Epilogue

"Well," Santana sat on the ground. "Here we are," a pause. "You know, I never thought this day would ever come, like, at all... but I guess I was wrong."

A wind blew past them and she wiped her eyes clear of the dust that flew in them. "I'm going. Today," she took a deep breath. "I'm leaving Lima for college and I'm not sure if I'm coming back. I mean, of course I'll be back for Thanksgiving, Christmas and stuff like that... but I don't know when I'll be back back. I'm sorry."

A sound of cracking branches stole her attention for a second and Santana looked over her shoulder. All she saw was the same playground that had been on the same spot ever since she joined the Schuester's household, several excited little kids and their equally happy parents.

Santana turned her head around again, "So I won't be seeing you for a while– which, I guess, is kind of a good thing. I mean, you won't have to listen to me anymore, and I... well, I kinda really should stop talking to you sooner or later anyway, so... yeah. I guess it's a good thing."

"Hey," a hand appeared from behind Santana and laid gently on her shoulder. "Are you saying goodbye?"

"Mm-hmm," Santana replied without taking her eyes off the tree. Her tree. "I just wanna make sure I'm not abandoning him. Or her or it."

"Mm," Brittany, the owner of the hand, sat next to her. "You do realize you're talking to a tree, right?"

"I do, I just... This tree's been there for me this whole time. It's not fair if I leave without saying goodbye."

Brittany chuckled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You sound more like me every day."

Santana smiled and leaned on Brittany's kiss. "Again, you say it like it's a bad thing."

"You're such a secret softie, Santana."

"I blame you," Santana shrugged. "You turn me into mush every time."

"I take that blame with honor," Brittany laughed and Santana watched her with a warm look in her eyes.

They had gone so far, both of them. Once broken little girls, one of them even got broken twice, and now they're on their way out of the small town to the enchanting lights of New York City.

Santana had stayed in Lima, completing classes at the community college after graduating from McKinley. She had stayed for three things. One of them was Brittany, of course, the other was the major that the school was offering: Human Service. She figured that even if she couldn't get out of Lima, she could at least be proud of what she was studying and the promise of helping foster kids like her in the future. The third thing that kept her there in Lima was the fact that she didn't want to burden the Schuesters with her tuition when they had to think about Puck's as well. Education is education, she thought, and in her head geography did not limit success.

All of those things worked themselves out.

As it turned out, Santana didn't have to wait long for Brittany. The blue-eyed girl was determined to not hold Santana back– and to push herself harder. After further consideration which included lots and lots of conversations with everybody in the family (including Puck), she decided to go through the rest of her high school education being home schooled. Nancy had hired the best tutors to help Brittany get her high school diploma as fast as she could– and once they learned that Santana's community colliege allowed high school students to earn college credits, everybody worked together to get Brittany enrolled in those classes.

Sue Sylvester, bless her cruel yet loving heart, kept track of Santana's progress through her first year of college and notified an acquaintance who happened to teach at SUNY's School of Social Welfare in Albany. Of course, the professor was tremendously impressed with Santana's academic achievements, but it was her story (told by Sue) that drew him to her. He was willing to offer her a grant that was enough to get her through one year of studies. Her chance to get an extension would have to depend on how well she carried out her classes, but the offer alone was good enough for Nancy to agree to help with the rest of her tuition.

Nancy revealed that it was her intention from the very start– to help the Schuesters and Santana with her education costs. It was the least that she could do to "repay" Santana for everything that she had done for Brittany and herself. Santana declined at first, knowing that Nancy was to pay for Brittany's education too, but the woman insisted saying that if Doug had lived to see his money being spent for Santana's education, he would've been furious.

Now that was an offer Santana couldn't pass (though she still promised Nancy that she would pay her back).

So she said yes and tried to finish as many classes as she could at the community college, while helping Brittany with her studies just like how she always did when they were little kids. This time, with no objections, no interruptions from anybody. Everyone knew that their method of studying was effective, not just for Brittany, but for Santana as well because in order to "tell a story" to Brittany, she needed to learn everything about that certain subject.

Brittany was very grateful for her help. Santana's storytelling had definitely made studying an easier affair– plus, it earned her a lot of time spent with Santana now that she was living full time with Nancy. Although, now that she had the time to think about it, Brittany thought that the studying wasn't the paramount factor that helped her through the struggle. Rather, it was Santana's push, telling her over and over again that Brittany could do it. That she had the ability to get a high school diploma and college credits at the same time. Santana made her believe in her own magic.

Once Santana's first year of college was over, Brittany had gotten enough college credits to transfer with Santana. Prior to that, they did some research on what type of major would fit Brittany. The blonde wanted to just forgo college and jump straight into professional dance training, but Nancy wanted her to test the waters first– to enroll in the same university as Santana while still taking dance classes. If after a semester or two Brittany decided she still wanted to pursue professional dance, then she was free to do so.

