Disclaimer: omg! This is the last time I disclaim Jak and Daxter! OMG!

Author's Notes: omg, I have no words. Seriously. The real author's notes is at the bottom, so I'm just gonna say enjoy the epilogue!

Warnings: none (unless you count 'the end')

Epilogue

One month later, Aithne found herself in the port. She blinked, almost as if she had never seen it before, and started toward the Naughty Ottsel. The huge mascot had been torn down in the Metal Head attack and she could just about make out Maelia and Ryu's forms as they painted charred walls at the very top of the building.

A rueful smile touched her lips as she started toward them.

Haven City had rolled up its sleeves and gotten to work. Ashelin and Torn had carefully divided their forces into those who would rebuild Haven's walls and those who would focus on the interior of their city.

Jak and Sig reconnected as they brought the Wastelanders back together, which had fallen into disarray after Jak's disappearance. Keira had been placed in charge of reconstructing the racing sector and Aithne had decided the best place for her was with her mother, helping out.

But she couldn't deny that empty feeling that consumed her, even as she worked tirelessly to rebuild what had been lost. She knew what she was feeling, deep down in her breast, and she knew that it would never quite go away.

She would have to deal with it. That was all.

The Port of Haven City had taken the least amount of damage. Water had saved it from the fire and most of the buildings had remained sturdy, locked tight into the ground. The damage taken to the Naughty Ottsel had been the most extensive in the area, the walls destroyed and the mascot brought down.

That was it. There was almost nothing else—save a few pieces of rubble here and there—to hint at the war that had consumed Haven City.

Everything was recovering, rebuilding. But Haven City did not forget its dead. Ashelin had ordered a section of the ground around the palace cleared and countless graves stones had been erected there, in memoriam to those who had died as penalties of war.

Keira had cried then. She had finally allowed herself to slow down and cry over the death of the man whom she had called father. Aithne had lain awake that night and listened to her mother sob in Jak's arms and she had wanted it all to stop.

Samos had died so fast and so suddenly that it had taken them a while to deal with it. Aithne hadn't been able to shed tears over his body, though she had loved her grandfather. Everything inside her was just too bottled up and sore. So she had let Keira do all the crying.

Too much seemed to be happening all at once. Aithne wanted to find some way to get a firm grip and hold everything still so she could deal with it slowly, not all at once. It was slamming into her and she couldn't handle it.

Jak had moved back into their house like he had never left and Aithne knew very well that he had. But Keira had never looked so happy before and Aithne didn't want to say anything that would disrupt that happiness Keira had wrapped herself in.

Aithne had come to the decision some time ago that she would at least try to be civil around Jak. For her mother's sake, and for hers. And—she hated to admit but she did—Jak wasn't as bad as she had painted him once to be.

When she had been younger, Aithne had hated Jak simply for the fact that she and her mother had lived with his ghost in their home. It had been easier for her to picture him as some cold, heartless man who willingly abandoned her and her mother than the hero everyone told her he was.

Now they were all just trying to live again, pick up the pieces that had been destroyed and move on with their lives. Aithne knew just how important starting over was and she was trying hard not to let her past rage get the better of her.

It was hard though.

Just as she reached the Naughty Ottsel, Daxter stepped out. Aithne noted he had changed too. The Daxter she remembered never smiled or at least never seemed to mean it in the way the man who had returned to Haven City did.

The new Daxter raised a jaunty hand in greeting to Aithne as she walked over to him before throwing his back to look at the work Ryu and Maelia were getting done on the Naughty Ottsel.

"Hey you two!" he called, frowning when he saw how little they had gotten accomplished. "Quit smooching and get to painting! And, Ryu, hands off!"

High above him, Maelia broke away from Ryu and blinked down at her father. She looked back up at her boyfriend and rolled her eyes, pushing away the eager hand Ryu had been slipping up her shirt.

Ryu gave a long suffering sigh that had Maelia giggling as they swung easily on the raised rafter to allow them to paint the charred and ruined building and sign.

"Figures he'd decide to act like an overprotective father the one time I don't want him to," she whispered to him, but Ryu could tell by the grin on her face that she enjoying Daxter's love, at long last.

"Sure, sure," he muttered, picking up the paintbrush he had discarded when his mind had become preoccupied with other things.

