Happy Ending

Ellen slowly opened her eyes to be greeted by a friendly face.

----Que: Time Has Past...---

"Ellen!" Carl cried with tears of joy. "... Thank goodness!"

"C-Carl? How nice to see you! But... where am I?"

Overcome with happiness, the earnest Cafe owner embraced his beloved.

Ellen looked around to find out she was in a bedroom upstairs of Cafe Callaway. Behind her boyfriend's back were the smiling faces of Carl's faithful assistant, the wine-drinking woman from Mineral Town, the sickly young lady from the Sanatorium, and the new farmer sporting a green blazer and matching skirt.

"Katie... Karen... Dia... and Rothe... what... are you doing here?" Ellen uttered weakly.

Katie chuckled. "I work here, silly!" she chirped.

"Right... of course. I apologize..." Ellen smiled.

"As for the rest of us, we're just here to check if you're okay." Karen answered.

"We heard you've been put through a lot since a wandering merchant knocked you out. We feared the worst..." Dia confessed.

"Oh dear! So that's what happened? I knew that peddler was up to no good, but I didn't expect him to cause that kind of commotion! How cruel!" Ellen exclaimed.

Rothe then put a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, sure! Some psycho even drove in with a tank and started attacking the town! You missed all this suspense!" she exclaimed. "But don't worry! The Katie Defense Force swooped in and took care of business! They even got back your money from the crazy peddler and left it at your bedside!"

Ellen blushed out of a mixture of embarrassment and gratitude. "Oh, is that so? Well, tell the Katie Defense Force I'm thankful yet again. They're always running about and doing nice things for people!"

Katie turned around and whistled to herself while the rest watched on casually.

"Is that so?" Carl answered with a sweet smile. "I'm just thankful that the Katie Defense Force is around to protect a lovely lady like you."

Ellen's face reddened to new extremes. "C-Carl..." she gasped.

After a few minutes of more pleasantries, Carl met outside with the four ladies from before.

The proud proprietor of the cafe cleared his throat before speaking. "Thank you ladies. Once again, you've saved our humble village from the brink of destruction."

Katie nodded. "You're welcome, Chief. You can always count on us to take care of trouble!"

"To be honest, we've never encountered a foe as challenging as that before! I feel really fortunate we were able to achieve victory this time." Dia said as she breathed a sigh of belief.

"So yeah, at least we saved the Chief's girlfriend and kicked the bad guy's butt in the end! I didn't expect to pull off our trump card so early in the fight. Guess this means we need a little more training or something, huh?" Rothe answered.

"That was some plan you came up with, Rothe! I guess that time you spent with the Grim Angel Brigade is starting to pay off now!" Katie cried. "Perhaps we could use you as the Team Strategist for awhile. Who knows when we'll be fighting someone tougher than that stingy Rick?"

"Yes. That would be most appreciative. We may very well need to rely more on intelligence and less on sheer power if we're going to stand a chance against more formidable foes." Dia added.

Rothe blushed. "Aw, come on, guys! It was just that one time! I don't know if I can start up a streak of brilliant plans so easily!"

"Nonsense!" Katie blurted out. "As Team Leader, I know very well that you can pull it off strategizing when we need more if it!"

Carl chuckled. "I'm just satisfied to learn that "Rose" has more than one major ability in her arsenol!"

Rothe violently turned her head towards Carl. "What's that supposed to mean? You think My "Blazing Rose" attack is the only contribution I made to this team? You make me sound like a liability!" she complained.

Again, Carl chuckled. "Not at all! I'm just glad to see how far you've come since your days as a sidekick. You're really starting to impress us all."

Rothe folded her arms. "...Geez! Now I feel even more useless in the past. Come on, guys! Even if I can't move as fast as "Violet Fox" here, my reflexes are just as good! And what about my stealth skills? You can't deny how useful that is!"

Everyone laughed at Rothe's plight with the exception of Karen, who was doing some deep thinking while staring outside a window.

"I can't believe... I helped made Rick into a super villain like that. I know his descent into madness was inevitable, but there are still so many scars I left behind in the past due to my old arrogance and selfishness. Who knows what other past mistakes will come to haunt me?"

"Karen! Hey Karen!" Rothe shouted. "I was just talking about Come on! Tell them that time we matched each other in our personal acrobat competition!"

"Uh... oh! Rothe! Hey! Sorry for losing my head for a minute! I was just... preoccupied with something." Karen answered.

"Right..." Rothe sighed.

"Why do they always have to pick on the new girl?" she thought.

"So Karen," Car called out. "You've been with us for awhile now. What are you going to do now? Thinking of going back to Mineral Town for awhile?"

Karen shook her head. "Nah. I think I'll stay here a little longer. With Duke splitting from the Aja Winery, my usual hangout hasn't been much fun. I'll see what's up at the work shop and chat with Ann while I wait for the Moonlight Cafe to open up. Besides, I have some questions to ask the old man." She then turned the knob as she slowly opened the door. "Thanks for having me around, fellas." she said as she left.

"I should be heading back to the Sanatorium. Doctor Alex will be worried about my sudden disappearance, and I don't know how long Gina can cover me." Dia called out before making her leave.

After waving goodbye to her raven-haired friend, Rothe turned to the rest of her friends. "I guess I'll spend the day fishing with Ray and Joe. Those guys always made that activity a hoot. Besides, it beats clearing the fields of rubble and milking cows." she confessed as she took out a silver fishing rod. "Well, good day, people! I hope I can catch a whopper today!" she exclaimed as she made her way out.

With the other three ladies gone, and Ellen still resting comfortably in bed, Carl and Katie were left alone in the Main Floor of the Cafe.

"Okay then, Katie. Today's our day off, so you don't have to stay here today. What are your plans?" He asked.

Katie answered with a simple grin. "I'm going to work on my cooking, of course! And you're going to help me!" she answered.

Carl blinked. "What? But... but Ellen's still upstairs! I should go back and take care of her!" he exclaimed.

"Don't worry, she'll be fine!" the apprentice chef insisted. "Besides, I made a vow to my grandfather that I'll become a fine chef someday! And you promised to help me!"

"But it's our day off! We always have time to improve your skill!" Carl exclaimed.

"Oh, don't worry if your concerned I'm cutting into your personal time. I'm pretty sure you'll be thankful for this idea!" Katie answered before whispering something silently into her boss' ear.

The Cafe owner's eyes widened in surprise. "W-WHAT? A Birthday Cake? For Ellen? That's... only a few days from today! How could I forget?" he exclaimed.

THE END

---Optional Que: The End of an Epic---