Epilogue

 

“Kimiko Lee!”

The audience cheered uproariously as her name was announced. Kimiko smiled as she kissed her husband and stood.

She waved to the audience as she made her way to the stage and climbed the steps to the podium. The two actors who presented the award kissed her cheeks as she reached them, then stood back so she could give her speech.

She ran her fingers over the Grammy as she looked out at the audience with tears in her eyes. It had been a long year since Kim and Britney were sentenced, a long, wonderful year filled with love and blessings. She’d gotten married under a beautiful full moon, and found a new manager with some help from the Moonlight Agency, a manager who let her sing the songs she wanted to sing, and movies were purely optional. Rex had to find a new leading lady for his vampire movie, and her new music which was heavily influenced by R&B and gospel, outsold anything she’d ever created before. More importantly than that, it gave her pride. Her lyrics were no longer about club-hopping and meaningless pop fluff. They carried real messages of love and faith. Her lyrics were no longer written for her, but by her, and they were good. She’d been great all along and without Kim holding her back, she finally realized it for herself.

She caught Draven’s gaze as he stood in the audience, his smile full of pride, his eyes full of love for her and the children she carried, and blew him a kiss.

“I’d like to thank my fans for supporting me,” she said into the microphone, “and I’d like to thank my husband, Draven, for believing in me and helping me to believe in myself…”