"Ungh…" Millie groaned, blinking in the bright light above her. "Where… Where am I?" She twitched, shooting up with a cry before exhaustion slammed her right back down. "Where am I?!"
"You're in the hospital, Millie." Grandpa brushed his fingers over her forehead, sweeping her hair away. "You're safe now, dear."
"Where's Freddy? Where's Bon-Bon?!" Millie cried, looking around rapidly. "Grandpa, we have to… We have to…"
"I'm right here, Millie." Bon-Bon placed his functioning paw on her side, voice gentle. "I haven't left you. Not even when you went into surgery."
"Surgery?" Millie choked out.
"You had some shrapnel stuck in you. Sad to say there was some in your scalp and they had to give you a bit of a shave in the back. I… I can touch it up for you later, sweetheart."
Millie blinked. "My hair is gone?"
Grandpa looked sad. "And your… Your arm, and your feet. Your feet and wrist have extensive nerve damage, and you had a few bone fractures."
"They let Bon-Bon with me into surgery?" Millie asked, suddenly feeling very dizzy and only half awake. It felt as if she was in a dream.
"Detective Larson had the staff here sign some very important contracts since he wouldn't leave your side… And some other animatronics refused to stay away too. They're waiting for you."
"Funtime Freddy?" She said hopefully, though her eyes were dull. "Is he here?"
Grandpa swallowed thickly, eyes shining. "I… I should go let the doctor know you're awake, Millie. Your friends will also want to come and see you now. Will you watch over her while I'm gone, Bon-Bon?"
"Of course, Grandpa." The little blue rabbit nodded, solemn.
Millie watched Grandpa leave, her mind filling in the blanks as she began to return to proper consciousness. She pressed her left fist to her eyes, rubbing at them as they filled with tears. "He's gone, isn't he?"
Bon-Bon pressed his face into her arm. "He is, Millie. But… He loved us. He loved you."
"But he's gone." Millie said, her voice empty as she struggled to sit up and failed. "His power module and AI chip…"
"We still have it to remember him by, or to lay him to rest." Bon-Bon said. "Whatever you would like to do, I'm sure he'd be happy for it."
Millie suddenly laughed, a sad rattle in her chest that made her ribs hurt. "We should throw a party. That's what he would have wanted right? We can sing happy birthday and find a cake in a dumpster. Maybe play some cards and have execution trivia."
Bon-Bon's ears clicked and swiveled with distress. "Yes… I think he would like that, dear Millie. You knew him well."
Millie swallowed hard. "What will you do now?"
"I… I was built for him." Bon-Bon said slowly. "I belonged with him. I loved him. And now he is gone." His little body shivered, and Millie wished that he could cry or have some sort of physical relief like she did. "So now… I will stay with you. I will never leave your side, Millie Fitzsimmons."
"And I won't leave yours." She let out something between a laugh and a sob.
A knock sounded at the door, which opened a crack without waiting for an answer. Funtime Foxy's snout peeked in through the doorway, almost cautiously. Then a pink and blonde blur sped right past, already crying uncontrollably.
"Millie!" Brooke sobbed, rattling the side of Millie's hospital bed. "You're okay! You're alive! Oh gosh, when your Grandpa called us…" She pressed her palms to her eyes, shoulders shaking. "I was so scared. Dylan rushed us down here as soon as he could, but I didn't see you before surgery. I'm just so glad you're okay!"
"I don't feel okay." Millie grumbled sourly, taken aback by the sudden explosion of emotion. Then she softened, reaching her hand out to place on Brooke's arm. "But I'm here."
"Did you do it?" Brooke asked, her voice high. "We heard a few things, but…"
"Yeah. We did. Funtime Freddy did." Millie said. "Afton's gone." She didn't feel victorious though-just broken, in more ways than one.
"Freddy…" Brooke whispered, a hand over her mouth. Dylan came up behind her, lifting Bonnet up onto the hospital bed before squeezing the blonde's trembling shoulders.
"Hey, Mills." He said. "You're amazing, you know that? You saved those kids. And who knows who else, huh?"
Bonnet scooted forward, placing a little paw on Millie's leg and looking up at her with bright green eyes. "You're a hero, Millie. Funtime Freddy must be so proud of you."
Funtime Foxy hovered in the background, stooped and silent. They stared at the floor, unwavering.
"Funtime Freddy…" Millie whimpered his name. "He isn't anything, not anymore. I… I should have done more. I could have done more."
