A/N: So my dear readers, this is the end, the epilog that concludes When You Came. I thank you for reading and advise you to read the note at the bottom for upcoming news and announcements from me.

Thank you so much for reading along with me for so long and please enjoy this final chapter of When You Came. I love you all!

silverdragon

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray Man or any of the characters.

Chapter 27 Life After

~Ten Years Later~

Kanda looked up from the book he was reading, watching two little children as they ran around the house, screaming about the monster that was chasing them. That "monster" was none other than his husband, Allen, who had wrapped himself up in a giant green sheet and was chasing the children around their house.

After a couple of circuits through the house one of the children came up to Kanda. He wasn't any older than 6 and had Asian features, dark black hair, slightly slanted eyes, and a chubby little baby face that was already starting to show some signs of maturing.

"Daddy save me from the monster!" the little boy practically screamed while grabbing at Kanda's legs.

Kanda gave a little smile to his son, putting the book down before picking him up and putting the child on his lap, "You know you don't have to be afraid as long as I'm around Kota, haven't I told you that before?"

"But Mamma's being scary Daddy. I don't like when he's scary," the little boy pouted, crossing his arms and trying to fix his features into a scowl. His face was a little too round to pull it off, but he was getting there, and Kanda suspected in the next year or so the young boy would be able to pull off some very cold death glares.

Before Kanda could respond Allen walked over, the green bed sheet in his hand and a smile spreading slowly across his face. There was a girl trailing behind him, her dark brown hair swinging behind her in a ponytail and her tanned skin contrasting greatly with the white jumper she had on. She looked around 8, coming up to the middle of Allen's stomach already.

"Did I scare you my little Kota?" Allen asked, ruffling the child's hair before sitting down on the couch next to his husband.

The girl jumped into Allen's lap exclaiming proudly, "I wasn't afraid of you Mamma. You're too short to be scary."

Allen rolled his eyes at his daughter, giving Kanda a look, "No matter what your father says, I am not that short Letta."

"You've been that short for as long as I've known you Moyashi," Kanda teased, petting his son's hair absentmindedly.

"Tell us the story about how you met again Mamma?" Letta asked, bouncing up and down on Allen's lap.

"Maybe this time Yu would like to tell the story?" Allen looked at his partner, edging him on mentally to comply with their child's demands.

Kanda looked at the clock before answering the question, "I think it's about time the two of you get ready for bed, so how about this. I'll tell you the story, but before I do you both need to get ready for bed."

Both of the children nodded their heads, getting up off of their parents laps.

"We will Daddy, let's go Kota," the little girl took the boys hand and led him off in the direction of their rooms.

After they had left Allen stood up, going to put the sheet back in the closet when he felt a strong pair of arms wrap around his middle, pulling him down into his lovers waiting lap.

"You know Moyashi, today marks the ten year anniversary of that day…" Kanda mumbled into Allen's shoulder, lost in thoughts of the life they had led up to this point. Allen took a moment to remember too, the life they had lived so far had been filled with nothing but happiness for both of them, and it looked as though it was going to continue to bring both of them happiness.

Looking back Allen thought about the years that had gone by, as both of them finished high school and collage together after he had been legally adopted by Tiedoll. It seemed a little weird to be in love with your adoptive brother, but neither Kanda nor Allen seemed to mind the stares they got occasionally, and even the comments about incest from some of their former classmates. They weren't even related, but some people just couldn't seem to get over the fact that they were legally brothers.

They'd remained friends with Lavi and Lenalee, who had eventually gotten married a few years ago and now had a child of their own. Allen frequently had the other family over for play-dates with the children. It was good to know that their friends were doing well.

Thinking about his own children he remembered the day that they had adopted Letta, a then three year old from Ecuador. She'd been so cute when they had picked her up from the adoption agency, her hair tied into two pigtails and her face all scrunched up in either fear or excitement, Allen had never figured out which.

Then there was Kota, who the couple had adopted from Korea, at Kanda's request. The man wanted a boy that he could teach the fine art of fighting to, but Kota didn't seem to be as enthusiastic as his father. Instead the young boy had taken on gymnastics and acrobatics, like his 'mother', and much to the couple's surprise it was actually Letta who had wanted to follow in her father's footsteps, taking up the practice of martial arts.

Kanda and Allen were happy, living together with their adopted children and loving every minute of it.

Before either of them could get too far into their thoughts Kota came back into the living room, dressed in a pair of dinosaur pajamas and pulling his favorite blanket behind him.

"Me and Sissy are ready Daddy, can you come tell us the story now?" he asked in a small voice, watching as Allen got off of Kanda's lap and went to put the sheet he was still carrying away.

"Sure Kota, come here little man," Kanda said, getting up off the chair and picking up his son by the armpits, "Let's go get Sissy so I can start the story."

Kota grinned at that and started cheering for the start of the story while Kanda walked towards the children's bedrooms.

Allen shook his head, wondering how his lover could be such a good father when ten years ago he never had the patients to deal with anyone. It was a mystery to him, but Allen was happy either way. There was no way he would try to change the life he had now, it was exactly what he had wanted since the day he had first found his other half.

After putting the sheet away Allen stood in the hallway absentmindedly rubbing the red tattoo on his wrist, smiling softly to himself.

