A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and for sticking with the story! This is the last chapter, though there will be an epilogue posted next Tuesday. I hope you all have enjoyed the ride!

…-…

Happy endings. They depend on where you stop the story.

It's like something my mom used to say. The reason fairytales end when they do is because of the promise of a better future, without seeing the reality play out. If you end Cinderella right after she's saved by the handsome prince, then you don't have to see them fall out of love or succumb to illness or have children who think little of them.

My mom was kind of cynical, but she has a really good point, I think.

For example, Mr. Blackheart's story should have ended in a place called Tirisfal, before the plague. Back when his biggest concern was which flowers to steal from his neighbor's garden to give to his girlfriend for her birthday.

It shouldn't have gone on to have him die writhing in a ditch, half a mile from her house. It shouldn't have had him realizing that he was damned to eternity as a monster, his heart twisting itself into something atrocious, so that just maybe the pain of his reality would stop. It shouldn't have had him giving himself over to hellfire to prevent reinforcements from making it to that eredar's side. Of burning away into nothing after telling us that he welcomed death as there hadn't been anything left for him in life for a long time.

And it sure as heck shouldn't have had him using something called a damned soulstone on himself while I was mourning his death. I'd actually felt bad that he was a pile of ash. But no, that asshole had to get back up from the dead. It makes me want to strangle him, but I already tried that once, remember? Dead guys can't be strangled, on account of they don't need to breathe.

Sorry for all the cursing. Elizabeth is rubbing off on me. She's Miss GC, in case you're wondering.

But yeah. Mr. Blackheart gave some dramatic speech about life and lost love before running off to die for the cause and he didn't mean any of it. The truth is, he loves being a monster. Not having any rules or responsibilities he feels bound by. He'll probably be around long after the rest of us just because of that.

Most of our stories are winding on. Some paths are splitting while others remain parallel and I don't know why, but I've been thinking about what my mom said, about happy endings. Like, I don't see how Mr. Blackheart could have one waiting in his future, being dead and all, you know? His happy ending was, like I said, back before the plague hit, assuming his little speech had any merit to it, anyway.

Maybe he's never had a happy ending moment in his life.

I've been wondering how many of my group's happy endings have already played out.

That's really morbid, isn't it? I'm not trying to be. I just…I don't see any of our stories concluding with, "And they lived out their final days in peace, surrounded by family and friends."

I think…I think I've been pondering this because of what happened to Clara and Nicolas.

I mean, I don't wanna paint what happened in the wrong light, but, well…

Clara's dead.

She went down fighting for my world and the worst part is…I didn't even realize she'd gone down until it was too late. Not that I probably could have done anything to save her, but...

We'd been fighting wave after wave of demon when that eredar in charge finally fell to the ground and it took me a moment to realize that he was really, honestly dead. And I just stared at him as it sunk in that he'd been the one leading the attack on my world and that he was dead. The head of the snake had been chopped off.

I couldn't believe it and as I looked around, trying to make sure this wasn't some dream, I looked over and saw that everyone was heading to where Kelveris was, near the back of the room, next to someone lying on the ground. I didn't even think to look over who was still standing. I'd known we'd lost Isaiah and two druids who had come with us out here, but I knew every face and I could've figured it out, but I was just…my mind went blank. Maybe it was just exhaustion taking its toll.

By the time I got over there, they'd already closed Clara's eyes. Nicolas was crumpled over her, his fingers digging into the cloth of her robe as he rested his head against her, as though if he let go his whole world would slip away.

I've never liked him much, but seeing him like that broke my heart. And it still breaks, whenever I think of him, wherever he is now. See, after we'd finished hunting down the remaining demons and seen every building in the place gutted with flames, he took Clara's body home to Stormwind.

I haven't heard from him since, but with the war breaking out in Azeroth…

Kelveris told me about how Nicolas and Clara had been together for years. How Randall had been the closest thing to family he'd ever had. After Randall died, Clara was all he had left.

His story should have ended a long time ago, in a place called Naxxramas. Not a single member of their raid died in those fights. It was there that Randall told Nicolas that he was more a brother to him than his real siblings. It was there that Clara finally lost her patience and kissed Nicolas first.

Naxxramas ended with hope for them.

Maybe he'll find someone else. Maybe this Hellscream guy can be reasoned with and the war will end before it's really begun. Maybe the heroes of Azeroth won't be pitted against one another.

All those maybes sound so…empty.

Kelveris, Derres, and Cisty went back to Azeroth as well. They said they'd keep an eye on Nicolas and keep us up to date.

Of my Alliance friends, Neesera, Maevlen, Hendric, and Eric are staying in my world, to help us rebuild. I think…with the demonic forces growing scarcer by the week, that my world is almost a vacation for them. Fizz, Senta'ri, and Mr. Blackheart have stayed as well, though…I'll get to Mr. Blackheart again in a moment.

Ripper and Miksa wanted to stay, but when we got back from our trip up north, there were these Kor'kron guards waiting for them with orders. Fluffy went with them. He's like their pocket healer or something. They wished us well—I don't think their escort approved of their familiarity with humans from any world, but they just acted like they didn't hear the disapproving grunts behind them—and left us with a chest thump and the words, "Lok'tar ogar."

Victory or death.

V—that's what Elizabeth calls that Russian guy, since I guess she can't pronounce his name either—is working on organizing a group to start sweeping through Russia to make sure there aren't any large pockets of demons left out there. I think Maevlen, Eric, and Elizabeth are going to go with him.

Brath has made it clear that he's going wherever I go and honestly, I don't know what I'm gonna do yet. Maybe head back to North Carolina and see if any of my friends or family are still alive?

Or maybe we'll go look into the rumors we've heard from Mr. Blackheart about his…fellow Forsaken 'liberating' certain areas of their corpses. He was quick to say that the undead he'd been talking to had been referring to taking a few bodies for spare parts—like if his arm were to fall off and he needed a less decayed one—but I have a feeling that whatever they're doing is a lot worse.

There's still plenty of uncertainties in my life: Will the Legion come back with a vengeance? Will the budding war in Azeroth spill over to my world? Are the Forsaken bolstering their numbers for said war using the dead of my world?

I don't know the answers, but I think that this point in time is my happy ending. I mean, who knows? Maybe I'll have a dozen happy endings punctuating my time line, but I think this is where this arc ends.

With hope, with dreams of a tomorrow, with looking toward the future.

So I ask you this:

Remember us as we are now. We've beaten back the Legion and we're looking ahead. We're ready for whatever may come next and more importantly, Fizz and a few others at least are going to stay out here. They're pledging themselves to neutrality in hopes that someday there will be a peace in their world. We'll rebuild my world, forge ties between the Alliance and the Horde. We'll work toward something better.

I know that I've lost a lot to get to this point, but I just have to look around at the people with me to know that I've gained as much as—if not more than—I've lost. My friends, Brath, confidence that I can kick demonic ass… A sense of self worth.

Not that I hated myself before, but now I really know that I have skills, right? I'm not so average after all.

Because, you know, I did get a happy ending.

I saved a world.