AN: OK, so we're coming to the end of this story, but we're not quite there yet. Now, I just wanted to say that while reading this chapter, when you get to where Sian and Chrissie are saying goodbye, try listening to the Farewell track from the Pocahontas soundtrack, you'll know where I'm trying to go with this. So enjoy this chapter and I'll have the next one up in a couple of days. Happy reading, everybody.

Chapter 13

The Dawsons Departing

KIARA

Trunks were packed, tents were taken down and a number of Portkeys had been created in order to take people home.

It was the morning following the celebratory ball. Kopa, Sian, Chris and I had already said our farewells and goodbyes to many people, and I knew as I said my goodbyes and farewells, who I would see again, who I would correspond with through letters and who I would never be seeing again: people like Professors Darbus, Winds, Spud, Beadu, Mina, Perdy, Sam and Ferdinand, Kat, Leah and Kara I knew, without a doubt, I would definitely be seeing again; and people like Zara and Dena, for instance, I knew, without knowing how I knew it, that I would be keeping in touch with through letters. As for a select few, however, such as Peter Meter, I knew I would never see again. True, I did see them at a distance, but it's not the same.

Two people I knew I would definitely not lose touch with were Nikita and Lincoln, who had both become very dear to me over my school career: Nikita had become like a sister to me, which surprised me, considering how different we were when we first started at Dragon Mort, but I knew in my heart that it was true; and as for Lincoln, well, he was like the little brother I never had but always wanted, and I shared a rather tearful goodbye with both of them. Then Nikita left with her grandfather for a Portkey, and before Lincoln left with his mother, he turned to Kestrel and planted a delicate kiss on her rosy cheek, surprising us all, especially Sian, who did not see, or did not want to see, the obvious chemistry between them. But seeing the joy on her sister's face, Sian knew, as did I, that just as with Sam and Ferdinand that she would have to accept and respect them being together, no matter how different she and Lincoln were.

But I knew that the people I would never lose touch with, no matter what happened, were Mr Dawson, Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel, Merida, Joe, Jack, Max, Ben and Dave, for they had all accepted me as part of their family from the very first day I had arrived at Dawson Manor. Besides, we had all gone through so much together, not to mention the fact that they all meant so much to me, for me to just part from them and never see any of them again. No, it was far too cruel and unjust of me to do that after everything we had been through.

It was shortly after breakfast that Kopa, Sian, Chris and I found ourselves outside Pride Castle, saying goodbye to the rest of the Dawson family. Joey had already taken a Portkey back to Dawson Manor with his wife and child and had just come back with the car. Kopa, Chris and I had already said our goodbyes to them, as had Grandmother Sarafina (who was currently tending to Kion inside), Aunt Mavuto, Uncle Frank and Carol, who were chooding to stay inside to avoid the heat from the African sun.

Anyway, like I said before, Kopa, Chris and I had already said our goodbyes to the rest of the Dawson family, and now we stood back on the steps of Pride Castle, watching Sian say goodbye to each person individually, and the first person she approached was Joey, who was stood by his car, Mr Dawson close to them, and Chrissie, Beth, Kestrel, Merida, Joe, Jack, Max, Ben and Dave were all huddled together next to their father, trying hard not to show how uncomfortable they were from the baking hot sun, despite the fact that they were all sweating profusely. Then again, who wasn't?

"So …" said Joey, unsure of what to say.

"So …" Sian repeated, not sure what to say, either.

There was a short pause. Then Joey said, "You sure you don't wanna come back with us?"

Sian shook her head, smiling sadly. "I'm sure. My place is here now, the place that I now call home, as well as it being the place where the next exciting chapter of my life begins."

Joey nodded sadly. "I understand that, Miss D, and I respect ya all the more for it." Joey then dragged his bottom lip between his teeth, thinking for a few seconds. Then, once he had let his lip go, he looked at Sian and said hesitantly, "I wonder, Miss D. … would you be offended if I gave you a kiss goodbye? On the cheek, I mean?"

Sian's look of confusion quickly turned to relief as she shook her head and smiled. "Of course not, Joey," she said. "I consider you as an uncle to me, anyway, more than a servant."

Joey's anxiety quickly turned to relief at Sian's words, and no sooner had she stopped speaking than he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. Sian's cheeks were burned re from the affection Joey gave her, but she seemed pleased, nonetheless. She then kissed his cheek in return and stood back slightly.

"Don't be a stranger now, Joey?"

