Note: There will be sequels; but all of the following will be based in the world in the last section of this Epilogue; and they will be of a very different manner.

Epilogue

"We thank you for your aid ~ de arimasu." Wilhelmina bowed slightly to Bryan who stood surrounded by high ranking officers. All of them wore a battle weary expression, heavily coloured with a great depression.

"At least it's all over now. Your enemy here still lives on; but we must return home and return to our own affairs. I'm sure you can cope here." Bryan answered gruffly. His manner had changed from before the battle when it had been courteous and now he was just a warrior, a soldier who felt no need for eloquence.

"Thank you for saving Shana. I don't think she would have made it if you hadn't all been here." Yuji spoke up, standing next to Wilhelmina. Shana was asleep in the apartment, still building up her strength.

"The least we could do." Bryan said shortly. An uneasy silence settled between the two groups before Yuji finally asked:

"What will you do now? Your war is over now."

"We will return home and hopefully become as close to normal as we can be. Some of us will probably act as peacekeepers as it is in human nature to fight and war; and someone must keep that from happening."

"And Mithran-san?" Yuji asked. Bryan flinched slightly and looked away, signalling that it was not a topic to bring up; but the person in question had appeared from the circle of aides that were with Bryan. She was dressed in her uniform and unlike the others her face showed signs of hope and resolution.

"I'll search for Himie." She answered for herself. Himura's corpse had not been found, even after the entire city had been combed by over eight thousand Guardians for four days and in the end the search had been given up, the final declaration that Himura had indeed died, his body burned up from all the power he had contained.

"Do you know where to start looking?" Yuji asked. The girl thought for a moment before smiling and nodding her head.

"I think I know where he is; and I will go there after we've finished our business at home. I'm sure Himie can survive on his own for a while." No one had outright disputed Elena's sudden claim that Himura was still alive. She had been known to share a special bond with the missing hero that no one else had; but unspoken were the thoughts that Elena simply refused to believe the reality; and if she did she would lose her sanity if she had not already.

"Come, Elena, we should go." The group turned away to walk down the street to where a giant blue portal swirled, opened and sustained by the Guardians. The group left the world of Flame Haze, Tomogora and Torches behind them and the portal squeezed shut.

Back inside the apartment Wilhelmina prepared something she said would be very nutritious and so help Shana to restore her strength, although both the patient and Yuji had doubts about it.

Yuji slipped into Shana's room as quietly as possible and made his way over to the bed in the corner by the window where the girl lay. She turned her head slightly so that she could see him more clearly. Yuji was once again struck by how pale and frail the girl looked but he shook off his worries. Shana would get better but for now he was the stronger so he would look after her.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, kneeling down beside her bed.

"Better. But Wilhelmina's medicine is going to make me sick at this rate." Shana responded with the hint of a smile. Yuji took her hand and squeezed it lightly, she squeezed back very weakly.

"Yoshida-san said she can cook some food easy for a sick person to eat if you wanted. She was very worried when I told her what had happened."

"I forgot Kazumi could move around in a Fuzetsu." Shana mused. Her voice was barely a whisper and lacked her usual confident, strong tone.

"Shana, you'll be alright, won't you?" Yuji asked. It had been the first time he had actually asked her this, although it seemed like something he should have asked much earlier; but had been too afraid of the answer.

"Of course I will be." Shana said derisively, a little of her usual confidence showing through before vanishing again, the little show of will tiring her. She fell into a deep sleep again and Yuji remained by her bed, holding her hand for when she woke up.

On the bedside table Alastor's pendant glittered as the Flame of Heaven watched the exchange; but remained silent. Shana had been his Flame Haze; but now she had become something more.

The Lord of Guze offered a silent prayer for Elena, a prayer that her convictions prove true and that the one who had saved them all lived on.

A light wind rustled the dry, dead leaves that littered the playground. A copper haired girl and a brown haired boy walked hand in hand along the path and stopped to look at the empty area, memories welling up from long ago.

The girl was the first to notice someone lying on the ground. She ran forwards, easily vaulting the little metal fence to stop small children running out onto the main path and being run over by cyclists.

The girl knelt down by the prone body and turned him over and her conviction remained true, his face was familiar. His white uniform was ripped at the chest, a long slash having sliced through the material. A fresh, pink scar was visible underneath; it looked as if the wound had been freshly cauterised.

"Shaoran, come here!" The boy ran over and immediately recognised the boy.

"What's he doing here?" He demanded and the girl shook her head.

"I don't know; but he looks hurt. We should get him to a hospital." They looked down at the prone body, pale and unmoving and the thought that perhaps it was a corpse rather than a body struck them.

And then the boy's eyes sprung open.