Cinder grabbed her messenger bag and slung it over her shoulder. She gave her empty apartment one last sweep before stepping out into the hallway, hand clutched on the door handle. As soon as she shut that door, she'd no longer be granted entrance to it with her ID chip.

Iko whined. "Come on, Cinder! They're expecting us there soon!"

"We have plenty of time, Iko," Cinder replied, her eyes still pinned to the bare living room in front of her.

The android was right, though. It was time to let go.

She pulled the door closed with one final breath.

She still fought with herself every day about if this was the right decision. That, if after a year of dating him, Cinder was ready to move in with Kai. In the palace. The palace. She had to quit her job at the local mechanic shop back when their relationship became public at the last annual ball, and had been working at the palace since. Kai used this as a way to convince her that transport between her apartment and the palace, almost an hour by hover every day, was pointless. And that it was time to take their relationship to the next level. Or something.

On the way to the palace, Iko sat excitedly, jumping up and down in her seat as if she hadn't been there with her every single time Cinder went.

Cinder herself thought about everything that had happened over the last year, from the wedding, Queen Levana's death, Cinder's breakup with Kai and their subsequent reunion, Scarlet and Ze'ev's wedding–which Cinder had done everything in her power to keep a secret from Kai, because even after all of this time, it felt wrong to let their secret out, to the new Lunar Queen Winter being hailed as one of the most progressive leaders of her country.

Had they really come so far? Had they really managed to save Earth and Luna from an all-out war?

Well, Cinder refused to credit herself. It hadn't been her bravery at all. She was just another innocent victim of Levana's wrath. Her bravery had made its appearance after Levana was dead, when she was dealing with her PTSD, when she was teaching herself how to be at peace with herself again. It took a lot of pushing and prodding from an unlikely friend, the emperor himself, but she'd gotten exactly what she had needed, and there was nowhere else in life that she'd rather be.

As the palace–her new home–came into view, Cinder's nerves flared up again. Her life had changed so drastically in such a short amount of time that it was hard to fathom that any of it was actually plausible.

But with Iko's presence and almost-palpable excitement, and the butterflies fluttering in her stomach, this new life was undeniably hers.

The day of the annual peace ball arrived in a haze. Cinder had only just gotten settled in and Kai thought that she still seemed happy enough. It was nice to have someone solid and corporeal there to keep him firmly on his feet. Not that anything had been politically problematic as of late, but sometimes he thought things were a bit too easy. But that was another concern for another day.

Cinder had refused to wear a dress to the ball, and he loved her even more for it, especially considering all of the insistence she had to put up with from the palace stylist.

"You were a wedding planner," the woman had said, her Swedish accent tinged with frustration. "Surely you understand what fashion means to an important event such as this."

Cinder had only waved her away, requesting, at the most, a blouse and nice pair of pants. And, because she was dating the prince and "potentially"the future princess, she was given just that. And she looked absolutely gorgeous.

"I can't believe you're not wearing a gown," Iko whined as she and Cinder approached Kai in the corridor outside of the ballroom.

Looping her arm around Kai's waist, Cinder waved the android away. "C'mon, Iko. We've talked about this. And besides, I don't think I look too awful."

Kai leaned over to kiss her temple. "You look amazing."

She turned to sweep an appreciative gaze over him. Kai felt like he looked the same every year, the only thing ever changing about his outfit being the color scheme, but he knew Cinder didn't mind. "You're not so bad yourself."

He was just about to kiss her when they were interrupted by a voice.

"Your Highness, they're ready to announce you."

He leaned away from Cinder and regarded the man who spoke, and he quirked a brow. "Hikaru isn't even here yet."

The servant stumbled over his words. "H-His Majesty is on his way, Your Highness."

Kai only shrugged. "All right. Thank you."

As the night wore on, Kai was getting tired. And he was getting sick of dancing with women who were not Cinder, though he knew it was sort of his job, to be endearing and kind. Even if he wasn't available–which, even after a year, still wasn't a widely accepted thing.

Finally, Cinder cut in on one of this dances and asked for a private word with him.

It turned out she was only trying to get him alone, because she was bored of the press bothering her about when her and Kai were going to get engaged. His ears had turned pink as she rolled her eyes, mumbling something about how they've only been together for a year! And honestly, who do they think they are?