"Don't say that." Funtime Foxy strode forward, their eyes shining with grief. "Funtime Freddy loved you, and b-because of you, he loved so so much more. He did this with a hopeful h-heart, and he left us us happy." He leaned over Brooke and Dylan, brushing his large hand over Millie's head, gentle as a feather. "You are a h-hero, Millie. All three of you went there and fought with everything you you h-had. Freddy made his c-choice. And it has made the world a better place place."
Millie twisted her head around, closing her eyes. All she could see was Funtime Freddy's wide, unwavering smile, always there, even at the end. "Thank you, Foxy." She said softly. "I… I will try to remember that." She paused before opening her eyes and looking at all of her friends. "I… I really did try."
"We know!" Bonnet said. "That's why you're amazing."
"We did all of this together. Made the world better." Bon-Bon assured her. "Though we are left with grievous wounds, both physical and emotional… We did it. Together. That, and the love we have, will never change."
"Our h-hope will never die." Funtime Foxy said.
"It can't die. What Funtime Freddy has done will live on forever." Dylan's smile was bittersweet.
Millie let her head relax on the pillow, wincing at the throbbing pain all throughout her body, localized in her arm and lower legs and feet. Brooke touched her as if she were made of glass, and at that moment...Millie felt like she was. Brooke rubbed her thumb on the back of Millie's hand reassuringly, silent-sans her sniffling-now. Still, she was impossibly warm, and her warmth spread over Millie like a blanket.
Before she knew it, Millie's eyes began to flutter closed. With Bon-Bon and Bonnet at her sides, Brooke's hand in hers, and Dylan and Funtime Foxy standing guard at her bed like guardian angels, she slipped back into sleep.
XXX
"Hey, Millie dear. I brought you something… Funtime Foxy and I worked on it together." Grandpa smiled softly, presenting Millie a black box wrapped with a red bow.
"You shouldn't have, Grandpa." Millie said happily, taking the box. Bon-Bon perked up next to her, his violet eyes bright. "Where is Foxy?"
"They'll be coming with Dylan in just a bit." Grandpa said. "After everything that's happened, they've really been getting along better. You know, I never thought I'd see the day." Grandpa chuckled. "Now go on, open it, open it!"
Millie had been in the hospital for a few weeks, her injuries slowly healing. During that time she had grown used to her short hair, learned how to live with only one hand, and grappled with the grief of losing Funtime Freddy and watching Andrew and Jake disappear to wherever spirits went to. Her friends had visited her several times, and her parents had even returned from Saudi Arabia to come and stay with her-they were still grappling with the reality of everything.
And of course, Bon-Bon had never left her side. Grandpa had been working on repairing him in the hospital room, sometimes spending the night with them. Soon it would be time for both of them to begin a bit of physical therapy.
Millie carefully undid the scarlet ribbon around the box, balancing it on her lap and humming a Curt Carrion tune. She carefully removed the lid and gasped. It was a beautiful metalworked locket of pink and white, hanging from a black chain with a tophat and bowtie engraved on its front.
Millie's hand trembled.
She fumbled with the locket, clicking it open. Inside, it held the burnt and twisted remains of Funtime Freddy's AI chip. Millie felt the tears before they began to flood, and clutched the locket to her chest.
"Oh, Millie, sweetpea. I should have warned you before…"
"No, no, this is beautiful. I can always keep him right there with me. Thank you so much." She said.
"It was Bon-Bon's initial idea." Grandpa confessed. "After we couldn't salvage anything, he thought it might be a nice idea to make a mourning necklace for you. He mentioned a moment in the workshop involving the one your parents gave to you, and how you used it to help the kids' spirits as well."
"Both were pivotal moments." Bon-Bon said, rubbing soft circles into Millie's back as she cried. "I hope that you might like this gift. Something to remember him by. Something to celebrate him with."
"Of course." Millie said, wiping at her eyes. Since being in the hospital, she had been unable to put on any makeup, and she felt so much younger and smaller without it, especially when she cried. "I'll treasure it forever. Thank you guys. For everything."
XXX
"Hello, Detective." Millie limped into her Grandpa's living room, using a black cane topped with a raven to help her walk. The nerve damage in her feet and lower legs had left her with a permanent limp and chronic pain, but it was nothing that Millie Fitzsimmons couldn't manage.
"I could have come up to your bedroom." Detective Larson said, cocking an eyebrow.
