Thank you so much to everyone who's read this, and to everyone who's reviewed! I hope you enjoyed.

John couldn't help but smile as he stared across at the scenery. It was true. Lorien was beautiful.

It had been devastated by the Mogadorians, of course. When they'd first arrived, it had still been bare and barren, the ground dry, brown, and cracked, the skin of the planet parched and crinkling. The sky met it with a harsh line. Debris scattered in the wind, clanking against the hard surface. There was nothing. No life.

But Lorien was far from dead. Water had quickly returned, and there were lakes everywhere, huge and sparkling ponds, some miles deep others huge shallow reservoirs. Green was steadily creeping back too, in shades John hadn't even known existed.

"Hey!" Six called out, striding down the pathway towards him. John pushed himself up from the railing, tearing his gaze away from the floor length glass panes.

"Took you long enough."

"Stuff to do, people to see. I'm busy." Six answered, unapologetic, joining him at the railing.

"What, too busy ruling the world?"

"Not all the worlds." Six smiled with satisfaction. "Just Lorien."

They had been among the first groups of displaced Lorien to return.

Part of it was hard. Having to see the place you knew was your home, even if you didn't really remember, torn apart and war-ravaged. They'd had to see all of the wreckage, experience it first hand, build it up from scratch.

But that was also the part that was amazing. Getting to be part of creating Lorien society again from the very beginning, getting to experience it from the very beginning.

They were lucky, he realized, as other displaced Lorien groups began to return, more and more now that Lorien was habitable. True, for some, all eighteen were coming back in perfect health. But there were others, too many others, where only one or two were trickling back, carrying horrific stories with them. And there were those they hadn't heard from at all, the ones they'd only heard of, the ones that had been completely wiped out.

There were those who went to planets more enlightened than Earth, who knew about the Lorien and the Mogadorians, and took the Lorien in, helping to protect them. But then there were also planets that came to regret that offer, turning on the Lorien in face of the Mogs' relentless attacks and killing them themselves.

He'd heard more tragedies, coming from people who'd experienced them firsthand, coming to Lorien than he'd known the universe could hold.

But they were rebuilding, moving on from that. It was in the past, and the future seemed brighter than any of them had dared to hope.

Traditionally there was a council of – surprise surprise – nine, the garde that ruled Lorien. As the Lorien started to return, they had to form a new council. They pulled the new members from the first groups to return, one of which had been Earth's. Unsurprisingly, Six was the one nominated from their group. She took to it as if she had been born for the role. She'd always been the leader of their group, but now it was official, and for the entire planet.

John couldn'tve been happier with the outcome. His name had been thrown out there too, but that was never a position he'd aspired to. It required all your energy, all your dedication focused here on Lorien – a feat he'd never be able to manage with his heart back on Earth. He wasn't entirely thrilled with all the other members of the council either, so having one of the few people he'd trust with his life on it eased his mind.

"So, how's it going?"

"Oh, you know, the usual." Six said, rolling her eyes. "We finally got the nudists to put some clothes on, and of course, the ones from Glorain are still so scandalized we still haven't gotten them to talk to them yet."

Technically, they were all Lorien. Realistically, they had all been raised on different planets. In theory they were all the same, but the culture clash was proving to be a lot for some to handle.

Those culture clashes were easy to handle in comparison with the growing rift between those who wanted to recreate Lorien exactly in the image of the one that had been destroyed, and those who wanted to move forward.

Thankfully, it hadn't turned into a rift between the garde and the cepan. There'd been enough variation among the cepan to begin with, and that had been transmitted to the lorien they'd raised. They'd all been equally immersed in the cultures of different planets too. Trying to meld together one Lorien identity out of that was proving to be, well, interesting.

It was weird for everyone, for them trying to adjust from a life hidden on Earth to, well, this. Surprisingly, Sam, the only one of them who'd actually be born on Earth, was one of the best to have taken to it. They'd been here for months now, but he still seemed like a kid in a candy shop.

"I just never thought this would happen, you know?" Sam had explained to him in his lab / office. He had been named ambassador from Earth. It was largely an honorary title, Lorien had enough issues of its own at the moment without needing ambassadors from backwater planets milling around. There used to be gossip that his real title was Six's Lover.

Until Six got ahold of them.

"Honestly, I always thought I'd end up designing video games or something. This – this is amazing. This is like a science-fiction book. Or comics."

His enthusiasm was contagious, and John had found himself spending most of his time hanging around him – a fact that Six wasn't always happy about.

He was still trying to figure out his dad's work. He'd been able to initiate it back on Earth, but apparently building a replica from scratch was another matter entirely.

If he could, it might mean the end of the Mog battle. Entire planets could be shielded from Mogs, and they'd have no opportunity to ravage another planet.

"Then again," Sam cautiously explained. "I don't know how this works yet. But it could probably be modified to keep any race or species out of a planet – or maybe even a city, a building, or a universe. And then what would happen, people could use it to keep all kinds of people who were different out. That kind of technology, we don't need."

But the ethical struggles were all hypothetical as long as it still remained a mystery to Sam, and although he was making steady progress, he was nowhere near the point of mass producing species-shields.

He still came back to Earth occasionally with John. But he'd made a life here.

Teresa was the one who'd gone back with him the most at first. Teresa and Tyler.

They were settling seamlessly into Lorien life, so John wasn't entirely sure why they had gone back to Earth so often with him. He knew Tyler only did it for Teresa. Now maybe it was only habit, a vacation planet. He guessed she still needed the safety net, or had at least, at first. He honestly hadn't been sure if she'd come with them.

He honestly hadn't been sure if he would either.

Leo went occasionally, which were the only times Netoya went. Ella and Daniel had gone back maybe once, if that. They claimed they'd already seen almost all of it. It's not a very big planet.

