Alright, so here we are. The conclusion to this story. But before you go and get TOO upset over it, there is something you should know, this is not the end. It continues on in the sequel that is currently being written. So, now that you know that little fact the normal stuff shall continue as usual.

Erol, Torn, and Ashelin belong to Naughty Dog. Jance, Kaen, Valen, Ripp, Leeta, Cayden, and Aaric are ours. Knives are mine. Now that all that's out of the way...

Enjoy!

The week passed quickly and in practically no time it was the big day for Torn and Ashelin.

Jance walked over to Kaen, "Hey," he wasn't properly dressed yet.

"Hey." She, on the other hand, was ready to go and was not happy at all about it. "You're not ready yet."

"Nah, it'll take all of five minutes." He flicked his hand in a noncommittal gesture.

"You astound me. I've been attacked by every servant under the sun for the past four hours…" She shook her head. "I'll be glad when this is over."

"I was thinking..."

"A dangerous thing. Continue."

He smirked, "Since we're both in the wedding party, we're required to have an escort, correct? Do you have one yet?"

"Not yet. Is this an invitation?"

"Yes."

She smiled, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. I should probably go get ready now. So...see you in a while I guess..."

"Yeah." Kaen managed another grin, it was getting easier.

He gave her a nod before heading back the way he'd come.

She turned away, heart breaking. It could have been her, should have been her. And now… Gone, as if it never existed.

--

Ripp leaned against the doorframe looking in at Leeta and her brother, "You ready to go yet?" He felt extremely out of place, a tuxedo was definitely not something he was accustomed to wearing.

"I am," Leeta said, getting up from the chair she'd been sitting in. Her brother was still completely bedridden. "I'm afraid to say Cayden is staying here."

Her brother growled a few swears in her direction before he settled down in his bed to sulk.

"Cheer up Cayden, it's not that bad."

"You're not trying to watch over two girls that you can't even see! You will keep an eye on Kaen, won't you Ripp?"

"Of course."

The man closed his eyes. "Then go and have fun. I'll be here when you get back."

Leeta smiled at her brother, "Don't sulk." She turned to her boyfriend. "Let's go!"

Ripp grinned at her and held out his hand.

She took it happily. One day it'd be her.

He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"We're going to be late Ripp!" she laughed, "We must go now!"

"I know, I know." And he led her out of the room.

--

Valen stood by his window, staring blankly at the outside world. He was happy for the couple, but he couldn't help but to be worried for her Ladyship. What would become of her that night?

--

Erol stood in his bathroom, looking at himself, debating. If he covered the tattoos, he'd be unrecognizable, which would be good and bad. Most likely it'd just end up being a problem for him. For a moment he doubted himself, but forced the thought from his mind, if he didn't do this, he'd die again, and there was no way Aaric would be bringing him back again. He focused on Kaen, on his objective.

--

Kaen looked over herself once more, deciding that, after the wedding was over, she'd kill Ashelin for making her wearing such a dress. She twisted the ring on her finger nervously, before leaving her room and heading down the stairs. It was time.

Jance looked up as she came down. He'd styled his hair to hide the scars as best he could and it was driving him insane. He managed a forced smile, "Someone looks nice."

"I look like I'm about to work the streets," she said irritably, glaring at the dress for the thousandth time that day.

"Well, if you are, you're the prettiest hooker I ever saw."

She smiled. "Why thank you. I feel complimented."

He grinned, "Anytime."

"Shall we go then?"

"I believe we shall."

"I hope this turns out well," she said to him as the limo pulled up in front of the manor.

"It will. I know it will."

The wedding wasn't anything special - not big, overly fancy or well publicized. Torn looked like he might vomit during most of the ceremony, which Kaen couldn't help but find amusing. It was only at 'I do' part of the wedding did she begin to feel the hatred. If she could have, she would have left right then, but she couldn't. So she toughed her way through the last bit of the wedding.

Once the wedding was over - including the demeaning hugging as people left - Kaen wasted nearly no time getting out of there. The reception would be only an hour after the wedding and, despite her early opinion; it was beginning to sound like a nightmare.

Jance followed her out, "Kaen? You doing okay?" He asked.

"Not really." There was no point lying about it. "The reception is going to kill me."

He shook his hair out of his face, "It'll be alright, you can just hang around on the fringes with me if you want."

"I think I need to be alone, though I do thank you." She twisted her ring nervously. "It'll be fine."

He nodded, "Okay, but if you need another social reject, you'll know where to find me."

"Thanks," she said, barely managing to smile this time. It was hurting too much.

He reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "It's nearly over. You're almost through this."

She nodded. "We better get up to the party; we are part of the wedding party after all."

