The last part of the "Trouble Walking" series.

Part one "Break out".

After the events of "Dye, dye my darling" Jane decides to leave Lawndale for a while and decides to hop on a freight train. She meets a fellow traveler, an Australian named Sparky and his dog Zippo. Eventually the train winds up in Canada and Jane and Sparky have to get out. The people of a local village aren't too pleased with their arrival and soon they are being chased away. Some boys from the village decide that chasing them away wasn't enough they go after them with shotguns and kill Sparky. Jane, wounded at her shoulder escapes them by jumping in a river.

Part two "Snow blind"

After being rescued from the river, Jane has to revitalize in a hospital. Friends from Sparky offer to take her in so she can get back to strength and be able to continue her journey. Meanwhile back in Lawndale is Trent facing homelessness as the IRS takes the Lane household due to unpaid mortgage bills. It turns out that his parents used the money intended to pay the mortgage with to finance their journeys. Trent finds temporary shelter in an old caravan until he has earned enough money to afford an apartment.

Part three "Fractured mirror"

After meeting up with her father in Canada Jane learns about losing the house, outraged because of the lack of commitment her father displayed at that faithful moment she leaves off again. Meanwhile back in Lawndale Quinn gets into an accident which does some serious damage both to her welfare as to her sanity.

Part four "White out"

After the accident which took her vision, Quinn has to learn the hard way how to save herself now that she's blind. Jane moves to Fairbanks Alaska where she meets Howard jones, singer in a band called Decepticon, the two hit it off pretty easily. But Howard really proves his worth by saving her life when one of the boys who tried to rape and kill her comes back to get his revenge.

Dear David, how are you doing?

I just want to give you an update on how I'm doing, Now that I'm blind I decided to let Pepperhill University make place for a more serious one. After some research that I did with my sister Daria and her friend Jodie, we came to the conclusion that Hergest Ridge University would be the best choice for me to take.

Strange enough didn't my school scores suffer under my handicap, quite the opposite actually, not being able to see the teachers and other students at the special high school for bad sighted people, which I'm now attending, has worked in my advantage. I lost much of my popularity but it doesn't matter anymore. I just hope that you're proud of me because of my progress.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Love, Quinn.

Quinn's fingers flashed over the special Brail keyboard as she finished her E-mail and send it to David. Four months had past and she was doing quite nicely since the accident, she loved the fact that she was able to walk again but now she needed a guidance stick so she could make her way around.

Quinn's attention suddenly was taken by a knock on the door. "Come in!" she called out with turning off the PC. "Hi Stacy, how are you today?"

Quinn's friendship with Stacy also had bloomed, even though they never went out shopping again, they certainly had a lot of fun studying together.

"Hi Quinn, I'm fine. We got our history tests today. I had to say 'Hi' to you from Mr. DeMartino." Stacy answered while walking in and getting out her books.

"That's nice of him, and how did you guys do?" Quinn asked while Joining Stacy at their study table.

"I got a 95, Tiffany had an 80 and Sandi had an 89, so overall we didn't do badly. How are things at your school Quinn?" Stacy asked while opening her pencil case. "Are Joey, Jeffy and Jamie still trying to get in with white walking sticks and sunglasses on?"

"Don't get me started." Quinn laughed "They brought their dogs in today trying to convince our guidance councilors that they were guidance dogs. I don't think they'll ever want to understand that I won't go steady with any of them, they're just not my type of guys but I think it's cute when they just keep on trying."

"I guess some things never change." Stacy giggled "Whenever the fashion club has meetings at Sandi's house, her brothers keep asking when you'll be coming."

"I do miss the meetings and us sitting in and watching pageants but I guess that I just have to live with it." Quinn sighed. "Shall we begin?"

Helen looked at her daughter and smiled, Quinn proved herself to be strong. She had her worries about Quinn's recovery but it was overkill since Quinn adapted to blindness pretty quick. Daria also was a great help in Quinn's recovery she had done research on a high school for blind and bad sighted people.

Helen walked over to Daria's room, Daria had done her packing, she would move out to her dorm at Lincoln University where she would study together with Jodie. Helen hated the padding and Daria's depressing taste but now that the room was almost empty she felt as if it were out of place without Daria's stuff in it. Helen walked over to the closet and opened it. Daria had left one of her outfits. The green oversized coat, orange shirt and black pleated skirt attire she used to wear so many times. Daria had abandoned it almost a year ago when Jane left. Helen could have thought that because of Jane's departure Daria had grown more civilized but that would be a lie. Daria was hiding her pain of Jane's departure that way.

Helen took the outfit and looked at it, if Jane would return, what would it do to Daria, would she return to the cynical outcast that she was?

At the Landon home Daria and Jodie were hard at work, Jodie's room was almost stripped bare as they were removing everything it had in it. Mack, Trent and Tom were supplying their cars to drive it all away to Lincoln. Rachel looked at her sister in envy, as soon as Jodie would leave she would be seen as the successor. Would she be able to cope with the pressure?

Rachel walked over to the living room, looked through the main window and saw the three cars drive away. She had heard Tom talking to Daria about how he hated the rich life of his parents and how he despised living in a mansion. Rachel had to smile at that, here was Tom Sloane, the son of a man who had it all. And he complained about the lack of normality of his situation. Rachel sighed, he was right: life was easier before her father invented that damn folding coffee cup.

Michelle looked at her youngest daughter. "Rachel is there anything wrong?"

"What could there be wrong mom? This life we've been living since dad invented the folding coffee cup, or the fact that now that Jodie has moved out I'll be the one who's getting buried alive under everything you guys will throw at me so it will look good on my college application?" Rachel spat before turning around. "Where is the time when Jodie and I were allowed to have people over after school, where is the time when you and dad granted us to relax? You and dad keep saying that we're leading the best life an African-American family can lead but you are putting Jodie and me through almost slave labor intensive workloads."

Michelle was taken aback by the ferocity of her youngest daughter's words but quickly regained her composure. "Hey, know what you are talking about young lady. Thanks to her hard work Jodie…"

"IS FREE, MOTHER. I don't know how she could handle it for so long as she did but she has earned her freedom. Don't you see, she didn't do all she did so she could get onto the best University that this country has, but to escape, to cut her lines and wander off. I even heard her talking with Michael about a wedding." Rachel sneered.

"WHAT? OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Michelle said in upper amazement after hearing this revelation.

"Just try to stop her, she's nineteen now, you can't control her much longer." Rachel laughed mockingly before walking off, leaving her mother pondering the words she just heard.

Michelle sat down and sobbed, the situation becoming painfully clear, she had lost her oldest daughter. Rachel walked over to her mom and hugged her. "Don't worry mom, I'm sure Jodie wouldn't hold it against you."

Meanwhile in Tom's car was Daria reading the latest E-mail she got from Jane. This time she had included a picture of a boy.

Hello partner in crime.

I hope you are doing nicely, I'm sorry that I can't reveal where I am but this is something I have to do myself. I hope you and Tom are doing fine, he's a good match for you. I got over it a long time ago and now I have Howard in my life. He's a lot like Trent, save for the inability to hold on to a job. Howard and I are currently saving up for a flight to Lawndale, so don't worry, you haven't seen the last of me.

See you soon Daria. Your partner in crime, JANE

"So Jane has a new boyfriend?" Tom said eyeing the picture

"Apparently so, she can't say enough good things about him." Daria smiled "In the e-mail where she first had mentioned him she told me about how he had saved her life when an intruder tried to kill her. I'll tell her that she's been lucky leading the exciting life."

"Yeah some girls have all the luck." Tom snickered while looking at the picture. There was Howard, a boy from about 20 years old with shoulder length black hair, a red bandana and wearing a blue denim coat. But then something caught his eye. "Wait a minute…" Tom dug out a picture from the dashboard cupboard. It showed him and Elsie when they were both a lot younger. "Well I'll be damned, Daria I think I know where Jane is. They are in…"

Fairbanks Alaska.

Jane and Howard were busy finishing up their winter stocking and prepared for six months of total darkness.

"This will be the longest night you'll ever encounter Jane, six months without sun." Howard said when he and Jane entered Jane's apartment. "Are you ready for this?"

"Sure, living in Lawndale has been good training. I just wish Daria were here, she would love the idea, six months without sunlight." Jane laughed. "You know Howard, I think I finally have found my true home."

Howard pulled her close "That's good to hear, so are you sure you want to go back to Lawndale?" Jane nodded

"I have to face my demons Howard and besides, I want to see my friends again." Jane sighed. "At least we're now able to fly over instead of travelling by freighter. Although I have to admit that I sometimes miss it. As uncomfortable as it was, I miss the feeling of freedom and the astounding landscapes that I saw when opening up the door when waking up in the morning."

"I take it that you would even miss the 'getting away quickly before the train personal sees you' part of having to travel that way." Howard laughed while laying his hand on her leg.

Jane was tempted to shove his hand away again, the memory of the rape was still fresh. Howard noticed Jane's change in composure and quickly withdrew his hand, knowing what Jane had been through. But much to his surprise Jane took his hand and laid it on her breasts.

"Go ahead, touch them, tonight I'm yours." She whispered before kissing him.

Jane and Howard soon engaged into a sweet wrestle, throwing off their clothes and surrendering to each other's passions. Jane sighed in happiness as she felt how Howard got intimate. She had to forget the past and enjoy the present. Since this was nowhere near the brutal rape attempt she had been through all those months ago, this was love.

As the hours had past, Jane looked at Howard who was lying asleep next to her. Jane smiled as she thought back about the past few hours. About how she had surrendered to him, she had actually put her guard down, even Tom was never allowed to go that far.

Speaking of Tom, Jane turned around and got hold of the picture she took of Howard. Jane had seen a picture of Tom and Elsie that was taken at exact the same location, would Tom be able to recognize it? If so then he could tell Daria and the others where she was, they would search contact with her. A subtle hint, but a really big one at the same time.

"It's only a matter of time." Jane smiled while putting her underwear back on and walking over to the kitchen to make some coffee.

When arriving at the kitchen, Jane took a look through the window and saw the first snowflakes fall.

"Jane?" Howard spoke while walking in. "Anything wrong?"

"Nothing, I was just about to make some coffee." Jane said continuing her work. Howard walked over to the window.

"Ah the snow, it's really that time of year." Howard smiled. "Oh that's right, we haven't asked each other THE question yet."

"And what would that question be?" Jane asked cocking her eyebrow. Howard smiled and walked over to her.

"Was it as good to you as it was to me?"

At the Zone in Lawndale were Mystik Spiral setting up their equipment, ever since their musical U-turn, their following had grown. Trent was pleasantly surprised to see his former English teacher Mr. O'Neill attending the performances. O'Neill was very nice to him and was very supportive of the new direction of the band.

