Chapter Twelve

The End

Loqi walked out of his caravan and into what was once the Hammerhead garage. He pulled his now long hair into a low tie and looked up at the night sky. He did this every day, he did this every day even though he knew that it wasn't going to change. He lived in a hopeless hope that one day, he would look up and see the sun again. He never thought that he would miss something like the sun, something that had always been there... only now it was not. Ardyn had covered the world in veil of daemons and darkness.

He tore his eyes away from the sky and looked to the people nearby who were running around and trying to run their lives- trying to find normalcy in their lives. He understood why they would do that, he too tried to maintain routine and fragments of peace, his desire was difficult, however, considering that he was one of the people who had to defend Hammerhead.

He heard laughter and looked over to see some children playing with a ball under the floodlight. The sight caused him to frown further, he longed for a time where the sun was back and the children could play in the sun again. What did Ardyn have to do this to the world? Loqi had never liked the Chancellor, had always found him to be a creep, but he had never thought that he would be capable of effectively ending the world.

He walked towards what used to be the main garage while he pondered. Ignis had told him that he believes that it would end soon, that Noctis would come back and help them end it- call Loqi a sceptic, but after ten years, the likelihood of that happening was slim.

"Uncle Loqi!" he heard a girls voice shout.

He smiled and turned to the one good thing to ever come from Ardyn Izunia. "Hello Raine." he watched the girl as she walked to him. He had known her entire life, had been there from her birth, but he still could not believe just how much she looked like her father. Her hair was his, short, red waves bobbing at her shoulders. Pale skin with some freckles dotting her cheeks- she even had his smile! The only thing that was purely hers and not his, were her blue eyes, but they weren't her mothers either, he wondered if she had gotten them from his side of the family, because Ardyn certainly did not have blue eyes.

The girl stopped in front of him and grinned, before pushing her bangs out of her face. "Uncle Loqi," the nine, nearly ten, year old crossed her arms at him. "Have you seen mum? She hasn't had lunch yet, and I don't think that she had breakfast."

Loqi nearly rolled his eyes. Ellie was having one of her days, weeks more like it, considering that Raine had come to him with this exact same concern earlier in the week. She did this periodically, had time where she wouldn't eat- he linked it to a form of depression, why she would still miss Ardyn, and feel this way after ten years was beyond him, but what could he do? He was only her cousin. At least he knew where she would be.

"Don't worry Raine." he ruffled her hair, causing her to jump away and stick a tongue out at him. "I know where she is, I'll make sure she eats something."

The girl nodded, before quirking a brow and sending him a look that was so much like her father that he sucked in a breath- how did she do that id she had never met the man? "Heard from Uncle Iggy yet?" she said slyly.

His lips thinned. "Not as of yet." he replied evenly. Ignis was a sore topic for him at the moment, a week ago Ignis had left, no note or anything. Loqi had woken to find the other gone, along with Gladio, to say that he had not been impressed would be an understatment.

Raine patted his arm. "It's okay Uncle, I'm sure Iggy isn't going to be gone long. Maybe we can make some of those paper..." she paused as she thought of the word. "...flowers... yes flowers, we can make paper flowers for when he comes back."

Loqi nodded. "We could." inwardly he flinched, there shouldn't be a child who didn't know what flowers were. There shouldn't be a child who had only seen them in picture books, it was a tragedy... a tragedy that her father had caused. He bit the inside of his cheek. It was not her fault that the world had effectively ended. She hadn't created the daemons and unleashed them on the world. He inwardly promised that he would take her to Lestallum where they had some flowers growing, when she was older and the trip a little safer for her.

She smiled at him, it was a warm smile, her mother's smile. "I do miss Uncle Iggy, it hasn't been long, but still." her cheeks reddened and she scratched her arm. "Ugh, I'm being so embarrassing."

Loqi chuckled. "Sometimes you remind me of your mother." his chuckle grew louder as she turned redder and stomped her foot.

"Do you have to!" she grumbled and shot him a withering glare. "Mum says I'm like my father, you say I'm like her, can't I just be me?"

He let out a breath of air laugh. "You are you, you always will be, you just do things that remind us of your parents. Your temper is your mother to the letter." he looked her up and down. "You look just like your father though."

She frowned. "What was he like? You never tell me and the other people here have 'colourful' things to say about him, and mum, well she just tells me the same thing, 'he loved me', then she gets that sad look in her eyes."

Of course she did. Loqi frowned, the girl was nearly ten years old and barely knew anything about her father. She knew that he had done something bad, thanks to the populace of Hammerhead, but she also knew that he was a kind person from Ellie. He had avoided talking about it for years, he just doubted his ability to give her an unbiased opinion on the matter. "Look Raine... I..." he looked down at her big blue eyes and inwardly sighed, why did he have so much trouble saying no to her? "How about this? When Ignis comes back, we'll all sit together and talk, your mother as well."

Raine smiled brightly. "I'd like that." she adjusted her yellow cardigan, then paused, she looked past Loqi at something, and her smile softened. "I'm going to go see Li, bye Uncle!" she waved to him as she ran to a boy with black hair.

Loqi watched the two. He liked Li, the boy and his mother had been one of the main reasons that they had been able to stay in Hammerhead. When they first had come, the refugees who had taken refuge there had not wanted them to be there, him because he was an imperial soldier, and Ellie because of her affiliation to Chancellor Izunia. Ignis and Cid had defended them, Ignis because he was her friend and Cid because he hadn't wanted to see a pregnant woman out in the dark with the daemons. The rest of Hammerhead had not agreed with them and had tried to run him and Ellie out, that is until Li's mother had recognised her and had stood up for Ellie, apparently Ellie had helped the woman in Altissia- in that moment Loqi had never been more grateful for Ellie's need to help people.

He chuckled as Raine tackled Li with a crushing cuddle. She was going to marry that boy one day, he could feel it in his bones. He then turned and headed for a makeshift watchtower near one of the floodlights, she was probably there, if he knew her. He reached the tower and climbed up the ladder, when he reached the top he was met with the sight of his cousin leaning over the edge, sniper in her arms as she looked into the scope, she fired and he saw her smirk.

"You know, breakfast is important," he could hear her rolling her eyes as she turned. "lunch too, I hear tell." he folded his arms in front of him and leaned against one of the beams of the tower. "Perhaps you'd like to come and give them a try- mind you it's closer to dinner now." he tilted his head and raised an eyebrow.

