Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I'm so sorry that this is the last chapter.

Another thing to be sorry about; my friend who was supposed to edit the Farewell Video told me that he was completely unable to use any of his editing software. So, three days before Halloween I was left without the Farewell Video I promised you all. I am hoping that maybe he can sort it out and I can post it as soon as I can, or I can wait until Vlad or Mina's birthday (November 21st or December 21st). Up to you, if you want to give a vote in a review!

I know this chapter is shorter than my other chapters, but it is an epilogue and meant to wrap things up. I didn't want to milk it for more than it was worth.

If you don't mind my rambling, at the end of the chapter I will write a few words of goodbye. Here we go! I hope it's okay…

138 Thereafter

Forever is an awfully long time to love someone. It is strange to be able to look through history and see yourself. It is difficult to see how much you have changed since then. Could it be such a bizarre notion to believe that reincarnation may not be the blessing that so many people think it is?

In the spectrum of things, it is understandable to desire knowledge of your past. It is a forbidden fruit that civilizations have toyed with and sought after for eons. The question, whether death wins all battles, is subject in many cultures all over the world. Everyone would like to know if they lived another life. To know what one's occupation was, their family, where and when they lived it all sounds rather magical. Or would wondering whether that déjà vu is part of your long lost past be worth bearing all the pain from your former existence?

Could reincarnation be a curse?

What if you were raised in pain, in that other life? What if your father, your country, bartered you to the enemy and subjected you to torture, years of hatred, and bred you into a killer? What if you returned to search for the strength of your homeland but found love as well? You tell yourself you would go through the agony of your childhood and bring about every murder you committed tenfold to love her. She was the smile at the end of your tragedy. She was taken from you by duty then death and subjected you to lifetime's worth of longing only for you to watch her slowly kill you and go off with another man. Then you find yourself waiting again.

For Vladimir and Elizabeth everything was a curse.

All they had done was love one another but their pain far outgrew any mortal's expectations. It brought upon the question whether they were truly meant for the other with everything standing in their way. Time, death, humans, vampires, national duty, religion, and everything else in between forced their hands in order to stay together.

If she could return to her life before Vlad, she might. There are times where she tells herself that it was worth it. In these moments she can watch him and feel like they were still stealing kisses in the halls of Transylvanian nobility. Then there was the fear and betrayal each time she was forced to remember and he to forget. The fighting, the harsh words and cold denial brought her to the brink of giving up many times. Elizabeth's life before him was pleasant and bearable. She had family, position, wealth, friends, a love for history and the arts. She was a diligent student and clever enough to deserve the merit she received. It all fell away when she met Vlad.

Vladimir Dracula's feelings were far more complicated than hers on the matter. While she always knew for certain that she loved him he did not. She could tell anyone and everyone that she loved him. It was a part of her personality. He found it harder to confess to himself, much less the world.

Years of being a little more than a slave and controlled in every form caused him to struggle with relinquishing his free will ever again. This included the predestined emotions he had for Elizabeth.

It took him years to realize that there was no crime in falling in love with her. His war council would not shun him because he was enamored with how she spoke about whatever enthralled her that day. The Turks would still kill the same amount whether he kissed her or not. She was not the domino waiting to topple his empire. His adoration for her eyes had no way of preventing him from fulfilling everything he ever wanted in his life. There was absolutely no reason for him to run from her.

He eventually admitted it to himself resulting in their marriage. Even then, though, he kept his love tightly toward his chest. His affection was shown in private while hers was public.

For years it was the way things worked for them and neither had a problem with it. They were happy. She could wait for his blatant love because she knew he was hers.

He was thankful that she could let him take his time. Her endless patience and understanding for his varying emotions was a blessing he desperately needed. For the rest of his existence, for all of eternity, he would be thankful for how carefully she handles him. Most people never even took the chance to do that. Even the fights they had took a heavier toll on her than anyone.

