And now we have come to this, the last chapter of the story. I thank you, my readers for all the support and encouragement you have shown me during the long year and a half it has taken to complete this story.

A year and a half…

Anyway, I sincerely hope that I will hear from you all again as I publish more fanfictions to entertain you and everyone else out there in the world. Keep a sharp eye out for them and read on.

Chapter 25- Aftermath

Communication with the outside world was re-established quickly after the decontamination of the secondary power chamber, now the primary chamber until the original was rebuilt, was completed and power was fully restored to the Academy. Crowler's body had been removed and placed in his quarters. Emergency air transport arrived at the island, taking the remaining wounded and all the dead back to their families on the mainland. Sartorius departed alongside Aster's body to arrange with the Duelling Federation the matter of holding a state funeral for his friend. Plans were made at Industrial Illusions to return to Regula Station and recover Chumley's body to return to his father once repairs on the Enterprise were done. Kaiba Corp was bombarded with enquiries like it had been for three years straight more than half a decade ago on whether the Academy was safe or not, or were being threatened with a mass of lawsuits from the families of those that perished or were wounded in the Battle.

Some good news came through though. Pegasus came to the island personally with the report that Syrus had been given the all-clear and that Chazz was out of surgery and expected to make a full recovery. He revealed he was also there to inform Sheppard that a request Crowler had made in his will was to be granted. Everyone there to hear it believed it to be an incredible honour and exactly what Crowler had earned. Their teacher and friend was to be buried on Academy grounds outside of the Obelisk Blue dormitories.

The only person not there to greet the message in any way was Jaden. In the three days since Crowler's death, he let Alexis take him back to his room, but after she had left him there, he had locked the door and from then on remained silent to everyone, even her. Alexis allowed this to happen at the beginning, as she believed he wanted to be alone to help his recovery, but after he didn't come out or speak to anyone, she grew alarmed. On the morning after, Yubel came inside her room in spirit form to tell her that he was having his mind mentally closed off. That frightened her; she had run from her temporary bedroom over to his and hammered at the door, alerting everyone else that something was wrong. When Jaden didn't reply, she fled back to her room in upset tears. As it became clear he wouldn't be answering, everyone but Jesse left. The blue-haired young man then took his turn, knocking on the door and announcing he was there. Again Jaden did not answer, and Jesse left, only to return in an hour and repeated his actions. He still was not given an answer. Nevertheless, he held that same pattern from dawn to midnight for the next two days.

By the third, after Pegasus had given his news and seeing an emotionally broken Alexis there, Jesse had had enough.

:*:

He came up to Jaden's door and swung his fist at the wood.

"Jaden Yuki!" he yelled out. "If you don't unlock this door, I'm going to break it down! You've got 'til I get to three. One!"

"Two!"

"Thr-

"It's open!" a shout came through the door.

Jesse blinked. "Huh?" he gaped in confusion.

"I unlocked it last night."

Unsure if that was Jaden who had answered him or if he was being told the truth, he reached gingerly for the knob and twisted. It came around in a full revolution. Blinking again, this time in surprise, he pushed the door open, and found Jaden sitting on his bed looking at a book in his hands. Out of curiosity, he examined the title words on the cover.

"A Tale of Two Cities? Didn't think you were the type for that, or for wearing glasses either?"

Jaden took his glasses down from his nose and turned to him. "Crowler got it for me for my birthday. I wanted to see why he thought it would be good for me. Now I know."

"Wait a minute!" Jesse spluttered, his face going red with rage. "You mean to tell me you blocked Alexis and the rest of us out just to read a book!"

"No," Jaden snapped, putting the book down on the bed. "For something else."

Jesse was about to ask what, when a tiny coo reverberated in his ears. Atop Jaden's shoulder, Winged Kuriboh materialised, landing on his tiny little feet. The puffball-sized duel spirit uttered his cute little call again. All around Jaden, his Elemental Heroes and Neo Spacians also materialised out of thin air, filling up the entire room.

