Epilogue: Ten Years Later

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Somewhere in the world there is a school where teenagers fight, sometimes to the death, to remove evil from the world. Depending on one's worldview, this could be right or wrong. The school is run by a balding rich man who is terribly annoying and against change, but truly, was just trying to do the right thing.

Somewhere in the world there is a cemetery, containing the graves of a family lost. Hardly anyone remembers them, but they were here. They made their mark. And now they're gone. And that sucks and the ones they left behind have every right to feel pain. But that's that. And they're going to be ok, up in Heaven, with the beautiful young woman who just wanted her parents and her brother and her boyfriend to be happy. She's there with her beautiful name.

Somewhere in the world is a young man who, at age 28, has almost completely gray hair, and has in fact had gray hair for a long time. But that's never really mattered because that does not define who he is. His hair color, his love of donuts, his goofy personality, none of that is who he is. Because he is a fighter for change, and he has been this whole time. He lives only a few houses away from his sister and her family, with his beautiful baby girl, and his wife, who is the sister of a friend he first met (where else?) at a donut shop. Despite his silly antics, no one has ever doubted he is capable of great things, and no one ever will.

And somewhere in the world is a house. It's not a large one, but it's nice, and it's cozy, and it's far better than living on the streets. Living in this house is a young woman with red hair, bright green eyes, and a mess of freckles. She is almost 24, but not quite. She just finished her degree in psychology, and she stays in this house to give her family the love they deserve. The love she has finally found. And she knows her mother's name.

Living in this house is a slightly older woman who survived her labor pains and is now growing nicely with a little boy. She has learned that everything her mother sacrificed was for her, because she now knows what it's like to be a mother. She loves her husband dearly, and she could not imagine a better life. It doesn't matter to her that she's no longer in her father's big fancy house or that her brother can't hold down a job. She is surrounded by love, and that's what she needed all along.

Living in this house is a man who has suffered a lot. All he ever wanted was to keep those he loved safe. And he's succeeded. He proposed to his wife with his mother's ring. She has given him a daughter and will soon bear a son. He is planning to name his son Eliott, a name with two namesakes. This man still takes antidepressants, and that's ok. He is going to be ok because he gave in to the music and the love that kept him going. He was never breaking. He was breaking open. He was breaking free.

And living in this house is a child, a young girl only two years old. She has so much to live for, and she's too young to even realize it. She has black and white hair just like her father. She wears a necklace given to her by her cousin, which was given to her by her uncle, who took it from his sister, the young girl's aunt. She will never know her aunt, or either of her grandmothers, or her paternal grandfather with his pearly white hair, but she will know her parents, and her uncle, and her cousin. She will know her brother. She will have a family. And her life won't be perfect, but she'll be surrounded by love to help her get through it. She will never get as far lost as her father or her cousin. She will stay strong, reminding herself that her namesake would've done the same. She will stay strong with the love of her small family around her, little but never broken, and always good.

This girl was born on June 1, 2075: exactly 39 years after her aunt was born, 25 years after her father was born, and 21 years after her cousin was born. She is named for her aunt, her father's sister, and she will be happy all her life. She will own her identity as the joyful, beautiful girl who never lost hope, just like the girl before her who shared her name. She will own her identity as the second yet completely unique and beautiful Fern Aubergine.

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