This is my last chapter. It's been a lot of fun writing about Merle, my favourite character from my favourite anime. Definitely a wonderful challenge which allowed me to explore an overlooked character. I'm glad that you've all enjoyed it, and I once again hope you'll enjoy this final fic. Thank you so much!

Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit – Everything Changes, But Nothing Is Truly Lost

1. Faith

Merle wasn't a selfish person. As much as she enjoyed maintaining such an exterior, deep down she was more mature than anyone gave her credit for. Even Van.

So when she prodded Van to go after Hitomi, to bring her back before the final war, she was not surprised by the disbelieving look in Van's eyes. Since when had she spoken in favour of anyone besides herself and her prince?

Merle wasn't selfish. She was only afraid of the harshness she had been offered in life. She was only aware of the inevitability of broken trust. She only knew how to follow one law; survival of the fittest. It was so eagerly ingrained into her instincts.

Maybe all it took was one strange girl with incisive eyes and a glowing pendant to change her mind.

After the war, everything changes. Winds determinedly change directions. Soft clouds come out to play. The birds flock in the sky with a hint of promise.

And Hitomi is gone.

Van's Hitomi. Fanelia's Hitomi. Gaea's Hitomi. But she is not Merle's Hitomi. Merle is the only one who knows that no one can mark the girl as their own. The same way she could never mark her as the Other.

It takes an epic war and the destruction of an empire for Merle to see that she is grateful for what she has and not for what she has only imagined was hers.

Merle was born into a life of impulse, something that had kept her alive for so many years. Yet, for once she is unable to share her thoughts with anyone, not even Van. But it flows through her very veins, bristling through every inch of her fur.

She doesn't need blind devotion to see that the future will be just as it is meant to be. She has something stronger. Faith in the good that crumbles from the wreckage of the bad. Faith in a peace that settles over a tired land. Faith in their imperviously united resolve.

Faith that Hitomi will return.

So Merle simply smiles up at the night sky and finally forgets to ponder unanswerable questions.

She's home.