Epilogue

Yazoo squinted at the new picture on Mama Strife's mantel. He was certain it had not been there the last time he was in this house. Nothing like it, in fact. It had all been Cloud. A little glimpse here and there of Aerith and Zack, but mainly her blond, solemn son. He was still mesmerized by the picture of young Cloud in his braces, but that wasn't what had caught his attention this time.

"He's all tucked into bed," Mama Strife murmured softly from behind him. "Loz is staying with him for now. Worried about how thin he is, I think."

"He is awfully thin," Yazoo whispered. "But he'll be fine so long as he'll let us help."

"Very true," the woman said. "What's caught your eye up there?"

"Where did you get a picture of me?" Yazoo asked in bewilderment, staring at the image. "As I am."

"Ah," Mama Strife said, snickering in amusement. "That's what caught you." She waved her hand in dismissal. "I didn't take it. They just show up. Things I want to remember. I have whole albums—those are just the important ones."

"I don't remember this." Yazoo insisted, looking back to the picture of himself.

He knew it was recent. His eye was already blank, the faint scars from his the injury that left him half-blind marred his face. He was wearing his leathers, sitting in the armchair in her living room. None of that surprised him. It was the look on his face—the quiet little smile, and the slightly pleased look in his eyes. His shoulders were down, relaxed. He finally dragged his eyes off his face to spy the scone held lightly in his hand, and he shuddered as he remembered.

"Just before we left," he whispered. "Loz was being..."

"Cute," Lillian supplied when Yazoo trailed off. "He was being very cute. He almost always was, you were just too busy being eaten alive to notice."

"I had a lot on my mind," Yazoo muttered.

"I didn't say you were wrong," The woman said. He heard her walking over and turned towards her, blinking when he found her offering a cup of tea he hadn't heard her fixing.

"There are pictures of him too." she commented.

Yazoo lifted the cup carefully from her hands, not touching her as he did. He cradled the warm cup in his cold palms.

"It is somewhat less rare to see him smiling," he said, looking to a picture on the mantel of young Loz grinning up into the non-existent camera, his eyes crinkled in delight and his arm in a sling.

"He's so big now," Mama Strife sighed. "I'm proud of him, certainly, and it was good timing, but he was such a precious little thing. If he'd been full sized, I probably never would have given you two a chance. That would have been a real shame."

"I wouldn't have blamed you," Yazoo murmured, tilting his head and turning to face her, his hair swaying with the movement. "Should we worry about your neighbors?"

"Not this time," She said sweetly. "I've been working since you two left. I decided a change in location was needed. We're quite isolated, I'm afraid, except from those who know how to get here."

"Good," Yazoo muttered. "The real question, then, is whether or not we need to worry about Aerith."

"What you need to do," Mama Strife said with a scolding edge to her voice, "Is stop worrying and go sit down. You're exhausted. Let me do the worrying for a little while, you idiot."

"Idiot?" Yazoo repeated incredulously, giving Mama Strife a dark frown. "Lillian, I'm offended."

"You're about to fall over," She scolded, pointing a finger at him. "And I know you don't want me catching you."

Yazoo hesitated, then shook his head a little, though he moved over to the armchair slowly and stiffly. "I wouldn't mind. You helped me save my brothers. I would do anything for you for that alone, even if you hadn't saved us before that."

"You overestimate yourself," She chided mildly. "I have plenty of people to hug and snuggle, I'll have you know. I don't need to do it to you too. After all, Loz is just in the other room. And even if he does dwarf me now, I'm certain he wouldn't mind snuggles."

"He'll probably crave them even more," Yazoo hummed in agreement, sinking into the armchair. "He's looking alright, isn't he? Healing well?"

"He always is," she agreed, sitting near him, on the arm of the sofa so they could face each other. "He's embraced who he is and come into his own. He won't have any problems fixing himself up. You shouldn't either this time."

"I hardly even feel it," Yazoo murmured, curling up with his legs underneath him and leaning back in the chair, the mug of warm tea still held in his hands carefully. He let out a soft breath, closing his eyes. "It seems like I haven't taken a moment to sit down in years..."

"You fought hard." Lillian said.

"I nearly killed everyone." Yazoo murmured, yawning hugely and frowning at his traitorous body directly afterwards.