He hadn't planned on proposing any time soon, already knowing how she would feel about it (exactly as she had acted–it was far too soon, in her opinion), but the idea had crossed his mind once. Or maybe six times. He was stupid-in-love with her, after all.

Cinder slumped against him, resting her head on his shoulder as they sat on the edge of the fountain. "I haven't seen Hikaru in a few hours," she said, more to the gardens than to him.

"I'm sure he found some pretty girl to talk to."

"Stars," she muttered. He knew she had to be used to this by now. Though she had only lived in the palace for a couple of weeks, she had learned enough of the emperor's actions over the past year to know to expect this.

Kai decided that a subject change would be more interesting than talking about his brother's conquests. "Hey, Cinder. Who are those couples I always see you and Hikaru talking to? I saw you talking to them last year, but I never really got around to asking about it. They don't seem like they're from here, nor do I think they might be in high positions of power or anything like that, but they were clearly invited."

"I talk to a lot of couples," she said.

"Well, there's the one with the girl who has really curly red hair, and her husband looks like he's a bodyguard. And the other couple is a really short blonde girl and a dude who just radiates cockiness. They kind of just… seem like they don't belong."

She gave him a tight-lipped smile. "I think the couples are friends, actually. One of them said something about how they had only moved to New Beijing a few years ago," she explained. "I can't account for why Hikaru talks to them, but they just came over to me last year and struck up a conversation and it would've felt rude to just ignore them this year."

Something in her tone made Kai think he should be suspicious, but he trusted Cinder, so he accepted her explanation. "All right. Let's get back inside, then. The ball won't last too much longer anyway."

"Thank every star," she said.

When they got back to the ballroom, the young emperor had reappeared, with his arm looped through that of a gorgeous woman's.

Kai didn't recognize her.

She was nearly his height with brown skin and brown eyes to match, and black hair that fell smooth and straight, just brushing her shoulders. With an amethyst silk sleeveless dress that brushed the floor, her look was perfected with a simple silver chain around her neck.

Kai and Cinder shared a glance, and she just shrugged. "I suppose it's time for introductions."

"Kai!" Hikaru called, his voice easily traversing the distance between them, even while still maintaining an air of diplomacy and poise. His coronation had turned him into a true politician. Kai was proud, to say the least. "Kai! Cinder! Won't you come over here?"

Stars, it was bizarrewhen Hikaru talked to his own twin as if he was addressing the public. Kai and Cinder approached the couple and he tipped his chin to the stranger, offering a kind smile. In his peripheral vision, Cinder did the same.

Hikaru inclined his head toward the woman on his arm, who was watching them with a polite silence. "This is Mali. Mali, this is my brother, Prince Kai, and his girlfriend, Cinder."

"Prince Kai," she said amiably, her strong voice considerably sweet. "It's an honor to meet you."

Kai grinned. "It seems the honor is all mine."

Next to him, Cinder dipped into a real bow. "Nice to meet you, Mali."

Cinder tried to continue, but Kai was quite a bit more than just curious. "So, I don't intend to be rude, but," he met his brother's eyes, "what's the reason for the introductions?"

Hikaru beamed, and Mali gave a small smile as he replied. "Well, you know people have been bothering me about an heir, and I was planning to use this year's ball as a way to, well, find someone I might want to settle down with."

Kai wondered how his brother's new companion didn't look at all embarrassed about this.

"And you didn't tell me?"

"It was a split-second decision."

Kai narrowed his eyes, but then laughed. By "split-second", Hikaru had probably meant "the second I saw her." He shook his head. "I suppose it's forgivable."

The emperor smirked. "Let's wrap this ball up, then, yeah?"

Hikaru left Mali at the base of the stairs with a quick peck on her temple and ascended them to address those who remained on the dancefloor–though there was a considerably small amount compared to the thousands that had been there at the start of the ball.

As his brother spoke, Kai looked down at Cinder, his hand in hers. She looked tired as she watched the emperor address his people, and she looked absolutely content. Their lives were in perfect harmony with each other now, after all of the battles they had fought together, and he knew that they had a long future together.

Cinder was his. And he was hers. And they were unstoppable.

Author's Note: Um. I really have no excuse for posting this late. I'm sorry. This is the end of this fic! I'm sorry! I do have another longfic in the works. No word on when that'll be out. But I have it all planned out & the first chapter written, so... Yeah... I love you all.