Thomas blinked his eyes wearily as he tried to remember why he was in bed and why he felt so different and strange. He did remember feeling a lot of pain the last time he'd woken up when Ms. Hilde had... had asked him if he wanted to become a vampire or die from the Black Death. The orphan knew he'd answered her with a yes or else he obviously wouldn't still be alive, or rather undead as he was now. Sitting alone in the room he felt very calm about realizing he was now a vampire, and would live forever just like Duo and everyone else in the castle.

Yet he didn't have a long time alone to ponder exactly what it meant as Hilde and Sally entered the room looking immensely relieved. Hilde was the first to hug him and give him a quick kiss on the forehead while Sally just smiled to show that she felt just as glad as Hilde though she still wasn't prone to showing it physically. No one spoke until Thomas finally broke the tense silence between the three of them.

"So does this mean I'll be a child forever?" He looked from Sally to Hilde and was comforted when the two of them shook their heads.

"Unfortunately your aging process is slowed so you'll only age one year every five years, and once you hit a certain age it'll slow down altogether. That age is different for every vampire, so I can't say when but I can give you an approximation. Most likely you'll be between nineteen and twenty-five, but no older." The blonde vampire moved some of Thomas' hair from the boy's eyes. "We're just relieved that everything went smoothly for you... and we wanted to tell you Master Heero and Duo have told us they'll be here by morning."

For a few more minutes the three of them sat in silence as everything sunk in. Then Thomas threw the comforter and blankets that were piled on him away and was amazed at how easy it had been. Obviously this new vampire body would take some time to be used to since overnight his body had perfected itself with incredible strength. Hilde and Sally observed as he got out of bed and it almost seemed like he was taking his first steps all over again. After all he was now a bloodling, and that was almost the equivalent of a human newborn except that they were slightly more mature.

"It will take you a few months before you'll be able to control yourself, so don't worry if things seem harder to do at first." Hilde reassured Thomas as she watched and held Sally's hand without realizing it. When she saw Thomas notice the gesture she dropped Sally's hand automatically, but the blonde vampire grabbed it once again.

"Everything will be fully explained to you when your older Thomas... about partners and such things you're nowhere near ready for." Sally explained coolly while Hilde tried not to show her blush.

Thomas nodded and just accepted them to be like Duo and Heero. Even as a vampire he still had the mind of a child, but within a few years that would soon change. As he took a few cautious steps around the room he found himself to be a little more graceful than he had been previously which was kind of nice. At least when he was around Julia he wouldn't have to worry about being a klutz.

"Will I still be able to go to school and see Julia?" Thomas asked innocently, and didn't notice the exchanged look of reluctance between the two vampires.

"Thomas, you won't be able to see any of the townspeople ever again... we'll explain to you later, for now just relax and don't worry about any of that." Hilde knew the boy wasn't satisfied with the answer she'd given him, and he obviously wasn't ready to drop the subject. So she beat him to the punch, to put it bluntly. "Honestly Thomas, as a vampire you can't go out in sunlight and humans aren't fond of our kind at all. They consider us evil beings with only the intention of draining their blood, which unfortunately is true of some vampires, but in order to protect ourselves we must hide away from them. It's the only way we'll be safe and so we won't have to cause any meaningless bloodshed of humans."

Silence was the only answer from Thomas as he decided to just wait a little while and maybe they'd change their minds later. Adults did that a lot. Before anyone could speak another word the front doors of the castle opened and echoed throughout the castle. Hilde and Sally were gone in the blink of an eye, and Thomas realized what this meant.

Duo was finally home.

----

The two of them looked drained of all their energy, but they both greeted everyone waiting for them. Sally immediately offered her help to Heero, but he declined as he decided to announce what Duo had told them while they were gone. "He has found conclusion to his life as a human, and has chosen the life of a full vampire beside me."

Obviously Heero was bursting with joy, but unlike most he wasn't one to act giddy and show his emotions so openly. Yet the way he spoke and the genuine smile were both clues to show he was in total bliss in his own aloof way. Duo had his own shy smile showing everything Heero had said was true, but Sally and Hilde couldn't share the approving nods and murmurs the rest of the servants were telling them. Both of them noticed the silence from Hilde and Sally, but waited to get them alone before speaking about it.

Before anything else could happen Duo looked up at the top of the staircase and spotted Thomas with a huge grin. At first nothing looked different about the orphan he'd seen only a few days before, but as Thomas ran towards him at an inhuman speed Duo realized something was very different. Nonetheless he embraced the boy without any hesitation, but gave Heero a worried glance as Heero probably noticed it before Thomas had even gotten to the staircase.

"Duo I was so worried you wouldn't come back..." Thomas was crying, so Duo didn't say anything, but effortlessly picked up the child and carried him away. Stroking Thomas' head to soothe him, Duo decided to just carry him away from the crowd around Heero before setting him down.

"Thomas, I'm so glad to see you! But... I need to speak with Hilde and Sally for a quick moment, so you just go ahead and rest up for later!" Duo ruffled the orphan's hair before he took off, and then Duo turned back to face his partner and two extremely guilty looking vampires. As he approached them he asked nonchalantly, "Where should we talk about this new situation?"

