Ok Guys! Here is the (hopefully) grand finale. Without further ado...

The throne room was empty. A cold draft was blowing in from the hole in the window that Ifrit had left. Noctis realized that the only times he had ever been here when it was empty was when he was trying to sneak in to play pranks on his dad. Now he had a very different reason for being here. His steps were leaden, but set in their purpose. He knew what he needed to do, and Luna knew she had to let him go. She couldn't make herself do it. She clutched his hand as though her mere touch would keep him here, keep him safe.

Noctis used his other hand to wistfully touch the throne, reliving memories of all the times he had been here. The times of mischievous eagerness when he played his pranks, as well as the apprehension of coming in here when he had to either face his father's wrath or ask him for something. Now this room was his, and he had to pay a heavy price for it.

"You should go, Luna," he told her. "You don't need to be here for this."

"Yes I do," she replied, doing her best to keep from crying. "You don't need to, do this, alone. I know it's not much, but for what it's worth, I'm here."

"I, know I shouldn't say this now, but I love you, Luna," Noctis said firmly.

Luna swallowed hard, the tears she was trying to keep at bay spilling over. "Now is the perfect time to say it," she replied sadly. "I love you too, Noct. I always have." Then, even though it broke her to do it, she retreated down the steps to leave the throne to Noctis.

She stood, looking up at him as he stiffly sat down on the throne as though he had suddenly become old. He withdrew his sword and stared down at it.

"Kings of Lucis, come to me," he commanded.

Luna bit her hand to keep from crying out as one by one all of the former Kings of Lucis gathered round Noctis, then ran him through with their respective weapons. She could see Noctis's face twist in pain, his body wracked in agony at the blows. However, he still stayed upright, stoically enduring.

Luna couldn't stand it. She started running to him. She had to do something for him.

"Stay back," he commanded brokenly, temporarily giving her pause. It was enough for Noctis to look at a point over her shoulder.

"Dad," he whispered. "Trust in me." Then King Regis lunged forward to stab him too. Noctis went limp, his life force having left him.

"No, Noctis," Luna cried out, running to him and catching him before he slumped to the ground.

"If you want to help Noctis, you need to let me stab you, Highness" came a familiar voice from behind her. She turned to see the wraith of Nyx hovering there. There was no time to ask questions or make sense of things. In that moment if the devil himself asked her to give herself over to him in exchange for Noctis, she would have done it. She just looked to Nyx and nodded.

"It might hurt a bit, but I think you can handle it. Sorry," Nyx said, then stabbed her through the gut, the sword going clean through. The pain didn't even register. One minute she was in the throne room—the next minute she was in a featureless void.

"Luna, what have you done," Noctis cried out in despair, running her way.

"Oh how touching. My wife decided she couldn't live without me and decided to venture to the beyond just to be with me," came the mocking voice behind Noctis.

They were right. Ardyn was not yet dead. He was standing, dressed as always, but his eyes were glowing like a daemon's. There were also patches of black mist on his face as though he were struggling to maintain a human form.

"No, Ardyn," Luna said coldly, advancing forward with a light ball in each hand. "I'm here to end you."

"Can you really kill your husband," Ardyn asked mockingly, but he was looking at the light orbs uneasily.

"I think you know the answer to that, husband dear," Luna replied just as mockingly. The game was over. She would destroy him.

"Noctis, Luna," King Regis demanded from out of nowhere. "Use the light and the ring together."

They didn't stop to ask questions. Noctis charged forward, making the Ring of the Lucii glow with six different colored lights, including a red light for Ifrit. It appeared as though upon his death his essence flowed elsewhere just as Shiva's had. And that essence's will was to destroy Ardyn. The lights swirled around Ardyn, each one providing an attack with the power and element of an Astral. It was as Luna had threatened in her daemon battle with him: Ardyn would be stoned, burned, frozen, zapped, and drowned at the same time.

Luna wouldn't rely on a nice safe distance attack like she had used on the reaper. After all Ardyn had done to her, all the years of suffering, she needed closure. Her final blow needed to be visceral. With him immobilized by the Astrals's power, she ran up to him, and struck him with her bare lightballed hands. The light burned him, going straight through. The inhuman daemonic roar he made proved how far gone he really was. He was no longer human.