He'd thought maybe they'd want an escape to Earth, away from the Lorien here who raised their eyebrows when they figured out Ella and Daniel were together 'like that'. But apparently they'd rather cope here then go back.

John was the only one who seemed to need Earth like a drug.

Nobody else understood it. Here he was always the incompetent one, the backwards one, the one two steps away from being human. He wasn't powerful or special among Lorien. He was normal, but it wasn't just that. He was weird.

The other Lorien didn't get him, didn't understand why he was leaving all the time for long trips back to Earth. He couldn't help it. He was caught inbetween, trying to straddle two worlds, two planets. It was exhausting, just by the travel alone. But by trying to balance between both planets, he didn't truly belong in either. He couldn't fit in to Lorien with one foot back on Earth, and he would never truly be human, even had he wanted to.

"We still have the scars." He pointed out. "Even though the Mogs are gone."

"Mhmm."

"Do you think they'll ever go away?"

"The scars?"

"Yeah."

"No." She mulled it over for a few seconds. "They're a part of us. They won't disappear just because some of the Mogs did. Our past is a part of us too, and we can't leave behind that we were hunted down by Mogs for years, even if it would be easier sometimes."

"I don't think the Mogs'll ever let us forget." John said grimly.

Six nodded. "They're never going to stop hunting us. Even more so now. We're the only ones to have ever come back."

"I know."

"The only planet, the only species, that has survived, and started to thrive again, after Mogadorians targeted them."

"I know, Six."

She would always be Six, even though they were meeting dozens of Lorien who had been sixth in line. There was still only one Six.

"It's not just rare, or embarrassing for the Mogs. It could be a precedent. It could be the beginning of the end for them. And they do not want that to happen. This is just going to make them try even harder to wipe us out. We've only made the target on out backs bigger."

"Great motivating speech there."

"It's the truth."

"Maybe. But we've survived so far."

It was true. The Mogs weren't leaving them alone. Raids on Lorien by Mogs weren't an uncommon occurrence. But they had all been manageable, so far. As in no one had died. So far.

He kind of hated that his vision of a successful Mog encounter was that they were still alive.

"They're never going to let it go." He agreed. "And I don't know if some of us are ever going to let it go either." He leaned against the railing, staring up at the corners of stars just glimmering through the green. He wondered what intergalactic star fleets were hiding just around their corners. "Do you feel like one of these days it's going to have to come down to an epic battle to end all battles?"

Six's face turned grim. "I hope not."

She stared down below them into the rolling blue water. "We're prepared. We have powers, we have weapons, defenses, allies." She glanced over at John. "Hey, who knows. Maybe we'll all migrate back to Earth with you, since it's the only planet right now that can keep Mogs out."

John laughed a little. "Somehow I can't picture that."

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow."

"Bet Sarah's happy. Guess Sam's not going with you."

"No. Not this time."

Something about that made Six stop. She turned entirely towards him, her face turning serious as she looked at him.

"You're not coming back, are you? This is it." Her eyes were searching his face, but it looked like she already had her answer.

"Yeah." John answered simply.

"That's why Sam's not going with you."

"Yeah," John said. "Anyway. He belongs here more than I ever did. Maybe we were switched at birth."

"You told him already," Six said slowly. "He knew." She shook her head incredulously, turning back to the window. "He knew, and he didn't tell me."

"I figured I ought to tell you myself." John offered.

Six nodded. "I'm sure you're going to be very happy." She said, and gave him a smile.

"I think so too."

He really did. He would be with Sarah. What more did he need?

Safe from the Mogs. He finally had a real handle on his legacies. He could finally have a normal life. Live in one place for as long as he wanted.

He'd had his fill of adventure, what he was craving now was stability.

He and Sarah would get an apartment together. He'd find an office job. When she was out of college, they'd get another apartment in a city somewhere – maybe Chicago, close enough to her family, they could go over for dinner on Sunday nights. They could keep Bernie, the perfect dog. For the first time, his whole life was spread out before him in a perfect, sunny line. He could see himself growing old, growing happy, for the first time.

"I'll miss you guys." He assured Six.

"You'll get over it."

He grinned. "Probably."

"We'll visit. Sure Sam'll want to. And you can always come back here. Bring the grandkids. They'll be part Lorien too."

"We'll visit." He stated, as much for himself as for Six. "I'm not sure when, or how often, but we will. You're not getting rid of me that easily Six."

"Well, a girl can hope." Six said, then surprisingly locked an arm around John's neck and pulled him in for a hug.

John hugged her back, feeling his throat start to choke up. He didn't regret his decision. His pull to Sarah was stronger and more important than anything else – besides, he actually liked Earth. TV. Chips. Soccer.

But even though he'd never known his real family, he'd made a family with them, all of them. All of these other Lorien who had been plunked down in the middle of Earth just like him, and their cepans. He'd never've made it without them, and there had been times even with them that he thought none of them would make it out. Knowing he was leaving them – that the days where he would wake up to Sam and Six bickering, Tyler and Daniel sparring, Leo's laugh were over. Their endless, deadly roadtrip had actually found its end.

"I'm sure Sam and them'll be able to rig up some way to make cell phones work across planets." Six said, pulling back.

"Probably." Not, he thought.

He wasn't an idiot. He knew he'd decided on his path now, and it wasn't a choice he'd ever be able to take back.

But considering he couldn't help but smile every time he thought about his future – the fact that he had a future, let alone a happy one – made him pretty confident in his choice.

"Goodbye Six."

"Bye Four."

He had a better life and friends here than he'd ever dared to dream of, and an ever greater one laid out before him back on Earth. He had a family. He had Sarah. He had kickass powers, and badass friends that had taken out the assassins. He was safe. He was free. The world was bright.