Hello, my faithful readers! I'd just like to take a moment to thank all of you. Thanks to everyone who reviewed (shout out to Nine Tails Beyond and doitallandthensome) all of you were great at beating away the writer's block. Here's the final chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: BTW, this sort of feels like my child has grown up :(

Noodle was flying again. The clouds seemed brighter and the sky looked bluer. She didn't want to look down, she didn't want to see the ground rushing up to meet her like it had those weeks ago in her cell. Noodle felt alone and yet… serene. There was no one here to hurt her or the ones she loved. She didn't feel anything clawing at her consciousness. She felt good.

Noodle wondered how long it would last. She didn't really want to stay here forever, she had the dim feeling that there was somewhere else she should be. Somewhere with people she knew. Noodle's head started feeling fuzzy and she stopped thinking. The sun was streaming pleasantly on her face. She reached up and ran her fingers down her cheek. She couldn't feel the slight pain that had accompanied this gesture when she had had her bruise. It had either healed… or it was gone. There was no reflective surface for her to be certain. Was she dead? Noodle felt rather bubbly inside. She felt as if she could stay here and float and never have to worry about falling.

The blue of the sky was enrapturing. It was such a deep blue, it looked like someone had poured out a jar of solid silk. It reminded her of 2D's hair.

2D.

As if to underline her thought, his voice suddenly came ringing throughout the skies.

"Noodle, yew awright, darlin'?" She looked wildly around her to find the source of the voice. The voice started humming and Noodle smiled. She recognized the tune to be On Melancholy Hill. The song 2D had written about her. She called out for him, though she wasn't entirely sure he would be able to hear her.

"Toochi! Where are you?"

"Noodle, love. Yew gotta wake up now, yew gotta eat, yeh skinny li'l fing. Russ'll 'ave me 'ead if yew lose any more weight." Noodle thought that was a strange thing to say to someone, dead or not. She chanced a look below and was startled to see herself. This was not an outside view like being possessed had been, but more of a bird's view. Her body looked quite lifeless and battered as it laid on the singer's bed. She grimaced as she took in the new bruise that marked her right cheek. This one didn't look very bad though and would probably heal very soon. Noodle was hard-pressed to recognize anything about the body. She couldn't find herself in the figure's compose expression. A new voice called her attention to above her again.

"Noodle, you have a choice… stay with your family… or go on." Noodle didn't quite recognize this voice. It held the authority of a general or king yet had the caring tenderness of a grandfather. She looked back down at the scene.

"When you say 'on'…" The voice chuckled.

"Not the 'on' you're thinking of. 'On' as in 'on to a better place'." Noodle had feared being sent back to Hell or on to that purgatory. Now that she was faced with the chance to move forward, how could she proceed. The man below her stroked the hair away from the figure's body. Noodle shuddered as she felt the faint sensation on her own forehead. She saw the door open and two more people enter. One was distinctly green while the other was rather large. How could she leave the people she cared for most in the world? And by some lucky accident, they ends up caring for her as well. Her sky started dissolving slowly. Noodle was not afraid, she barely noticed.

"I… don't think I'm ready to decide yet." The voice did not answer but the overhead scene was gone. Noodle found hereof opening her eyes groggily and suddenly feeling the full weight of the bruise on her cheek. She saw 2D's face brighten and Russel crack a smile. Murdoc even looked slightly relieved, even if he tried to hide it.

Noodle pushed up and sat underneath the thin blanket. She held her head as a headache threatened the edges of her consciousness.

"Where are we?" 2D smiled at her.

"Yeh're in me room, darlin'. 'ad to get yew off the beach, yeah?" A thought blatantly occurred to Noodle, nearly pulling her off the bed.

"Where's Satan? Is he still here?" A green-skinned hand firmly pushed her shoulder down onto the bed.

"Relax, doll. Bugger's gone. Somehow he jist… vanished. Blew up in a puff o' smoke." Noodle sat back. Russel was staring at her. She tilted her head questioningly at him, and he burst into tears, startling Noodle.

