Okay, here we are at the last chapter. Barring a potential AU oneshot (you know the one)I might be tacking on in a few weeks if it comes out okay. But for this story this is the end... Again. Personally I feel the quality dropped off on the last few chapters, and for that I am sorry. Life has been kinda hard lately and my writing has definitely suffered, but I do think this version will stay as it is. I say that now, but I'll probably see you all in another 7 years when I decide I hate it again, but hey ho. Without further ado I'll let you all get on with the Epilogue, I hope you all enjoy, and I'll see you at the end. - J
Epilogue: Inside these walls
"Come on Kel'! We're already late!" Soph shouted as she paced around the living room, brushing, probably imaginary, creases out of her suit.
"Calm down, we're not late, we're on time. There's a difference. " Kelly emerged, her amusement audible as she pulled on her jacket.
"You know what traffic is like this time of day. Annabelle will kill me if we're late; she's been reminding me for weeks." She huffed but failed completely to hold her frown as Kelly caught her about the waist.
"I'm driving, we could leave in an hour and be on time." She smirked and Soph rolled her eyes. She'd finally given in and gotten a car of her own, but apparently she still drove far too slow for Jones, who was endlessly smug about the subject.
Soph made a point of overtaking her on her bike at every opportunity.
She knew why her cousin had kept bugging her to be on time; she and Kelly had a tendency to be late. It was a habit they'd begun back in school and it had continued to persist even now. She supposed it was a good thing, really, that they could still distract each other to the point where they were late for every event, but it had apparently began to annoy their friends.
Of course, meeting at St. Trinian's meant that, no matter what, Annabelle, Roxy and Camilla would beat them there. Having enjoyed her work experience, Annabelle had gone off to officially become a teacher and returned to the school. She taught English, taking up some classes from Miss Dickenson, who definitely needed the help. She also started coaching the hockey team when the PE teacher decided she wanted to go back into the army. Roxy still went on tour every now and then, but they'd set her up a studio at the school, so they both seemed pretty content with the situation.
Looking over at Kelly, Soph had to smile. Not too long after the kidnapping incident, the pair of them had kicked enough ass to graduate from 'Junior Agents'. Kelly still mostly worked in the field, but now they had a bit more respect and had certainly proven how well they worked together, Soph was often assigned to her missions, so they rarely had to spend too long apart, and they were both proud of the work they did, so frankly, life was pretty sweet.
The school had remained exactly the same; no matter how many windows were smashed, how many walls were knocked down, or classrooms exploded, it always managed to stay standing long enough for them to rebuild. Frankly, it was impressive, given the scale of some of the destruction, but the old place was astonishingly sturdy.
She considered this as they pulled up on the drive, pausing a moment to stare up at it. They visited sometimes, but work kept them pretty busy, so it was hard to find time.
"Posing dramatically?" Kelly's hand found hers and Soph looked away from the familiar walls to smirk at her better half.
"Always." They shared a grin before heading inside, they were on time, but only just.
They found everyone in Camilla's office, and of course, the first person on her feet was her dear cousin, who swept forward to envelop them both in a hug.
"It's so good to see you!" Annabelle seemed even more emotional than usual, which was impressive, considering, as she squeezed them tightly. Soph gave a sheepish grin as she patted the girl's back.
"You too. You okay?" She pulled back slightly to check over her face, searching for the hint of something off, but Annabelle twirled away in a flurry of curls to return to the sofa.
"Absolutely! Just happy you're here." She beamed but there was a mischievous edge to it that was more than suspicious. Still, Soph repressed her urge to investigate and turned to greet her aunt, who had already poured them both a drink each.
"Glad you could make it, girlies." She smiled fondly and Soph gave a cheerful nod. If her aunt summoned them, they turned up, it was kind of a rule.
"Have a seat, we're just waiting for my head girls." Camilla waved them over to the sofa but Kelly paused.
