The computer screen flickers to life, casting a bright glow throughout the dark room.

She sits, gazing blankly at the screen, absolutely still. The swivel chair gently rolls, back and forth. Back and forth. Back and forth. Her legs hang still. Her eyes give away nothing.

"So you're back."

She jumps slightly at the sound of his voice, but quickly recollects herself. Without looking at him, she nods. "Yeah."

She hears him laugh lightly and looks up. He's smiling at her. Weakly, she smiles back.

"Ready to wrap this up?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.

Her eyes return to the screen. Then the keyboard. Then the screen again. A smile plays across her lips as she traces her fingers, one by one, over the keys. Her skin brushes every letter. She likes the feeling of the keyboard.

"You bet I am," she replies with a breathy laugh of her own. He smirks at her, pushes his hands through his brown spikes, and pulls up a chair next to hers.

She reaches out a hand. For one fleeting moment, her fingertips hover nervously above the keyboard. She shivers in the midnight air.

Then she smiles. Reassures herself.

And she begins to type.

...

HELLO, MY FRIENDS!

Okay. Yup. I'm back. Love me or hate me, YES, I'm BACK! :D *cheers from all of my lovely, wonderful readers*

It's kind of pathetic how my "discontinuation" lasted, what, one week? Maybe two? XD I guess I love this story too much.

And I got too many reviews telling me not to quit...

And Typhlosion8 has been a tad bit insistent - okay, no, she's been CRAZY insistent, but considering the fact that it got me here, sitting and writing this chapter, I guess it's not a bad thing. Not a bad thing at all.

So let me explain a little bit of a something to you guys. If you read the last author's note (and I'm guessing you did) then you know why I (temporarily) discontinued it. And that means you can guess why I'm back: because I got the story BACK ON PLOT! I fixed it up in my brain and through a hundred billion plotlines and rough drafts and mini chapters that I wrote out and threw away because they all kinda sucked and had no point! And now, suddenly, I know where I'm going with it again! I know that doesn't exactly make sense... but yes it does! Hold on! Wait! What? Ahhh... anyway...

Things may not seem any different for a couple more chapters, but believe me, I have plans - and this story is just gonna get better and better. Things are looking up for TACDIF and the rest of the books! :D (technically at the moment things are looking down for our characters, but that's beside the point. Things will be looking up for them soon.)

So now that that's out of the way, I ask y'all to sit back and enjoy this little epilogue!

(The poem part is a free verse poem written by me, not a song or anything, by the way)

...

...

EPILOGUE: Down in Flames

...

...

Eyes closed,

Smiling slightly, I

Wonder

How you look so

At peace.

Cilan grasped his brother's hand in his. Cress's face was so peaceful. He even looked... happy.

But he was dead.

Your hand,

clasped in mine.

Cold

Dead

Hand.

I don't want to cry.

Memories. A flood of memories. Cilan closed his eyes. They came, overwhelming him with sounds, sights, and smells.

The floodgates cracked.

You

Know

Those

Old pictures?

The ones you tried to throw away?

I kept them, no matter how

Embarrassing

They may be.

They remind me of you.

Serena held him in her arms. She felt his breath, hot and sickly.

He was not doing well.

Serena pulled Ritchie closer.

Breaking

Apart

From

The

Inside

And trying to hide it.

They need me.

Can't fall apart because

They need me.

But I

Need

You.

"Will he be okay?" she heard Ash ask.

Serena shook her head. "I wish I knew."

I think they're scared

For both of us now.

Your eyes are closed.

I want them open but

I don't want to see the death in those

Beautiful eyes.

So

I

Just

Close

Mine

Instead.

Maybe I do want to cry.

"I'm sorry," the nurse said, exhaustion echoing in her voice. "Your daughter is dead."

The woman sitting next to Cynthia gave a pained wail. She sobbed and showed no signs of stopping. The blond Champion wanted so badly to comfort her, but knew she couldn't.

Cynthia pressed into Steven. He held her.

She close her eyes and tried to block out the despairing cries of the mother whose child had been lost - the cries of all of the parents.

I know I'm not the

Only

One

Crying

But

I still feel

Alone

And I don't know

Why.

They were just waiting, waiting, waiting. They had brought two children to the hospital. They still did not know if either of them was still alive, or how they were doing.

So Steven and Cynthia waited.

Waiting, waiting

For things to turn around

For everything to get better

Maybe to

Wake

Up

And

Laugh

At what a silly

Dream this was, even if

I know it's

Not.

Maybe if this was all a dream, things would be easier. Paul closed his eyes. He felt Dawn's presence nearby, awkwardly standing and not knowing what to do.

I think there are

Easier people to love

Than someone

Who's

Dead.

But I still love you anyway.

Maybe it would be

Easier

If I didn't...

Paul closed the gap between them.

Crying is too easy

When I feel all broken inside

And

I'm

Not

Sure

How

To

Fix it.

He let her press into him, and he let her break down and cry a little.

Or a lot.

Crying is too easy

When you're

Dead.

Gone.

Getting mad is easy too

When you're

Dead.

Because

I

Miss

You

Too

Much.

Reggie closed his eyes and breathed in slowly.

He was scared. Scared for nothing but the life of his little brother.

And there was absolutely nothing he could do to help his precious little bro.

They worry

And I cry

And they worry more

And I get mad

And I make myself a promise.

She didnt know how she survived that month. The month when she thought Dawn was gone.

But Johanna Berlitz was glad she did. Because now she knew that her daughter was alive.

Of course, now was the worst part: the waiting.

Waiting for her daughter to come home to her. That was all she could do.

I

Promise to

Me

And

I

Promise to

You.

It's something called

Vengeance

And I promise

I'll

Get it.

Delia wrapped Professor Oak in a hug. It was a little weird because she was holding Catie, but it worked.

"It's okay," she whispered. "It'll be okay. Team Rocket can't always win..."

So even when

Hope is gone

And I cried all my tears out

And there's nowhere to look

And I'm ready to give up

I'll keep going

For you.

Trip gazed out onto the destroyed cityscape.

The one thing he couldn't believe was that all of this, everything... it had all started about a week and a month ago. What he couldn't believe was that this had all come from that one moment, that one shocking, awful moment...

When the fight seems pointless

I'll remember

Why

I'm

Fighting

And I'll keep going

For you.

...when Ash Ketchum had gone down in flames.

Trip shook his head. It was such a crazy thought. Such an impossible, crazy thought. That a war would break out over a single arsonism; a single child gone missing.

But, he though, laughing to himself, I guess we all knew Ash was never an ordinary child...

Even when

Everything is crumbling

And there's nothing left

And it feels like everything's gone down in flames,

I'll remember

Why

I'm

Fighting

And I'll keep going

For you.

...

Whew!

That was fun. I like free verse poetry. Tell me how you liked it... and follow me / check out my profile soon, because TACAEJ should be up within the next hour! :D

I love getting my inspiration back.

Gary: For the record, Kit, I like it a lot too.

...

UPDATE: Okay, guys... the sequel, TACAEJ, is up on my profile now! Go check it out! The story continues... in book II!

...

She stops.

She reaches out and closes the laptop. The bright, harsh white light is gone from the room, leaving it lit only by the moon's dim light.

They both sit quietly for a moment.

Then he stands. "You did it. You finished it."

"Uh-uh," she replies with a smile, standing up as well.

"Looks like it's on to number two..."

The leave the room.

And all is quiet.