Chapter 10: The Meaning of Peace-Finale! (www . youtube . com/watch?v=P2XQaOpXh4w)

Memo: :( I'm torn...I love this story so much, but I think it will have a very good ending. I know it may seem abrupt, but it's not supposed to be completely closed. That's the point. :P

Thank you so much for reading this story; I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have! Until next time, adios! ~Emi Hikari

Eden's Pov

Of course, the beginning of an eternity doesn't come without its speed bumps along the way.

After both of us had-sort of-regained composure, Zexion brought up the point of where we should go next.

"I have a house here," I replied, wiping my eyes. He just looked at me. "I live here! Really!"

"Since when?" he asked, skeptical.

"Only since this past year, since we were separated."

For some reason, he looked relieved.

"...Okay. You lead the way," he said after a pause. I nodded, scooping up my shoes as he picked up his cloak.

"It's not too far from here," I assured him, smiling. He smiled back, and I could tell it was genuine.

We didn't really say anything else, but I didn't feel like the silence was awkward. In fact, I was actually enjoying it; it gave my mind a chance to slow down and think. At one point, though, my hand brushed his, and automatically our fingers interlaced, and whatever brain processes I was having just kind of...stopped.

At one point, on the way to my house, a girl about my age was walking toward us. She was strikingly beautiful, with raven hair that fell to the small of her petite back. Also, she looked rather familiar, and I thought maybe I had seen her around town before, or maybe she was another model like me. I was half-right.

Suddenly I felt Zexion stop, and I did, too, not knowing why. But I took a closer look at the girl, and then it hit me: this girl was his old girlfriend...the one he stabbed. The one he got pregnant.

Then the silence got awkward.

I wasn't sure if Zexion's girlfriend would recognize his new state of life, but she seemed to, because she stopped as well, peering into Zexion's face.

"...Ienzo," she hissed through her teeth. Her pretty face was immediately distorted by her intense anger.

"Emi," Zexion said, sounding so calm that it kind of scared me. It made him sound a little bit psychotic.

I thought Emi, as she was apparently named, might say some unkind things next, or even physically go after Zexion, and my grip on his hand tightened a little. But, to my surprise, she turned to me instead, her dark eyes piercing my own pale ones.

"You're pretty," she decided after looking me over for a moment.

Hell yes I am, I thought, but I knew better than to respond.

"...But not as pretty as me."

"Who died and made you God?" I asked her incredulously, frowning. "And why does it matter?"

"Well, whatever." She waved her hand as if swatting my questions away from her prescense. "Point is, this guy is a freak, and he'll take advantage of you."

"A freak, huh? Guess that's why you guys hooked up in the first place."

Yes...the fantabulous comebacks had returned to my brain. Zexion is a bad influence on me...but I don't mind it one bit. (:D)

Emi glared at me, then looked back at Zexion.

"I still have the scar," she told him, lifting her shirt to reveal her stomach. There was, indeed, a large white cut across it.

"Me too," he said, lifting his bangs to reveal his frozen eye.

Okay, maybe we're bad influences on each other...

Obviously defeated, Emi stuck her tiny nose up in the air and rushed past us. I laughed quietly.

"You dated that?" I asked Zexion, who frowned at me.

"I try to forget, but it never works," he replied, his frown turning into a small smirk.

"C'mon, we're almost there," Eden assured Zexion, tugging on his arm, pulling him forward.

"Am I going to see anyone else I hate?" he complained, following her at last.

"I can't guarantee anything." Eden frowned. "I didn't even know she lived here."

"I used to," Zexion confirmed, nodding.

"Really?"

"Yeah, actually-pretty close to where we are now."

A few moments later, Eden opened the gate to her front yard, and Zexion froze, releasing her hand.

"What's wrong?" she asked, turning to him.

"This is...your house?" he asked slowly, not looking at her.

"Yeah," she replied.

"...This is my house."

Before Eden could say anything in response, Zexion pushed past her, running inside.

"Wait!" she exclaimed, chasing after him.

"Everything is the same!" he called out to her, running from room to room. "Just like how I remember it..."

"Are you serious?" she said, trotting after him, still in her bare feet.

"Eden-"

The two smacked right into each other, causing them both to laugh.

"Ouchies..." Eden murmured through giggles.

