Epilogue
the tigris: ^_^
digi-girl and her muses: I never really that chapter was sweet. It was the chapter before that was sweet.
Hijiri Hitokiri Battousai: You never know. In the future you might get your wish...
Rayz Kitten: She loved them all, yes. As for what she named her baby, read on...
And here we are, the very last bit. Thought I might save you the wait and put it up. Enjoy.
Five figures gathered around the cot, staring down at the dark-haired, yellow-eyed infant as she squirmed, cooing softly at them.
"You've got to admit she's beautiful," Ray said with a smile.
"Absolutely adorable," Lee agreed.
"Make you wish you were the father?" Mariah teased.
"No," came back the answer before they laughed.
Gary looked up at Ray. "So when you coming back to the village?"
"Not for a while yet, Gaz." Ray shrugged. "The village will always be home, but my place is with my team now. Besides, I couldn't bare to leave Kai."
Lee looked at the teen beside him, nudging him with his elbow. "So have you made your decision? The one we talked about a couple of weeks ago."
Kevin nodded. "I'm not going back."
Ray, Mariah, and Gary all looked up sharply. "What?"
Kevin shrugged. "Mr D offered me a job, and I accepted it. The village is too confining. I felt like I was suffocating. Sure I'll come back from time to time, but my place is out here, in the wide world. I feel like I can accomplish something out here."
Lee nodded, smiling. "I'll go wherever you go, Kev, and I mean that."
Mariah's shoulders slumped, tears collecting in her eyes. "So it's over then? The White Tigers?"
"Are you kidding me?" Lee shook his head, laughing softly. "We're the best team China has ever had, and I intend to keep it that way. I say we meet up before the next championship and do some serious training. That way we can get back in shape and be ready to beat the Blade Breakers at their own game."
Ray snorted. 'You can try."
"I'll go back to the village," Gary said. "Help my Dad."
"I'll go back too," Mariah said with a smile. "It's the perfect place to raise a child."
Kevin leant forward, reaching out and pressing a finger into a tiny hand, digits closing around it in reflex and causing him to smile. "Have you chosen a name for her yet?"
She nodded. "I have. It came to me as we left the meeting." Mariah smiled, reaching down to smooth her daughters hair.
"I'm going to name her Honesty."
Dekiagaru (Finish)
There you are, yet another completed story. And one with a happy ending too. Told you it wouldn't turn out too bad in terms of Mariah, and some small splashes of pure shonen ai in there too. And the last line of the story reveals why this story is called 'Honesty'. I bet you never even realised that the story was named after the baby. I thought it would be a nice little twist at the end.
Again, thank you to the support of my beta's Izure and Melanie, who put up with my nagging and whining, and took the time to read through this and correct the multiple grammar and spelling mistakes. I'd always be glad to return the favour ladies, so feel free to dump your stuff on me at anytime. ^_^
Thank you to all those who read this, especially the Mariah fans who had to put up with the bashing early on. Again, sorry about that, but I am sure you understand why I did it now.
Just let you know that there next story I will be putting up is a four part fic titled Highway and includes all teams from season one. Following that there will be a gift fic I wrote for Melanie titled Out of the Darkness that centres around the Demolition Boys.
Then keep your eye out for Honesty II. Lets just say that someone said that all was forgiven, but is it really that easy to simply let go of the past?
Well, back to the laptop for me. Time to see what the next load of crap will be and if I can twist it into something good. Got a couple of ideas, so we'll just have to wait and see how they turn out…