Millie Fitzsimmons kicked her boots off as she strode through the doorway of her house. It was once her Grandfather's, but after his passing three years ago, he had left it to her and the animatronics. It had been eleven years since her adventure with the animatronics had begun, and she had had many more by their sides, taking down the ripple effect that William Afton had left behind.

"Hello, Millie dear!" Eleanor peeked around the corner. She had been fully repaired a few years ago-when Sarah had given the okay, of course-and had dived fully into what she called "community service", by helping both the gang and acting as something like Millie's housekeeper, no matter how many times Millie told her she didn't have to. "I have your clothes ready for your birthday dinner tonight! Your fiance called and told me she would meet you all at the pizza place since she will be working on a canine surgery a little later than expected."

"You didn't have to iron them, Eleanor." Millie chuckled. "But thank you, I appreciate it. Sad about Brooke, but I know how it is when duty calls."

She passed the mirror, looking at herself for a moment. She was turning twenty six today, but she could still see the young girl she once was. Her hair was short and buzzed at the back, a fringe of bangs swept to one side in the front, dark makeup relatively the same, piercings below her lip, on her nostril, covering her ears, and on her left eyebrow. She had gained weight, due to both Brooke's amazing cooking and her medications, and she wore a pair of eyeglasses with a delicate silver chain-just like she and Dylan had always joked about her wearing when she became a scary librarian. Which she was, holding down a job at the local library while she took classes in robotics and worked on her first published book of poetry.

She still had her cane to help her walk, and switched back and forth between using a prosthetic hand for her right arm and not. The scars and nerve damage still wreathed her arm and her lower legs and feet, but they no longer ached with agony anymore.

And of course, she always wore the special mourning necklace. She hardly ever took it off.

"Will Miss Cisneros be there?" Eleanor asked, wringing her hands anxiously.

"She will be. Her and Dylan are coming together since they just started dating long distance. Did I tell you about that?" Millie said carefully. Over the years, Sarah had adjusted to her robotic body, using the illusion disc to integrate and blend in with human society. She had embraced her natural beauty, never straying far from how she had looked as a human. Millie had helped her with that. "But you know you can't see her, Eleanor. No matter how sorry you are, that's her call."

"Yes, yes, of course my dear! When you all come back, I'll make sure to stay out of sight. Boundaries, just like you taught me, yes? Just do tell me how she is doing?" Eleanor relented, twisting back around the corner. "Happy birthday, by the way! I'm going to go and feed Poe now!" Poe was Millie's black and white maine coon, a gift from Dylan after Annabel Lee had passed away.

"Sure thing." Millie shrugged off her jacket, cruising through the house. It was still filled with Grandpa's wild decor, yet now flickers of Millie and Brooke and their animatronic family were sprinkled around too. A few fake spiderwebs and band posters over there, a bit of ethical taxidermy there, pink frills and frogs right in that corner, a painting that Funtime Foxy had made of them all up by the kitchen doorway…

Millie stopped in the hallway leading to the stairs and bedrooms, sighing as her fingers fluttered over a picture of Grandpa and Grandma. "I sure do miss you, Gramps. Birthdays aren't the same without you." She smiled softly. "I'll save a slice of cake for you, okay?"

Ballora twirled around the corner before dropping into her spider-like crawl. "Hello, Millie. Nice to see you home, safe and whole. How was work today?"

"It was fine. Had a few kids being rambunctious in the back of the library, but I shut 'em up real quick." Millie grinned. "I don't think they expected a librarian like me to show up."

Ballora chuckled. "Certainly not. You best get ready for your dinner tonight, and the party here with all of us later. Funtime Foxy has prepared a skit that you do not want to miss." She tilted her head mischievously. "Plus you do know how I look forward to charades."

"No worries, I was just reminiscing a bit. And there's something I gotta do before I get ready. But I'll be on time! Brooke's running late because of a puppy surgery anyways, so we'll be fine."

"If you say so." Ballora twirled her contorted body around, heading toward the kitchen. "And Millie? Happy birthday."

"Thank you, Ballora." Millie smiled wide, all teeth. She headed up the stairs, past her bedroom and to the door at the end of the hall. She opened the door and sucked in a deep breath. Funtime Foxy, Bon-Bon and Bonnet were all waiting for her. "Hey guys." She said.

"Are we going to try again?" Bonnet said, clapping her little pink paws together. "I really do believe in the birthday magic, Millie! I was just telling him all about the book you're working on!"

Before the four of them stood a completely rebuilt Funtime Freddy-from some of the old damaged parts, but mostly completely from scratch. Mechanically, the new animatronic worked just fine-but no matter what they did, Funtime Freddy's AI chip never worked, and the power module never gave it proper life. Still, over the years, they tried again and again. Hoping.

"I d-don't want you to get your hopes hopes up, Millie." Funtime Foxy said. "We've b-been trying for over over a decade. I commend your p-perseverance, but I don't want want the disappointment to ruin your b-birthday as it did did last y-year. You know he wouldn't want it to either. Not not to mention all your w-worrying over the new Pizzaplex."