But Ryu was happy to. He and Torn fought still, but less about Ryu himself and what he wanted for his future, and more because they were both just two men who tended to shout rather than calmly think a problem out.

He grinned. Torn and his son had a tendency to scream and argue right in each other's faces but they also seemed to work it through. Ashelin tended to get put out long before the shouting match was over, but she sat through it so she could put her own two cents in once Ryu and Torn had screamed themselves hoarse.

Torn had reluctantly agreed that Ryu would be best suited for working on a Reconstruction Committee and had quickly retired to his offices to do his business, reorganizing the Krimzon Guard.

"Aren't you going to kiss me?" Maelia demanded, throwing out her best pouting lips that they both knew drove Ryu crazy.

"Nope," he answered as lightly as he could and continued painting, grinning when Maelia huffed out an annoyed breath. "Don't want your father to get mad."

Aithne watched them from down below, feeling a small smile tug her lips. They hadn't seen a lot of each in the month since their return. She supposed it was because they were just different people now.

War had changed them. Changed all them and though Aithne knew they would be friends until their dying day, they were all at different places in their lives now.

Just as she started to go on her away, Maelia took notice of her. She swung her arm out and nearly went tumbling to the ground, expect Ryu clamped a hand on her waist before she fell.

"Aithne!" she called, her voice light and easy on the wind. "Aithne over here!"

All Aithne could do was lift her hand in an acknowledging wave before continuing on. Maelia bit her lip and looked at Ryu, her eyes big and sad.

"She misses Cyren," she told her boyfriend and Ryu nodded his head in agreement.

It was true and they all knew it. Everyone was careful not to mention Cyren's name, or anything connecting to him, around her. Aithne tried to keep her mind busy with other things, and she succeeded most of the time. So much needed to be done and accomplished that there wasn't time for mourning.

But Aithne dreaded the day when she had nothing to do.

Suddenly she was standing at Zen-Fai Yao's shooting gallery. The rubble that had closed it off at Haven City's falling had been cleared away and Zen-Fai's body had been one of the few they were able to bury.

Cyren hadn't come to the funerals. He had sent a letter, written by someone else, to Ashelin. Nothing for Aithne came.

Unable to stop herself, Aithne stepped in. The mats were discolored and fading but they were still soft beneath her feet. It was hard to remember what it had been like to train here under a secret general's tutelage, but she could easily remember the warmth and acceptance she had found.

Here was the place where she had lost her heart without ever really knowing it. She wondered if she could pinpoint a specific moment in time when she had fallen in love, but she couldn't. It had happened without her noticing at all.

Wearily, Aithne lowered herself to the ground and closed her eyes, inhaling the smells that still lingered on, despite the death that had come on swift wings to this very spot. It was a comforting thought, that something as simple as a smell could linger on.

She tried to remember what it felt like to stretch out beside Cyren on the soft mats, when they had been young and innocent and there had been no secrets or wars. When she had merely been Aithne Hagai and he had been Cyren.

And she nearly wept when she couldn't.

--&--

"I thought that Aithne was supposed to be helping you with this," Jak said as he grabbed the opposite edge of the large piece of metallic rubble Keira was struggled under.

The Racing Sector was a mess and it would be a mess for a very long time. But Keira had brought together the people that lived there—from racer to regular civilian—to pitch in and the work was starting to get done.

Keira lifted her head and offered him a sad look. "I sent her off. Her heart just wasn't in it."

Jak could only nod, frowning. Yes, he knew as well as Keira that Aithne's heart wasn't in anything she did. She walked around Haven City like a ghost. He wished to comfort his daughter, desperately, but Jak knew that was a line he and Aithne had yet to cross.

They were civil to each other and Jak told himself he was happy with that. It was more than he had expected Aithne would give him. She said nothing when he moved back into his home, said nothing when he and Keira attempted to fix their relationship, said nothing when they crossed each other's paths in the morning, she coming out of her room and he coming out of Keira's.

But he was a selfish man and he wanted more. He just knew that he wasn't going to get it.

"I want Aithne to be happy," Keira whispered, fighting back tears. "But it breaks my heart to think that she'll only be happy if she's miles away in Sage-Harmona."

Wordlessly, they both set down the scrap metal and Jak held out his arms. Keira went right into them, burying her face against his chest. She was shaking badly but she wasn't crying. Jak stroked the top of her hair, murmuring to her, trying to quell his own aching heart.

