Okay… Final chapter. Let's finished this. I've been working on this story because I wanted to finish it before school started again… Whoo… My hands are tired from all the typing and my brain is pooped from thinking about the story too much… Eh… Let's hope this chapter isn't a piece of crap because of it.

Johnson House/No POV

She stumbled onto the front steps of her home and went towards the door. She found the door to be unlocked. With sick realization she found that her father had left the door unlocked for her return. Her stomach tightened and she sniffed, her tears from Rephiam leaving just now pouring out. She marveled at herself. She was able to hold the tears in long enough. She went through the door and locked it behind her. Since sound traveled through the house when it was quiet the sound of the door opening and closing reverberated through the house and reached Mr. Johnson's room. Being unable to sleep from worry he awoke with a start and quickly rushed to his bedroom door. He went to the stairs and his eyes widen. His daughter was back home. He rushed down the stairs and took his daughter in his arms. She placed her arms around him too but all her actions were in a haze. Within moments she was lead into her room and she fell asleep.

The next morning she woke up and went to the bathroom for a shower. The water fell onto her skin and she pictured her time with Rephiam, the memories, his touch, washing away with the dirt. She sighed and finished washing. When she changed into cleaner clothing, her typical shirt and skirt with boots, she walked down the stairs and saw her best friend Zoey and Dallas. Zoey rushed up and hugged her friend. "There you are girl! Where'd you run off to?"

"Nowhere. Just getting some air."

Dallas chuckled and Zoey moved away so that he could hug her. "I don't think you had to disappear for days for air Stevie Rae."

She shrugged and managed a smile. "I guess I just wanted to go somewhere."

"Well don't ever do that again. Your father was having a cow."

Zoey nodded. "He became such a worrywart. I was surprised he didn't die of a heart attack from so much worrying."

"I'm sorry." Stevie Rae apologized.

Zoey shook her head and placed her hands on her waist. "Don't apologize to me or to Dallas. Apologize to your daddy for running away!"

She sighed and looked around. "Well then where is he?"

Dallas shook his head. "You seriously didn't think about saying sorry to your father?"

"Look here." Stevie Rae said. Her broken heart was staring to talk through her. "I have gone through a lot the past few days and wither or not I tell them to you is all up to me! Now when I came home last night I was in a mess, alright? I still am. If anything I want to be left alone. If my father wants an apology he can come upstairs and get one when he's finished working 'cause I know he's working and don't try to tell me otherwise 'cause I know my father." She turned on her heals and ran up the stairs and into her room, the door slamming behind her.

Dallas was going to run up when Zoey stopped him. "This is a girl thing Dallas. Why don't you go into town and tell the mayor what happened." Dallas didn't want to go. He too worried about Stevie Rae and he wanted to know what happened that caused her to change. He saw though that Zoey was right so he reluctantly left the house and went towards the town hall. Zoey went up the stairs and knocked on her friend's door. "Stevie Rae, it's me Zoey." Silence. "Dallas left. I sent him away. Can you tell me what happened?" More silence. "Stevie Rae, can't you trust me?"

"...Come in."

Zoey smiled softly and opened the door. "Girl, what happened?" Zoey walked over and sat beside Stevie Rae who lay on the bed.

Stevie Rae swallowed. "I don't feel like answering."

"You can tell me. I won't tell. I promise."

Stevie Rae looked at Zoey before sitting up. She sighed. "He happened."

"'He'? Who's he?"

"Rephiam."

"Wait a moment… Black Raven Rephiam?" Zoey looked at her, eyes wide.

"Yes. He, I mean, I ran into him again the day I ran away. He saved me again from dying of thirst and hunger. He protected me and he tried to return me home but complications came up at Raymer then Wylie, bless his soul, came and we went to The Valley. We… He protected me again and he cared for me, he loved me Zoey." Sobs came up. She refused to look at Zoey. "I loved him. I still do damn it. But he wouldn't let me go with him. He said he couldn't offer anything so he left me here. Oh Zoey…"

Zoey took her crying friend in her arms and rubbed her back. She shushed her friend and continued to calm Stevie Rae. "Why didn't you go after him?"

"I couldn't! He had his horse and you don't know Shadow. That horse could run. I would have never caught up to him." Stevie Rae cried out, tears falling from her eyes.

