Lucas woke up to the tide tickling his toes.

Reflexively, he jerked away from the cold water, accidentally bumping into Claus- who grumbled at him sleepily- and Violet- who protested softly, eyes still shut.

"Sorry." Lucas apologized softly as he sat up, pulling his legs closer to himself, not wanting to wake them up if they wanted to keep sleeping.

They were on the beach- the sun was setting, turning the skies all different colors, all bright and vivid, rose pinks and deep blues and purples.

Other than the three of them, the beach was deserted.

Claus was lying on one side of Lucas. His head was pillowed on one arm, the other arm stretched out in the direction of Lucas and Violet. His green and black striped shirt was short sleeved and he was wearing khaki cargo pants. He shifted slightly as Lucas watched him, beginning to wake up.

Violet was lying on Lucas's other side. There was a big pink bow in her hair, and she wore a white shirt and pink overalls that ended in shorts.

Lucas glanced down at himself briefly- his favorite red and yellow shirt and a pair of jeans- pants, not shorts- before looking around again, trying to remember how they got there-

Next to him, Claus sat upright, grumbling sleepily, shoving his bangs out of his eyes- then blinked. "Lucas, why are we at the beach?"

"I don't know Claus…before- weren't we somewhere else?"

"Yeah- we were-" Claus stopped short, and he and Lucas stared at each other as they remembered the doors- finding Violet- the transformation- finally stopping Porky for good- trying to fix everything-

Slowly, both twins turned to face Violet-she was still lying on the sand, but stirring and slowly opening her eyes-

"Hey Claus! Hey Lucas!"

"Fuel." Claus said faintly, recognizing their friend standing up on the path-

"What are you guys doing here?" the dark haired boy asked curiously, hopping down to meet them.

"We- uh- lost track of time while playing." Claus said, stepping forward, then twitching a bit as Fuel gave him a huge pat on the back- then smiled and gave his friend one in return.

"I was looking for you guys earlier, since I was thinking about going fishing but didn't want to do it by myself and have no one to talk to, but no one's seen you guys all day. People were beginning to wonder where you three had disappeared to, but we knew you guys would get back in time for supper. It's too late to go fishing now, though."

"Oh." Claus said, glancing over his shoulder at Lucas for ideas, then turned back to face their friend. "Sorry about that."

Fuel waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about it. Want to go tomorrow?"

"Sure, sounds like fun." Claus said, and the enthusiasm was easy to hear in his voice.

Behind him, Lucas shook Violet gently, all the while noticing things- Claus's arms, matching and equally strong, and as sun browned as the rest of him- Lucas's own hands, large and strong, not as big as Dad's but getting there- and the hands that attached to arms that, while not filled out yet, were no longer scrawny.

We're thirteen still…but Claus-

Their eyes met as Claus and Fuel turned to look at them-

His brother's eyes were both green, just like a forest full of sunlight, green and steady as a friend's strong hand helping you up.

Violet yawned as she sat upright, Lucas's hands on her shoulders.

"I see someone's worn out from playing all day." Fuel said with a laugh as he reached forward and ruffled her hair.

She blinked, startled and fully awake now, and looked up to see his face- searched it and then smiled back, just a little shyly.

"You learned to swim yet, Vi?"

She shook her head.

"Well, I suppose Claus can't teach you how to swim the way he taught me." Fuel said with a mock sigh. "Since he just threw me in."

"I did not."

"He did." Fuel said to Violet, grinning slightly. "Your dad had to fish me out."

"You were goofing off and tripped. It was your own fault you fell in." Claus said, folding his arms. The corners of his mouth of his mouth twitched tellingly, despite his stern pose.

Violet looked from one to the other, and then turned to Lucas, who held up his hands defensively.

"Don't look at me- I didn't see what happened."

"You know, the two of you are supposed to be on my side." Claus grumbled, mock angry as Fuel laughed.

"I guess they just know you too well Claus."

Lucas turned away from the playful arguing and smiled at Violet. "Don't worry, learning to swim is fun. We'll both teach you."

"I'm sure you'll get other offers of help too." Claus commented as he and Fuel turned back to them.

"I wouldn't mind helping myself." Fuel said with a grin, "Dad's waiting for me though, so I got to head home now, alright? I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you then Fuel."

He ruffled Violet's hair once more, this time producing a quiet giggle, and once again exchanging pats on the back with both Lucas and Claus before heading back in the direction of town.

The three of them looked after him a moment, then they turned around to look at the others, then all around the beach. It was empty except for them, which wasn't really a surprise.