Noctis followed her lead and stabbed Ardyn from behind at the same time she struck him. The combined attack was too much. Ardyn collapsed to his knees and went limp, falling backward as Noctis withdrew the blade from his back.

The black mist faded away, leaving Ardyn's human form once more. With his fading strength, he looked to Luna.

"Why did you do all of this," she demanded. "What did you have to gain by destroying to world? You could have done anything else. Been anyone else."

Ardyn gave a weak, mocking smile. "I was someone else. I was a healer. And was punished for it. I wasn't 'blessed' as you were," he spoke weakly. "I was cursed with daemons that wouldn't let me die regardless of how often I tried. And now," he looked to Noctis. "I finally can."

Noctis nodded and spoke gently, "yes, you may."

Ardyn began fading away, but with his last ounce of strength, he looked to Luna once more. "Luna," he whispered. "If I was ever going to love somebody, it would have been you." For the first and last time, Ardyn's words actually seemed genuine. Then he faded away into nothingness—a form nobody in any realm wanted to claim.

Luna looked to where Ardyn had faded. Strangely enough, she felt, hollow. At some level she was satisfied that he was gone, and knew full well he deserved it. However, she had known him for almost half her life. And, in a warped way, he had helped her. In some ways, she wouldn't be here now if he hadn't taught her and healed her as he had. It was, complicated. She hated his guts, but also wondered if things could have been different if he had not been so twisted. What kind of man could he have been if he hadn't chosen the path of corruption? She shook her head. It was the cards he played and the way it had to be.

She turned to face Noctis. He opened his mouth to say something, but then his hand with the Ring of the Lucii began shaking. He stared down at the ring in resignation. It looked like his number was up. He reached out to Luna and took her hand. He didn't want her to be here, but at some level he was glad that he wasn't alone, at the end of all things.

"Take the damn ring off right now Noct," came King Regis's voice sharply, as though he had caught his son dressing in a silly costume to attend a formal event. Shocked by his dad's use of his nickname and a curse, Noctis complied. King Regis put the ring on his own hand, which instantly began to shake as Noctis's had.

"Wait, Dad," Noctis cried out in surprise.

"You did good, son," King Regis replied. "As did you, Luna. This is my burden now," Regis added with ever present dignity. "Walk tall, both of you." And then the ring shattered, taking King Regis with it.

"Healing Light," Luna heard her mother say, as a bright light engulfed them both. The netherworld was receding.

Nyx gave Noctis and Luna a salute as they were sucked away, into the light.

The last thing Luna heard was her mother saying, "I will always be watching over you."

Luna opened her eyes as though leaden weights had been dragging them down. She was currently in the throne room of the Citadel, seated in a heated chair that was kind of hard. It took her a moment to realize that she was not in a chair, but was actually sitting on Noctis's lap. Well, this is awkward, she thought.

To make things even worse the throne room doors crashed open to reveal Gladio, Ignis, Prompto, Aranea, Cindy, and Iris. Iris looked from Noctis to Luna wide-eyed, but with a smug smirk. Luna rose, flustered. Noctis followed suit.

"Noct, are you and Luna, all right," Ignis asked intently.

"We're just trying to figure that out ourselves," Noctis commented. "I'm not sure if we are all alive, or all dead."

"Don't be an idiot," Gladio snarked. "We aren't about to be taken down by bunch of daemons. We took those guys out with the help of Cindy and Iris here, and came up to help you out. Looks like we didn't need to though."

"Is Ardyn, dead," Prompto asked.

"Yes," Noctis and Luna said at the same time.

"Good riddance to bad rubbish I say," Aranea replied in satisfaction.

Luna was still digesting Ardyn's last words. They left a niggling sense of—well grief. Had he actually cared for her in his own warped way? Where had the lies ended and the truth begun with him? She shook her head to clear it. It was as she had thought before. He had left them no other choice. And besides, even if she had once respected Ardyn, she had never cared for him. It had always been, and always would be, Noctis.

They heard the sound of awestruck cheering from outside. They all rushed to the window to see what the commotion was. The hunters were staring at the sky, now gray at the edge of dawn. A slight hint of mauve was peeking over the horizon. They had all done it. They had returned light to the world.

"Holy shit we did it," Aranea yelled out in jubilation. Then she threw herself into Gladio's arms. He was ready for it, and the two embraced, heedless of an audience.