"Yes." Lillian said frankly, a faint frown on her lips.

"You're angry." Yazoo observed.

"Not at you," Lillian shook her head, waving a hand at him again, dismissing his words. "Aerith should have known better than to push you. To threaten Loz or Kadaj, much less both. You're a good heart, Yazoo, but I hold no doubt that you would tear this world down and everyone in it if it was to save them."

"At least you get it." Yazoo murmured softly.

"Hey," Loz's voice said from the doorway. "You still awake, Yaz?"

"For now," Yazoo glanced over towards his brother only to sigh and give up on looking at him when he realized that Loz was on his blind side. It seemed like much too much effort to turn.

"Do you think," Loz trailed off, and Yazoo's lips twitched into a smile, hearing the awkwardness in that low voice.

"Spit it out, brother." He muttered.

"Very rude." Mama Strife chided, clicking her tongue in disapproval.

"Do you think you'd like to come and stay with Kadaj and me?" Loz asked softly. "Mama said she'd keep us safe while we rested." Loz shifted stiffly into Yazoo's view, favoring his wounded leg and moving very carefully. "And you fought so hard, you have to be tired."

Yazoo let out a soft sigh, his eyes falling closed.

"Sorry," Loz murmured. "I didn't want to annoy you, just..."

"I'm not annoyed," Yazoo corrected, his voice breathy. "I'm exhausted."

"Oh," Loz murmured in surprise. Yazoo heard him limp over quietly, then found Loz's broad hand resting gently on his forehead. "You don't have a fever, so that's good..."

"Idiot," Yazoo muttered. "What would have made me sick?"

"Overexertion," Loz said bluntly. The hand left Yazoo's forehead and lifted the tea out of his limp hands. "Come on. I want to keep you close."

Yazoo squinted up at Loz and let a small smile cross his lips at the worry in Loz's gaze. If he hadn't already decided to go to the bedroom with him that look would have made up his mind. He shifted, rising stiffly, inch by inch.

"Sleep well," Lillian said, her voice filled with affection and warmth. "We'll talk when you're up again."

"Thanks, Mama," Loz said warmly. "For everything."

Yazoo hesitated, distant memory rising. He lost his breath a moment, remembering a being of anger wearing Sephiroth's face, snarling down at him. He turned back to Lillian from Loz, staring at the small woman in breathless memory. Her eyebrow lifted as he watched her, her fingers drumming uneasily on her lap as she waited for him to speak.

"Yazoo?" Loz asked, blinking at him.

"Thank you so much." Yazoo whispered as he stared at the woman.

"Like I said, there's nothing to thank me for." Lillian said, shaking her head.

"No," Yazoo said softly. "For that, but I meant for what you did to my clothes."

"To your clothes?" Lillian asked. "I haven't fixed them yet, you don't have to thank me for that till I'm done."

"I meant," Yazoo hesitated, letting out a slow breath. He averted his gaze, then steeled himself. "Jenova tried to break me. After we left here. She couldn't get through my clothes. She knew I was afraid of that more than anything, but she couldn't get through my clothes, and..."

"Oh Yazoo," Mama Strife whispered, her eyes wide as a shocked, sorrowful look crossed her face. "I was hoping you would never need that."

Yazoo ducked his chin, calming himself, then moved slowly away from Loz towards the woman. He hesitated a moment, his eyes lowered to Lillian's hands, watching them clasp each other. He shifted slowly and placed his hands down on top of hers. Her hands were warm compared to his. The touch was electric, but it didn't hurt. Her hands turned beneath his, carefully wrapping around his fingers to hold him back.

"Don't be sad," he murmured softly. "Thank you."

"No one is ever going to touch you again," Mama Strife said fiercely, her stubborn, sharp blue eyes lifting to him. "I'll see to it from here."

"I believe you," Yazoo murmured, leaning forward slowly to kiss her forehead.

"Go to bed," Mama Strife instructed. "Before I end up cuddling you to pieces. We'll have plenty of time to talk."

Yazoo squeezed her hands and straightened. Loz was waiting close behind him, his arms half outstretched as though to catch him. Yazoo didn't scold him for it. He just leaned against his brother's side quietly and headed towards bed.