He led her away from the destruction of the racing sector and out toward the farming district of Haven City. Though much of it had been destroyed, green grass still grew and it made a peaceful picture, healthy foliage with wind rippling through it.

It was nice to rest here, to get away from all the rubble and ruin that had become Haven City. Jak settled on the grass and Keira laid out beside him, holding his hand as they looked up at the blue sky.

"I want Aithne to stay in Haven City," Jak said after a long moment of silence. He looked at his palm, ignoring the hideous scars that would forever mark him, the silvery mark having faded long ago into his skin, as if it hadn't ever been there, as if he hadn't lost seventeen years of his life to it. "But I'm selfish."

"You're not selfish, Jak," Keira said softly, her eyes still moist. "You're not selfish at all."

Unable to stop himself, he turned his head and looked at her. They were trying, him and Keira. Jak knew that they could never get back what they had had before, but they were rebuilding. They were going somewhere again.

Neither of them could pretend the last seventeen years hadn't happened, but they were together and it was almost enough. Jak knew he had to be content with what he got. Just as Haven City rebuilt itself he would rebuild his relationship with Keira.

As long as Keira was willing to work at it, so was Jak.

"I want her to be happy too," Jak told Keira, turning his gaze back to the sky, closing his eyes and imaging what Aithne would have looked like as a baby. "But I—I can't help but feel like I've been cheated out of a lifetime."

She rolled over and tucked her head onto his shoulder, her hand wrapping around his waist. The feeling of her body pressed close to him relaxed Jak and, even as some secret part of him ached, he knew that it would be alright.

"If she decides to go you'll let her, won't you?" Keira asked softly, tilting her head to look up at his strong chin.

"Yes," Jak answered and felt his stomach clench because it was the truth. If Aithne decided to chase after Cyren, he wouldn't stand in her way.

"That's why you're a good man," Keira told him softly and closed her eyes, drifting to sleep against him.

Jak lifted to hand to her hair, and hesitated as he saw his crisscrossing burn scars. The doctors had said they were permanent, that they would forever decorate his neck and leg and hands. These browning, hideous marks of his bravery.

It only bothered Jak sometimes, but it had been enough to make him feel sick in the beginning.

With a sigh of his own, he finally placed his hand on Keira's head, refusing to let necessary scars bother him.

--&--

Aithne woke up that night, curled under her covers and shivering. The house she lived in no longer felt like a home. She was curled into a tight ball, her lips pressed together in worry, shaking so hard she wondered how the whole house didn't feel it.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, feeling the moisture on her cheeks. The room was dark and she felt like she was suffocating. Her throat was dry and tight. She sucked in a wheezing breath and could do no more than stare blankly out into the nothingness.

Her whole body felt like it was made of tears. She just wanted to sob and cry and never, ever stop because she had lost everything that had ever mattered to her and she wasn't ever going to be able to get it back.

Tears began to roll down her cheeks and Aithne pressed her face into her pillow, waiting for her tears to exhaust her into sleep.

Then she stopped, gasping and jerking herself right up into the bed.

Cry until I go to sleep? It was too much like Keira had done during Aithne's entire life. Keira had cried herself to sleep every night because she couldn't be with the man she loved. Was Aithne following her example? Was she doing the same thing?

The thought was too much to bear and Aithne curled her knees to her chest, sucking in a rough breath.

Just like Keira? Was that even possible?

For a long time, Aithne stared out into the darkness, unable to do anything but stare.

When the sun rose, Aithne pulled on her clothes as quickly as she could and slipped out of the house, careful not to disturb Jak or Keira. She considered calling Sig for a moment and asking if it was alright if she hung out with him. But Sig deserved the rest. He was working hard, they all were.

So she wandered around Haven City, watching as people worked to rebuild what had been taken from them. She thought that she should have offered to help but she felt so out of place among it all that she couldn't.

It was mid afternoon when she walked into the Naughty Ottsel. Maelia and Ryu were arguing over something for the sake of arguing, Maelia leaning over the counter of the bar, her face pink with rage, Ryu with his palms firmly planted on either side of the bar, his eyes narrowed.

"For the last time Ryutaro Praxis I will not—"

"Oh yes you will, Maelia Ottsel! And don't even start arguing. I get dragged all over the place so you can show me off," Ryu snapped, gnashing his teeth together. "So you are going over to that asshole's house and telling him that you're my girl now!"