"Never. And I hope that you won't be a stranger, either, Miss D.?"

"Never," Sian repeated firmly.

Joey then grinned, gave a curt nod and got in the car. Once he had shut the door on the driver's side, Sian turned to her father, who was now standing in front of her.

"So, Siany … here we are. I must say I'm going to miss not having you under my roof any more."

"Tell me about it," said Sian. Then she narrowed her eyes and, looking at her father curiously, she added, "Tell me, Dad, what will you miss more: me or my cooking?"

Mr Dawson's eyes widened at that question, and the rest of us watched him intently as he racked his brain for an answer. Sian was watching her father intently, and I knew, as did everyone else, that she was not going to let her father leave without answering her, and as the minutes ticked by I was beginning to wonder if he indeed did have an answer for her. But I need not have worried, for eventually, Mr Dawson did answer her.

"Well, of course I'll miss your cooking, love, but," he added hastily, as Sian whipped her head to face him, clearly affronted, "I'll miss you so much more than that, for the warmth of your cooking could never, ever replace the warmth of you."

As her father said these words, Sian's affronted look slowly changed into a look of pure love for him; there was even a small tear in her eye. Once he had finished speaking, Sian wrapped her arms around him, her face buried in his chest and, her voice slightly muffled, said, "I love you, Dad."

"Love you to bits, sweetheart," said Mr Dawson tenderly, kissing her delicately on her forehead and hugging her just as tightly. "Love you to bits."

Father and daughter remained like that for quite some time, the embrace only ending when Sian lifted her head from his chest and smiled at him. Mr Dawson smiled back at her, which quickly vanished as his eyes widened and he gasped loudly, as though he were remembering something important.

"Are you all right, Dad?" Sian asked her father, looking at him concernedly, her worry for him only increasing as he grinned widely for no apparent reason - not that I could blame her.

"I'm fine, love," Mr Dawson quickly reassured her. "I've just remembered that I've got something for you. Now where - ? Aha! Here it is …"

And Mr Dawson pulled out of an inside pocket of his jacket a thick, purple leather-bound book that he gave to Sian, who took it from him tentatively, still looking confused, which only worsened as Beth, Kestrel, Merida, Joe, Jack, Max, Ben and Dave all nodded eagerly at her, silently begging her to open it. Looking at her siblings like they had all suddenly gone nuts, Sian then opened the book and looked at it.

As soon as her eyes landed on the pages within, they lost their confusion instantly and widened in surprise as she gasped loudly. Her expression became more gentle as she slowly turned the pages, tears of joy filling her eyes as she examined the book, and the longer Sian looked at it, the more my curiosity grew, but I did not disturb her, for I felt it was not my place to ask, seeing as the book was a personal item for Sian. Fortunately, Kestrel was there to provide an explanation.

"It was Dad's idea to make a scrapbook for you. We had all been at Great-Aunt Lizzie's a short time, had been there not long after we had all seen your near-death experience, and we were all missing you like crazy. So Dad asked us what you've done for us all, and we told him all the ways you've helped us with over the years, and so he came up with the idea that we should all write you a letter, thanking you for keeping us alive and apologising for taking you for granted all these years, accompanied with pictures we've drawn and photos of us together, and put them all in a scrapbook for you, so that no matter where the rest of us end up, we'll always be with you."

As Kestrel spoke, I was taken aback by the strength of the love she and her fellow siblings had for Sian, something I more often than not forgot about, as well as wishing that I had got in on this. But I have to say that I was rather surprised that Sian, who usually had a lot to say, did not say a word once Kestrel had finished speaking, which was making Beth, Kestrel, Merida, Joe, Jack, Max, Ben, Dave and their father becoming more and more angsty the longer she remained silent.

Finally, Merida said, almost desperately, "Well … don't you like it?"

Hearing Merida's voice made Sian raise her head at last, and seeing all the looks on her siblings and father's faces made Sian open her mouth, but no words came out. She tried again, twice more, clearing her throat each time, and still not a sound came out of her. And I realised, as she looked at her siblings and father in amazement, as her eyes welled up with tears of joy, that she was, for possibly the first time in her life, speechless.

I was just as surprised as everyone else to see Sian at a complete loss for words, but not more so than Chrissie, who, I was surprised to see, was trying her best to stifle her giggles. Catching my eye and seeing the questioning look I was giving her, Chrissie tried her best to sober herself up as she answered, "Oh, Kiara … you have no idea how long I've prayed for the day when Sian would be rendered speechless! To be honest, none of us ever thought that we would live to see the day. Oh, I wish I had a camera ..."

