This is the next to last chapter of the story. It's been great to work with this story. I've given my roommate a bit of grief along the way, and that one night when I stayed up until almost four in the morning was just massive chaos. Oddly enough, though, I'm glad that I got to work with this story. Enjoy =D

Disclaimer: Any of the characters that did not appear in the Newsies movie belongs to me. Everything and everyone else belongs to either history or Disney.

Chapter 14: Unfinished Business

Time: Early July, 1899

After we finished handing out the papers, we were gathered around the Horace Greeley statue, waiting for the work kids. Denton had left to take care of some business, and so far no one had shown up just yet.

"So, when's the others coming, kid?" Mush asked.

By now, Jack's impatience had gotten the best of him. "They ain't coming. Ain't gonna be nobody but us."

"Come on, Jack."

"Have hope, Jack."

"Momentai, Jack."

We worked hard to get his spirits back up, but the majority of us felt let down as well. Perhaps the article hadn't worked after all. Les walked away from the group with Ginny and Charlie, looking up at Pulitzer's office.

"When the circulation bell starts ringing, will we hear it?" Les sang.

"Nah." Racetrack joined the kids, wiping the sweat from his brow. "What if the Delancey's come out swinging, will we hear it?"

"No!" Les shouted.

Racetrack was proud. "That a boy!"

We joined them, our spirits somewhat higher. We would fight until the bitter end as a team.

When you've got a million voices singing
who can hear a lousy whistle blow?
And the World will know!

Just then, an entire crowd of workers with signs marched through the streets to join us by the statue, holding strike signs. At another street, Spot Conlon was leading the Brooklyn newsies to us, holding his cane in one hand and one of the papers in another, while shouting "Brooklyn!"

Newsies & Work Kids: The World will feel the fire and finally know!

Everyone cheered and shouted "Strike!" as the newsies made their way through the crowd to the front of the World Building. This was just too good; the streets were flooded with newsies and workers alike.

"Dear me!" Racetrack exclaimed, pointing up. "What have we here?"

I looked up to see that a man was standing by the door of Pulitzer's office, a few policemen behind him, looking out into the crowd. "That's not going to stop this crowd from protesting!" I shouted gleefully.

Jack put a hand on my shoulder. "I need you and Davey to come with me, Leah. We gotta voice now, and we're showin' it off to Pulitzer."

I smiled at him as he pulled me forward. "It's Clover now, Jack."

The man at the door-Seitz, I heard-lead Jack and David and me up to Pulitzer's office. When we were inside, one of the other servants was whispering to him frantically. Ignoring him-we got the gist of what was going on-we stopped in front of Pulitzer's desk, where Jack pulled out a copy of the flyer and set it down in front of the old man himself.

"Extry, extry, Joe." He taunted. "Read all about it."

As Pulitzer examined the paper, I got a good look at the man we had fought against for half a month. I noted that he would've looked like a nice old grandfather if he weren't so greedy.

"I promised that if you defied me, I'd break you." Pulitzer growled in a low voice. I frowned; I had known before this adventure that Jack would betray the newsies (and it hurt more than I figured it would), but I didn't know that he had been threatened into doing so. "I'll keep that promise, boy. Now, I gave you a chance to be free. I don't understand. Anyone who doesn't act in their own self interest is a fool."

"Then what does that make you?" David asked from right next to me.

That was when Pulitzer noticed us standing behind Jack.

"Oh, these is my pals, Davey and Clover." Jack introduced us.

"You talk about self interest, but since the strike, your circulation's been down seventy percent." David informed Pulitzer. "Everyday you're losing thousands of dollars just to beat us out of one lousy tenth of a cent. Why?"

"It's not about the money, David." I answered for Pulitzer. "If Mr. Pulitzer gives in to people like us, it means we have the power."

"And he can't do that, no matter what it costs." Jack finished for me. "Are we right, Joe?"

Pulitzer appeared to not have heard us. "I sent for the police. They must be here by now. Send them in, Seitz."

"That's not going to stop anyone from protesting against you!" I protested. David and Jack didn't even stop me; both of them knew for a fact that I was right. "Just look outside! Listen to that cry for justice! You can't stop even one of us without inciting a riot!"

"I'm not going back to jail, Joe." Jack agreed with me, going up to the window. I frowned at the shared name between Joseph Pulitzer and my friend back home. "Look out here. Right out here is where the power is."

