A/N: Thank you so much for reading this fic! Here's the epilogue.

Epilogue: Bata

Visiting Kazakhstan was…Allelujah didn't know what it was. That was the weird thing. In the movies that Louise liked to watch, people always had sudden feelings of recognition when they set foot in their homeland, even if it was only an ancestral homeland. The only feelings Allelujah really had were, This place kind of reminds me of Azadistan.

It really did. You could taste dust in the air, and see the sandy golden-brown soil getting caught up in eddies of wind and dancing over clusters of slightly wilted grass. Most of the plants here were still brown, though, probably because the heat wasn't quite as suffocating as it was in Marina's country. Still, the flat expanses, marred here and there by furrows and craters that were still obviously the result of human war, even after years of wind wearing them down—it just reminded him of Azadistan. The town was at least neater and more intact than most in Azadistan. It was a little bit of a stretch to call it pretty, but it almost was, for someplace so mismatched and rebuilt.

Allelujah didn't want to feel like a stranger critiquing a landscape painting, but he wasn't sure how else to approach the situation. He didn't remember this place at all. This place might have been his homeland…but his earliest memories were of Quanqiu, and that wasn't about to change. To some extent, that pit of an Institute would always feel more like home than here.

Marie seemed to pick up on his discomfort, and gently squeezed his hand. "It's pretty."

Allelujah wasn't sure how to answer her—but he was saved from having to when Arman came into view, running down the road and panting for breath as he came.

"You're early!" he exclaimed.

"The flight was off schedule," Allelujah explained. "It's good to see you."

Arman grinned, and stepped forward, arms spread wide. He cocked his head to the side as he regarded Allelujah. "Can I?"

Allelujah nodded, and Arman hugged him. Allelujah stiffened reflexively—he wasn't very used to this from people who weren't Marie—but managed to reciprocate a little, wrapping his arms awkwardly around Arman's back.

Arman stepped back after a few seconds, grinning, and extended a hand, gesturing to the landscape.

"So, what do you think? I like this place well enough, but honestly, our parents probably would've hated it," he said.

"Huh?" Allelujah asked. "We're…from here, right?"

"Allelujah, this country is gigantic," Arman said, a laugh in his tone. "Mom and Dad both lived their whole lives farther north, where it never got this warm. We'd need jackets, if we visited now."

"Could we?" Allelujah asked, surprising himself.

Arman gave him a searching look. "Not right now," he said. "But, if you want to go before you leave…maybe we can figure something out. I'm sure Samal will be willing to help, if I approach it the right way…"

Allelujah smiled at him. "Thanks."

Going back there wouldn't bring back any memories—there was never going to be any magical flash of recognition. At some level, Allelujah knew that. But bringing Arman and Samal along, and having thier stories to sketch out the edges of a town that didn't exist in the same way it once had anymore…it was as close as he was going to get.

Kazakhstan still didn't really feel like his home. But Arman was his brother, Samal was his aunt, and Kazakhstan was their home. That was good enough, for now.

A/N: "Bata" is the Kazakh word for traditional blessings, which are given on occasions such as births, marriages, and when someone sets out on a long journey.

Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, leaving kudos, and bookmarking/favoriting. Writing's more fun when it's not in a vacuum.

As a final note, if anyone wants to use the OCs or the backstory elements I came up with in this fic for their fics/RP/various other fanworks, please credit me, but otherwise feel free to go for it! I'd really love it if you sent me a link to whatever you make, too.

I'm still on tumblr as ninthfeather, and stuff about the story is still under the tag "What became of his ancestry"—including some stuff about my process in writing the fic. I might eventually put together a list of sources I used for the fic there too, particularly if people seem interested in it.