Smiling and rolling my eyes at Chrissie's selfish happiness, I turned my attention back on to Sian, who was looking at Mr Dawson, Beth, Kestrel, Merida, Joe, Jack, Max, Ben and Dave with tear-filled eyes full of love and joy, as she said in a voice choked with emotion, "Thank you all … so much …"

And that was all it took for her father and younger siblings to surround Sian and hug her. I could see Sian in the middle, her arms around her father and Merida, her face a picture of pure contentedness: her eyes were closed tight shut as tears of pure joy trickled down her cheeks, and a small, happy smile graced her lips from the love she was getting from her family.

After several long minutes had passed like this, they all eventually let go of each other, mopping their eyes as they stood in their original positions. Mr Dawson then kissed Sian forehead and touched her cheek tenderly, then went and stood next to the car, watching Sian say her farewells to her younger siblings.

I noticed that sometimes Sian did not say much to some of them, and with others she said far more than just a few choice words. Like with Ben and Dave, who were the first to step forth and say farewell, with the sun shining brightly on their caramel yellow skin, Sian hugged them both individually, kissed them both on the cheek, then called them her brothers as she bid them farewell. Ben and Dave both said, "Bye, sister," to Sian, then went and stood next to Mr Dawson as Max approached Sian, who had several more words to say to him than she had said to Ben and Dave.

"You know, there was once a time when I thought that I would never miss you, but now I think I'm going to miss you like crazy, Max."

Max nodded. "I know what you mean. I've really missed you these past few months." There was a brief pause, then he said, "You know, it's funny, really. Even though we lived together as kids, I never really knew you. I still don't."

Sian nodded solemnly. "It is sad, really, that we never got the chance to properly bond …" Then, Sian's expression brightened slightly as she added, "But it's never too late to change. What do you say?"

"I'd like that," said Max, smiling, and Sian smiled back at him.

There was another short pause. Then Sian said, "So, have you managed to stay in contact with Andrea at all over these past few months, Max?"

"Not until after Zira died I didn't," said Max. "You see, before term began, I wrote to her and told her that, until Zira was defeated, that it was too dangerous for us to stay in touch with each other, for fear that either of us would let something slip that would interest the enemy in case our letters were ever intercepted. She wasn't happy about it, as you can imagine, but she agreed."

Sian's eyebrows rose in astonishment. "That's very mature thinking from both of you, seeing as you're only sixteen …"

Max shrugged. "Yeah, well, that's how serious we are. Anyway, I wrote to her a couple of days after Zira's death, and it was like we hadn't stopped writing to each other. So we've carried on corresponding with each other and now we're stronger than ever."

Sian smiled at the sweet smile on her brother's face. "I'd really like to meet this girl someday soon."

"I'd like you - all of you - to meet her, too," said Max, "but let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet. Who knows what could happen, after all …"

"I know what you mean, brother," said Sian, "and I understand why, but still, don't make us wait too long to see her, will you?"

"I'll try not to, but I can't promise anything," said Max.

He and Sian then shared a laugh. Then, his smile fading a little, he said, "I'm going to miss you, S.D."

"I'm going to miss you, too. Come here."

Sian and Max hugged each other. Then, with a mischievous gleam in her eye and an equally mischievous smile drawn across her lips, Sian suddenly threw an arm around Max's neck, holding him in a firm headlock, as she rubbed his head roughly with her knuckles. I laughed, as did the rest of us watching, which only grew as Max struggled to get out of it, but Sian's hold on him was just too strong. Eventually, though, Sian did let go of Max, who staggered backwards slightly, as she wiped her knuckles on her clothes, trying to get rid of the sticky gel that he put in his hair. Seeing this, Max smirked evilly at her, and Sian stuck her tongue out at him in retaliation. Then Sian and Max shared a smile and a laugh, and Max went to stand by Mr Dawson, Ben and Dave.

Sian then said goodbye to the Tweebs (Joe and Jack), who she shared a brief hug and a smile with. Then, as they were making their way over to their father, it was Merida's turn to say goodbye to Sian, who immediately ran to her sister, tackling her in a fierce hug, catching Sian off guard.

"Whoa! steady on, Merry!" Sian laughed, holding her youngest sister tightly.

Once Sian had regained her balance, Merida drew back from her sister a little and said, "I'm sorry. It's just that I'm really going to miss not seeing you all the time at home."