Going by what Fuel said and looking at the sky, it was getting late. Most of the villagers would probably be shutting their doors for the night right now.

"Are we back?" Claus asked, turning to meet the eyes of the other two.

"I think we are…" Lucas shut his eyes and focused, using the skills that he'd always had, but only recently learned how to use, that were as much a part of him as breathing.

Lucas opened his eyes and smiled, meeting the eyes of both his brother and his sister. "Yeah, we're back."

Claus breathed a sigh of relief. "Finally. But did we sleep here all day?" he shook his head disgustedly. "What a waste!"

"Well, we did do a lot yesterday." Lucas pointed out with a smile. "We did a lot of traveling, and a lot of fighting, so it's only natural that we were tired out when we finished."

"Not to mention that we fixed the world." Claus agreed. "Still can't believe we slept through the whole day. Oh well. We're back now, and that's the important thing."

Lucas nodded in agreement.

Violet smiled too, but she also looked nervous- until Lucas took one of her hands, and when she turned to look at him, Claus took her other one.

"Come on." Claus said softly, "It's getting dark- it's time to go home."

"It's time for all of us to go home." Lucas said.

Violet nodded slowly, took a deep breath- and the three of them walked down the path to the village.

The sheriff's station was empty except for the stray dog, who wagged his tail at them lazily as they walked past.

Reggie was in the middle of cleaning up after one of his artistic sessions. He was scurrying busily about, so the trio just waved as they walked past, and he waved back before returning to his cleaning up. Behind him, his tent stretched up proudly, untouched by lightening.

In the town, everyone was getting ready for the night- the well was being covered up, doors and windows were being shut- a number of people called out to them in passing, telling them hello and goodnight, and they- mostly Lucas, but sometimes Claus- answered back and waved and smiled at them.

Nobody seemed surprised to see Violet- she was greeted just the same as Claus and Lucas.

There were no hard paved roads, only the paths that their feet remembered from childhood. The well was back, the houses the same as they had been before the arrival of Fassad and the Pigmask army.

Beside the well, Lucas slowed and then stopped. The other two turned to look at him.

"Lucas? What is it?"

"Let's go check on Duster."

"Duster?" Claus asked, glancing in the direction of the house where their friend lived with his dad-then understanding flashed across his face, followed by worry. "Oh…"

"Duster?" Violet asked, looking from one of her brothers to the other.

"He's a friend of ours. He got lost for a while- not like Claus did, but he did forgot who he was and how to get home- he only remembered after we went adventuring together."

This was news to Claus- he stared at Lucas, surprised and Lucas nodded, letting him know that yes, that was really true.

"I'm pretty sure that he and Mr. Wess and Kumatora are all okay, but I want to check on them and make sure."

"Right…" Claus said softly. "And I should probably…say sorry…"

"…I don't think you should feel too bad about what happened before Claus. You were lost and confused and that wasn't your fault. I mean, it's good that you want to apologize and I'm not trying to stop you from doing that - but I don't think you should continue to beat yourself up over it either."

Once again, Claus was staring at his younger brother in bewilderment.

"Yeah, Claus isn't bad." Violet agreed loyally.

Claus looked from his brother to his sister and sighed- but he was smiling. "You two…"

"Come on, let's go see them. They'll be happy to see you- oh, and they'll be happy to meet you too, Violet." Lucas added, smiling down at their little sister, who smiled shyly back.

"Sure." Claus drew in a breath, then let it out slowly, "Okay, let's go."

From a distance, Mr. Wess's house and the building the Pigmasks had called "Old Man's Paradise" had looked alike- it didn't help that the dark was falling fast.

But when they crossed the bridge and looked up at the top of the hill, they could see it better- and Lucas breathed a sigh of relief as he saw that yes, it was once again Mr. Wess's house.

Then he blinked as he saw someone on the roof.

"Hello?"

"Oh, hi you guys." Duster said calmly, as he finished gathering up his tools.

"I haven't seen you guys all day!" Kumatora said, grinning at them as she continued to hold the ladder in place. "What've you guys been up to?"

"Er-"

"We were at the beach." Lucas said, wondering what to do and say- it didn't seem like they remembered their journey and the Needles- but he wanted to make sure, because their journey had been what bonded them together- "But- before that-"

"Oh, what are you three doing here?" asked a different voice.

"Hi Mr. Wess." Claus greeted the old man as he came out of the house. "What's up with the roof?"

