*Sigh* I have come to the end of another story. Gotta give another shout out to my favorite readers and cheerleaders xfang-girlx and Nila 101. Thanks gals! You've got another dedication here. I only hope the chapter is worthy.

The Final Act

Corbeau had retired as the Freak Show's angel on earth, giving that title to her daughter Allete after she graduated from high school and turned seventeen. She helped her husband run the Freak Show along with Ichigo and Sui Feng. Don Kanonji had become the barker only, relinquishing ownership of his beloved show to people he trusted. They had bought several hundred acres of land to make a permanent home for their show which had grown too big to travel anymore. They still had the side show which had added many acts after the belly dancers. Rides, games, food booths, and even a small circus had been bought and added to the show. All of the workers and performers lived on site in a huge compound of apartment buildings and single family homes complete with a medical center ran by Hana. It had become a city unto itself. Five years has passed since then.

Himawari and Hiro had gotten a married month ago. Unfortunately it was a shotgun wedding, complete with an actual shotgun that was held by Himawari's father, Ichigo, at the ceremony. No one bothered to call him a hypocrite. Too many years had passed since then and the kids were too young to remember the drama that had occurred over Isshin and his real mother so everyone let it lie in the past where it belongs. Seven months later they had a handsome boy with icy, almost colorless, blue eyes and lovely strawberry blond hair.

Soon after that, Corbeau began a battle with fatigue, unable to move any further than the living room on some days. Her feathers began to fall out and the wing bones were deteriorating at the tips then the decay was moving toward her body. Hana came to her by Renji's request when she refused to go to the on-site medical center to get checked out. He ordered that she be brought to medical center immediately.

"What's wrong with her, Hana?" Renji asked as they stared at Corbeau's pitiful, tattered wings.

Corbeau was lying on the examining table on her belly. She had already been given a sedative to put her to sleep for the procedure Hana was about to perform.

"They're dying," he answered, taking a deep breath before he added, "I need to cut them off."

"No! How can you say that? Hana – " He immediately stopped when the doctor put a hand on his shoulder and stared at him with tears in his blue eyes.

"I don't want to. I have to. They've become like a cancer. They're destroying themselves. I'm afraid if I don't take them off whatever is causing this will invade her body and kill her too," he explained.

"All right, Doc. I trust you," Renji said, kissing his unconscious wife before he left the room.

"Dad, what is it?" Allete asked when her father appeared in the waiting room.

Tears filled his eyes when she wrapped her wings around him just like her mother always had. He held his daughter while he murmured the news to her. A mournful howl escaped her throat when he explained that her mother's wings would be removed. Renji signaled for Isshin to come over and take her into his arms. He stepped back from the couple, never taking his eyes off of them. He watched as Isshin soothed and comforted his redheaded daughter that looked so much like her mother. His baby was no longer a baby at twenty one years of age. By the way her boyfriend held her, he knew there would be another wedding soon. Preferably without the shotgun.

Corbeau was in the master bedroom of their house staring at her wingless back in the oval mirror of her old dressing table. She was missing big part of her – the part that had defined her for most of her life. Her eyes skimmed over her smooth back that held no evidence that the wings were ever there except for two four inch ovals of light pink skin near her shoulder blades where the wings had grown out of her body. Hana had done a wonderful job of healing the scars. Tears trickled from her eyes and down her cheeks. She hoped the grieving would be over with soon. It had been a month since they had been removed. Hana had warned her that she would be depressed and experience a mourning process just like anyone does when they experience the loss of a limb. She sighed deeply and continued getting dressed.

A soft knock on her door escaped her attention she was so deep in thought. There was a louder knock with the voice of her daughter calling, "Mama? Mama! I need to talk to you."

"Come in, Allete," Corbeau told her, holding her arms out for her daughter who virtually fell into them.

"Mama, can you brush my hair?" she requested, looking at her mother with tears in her eyes.

Corbeau smiled although her heart was pounding with anxiety. She knew her daughter must really be upset about something. Starting when her daughter was a very young child, she would brush her hair and talk to her when she was distressed. This technique worked wonders when Allete was a teenager allowing her to open up and talk to her mother about anything. Allete had the shiniest, most beautiful hair by the time she was seventeen. What could possibly have the child this disturbed? Her mother grabbed the old fashioned hairbrush with the ornate silver handle, pointing to the chair at her dressing table for her daughter to sit down. She set to work brushing through the waist length hair that was just like the child's father's in its red color and nearly impossible thickness. Her eyes skimmed over the lovely iridescent black feathers of her daughter's wings. She forced back the tears and swallowed the lump in her throat. Now was not the time to feel sorry for herself.

