I just finished my last Final of high school and sat down to write this because you poor people have been sorely neglected...

A brisk, cool breeze whispered through the room. Lucilla sat bolt upright with a start and realized she must have left the doors to the terrace open. She sighed dully, and stood to close them. Yes, she had thought that in that summer of 170 that Maximus had walked out of her life forever, that she would never see him again. But she had seen him again, seen him in a dripping forest, seen him in prison, seen him on that awful, blood spattered sand. These were all the memories which were too fresh, too painful to revisit. She reached the door to the terrace, but instead of closing it, she walked out instead. It was a cold, clear, keen, piercing moment. The night was leaning into morning, the stars were surrendering to the pale gray streak in the East. Rome lay sprawled beneath her like a city of the gods, the grime and the filth that showed plainly in daylight, masked under a thin mist, the last shreds of the mantle of night. Ah Rome. Who was she without Rome? Who would she be divorced from that crushing, strangling hand that had held her in its deathly grip all her life? She reflected on her relationship with that city, which was her mother. In the beginning, she had known nothing. She had accepted the mother who nurtured her and fed her and made her its imperial daughter. She had learned to live in, and enjoy her wealth and status. She had been upset at the thought of leaving. But then, she had found Hispania. She had found someone who made her small, Roman, world disintegrate with one glance. Then she loathed Rome for taking him from her, but after the first sting, she had turned back. In her bitterness and anger towards him, she had realized, that though he may desert her, Rome never would. So she devoted herself to it. To the empire, to politics, to serving her father and furthering his cause. She had married Verus, she had born him a son. And somewhere along the line she had learned from her mother how to be cruel and cold and to have a crushing suffocating gravity of her own. She had believed in Rome. She had believed, not only that it was worth the life of one good man, but the life of every man, woman, and child on the face of the planet. But here, looking now, at the mystical city below her, she realized it was only a mirage. The greatness of Rome was only a shadowy thing, that faded and disintegrated with the first rays of the sun's brilliance. The doubts that had been forming on the floor of the arena near the body of her love now fully realized themselves. She must leave Rome. There was nothing left here for her. Nothing except ghosts and memories. Bitter tears ran down her face as she realized her grievous mistake. She should have married Maximus and run off with him. Why had she not? Because she cared too much about Rome. Because of her duty. Duty. What a cold crushing word. Now they would say it was her duty to raise her son as an heir to the throne. People expected it. They expected the democracy to fail. Perhaps it would. What did it matter? Duty? Had she not already fulfilled hers? Had she not given Rome a father, a brother and her love? How could she be expected to also give it her son? The gray strip in the East was turning peach. And suddenly, the tears turned from bitter, to relived. She was sorrowful, but there was a way to escape this Hades. She and Lucius would leave. She did not know where, or what she would find there, but she must start somewhere new. She was under no illusions that she herself would ever be able to be renewed, that was indeed too much to ask. But she could give Lucius a future. Had those not been his last words to her? Her son was safe. She would go and seek the peace that she and him so desperately needed. Then the fear and bitterness would be gone, and she could find rest in fading and becoming part of the haunting, beautiful, nightmare of memory. She breathed in one last deep breath of the clear morning air, then reentered the room. She hit the small gong on the wall to summon a servant.

"Livia, order the carriage and pack only what is necessary for me and my son. We will leave Rome in two hours."

Finis.

AHHHH I am a very mean author. I guess I have some explaining to do to you guys! So yeah, this is the last chapter (and a short one too, sorry!). Originally (approximately a year ago when this little yarn began weaving itself) I had planned on making this longer. Maybe tying in a bunch more Commodus stuff (Let's be honest, who doesn't love Joaquin Phoenix?) but I got going on the Maximus/Lucilla backstory stuff and it was great fun. Then, I reached this point, where I'd told pretty much all I had for that, and I was going to have to start a new part (or Act. Did you notice the chapter names changed?). But, some major life changes are coming down the line very fast for yours truly. I may or may not be in a place where I have no internet access practically indefinitely. My writing is slower than a snail, so I didn't want to start this whole new plot and be one of those jerks who doesn't finish their story. So I've finished it. Sorry if you feel it's a cliffhanger, but this is the first multi chapter fic I've ever finished and I feel so accomplished! Thank you all for all the support. I love you (readers and reviewers) so very much. You are the reason this fic got finished. If someone wants to write a sequel, more power to them. Also, don't expect any more fics from me in the near future (maybe ever in fact!) because of said life changes. If you happen to want to read more of my work, just shoot me an email at and it will make my day. I squeal and scream and wave my hands around for a while before delightedly sending you my novella (it's almost finished, I promise!) and impatiently waiting for you to tell me what you think. I could go on, I really could, but I guess I should wrap this up.

Thank you so much loves!

JJJPK