Heero turned away and walked toward the library upstairs and the three vampires followed behind him. Duo noticed Hilde and Sally being unusually close and he realized a lot had happened in only the few days he'd been gone. It was amazing how many things changed when you weren't around. As they entered the library, Duo closed the door behind the four of them and Hilde and Sally were now trapped for interrogation.

Heero immediately gave them a scrutinizing look, but Duo could see some signs of approval. It was obvious that he was happier with Thomas being a vampire so now he wouldn't have to treat the kid so gently. But Duo wasn't happy at all.

"What did you do to him while we were gone? He had his whole life ahead of him and now he has to be a vampire for eternity! Thomas never even got the chance to be human!" Duo felt like crying from the frustration, but he made sure not to.

"You should be grateful Duo!"

To everyone's surprise (and Heero's amusement) Hilde was the one who was being defiant, and had a stubborn frown. "If it wasn't for Sally and I, Thomas would be... Thomas would have died. We waited as long as possible, but he got the Black Death and he was in the final stages, so there if we hadn't acted Thomas would be buried in the garden."

The only sound was Hilde's labored breathing from the yelling, but Duo knew he couldn't say anything. It was all his fault Thomas had gotten infected, because he hadn't been careful and so Hilde and Sally chose the only option they had available. Instead of saying anything more he turned quietly to Heero, "I think I'm ready now."

----

Neither of the women understood initially what Duo had said, but the realization dawned on them. Heero didn't say anything to Duo, at least nothing Hilde or Sally could hear, but the half-vampire left the room.

As soon as the door closed Hilde suddenly blurted, "Master Heero, Sally and I want to leave. Now that we're partners we've decided that we want our own place to call home."

Of course the two of them hadn't spoken about it.

And of course Heero didn't even ponder telling them no.

----

Silence was the only company that Quatre had as he sat alone in the tiny room. All of its detached furniture mocking him as the blonde knew that right now he was just like every piece of furniture in this room. It looked nice, but it honestly had no owner which basically meant this furniture was all alone.

Unlike the furniture though, Quatre knew that if he just waited a little while, and proved how important Trowa was to him... that soon he wouldn't be alone anymore. Standing up and looking out at the darkness of the night Quatre knew that he had to at least go back and tell Heero and Duo something.

It wouldn't be fair to just disappear without a single word to either of them. So he prepared himself for the trip back to the castle knowing as soon as he told them that he most likely wouldn't see them for a long while.

That made Quatre hesitate, yet he knew Duo would understand and most definitely Heero would understand. He was out the door in a few seconds and heading straight for the place that would no longer be his home after tonight as he would find a new place. A place just for him and Trowa.

----

When Duo woke up he realized his entire body felt different and the next thing he realized was that Heero was sitting on the edge of the bed. It almost looked like he was protecting Duo from some unknown danger in their own castle, but then Duo was able to tell he'd been waiting the entire time. Since he didn't know how long Heero had been sitting there Duo was hesitant to disturb him. Already he was such a bother, and Heero looked like he was contemplating something truly important.

Suddenly cobalt blue eyes were meeting amethyst, and Duo smiled sheepishly. "How long have I been out?"

"It's only been one day, but it was the longest day of my life." Heero said it so seriously that Duo didn't really think about how cheesy he would've thought it was if anyone else had said it. Instead he just grinned and sat up.

Eagerly Duo reached out and grabbed Heero and pulled him back to where he was lying next to Duo. Neither of them spoke as the reality really set in, that they would be together like this, for the rest of eternity. Before anything else could happen Heero kissed his partner fiercely on the lips, and Duo returned the kiss. For the moment neither of them were concerned about anything else, because in that moment the world was theirs and no one else was in it.

Yet Heero pulled away abruptly, and Duo tried not to seem too desperate to go back to what they were doing. "Quatre came by while you were out. He wanted to tell us that he wasn't going to return for a while. He said he'd found his partner, and was just waiting for the opportunity for when they could truly become partners for eternity. Speaking of which... I wanted to let you know Hilde and Sally are partners as well, and they're thinking about finding their own home. Which means we'll need to find a new chef..."

Duo didn't let Heero speak anymore, and instead pulled Heero into another hurried kiss before getting out of the lush bed. He grabbed Heero's hand and forced the vampire to follow him out of the room and down the hall.

Before he even opened the door, Thomas threw the opened the door and looked up at Duo. The boy was smiling, and he didn't even show the contempt that usually showed whenever Heero was nearby, and Duo just took Thomas' hand along with Heero's knowing they were going to have a long eternity ahead of them.

----

As a writer, my biggest challenge that I've had for just about everything I've written is the ending. Especially when it comes to these long series I write, I always have a lot of trouble making an ending that satisfies both you readers and myself. Hopefully this time it's different and that this is a pretty good ending.

So basically this is the end of Vampire Love Child, but I'm thinking later on I may continue the series again. I guess it just depends on how the rest of the semester goes for me.

Hope this series was enjoyable for everyone!

Please R & R! (one last time!)

Shari Maxwell