After that day, the war that had raged for centuries came finally to an end with the demise of the APE council and their final bastion. It is a time to rejoice and celebrate, but there is much work to be done. The greatest task was to rebuild civilization begins now.

After the battle at Plantation 1, you met with the Klaxosaur Princess one last time at the tomb of the Klaxosaur King far in the north to return the sword to where it belongs at its final resting place, just as you promised.

The Klaxosaur Princess stated that the remnants of her kind would give themselves to restore the planet and that it would be up to you to maintain it and fully restore it to its former glory. After that, she relinquished her crown, and with it, her immortality. She was all alone for centuries, with the only thing that kept her going being the fight for their survival and the illusion that her kind could be saved.

However, she died fulfilled and without regrets because when she looked through the dragon's mind to witness the final battle, she saw how brightly you and Zero Two shone. And even though the two of you are not of the exact same kind as her, she knows that a part of her people will live on through you.

With the help of Dr. Franxx, you were able to remove the memory blockers of Kuro, Yuri, Haru, and Kasumi. They had difficulties adjusting after the ordeal they went through and were devastated after they learned that they attempted to kill you, Ryoken, and Misaki while APE had them under their control. In time, the scars they bore could heal and they would grow to get along fine with the rest of Squad 13.

The only remaining APE facilities were the Garden and the Bird's Nest. Both of which surrendered after the council died. The Parasite production was shut down as you focused on trying to sustain yourselves with energy methods other than magma energy. As it turns out, the parasites that were supposedly discarded from the Garden were taken in by Dr. Franxx and put into cryostasis, so you had no shortage of help to accomplish all the tasks you needed to do.

Dr. Franxx passed away a few years later. He had never taken the immortality serum and his cybernetic implants and mechanic parts could only keep him alive for so long. He was a man with many regrets, some of which he'd like to take back, but such things are outside of anyone's reach. During his final days, he apologized to Zero Two for how he treated her as a child but she revealed she didn't hate him. In fact, she was thankful to him for creating her. He died with the hint of a smile on his face, entrusting the future of mankind to you.

Hachi, Nana, and Umbra were the only immortals that remained and they took a supportive role, giving you guidance when it was needed. Dr. Franxx had given Umbra a vast amount of knowledge that came in handy to understand many things, reproduction being one of them.

Over time, you slowly rebuilt civilization and the damaged ecosystem of the planet began to recover...

XXXXXX

5 Years Later

"Darling," Zero Two says, "It's your turn to read her a bedtime story." "I know," you smile as you kiss her on the cheek and get up from the living room. "I'll get ready for bed," she adds with a seductive wink and a smile, "Don't take too long."

Walking up the stairs and going through the hallway, you come across the photos on the wall. You stop for a moment to reminisce about the past. Most of these pictures were taken by you and Zero Two during your honeymoon. As you promised many years ago, you traveled the world with her and saw the same things the Princess in the picture book saw.

You finish this trip down memory lane by glancing at the picture in the center: A group photo of Squad 13, Squad 42, and the Nines together with Hachi, Nana, Dr. Franxx, and Umbra Prime.

"Good times," you whisper as you continue.

You reach a room with the door slightly ajar. Upon entering it, you find your daughter, Zena, lying in bed but still awake. Her tiny red horns, just like the ones her mother has, shine brightly from the light of the lamp next to the bed.

"Hey there, Zena," you say as you approach her, "Have you picked a story for me to read you tonight?" She smiles broadly and hands you an all too familiar book. "This one!" she exclaims enthusiastically. "You've heard this story a dozen times by now though," you chuckle as you sit down on a chair next to her bed. "But dad, you said I could choose any story!" she pouts.

"It's alright, my dear," you assure her, "I'll read it to you as many times as you want."

In the deepest, darkest part of a forest lived a tribe, hidden from all. They had large wings on their backs and were beautiful, but they were what would be called beasts. Among them was their princess, who had huge, ashen wings. Their law said that once one turned sixteen, they would be allowed to fly outside the forest.

