And so it begins. Sorry, sorry sorry sorry to those waiting so effing long for this long-promised finale to the Another Life: Bond of Flame story. The story itself is on devArt, but as an... easter egg, if you will, the epilogue is here in its, er, full glory. All six chapters. Mini-chapters. nearly 13,000 words. The rating is mature for good reason, I'm afraid. F-bombs and some raciness throughout. Critique is welcome, as always, and I apologize in advance for any scarring on the part of OOCness, inaccuracies, loopholes, excessive worldbuilding, etc...

When the Kingdom Hearts Characters are mine at long last, I shall live on the royalties and be able to afford things like eating and rent. Until that time, whenever it may be, these people belong to Square Enix and, by some twist of copyrights, to Disney. This fic is a fantastic exploration of possibility and in no way asserts canon presented by the games.


Midnight 12/25

"No," Zexion said into the vidphone. "It's okay. Someone has to do it, right?" Stepping around a sleeping, snow dusted fountain, Zexion turned off the vid setting and tucked the phone under his ear so he could fish for his keys. "Get home safe, Lexaeus," he said softly, and paused, listening to his lover as the lock gave and Zexion stepped into the chilly, stagnant air of a house left to itself since early that morning. "Yeah, I'm in. I just locked the door. Okay. Yeah." He blushed, and answered Lexaeus's words softly. "I love you too. Merry Christmas, Lex."

A few of the University students had fallen ill around the middle of December that year, and hadn't recovered well enough to take their exams until two days before Christmas. For the past two days he, Lexaeus and the other core professors involved were cramming as many exams as they could into the little time they had left. Classes had ended for the term, but the exam grades hadn't been submitted yet. They had until the Friday-next after exams which, coincidentally, was Christmas. No one had been amused, but no one wanted these kids to fail when it was possible to send them forward a step for the new term.

Bag dropped on the table next to the door, Zexion kicked off his boots and, failing that, bent to unlace and un-cinch the snug leather from his feet. Kicking them aside he stumbled into the kitchen and checked on the slow-cooker stew they'd assembled earlier that day for a simple dinner. It was done, so he replaced the lid and turned the element off, letting the insulated structure keep it hot. He'd eat it later. Or Lex, when he got in, would dip bread into the broth to eat and pick out chunks of good roast, too, avoiding the vegetables with an air of "just passing by." Typical. Zexion smiled at the image all the same. Stumbling into the living room, he fell face first onto the large couch there and twisted into a comfortable position, dragging a blanket draped over the back down over him. Cold, tired and a little disappointed, he sank gratefully into the blanket and, though it warmed him only marginally, fell asleep within minutes.

It was almost two in the morning, Christmas morning, when Lexaeus unlocked the front door and shucked off his coat and boots in much the same manner as Zexion before him. Heedless of where they fell, he paused in the kitchen and caught a piece of roast with a fork, testing to see if it was done, how the flavor was. Smiling at the success, he reached to turn the element off and realized Zexion had beat him to it. Picking a little bread off the loaf, he dipped it in the broth and ate a little, letting the hot, savory liquid warm his belly. It was snowing now, outside, and the temperature had dropped as he'd walked home. Gods he was grateful to have spent most of the trip on Radiant Garden's transit. Just the short walk from the station to the house and left him totally chilled, and the house was no better. Zexion must have gone straight to bed. He wondered with a smile if his lover had bothered to take off his parka before crawling between the sheets.

A thought struck him then, and he went back to the front door and rifled through Zexion's bag until he found the man's forgotten vidphone in a pouch on the side. Taking it with him to the bedroom Lexaeus crept over to Zexion's side of the bed and set it on the nightstand.

Zexion wasn't in the bed.

While his heart tasted briefly the cold of the room at the unexpected find, Lexaeus went out into the living room and breathed a sleepy sigh of relief. He was on the couch, balled up like a puppy and fast asleep beneath a heavy blanket. Lexaeus smiled and bent to scoop him up into his arms.

"Nooo…." Zexion moaned, coming awake.

"You should come to bed," Lexaeus advised.

Zexion shook his head, though he leaned into Lexaeus's warm chest in spite of this, and complained, "I had it warm back there."