"I will take any excuse to get around and walk. I was in bed for way too long." Millie laughed. "Plus, isn't my new cane cool? Grandpa made it himself."
"It is cool." Larson admitted, chuckling. "How are you adjusting to everything?"
"Pretty well." Millie shrugged, settling down on the couch. "My mom and dad are seeing about getting me a prosthetic hand, but I'm getting used to using my left hand anyways. It's not so bad." She sniffed.
"Well that's good."
"I guess I'm just ready to get back to school soon. I'm annoyed that Brooke and Dylan got to start the new year without me."
"You'll be back soon, Miss Fitzsimmons. Right now your recovery is the most important. How are the animatronics?"
"They're 've all had a...hard time adjusting to life without Freddy." She confessed, her fingers drifting to the mourning necklace, dancing over its surface and fiddling with the clasp. "But...we're all okay. They like living in the main house, and having a little more freedom. They really liked the hospital." She grinned.
"You know how much paperwork that was for me?" Larson huffed. "And how much money it took to get all those chatty nurses to keep their mouths shut? ...But I'm glad they could be there with you. I was wrong about them Millie, I admit it. They're good robots."
"They are." She nodded. "The best. How is getting Ballora out of the distribution center going?"
"It's… going. They have the rights and the paperwork to her, so it's a pain in the ass. But we should be able to bring her home soon. You know, that old stain is gone."
"Yeah. So are my nightmares. Either my prazosin is incredible or something crazy happened." She snarked.
Larson's eyes softened. "I wish… Things had been different."
"Can't change it now. Maybe I should have listened to you, but then...others wouldn't be safe, huh?" Millie stared distantly at the wall. "We have to live with it. I'm just glad I could help Jake and Andrew. Save people. I know Freddy would be too."
"Margie cried so hard when she heard about everything. What you three did means the world to her, you know. I really hope you'll be well enough to come to our wedding."
"Sure." Millie shrugged. "I still won't be the flower girl though."
"Wouldn't ask you to." Larson grinned. "But… about saving people. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."
Millie stiffened. "What do you mean?"
"There's still some incidents being reported." Larson confessed. "There's a little extra cleanup to do."
Millie groaned, feeling her heart clench. She winced at the pain of her scars.
"You don't need to worry about it though-I'll handle it. You've done more than enough. I'd just like to see the distribution center papers to help track them down."
Millie paused, then nodded. "Okay. When I'm better… If I can help, please let me help. I want to keep fighting until all the stains Afton left behind are wiped out.
"The nightmare of Afton and the living agony are done for." Larson reassured her. "But there's still people to help. And you've proven your strengths… so if I need you, I'll call for you and your friends." Larson said. "Thank you. Just promise you'll call me too?"
Millie nodded firmly. "This time, we'll work together."
"Hey Larson!" Bonnet popped out from the kitchen, green eyes glittering. "Funtime Foxy and I just got done making cookies with Millie's dad! Would you guys like some?"
"I'm steeping tea as we speak!" Millie's mother called from the other room.
Millie had to admit the smell of oozing chocolate chips was enticing. Larson's eager expression implied that he agreed.
"Just m-make sure you you save plenty for Grandpa." Funtime Foxy swung from around the corner. "It is his recipe, a-after all!"
"You snooze, you lose." Millie beamed, pushing herself up off the couch with the help of her cane.
"It's earl grey tea, one of your favorites!" Bon-Bon appeared next to Funtime Foxy's foot, his lilting voice cheerful and easy. "With extra bergamot!"
"You know, I don't think I've ever had earl grey tea." Larson mused.
"And you never will, if you let Millie get there first!" Bonnet giggled, hopping back into the kitchen. "Mrs. Fitzsimmons, I'm coming to help you set up the tea set! Should we go with poodles or salamanders today?"
"Definitely poodles." Funtime Foxy said.
"Definitely salamanders!" Mr. Fitzsimmons called.
Millie smiled, taking a deep breath.
It would be okay.
XXX
Millie intertwined her fingers with Brooke's, blushing beneath her white foundation. "I'm still not used to it being just us." She admitted.
"Aw, we used to have sleepovers all the time. This is no different!" Brooke giggled.
"It is one hundred percent different." Millie groaned.
"Is it bad?" Brooke asked, eyes glinting mischievously.
"No, it's pretty great." Millie couldn't keep the dumb grin off her face. "Plus us going out gives Dylan and Funtime Foxy time to watch those wild telenovelas they like so much."