"You okay?" Loz asked softly as they entered the room where Kadaj was lying.

Yazoo looked at his little brother's sleeping face, moving over slowly to sit beside him and brush the hair away from his eyes. Kadaj sighed softly and turned into the touch, a flicker of a smile crossing his pale lips. Yazoo lifted his eye to Loz, as his bigger brother sat beside him, yawning softly. Loz definitely looked exhausted, but he still had a warm and satisfied look on his face. Yazoo reached over and gave his hair a gentle ruffle.

"I'm just fine." He whispered.

"How are they?" Zack asked, ducking into the doorway.

"Everyone's still in one piece for now," Aerith said, her eyes intense on the pool of water that had appeared in the middle of the living room for them to watch the planet's surface through. "Kadaj is just separated from the others. You know he gets anxious when he's alone."

"Oh man," Zack let out a breath, raking his hand through his hair and shifting, his shoulders drooping. "When I got pinged I thought something really bad was up, like last time..."

"He's been lost for a while, poor little one." Lillian said softly, leaning forward on her couch to observe the hiding child. "Loz and Yazoo are looking for him, but they're still only young themselves."

Sephiroth stepped up beside Lillian, his good eye facing her and his black eyepatch a sharp contrast on the other side of his face. He quietly offered her a cup of tea in his good hand with a solemn, calm look on his face. She smiled lightly, lifting the cup of tea from his fingers.

"Thank you, dear," She said sweetly, patting his shoulder lightly before looking back to the pool.

Sephiroth sat silently at her side, enduring a gentle tousle of his hair by Zack as the enthusiastic man joined them.

"He'll be fine," Angeal said softly, his voice low and gruff as he dropped into the armchair nearby. "They're resourceful if nothing else. And we all know Yazoo and Loz will make it work no matter what life they're in."

Sephiroth chuckled with a low, pleased note, his lips curling into a smile. He spoke rarely despite regaining his tongue, and he often seemed distracted and distant. For now, his single eye was sharp as he watched Kadaj's reincarnation hiding away from passers by. Lillian fixed the twisted edge of the eyepatch she'd made for him with deft fingers, pulling out the hairs twined around it with the air of someone who had made the decision not to be intimidated in the slightest. Sephiroth didn't even twitch. He was more than used to her, after so long visiting his remnants when they were under her care.

"You're sure I can't help?" Aerith asked, wringing her hands lightly as she watched Kadaj shield his eyes to hide his tears. "He's only tiny, and I made things so difficult for him last time…"

The room chimed with a low vibration that made Sephiroth shudder and Angeal wince. Aerith just sighed and pouted, looking back to the pool.

"I take it that's a no," Zack said with a mild teasing note in his voice, perched on the arm of the sofa at Sephiroth's right side.

Aerith sighed, but nodded. "Apparently sending them back is all the atonement I get to do for what I've done to them."

"You're worse than Cloud." Zack drawled, rolling his eyes.

"I beg your pardon," Lillian said sharply, turning to face the young man and pointing at him sharply.

"Sorry Mama Strife," Zack muttered, cowed.

Sephiroth pressed back into the sofa a little, averting his eye and trying to pretend he hadn't been amused.

"They've already come a long way, though, haven't they." Angeal said in a soft rumble. "They're not the little fragments they once were.

"They were only fragments for a short while," Lillian scolded, standing with her tea to walk around the pool, looking up at her full mantlepiece and all the pictures that had joined the images of her beloved son. "They grew themselves into people quickly enough."

She looked over all of them one by one, calming her worry by reminding herself of their bond. The brothers sitting in a circle in her garden, sharing their stories bit by bit. She remembered watching Kadaj's reluctance slowly vanish, and his hands slowly finding purchase on both his brothers until they were all holding each other while they spoke.

There was a picture of Loz with the children they'd freed from the basement of the mansion. The Stigma victims had been held there so long it had taken a while for them to recover, but by the time this picture had come into existence, their dull eyes had brightened, and they were climbing on Loz as though he were a tree while the enormous remnant laughed loudly.

Her eyes hovered a moment on the picture of Yazoo splayed in the sunlight like a cat, his eyes closed lightly and a soft, contented smile on his face, like a big cat taking a nap. He wasn't in the picture, but Loz had been only a couple paces away, silently guarding his brother with a fond look in his eyes.