"I lost the ability to talk to my monsters some time ago," Jaden explained. "When Crowler was dying, he made me laugh. I wanted to know why he did that, because knowing that I was laughing while he died made me feel horrible. I realised why later that night. He wanted to see the old me. I felt like I owed it to him to maintain that."

"I pushed Yubel out and put up a mind block so I could prove to myself that I could do it on my own. It's taken me this long to be able to speak to all of them and apologise for abandoning them."

Jesse felt the horrible sense of guilt and wondered what it would have been like for him if he had ever lost contact with his monsters but, shaking his head, he held it all at bay when he remembered the reason why he had been fighting to get into the room.

"That's a fair enough reason, but by not saying anything, you've left Yubel in a bad state."

A hurt look marked Jaden's face. "They are?"

"Yeah, so you'd better go talk to them."

No need on my account.

Jaden and Jesse froze as they felt the cold voice as if it was all around them. Yubel appeared at the foot of Jaden's bed.

I heard everything, and while I am pleased you're getting back to your old self, Jaden, you should have told me.

"Sorry," Jaden apologised.

Yubel smiled warmly back at him. "I know you are. Now go talk to Alexis."

It was her turn to freeze; she realised that her voice didn't sound so ethereal as it had been a minute earlier. She looked down at herself and her eyes widened. Instead of being able to look at the floor through herself, her vision was blocked by her own body. She glanced at Jesse; he looked back at her in surprise and raised his shaking forefinger.

"Y-y-y-your wings. They're gone."

Her hands flew over her shoulders to her upper back and felt around it for the membranes. There was nothing but clear smooth skin. Wide eyed, she turned to face the nearby mirror. Her wings had definitely vanished. She had never realised before just how intimidating they had helped her to look. She also came to notice other great changes to her form. The huge red and yellow eye on her forehead had vanished, as had the horns on her shoulders, and her steel grey and purple coloured hair had shortened to half of its length. Now she had the appearance of a human sprite. She rounded on Jaden.

"What have you done?"

Jaden stood up and embraced her. Yubel shivered at the feeling of his touch, but gladdened immensely as his warmth flooded through her.

"Don't say anything, okay?" he told her. "You've earned it."

A rushing of footfalls coming towards the doorway broke them apart, just in time to see Zane rushing inside.

"Why did I hear-

He stopped in midsentence as his attention caught onto the now wingless Yubel and stared at her in a shocked openmouthed gaze. Giving out a small sigh, Yubel stepped over to him.

"Hi Zane."

She brought her arms up around him and pulled him closer to her. Her orange and green eyes gazed into his surprised silver ones. For a time they stood that way as Yubel let the feeling sink in to him. His eyes gradually began to soften as he understood and he smiled.

"You know," he finally spoke. "You didn't need a haircut."

"Shut up."

She pushed her lips into his, at last getting the passion she had always wanted since first falling in love with him and giving it back to him. His right hand went up, holding her at the back of her head. Yubel moaned, leaning in further for more. Both of them closed their eyes, almost surrendering.

Almost.

Remembering Jaden and Jesse were in the room, Yubel broke away, glancing at the two nervously. Jaden smiled at her. Jesse looked as though he was about to be sick. Yubel chuckled and turned to Zane.

"How about we continue this elsewhere?"

Zane nodded, lowering his hand to take hers and began leading her out of the room. She let him, turning to face Jaden as she left with him.

"Thank you," she mouthed silently just before they went out of sight.

Jesse waited a little longer before his reaction came fully to the surface. "Gagh!" he exhaled. "I'm not going to forget that for a while. Did you see what they nearly did? Right in front of us?"

"Kissing?"

"You know what I mean."

"So. You're marrying Blair, aren't you?"

"That was different," Jesse stammered. "We're both humans."

Jaden's right eyebrow rose. "Syrus is going to marry a duel spirit."

"Well, Mana is human-like."