A woman beside Ellie clicked her tongue. "You haven't seriously been here all day?" she made a shooing action with her hands. "Girl go down and eat something!" she waved at Ellie again before reaching for her own sniper rifle and looking out at the surroundings through the scope.

"Well Ellie, looks like you've been outvoted," Loqi sassed her with a hand on his hip. "Come on let's get something into you." he gestured to the stairs with a tilt of his head.

Ellie sighed and placed her rifle down. "Fine." she grumbled, stepping towards him. Pulled her hair out of its bun and shook it out comfortably. As she rubbed her hair with her fingers she stepped towards the ladder, she suddenly lost balance and had to clutch onto Loqi to support herself. "S-Sorry..." she gasped. "W-woozy."

"Well that's what happens when you spend your day in this box and don't eat." he squeezed her shoulder and guided her to the ladder. "I'm going to go first, you fall and crash into me and I'll come back to haunt you."

She snorted at his words and watched him get halfway down before she followed after him. When Loqi reached the bottom he waited for her and helped her own as she stepped from the ladder. She said a 'thank you' before pulling herself away. He crossed his arms and gestured for her to follow him. "Why did you think that eating wasn't a good idea?"

He didn't look back at her but he could picture her shrugging. "I guess that I just forgot. I made Raine some breakfast... then went up there."

Loqi hummed. "Raine was worried about you, said that you haven't been eating." he walked up to her caravan and pulled out the spare key that he had. "What's going on Ellie?" he asked as he opened the door and stepped inside, he heard her follow after him and close the door behind them. "You having one of your bad weeks?"

She sat at the table and looked down at her hands. "I..." she closed her eyes. "I'm sorry Loqi..." she looked up at him with her sad green eyes. "This isn't the first time you've helped me," she laughed. "not even the first time you've helped me this week. But I... I can't help it..." she shrugged. "I'll pick up, get better, give me a few more days. I always do." she fiddled with her fingers, tapping them against the table.

Loqi sighed and started the coffee machine. He leaned against the counter and turned to face her. "What do you want for dinner? I'm not as good as you, or Ignis, but I could scrounge something up."

She laughed. "There's nothing wrong with your cooking."

He let out a sound that sounded suspiciously like a snort. "Maybe if you're camping, but that's about all I'm good for." he turned his attention to the little refrigerator, bent down and opened it with a click. "Let's see, you have... I could do a stir fry? Or... a stew..."

"Whatever's easier for you Loqi, I don't mind."

The door to the caravan opened. "Loqi did you find... oh mum!" Raine smiled and slid onto the seat and beside Ellie. "What were you doing today?"

"I was killing Daemons." Ellie smiled and accepted a cup of coffee as Loqi passed it to her. "The usual, what about you, love? What did you get up to today?"

"Well Li and I..." as she regaled Ellie with her days adventures, Loqi watched her and prepared dinner. He smiled as he saw Ellie smile at her daughter and listen to everything that she had to say. 'If there was one thing that Ardyn was ever good for...' he thought as he put some rice on to cook. '...it was her.' he took a quick glance back at the two women in his life. He saw the way Ellie's face lit up and smiled.

Loqi would forever be grateful to Ardyn for Raine... though he'd never say that out loud.

X

It was a week later, while Ellie was sniping some Daemons, that she saw the car driving towards Hammerhead. Talcott was supposed to be coming today so she paid the vehicle no attention, and instead chose to shoot a few daemons. A while later, she pulled herself away from her gun at the sound of people being excited over something. She walked over to the ladder and looked over the edge and down, her eyes widened as she caught sight of Noctis talking with Talcott.

'Noctis?' she frowned, she had heard that he would not be coming back, but there he was. Unless her eyes had suddenly decided to fail her, which she knew that they hadn't. She clutched at the ladder and climbed down.

As she reached the ground she slowly walked towards the prince. He looked older, much older than the last time she had seen him. Had he gotten shorter? Or did he just seem smaller, he had been small when she had seen him last, but now he just seemed so different. She stepped towards him as the people who had crowded him began to disburse.

"Prince Noctis..." she said quietly.

He turned to her with wide eyes that flashed with recognition. "Elise?" he tilted his head and looked her up and down. He took a hesitant step back as though he were expecting her to attack, or perhaps Ardyn to pop out of nowhere. While it wasn't about to happen, she couldn't fault him if he thought it.

She held a hand up. "It's okay, we live here now..." she glanced up at the sky. "We came here about ten years ago... been here since."

"You were working for Ardyn, what happened?" his voice wasn't snappish or rude, merely curious.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, before pushing it behind her shoulder- she really needed to tie it back or cut it, it was getting too long. She locked eyes with Noctis and resisted the urge to sigh again, she wasn't sure that she wanted to talk about it. She was quiet as she assessed her past and where to begin, as much as she didn't want to talk about it, she knew she had to.

"It was Altissia..." she caught the slight flinch in his body at the City's name. "I... I defended Ignis, said.. said something awful to Ardyn so he, he fired me." she caught his eyes as they widened.

"He did what?" he asked softly.

She nodded. "Yes." she let out a bitter laugh. "Then he left me by the chocobo farm, luckily Loqi was there."

Noctis' brow furrowed before settling as he mentally put a face to the name. "What happened then?"

She looked, this could take a while. "Come, we'll sit down." she gestured for her caravan and the table and chairs set up there. When he nodded in consent she led him to the seats and they sat across from each other. When they were settled, she continued. "I found out that I was pregnant." she watched him as his whole body shook at the news.

"Well I'm glad that we sat down." he joked shakily. Then looked at her with a slightly haunted expression. "What happened?"

"Well at first I cried, for a few days." her eyes glazed over as she remembered the first few days. She had been in a panic, she had wanted to tell Ardyn but had no way of contacting him. Loqi had been there for her, but she had wanted Ardyn- and even though he had tried, he had been unable to get in contact with the Chancellor. It had been a hard time for her. "We stayed in Lestallum for a while, long enough for my stomach to start showing... then the world was covered in darkness." she closed her eyes as she remembered the events.

When she opened her eyes Noctis was watching her pensively. She smiled wryly. "Then we were kicked out of Lestallum-"

"What do you mean you were kicked out?" Noctis frowned, alarmed at the suggestion.

"Loqi and I are Imperials," she said simply. "Imperials caused this madness... but it is more than that..." she shook her head and looked out at some of the people walking through Hammerhead. "I was known as 'assistant' to the Imperial Chancellor, the people who had seen me in Lestallum with him knew what we were..." she shook her head with a breath of laughter. "It was only a matter of time before they kicked us out."

