Hello everyone! Here is the last chapter of the fanfic, but I do have an epilogue that I will post next week! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! If it is a big disappointment or you just hate it let me know and I'll give it a rewrite....I want you guys to be happy with the ending!

Anyway, honest feedback, please!

Kayti

Perk walked with a heavy heart. All around him, flowers bloomed, sweet smells drifted on the wind, and the sun shone brightly, but he had no heart for it all. He had almost decided to seek Picket out tomorrow, so much was his shock at the news Jo had given him. Master Helmer was dead. He couldn’t believe that the gruff captain was gone. He wondered how Picket had felt. How had he dealt with it? Helmer had been like a father to Picket while Picket’s own father was gone. Perk shook his head.

He paused in his walk and took in the land around him. Jo had said Pick lived outside of First Warren on a farm, with his wife and kids. Perk smiled, that sounded like Pick, settling down though he had always assumed Pick and Emma would end up together. Now it seemed like Jo was going to be the lucky winner of the princess. He turned his mind back to the land. He had crossed a narrow bridge and saw a small house ahead but knew it was not the right one. Jo had said the first house belonged to the Weaver’s… Perk wasn’t exactly sure who they were, but he shrugged the next house would be Picket’s.

He trudged on. The only sounds those of his labored breathing, the thump of his crutches on the ground, and the swish of his feet dragging through the dirt. The closer he got to the house, the more anxious he felt. What if Pick refused to see him? What if Pick didn’t want to hear him out? What if Pick wasn’t the same?

He paused for a minute as he stood in front of the door. He had not asked Jo if Picket had changed. What if Picket had changed? What if the war had done something to him? What if his betrayal had done something to Pick? His heart beat fast, and his ears laid back as he thought of everything that could go wrong or make this whole thing go bad. He tried to back up, turn, and leave before anyone knew he had been here, but his crutch hit the wall.

Footsteps from inside came toward the door, and Perk knew there was no turning back now. The door opened, and he looked into the smiling face of a grey doe with bright green eyes. The doe held a little brown buck to her hip and a small doe, who looked like Pick, clung to her apron strings. Just visible through the partly open door were two grey and white bucks wrestling on the floor.

“Hello,” the doe said, smiling sweetly, “Can I help you?”

“Yes…um…” Perk stammered for a minute, trying to collect his thoughts. “I was…I mean I am looking for Pick… I mean Picket Longtreader.”

The doe smiled again, “Well, the Pac-Slayers in the field with Lallo, but I could send the boys out to fetch him. Snoden, Wil, go fetch your father.”

The two bucks, who had been wrestling, smiled, mumbled yes ma’am’s, and ran off.

“Come on in I’m Louise, Picket’s wife, just call me Weezie, though. Have a seat if you want, I have some baking to finish and a baby to check on,” Weezie turned and headed back inside, the little doe following her.

Perk stayed at the door as he called in, “I think I will wait out here, not sure how Pick would feel if he found me inside. But um, did you call him Pac-Slayer when did he earn that title?”

“Oh, you can come in, Pick won’t mind,” Weezie called back, “as for Pac-Slayer, it is what us folks in First Warren called him. He doesn’t like it, so it’s a running joke I have with him. Lallo calls him Picket Weedeater, now.” Weezie chuckled, and Perk did too. He liked Weezie. She seemed nice and uplifting, the sort of person Picket needed.

“Have you always lived in First Warren?” He asked, trying to pass the time till Picket arrived.

“Always. My mother and step-father live not too far from here. Picket is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, and well, mother says the same cause he brought her brother, Helmer, back to her, even if for just a short time. We miss him, Picket misses him a lot, I think.” Weezie wiped at her eyes as she came back toward the door with a glass of water.

Perk took the water, leaned a shoulder against the house to steady himself, and mumbled thanks before saying, “Master Helmer, right? I didn’t know he had any family. But then again, I wasn’t as close to him as Pick.”

“You knew my Uncle Helmer?” Weezie asked as she picked a little black doe up out of a cradle and placed her on the other hip.

“Yeah, he was a good rabbit. Rough, a little harsh, but a good buck. I…” Perk trailed off as he heard footsteps behind him.

Soon he heard a voice he had missed. The voice of his old friend and comrade. The voice of some he had betrayed, he heart quickened and he took a deep breath, as Picket spoke, “Run inside boys, can I help you, sir? Employment maybe, or some cabbages.”

Perk took a minute to think, trying to figure out the best way to handle this moment. Humor or humble pie. Smile or cry. He took another deep breath and let out a shaky one as he said, softly, “Forgiveness.”

“Pardon, what was that?” He heard Pick step closer. He turned then and looked at him.

At first, he was shocked by Picket’s appearance. He was the same buck, a grin on his face, bright but solemn eyes. But now, two scars ran across Picket’s left eye, and his right arm was gone. His left arm was covered in scars, and Perk felt bad for his friend. Had he done this to him? No, he had been fine minus a little banging up the last he had seen of him at Rockback Valley. They stared at each other for a minute then Perk repeated himself.

“Forgiveness, I came to ask your forgiveness. I’m sorry for everything, Pick. I don’t know…”

The next thing he knew, he was enveloped in a hug, and he heard Picket say in his ear, “It’s okay. I can’t believe you’re alive, I’m so happy to see you. I thought I killed you.” Picket’s voice broke on the last part.

Perk hugged him back, dropping his crutches. Then he said, “You did Pick, you killed the old me. You killed the part of me that needed to die, and now you just brought the good part of me back to life.”