The Wilting Rose

Chapter 15- The End

We were all at her funeral, everybody, which Jatt had at his place. Scott and James and Connor and the elves and the giants. We were mourning the death of the bravest general we ever knew, and I was mourning the death of that sweet spot inside of me where Solie had grown to live. It was nice, but there was one person missing. Jatt was not inside his own house, and I knew he was blaming himself for the death of Solie. I walked outside to find him. He was at the barn, leaning against the chicken coop.

“She loved you, Jatt.” I told him. He grimaced and turned away from me. “That was one of the last things she said to me, how much she loved you.” I watched his body move up and down heavy with guilt and silent tears. I put my hand on his shoulder, and looked into his eyes.

“What’s up?” asked Yim, entering the barn. “Note the contraction I used.” Yes, Yim was now using contractions quite well and she was also using slang. “Are we going to miss out on all the great food because you guys can't bring yourselves to listen to Tilly and Lucy’s accounts of the battle?” Jatt cracked a weak smile.

“It’s not your fault.” She said.

Jatt was going to carry that burden with him the rest of his life, but he should know we all loved him for trying. He nodded.

Jatt looked at Yim, and his face twitched up into a smile. A real smile that made me smile, too. “Remember when we were littler, and you told me that if I won that game, you would kiss me?” Yim laughed a high tinkling laugh that was just too much like Solie’s gentle one. Jatt thought it was like Solie’s too, I could tell. But he didn’t look as sad as I thought he would be.

“I believe my exact words were, ‘maybe I’ll give you a kiss.’ you dimwit.” Jatt smiled. “But you did win me that adorable stuffed purple frog…” She paused, as if she was considering something. “So I guess you earned it.” Now in all adventure books, there is some snogging, but it’s never my favorite part. I’m not going to describe it. But trust me; there was lots of it between the two of them.  

After they were done, and Jatt did not look like he was going to collapse from guilt, and Yim did not look like she was going to die from heart-break, we went back into the funeral.

I suppose you’re wondering how it all turned out. Well, I lived. That’s something. But because I was a Kohlask (that pesky thing Jatt mentioned when I first was being trained with him) it pained me to kill. This is why (along with the two bullets through my arm and leg) I was put into rehab for almost 3 months. After I got out, I Connor proposed, and we wed almost a month after. Now, I’m almost 30, and I have two babies. Twins. Their names are Solie and Jatt.

Speaking of Jatt, he wed Yim, and the two of them are living as close to happily ever after as you can get. Jatt even finished college, and (permanently) retired from the army! My father returned to my mother, and then brought her to live with the elves (who, by the way, were given lots of Band-Aids!). And James, well, James (surprisingly enough) is the new president. The government is much, much better under his reign. Magical creatures are pretty much good now, and I would call this mission a success.

Oh, and one more thing I forgot to mention. Since me, Connor and James have some spare time on our hands, we go exploring. And one thing we’ve found so far is the dragon kingdom.  

The end.