AN: So here it is. The final installment. I really hope you guys find this fitting as an ending, because I truly do.

I would just like to take this moment to thank all the reviewers who have stuck through this with me the entire time. Your positive reinforcement has been amazing and has really boosted my confidence as a writer. I'd like to give a special thanks to those of you who left me thorough reviews. Your analysis was always wonderful to read, and your thoughts really made me feel like I accomplished something in writing this story.

And most of all, I'd like to say thanks to elphabachan. You're an amazing friend and your support always helps me during my writing hurdles.

Read and Review!


Epilogue: Come Clarity

December 9, 2004

3 years later…

Jackie snapped a dish rag at Hyde, swatting his butt as he passed by. She couldn't help but giggle at her husband though when he turned around and pointed a playful finger at her. He was a snarky mouth and deserved her retaliation, but Jackie could never stay mad at him for too long. She turned back around to continue drying the lunch dishes from the rack that she had just washed when something she needed to tell him crossed her mind.

"Oh Steven. I almost forgot. Bobby is coming in for Christmas this year, and he's flying in on the 15th." Jackie opened up a cupboard to place the plate she was drying in it. "Now I don't want any little arguments from you two this year, alright?"

Hyde rolled his eyes and held up his hands. "Hey, it isn't me who starts it."

Jackie turned around and frowned at him. "That's not the point, Steven. I've already talked to him about keeping his comments to a minimum. You know he's just having a hard time adjusting to our marriage is all."

"Jackie," Hyde's voice dropped, showing his annoyance. "We've been married for 2 years now! I think it's about time he got off his high horse about his damn dad being better than me."

Jackie chose to ignore the comment. "I just don't see why Zach can get along with him well enough but you two fight more than anybody."

Hyde let out a defeated sigh at his wife's attempts to sway the conversation away from her son's faults. She was a mother though; it was just something she had to do.

Hyde left the kitchen and made his way to the living room, where he found Zach and Josh sprawled out on his L shaped couch. They were watching some indistinguishable movie on TV, and it appeared like they had just woken up. Hyde sat down in his chair and snatched the remote from off of the table and changed the channel.

"Hey!" Zach exclaimed, not even moving from his lazy position on the couch. "We were watching that!"

"My TV, my channel." Hyde called to them, changing it to the news to get his daily dose of the lies the government is telling the masses. Once he realized the particular story didn't interest him to much, he turn back to the boys.

"Why the hell are you guys sleeping in so late anyways?" Hyde barked at them, getting a kick out of their pained expressions. Yeah, they had hangovers.

Zach rubbed his head and tried to focus his eyes. "We had another late show."

Hyde turned back around to face the TV, satisfied temporarily with his response. Just then, Jackie walked into the living room. "Anyone have anymore dishes out here?"

But they didn't even hear her words. The story just breaking on the TV was far more captivating.

"Last night, December 8, 2004, at 10:18 p.m. at Alrosa Villa in Columbus, Ohio, former guitarist of Pantera and current guitarist of Damageplan, Darrell Abbott or more commonly known to his fans as Dimebag Darrell, was shot and killed. Gunman Nathan Gale was reported of jumping on stage, making a comment about Pantera, and firing several times at close range at Abbott. 3 others were killed and 3 were wounded in the shooting."

The rest of the news report was a blur to Zach. He sat up to listen closer to the newswoman's report with his mouth opened wide. During the middle of it, he barely heard Jackie gasp and say to his dad something about John Lennon being shot on the same day. He could hardly comprehend anything. Shock had taken over his body, and he was a blubbering idiot in his mind.

Jackie looked to the two shell shocked boys who looked like they had just seen a train wreck and couldn't tear their eyes away. Once the news report was over, they both just looked to their folded hands in their lap. Josh was the first to stand.

"I need some fresh air." He said as he quickly ran out of the room and out the front door.

Jackie bit her lip and looked to her husband, her rock. He knew that one of them had to go after Josh, and even though he knew he had to be there for Zach, he had a much closer relationship with Josh than Jackie. He stood up and patted his wife on the shoulders.

