Jill

Is it funny that on one hand I just want to get this finished, yet on the other I really don't? I guess I like the fact that multi-part things get more gratification and notice. I'm a huge instant-gratification person. (Why I'm a performer.)

I think I'll write a little more of the next part now.

(Also, glad you liked the fuzz, as I can't do it to save my life.)

Myles and Lucy will make an interesting married couple.

kav

we love the fuzzies...and I love the way this story is written!

notes: Thanks Bell!

This is the last real part, and than the epilogue. I think I tied everything up in a nice bow. I'm sad.

The song referenced is A Love That Will Never Grow Old, by Emmylou Harris, from the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack. That song is so sad and heartbreaking, but I love it. The first instance is talking about romantic love, and the second is platonic. In case you couldn't tell, Charlie didn't really have the best relationship with her mother.

x

Charlie actually decides against going back to Cloud Nine. She looks at her list, and sees a few things unchecked. She had never really followed up with D and Donna, but there was no point now. Chrissy and her mother were gone. Charlie tucked her look-through into her bag, beside her single arrow and bow. She flew to D's house, and was surprised to see the house was lit with candles. She had never pegged D as a romantic person, so she laughed as she saw the two of them on the couch watching some B movie with popcorn. The emphasis here was that they were actually spending time together. Charlie smiled softly. It was nice that they still were together, funny business or not.

x

Sue laughs as she wipes a stray strand of hair from her eyes. Her hands are messy, and very sticky. "How romantic of you," she had teased Jack, "Making -me- make the chocolate." He had laughed and pointed to the recipe he was working on.

"All in all, I say it's a fair trade. I'm cooking dinner dinner , and all you have to do is make a few slabs of chocolate!" Sue had rolled her eyes and continued.

This felt almost like an after thought, but there was no way she could not do it. She pulled out the gold arrow and sighed at how cliche she had gotten. Shooting the Love arrow on Valentine's Day? Ugh.

She laughed quietly and placed the arrow in. Closing one eye, Charlotte pulled back to her slightly pointed ear (Leprechaun! Leprechaun! Apparently, this was evidence.) and fired. The arrow made a graceful arc and pierced Sue's heart and subsequently, Jack's.

Charlie called for the Gateway, slightly sad. She couldn't believe it was over.

She hummed to herself quietly, "...and I know a love that will never grow old."

x

Back at Cloud Nine, claps greeted Charlie as she made her way back to the academy. Charlene called her up onto the stage.

"Girls, Charlotte, all by herself caused four happy endings, inadvertent or not. Our success rate was up this year, but I'm leaving the honor to Charlotte -- Charlie, here."

Charlene handed her a beautiful red/pink feather that was dipped in scarlet ink. The list appeared, all of the success stories going back all the way to Cupid. Slowly Charlie leaned down and added to the list

Jackson S. Hudson & Sue(san) Thomas
Myles Leland III & Lucy Dotson

She stepped back and looked at her messy, lopsided cursive. She grinned. It looked perfect to her.

x

"Honey, I'm proud." Charlie's mom said, wrapping her up into a hug.

"Mom, can't breathe!" squeaked Charlie. Charlie's mom slowly released her. She brushed Charlie's brown and red bangs out of her eyes.

"You really did good. I told you it would be all worth it in the end."

Charlie bit her tongue. Her mother never told her that, but it wasn't worth it to be picky. She just enjoyed the moment, because her mom never really told her she was proud of her. It was nice. She had a warm feeling in her belly and her wings felt lighter than ever. "Charlotte," her mom whispered, "look in the mirror."

Charlie looked at her mother strangely before turning towards the mirror.

She gasped quietly.

The light parted around her head and created a halo of light. No, she wasn't an angel, she still was a cherub and it was just a trick of the light, but it made her heart swell. She looked down at her purple look-through clasped in her hands and realized she would have to take it back tomorrow. Her bow would be returned and put away until next year. Her notes would disappear, as per Cherub rules, and any remants of what she had done this February would be gone.

"Is it always this hard?" she asked. "I mean..to let go?"

Her mom shook her head. "Worry about that tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay," Charlie murmured and smiled at her reflection.

(...and I know a love that will never grow old.)

x







notes: Now, you might be going, wait a minute Tali! You promised us this would be B/T too! Now what happened to that?

Nothing happened. It gets noted in the epilogue. But at this current moment, Tara is still mending a broken heart (now without the help of wine) and Bobby is waiting, and meding his own. (Because he was with Darcy for quite a long time.)

I loved it all! Really good! I'm warm and fuzzy rigth now.

Wonderful!

Jill

notes: Thank you to Jill, marielynette, bell, kav, gin8005 and everybody else who stuck this through with me. I'm about to do a final word count, and I'm pretty sure it's gonna be scary. This is the end, and while this story took a sharp left turn of where I expected it to go, I'm happy with how I ended it, and I think everyone will be too.

