Last chapter! Oh no! Listening to Circa Survive—adds to this dramatic chapter. Listen to "Your friends are gone." Bangin' song right there.

Metal hinges screeched as the scanner door pulled open, almost simultaneously as the elevator doors tore themselves apart. When the mist cleared, Yumi sprinted towards the opening scanner.

Odd wobbled as his limbs finally got themselves apart, and suddenly realized he was alive—he felt his chest, solid, real; his heart, beating fast and full of life.

Then why did he feel so empty?

Exhausted, he collapsed into the arms of awaiting Yumi, who wrapped her long arms around his small frame and squeezed with all her might.

"Odd—ODD!" she shouted, tears pooling at her eyes. Confused for a moment, Odd pried himself loose from her grasp and looked at his now sniffling and tear-stained friend.

"It's me, it's Yumi—really me—I'm back. You're back. We're all back!" Yumi threw her arms around him once more and cried into his shoulder, her sobs of joy and sorrow shaking through her and onto him, and he suddenly felt even more empty then he had when he'd first awakened.

"We aren't all back."

Not startled, she looked up, her tear-filled eyes full of knowingness. "Yes. We aren't, are we?"

Yumi stood up, grabbing Odd's hand and holding onto it even as she pulled him up onto his feet. Regaining his balance, he glanced around the scanner room, hoping that Aelita would appear from behind the closed doors, materialized and real.

But, as he stepped onto the elevator, Yumi still holding his hand, he realized that Aelita, his love, his best friend, was truly gone.

The elevator heaved and lurched to the computer room, where Jeremie was standing apologetically by the awaiting doors, Ulrich at his side. For a moment, the four stood still, drinking each other in, as if they'd forgotten what each other had looked like over the past few months. Odd looked at his closest friends, seeing them for what they truly were; Yumi, the tough-but-loyal friend. Jeremie, the smart, understanding, friend. And Ulrich, the friend that would protect you with your life, do anything for you.

And then, behind him, somewhere in Lyoko—no, somewhere beyond Lyoko—was Aelita, an eternally frozen digital girl, who'd stole his heart, who'd been much more then what she came off as.

Aelita.

In silence, they all moved forward at the same exact time. Arms reached out, bodies together, and without words they said so much in just a few moments, making a silent promise. They were all inseparable; wound together like links on a chain, the true four who had discovered this messy factory, who'd fought XANA, who'd dodged his attempts, and saved the world. The same four who would walk out together into a world that was shadowed by this war, and maybe even become heroes.

Through this, they vowed, they would stay friends, no matter what had happened in their lives, whoever may die, they will still be inseparable.

In this world, and the next.

The four stepped back into the elevator, taking it back up to the ground floor. With their arms around each other, they stepped out into the awaiting crowed of soldiers, located on a battlefield that had once been the river. Now, of course, it was a field filled with dead bodies, belonging to both sides of the enemies; humans and XANAs. The soldiers were celebrating, dancing and whooping and crying as the sun dipped below the rolling desert dunes, casting a golden glow over the paralyzed machinery bodies that lay before them.

Unconsciously, suddenly Ulrich tore apart from the group and walked slowly over towards a pile of scrap metal, which once may have belonged a krab. He took the claw in his arm, examining it for a moment, before he reached down and plucked a piece of scrap metal from what appeared to be the brain of a disembodied block.

Quietly, he scraped the edge of the sharp krab claw against the block's skin, until it became engraved. For nearly ten minutes, as Yumi and Jeremie were occupied in surveying the battlefield, Odd stood above him, watching him carve into the block's heard with the claw.

Finally, when he was finished, the scrap read: XANA'S WAR.

"It is his war," Ulrich then said, standing up, holding out the metal piece to Odd. "I want people to remember that. To remember XANA."

The four, Odd knew, would become heroes when this was done—why, Yumi and Jeremie were already getting assaulted with hugs from the surviving soldiers from the battle field, their shouts and cries echoing into the twilight air.

Odd looked back at Ulrich, and he at once understood what this mean. This piece was the last that was left of XANA. The rest of him was gone, shattered into microscopic digital bits, scattered into the remaining parts of Lyoko that would soon no longer exist. This was his war. This was his legend.

Odd leaned the metal up against the factory wall so that the words faced out into the battle field. Cries, shouts, screams, all came from the hallow shells and ghosts of what had once been XANA's warriors, their bodies being thrashed and kicked until they were practically nonexistent.

Odd put his arm around Ulrich, wile Jeremie and Yumi rejoined with the two. They stood like that, clinging onto each other, standing out and facing the setting sun.

The war was over.

They had lost so many; Odd had no more family, Ulrich's father had been killed, who knows about Jeremie's family. Yumi's brother had been killed when she'd been captured, all those months ago.

But not, as the sun set, the four looked out into a new beginning—the face of the future they'd been dreaming they would once had. The future without XANA, where the world was safe from destruction, holding normal and happy lives for all of them. In that dream, however, Aelita had been standing right beside them, her arm linked with theirs, her face just as hopeful as all of their own.

"We came in as four," Yumi said to no one in particular, "And here we are, leaving as four."

They boys nodded.

The world had been molded together by XANA; perhaps it was good this war had even happened. Nearly three billion people had been killed during his furious reign, and the rest had banned together to try to fight back, to stop and put and end to this war. Boundaries had been covered by thick layers of desert sand; race was suddenly labeled as: survivor. Despite your heritage, your skin color.

It was all truly over.

The world needed to rebuild itself. The people would work together and make something of it all, clean up the mess, start over. XANA would not get in their way. Maybe wars would not even happen again; who knew?

"It's over," said Yumi, smiling. "We're free."

"We're heroes," Jeremie said, almost laughing. "I can't believe it."

"I guess we are," Ulrich said quietly, "But you know, we still have a lot of work to be done before we can be praised."

"I say we dedicate this moment to Aelita," Odd said suddenly, not bothering to look at his friends. They all nodded solemnly.

"To Aelita," they chanted.

"To Aelita." Odd whispered.

The sun slid under the dunes; night had begun. But for Odd and his friends, it was a new day that began for him, XANA free.

All that was left was the start over.

The End

Ha, can you believe it? IT'S OVER. Well, sort of, I've got a short epilog I was planning to do, so eh, let's give it a try. I'm planning on also going through and re-doing things; someday. Not now. Not soon.

Not the ending I'd hoped to have, but then again, I'm not sure what I'd hoped at all. I mean, what are they supposed to do? Mushy-ending? Please. Let's be realistic.

Hope you enjoyed it! I loved writing it. 2 years old, baby! Came up with the idea by watching We were Soldiers. Don't ask. Didn't think many people would like it.

Thanks for all your support! Short sequel epilog, and then it's done. Thank you very much.