Zoey sighed and stopped rubbing her back. "Well…" Another sigh. "The way I see it, you have to go after him."

Stevie Rae pulled away and looked at Zoey through wet eyes. "What?"

"You heard me." She pulled out a handkerchief from a small bag and handed it over to Stevie Rae. "You are going to pack up all your things, take some more food and water than last time, some maps, maybe a compass and possibly a weapon just in case and you are going after him. You're gonna take Savannah and tack her up and get out of here."

"But father has—"

"No he doesn't."

"He doesn't?"

"Nah. He was so excited that you came home that he ran into town screaming at the top of his lungs."

"Oh…" Stevie Rae then groaned. "Oh father! I just got home, I-I can't just leave!"

"Sure you can."

"Zoey!"

"What? When you're long gone I'll tell him everything."

"Everything?"

"Come on now, the man's got a right to know. And besides, he can't challenge true love girl."

"… You know, you're right." Stevie Rae stood. "I just gotta follow my heart and hope he doesn't send me back."

"Stevie Rae, if that boy sends you back then he is freaking retarded." The two broke into tasks, just like what the Black Ravens do. Stevie Rae took the task of cleaning out the important stuff out of her room, clothing, shoes, a bigger bag to hold everything and a picture of her family when her mother was still alive. Meanwhile Zoey went to the stable and tacked up Savannah. Once Savannah was tacked up Zoey went back inside to see Stevie Rae preparing a few sandwiches while two empty canteens lay on the counter. "I'll fill these up for you."

"Thanks Z."

"So you think you got everything?" Zoey asked as she filled up the canteens.

"Should. I even took a pistol with some ammo just in case like you said." Stevie Rae finished wrapping up the sandwiches. "I'll put these in the saddle bag along with the canteens."

"Speaking of which," Zoey said, "I got them all filled up."

"Thanks."

"Now come on. Dallas went to fetch your dad. They might get here any moment now." The two rushed towards the stable and placed the food in the saddlebag and tied the canteens on. They then heard the sounds of a horse coming. Zoey looked out from a window. "Oh poop! It's your dad and Dallas!"

Stevie Rae sighed. "How am I even gonna get out of here now?"

Zoey pondered as she tapped her chin. She then smiled and snapped her fingers. "I got an idea. Just get on Savannah, go out the back doors and wait and watch from behind the barn. When I take them inside run girl, just run like the wind."

Stevie Rae smiled at her friend. "Gothca." The girls shared a quick hug.

"Now don't forget me when you're off with your man."

"I won't." Stevie Rae laughed.

Zoey nodded and rushed out the barn just before the guys rode up. "Hey Dallas, Mr. Johnson."

Mr. Johnson looked at the girl as he got off the horse. "Zoey? Were you in the stable?"

"Yeah, Stevie Rae wanted me to check up on Savannah, I told her you were too excited to take her to town today."

"Oh. Well she said something about an apology?"

"Yes sir. She's in her room. Dallas, you come to. She's got something to tell you." Zoey winked for effect.

"Really?" Dallas asked. He got off Beau and tied him up to the porch before both men followed Zoey inside the house.

Stevie Rae waited until the door closed before kicking Savannah. "Come on girl. We've got a long ways to go." Savannah tore forward and charged south east. Stevie Rae had an inclining of where they were supposed to go. She had checked the map before even starting the food.

Meanwhile the three reached the nearly emptied room. Mr. Johnson looked around in vain. "Wha—Where? Zoey where'd she…"

Dallas too looked around and his eyes went to the window. There he saw Stevie Rae riding past. "Stevie Rae!" He yelled. He moved the window open and Mr. Johnson rushed to his side.

"Stevie Rae!" They both yelled. They kept on yelling her name for a few seconds before turning towards the door.

Zoey stood by the door and closed it. "Listen, I got something to say. Something about Stevie Rae so you better sit down."

