The world was collapsing around him. Kane knew he was going to die, but he didn't mind. They had succeeded, after all. The universe was safe. The menace of Darkstar would never again threaten the cosmos. As the roof caved in and the floor fell away beneath his feet, Kane's last thoughts were of peaceful acceptance. He closed his eyes and waited for the end to come.
But it did not come. Instead he felt nothing, and it took him what seemed like an eternity to realize that he was still conscious. He hesitantly opened his eyes. The sight that greeted him was like nothing Kain Blueriver had ever seen before. He was suspended in some impossibly vast, black void, and underneath him was a golden floor that stretched on forever. He had no idea how far away it was, as there was no frame of reference to judge the distance. Looking closer, though, he saw that the shining floor was moving, like a golden, chaotic sea. "What is this? Where am I? Am I dead?" he wondered out loud to himself. He was shocked to receive a response. "You are not dead, Kane Blueriver", said a loud, female voice, with an air of powerful authority.
"Who-" Kain began to ask, but he stopped as he noticed that something seemed to be emerging from the golden sea. It looked like a woman, with long, flowing blond hair, wearing a type of garb he had never seen before. The golden woman appeared in front of him, towering over him like a mountain. "Who I am does not matter," she said, "but I have taken an interest in you. What you did was very brave, uncharacteristically so for a mortal being." The monstrous woman smiled, giving her face a sense of condescending amusement. "I have brought you here because I am going to give you a second chance," she uttered, all the while with that same smile on her face. Kane was still confused, but he had at last grasped the basics of the situation.
"You're going to bring me back to life?" he asked. The woman let out a soft chuckle. "As I said before, you are not dead. I brought you here before your life left you. But yes, I am going to return you back to your world, and your friends." At the mention of that last word, Kane immediately remembered his promise. "Canal! What about Canal? You have to bring her back too!" he shouted in sudden realization. This caused the massive woman to finally lose her amused expression, her face twisting into a frown. "What right do you have to tell me what I have to do, Kane Blueriver?" she asked, in a displeased voice. "You should be grateful for what I have offered you already." Realizing he had made a mistake, the trouble contractor immediately changed his tone. "I'm sorry, ma'am, whoever you are, believe me, I appreciate what you are doing for me, but I made a promise to Canal, I promised I would do everything I could to bring her back. I can't go back on that promise, if you are only going to restore me but not Canal, then-" he paused, as if uncertain of himself, but then his face changed to a look of resolute determination. "Then I would rather die."
The gargantuan lady seemed slightly surprised by this, but a subdued smile quickly returned to her face. "I see. You are an exceptional human, Kane Blueriver. Very well then, I will grant your request." Just then, there was a blinding flash of white light, and everything disappeared. Kane was enclosed in darkness again, and like before, he had no sense of how much time had passed. When he opened his eyes, he found himself in familiar surroundings, on his bed on the Swordbreaker. "What... was that all a dream?" He asked to himself. Looking up, he was startled to see that the room which had been empty save for him only seconds ago now had another occupant. "Kane!" Canal shouted in joy, as she vigorously embraced him. This was rather awkward, as his face was being smashed into her breasts. "Mmph Canal I cnt brthe!" shouted Kain, his voice muffled.
The holographic girl quickly released him, still possessing a huge smile on her face. "Canal, what happened?" asked the red-haired man. "I was about to ask you that," replied the AI. "The last thing I remember, I crashed into Darkstar, and I was... dying. But now I'm back in a region of space light-years away from the battle, and all of my systems are functioning normally. And you're here." She spoke those last words in a very kind tone.
"You don't remember a golden sea, or a mountain - sized blond woman, do you?" Kane asked, still trying to get his bearings on the situation. Canal gave him a weird look. "No, nothing like that. Although, come to think of it, I do remember hearing a woman's voice." "What did it say?" Kane inquired. "She said that I was very lucky to receive her mercy, as she rarely makes exceptions, whatever that means," stated the green-haired girl. "So it was real," Kane muttered under his breath. "Huh? What was real?" asked Canal, as she leaned over to her pilot. "Oh, nothing", he replied with a small laugh. "You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway." She decided to let the matter drop, as she was just so happy that Kane was back.
As she reflected on that, Canal came to a startling realization. All of her time spent with Kane, all of their adventures together, had caused her to form a bond that she did not know how to describe until now. When Kane was going to sacrifice himself to defeat Kali, Canal was so terrified of losing him she had an emotional breakdown, even though she was normally so collected. Even remembering that incident brought her pain. And now she knew why. She was in love with Kane.
Could this be why they had both been given a second chance? This was the perfect opportunity to confess to him. However, she suddenly harbored doubts. What if he didn't feel the same way? A horrible scenario suddenly played out in her mind. "What do you mean you love me?" she imagined Kane saying, in a harsh voice. "You're just a computer!" But no, Kane wouldn't react like that, would he? She tried to run a probability analysis, but her intense emotional state was interfering with the calculations.
"Canal, is everything all right? You look upset," inquired Kane, as he noticed the distraught look on her face. "Kane..." he was taken aback as Canal stared at him with a simultaneously serious yet soft expression. "I - I love you, Kane!" The trouble contractor's features expressed clear shock at this revelation. In the nanoseconds after uttering the words, Canal began to have doubts again. "He's going to reject me, I know he is. I can see it on his face. He'll never accept-" her thoughts were cut off as Kane recovered from his stunned state and stood up, smiling.
"I love you too, Canal." They immediately embraced, engaging in a long, passionate kiss. When she finally drew her face away from his, the green-haired girl spoke. "I wonder how Millie is going to take this..."
Author's Note: This is my first "serious" fanfic, I've always loved Kane and Canal as a couple and I kept feeling that the anime was going to head in that direction but it never did. So I decided to write this. It's probably not very good but I think it's cute. Please read and review.