We're going to come to a close. I hope that you all enjoyed the journey.

...

Gwen sighed as she walked out over a little bridge. She gazed down at the water beneath. She was still coming to grips with her foster mother's passing. What was she to do now? Was it her fault? She knew the incident with Nightmare caused a lot of undue stress on her foster mother. Was she to blame for her mum's no longer being among the living? She knew that her mum would never blame her, but some part of her wanted to blame herself. She sighed as she did what she usually did when she was conflicted, she sang.

You left today
without a goodbye
Big girls never cry, big girls never cry

It was a bit of an old song, one that wasn't always easy to find, but it seemed to fit right now. She twirled the ends of her hair between her fingers. It was a nervous habit, but one that her mum permitted her as it kept her from chewing on her hair or nails. If it wasn't for Donny suggesting it as he liked twirling her hair in his fingers himself, she might have continued her bad habit of hair chewing.

She didn't want to admit about who she was really worried about, her foster father. She knew that she could take care of herself. She had been made to for a good portion of her life, but what was he going to do, though? Willow had been his life. He had even stated that that was why he married her. Gwen had been staying strong for his sake. However, staying strong for him wasn't going to stop the trials that they had coming.

Out of the blue,
without telling me where and why
Big girls never cry, big girls never cry

Now I find myself out on a limb
without a friend, the future looks grim
Hoping this river of sadness is running dry
Big girls never cry, big girls never cry

She could see visions of the good times that she had with her mum in the waters below. There were images of the many mornings that they shared breakfast together, the many afternoons out in the garden singing to the flowers, decorating the house for the holidays, making costumes for Halloween, a dance recital, or just because, and staring up at the stars and trying to identify the constellations. Their favorite had been Orion the Hunter because he was always the easiest to find. A few of them made her smile a bittersweet smile. For despite how they made her smile, they also reminded her that it was all over.

She had felt the downward spiral for quite some time now. It was getting hard to keep a brave face; even Nightmare had warned her that it would get harder. She knew that he had ulterior motives behind his sweetness, and she now knew what they had been. She held no ill will towards him for it; it was in his nature. It was her own damn fault for getting herself into that mess that she had made.

Big girls never cry, big girls never cry
Big girls never cry, big girls never cry
Big girls don't cry
Big girls don't cry

She could hear someone beneath her melody and turned. To say the least, she was surprised to see Luka standing there with a bittersweet smile all his own. Seeing such a sad smile on him reminded her that he was much older than she was. How many had he loved and loss? How well did he understand the pain she was going through? He had hinted her to it before.

Big girls never cry, big girls never cry

He walked up to her and cupped her cheek. She leaned into his touch, her eyes closing. The coolness of his skin almost eased the burn of the tears that she continued to fight. His voice was pleasant to listen to, and she remembered back to the first time she heard him sang. She knew that he had a pleasant singing voice since she could listen to him talk for hours like she could Vlad, but to hear it once again… now that felt special.

Somewhere along the way we're taught to keep it all together,
We mask the pain we feel inside, to make everyone else feel better,
You wrap your arms around yourself and bury all your sorrow,
You can't hide from your emotions baby, they'll still be here tomorrow,
If your heart won't let it flow,
I want you to know,

He made her look him in eye, even though he knew that was the hardest thing for her to do right now. They both knew that she probably wouldn't be able to fight the tears much longer. However, she glanced down holding onto what little pride she might have had left. She was the one who would speak of pride coming before the fall. So, she knew that she would have to let go of it sooner or later before she fell herself. He could feel that there might come a time she would take hold of it again, but her hold on it now was loosening.

He stroked her cheek with his thumb, trying to give her as much of his strength that he could. He had never really lost his mother, not the one that he knew as his mother at least. He wasn't even sure that he could be as strong as she was being if he were to lose the woman he knew had raised him. She hadn't even had her mother as long as he had, but he knew that she loved hers just as dearly as he loved his. He wondered how she wasn't a mess right now.

It's OK to cry, everybody's gotta hurt sometime
Let those tear drops fly, don't even try to dry your eye
don't keep it all inside, in the morning it'll be alright
It's OK to cry

Big girls never cry, big girls never cry

She was fighting, but he was starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. He was trying to teach her the very thing he didn't practice, the very thing he couldn't. Despite how he couldn't though, he didn't want one of the few people special to him to become like him. True, she was viewed in a distasteful light in her world much like he was, but she didn't even live up to her legacy in the slightest. He, however, had grown spiteful making the rumors about him somewhat true. The difference only could be that she hadn't lived as long as he has and she probably wouldn't anyway.

He rested his forehead against hers. This caused her to look him in the eye making his own heart clench. It made him wonder how the ghoul could bear to watch her suffer. If there was one thing he had found out about Vlad's lot, it was that they were capable of dying from a broken heart. It could attest to his strength if he has lived so long despite the heartaches he must have suffered.