"He already knows!" she snarled.

"Yeah? Then why was he over here yesterday pawing you!?"

"Pawing? Sloane's my friend and you can't tell me who I will and who I won't see!" Maelia glared at him and kept on glaring, even as Ryu reached out and cupped the back of her neck, bringing her face closer to his.

"Wanna bet?" he demanded and looked about ready to prove it to her.

"It's good to see some things won't change," Aithne announced as she stepped towards them, her voice jolting Maelia and Ryu guilty apart. Aithne resisted the urge to snicker, well aware that they were on their way to doing something a little better than arguing.

"Oh, ah, hi, Aithne," Maelia said with a sheepish grin, her face turning an even pinker color. "You want something to drink?"

Ryu, looking smug, merely lifted his head at her and reclined easily against the bar's table. Aithne approached and shook her head, suddenly embracing Ryu.

The young man gave a small choke of surprise but wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Aithne held him tight for a moment, memorizing Ryu's feel, and then let him go. She walked around the side of the bar and did the same thing for Maelia.

"What's going on?" Maelia demanded as Aithne pulled away. Her eyes were wide and concerned. "Aithne?"

She said nothing, just stared at Maelia with sad eyes and a weak smile. Maelia sighed and lowered her head quickly for a moment, understanding what her best friend must have decided to do.

"You're going after Cyren," she surmised, gripping Aithne's hands hard.

"I have to," she answered. "I'd rather regret something I did do than something I didn't."

"Just be careful, okay?" Ryu told her gently, not moving to hug her because he understood that she needed to do this on her own. "I don't want you to get hurt, Aithne."

"You've always been the best brother, Ryu," she said as she headed to the door. "Bye you guys."

--&--

Night had settled once more as Aithne slipped down stairs. She had a small rucksack thrown over her shoulder, full of supplies like water and food, and a few changes of clothes. She was pretty confident she knew the way to Sage-Harmona from Haven City but she had to be on the safe side.

It would take her a few days.

As she stepped into the kitchen she paused and blinked in surprise, her mouth falling open.

Keira was sitting at the table, her hands neatly folded and her eyes sad. Aithne took in a deep breath and approached her. She had planned on saying goodbye to her mother, but she hadn't actually counted on doing it face-to-face.

"So you're going," Keira guessed and managed a small smile. "I knew you would."

"I can't spend my whole life regretting," Aithne admitted as she came around to Keira's side. "Mom, I need to go. I don't know how good I'll be for Cyren or Sage-Harmona, but I can't spend my whole life wondering if I made the right choice."

"I know." Keira wrapped her arms around her waist and brought her down beside her. She pressed a shaky kiss to her cheek. "That's why I'm not stopping you. You need to go. You have to go."

They embraced and Aithne prayed it wouldn't be for the last time. She had no idea what the future now held for her, but she knew that she would accept it as long as she could be with Cyren.

"Just because you're going to be so far away," Keira said, fighting back a set of tears. "Doesn't mean I'm going to stop being a nagging mother."

"I know." Knowing that she had to leave now or she would never leave, she stood. "Goodbye, Mom. I love you."

"I love you too, Aithne," Keira answered with a watery smile. "Go get him."

Keira watched as Aithne slipped into the hallway and out the door. She sucked in a deep breath and held refused to cry until she was sure Aithne could no longer hear her.

When Aithne was gone, Keira lowered her head to her table and wept.

Unable to hear her mother's tears, Aithne shut the door to her home one last time. She knew that she would not be returning soon, if she ever returned, and it filled her with dread and purpose.

It was time to start her new life and she was ready for it, even if it meant she was leaving so much of what she knew behind.

"Leaving?" Jak asked, arms crossed over his chest, head bowed down, reclining easily against the front wall of their small home.

Aithne didn't jump. She wanted to, but she didn't. Slowly she turned around and faced the man whom she had only just recently come to accept was her father. She hunched her shoulders defensively and glanced over at him.

"I was going to tell you," she snapped, surprised to find it true. "I wasn't going to leave without telling you."

Jak nodded, knowing it was true. He uncrossed his arms and stepped a little closer to her. This, he knew, was all he was going to get and he was going to have to accept it.

"Come visit your mother every now and then, okay?" Jak asked gently, wishing he could say so much more and knowing that he couldn't. Aithne wasn't ready for it and she might very well never be.

