Epilogue

''S-so... Ameena...''

It was the day after the battle. The sun was pouring through the white room's thin, cream coloured curtains, and Ameena lied in the only bed of Patch's clinic.

The one Dastardos had risen from on a gloomy morning a few months ago.

''Your... i-inj-juries t-turn out n-not to be as b-bad as they seemed a-at first...'' Patch gulped as the beautiful, maskless girl he'd had a crush on forever diverted her glance from her Alert to look him straight in the eyes. ''Y-y-your ribs are o-only bruised, they a-aren't broken,'' Patch continued hastily.

Love had a strange effect on his already weird way of speaking, he realized. It caused him to either forget what he wanted to say or talk really fast.

''I'm glad to hear that,'' Ameena said in her incredibly, incredibly sweet voice. ''Any idea when I can return home again?''

Patch could just prevent himself from telling her he didn't want her to leave anytime soon. The truth was, that she'd be ready to return home in a few hours, though.

''You could g-go this a-a-a-fternoon if y-you take enough rest...'' He could only hope he hadn't sounded as sad as he felt at the thought of her leaving so fast. ''D-don't overwork yourself i-in the garden...''

''I won't, Patchie.'' A warm smile spread across the girl's Tigermisu mask. ''Darn, an awful load of weird stuff went down yesterday!''

''I've s-seen some a-articles in the Islander D-daily,'' Patch grinned, ''b-but those are far n-not as sh-shocking as the t-tales Bart t-told me tonight...
I-I can't b-believe Cueraça an-and his f-fellow Gods are real... I've a-always been a Christian, e-even though I enjoy l-learning about th-the Island's folklore...''

''It's strange indeed,'' Ameena nodded. ''The one thing that stunned me the most was... well... did Bart tell you..?''

''A-about y-you being a G-g-goddess?'' Patch stuttered Goobaishly.

''Exactly that.'' Ameena bit her lower lip and looked at her Alert again. ''Half-Goddess, actually. A descendant of Afoti.''

''W-well...'' A red flush appeared on Patch's blue monkey helmet. ''I-I wasn't too surprised about y-you be-be-being a Goddess...''

Ameena looked up and felt an army of Flutterscotches rush through her stomach when her dark brown eyes crossed Doc Patchingo's blue ones.

Patch's heart skipped a beat and his mouth became too dry to add: ''You certainly look like one,'' as he'd wanted to.

Fortunately for him, Ameena broke the tense stillness by slightly shifting the subject. ''Ehm... Thanks! I must say I'm surprised everyone's survived the battle without getting severely wounded...''

''I'm glad they have, though! I w-wouldn't have e-enough beds if...''

Another, even more awkward silence followed. Neither of the two had anything uplifting to say, nor did they feel like reviewing the vagarious events that had occured the night before.

To Ameena, a lot of those were vague anyway. She had received an enormous amount of Alerts asking her is she were alright. I'm fine, she'd replied to every single one of them, but how are you? She had no idea what happened after the meteor impact...

''I as-assume some of y-your friends will want to v-visit you today?'' Patch asked, just to say something.

''Oh, ehm, yes. Leafos and Seedos are planning to come in an hour or two. Bart and Gretchen are back to work already, Jardineiro's sleeping in and God knows where Dastardos and that purple, mysterious -''

''W-wait! D-dastardos?'' Patch asked, pretty much in awe.

''Yes he... sort of saved my life...'' Ameena chuckled. ''Didn't Bart tell you? I find it odd as well, but he's actually pretty friendly! And other than his name suggests, he's not a dastard at all - he showed great bravery yesterday...''

Patch incredulously shook his head. ''I-I've always h-hoped so, but I'd n-n-never expected the r-reaper to have something good in him! He m-mostly is unbelievably r-rude to me when I encounte-ter him near a s-sick piñata... I guess it's j-just because our professions clash in a, in a way...''

''Probably.'' Ameena smiled. The way Doc Patchingo spoke about the undead man that should've been his archemeny deeply endeared her.

VPVPVPVPVPVPVPVP

''Hey.''

''Hi, Leafos, Seedos!'' Ameena immediately put the book she'd been reading away when she spotted her friends at the foot of her bed. Patch had hasted himself to a garden not far away from the desert, apparently, work went on for Dastardos.

Ameena was happy she could assume that the piñata reaper was alive...If that was the right designation for his condition.

''Are you alright? How's your father?'' she asked the siblings elatedly. She was delighted to have company.

''Jardineiro's fine,'' Seedos answered sulkily.

He knew that it was wrong, but he couldn't help but be dissappointed that his dad hadn't fallen in the battle. Instead, he'd managed to save everyone's lives, including his!

''Fortunately he's doing well,'' Leafos added, scowling at her younger brother. ''So are we. Gretchen has a few light burns, but she says she's used to worse things. We don't know about Dastardos or the Kelele bat, but as far as I'm concerned, they're in good health.''

''Dastardos certainly is... I think he's sneering at Patch right this moment,'' Ameena giggled.

Leafos sighed, shaking her head amusedly. Sometimes, Dastardos' cocky comments reminded her of someone she'd known in the past... Someone she still missed nowadays, but didn't mourn over anymore.

Someone she sometimes felt was still with her.

''Fannie gave us a letter for you, Ameena. I'm sorry if it's already opened, you know how she is.'' Seedos made a face.

''Sure do!'' Ameena flew up. ''Who's the letter from? My...''

''Your family? Yes.''

The boy handed the obviously resealed enveloppe over to his friend, and held his breath as he watched her read.

Ameena's eyes widened a little when she saw the name on the envelope. Alyssa Kwabena. How long hadn't she heard from her mother, who was always too caught up in her hectic job and daily life to write?

'Dearest Ameena,' a neat, perfectly legible handwriting read.

Ameena chuckled. Atsou sure hadn't inherited their mother's pretty longhand.

'I'm sorry for not taking the time to write you personally over the past three months. It's been busy at the bank. Believe me when I say that I missed you very much, though, I've read all your letters many many times before bedtime. I'm proud of what you've accomplished so far. Who would've expected my little girl to grow up to be such an exellent gardener? You must got that from your father, haha! :P
I feel very bad for missing your 18th birthday. 18 is such a milestone! Atsou and I both would've loved to spend that day with you, but from what I've heard, you've made a lot of really sweet friends so it must've been a fun party anyway! :)
However, I have great news for you. I've saved up and this summer, Atsou and I will finally be able to visit you on that lovely island! :D We'll be arriving the 23rd of July and we'll stay until August 12th. That makes 20 days of family fun! :)

We cannot wait to see you again, Ameena! Fortunately, it won't be long! :)
Take care, and once again, we love you,
Mama and Atsou
'

''What's that grin on your face?'' Leafos teasingly asked.

''My family,'' Ameena murmured blissfully. ''They're coming. I'll be seeing them again in a few months! Can you believe it? You guys are going to meet my family!''