Daria had spoken to Mr. O'Neill about college. O'Neill told her about how she was missed after her transfer, he was happy to see that Daria had progressed so well after graduation. But after a while the conversation shifted to the one person who had caused it.

"Fairbanks Alaska, that's where Jane is." Tom spoke soberly "This picture she send of her boyfriend was taken at the exact same place as the vacation picture of me and my sister."

"You mean she did this as a hint to tell us where she is?" O'Neill asked Tom and Daria.

"I wouldn't be surprised, Jane knew about the picture and I had told her about how beautiful Alaska was." Tom replied.

"So it's a big chance that she'd been there all along." Daria pondered "Mr. O'Neill, is Ms. Li still out to have Jane arrested?" O'Neill nodded sadly.

"I'm afraid she still is Daria, it would take a cold day in hell before she decides to let it slide." He sighed before Ms. Barch came walking over.

"Come on skinny let's dance, the band is about to start their performance." She said while hooking her arm in his. "Oh hello Daria, haven't seen you around much lately."

"Well, being at campus with Jodie studying all day will do that to you." Daria replied. "How are things at Lawndale prison?" Ms. Barch snickered.

"Let's not talk about that shall we? By the way how is your sister Quinn doing, it's been a while since the accident and the transfer." She asked while suddenly looking very sad, it was obvious to Daria that, even though she wouldn't admit it, Ms. Barch missed Quinn.

"From what I know, her studies at her current school have raised her chances to get into Hergest Ridge in about a year or two." Daria replied.

"That's nice to hear, tell her that I said hi." Ms. Barch perked before dragging Mr. O'Neill onto the dance floor.

"Give her my regards too…" Mr. O'Neill sputtered before Ms. Barch swung him around and started to dance with him in a way that resembled a fight.

Tom winced as he watched them go by while Mystik Spiral played a swirling rendition of Jimi Hendrix' "Third rock from the sun" The light effects adding a deep psychedelic flavor to the music.

"They are a cute couple." Tom said sarcastically "But I wonder who's the more feminine one."

"I guess the one who doesn't get eaten by the other after mating." Daria replied "But I hope that they will never breed." Tom shuddered.

"Neither do I, how horrible would that be?" Tom smiled before leaving off with Daria. "I wish that we could do something about Jane's position. It would be a really lousy return for her if she would be arrested when she gets back."

"The only way to prevent that from happening is to find something to blackmail Ms. Li with." Daria pondered. "But what can we use?"

"I think I might know something…" Tom suddenly spoke aloud "If Ms. Li is really so strict on getting into the limelight then there has to be something written about that in her past. You told me that she used to be a ballerina, let's search the archives to see if we can find anything about that."

"That sounds like a really good idea." Daria smirked. As they made their way to Tom's car.

Tick, tick, tick…

Quinn made her way through the halls of her new school, she had stayed a little longer to work on her essay for literature, her teacher Ms. Wormwood was very helpful with that.

"Quinn, wait up you forgot something." A voice suddenly called, Quinn knew this voice. It was one of the guidance councilors, Peter Sutherland.

"I'm still here Pete." Quinn replied while Peter came up to her.

"Ms. Wormwood forgot to give you this grade check form, it's crucial in order for you to complete this essay you are working on. She gave it to me so I could give it to you." Peter smiled while handing her the Brail paper. Peter was dumbfounded by how stunningly beautiful Quinn was, not just in looks but even more so in her way of doing. Quinn was always there when you needed someone to talk with.

Just a few weeks ago they got in a new girl, Tori, who had suffered from a cosmetic operation which was meant to change her eye color but instead left her blind. That poor girl was devastated by that, she had no reason at all to continue. But Quinn comforted her, having experienced a similar thing. Quinn had helped Tori to get over it and accept her handicap.

"Here let me help you out." Peter said while opening the front door only to find Joey, Jeffy and Jamie caught up in a fight. Quinn groaned, although she said it was cute to have guys fight over her, it now became old, since they were so caught up in the fight that they didn't even notice her.

"Peter, can you drive me home, it seems to me that my usual entourage is too busy." Quinn asked in her ice melting voice.

"Okay, just a minute I first have to check out."

Quinn heard Peter walking off and sighed, Peter was without a doubt a very nice guy. He reminded her of David but what would he look like? When Peter came back again Quinn decided to find out.

"What are you doing?" Peter asked in total surprise as Quinn brought her hands to his face and began to explore it.

"I want to see your face Peter, I want to know what kind of face produces that nice voice of yours." Peter began to blush. "Are you shy?" Quinn giggled "I felt your face getting warm, you must be blushing." Peter had to swallow, this was embarrassing and yet it was also sweet. Peter took her hands and led them away from his face.

"Come on, let me bring you home." He said uncomfortable, the temptation was almost too much for him to resist. Quinn smiled, she still had the ability to make guys fall for her even though she now had a different weapon for accomplishing that.

In her hide out in Fairbanks was Jane losing herself in painting. This time, photo realistic renditions of her family were put on canvases.

Amanda Lane, working on a Greek vase and decorating it in her own spaced out manner.

Vincent Lane, Sitting on a mountain peak photographing the surroundings.

Summer Lane, behind the wheel of her car with all four of her children mugging and fighting with each other.

Wind Lane, sitting at the porch of a house with suitcases standing scattered around him, in tears.

Penny Lane, walking through the Andes with her parrot sitting on her shoulder and a heavily packed mule following in her footsteps.

Trent Lane, fronting Mystik Spiral at the Zone. Playing his battered guitar through his "Ready-to-choke-up-and-die" amplifier.

And last, Jane herself. The way she used to be. Short hair, wearing her favorite red jacket, that jacket that had been cut open by the paramedics in Canada when she was transported to the hospital. Jane had painted herself in what used to be her workshop, her old room, painting while Daria sat on her bed.

Jane sighed, it was over a year ago that she left that life behind. Was she really ready to go back?

"Jane are you home?" Howard called out to her while making his way in. Zippo jumped up and barked cheerful at him. "Down Zippo, good boy." When Jane walked in she couldn't help but to smile over Howard's condition.

"How is the weather, oh almighty Yeti?" Jane snickered while Howard took off his coat and cap which were both severely covered in snow.

"Cold, dark, freezing and white." Howard replied while hanging up his coat. "My mother sends you her regards."

"That's nice of her." Jane smiled "And speaking of which, let me introduce you to my family." Jane took Howard by his hand and led him to the living room showing him the paintings.

Howard was in awe. He walked past each one of them with his mouth agape in amazement.

"These are really good, Jane. Could you tell me about them?" he finally could bring out. "Who is that last one, the one in red?" Jane sighed, this confirmed her fear that she had changed beyond recognition.

"Howard, that girl is standing next to you." She whimpered. "That is the way I used to be, an outcast, but innocent. Lawndale stands for everything I used to be. If even you don't recognize me like I used to be than what would my friends do if they don't recognize the person I am now?"

"Don't worry about that, I'm sure that they will recognize you, you might have changed a lot during your year away from them but you are still Jane Lane." Howard suddenly looked thoughtful. "That girl sitting on the bed, that's Daria, your best friend isn't it?" Jane nodded. "Okay then, call her."

"What but I…" Jane began but Howard laid his finger on her lips and handed her the horn.

"Call her, it's the best way for you to get peace between your past and present." Jane looked up at Howard and hesitatingly brought her fingers to the dial board and dialed the number.

Several hundreds of miles to the south at the Morgendorffer residence was Quinn answering the phone.

"Hello, Quinn Morgendorffer speaking."

Jane looked in amazement, it was without a doubt "Narcissa" speaking but she sounded different.

"Hello anybody there?" Quinn asked.

"Hello Quinn, this is Jane Speaking can I have Daria on?" Jane managed to bring out.

"Jane? As in Jane Lane?" Quinn asked, cheerfulness filling her voice. "Glad to hear from you after all this time, how are you?" Jane's amazement just got bigger and bigger, since when would Quinn be glad to hear from her?

"I'm doing fine Quinn, I'll tell you about it later, but first can you get me Daria please?"

"I'm sorry Jane, she doesn't live here anymore, a couple of months ago she moved away to her dorm at Lincoln University, she and Jodie are studying there. I will give her your message though."

"Do you have her number by any chance?" Jane asked fearing the answer.

"Sure, wait up." Quinn said while switching on her Brail laptop and searched through the phone numbers. "Here you are, got a pen ready to jab it down? Good, here it is."

After jabbing the number down Jane thanked Quinn and hung up. Howard looked at her questioningly.

"Well, how did it go?" Howard asked while Jane sighed in relieve.

"That was Daria's sister Quinn, and I don't have the slightest idea what has happened to her." Jane smiled "She had stayed for the night a few years ago and she drove me crazy with her talk about fashion and boyfriends and about adjusting her shoe soles to match her date's body length. And now, not a single word about that crap, I expected her to ask me about what I'm wearing at the moment." Jane stopped and giggled "I guess I'm not the only one who has changed a lot."

"And that number she gave you?"

"She told me that Daria didn't live at home anymore. She gave me the number of Daria's new place. According to her sister, Daria is attending Lincoln University together with our friend Jodie Landon." Jane replied while pointing at Jodie's portrait.

"Landon?" Howard began while getting out a small circular package and unfolding it so it revealed itself to be a coffee cup. "Is she related to the Landon who brought this on the market?" Jane nodded.

"She's that man's daughter. This is the first time that I see that infamous coffee cup up close, is it really that good?"

"Like hell it is, you have to replace it after only four or five times." Howard laughed while folding it back again. "I bought one for the novelty of it."

"Oh well, Mr. Landon has to keep the production up somehow. Doesn't he?" Jane said while dialing the number Quinn gave to her.

At the dorm she shared with Daria at Lincoln University was Jodie relaxing in the tub, finally she was free from her parents, finally she could stay in a warm bath all day if she felt like it. She had set the telephone next to the tub so she could answer it.

Her father had called a few times asking if she was doing her best. Jodie smiled as she repeated her answer for herself

"Dad, you are calling at the wrong time. I'm in the middle of a lecture. Could you call back another time?" Jodie laughed out loud as she thought back at her father's reaction, he had yet to accept the fact that he no longer controlled her.

It was at that time that the phone rang. Jodie looked at the number on the screen. Good, it wasn't her father.

"Jodie Landon speaking."

"Jodie, this is Jane, how are you?" The voice at the other end replied. Jodie's eyes went wide as she recognized the voice.

"Jane, is that really you? What a pleasant surprise, where have you been?" Jodie said cheerful while nearly dropping the phone into the water.

