The Tower was rocked from its foundations; the refugee Arbiters and humans - those who had made it outside - watched in horror as the explosion rippled up each story, debris and shrapnel raining down on the surrounding area. The top floor toppled to the left, crashing with a deafening THUD.

Castra and Quin held hands as they watched the chaos unfold.

It was a while before the dust was settled enough for voluntary rescue teams to explore the ruins. They saved everyone they could. Quin led a group to the carnage which had once been the 100th floor. They clambered over the broken walls, discovering a hidden chamber within the original room.

Quin gasped. "They're in here! I see movement!"

There was lots of coughing and spluttering. A hand reached up to Quin; she recognised the bangles immediately, and hastily pulled Nona to safety, wrapping her arms around her.

"You...you're alive," Quin sobbed into Nona's shoulder as the hug was weakly returned. Nona pulled away and Quin saw that most of her skin had been scratched off during the explosion. Most of the survivors looked to be in a similar condition. Some had lost limbs.

As the revolutionaries were being lifted from the wreckage, Nona looked down into the dungeon, which was now upended on the ground. At the bottom, under a few slabs of concrete, she identified the crushed remains of Oculus, the heir to God.

She turned back to Quin. "Please help the others. I have to find Decim. Clavis said he went to the basement." Quin's brow furrowed. "The...the basement is completely destroyed. It's just a pile of rocks and dolls now."

Nona took a steadying breath, and stood. "I have to find him."

Nona stumbled over the shattered stones and remains of the basement. Occasionally she would find a charred doll and terror would freeze her movements, before she realised it wasn't him.

Maybe there was no him left to find. The thought made her throat tighten with despair.

She made herself stay still, tried to silence her mind, focused on listening for any sounds at all.

A few metres away, a stone moved.

Nona stalked towards the source of the sound. She gingerly removed a few surrounding rocks, and used as much strength as she could to shift a slab out of the way before she heard a soft groan.

"D-Decim? Decim!" He was flat on his back, stones still covering him from the waist down. His face was blackened. His hair was singed. But his brilliant blue eyes drifted towards her. "N...N…" He tried to speak but his throat was so dry.

She knelt beside him, gently placing a hand on his cheek. "Oh, Decim."

He tried to swallow, coughed, tried again. "Nona," he whispered. He watched for a few seconds as she started to cry. "I...failed."

"No, Decim," Nona wiped the tears away with the back of her hand. "You did everything you could."

Decim couldn't move his body. He decided that that was okay. "Oculus…?"

"Crushed into tiny pieces," Nona answered. "Good riddance." She leaned down and looked deep into his eyes. "We won, Decim. We can rebuild this world, now."

A faint smile creased his cracked lips and a few tears fell down his cheeks. "Y-you will…" He coughed again; a cloud of dust emerged from his mouth. Nona's eyes widened. "No, Decim, you can't...We just got you back."

"I...I know you'll do what's right, Nona."

They were silent for a minute; Nona took one of his hands in hers. It was so cold.

"Nona…" He said softly, "Have I lived a fulfilling life?"

She whimpered. "Yes, Decim. You've lived life to its fullest."

He frowned suddenly. "I killed Akise."

Nona was briefly shocked that he had figured it out, but she shook her head. "A-actually, we're not so sure you did. We don't have his memories anymore."

That made Decim's eyes light up, ever so slightly. "I hope Chiaki can forgive me."

"I'm sure she does."

Decim coughed again, harder this time, and grimaced. Nona could see that he was dying. "Nona…"

She bit her lip to keep from crying again. "Yes, Decim?"

He turned his head to look at her. "I apologise for any inconvenience I may have caused." This was unexpected; Nona chuckled quietly. "It's not your fault, silly."

Decim smiled again, his eyelids closing. "I know, Miss Nona. It was a joke. I'm so tired..." His eyes closed, and Nona felt his hand go limp.

"Decim…?" She knew it was pointless, calling out to him. She did it anyway, pulling his upper body towards her until his chin rested on her shoulder, cradling the back of his head.

"W-we love you," she whispered. "And we're so proud of you."

Nona looked up to the night sky. She had barely seen it; she had spent so much time working in the Tower. The stars, millions of them, sparkled against the navy blue.

His eyelids fluttered open.

This room was so bright; he clenched his eyes closed again, trying to move his forearms in front of his face. They would barely move, his body was so weak.

He heard the distant beeping and whirring of monitors.

"H-hey! He's awake!"

Opening his eyes carefully again, he saw three blurry figures huddled around his bed.

"Oh, my baby!" Someone started sobbing. He felt a hand grasp his.

"Thank god!"

"I'm so relieved…" Footsteps and movement. "I'll go get the doctor!"

"I'll come with you. Chiaki, will you stay with him?"

Chiaki…?

"Of course." The hand gripped his a little tighter before letting go, only to be replaced with a different, warmer hand.

His vision began to focus. There, in a chair next to his bed, was Chiaki Kozuma. The woman he loved. Her dark hair hid most of her face, but he could see that she had been crying. She smiled at him softly. "Hey, you," she said.

His throat was very sore. "H...hey," he managed to reply.

"Do you remember me?"

He searched his jumbled memories. "Ch...Chiaki Kozuma?"

She let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad. We were all so worried. Toru and Haruko will be back soon."

His best friend and his mother. He remembered now.

Chiaki cupped his hand in both of hers, squeezing lightly. "Do you...know why you're here, in the hospital?" He didn't. A memory flashed through his mind; he was standing before a bar, wiping down a glass, speaking to a woman who looked a lot like Chiaki. My name is Decim. I look forward to working with you.

A glimpse of a reflection: a white-haired man with startlingly pale blue eyes and a stoic expression.

He frowned. "Chiaki…"

She looked up. "Yes, Akise?"

"Who is Decim?"

Chiaki felt her heart skip a beat. Something deep within her was triggered by that name. She suddenly felt overcome with sorrow.

Chiaki looked away. "I have no idea."

Epilogue

Their world was coming together.

Nona overlooked the vast construction site before her. Thousands of Arbiters were working day and night to reconstruct the Tower. She knew what her vision was for all of them, and she was determined to achieve it. Sure, there was a massive backlog of judgements, but they would deal with that as a team.

Quin appeared beside her. "It's a good likeness, isn't it?"

They looked upon the statue which was being built outside of the Tower. Nona smiled sadly. "Yes, it looks just like him."

The statue was almost finished. There was a golden plaque at the bottom. There was a sentence engraved upon it: Decim, the Arbiter who became human.

A/N: There you have it. Only took me 5 years to finish writing it, but it feels somewhat cathartic now that this fic is complete. I hope you find something to take away from this story, even if it does not have the happy ending you might have envisioned. Thank you for your comments, your encouragement, and your patience.