Then suddenly they were separated and he missed her more than life itself. Vlad never thought that he deserved to live forever. If anyone, he had committed enough sins that he should have been sent to hell fast and early. When in life he believed her to be a happy benefit it took her death for him to finally see what she meant to him. For him to become immortal was a lackluster attempt to eternalize his suffering for how he had neglected her. He had finally died in her arms, albeit it was her reincarnated form but she was his nonetheless. Even after that his desperate endeavor to remain with her resulted in a melding of souls. Thus caused them to be more intertwined than ever before.

Being reborn for him was harder to accept than it was for her. In her third life she was trusting and understanding of her feelings and memories. She was open to every suggestion and hints her soul provided.

He was stubborn and absolutely hated to be told of how he should feel or what he should do. For her to come to him claiming that they must love each other, while he obstinately refused to face his own memories and past resulted in years of bickering. So, after what is a minor span of time compared to their entire existence, he was ambushed by his past and what that meant for them. He was young; he just graduated high school and was heading to college with a girlfriend he was sure he loved. With a few choice words from her he was thrust into lifetimes of reminiscences where suddenly schooling seemed so minor and his girlfriend was a pale comparison towards what he allowed to walk away.

This is not to say that he did not love Snow after he regained his memories. For he remained in love with her long after her death, even. They lived a long, immortal life together. They had a beautiful wedding and happiness about them that he hardly expected it to ever end.

What he made of his revelation is that while he loved both Snow and Mina, it was a strange thing to compare them.

Snow was very much like her namesake. While he always loved the visual aspect of the white crystals, it often proved to be messy and tedious. It trapped people in their homes, brought aches and burns from the chill, soaked into fabric and bone alike. Winter snow was beautiful, appreciated, longed for but once it has embraced someone they long for the warmth and pleasantness of spring.

Mina was like the earth, the very mountains where they met and made their home centuries before. Sturdy, majestic and unrelenting she was a force of nature that could not be avoided. Her eyes blazed with the evergreen of the dark forests and the vibrant cerulean of the skies that she soared towards. She was strong and a demanding structure supporting whatever lives needed it. Men have used and tried to destroy mountains since the dawn of civilization but few natural forces could sway their stances. Mountains protect, surround, and trap those around them.

Just because Vlad loved them both does not mean he loved one less than the other. They were not opposites and they were quite similar. Snow satisfied his small needs for honest affection but she also brought about his lust for warmth she could never provide. Mina reminded him of loyalty, everlasting protectiveness, and home but she often left him feeling landlocked with no hope for escape.

His problem was that he longed for the mountains of his homeland and the harsh winters of his childhood. He wanted Mina and Snow.

None of that mattered now, though. Over time he healed from those wounds, they mended what they had broken, and they were different people now. That was the beauty of reincarnation. History set a blueprint but it was up to them what they built upon it. Together they were kinder, smarter, and grander than they were previously. They eventually learned from their mistakes. All they could do now was live in the world they created and reflect each other's architecture.

Vlad Tod, now merely an echo of the boy he was before, was at peace where he belonged. It did not take long for him to set up the life he wished to have with Mina, even if it did they were immortal and they deserved it.

No, it was all rather simple. Far more expected and relaxed than he would have previously thought it to be. The Council of Elders nearly burst with joy when he announced his desire to lead them. Of course, it took some getting used to, as it had been nearly sixty years since he upheld his Pravus status. With help from his family the job became just what he needed. Mina was glowing with pleasure. Her lover was finally taking a hold of his own life, her ward was granted world expansion for the Dark Side of the Sun, her own future looked wonderful, and they were to return home.

The Castle was even more stunning than he remembered. While he had never been there in this life it barely took him a week to settle into a routine there. He and Mina were where they belonged; doing what they were meant to do, and they were in love.

It had been little under seven hundred years since Romania has seen such a romance and every vampire in Elysia was buzzing with it. The Pravus and The Heir, the love affair of eternity, blessings and cheer were showered upon them from everyone they knew and even people they didn't. They hardly noticed.