"Let me guess, you are enjoying your freedom." Jane laughed in response to the splashing she heard. "Can you give me Daria please, I will tell you later about what I've been through during the time I was away."

"I'm sorry, she's not here, she and Tom are at the library. They are helping you get back without being arrested for the 'portrait' you made of Ms. Li. So you're stuck with me until she returns." Jodie replied while drying herself and getting into her bathrobe. "But I'm sure Trent will also be glad to hear from you."

"Trent. How is he doing, I've been worried sick ever since I learned about the confiscation of our house." Jane said with a beating heart.

"Don't worry about him, me and Daria helped him find an apartment where he can stay and Tom paid the bills for the first week as a sort of depth he owed to him. Tom is feeling guilty about being the reason for you to leave. He has been very supportive to Daria. She has been taking this very hard. And then there was this thing with Quinn…" Jodie sighed.

"What is it with Quinn, I just spoke her. Apart from sounding a hell of a lot more mature than I remember her to be, she didn't tell me about something that happened." Jane asked getting really curious about this all, the revelations coming faster than she could handle them.

"She got involved into a car accident and….got…ind…gkrrrrrrrrr…" Was all Jane could hear before losing connection. Jodie looked angry at the phone, such a rotten moment for the battery to run out.

"Damn, I lost connection." Jane cursed while laying down the horn. "I didn't even have the chance to speak to Daria."

"Well, you did talk to some of your other friends so she will find out about you trying to contact her soon enough." Howard comforted. "And judging from how the conversations you had with both of them went, they were glad to hear from you, so I guess that there's no reason for you to think that she will react differently."

"I guess so, speaking to both Quinn and Jodie was a relieve." Jane smiled.

At the Lawndale library were Daria and Tom doing their best to assure that Jane's return wouldn't be a bad one as they were doing research on Ms. Li's past.

"Here we go Daria. 'Akina, Kiyoko, Lishahiro' was born in 1950 in Osaka Japan, moved to the USA with her parents, Seiki Lishahiro and Masako Tsuno, in 1958." Tom said while laying down Ms. Li's dossier. "Li's father had been a double spy for the Americans during the second world war and the government gave him a house as a thanks to his services."

"I found her old permanent records, apparently 'Angela' as she was re-named after the move, was a straight A student and an outstanding student in phys ed. After graduating from Lawndale High, she got to New York to study at the school for performance arts. She appeared in several ballets and appeared on Broadway." Daria said frowning at her discovery. "So far nothing outstanding. No military service, no violations, nothing like that."

"Maybe, but I guess I just found what we were looking for." Tom said while showing her a newspaper from 1969. "She went to Vietnam with her ballet group to entertain the soldiers based there. Their performance was interrupted when the NVA blew up the performance house at Saigon with a powerful time bomb, killing nearly all that were inside. She was one of the few survivors."

"I guess that explains her whole 'Get them before they get you' attitude, you would almost feel sorry for her." Daria pondered. "What else does it say?"

"According to several interviews she did after the attack she claimed that if there had been better security the bomb would have never had entered the building." Tom turned more pages. " Oh my god, she was raped at the hospital by drunk soldiers, thinking she was a Vietnamese woman." Tom swallowed "Gee whiz Daria, that woman has gone through hell several times." Daria nodded in agreement.

"Intense trauma can make people unreasonable." Daria sighed "Maybe blackmail isn't such a good idea." This made Tom look up.

"What are you thinking?"

"Now that I know what she has been through, I understand where she's coming from. In her way she actually is a lot like me." Daria hung her head and sighed. "Remember that day we had that fight and you told me that I'm afraid to get into a relation because of fear to get hurt?" Tom nodded. "When I was attending Highland high, I had two guys in my class who teased me over and over, they touched my breasts, stole my notebook, thrashed my bike and chanted 'Diarreah- cha-cha-cha' whenever they encountered me." Tom looked in amazement.

"What did you do? Did you tell your parents or the principal?"

"My parents never knew about this, Quinn took all of their attention when they were not busy working. And as for the principal, they trashed his office, drove a steam roller through the school and had him going insane, only three days before my move to Lawndale I learned that he had died of a stroke, all because of those boys."

"Why didn't you tell me about this before, I had no idea. I'm so sorry, is there anything I can do for you?" Daria looked up, her eyes wet but not yet in tears.

"Leave it alone, that's the best you can do for me now. Talking about that only opens old wounds again. But in fact, that might be the solution. If Ms. Li is still suffering under all that, then I guess that a good conversation will sprout better results than blackmail." Daria took one big sob and blew her nose. "Where were we?"

"Right." Tom began while going through the files again. "After her recovery, she gave up her ballet career and went to study to become a teacher. She graduated in 1977 and was assigned Physical Education teacher for Lawndale High in 1979."

"That leaves two years in between, what would she have done during that time? Is there anything written about her time as Phys Ed teacher?" Daria looked stricken, the pieces of the puzzle started to come together but one piece was still missing.

"Very much, she trained the cheerleaders and the hockey team during the successful seasons of 1980-1981 and 1982. Lawndale won the state championship three times in a row." Tom suddenly came upon a photo looking strangely familiar. "What the hell, Daria take a look at this..."

Daria looked and saw what Tom meant, that football team, those cheerleaders….

"Either Kevin, Brittany, and Stacy know the secret of eternal youth or they are cloned by order." Tom laughed.

"Lawndale high school Varsity football team and cheerleading squad 1979-1980." Daria read out loud. "Head cheerleader: Vivienne Welson, Brittany's mother. Quarterback: Douglas Thompson, Kevin's father. And 'Stacy' is Charlene Rowe, Kevin's mother."

"Who is that darkheaded cheerleader standing right of Brittany's mom?" Tom asked pointing at a girl with twin braids. "She looks familiar." Daria took a look and recognized the girl in question.

"She's an old enemy of mine." Daria grumbled while bringing out a 1998 edition of the Lawndale Herald. "Ms. Emily Morris, Jane's nemesis and current Phys Ed teacher at Lawndale high. Jane once signed a peace treaty with her so we wouldn't have to participate in her mandatory cheerleading practice."

"Oh yeah, she told me about that. So Morris was Li's successor as Phys Ed teacher. Let's see if I can find when that happened." Tom started searching through the files on Lawndale High's faculty members. "According to this, Ms. Li became vice principal in 1988 and was promoted to Principal when the old principal, Andrew Jackson resigned in 1990."

"I guess he couldn't take it anymore." Daria smiled grimly. "I can't blame him."

"So what shall we do now?"

"Let's file all of this and take it with us, and then I'll arrange a meeting with Ms. Li. If she really is still suffering under this then I might get through to her." Daria sighed. "Boy, never thought it would come to the day that I would offer help to my former principal."

"Daria, you are a good person. There aren't much people like you." Tom smiled while hugging her.

"I'm glad there aren't, otherwise I'd be having too much competition."

At the pawnshop where he had been working for over a year now, was Trent making up the balance. Jodie had just called and told him that Janie would be coming home soon. Although he was really glad to hear from her, it would also mean that she needed a place to stay and his apartment was too small. Trent had been working his ass off to earn himself a decent living and he couldn't miss another dime, so renting a bigger apartment was out of the question.

Trent walked through the store when he heard a sound, when looking around he saw where it came from.

"Hi Trent." Paul's daughter Lauren smiled while flipping through a very big book.

"Hey Lauren, what are you doing here?" Trent asked while smiling back at her. "Don't you have school today?"

"It's a holiday this week so I'm having the days off. I came by and saw you looking worried So, I decided to drop in. It took you almost an hour to notice me so you were very deep in thought." Lauren chuckled. "What's on your mind?"

"I heard today that my sister Jane shall be coming home soon and I don't know how to receive her. I love her so very much but the fact that I can't let her stay somewhere kills me."

Lauren looked thoughtful, Trent had a point, what could he do? Then her eyes lit up

"Trent, take this." She handed him a guitar "Play, play whatever comes to mind first." Trent took the instrument and looked at the kid.

"Uh okay." Trent looked awkward and strummed an A chord.

"That's beautiful, by whom is it by?" Lauren asked

"America's best lyrical group ever, Simon and Garfunkel. My mother played those records over and over when I was young." Trent smiled at her, that kid knew what he needed right away.

"Buurrrrrrrrrp!" Kevin Thompson was driving his Jeep through Dega street, letting out a loud belch and scratching his chin. Kevin would kill for a bath and a good clean shave. Damn it all, after graduation he couldn't hold on to any job offered at all. And no team was interested to hire him as their QB. Kevin had strayed non-stop since the day his parents had thrown him out, stealing fuel, eating whatever he could find and sleeping in his car.

No, Brittany had it better, her parents were rich. So after her graduation she moved to Los Angeles to become a model. Kevin took out a Playboy issue and looked at Brittany baring it all. Kevin took a sip of Jack Daniels, so what if he wasn't 21 yet? It all just left him cold.

Where were all of the others? Mack had become a gym trainer at the local work out gym. Kevin went by a few months back just to check that out. He'd been surprised to see, of all people, Daria working out in there too.

Yeah Daria, according to Mack-daddy, she and Jodie were at Lincoln University. After all, they both were velcrodictorian, err no…they were phallusetorian, Awh man that wasn't the word either. They were valedictorian. Yes that was the word. Damn it all, it just wasn't fair, she was one of the losers in school, so why did she end up better than he did? Ah there was a bar, maybe he could get a job as a mugger or something.

Kevin, pulled himself out of his car and cracked his spine, the lack of training began to show off. Kevin tried to walk but tripped and fell face first in the mud. Only to look up when a familiar voice spoke up.

"Well, well, if it isn't our former quarterback, Kevin Thompson." Charles Ruttheimer the third spoke up. He had been partying nonstop after graduation, his father's money providing him with all his greedy heart desired.

Kevin looked up, his view clogged by the alcohol, was it true, was that Brittany standing there?

"Ha, what pleasure to see you in this state Kevin, lying facedown in the mud while I have all the glory, see this diamond ring?" Charles smiled widely. "I now know why they call it a girl's best friend. GRRRRRRRRRR"

Kevin looked at the person speaking to him. How sweet of Brittany to come search for him. Telling him that she had enough of all that glory and wearing diamond rings and saying that he was her best friend.

"Awww babe, that's so nice to hear." Kevin spoke up while grabbing hold onto Upchuck's legs. "I've missed you so much." Upchuck looked in total shock while a crowed slowly gathered and laughed at him.

"Hey Charley, why didn't you tell us about your boyfriend before?" One girl suddenly spoke up.

"WHAT? No way, he's not my boyfriend! He's just drunk!" Upchuck sputtered at the laughing crowd.

"Gosh, you shouldn't be so harsh on him, the two of you make a cute couple." Another girl laughed.