A reasonable request. What mother wouldn't want her daughter to succeed? Nancy had done a bang up job in proving her worth as a mom so far and Brittany had no doubt that she would always look out for her. Santana, too. And not just because Nancy was paying for her school.

"What?" asked Brittany. Santana had been looking– staring– at her for a full minute now with a look in her eyes that told Brittany that she was everything. The look that never failed to anchor Brittany in her weakest moments.

"Nothing," smiled Santana. "Just thinking... we've come a long way, you and I."

Brittany nodded with a smile and a gleam in her blue eyes. "Yeah, we have."

"If you hadn't gone and disappeared that day, I wouldn't have been a sobbing mess at the curbside. I wouldn't have figured out how important you are to me," Santana chuckled and shook her head at a distant memory.

"Yeah, you were pretty slow," Brittany playfully nudged Santana's shoulder with her own and Santana leaned her head on it. "Hey," Brittany gave a kiss on the top of Santana's head.

"Hm?"

"Are you happy?"

Santana closed her eyes and sighed. "I'm perfect. We are."

"Even if we're–"

"That doesn't matter," Santana cut Brittany off and gave her hand a squeeze. She knew it would always be an issue to Brittany that they still hadn't had a lot of success when it came to sex, no matter how many times she told her that she would give her as much time as she needed. Rest assured, there had been progress Brittany had been talking to someone about it. And yeah, that someone was a redhead and sometimes still had a fondness towards cleaning products, but it was easier for her to discuss her issues with someone who was already in the know and Brittany's fear had subsided more and more. Almost gone. Almost.

"I've told you a million times already, B. We'll get there someday. Together."

"I know," Brittany looked down and played with her fingers. "I just don't get it. Why would you wait for me?"

Santana shrugged. "Because I love you? Look," Santana cupped Brittany's face and looked straight into her eyes. "There is nothing I would change right now."

"Really?"

"Well, I guess we could probably skip Hell altogether," she gave Brittany a sad half smile that was returned with the same kind of smile. "And I guess I'm still kind of wondering why my..." she cleared her throat, "why my dad left. But other than that, when it comes to us... I'm good."

"I've been meaning to tell you this since forever but I kept forgetting about it," Brittany told her. "I think... the reason why your dad left, is because for everybody, there's always that one person they'd do everything for. One person they'd die for. One person they couldn't live without. And to your dad it was your mom. I mean, I'm not justifying him leaving you, but..." Brittany trailed off when she saw Santana staring at her.

It was a simple answer, and Brittany didn't really know why Santana hadn't figure it out before, but it worked wonders. For the first time since the day she found her father hanging from the ceiling, Santana finally made sense of it all. Maybe because she now knew what it felt like to have that someone, or maybe just because she was a little bit wiser than the 9-year-old Antonio Lopez had left behind (she had a feeling that it was the first one), but one thing is sure: she was suddenly not as angry as she was before. And it was all because of Brittany's simple logic.

Santana didn't answer her girlfriend right away. Instead, she gave her a kiss right on the lips. "Britt," Santana breathed out. She rested their foreheads together and put a hand on Brittany's cheek, her thumb going back and forth slowly caressing it. "You know you just answered your own question, right?"

Brittany furrowed her eyebrows, trying to make sense of what Santana was telling her. Question? What questio– OH.

"Come on," Brittany blushed and grinned, stood up and offered Santana hand. It was an unsaid 'I love you to the moon and back' that only Santana could understand. Brittany scrunched her nose and grinned at the same time. "The world is waiting for us."

Santana accepted the offer, kept her hand in Brittany's and walked a step behind her girlfriend, tucking a strand of blown hair behind her ear with her free hand. She looked over her shoulder and sent her tree a silent goodbye with a smile, giving it the gratitude it deserved, and she could swear the tree answered her back with a rustle of its leaves.

Brittany gave her hand a squeeze and pulled it gently so that they were walking side by side to the car. Their charm bracelets brushed each other's and they both shared a knowing look.

The world is waiting for them, and this time, nobody was letting them go.

A/N: I just wanna say thank you. Thank you so much for reading this story, leaving reviews, pressing the fave & alert buttons. They really mean a lot to me. I've learned so much while I was writing this story. Not just about the characters, but also about everyone who's left me messages and even about myself.

I had to stop here because life just presented me a surprise that leaves me with little to no time to write at all. If I forced myself to continue, this will not end good. But, as you can see, I'm leaving this open-ended... so that maybe I could go back in and write a sequel. Someday. Maybe. Hopefully.

So. goodbye for now. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you so, so much for everything. Hit me up via reviews or PM about anything, I'll try my best to reply them all.

Stay safe, take care of each other. :)