Well this has been incredible. I had a blast writing this story, and I hope you guys had fun too. Thank you for all of your support, and please read my note at the end.

I don't own Detective Conan.

Epilogue

Haibara walked along the path to school holding tightly to Shinichi's hand. She had to stretch her small arm up to reach his, but this habit had become so routine for her that she barely noticed the strain anymore. When she had first started grabbing onto his hand Shinichi had been surprised, but he didn't question her. He had a feeling it had something to do with her starting her life over. She would be Haibara Ai as long as she lived. Miyano Shiho's life would be nothing but the memories she held close and feared at the same time. The fear was irrational though. The Black Organization had been dismantled merely two months after Shinichi had permanently returned. Haibara would always carry it with her though, and even Shinichi tended to look over his shoulder more often than he liked to admit. They had decided that was OK though. They were still alive. Life would go on.

"Ai-chan!" Ayumi shouted and waved from the school gate. Haibara pulled her hand back down to her side as her three friends ran over to her. "Shinichi-niisan!" Ayumi greeted excitedly, bouncing on her feet. Genta and Mitsuhiko looked up at the teen expectantly as well, so he crouched down beside them.

"What's got you all so worked up?" he asked. The three children exchanged mischievous glances.

"Don't you remember?" Genta asked with a grin.

"Remember what?" Haibara smiled and turned to face him as well.

"You promised to take them out for ice cream today for solving that case 'without your help,'" she stated, using her fingers as quotation marks to signify that her statement was a bit of an exaggeration. They hadn't quite gotten there without him helping them. They just didn't know it.

"He meant you too, Ai-chan," Ayumi insisted. "Right Shinichi-niisan?" Shinichi nodded, rubbing the back of his head nervously with his hand. I completely forgot about that...

"Yes," he promised. "But you have to wait for me at the professor's for a while. I've got a lot of homework to do." The three children nodded their agreement and dashed into the school gates, dragging Haibara with them. Shinichi smiled to himself as he watched them go. He knew he would have to tell them the truth one day about Edogawa Conan, but he decided to wait until they were older. He didn't want to poison their young minds with his bad memories.

"Are you going to crouch on the ground like that all day?" Ran's voice suddenly spoke up from behind him. He stood up quickly, a little startled because he had forgotten she was there. She laughed at him. "Could I get some ice cream too?" she asked. Shinichi simply shrugged his shoulders as he closed the short distance between them.

"Sure. I guess you can tag along...if you pay me for yours."

"That's not-" Ran started to object. She didn't finish though. Shinichi had cut her off with a kiss. She returned the kiss, rolling her eyes at his pathetic excuse for a joke.

Haibara smiled to herself as she watched them pull apart and walk away hand-in-hand. We'll be OK. As long as there are moments like this, everything will be all right.

Well, that's it. (A bit cheesy and happy but sometimes people need a little cheesy happy ending in their lives.) Thank you once again for your continued support. I can't believe this story is complete. I also can't believe I started this nearly a year ago. Wow. I finish what I start though- no matter how long it takes. Anyway, so I have an announcement. I have several different story ideas in mind, so what I have decided to do is post them all in one story that will have a title once I think of one. There will probably be an ongoing story among my short stories in there, but I just figured this would be easier for me. If I don't feel like updating my long story, or simply don't have time, I can update or write something else to hold you people over. What do you think? If you have any good title ideas I'd love to see them in the reviews for this story, or you can just PM me about anything you want to ask or suggest. I'm also open to prompts. I don't care how crazy or demanding it is, I guarantee you I will write it and mention the person who gave me the prompt. Anyway, thanks again. I'll start posting this new story I'm talking about pretty soon. This has been fun. Until next story: Au revoir mes amies!