Whispers of Home
The next day, Jack of Blades is dead forever, and his mask destroyed. The next week, Alan asks Whisper a rather important question. The next month, the two of them stand outside a newly-bought home.
"You want to live here?" Whisper almost giggles (she's been doing that a lot recently). "Oakvale? Seriously?"
Smiling back at her, he gives a little shrug. "It's where I grew up. Same house, actually. For some reason no one's really bought it, and when I was looking for a place for us to live, well…"
"This was your home?" She looks at the house with new respect, taking in the crumbling roof and cracked windows."
"Oh yeah." A touch of sadness is mixed in the fond tone of his voice. "My sister and I used to live here, years ago, with my father. Well, my mother too, but she wasn't always home."
She grins broadly, leaning into him. "Your mother. You must've had a very odd childhood."
When he doesn't reply immediately, she looks up at him and sees a distant look in his eyes. "It was." He says softly. "It was odd, I suppose."
Softly she touches him, calling out of his little world. "It must have wonderful too." She whispers, guessing where his thoughts are. "Just to have a father. And a mother."
The smile returns to his face, making her smile in turn. "It was." He agrees. "It was very wonderful."
She turns to look back at the house. "You sure you want to live here?" She asks. "Out in the woods? In Oakvale?"
"Well… unless you really don't want to." There's a little cough behind her, and she can tell he's rubbing the back of his head. "I mean, I know it's not Bowerstone, or even Knothole Glade, but really it's just as close to the Guild, with the Cullis Gates and all. And sure, it needs some fixing up, but I can do most of that. I know it's maybe not what you were hoping for, but…"
"It's fine." She interrupts him, touching him on the shoulder and looking deep into his eyes. "It's perfect."
And as she pulls him down for a kiss, she feels for once that she is finally, truly, home.
The End
A/N: So here we are at last. There might not seem to be much point to reviewing but... I still like them. And they still help me. So review! Tell me what you thought of the series as a whole, and what you maybe would have liked to see more of. I shall keep it all in mind.