A/N: Thanks to XIII Riku, Psycho Kitty Alchemist, japaneserockergirl, Legendary Chimera, singintoyourself, TSD and RikuLover211 for reviewing! Thanks also to XIII Riku and Legendary Chimera for the author alert adds, special thanks to xxxChaoticHarmonyxxx for the favorite story add and very special thanks to Legendary Chimera for the favorite author add!

So, here we are, the end of Omega Dawn. I never thought it'd take me two years, but that's how it goes, I guess. And, now that I'm at the end of this tale, I have to give a very special thank-you to everyone that's reviewed, and if you reviewed multiple times, then you get even more gratitude and awesome points. If you reviewed every single chapter, then you are a truly fantastic person! The same goes to everyone who's added me to an alerts or favorites list--you guys rock!

I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any of the characters within its universe. I do own my OCs (and if you're reading this chapter, you probably should know who they are by now!). The Classic Crime owns the lyrics. And now, the end!

Epilogue

And I knew that this would happen; it always does.
And I couldn't stop my reaction, so I let it come. I let it come.
I still hold the belief that we are free,
That we don't need the rules to see
That despite what we've done, we're not alone.
We're closer than we think to home.

The Classic Crime—"Closer Than We Think"

The duo arrived on the islands in the dead of night. They said brief farewells and went to their houses with little conversation—the exhaustion of the battle had finally caught up with them. Both were asleep within five minutes of entering their homes, and neither awoke until late afternoon. Kairi was the first to rise; seeing that the weather was perfect, she showered and put on her black bikini before heading into the ocean. Selphie, Tidus and Wakka were there as well, and she killed a few hours with them before going home, changing and sitting on a dock. She didn't normally do this sort of thing; usually it was Naminé that was the artsy one, and she was gone…Kairi drove the thought from her mind. She looked over the ocean to behold a beautiful sunset; the sky was clad in a soft pink, streaked almost artfully with crimson and gold. She sighed deeply.

Be happy. We just killed Ruxik. We saved the worlds. I'm still alive. This should be a good day.

You know what, it is. I'm okay again. I honestly feel happy with or without Sora. I guess I just had to hit bottom before I could feel like this.

Riku rose from bed about an hour after Kairi; one glance at the clock had him laughing. "6:00? Personal best," he chuckled to himself. He showered, got dressed (groaning several times at his sore muscles), ate and was about to head outside when a thought struck him.

Darythas? You there?

Ah, you must have figured it out. Yes, I am here, but not for much longer. My mission was to keep you and Kairi from avoiding my mistakes, and I seem to have done so. The Princesses will likely allow me passage into the afterlife now. And, I must say, as impressed as I am with you and how well you handled Ruxik, heaven sounds somewhat more pleasant. Riku could almost hear a smile in Darythas's voice.

I can understand that, he replied. Well, then, I guess I better not keep you waiting. Thanks for watching out for me…I'll keep what you've said in mind.

You would do well to do so, Darythas replied formally. Farewell, Riku. Do not lose control of the Fire, and guard your heart. As long as the Heartless exist, there will be Nobodies, and there will be beings more powerful than you can imagine—stay strong.

Will do. Goodbye, Darythas.

A few seconds later, Riku felt something like a light breeze rush through his insides—the ancient Keyblader had left. He didn't feel exceptionally emotional—he had never been one for tearful farewells, and he had never felt that close to Darythas anyway. Besides all this, something attracted his attention as he left his house—a small piece of lined paper. Riku saw writing and instinctively picked up the note, reading an untidily written sentence.

I'm going to surprise her.

Riku read the note several times, trying to understand it. On the fifth try something clicked in his mind. "No," he gasped aloud. "It can't be…"

Well, he has been looking for him for a while now…guess I can't tell her about this. Trying to slow his furiously beating heart, he walked down the beach, looking for Kairi. I want to see this when it happens.

He found her sitting on the dock, dangling her feet off of the edge. She seemed fairly relaxed, and Riku couldn't blame her—there was nothing like the sun over the ocean.