"Head girls?" She arched a brow but the woman only giggled as she sat. A glance to Annabelle and Roxy revealed them exchanging a conspiratorial grin.
As if on cue, the door opened and two distinctly familiar faces strode in.
"Sorry we're late Miss." Tania began.
"Denny locked Nat in the tool shed." Tasha finished and Soph and Kelly looked to each other in delight.
How hadn't they seen it coming? It had been nearly seven years… Who else would be Head Girl for this year? Soph stared blankly into space for a moment as that thought really sank in. Seven years…
She was yanked out of her thoughts by a tight hug from the two girls, who were now… taller than her, for god's sake. Rolling her eyes, she struggled against a grin.
"Jeez, you two shot right up, didn't you?" She shook her head as the pair backed up and they laughed. They were still very similar, being identical twins and all that, but over the years they had veered off toward their own styles. Tania, for one, seemed to be copying Soph's hairstyle, which she had to admit, she found very sweet.
Still, they were gathered for a reason, and they all quickly took their seats around the office.
"Okay, now we're all here…." Camilla stood and moved to stand before her desk where they could all see her.
"I've been headmistress of St. Trinian's longer than I'd like to admit, I've seen countless students pass through those doors and I've decided… It's time to move on." She paused to sigh and Soph felt her mouth fall open in surprise. What the actual fuck?!
"I'm afraid to say it's time for the younger generation to take over, heaven help us. And so, I've decided that I will pass this place on. Annabelle and Sophie, I know you'll do well." She finished her speech and silence filled the air. Soph's head snapped around to look to Annabelle, who appeared equally shocked and… ready to cry.
Of course she did.
A few more seconds and the other girl was up, sweeping their aunt into a bone cracking hug. For her part, Soph drained her glass before tipping slightly to the side to lean against Kelly, who wrapped an arm about her waist.
"It'll be okay, love." She whispered and Soph sighed, forcing back her mild shock to push herself to her feet. It was ill timed, however, as Annabelle managed to stop crying long enough to turn and address the room.
"Me and Roxy have some news too…" She fidgeted nervously and Soph arched a brow. The last time Annabelle had said she had 'some news', she was announcing her engagement. She and Roxy had been married for over a year now, so she failed to see what the woman could possibly be announcing.
"I'm pregnant." She beamed and Soph… sat back down.
'Sat' was a terrible choice of word; 'fell backwards in shock' would probably be a better description, and this time, Kelly was too shocked herself to catch her.
Annabelle… is pregnant?
Obviously she wasn't an idiot, she understood that this wasn't an accident. The pair had likely talked about this for some time, and gone through processes to make it happen. Also, going on the proud little smile on Roxy's face, she was definitely on board with the idea… Sophie's mind, however, just couldn't seem to reconcile it. In her head they were all still barely out of their teens, way too early to be having kids… But reality dictated otherwise, three of them were twenty five, and Kelly would be twenty seven in December. God, they were all getting old.
"If you're finished having a meltdown, we would like to ask you and Kelly to be godparents…" Roxy was smirking over at her when she finally managed to blink herself back into reality and Soph shot her a scowl.
"You're not even a parent yet and you're making terrible choices for your kid." She snarked back and they shared a grin.
All jokes aside, she could see the two of them doing a pretty decent job… Yeah, their kid could do much worse.
Of course, her brain was still melting out of her ears, and since everyone knew her pretty well, she was allowed to slip out of the room without drawing any attention. So that was nice.
She couldn't say she was paying attention to where she went, but eventually, out of habit alone, she found herself up on the roof.
Time had gone by so quickly and she'd completely failed to notice…
So many memories of the last few years flickered through her mind. Annabelle and Roxy's wedding, the various tattoos she'd decided to get, saving a few cities, birthdays, Christmases, April fools days (they had to call a truce on those after a flour bomb intended for Jones had gone awry and ended up in Cavallero's office… The consequences were not enjoyable.), visiting her dad and Kelly's mum, and all the little events in between that were just... Fun.