"Hey, you'll be seeing me at Dragon Mort in a few days," Sian reassured her.

Merida sighed heavily. "I know. But it won't be the same …"

Sian smiled sadly. "I know what you mean …"

The two sisters were both silent for a few moments. Then, in an attempt to change the subject, Merida said, "Well Sian, I think you'll be pleased to know that I've decided to change my career path."

Sian's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really? But you seemed so intent on chasing dragons for years."

Merida chuckled grimly. "I know. To be honest, I was never really that serious about it. It's true, I did want to do something with dragons as a kid, because of Kat, y'know - but the only reason I said I wanted to chase dragons for a living was to shock you."

Sian's eyebrows rose even higher at this rather surprising comment. "Well you certainly did shock me, and I must admit that I wouldn't have minded so much if you did go and study dragons somewhere … but," she added, looking curiously at her youngest sister, "what was it that changed your mind about dragons?"

"The war," said Merida sadly. "Seeing the harsh reality of it made me take my future seriously."

"Thank God it did," said Sian, hugging Merida, clearly relieved by her sister's decision, as were we all, but none more so than Mr Dawson, Sian and Dave.

Letting go of Merida, Sian then cupped her face with her hands and said, "So, now that your career choices have changed, what do you plan on doing once you've finished school?"

"Well, I've been thinking about it for quite a while now, and I'm thinking of writing for the Squabbler or the Prophet, to see if someone can actually write some decent, honest news for once, instead of a bunch of lies and rumours."

Sian nodded her head, clearly pleased by Merida's choice. "Well, I hope that you'll do some good work and do our family proud - if and when you do get a job working there, of course. Oh, and before you leave Dragon Mort in a couple of years' time, try and talk to Professor Beadu, see if she can put in a good word for you somewhere."

Merida nodded eagerly. "I'll be sure to do that." There was another brief pause, then she said, "I'll do my best to keep the Manor in good shape for you, S.D., even though you won't be living there any more …"

Sian smiled fondly at Merida. "I have no doubt that you will," she said. "Now, do you remember what I told you about Dad?"

"To not tell him any bad news when he's hungry?" Merida asked innocently.

Sian went rigid at these words, and her cheeks began to burn bright red, as myself, Chris, Kopa and the rest of the Dawson siblings all had to cover our mouths in order to stifle our laughter, as Mr Dawson was glaring at Sian, completely thunderstruck.

Not even daring to look at her father, Sian, in a desperate attempt to get back in his good books, said quickly, "No, no, it's that you should take care of and love him always." Sian then looked at her father, who looked slightly happier upon hearing this, which made Sian lean in close to Merida and whisper rather loudly, "And the other thing."

Merida nodded happily and hugged Sian before going to stand next to her father, who was, once again, thunderstruck. Just like before, Sian pointedly ignored her father, focusing instead on Beth, who was sad to leave her sister, but understood that the time had come to do so. She and Sian then shared a hug and, crying loudly, she went to stand next to Merida.

Then it was Kestrel's turn. These two sisters did not say much to each other, for they understood each other quite well. All Sian asked her to do was to take care of the family, especially Chrissie, as best she could. Naturally, this statement offended Chrissie, but Sian ignored her, as did Kestrel, who said that she would do all she could to look after the others for her, which pleased Sian greatly. Sian and Kestrel then hugged and Kestrel went to stand by the car.

Then, at last, it was Chrissie's turn to say goodbye to Sian, who approached her slowly, and stopped just a few feet in front of her. There was a short pause, then Chrissie spoke.

"So …"

"So …" Sian repeated heavily.

"This is it, huh?"

Sian nodded. "Yeah. This is it."

There was another short pause. Then Sian spoke again.

"You know, it's funny, really. All those times I said to you how I couldn't wait to leave the Manor so that I could finally be rid of you annoying the hell out of me all the time, I had no idea just how much I was going to miss you. And now that I am leaving you, I really don't want to let you go."

Chrissie smiled sadly at her. "I know. I really want to say, "Come back with us," but that would be wrong of me, not to mention incredibly selfish. After all, your place is here, and mine is back home, in England."

Sian rolled her eyes at Chrissie's blatant obviousness. Seeing this, Chrissie hastily said, "I know, I know, I'm stating the obvious, which you hate, but at least I'm being honest about it …"

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Sian exclaimed, losing her exasperation in favour of anger at her sister's words.

