Thunder: Back Through the Rain – Chapter 26

By MyNameIsCAL

-Iggy's POV-

Over the years, things got better. The past was the past. When it got brought up, you could tell we all thought back to those hard times we went through, but you know, it was something to learn from and we could all look back with smiles, not regret and guilt.

Ella and I got married, not long after Max and Fang. We had kids around the same age now, our daughter named Val after Mom. There was no doubt in the world that we're all happy about how things turned out.

We were at Fang's house, waiting for Nudge and Gazzy to come. Angel would probably be here shortly too. It was family dinner tonight and of course I was cooking. Fang had the grill fired up, waiting for everyone to arrive. As for now, we sat back and watched, well I listened, to our kids running around. But even that still made me smile.

-Max's POV-

I loved Fang more than anything in the world. Oh, well of course, our son too. He was a sweet, little thing with Fang's dark complexion, and according to Fang, my eyes. It was great to see that our son and Iggy and Ella's daughter hadn't sprouted wings. Imagine, mutant bird kid babies flying around. It made me wonder what it had been like, but then again, I probably didn't want to know since we would probably be in some kind of cage or confinement.

Fang had his moments of struggle. Perhaps it would always be my fault that he was stuck with the pain, but not once since that day Marian Janssen was killed has he gotten mad about it. No matter what we argue, and no matter how many times I think he's going to use it against me, he hasn't, and he probably never will.

The kids were outside with Fang, Iggy, and Ella. I wanted them to have a better childhood than we did, to even say if we had one. After all, we had spent most of our younger days in cages, Fang trying to keep me from worrying about the others. Even when Jeb busted us out of there, or even after he left, it wasn't the same. I mean, we had to scrounge for things. Not to mention I had to play "mother" and honestly, I'm sure none of them appreciated that, especially Fang and Iggy who were practically my age.

Well, that's not true, Fang usually agreed with me.

I stood in the kitchen, watching them out the window. It was almost time for him to come in and take his medicine. Mom had been working on something, hoping to at least alleviate his pain. For now, it was working, and Fang couldn't be more grateful. Those days I put him in a wheelchair to get him around were his worst. Although he was more good natured about it now than he was before.

As long as he had us, he'd be happy.

-Fang's POV-

The pain would always be there, a reminder of the things we had been through, like a battle wound of a war many years ago. I usually walked with crutches and my landings after flying would always have to be assisted, but at least I wouldn't be grounded. Occasionally we would fly somewhere, usually some place for Max and I to get away from the world, or just to stretch out our wings.

It's been almost ten years since all of that happened now. Max and I got married. That had to be the happiest moment of our life along with having our first kid who we named after Ari. He ran around our backyard with Iggy and Ella's daughter. We would all sit and watch them. As much freedom as we had now, the flock still stuck around each other. Iggy and Ella only lived across the street. Nudge and Gazzy would be getting married soon, only a block away. And Angel had the house next door.

Iggy and Ella were here. It was hard to say that their marriage had disappointed Nudge, but she accepted it because she knew better than to waste her time being upset. Gazzy was still throwing jokes, mocking our voices, still getting Iggy and me into fights.

I stood, leaving Iggy and Ella to watch the kids, and headed towards the house. Max was about to go back out into the yard and she ran into me.

"Sorry," she said, grabbing my arm to steady me.

Leaning against the wall, I gave her a smile.

"How's your leg?" Max asked, taking my hand. It was a question she constantly asked.

"Same as always," I told her. My answer was always the same. Although there were days when the pain would disappear for a while and days where the pain was bad enough that I wished someone would just come and chop my leg off. There were days Max had to drag me out of bed and force into a wheelchair and other days where I'd get along just fine by myself or with crutches.

Max stood on her toes and kissed me. I kissed her back, slowly, wrapping my arms around her. She was smiling as we broke apart. Moments like that were the reason I still pushed on after all these years. With Ari and Max, I had to be the luckiest man in the world.

Well, that's the end. Thank you so much for reading, for your reviews, and for input. Originally, this last chapter was going to be all Fang's POV, but then I realized that the original story, "Through the Pouring Rain", was really only in Max's POV and it wouldn't serve justice to it, since "Thunder" is really the sequel.

It will probably be a while before I write a new story. I've got about nine other fanfics to write, but it's quite possible I might branch of this idea of them being married with kids and making a new story, not necessarily a sequel, but it's just an idea. Perhaps it will be a sequel, but you never know. Really, I'm just rambling now.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the ending. If you haven't already, you should check out my other stories on my profile.

Once again, thank you!

}MyNameIsCAL{