"Yes...yes we are." With an irritated sigh he shook his hair back into its former position.

She patted his shoulder. "It's nearly over. You're almost through this."

"Don't use my lines back at me!" But he was smiling behind the annoyance.

"I'll do whatever I please. Now, let's go!" She poked him in the arm; then headed towards the Hall where the reception would be taking place.

He followed her, hoping that this would be over soon...

--

Erol had stayed pretty much out of sight during the ceremony and he hung back during the reception. He'd have to wait for the opportune moment. It didn't take him long to spot Kaen and it took more self control than Erol knew he possessed to not just run over to her.

He waited, knowing she'd distance herself from everyone. He was counting on it.

Kaen was extremely grateful that there would be no forced dancing, which was customary at most weddings. She was free to go to the back of the room and sit down where she was out of eye - and earshot. As she walked and sat, she tried to ignore the eyes that followed her every movement. She was off limits, thank you very much.

Erol smirked, he hadn't been disappointed and he began to head in her general direction.

The ring was slowly wearing away her skin as she twisted it back and forth. Why couldn't Aaric just send Erol back?

He slipped around behind her and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on her shoulder. He'd seen her playing with the ring, she was thinking about him...

She stiffened at his touch. Someone was hugging her? Who was that insane?

He said nothing, wondering if she'd figure it out or if she'd think he was just Jance trying to make her feel better.

"Who the hell are you and why are you hugging me?" She knew this dress would be the death of her…

"Take a wild guess," he whispered softly in her ear.

It sounded like… The very idea froze her on the spot.

"Something wrong?"

"Who the hell are you?" she repeated.

"I'm still waiting for you to guess."

"One of the random guys in the room that have been staring at me all night?"

"Not quite."

"Why does that not make me feel any better…?"

"I'm hardly random," she obviously needed a hint, "Sweetheart."

She stopped breathing completely. "This isn't funny whoever you are." It couldn't be… She twisted the ring more rapidly now.

"I'm hurt."

"This isn't funny" She was shaking now, heart nearly exploding from the anguish of it all. Whoever was behind her was about to have his throat slit.

"You didn't really think Aaric would keep you waiting forever, did you?"

"It can't be…"

"Can't it?"

"Unless this is a horrible dream, no."

"Ouch."

She stood up, trying to straighten the dress, but there simply wasn't enough material to make it work. "An extremely horrible dream."

"And I thought you said you wouldn't change your mind. I think I'm going to need that ring back..."

She grabbed her hand. "No…" How did this person know about the ring? She was tempted to turn around, but didn't.

"Kaen..."

"Stop it!" She wanted it to be him so bad… "He's dead. He's dead."

"Turn around, would you?"

She did so, but kept her eyes on the ground. It couldn't be…

"For the love of god..." he reached out about to tilt her head up to look at him, but instead decided on something else. He hadn't been wearing gloves all night and he waved his right hand in front of her, either of the scars should tip her off. Very few people knew about them...

It hurt too much, but she wanted it to be true. His hand had the scars… She could only hope… "You're dead."

"Not anymore."

And then, because she had a sudden burst of bravery, Kaen looked up into the face of her previously dead fiancé. "Erol…"

"Kaen."

It was too good to be true. "What are you doing here?"

"Finding you. And watching one of my childhood friends get married."

She laughed, but it didn't come out very well. She hadn't truly laughed in weeks.

"Is that the best you can do?"

"That is the first time I've really laughed in an extremely long time!"

"So that's a yes then?" He shook his head in false dismay, "What will I ever do with you?"

She shrugged. "Toss me into a ditch?"

"No, I don't think so. I was thinking more along the lines of completing something we started."

"What did we start?" Kaen wasn't paying complete attention - his being there had become slightly distracting.

He took her left hand in his, brushing his lips over her fingers, "What do you think?"

She blushed. "Oh. That."

"Yes. That. All we need is the license..."

It was all a rush in her head, but the word 'license' stood out. "There's a registration office not far from here… And I'm positive we've got those types of papers at the manor…"

"So what do you say? Want to just get it over with?"

"I… Give me a second for my head to sort everything out. It's gone into overdrive."

"Fine. Take as long as you need."

She took at least two minutes. He was back, they were going to randomly get married, he was back… "Okay, my world's stabilized. Fine, sure, whatever. Where to?"

"I don't know, should I go reintroduce myself to my brother, or should we just go get married?"

"Your choice." She mostly wanted him to herself, but…it would sound weirdly possessive…

Erol grinned and kissed her, "Let's go do what we probably should've done a long time ago."

She smiled and kissed him back. "Fine. The actual office or the manor?"

"I think the actual office, it's closer."

"Okay," she said, nodding. "We better go before Jance, Valen or Ripp sees us."