"Mama, I love Isshin," Allete announced, running her fingers over the ornate markings on the handle of the hand held mirror matching the brush her mother was using.

Corbeau patiently waited for her daughter to continue as she brushed through her hair. She smoothed her hand over Allete's lovely wings, sighing loudly. Her mind had wandered back to when she stepped foot on the lot that day of the Freak Show so many years ago; so many in fact she could no longer remember the name of the town.

"I want to be a part of your show," she had said to the funny looking Don Kanonji. She smiled with the memory of the first time she had laid eyes on the eccentric, flamboyant man.

"Listen, kid, you and everybody else wants to be a part of this show. You don't look like a freak to me. You're a very pretty girl," he had replied in attempt to quickly dismiss her.

That was the day she finally found her lifelong family. That was day she found her husband, Renji.

"He asked me to marry him," Allete blurted out suddenly.

"What?" Corbeau asked, meeting her daughter's gaze in the mirror.

"Isshin asked me to marry him, Mama. He's talking to Daddy right now so I wanted to talk to you. I want to be his wife. I love him," she repeated the sentiment with new tears sliding down her cheeks.

"I know you do, baby. I know you do," her mother said, stroking her hair.

"CORBEAU! ALLETE!" Renji's voice boomed through the house.

"Oh, god," Corbeau groaned, tightening her grip on the brush.

"Dad's home. Apparently, the talk did not go very well," Allete sighed, rolling her eyes. She loved her father dearly but he could be a tad…over-reactive.

The two women waited patiently as he continued bellowing their names. Finally the panicked redhead appeared in the doorway. His torso was bare and covered with sweat and blood. He had bruises on his face and cut on his left cheek below his eye.

"What the hell happened to you?" his wife yelled, taken aback by his horrendous appearance.

"If you think I look terrible, you should see Isshin," he quipped, actually smiling with satisfaction and pride for a moment.

"You have lost your damn mind," Corbeau muttered to be completely ignored by her husband.

"Allete, you're not pregnant are you?" he demanded, his shoulders moving up and down he was heaving for air so fiercely.

"DAD!" she screamed in horror. Her father always knew just the thing to say to embarrass her the most.

"Oh, Renji, really? You're the biggest idiot ever besides Isshin's father," his wife snapped at him.

"But he wants to marry her," he whined, dumbfounded. He was trying to be a good father, and he still gets into trouble?

"People still get married because they're in love, Dad! I'm not pregnant!," his daughter yelled indignantly, brushing past her father as she ran from the room.

"Renji, I swear! It seems like you'd be tired of the taste of shoe leather or have athlete's mouth after all these years from the many times you've stuck your foot in your mouth," Corbeau chided as she moved past him to go after their daughter.

"But I…" He scratched his head wondering what the hell had just happened. Seems like he got most of his mental exercise jumping to conclusions, and he had definitely jumped to the wrong one that time. "Dammit!"

The big event was to take place at the private park in the center of the compound which was a short walk from Allete's home. She and several of her friends had decorated the gazebo with red ribbons and long lengths of white satin material. Her bouquet was a dozen red and white roses like her mother's had been. The guys had set up all of the chairs for the guests while the women were busy decorating. After the simple preparations, everyone went home to get ready for the ceremony.

Corbeau helped her daughter into the backless wedding dress that had been altered to accommodate her wings. Allete would be wearing a white dress and rightfully so, much to the delight of her father. The dress was plain white silk with red piping around the edges. It reminded Corbeau of the dresses women wore in the fifties with the tight, fitted top then the skirt that flared out complete with a red crinoline petticoat. She would be wearing red patent leather ballerina shoes because high heels would sink down into the grass making her trek to the gazebo an awkward torture. She was already nervous so she did not need anything else to make it difficult for her to walk up the aisle. Today, she would become Allete Kurosaki.

Corbeau was putting the finishing touches on her daughter's hair. She carefully positioned the tiara she had worn on her wedding day on Allete's head. A smile spread across her face as she looked at her daughter's reflection in the mirror.

"Sweetheart, you look like an angel," she said, tears springing to her eyes.

There were two reasons she wanted to cry: one because she was the mother of the bride and two because of the sudden flood of memories of Sajin. Corbeau had not thought about him in years. He had always called her Angel. Only one time in the many years he knew her did he ever speak her real name. She was always his Angel. He had been her beloved wolfman. She closed her eyes to stop the rampaging thoughts. Today was not the day for a trip down memory lane. Today was a day for looking forward to the future.

Three years later a baby was born. It was a baby girl with orange hair and brown eyes. It was a very special baby girl because one day she would be just like her mother and grandmother. One day, she would have wings.