"I will." Aithne took in a deep breath, knowing very well that she was crossing a line she had never thought she'd cross. "Mom can come and visit me in Sage-Harmona whenever she wants to an—and you can come to."

He nodded, quietly accepting that.

"I guess I'll—I'll see you around, Jak," Aithne said and, hiking her rucksack higher onto her shoulder, she started to head toward the exit of Haven City. But she paused and turned back to look at Jak, who was watching her go. "Look after Mom for me, okay?"

There was a hint of smile on his mouth as he nodded once more. "Don't worry about it, Aithne," he told her and motioned for her to get going. Aithne gave him a sharp nod and obeyed.

She walked away feeling as if she was losing something she never really had.

--&--

It took Aithne close to three days to reach Sage-Harmona. She saw not a soul and without Maelia and Ryu and Roid and Cyren with her she was aware how lonely traveling could be when one was alone.

The journey gave her a new perspective on Jak's seventeen year absence in her life. She wouldn't say anything to him, but the three, long days of endless emptiness made her understand him better.

Night had settled when Sage-Harmona finally came into her view. Aithne felt a tired grin cross her face as she stared up at the high walls of the city that had once upon a time been her greatest enemy.

Now it symbolized her new home.

But she couldn't make herself take the last few yards to Sage-Harmona. It was cold and dark and she was just too tired from her journey. She settled down in the sand, a small blanket acting as a shield against the wind and went to sleep.

Her body told her she had gotten no more than two hours of sleep when she felt a hand touching her shoulder lightly. There was a murmur in her ear but she couldn't hear it over the wind that wiped in the desert at night.

"Aithne," the voice murmured. "Lord Cyren will want to see you now."

Gasping, she snapped awake, throwing the blanket away from her. Annityn was crouched by her side, one pale hand on her shoulder, and looking calmly into her eyes. Tage was just behind her, watching them both.

"Annityn? What are you doing here?" She held out her hand and Annityn pulled her to her feet. "I thought—I thought you were free from Venn's spell."

"I have chosen to remain and aid Lord Cyren as spymaster," Annityn answered neutrally and bent down to retrieve the things Aithne had placed in the sand.

"C'mon, it's cold out," Tage told them and handed Aithne a cloak. She thankfully throw it over her shoulders as he said, "You're lucky we saw when we did. It's supposed to go below zero tonight."

"Tage?" Aithne asked softly, approaching him. "How is he?"

"Lonely," was all Tage said and his eyes slid over Aithne's shoulder to watch as Annityn approach.

"These are yours," Annityn said suddenly, pulling Aithne's sais out from the holsters on her thighs. She turned them over to Aithne without a moment's hesitation.

Wordlessly, Aithne took them from her and cradled them against her chest. It brought back painful memories. Zen-Fai giving them to her, fighting Cyren with them, Roid taking them from her…

"Where did you get these?" she asked whisper soft.

"I acquired them after I inspected the ashes of the Phoenix," Annityn explained and her eyes were so emotionless that Aithne could not tell if the young girl was lying or not. It was just too hard to read her.

She could only bite her lip and nod. Annityn turned toward Tage and Aithne followed without hesitation. They led her right into Sage-Harmona and up into the palace. Aithne was suddenly glad for them because she realized just how completely lost she would be in the place.

Sage-Harmona was so vastly huge that it was a wonder that anyone could memorize it in a lifetime. Yet Tage and Annityn seemed to know the palace like the back of their hands and they were in front of Cyren's door within moments.

Aithne sucked in a deep breath, staring at the deep wood of the closed door. Her heart was pounding wildly in her ears and for a moment she nearly ran away.

But this was Cyren. And this was what she wanted.

"He's probably asleep," Tage told her gently, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and giving her a small smile. "But I don't think he'd mind if you woke him up."

"Thank you," she said and meant it. She glanced at them over her shoulders and realized that she was relieved that they would be another constant in her new life. She could trust both Tage Yao and Annityn.

"No problem. Sage-Harmona has gone too long without a Queen Consort," Tage said on a sharper grin. He glanced at Annityn. "Let's go."

For a moment Aithne stared at the pair of them, blinking in surprise. There seemed to be something between them… something in the way Tage meet Annityn's eyes. Well, it was impossible to read Annityn but Tage…

Shaking her head, knowing she was just imaging things, Aithne pushed open Cyren's door and slipped inside. She gave herself a moment to adjust to the darkness and the new room before starting forward to the bed.

