Hello everyone! And here's our happy ending! Yes, it's longer, I may have mentioned I'm a sucker for happy endings. So let's get this going! Scribble?

Scribble: We never have and never will own Blue Exorcist.

And a big thanks to What2callmyself? for beta reading for a manga she doesn't even read while listening to me rave about how awesome it is! *gives her cookie*

Epilogue

"I hear he comes in here every day; poor kid…" the nurse trailed off talking to her friend.

Yukio was sitting on the edge of the bed, not hearing them at all, looking down sadly at his brother. The damage Rin took had been extensive. Several of his vertebras had cracked, and he had fractured most of his ribs, two of which had punctured his left lung. His left knee had shattered and his collarbone had also cracked. While his heart somehow managed to avoid most damage, his liver had been crushed and his kidneys also failed. He had been in a coma now for two weeks, the ventilator doing most of the breathing for him, but the doctors warned there might have been some brain damage, which they would only know for sure when he woke up.

IF he woke up at all. There was always the possibility he would never regain consciousness. Even with his healing ability working, it may never be enough.

Yukio wasn't the only visitor, but he was the most frequent. All the students from cram school (except Takara, which wasn't unusual) came as well. Shiemi had cried, wondering why neither of the boys told her what was going on. Izumo had looked down at him for a very long time before sadly whispering one word: "Idiot." Shima had tried to wake him by tempting him with thoughts of pretty girls (and Suguro had belted him the face). Konekomaru had tried various Buddhist prayers to wake him (all to no avail). And Suguro merely sat, saying nothing, but was forced back in almost immediately after leaving with bloody knuckles after punching the wall outside the room.

Yukio looked over at the machines again. They were the only things keeping Rin alive. But they looked so weird to him, so foreign. They weren't really a part of Rin, were they? Yet he wouldn't be alive without them. He hated this- hated seeing his brother like this. This just couldn't be Rin; this had to be a dream. He had tried telling himself that many times over these couple of weeks. He never believed himself though.

Yukio looked down at his brother again. He knew it was true, Rin would probably never wake up, and everything that had happened was his fault. He could've refused to sign the contract. He could've been easier on Rin. He could've waited another day –he heard about how Shura and Mephisto had been investigating and found out there had been a problem with Rin's test. There were a million things he could've done differently, but he didn't, and this was the result.

He took his brother's limp hand in his, feeling tears stinging his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Nii-san," he whispered to his unconscious twin. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I'm sorry I avoided you. I'm sorry that I blew up on you after you told me you found out. I'm sorry that we'll never get to work on our teamwork now. I'm sorry I was so useless that you had to end up like this to protect me. I was never able to protect you- it seems all my life I always let you down." He let the tears fall from his eyes. "I'm so sorry for everything. And…I'm sorry for this too. I just hope one day, when you wake up, you'll learn to forgive me."

Yukio released his brother's hand and stood up. After all this, how could Rin ever forgive him? He couldn't even begin to forgive himself. And he didn't want to live with the guilt anymore.

He walked over to the window, opening it wide. He hopped up on the sill and leaned out. It was a good eight stories to the ground- it would be enough to kill him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

But before he could throw himself out, a hand grabbed him tightly on the sleeve and pulled him back.

He turned to see his brother's eyes boring into his.

And as he felt the surprise and relief of Rin being alive, he heard his brother speak, in a tired and strangely strangled voice, as if trying to fight off tears. "Don't…don't you dare…do this…Yukio. If you do…I'll never…forgive you. Please…don't leave me…."

The nurses heard the sound the machines were making and rushed into the room, and were pleasantly surprised to see the younger brother on the bed, crying, his arms wrapped around his older brother, who had finally woken up.

~Later~

As soon as Rin's friends heard he was awake, they all came to see him too. Shiemi cried, hugging him, telling him how glad she was that he was ok. Both Konekomaru and Shima were relieved to see he was awake. Both Bon and Izumo tried to play it off like they weren't worried and knew he'd be fine (except Shima told Rin how they really were worried which led to Bon giving him a death glare and Izumo kicking him). They all left, eventually, leaving only Yukio, who wanted to stay with him a bit longer. Since Rin was still in intensive care, Yukio could stay as long as he wanted.

That night, it started raining, and Yukio noticed Rin seemed a bit fidgety. "Are you alright, Nii-san?"

"Uh, yeah," Rin mumbled a bit nervously as he looked out the window at the weather.

Yukio sighed and smiled. "They told me I didn't have to leave, so if you'd like, I'll stay with you tonight."

Rin looked much happier at this prospect. "OK, that sounds much better."

Yukio climbed into the bed with him, and Rin snuggled against his chest like he always did. "I'm glad you're here, Yukio. I love you," he said softly as he quickly fell asleep.

Yukio smiled, not sleeping yet. "You do this all the time. You always make me worry about you. And I hate that you do that. But still…the only reason I worry at all is because I love you too," he said, realizing fully that Shura had hit the nail right on the head when she told him that. He hugged his older brother. "You don't have to worry," he whispered. "I won't make the same mistake twice. I won't let them hurt you. I will always protect you." And soon he fell asleep as well.

~Omake~

Shura found her way back to Mephisto's office to get the answer to one more question she had and hopefully tie up any loose ends in her paperwork. She knocked on his door.

"Come in!" a sing-song voice beckoned her inside.

She came in to see Mephisto looking quite pleased. "I've heard my dear little brother woke up," he told her happily.

Shura nodded. "As did I- I plan on visiting him tomorrow. But I still have one more question for you."

"Well, I'm feeling generous right now, so ask away."

"Did you really find a second test?"

"Nope! Not at all!"

The blood drained from Shura's face. "Then…you're saying…Rin DID fail?"

"Certainly not. He passed."

Shura was quite confused now. "What? How do you know?

"Because I was there."

And suddenly it all made sense again. "You were in the room then."

"Of course- there was no way I could let Rin fail- I have too much riding on him. I sat on the wall as a fly and watched him. I was planning on even getting him to change some of his answers too, if need be, but I didn't even need to do that. He did it all on his own- by the skin of his teeth, sure, but he did manage to pass."

"Then…the one at the Vatican…?"

"It was his test…yet somebody changed the answers. Who, I don't know at this point, although only somebody high up could've gotten in to do so –just as only somebody high up could've gotten in to change the test further," he smiled at what he had just implied, and Shura wondered how she was supposed to begin to finish this report.

"Do you have anybody in mind?"

"Somehow, even if I did, I'm more worried about the one behind the forger who wanted this done," he suddenly grew serious, his voice quiet. He turned away, staring at the wall, and mumbled softly to himself, "So HE'S on the move now…."as if he had completely forgotten Shura was still in the room.

Shura's eye widened. "What?" she asked softly.

Mephisto turned back to smile at her as he rose. "Oh, I'm sure you'll find out shortly! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a school festival to plan!" And he bounced out of the room, leaving Shura standing there, with more questions than answers.

Scribble: You owe us an explanation- that last part was a bit confusing.

Me: Yeah, I know- beta said the same thing. Rin passed, on his own. But someone, I don't know, maybe like the mole they found during the school festival (see, I can tie in to the story too!) was high up enough to sneak in and change some of the answers. Once he found out, Mephisto responded by sneaking in himself and changing the ink color (like previously mentioned) and made a second copy official enough to fool everyone. He's a wonderful bastard like that.

Well anyway, this was the end, so what did you think? Feel free to check out the other ending, and/or leave a review! Worthless flames are worthless. Con crit is appreciated. And good reviews are loved! So until I find an opportunity to write for these guys again, Long Live the Exorcist Cram School!

-titangirl161