The final chapter! Can you believe it? I certainly cannot...wow. I'm still reeling from the shock of actually finishing this. The amazing comments, etc. have been so encouraging. Hangnhu...I am very sorry I did not resolve the book as you wished. I do, however, have plans in store for Darcy and Lizzy that will majory deviate from defined social convention! I hope that helps. Anyway, everyone has been amazing and encouraging, etc., and I am just so grateful. Sorry that the update took so long in coming; I spent most of my time reading the seventh Harry Potter...which I thought resolved itself happily. I do hope that this resolves itself happily. It is so cool to be able to mark completed! As for the sequel...I am working on it. Anyway, thanks again, and I really hope that you enjoy...the final chapter of Childhood Impressions!

Chapter 24

All's Well that Ends Well

On a rather warm day in mid-April, a few months after the adventure in Portsmouth, Darcy and Elizabeth sat on the old wicker fence surrounding Farmer Gregory's fields. The Darcys' had just returned from London to deposit Lizzy at Longborne; prior plans and Pemberley business would soon carry them into Derbyshire. A summer visit was out of the question that year. Both Lizzy and Darcy felt the oncoming separation acutely, but neither would discuss it. They sat in silence, willing themselves to concentrate on happier things, like Mr. Bennet's elation at seeing his daughter…and the state of Longborne.

To say Mr. Bennet was happy to see his daughter would not have done the gentleman justice. The long letters she had written him from London only just helped him limp through a long winter without her. So long had he endured the inane conversation of his wife and daughters…so long had he labored under a life deprived of any variance or amusement…so long had he been forced to seek sanctuary in his library that, at the first sound of wheels upon gravel, he had flung himself from his favorite easy-chair and bowled out of the front doors to welcome his daughter home with open arms.

"You shall never leave me again, Elizabeth Bennet!" he cried, upon greeting her. Lizzy could not, of course, agree to this command, but she was very happy to see her father and told him so.

Mrs. Bennet was scarcely as enthusiastic. She had, of course, missed Elizabeth… in her own way, but Amelia had easily compensated for companionship, and Mrs. Bennet had, in all honesty, been rather glad of the lull in excitement. Not that she did not put on a very happy face, however, upon Elizabeth's arrival and cluck over her various things and embrace her warmly. However silly or stupid Mrs. Bennet was, she was not devoid of a heart. If her motherly instincts towards Elizabeth were a tad limited, she did care for the girl. And Lizzy was happy enough to see her.

Jane had only grown in beauty. In only a few short months, she had grown quite tall. Her hair was a brighter shade of gold and she had grown out of the freckles that had plagued her earlier in the year. Out of all her sisters, Lizzy was happiest to see her. Jane, in fact, was very glad to see Lizzy as well. Amelia had dealt her a very trying winter, and she had been so busy in attempting to placate and please her cousin that she had scarcely had any time to devote to herself. She had also taken the education of Lizzy's charges-Sophie, Julia, Robin, and Geri to heart. Kind-natured as she was, she provided an ample replacement in her sister's absence. Granted, her lessons were not nearly as interesting nor her vocabulary as large as Elizabeth's, but she had a great deal more patience than her sister and was both encouraging and firm in her lessons. Thus, Lizzy was delighted to find that her 'pupils' were quite 'up to snuff' in their educations and had not suffered in her absence. For this, she was quite grateful to Jane.

As for Lizzy's other sisters, they were much too young to have truly missed her. Lydia and Kitty, apparently, had become devoted to Amelia, while Mary had become devoted to the family's dusty, old piano-forte, so they had scarcely any time to even consider missing the second-eldest Bennet girl.

Betsey and Rose, too, had been extremely anxious about the welfare of their favorite charge. Indeed, Betsey had been so upset over the loss of her Lizzy that the Bennet family had been deprived of blueberry bread all winter; she declared she could not cook it without Lizzy. Rose, meanwhile, had wept so much the first week of Elizabeth's absence that she had spoilt most of the laundry and been dealt a very stinging lecture by Mrs. Bennet. When Elizabeth arrived, they were both quite overcome…so full of happiness that Lizzy was quite taken aback.

Thankfully, Amelia Lawrence had been carried off by her n'er-do-well father to return to her quiet life in Sussex, far, far away from Lizzy and Longborne. This was-Elizabeth had thoughtfully mused upon arriving to find she could relocate from the garret-a bittersweet departure. Despite the fact that she detested Amelia Lawrence with almost every fiber of her being, she could not help but feel slightly saddened that she would not be able to pull off any of the monstrously wonderful pranks she had been plotting against her. That being said, she was very happy that the infamous Lawrence girl had departed. Amelia, however, would be no doubt be back; Mrs. Bennet had ostensibly invited her to spend the summer at Longborne whenever she chose.