"Hey you drunk, here have sober-up." One boy said while emptying a bucket of cold water over Kevin's head. Kevin sputtered, shook his head and suddenly his vision cleared up.

"Hey, wait a minute, you're not Brittany."

"No I'm certainly not that airheaded bimbo that poses for playboy. I unlike the both of you, have real style." Upchuck sneered "I hope you can pay the dry cleaning of my suit, it will cost you three thousand dollars." Kevin began to look really dark.

"Airheaded bimbo?" He growled while getting onto his feet. He still towered two heads over Upchuck. "Three thousand bucks, why pay so much if you can go to the Laundry hall and have it washed for like five bucks?"

"Because it has to be done with style. It will keep the ladies waiting in line for me, doesn't it ladies?" Upchuck looked around and saw all the girls looking away.

"Ah I get it, you like things done with style don't you. Well beating you up with style will have the ladies waiting in line for me or whatever." All the girls began to cheer. "Like, listen to me Upchuck, after leaving school I've been living like a bum. And I do mean like a real bum like you see on TV shows and stuff like that. All that shit I've been through really has fucked me up."

"I can tell, you have become the worm you always were in school, while I have delved into the true riches of life. Now do you really think your attempts to intimidation impress me, think again."

"Upchuck, there's, like one true lesson I learned out there." Kevin said while clenching his fists. "And that lesson was that a good brawl is the best therapy." Kevin smiled before sucker punching Upchuck square in the face. "You wanted it to be stylish, didn't you? Well here you go, have my stylish boot in your stylish gut!" The crowd started cheering Kevin on. "And don't forget, although I'm no longer in the team I'M STILL THE QB!"

But just outside the crowd was one man taking out a cell phone.

"Hello boss, I think I found the man you were looking for."

Meanwhile in her apartment was Jane at the telephone, an urgent call had come in.

"I understand and will fully cooperate officer." Jane spoke into the receiver of her telephone. "When is it due? Okay I will see that I'll be there." Jane hung up the phone and sighed. "Change of plan Howard, we are leaving tonight."

"Huh, what are you talking about?" Howard asked in total amazement at what he was hearing.

"That was the police calling, they want me in Canada to testify against the boys who assaulted me and killed my travelling partner. Now that they finally have caught the last one, they are putting up a case against all four of them." Jane sighed again "They will arrange an all expensives paid flight to Calgary where the prosecution takes place. They expect us to be there by tomorrow."

"Gee whiz, that means that we have to take last minute packing." Howard smiled grimly. "Well at least we don't have to pay for that part of the trip."

"Yeah, plus I get to see Jack and Mindy again." Jane smiled weakly "But I'll also be facing the guys who assaulted me and once again face the trauma they gave me."

"Don't worry Jane, I'll be there." Howard looked into Jane's eyes. "Now let's get going."

"Right, let's get to Calgary to get those assholes into jail." Jane gritted before speeding off to her room and beginning to stuff her suitcases.

"Okay then, I'll notify your neighbors to watch your apartment while you're gone, I'll then go to my place and get all my supplies and we'll meet here in an hour. Okay?" Howard called out while putting on his coat.

"Okay, see you later." Jane called back from her bedroom. After hearing the door slamming shut, Jane walked back into the living room with two hurriedly filled suitcases. "Well one hour, so lets relax while I still can." Jane sighed while turning on the TV.

"The Antarctic, world of ice and snow, home of the penguin and the theatre of a white supremacist holy matrimony. The ultimate white wedding next on Sick, Sad World."

Meanwhile at Lincoln University was got Daria the news she'd been wanting to get for a long time.

"Jane called?" She spoke up in total surprise at Jodie, who nodded smiling. "What did she say?"

"Not much since the empty battery stopped our conversation almost immediately after she called, but apparently she had called your place first and got the number from Quinn."

"I bet she was surprised when finding out that Quinn is blind now." Daria snickered. " The fashion princes is no more."

"Apparently Quinn didn't tell her about that, and I didn't get the opportunity to do so, so she hasn't found out about that." Jodie shook her head. "Yeah, it will be another world for her when she comes back."

"Yeah, Jodie Landon the super student and homecoming queen is now Jodie Landon the rebel who doesn't give a fuck anymore about what her parents want her to be." Daria smiled. Jodie smirked in mischief.

"And Daria Morgendorffer, the brainy outcast without friends and an estranged family, is now Daria Morgendorffer the valedictorian and councilor in learning who is always there when people need her." Jodie smiled. "But what did you and Tom find about Ms. Li?"

"More than we initially wanted to find out about her." Daria sighed while laying down the files she and Tom collected. "She has gone through things that you wouldn't want your worst enemy to go through. But it also will be the one thing we can use to get through to her."

"What do you mean?" Jodie asked while picking up one of the old newspapers only to lay it down in shock after reading what it said. "Oh dear lord, buried alive in a bombed building."

"According to our survey, she never had any trauma treatment afterward, she just went on saying that if it had been for better security…" Daria started

"…The bomb would never had entered the building at all." Jodie finished. "That explains her vigorous security measures at school." Jodie continued to flip through the files "H'mm, so she graduated from teacher's training in July 1977 and became Phys Ed teacher for Lawndale in August 1979. What did she do during that time in between those two dates?"

"Tom and I found nothing on that, we suspect that she went to some military school or something like that to study security measures. Although we have no evidence or whatsoever to verify that." Daria sighed.

"Maybe we don't need it anyway, this is enough stuff to get through to her anyway" Jodie replied with a solemn look on her face.

"I guess your right." Daria sighed while she got out her cellphone and dialed the number she hoped she would never have to dial again.

"Hello Lawndale high school, this is Daria Morgendorffer speaking. I would like to arrange a meeting with principal Li."

Their quest was coming along right on schedule. There would be a lot more to do but for now everything seemed to go exactly according to plan.

Calgary airport Canada, After a long and tiring flight, Jane and Howard made their way to the meeting point. Jack and Mindy would be waiting for them.

"I don't know why but I'm tempted to quote that Sanka guy in 'Cool runnings'. " Howard spoke after they had retrieved Zippo at the animal luggage department of the airport.

"Let me guess, ' I'm feeling really Olympic today.' " Jane laughed. Howard nodded smiling. "Come on clowny, let's meet up with Jack and Mindy."

"JANE, OVERHERE!" a voice shouted, Jane turned around but instead of seeing Jack and Mindy she saw the people she least expected.

"MOM, DAD?" Jane sputtered before running off towards them. "What on earth are you doing here?" Vincent began to look sad.

"Janey, after you left I've decided to do whatever was in my power to redeem myself. So I took your place at the hotel and began working as hard as I could." He began, Amanda looked at her husband and continued.

"Your father earned enough money to buy us a house and he then let me come over after came back from my journey to California." Amanda sighed "You should have seen my reaction when I found out when our old house was confiscated by the IRS and that there already was living a new family in it."

"I'm sure dad already told you my reaction to that." Jane replied coldly but quickly turned around and smiled again. "But enough about that, let me introduce you to my boyfriend. Howard Jones. Howard, these are my Mom and Dad."

"Pleased to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Lane." Howard spoke while extending his hand.

"Likewise Howard, you seem like a decent man for our Janey." Vincent smiled while shaking Howard's hand. "Come on, let's get the two of you to the hotel, I'm sure Jack and Mindy will be glad to see you."

But while Jane, Howard and Jane's parents made their way to the awaiting taxi, a familar face turned around. Tabitha Johnson was looking out for this day. Ever since Tanguy, Mignot, Moreaux and Laverdure were arrested she had been counting the days to the final trial, knowing that Jane would have to return to testify. And what was even better, she brought the dog with her of with it all started.

Tabitha smiled. It probably was her first smile since leaving the hospital all those months ago. She had little to smile about when her father resigned as the mayor of the town of Alphaville. Losing her status in the process, she ran away from home and went to Calgary to plan her revenge. She quickly was taken in by right wing groups and learned their weapon skills. Preparing for the day that she and Jane would meet again. And that day had come.

"Fine to see you again Yankee bitch." She quietly spoke while eyeing Jane's departure "It's not my friends but you who's going to get her just reserved in the court room. And in your case, I will be the judge, jury and jailer. The verdict is guilty and the punishment will be death penalty."

Meanwhile back in Lawndale was Kevin Thompson wasting time at a bar when suddenly a man appeared.

"Hey there, my boy. I saw you kick the bejesus out of that rich punk the other day." He spoke with a thick southern accent causing Kevin to look up. Kevin eyed the man who was in his forties and looked an awful lot like Boss Hog from the Dukes of Hazard wearing a black cowboy hat and boots.

"And what about that?" Kevin grumbled unenthusiastic. What did that guy want from him anyway?

"First let me introduce myself, I am George L Swartz, stockholder of the local wrestling federation." The man held out his hand, Kevin looked at it and looked away. "Oh… Okay then, I'll tell you the truth. I am constantly looking for new talent and one of my scouts told me about your fighting technique."

"So I kicked that punk's ass, big deal. When I was still in the team I had the skills to beat the best of them." Kevin grumbled, getting bored with that 400 pounds cowboy with his pretty talk. But Swartz had skills of himself too and he brought out the big guns.

"But that's just it. I want you to join my team. I am a big figure in the WWF who do you think discovered Stone cold Steve Austin, The undertaker and Sgt. Slaughter? It was me, I picked them off the street and made them millionaires." He spoke while laying down pictures of the mentioned wrestlers with him hanging out with them, the pictures were clearly fakes but were done in such a way that everybody fell for it. Kevin suddenly looked up.

"Really? Whoa, that's cool." He brought out a little too enthusiastic. Swartz smiled, his arrow had hit the target. All he had to do now was haul in his prey.

"All those guys were once ordinary football players who wanted to get higher than they could get at being just football players. You said that kicking someone's ass is no big deal. But would you still say that if I told you that you could make money by kicking someone's ass?" Swartz spoke while laying down a thousand dollars. "Think about it my boy, you'll be getting this amount of money with every blow you give to your opponent. If you say yes, I will give you this money I just laid down, just to pay you for kicking that rich punk's ass."

Kevin withstood the temptation for only two seconds.

"You have got yourself a deal." He then spoke. "But, like under two conditions."

"Go ahead." Swartz smiled, the conditions of such a stupid kid as him wouldn't be THAT difficult for him to do. The chances were that he would be asking for the usual, expensive cars, fake ID's, hookers, you name it. Swartz was already accustomed with the dos and don'ts from poor, stupid kids like Kevin.

"First, I would like to have a Quarter back uniform. And, like second could you arrange a room with a bath, I haven't washed myself for, like, forever or something." Kevin spoke, causing Swartz to laugh out loud.