"Jess, stop making excuses," Jaden sighed exasperatedly. "People love who they love, or they should anyway."

"Yeah, yeah, okay," Jesse answered as he too headed for the door.

"And thanks."

He turned back around. "For what?"

"For telling me about Lex. You're right, I should have said something."

Jesse smiled. "No problem," he said.

Jaden glanced at him curiously at his sudden indifference and then recalled the memory of being told by Blair of how hurt Jesse had been when he had never said goodbye to him when he was leaving Duel Academy.

"Jess, I'm sorry. For not saying goodbye."

Jesse stared blankly at him as the words processed through his mind and he realised suddenly what he had meant. He grinned sheepishly. "About that, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you that badly. Everyone else, even Alexis, forgave you for it. If they can, why can't I?"

Jaden, figuring out that he was trying to make up for every blame he had laid on him, smiled. "The apology's there for you if you want it."

Jesse seemed to consider before shaking his head and replying, "No. I don't think I need to. Save all your apologies for your girlfriend."

"Thanks," Jaden chuckled. "I think I will."

:*:

Alexis lifted her head away from the tear-stained pillow she had buried her face into for countless times during the past few days. A slight boiling trickle slipped from her eyes, down her cheek, and fell with a tiny splash onto the back of her hand. She moved her other hand to rub it off when a knocking sound came from the door. The first words that she wanted to issue from her mouth were 'Go away', but she reconsidered, believing that it was not the best time to disregard her friends.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Lex."

Her eyes surged with light.

Jaden.

She jumped up from the bed and to the door, her hand flying to grasp the doorknob. She turned it in her hand and pulled the door open. She stopped still for a moment, staring at the figure that was waiting for her at the frame. A worried look was shadowed across his face. His chocolate brown eyes gazed at her acorn ones in apology. His mouth opened up to speak.

She didn't let him talk. With a relieved sigh, with the knowledge that he had come to her, Alexis threw her arms over Jaden's shoulders and pulled him close to her. He reacted first out of surprise, amazed that she could have forgiven him so easily, but then felt comfort as he wrapped his arms securely around her and rested his chin on her shoulder.

"I promise to never lock you out like that again," he whispered to her.

Her reply to him was a single strong kiss on his cheek, where after a second, she lifted her lips away to speak in his ear.

"Just don't do it again."

He nodded, adding a kiss of his own to the nape of her neck. She sighed in pleasure.

"I'm glad you're back."

Jaden smiled happily and gave her another kiss, this time on the cheek like she had to him, and rubbed his hand gently in circles on her back "So am I, Lex. So am I."

Her head turned an inch to face him again. "Move in with me."

"What?"

"I've got an apartment in Domino City," she explained quietly to him. "It's pretty big, too large for a single person."

"What happened to taking it one step at a time?" he asked.

"Nearly losing you again."

Jaden went quiet as he remembered the times either of them had almost lost each other, not on just their most recent struggle, but all the times since they had first met. He nodded. "We have to stop doing that," he said.

"Yeah, we do."

He faced her. "Then, yes. I'll move in."

Alexis smiled, her eyes glistening. She raised her head and kissed him fully on the lips. He let her in.

:*:

The number of people in attendance of Crowler's funeral had been expected to be just everyone still remaining at the Academy and therefore to be very small. But unexpected guests soon began to arrive to pay their respects. Students who had gone home after the Battle returned, despite the fact many of them had parents that were filing lawsuits. Marcel's mother and Bonaparte's estranged wife came after burying both her ex-husband and son. Syrus and Mana, and later Sartorius, rejoined their friends to say their farewells. And then, to the surprise of all, a Kaiba Corp plane landed at the airstrip, bringing Mokuba and Rebecca Kaiba to honour Crowler's memory and service to the school on behalf of the company.