"Where.." Noctis said quietly, catching her attention. "Where did you go then? What did you do?"

"We drove, well Loqi drove, I wasn't doing much of any driving, I was too busy crying- how he managed to not throw me out of the car and drive off amazes me." she chuckled as she remembered, she must have been an emotional nightmare for Loqi- upon reflection, she wondered if she was the reason that he never settled with a woman, one crazy lady in his life was enough. She chuckled inwardly, that being said, Loqi was somewhat the 'crazy lady' in his own relationship.

She looked over to Noctis who was watching her intently while sipping his drink. He was hanging on her every word, taking it all in. "We drove for a few days, and slept in the car- Loqi took out some of the Daemons when they attacked the car, he wouldn't let me due to my condition." she shook her head at the memory, she had a gun, he could have easily let her shoot from the window, but apparently that wasn't an option, her delicate situation demanded that he protected her- she respected him for that, but he could hardly protect her if he was dead.

"Eventually we arrived in Hammerhead, we didn't receive a good reception." that was an understatement. "They tried to throw us out on sight, if Ignis hadn't stepped in, they would have." she could still remember the expression on his face as he saw her standing there in her state, he had been unable to process her pregnancy at first, even though he knew who the father was straight away. "Then Annette steeped in and spoke for us, she told them about me helping them in Altissia, it wasn't until Cid stepped in that they conceded and agreed to let us stay, we've been here since." she finished with a hand gesture.

Noctis was silent for some time before he simply said. "And your baby?"

Ellie smiled and fingered her mug. "Her name is Raine, she'll be ten soon."

Noctis seemed to digest the information. "How is she? Is she a," he paused as he grasped for words. "is she happy? Is she... kind?"

Ellie felt her lips twitch and she pulled a face. "You mean is she a good girl? Despite who her father is, she is a kind and caring and wonderful person-" her fist clenched. "and despite everything, Ardyn was a good person as well- for what all he is now, he was once a good person." she couldn't believe that she was still defending him, still, after everything that he had done to her, to the world and she still couldn't stop herself.

Noctis looked as though he wanted to say something in retaliation to her words, but instead he opted to take a breath and sigh. "You said that Ignis helped you, have you seen him lately?" he was trying to keep the peace, an act that she appreciated.

She chuckled as she thought of Ignis. "It's been a while since I saw him, he's in trouble when he comes back though."

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

She waved her hand dismissively at him. "You'll see, trust me."

Noctis pursed his lips and looked as though he wanted to protest, but he instead changed the subject- he had gotten more patient in his old age it seemed. "Can I meet her? Your daughter, I mean?" he rested his arms against the table and leaned forward.

Ellie frowned. Did she want Noctis to meet her daughter? Would Ardyn have wanted them to meet? Logically it would make sense for Ardyn to not want the prince to interact with anything that belonged to him- especially when she remembered what Ignis, Gladio and Prompto told her about how Ardyn treated Noctis. But a voice in the back of her mind argued in favour, that Ardyn would love for Noctis to meet his child, even when he himself had not. In the end it didn't matter as the universe stepped in and solved her internal dilemma for her, by having her daughter run up to them.

"Mum!" she walked up to the table with a wave. She pushed some of her red curls out of her face and gestured to Noctis. "Who is this?"

Ellie chanced a glance at Noctis and saw him staring wide-eyed at Raine. She understood why, her daughter was the very image of her father. She was only missing the hat, yes she was more feminine than Ardyn, but she looked so much like him, that any who knew Ardyn would pause at her. She wondered how he felt about it, would he be angry? Many others were angry when they met Raine.

"Raine," she began then pointed to Noctis. "This is Prince Noctis, Noctis," she pointed to her daughter. "This is Raine Tummelt, my daughter."

Raine leaned against the table. "You're Noctis? The Noctis?" her eyes lit up. "Uncle Iggy told me about you, Prompto and Gladio too." she looked him up and down, then gave him a raised brow look. "That beard doesn't suite you, you looked better when you were younger-"

"Raine!" Ellie interrupted, her mouth open agape.

"What?" she raised her hands defensively. "I'm being honest, you always tell me to be honest." she sent her a sly smile.

Noctis chuckled. "It's alright," he leaned forwards. "Now Raine, can you tell me about your Uncle Iggy? I haven't seen him in a long time, Prompto and Gladio too, I'd really like that."

Ellie grinned. "Well I'm your expert on that topic." she puffed her chest out. "I'll tell you everything you want to know!"

Ellie let out a chuckle at her daughter's attitude, she loved when Raine told stories, she was so animated and always told the story in a way that would capture her audience and keep them entranced through the whole thing. It reminded her of the girls father. A wistful expression took her dace as she thought about him, she missed him. She glanced at Noctis and smiled as he looked overwhelmed as he was told the story of when Prompto had tried asking Cindy out- there were a lot of stories to choose from- and had ended up naked and tied to a pole. She chuckled at the memory, that had been a day.

X

It was the next day while they were talking to the owner of the weapons van that they heard the sound of the gate opening and a car drove in. The pair watched as Ignis, Gladio and Prompto climbed out of the car. Ellie watched as Noctis practically ran to see his friends. She sat in the van with Bill, the vans owner, for what felt like hours, until the group began to disburse from each other to prepare themselves for their journey. Ignis and Noctis stayed back and continued to talk, until they were interrupted by a shrill shout.

"Where have you been!?"

Ellie, along with Ignis and Noctis and possibly those around them, all flinched at the sound. She looked over to see Loqi racing towards the pair, his long hair trailing behind him like a kite flailing in the wind. His eyes were wild and Ellie pulled herself up from the van and move closer to get a better view, this was going to be something.

Noctis looked bewildered and raised his hands almost defensively as Loqi charged towards them. He took a quick glance at Ignis and was shocked to see the other man smiling in the direction of Loqi. "Loqi," he said pleased. "I've missed-"

"No note, car gone!" Loqi stopped in front of them, he waved a hand wildly. "I wake up and you're gone, nothing, nadda,"

"Are they fighting again?" Ellie turned to see Raine standing beside her.

He flailed his hands again. "then I find out that you're off with Gladio fighting daemons!"

Ellie laughed. "Yeah, but I kind of understand where Loqi's coming from-" she flinched as Loqi's pitch seemed to rise as he spoke. "I mean, I'd be pretty mad if that were me."