"Ah, that's refreshing, you are both a good fighter and a person who believes in good hygiene." Don't worry, I will take care of it. You'll even gonna wear your uniforms on stage if you want to. The WWF has their usual characters but none of them is a QB." Swartz laughed while shaking Kevin's hand. "Come on my boy, let's go to the grand hotel and have you a proper meal and a long good bath and then we'll set the deal in motion."

"Okay then, let's go." Kevin shouted while standing up. Swartz, rubbed his hands in anticipation, he had caught yet another foolish boy who would make him rich. They would never learn.

It was seven o'clock when Daria woke up. Today would be the day. She hurriedly showered and put on her clothes before making her way to Jodie's part of the dorm.

"Come on sleepy head, we need to do our thing today." She shouted while opening the door only to find Jodie already dressed and ready.

"Who are you calling a sleepy head, I've been up for several hours." She replied with a smile on her face. "I've done the last preparations for our meeting with Ms. Li."

"By the way Jodie, I heard that you and Mack are planning something big." Daria spoke while the two of them made their way to Daria's car. "Is 'Lawndale's queen of the negros' planning to be in white soon?"

"Well, apparently Mack is preparing a wedding proposal, but I don't know anything about that yet." Jodie smiled while Daria started the car. "But if he does propose, I will be happy to say 'I do' to him. My father would get a stroke from it no doubt."

"Yet another reason for you to do it." Daria smirked "But first it's back to Lawndale high school for the both of us."

It was nine o'clock at the hotel in the Canadian woods when Jane and Howard got downstairs to have a decent breakfast. Jack had prepared a strong English breakfast consisting of bacon and eggs. And the two young lovers devoured it with great pleasure.

"I'm not sure that I'm ready for all of this, Howard." Jane sighed "Why is my past coming back to haunt me?"

"I don't have the answers Jane and I don't hold the key." Howard replied "But what I do have is support for you so you can face it yet again and move on."

"Thanks for being there for me Howard, I just wish I knew someone who could help me in this trial, someone who knows the jurist system, a lawyer or somebody like that." Jane grumbled. And suddenly it hit her. "HELEN MORGENDORFFER." Jane got out her cell phone and dialed the number.

At her office at Vitale, Davis, Riordan, Schrecter, Schrecter and Schrecter was Helen just busy complaining about almost everything that wasn't going like it was supposed to be going when her secretary noted her about a phone call.

"Helen, a Jane Lane wants to speak to you." Marrianne interrupted Helen's rampaging rant.

"Helen Morgendorffer. …Ah hello Jane, how are you?"

"Hi Mrs. Morgendorffer, I'm fine but I am calling you for jurist advice." Jane began.

"Jurist advice, what's going on?" Helen asked in suspicion. "Did you get in trouble?"

"Yes and no, let me explain. Two weeks after I left Lawndale I wound up in Canada, where I was nearly raped and killed by four right wing boys. I had a travelling partner who was killed by them. The police eventually caught the boys and since I'm the sole witness of the crime, they asked me to testify against them in today's trial." Jane sighed. "The problem is, how do I present myself in the court room?"

Helen's gears began to roll, for the sake of Jane, who still meant a lot to Daria, she would have to use her skills as a lawyer to maximum strength.

"Jane, where is this going to take place? …Calgary, okay… hang on… Marianne, could you give me the file of the Calgary courtroom please? …Okay Jane, I'm going to see who the judge might be, if we can find out I can give you some good tips to behave in the courtroom."

Half an hour went by, Jane had been taking notes on what Helen had to say. Jane was impressed. Helen had clear knowledge on what to do in court. "Let the lies come forward first and let the truth cut them down." was Helen's motto. Jane smiled as she laid down the horn and rubbed her fingers over her most incriminating piece of evidence. The scar on her right shoulder from where the bullet had struck, that same bullet which ironically would secure a guilty verdict for the ones who shot it at her.

"Come on Howard, let's get dressed properly and face this." Jane said with a newly found confidence in her voice. "They haven't seen the last of me."

Meanwhile back in Lawndale, were Daria and Jodie parking their car at the parking lot of Lawndale high. They both looked out of place with their business suits and sunglasses as they made their way to the teacher's lounge having arranged with the faculty to meet them during lunch break.

"Strange, how familiar and yet how different our former high school appears when you haven't been there for over a year." Jodie spoke eyeing the students.

"Yeah, no more blatant talk of Kevin who is shouting through the whole school that he's the QB." Daria smirked "I guess they now have another airheaded boy to take his place at doing that."

"Speaking of Kevin, Daria do you have any idea what became of him?" Jodie asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"The last time I remember seeing him was at the gym where Mack works, thank you for forcing me to take those workouts by the way, and he didn't look that well. He gained a sizable gut, had thick lobes under his eyes and smelled really bad."

"I guess he went off the deep end after graduation." Jodie sighed "And as for Brittany, she went off the deep end too."

"Posing for playboy you mean? I guess that she made Upchuck's dream come true after all." Daria smirked. "I wouldn't be surprised if he bought the entire stash of that issue."

"Boy am I glad that we didn't run into him." Jodie laughed.

"Likewise." Daria smiled while opening the door of the lounge.

"Ah, Ms. Morgendorffer, Ms. Landon please come in." Mr. DeMartino spoke up when they entered. The entire Lawndale faculty had gathered.

"I understand you wanted to talk to me" Ms. Li spoke up "Go ahead, I'm very busy."

"Ms. Li, contrary to what you might think what we are here for we are not attempting to stop you from having Jane arrested when she returns to Lawndale." Daria started. "Instead we wanted to offer you a deal. We are willing to pay the ransom which would buy off Jane's arrest if you will take up treatment."

"I beg your pardon, where do you think I need treatment for?" Ms. Li spoke up viciously, she didn't like the way the conversation was heading at all. Jodie looked at Daria and nodded.

"Ms. Li be honest, why are going to such extreme security measurements in your school, is it for the sake of the students, who are working with outdated books and are sitting on crummy chairs because they are never replaced. Or is it due to a trauma you suffered in Saigon in 1969?" Jodie spoke soft and caring. But Ms. Li remained cold hearted.

"That's none of your business, I am the principal in school and that unfortunate accident in the performance house is long since forgotten." She stated firmly. But before she could continue Mr. DeMartino spoke up.

"Did you say SAIGON in1969? I REMEMBER hearing about the PERFORMANCE house being blown up by the NVA. They SAID that only TWO of the sixty PEOPLE who were in THERE had survived it." Mr. O'Neill chimed in.

"Oh no, Ms. Li, were you one of the survivors? I'm so sorry, that experience had to be damaging."

"It was nothing serious, they had an excellent hospital where I could recover." Ms. Li stated firmly.

"They did? Then tell us what happened two days after your 'accident' at the performance house." Daria said, eyeing a tiny crack that had revealed itself in Ms. Li's armor.

"Three drunk soldiers came in and…" Ms. Li gulped and altered course. "Enough of this, this is all private business, I haven't got the slightest idea how you found out about this but you will never break me." She shouted.

"It seems to me that they already broke you." Mrs. Manson stated with a cool voice. "We as your faculty always had our suspicions that you had suffered a trauma, and as a psychologist I was able to recognize the symptoms of a deeply rooted trauma. This reaction you just displayed is typical of people who never got over whatever they have been through."

"NONSENSE, I got over that a long time ago. But if it only had been for better security…" Ms. Li growled, her eyes getting wet.

"If only it had been better security, the bomb would have never entered the building and you didn't have to be buried alive for 24 hours before they finally found you." Daria said while the entire faculty gasped in shock.

"If only it had been for better security, those drunk soldiers would have never entered the hospital and rape you. If only it had been for better security, you didn't need extra surgery thanks to that rape, since those soldiers beat you up worse than you already were from the bombing." Jodie added. Bringing out additional gasps.

"If only it had been for better security, Akina Lishahiro would have been a very different person than the coldhearted principal who uses her students as scapegoats for what she has been through." Daria added, smashing through the last barrier that Ms. Li had put up.

"No… I don't want to… never again… I… I… AAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEE!" Ms Li screamed before fainting. Ms Morris stood up and grabbed her wrist feeling for a pulse.

"Don't you stand there. Call a frigging ambulance!" She shouted before opening a window to give Ms. Li Fresh air. "And as for the two of you, don't think you are going to get away with this!" She grumbled at Daria and Jodie.

"Why would we, we didn't do anything, what happened to her is due to her own doing." Daria said while walking out. Jodie and Daria smiled at each other. Mission accomplished.

Meanwhile at the Calgary courthouse was Jane preparing herself for the inevitable confrontation. All the advice she got from Helen wasn't enough when she walked into the courtroom and took her place, when looking around she saw several familiar faces, the store woman from the town where she and Sparky had done their stashing and Mayor Johnson who nodded friendly at her. Jane couldn't understand that such spoiled and hateful brat like Tabitha was the product of such a kind man. Little did she know that she was going to find out very soon why Tabitha was so resentful, as Tabitha herself walked in too.

There, the final hour had finally come, Tabitha was almost glowing in anticipation. Jane Lane, waiting like a baby calf that was ready to be slaughtered, having no idea whatsoever of what was about to happen. Tabitha looked inside her jack and her 44 magnum she held hidden in there. Her baptism of fire was only moments away, what a joyous moment it would be.

"Presenting Judge Parsons."

The whole courtroom rose as the Judge made her way in. Jane sighed in relieve, Helen was right, there were two possible judges for this trial. Graham Oldfield or Jennifer Parsons, Helen knew Parsons from college. And Jane now knew that by involving Helen, she had a powerful trump to use.

"Order in the court. We call in the case of the city of Calgary versus André Tanguy, Adam Moreaux, Ernest Mignot and Bernard Laverdure who are charged of first degree murder and attempt to murder in the village of Alphaville." Judge Parsons began "How do the defendants plead?"

"Not guilty, your honor." Adam Moreaux spoke up, nodding at Tabitha.

"Not guilty, your honor." Ernest Mignot replied.

"Not guilty, your honor" Bernard Laverdure chimed in. Jane rolled her eyes, the boys obviously had rehearsed it while they were in jail.

"Your honor, I plead guilty of the crimes I'm accused of." André Tanguy spoke soberly, ignoring the hostile looks of his former alleys.

"Mr. Tanguy, please come forward." The judge summoned and Tanguy took place in the testify chair. "Mr. Tanguy, you are pleading guilty, to what are you pleading guilty?"

"I plead guilty at assisting at the attempted murder of Jane Lane and the murder of John Sparks, both of them were shot by both Moreaux and Mignot." Tanguy soberly declared while Moreaux, Mignot and Laverdure were turning maroon with Rage.