"I- I- I thought you was dead, baby girl. You weren't movin' and- and-" Murdoc rolled his eyes. 2D just smiled understandingly at the drummer. The singer rooted around in his pocket and pulled out an empty glass phial.

"Turns out that li'l potion that was meant fer me worked to get yeh'r 'eartbeat back up to speed. Good finking, keeping' ih in yeh'r pocket." Russel glared at 2D.

"You reached in her pocket?" 2D blushed, causing Russel to inflate with anger. Murdoc opened his mouth, cutting the drummer off.

"Well, th' important thing is that yeh're awake now, doll. Good teh see yeh're… nice to know yeh're ok." He shuffled his feet and cut off awkwardly. Noodle grinned.

"Nice to see you too, Murdoc." He mouth twisted up in a grimace of a smile and went to shuffle out the door.

"Right, well… I'm off fer a cold one, then. I can't be hanging round with you lot, can I?" Murdoc tossed the casual put down over his shoulder as the door swung shut behind him. Noodle looked at 2D, he was kneeling by the side of the bed, tracing patterns on the bedspread. She glanced pointedly at Russel and cleared her throat. He jumped up and backed out of the room.

"Feel better, baby-girl." The singer and guitarist were left alone. Silence filled the room for a moment.

"Why did you go out to face him alone?" 2D didn't look up and Noodle didn't bother catching his eye. They both avoided the other's gaze.

"Becos… becos I didn't fink yew'd follow."

"Why wouldn't you think I'd go after you?"

"Why did yew come after me? I wos tryin' teh keep yew safe!"

"Why did I- because I love you… and you were being an idiot!" 2D grinned slightly and looked at her. He reached up and took her face in his hand and stroked the new bruise.

"Tha's my fault." He whispered quietly to himself, so quietly that Noodle barely heard it though he was several inches from her. She reached up and took his hand and trapped it between her own.

"No it's not. And if you start thinking that, you will never forgive yourself, Toochi." He exhaled loudly and searched her face for a long moment.

"Are yew frew wiff the demons and devils and whotnot? Ih's gettin' pretty spooky round 'ere." He punctuated his teasing comment with a silly grin. Noodle smiled and rolled her eyes. She scooted over and tugged his arm to get him to climb into bed with her. They both settled on their sides, content to just lie there with the other. She yawned involuntarily and 2D pulled the covers over her form. She cuddled up to the singer and tucked her head under his chin, causing him to wrap his arm around her back. Noodle pressed a kiss to his collarbone and whispered into his t-shirt.

"Thank you for saving me, Toochi."

And this time, 2D knew exactly what she was thanking him for.

…

Satan sat slumped in his favorite chair. He couldn't find the energy to move, let alone yell at someone else about not being able to move. Those damned… children was what they were, those children had beaten him. Satan felt a childish urge to call them out for "tattling" to… Him. Satan sighed. It must have been the insolent children who told, no one under his direct command would have to guts to pull that sort of tomfoolery on him. He gazed around his office. He was trapped here for the time being. He pathetically clenched his ruined fist. When he got his claws around whoever had sent him home… he smirked at the cliche of there being Hell to pay. While gazing rather catatonically around, his eyes landed on the telephone. Pearly white, it stood in a dramatic contrast to the rest of the room. More than usual in fact. Satan usually hid the blazing phone behind a stack of books so he didn't have to be constantly reminded of his direct contact with the Man Upstairs. But, it was out. Someone had touched it. Using the very last vestiges of strength, he pulled his wheelie chair to the phone. Ashy fingerprints marred the surface, indicating its recent use. A small object laid by the side of the phone. Satan picked it up, it appeared to be a leather band of some kind. His eyes widened.

This was the mark of his commanding officers. His fist closed on the small band, reducing it to ash and flames.

He knew who turned him in… he knew exactly who it was. Satan's lips curled up in a smirk.

Someday.

I love you all! Thanks for reading!