Raine nodded. "Still this isn't something that Uncle Iggy would do, so I'm wondering how it happened."

Ignis cut off Loqi's tirade through raising his hands, when Loqi was silent for a stretch of time he spoke. "I'm sorry that I worried you, I needed to leave and I asked Gladio to write you a note, I am assuming that it went missing."

"Actually..." Gladio's voice came from behind the weapons van, presumably where the man was hiding. "I kinda forgot, sorry Loqi!"

Noctis looked in the direction of Gladio's voice, then back at the scene before him, he was completely lost. Ellie felt sorry for him, the man had just come back and was now being subjected to Loqi and his craziness. Though she had to admit, the expression on his face is amusing.

"When I see your face I'm giving you a black eye!" Loqi called over his shoulder causing Gladio to let out a bark of laughter. He looked back at Ignis and scanned him all over. "You don't seem damaged." he said with a raised brow.

"I have a few, scratches, but nothing serious." Ignis reassured.

Loqi grasped the others arm before tugging the other towards his caravan.

"You do not need to check, I am perfectly well."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Ignis chuckled and allowed himself to be dragged away.

When the pair were out of sight, Noctis turned to Elise and Raine, his eyes swimming with confusion. "I know that I've missed a lot, but what just happened?" he gestured vaguely to the spot where Loqi and Ignis had stood. "I mean, I have a feeling that I know what just happened, but what just happened?"

Ellie smiled. "Well when two people-"

"Aaannnd that's all that I needed to know." he raised his hands and laughed. "As long as he's happy, whatever." he started off towards where Gladio and Prompto were. "We'll head off soon, I'm going to help them get ready, I'll meet you at the car later."

"Mum." Raine said quietly as she stepped towards her, she looked up at her with worried eyes. "What did he mean? Are you..." she stepped in front of her mother. "...are you going with them?" she watched as her mother flinched. "You are! Why are you going with them!?"

"Raine I," Ellie closed her eyes. "I want to say goodbye, or at least try to.."

The youth's eyes widened. "You want to see him? Are you serious, you could die!" she let out a sound of protest as she was pulled into a hug. She grunted and struggled in her mothers arms. "Let go of me!"

Ellie held on tighter. "No, Rainie, I have to do this." she squeezed her child tighter. "I'll be back, I promise." she leaned down to kiss the top of her head. "I want you to stay with Uncle Loqi, wait for me, I promise you that I'll come home."

The younger of the two pulled herself free. "Fine." she hissed. "Go and see that man. The man that caused everyone's pain." she rubbed at her red eyes. "If he kills you, don't say that I didn't warn you." she clenched her fists. "You say he loves me, he doesn't even know that I exist!" she shook her head harshly. "Everyone tells me about him, except for you," she huffed. "and do you know what that means? That they're right! He is a monster who ruined the world!"

"Raine..." Ellie let out a shaky breath. "When I get-"

"You won't get back!"

"I will!" she snapped, causing the girl to freeze wide-eyed, Ellie had never raised her voice at her before. "When I come back, I'll tell you everything, all about him, every question that you have, anything that you want to know, I'll tell you, I promise."

Raine looked up with wide eyes. "Promise you'll come back?"

Ellie nodded and pulled her child into a hug. "I promise my love." she leaned down to rest her head atop her child's, she inhaled and took in the flowery scent that was her child. She knew that she would be back, but she squeezed a little tighter... just in case.

X

A few hours later the five of them were fighting daemons on the road so that they could make camp, and when the daemons were gone and they had set up camp, Ellie chose to sit off to the side and watch as each of the boys said their piece with Noctis. Their 'goodbyes', she thought with a pang. As she watched Noctis grasp Ignis' hand, her eyes watered, she wished that she could turn the clock back, back to when the world was a simpler place.

She leaned back and rested on her elbows on the grass. She looked up at the sky, at the stars. The sky was beautiful, if only there were more than a night sky to see, she missed the sun. but she missed him... more. She was taken from her musings at the sound of grass crunching. She looked up to see Ignis walking towards her.

"Did Loqi give you a lecture?" Ignis asked as he moved to sit beside her.

She let out a breath of laughter. "Yes... he told me that he'd kick my ass if I didn't come home."

She heard Ignis chuckle. "Yes he told me much the same." he shook his head.

"He worries too much." she said quietly, a warm smile filling her face as she thought about her cousin. Thought about how he had accosted her and demanded her safe return, when she was younger she had had problems with Loqi, the same as any family members living together, but now, now she had a love for Loqi that she never thought that she would develop. He was a rock, among other things, a mother hen being one of them.

"He wants us to be safe." Ignis said gently. "If I...If I do not make it back, would you look after him?"

Ellie shook her head. "You can look after him yourself, he needs you to even out his craziness..." she rested her head on his shoulder. "If I don't make it... can you look after Raine?"

He shook his head. "I won't need to, you'll make it."

She nudged him with her shoulder. "We'll just have to make sure we get back- we have people waiting for us."

"That we do Elise."

X

Ellie clutched at her mag-rod as she hid behind a building as the other's took in the sight of Insomnia. She had to sneak away from them, she wanted to, no, needed to get to Ardyn before them. There were things that she had to say to him. Things that she needed to say to him before it was all over. She watched as Gladio looked inside an old car and the others seemed to be investigating the surrounding area, this was good, it meant that they had not noticed that she was gone.

Now she needed to wait for an opening. She didn't need to wait long, apparently, as a group of imps lunged from a building and charged at the four men. She felt bad, doing what she was about to do, but she did it anyway. As soon as they started fighting, she ran. She turned heel and charged towards the palace.

She had to get there first. She needed to get there first. As she ran through the blackened city, she noticed something, she wasn't being attacked. She could see the monsters around her, but they hadn't seemed to notice her, no, that was wrong, they were ignoring her. The creatures around her seemed to be watching her, but they had no interest in attacking her. This raised her paranoia, why was this happening? They were daemons, and she was a human, they had no reason to ignore her.

As she got closer to the castle, where she assumed that he would be, she noticed how much hotter it was getting. She frowned, why? She slowed her pace so that she could take her jacket off, she rolled her long white sleeves up and tied her jacket around her hips. She jogged towards the tall building, the closer she got, the hotter she got. She crept through an alleyway to get to her destination, as she did she discovered why it was so hot.

The Infernian.

