Series finale. Notes at the bottom.

10: A Leaf on the Wind

As Kyle and Jessi walked back towards the Trager household in the twilight. The sky was a reddish orange, and it was beautiful. A mix of dark and light. A warm day, with a cooling breeze. Most shadows were no longer visible on the ground, but some were.

The feeling was warm. Beautiful. And as they came upon the house to see Stephen, Nicole, Josh, Lori and Declan standing there for them, it was an even more wondrous feeling.

They were home.

"Declan told us that you succeeded," Stephen told them.

"Are you…are you cured?" Nicole asked cautiously.

"We are," Kyle said with a smile, walking towards them, "I'm sorry, for keeping it from you two," he said to his siblings.

"No, it's completely understandable," Lori told him.

Josh nodded, "Yeah. You didn't want us to worry. Don't worry about it, as long as you're better."

The three of them stood there for a moment, and then they all embraced. Jessi stood watching them for a few moments before Kyle drew back, motioning for her to come.

"You're family too," Kyle told her.

Jessi smiled and walked over to them, joining in their hug.

"How was it?" Stephen asked Declan.

"I'm thankful to God that we got out of that one," he told Stephen quietly.

Stephen clasped him on the shoulder, "Good job, Declan."

When the hugging ended, Declan walked over, "I heard you wanted to talk to me, Trager," he told Lori.

"You can't call me that anymore," she told him with a smile, hugging him hard.

"Oh what? You get married in the meantime? That not your name anymore?"

"Oh come on," she told him, "You know me. My husband would take my name."

"Well, I know I'd be honored to be a Trager, after everything I've gone through for you guys," Declan told her with a smile.

Kyle looked on at them with a smile, and then heard something from the house. He looked over, seeing Andy come out.

"Kyle!" she called, hurrying over to him and giving him a hug, happy to see him. He returned it, "The phone wasn't enough," she told him.

"You go to college close, I guess?" he asked.

"In the state," she confirmed, "Transferring around a lot."

"Following me," Josh muttered as he walked over.

Andy broke the hug and looked at Josh, "I am not following you!" she told him.

"Then why are we always at the same college?" he questioned.

"I don't know, but it's not my fault!" she said.

Kyle smiled and laughed, "You know, I'm glad to know you too are still like this. Still together."

"We're not together!" she told Kyle.

Kyle just smiled, "It looks different to me, despite the arguing."

"We were together," Josh said, "Multiple times."

"And it ended. Multiple times," she told him, "It won't start again."

But once more, Kyle could only smile at that.

He looked over to Lori and Declan, but they were going inside, just as Stephen and Nicole had done. Josh and Andy continued to argue in the driveway.

Jessi walked up behind Kyle, tapping him on the shoulder. When he looked at her, she only pointed. He turned to look, seeing Amanda standing in her driveway, a small smile on her face and a light wave to him, as if she didn't know how to respond to seeing him after all this time.

"Go," Jessi told him.

And that's what Kyle did. In the twilight sky of that night, in the warm weather, with the cool breeze, as shadows dominated the world around them, he went to the woman of his heart in that picturesque, unforgettable day.

Nicole was sitting on the couch with a book in hand when Lori came in and looked around the living room.

"Are you looking for something?" Nicole asked her daughter.

"Just making sure we're alone," Lori said, sitting next to her mother.

"Why do you want to make sure of that?" Nicole asked her daughter.

"Well…I have a question for you," she said.

"And what would that be?" Nicole asked, closing her book.

Lori took a breath, then exhaled it, "Where can I study psychology?" she asked simply.

"Psychology?" Nicole asked her in surprise, "What about music?"

"Music isn't really working out for me like I had hoped it would," she said, "But…psychology seems like a good thing to try. It worked out for you, after all."

Nicole smiled, "Well…"

"Hi," Amanda said with her small smile.

"Hi," Kyle smiled back. The simple greeting between them was more than enough, it turned out.

"So, Lori called me, and I got here as soon as I could. First flight out," she told Kyle.

"I'm glad you could be here," he said.

"I'm just glad you're back, and you're ok," she said, "All I knew was that you were gone. I feared the worst…"

"I'll tell you about that later," he told her, "I'll tell you everything."

She smiled a little more, "I'm happy that there's not these secrets anymore between us."

"So am I," he told her. He looked back at Jessi, and then back to Amanda, "Can we talk later? You just got in, didn't you?"

"I did," she said.