And on her sixteenth birthday, the princess took flight to the world beyond the forest. She crossed the steep mountains and the surging rivers and reached a land of humans. The moon shone brightly in the sky. She landed in a castle garden, where she found a young man gazing up at the moon. The princess hid in the bushes and stared at the young man, and for the first time, love bloomed in her heart. But he was clearly of a different race. A beast and a human could never be together.

And so, the princess went to see a witch who lived in the same forest and said, 'I want to live as a human. I want to be united with him.' The witch replied like so: 'I can help you if you offer me your wings. But keep this in mind, no matter how you disguise yourself, you are a beast, and you will consume the prince's life one day.' The princess ripped off her wings and was assaulted by pain far more intense than she had ever felt. She could never fly again. Even so, she smiled happily, with tears of joy streaming down her face, 'I'm human! I'm human! I'm the same as him now!'

The princess once again set out for the land of humans, this time on foot. In the desert, she spotted a group of people. 'Oh, no! Is there anyone who can save him?!' There lay a young man, his leg bitten by a snake. The princess rushed to his side and sucked the venom out from his wound. 'Thank you, o brave lady. I am the prince of these lands.' It was the same young man she had met in the castle. 'I owe my life to you. Please marry me.'

A wedding ceremony was held soon after. The priest asked the princess, clad in a wedding dress of pure white, 'Do you vow to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, until death do you part?' 'I do.' The two exchanged rings, and when the priest said so, they sealed their vows with a kiss. And cheers rang out across the land. 'Bless the brave girl who saved our prince's life,' the whole kingdom celebrated their marriage.

'Humans! Humans! They have neither the wings to fly nor the claws or fangs to hunt. Such weak and frail creatures, but they are so, so warm. Humans are wonderful!' After the wedding, she lived happily as the princess of a human land. She supported the prince in his work, traveled the world, and saw oceans studded with glints of sapphire, sparkling grasslands, and auroras that swayed like raging flames. The princess took the prince's hand and said with a smile on her face, 'Grab on to me and never let go, Darling.'

But the princess's happiness was short lived.

She woke up in the night to a pain that threatened to rend her asunder and found her body turning into one of a beast. 'Why? I asked you to make me human!' On her back were jet-black wings, tearing through her flesh and skin to spread. 'Using magic comes at a price. You've attained plenty of happiness as a human. Now, it is time for you to lose yourself and turn into an ugly monster.' The witch of the forest whispered to her. 'However, if you kill the person you love most, you will be freed from your curse and return to the beast you originally were.'

The princess gazed at her beloved prince as her claws reached for his throat. She loved him more than anything and anyone, but the desire to rip his neck apart welled up inside her. As she desperately tried to clench her fist and stop herself, her claws dug into her skin, and blood started gushing out. 'If I kill the prince, I will be freed of this curse...' with tears streaming down her face, she kissed the prince on the cheek.

You turn the page. This is the part of the story that is different than the original.

The prince awoke in the middle of the night. He immediately realized that his beloved was no longer beside him. Instead, he found a trail of black feathers leading to the middle of the room where a beast with jet-black wings was kneeling on the floor, weeping. Getting up, the prince slowly approached her.

"Don't come closer!" the beast said between her sobs, "This is my true form... I am a monster." "Not to me," the prince said affectionately as he knelt beside her and took her clawed hands in his, "I love you just as you are."

They embraced each other in a deep and loving kiss. Then, the beast's curse spread to the prince and he transformed into the same being as her. Together, the two of them took flight and vanished into the night.

They settled down in a faraway land where they lived happily ever after.

The End.

XXXXXX

Author's Note:

If you are reading this, thank you for reading my first ever fanfiction. I'd appreciate it if you leave some criticism in the comments. This has been a pretty challenging yet exciting undertaking for me.

I would also like to give a big shout out and thanks to CulpableGlint for looking over all my chapters and giving me the inspiration. He was a big help for me during this and if you liked what I wrote, you'll definitely like his works too.