Epilogue:

She stares down at the stone she'd told herself she would never lay eyes on again. It's been six long months, and even though there are still so many things she needs to work through, she finally feels that she can be here. She's rebuilding herself.

Memories flood past her eyes as she stares on; they'll never be erased. Unconsciously she raises her chin higher as a tear slides down her porcelain skin. "You do not define me." She whispers into the wind, dropping a rose over the place where her mother's body rests.

Turning she walks back to the tree where she once looked on cynically at the crowd of black. Now a figure stands there, waiting patiently, returning the small smile she manages to give him.

"You ready?" he asks, wrapping his arm around her slim shoulders and somehow easing away the chill in her bones.

"Yeah."

It's finally the end, yet it's just the beginning.

Author's Note: Short - something to give it a little more realistic closure I suppose. It's done. Offically. Now empty your impressions in text.