"TANGUY, YOU COWARD!" Mignot shouted but was quickly silenced by the guards who put him back in his chair. "Just wait until I get my hands on you!" he growled.

"Order in the court!" Judge Parsons called while slamming the gaffer. "Will the defense come forward please?" A man with a big toothpaste commercial smile on his face stood up. Jane and Howard eyed him in distrust.

"H'mm, after this court is done I'll tell the judge to call in the exterminators, the rats in this building are growing bigger than I ever saw them before." Howard whispered to Jane.

"Every rat, no matter how big it is, will eventually meet his match. He might be the rat, but I'm the cougar who will catch and devour it." Jane replied with a sly smile. "Upchuck was an even bigger rat and I always stood up against him."

"Attourney Jason Brecker, state your terms." The Judge summoned the defense lawyer to start.

"Your honor, I would like for defendant Adam Moreaux to come forward. And tell you all what really happened." Brecker began, swirling around like a talk show host and smiling all the way.

"Well what do you know, it's that asshole who broke into your apartment." Howard whispered to Jane.

"I wonder what kind of miserable lie he has come up with." Jane replied eyeing Adam darkly.

"Your honor, I do admit to having killed Sparks but it was in self defense. We were out hunting on that afternoon when we suddenly were under assault by Lane and Sparks. Sparks and Lane belong to an extremist wildlife preservation group and Sparks attacked me with a guitar before drawing a gun, so we fired back." Adam lied without blinking or blushing.

Jane closed her eyes and clasped her hand over her mouth, stiffening a laugh.

"I don't believe this." Jane whispered to Howard "Me and Sparky extremists."

"Presenting to the jury the first piece of evidence." Brecker called out and two guards brought in the remains of Sparky's guitar. "Adam do you recognize this object?"

"Yes, this is the guitar that Sparks smashed on my head during the assault."

"Presenting the second piece of evidence." Brecker called out while a guard handed him a close up of two distinctive scars on Adam's forehead. "These scars were the result of the guitar being smashed at my defendant's forehead. Proving for a fact that the assault took place."

"Thank you, Mr. Brecker. Will the prosecution please come forward?" Judge Parsons nodded toward a man sitting next to Jane. "Attorney Andrews state your terms."

"I would like for the witness, Ms. Lane to come forward." Andrews started summoning Jane to come forward. "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury. Ms. Lane's testimony, and the testimony of defendant Tanguy. Tell a different story than the defense is stating at what really happened. Ms. Lane?" Jane nodded at the prosecutor, apparently he was a person who you could trust. "Ms. Lane, given the evidence presented in defense. What is your side of the story?"

"This guitar indeed belonged to Sparks, and although it was smashed at Moreaux's head, the attack didn't take place in the forest." Jane replied sober.

"Could you tell us where it did take place and what the cause for the attack was?" Andrews asked while shooting a glare at Brecker.

"Sparks and I were just out of Alphaville where we had done some stocking for our journey to Alaska when we were run over by a car that was driven by the defendants. Sparks took a severe hit."

"Presenting the first piece of evidence." Andrews nodded to the guards who brought in an autopsy photograph of Sparky's legs. "According to the mortician, who did the autopsy on Sparks' body, these bruises could only have been caused by a blow from a cars' front bumper. Ms. Lane, do you remember what car they were driving?"

"Yes, they were driving a green VW Beetle." Jane replied. Damn, this guy was good. He knew more about the crime than Jane herself knew.

"Thank you Ms. Lane, could you tell us what happened next?"

"The boys got out and sexually assaulted me, Sparks came to just in time, he used the guitar to defend me and drive them away. We ran across the road and into the woods trying to lose them." Jane replied, shivering of the memory.

"Thank you Ms. Lane, apparently you staid the night at a small hotel just outside Alphaville and were to leave the next morning. But what happened next?"

"Apparently the boys had followed us and decided to take revenge on us. They shot Sparks and then attempted to sexually assault me again, when I made a run for it, they shot me. And I fell into the river." Jane replied wet eyed.

"Objection, your honor." Brecker shouted.

"Overruled, Ms. Lane continue." Judge Parsons nodded.

"When I came around again I found myself in the hospital where I heard that Sparks had died." Jane sobbed.

"Ms. Lane, the defendants say that they shot you and Sparks when you were running towards them, is that true?" Andrews continued while laying his hand on Jane's shoulder.

"No they shot me when I was running away from them."

"Presenting the second piece of evidence." Andrews was handed the remains of Jane's red jacket, a clearly visible bullet hole was seen on the back of the right shoulder. "Ms. Lane, do you recognize this object?"

"Yes, this is the jacket I wore on that day." Jane replied amazed to see her old jacket again, apparently the investigation was done a lot better than she thought.

"According to the local police, the papers found in this jacket confirmed that this is indeed Ms. Lane's jacket. And ballistic tests have shown that a bullet had been shot from close range in the back."

"Objection your honor." Brecker shouted, his smile permanently removed from his face.

"Granted. Mr. Brecker, state your terms." Judge Parsons nodded for him to come forward.

"Isn't it possible that the bullet went through Ms. Lane's shoulder and came out the back?" Brecker waltzed forward. "Take a look at the position of the bullet hole, the shoulder blades couldn't possibly have stopped it."

Andrews looked at Brecker and then nodded at Jane.

"Presenting the third piece of evidence. Ladies and gentlemen of the Jury, this is an x-ray picture taken of Ms. Lane prior to when the bullet was removed." The lights went out and the picture was shown. The bullet was clearly visible stuck at Jane's right shoulder blade "According to the testimony of Mr. Tanguy it was Mr. Mignot who fired the shot. When the shot was fired, Mignot was standing at the right of Ms. Lane. She turned around one hundred and eighty degrees and was hit in her shoulder. The ballistic evidence proves that the angle of the shot was precisely the angle of how the bullet would have struck a running person."

"Besides, I have the fourth piece of evidence that shows that I was shot from the back." Jane added when Andrews finished. Jane pulled up her shirt and showed the scar on the back of her right shoulder. "Mr. Brecker, do you still question that your clients have shot me when I ran away from them?" Jane asked mockingly while re-positioning her shirt. Judge Parsons smiled at Jane approvingly. But Brecker didn't give up that easily.

"But I'm certain that my clients didn't attack you without a good reason, Action is reaction." Brecked barked.

"Ms. Lane, thank you for your testimony, Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, let me bring out my second witness. Mrs. Feldman who runs a drugstore in Alphaville." Andrews nodded at Jane who then took her place.

But at the back row of the courtroom was Tabitha getting nervous, this was going out of hand, with that old bat's testimony, her involvement in this whole case would become apparent, she had to act quick.

Mrs. Feldman stood up and walked towards the testimony chair, Tabitha bolted up ran towards her. Grabbing her in a headlock and pulling her gun.

"ENOUGH!" She shouted. "One move and this old bat dies!"

"Tabitha?" Mayor Johnson said in upper shock at his daughters' antics. The whole courtroom fell quiet at this latest development.

"I want Jane Lane, NOW!" Tabitha shouted. Jane stood up and began to walk towards Tabitha in the slowest pace possible. Jane steamed in anger and finally she spoke.

"Mr. Brecker, you wanted to know the reason why your clients attacked me? Here is the reason. Let me explain, after Sparks and I arrived in Alphaville to build up our stockings at Mrs. Feldman's store, we subsequently met this girl."

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Tabitha sneered.

"Apparently, this girl who at the time was the mayor's daughter has some extremist ideas about people from a different country, me being American and Sparks being Australian. She was about to slaughter Sparks' dog." Jane continued calmly.

"IF YOU JUST HAD TAKEN THE WARNING AND LEFT RIGHT AWAY, IT WOULDN'T HAVE TO COME TO THIS!" Tabitha shouted while pulling the trigger.

Jane reached at her forehead the bullet had scraped off. Jane sighed in relieve, it would mean another scar no doubt but she was still alive. Tabitha did another attempt at firing but the gun jammed. Tabitha looked in surprise at her weapon, letting Mrs. Feldman loose who reacted on impulse and knocked Tabitha down. Guards quickly seized her.

"Order in the courtroom." Judge Parsons shouted. "Get medical staff inhere on the double. And take this girl away."

"Wait a minute your honor." Jane called out while dipping her wound with her handkerchief "I want to finish my story."

"Granted." Judge Parsons said. "Go ahead Ms. Lane."

"Mrs. Feldman will testify that I only came in her store to buy tampons, when Tabitha Johnson pushed me away before I could. When Tabitha was about to kill Sparks' dog, I kicked her in the face. Apparently, that was enough for the defendants to come after me and take revenge." Jane said while the blood clouded her vision.

"That's all true." A voice spoke up. Everyone looked around, to see it was Tanguy. "In our village Tabitha was one of the most popular girls, we would do anything to be in her favor. Although we don't know where her resentment of foreigners comes from."

"Yes, I would like to know that too." Mayor Johnson spoke up.

"Fine, you want to know why I hate, I will tell you." Tabitha sneered. "When I was a kid I never got big presents at Christmas and at my birthdays, you always told me that I should be happy with what I had. But I wasn't happy with what I had, and when we went to New York on a summer holiday and I saw the big fancy toys that the Americans bought for their children I understood why I never got them, because those damn yanks had them all. This revelation came to me as a blessing. I finally had something to blame all my misfortune on and became proud to be Canadian. Whenever Yankees came to our town, they came in big fancy cars while you never bothered to buy one like that for yourself, so I decided to begin chasing them away because they keep reminding me of what you never allowed me to have Dad. That's why I hate, because hate is the only true friend I have." Tabitha shouted before the guards took her away.

"Well, I guess that explains everything, I rest my case." Jane said while sitting down "By the way, could the medical help get here quick, I feel like losing it right now."

"Very well, I will hand it to the jury to reach a verdict." The Judge stated slamming her gaffer. "Bravo Ms. Lane, you truly showed a lot of courage."

"Helen Morgendorffer sends you her regards." Jane replied while the medics took a look at Jane's wound. "I turned to her for advice on how to behave in this court."

"Ah yes, good old Helen. 'Let the lies come forward first and let the truth cut them down.' " Judge Parsons smiled "When you see her again, give her my regards back. Maybe you should consider a career as a lawyer, you have the talents for it."

"Well, now that you mention it… nah, it's too violent for me. " Jane laughed "But I must thank the forensic detectives for their thorough investigation on my case, they knew more about it than I knew."

"Well, the end came a little quickly." Attorney Andrews spoke up. "The police still had the bullets that were retrieved from your body and from Sparks' body, ballistic evidence had linked them to the shotguns from Mignot and Moreaux. The autopsy of Sparks body also showed that he was shot from a long range, so he couldn't have possible have been in an act of assault."