"I'm going to talk to Josh." He whispered in her ear and left her alone with Zach.

Jackie stared down at the boy that she had come to know as her son. He might not have been Bobby, but he held a special place in her heart as if he were her own child. Over the years, Zach had become comfortable with Jackie as his mother. Jackie told him a long time ago if he wanted to call her mom, he could, but he just never got around to it. He saw Jackie as the mom he never had and the one he always wanted, but there was still a tiny barrier he just couldn't leap over.

Jackie sat down next to Zach on the couch, watching his reaction closely. He was still staring at his hands in his lap, not saying a word. Jackie wanted to reach out and hug him, but she was afraid that she might make the wrong move with him. She hadn't comforted him before, and she didn't know what to expect.

"I just don't understand." Zach managed to say through his dry throat. "Why would someone just do that? How… how could someone just kill him? He was amazing." His voice trailed off to barely a whisper.

Jackie was at a complete loss of words. How was she supposed to explain something that not even she understood? However, she tried her best. "I really don't know, Zach. There are just some people in this world who don't think completely about the consequences of their actions, or the people hurt by them."

Zach continued to stare at his folded hands trying his best to fully understand it all. "Did I hear you say something to Dad about John Lennon?"

Jackie cautiously sat closer to him. "Yes. He died on the same day in 1980. He was shot too."

Zach finally looked up and met Jackie's mismatched eyes. "I don't think it was just a coincidence."

Zach's raw emotion radiating from his crystal blue eyes showed Jackie just how tattered and torn he was about the death. Jackie choked on the empathy and sorrow that welled their way inside her throat. She couldn't help but feel that there was a double meaning to Zach's words that applied just as much to their relationship as it did to Gale's motive for taking his icon away.

Jackie watched as Zach began to slip away again, and before he could bail on her like she knew he would, she caught him from falling with her motherly arms. Jackie pulled Zach into an embrace and squeezed as tightly as she could, making sure he understood perfectly well that she was here for him. A little too her surprise, he hugged her back just as tightly, needing her support. Jackie rubbed his head that still sported his shaved hair cut and assured him that everything would be okay.

Once Zach pulled away, he looked back to the TV and rubbed his hand across his head and down to the back of his neck, trying his best to calm the overwhelming heat taking over his body. He looked to Jackie who now had fresh tears in her eyes.

"I'm going to call Kat and tell her what happened." Zach said while standing up. He began to walk away but stopped just behind her and beside the couch. He had to do something, something that just felt right.

Zach turned around and placed his hand on Jackie's shoulder and looked down at her nervously. He stuttered on his words at first, but once they came out, they were clear as glass. "Thanks, Mom."

Jackie watched stunned as Zach walked away. As her son walked away. She lightly touched the delicate tears that didn't cease to fall along with her frozen state. The warm saline soothed her nerves, and Jackie smiled through the sadness. He was her son, but more importantly, she was his mother. There were no questions to be voiced anymore. Zach made that point very clear to her.

Clarity shined its liberating light upon them, a swan song to serenade their ending struggles away.


AN2: And that's the end! I really can't believe it's actually over. I really hope you guys have enjoyed my story and loved the ending as much as I did. The italicized news description of Dimebag Darrell's death is from an article that appeared on MTV New's website only hours after he was killed. RIP Dime...

"Come Clarity" by In Flames. This song is the inspiration for the title, and I think the lyrics really apply to this story. It's a beautiful song, and I've listened to it during every difficult scene I've had to write. I recommend that everyone listen to it. Just type in Come Clarity on You Tube and the music video should be the very first one to appear.

Rushing through thirty
Getting older every day... by two
My soul drawing pictures of innocent times
Can you add color... inside these lines?

I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream... one more day

I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Don't want to live
In a dream... one more day

Sure it would change my perspective
I'm certain I would change today
I'm certain it would change our ways
Would things fall into place?

I want you to lead me
Take me somewhere
Just don't want to live
In a dream one more day

Take me somewhere
Just don't want to live
In a dream one more day

Just to let you guys know, I'm coming out with a new story soon called Nowhere But Lost. Be watching for it.