I am so sorry this took so long to get up! I accidentally deleted the file and replaced it with an older one by mistake and omigod- but at least it's here now. Sorry about the wait. And thank you to everyone who has read or reviewed my story. I will be beginning another one soon... and yes, it will be done faster than this.

BTW, thanks Shady, Claire's thoughts were supposed to be italicised in the last chapter but evidently didn't come through in the final upload (long suffering sigh)

AND yes, I know this is a cheesy ending and I'm in no way happy with it. If i get inspired I might rewrite the chapter at some point. But now I've technically finished this story, i can get moving on the next one, yo.

IF EVER YOU HAVE READ/REVIEWED, BE YOU BLESSED! YOU MADE ONE AUTHOR VERY HAPPY INDEED!!!!

Chapter 30:

"What would you tell your parents?"

Rosanna swung her head slowly to look at him, and thought carefully. "I have an idea... but I'm going to need a bit of help... and also I think you should go over it with me. So you can tell me what you think."

Barry conceded, "Well, let's worry about it tomorrow. For the moment, let's see if we can help any of the townsfolk."

Chris nodded. "Okay guys, only a couple more hours."

They all stood heavily. In this simple movement grief seemed to drift like snowflakes to the ground- not forgotten, just stored until they had time to attend to it. Claire looked back across the pond to the rusting grating. It didn't look as threatening as she thought it would've... she fancied it looked almost lonely.

A part of her worried about how she would be plagued by nightmares from this night for a long, long time. Another part told her she should have those nightmares with pride and never forget the people who lost their lives here. As someone had said, a person only ever existed if they are remembered. It was important to remember.

Rebecca gasped. Immediately STARS swiveled round. A pale purple glow loomed out of the darkness at the forest edge. It wasn't hard to realize what those eyes belonged to. The universal thought was /Not now, not after all we've been through! /

The vampire didn't run at them, like they had expected. It lurked in the gloom, with small steps taking it closer to them. Gradually they could discern its shape and features. It was Jill.

No one knew how to react. Was this a joyful occasion, or was it going to be one of the most somber? Chris in particular had many thoughts rushing through his fevered mind. It was he who first spoke.

"Jill?" his voice cracked with a mixture of hope and disbelief.

The vampire smiled. She walked towards the group, stopping three meters away. Her movements were odd –smooth and slow. They didn't seem real.

"What are you doing here?"

Jill looked at the faces of the people who thought- or knew- her to be Ben's murderess. She counted every face, glad to see her friends, and saw some holes.

"Where're Ian and James?" she asked.

"Both dead," replied Barry lowly. "Where's Sena?"

Rosanna's head jerked up. She watched the other woman's face searchingly. "I don't know... but I think she's alive... Sena was half-out of the sewers when the explosion happened."

"We have to find her," Rosanna said instantly.

"What about Wesker?" Claire asked. "Won't he be with her?"

Jill didn't answer.

(Scene Change: My normal chapter breaks aren't showing up, GAH!)

Victoria tapped Wesker on the shoulder. She was knocked on her bum again as he automatically hit her in the face. It was her fault, she should've known he wouldn't trust her straight away, but she thought he wasn't even trying.

He turned to see the girl on the ground, one hand raised to a heavily bleeding nose. He offered no apology, just a "What?"

"I herb sobthink thad you bighd wan oo ear."

His face remained expressionless. "What was that?"

Victoria waited a couple of seconds until the bleeding stopped. "I heard something that you might want to hear."

"Oh?"

"Jill has gone to the STARS –who are /still/ alive- and they told her that Ian and James are dead."

Two pieces of bad news in one sentence. Wesker creased his brow. He'd just been beginning to like his cousin- from afar. "You had better not be lying..."

"No! I'm not. I could access it as soon as it became a memory..."

"Ah yes, leading to the theory of the shortest time span, the time it takes for the present to become the past, I assume?"

She didn't answer. But that's fine; he wasn't going to listen to her even if she did.

"Well," he sighed. "I guess I should go find my nieces then."

(Yet another scene change: Damn quickedit)

"What happened to Ben?" Rebecca asked quietly.

Everyone held their breath and watched Jill. It was still the same old Jill, even with glowing eyes that contrasted sharply and almost clashed with her hair and pale skin. She avoided their gaze and stared at the dark water, searching for an answer that wasn't a lie. She couldn't answer.

"Jill?" Chris watched her anxiously, wanting her to have some perfectly acceptable explanation.

She turned her face away from them.

Some worst fears were confirmed.

"If," Barry began. He stopped, and then tried again. "If you admit that you... killed... Ben, how could you dare to come back? What do you want?"

"I couldn't control myself then!" she cried. "The virus was like some sort of beast, all it wanted was blood. It was like... I was drugged, or really drunk, and all the time I was either angry or emotionless. It was all calculating."

The faces watching her were made stony with horror.

"What's changed?"

(And, yes, again)

A rough push woke the sleeping girl. She kept her eyes closed as a dull ache set in through a tired body. She was tugged at again.

"Wake up."

It took a fair bit of strength to open those incredibly heavy eyelids. Sena gazed blearily into her cousin's face. He didn't look angry, he almost looked relieved. He pulled her up by one hand.

'What's going on?" she asked.

He didn't reply. She wanted to ask again, but wisely bit her tongue. Then she saw the other girl with him. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up when she realized what the girl was.

Eventually Sena couldn't hold her tongue any longer. She recognized the route they were taking as a way to her house. "Uncle Al, what's going on? Where's Dad?"

Wesker turned to face her. As usual, he gave nothing away. "Sena, James is dead."

"Such a pity," Victoria interjected. Wesker sent her spiraling to the ground with yet another bleeding nose.

Sena merely stared at the man in horror. /You're... you're not serious? You /can't/ be serious. / Despite the protesting of her heart, she knew it was true. Her father wasn't particularly fit, but if something happened he would be the most hopeless.

"So what happens now?" her voice was leaden and heavy with repressed tears.

"We go get your sister." Wesker gave himself the liberty of giving the distraught girl a brief hug, and then pulled away just as quickly. "And then I'll take care of you. I'll take you to your mother."

"What about everything here?"

Wesker –with Victoria in tow- was already walking away. "I'll take care of it."

(jees, another one? How many of these things do I use???)

"I know who I am now," Jill said heatedly. She looked pleadingly into the faces of her former friends. "And I know... what I am."

"And what are you?" asked Chris, barely breathing.

The vampress looked into his eyes, and then into every other watching pair. Finally, like Claire had before, she let her eyes drift to the grating to hell and settle on the waters of the lake.

"I know there will be a lot of work before you trust me again... if you ever will. And I know things will be different now." She sighed, a low musical breath of air that danced on the scorched wind. "But I /am/ a member of STARS."

"And," she said simply, "even if it isn't enough, my name /is/ Jill Valentine."

She was right, it wasn't enough. But maybe, just maybe, it would do.

(Last one. This is REALLY annoying)

The obsidian waters absorbed this new progression in history, as the always had an always would. It had seen the first child go missing, and now it had seen the first child come out. It had seen many terrible things in the space of time and each had been recorded- a drop of blood in depthless waters.

Reflecting the stars and collecting tears, the mirror flickered. And for a time, it was still.

(Fin)