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Epilogue

Britta gritted her teeth and stood her ground, Micahs sword bearing down on her. He flicked his wrist and Britta's dagger went flying across the clearing.

She pouted, "That's not fair!" She whined.

Micah paused for a moment, and in that time Britta pulled out her spare dagger and straddled him, knife at his throat.

"I win!" She called for Mables benefit.

Micah rolled his eyes and directed her dagger away from his throat. From the edge of the space, Mable clapped.

"Go Britta."

Thom watched, a small smile on his face.

Britta smirked, "That was easier than expected." She said.

"You can hop down now though." Micah said.

Britta reddened slightly and unwound her legs from his waist, brushing herself off.

"Oops." She said with a shrug. "So how long until we reach the next town?" She asked Mable.

"About three days." Mable said looking over at Fawn. "But maybe we should rest for a bit."

Britta rolled her eyes. "Fawns not even three months pregnant, we can-"

Not go until she has rested. Thunder said firmly.

Britta huffed, "Well someone's over-protective." She muttered.

Thunder glared at her, and then nuzzled Fawn to her feet.

We go get drink. He said, Leave tomorrow.

"Fine." Said Britta.

"I'm still not used to how she does that." Micah said to Mable behind her.

"Huh?"

"Converses with horses."

Britta turned around and pecked him on the cheek. "Get used to it." She said.

"Or that." Micah added. "Though I suppose I'll have to."

"Don't make me regret forcing you to come!" Britta called over her shoulder and she picked up Diana's bow and took up a shooting stance.

She drew the bow with some difficulty, and held it steady, ready to loose. Adjusting her grip, Britta let go, and watched as the arrow went flying past the target.

"At least I shot it that time." She said.

Britta walked through the forest to look for her arrow, finally finding it embedded in a tree, far out of her reach. Britta climbed up, and pulled it out. Holding it in her teeth, she couldn't quite resist climbing the rest of the way to the top.

She thought of how she and Diana had done that, and felt a pang of sadness. At first, getting over her death and being unable to talk with her had been like struggling upstream. She'd wanted to stop moving, to rest, but she knew if she did she'd be pulled back down, and the river had to end somehow. Maybe if she had stopped trying, she would have fallen over the end of the waterfall, and everything would have finished abruptly and suddenly. Maybe she would end up in a pool of stagnant water, watching life go by, afraid to try anything new without Diana as she once would have been. But even if she had let herself drift, there would be someone there to hold her up. It might be Micah and his strong, firm grip, or Mable, or Fee or Bella even Thom... but she also knew that Diana would have been there too, whispering encouragement.

The bark of the tree dug into her fingers and arms, but she pulled herself to the top and balanced on one of the highest branches, leaning into the wind. The mountains were a shadow in the distance, and she couldn't see the cluster of the houses that formed Weatherston. They were miles away from everything, but Britta hardly felt it made a difference. She didn't mind the curious stares any more, or the disapproval showing in some faces. As long as she had her friends, and the memory of her friends with her, she knew she would be fine.

The threads that connected her to them would never break.

***

Yay a happy ending minus a few key characters and emotions of any sort... Stick around for the authors note if you want to know why on earth this was so... meh