"I know." Millie said solemnly. "But Bonnet is right. There is a little magic when it comes to birthdays, don't you agree?" She smirked, hoping it would disguise the pain in her eyes. She knew that Funtime Foxy would see right through her though-he always did.

"Well, let us have a go." Bon-Bon said, cheerfully hopping over to Millie. "If it doesn't work now, tomorrow is always another day."

"True." Millie said, lip quivering as she approached the model of Funtime Freddy. She carefully opened up the chest compartment, working her fingers around the power module to pry it open and set it on the desk. No matter what she did, she couldn't seem to replicate what Afton had done to bring his animatronics to life, and she was unwilling to take a dark path to try and bring her friend back. Still, she studied robotics and did her best. She refused to give up on him.

She opened up her mourning necklace and carefully removed the AI chip, fitting it gently into its little bed in the power module. She closed it all back up, made sure that everything inside was working with a quick maintenance check up and stood back. She could turn it on herself and make it move, but it wouldn't be Freddy-it would just be an empty animatronic. She wanted to see if it would move of its own free will.

The four of them stood there in silence, watching the animatronic bear for any signs of life.

After fifteen minutes, Funtime Foxy turned away, pain scrawled across their metal features. "Millie, I-I don't think it's going going to work." He placed a hand on her shoulder, his kind touch saying a thousand words. "It was worth a shot though though. Just make sure n-not to lose yourself in this."

Bonnet hung her head, trailing backward. "We can still have an awesome birthday for you, Millie! After all, Alec and Hazel are coming! And there's going to be even more new friends I haven't gotten to meet yet, right? It's going to be so much fun!"

Bonnet was right-Millie's wayward little family had grown and grown over the years. Still… she couldn't shake off the grief of what had happened that day, no matter how much time had passed. She could tell Bonnet was the same despite her chipper words. Love didn't give up that easily.

"I'm going to g-go ahead and make preparations for the party party tonight." Funtime Foxy's head twitched as he slipped past, the tic betraying just how upset they were. "I will s-see you later this evening, Millie. Happy birthday birthday!"

Bonnet wished Millie a happy birthday too, sing-songing it as she slipped out the door to follow Funtime Foxy. It was then just Millie and Bon-Bon, staring at each other forlornly.

"They're pretty upset, huh?" Millie scratched the back of her head, feeling pretty bummed herself. "Maybe… It's not the healthiest thing to do this every year."

"I do believe in birthday magic, Millie, but I think… Some things can't be fixed. And we have to be okay with that, you know?" Bon-Bon said slowly. "But I think you've done a really good thing in working so hard on this. Just like Funtime Foxy said though, you don't want to lose yourself."

"I won't." Millie said, sighing. "Just… Could I have a few minutes alone with him? To talk and stuff?"

"Of course." Bon-Bon nodded. "Take all the time you need. We still have party preparations to make anyway." He put a paw to her leg as he passed, looking up at her kindly. "Happy birthday, Millie. You have grown up so wonderfully. It is a gift to have been by your side all these years."

Millie smiled brightly. "Thank you, bro. I could say the same about you, yeah?"

Bon-Bon chuckled. "We are a pair of lucky ducks then. Er, rabbits. Something." He waved as he left Millie to her own devices.

The woman had claimed she had wanted to talk, but she instead simply stood in silence, looking at the floor. She couldn't stop thinking of her fifteenth birthday, arguably the best birthday she had ever had. She kicked at the floor a little, walked in a circle, played with her piercings, but couldn't even begin to look back at the Funtime Freddy model she had built.

"I uh. I love you, Freddy." She finally said. "I wish you could hear me, and we could celebrate my birthday together. I know you're out there somewhere though. And… I just want you to know I love you. And miss you. And that I tried."

She did an about face, hand clenched into a fist. She walked toward the door. All that was left to do now was to get ready for her birthday dinner. Maybe Funtime Foxy was right. Maybe it was time to leave this behind. There was already enough to worry about with Fazbear Entertainment's newest resuscitation.

Her hand wrapped around the doorknob, trembling. Even after all these years, she was still a crybaby.

She opened the door.

She took a deep breath.

Stepped into the doorway.

Got ready to say goodbye.

"Why, hello there Silly Millie! It's been awhile, hasn't it?"

THE END.

A/N: And now, our journey finally comes to a close. Wow! This has been an incredible journey you guys-from writing out my own tale, to making new friends, to getting fanart, to sharing laughter and tears with you all... It has been a true gift to get back into writing and to have found my niche in such a wonderful community. Thank you all so much for supporting me and rooting for my versions of these characters. I hope that you have enjoyed this ride, and love this bittersweet end as much as I do. I am hoping to write a possible sequel or spin off, along with other stories (both original and fanfiction) so please do keep your eyes peeled.

Keep in touch with me on tumblr via chicatenders or toadwarts, and message me on toadwarts since my messages literally disappeared on chicatenders. If you enjoyed this story, please consider supporting my work by tipping me via my ko-fi /toadwarts

Just, from the bottom of my heart... Thank you all so very, very much! See you next time!