She supposed she'd been having too much of a good time to notice it all passing by, and really, wasn't that preferable? In retrospect, her old days of constantly filling her time with mayhem to stave of boredom and misery weren't all that great. Actually being happy had a whole lot more appeal.
Now, Annabelle and Roxy were married with a kid on the way… Camilla was retiring… Everyone was moving forward. She and Kelly had spoken about their thoughts on marriage after the wedding. They were both open to the idea but didn't really see it as a necessity; they loved each other with or without it, so it was still a 'maybe someday' for them. As for the school, she imagined Annabelle would take over as head teacher, the woman was already settled here, after all, and was certainly better equipped for the job that she was. Though, as always, she'd be here if they needed her.
"Drink, girly?" She'd heard the footsteps behind her, of course, but her aunt's voice still made her smile as she glanced back over her shoulder to find the woman stood with a glass in each hand.
"Wouldn't say no." She offered a crooked grin and the older woman chuckled as she moved forward, handing over a glass and joining her in staring off over the trees.
"So what's next for you then?" She broke the silence and took a drink.
"Matron and I are going to go to Vegas for a year or two then Annabelle has insisted I stay here." Her smile was audible, Soph chuckled.
"Of course she did." The shared a laugh at their aggressively caring relative before Soph grinned.
"She'll want the baby's great aunt around." She glanced to her side and found the woman with an astonishingly soft smile on her face.
"Yes… I suppose so." She seemed to be talking more to herself, so Soph took another drink, redirecting her gaze to the scenery to give her a moment.
"What about you?" Eventually Camilla spoke again and Soph sighed.
"Annabelle will make a better head mistress than me, but obviously I'll be around." She paused to take another drink.
"As for the rest, I don't know. I was just thinking that I'm actually pretty happy these days… Being around for my, second cousin?" She paused to confirm that that would be her relation to the kid, and at the woman's nod, she continued.
"-seems like a plan, someone's got to teach the kid how to handle explosives." She smirked and the other woman laughed, gently laying a hand onto her shoulder.
"You've come a long way, Sophie." It wasn't a joke or a platitude, genuine pride carried in her Aunt's voice and forced Soph to quickly direct her attention to the low wall before her, swallowing hard around a lump in her throat.
She'd punched that wall, cried on it, got drunk on it, nearly fallen off of it, had sex on it, and nearly jumped over it… Now here she was being happy. This school had seen her go through a hell of a lot, just as it did for every other student who wandered in. Everyone in St. Trinian's had their own story, their own ups and downs, and somehow, this lump of bricks and glass managed to keep them all safe and comfortable while they worked out their place in the world.
This school needed to keep going, for all the girls who need somewhere that will accept them and all of their quirks. Being put in charge of it was a big thing, if it all fell to shit on her watch, there would be an army of alumni ready to break down her door. Now, she might be a heavily trained MI7 agent, but she might as well be a fluffy pillow for all the good she'd be defending herself against that legion.
"I guess I just needed to find a family." She drained her glass and her aunt squeezed her shoulder.
"You'd have managed alone, girly, but that's what this school is for; we're here so no-one has to be alone. Inside these walls is a family for everyone who needs it." The pride in her voice could be heard all the way to London and Soph couldn't help but grin as she listened.
St. Trinian's was a family, her family, and she'd defend them to the end.
Sophie freaking out about being 25 is definitely not me projecting, you can't prove anything.
Short, sweet, and full of sap. For once I wanted everyone to be happy, so there it is, a happy ending for the girls of St. Trinian's. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this, thank you so much to everyone who has been reading, and super thanks to everyone who's reviewed, it definitely gave me the encouragement I needed to keep writing. I know 2020 has been rough for everyone, but I hope you all have a lovely December, and that your 2021 is spectacular. Much love - J