Prompto looked to Cindy awkwardly. "Um, did you want to, maybe, uh, watch the sunrise with me," he asked shyly, hopefully.

"Aw shucks. Sure," Cindy said shyly, by her standards. Prompto took her hand in his, half expecting her to pull away. She didn't, and they meandered their way hand in hand to the elevators.

Iris looked at her brother, still embracing Aranea. She smiled in relieved happiness that her brother and Aranea were finally "a thing", but it didn't mean she wanted to watch their PDA. "I want to see the sun too. You want to come with, Iggy," she asked the glasses-wearing hero, also doing his best to avoid looking at the embracing couple.

"Indeed," he said, eager to escape, and in old-timey fashion, offered his arm to Iris. She smiled in amusement at his old school antics, but took it, and they too left the room.

"Congratulations," Noctis commented dryly to the lovebirds.

They broke apart, bright red. Aranea laughed nervously. "I think your King just ordered you to marry me," Aranea taunted with amusement to her devoted swain.

"Uh, as much as I'm loyal to my king and all, I'm not about to listen to him if he asks me to marry anyone," Gladio snarked gruffly.

"Aw, so that means you won't make an honest woman out of me," Aranea asked with a mock pout.

"Let me show you my old quarters first, then see if you still want me to," Gladio replied, totally deadpan.

Luna thought herself pretty immune to innuendo at this point, but she couldn't help but gape at the boldness of that suggestion. Noctis performed a shocked double take. Even Aranea, bold herself, was caught by surprise and blushed.

"That, uh wasn't what I meant," Gladio replied, flustered. "I just wanted to, uh show you how I normally live, and stuff, so you can form an honest opinion…"

"Whatever you say, Beefcake," Aranea cut him off archly. "Let's go," she demanded, grabbing his hand and all but leading him out of the throne room.

Luna and Noctis were left alone. And as large as the throne room was, it still felt small, intimate as they stood together.

"Did, you want see the sun too," Noctis asked her.

"I, don't know. Do you," Luna asked. The conversation was absurd, after all that had happened. But Luna knew she couldn't make any more decisions right now. She could feel the adrenalin slipping away, and when it was gone, she would collapse.

"Nah, not really," Noctis replied. "We can see it just as well from the throne, I think," he replied, and so saying he plodded his way to the throne and plopped down in it, exhausted.

"Come here, Luna," Noctis commanded, regal hauteur mixed with tenderness.

"Why," Luna asked.

"Because this throne is as much yours as it is mine, and you belong in it," Noctis replied firmly.

"Well, not really. I, mean—it's your family's, not mine," Luna replied awkwardly.

Noctis sighed heavily. Then before Luna knew what he was about, he warped her way, grabbed her, and warped her back to the throne to sit on his lap. "This will have to do for now. I will get you your own chair when we marry," he said affably.

"Wait! Shouldn't you ask me first? You can't just assume that I will—"

"Allow me to convince you then," Noctis replied, voice low, dangerous, then pulled her against him and kissed her senseless.

"You're my everything, Luna," Noctis breathed between kisses. "You asked me once, now I'm asking you. Please, be my wife," he begged, desperately. Luna couldn't help it, and ruined the incredibly romantic moment by asking dryly, "I 'asked' you to be my 'wife'?"

"Oh, crap," Noctis exclaimed, raking his hand through his hair embarrassed. Then he laughed and said, "Yeah, that's how I remember it. I had the dress all picked out and everything. You should have seen it."

Luna laughed hysterically. In retrospect, his quip wasn't that side-splitting, but given all they had been through, and the fact that they were here, alive, and in love, made Luna laugh and laugh.

Noctis stopped her by tilting her chin up to face him. "Let me try this again," he said in all seriousness. "Please, marry me. I love—". Luna cut him off by throwing herself back into his arms, giving her acceptance through actions rather than words, and still managing to tell Noctis all that he needed to know.

The main street of Insomnia was bedecked with flowers, and white confetti was raining down from the surrounding buildings. Luna was lamenting the waste, not thinking she was worth it, but Aranea said bluntly, "As nice as it is that you and Noctis are formally getting married and all, it's more a celebration for the city's rebuilding."

"I can't believe it only took six months to get the city as right as rain," Prompto chimed in.

"With me, Paw Paw, Cor, and Holly on the case, there's nothing we can't get done," Cindy said proudly. Prompto beamed at her in admiration. She smiled back.