She looked away before tears could gather in her eyes. The next picture was of Kadaj and Zack, sitting on the bed where Kadaj had spent his recovery, speaking in low voices. The picture had captured the moment that Zack ruffled Kadaj's hair, forgiving him everything and apologizing himself. Kadaj's face sported the smallest of smiles, a tiny, heartbreaking hope flickering in his eyes.

Even Sephiroth was present in the images. She flicked a hair out of her face, looking over the picture of him sparring with Loz, the two of them trading confident smirks. They looked very handsome, she thought, shaking her head a little. It was still strange for her sometimes to see Loz as an adult, but he did match Sephiroth nicely. And she had to admit that she liked Sephiroth more with the stark eyepatch on his face than she ever had when he was all pale skin and silver hair. Especially when the maiming mark was paired with the look of relaxed pleasure on his face as he battled Loz playfully.

She stared at the final image on her mantelpiece. They'd all stood together, watching the remains of the mansion burn. With her concentration on it, the image moved, the mansion's flames bursting into realistic light, just as they had the first time. Yazoo and Loz stood with Kadaj between them, their arms around his shoulders. From behind, Lillian had seen Loz's hand rubbing Yazoo's shoulder in comfort even as he leant Kadaj his obvious support. Yazoo had leaned into the touch, turning his head just enough for Lillian to see the weary, troubled look on his face.

Sephiroth had joined them shortly afterwards, all their pale faces lit with golden red light from the flames, and the heated wind making their hair into soft silver banners, tinted with firelight. Zack was the first to break their little huddle, jumping in to grab Sephiroth's good hand, eager to be with his long-lost friend. Angeal and Aerith had followed, flanking their little crew, with Aerith holding Zack's hand, and Angeal crossing his arms at Loz's other side, watching the mansion burn.

From the lifestream's eyes, Lillian could see herself move forward—Could see Yazoo and Loz turn to look at her and smile, shifting to accept her into the middle of their huddle where she could kiss Kadaj's hair and pet her other two boy's shoulders.

She'd never meant to let them all so close, but she'd never stood a chance. Not with Kadaj's fragility and hopeful adoration. Not with Yazoo's skittish nature and hesitant trust. Not with Loz's whole-hearted affection and warmth. They'd been her boys from the moment she invited them to her home.

She glanced out her window to the trio of moon flowers twined together in her garden, and knew that would never change.

"Hey," Aerith said from behind her. "Wait. I'm pretty sure I know that alley he's in."

"Can we zoom out?" Zack asked, leaning forward to peer into the water.

"It's not a camera, Zachary," Angeal sighed.

"Maybe not," Aerith commented, "But I'm fairly sure we can still back up. Lillian, it's your house. Would you mind…?"

"For goodness sakes, you only had to ask," Lillian huffed, walking over and setting down her tea, lifting her hands over the pool of water that had taken the place of her coffee table and shifting her hands back until their view of Kadaj fell backwards, showing him from above.

They all went silent, staring down.

"Well," Sephiroth finally said, his voice low and rough with disuse, a wry smile crossing his face. "We certainly have less to worry about now."

A collective sigh of relief went up after the words, and the others relaxed, going about making themselves tea and snacks, satisfied that Kadaj would be well looked after as soon as he was found, which would no doubt be soon.

"Well, Lillian," Zack said softly, smiling his warm, happy smile. "Looks like your family will be looking out for each other."

Lillian smiled warmly in reply, nodding to herself and relaxing when Sephiroth's whole hand patted her back lightly in support. Down below them on the planet they'd left behind, the door to Seventh Heaven opened around the corner from Kadaj's reincarnation and a young woman with a brown ponytail stormed out, crossing her arms like her gruff father would and scowling petulantly at the sky.

Marlene swept downstairs in an absolute huff. She tossed her long braid over her shoulder as she went, scowling to herself.

"Marlene!" Called an exasperated voice from upstairs. "You can't just run away when you don't like what I'm saying!"

"I'm eighteen, Tifa!" Marlene called up instead of settling down. "I don't need you to mother me like this anymore!"

Cloud glanced up from the counter, lifting an eyebrow at her. Marlene shrugged it off.

