Sad news: My family PC has been taken apart (cough–Mom–cough) so we can get a new program to clean it out or whatever. So I'm using my dad's WordPerfect12 writing software! Wooooooooo! Anyway, thanks for your reviews, and thanks for reading along. I love y'all so much!

This chapter is dedicated to Cutie5, a leader in the J/C community. (Throws roses, waves lighter, tips hat in respect) I love you, Britt!

Epilogue: Blue Velvet

Jimmy parked the hovercar in his yard, or wherever he usually parks it. Carl said good night to everyone and scampered home to meet his curfew. Sheen said a very sweet good night to Libby as Jimmy walked Cindy to her door. (Libby waited in front of Jimmy's house to let them say good night properly.) When Libby finally walked across the street, it was after Jimmy ran past her, quickly saying "Bye-Libby-See-you-tomorrow!" Then Libby sprinted to Cindy's house, where she found her leaning with her back to the door in a state of shock, clutching a small blue velvet bag with a string on it.

"Cindy?" Libby asked, "Did he just do what I think he just did?" Cindy looked at her; her eyes held a cornucopia of emotions: elation, surprise, euphoria, confusion, all were screaming the same thing: Holy crap! I'm in LOVE! What she said was "Thank you, Meredith. I'd like to phone a friend" with a goofy-grin on her face.

"All right, that's it," Libby said as she grabbed Cindy's hand and dragged her inside, upstairs, and to Cindy's room, "You are spilling like you've never spilled before, and you are gonna tell me EVERYTHING, you get me?" Cindy smiled and conceded.

Meanwhile, Jimmy had escaped to the shelter of his bedroom in the highest state of euphoria since after Miss Fowl passed a kidney stone! He had just accomplished the impossible; he had just achieved the inconceivable , reached the unreachable, and instead of pushing the envelope, he tore it up and ground the pieces into the dust! He–

"KISSED YOU?" Libby almost screamed in disbelief, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Cindy nodded dreamily. (Camera cut) The scene replayed in Jimmy's head as he changed...

Jimmy led Cindy by the hand to her front porch. He wasn't entirely sure what to say. Cindy's equal awkwardness wasn't helping, either.

"Well," Jimmy finally broke the silence, "I hope you had fun...even with me." She chuckled nervously. No matter what happened, they'd never forget their underlying rivalry.

"Aw," she said, "As long as you're here to make trouble, I'll never have a dull moment."

"Thanks," he smiled, "I think. And I had fun, too. I didn't know you could dance so nicely."

"Thank you," she said graciously, "but sweet-talking me won't keep me from kicking your butt tomorrow."

"I rise to your challenge, Vortex," he said. Then he took her hand and added, "By now, I expect nothing less." The way he said it, it sounded very profound to her. No matter what it was, he was the only one that ever really melted her down.

Now that she'd reached said melting point, she decided that now was good, while they were still alone.

"Hang on a sec," she said, "I'll be right back." She scurried inside and emerged with something in her left hand.

"I want you to see this," she said, "before you go." She was holding a small blue velvet bag, the kind you can wear on your neck. The string shortened as Cindy pulled the bag open; Jimmy looked inside and gasped softly.

There it was, drowning in moonlight, as beautiful and precious as the day he gave it to her; a 137 oysters' worth of searching, his labor of love...Cindy's pearl!

In the silence that fell, a lump rose in Jimmy's throat. He tried to swallow it and said, with notable difficulty, "You...you kept it!"

"Of course I did," Cindy said quietly as she pulled the string closed, (blinking her tears back) dummy. Did you think I'd forget that day once we went back to normal?"

"Well," he admitted, "I was afraid you might." She smiled fondly at him.

"Aw, Jimmy," she turned to the door but still faced him, "You really are some kind of idiot."

"I know," he replied as he leaned against the door, "And for the longest time, I've thought of you as a hostile perfectionist who has it in for me." They both smiled. Jimmy moved next to her, took her hand again, looked in her eyes, and said, "And I wouldn't have you any other way." (Of course, we know he is lying–I can think of two other ways!)

Ever since their island adventure, it is my belief that whenever they fought after that, they knew they didn't completely mean it. This moment was one of them.

Cindy stared at him in a way she never thought she would.

"I'm still kicking your butt tomorrow, Nerdtron," she said in a soft voice.

Obeying the annoying commands of his inner thoughts, Jimmy smiled and said "En garde, mademoiselle" and kissed her!

Jimmy fell back on his bed. He couldn't believe he'd kissed her! Nor could he believe she'd kept the pearl.

Goddard joined Jimmy on the bed and barked inquisitively.

"Goddard," Jimmy said dreamily, "Life is good. (Then he commanded him) Audio track KC-8." The small music megaphone popped out of Goddard's backside and played "Top of the World" by the Carpenters.

Meanwhile, Cindy and Libby changed into their pajamas. Libby was still freaking out over what Cindy told her, and Cindy was loving every minute of it. She'd already shown her the pearl, and now put it back in a blue box lined with velvet inside. She placed it in with the bag pulled open and locked it with a key she kept taped under the inside of her top dresser drawer.

As she turned out the light and got in her bed, she cast one more wistful look out her window. A falling star fell and she quickly made her wish. Then she turned over grinning, and fell asleep. She knew she'd get her wish in about 10 years...

What she hadn't known was that Jimmy had made the same wish on the same star.

THE END

Author's Review:

Yay! Was that a great story or what? Did y'all like it? I loved doing the thing with the pearl! It was so sweet! Aw...Anyway, this is the last story I've got for a little bit, but I'm (sort of) working on one about Alex. It'll be a good one, I hope. And I've still got my songfics going! (Even though some are songs that y'all probably don't know. Hee, hee!) Review! L8R!