She gasped, dropped her rod and stepped back against the wall of the building behind her, but it was too late, he had seen her and he was stomping towards her. A feral grin across his face. She felt the earth tremble beneath her as he drew closer and beads of sweat rolled down her face. The creature drew closer and she closed her eyes, she wished that she could have seen him before she died. She took a shaky breath and sent a mental apology to her daughter and Loqi.

"Oh leave her alone, your targets are on their way." she heard a familiar voice chime.

She opened her eyes and gasped as The Infernian listened and stepped away from her, he turned to Ardyn who was walking down the steps towards them. "I'll call you when I need you." he clicked his fingers and giant disappeared. "Well, well, well..." he folded his arms in front of him and looked Ellie up and down. "isn't this a surprise."

"S-Sir..." she stammered, then inwardly kicked herself, he wasn't her employer anymore.

He chuckled with a click of his tongue. "Why are you here?" there was an edge to his voice, a dark edge that sent a shiver down her spine. This wasn't her Ardyn, this Ardyn was dangerous.

She pulled herself to her full height and sucked in a shaky breath. "There is something I need to say, and you will listen to me." she bent down to grasp her fallen mag-rod, her eyes never leaving his as she did so. She rose back to her full height and sent him a look- a daring action considering what he could do to her.

He let out a sound and moved his shoulder in a gesture to follow him. She slowly stepped towards him and followed him up the steps and into the palace. She followed him through the foyer that was once beautiful, but now destroyed and blackened from Ardyn. She looked down at the marble floor which was charred, presumably from the Infernian. She looked back at him and followed him as he headed to the throne. She watched with fascination as he lowered himself onto the throne and slumped into it with his devil may care attitude.

"You had something to say?" he prompted, snapping her from her staring.

She quietly searched her thoughts. After all of these years, one would think that she'd know what she wanted to say, and she did, but standing before him, she had lost them. "What have you been doing these past years?" she asked, then inwardly flinched at her own stupidity.

He quirked a brow and let out a breath of laughter. "Oh, not a lot, catching up on reading- they have quite the library here- playing around with the daemons, taking the light away from the world, cup noodle Tuesday's... you know, nothing special."

She glared at him. "That was not funny." when he laughed she clenched her fists. "It's not funny!" she snapped.

He halted his laughter and stared at her. "You were the one making small talk." he pulled himself up and leaned forwards, his forearms resting on his knees. "Now what do you want, Elise?"

Ten years and she still flinched when he used her full name. Ten years. "You abandoned me." she said simply.

"You had made your decision." he replied, bored.

She stepped forward and pulled her jacket from her hips and rested it on her forearm. "I was sick, you said that it wasn't because of Besithia, why?" she was avoiding the true thing she wanted to talk about, and it made her sick, but as trivial as it was, she had to know.

He quirked a brow at her, seemingly thinking similar thoughts to her. "Where did these daemons come from? Do you think that they magically appeared with the darkness?" he clicked his tongue. "No, they are here in their great numbers, in part, due to Besithia- he wanted to turn you into one as well." he drummed his fingers together. "I prevented this, though perhaps I should have let him." he sent her a dark look.

She bit her lip. "Did you have any idea why I was sick?" she prompted.

He leaned back in the seat and slung a leg over one of the armrests. "At first, no." he answered honestly. "I began to suspect when the illness did not go away, your actions in Altissia confirmed the cause of your illness at least."

She frowned. Actions in Altissia? What did he mean? She had stood up to him and defended Ignis- she paused her thoughts. Was he implying that Ignis had something to do with her pregnancy? She almost laughed, it was completely absurd. "Why would you think that Ignis was the reason for my pregnancy?" there, she had said the words.

His eyes flashed black, causing her to step back cautiously. He reached into his coat and pulled out a square of paper. She eyed the square wearily as he pulled himself from the throne and inched darkly down the steps towards her. His gold eyes flashed menacingly as he held the paper out to her.

She eyed it, and him, cautiously as she reached up to take the paper from him. As her fingers touched it, she realised that it was a photo. Frowning she took it from him and flipped it over, her eyes widened. It was the photo of Ignis and her from the ruins, when she had told him that she would protect his secret affections for Noctis. She frowned, what did this photo tell Ardyn? She eyed her hand on Ignis' forearm, a friendly touch, did Ardyn take it as more? Did he look at their eyes locking in the photo and think something more than friendship? Her heart stopped. Had he been jealous?

She looked up at him and saw something flash in his eyes. He had been. He had been jealous of Ignis. Ignis of all people. She couldn't stop the laughter that rose from the back of her throat. The laughter was short lived, however as he reached forward and grasped her arm. She froze in terror at the expression on his face.

"What is so funny?" he hissed. "I like a good joke, do share."

"You were jealous of Ignis." she couldn't, even if she tried, hide her amusement... and her rage. "Ignis. You think that Ignis is the father of my daughter?" there was a hysterical edge to her voice.

"I saw how you were with him." he shot back. He stepped closer to her, his body towering over her, shadowing all traces of light. "How close the two of you we-" he froze, dumbstruck as her hand collided against his cheek with a sickening smack. He stilled, his mouth agape and he looked down at her.

"You bastard." she hissed, dropping her mag rod- though the urge to hit him with it was great- she placed her jacket on the ground beside it, and then she unleashed ten years of rage upon him. "How dare you!" she struck his chest with her fists. "All these years of pain!" her fists hurt from striking him, but she pushed on. "How dare you do this to me!" tears streamed down her face. "All those lonely nights, the pain..."

She let out a sound of pure pain and continued to pound against his chest. All the frustration and pain that she had felt over the years. All the nights she had cried alone because she missed him. Every emotion that he had caused over the last ten years, she expressed as she struck him. Strangely, or perhaps not, he allowed her to strike him. He stood there as still as a rock as she pounded his chest. She continued for what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes until she collapsed to the floor.

"Why did you do this to me..." she cried as she clutched at his legs. "The child is yours, there never was anyone else..." she sobbed into his leg. She felt him stiffen, then he knelt down in front of her, his gold eyes glittering strangely.

"What?" he asked quietly, his hands moving to cup her face.

She took a shaky breath and locked eyes with him, those beautiful eyes caused her to melt a little. "She's yours..." she shakily reached for her coat, her eyes didn't leave his as she fumbled for her jackets inner pocket. When she eventually found it she pulled out a little black book. "Here." she said passing him the tome."

He moved his eyes from her and looked down at the book in his hands. Slowly he opened the book, his hands trembling as he opened the page to a photo of Rain that had been taken a few days ago. She was standing by the weapons van, a smile on her face. He raised a shaky hand to the photo and touched the girl's face. Ellie watched as he collapsed to his knees, a tremble running through his body.