Jack opened the window, and the chants of "Strike!" were so loud that Pulitzer had to cover his ears.

"Close the window!" He shouted. "Close the window! Go home! Go home! Go home!"

"I can't hear you, Joe!" Jack shouted.

"Go home!" Pulitzer shouted out the window. "Go home to your mothers and fathers! Go home!"

"I don't hear ya!"

"Now you listen to me!"

"Maybe you should listen!"

"No, no! You listen to me!"

"No! You listen!"

"Close the window and shut up!"

"There's a lot of people out there and they ain't just gonna go away!" Jack shouted. "They got voices now and they're goin' be listen to. Putting them in jail is not going to stop them! That's the power of the press, Joe." It wasn't until then when he closed the window and Pulitzer uncovered his ears. "So thanks for teaching me about it."

"Those kids put out a pretty good paper there Chief." Seitz pointed out.

Pulitzer picked up the paper and read it again. "I ordered a printing ban on all strike matters. Now, who defied me? Who's press did you use to print this on? Who's?"

Now this was what Jack was obviously waiting for, and I could tell that he was trying hard to fight a smile. "Well, we only use the best, Joe." He said. "So, I just want to say, thanks again."

Jack and I followed David out through the gates not long after that. Spot and Les were at the front, and pointed us out when they saw us.

The newsies gathered around and started asking questions. Upon Jack's request, David and I didn't say anything. Better to let everyone find out at once. Jack bent over and whispered in Les's ear. After that, Jack lifted him up onto his shoulders and shouted the news to everyone.

"We beat 'em!"

The crowd cheered. All the newsies hugged and patted each other on the back as Weasel, Oscar and Morris put on their hats and left. Ahead, I noticed that Charlie was cheering from Racetrack's shoulders, and Ginny was shouting from Kid Blink's.

Just then, a paddy wagon pulled up, with Snyder sitting in the front seat with two cops.

Les noticed them too. "Jack! Jack, it's the bulls!"

Jack set Les back down on the ground, and made to run. However, he was stopped by Denton.

"Jack, it's over. No, no. You don't have to run. Not anymore. Not from the likes of him. Come on, Come on."

Jack took nervous steps as Denton led him closer to the wagon. It turns out that Denton was right; we didn't have to worry about Snyder anymore. A cop opened the paddy wagon and a group of kids came out, looking as though they hadn't seen the sun in weeks. The last one to come out-to our excitement-was Crutchy. A cop led Snyder into the paddy wagon, but not before we overheard Crutchy say something to Snyder.

"Ah, remember what I told ya, Mr. Snyder." He said with the widest smile on his face. "The first thing ya do in jail, make friends with the rats. Share what you got in common."

Charlie's and Ginny's mouths dropped when they heard the words come out of Crutchy's mouth. Knowing all too well what their opinion of that remark was, I pinched my nose bridge with a small smile on my face. "I give up."

Snyder climbed into the wagon, his hands cuffed behind his back. Crutchy said something to a police officer, who nodded. Wordlessly, Crutchy handed his crutch to a kid, slammed the door in Snyder's face, and locked it. He got his crutch back as the crowd cheered and went over to us.

"You won't be seeing much of him anymore." Denton replied with a grin. "Say good-bye Warden."

"Bye Warden!" We shouted as the carriage took him away.

"Oh, Jack, you ought tah seen it!" Crutchy exclaimed excitedly. "He comes stormin' into the Refuge waving his walking stick like a sword and he's leading in this army of lawyers and cops…"

"Who comes stormin' in?" Jack asked.

"You know, your friend." Crutchy said simply, pointing his crutch to another carriage in the crowd. "Him! Teddy Roosevelt!"

It was the big man himself, smiling warmly and waving at the people in the crowd around his carriage. The newsies were amazed, and many of us did double takes. And even though neither of my cousins knew much about Teddy Roosevelt, it was obvious that they were in awe of the man as well.

"The Governor's very grateful that you brought this problem to his attention." Denton explained to Jack. "I said you might need a lift somewhere. He'd be happy to oblige. Anywhere you want. And this time, you ride inside."

"So, can he drop me at the train-yards?" Jack asked.

