Where's My Dolly?

So guys, we are finally here. The final chapter/ epilogue-type chapter, whatever you want to call it. Here, I shall hopefully tie up all loose ends and answer any questions that were left hanging. (But if I'm being totally honest, I've deeply confused myself and can't remember what I've answered already…)

Also, if my dear readers recall a game of hangman in Chapter 4: Bad Day, the answer will be revealed in this chapter.

Epilogue

Three Months Later

The gentle beeping of the alarm clock sounded and Leaf popped her head out from under her covers, checking that there wasn't a doll or anything unexpected perched next to her alarm. Ever since the whole ordeal with the doll and the search party for the doll in the woods, Leaf's life had mostly returned to normal.

Mostly.

Her parents were making a speedy recovery and had been removed from the ICU and placed into wards with the other patients that weren't likely to pass away overnight. Leaf was relieved when she heard the doctors say that it was only a matter of days before her parents would be discharged from the hospital and would be able to settle back into their home which had mostly been repaired thanks to Gary and Daisy chipping in during their spare time. Daisy had been a fantastic host during this time to Leaf and her Gary, even sacrificing days that could have been spent nurturing her relationship with Bill.

School had calmed down since the funeral of Dawn Berlitz and the other victims. Most students had suffered through their period of mourning and were focused on their grades and back to their own life instead of dwelling on those who weren't around anymore, although, the occasional flashback to a time that they were around would always crop up and be met with a moment of silence.

Leaf wondered into the school building, punctual and quiet, unlike herself before everything started. Everyone had noticed that Leaf wasn't quite herself; she had her moments when she would seemingly act just like before but the façade would fade fast and it would shrink back into the new shell that cocooned her from the traumatic flashbacks.

Gary had fewer mental scars than Leaf, the worse being when everything was finally resolved by discovering Leaf and the doll. He stood at his locker, a few down from Leaf's, and stared at his books, seemingly unaware of what he needed and maybe even why he was there.

Drew was mostly undisturbed and remained almost as carefree and nonchalant as before, except for the fact that he was more concerned towards a certain brunette. His grades remained unaffected but throughout the whole ordeal, he felt like he had gotten to know Gary on a deeper level and made a friend in Leaf (who he was merely an acquaintance of before).

Misty had returned to school after a month's absence following the death of one of her sisters who, although she bickered with on several occasions during their childhood, she had always loved and admired. Misty focussed all her energy on playing catch-up in class and Ash was surprisingly helpful; the raven haired boy had taken remarkably extensive notes and neatly drawn diagrams in all of the classes he had shared with Misty. The rest of his books were still stained with puddles of drool.

May's condition had shown little signs of improvement. Following the capture of the doll, Leaf had visited many times and she could somehow sense that May's dark cloud was slowly starting to dematerialise. Her eyes were no longer glazed over and her grip on her pens had loosened, allowing the colour to return to her stone-cold knuckles.

Leaf looked across and noticed that Gary had frozen at his locker, she had noticed that Gary had a tendency to do that ever since he found her that night and she had recently concluded that he took nothing in in class when he was in a transient state.

She shut her locker door gently and shuffled down to Gary, lightly placing a hand on his arm, "Want to go for a walk?"

Gary and Leaf had walked along in silence and eventually settled on a grassy hill to lie down on. The grass beneath them was a damp and cold but they'd both experienced worse before. Leaf leaned back to stare up at the grey sky, an imminent storm was visible but she didn't care. She felt it was a privilege that it was only water that would be coating her clothes and skin.

Gary had remained sitting up. His arms were loosely wrapped around his knees. His attendance had been even poorer than before and his grades were slowly slipping. Daisy had spent countless nights trying to get her brother to open up about all the events, how it made him feel, how he felt things have changed but he answered none of it.

He'd found that at night his mind would often drift back to the night he followed Leaf out. And how they tried to trace the doll and scrape it out of the mud with their bare hands. And how the mud cavern started to sink and collapse. And how Leaf disappeared.

During his thoughts he'd often fall asleep but jolt awake again when he and Leaf were separated. He remembered seeing Leaf's face turn into a panic stricken look that millisecond before the ceiling caved in and buried her alive. As far as he was concerned, Leaf was trapped in an airless ditch for what felt like days before he was able to dig her out with the help of a few campers and a ranger nearby when he shouted for help in the off chance that he'd actually get any.

Leaf remembered none of that. All she remembered was waking up in a somewhat comfortable hospital bed. She was told nothing of what happened after her parting from Gary in mud that she ruthlessly fought to not sink into. As far as she was knew, Gary had managed to save her with the help of a few passer-bys, and on some levels, she was okay with knowing just that.