"That will be used when the trial will continue, although I really doubt it that the jury will take long to reach a guilty verdict." Judge Parsons added.

"Glad to hear that Sparky didn't die in vain." Jane sighed while her head was bandaged "I'm glad that this is finally done for me."

"I take it that you and your boyfriend will return to the USA now?" Parsons asked getting a positive nod from Jane. "Here take this folder, it's from an attorney school, give it some thought, you can be a great Lawyer." She said while handing Jane a flyer.

Jane looked it, folded it back and placed it in her bag, giving a friendly nod to the judge.

A few days went by, Jane and Howard were center of attention for the newspapers and TV stations due to the shooting in the courtroom. After the dust had settled, they stayed at the new Lane Residence for another two weeks, while attending the trial as it progressed. Mignot and Moreaux, each were found guilty of murder and attempted murder. They each received life sentences with no chance of parole. Laverdure was found guilty of attempted manslaughter and received five years in prison. Tanguy was found guilty of illegal arms possession but was given a reduced punishment because of his cooperation with the police in solving this case. He received two years in prison. Tabitha Johnson was arrested for attempted homicide and is awaiting her trial.

But after two weeks in Calgary Jane and Howard decided that the time was right to move on. Vincent and Amanda promised to take care of Zippo and said goodbye to their daughter as she and Howard booked their flight to their final destination, Lawndale.

Meanwhile at the Zone in Lawndale, were Jodie, Daria and Tom enjoying their time together.

"Boy, I have the idea that tonight just might be the night." Daria said to Jodie while they were watching Mystik Spiral do their final preparations for tonight's gig.

"What do you mean Daria?" Jodie asked suspiciously, it was clear that Daria knew something she didn't know.

"Just wait and observe young lady." Daria smiled at Tom who winked back at her. On stage Trent took the mike.

"Hi, we are Msytik Spiral and we are proud to announce tonight's guest. Take it away guys." Trent called out while the band started The Beatles' "the ballad of John and Yoko" the guest made his way on stage and Jodie's eyes went wide as she recognized him as Mack.

"Thank you Trent." Mack spoke while taking over the mike from him. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to dedicate this to the woman who has stolen my heart. Here's 'the ballad of Mack and Jodie.' "

"Let's have the lady on stage." Mack summoned Jodie to come forward while Trent started the solo. After Jodie made her way on stage, Mack continued the song.

Jodie clasped her face, wet eyed from the sincerity of Mack's proposal. She had expected something really good but this was even better than she could have ever expected.

"Jodie, would you marry me?" Mack asked while getting on his knees.

Trent held out a microphone to Jodie, her reply would be heard through the whole club.

"I do Michael." Jodie replied while crying tears of happiness. The crowd began to roar in response as the two of them embraced.

"This is your captain speaking, we are now approaching Kennedy airport, would you please put out your cigarettes, fasten your seat belts and remain in your seats. We hope you had a pleasant flight and wish you on behalf of all crew of this Air Canada flight a pleasant stay in New York City."

Jane yawned and stretched while walking with Howard through the airport hall, she had been asleep for the whole flight. Howard was leafing through a booklet about NYC, excited of being in New York.

"Oh man, this is going to be so cool, the CBGB club, the Bronx, Harlem, this is hardcore, this is where it all started." Howard glowed in anticipation. Jane gave him a shove.

"Hold your horses music-boy, we're only gonna stay for two days so make up your mind on where you want to go."

After doing so the two of them made their way to Times Square, their journey through the big apple was on its way.

"Boy, I never could have imagined a city this big." Jane observed while looking in agape at all she saw. "When I was a little girl I never envisioned anything bigger than my own house."

"Well, we've got 48 hours to waste what shall we do?" Howard asked.

"Renting a hotel room is a bad idea, we both slept in the plane so let's lower ourselves and party." Jane smiled.

"Sounds okay to me, and I think I've just seen the right place to go." Howard smiled while pointing at a club. "Want to see great big guys slamming into other great big guys, then 'Wrestle maniacs' is the place to go. Our bass player had told me about that place, you pay ten bucks entrance money and you can eat all you want without paying extra watching some dork kicking another dork."

"H'mm, that doesn't sound badly, I might get some inspiration for paintings from that." but then something caught Jane's eye. "Wait a minute… Damned if it isn't him!"

"Huh, what are you talking about?" Howard asked Jane in surprise. As Jane dug out a photo from her backpack and began to laugh out loud.

"That guy on the poster, the one with the football jersey, he used to be the star quarterback of my high school varsity team." Jane laughed, while pointing at a poster which showcased the wrestlers including Kevin. "I was wondering what became of him."

"Well, you did tell me that he hoped to go pro. It seems that he got his wish." Howard smiled while taking the picture of Kevin and comparing it to the poster.

"I had my doubts about going in to this place but now I'm dying to see this." Jane rubbed her hands in anticipation.

"Well then let's do this." Howard smiled before hooking his arm in hers and making their way in.

At his mansion in Lawndale was Andrew Landon in a rage. His daughter, his next of kin would be getting married. It was unacceptable. Michelle and Rachel looked in fear as he rampaged around trying to convince himself he could stop it all when he knew that he couldn't.

"Dad." Rachel spoke up. "Why are you behaving this way?" Andrew looked at his youngest daughter harshly.

"Hhrrrrrrrrghhhhhh." Andrew snorted, being too angry to speak normally. "Jodie, over my dead body…"

"But what did Jodie do to make you behave like this?" Rachel spoke firmly "You should be thankful for what she had done for you." Andrew looked up at hearing that.

"Oh?" He growled "Then tell me what did she do that would make me thankful?"

"Sacrificing her youth comes to mind." Rachel began.

"AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT SHE IS PLANNING TO DO AND YOU SAY THAT I SHOULD BE THANKFULL FOR THAT?" Andrew roared.

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND IT, DO YOU?" Rachel shouted back "She sacrificed her youth by doing all those extra curricular activities you and mom forced her to do. It's a miracle she had the time to get steady with her boyfriend at all."

"This has nothing to do with that! Those chores were so she could get into a good college and…" Andrew began but was cut off by Rachel.

"AND, she did wind up in a good college! What else do you expect from her?" Rachel sneered "Accept it dad, Jodie has earned her freedom. I know that I'll be the next in line to receive workloads that'll look good on my college application but keep in mind that I won't be so easy on them as Jodie was."

"Says the girl who despised her older sister." Andrew snorted.

"I despised Jodie because she never rebelled, never did she back down, she was always there to serve you and this is how you thank her?" Rachel cried "I sometimes wish you had never invented that folding coffeecup, at least then me, Jodie and Evan would have lead normal lives. But if you want to control her once again, go ahead but at least know what you threatening to loose when you do."

Andrew stopped cold. Rachel had a point. Jodie would never smile again or look in his eyes, furthermore if she and Mack would have children, he probably wouldn't be allowed to see them. Rachel noticed the change in her father's composure.

"The truth hurts doesn't it?" Rachel sneered "Accept the truth and accept the fact that you are nothing but a corporate asshole!" Rachel huffed while walking out.

"RACHEL!" Michelle shouted "HOW DARE YOU?"

"No Michelle, leave her." Andrew sobbed. "It's alright, I deserved it."

"Are you sure about this?" Andrew nodded, Michelle looked in his wet eyes and then she saw it. Andrew's adorable stare was back, the domestic dog-like look in his eyes which stole her heart back then was back.

"Michelle, I love you. Although I haven't expressed it in the last couple of years, you are still such a beautiful woman." Andrew sobbed. Michelle's stone mask began to fade as a warm smile came into its place. "Who am I to keep my children from having the same kind of bliss as the one which sprouted them in the first place?"

"Let's make it an early night, the worries of Jodie's wedding can rest for another day." Michelle smiled while taking Andrew's hand. Behind the door was Rachel standing with a triumphant smile, becoming aware of her gift to make people reason by just getting angry to them. The seed had been planted in her it was now only a matter of time until she would find out what it would sprout.

"Wakey, wakey big boy." Jane smiled while shaking Howard awake. "Time to leave off to Lawndale today."

Howard yawned and looked around, the YMCA where they had stayed wasn't the most luxurious but it was at least decent place to spend the night.

"Boy, that was quite a fight that that former quarterback put up yesterday." Howard groaned while scratching his neck. "He was formidable, if not a tad stupid."

"You have no idea." Jane laughed "He thinks that the Spanish inquisition would torture people by having them to listen to Julio Eglesias records non-stop."

"Well, that is torture alright. But as cruel as they were, they wouldn't be THAT cruel." Howard laughed while putting on his shirt

"We'll take the greyhound, it leaves from central station in about an hour." Jane said while packing her stuff.

"How long will the travel take?" Howard asked while putting his shirt on.

"According to the booklet, it would take us an hour and a half to get there." Jane replied.

Back in Lawndale was Trent busy making enough room in his apartment for Janey's stay. Although nobody told him when she would come, he wanted to have everything ready. After all, she could be here any minute. Trent mentally thanked Daria, Tom and Jodie who kept him up-to-date on Jane. Trent had a lot of worries over Jane and was happy to know that she was doing alright.

DING-DONG

Trent looked up, who could that be?

"Hello Trent, are you home?" A friendly voice asked. Trent sighed, it was Monique. Oh well he just might get it over with anyway.

"Wait up, I'll be right here." Trent replied while putting the last box down. When Trent opened the door he was surprised to find two girls at his doorstep. Monique was an open bisexual, Trent was well aware of that so it wouldn't be too surprising if that blackhead was one of her new girlfriends.

"Well, what did I tell you?" Monique giggled as she pointed at Trent. Trent winced at the alcohol smell coming from her mouth.

"You really didn't lie, tall, slender and handsome." The other girl giggled. Trent squinted, he didn't like the way this was heading at all.

"Monique, I'm sorry but I don't have the time right now." Trent began but was cut off by Monique who playfully shoved him aside.

"Well then, make the time, come on Ally, let me show you around." Monique giggled while she and the other girl made their way in.

"Hey wait a minute, you can't just walk in and…" Trent began but again was cut off, this time by the other girl who picked up a picture of Jane.

"Hey hello, check it out, who is this hot mamma?" She giggled while stroking her finger over Jane's portrait. "I like that coupe of hers, it makes me wonder if she's one of us too."

"Let me see." Monique took the photo "That's Jane, Trent's baby sister. She should be still a virgin. Why do you ask, feeling hot for her?" Trent began to look really dark.

"I'm sorry you two but I am busy and have no time for this, furthermore, I know from fact that Jane is not bisexual." Trent lay his hands on both girls' shoulders and began to direct them towards the door.