"More arguments about the WRO?" Cloud asked softly.

"I don't get what the big deal is," Marlene snapped. "Everyone in the family is a fighter. I mean, when I was growing up they were teaching me how to be a terrorist!"

"It's different, seeing you grown," Cloud replied, his eyes glinting with a quiet contentment she'd never seen from him while she was younger. He still barely looked twenty four.

"Right," Marlene huffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm going out."

"Don't pester the Turks." Cloud said mildly, turning back to the paperwork he was ostensibly studying.

"Don't forget to put away the fake paperwork and finish your letter to your fan club!" Marlene teased right back.

"I don't write to my fan club!" Cloud called at her back, sounding mightily affronted.

Marlene laughed briefly as she headed to the door, but her mood darkened again, and she only barely restrained the urge to slam the door behind her. She didn't know why fighting with Tifa about joining the WRO got to her so much. Maybe because she'd expected for her dad to object, and for Tifa to support her. It had kind of gone the other way, with Barrett and Cloud reacting in pride, and Tifa swelling with protective fury.

Marlene sighed, shaking her head, and dropped to sit on the stoop outside Seventh Heaven. She liked sitting there. She could wait for Denzel to come home from his new job, and grouse at him before he got to hear Tifa's side of things. So far her childhood friend had stayed mostly out of it, not taking either of their sides. Cloud called it a sign of wisdom.

The street was empty. It was too early in the morning for anyone to be thinking about going out to their local bar district. She glanced up at the angel statue that stood near Seventh Heaven, and had to smile a little. When she moved out to join the regular army of the military, she would really miss this place. There was a lot of history here. A lot of good changes to remember.

A soft sob drew her attention. She looked quickly back to the street, glancing up and down. There was no one to be seen, but now that she was paying attention, she could hear quiet, snuffling breaths nearby. She stood swiftly, turning in a circle, looking for their source, before closing her eyes and listening. Cloud had been teaching her about tracking—about isolating her senses. In a matter of moments, the direction of the crying was easier to find. She turned to her left and followed it to the alley beside their little bar.

At first, it looked empty. Then a little shadow towards the back shifted. She watched tiny feet draw back behind the dumpster.

"Hey," Marlene called, keeping her voice quiet and concerned. "Is someone down there?"

A quiet, muffled whimper answered her. Definitely a child, she thought. She remembered being unable to stay quiet when she was afraid, no matter how hard she tried.

"It's okay," she called. "I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Marlene."

A moment passed, and then a little platinum blond boy peered out from around the edge of the dumpster at her. Marlene smiled warmly, crouching and holding a hand out to him.

"You alright?" she asked mildly.

It wasn't as normal to see orphans running around Edge as it had been when she was a girl, but there were still too many of them. This boy looked healthy, though. Well-fed, at least. He had a charming amount of baby-pudge still in his cheeks. A little part of her—the part she considered the grown-up auntie Marlene—wanted to pinch them.

"I'm lost," the boy whispered after a long moment, ducking back to hide from her again. "I got turned around. I'm so stupid..."

"Hey," Marlene whispered. "Don't cry. It happens. Can you tell me your address?"

"We just moved," The boy sniffled. "I don't remember. I went for a walk with my brothers, but I got distracted. Mother's going to be so mad..."

"I'm sure she won't be," Marlene soothed softly. "I bet she'll just be happy you're safe. Come on out, okay? You can sit with me on the front porch, and then when your family comes looking for you we'll be able to see them."

There was silence for a moment, then a soft sniffle. She watched the little boy slowly stand and shift awkwardly out of his hiding place, shuffling his feet. He wiped his sleeve over his teary face. She gave him an encouraging smile and held out her hands to him, waiting for him to come join her.

He edged closer slowly at first, then seemed to relax when he got a better look at her. He carefully took one of her hands in his own. She smiled when he squeezed her fingers lightly.

"Do you like hot cocoa?" She asked, squeezing his hand back. "You must be a little cold from being outside so long. I can ask my friend to make us some while we're waiting."

"Okay," the boy muttered, following her out of the alley, looking cowed and a little shy. "If that's alright. I'm not supposed to 'impose' on strangers… Mother says I shouldn't use my irresistible eyes for evil…"

Marlene grinned at him, leading him out to the doorway of Seventh Heaven. "Take a seat, okay?" she gestured to the stoop before cracking the door open.