But it was already too late. Jance had spotted them. He walked purposefully over and grabbed Erol by the back of the shirt, slamming him up against the wall.

"Jance!" Well, Kaen thought, that was awkward…

"Who the hell are you?" Jance demanded harshly.

"Jance, it's me."

"There's no way that you can prove that it's you."

"It's him Jance, I swear it."

"How do you know?"

"My great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather promised to send him back."

"I want proof."

Erol put up his hands defensively, "Cool it Pick-Flip."

"Pick-Flip?!"

Jance twitched, "I told you not to call me that!"

"Yeah right, Pick-Flip."

"Erol…"

"Now are you convinced?"

"Yes…twerp…" Jance glared at his brother before letting him go.

Kaen couldn't help but smile; they really were an odd set of siblings.

"Thanks Pick-Flip."

"Knock it off Grease Monkey."

Erol glared. "Now you're just being immature."

"You're both being immature."

Jance grinned at her, Erol shrugged.

She shook her head. "I have half a mind to leave you two to bicker and go talk to Valen instead."

"Don't bother. We're done. Aren't we?" Erol asked Jance.

"If you want to continue, continue by all means. Me and Val haven't talked all day and I know he's even more depressed than me." She turned to leave.

"I haven't talked to Val for months."

Jance rolled his eyes, "And to think we spoke only this morning…"

"You have counselling this morning or was he just warning you about me?"

"Both."

"You go to counselling?!"

"Shove it Erol."

"I thought you listened to your brother's story!" The memory still made her stomach hurt.

"I did. But he never mentioned counselling…"

"Well, it did him good I think. How his willingness to allow me to express my emotion on his face is still intact, I'll never know."

"World's greatest mystery." Jance smirked, but it came out as more of a grimace. His hair was driving him nuts.

"You have no idea. Anyway, your brother was the cause of most of those scars, so I can't really blame myself." She paused. "And you can put your hair back to the way it usually is."

"Thank god!" He shook his head, completely messing up his hair.

Erol looked at Kaen, "I caused that? How does that work?"

"Let me show you. Jance, can you come over here?"

He obediently moved over to her.

"Can you show your brother your neck?"

"Sure." He pulled down his shirt collar, clearly displaying the number four and hangman there.

"First day we met – I didn't take it well. There was a game of x's-and-o's on his forearm too and he still has the words 'stay still' on his cheek.

"Later I stabbed through his foot and made a few more hangmen here and there. The last thing I did was those," she pointed at the hearts. "That's when I admitted to myself that I loved you."

Jance nodded. "It would've been funny if it hadn't hurt."

"What about his hands?"

She bit her lip. "Arbner's men did that – I left his hands alone!"

"She did. Everything that happened to my hands was Arbner."

"I'll say it again, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," Jance pulled out a guitar pick and began to flip it over his fingers.

Erol smirked, "Pick-Flip."

"I'm going away now." Kaen walked away, looking for anybody to talk to.

Erol followed her, catching up and slipping an arm around her.

The world suddenly seemed very safe and secure. It was if nothing had ever happened.

"I can't believe you let Ashelin put you in this dress."

"It is her wedding… It's horrid…"

He kissed her cheek. "It's pretty, if not a bit more revealing than what you usually wear."

"I look like a hooker."

"No you don't. You're far too covered for that."

"For me I do. I hate when guys follow me with their eyes."

"So are you saying you don't like me looking at you?"

"You are different, you aren't thinking like they are…I hope."

"And if I am?"

"I suppose I'll love you anyway," she sighed.

He kissed her, "I'm glad."

She kissed him back. "I'm beginning to think we should go through with our plan."

"Only beginning?" his lips pressed to her neck.

"I got sidetracked for a moment!"

"It's alright," he pulled her close.

She kissed him. "Well that's good. Shall we go?"

"I believe we shall."

"You're going to have to let go of me again."

"Dang…" he slipped his arms from her, letting his fingers linger over her rarely exposed skin.

She glanced around; no one had seen them but Jance. "It's only a block down and the door isn't well locked."

"Let's go."

So they went, but someone did notice their leaving. The World Monitor was bound to be interesting the next day.

--

The office was near and the door was easily opened, both to Kaen's joy. The outside was freezing and she didn't exactly have a lot of clothing on – for her. "We're here!" she announced through badly concealed chattering teeth.

"Yes we are," Erol said, slipping off his jacket and gently placing it around her shoulders.

"Thank you." Beautiful, sweet warmth. "Let's go find the stuff. It shouldn't be too hard…"

Erol nodded and looked around.

Kaen went to the filing cabinet to start her search. Within a few seconds she'd found it, the marriage certificate. It was surprisingly plain for something that would legally create such a union. "I've found it!"