First you gotta fall apart to pick up all the pieces,
If you don't learn to let it go,
The pain inside increases, (Big girls never cry)
It takes more strength to hold it in then to give in and surrender,
Why's the first thing that we learn,
The last thing we remember? (Big girls never cry)
Baby, tears don't make you weak, if I could only make you see,

He pulled back just a bit as he saw that he was getting through to her, but some part of him felt that it could all come crashing down with someone else's carelessness. The problem was that he didn't know whose careless nature he had to worry about. There were a number of people who could undo what he was doing, her own grandmother included.

He knew Vlad wouldn't, Vlad had tried to put her needs above his own defying his own nature at times. Although, he wondered how long the ghoul could keep up fighting his own nature. A small piece of him prayed that she would be ready when the ghoul would finally make the sacrifice needed to protect her. What sacrifice it was, Luka could only speculate.

It ain't nothing at all
Sometimes you gotta break down and let them fall,
Baby that's true

It's OK to cry, everybody's gotta hurt sometime
Let those tear drops fly, don't even try to dry your eye
don't keep it all inside, in the morning it'll be alright
It's OK to cry

The tears were starting to well up in her eyes. He never really liked making young girls cry. It always made him feel a bit sour and cruel, but he knew that sometimes he needed to do the dirty work or no one else would. He always took a route special to the girl when going about this, but he tried to keep the best intentions at heart, even if they couldn't see it. More often than not, they hated him for it, and he hoped and prayed to some higher power that she wouldn't be one of them.

It's OK to cry

She smiled for just a second before she broke down. Luka wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He didn't speak while she wept into his shoulder. He glanced up when Vlad walked up to them and gently turned Gwen around, offering her to him.

Vlad lifted her up as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He gave a nod to Luka, who returned it back to him before fading into the Waking World. He cooed soothing words to her as he carried her over to a place where he could sit and hold her. Normally, tears would be nothing to him, the tears of a virgin would actually give him strength, but her tears at the loss of her foster mother were so pure that they caused his shoulders spasm. He could hear the slight hissing under her sobs as they melted away his armor and even his flesh. He would bear through it though, for her.

They both had been expecting this for a while, but he knew that it didn't lessen the pain any. He even warned her that no matter how ready she was for it, it was still going to hurt more than a fresh wound. At least now she could move past it and begin to heal. He just hoped that Nightmare would permit her a grieving period before trying anymore of his dirty tricks. He knew that it would be too much to ask for, but he could at least hope. However, Nightmare hadn't been seen after the altercation that Ben had intervened on. It made Vlad hope that Nightmare was off somewhere licking his wounds, which would indeed provide Gwen plenty of time to move past this.

If he had known how much of a blessing Ben would be, he wouldn't have thought of devouring the boy as often as he had. Granted, it was probably best that little Ben wasn't there at the moment or Gwen would have put on a brave face in front of him, despite his being her little hero. Vlad could tell though that the boy wouldn't want Gwen putting on any brave faces and rather her just be happy. His innocence paired off well with hers and Deirdre's.

Some small piece of Vlad also wondered what her benefactor Mr. G was going to do about this. After all, she was still a foster child. Vlad knew that the systems could be irrational, and some part of him had been nagging him over that for the longest time. He had seen that Gwen was worried by it as well. She never voiced it, but her eyes couldn't hide very many secrets, especially from him.

He fought back a hiss when his flesh opened up to the muscle beneath. He wasn't going bother her with it. It wasn't something that he hadn't gone through before. Hell, Mab's punishment was worse than this when it came to pain, he thought. Resting his head against her, he shushed her.

He listened to her quiet sobs and felt her shoulders shake. Underneath it all, he could hear her very heart breaking. To hear the convulsions as it tried to cope with the emotions she was feeling, it stirred his very own. It was in a vampire's nature to seek out the beats of breaking hearts. Many couldn't understand why, they figured it was due to the romantic nature of the vampire. Some of them even attributed it to the fact that those with broken hearts were easier prey. Vlad, however, knew that it was due to the fact of vampires being able to die from broken hearts. Like and like should always stay together, after all.

"Like and like stick together," that was the saying, right? Vlad couldn't even focus on his train of thought anymore as he became enveloped in the sound of Gwen's pulse. He could feel the strength in her arms waning as well as her sobs. He knew that he could end all of her suffering in an instant. Would it be so wrong to undo the both of them?

Vlad's entire body froze as his eyes shot open. He pulled his fangs away from her before they could pierce her neck. He forced himself to close his jaw as a single bloody tear strayed from his eyes. Gwen was ignorant to what had just transpired as she snuggled into him. He held her close as she faded away from the Realm of Dreams to a land of dreamless sleep.

"No…" Vlad gasped.

...

Alucard: Wha... Wait... What did you do?!

MsN: What? O.o

Chase: What? Someone not happy?

Alucard: Shut Up!