Author's Notes

As Asarikou-chan correctly pointed out, the last chapter linked to the beginning of the prologue. This therefore continues on from the end of the prologue.

Notice that I used devoid differently here. I did that on purpose, 'kay?

…and…finished. Another fic to tick off.

Enjoy.

All Things End with Home

'He always said I was going to die first.'-'Perhaps there isn't a reason for these things. - 'Perhaps there isn't a reason for anything.'-'I don't believe that. There has to be.' Char death.

Kouichi K &Kouji M

Epilogue

His brother's jacket wrapped around his shoulder, he walked slowly home. Even with spring in the air the night-wind was cold, freezing his cheeks and the little balled fists that clutched blue cloth like a lifeline. He trembled; the lingering remnants of winter showed him no mercy, turning the slow-drying tear treks to icicles of frozen salt and his fingers to brittle glass.

He stopped before the gates of the cemetery. The light crunch of boots followed by silence told him the others had paused as well.

'Kouichi?'

He put his head against the cold metal of the gate. The iciness ran like a jolt through his head but he transferred his grip to the rods instead, jacket slipping down to expose a worn shoulder.

'Kouichi?'

He trembled. 'How can you be –' The words choked in his throat; not accusatory, but there was still something explosive in the query, the question.

Izumi leaned down and retrieved the jacket as it slipped completely, placing it over the other's shoulders again.

'Why we're not crying like you?' she asked, one hand gently coaxing a new tear from his lashes.

Kouichi closed his eyes.

'We were Kouichi.' Junpei was the one who responded, stepping forward to put a firm hand on each shoulder. 'We cried as soon as we could, until we cried ourselves out. I did. We all did. Separately. With our parents, our siblings…and then with each other too. And then after that, we try to smile, and be happy…

'…because our tears tie them to this earth,' the elder and now only twin finished unsteadily, a second new trail joining the halted first. 'I didn't cry then. I – I –'

'Cry now,' the ex-warrior of thunder said gently, pulling the boy away from the cold iron and into his hold. The other turned and buried his face into his chest, body shuddering as if a dam regaining its second wind battered at the gates. 'And once you've feel you've cried enough, for both of them, then smile for them as well.'

They stayed in silence for a moment. And then: 'It's not that easy,' Kouichi mumbled into the elder boy's chest. 'It's not that easy. It's not.'

'No.' This time, it was Takuya who answered. 'You knew better than all of us, because your grandmother was important to you too and you lost her. But we met you after that, and you were still sad, still grieving…but we saw you smiling as well And those grew once we came back.'

A pause, then:

'Takuya-nii? How long were you practicing that speech?'

'Hey, what makes you think I practised it?'

'You messed it up in the hospital, remember?'

'You little –'

They broke off with a choked laugh, which shifted gears smoothly into a second round of sobs. Junpei straightened the jacket as the other shifted in his arms.

'Every day, the memories become a little older…I don't want to forget them…' The voice who said that was soft, distant…and frail. Easily broken. Hidden in the quiet sobs that faded as the material and the wind snatched them up.

There was a pause, and then: 'Will we really forget?' Tomoki, the youngest of them all.

Kouichi said nothing, simply sagging against the pillar of strength and closing his eyes.

'Hey, you have a fever!' Junpei declared automatically, before checking and finding that false. Oh…you don't.'

The silence that permeated thereafter was somewhat awkward.

'It was an accident,' the warrior of thunder defended himself, simply to break the monotony.

'It was an accident,' Koichi repeated, the context warping with the speaker and his tone. 'That's the worst of it, because I was the one who called him, asked him to come…' He took a deep, steadying breath and continued. 'I know it's stupid – egotistical, but I – and 'kaa-san – I was just trying to make her happy and I couldn't even be there when she needed me most!' He screamed the last part almost incongruently into Junpei's chest, fists balling and trembling between them as the other tightened his grip.

'Kouichi –'

A muffled 'Don't!' stopped them: all of them, including the four who had not spoken.

'Please,' Kouichi repeated. 'Just leave me for a while.'

Another pause, this one tentative. Hesitant.

'But you'll be okay…right?' Takuya asked finally. 'You'll meet us?'

Kouichi stood straight, eyes downcast. The starlight caught his hair. Played with it. Bounced off the drying shine running down his face. 'Yeah,' he answered finally.

'But –' Izumi protested, but Junpei shook his head and released the elder twin.

'We'll be waiting outside for you,' he said.

Kouichi nodded and watched them leave, letting the darkness swallow him until he vanished.

The blonde watched after him. So did Tomoki.

'Do you think…it's a good idea?'

'No.' Takuya sat down. 'I don't know anything at all. But I do know we should trust him. He's stronger than most people give him credit for.'

'I still don't think –' Izumi argued, before Junpei cut her off.

'People are different,' the warrior of thunder said quietly. 'It may have been a while for us, but for him it has been very little time at all.'

Like awakening slowly from a deep sleep…

'Would he have been happier..?' Tomoki asked. 'If he hadn't woken up?'

A pause, and then Junpei shook his head. 'That I can be sure of; I don't think there's any amount of selflessness that can make a person continue living if they don't want to themselves.'

…to face the cold dawn…

They sat silently after that, watching the stern gates rising up into the sky until – seconds, minutes, hours: they didn't know – a shadow was cast over the entrance again.

…waiting for the warm midday sun to reveal hope framed in shadow…

'Well,' Takuya said, standing and hoping he sounded…cheerful perhaps, or at least easy-going. Normal would do as well. 'You said you'd be back.'

Kouichi nodded. Eyes still glistened in the moonlight; pallid skin still shone.

'Ready to go home?' He offered a hand; the other slowly reached forward and took it, other hand maintaining its grip on his brother's heirloom: his precious jacket.

'Are you okay?' Tomoki's voice sounded tiny near his stomach; no matter how much he grew, he was still smaller than them. Younger than them.

'No,' the other replied honestly, voice still wavering just above the devoid. 'But for now…I want to go home.'

The stars glittered above, guiding their slow and unsteady way.

…until the night comes…with eternal rest.