"I'd say 'get a room' but I know you guys probably say that about me and Ari here," Gladio commented, putting an arm around his wife.

Luna glanced at her own husband, sitting in the throne to her right. Even if she didn't like the waste, she had to admit the flowers around town and around the throne looked quite beautiful. As was her dress—the simple non dust-catching wedding dress she had always wanted.

Well, technically she and Noctis had been married for awhile—they had had a low-key wedding in Altissia shortly after the light returned. However, in celebration of Insomnia being rebuilt and thriving they had decided to have a wedding ceremony/coronation now to make it formal, and to give the city a reason to celebrate. So as a result, she and Noctis were seated on their respective thrones, her faithful dogs at their feet, making their first impression as the true royal couple of Insomnia.

Ignis glanced at Gladio and Aranea. "Perhaps it is none of my business, but you might want to get Aranea a chair, Gladio. I, understand it can be a bit, uncomfortable for women to be standing too long in her condition."

Aranea rolled her eyes. "If I didn't think I was up for this, I wouldn't be here. Besides, do you really think the offspring of Gladio and myself is too weak to handle it," she added, patting her just-starting-to-show abdomen absently.

"He's right, hon. You should sit down," Gladio replied gruffly. Her muttered cursing was her only response as Iris beat Gladio to the punch and lugged a chair Aranea's way.

"Come on, Ari," Iris cajoled. "I've got to be a good aunt after all to the little guy or gal." Aranea sighed but complied, plopping into the chair resignedly.

"On the topic of weddings and things, I think there may be one more coming up," Prompto said shyly. "I don't want to take away from your big day, Noct, Luna but…"

"I wondered when you two were going to bring it up," Noctis replied. "I mean, that ring on Cindy's finger is pretty obvious."

Cindy beamed, and waved her ring hand around excitedly. "It's just on my finger for today though," she commented. "It's going on a chain around my neck as soon as I get back to Hammerhead. I don't want this pretty thing to end up in somebody's manifold."

"Congratulations," Luna exclaimed. "Have you booked a venue yet?"

"We want the resort in Galdin Quay," Prompto said. "It just books up like crazy."

"I can pull some strings," Noctis said calmly. "Being King does have its perks."

"That would be awesome, but so cheating," Prompto replied.

"Just let me know, alright," Noctis replied.

"I believe we should make ourselves scarce," Ignis said. "It is Noctis and Luna's formal wedding day after all."

"Too true," Cindy said. "Let's go Prompto."

Gladio took his wife's arm, ignoring her grumbling that she and their impending kid didn't need to be coddled, and also vacated, bringing Iris and Ignis with them.

Luna and Noctis were the lone humans in the throne room, Pryna and Umbra their silent companions. Noctis looked around the rebuilt, festooned throne room in a daze. The past six months had been crazy—with the rebuilding, and helping the populace get over any residual trauma. He was so glad he had Luna by his side. He could not have done this, or any of it, without her. Her support, her love, was all he needed. He had never noticed how bright it could get in here—the sunlight was streaming through the stained glass windows, diffusing its myriad colors onto Luna.

She looked like a prism, and indeed she was. There were so many facets to her that, just when he thought he knew her well, he would find something new. And he loved every minute of it. He cupped Luna's chin, then leaned forward to kiss her.

Luna kissed him back. She should probably tell him, but it was too early to be sure just yet. But she strongly suspected that there would be an heir to the Lucis royal family quite soon. There would be time enough to tell him later—the future stood out brightly before them. For now they could finally rest.

And that's it! Hope you don't find the ending too "sappy" but I figured our guys deserved it. The "cannon" ending is what prompted me to write FF15 fanfic in the first place-it made me so mad, and I wanted to explore ways it could have gone more happily. Anyway, that's a wrap. Thanks so much to all my faithful readers. Special shout outs to KingPlotBunny and xx-Coventina-Xx for their regular feedback and support. Thanks also to my faithful readers in the US, Canada, Singapore, Brazil, Vietnam, and the UK. I don't know you guys and gals by name, but without you popping up on the reader logs so quickly after I posted new chapters, I never would have had the courage to keep going. Thanks to you all for reading my mad scribblings ;-) Till next time! Here's hoping Episode Ignis gives me more ideas ;-)