Epilogue
"So, it's all over, then?" Trip leant back on one of crates in the cargo bay, a relieved smile on his face. Malcolm nodded, his own face mirroring the same relief and happiness that the nightmare was all over.
It had taken them over five hours to alter everybody's memory of the last evening, and remove all evidence of what had happened. They had even changed the ship's clock, and wiped all sensor readings from the black box. The crew would wake up in about an hour or so.
But, in the meantime, they were celebrating - some, like Trip, were simply sitting around chatting, and other's, like Elanor, were dancing to - by some miracle of Hoshi's - music from the Wizard's Wireless Network, tankards of foaming Butterbeer in their hands.
Someone had also brought a few crates of Fire Whisky, but Malcolm had immediately put his foot down, telling them it wouldn't do for anyone to have a hangover the next morning - and Fire Whisky, he knew from experience, was strong stuff.
As the music paused for a moment Elanor sauntered over towards where Malcolm was sitting, a slightly tipsy grin on her face.
"Fancy a dance, Malcolm?" She grinned, knowing full well that the uptight Brit was definitely not the type to dance, particularly not to the sort of music the put on the WWN. Or any sort of music, for that matter. Malcolm rolled his eyes, but stood up nonetheless.
"I suppose I owe you one." He muttered grudgingly, but inside he was actually rather flattered that such a pretty young woman wanted to dance with him, even if she was only doing it for his embarrassment and the laughter of others.
The music started, once again, and Malcolm groaned. It was a particularly slow one - and all around him couples were wrapping their arms around one another, calm smile's on their faces. Elanor, he noticed, was grinning more than ever.
"Come on then!" She grinned, pulling him towards her. Malcolm swallowed, his mouth dry. He had absolutely no idea what to say.
"Don't say anything." She murmured, getting closer, the same smile on her face. He could see Trip grinning at him out of the corner of his eye, and he glared at him. The song was an eerie, floating one, and it almost reminded Malcolm of a calm sea, swaying in the night's breeze. Perhaps, he thought, drinking in the soft scent of Elanor's perfume, he had finally found what he'd been looking for... someone with whom to share his future.
And right now, that future looked just fine.
888
A/N: Yay! It's over. I wrote this fic about two years ago and never finished it, so I decided to have a quick edit and to hack the ending down a bit. I hope you enjoyed it!