I knew all too well what was going to happen next, and I couldn't take it. I took off and climbed up to the roof of a building close to the distribution center, tears stinging my eyes. From the roof, I watched as the newsies made their way to Roosevelt's carriage. Jack shook his hand and climbed in, smiling. Everyone followed the carriage away…except for the Jacobs and my cousins, who watched sadly.

Half an hour later, I was still on the roof when the circulation bell started ringing. I wasn't ready to go back to selling newspapers just yet, so I stayed up on the roof and watched the city. The newsies lined up for their papers, with David at the front. He put a coin down and made his order. And not long after that, we heard cheering. I watched as Roosevelt's carriage returned to the street, right in front of the distribution center.

I raced back down the stairs just in time to see Jack shaking Roosevelt's hand again. "Thanks for the advice, Governor." He was saying. "Like you said, I still got things to do. Besides, I got family here."

He got out of the carriage and gave Les his cowboy hat. All the newsies were yelling and talking at once, but Jack didn't speak until he saw David. "So, how's the headline today?" He asked.

"Headlines don't sell papes, newsies sell papes." David responded, putting on his newsboys cap and taking his pile of newspapers before joining Jack. He smiled and actually spit in his hand before shaking Jack's.

It was then where Jack turned to me. "You say I once called the newsies me brudders, Clove." He said. "I still do, and I always will."

I smiled a little, but turned away when Sarah managed to reach Jack; I knew all too well what was going to happen then. The newsies' cheering and yelling told me all too well about the passionate kiss that was being shared.

Moments later, the carriage pulled away once more, with Roosevelt and Spot in it. Spot tipped his hat and waved as he rode away. David, Jack, Sarah, Les, Ginny, Charlie and Crutchy followed the carriage. Denton was shaking David's hand before going to the side and starting to write. The newsies followed them out, singing a chorus of "Carrying the Banner."

I didn't leave with anyone. I watched as the newsies continued on, and I wondered what was going to happen next. I figured that everything would become clear and that we would go home some time soon…but we were still here. And none of us had a clue of how we were going to get back.

I wasn't sure of a lot of things at the moment, but as I looked back on Jack's words to me and to Roosevelt, I finally understood exactly why he delayed his dream for Santa Fe. It wasn't just his love for Sarah; it was his love for his whole family. Everyone who called him a friend-the newsies, Denton, the Jacobs family, Spot Conlon, Medda-they were all the family that he always wanted deep down inside.

A month had gone by since the end of the strike, and I was beginning to see the normal routine of the newsies. Wake up, sell papers, eat lunch, sell more papers/hang out, eat dinner, hang out, and go to bed. This was the daily ritual, even on Sunday. If it weren't for the dates on the papers, I would've been amazed by how easily the newsies remembered which day of the week and month it was.

Sarah began to visit the lodging house more often, mostly to see Jack. I left the room and went out onto the roof every time they were together; their togetherness was becoming too much for me. No one asked me why; they remembered my outburst about Joey when Jack betrayed us, and no one said anything more about it…except for one person.

Spot Conlon was cordial almost every day. He usually joined me out on the roof whenever Sarah was around, mostly to talk about Joey or other things going on back home in Michigan. I was relieved to know that Spot didn't actually have a crush on me as Jack believed; he just wanted to know how much of a newsie I could be, and if I could be trusted by the newsie world. Sometimes, when he visited in the afternoons, we would have small fights just to keep each other on our toes. It had been a while since I had fought with anyone who wasn't actually trying to hurt me, and it honestly felt really good.

Needless to say, I was beginning to miss Grand Rapids after a while. There were times when I wondered if we would ever go back. I never got the chance to say good-bye to anyone, and if we stayed for the rest of our lives then I never would receive that chance. If I were lucky (which Jack still debated that I was), I'd be able to get a glimpse of my great-grandparents and grandparents as children, and that was all. And then I remembered that I would miss the newsies if we did go back, and the odds of seeing them again were just as slim as the chances of going back.

I was about to give up any hope of returning home until early August, when Manhattan was having a party at Medda's to celebrate the one month anniversary of the strike, as well as Charlie's tenth birthday. Brooklyn was there too, ironically enough; Spot told me he was coming just because he was simply the King of the newsies. I wasn't much for partying, so I stayed up at the balcony to read some stories from an old Bible that had been given to me from one of the other newsies.