"Ardyn..." she whispered, reaching out to touch his hand, she felt her stomach twist as she felt the hand tremble.

"She looks just like you..." he said quietly, his eyes not leaving the photo.

Ellie shook her head. "No, she's all you..." she touched his hair. "Where else would she get her hair from?" she tried to joke, but It didn't feel like a joke.

He laughed, but it was hollow and empty, but it was still a laugh. "She has your face," he touched the face on the photo. "Your cheeks... your smile.." he clutched the photo to his chest. "I'm sorry Ellie..."

Ellie stared wide-eyed at the man before her. This was Ardyn. Ardyn who had covered the world in darkness and daemons. Ardyn whom she had known her entire life and who had never shown any emotion even close to this one. Ardyn, the man whom the world knew as a monster, was... crying before her. Crystal clear tears which said so much. She couldn't come close to comprehending how she was feeling in that moment, she could feel her own tears prickling in the corners of her eyes.

"Ardyn... I..." she reached out to him and pushed his hair behind his ear, her hand slid down to cup his face. "Oh... Ardyn." she wrapped shaky arms around him and pulled his face to her chest. She felt a piece of her break as he trembled in her arms. She let out a shaky sigh and pulled him closer, she inhaled into his hair and felt instantly warmed at the familiar scent. She felt him breathe in with a hitch, he dropped the book to the side as he returned the embrace, his arms wrapping around her tightly.

She raised a hand to his red locks and ran her fingers through them. She had missed this. Touching him, being close to him, the smell of him... simply being near him. She clutched him tighter and buried her face in his hair, inhaling deeply again. She continued to stroke him gently for some time, simply enjoying being close to him. When he pulled his face back from her chest, she said nothing of his red eyes, instead raised her fingers to his face to wipe away the wetness.

He tilted his face to her fingers and kissed the tips of them. "Thank you..." he whispered, his lips moving to the palm of her hand. "Thank you..." he reached for her arm and brushed his lips against the clothed skin, making his way towards her chest, causing her to shiver. The hint of a smile took his face as he inched up and brushed his lips against her throat, when she gasped and leaned her head back, his smile widened.

"Ardyn..." Ellie gasped as his other arm wound around her waist and pulled her to him. She clutched at his shoulders as he nipped at her neck- she had missed this.

"Would you..." he murmured as he nibbled on her earlobe. "Would you indulge me?" he moved to kiss her cheek.

She opened her eyes and locked them with his. "I-Indulge?"

He released her, causing her to make a sound of protest, and pulled himself up to stand. She watched his with a frown as he held a hand out to her. She took the offered hand and allowed herself to be pulled up to stand. She tilted her head at him and frowned as he smiled serenely at her. "Come." he said simply, pulling her to follow him.

She allowed herself to be walked to to... the throne? She frowned at the chair, then at Ardyn who walked up the steps and sat himself upon the throne, a grin upon his face he gestured for her to join him. Hesitantly she headed up the steps towards him. As she got closer she took his extended hand, then let out a gasp as she was pulled into his lap.

"Wha-" she fumbled in his lap.

He adjusted her position so that she was sitting on his lap. He tilted his head. "Indulge me?"

Her eyes widened as she realised what he was asking. "Y-you want?" she looked at what they were currently sitting on. "H-here?!" she wasn't sure if she could do that, it would be a betrayal of everyone she knew and everything that they stood for. She could only imagine what Ignis and Loqi would have to say about it...actually Loqi would probably find it funny in private.

He rolled his hips against hers, causing her to close her eyes with a moan. "Please, Ellie?" he leaned up and nipped at her chin, the action causing him to brush against her again. "Please?"

She looked down and locked eyes with his glittering ones. "Is this what you truly want?"

He reached up and touched her cheek tenderly,his face turning serious. "Please Ellie, I won't see you again after tonight, this is all I ask, please." he pulled her face down and brushed his lips against hers. The kiss was filled with so much, so many emotions that she couldn't pick up on, but what she did feel caused her heart to ache. He was saying goodbye.

She let out a shaky breath as he pulled his lips away. She opened her mouth to say something, but paused. This moment needed no more words, there were none that she could say right now, so instead she allowed her actions to speak for her. She leaned down and pushed her lips against his while she reached down to tug at his shirts. She felt him smile against her lips and his hands reached for the buttons of her shirt.

X

She pushed her naked chest against his as the chill of the room began to hit the sweat on her back. "You should get dressed Dear." she heard him murmur into her shoulder. She shook her head and clutched him tighter. She didn't want to get dressed. Getting dressed meant that the moment was over. Getting dressed meant that it was time for her to leave- she wasn't ready for that.

"I don't want to leave you..." she mumbled,voicing her thoughts as she buried her face in his hair. She shivered as his hand touched her back to rub soothing circles.

"The prince will be here soon... you need to go." he continued to rub her back, a contradiction to his words. He held up the black book that she had brought with her. "May I keep this?" when she nodded he smiled and lifted his vest so that he could tuck it into one of his pockets.

"I'll stay with you, defend you one last time." she said as she watched him rise and gather his clothes.

"You're not ready, you have people that need you." he turned to her and pushed her hair back gently and frowned as he saw her tears. He reached down and rubbed her cheek gently. "You cannot die for me."

She shook her head again but allowed herself to be pulled up to stand. She watched him dress himself while she did the same. If he allowed her to, she would have stayed, she would die defending him. If he had told her years ago his plans, she would have gone with him, it would have destroyed her, having a part in ending the world, but she still would have stayed with him. Once she was dressed, she jumped at the feeling of something being put on her head. She looked up to his smiling face and she reached up to her head, she felt his hat upon her head.

"But..."

He pulled another hat out of seemingly nowhere. "I have spares..." he winked before putting his coat on her shoulders. "I have a spare of this as well." he watched as she pulled the coat around her and inhaled the scent. "Now I have something for you." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, he passed them to her with a jingle, then gestured for her to follow him.

Confusion etched on her face, she allowed herself to be led from the throne room and down a fleet of stairs that led to a dark, almost pitch black room. Unease filled her, where had he taken her? She opened her mouth to ask where they were, when he clapped his hands. She blinked rapidly as the room filled with light and her eyes adjusted to the area. She blinked in confusion. She was in a car garage.

"I want you to take this, she should get you out of the city safely." he stepped towards a car, a car that she hadn't seen in years.

