Return with the Elixir

This is not an adventure, but the celebration. The heroes win, the day is saved. The good guys come home and receive their reward, the people rejoice and everything is a little brighter for the time being.

This is the time to ham it up. Non-tangible rewards are great to add here. There should always be tangible rewards like special items, and wealth, or whatever is appropriate; but it is just as important to give the heroes a pointless medal in an award ceremony, or a parade down main street through cheering crowds, a kiss from the girlfriend or boyfriend, or even a curse from a banished villain that 'one day he or she will return to wreck havoc on the heroes' descendants.'

Story rewards, things that don't add to the character sheet but add to the meat of the story will make the story and the world more real to the players, and this is tremendously important in the Game Master's quest to make the players care about the world.

It's hard for a story to be good if the reader doesn't care about the story, and role-playing is nothing more than collaborative storytelling.

Also, make certain that any sacrifices made by the players are honored appropriately. If the party wizard killed the villain by smashing her own Staff of Power, then that party wizard should receive a letter of recommendation from the local Wizard guild, or perhaps a quiet nod of approval from her teacher and a replacement staff (weaker in all probability, but probably with some sentimental value- "this was you mother's staff, I'd been saving it until I though you were ready."). Such honors can be public ("This hero sacrificed his hand to the fires of electricity to short out the tyrant's armor, it may never move again, but we are moved by his courage and we thank him with all our hearts"), or private ("The world will never know the debt they owe you, the blood and memories you sacrificed to close the portal and banish the dark god back to his own dimension, but the circle of nine knows and it is forever grateful for your selfless heroism") but it should always be acknowledged.