Well guys, this is it! The final chapter!

To the people who have read and followed our progress this entire story, thank you so much! We hope it was one you enjoyed, as tragic as it is.

As this is the final chapter, here are our replies to the rest of your reviews!

DigiSinister: We are so glad that you like our story - reviews like yours are so encouraging. Thank you so much, and we hope it was worth sticking through to the end!

Guest: Thanks! Despite the ending, we're glad you found it sweet!

Kiyoshiin: Oh you! We don't see too many people with actual photos of themselves in their bios and we're both potatoes, but if we look "fiiiiine" I guess it was worth the risk ;)

EternaPhoenix: WE'RE SO SORRY here have a hug

Chapter 10 - Epilogue

The snow was warm. It fell in soft tears that collected between the linen folds of Raven's black shirt before trickling into a puddle of dissolving crystals. More droplets fell from the clumps of matted, black and white hair that covered his eyes; they slowly traced the edge of his clenched jaw and dripped into the snow. Raven barely noticed how much he was shivering, too drained to think of anything but lifting each foot up and and placing it down, his stride wobbling and lilted.

And then he saw it.

It was easy to miss in the endless ocean of whiteness. Its tender bloom peeked out from the snow between Raven's shoes; it was barely there, barely surviving. A bending stem ending in petals that curled around a golden centre protectively, hovering it with seeming gentleness over the blanket of soft ice. It had a distinctive, delicate beauty, and it reminded him too much of…

"Say, Raven. When Velder gets rebuilt, what do you want to do?"

"I can't go back to Velder."

"Okay say you could run off somewhere and have a completely new start. What would you do?"

"That's not possible."

"You're the most pessimistic person I've met in my centuries of living. Come on!"

"Okay...I would settle down and buy a house."

"And?"

"Train. Become a mercenary again."

"And?"

"That's it."

"That's it? Would you be ready to love again?"

"Definitely not."

"Really? What if...you were slowly starting to have feelings for someone else and they felt the same way? You wouldn't have to throw your past behind, but you'd get to have a chance at creating another story."

"Nobody would love me with this arm."

"What if they didn't care about that arm?"

"Then...I suppose it could work."

"AAARGH!"

His roar echoed through the empty landscape, surrounding Raven with the sounds of his own anguish. Somehow this insignificant plant was infuriating, as if its determination not to die in the cold meant to mock him personally. Mocking him, just as Alex had, even up to his final moments when he fell under the Nasod claw with a despicable grin on his face that still haunted Raven to this day.

But Alex was still human.

And he was a monster. A monster who had flattened Velder in a fiery rage and gained nothing from it other than the blood stains on his clothes and an emptiness in his chest even more painful than flower, this tiny snowdrop only reminded him of someone who like it, was beautiful despite the harshness of her surroundings. The heartbreak as he held her lifeless body was unbearable and lingered with him no matter how hard he tried to shake it. She was gone.

Raven raised his fist, ready to crush the ground where the plant was.

Don't do that!

This tiny glimpse of life, alone in the barren field of snow, deserved to disappear into lifelessness.

It hasn't had the chance to bloom.
It deserved to feel as empty as he did, it deserved to feel his agony and his loss.

A symbol of hope and new beginnings…

He dropped his arm, looking at the snowdrop. Its white petals turned in the chilly breeze, blowing over the ice to look back at him, but he had already disappeared into the distance.

The End

We forgot that the last chapter was a lot shorter so in hindsight we should've posted this right after the past one, so sorry about that!

SO THAT'S IT! THE END OF THIS JOURNEY!

We hope you guys enjoyed this fic! Please please please let us know if you did, it would really mean the world to us!

Goodbye everyone! We hope to see you in the near future! :)

Izzy and Ducky, out!