The bed was in the center of the room and the darkness of the night blocked off her vision to the rest of it. A small fire crackled in the fireplace, giving the room an eerie orange tint.

But Aithne didn't take in any of it. She was staring straight ahead, gasping for breath.

Because Cyren wasn't asleep like Tage had said. He was up and looking at her, his face paling. He stood just beside the fire, the flames highlighting his silvery hair.

"Oh Goddess," he murmured, lowering his head into his hand, his shoulders shaking. "Now I'm hallucinating."

If her heart hadn't been pounding so loudly in her breast, Aithne would have laughed. "I don't think so," she told him softly, approaching him on shaking legs.

"Aithne?" he breathed, lifted a hand shaking to her neck when she was in grabbing distance. "Aithne?"

She nodded, could only nod, and wrapped herself up close. Cyren's arms encircled her waist fiercely, as if he was afraid she'd disappear, and she could feel his body shaking just as hers did.

Wordlessly, she lifted her head to his and claimed his mouth.

It felt like coming home at last.

--&--

No more than a week after Aithne's departure the letter arrived. Keira had been at the racing section, going over the very beginnings of the reconstruction of the stadium, and had returned home to find it on her doorstep.

Knowing who it was from, and what it was about, she waited for Jak to get home and then handed it over to him.

Jak ripped the Yoshimoro seal right off without any hesitation and pulled out the slim, proper invitation that Annityn had likely seen to. It was impersonal and probably had been sent out to many other people in perfect replication.

"We're invited," Jak read aloud, his eyes sliding over to Keira's for a moment. "To the royal wedding of Cyren Yoshimoro of Sage-Harmona and Aithne Hagai of Haven City, where the naming of Lord King and Queen Consort shall take place."

"She invited you," Keira pointed out, taking the envelope from him. "It—it's something, Jak."

"I know," he replied but kept on frowning.

"Oh!" Keira yelped and pulled out another slip of paper. This one was obviously writing paper and something much more personal than what Sage-Harmona had sent out as invitations. "It's for you."

With a strange smile she handed the letter addressed to her husband and read over his shoulder. Wetness blinded her vision for a moment and Keira had to blink it aside. She bit her lip and looked over at Jak.

Her smile widening, Keira placed her hand over Jak's on the letter, watching it shake, rubbing the pucker, and forever charred, skin.

It was a small one sentence letter but somehow it had Jak shaking from head to toe. Keira sighed and pressed her head onto his shoulder, smiling softly.

The letter read simply: will you give me away?

--&--

"Humans are so strange," Lokin observed from his viewing pool.

He reclined on a large rock sticking rather oddly out in the middle of a huge, vast lake. A tree, large and powerful and beautifully green, grew in the middle of the lake, making a tiny island, and above Lokin's head the stars were nearly close enough to touch.

"And yet you favor them, Lokin," his sister pointed out. Morrigan was on the tiny island, weaving a shroud, her dark hair like a curtain over her face. "Perhaps it is you who is strange."

"Very likely, baby sister," he agreed and then laughed out loud. "Ah, but I do so enjoy these humans of ours."

"Hardly ours now, don't you agree?" a young woman asked as she appeared from thin air. She wore tight fitting leggings and a tunic, a bow strapped over her shoulder, her blonde hair skimming her bottom.

"Now, now, Dianadina," Lokin chastised, wiggling his finger in front of her face as she stepped into the pool. "No need to take that tone with me."

The young goddess approached her brother, reclining her jaunty elbow on the flat stone so she could lean in and see what had Lokin so enraptured.

When all she saw was Jak Mar embracing Keira Hagai she raised an eyebrow at her brother. Lokin was not usually so amazed by the petty humans they watched over.

"Well," Lokin answered her unspoken statement with a shrug. "He's an interesting guy, don't you think? Too bad you didn't get to meet him."

"We cannot leave this place again. You have depleted too much of our power," Morrigan pointed out coldly, flicking her wrist and sending the shroud rippling like water.

"Yeah, yeah. Doesn't mean I can't watch, does it?"

Morrigan fell silent and Dianadina rolled her eyes. As Morrigan settled back down to her weaving, Dianadina abandoned them in favor of playing with an animal she conjured up.