Her eyes watered again as she walked to the red car. His car. "Ardyn...I..."

He shook his head, a smile on his face. "That's an order Ellie."

She let out a sob. "You're not my Boss anymore..." her shoulder's shook. "You're not my Boss..."

"My final order then." he said simply. "Please Ellie."

She threw herself against him, pushed her lips against his and poured everything that was her into the kiss. She used the the kiss to say everything she had ever wanted to say and more, and when she pulled back, she said it, to make sure that the message got across. "I love you." she whispered and felt him tremble beneath her fingertips.

"Go Ellie." he said quietly. He touched her cheek one last time before stepping away. He watched her as she climbed into the car. She was silent as she did so, she started the car and gripped the wheel tightly as she moved the car followed the garage out of the palace. When she reached the exit of the garage, she took one last look back at him, he was waving at her with his hat, causing her to let out a choked laugh and she resisted the urge to turn the car back to him, even though every fibre in her body wanted to do so.

She continued on into the city, from there she drove untouched by daemons and she did not stop her journey until she was back in Hammerhead, where Loqi and Raine were waiting for her. She pulled the car in by her trailer and tightened her hands around the wheel with a shaky breath. She had done it, she had seen him and soon he would be gone. Dead. A tremor ran through her body. She heard the door open beside her with a click, a soft hand touched hers.

"Mum.. are you alright?" her voice was quiet and filled with worry.

Ellie turned to her daughter and felt her stomach twist as images of Ardyn flashed before her eyes. She reached forward and touched the girls cheek, she stroked it gently and smiled weakly. "I'm alright love," she turned in her seat so that her legs were out of the car, she then pulled the youth into her arms. "I'm alright..."

"Elise." Loqi frowned and crossed his arms, she couldn't tell if it was worry or something else in his eyes.

"Did he give you the coat, and the hat?" Raine whispered into her mother's ears.

Ellie pulled back and lifted the hat from her head, she had almost forgotten that she was wearing it. As she removed it from her head two pieces of paper fluttered down from the inside of the hat. Rain jumped back as Ellie reached down to pick them up. As she grasped the squares she realised that they were photo's, she heard Loqi ask what they were as she flipped them over. She found herself unable to speak and her eyes widened. He had kept them. She thought that he had lost them in the car, but he had in fact, kept them. She hastily hid the photo of them against the rock in a pocket of his, her, coat- it wouldn't do well for anyone to see that particular photo. The other however, she held carefully and took in every aspect of it. It was old and somewhat worn, but you could see creases in it where it had been held- he had held onto it for all of these years...

"Oh my..." she heard Loqi's incredulous words- she didn't need to look up, she could hear his eyebrow raised.

"Is that... my father?" Raine asked and she reached out to touch the photo.

Ellie looked up at her with wet eyes. "It is." she nodded.

"You two look... happy." she said quietly.

"We were." Ellie smiled at the memory of their kisses, their hugs... her chasing after him whenever he ran off because he had a short attention span when shopping. As she remembered all of their times together, the more she loved him, were that possible. She slowly placed the photo into her pocket along with it's partner where she would keep it safe. "I'll tell you everything you want to know... soon, tonight, right now I want to.. I want to watch." she looked towards her snipers nest.

Raine looked as though she wanted to protest, but Loqi placed a hand on her shoulder's. "Come, you can help me get dinner ready." he pulled her away as Ellie climbed out of the car and made her way to her spot.

She sat there for hours, staring out into the distance. When the light returned to the world, she knew it had happened.

She pulled herself up and readied herself for the questions that awaited her.

She owed it to Raine... and him...

x

"Thanks Mama for watching her." A boy in his twenties, with short, unruly red curls and green eyes said as he picked up the four year old girl in a blue dress and placed her on his hip. "I really appreciate it."

Ellie's eyes crinkled as she smiled. "You're quite welcome." she reached a wrinkled hand out to ruffle the girl's own head of red curls- apparently Ardyn's hair could not be bred out of the family. "I love looking after Rin."

"Mama." the girl protested and reached up to straighten her hair. She poked her tongue out at her laughing grandmother- no Great Grandmother. Her eyes then locked onto the mug in the older woman's other hand. "Can I have some of your chocolate milk?"

Ellie looked down at the mug in her hand, then back at her granddaughter. "I'm sorry love, this one is special- but I can give you a tin to take home and you can have some when you get there?" she laughed as the girl bounced on her father's hip.

"Yay! I want! I want!"

The boy, her father, smiled fondly at the child. "I'll go get it Mama-"

"No," Ellie cut him off. "I'll go- it'll take me barely a minute." She was correct. It took her exactly one minute to get the tin of chocolate, even at her age, she knew the house like the back of her hand- Ardyn had left her more than the car. "Here you go." she said as she walked back into the main foyer, she passed the girl the tin and smiled into her mug as the girl cuddled the tin.

"Look after her, Martin." she addressed her grandson. "Yourself as well."

Martin smiled, apparently Ardyn's smile was passed down the generations as well. "I will Mama- we'll see you in a few days, take care of yourself- I don't want you falling down those stairs..." he sent a look to the stairs leading up to the second floor.

Ellie rolled her eyes. The stairs had been a point of argument between her and her family, Raine constantly begged her to move into a smaller house, one with less stairs and tripping hazards- she had not changed Ardyn's décor, she had added to it though, causing more "tripping hazards". "Worry about your daughter, not me." she sipped at her drink.

"Daddy, I want chocolate milk, can we go home?" Rin piped, watching her grandmother drinking.

Martin smiled wryly. "Alright," he sighed. "lets get you home." he walked to the front door and opened it, before stepping through the threshold he turned back to Elise. "Take care."

Careful to not spill her drink, Elise pulled the two into a hug. "I love you both." she squeezed them and kissed their cheeks. "Take care loves." she pulled back and smiled at them. She watched them as they walked across the front yard to the red car, the car that had once been his, but as she got older, had given it to Martin- it's not like she was getting around much these days anyway. She waved to the car as it pulled away, when it was out of sight she closed the door and walked up to the study.

The study had not changed much in all the years, some new books, but it had stayed the same- a lot cleaner than it had every been since Ellie had take over. She walked over to the leather seat and sat at the desk. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone, she clicked a number and put the phone to her ear, after a few rings it was answered.

"Hey Mum."

Ellie smiled and sipped her drink. "Hi Dear, just calling to see how you are." she fingered the rim of her drink and assessed how much she had left, not much.