Chrissie looked nervous at Sian's fierce expression, but she knew, as did the rest of us, that she had dug herself into a hole, and that only she could get herself out of it. So, taking a deep breath, Chrissie said, "Well, it's just that I find it hard to believe that you're going to miss me, let alone that you could be proud of me …"

At those words, Sian's anger was quickly replaced with confusion as she asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Chrissie then looked at Sian, scared but determined as she answered defensively, "Well … you never really seem to support me and you always tend to make fun of me because I'm the screw up of the family - "

"Oh, good, so you've finally caught on to the fact that you're a fumble-footed dunderhead, then?" said Sian smarmily.

Chrissie glared at her sister. "See, this is exactly what I'm talking about! I'm sorry that I'm not as smart or as wise as you are, Sian, and that I can't control my tongue as well as you'd like me to, but this is who I am! And do you know how much it hurts me whenever you treat and speak to me like I'm a worthless piece of crap who can't do anything right? So, taking all that into account, can you now see why I doubt that you'll miss me and be proud of me?"

Chrissie stared directly into Sian's eyes, who looked rather taken aback by her sister's passionate speech; and the longer she remained silent, the more upset Chrissie seemed to get, as tears started to fill her eyes. Seeing this made Sian sigh heavily and close her eyes, before she opened her mouth to speak.

"Chrissie … listen," Sian began hesitantly. "I know I've been very hard on you over the years, harder than I should have been at times, in fact, but just know that I never meant to intentionally upset you, and for that I apologise. It's just that you make me so frustrated sometimes with how long it takes you to process new information that I end up screaming at you the way I do, which leads me to saying some truly hurtful things to you because I'm so angry. But don't forget that you've said some pretty hurtful things to me too, remember?"

Chrissie lowered her head in embarrassment and shame at Sian's pointed, fierce look. "Yeah, I know. No one's perfect, are they?"

Sian shook her head slowly. "No, they're not. But I want you to know that some of the things I said to you were because I wanted you to learn. It was only when you started arguing with me that I let my temper, and my words, run from the rational part of my brain so that I could barely control what I said."

Seeing that Chrissie was still avoiding her eye, Sian paused briefly, and then, in a desperate attempt to cheer her up, said, "And how can you say that I won't miss you? After all, who else am I going to get into a proper, stupid argument with?"

Chrissie raised her eyes slightly, not happy with Sian's choice of words. "I know it won't be the same when you're arguing with someone else and not me," she said glumly, "but is that really all you're going to miss me for?"

Sian stared at Chrissie, rather hurt by her words, which made her answer rather defensively, "OK, look, I know that we've argued on multiple occasions over the years, possibly more than any siblings in history have, but let's not forget that we haven't always been at each other's throats, for we have had some good times too, don't forget ..."

Sian remained silent as she gave Chrissie a chance to think about what she had just said, and after about a minute or so Chrissie raised her head, all traces of embarrassment and shame gone, now replaced with a happy smile, which made Sian's features soften as a smile graced her own lips.

"See, we're not all just jarring words and passive-aggressive looks at each other, are we?" Then her expression turned slightly more serious as she added, "And how can you not think that I'm proud of you, or that I've never been, nor ever will be, proud of you?"

Chrissie looked surprise that Sian knew this about her, but that quickly turned into a sneer. "Yeah, right," she snorted. "You're just saying that to make me feel better, for I know that I'll never be the person you want me to be, just like I know that you'll never think of me as someone you can be proud of."

Sian shook her head slightly, looking shocked that Chrissie could think so little of herself, which surprised me as I never thought that Sian would be concerned by Chrissie's lack of belief in herself, never mind that she would take her sister's ego bashing so seriously.

"Chrissie, you have no idea of what I think of you, for there have been times - not many, but a few - where I have been so very proud of you."

"Oh yeah? Name one!" Chrissie demanded.

"All right." Sian then paused, clearly thinking, then her eyes widened as she said, "Oh - I know. Do you remember in our first year of Dragon Mort when you, me, Chris and Kiara went down the trap door together to stop the Mirror of Wishes from being stolen?"

"Yeah, what about it?" said Chrissie, looking curiously at Sian.

"Well, when we got to that giant chess set, and you took your place as the knight and sacrificed yourself so that we could win the game … that was the first time I had ever been proud of you. Not just that, but it was also the first time I had ever thought of you as my sister."

"Really?"