"Go see your mother," he said, "I need to see my family, and as much as I want to be here with you right now, I need to see them and give my time to them for now."

"I totally understand," she said, "I'll call you?"

"Sure," he smiled, "We'll work it out later."

She stood up on her toes a little and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Kyle…I'm just so glad to see you again. It's been over a year."

"I know," he said, "It's been too long."

He stepped away from her. She gave him a wave and went into her house, as Kyle went back to the Trager house, and up the driveway.

"Well?" Jessi asked him.

"I'm talking to her later," he said, "For now; I want to be with my family."

Inside, there was a bit of a commotion going on. Mostly from Josh and Andy, playing G-Force in the living room. Josh was accusing her of cheating, and Stephen was getting enjoyment out of watching. He soon took up his own controller and joined the two of them.

Kyle looked at them for a time, feeling like this was right. He smiled, going on to the kitchen, where Lori and Declan were talking, and then onto his room, passing Nicole on the way as she went with a paper in hand to see Lori and Declan.

Jessi followed Kyle into his room and closed the door behind her, "I thought you wanted to be with them," Jessi told him.

"You saw it too," Kyle told her, "It seems…natural. Right."

"And?"

"And I don't want to disturb it," he told her, going and sitting in his tub, "For now, I'll be content here."

She smiled and went over, sitting on the other end of the tub, "Well then, I guess this is my place too. I wouldn't want to disrupt it either."

Kyle gave her a smile, still thinking about the two women in his life, but he still had time to sort it out.

"Well Kyle. Latnok is done, Cassidy has control, and he's your friend now. So what do you do next?" she asked him.

And then any smile he had vanished, "I don't know."

Declan laid himself on Lori's bed as she looked around her room, digging through her closet a little.

"What? Forget things?" he asked her.

"Just…looking," she said.

"Remembering?"

"I miss home a little, ok?" she told him.

"I can understand that," he said, looking up at the ceiling, "I missed you, you know."

"You had Kyle, at least," she said, turning to him, "And you never told me he was back."

"You know he didn't want to see you guys until he was better. He told you that yesterday," Declan said, "I wasn't going to tell you, not when Kyle had wanted that to be kept secret."

"I do understand that," she told him, "I really do."

"Then don't sound so angry about it," he told her.

"It's hard not to feel strange about it," she said, "Strange in that I want to hate you, but…"

"But what?" he asked.

"But yet feel so much about you," she said.

He smiled, "I think a lot of women say that about me."

"Oh shut up," she said, sitting down beside him, "You have no other women like me."

"Well, you have that one right," he told her, "You're one of a kind. In a good way."

"Thanks for the clarification," she told him.

He laughed and sat up, putting an arm around her shoulders, "Lori…you are an amazing woman."

"What's this now?" she asked, "A proposal? A declaration of your love for me?"

"No, just facts," he told her, "So, psychology? Going to follow that dream?"

"I thought it was for the best," she said.

"I think you're going to make one hell of a psychologist," he told her.

"I hope so," she said.

"But who's going to perform at my wedding now?" he asked her.

"The bride doesn't usually perform," she told him.

"Oh! Is that your way of proposing to me?" he joked.

"No, just taking a guess," she smiled as he leaned over to kiss her.

"Well, that guess might be a pretty good one. Or not," he said, "I guess we'll see."

"I guess we will."

"Ok, that's enough for me," Stephen told Andy and Josh, putting down his controller, "I can't take you guys. You're too good." He got out of his chair, about to walk out of the room, and turned back, "Seriously, what are you doing at college? Do you even go to your classes?"

"If I spent all my time doing this, I might be able to beat Andy," he told his father.

"Good point," he told Josh, walking out.

"No, never going to happen," she told Josh, "No matter how much you practice, you can't beat me."

"I'll find a way, someday," he told her.

"I'm just too good. It's not possible for you to get that good, because that would possibly mean you're more awesome than I am, and that's just not possible."

He smiled, "You know Andy, what happened to us? I mean, we're so good like this, and even if you hate me, we're here, hanging out, playing games and having fun. What's all that about?"

"Well, I'm here for Kyle more than I am for you," she told him.

"I don't believe that one," he said, "You love me."

She turned her head to him, "I do not."

"Got you!" he laughed, rejoicing as he killed her character.

She looked at the screen, "You're a dead man."

"We'll see…," he trailed off as she killed him that quickly. He put down his controller, "Ok, I quit."

"What, am I too good for you?" she asked him.

He took another meaning, "I don't know. Maybe. But I'm not going to stop until we're good enough for each other."