"Cloud!" she called. "There's a lost kid out here! Will you make us some hot chocolates while we wait for his family?"

"A lost kid?" She saw him lift worried eyes, and smiled warmly at her dear friend and almost-father.

"He says his brothers will be looking for him. I was thinking waiting for them a while before going looking would be a good idea?"

Cloud met her gaze for a moment, then gave her a small smile of approval and a nod. "I'll bring hot cocoa then. Do you want me to sit with him?"

"Nah, I will," she said sweetly. "You and Tifa can join us if you want."

She slipped out of the door again, sitting on the stoop next to the kid. The little boy had wiped his face off while she was gone. He was still sniffling, but he'd calmed himself down. He looked up and down the street, obviously searching for his family's approach, as though they might show up at any moment.

"What's your name?" She asked softly, looking over at the blond child's worried face.

"Kenneth," he whispered, wiping his nose again with a sniffle, lifting his wide blue eyes to her. "What about you?"

"Marlene," She said mildly and gently. "You're very cute, Kenneth. You could be my friend Cloud's brother, you know. You look a lot like him."

Kenneth sniffled and smiled shyly at her. She ruffled his hair lightly, sticking her feet off the stoop and crossing them mildly.

"Someone order hot chocolate?" Cloud asked, opening the door neatly with two mugs of hot chocolate held in his free hand.

"Cloud, this is Kenneth," Marlene said as the little boy beside her jumped and turned wide blue eyes to Cloud. "He got a little lost on a walk with his brothers, so we're waiting for them to catch up."

"I see," Cloud nodded solemnly, crouching and offering the child the gently steaming cup of hot cocoa. "Don't worry, alright? We'll make sure you get home. Marlene here is a hero in the making. She'll make sure nothing bad happens to you."

Marlene smiled warmly with pride when she realized that Cloud wasn't joking. She tilted her head down and took her cup of cocoa from him.

"You're so weird," she muttered fondly.

"Have we met somewhere?" Cloud asked the little boy, tilting his head and looking him over. "Do your parents get deliveries often?"

"I don't think so?" Kenneth stared at Cloud out of his wide eyes, his hands wrapped around the mug, but his attention fully on the other blond. "But I know you…"

A smile twitched Cloud's lips and he stood, stretching and looking down the street. "A lot of people do. You two come in when it starts getting cold, okay? If your brothers haven't caught up by then we'll start looking. I know some people at the WRO who can help."

"Thanks," the little boy curled in on himself a little, lifting his sorrowful, worried gaze to the street again, watching for his brothers.

"Want to talk?" Marlene asked as Cloud walked back into their house, probably aiming to catch Tifa up on their latest rescue.

Kenneth shook his head silently, chewing on his lip.

"Okay. Drink up, alright? I'm sure they'll find you soon."

Denzel came home not long after, and gave Marlene and her new friend a funny look. He ducked past them into the house rather than interacting, and Marlene wasn't surprised. Denzel had grown into a kind and skilled young man, but kids weren't his thing. Not that they were her thing either. There was a reason she was looking into being a soldier and not a grade school teacher. But Kenneth needed her, so she'd be there for him.

He came back out only once, with fresh cups of hot chocolate for them both. He gave Marlene a strange look, glancing warily to Kenneth, but Marlene just rolled her eyes at him. He'd been spending way too much time with the Turks recently. She was starting to wonder if he was getting recruited.

"They'll come," Kenneth whispered into his new hot chocolate once they were alone, "right?"

"I'm sure they will." Marlene said softly. "I got separated from the people I loved when I was a little girl too, and they always came for me. Cloud and Tifa and my father and their friends—Even Denzel's helped me out of a few scrapes. Your family will always pull through, Kenneth."

"My real parents are dead, though," Kenneth whispered, lowering his head. "And our new parents are nice, but…"

"But it doesn't feel like a real family yet, right?" Marlene asked, shifting to lightly nudge the child with her shoulder. "I know that feeling. This isn't my first family either. Or Denzel's. It'll work out. And if you're ever in trouble, you know where we are now. We'll always help if you or your brothers are in trouble, okay? I'm sure things will get better soon."