"Nothing really." Duster said, reaching the ground. "It's just getting older and we want to make sure it stays in good shape. Don't want it to start leaking or anything like that."

Lucas winced, remembering the "Old Man's Paradise" and how badly it had been taken care of.

"Yeah, that would be bad." Claus agreed innocently.

"Well, we're going to go stick this stuff in the shed in the back."

"Be right back." Duster and Kumatora walked around to the back of the house.

"So… have you guys been working on the house all day?" Lucas asked. He wasn't quite sure how to ask what he needed to know, but he figured that question would be a good start.

"Yeah, yesterday too. We finally finished today."

Well, Mr. Wess obviously didn't know about the Needles and what had happened to the world. But then, he hadn't been there for the pulling of the Needles, just like the rest of the villagers, so that was probably why. Probably not even Grandpa would remember Claus going missing and that they hadn't always had a little sister.

But what about Duster and Kumatora? They had been there for the pulling of the Needles- not every single one of them, but neither had Claus and Lucas.

Lucas really hoped they remembered- because them depending on each other during their journey was one of the things that had made them such good friends- the things they'd shared together, the things they'd gone through together.

And here they came back again, around the side of the house.

"Oh Kumatora-" Wess said, turning to the older girl- huh, that was weird. Hadn't he always called her "princess" before? "- did the two of you pick up the groceries I asked you to?"

"Yep, it's all done."

"Don't worry about it Dad, it's all taken care of."

"Right then. I'm going to start supper then- the two of you had better come in soon and help me. And the three of you-" he added, pointing at the twins and Violet, "had better be heading home soon as well. It's time for kids like you to be in bed."

"Hey, we're thirteen now!" Claus objected. "We're almost adults."

Duster suppressed a cough.

"Not close enough." Mr. Wess retorted with a grin. "Besides, your little sister there isn't even that."

Claus opened his mouth, then turned and looked at Violet, and then shut it.

"I'll see you kids tomorrow." Mr. Wess said with a wave, as he walked into the house.

"Quit calling us kids!" Claus yelled after him as he shut the door. "Argh!"

"Well, that's Dad for you." Duster said.

"Yeah, he can be like that." Kumatora agreed, dropping to the ground and stretching as she studying them curiously.

"What?" Claus asked defensively.

"I just noticed your freckles- they're kinda cute."

"They are not!" Claus yelled, clapping one hand across his nose and glaring at her.

"Sure, whatever you say Claus." Kumatora said, smirking.

Claus glared at her, but wisely chose not to say anything else.

Lucas was disappointed. It looked like his friends didn't remember their journey after all. But at least everybody was alive and okay and together. That was the most important thing anyway-

"But I got to say, you look a lot better out of that helmet and those dumb orange pants. That whole outfit made you look stupid. It was an eyesore." Kumatora went on. "Just as bad as those pink pants I made Duster burn."

Claus scowled half-heartedly as he rolled his eyes. "Looks had nothing to do with why I stopped wearing the uniform and you know it. Besides, it didn't look that bad."

"Oh yes it did." Kumatora said, amused, then turned to Duster. "Told you I was right. You owe me now!"

"Owe her what?" Violet asked curiously.

"Wait, then you guys do remember?" Lucas asked as Claus slapped his forehead as he just realized what Kumatora's remark had meant.

"Only vaguely." Duster said with a sigh, leaning against the house. "Like a dream. In fact, that's what I was kind of hoping the whole thing was. Just a bad dream."

"No such luck." Claus said, slightly grimly. "But it's mostly a bad dream now…from what we can tell, Porky and his minions never came here, so none of that stuff ever happened…"

"But we still remember it happening." Kumatora said.

"Yeah." Lucas said softly, suppressing a shudder at the some of the worst moments- falling and seeing his brother above him, face covered, both their hands reaching helplessly for the other- watching as his brother turned to face him and drew his sword-

"Yeah." Claus agreed softly, then said "Look, you guys…I'm sorry- ow, what was that for?"

Kumatora scowled as she lowered her fist. "Did you apologize to Lucas?"

"Of course!" both twins responded indignantly, and Violet nodded, supporting them.

"Okay then, we're good." Kumatora said dismissively, lying back in the grass.

Claus stared at her, and then turned to Lucas. "Lucas, your friends are weird."

"Shut up dummy, we're your friends too."

"We're just glad you're okay." Duster broke in, still smiling.

"But where'd you come from?" Kumatora asked Violet, sitting up again. "You weren't here before, right?"