She put down her controller, "Josh…"

"Don't say anything," he told her, "I mean it."

"Well…," she dragged out the word, "Good luck with that."

"I mean it, I'm going to become good enough, and we're not going to keep going through this cycle. We'll move to the next step, and then stop. We won't break up again."

"We're not getting back together," she told him.

"We will," he said with a smile, "I assure you that."

He stood up, prompting her to as well, "Josh…"

"No, I've put my mind to it," he said, walking out of the room, "It's going to happen! It's going to be magical!"

"Josh!" she called.

But he ignored her. He just walked on and hurried upstairs. She ran up after him, shouting his name.

As Kyle lay in the tub, listening to the things around him in the house, he heard a knock at the window. He turned his head to see Amanda there, having been the one knocking. He sat up; about to get to it, but Jessi opened the window first.

"Hi," Amanda told her.

"Hi," she replied, "Here for Kyle?"

"Of course," Amanda said.

"I'm not good enough?" Jessi asked.

Amanda just smiled.

Kyle watched the two of them, happy that at least they were getting along fairly well by the look of it. Kyle walked over towards the window, "It's ok Jessi, I've got it."

Jessi nodded, "Well, have fun you two," she said.

"It was good to see you, Jessi," Amanda said.

Jessi nodded, "Same," she said, leaving the room.

It was dark out now, as night had fallen. Amanda didn't enter, instead she held her hand out, "Would you like to come outside, into the night?"

He smiled, "Yeah," he said, grabbing out the window and pulling himself out. He closed the window behind him, taking Amanda's hand softly, "Where to?"

"Just here, under the stars," she told him.

He smiled, "Hold on," he said, pushing his window open and grabbing a bottle of water from his desk. He poured it out on the ground before closing his window again. He took the girl of his dreams into his arms and stepped into the wet ground, levitating the both of them up.

"Kyle…," she said.

"Just like at prom. Almost," he said with a smile.

"I've forgotten how wonderful you are," she told him, "How these powers are."

He set the two of them onto the roof and sat down, lying his back against the slant as he looked up at the stars. She put herself beside him, looking up as well, leaning her side against his.

"I love you, Amanda," was the first thing he told her as he looked up.

She smiled, "Kyle…"

"But I also love Jessi," he told her. He had to add that.

"I understand," she told him, turning her head to look at him, "The two of you are the same, after all. It would be strange not to have feelings for her too."

"I'm glad you understand," he said.

"I have no problem with it. Not anymore," she told him softly. As he turned his head to her, she leaned over as he did, sharing a kiss with him. When she pulled back a little she continued on, "Take your time to find what you need. Find what you want. Whether it's Jessi or me, I'll understand. Ever since I've known you, all you've really done is help other people. This time help yourself, Kyle. Find what can make you truly happy. Who can make you truly happy."

He nodded, "I will," he told her, looking back up with her.

"I'm in college in New York now," she said to him, "I'm still planning my future. What about you, Kyle? What are you going to be doing with yourself?"

"I don't know," he said.

As he took Amanda down from the roof – a leap down with her in his arms, at her insistence – he let her go back home. She wanted to sleep, but would talk to him tomorrow. She had already heard the story about where he had been, and what had happened with Latnok. That his life was now his own once again.

As Kyle was turning to go inside, he heard a voice behind him.

"Hello Kyle."

Kyle turned around to see the familiar figure of Tom Foss standing there, hands in pockets. Kyle turned fully to him and walked towards him, "Foss?"

He smiled a little and gave a nod, "Yeah, it's me," he told Kyle.

Foss extended his hand for a shake. Kyle took it and drew forward into a sort of hug with his other arm. Foss returned it, even though it felt odd for him to do. When it was done and Kyle stepped back, Foss spoke to him.

"This is the last time you'll see me," he said.

"Odd thing to start the conversation with," Kyle said, "And it doesn't have to be."

"It will be," Foss told him, "Take care of yourself, and your life. For me. For Adam."

"You can be here, and be a part of the life I'll live," he told Foss.

"I can't be," Foss said, "You stopped Latnok. There are still problems in the world, and people who may come after you, but you stopped the threat that existed and targeted you, and your way of life."

"Because of your help," he told Foss.

Foss gave him a small smile, "Kyle, take care of yourself."

"What are you going to do?" Kyle asked him.

"I'm going to go on with my life. I think it's about time I do that, don't you?"

"Of course," Kyle smiled.