Stevie Rae ran the horse to no end. She really had no idea where she was going. The only thing that was leading her was her guess on where The Valley is and love. Stevie Rae thought it as dramatic but she didn't care. She was just plain determined. Hours passed and during this time she had eaten a sandwich and had drunk most of the water in a canteen, she was making sure it last because frankly she didn't know how long she would be searching for this place. Then by either sheer luck or her wonderful guesstimating she found it. She slowed Savannah to a stop and let the tired out horse take a breather while she marveled at the cliff. "Heh… I actually found it." She was sure she found it. No other cliff looked like that. She led Savannah to the 'door' and found it closed. "Great, now I have to open it." She got off Savannah and thought of a plan. With some rope she tied one end to Savannah and to the best of her abilities, tied it to the rock. Then taking a stick used to light the way through the cave she would pry the rock over. Luckily there was a small crack. "Alright Savannah, heave!" The horse pulled and Stevie Rae pushed and after a few tries the rock moved out of the path, just enough for Savannah to get through and that was all Stevie Rae wanted. "Alright, let's do this." Using the matchbox that she took she lit the match and then in turn the stick where the sap was. It lit up and she threw the match away after blowing it out. "Alright Savannah, just follow my lead and be careful." Within half an hour she was home free.

Meanwhile the Black Ravens arrived at The Valley's entrance. After stopping by Raymer to make sure the town did their job indirectly placed upon them by Rephiam was complete they decided to go back home. Amaro noticed the open cave entrance first. "Did we leave that open?"

"No." Reid answered. "Think that maybe Chogan came by?"

Rephiam shook his head. "No." He answered. "He would need to ride to the village, bury his son; he would probably stay there for a while then come here if he wanted to come back to us. He would take longer than this."

"Hey, one of the sticks are gone." Reid said.

"Alright." Amaro said as he got off his horse. "Let us see who is invading our home."

Minutes later they got through the cave and extinguished the light before looking at the lodge. "Whose horse is that?" Reid asked. They approached the lodge and stopped a good ways away from the appaloosa. "Whoever her owner is, he rides with a whole lot of gear."

"Who do you think owns the horse Rephiam?" Amaro asked. When he didn't get an answer he looked over to his brother. "Rephiam?" Rephiam stayed quiet. Without another word he got off his horse and went towards the lodge's door. "Rephiam?" Amaro called. Rephiam opened the door and straight before him a sight he couldn't possibly believe.

She looked up from a book she brought with her and saw him standing in the doorway. She stood a small smile on her face as she placed the book down. "Hello Rephiam."

Rephiam blinked and in a haze he walked to her. "I told you to not come back." He spoke softly, really thinking that he was hallucinating. He had just dropped her off, he knows he did.

"I know." She said just as softly. "But you can't keep me away Rephiam, not when love's this true." He blinked and brought his hand up behind her neck. She's real he realized. He thought his hands must be so cold since he felt cold. They stared into each others eyes, blue into amber. He smiled softly and pulled her into a kiss. The two kissed passionately and almost roughly but it had a hard lining of softness to it. Her hands went up to rest on his bare chest while his other hand went to the small of her back to pull her closer. The two continued to kiss until a throat was cleared near the doorway. The two pulled away slowly and looked over. Leaning in the doorway were Amaro and Reid, taking opposite sides on the door to lean on.

"Oh just ignore us." Amaro said with a smile.

"Yeah," Reid said, a grin plastered on his face, "just keep doin' what you're doin'. Don't mind us." Stevie Rae giggled but went beat red. Rephiam just pulled her closer and his arms went around her waist. He shook his head at the two but still had a smile on his face. Amaro and Reid broke out laughing as they walked into the lodge. "What are you doin' here anyways Stevie Rae?"

"I just figured I belonged here."

Amaro scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Are you sure about that?"

"I'm positive." She replied and she rested her head on Rephiam's shoulders. "And besides, ya'll could use a womanly touch around here."

Reid chuckled. "Ain't that the truth? Some real cooking, some sewing, cleaning, some baking. Hey you could become the housewife of the Ravens."

Stevie Rae shook her head but she laughed alongside with Reid. "No. No I'm not being a housewife. But I will cook for you guys and sew if needed." The guys nodded except for Rephiam who was thinking that she doesn't have to do that. "But I was thinking-"

"Here we go." Reid said. "Here comes the woman takin' control."

Stevie Rae gave him a look and continued. "I was thinking rebuilding the lodge."

"Rebuilding it?" Amaro asked.

"Yeah. Making it into an actual lodge. I was thinking the first floor could be the kitchen, the dining room and the family room while upstairs, with an actual bathroom and the second floor could house the rooms with yet another actual bathroom. That way you guys don't have to sleep on the floor, I was thinking bunk beds, and you don't have to move furniture around before and after you sleep. It'd be a lot of hard work building a new lodge but it'd be worth it."

