A/N: There will be a longer author's note below, but I want to say this up here. Thank you so very much for reading. I spent over 3 years of my life to give you all this story. I hope you enjoyed it.

Please leave a review.

In return for all my hard work, that is all I ask for.


Epilogue: Tiger's Circus

I patted Lisa's carrier fondly as I looked out the window at the pale blue sky. Sarah would never believe I was sitting in a private jet heading towards India right now. When I had told her that I planned to leave the country during winter break, she thought I had meant Canada. A place that was, according to her, a dangerous, far-off wilderness.

After I had heard her say that, I hadn't been in a hurry to correct her mistake and tell her my real destination. As it was, just telling her that I planned to do any traveling during Christmas had appalled her sensibilities and undid all the goodwill I had gotten from dutifully attending college for the past four months. Suddenly, I had gone from being Sarah's prodigal niece who had seen the light to her foolhardy brother's foolhardy daughter.

And Sarah had wasted no time in guilt-tripping me about my plans. I did feel a little bad about skipping out on Christmas after Sarah and Mike had taken care of me and more importantly, let me take care of Lisa. But still, I wasn't sad to go.

Christmas was a bittersweet day for me. My parents had died shortly after the holiday. Every year, Sarah somehow managed to remind me of that fact despite her purposefully dancing around the subject. As with everything, I had hoped going back to Circus Maurizio would cure my dislike for the holiday, but obviously, I didn't stay there long enough to test that assumption.

Thank goodness.

I couldn't regret everything about my summer at the circus. After all, I had met Dhiren there and I wouldn't trade that for anything. He had become my best friend and my second favorite cat. But still, as I looked back at last summer, I felt a mixture of disappointment and anger for the place that had once been my home. I hoped I would never see Circus Maurizio or the people in it ever again.

"Miss Hayes." Nilima's voice came through the plane loudspeaker. I was still trying to convince her to use my first name. "This is your captain speaking. Please buckle in and adjust your seat back to the full upright position. We're beginning our descent into Mumbai. We should be on the ground in 30 minutes."

I placed Lisa's carrier on the floor and did as Nilima instructed.

"Also," she added, "look out the window. You should be able to see the city by now."

I looked outside again and saw she was right. I smiled down at the city. It was official. I was in India. Thoughts of Sarah and Circus Maurizio faded away as I found myself wondering what Mom and Dad would think if they could see me now.


About a half-hour later, the plane had touched down on its private landing strip and Nilima was standing next to me. She held a hand out. "I'll take care of Lisa and your luggage. Hurry and get outside. He's waiting for you and we're already late."

"Alright," I said. I patted the carrier again. "She's asleep so…"

"Be gentle. I know."

"Right," I said, still feeling vulnerable. Even though Lisa was better now, I did not think I would ever fully trust anyone else with my bobcat after what happened last summer. I carefully placed Lisa's carrier into Nilima's hands. I hovered for a bit as I made sure Nilima had the carrier in a firm grip and wouldn't drop Lisa. After one last look at the pilot, I headed to the plane door.

Just beyond the mounted staircase, Dhiren was waiting for me. His eyes shone with happiness.

"Dhiren!" I called out. I ignored the heat and humidity and ran down the steps to meet him. Then I wrapped him up in a tight hug. "I missed you," I said into his fur.

The tiger chuffed in a way that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

I pulled away so I could see his face.

Dhiren cocked his head to the side and gave me a look.

I knew what he was getting at. I had actually seen a lot of Dhiren over the last few months. Ever since I had freed him from the circus, our connection had been a lot stronger. Even with him in India, I had still dreamt about him and had been able to talk to him most nights.

"Well," I amended, "I missed hearing your voice. I'm looking forward to having you do some of the talking for a change," because I'd seen a lot of Dhiren's tiger form, but his human form, not so much. Apparently appearing as a human over such a great distance was too taxing for him.

Dhiren nuzzled my face and chuffed even louder.

I laughed. It was so good to see him in person.

Nilima appeared beside me and said, "Well, I got your stuff. If you're done coddling him, we can leave."

Dhiren shot her a look.

She raised her eyebrows in challenge.

"Okay," I said cutting through the tension. "I'm ready." I held out my hand to grab Lisa's carrier.

Nilima handed it to me.

"Follow me," she said, walking off.

I still didn't understand what was going on between Dhiren and Nilima. Their relationship had a sibling-like loving animosity to it. It was one of the many things I was looking forward to asking Dhiren about now that we were closer.

I looked down at the tiger. His expression of annoyance faded as he met my gaze.

I had so many questions for Dhiren about the dreams, Nilima, and even my parents. I hoped that over this break, we would discuss those things and more. I wanted to know all about this tiger of mine.