Sian nodded. "Yes, really. And a couple of years ago, when you stood up to Larry, that was the proudest of you I have been in years. And now, watching you grow and change over these past few months, seeing you become your own person and leading you own life, no longer constantly being in mine and Kiara's shadows … I can honestly say that I am proud of the woman you have become. And I am proud to call you my sister."

Chrissie's eyes welled with tears by Sian's words, and I think all of us were touched by the simplistic beauty of Sian's words, and I smiled at Chrissie, who was smiling through her tears as she said, in a choked voice, "So … y-you really are g-going to miss me, then?"

"Of course I'm going to miss you!" exclaimed Sian exasperatedly, though tears were filling her own eyes. "Come here - "

The two sisters embraced, surprising us all to see Sian and Chrissie like this, but touching us all just the same, especially Mr Dawson, who never thought he would see this day come. Then again, none of us did, but I think it affected him more than the rest of us.

However, there was one of us who was not touched by this beautiful moment.

"Oh, great. Sobbing women," Chris grumbled.

Sian and Chrissie immediately let go of each other once they had heard this, turning on Chris, glaring and growling at him fiercely, startling the rest of us, especially Chris, who took a few steps backwards in response. I think this made Sian and Chrissie happy, for they turned back to each other, all the anger gone from their faces, as they resumed hugging each other like nothing had happened, crying once more.

I then looked at Chris, who was trembling slightly as he stood back beside me, wide-eyed and pale. Gulping loudly, he said shakily, "I'm not doing that again."

Smiling at him gently, I rubbed his arm reassuringly, just as Sian and Chrissie let go of each other, drying their eyes and smiling at each other, and they would have stayed like that all day if it had not been for their father, who was watching his two eldest daughters with pride.

"All right, kids," he said. "It's time to go."

Sian and Chrissie let go of each other, both knowing it was time to say goodbye, neither bothering to wipe the tears from their eyes as Chrissie went to get in the car with Beth, Kestrel, Merida, Joe, Jack, Max, Ben and Dave. As they all got in, Kopa came to stand beside Sian, wrapping his arms around her as she leant into him.

Mr Dawson was the last to enter the car, nodding to Kopa, Sian, Chris and I, smiling proudly at us. Once he had shut the door did the engine start up and at the exact same moment I heard a strangled sob coming from my right, and I did not have to look at her to know that it was Sian, for I think it hit her, as it did Kopa, Chris and I, now more than ever, that this was really happening. That the rest of the Dawsons were actually leaving.

Kopa, Sian, Chris and I all started waving at the car, as we could see many hands waving back at us as the car started to drive away, and as it took to the air to do a number of circuits all around Pride Castle did Sian free herself from Kopa's embrace and run back inside, tears still streaming down her face as she ran, why and for what purpose I did not know, but knowing Sian she must have had a reason. She always does ...

SIAN

As soon as Sian saw the car take to the air and begin circling Pride Castle, only one thought ran through her mind: she had to keep up with it before it disappeared from view. So she ran back inside Pride Castle, running as fast as she could to keep up with the car, even though she knew it was a ridiculous idea to try and keep up with a car, but at that moment she did not care. All she cared about was keeping up with the car as best she could before she lost sight of her family for the last time until God knows when. Besides, Sian was a fast runner; years of military training had given her that and fast reflexes. As she ran, Sian heard Kopa behind her, calling her name, but she did not dare stop, not even apologising to the people she pushed past or knocked things out of as she continued to jump, dodge and roll past people and objects as she tried to keep up with the car's shadow, ignoring the burning of her lungs and the pain in her legs and feet as she ran.

At last she reached the door to the roof, which crashed open as she ran through it and, dodging the statue of baby Kiara and her parents, she stopped as she reached the balcony wall, watching the car fly away from her just as a strong breeze blew past her, blowing the leaves and flower petals it carried with it towards the car, and shortly after the breeze reached it, Sian saw Chrissie poke her head out the window looking right at her, her eyes still filled with tears, as were Sian's, not that she cared about that at that moment in time.

Suddenly, Sian felt an arm wrap around her shoulders, and looking up she saw that it was Kopa, who had finally caught up with her, and seeing him Sian knew that she would be all right, as well as realising that she was not losing her family, for she had family in the man she loved as well as in the family who were leaving for England, and that made Sian smile.

Turning back to Chrissie, she raised her hand in farewell and waved at her twin sister, who leaned out of the car window and waved back at her, and as the car flew away from the Pride Lands and back to England, Sian knew that it was not the end for her family, but only the beginning.