Amaro and Reid looked at her, then at each other, then at their leader. "What do you think brother?" Amaro asked.

Rephiam took a breath and looked down at Stevie Rae which in turn looked up at him. "I understand her motives and I suppose that we could rebuild the lodge."

"Yay!" Stevie Rae said.

"Ugh here we go." Reid said. He sighed. "Come on Amaro. We better go up the cliff and cut down the whole forest that's up there."

"There's a forest up there?" Stevie Rae asked.

"Yes there is." Amaro answered. "But after we are done, there will not be." Stevie Rae giggled.

As the two left Reid turned at the door and pointed a finger at the two. "Now don't do anything in here while we're gone."

Stevie Rae turned red again. "Go cut wood!" Reid tipped his hat and rushed out with a trail of laughter. "Men."

Rephiam pulled her away and looked at her. "Women." Stevie Rae laughed and the two kissed again, this time with no other Ravens to interrupt them.

The next months passed quickly. With the building of the lodge, the trunks being dropped from the sky down into the valley and the return of Chogan all seemed to blur together. "Chogan, you're back." Stevie Rae said when he came to the old lodge.

"And so are you." He said. "Seems like there is a lot of changes."

"Yeah. I'm the leading the others in the building of a new, bigger and better lodge."

"Good. We have been needing a new one. Times had changed and we cannot keep living in the past."

"Yeah. So what happened when you went back to the village?"

"Well, we buried Wylie and I was actually hoping on staying but Wylie failed to mention that Talise got married and was pregnant at the time, now her child is born."

"Oh I'm sorry."

"No do not be. I knew something like that would have happened. She is very beautiful."

"Aw… Well… Let's feed you so you can work."

"Work?" Chogan chuckled.

"Yeah. The lodge's not gonna get finished if no one works on it." Chogan laughed and followed her into the old lodge for a meal.

During the construction of the new lodge there were much more changes to the Black Ravens. The ravens who masters had died, and even the other ravens, were sent out to either bond with new potential Black Ravens or lead the wandering potentials towards The Valley; the initiation traditions were changed, now they only need to prove that they have a bond with their raven and the ability to catch a horse and the traits familiar with all Black Ravens, especially the birthmark of raven wings. By the time the new lodge was completed the Raven tribe was rebuilt to its old way and Stevie Rae had given birth to a girl with a raven wings birthmark on her left arm, the first ever born female Raven. Meanwhile in Boulder Jimmy Johnson had started getting acquainted with the fact his daughter left for a Black Raven. He started receiving letters from her from a town out there but he never once went out to fetch her. He decided that it was best to let his daughter go and live her life as long as she sounded happy in her letters and was treated well. He was actually very proud when he found out about his granddaughter and Stevie Rae had even planned with her father for a meeting. Zoey became exceptionally proud of her best friend and demanded to see Stevie Rae's daughter when she came back for the meeting. She too has been trying out the romance game but keeps on ending up in love triangles and squares and such. She is depending on Stevie Rae's guidance to help her choose between guys. Dallas on the other hand didn't take any of the news likely. He wanted to marry Stevie Rae and have children with her but to his dismay he will never have the chance. He refused to have anything to do with her anymore and ran away from Boulder, west into the desert. In about a few months time his body was discovered in the desert crawling with snakes, his horse nowhere to be found. Rephiam and Stevie Rae are exceptionally happy with their life with their daughter and he realized that he was wrong in sending her away and would never ever think about doing that again. The ravens became nearly free birds, they were still tied with their masters but now had freedom to fly anywhere they wish and as far as they wish. Stevie Rae ultimately became the housewife for the Ravens and stayed in the new lodge while the Ravens went out for hunting parties or training exercises and even outings. The Black Ravens were no longer raping women but in fact were marrying them and starting families of their own. Soon The Valley moved outside the cliffs and the Black Ravens eventually dissolved into just another Cherokee tribe led by Rephiam and Stevie Rae, their successor being Jocelyn Angeni, their first daughter. And even though the Black Ravens were dissolved and the demon tribe of Indians were nothing more than a story, there would always be the five that lived through that summer when all their lives changed, all thanks to one girl and one everlasting romance.

Whew… Another 8-page chapter. Cool. Almost became 9 by like a little less than a third of a document. So, what'd you guys think? Review please much love.