FINAL AUTHOR NOTE/deleted chapters

First, I want to take a moment to explain the ending. I'm sure you're all going "OMG, why didn't she make him remember? Why that last section when he wakes up?

Well…there's two major reasons for it. I'm going to start at the beginning of the story though, so you can all see what the intent was here.

When I wrote Cure My Tragedy, I strongly believed it was a story that no one else had done before in the Instant Star realm. It was truly different from the many things I had ever seen. Many people begged me for a sequel and I refused. That story was my masterpiece – in my mind though many would say it was Running Back, my season 2 story – I didn't want to ruin it by a suck-tastic sequel. I had no plans to ever continue in that universe.

And one day, I was listening to my Cold CD and this amazing idea popped into my head when Black Sunday came on. The first thought was that it's an amazingly depressing song. It's bittersweet. It's beautiful. It's sad. It's a little bit hopeful and I love it. The story done to it would have to be the same. I came up with the idea for the funeral scenes listening to the song. I tried to determine how it would work. Tommy and Jude being together, Tommy "dying" but really wasn't dead. How best to do it than memory loss? But what if something else was done with it? What if he had a whole other life? What if he was happy in it? Or, at least, he thought he was? What if, what if, what if. All these scenarios ran through my head and I realized that this was the sequel that would make CMT that much more amazing. It was the perfect follow up.

So I got to school, I printed off the lyrics – did I mention I was in my car? – and I read them over and over again, jotting down various plot bunnies along the way. Finally, I had so many ideas I had to organize into a plot. For one of the first times as a writer, I outlined. I had never done it previously. I just let the ideas flow, but this…this needed real life timing. It had to be perfect, it couldn't be rushed. It had to seem like every day life with little inconsequential moments and a hole load of underlying drama.

I originally wrote this with the intentions of making Tommy Remember in the end. After all, what's a good story without a happy ending? Right? And the further along I got the more invested I got with this….I didn't want him to remember. Honestly, what's the probability of someone recovering all their memories after that long of a time? Slim to none. It had been stressed in the story from the beginning. All my research told me that. The more I thought about it, the more I didn't want him to remember. But at the same time….I wasn't sure if I wanted it to be permanent. Ya know? He could remember. But he also might never. I needed something good, something that fit this thinking. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that that epilogue was the perfect way to end it. A dream, where he remembers.

It could be prophetic, telling what's to come. It could be just that, a dream. Who will ever know?

Reader decides.

PERFECTION!

The ultimate bittersweet ending to the most bittersweet song I know. The most bittersweet IS fanfiction I have seen over the years. The same way I feel about the show, quite honestly.

How many of you have stressed all along "he has to remember" well…honestly, that's what you all expect. And let's be honest, the real world doesn't always "live happily ever after". How many of you are going to remember this more this way than if I made him remember? I hope that I accomplished the task of many years down the road, you say "remember that story where Tommy lost his memory but may or may not have recovered it?" It gives you something to think about and I'm always going to stand by this ending. It's perfect. I couldn't have ended it any better.

I hope you all now have a greater understanding of the end of Black Sunday. Please, if you have another question, please ask. I've never been one to leave you all confused and hanging. I appreciate your feedback. Good, bad, whatever.

Now for part two of this insanely long final note. As promised, my deleted chapters/scenes. Feel free to ask questions. I'm doing my best to describe my thinking but…well, it's already over so...

Chapter 31

Tommy experiences a huge hallucination. He relieves a previous memory (may be something from CMT?) and accidentally hits Jude in his confusion. (Believes she may be Stuart?)

Tommy blacks out/passes out from the hallucination.

Jude is scared, upset. She calls 911 for help, praying Tommy's ok.

Chapter 32

Tommy wakes up from blackout. Jude is relieved. J&T talk about the treatment. T still wants to do it, J can't live with herself if he gets killed. They agree to discuss with Dr Franchi.

Chapter 33

Police find out Jessica's full story and tell Jommy.

T tells J he loves her. Confesses it's not worth remembering if he can't live to be with her.

J tells him he's all she needs. (police story after this admission?)

Chapter 34

T,J,And Bri go to park for family day. Jommy are acting "newly-wed-ish". Bri momentarily gets lost. Jommy panics but find her. Bri comments on the "nice lady" who gave her a teddy bear. Worried, Jommy and Bri go home.

Chapter 35

T gets an ultimatum call from Jess. T calls police but hides the call from J. He doesn't want to worry her. J proposes Album idea. T proposes. Again.

Chapter 36

Bri is kidnapped from school. J freaks out and blames T for losing her. T decides to do whatever it takes.

From this point, it's essentially the same story with a few extra drama pieces. 37 would be where Tommy goes to Jessica's. Jude, in the meantime was going to talk with Kat or Sadie or maybe both about the fight. She goes home and finds a note from T telling her where he had gone. She'd follow and same accident would happen. The ending is pretty much the same only with an apology scene for losing Bri.

Now you know everything! All my dirty little secrets about Black Sunday are now on the table.

I hope you all truly enjoyed the ride. I know I have. :D

BTW: There is no sequel to this fic. As far as I'm concerned, this is my last Instant Star fiction ever. My next work is going to be found in bookstores. HAHA! :D