Chapter 61

Epilogue

Well folks, this is it, the last chapter of this version of Fighting for a Purpose, it's been one well of a ride. I think that now I'll bounce back and forth between Tribal Wars and New Origins. By the way, someone asked me why I was going Tribal Wars all of a sudden, well I'll tell you. In a way I will not describe, Tribal Wars is connected to New Origins. While you are pondering that, enjoy this conclusion to arguably my best story yet.

December 25, 2615

Seventeen years had passed since the Intergalactic War, and peace and prosperity had followed it. The year was closing, and it was Christmas time for the people of the UNSC. One family in particular was celebrating the holiday on the planet Horizon, in a small town called Wheatherton.

Emily hummed under her breath as she stood in the kitchen of the new Colton house, washing the dishes of the Christmas dinner. The Coltons had needed to move out of their old house, considering the fact there was now too many people in said family for it to hold.

While Emily was going about her work, a teenage girl with black hair tied up in a ponytail walked in. "Hey Grandma," the girl said as she walked towards Emily "Have you seen Mom and Dad?"

"I think they're in the backyard Rachel," Emily replied, as she turned to face her granddaughter.

"Sparing again huh?" Rachel wondered out load as she scratched her chin. "It's five degrees and there's a foot of snow outside, and they're sparring? Man those two just love going at it, you think it's some kind of foreplay for them?"

"Sis, I don't want to know about what you think Mom and Dad do in their sex life," Rioka said as she walked into the kitchen. "It's kind of creepy you know."

Emily smiled as she glanced back and forth between the sisters. Rachel looked like a cross between Amber and Aaron, she had Aaron's black hair and green eyes, but Amber's figure and face. Rioka looked like a younger Ahsoka, although she was slightly more slender, and her skin seemed to be a slightly darker shade.

"Come on girls," Emily said, "Your parents will probably be back inside soon enough, what do you say we go warm up by the fire?" Rachel and Rioka glanced at each other before nodding as the three of them began to walk towards the living room. Rachel and Rioka, for the most part, were polar opposites when it came to personalities. Rioka was the calm and collected type, while Rachel was the hot-blooded type. Both of them liked to butt heads, sometimes multiple times a day, but it was more of a friendly rivalry than anything.

They entered the living room to find a fireplace with a roaring inferno inside of it waiting for them. A teenage Twi'lek and brown haired Human boy were sitting on a couch, looking out of a window. Flashes of blue and green could be seen outside as Aaron and Ahsoka sparred. "Aren't they cold?" The Twi'lek asked.

"Probably, Rumas," Aayla said, as she walked from the other side of the room to where Rumas and the boy were sitting. "The thing is they're probably moving so fast they don't feel it that much, but remember that just because you can do it, doesn't mean that it's smart."

Rumas smiled. "I'll keep that in mind Mom," Rumas said smiling. After the Intergalactic War, although it had taken a little bit of begging on Rumas' part, Aayla had decided to adopt the little girl. Both of them had lived with the Coltons since the end of the war, and were considered to be a part of the family.

"Yeah, well you know my parents," the teenage boy said, smiling slightly "Like the rest of this family, they're tougher than the average person, and like everyone else they do stupid things from time to time." The name of this boy was Richard Colton, the third child of Ahsoka and Aaron, younger than his sisters by two years and was named after his great-grandfather, Emily's father. If Rioka was cold and Rachel was hot, than Richard was somewhere in the middle, slipping in-between controlled and uncontrolled based on a myriad of factors.

"Yeah, well I still think that they do it a little to much," Rachel said, as she sat down in front of the fire, and held her hands out in front of it. "They do it twice a day, and frankly I'm surprised they haven't killed each other over the years, let alone injured each other."

"They're careful about it," Rioka said as she sat down next to her sister. "Why are you only wondering about them? We spare all of the time, but you never say that you, I, Rumas, Richard or Aunt Aayla are going to hurt each other."