For now, I asked him, "Are you ready?"

Dhiren nodded. He looked more than ready. He seemed full of energy. I knew the feeling.

I grinned. "Then, let's see this new circus of yours."

Dhiren chuffed happily. Then he turned and we started to follow Nilima to her truck.

Later, we all found our places in the vehicle and Nilima began driving away. As we left the private airport behind, I felt a lightness inside me that I hadn't felt in a long time. For a moment, I wasn't sure what it was.

I looked around the truck. I sat in the passenger's seat. Lisa was in her carrier sitting in my lap. Nilima was beside me, driving. And Dhiren was laying down partially hidden underneath a tarp in the truck bed behind me. As my eyes met his, he winked at me, and then, suddenly, I knew.

Even though I was in a strange land setting off on a crazy new adventure, it didn't feel that way. It felt like I was going home.


A/N: First things first,

Review!

REVIEW!

R! E! V! I! E! W!

This is the last chapter. Please for the love of stories everywhere, for Tiger's Curse, for Kelsey, for me, leave a REVIEW!

If you're stuck, tell me which chapter was your favorite. Just like the chapter number will do. (My favorites are 12, 26, and 36.) If you want to get fancy, tell me why. (12 for the familial awkwardness. 26 because of the tempo. 36 because it's climatic.)

Now on to the other stuff. I have dreamed of this day for over 3 years. When I set out to write Tiger's Circus, I thought it was going to be 8 chapters and that I would finish it in a single summer, "Fanfic Summer", as me and my beta reader, march4fun, called it. We all know that didn't happen.

The trouble began in Chapter 7: The Kitchen, where Kelsey met Matt. That encounter took a couple of months to solve but I was determined. I had promised myself that I would not be one of those people who left their fanfic unfinished. Eventually, I invented Susan who later became Ruth, and introduced the concept of KP. That was the catalyst of my biggest stumbling block: Chapter 9: Closed Doors when Kelsey skips out on her cooking lesson. Kelsey by that time was almost like a real person to me. We argued, fiercely. I tried to write the scene differently so that she didn't do something so stupid because I knew skipping the lesson would piss Ruth off, but in the end, I relented. I realized I had underestimated Kelsey and that she would do what she wanted even if it had repercussions later and boy did it.

Kelsey and I continued to fight a lot and it led to many partial drafts. Such as that time when:

- Kelsey dyed Lisa's fur to look like a tiger.

- Kelsey actually went to see a fireworks show with the circus.

- Kelsey became friends with Clare.

- Kelsey and her mom talked about weddings in a dream flashback.

- Kelsey went to college and met gender-bent versions of her romantic love interests from Tiger's Quest

- Kelsey encountered Phet at the bookstore.

- Kelsey fell into a depression where she ate unseasoned beans and watched TV.

- Kelsey met Nilima in a cafe, at the circus, and/or the county fair.

- Kelsey challenged Ruth to a cooking contest Food Wars style.

- Kelsey went up against the circus council.

- Kelsey mourns the death of Lisa.

- Kelsey and Dhiren went to a county fair together.

- Kelsey cooked tandoori chicken.

- Kelsey read a very interesting romance story about the first hippogriff.

If some of those scenarios sound ridiculous, they were. Me and my beta reader, march4fun, discussed them all at length to find the right path. And I believe I eventually found it. Kelsey Hayes and I have been through a lot together. She taught me about myself, my values, my career path, and even my own grief. I owe a lot to her and to you all.

I want to thank everyone who has made it this far and read my fic. I want to thank those of you who followed and favorited. To every person who ever left a comment, you have my sincerest gratitude. Each comment is like a precious gem to me. Thank you to my readers in Germany and Brazil. You guys are some of the first to read when I post and it always makes me happy to see you on my stats sheet. And of course, I've said before, but thank you to march4fun. He is the reason this fic exists. Without his support, I doubt this fic would ever be finished. To make this very corny, he is my Dhiren.

If you haven't already, check out what he's written. It's different from my stuff but has sincerity and heart which I thoroughly approve of. I also have other fics now. Rajah's Curse has Dhiren as the main character. The Sue's Curse is quite odd, but I like it. If neither are to your liking then I guess this is goodbye.

For some of you, the people of the future, this might be a single day of binge reading, but for me, it was 3 plus years of work. Every month save November, I worked on this story. Even when I didn't publish anything, it was not for lack of trying. There are probably over 25 chapters of unused material and thousands of words I had to delete. There were so many times I thought I would never get here. That I would never get to write this author's note. Now that I'm here, it feels like this is the end of an era.

Goodbye readers. I wish you all luck on whatever crazy new adventure you may be going on next.

- Sincerely,

annbe11