Turning to the side so he could get them both through the doorway, Lexaeus grinned and laid Zexion on his back on the bed. "Let me make it up to you then," he said. "I'll warm you up instead." He kissed Zexion soundly, tasting his cool lips and warm tongue, feeling the memories of the long, exhausting day fading fast.

With a shiver of pleasure, or chill, or both, Zexion pulled him down on top of him as they kissed, fingers splayed across Lexaeus's broad shoulders. Large hands roamed over Zexion, unbuttoning here and unzipping there, deftly freeing him of his clothes. While Lexaeus got free of his own, Zexion pulled the blankets over himself. The big man crawled naked beneath the covers and lay over him, kissing his neck and moaning in the back of his throat as Zexion slid his fingertips along the sides of his torso, forming them around the shapes of familiar muscles.

"Ah," Zexion gasped softly as Lexaeus's tongue stroked a sensitive spot.

"Warming up?" Lexaeus asked with a grin.

"No," Zexion told him, and brought his mouth down for another kiss.

"I see," Lexaeus said, and withdrew to begin kissing down his lover's chest, tongue lingering over the nipples and tracing a wet trail down to Zexion's navel. Leaving a light kiss on his lover's cock, Lexaeus moved down farther still, kissing the inside of each thigh and curving his hands over Zexion's ass, squeezing as he moved his palms down and between to more hidden places, circling his entrance with a finger and caressing the place between it and his balls and drank in the delicious moans it earned him. He kissed down past Zexion's knees, pausing to stroke the soft flesh behind them with his tongue. Zexion shuddered and Lexaeus smiled, kissing down over his ankles and taking a foot in each hand to rub the soles with his thumbs. When he was certain Zexion had forgotten about the cold, he caressed his way back up his body, and stopped at his hips to lower his mouth over Zexion's hard heat. He slicked it with his tongue and blew, gently. Zexion writhed, moans and gasps coming more readily now. Stroking it once more from base to head with his tongue, Lexaeus pulled his mouth away despite protest from Zexion and brought Zexion's knees over his shoulders as he slid fingers inside him, working the muscles there open.

When he was ready, Lexaeus looked up and found his lover lying back against the pillows, his face flushed with desire. Feeling another surge of lust, Lexaeus pressed himself inside and curved his body down over Zexion's, kissing him hard and long as he began to move. Zexion had a way of moaning when he did this that set him on fire, the gasps and keens broken and muffled. Zexion's hands clutched his shoulders and the smaller man angled his hips in the way that, when Lexaeus thrust in again, he hit the sensitive place that made him twist and arch beneath him. Zexion's body was covered in sweat now; it was too dark to see it but he tasted it on his chest and neck, and Zexion finally took the blankets and threw them aside.

The room was still cold, but it was a sweet sensation against their hot flesh. Outside, the snow fell harder, lit by the soft glow of the city. Zexion lay helpless against the pillows, oblivious to everything but his lover. "Lexaeus… So… good… ohh…"

Lexaeus didn't see the snowfall or feel the cold either, tuned in instead to the sounds Zexion made, the quickness of his breath and his voice, and to the soft heat of his flesh. He rocked his hips harder then, Zexion's higher-pitched moan sent him flying. Withdrawing, Lexaeus turned him gently over and entered from behind so he could reach around and stroke the smaller man's hardness, slick with precome. Lexaeus bent over him and nibbled at his spine as he drove deep inside Zexion's hot sheath, groaning helplessly in the back of his throat at its slight, delicious tightness around him. "I'm… Zexion… almost…"

Zexion nodded and arched back toward him, keening and gasping, and came over his lover's hand. Lexaeus couldn't contain himself after that and came with a shout on the next thrust. Releasing Zexion, he helped him over to the pillows and snuggled up against his back, stroking the man's hip with his thumb. "Better?" He asked, hoarse with exertion.

Taking his hand, Zexion tangled their fingers and leaned back against Lexaeus's chest. "Hmm…" Releasing his hand, he rolled over and tucked his small body into his lover's, twining their legs, and wrapped his arms around him. "Yes."

Grinning, Lexaeus reached for the covers and pulled them back over them both. Returning his lover's embrace, Lexaeus kissed the top of his head. "Merry Christmas, Ienzo."

"Merry Christmas, Aeleus," Zexion whispered.