"...Eden...I used to live here. In this very house."

"Why is your stuff still here?" she asked, gesturing to the younger boy's room. "And were you seriously that nerdy?"

"My parents sent me to Hollow Bastion after all that crap with Emi happened...and yeah, I was a nerd."

Eden smiled for a moment, then slowly frowned.

"You never told me about what happened with her," she said quietly.

"...I didn't, did I?" Zexion frowned, too. "Please, don't jump to any conclusions. I know what you must've seen, because I saw the same sort of thing with you. But...it's a lot different when you hear what she said. How she acted."

"After meeting her today, I can only imagine," Eden muttered, rolling her eyes.

"She took advantage of me both physically and financially. It was all just a big game for her, and when it didn't go her way, she threw a fit until things were 'right' again." Zexion sighed, walking into the living room. "I'd feel sorry for her, but she has no reason for it. She was spoiled as a child, even with other siblings."

"...Not to scare you, but I had four sisters," Eden piped up, following Zexion.

"That doesn't scare me," he assured her, smiling. "I can see that you're different...far different from her."

"I didn't used to be."

"You are now."

"Because of you," she admitted, blushing a little. He reddened as well.

"...I never thought I'd influence anyone...especially you."

"Well, either you're more influential than you thought, or I'm just so stricken with you that I don't know what to do with myself anymore."

"I hope it's the second one."

"Me too."

+A Few Days Later+

Eden's Pov

"Eden~!"

"...Tell your friend that nine is too early..." Zexion murmured into my ear. I groaned, pulling the pillow over my eyes.

"I tried," I admitted, snuggling closer as I pulled the one blanket we had over us even more, tucking it in up to my chin.

From the other side of our front door, I could hear Selphie shouting something over and over, and the moment I comprehended it, my heart began to pound.

"Kairi's back!" she screamed, obviously overjoyed herself.

"Kairi?" I gasped, quickly sitting upright.

"Where is she back from?" Zexion mumbled, eye still closed.

"Axel kidnapped her, remember?"

"Big surprise."

Rolling my eye, I wrenched the blanket off of us, causing Zexion to curl into a tight ball, growling under his breath.

"C'mon, get up!" I exclaimed, sliding out of bed. "This is actually important!"

I didn't bother to fix my hair or anything before I ran outside to hug Selphie. In fact, I was still wearing what I wore to bed. Any other time I would've cared, but I didn't anymore. It all seemed so trivial.

"Hurry!" Selphie urged me, pulling me along as we ran, both bare-footed, down the stony path toward the beach. "See? There she is!"

"Kairi!" I shouted, running over to the red-head, who was lying in the sand, staring up at the sky.

"Eden? Selphie!" she cried, sitting up and looking at us.

The three of us collided with each other in a tight embrace, laughing and kind of crying.

"Did he do anything to you?" I asked, pushing Kairi back and looking her in the eye.

"Who, Axel?" She laughed, her blue eyes glittering mischieviously. "Nah, I got away from him before he could. And then this guy, Saix, caught me, and then Namine helped me escape, and then I found Sora!"

"Namine?" I asked, incredulous. "We've met before, a long time ago."

"Really?" In her reply I think I heard a hint of Namine's voice. "She's my Nobody."

"Is that so..."

"Where's Sora? And Riku?" Selphie asked, curious.

Kairi frowned a little. "I don't know. Namine opened a portal, and when they tried to come through, it closed on them." She shrugged, looking a little more hopeful. "Namine must've known something I didn't. Maybe there was one more thing they had to take care of."

"Well, at least you're safe," I said, smiling.

"You too!" Kairi slapped me playfully on the arm. "You and your grand adventure! Riku said he met you."

"Yeah, we definitely ran into each other a couple of times," I admitted with a smirk.

"Did you find that guy?" Selphie asked, turning to me.

"Yeah, the guy you were looking for?" Kairi eyed me, smiling even broader.

"What guy?"

We all turned to Zexion walking toward us, rubbing his face to wake himself up.

"Ohmigawd," Kairi and Selphie said in unison, looking at me.

"That's him?" Selphie asked, her voice so high-pitched a dog started barking.

"Yeah," I answered modestly, blushing.

"You're Kairi?" Zexion asked, looking at my ginger friend. She nodding, grinning. I saw her glance quickly at me.