"Our lives feel like a telenovela." Brooke laughed. "By the way, I totally forgot to ask before we got to the nacho bar! How is Sarah?"
"She's adjusting." Millie nodded. "She still isn't speaking, and hasn't used the illusion disc, but she's moving a lot more. Lots of gesticulations and body language, which I'm adjusting to as well. I'm hoping to help her recover more and then get Larson's help with getting her back home."
"That really is amazing, you know that?" Brooke cocked her head, staring at Millie lovingly. "You're like a real life superhero."
Millie flushed. "Oh, shut up. It's fine. Besides, I haven't even begun to try and tackle the Eleanor problem."
"You'll get there." Brooke grinned. "One step at a time, huh? Plus, we have the whole rest of our lives."
It was winter now, months since Funtime Freddy's sacrifice. Nearly a year since the start of it all, though it felt like so, so much longer.
Millie and Bon-Bon had recovered well, adjusting to new disabilities and a life without their loved one. After plenty of physical therapy, Millie had learned to walk with a cane to ease the burden on her legs and back, and was an expert at using her left hand. At first she and Bon-Bon were absolutely inseparable, but that had also been working on their codependency in light of their trauma, and were making sure to take time away from each other.
Like right now, on one of Millie's first proper dates with Brooke.
"Not always…" Millie said glumly. "That's why I always want to make the most of it, you know." She felt Brooke's eyes on her mourning necklace and winced.
"That's true." Brooke nodded sagely. "But that's why I always feel like I'm living it up when I'm with you." She paused, blushing. "You know… I really could see myself spending the rest of my life with you."
Millie felt her heartbeat quicken. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Brooke batted her eyelashes, twirling a blonde curl around her feeling. "Just me, you, and like a hundred pet frogs. The dream, you know?"
It did sound like a dream Millie could get behind. She just wished… that someone else was there to share it with her. "You know, Funtime Freddy always wanted to see your frogs. He always cooed over how weird they looked in pictures."
Brooke smiled softly. "I think he would've loved them. Plus, there wouldn't be chemicals or oils or anything on him that could hurt them. He wouldn't need gloves!"
"I don't know about that." Millie chuckled. "You never know what could be on his hand." She paused, grimacing. "What could've been on his hand."
Brooke frowned. "Millie… How are you feeling about everything? I feel like you've been distracting yourself an awful lot. Throwing yourself back into school really hard, and working on your physical therapy. And regular therapy. I worry it's all a little too much, you know?"
Millie stiffened. "Yeah, well..." She sighed, posture loosening. "Maybe I have been. It's just really hard. I feel awful every time I'm happy, but I feel even more awful when all I do is mope. I just miss him."
"I know." Brooke said carefully. "I miss him too. But he would want you to smile, yeah? He'd be calling you a pickled cabbage or party pooper or something like that if he saw you all sad. There's nothing wrong with being happy after everything that's happened. What matters is remembering, and celebrating life. Both yours and the ones that were lost."
"You sound so wise." Millie mused. "You call me the superhero, but you're the one coming to save the day."
"I worry about you." Brooke's fingers fluttered over Millie's left hand and the black scars on Millie's right arm. The scars didn't hurt anymore, but they were sensitive. Millie flinched a little, and Brooke pulled back. "Sorry, sorry. I forget. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm okay." Millie nodded. "Just still getting used to it, even after all these months. I think it's been easier to adjust to the cane than to… you know." She waved her right arm, gesturing with the stub of her injured wrist. "I'm still getting used to everything."
"You'll get there. Actually, we'll get there together. Me, you, Dylan, your folks and the whole animatronic family. But especially me and you." Despite the confidence in her tone, her cheeks were bright pink.
Millie smiled. "I sure hope so."
"I know so." Brooke squeezed her arm. "Now, how about we finish off our sodas and go get some nachos? I heard the cauliflower cheese here is to die for."
XXX
Millie hovered in front of Andrew's new gravestone, a bouquet of red flowers in hand. Her short hair ruffled in the wind, her jacket pulled tight around her shivering form. "Hey Andrew." She said softly. "Thought I'd come by to say hello. I'm going on a trip with Dylan and Brooke in the spring to visit Jake, but I thought you might like these flowers too." They looked an awful lot like the flowers the Stitchwraith had had in their shed-beautiful poppies, red as blood and bright as hope.