"Nice." He took a pen from a nearby desk.

She pulled it out and placed it on the table. "This is it."

"It is. You ready?"

"As I'll ever be. You sign first."

He scrawled his signature on the paper before passing the pen and paper to her. "Your turn."

She copied him and then forged the two witnesses' signatures. It was making her head swirl. Married? It seemed impossible!

"So now we're married…"

"I guess so. My world just shifted again."

He smiled and put his arms around her. "Is that a good shift?"

"I think so, I'm pretty sure of it. Isn't this the part where you kiss the bride?"

He did, lips pressing up against hers.

She kissed him back. Impossible! Had she done what was right? Yes, yes she had. What could go wrong?

"I love you."

"I love you too."

He kissed her forehead and one hand went to tangle in her hair. They'd just gotten married. The concept seemed so strange…

"I'm tired." She yawned, "You've sent me on another emotional rollercoaster."

"Sorry. Do you want to go home?"

"It's not your fault – in a bad way that is." She kissed him. "But yes, home sounds nice. Which one?"

"What do you mean?"

"Depends on how far you want to walk."

"I don't feel like going far…"

"Well, there's your apartment and one of my houses isn't far away."

"Let's go to your place."

"Okay. I'll file this away and then we can leave." She slipped away from him and placed the paper in another cabinet, one for signed documents. Then she returned to him. "Time to go I guess."

He nodded. "Alright, come on, let's go."

"We better leave." She headed out the door, head fuzzy.

Erol followed her, slipping an arm around her again.

Kaen locked the door behind them, then proceeded to curl up closer to her…husband? "That's that."

"Yes it is." His lips brushed her neck. "Cayden's going to die when he finds out."

"Well good for Cayden." She yawned again.

"Come on, you're tired, let's go."

"It's only three blocks away. C'mon." She started walking.

He fell into step beside her, taking her hand in his.

She squeezed his hand, then led him down several streets before reaching a small manor. Home.

He looked up at it. "Nice," he commented.

"It's not much to look at, but it'll work." She went up the small flight of stairs leading to the front door and unlocked it with the other manor's key. The door swung open to reveal what most people would call a gorgeous home, but Kaen found it only adequate. "Coming in?"

"Of course," he glanced around, the house was stunning, nothing compared to Kaen's main house, but his apartment had nothing on this place.

"Well, I'm about ready to head up to the room…"

"Yeah, me too…"

She took his hand again. "Let's go find it, shall we?"

He nodded, feeling like he's just forgotten something. He gave her hand and squeeze, feeling the engagement ring on her finger and remembered what it was. "Hang on, I've got something." The wedding bands…

"What?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two gold rings. "These."

"Oh." The rings… It was another world shifting moment.

"Here," he slipped off her engagement ring and slid the band onto her finger before replacing the engagement one.

"It's beautiful…" She stared at her ring, then grinned. "Now for you. I suspect you'll have to take off your glove."

"You're took used to me, but…" he held out his left hand, "I'm not wearing one at the moment."

"You're not wearing gloves? What did Aaric do to you?" She took the ring and slid it onto his finger.

Erol laughed and looked at his hand, it was strange seeing a ring there.

She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "You astound me."

He smirked, "I know." He pulled her close and kissed her.

She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck.

His lips brushed lightly against her neck.

Kaen pulled him closer, tightening her hold on him.

He nipped gently at the base of her neck, teeth just pulling at her skin.

"You're not being fair," she whispered in his ear.

"Sure I am," he replied, going after her neck again.

At that moment, Kaen was quite sure that if Aaric had the choice, he would have demolished them both out of spite. "No you're not."

"How so?"

"You're driving me insane – it's simply not fair."

He offered no verbal reply, kissing her again.

She glared at him, but it was only half-hearted. For some reason, the feeling of being watched had crept into her mind.

"What's wrong?"

"I feel like we're being watched."

"That's weird, should we take this elsewhere?"

"I'd suggest so."

He nodded and pulled away. "Why don't we go find the master bedroom?"

"Beautiful idea."

Outside the house, Valen smiled evilly. This Monitor would be amazing.

It didn't take long to find the bedroom. Erol looked at it, "Nice."

"It is. Quite."

He smirked and kissed her.

She kissed him back, pulling him close as she did.

"Kaen…" he murmured, lips meeting everywhere they could.

"Yeah?" His coat slipped from her shoulders and fell to the floor.

He gave no reply, unable to come up with one. He bit the nape of her neck, not hard enough to hurt her or really leave a mark. He was losing control of himself.

She knew where this was going; he had more or less lost control of himself. But that was okay – so had she.