At around midday, the process sombrely moved towards the Obelisk Blue grounds. Walking beside Alexis, Jaden fingered the sheet of paper inside his pocket. As a part of the ceremony, he and Chancellor Sheppard were to give separate eulogies. His eyes pictured for him the words on the sheet. Most of them had been crossed out in thick black lines, and what remained didn't seem to give Crowler enough justice. The repetitive pang of loss injected guilt inside of him. If Crowler had meant so much to him, why couldn't he put the words of how he felt about the man on paper. Maybe that's it, he suggested to himself, I'm trying it in writing. Maybe I should just say it.

But even when they reached the burial site, he still did not have the right words in mind. He didn't dare to look up until he had. He had seen what the service would be like and what the site would be in the near future from the way the chancellor described it. The grave itself would be halfway between the Obelisk Blue dormitories and their resident lake. The casket being carried towards it was made of polished redwood and fully covered, something which Jaden was bitterly grateful for as he wanted to keep the various memories of Crowler either smiling, panicking in a silly way, looking determined in a duel, or yelling at him whenever he had slept in class or in detention, the way they were instead of adding one of the pale dead face he would see if the casket was open. After the service, the grave would be filled back in, and in some days time, a memorial stone was going to be erected atop it stating who Crowler was, what he was to the Academy and how much he meant to it and everyone he knew.

Although he was still thinking of what to say, he followed on with the proceedings. He walked with Alexis to their places beside the hastily put-up podium. His ears listened to all the others stopping until they all formed a semicircular line with their backs to the dormitory and their silent faces taking in the podium and would-be grave and the lake beyond them. Sheppard and Dorothy went unseen by him as they approached the podium but not unheard as the chancellor made a slight cough as he stepped up to speak.

"Everyone, friends, teachers, fellow staff, I welcome you, and offer my thanks also to Mr. Pegasus and Mr. and Mrs. Kaiba, who are attending this ceremony with us today."

He took another breath and continued on at a slower pace. "Barely a week ago, we suffered many tragic losses in a terrible, terrible conflict. Those that perished gave their lives for the freedom and survival of others that stood with them, a great deal of which I believe are here today."

In the attendance, a few nodded. Most offered the chancellor a sad smile.

"And it is appropriate to remember them all as we stand at this very spot to commemorate just one. It could be said this person was special, but that is not how he would have liked to have been called. Vellian Crowler was a fine teacher and a good man and, although he had faults as do we all, he was a great friend. He was fiercely loyal to the Academy, and what it stands for, and to seeing that his students returned his teachings with high quality. Whenever danger sought to harm this school, he was one of the first to rise up and fight it. Towards the end of our recent conflict, Doctor Crowler made a heroic choice. As those who were there are aware, the situation had become so dire that it was absolute that a life had to be sacrificed for the sake of all. Crowler was perhaps the first to come to that conclusion and took it upon himself to be that sacrifice. Without him, I would not be standing here, nor would anyone else who was present at the time. And so, for that and all he has done before, we remember him."

Jaden brought his eyes up, recalling that after the chancellor's eulogy was done the casket would be laid to rest in the grave and then it would be time for his eulogy. His eyes moved to the right as all heads turned in that direction. The pallbearers came down the line supporting the casket between them on its way to its destination. Jaden followed it and them as it was brought closer. The pallbearers angled to the right, stepping around the hole, and levelled the casket over it. Cautiously and respectfully, they lowered it in. They stood up and quietly acknowledged to the chancellor that the ceremony could move on. Sheppard turned to Jaden. Jaden glanced at him and nodded. Sheppard stepped down, making room for him. Jaden took the vacated position.

He looked around at all the faces, his eyes centring on Zane and Yubel, then over to Jesse and Blair, Syrus and Mana, Sartorius and Fonda, Bastion, Hassleberry, Atticus, Pegasus, Mokuba and Rebecca, and finally downward to Sheppard, Dorothy and Alexis beside him. Summoning up his courage, he moved his head forward and, as he had hoped, words came out of his mouth in the right way.