As he approached, Kairi heard his footsteps and turned around. "Hey, world-saving hero, way to be a bum," she taunted.

"I think I've earned myself a good nap," Riku responded casually, sitting down on the side of the dock. "How are you?"

"A bit sore, but I'm pretty okay otherwise," she replied. "You?"

"Same—I guess I could have expected the pain, though," he answered. He happened to cast a glance back to the island and nearly fell off the dock—he could have sworn he saw a mess of brown hair in the bushes.

"Um…you okay?" Kairi asked, puzzled.

"What? Oh, I'm just clumsy…must not be completely awake yet," he muttered, hoping his alibi would be successful.

She shook her head. "Yeah, okay. Maybe you should actually wake up when normal people do."

"Okay, give me a break—I just destroyed Ruxik!"

"So did I."

Riku shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Who dealt the final blow?"

"Who summoned a giant hammer that made him weak enough to kill?"

"You had help with that one."

"Could you have done that alone?"

"Probably."

"You'd have to be a Princess of Heart, remember? So you'd have to be a girl…and I'm sure you wouldn't want that," Kairi retorted smartly.

Riku threw his hands up in defeat. "Okay, okay, you win," he said. He looked back to the shore and saw a tall figure approaching. Knowing what was coming, he smiled widely as he turned to Kairi. "And, as the winner, you deserve a prize!"

"What, are you going to throw me in the ocean? If you do that, I swear…wait—where are you going?" She saw Riku leaving the dock. "Riku? Wait--what did I say?! How did I--"

She stopped midsentence. Who's that over there? She squinted for better vision and gasped at what she saw.

"No…way…" She rubbed her eyes and looked again. That's no mirage… She spun around, stood up and took off running.

By this point Riku was back on shore, giving the approaching figure a triumphant high five. "She's all yours." He continued on his way, looking over his shoulder with a grin.

Kairi stopped only feet from this tall figure. The spiky brown hair, the soft blue eyes, the deeply tanned skin…it had to be an illusion.

"S-s-s…Sora?" She couldn't bring herself to believe it—until she heard his voice. That husky tenor, the unbreakable confidence, the strange ability to make a smile audible…

"That's me."

Kairi could have sworn time stopped. She stared dumbly for what felt like an hour, gaping at the gorgeous boy standing in front of her, the only boy she'd ever loved, the boy she hadn't seen in nearly a year, the boy whose absence had nearly ruined her…

And now he was back.

She tried to speak, but could not force any of the myriad of thoughts in her mind to make coherent words. Everything tried to leave her head at once, and none of it made sense. In desperation she threw her arms around Sora and cried. She had never felt so overwhelmed.

Sora quietly returned the favor, pulling Kairi closer and holding her for some time. Eventually he took a step back so that he could reach her face and wipe off a tear.

"Okay, now the sappy part's kicking in," a voice called obnoxiously. Kairi searched for the offender with a glare and saw Riku standing about twenty yards away.

"Guess that's my cue to leave," he added, turning his back. That's what I get for ruining the moment, I guess.

Kairi and Sora watched him leave for a few minutes before turning to face each other again, both enraptured by the other's smile. They stood silently for another few minutes before Kairi broke the silence.

"How…how did you get back?" She really didn't care how she was in this boy's arms again, but he had died, and returning from the dead seemed to be a topic worthy of conversation.

"Thank this guy," Sora replied. He shivered once, and an apparition of Roxas appeared by his side.

"Roxas? How?" This answer only spawned more questions from Kairi.

"Eh, I hunted for his body for a while, then I just hopped back in, and voila…life," Roxas replied with a shrug. "But really, don't thank me…thank her." He pointed to Kairi's torso.

"Me? What did I do?" Kairi looked down, confused…and gasped as she saw a familiar blonde in a white dress.

"Naminé?! I thought…you were…" She found herself tongue-tied again and finished her sentence with a hug before remembering that Naminé was intangible. Naminé returned the embrace, a wide smile on her face.

