Six years had passed since the downfall of BL/ind. The world hadn't yet gotten back to the way it was before the fires, and most people never believed it would.

But things had changed. Small communities were starting to spring up everywhere because people weren't afraid anymore. They didn't have to run. They didn't have to hide.

The name 'Killjoy' had slowly died away along the years until it was barely used at all. Very few people still referred to themselves as 'killjoys', out of respect for the things they'd done, but most just went back to using the name they'd had before 2012, if they could remember it.

Some still wouldn't believe that Korse was truly dead, and the world was no longer under his control. No matter how much Party Poison, now calling himself Gerard Way, assured them, they would not believe. Most left the communities to wander the desert, searching for Draculoids that they would never find.

The Kobra Kid, now going by Michael, or Mikey Way, was still in a wheelchair. He refused to allow the trained doctors to give him false legs. He said that he wanted to be reminded of everything that had happened, so that it would never happen again. He still mourned the loss of his child and wife, even now, but he learned to live, to channel the pain into other emotions. He mostly recalled them back to his memory to remind himself that BL/ind had destroyed them, along with millions of others, but now that BL/ind was gone, he felt he could be at peace.

Jet Star (now Ray Toro), had gone back to what he was good at: music. He played guitar for the children that ran about the community that they called home, and he played it for himself, to remind him of the days before 2012. The world wasn't like it was back then, but it was beautiful. And it was what they needed.

One day, a stranger appeared in the community where Gerard, Mikey and Ray lived. The stranger wore a white cloak with the hood pulled up over its head, so that its face wasn't visible. It walked slowly through the cobblestone streets that had sprung up, and stopped in front of a small, but cozy house, with a green door and a hanging flowerpot with scarlet flowers hanging above the door. The stranger knocked on the door, a loud rapping sound echoing through the street.

After a moment the green door opened, giving way to a man with dark brown hair and hazel eyes, and to a small child of about six with the same hair as the man's, but someone else's shocking emerald eyes.

"Fun Ghoul," the stranger said, and her voice was definitely female. The man looked suspiciously down at the hooded stranger.

"No one has called me 'Fun Ghoul' in six years," he said, "It's Frank. Frank Iero. Just like before 2012,"

The stranger just nodded, unable to take her eyes off the small child that looked exactly how she had done before. The resemblance was eerie, and it caught the stranger off guard.

"Uhm, I don't mean to be rude," Frank said after a moment of silence, "But could you please remove your hood?"

The stranger sighed. Slowly, she brought her hand up to the soft hood that cloaked her face and pulled it downward.

Instinctively, Frank reached behind him for the ray gun that had been present on the table beside the door since the day he'd moved into that house. It was always ready, and he pointed it straight between the figure's eyes.

"Synthetic Flame," he muttered, rage boiling up inside him.

"Daddy …?" the small child spoke, but her father quickly pushed her behind him.

"Stay back, Crimson," he warned the little girl, and she cowered against his leg.

Flame's arms had been raised above her head, but the second she heard the child's name, a wave of respect and love had washed over her.

"Y-you named her after her," Flame had managed to whisper through the tears that were beginning to form.

"Did you think you could just come back, after all these years," Frank said through gritted teeth, ignoring Flame's first remark, "And everything would be alright? Did you think that just because you killed him, we would forget about everything else you'd done? Kobra - I mean Mikey - is in a wheelchair because you went and blasted his legs off!"

The gun was still raised, ready to blow Flame's brains out at any second, but she didn't look at it. Instead, she looked straight into Frank's eyes, hoping that he would see the remorse inside them.

"No," she finally whispered, "I didn't think you would forgive me, and I know you shouldn't. I did horrifying things that still haunt me, both in my dreams and when I'm awake. I see Ladyboy's face in my mind everyday, and I know that I've been a monster. But I had to come here. I had to tell you that I'm sorry, even though you'll never forgive me. Because I can't live with the guilt hanging over my head, and it's taken me six long years to figure that out.

"With Korse dead, I don't know what to do with myself," Flame continued, "I was born to be a killjoy, and now that there's nothing left to fight off, I'm just living emptiness,"

"Crimson never told you, did she?" Frank asked, and Flame shook her head. Frank sighed.

"There was a prediction, a prophesy of sorts," he explained, "It said that you could be the world's most powerful leader. Korse was counting on you being on his side, and for a while, you where. But when you turned against him, you must have messed things up. You weren't supposed to kill Korse, but you did. I don't think you were supposed to survive, but you did that too. You broke the prophesy. You're not the leader of mankind, and that's why you feel empty,"

Flame shook her head, taking in all the information. From the very moment BL/ind had taken her and her parents, her life had been predicted and Korse had been after her.

"But I can't be the leader of mankind," she said softly, "I could never trust myself with that kind of power. What if I turned again, even if BL/ind is gone. What if I was the new Korse, and started the new BL/ind?"

Frank nodded.

"That's why I think you have to leave," he said, "You can't be the leader of everyone, and you know it too. You have to leave, for the best of everyone,"

Flame nodded. She knew what Frank was saying was right. She had to leave, for fear of destroying everything all over again. But before she did, she had something important to say. Flame looked down at the little girl.

"Crimson," she said softly, "You have to know that your mother was the most amazing person I had the good fortune to meet. She was incredibly brave, and fearless, and I will never forget her. She was, and always be, my sister, and you have to know that she loved you until the very end. I'm sure she's up in heaven watching over you every day,"

Crimson nodded, fat tears dripping out of her emerald eyes that were so like her mother's. Flame looked up once more at Frank.

"We're the kids of yesterday," she said softly, "We've had our time, and now it's theirs,"

Frank nodded silently and Flame swallowed before walking away from the house. When she reached the road, she turned around to face Frank and Crimson, who were still standing in the doorway.

"And Frank," she said, "It's no longer Synthetic Flame. From now on, it's Lozzie,"

Frank nodded, and watched as she walked away, pulling her white hood up as she did.

Once she'd reached the end, where the community turned into the desert, she turned around to stare at what might have been. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of red, and turned to face it. Poison was standing on the porch of a house, looking at her. Slowly, he raised his hand up to his forehead in a salute. She did the same, smiling, before turning around and leaving the community, headed for the horizon.

A/N : And so, after 31 chapters, 84 pages, 1,053 paragraphs, 2,350 sentences, 31,498 words, and 143,359 characters, our story comes to a close. I just want to thank everyone that has supported me throughout this journey that I'll surely remember :3 I love all of you so much, and I can't say thank you enough for making this such a big part of my life 3 Blood And Roses may be over, but I'm not. I'll keep on writing as long as there's people to write for. So check out my other stories, and hey, you never know, I might see some familiar faces :)

Thank you all once again for everything. I love you with all my little black heart ;) 333

THE END.