Such events and information constituted Lizzy's return to Longborne. Nothing of very great importance had really happened in Hertfordshire. It had just been much quieter and dull since Lizzy's departure; no pranks, no wit, and no mischief had plagued anyone in the near vicinity. No fellow mischief makers had dared take root in her absence; the pursuit was solely hers. Elton, John, Clara, and Charlotte had not dared to even consider taking her place.

As she sat upon the wicker fence, Lizzy wondered why she could not accompany the Darcys'. As much as she loved her home, she found it rather tedious without the Netherfield party. So close and comfortable had she grown to Darcy, she did not feel that Elton, John, Charlotte, and Clara would do as companions. She dismissed this treasonous thought as nonsense later, however; she was sure that her attachment to Darcy would soon be forgotten…or would it?

"I shall go away, you know…" Darcy mused, breaking their silence.

"Go away?" inquired Lizzy, "why ever do you need to do that?"

"We cannot stay at Longborne forever, Lizzy," he replied, "Father must return to Pemberley. Or well shall go stay in London. I shan't be able to return until summer. Besides, I shall have to go to University soon enough."

"Oh, Darcy, must you be so gloomy and dull?" cried Lizzy. "Of course you must do all of those things…but I shall do them with you!"

Darcy looked down as his shoes, unable to return Elizabeth's steady gaze. He did not want to destroy all of her hopes…of their carefully thought out plans…but the truth must be broken to her. "Lizzy, you just can't," he said, finally steeling himself to deliver the truth.

She did not storm or rant or rave as any other girl would have done. Instead, she surveyed him through those unnerving electric blue eyes, unwavering and thoughtful in their intensity. "I know," she replied, after a long period of silence, "I am not a simpleton, you know."

"But nothing can keep us apart, Lizzy!" he declared stoutly, "surely you must know that. We are bound to the pirate order, after all. And that is none to easy to break."

Lizzy smiled at him. She had grown in maturity during the past few months, and her new command and patient air betrayed it. Granted, she would never lose her mischievous streak but that did not necessarily bar her from sense. "Of course not," she remarked, attempting to keep her voice matter-of-fact, "and I defy anyone to challenge it!"

"At least we have this summer left us…and all of the summers that follow. I highly doubt that Father will ever let us miss a summer excursion to Netherfield." Darcy gazed off into the distant fields, watching as the sun dipped below the emerald hills. "The summer will always be ours."

Lizzy smiled. "I will hatch the most wonderful plans while you are away at school."

"How can you under the command of that new governess Father is forcing upon you?"

"Do you believe a simple governess can stop me?" she questioned, an eyebrow raised.

Darcy laughed. "Good point."

"Besides, I shall be the one giving instructions. The dreaded pirate Blondebeard takes orders from no one, after all."

"Nevertheless," Darcy replied, in a slightly cautionary tone, "Henrietta Marshington is quite set in her ways." He was referring to the young lady that Mr. Darcy had deemed intelligent-and firm-enough to both teach and manage Lizzy.

"As am I in mine."

He grinned. "I only wish I were here when you meet her."

Lizzy rolled her eyes. "I suppose it shall be something of a battle of wills."

"To say the least."

Silence reigned between them again but not of an uncomfortable nature. They both starred off into the sinking sun, unwilling to sully the perfect serenity of the day's end with words. Each, however, was lost in their own thoughts; Darcy was pondering a life void of Lizzy's company, and Lizzy was thinking the same.

The sun was almost lost to the horizon when Darcy did something very unexpected. Before Lizzy could protest or argue or even manage a well-timed punch to the head, he had leaned over and kissed her. Kissed her…and properly on the lips. It was a kiss in such a manner as she had Jane had once discussed on the dusty road to Meryton one distant afternoon.

"Don't be angry, Lizzy," he instructed her, finally settling back to his position "we are friends, after all."

Elizabeth did not look angry or even very surprised. "I suppose we are," she answered, her voice distant.

"I shall come back every summer," he promised.

"So you shall," she muttered, the world finally beginning to settle into order again.

"And we shall keep this between ourselves?"

A customary Lizzy-look resulted. "As if you should be ashamed of kissing the dreaded pirate Blondebeard?" she inquired saucily.

"Of course not," he compensated awkwardly. "But we shall always be friends…right, Lizzy?"

The look she returned him was serious, yet tinged with her customary sarcasm. "Of course."

And, together, they retreated from the perch on the wicker fence and wandered homeward, arms linked.

Finis