Foss gave him a smile, "Good job, bringing down Latnok."

"How did you find out?" Kyle asked him.

"I have contacts," Foss said, "Contacts I trust with my life, as it turns out. That includes one or two people in Latnok who reported to me."

Kyle nodded, "Have a good life."

"You too. Kyle."

"Bye…Tom."

Foss gave a nod and walked down the dark driveway, hands back in his pockets. Kyle watched the man who protected him and helped to train him take his leave. It was hard for Kyle, because he was sure that Tom Foss was being serious.

That would be the last time they met.

He didn't want it to be, but he knew it would be.

A part of his life was gone now. Gone forever.

Maybe it's time to replace that part of my life by growing. Maybe it's time I found my path.

The next morning felt wonderful. No stress of the virus. No stress of Latnok. Nothing like that.

It felt like years ago, suddenly. Things were normal again.

Andy had stayed the night with them, but Declan had gone home. He was sure Declan would be back later.

As he walked into the kitchen at six in the morning, he was surprised to find people up. Namely Lori, Nicole and Hillary.

"Hi Kyle," Hillary told him.

"Hillary?" he asked.

"I had to be here for Lori," she said, "Otherwise, no. I wouldn't be up this early. But friends. Sacrifices. You get it, right?"

"Yeah…"

Kyle took an apple and continued on his way, hearing bits of a conversation about psychology. Kyle smiled. Lori was finding a good path for herself, it sounded like.

"You going out?" Jessi asked as she descended from the upstairs.

"I am," Kyle told her.

"I'm coming too," she told him.

"This early?" he asked.

"It's a new day. It's a new era for us, you could say," she told him.

"It is," he said, opening the door and entering the cooler morning with her. He took a bite out of his apple as they walked.

"I'd offer a race, but I'm going to let you eat," she said.

"A race will be fine when I'm done," he told her.

She put her hands in her pockets, "What did Amanda have to say?"

"She talked about the future," he said, leaving it at that, "And I still don't quite know what I'm doing with mine."

"Me neither," she said.

"I guess that's not good for either of us," he told her as he ate more of his apple.

"No," she said, "But it doesn't matter for now."

As they walked a few more blocks, Kyle stopped. "Something's wrong," he said.

"What is it?" she asked him.

He threw the apple aside and started to run. She followed after him, running as fast as she could. His pace was faster than a normal run. It was him, running to danger.

They came around the corner, seeing a house on fire and the fire department having trouble containing the blaze. It was huge, preventing them from entering inside. They saw an old man there, shouting that they had to get inside, that his three grandchildren were still inside and that they were only infants. He was breaking down into tears.

Kyle looked at Jessi and pulled his hood up. She had no hood, so she couldn't. The two of them ran towards the flames, plunging straight in thanks to the lack of a barricade to keep people out from the street.

"Hey!" one of the firefighters shouted, "It's too dangerous! What are you doing?"

The old man was confused, and broke down into more tears. As far as he could tell, two people from the street had just run into the flames. He already assumed he had three lives on his hands, and now two more.

In a few moments two figures burst through the flames, clothes completely on fire. But the man crouched down, setting two things down before tearing off his hooded shirt and letting it burn.

Two of the infants. Covered in ash and coughing. The woman set down the third, the same condition, before she tossed her flaming shirt off.

They all noticed that the two weren't burned. The old man crawled to his grandchildren, kissing them, holding them as the firefighters took them from him to check on them.

"Thank you!" the old man told them, in tears, "Thank you. You're godsends! I can never repay you."

As Jessi ran off ahead, Kyle looked back at the old man and gave him a smile, then ran off to join Jessi before anyone saw too much of them.

"That was stupid," she told Kyle.

"They would have died without us," he told her.

"No. Staying there and being seen," she told him.

"It was fine," he said, "I don't think they'll remember."

"I hope not," she said.

"Did it feel good?" he asked her.

"It did," she said.

He stopped running, so she stopped as well, "What?"

He smiled a little, "I had an idea of what to do with my life, and now I know," he told her, "Thanks to Latnok, partially. And this…this just tells me what I need to do."

"And what is that?" she asked him.

[Start "Chicago"]

I always had an idea of what I wanted to do with my life, and that day was what made me truly realize it. I have no regrets in the direction my life has taken, and I would do it all over again.

When Latnok took me for a year, they wanted to show me the world. They wanted me to see good lives, and bad lives. They wanted me to see everything, and try to persuade me to use the C.I.R. to become a god, to reach out and help everyone.