"None of us do it as obsessively as they do," Rachel said defensively. "They spar three times a day, and if they can they squeeze in a fourth session. None of us even try to do it that much because it's peace time."

"They find the experience to be bonding," Richard said from his seat. "It's something I can't really explain, they just love pushing themselves, forcing each other to be the best that they can."

"You always have to say something well thought out that causes by argument to completely collapse don't you?" Rachel said, grinning.

"It's either that or have you and Rioka kill each other," Richard said, a slight smirk playing around his face.

"He's got a point you know," Rioka said, looking at her sister. "He has broken us up every time we were arguing, when Mom and Dad weren't around."

"True," Rachel said, "Just for the record, every time that he did it's because I was winning." Everyone laughed.

As the laughed, they heard the front door opening in the distance. "You two are insane you know that?" came Amber's voice from the front door. "Couldn't you have skipped the damn sparring this one time?"

"Amber," came James' slightly amused voice from the same direction, "Do you really think that you're going to be able to convince them to stop?" Amber's groans could be heard from the living room. A few seconds later, Aaron, Ahsoka James and Amber all walked into the living room, Aaron and Ahsoka slightly pink around the face and slightly damp.

"What's up guys?" Ahsoka asked as she sat down between her daughters, and Aaron sat down next to his son.

"Not much Mom," Rioka said. "I'm a little worn out, it was a really fun day."

"Yeah," Rachel said "One of the best Christmases I've ever had."

Ahsoka glanced at the clock and saw that is was nearly midnight. "It's getting late," she said, glancing at her children. "I think that maybe it's time for you to get to bed." Rachel opened her mouth to protest, but before she could say anything, her mouth instinctively stretched wide in a yawn. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Ahsoka said, "Bed."

"You should probably get some sleep too Rumas," Aayla said to her daughter, who nodded.

One by one, the family slowly left the room, until only Ahsoka and Richard were left. "Uh, Mom," Richard said uncertainly. "Can I talk to you?"

Ahsoka turned to look at Richard. "What is it sweetie?" she asked kindly.

"I…I was just wondering," Richard said hesitantly, "You know how you told us about how you and Dad met?" Ahsoka nodded, recalling how he had told her children stories about the Intergalactic War when they were younger, toned down of course. "Do…do you think I'll ever find a girl that I'll love the same why that Dad loves you?"

Ahsoka smiled as she put her hands on her son's shoulder. "Richard," she said softly "You know that if you, Rachel or Rioka ask a question, your father and I always answer truthfully, right?"

"Yeah," Richard said, a small grin present on his face "That's how we found out about sex before we were ten."

"Yes, well to answer your question Richard," Ahsoka said "If you keep your eye open, if you act on your feelings, if you try and pursue a relationship with a girl that you honestly like, then I have no doubt that one day you'll end up happily married."

Richard smiled as he hugged his mother, who did the same to him. "Thanks Mom," he said as he pulled away.

"Anytime," Ahsoka said, "Now get to bed." Richard nodded as he walked past Ahsoka and out of the room, Ahsoka smiling as he left. She had three beautiful children, a husband to whom she had been married for nearly twenty years, and an all around loving family and happy life.

"Things can get rough sometimes," Ahsoka said to no one in particular, thinking of her own life and the hardships that she had gone through, "But if you can outlast the tough times, if you can over come the hardships that life throws at you, than what can possibly hope to stand between you and happiness."

Author's Note: Yeah it was short, but then again it was an epilogue. Well I hope that you enjoyed the ride, I'm moving on to Tribal Wars and New Origins. From time to time, I'm going to be coming back to this story to clean up spelling and grammar mistakes. Maybe after that I'll write the sequel to this story, I've already got the rough plot worked out, but I want to do New Origins and Tribal Wars first.

Please tell me what you think of the chapter and the story as a whole, and a big thank you to everyone who had supported me since I started writing this story.