Kav, I hope I did your prompt justice.

x

Charlotte Cherub never had a case that affected her as much as this one did. To this day, she is one of the most well-known Cherubs for her crafty uses of arrows and confetti. She perfected some of her own methods, and surprisingly she offers a course in early January every year about how you can save yourself from some of the headaches that Charlie herself went through. She invented the Charlie method which was inspired by how she helped Tara, which is used to now help mend broken hearts everywhere. While none of her cases have ever gone as smooth as this, Charlie refuses the idea that it was beginners luck.

Charlotta Cherub, Charlie's mother died soon after, and Charlie is grateful that she actually began to see her mother in a positive light. She took up some of her mother's arrow making skills, however nobody is as good as Charlotta was. Charlotta was proud of Charlie, she had been since she was born, but lessons she had learned from her mother kept her from ever really telling Charlie that until the bitter end.

Chrissy and Cristina Cherub moved to Cloud Seven, and lived a somewhat normal if more boring life than they had before. They still sometimes make it into the papers, but their names no longer carry as much weight as they once did.

Charlene is still around, crazy as that is, to terrorize new Cherubs-of-age. She tells them of Charlie, her own personal success story, though half of them don't believe her anymore.

For the record, D and Donna never did have any monkey business. While a few years later they did a trial separation, they ended up sticking it through and are now going through the headache of their eldest getting married. (No monkey business with that match either.)

Myles and Lucy were definitely the most interesting married couple the FBI had ever seen. Thanks to those magical loopholes, they still worked together until Myles retired after their eldest had a child. Myles actually turned to writing and has written several best sellers about his days at the FBI, some fictitious and some not. Lucy stayed a determined rotor and managed to keep her sanity somehow. (Nobody, not even her, is sure how she managed this.) Lucy was surprised when she was retired how much she hated having extra free time. So she takes up hobbies left, right and center, trying to keep herself amused, which drives Myles batty. However, he loves her, and with all the effort it took to actually convince Lucy to give him a second chance, he no longer tries to persuade her otherwise.

Tara and Bobby did not get together until three years after Charlie intervened. A bad engagement on Bobby's side caused Tara to face what she had been surpressing for six years. The two of them lived together for another three years until finally taking the plunge. Tara is world-reknowned with her encryption algorithms and she works at Quantico now, training agents about how important computer skills are. Bobby was the last of them to retire and now he is trying to make up all the things he wanted to do but never did. (Learn how to cook, learn how to actually play chess, go to London, etc.)

Jack and Sue had a long road, but they did end up together. They married and had children, and Sue now trains hearing dogs on the side. Jack and Bobby are rather competitive (still) and they have dual lists to try and complete. Jack, like Lucy and Bobby is still rather bored with all the free time he has. He spends it by giving advice to young law students who are interested in going into a federal law enforcement agency. It's still not enough, but they all make do.

Working together cemented a friendship, and they still get together for celebratory breakfasts when something merits it. They all stayed in DC for this reason, because none of them could picture each other without somebody else in their lives. If there is no celebratory breakfasts, they get together every second week for lunch or something. They are all happy with how their lives turned out, and Charlie couldn't agree more.

(She tells herself it's a giant coincidence that Jack and Sue's first born is named Charlotte. Total coincidence, that is.)

Charlie smiles and still takes out that same, worn look-through to catch up with them time to time. Every Valentine's day she thinks of them, and she thinks maybe, just maybe, they thank a supernatural force (her) too.

Charlotte Cherub was an odd duck, who was perhaps part leprechaun with chestnut brown hair with natural red streaks, but she was an odd duck who had never wanted anything more than what she was given.

She still thought Valentine's day was stupid. But that was okay. She wasn't sure any of the rest of them believed in it either.

x

END

A QUIVER OF LOVE

J/S, M/L, implied B/T

15 976 words.

What an epilogue! You tied it all up very nicely!!!

congratulations! You made it!

Jill

Tali, it was wonderful! So glad you stuck to it and finished it. It something to be proud of!

Hope to read more from you in the future, and when you are ready for what I have for you, let me know.............Marie

Tali, that was excellent! So much fun and the epilogue is amazing! I love the way it read and how you wrapped up everybody's lives in such a realistic way. And Charlie is a character to remember! You should be proud of her!

kav

can i just be unorigional and ditto all who have posted before me? Thanks!

Nice glimpse in all their future ...

wonderful ending, Tali! thank you for not giving up on this story and sticking to it till the end!

Well done!

Just had the chance to catch up again! This was a fabulous story and I really loved the epilogue! Congratulations on finishing on time and thank you for sharing.

Sairs

i was so sad when i read the epilogue i hate the thought of our guys getting old but the whole fic was brilliant lots of fuzzies. cant believe it took bobby and tara another three years before getting together.

A very fun story. I liked Charlie a lot. I loved the epilogue. It was a great way to tie it all together.

Great work!

Excellent job! You had me enthralled from beginning to end!!

Just got caught up and I like your spin on the promt. Very creative with the other color arrows and the confetti. Liked the Gateway and the look-thru's. High tech and yet, heavenly. Your characters were just that, characters of their own rights and quirks. Verdy good stuff, that. Enjoyed it all in one sitting.

And, I do like your drabbles too. You go, girl.

beautiful. glad charlie was able to get jack/sue and myles/lucy together and even bobby/tara...even if it took them longer than the other 2 couples.