The doll was presented to her when she woke up the following day. Gary and Doctor Abby were both on hand to keep an eye on the doll and after Leaf was discharged from the hospital, the teens accompanied Abby to her lab and witnessed the removal of the brain and all its glory before the sacrificial burning of everything in the yard on a chilly evening.

Leaf felt at ease knowing that they really were gone for good, and even more so being able to witness the event.

Professor Oak, on the other hand, had been running around all over since the full extent of the damage was uncovered. He was working hard to prevent media coverage of the story and was trying to come to some sort of agreement on compensation to the victim's families. His days mostly comprised of early starts, late and sleepless nights and lots of travelling to meetings and the like.

"Gary…" Leaf said. Her hand was tugging at the hem of Gary's shirt.

He looked back at Leaf briefly.

"How did you know I slipped out that night?" Her words were barely loud enough to resist being swept away by the wind.

Gary stared at Leaf long and hard. "I know you well enough. When I asked you that night what you wanted to do in the house you didn't reply with something crazy like 'let's watch Pirates of the Caribbean and dress up too. I can be Captain Jack Sparrow and you can be the wench'."

Leaf stared blankly at her friend. "Gary… Can we do that at some time?"

She suddenly really missed being able to hang out with Gary and do nothing but stupid things and while watching movies. Or just hanging out in general. Ever since all that had happened Leaf and Gary had spent most of their time renovating and not winding down. All the tension trapped within her had not been released but had slowly added to her stresses.

"Okay…" Gary said and smiled at Leaf who sat forward and leaned in closer. She put a hand on his shoulder and, as she pushed herself up to her feet, she muttered a few words.

"Hurry up, Elizabeth Swann!" and sprang down the hill.

"Fine by me, my character kills yours!"

Leaf froze in her spot at the foot of the hill and contemplated for a moment. "Demoting you back to ship wench!" she shouted up.

"That movie will never get old." Leaf declared as the theme tune and credits rolled. "Can we watch the second one?"

Gary turned the tele off. "We can as soon as you return it to me."

Leaf pouted. "You said I could have it for as long as I need…"

Gary couldn't argue with that. It was his own fault for saying that and he instantly regretted it when the words tumbled out of his mouth. He looked at his watch, "We should probably go back to school. Fifth period is going to start soon."

"Oh, chemistry!" Leaf said as she recalled what fifth period was. "It was getting interesting in that class yesterday."

"Yeah and we can finish that game of hangman." Gary said, "I have a feeling I know what it was."

"Yeah?" Leaf said questioningly. She couldn't even remember what it was. "What do you think it was then?"

"A lie." Gary answered, "I am not a skirt chaser." (N/A: the answer is 'Gary is a skirt chaser'. Can't remember if 'skirt chaser' was written as one or two words, sorry!)

Leaf suddenly remembered and snickered. "You so are." She replied, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder.

"Is that how you see me?" Gary asked as he approached Leaf.

"It's how everyone sees you." Leaf pointed out matter-of-factly. "And I have proof that you are. I mean, the number of girls I've had to pretend to be your girlfriend to fend them off!"

Gary opened the door and let Leaf out first before he locked the door behind him. "If that's how you see me then I'll have to keep this to myself then." He said, holding up a small box.

Leaf's eyes lit up when she saw the box and she instantly tried to reach for it.

"Nope. It was for you but not anymore since I'm apparently not a one girl kind of guy." Gary smirked and held the box up high and walked ahead.

Leaf pouted behind him, narrowed her eyes then pounced for the box once more from behind. And it worked! The box was in her hands and when she opened it…

"Hey!" Leaf protested, "It's empty!"

"Yeah," Gary shrugged. "You can have its contents when you decide I'm a one woman kind of guy." He said as walked on ahead.

Leaf playfully poked his back repeatedly, causing him to squirm and run for school. Leaf kept up her assault.

And for the first time in months, Leaf felt like things were totally normal.

THE END.

It's taken me six years but finally, it's done! I hope you enjoyed the ending to the story! I really enjoyed this fic and I feel like you can tell that I've grown as an author! I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all my readers for reading and even to those who have stood by it from start to finish even though I always play the 'Drop of the Face of the Earth' game all the time!

For those of you who are familiar with my other fics, particularly One Step at a Time and Business in La Rousse, will be pleased to know that they are the fics I intend to focus on next!

And before I sign off... Happy Halloween!

silver-hedgehog

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