"Gone? Yeah, I was bailing out that punk," she laughed, pointing to Roxas. "I knew you needed Sora…he has half your heart, and Roxas has half of mine. You couldn't go on without him. I tried to help, but I'm not perfect…so I had to do something desperate. I couldn't tell you why I was going…I didn't know if I'd succeed, and I didn't know if Roxas would if I did. And if we failed…well, we saw what almost happened."

"Wait…you were there? With Ruxik?" Even in her state of emotional shock, Kairi caught this detail.

"I control memories, remember? I was looking into yours as soon as I got back to the island…I just couldn't find you in time. So anyway…you're probably thinking how I got him out. I stole the Oblivion Keychain and used it to open up Oblivion. It was basically a jailbreak. And then we landed here…the rest is history. Here's that keychain back, by the way." She revealed a keychain in the shape of a black crown attached to several loops of black chain.

"Naminé…" Kairi said, shaking her head in amazement as she took the keychain. "…You're the best."

"Aw, thanks, I try," Naminé answered happily. "But don't waste your time with me; I think you've got some catching up to do with that spiky-haired kid over there…"

"Same with you and the blonde one," Kairi retorted.

"Okay, I get it, we'll leave," Roxas said in false martyrdom, putting his arm around Naminé. "Come on, obviously they want some privacy for some reason…" Laughing, the two Nobodies walked further inland.

Beaming, Kairi turned back to Sora. "I don't know how they pulled that off."

"Me neither," Sora answered. "But I'm not complaining."

"Neither am I," Kairi said, placing her head on Sora's shoulder and smiling at how comfortable it was. Eventually she forced herself away to gaze into Sora's eyes again.

It was Sora who broke the silence (somewhat awkwardly) this time. "So…are…things with us…going back to how they were?"

"Mm-hm," Kairi mumbled.

"Any idea when that could happen?" The pleasure on Sora's face was radiant.

Kairi rolled her eyes slightly, feigning deep thought. "Mmm…now would be nice."

Sora couldn't suppress a chuckle. "Y'know, I couldn't stop thinking about you, Kairi."

She frowned. "You were dead!"

Sora shook his head, still smiling. "Some people kept me in some sort of limbo for a while—they told me that I might be back. So I had some time on my hands."

"And of all the people you know and all the things that could've gone through your mind, you thought about me? Not the fact that you were dead?"

"Why waste time thinking about what's not important?" Sora replied, still suave even after death. Noting Kairi's blush, he slowly pressed his lips to Kairi's. She was somewhat surprised, but she was far from complaining; soon not the tiniest part of her mind could escape from this boy.

Well, her mind had been that way for quite some time, but she was actually happy about it. No... "happy" didn't begin to describe the fire coursing through her veins.

"Man, they're not wasting any time…"

At this point Riku finally forced himself to stop watching the reunited couple. It wasn't meant to be a creeper's move; it was merely the result of curiosity. He wanted to see how Kairi would react to the sudden reappearing of her long-lost lover. He didn't feel snubbed by Sora—he knew the two would hang out soon, and they'd be the best of friends again within hours. He wasn't jealous of Sora either—Ruxik had promised the way to Kairi's heart, but he didn't want that. He couldn't take Kairi from Sora—he could never forgive himself, even if Kairi could.

Why would Ruxik tell me that, though? Did he honestly think I was still fighting for Kairi's heart? He's not that stupid…he was on his deathbed. Maybe he was desperate…

Whatever. I don't want to think about him right now. Sora's back, Kairi's okay, the worlds are safe for a while…everything's going to go back to normal soon.

His eyes happened to catch another glimpse of the lovers, still conjoined at the lip. He forced his gaze away and sighed.

Which means I'll be going back to wishing I have what they have.

A/N: And that's the end! In case you were wondering, yes, a sequel is on the way, and hopefully I'll get that done in less than two years! God bless all of you readers; I've had a lot of fun with this! See you with the next story!