. Tears from her eyes were soaking my shoulder.

"G'bye, Christine. I'm going to miss you!" I sobbed. She sniffed and pushed me away from her.

"Now look what you made me go and do. Go hug Kline for a bit. She likes hugging people," Christine whimpered. I smiled tearfully at her and went over to hug Kline. She dragged me into her arms and started bawling in my hair.

"It's been great!" she sobbed. I raised an eyebrow despite my sadness.

"Great? What about-"

"Don't. I don't want to think about it. Let's just pretend this trip was perfect in every way, ok?" Kline warned, looking at me. I nodded slowly. I understood.

Memories

May be beautiful and yet

What's too painful to remember

We simply chose to forget

A voice came on over the speakers announcing their flight. Kline pulled away and began crying in earnest, not even trying to stop herself. Christine had stopped trying also. She ran over to Holmes and gave him a swift kiss on the cheek.

"I'll never forget you, Sherlock Holmes," she whispered. She gave me another swift hug, and then darted away, her body quivering with tears. Kline didn't bolt away quite as suddenly, though. She stood there, looking at Holmes and I, and I knew I had to ask.

"I'm never going to see you or Christine again, am I?"

Kline looked at me sadly through her tears, and she shrugged.

"Who knows? The future can hold a lot of different paths. Let's hope we do, Jenny. There is always a chance. Now, I have to go. It's been great, seeing you two. I'm really going to miss you," Kline choked, barely making it through her little speech. Holmes put a hand on her shoulder.

"Good bye, Kline. I'll miss you, too. Be sure to tell Christine the same," he said softly, the first time he had spoken all day. Kline just forced out her wide grin before she blew kisses to us and ran off. She looked over her shoulder one last time.

"Remember the good things, guys!"

And then she disappeared.

So it's the laughter

We will remember

Whenever we remember

The way we were

I looked over at Holmes, who was struggling to hold back his tears. Looking at him right then, I forgot all our fights, the fact that he had betrayed them, the fact that he was no longer the same Sherlock Holmes I had met. He wasn't cold and calloused right at that moment.

He was the man I had fallen in love with.

I reached over and grabbed his hand. He didn't look at me, merely squeezing my hand gently. We walked over to the windows, hand in hand but silent, and turned our attention to the sky.

The sky was very blue today. White, fluffy clouds sat cheerfully in the sky, and the sun burned brightly down upon the earth. White birds flew through the air. It was a very lovely scene. It inspired hope.

I turned to look at Holmes, who was deliberately trying not to look at me.

"Holmes," I said. He didn't look at me. "Holmes," I repeated. He looked.

"Holmes, we need to live a normal life," I said gently. He sighed and pulled me into his arms, putting his head on top of mine.

"I know," he mumbled into my hair. I hugged him tight.

"We should begin again."

"I know."

"Are you willing?"

There was silence. I was worried for a moment or two, but then I finally heard the answer.

"Yes."

A plane took off and soared through the air even as Holmes moved closer to me and brushed his lips against mine.

He was himself again.

The way we were

The End

And that is all. That's all she wrote. I'm finally done. My stories were popular and well liked the time that I started writing them, back when I was in seventh grade. Now that I begin eleventh grade, my stories are behind the times and pretty much hated. Don't blame you. I read my first stories and wince at the Mary-Sue-ness of it all. I guess the thing I'm proudest of in all my time here is that I got to see the SH section grow from 23 stories to 433. That's right. When I began writing, there were only 23 stories. I feel like a proud parent to see it grow.

Just because I'm done with this series, though, doesn't mean I'm going to die. I intend to write a series featuring Christine and Kline (with heavy edits, possibly including time period change), which can be watched for at

Finally, thank you to all my reviewers. You've been the driving force behind me all these years. It always made my day to see a review from you. You guys are some of the most special people in my life, and more than 75%, I barely know. Keep reviewing, people! Everyone's stories. If you don't write, then you don't know how overwhelmingly wonderful it is to see a review waiting for you. I love you all.

I take my last bow.