"I don't know where you guys are now, but I hope you're happy and able to rest. You two deserve it." She placed the poppies onto the grave, leaning on her cane for support. "You guys really were so brave. Anytime I'm sad or scared, I just remember you guys and Freddy, and I don't feel so bad anymore."
Andrew Lopez
A Brave Little Soul.
Always remembered, always loved.
"I really love your new gravestone. I think it suits you. Despite everything, you still pursued Afton, did everything you could to hang on and fight. And you beat him, in the end. It makes me so proud to have known you, even if it was so brief."
She reached into her pocket, unfolding a piece of paper. "I actually wrote something… First thing I've written since everything happened. I hope it's okay if I read it to you." She cleared her throat.
"There was once a lonely, gnarled oak tree.
Its body was crooked and its smile was sour,
And a great axe had once come for its wood.
It stood in a broken forest,
All alone.
When the light burned,
And when the dryness starved,
There was nothing.
And then one day, it rained.
The rain was terrifying at first.
The oak tree was scared that it would drown.
And yet, the rain was kind, despite the crackling thunder above.
It chased away the lumberman
And every other nightmare the oak had known.
Soon, the forest around the oak began to come to life.
Before it even knew, the oak was surrounded with a hundred little saplings,
And many a creeping, crawling thing.
Despite its age, the tree's leaves began to open up,
And its face began to smile again.
The world began to truly become alive,
And colorful
And beautiful.
There were so many hungry young saplings,
But the hope of the forest was enough to feed them all.
So even when the fire came,
The oak smiled softly,
And spread its branches to protect the rest of the forest.
It looked to all the little saplings and told them to live,
Reminded them to hope,
Despite the sap leaking from their eyes.
And the next spring,
There were a million acorns.
The oak would not be forgotten,
Nor would its journey.
And if it could leave a legacy like that behind,
Was it ever truly gone?
The saplings and the bugs and the snakes and the deer smiled.
Tomorrow was beautiful."
Millie sniffled a little bit as she finished. "I uh… I'm not sure who it's really about, you know? I thought it was about me, at the beginning, but at the end, it was Freddy. I guess we really were alike, huh? He was my big brother, after all." She chuckled, smoothing the paper. "Man, Andrew. What a journey."
The flowers on the grave seemed to flutter in the wind.
"Hey, Millie?"
Millie turned, fighting back tears so as to not ruin her makeup. Like always, she failed. Smeared makeup did have a cool, edgy look to it though, right? "Hey, Bon-Bon. I was just reading Andrew my poem."
"I know he loved it." Bon-Bon said warmly, the arm that had been injured in the battle against Afton jerking as he pulled himself over the grass. "Grandpa wanted me to come make sure you're okay. He's with your mom and dad over with Grandma. Want to come see her too?"
"Sure thing. Maybe she would like to hear my poem too." Millie said shyly. She turned back to Andrew. "I've gotta go for now. But I'll be back, okay? And maybe I'll have more writing for you. Thanks for listening."
"Goodbye for now, Andrew!" Bon-Bon waved as Millie began to walk beside him, keeping her pace slow so he wouldn't have to struggle to keep up. He was still getting used to always walking on his own and being unattached to someone's wrist.
"You okay?" The little animatronic asked.
"Yeah." Millie said, and truly meant it. "It was good to see him again. And I'm looking forward to the movie night with everyone tonight."
"Me too." Bon-Bon's eyes gleamed happily. "You know, Christmas is coming soon."
"Christmas." Millie smirked. "Worst or best day of my life? It's the day that started it all." She breathed out, quiet for a moment. "Either way, I'll be okay. Maybe actually celebrating Christmas this year with everyone will be nice."
"I think it will be." Bon-Bon said.
They crested the hill, and Grandpa turned to wave them over. Millie stood there a moment, fingers feathering over her mourning necklace. Christmas. What an awful holiday.
It would be nice.
A/N: This is the final chapter, sans the epilogue that I will be posting next week. I just want to say WOWIE! I never expected so much love and support you guys! It has truly made me feel like I'm on top of the world. I hope to write more for FNAF and for other and even my own original works, and hope you all will come along with me for the ride. You can find me on tumblr chicatenders and toadwarts, and I hope to keep in touch with you all. There may even be a sequel in the works, involving a new protagonist...
Just. Thank you all so so much. It really does mean so much to me, it's crazy. I'll leave it at that for now, and say a little more next week for the epilogue. Love you guys, take care!