Violet hide her face in Claus's back, and Lucas patted her head softly.

"Don't worry, they're our friends."

"Yeah, they're not going to hurt you." Claus added. "Duster's a nice guy, and I'm beginning to see why he and Lucas are friends with Kumatora."

Violet peered around Claus, still shy but also less worried.

"Do you want us to tell them?"

"No… I can do it." she said quietly, remaining where she was- then slowly lifting her eyes so they met theirs. "Hi…I used to be a dragon…the Dark Dragon."

Both Duster and Kumatora stared at her a moment.

"Well, you're a bit smaller than I expected." Duster commented calmly after the silence passed.

"Well, I always knew I'd get along okay with anyone who inherited your heart Lucas, but this isn't what came to mind." Kumatora said, and then grinned. "Ah well, who cares?"

She stuck out her hand and Violet took it, smiling shyly.

"Nice to meet you kid. I'm Kumatora."

"Hello Kumatora, I'm Violet."

Lucas smiled as he noticed how that was probably the most gentle touch Kumatora had ever given anyone.

Duster came over, also smiling, and they did the same.

Claus sighed slightly in relief at how well that went.

"There, now we're all friends." Kumatora announced with satisfaction.

"Hey, have you guys been home yet?" Duster asked, looking up from Violet with a thoughtful frown.

"No, not yet."

"You'll probably want to do that now then." Duster said.

"We'll still be here tomorrow, after all." Kumatora added.

"Oh, you're staying here tonight, Kumatora?" Lucas asked curiously.

"Actually, it looks like I'm staying here forever, right Duster?" Kumatora said, grinning at the thief, and he just smiled serenely back at her.

"So, I guess we'll see you tomorrow?"

"Count on it!" Kumatora replied with an easy grin.

"See you tomorrow!"

"See ya!"

The three of them turned and headed back to the bridge. Lucas turned back one last time before reentering the town, and saw Duster ushering Kumatora inside the house, one hand on her shoulder.

The town was quiet now, everyone already inside. With everyone gone, Lucas remembered how empty the village had been when everyone had deserted it for New Pork City, but the lights, warm and comforting, in all the windows, showed how different it was from then.

They left the town behind, entering the path that led home.

Still walking between them, Violet slowed. Looking down at her, Lucas saw worry parading all over her face- reaching down, he grasped her hand again. Claus turned to look at the two of them, and then did the same.

Violet looked up, still worried, but also surprised- she stared at first Lucas, then Claus.

"Take a melody

Simple as can be

Give it some words

And sweet harmony"

This was the special song- the one Mom saved for when they were sick, for when they were scared, for when they were hurt and bleeding… whenever she sang it, they had been very comforted. Right now, that comfort that she'd given them was something Lucas wanted to give to Violet.

"Raise your voices

All day long now

Love grows strong now

Sing a song of love

Oh love-" Claus flushed as they turned to look at him, but didn't say anything- and he kept singing.

Lucas smiled as they sang the next part together, repeating the verse that Lucas had sang.

Between them, Violet was still clinging to their hands, but her grip wasn't as tight as before- and she was smiling now.

They could see home now- still in the distance, but getting closer.

"Love is our power

Love is our glory

Love is the beauty

And the joy of spring"

Light blazed from every window, eager to welcome them home.

Lucas and Claus both found themselves singing louder, hoping their voices would carry to anyone in the house, wanting them to know that the three of them were finally coming home.

"Love is our magic

Love is our story

Love is the melody

We all can sing."

Both Lucas and Claus turned to smile at Violet at that last line. Her smile was like the most warm and brilliant sunlight.

They reached the house- stopped to reassure the sleepy sheep that they were them and not wolves coming to eat them, stopped to pet Boney, who thumped his tail in simple sleepy contentment that they were finally home, and then they approached the door.

The boys stopped singing- squeezed Violet's hands one last time to reassure her.

Claus opened the door, and Lucas led both his little sister and big brother inside, and Claus shut the door behind them.

"Welcome home."

OoOoOo

And we've come to the end.

I though I'd leave the ending a little ambiguous- did Hinawa come back, or is she still dead? Are Kumatora and Duster a couple now, or are they adopted siblings? Whichever one you like is the correct answer. I couldn't decide between the two options because I liked them both, so I decided to just let you guys pick.

Thank you all very much for your support throughout this story. Your encouraging reviews made it much easier for me to continue, and the constructive criticism, while not always followed, was also appreciated and considered.

I hope you enjoyed this final chapter as much as you enjoyed the others.