Parties were thrown in their honor, they were visited by old friends and extended vampiric family members, and both of their careers were solid and providing.

Mina stood by the window in an empty corridor, leaning against the solid stone window frame and smiling. She hummed the song trapped in her heart, so utterly gratified that she had to wipe tears from her face. When alone she would think through everything. How she would have never imagined her life to be so complete when she was a lonely orphan without a home. She trailed her eyes away from the window towards the mural, the steps, and lifted them to the ceiling where the refurbished painting finished the room. She laughed, it was partly a sob, and leaned her head back to stare at the painted ceiling and let her happy tears fall freely.

This was the room where they were married and her body was brought to when she first died, where Vladimir was turned into a vampire, and where he died. He passed away directly under the painting of himself holding her dead body. The roles were reversed then, the painting showed her death in his arms while he was dying in hers. Now, though, the room was kept private by Mina's request.

The mural was recreated from the one she remembered being there when she was alive, when this room was the church area of the Castle. It still had the golden cross but now it was more of a reflection of their tomb. She was thinking of having their coffin-lid sleeping statues recreated in this room as well. The statues were too poetic to keep locked away underground in a mountain.

Nevertheless, she couldn't stop the bubbling emotions. "At last," she whispered. It was left as an open-ended phrase. There was so much that could finish it.

At last they were where they were meant to be. She couldn't stop smiling.

"Mina? What could possibly be keeping my wife from doing her job? I can't keep doing everything around here!" Vlad teased as he closed the door behind him. She laughed as he came closer and noticed her state. "What's wrong?"

He took her by the hand and brought them to the steps to sit down. She shook her head, smiling still. "I just can't believe this is all happening after so long." Vlad wrapped his arm around her waist and she rested her head on his shoulder, holding his other hand. "I'm happy."

"That's good. It means that it all worked out." He tried to part a little so he could get her to look at him. "I'm happy too. There's no question about it. We know everything now, we have all the answers, and we know how we want our life to go. You love me, and I love you too. It's all over with and settled, at last."

Her heart beat rapidly and fluttered when he practically echoed her previous thoughts. Now seeing her calmed he gave her a kiss.

"Were you just getting a little nostalgic?"

"Yeah. I mean, of course I remember what we went through in our other lives but it isn't about that. It's about this life, now. Almost everything from our other lives is dead, gone, or wasted away. But now we have family, friends, we don't have to suffer from our loss anymore or worry about a war and we can rebuild anything that we miss too much to let go of."

Vlad nodded along with what she was saying, understanding and relating to it all. Concerned about her sudden wistfulness, he asked, "Do you regret inviting your extended family to stay here?"

"No! I love having them here." She suddenly was brought back into a less melancholy state. "Henry acts like a fangirl running around here relishing how well he favorite ship went canon. His kids and the grandbabies aren't far behind. I love having this Castle full of family and love again. I just…we've come so far. You know?"

"I get that, I just don't want you to cry anymore."

"I know. Don't worry it was just a moment. I will be fine in no time!"

Vlad beamed and kissed her head. "Good, because now we…"

The door burst open then, startling them and alerting them to Kennedy searching for them and trying to placate the troop that he called his "niblings". He defended this name because "great second cousin's nieces and nephews" was a little too long for him so the general term for niece and nephew is nibling, which he found cute. Either way, Kennedy and his nibling horde came tumbling in demanding to see their Auntie and Uncle.

"There you are!" He exasperatingly waved his arms in their direction. "How do you expect us to take a tour of the Museum if we don't have cookies?"

Several children of various ages squeezed by him and ran towards Vlad and Mina, climbing onto their laps or bouncing into their arms. At the mention of cookies they all cheered and backed him up on his proposition. "We need cookies," easily became a chant.

"You were supposed to bring them to Henry in the parlor after the tour." Mina laughed and tickled the grandchild of her favorite cousin. The girl ran to Kennedy who lifted her up and held her under his arm like a package. "He has all the cookies."