If they were sincere or not, I don't know. What I do know is that my choice is similar to what they wanted me to do. I've traveled the world for a year and helped people. I've helped the old, the sick, the homeless. I've helped everyone in every country that I could.

I've helped to protect the rain forests. I've helped indigenous people keep their lands in various countries. I've protected people from those who would force them to do things against their will. Food for the hungry. Energy sources that don't destroy the resources. I've done whatever I could.

From Africa to South America to Europe to Egypt to India. I've traveled everywhere I could. For me, home will always be with the Tragers, but I've been making connections everywhere I go. I've been making sure people know that there's someone out there looking out for them.

Some know me as a guardian angel, but I don't like that. I'm here to help them, but that's not what I am. I'm just a man. A drifter. A leaf, blowing on the wind. I go where I believe I'm needed, farther and farther from home.

Farther from the life I know and love, and to a new life every time. Today I'll be in Africa, and tomorrow, Mexico. I go everywhere, helping everyone. This is my passion; this is the life I have made for myself.

I go where I need to go. I go where I'm needed. I am the leaf on the wind. Wherever people need me, I will go. And now, they need m at home.

Kyle stood outside of the Trager household after a year of travels. He smiled, hauled his bag up onto his shoulder, and made his way up the driveway. A little taller, a little stronger. He hadn't changed much, but he had changed in his time away. He had helped many people, and they had all taught him something new, or reaffirmed something he already knew.

He walked through the front door to find his family waiting for him with open arms. Stephen with his arm around Nicole. Josh, standing hand in hand with Andy, an engagement ring on her finger. Lori and Declan, his arm around her back.

And Jessi, standing on the stairs and looking down to him, a smile of approval gracing her lips.

"I'm home," he told them.

As Kyle lay with Amanda on the roof that night, looking up at the stars, he turned to her, "I've found a new type of love," he told her.

"For the people you help?" she asked him.

He nodded, "Yes, that's right."

"And...what else? Anything?" she asked him hesitantly.

"No," he said sadly, looking up.

In my time with both Amanda and Jessi, my heart has been divided two ways. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find which way my heart truly wishes to go. It wouldn't be fair anymore to choose one over the other. Even if my heart will break, as theirs might, in the longrun, I'm doing this for the both of them.

Kyle walked into the dining room, looking at his usual place at the table. Sitting on the opposite end were Lori and Josh. On his left at one head of the table was Stephen, and at his right was Nicole. From his left around, Stephen, Lori, Josh, Nicole.

Not Andy. Not Declan. Not Amanda. But there sat Jessi, sitting to his right, as a part of the family. As another sibling, taken in by the Trager family.

Kyle sat down to dinner, looking at his family with a smile.

This was home.

This was life.

And I couldn't have asked for a better life. Or a better family.

He looked to each one in turn, at their smiling faces as they passed the dishes around to each member in turn.

And I couldn't be happier with how it all turned out.

[End "Chicago"]

Well. That's it. This is the story I came to tell, the story I told as closely to the material revealed to us by the creators that I could tell. I am extremely happy with how this final chapter turned out, and how my additions to the story played out.

Originally I had it as Kyle choosing Amanda, but thanks to a reviewer (see Author's Note 2), the scene has been changed to reflect how it should have gone, at least, how I feel it should have here.

Clearly Josh and Andy are back together, and will stay together. The love/hate thing they had, I always felt, was just their way of doing things. The creators said they would get together, break up, transfer, and keep going through those cycles. So I figure that at this point (well, early season 6) that their love/hate thing was just their own thing.

Lori chooses psychology, and since it's not mentioned, yes, it does work for her. She does well with those studies, and is happy. She and Declan are also back together, and would end up married, as far as I'm concerned. They would have canonically ended up together, so I'll just throw out and say that in my canon, they do get married. And Declan probably takes her name. Or a hyphenated name for both of them.

To me, this has been an honor, and a pleasure to have reviewers and people truly enjoying what I had to offer. You guys are great, and I'm going to miss this. Saying goodbye to this work is hard. The end of this chapter was so hard to write, at their dinner table. The last line, especially, was the hardest. How do I bring it all to a close? It's just a coincidence I chose that line for Kyle, because I feel the same way, more or less. There are a few things I could stand to change, looking back, but for the most part, I couldn't be happier with how this project turned out.

Once again, thank you everyone. This has truly been a worthwhile project for me, and I hope it's been good for all of you to read as well.