Lokin kept looking at the image he had summoned up from the viewing pool. With a half smile he poked it with one, slim finger. The image became garbled with the movement and rippled. A second later it was completely gone.

"Have a nice life, Jak," Lokin told him and went to go pester Dianadina for fun.

"Indeed," Morrigan agreed, shifting her shroud once more. She stroked one finger down a glowing red spot of the shroud, one she had just recently sowed in. The bird-shape seemed to screech out at her, and just above it were countless threads in many different colors. She paid them all an affectionate stroke.

The goddess of death, dark of hair and eyes and pale of skin, glanced over at the image Lokin had ruined and then gave a rueful smile, carefully plucking out a thread in her shroud that was a combination of black and white. She tossed it into the water where it disappeared as if she had never created it.

Sleep well, Jak. You've done your part, she thought to herself, looking over as Lokin and Dianadina started screaming at each other. Heroes deserve their rest. And what peace we can afford them.

Then she went back to sewing.

THE END

Notes: please, allow me a moment of silence. Seriously, guys, this story has been virtually my baby for the last three years (nearly four continuing the prequel Secret Origins). I never really expected to get this involved, or to create a world this out of proportion to Jak's real world. But this ended up being something that had to be written. Jak and others simply wouldn't let me alone. XD And this story, and you guys, helped me grow so much as an author. It's thanks to you and your support that helped to grew.

Special thanks to everyone who's been with me since the beginning, and anyone who followed after. Without your reviews, your need to know, I wouldn't have finished this. There were just so many times when this story circled around to dead ends and delays, that I thought it be easier just to give up, but you guys seriously kept me going.

Also, a special thank you to Specter Von Baron. Because without you, man, all this you see now? Wouldn't have happened. You took a lame-ass sequel and transformed it into an epic. Honestly. My baby is your baby.

Now, I could go on and on about how this story evolved, but I'm sure you guys don't care about any of this. So, catch you guys on the flip side!

reviews

ForestWalker: lol, seriously. It's like, "Geez, precursors, how to manage to piss so many people off while being bite-sized rodents?" Gareth was a necessary, in fact, he was pretty much marked for dead since the prequel. I just didn't get around killing him to the end. XD

Light-Eco-Sage: and here it is!

Xazz: Tage and Annityn are my favorite couple in this story. No joke. But that might be because I know what happens to them after this over. XP I may or may not do little one-shots for them some time in the future.

Carree: it doesn't sound cruel at all. I actually have an older draft of the Act 26 where Aithne dies, Cyren loses an eye, Annityn dies, Torn dies, Ryu loses his left ear, Venn dies, and Sig is paralyzed. And that was the actually working chapter up until the week before I posted it. But in the end, the story is more about the greater good, the sacrifice the few for the good of the many. It seems less profound and hitting (I feel) when so many people die at once. Plus, I sent these characters through the ringer so many times, it just didn't seem fair to make them loss so much at the finish line. The body count is actually pretty high. We lost Cyren's parents (Quinn and Ginyrina), Lee, Zen-Fai, Samos, Rosalyn, Gareth, and Kiff Fire. And, of course, that didn't mean everyone got away scot either. Jak's permanently scarred, Nik will never walk straight again, Torn will always have a limp, Daxter and Tess will never have a real stable relationship with Maelia, and who knows if Jak and Keira will ever get back to the way they were. I always like to my stories on a high note, so I kept the deaths in the last chapter low, but… oh, wow, know I don't know I'm talking about. XD

Chantz: it is so sad to see this thing end. I'm glad I managed to keep this thing sane, for the most part, because there was a lot of plot to get through, and a lot of characters. Whew.

GundamWingFanatic90: hehe. I'm going to take that as a good thing.

Chatterbox101: go ahead and ship! It's the best part of life. My favorite scene is probably Lokin's appearance, too. We need some to give an exposition, no? And, of course, people got their happy endings. Like I'd do that to them (I'm mean, but not that mean).

jaklover123: no, I wanted everyone to have as happy an ending as they could. XD That's just how I roll. Writing a war is tough, because so much has to happen, but I come from a family of Vietnam veterans, so I kinda of grasp the concept of it. But it's impossible to understand a war, unless you've lived a war. And you should totally write your fic. The only way to get good is practice, practice, practice! Take it from someone who knows:D