"Well then hurry up! You guys have spoiling to do!"

They acquiesced and started to stand. By now some of the more hyper kids were already exploring the corridor. Kennedy noticed that only two were following him out the door, including the one under his arm, and called to the rest.

"Come, you little monsters! We have a country to conquer before your parents are ready for the party!" He waved them through the door with a melodramatic flare. "You two, hurry up and get out there! The museum closed after us and the party is in your honor!" He said over his shoulder before the door closed.

Vlad turned back to her, hands encasing her own, and said, "He's right. We should get going. Isn't this Halloween in the six hundreds that we've spent together or something?"

"Yeah," she kissed him chastely, "it's the six hundredth and twenty eighth."

They led each other to the door, Vlad walking ahead and Mina falling behind to close the door.

She glanced inside before she thought about closing the door. The room used to seem so hollow and haunting but now it felt full of something different. It was not a tomb anymore. It was a place where her and Vlad could go to just…be. Be themselves, be happy, be whatever they wanted to be. Mina closed the door and leaned against it, smiling to herself and noticed that Vlad was waiting for her. She followed.

From then on, Vlad and Mina spent their eternity in very much the same way. After six hundred and twenty eight years in total, sixty years apart, and five years trying to sort it all out… the fight is over. They always had each other. Always another tomorrow. Always one more night.

Vlad and Mina were in love and every year was a happy Halloween.

And they lived happily ever after!

I love you all. I love The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod. I love the Brewer Clan, Uncles Paul and Zac and their amazing kids. I love every person in the Minion Horde, every person who read this story and stuck with it over the past seven years. I love Dracula, the book, movie, adaptions, musicals, everything. My heart breaks while writing this goodbye.

I can speak more about it in my Farewell Video, whenever that's ready and I apologize again for it being delayed. For now, this should be enough.

I started this story when I was fourteen and a horrible writer with an obsession with vampires and the Vlad Tod books. I ended it as a twenty-one year old author, soon to be elementary school teacher. I have several more books to write, that someday I hope to publish, and I hope you all will someday enjoy them as much as you enjoyed this story.

Over these seven years I have survived high school, college, several jobs, friends becoming part of my life and then tearing it apart, loss, love, and have become an aunt thrice over. Those kids (Riva, Zev and Gabriel) are whom I inspired Mina's happily ever after around. They make me so happy. I've found love in a stunning man who is infinitely worth more to me than Vlad is to Mina. I am still building my life but I'm happy with what I've created.

Now, I'd like to break some news to you guys. It's GOOD news!

I know many of you have asked me to publish TAAT, change it and rewrite it so it wouldn't be a fanfiction and I could publish it. And for years, I've refused. But now I know how I can do that. So, yes, one day a vastly new version of TAAT will be written and maybe published if I'm lucky. It will be greatly better written than this story was, different plot points and names and be its own completely new story. I will warn you though; it is different than anything in TAAT. No vampires, no slayers, no monsters, no Dracula. So if that turns you away from the story, so be it. I won't make it the exact same as TAAT so you must look at it as a completely separate work. I hope you are as excited as I am and will enjoy it as much as I will enjoy writing it.

Thank you for these years, readers. Thank you for the thousands of reviews and support you've sent me. Thank you for the love you've given me. All of you mean something to me and my heart would swell to keep contact with you guys in some way. If, years from now, we meet and you speak of TAAT I would probably cry. If I'm lucky enough to publish anything, if you read it just in the honor or memory of TAAT I will be twice fold honored.

I hope you all have taken something form this story. Support when you need it, understanding of love when you feel it, hope that things can get better, happiness with laughter, or any other life lessons.

This is the end, our goodbye.

If you review I will answer as promptly as I can. I'd love to hear from you, anything, even if it has nothing to do with TAAT. If you message Mina on Tumblr I will try my best to check it regularly.

I love you,

Amber and Mina