"We're here today to remember a hero, a hero who took it upon himself to save others no matter the cost. The thing is, he didn't start out that way. When I first met Crowler, as some of his other students from my year will remember, he was a guy who had forgotten how to have fun and believed the best could only be found in the highest of classes. But as we shared three years' worth of adventures with him, he remembered. He remembered, as he fought and struggled alongside us to keep this school and everyone in it safe, what it was like to care for and work with others and be cared for by them, and to have fun." He paused, taking his next set of words in sadly. "More than all of that though, he became our friend, and I became his. On our most recent adventure, his last, we worked so well together that I cannot recall any time we've done it better. We were the best, putting our heads and skills in sync even when we didn't realise we had. At the end of it all, we still were, only he went farther in his fight than I did. I was trying to save everyone. He…he died saving everyone, and to save me." Tears flowed from his eyes as he mouthed the last four words of his sentence in a clear sob. "Vellian Crowler was my friend, and I have been and always shall be his."

Jaden backed down from the podium. An emotionally moved Sheppard replaced him. The Adams apple in his throat bobbed.

"And now, as we say our goodbyes, we shall listen to Crowler's personal favourite, Amazing Grace."

From the Obelisk dormitories, the classic soft, mournful and spiritual hymn sang through the public address system. As the lyrics started, a few began to sing in tune. Everyone else let the melody enter their minds and become the quiet but powerful driving force that pushed them to relive their memories of Crowler. Jaden was initially one of the latter, thinking of his practical entrance exam to get into the Academy all those years ago, all the times he had to outwit Crowler in his schemes to get him kicked out of the Academy, when he encouraged Crowler to do his best in his duel against the Shadow Rider Camula, the several sessions of career advising, and the final duel that they shared at the end of his last year. It occurred suddenly to him then that it had been a long time since that duel and the weight of that revelation struck badly. Ignoring it, he joined in at the last verse of the song.

"When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun."

"Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I'm found. Was blind, but now, I see."

It was when his voice rose for the last note that he recognised a particular warmth in and around his hand. As the song finished, he glanced down and found Alexis holding his hand. He smiled, turning his head back to face forward and softly grasped her hand back. His eyes found all of his friends again and remembered what was now ahead for them. Zane and Yubel, having secretly mated behind everyone's backs after the latter had split away from Jaden's body, were making arrangements for their newly started life together. Syrus and Mana, Sartorius and Fonda, and Jesse and Blair all had upcoming weddings to swear their eternal love and commitment to one another. Blair herself was informed by Mokuba that her performance in her promotion duel was judged to be exemplary and she would be promoted to a teacher full-time. Atticus, after celebrating the idea of Jaden moving in with Alexis, said that he would pretty much keep to writing music and again crowed in excitement that his sister's lovelife had advanced. Hassleberry was to keep flying starships for the Project, which Pegasus had confirmed will go on. Bastion, he had announced he was leaving his duties as the power monitor to become engineer of the Enterprise full-time. Across the sea, Chazz was somewhere with Jasmine, preparing to become a first-time father.

All of that, as well as feeling the warmth of Alexis' skin and the beating of her pulse against his hand in rhythm with his, made him realise one thing.

That no matter how the deep the loss of someone close to you could cut, there would always be a future. And for now, that future was starting to look bright.

In memory of

Harve Bennett

1930-2015

The writer who brought life and glory back to Star Trek

with the incomparable Wrath of Khan

ST

James Horner

1953-2015

Our musical guide through

Two adventures onboard the Enterprise

A young Russian mouse's struggle to reunite with his family

The journey of dinosaur children to reach their new home

The adventure of a boy and his friends through the realm of fiction

The first and final voyage of a doomed ship

And a battle for freedom on the alien planet of Pandora

ST

And

Leonard Nimoy

1931-2015

A diabolical renegade Keyblade Master

A fearsome murderous leader of the Decepticons

And the best Science Officer and Commander

A Federation starship could ever have