7 didn't know how to feel about the sight in front of her. A million different emotions coursed through her, leaving her utterly speechless. All she could do was stare at what…or rather, who was in the room.

She felt light headed and she could feel her knees quake beneath her. She found herself unable to take a step forward…she didn't know if she even wanted to.

From this angle, it looked like he wasn't breathing…and she feared moving closer and affirming that.

A firm hand gripping her shoulder brought her back to reality. "Seven…it's okay. Go on."

That was enough to give her the courage to walk forward…closer to the cot with the figure, so broken and barely recognizable in his current condition, lying unmoving on it. The doctor, Cole, standing over him, gently cleaning the soot and dust from his skin; the Twins sitting by the cot's side, a solemn expression on their faces, helping the doctor.

As she moved to the cot's side and stood beside the Twins, they smiled up at her, their relief shining in their eyes. She smiled back at them and turned toward the figure on the cot.

Now that she was closer, she could see that he was breathing and that filled her with relief. But he was not moving and covered in horrible burns and deep gashes, so her worry still remained.

Her mind reeled with a million questions. How is he? Will he be okay? How can he be alive? How did he get here?

She tried to form a question to ask Cole, but struggled to find a specific one to ask, wanting to ask them all at once.

Cole must have read her mind, for he began to explain, "He's unconscious, has been since we found him. I don't know when or if he'll wake up, but he's amazingly stable."

He paused briefly as he handed 7 a dampened cloth.

"We still have to clean and dress his wounds. We could use some help to speed it up, but be careful, he has major burns on a majority of his body and several broken bones that need tending to."

Although most of what Cole mentioned she didn't understand, a part of her knew that they were serious and to be cautious of them. Taking the cloth from him, she began to carefully clean the arm before her.

After several minutes of carefully cleaning the soot and dirt off his skin, Cole gave them a new task of cleaning all the wounds with a rather pungent solution, while he moved to sew them up and in the case of any broken bones, bandage them.

While cleaning a large gash on his forehead, 7 couldn't help but ask the question that had been bugging her for some time.

"Where did you find him?"

It was the first thing she had said since coming into the room and the softness of her voice, so unlike the strong warrior, drew Cole's attention. He paused briefly from bracing the broken leg and looked up to see the most tender look he's ever seen on 7's face as she gently cleaned the wound. He couldn't help but smile, he knew that look.

"We found him this morning, not far from the bunker." He returned to his work, carefully wrapping the gauze around the injured leg and the wooden braces. "How he got there, we don't know. He must have somehow dragged himself all that distance…he must have gone through tremendous pain doing so."

7 finished up cleaning the wound and glanced down to see that the most peaceful expression on the unconscious male's face. She was surprised, yet comforted, that such an expression could be found on someone who was, and is, in so much pain.

A fond smile crept its way onto her face and she slowly, gently began stroking his hair. What made her do this, she didn't know, but the young man grew even more relaxed at her touch so she didn't stop.

All he's done…

All he's gone through…

He never ceases to amaze her and just wished he would open his eyes.

LINE BREAK!

LINE BREAK!

The first thing that he noticed was that he was laying on his back on a soft, comfortable surface, and not on the hard dirt he last remembered.

The second thing he noticed as see slowly returned to consciousness, was that the pain had receded…it was still there, but was by no means as excruciating as before.

Emerging further into consciousness, he began to sense the world around him. It was quiet, but he could hear soft breathing, meaning that there was someone with him wherever he was.

Finally managing to open his eyes, he saw dimly lit concrete walls and ceiling overhead.

Could this just be another dream? Or had they actually found him?

What he felt, what he saw…it seemed just too real to be a figment of his imagination.

Shocked by the realization that he was finally safe, it wasn't until the shift in the breathing pattern of the person in the room did he realize that there was a presence next to him.

Turning his head to right, he saw who it was and almost couldn't believe it.

Asleep, with her head resting slightly on the side of his cot, was the woman who he knew he was in love with.

He went to reach out toward her with his right arm, but had to strangle a gasp as the movement caused a sharp pain to come from his hand. He had forgotten that it was injured.