"Yeah. You must be Zexion," she said, her voice containing laughter. "We heard a lot about you."

"A lot," Selphie agreed. I kicked her in the back of her knee, causing her to lose her balance and fall.

"Have you?" Zexion looked at me, amused, and I blushed.

"Kairi? Do you see that?" Selphie said suddenly, pointing toward the sky. There was a little light falling into the ocean.

"Someone else coming to this world?" Kairi murmured.

"You think?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion. It didn't look like what I had imagined or what Kairi had described.

"No...it's not." Kairi, without any warning, suddenly bolted toward the small boat dock, grabbing the oars of her own.

"Where are you going?" Selphie asked, chasing after her.

"It's them!" she cried. "Sora and Riku!"

"...Should we follow them?" Zexion asked me, watching as Selphie jumped into Kairi's boat.

"Why not? I kind of want to meet this Sora kid..."

+A Few Months Later+

"Don't be mad, don't be mad," Eden chanted under her breath, pacing around the living room. Her arms were wrapped almost instinctively around her stomach, and she was doing her best to hold back tears.

"He can't be mad," she said, sitting down. "He can't be... But what if he is?" She stood back up again, her throat closing up. This happened again several more times before the front door finally opened.

"Eden...?" Zexion murmured, looking at his inamorata, who glanced at him, teary-eyed, then abruptly sat down on the couch. "What's wrong?" he asked, rushing over to her after closing the front door. "What happened?"

"...I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, bursting into tears. "I'm sorry! You're going to be so upset! I didn't want things to be like this for you...again."

"It might be better if you told me what the hell you're talking about."

"Sorry..." Eden wiped her eye, but it proved to be pointless, only bringing forth more tears. "...I'm sorry. This is my fault."

"What is?" Zexion asked, getting a little frustrated.

"...I'm pregnant. I'm sorry. This is just like what happened to you before. I'm just like that psycho bitch! I'm sorry-!"

"Shut up," Zexion told her, covering her mouth with his hand. "You're getting hysterical." He took a deep breath, then took his hand away. "You're not like Emi...at all. She called me an idiot and blamed everything on me, then proceeded to take all of my munny and time from me. And unless that's your master plan here, trust me, you're not anything like her, okay?"

"...I don't think I can handle this," she admitted, pressing a hand to her cheek. "I'm the most selfish person I know. How can I love something else more than me?"

"Well, what about me?"

"You're different. The exception." Eden shook her head quickly, hair falling down from the bun piled on top of her head. "I'm sorry. I'm just really...afraid."

"...You know what? ...I'm done." Zexion stood up, and Eden looked at him, mouth agape.

"What?" she squeaked, her one eye widening in sheer terror. "No, you can't just leave me."

"No, no, that's not what I mean," Zexion said quickly, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, that was tactless. What I mean is...I'm done being afraid of everything. It feels like I've been afraid my whole life. I was always afraid of people, and being judged, and growing up, and the list just keeps going on. I feel like...I never got over that fear until we met, and I didn't really care what you thought about me at first."

He smirked at her, and she couldn't help but crack a smile, too.

"And now all of this has happened, and things are obviously a lot different than they used to be, and here we are, afraid? Isn't that kind of stupid? Shouldn't we be celebrating? Yeah, I guess it's okay to be afraid sometimes, but...I don't know. I'm tired of worrying about everything, especially things I can't control. Aren't you?"

To his surprise, Eden laughed.

"Are you disagreeing with me?" he asked.

"No...not at all." She smiled again. "It's just...I think you spend too much time around Sora and Riku."

"Hardly. Sora is the most obnoxious person I have ever met."

"...I can't disagree." Eden shrugged, sighing. "Anyway, I agree with you. I was always afraid of the same things you were, but instead of hiding in my fear, I blinded myself to it, which is even worse. Maybe...maybe now is the best time to start being brave."

Bowing her head, Eden smiled for the third time, looking at the tiny little fibers in the carpet. Tears blurred her vision after a while.

"I guess...all of us have to be brave," she began, looking up at Zexion, who smiled at her. "Especially for someone else."

"Definitely for someone else," he quietly agreed, kissing her on the cheek.

Always for someone else, she realized, closing her eyes.

The end. 3