"I'm alright, nothing much has changed since I saw you the other day. How about you? I heard you watched Rin?"

"I did," Ellie sighed happily. "She's such a sweetie, always happy to run through the flowers in the garden." she waved her hand with excitement, even though Raine could not see her. "And her dresses! She's always dressed like a princess- gods love her."

"How was Martin? I haven't seen him in a while, apparently he has time to visit you but all I get is a phone call."

She could see Raine's eye roll, even if she physically couldn't. "He does live closer to me Dear, it's not easy to get to new Altissia from here, especially when he has a chocobo farm to look after." she heard Raine 'tsk' and smiled. "How is Li?" she changed the subject with a sip of her drink. Ellie listened for the next hour as her daughter talked about how she and her husband, Li, were working on designs for the latest parts of the Altissian rebuilds. She enjoyed the passion in her daughter's voice, and the love that she had for her work.

"Anyway Mum, I have to get some sleep soon- lot's of work in the morning."

"Of course, I love you Raine."

There was a pause, then. "I love you too Mum, are you okay? You sound... off..."

"I'm fine Dear, goodbye Rainie."

"Bye Mum."

When the phone disconnected, Ellie flipped through her contacts and dialled another number. She jumped when it was answered almost instantly. "Yes Ellie?" she smiled, Loqi sounded annoyed, that being said, he always sounded annoyed.

"Did I interrupt something?" she teased.

"What? No! Why do you always assume that?"

"Because you're an old pervert. I don't know how Ignis puts up with you." she heard a fumbling of the phone on the other end.

"Some days, I wonder the same thing-" "Give me the phone back!" she heard more fumbling, then Loqi's voice again. "Anyway, what do you want?"

"What a way to speak to your cousin." She heard Ignis tut.

Ellie laughed. "I don't want anything, I just wanted to see how you are, check in, you know?" she sipped her drink then checked how much was left. Not much now.

Loqi made a sound, and she heard Ignis say something, but she couldn't tell what it was, it seemed to irritate Loqi- again he was always annoyed. "I am well, Ignis is well, we are currently-"

"Loqi!"

"What? The lady fucked Ardyn Izunia, I really doubt she cares if we're-"

"Loqi!"

Ellie threw her head back with laughter- she loved listening to the two when they fought like this, he was so glad that they hadn't changed in all of the years. "It's okay, I have to go soon, I just wanted to see how you were... and to tell you, thank you, for everything that you've done for me." she pushed her white hair behind her ear as she felt her face heat up. "All of these years... you two have been rocks for me, thank you so much."

"Elise..." came Ignis' voice. "Are you alright?"

"Ellie..." Loqi's voice took a serious tone.

Ellie waved her hand dismissively. "I'm okay, truly... I just wanted to thank you, I'm feeling old and sentimental."

"Ellie..." Loqi's voice was warning.

"I'm fine," she reassured. "Look, I need to go... I love you both, thank you for everything."

"Elise, we will always be there for you and I'm sure that if Loqi were not scowling in such a childish way, he would agree with me."

"Iggy! Ugh.. fine... Ellie, you know we love you- now stop being a sentimental old biddy and get some sleep- isn't it late in the Empire?"

Ellie chuckled. "Goodbye Ignis, Goodbye Loqi, thank you." she ended the call and put her phone on the desk. She looked down at her mug and downed the rest of her drink. With a whistful smile, she pulled herself up from the desk and left the room, clicking the door closed behind her. She walked across the hall to her room, his room. She then proceeded to get herself ready for bed, she brushed her teeth, did her hair and changed into a white silk nightdress. It was the same routine that she had had for the last few decades, tonight it was different. Tonight she opened her wardrobe and pulled out a coat and a hat, she donned the coat and carried the hat with her to the bed.

She put the hat on the pillow opposite to her as she laid in the bed, the coat giving her a stronger warmth than her blanket could. He hadn't seen the coat in years, hadn't taken it out in years. She had lifter her life and tried not to despair with her memories, she smiled, she had had a pretty good life. She snuggled into the bed and hugged the coat, which still smelled of him, and went to sleep.

She opened her eyes and blinked rapidly, everything was so bright. She rubbed her eyes as the world around her faded to colours, swirling clouds of blues, purples, blacks and greys. She turned around, the clouds moving as she did, where was she?

"Hello?" She said quietly, there was a white flash in the clouds but then they went back to normal. She pressed her hands to her mouth in a cup and called out. "Hello!"

The clouds flashed white again, the light causing her to notice her fingers... they were young again. She frowned and looked down at her chest, which her nightdress barely covered, again there were no wrinkles. She was... young again? She touched her face, no wrinkles.

She wrapped the coat around her and shivered, the action made her notice the hat on her head. She reached up and grasped it, when had that happened? Her eyes widened as she caught sight of her dark hair. As she reached up to touch her hair, realisation hit her.

It had happened.

As her revelation hit her, the clouds suddenly shone a blinding white, a beam of light shot through and stood before her. The light pulsed, then with each pulse grew, pushing the clouds away. Ellie flinched as the light pushed past her, but it did not affect her. She covered her eyes with her forearm as the light became blinding. Then all of a sudden the light was gone, and she felt a warmth, like the sun, touching her.

She pulled her arm away from her eyes and gasped. She was in a beautiful field of wildflowers.

"T-This..."

"It's been a long time, Dear Ellie..." A voice said from behind her.

She gasped, she had not heard that voice in years... she turned, her chest tightened painfully but her heart seemed to be pounding at the same time. He was there, not four feet from her.

He removed his hat an bowed to her. "It's good to see you my-" before he could say any more he found himself with an armful of Elise. "...Dear..." he smiled warmly and wrapped his arms around her.

"I've missed you so..." she mumbled into his chest. "Is this a dream?" she looked up with worried eyes as panic began to set in, she didn't know if she would be able to cope if this was a dream.

He shook his head. "No, this is real..." he pushed her hair behind her ear. "You've lived a long life."

She smiled and pulled back so that she could look up at him. "I have so much to tell you."

His hand slid down her face and his fingers brushed against her lips. "I want to hear everything."

She smiled a beautiful smile. "I love you." she felt him tremble against her.

"Dear Ellie..." he pulled her in for a kiss.

She clutched at him and held him as tight as she could. Warm. She felt warm. Being with him, she felt complete.

She was home.

A/N: Well this is the end, I hope that you guys enjoyed the story and thank you for reading!