"Hey Ally, why do you think Trent would know anything about his cute little sister's sexual interests?" Monique giggled.

"Ooh, brotherly love, this guy is even kinkier than I thought." The other girl replied while bringing her hand to Trent's crotch and squeezing it. Trent lost his nerve, how dare they?

"GET OUT, BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE!" He thundered while shoving both girls out.

"This went not as we planned it would." The other girl grumbled "I was kinda hoping on a hot aftermath of the party."

"Hey don't worry Allison baby, Jesse Moreno is next on the list." Monique giggled while helping Allison back on her feet again. "Rest assured, he won't throw us out."

"Well at least HE will have a threesome." Trent thought to himself when he watched the girls walk away. Trent smiled, Janey was worth much more to him than a hot hour with two alley cats like them.

"A strawberry?" Howard asked in total surprise while looking at the Lawndale welcome sign. Jane smiled as she and Howard walked away from the bus stop.

"Lawndale is the cheesiest place on earth, so they placed a Strawberry to say that they are not cheesy at all when in fact it just reinforces the cheesy image." Jane explained while she and Howard walked towards the mall.

"I'll say."

"From this point, it will be a ten minute walk to Glenn Oaks lane, Let's go and see if the Morgendorffers are home." Jane suggested.

"Fine with me."

Ten minutes later. At the Morgendorffer home was Quinn doing homework when the doorbell rang, Quinn got up, grabbed her guidance stick and made her way downstairs.

Jane and Howard smiled friendly when Quinn opened the door, suspecting that Quinn would welcome them as soon as she saw them. But when Quinn opened the door she remained silent.

"Hello, who's there?" Quinn asked, she could hear the breathing and she smelled the odors of deodorant and after-shave indicating that two people were standing at the door.

"Hi Quinn, long time no see." Jane spoke up sounding not just a little surprised, what was going on here?

"Jane, is that you?" Quinn asked when she recognized the voice. "Welcome back, come on in."

"Thanks, let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Howard Jones, Howard this is Quinn Morgendorffer." Jane spoke while she and Howard walked in

"Pleased to meet you." Howard shook Quinn's hand before waving it in front of Quinn's eyes, Quinn didn't respond to it. "Are you blind?"

"Yes, I was engaged in a horrible accident and lost my eyesight because of that." Quinn spoke soberly. Jane gasped in shock at hearing that. "You mean to tell me that you didn't know?"

"Nobody told me." Jane replied "Jodie mentioned an accident but she didn't have the chance to tell me what really did happen. I'm so sorry for you."

"Don't worry, it takes more than that to cut me down." Quinn smiled "So how has your journey been?"

Jane looked in amazement at Quinn, she never could have imagined her being so strong. "You never know who we encountered in New York." She finally spoke.

Lincoln University.

"I can't believe that it's finally come to this." Jodie gleamed while getting up. "In a short while I'll be Mrs. Mackenzie."

"I'm sure that being a housewife will be an extra curricular activity that your parents didn't think off." A voice next to her answered, Jodie turned over and smirked. Her Husband-to-be smiled back at her. "I'm really glad that we took this decision, things will go their own way from here on."

"So you'd better hold on tight dear fiancée of mine because the roller coaster ride is about to start." Jodie smiled while slipping into her robe and walking out.

"Good afternoon late bird." Daria greeted her as Jodie walked into the kitchen to make some coffee. "I guess you and your fiancée practiced for your honeymoon."

"Hey at least we kept the bed in one piece." Jodie laughed while throwing a newspaper at Daria who laughingly kicked it away from her. It was at that time that the phone rang. Jodie stuck out her tongue to Daria before answering it. "Hello Jodie Mackenzie speaking. …Yes Quinn, he proposed to me, this is practice." Jodie giggled "I'll tell you all about it. …Oh, yes she's here, in fact she's standing next to me at the moment. …What? …Sure I will give you her right away."

Daria took over the phone.

"Yes?"

"Heya, partner in crime." A voice Daria hadn't heard over a year answered, Daria went completely silent, could it really be… Jane?

"Jane, is that really you?" She blubbered, not being sure how to feel.

"In the flesh and blood Daria." Jane replied with laughter "Tell me, did you took good care of Trent and Tom while I was gone?" Daria smiled at hearing the old cynical remarks from her best friend.

"Well Trent, had found himself a job and is doing fine and Tom and I are still going steady. So I'm sorry but I fucked up." Daria replied.

"Damn it Daria, I should have known that I couldn't leave you alone without you messing everything up!" Jane replied laughing. Jodie shook her head while walking out, some things would never change.

After arranging with Daria to meet up at the Morgendorffer household Jane hung up, tears of joy in her eyes. Howard and Quinn looked content, all was falling into place like they hoped.

"That was such a relieve, I don't understand why I didn't do this sooner." Jane smiled.

"I guess, you were afraid of being rejected." Quinn replied soberly "I know from fact that Daria took your departure really hard but she never showed any grudge towards you because of that."

"What did she do?" Jane asked, knowing Daria it probably would have been something really out of character for her.

Quinn smiled, got up and nodded to Jane and Howard to follow her upstairs. Jane recognized the door to Daria's room but when Quinn opened it Jane was dumbfounded at what it revealed. Daria's old room was transformed into a shrine dedicated to her. There were framed pictures on the wall from Daria's graduation, several diplomas, the contract whcih she and Jodie signed to start up a company for minority start ups and a mannequin wearing Daria's old outfit.

"Mom has been collecting all of what happened to Daria while you were gone." Quinn explained "She knew that you would return eventually and wanted you to see this. Daria has changed a lot Jane, I guess that being confronted with all of this proofs my point."

"Wow, talk about an act of motherly love." Howard whispered in awe.

"Actually, I contributed in this too, I donated my mannequin since I don't need it anymore anyway." Quinn giggled.

"Hey what's this?" Jane asked while picking up the files that Tom and Daria had collected about Ms. Li. "Whoa. …Whoa. …Oh god…" Jane said while leafing through it. "Quinn, is Ms. Li still principal of LHS?"

"From what I heard from Sandi, she has resigned and is visiting a councilor." Quinn responded, but then something told her that not all was well. "Jane, what's wrong?"

Howard looked at Quinn in surprise, how on earth could she have known that Jane was paling at what she read about Ms. Li?

Jane stiffened as she fought back the tears, she never could have imagined that she would have had so much in common with her former principal. Quinn walked over to Jane and brought her fingers to Jane's face. Jane jolted backwards.

"Don't be afraid." Quinn said while laying her fingers on Jane's face and carefully beginning to explore it. Quinn's sensitive fingers felt what Jane's face revealed. "Oh god, you have been through similar things didn't you?" Quinn gasped. Jane nodded sadly. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Jane replied while swallowing away her tears. "Thank you for your kindness."

Quinn then decided to go off into another direction.

"By the way, did you grow your hair?" Jane smiled again at hearing that and retorted.

"Yeah I figured that my old coupe was a real fashion don't so I decided to grow it out."

Howard smiled as he watched the two girls talking about the fashion club and making fun of the old ethics that Jane so despised. This was Jane's former life and he had to admit to himself that he liked her better the way she was now.

Trent was overjoyed, Jane was back, as soon as he had the phone call from Daria, he had called off from work and raced towards the Morgendorffer household. While underway he came across Tom's car with Tom, Daria, Jodie and Mack on board. They waved at him, it was obviously where they were heading.

"Hey Trent." Tom shouted while opening his car window "Are you heading our way?"

"Sure man." Trent shouted back "I can't wait to see Janey again."

"Cuddly toys or deadly assassins? Terminator Teddies next on Sick, sad, world."

Jane almost died in anticipation, the reunion with her best friend was nearing its final stage. To keep her nerve she had put on the TV. Suddenly Quinn turned towards the door when she heard a car stop.

Daria hesitatingly brought her key to the door. She was about to be reunited with her long lost best friend but was she really ready for it? Tom, Jodie, Mack and Trent stood behind her urging her to open the door. Daria brought up a warm smile, she owed them a lot for being there when she needed them. With a turn of her wrist, she unlocked the door.

Jane saw the door opening and a strange, yet familiar looking girl stepped in. It was Daria but she had changed, gone was her unappealing outfit and big horn rimmed glasses, they were replaced by a business suit that would've made you think that Daria had decided to follow in Helen's footsteps. All in all Daria looked more serious than Jane could ever remember her to be. Jane looked at Daria's eyes which were no longer hidden behind the round mask she used to wear, instead they were looking back at her through small oval frames.

As Daria opened the door, her eyes instantly fell on the young woman standing next to Quinn. There was Jane but not the Jane that Daria remembered. Jane's face showed the results of the adventures she had been through. Jane's rough black hair was tied up in a ponytail, which reached well over her shoulder blades. As Daria eyed Jane she couldn't help but to see that Jane's pale blue eyes looked differently, Jane had the stare of somebody who was wise beyond her years. It all made perfect sense if you thought about it, Jane had experienced more in one year than most people do in their whole lives.

"Jane?"

"Daria?"

After hearing each other's voices, the two ran up to each other and just hugged and held each other with the urge to never let go.

Jane, sighed as she knew she couldn't stay, Lawndale would after this become just another memory. Daria Nodded in understanding as the two of them parted, she knew that Jane had no reason whatsoever to stay.

Authors' notes.

Whew, I never thought I'd be able to finish it.

First I would like to thank Glenn Eighler to come up with "Dye, dye my darling" without that ep I would have never come up with this mammoth fic anyway. Also much thanks to my devoted beta-readers Morgan Jenkins (I love you) and Robert Nowall who's comments were very helpful. Also much thanks to Ace Frehley for making such brilliant songs, almost all of the titles come from his songs.

Song credits.

Break out - Written by Ace Frehley and Eric Carr. From Frehley's comet 1987 album "Frehley's comet"

Snow blind - Written by Ace Frehley. From the 1978 Kiss solo album "Ace Frehley"

Fractured mirror - Written by Ace Frehley. From the 1978 Kiss solo album "Ace Frehley"

Trouble Walking - Written by Ace Frehley and John Regan. From Frehley's comet 1989 album "Trouble Walking"

Beds are burning - Written and performed by Midnight oil. From their 1992 album "Diesel and dust"

The Boxer - Written by Paul Simon. From the 1968 Simon and Garfunkel album "Bridge over troubled water"

Homeward bound - Written by Paul Simon. From the 1966 Simon and Garfunkel album "The sounds of silence"

The ballad of John and Yoko - Written by John Lennon. From the 1968 Beatles album "Let it be." Alternate lyrics written by Wouter Jaegers.

Thank you for reading this I take much gratitude in it.