I was reading the middle of the book of Esther, when her relative Mordecai was trying to convince her to go to the king and plead for the sake of her people, the Jews, even though there was a law that said no one was to go to the king without his summons. I knew the story all too well; the king had spared her life and helped rescue the Jews from their impending persecution. There was a quote from Mordecai, though, that I hadn't noticed until reading it through at this go-round: "who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"

It was at that point where I noticed something a little different about the doors leading to the theater. Did they just shine a little? Curious, I put a bookmark in the place where I had just finished reading and made my way down to the entrance of the theater. I looked through the door...only to find that I was looking at my basement instead of the streets of New York. It was our ticket home!

I wasn't sure of how or why it had appeared then, but I knew for a fact that my cousins and I had to go back as soon as we could. I didn't go back in right away, though. How was I going to tell the newsies that we couldn't come back to New York? I couldn't tell them that I was from the future, that was for sure. And I also knew that, if they knew that we couldn't ever come back, then they would never let us leave.

With a heavy heart, I sighed and walked back to the party, where Ginny and Charlie were waiting for me.

"What's wrong?" Ginny asked me. "You look a little depressed."

I sighed once more. "Come on, you two. It's time to go home."

The newsies, who were all listening in (this became a habit of theirs after a while) were all talking among themselves. Ginny and Charlie looked at me sadly.

"Do we have to?" Charlie asked.

"Momentai." I said with a smile. "You'll see them again in time. That's my gut feeling, at least." I couldn't tell either of them how unlikely it was that they would be coming back if I knew for a fact that I wouldn't be.

"That's right, Chuck." Mush said encouragingly, hugging Charlie. "You three can come to visit us here in New York when you're old enough to travel on your own."

"And Clover will be back when she has her parents' approval, right?" Jack pointed out, turning to me.

I bit back tears, nodding my head; they had to let us go. I would never forget these newsies, even if my life depended on it. I looked at each and every one of them before continuing. "I want to thank all of you." I said as the tears slowly spilled from my eyes. "Each of you have been like brothers-and sister-" I added to Sarah, "-to me. I learned a lot from working with the newsies, and I'm so grateful for the amazing two months that I've been here with each and every one of you."

One by one, my cousins and I approached each newsie and said our personal good-byes.

"Thanks for helping me with my cousins." I said when I reached Mush.

"Any time." He said when he hugged me. "I just wish I coulda done it more."

"Thank you so much for being a good example to Ginny and Charlie, and for not calling me 'doll face'." I said to Crutchy when I reached him.

"Aw, shucks." Crutchy blushed.

"Thanks for letting me borrow your hat." I said to Skittery, giving him back his cap. He didn't say much, but he didn't have to; I knew that he would miss me as much as I missed him.

"You did a great job helping Jack lead the strike." I said to David.

"So did you." David said. "I just wish that we could do more to help you."

"Momentai." I said back to him.

"I still say ya woulda made a great newsie, doll." Spot said when I reached him.

I didn't even roll my eyes at the name. "Who knows? Maybe I'll write stories about you guys and have them published."

"Just be sure to get the story and my name right."

"Sure thing, Conlon." I said into his shirt as I hugged him. "Sure thing."

Finally, there was Jack.

"You think Joey will be with you when you come back?" He asked me.

"Maybe someday, Jack." I said. "Maybe someday."

"Just don't wait too long, Clover." Sarah said from behind me.

"And for what it's worth, you're sure as hell the luckiest newsie alive." Jack replied.

I rolled my eyes one last time at his choice of words, but smiled anyway. "Thank you, Jack."

When our good-byes were said, I held hands with my cousins once more. I turned back to the boys with a teary smile and said "Momentai. I'll be watching over you when I go."

"Carrying the banner." Ginny and Charlie chanted.

"Carrying the banner." They said back, their hats off their heads and over their chests in respect.

I smiled again before I turned back around. Hand in hand, we walked out of the lobby and back into the world of 2012.

AN: WOW, this was a hard chapter to write. Sorry if it's a bit rushed and a tad cliche, but I was trying to get it all in one chapter and it was getting a bit longer than I was used to writing.

I'm not planning to write a sequel to this story, simply because it drove me crazy at times. However, if I do get enough positive reviews and if enough people ask me to write a sequel I'll think about it and see what I can do this summer.

Anyways, this story is not finished just yet. I'll have the final chapter up in about a week. Until then, reviews are nice and I'll see you all in a week!