It seemed like forever since he and Kanda had made the choice to go back to their lives as humans. An eternity since Tiedoll, Lenalee, and Lavi had found them in the clearing, sleeping curled up with each other in the grass. Such a long time since Tiedoll had officially adopted him, letting him live with Kanda until they had finally gotten married. Even that seemed to be a while ago, but Allen could still remember each and every detail of their wedding.

Lenalee had arranged it, and it had been absolutely flawless. The color theme had been a mixture reds, yellows, oranges, and blacks, creating an amazing array of colors that mirrored their beauty as phoenix. Allen had been convinced to wear an amazing strapless dress, one that started as a deep dark read on top and flowed down gracefully to the floor, going through the colors of bright red, orange and yellow before ending in a beautiful ivory white. Kanda had been in a completely black tux, his hair worn down at Allen's request, and a genuine smile on his face throughout the entire ceremony. It had been one of the happiest days of Allen's life, and it was those kinds of days that made Allen happy he'd chosen to remain in the human world for the rest of this lifetime.

Allen was again brought out of his thoughts by Kanda, this time a simple hand on his shoulder had alerted him to his lover's presence.

"Are the kids in bed?" Allen asked quietly, looking over his shoulder at Kanda.

"Yeah, Kota nodded off half-way through and Letta was dozing off just as I finished," Kanda reached up a hand to cup Allen's face, "What were you just thinking about love?"

Allen smiled again, this time wrapping his arms around his partner's shoulders, "Our lives. A lot has happened in ten years."

Kanda gave a low chuckle, "I would have to agree with that statement."

Just then they heard a door open, and out came Kota, holding his blanket and rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Daddy, you didn't finish the story," he pouted, still rubbing at his eyes.

Allen walked up to the young boy, "Daddy's tired how about Mamma finishes the story for you?"

The boy nodded sleepily, "Okay."

The white haired man picked up his son and carried him back to his room, leaving Kanda standing in the hallway watching them walk away.

"Allen makes a good parent," Kanda thought, walking back to the living room to tidy it up before going to bed.

He was just placing the last throw pillow on the couch when Allen jumped on his back from behind, "Are you ready?" he asked quietly in Kanda's ear.

"For you always," Kanda whispered back, letting Allen slide to the ground before reaching and grabbing the phone from its holder.

Kanda dialed the familiar number and asked Tiedoll to come over to watch the kids and house for a few hours. As usual the old man was quick to agree, and was at the front door in five minutes flat, it did help that he lived right across the road.

Once Tiedoll was inside the house Kanda and Allen left, taking their car to a very familiar spot, one that they visited every year on this exact date.

It was the clearing that they had won their current lives in, and for every year in the past ten they had come here to pay respects, not only to Ra, the phoenix god who had allowed them the choice to come back, but also to the Noah, without whom they never would have bonded and connected their lives and souls together.

Usually to honor the day they would bring firewood and lit a small bonfire in the middle of the clearing, the same spot they had been found in after the battle. After burning herbs and paying homage to Ra they would walk into the fire, sitting in the embers until the fire had completely died.

This year was different though, and after ten happy years together they thought that they should do something more for Ra, for giving them the chance to live as normal humans. So this year both of them had brought along something to add to the offering, something to represent themselves and show to Ra how grateful they were.

Neither knew what the other had chosen, so as they lit the fire they each pulled out their objects, preparing to cast them into the fire after the herbs.

Allen had brought along a piano string, something from both his past and present. He'd learned to play from Mana, and had somehow carried it on throughout his rough life. Now he'd become a musician, and a good one at that, something that would have never come to pass had he not been allowed to continue with his life. He was grateful to Ra for giving him the gift of music, along with the skill to play, and it wasn't something he was going to forget any time soon.

Kanda had brought a katana, much more simple and basic then the ones that he trained with or created, but it showed so much about the Japanese man. He'd grown up practicing the sword, and now he made a living creating amazing works of art that doubled as dangerous weapons. Without the extra time in the human world he would have never been able to master the technique to make such swords, and for that he thanked Ra every day.

They threw their objects in the fire at the same time, watching as the flames sparked bright pinks and purples as their offerings were received by Ra.

They smiled at each other before clasping hands and entering the fire once more.

A/N: Story notes first…

The names of children. Kota is Japanese for Happiness and Good- Fortune. Letta is English and means Joy and Happiness. I thought it would be cool to give them names showing that Kanda and Allen's lives are happy and full of love.

I tried to include all the relevant information in terms of what happened over the ten years between the end of this story and the epilog, I apologize if it seems I've left anything out, or it was rushed, but this is the way I wanted it to end.

Announcements…

I will be starting another story soon, but I'm not sure which one I should start first, so I'm going to see if I can have you readers decide for me.

The names of the two are Through The Ghost and Inked. Through The Ghost is about one of the two dying and coming back as a ghost, and Inked is based on one of my song drabbles, where Allen gets a tattoo from the selective tattoo artist Kanda.

Let me know what you want me to publish and work on first, because like I said, I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place right now.

Thank you ever so much for reading, and reviewing on this story, it's helped me so much as a writer. So please do me the service of leaving one final review to tell me how I did, and inspire me to work even harder on my next story.

Until next time…