Yep. This is the last part of Maybe I Won't Go Back Again. I really enjoyed writing and uploading this to FanFiction, as many of you seemed to enjoy reading it. And when my work makes people happy, I'm happy.

EPILOGUE

I hesitated in the hallway, gazing at the wooden door in front of me. Did I really want to know if there was an empty apartment waiting for me behind it? I supposed that if Gary had been lying, Cheyanne would have reemerged from her apartment earlier that week to show she was still around. But I hadn't seen her in three days.

It wasn't like I had expected her to come back. From what she'd looked like the last time I'd seen her, it seemed pretty clear that her dreams were actually happening in some strange manner that I will never question Gary about no matter how much it bugged me.

Not that I could question Gary about it. The old man had disappeared, too, leaving Dreamer's empty and abandoned. On the counter had been a note for me.

Jon,

Cheyanne and I are home. Dreamer's is yours now. Take care of it, my boy.

Gary Hoffman

Well, gee. Thanks, Gary. Such a nice parting gift.

Letting out a small breath, I nodded to myself and stepped forward towards the door. Putting the spare key Cheyanne had given me in the lock, I turned it, and then turned the knob. The door swung open to what I expected; the title screen music for An Unexpected Journey repeating itself for the thousandth time.

I entered the apartment hesitantly, not really wanting to know if I was alone in there or not. Cautiously, I said, "Cheyanne?"

There was no response.

I hadn't expected one, to be quite honest. When Gary hadn't shown up to work the day after Cheyanne had gone back to sleep, I'd figured that it had worked and everything was done. I'd lost them both.

I sighed and walked over to the couch sitting behind a coffee table in front of Cheyanne's TV. I paused before sitting down, realizing that there was an indentation in the cushions, as though someone had been lying there. With a squeak, I jumped backwards away from it. Cheyanne had been laying there.

Swallowing thickly, I turned away from the couch and walked to the TV to shut it off, since the music had started to give me a headache. I couldn't believe it. She really was gone. She'd faded away, just like Gary had said she would, and the old man had gone with her.

What a bust.

I missed her already, and she'd only been gone for three days. I missed them both, actually. Our little squad had given me life, and now that I was the only one left, what life did I have?

That's when I realized that I could finish her story, despite it being a FanFiction. Actually, I had to finish her story, the way I wanted it to end.

I walked into Cheyanne's bedroom and sat down at her desk in front of her computer. I turned it on and typed in her password: Amralime. Shaking my head at it, I waited for the computer to boot up before loading up the notepad titled My dream.

Cracking my fingers, I set to work. I didn't plan on adding everything from where she'd stopped; I merely wanted to give it an ending, one that I approved of.

It took me an hour to get it written out. I didn't have it planned, and so it was a lot of thinking, but I was pleased with the final result:

After everything I had gone through, I wanted nothing more than to return home. I wanted to go back to Texas and be with Jon and Gary again. Deep down, however, I knew I couldn't. I wouldn't be able too.

Middle-Earth was a part of me now. The only choice I had was to remain here, or leave it behind forever. I didn't want to make the decision.

Luckily, Gary made it for me.

I met him at Dreamer's, and he explained to me everything he'd done. About the dream being his work because he was actually Gandalf, and had been friends with J. R. R. Tolkien. I could hardly believe what I was hearing. But what he told me next, however, almost made me fall out in a dead faint on the floor.

"Cheyanne, you and Jon and I, we don't belong here on Earth. We belong in Middle-Earth."

Thanks, G. I knew I could count on you.

So, Jon and I retreated to our apartments to await Gary's final transformation of us. I'm sitting here now, at my computer, writing to finish the story before I lose technology forever, most likely. I wonder how Jon will react to being a hobbit.

Actually, he wouldn't be a hobbit. He's probably an Elf.

Oh! Maybe he's Legolas!

Pfft, lucky.

I grinned to myself as I saved the note and pushed the chair back away from Cheyanne's desk. I would definitely be Legolas.

Dammit, Gary, why didn't you take me with you guys?

I was about to turn off Cheyanne's computer and leave when the doorbell of Cheyanne's apartment rang. I frowned and went to answer the door, wondering who the hell it could be.

When I opened it, I found myself looking at an empty hallway. Grunting in frustration, I almost slammed the door when I looked down and saw an envelope sitting on the floor.

Bending down, I picked it up and glanced up and down the hallway once more before retreating inside the apartment again and opening it.

Inside was a single sheet of yellow parchment with what could have only been Middle-Earth type writing on it.

Written in the scripture were four words:

You are not Legolas.

I muttered out a curse and rolled my eyes up to the ceiling. "Forget you, Gary," I said to it. "You can't tell me who I am and who I'm not!"

The paper flashed in my hands, and I looked back down at it. A new line had been added.

Yes I can. I'm the author.

"Oh yeah? Well… Maybe of this story, but Tolkien came first!" I said aloud. I hesitated. "Is Cheyanne okay?"

The paper flashed again.

She's perfectly fine.

I grinned slightly when I read it. "Can you tell her that I miss her?"

I think she knows, Jon. Somewhere inside of her, she knows.

Bowing my head in understanding, I quietly said, "I hope so."

The paper glimmered, and I turned my eyes to the line of black ink that had appeared.

I'll keep you in the loop. Is that what you kids say nowadays?

I had to laugh. Gary was still being Gary. "No, G," I told him. "Not anymore."

Darn. Was I close?

"Not really."

Oh well. I'll figure it out. And Jon?

"Yes?"

Don't forget.

"Forget about you guys?" I shook my head. "I couldn't."

Oh, shoot. I almost forgot.

In the last chapter, when Cheyanne said "Bilbo is going home, and I'm already here."

I think she was talking about how Thorin is her home now. I mean, I didn't realize this until I was watching Outlander last night at two in the morning, but jeeze. I think that's what she meant.

And it makes me a little happy.

Sorry. I'll let you all go now.

Thanks for sticking around, once again. I hope you enjoyed the tales of Cheyanne, and how everything turned out in the end.

Who knows? Maybe we'll see more of her in the future.

I bid you all a very fond farewell.