Pushing that pain aside, he tried to sit himself up, to reach out with his other hand, but that action caused a sharper pain to come from his shoulder. This time he couldn't stop the small cry that escaped his lips from the pain.

Closing his eyes momentarily while he tried to push the pain away, he reopened them to find that she was no longer asleep, but blinking sleepily up at him.

After a couple of seconds her eyes shot wide open, her half-asleep mind finally registering who she was looking at. In a heartbeat, she was right beside him, her hand on his shoulder and gently trying to pushing him back down.

"9, you need to lie down, you're injured."

"7, it's fine. I want to sit up." He pleaded.

She paused, contemplating, and then sighed. "Fine, at least let me help you."

She helped him to sit up without hurting himself, and returned to her seat. He gave her a grateful smile, one that she returned. However, an awkward silence then grew between them as they each tried to think of something to say to the other.

9 was the first to break the silence.

"H-how long have I been here?" He stuttered.

Startled out of her state of thoughtfulness, 7 looked up at him. "About four or five days. I don't know, I'd lost count."

9 thought about what she had just said for a while.

"7…you've never left this room, have you?" He asked.

She glanced away, blushing.

"You have." He could read her like a book. "Why?"

She looked at him and blinked. "What?"

"Why would you stay in this room, not leaving?" This was unlike her, the 7 he knew always seeked freedom and couldn't stay cooped up in one place for too long.

For some reason, this question irked her and she found herself suddenly agitated with 9. "Well…I don't know, 9! Maybe, I care about you! Maybe, it hurt when I thought I had lost the one I loved! And Maybe, I wanted to keep an eye on you!"

All 9 could do was blink at her, completely startled by not only her sudden outburst…but also what she had said.

"Y-you…love…m-me?" He stuttered, as soon as he recovered enough from his initial shock.

7's fury suddenly vanished and was replaced, instead, with panic, for she didn't realize she had said that. She didn't know how to respond, she knew it was true, but she feared confessing it in the case that 9 didn't feel the same. A part of her told her that he did feel the same; another part of her, the ever cautious side, warned her that he didn't. She didn't know what to do, or what to say, so she tried to read his reaction to find the answer.

His expression held no anger, no disgust, no hatred…only a mixture of shock, confusion, and happiness. This gave her all the answer she needed. Recomposing her, she took a deep breath and gave a confident nod.

He blinked at her a moment longer before breaking out into a goofy smile. He moved to reach out and pull her into a hug, but having temporarily forgotten about his injuries, let out a sharp gasp, for that simple movement caused him a great deal of pain.

In a matter of seconds, 7 was there gently trying to return him to his original position. "I thought I told yo-"

She was cut off as 9's lips crashed onto hers. She initially went tense, having been caught by surprise, but soon relaxed and returned his kiss.

It was the greatest feeling that either had experienced, and having more emotion and power behind it than their first one. Who knows how long they stayed like that, but they were soon startled out of the kiss by a loud crash. Turning toward the sound they saw the Twins, wide-eyed and gawking at them. At the feet of one of them was a tray, its contents, food, destroyed and spread around the fallen tray.

In a flash, the Twins were across the room and pulling 9 into a tight hug. 9 fought off the pain the hug cause him and held the twins tightly to him.

He looked up from the hug to see 7 smiling fondly at them. He returned her smile and held out his good arm to her, inviting her to join the group hug. She did.

It was then, surrounded by his family, that he knew that every injury he had sustained was worth it, just to be able to return to those he loved, and for them to be safe.

There you have it, folks! The final chapter to After the End! Sorry, if the ending turned out a bit crappy. But regardless I hope you all have enjoyed this story and much as I've enjoyed writing it, and thank you to all of you who have spent time to read this story. A BIG thank you to all of you who have reviewed, I wouldn't have been able to keep this up without all of your support and encouragement.

Yeah…I couldn't kill 9. I've been playing around with this kill and bring him back idea for quite a while, but I couldn't straight out kill him, he's just too loveable to do such a thing to.

Sorry for such a long wait for this chapter, guys. I have been very busy lately with school and clubs, and haven't had enough time to sit down and finish this up.