Kenneth lifted his wide eyes to her, and a fragile smile broke out over his face. He nodded in understanding, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"Thanks," he whispered, looking down to his mug again, swaying back and forth just a little, comforting himself. "I'm glad."

"Kenneth!" A voice down the street called urgently.

The child next to her stood up abruptly, and she caught his mug before he could drop it, smiling at the delighted look of shock on his face.

Two older boys were sprinting down the street towards them, the eldest of them just entering his teenage years, pimpled and broad in ways he would grow into soon, but for now just made him look younger and a little awkward. The middle brother was slender, and wore an eyepatch over his right eye, but he was leading the charge, sprinting full-tilt towards the little boy with an expression of equal parts fear and relief.

"You're okay!" The middle brother cried, sweeping Kenneth up in his arms and twirling him once before holding on tightly.

"We looked everywhere!" The bigger brother said with a hiccuping sob, clinging to both his siblings, lifting even the middle brother's feet off the ground with the strength of his hug.

"Mother and father are so worried!" The middle brother kissed Kenneth's face over and over, snuggling with him desperately. "We were all so worried! Are you alright?"

"I'm okay," Kenneth cried through his sobs, clinging to both of them. "Marlene took care of me, and gave me cocoa and looked after me while I waited!"

Both his brothers looked to her with grateful expressions. The middle brother hitched Kenneth higher in his arms and squeezed him lightly.

"Say bye for now," he said firmly. "We're taking you home."

"Bye, Marlene," Kenneth's grin was watery and there were tears streaming down his face, but his grin was of honest delight. "Thank you!"

"Come back any time," She said sweetly, shaking spilled hot chocolate off her hand and smiling at the trio. "Just don't be lost next time, okay?"

The middle brother started walking, chiding his younger sibling and kissing him in between his words. The eldest brother held still a moment, watching them go, then turned with serious eyes to Marlene, though the expression on his face was warm.

"Thank you," he said softly and seriously. "And I'm sorry."

"It was no trouble..." She murmured, confused by the sentiment as he turned away.

Cloud stepped out of the doorway behind her, smiling a little when he saw the trio heading down the street, the eldest brother jogging to catch up to the other two, wrapping an arm around the middle one's shoulders. The blond man stepped up beside Marlene, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Marlene watched the boys walk down the street, and took a deep breath. In the fading daylight, their hair looked silver. Their forms shifting in the shadows they walked through till she could have sworn that when Kenneth looked up at her over his brother's shoulder, his eyes shone a soft, beautiful green.

Cloud's hand tightened gently on her shoulder.

"Did you know?" Marlene asked softly.

"Not at first," Cloud responded softly. "I was wondering if you'd notice. Do you regret helping him?"

"Not in the slightest," Marlene replied, shaking her head firmly. "Everyone needs help now and then. Maybe things can be different this time."

"If they aren't?" Cloud asked, looking to her with a warm look in his calm blue eyes.

"Well then," Marlene rolled her shoulders back and straightened, giving him a sly smile of her own. "I guess the new age of heroes will have to handle it."

Cloud ruffled her hair gently, and the two of them turned back to watch the three figures as they were greeted by two taller ones. The mother and father of the reborn trio lifted their children into their arms and hugged them tightly in relief. Marlene looked up at the sky slowly, and smiled at the soft drops of rain falling from above them without a cloud in the sky.

"Thank you," She whispered to the sky. "I'm glad they got another chance."

She and Cloud walked inside together when the rain stopped. When Marlene closed the door behind herself, it felt like an ending. She was closing the door on the past, and all that was left was the future. She smiled to herself. There was a lot to look forward to.

Author's Final Note: I want to thank each and every one of you who took this journey with you. I'm sorry the final piece of this story took so long, but it was hard to find the right way to say goodbye to the story, the characters, and to all of you. You readers have inspired me, taught me, given me strength when I almost surrendered, and delighted me every step of the way. This story never would have existed without you all, and I hope you're pleased with what it became. I know I am.

I hope you'll join me for future projects, and that you'll remember this story sometimes, even now that it's done. Until then, all my best wishes. May you find a family who will love you, may you find your calling and your heart, and may you always be protected from those who would do you harm.

Yours,

Boomchick