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Epilogue
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15 years later
It had been fifteen long years since the infamous Kaname Kuran had mysteriously disappeared . The Vampire Society had been , all of the sudden , devoid of a leader , and so he had promptly been substituted by the princess , the only one left of the Kuran bloodline .
No one in the Senate had believed she would have lasted much . No one had anticipated that Yuuki Cross Kuran would have been the key for an agreement with the Hunter Association , establishing the peace between the two races .
No one could have predicted what happened .
Never in the history of Vampirism had a pureblood (or a noble ) married a hunter . But even if it was so unusual ,so impossible to even think something like that could happen , the Council had to admit there was no written law against it .
Many in conservative party showed dissent and disapproval , but the marriage between the Hunter Association President and the Princess of Vampires happened anyway , proclaiming a truce for the years to come .
The peace that Kaien Cross and Juuri and Haruka Kuran had for so long wanted , had finally been achieved .
Most of the geniuses of the Night Class were hired by the Princess herself to study and find a cure for the humans who had been bitten by purebloods, to prevent them from falling to level End .
Aidoh Hanabusa , who had joined the cause as a volunteer , was the one that eventually discovered the cure . He loved working for that project , helping people with that problem , since he had once cared about a girl who had fallen to level E . ( Author's Note : remember Fuka from the Vampire Knight novel ? "The Ice Blue Sin ?")
The cure reduced considerably the amount of vampires executed by the hunters .
Everything had changed in a short amount of time .
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It was Christmas Eve .
The night was cold , and it was snowing outside . In the Kuran Mansion , however , there was a very warm atmosphere , thanks to the fireplace and the many Christmas lights.
A man in his thirties ( but he didn't look older than 21 ) was taking a nap on the couch . He had fallen asleep the very minute he had stepped in the house , too tired after the long working day . The H.A. had always been extremely crowded during Christmas time , and since he was the President , he couldn't afford breaks .
His wife was in the next room , putting some last minute Christmas decorations .
She had been busy all day preparing the party , she wanted everything to be perfect that day .
It was odd that she was still there , but Yuuki had firmly wanted to stay in the Kuran Mansion . Even if she had a lot of unpleasant memories there , it was still the place she had grown up in , the place where all of her relatives had lived for centuries . She and Zero had decided that it was the best place to start over , to start a family . She could finally think of that house as a home .
And besides …
She was so happy that it didn't matter where she was staying , as long as she was with Zero .
She was lost in her daydream when suddenly the doorbell rang , announcing that the first guests had arrived . She ran to open to door , and found Yagari , Kaito , and a very cheery Chairman waiting for her . She couldn't help but notice that the latter was wearing one of those Santa reindeers antlers hats .
' Merry Christmas , my sweet little DAUGHTER !' the Chairman shouted in the hallway , holding her tightly like he was seeing her for the first time in ages .
Yuuki laughed and held him back . ' Dad , we last saw each other a week ago !'
'But it seemed like forever , didn't it ? !' he said , almost dying of happiness because he had called him "Dad" .
She chuckled lightly . She then greeted Kaito and Yagari , took their coats , and then showed them the way .
'Where are the others ?' she asked to the Chairman when they reached the living room .
And with "others" she meant Yori , Hanabusa , Akatsuki and Ruka , Rima , Shiki and Takuma … It had , in fact, become a Christmas tradition to spend the festivities all of them together in the Kuran Mansion , like a big family . And since some of them had to travel to come back to the Mansion , they would stay there for a few days .
'They are on their way !' the Chairman responded as he sat down on the sofa .
'What about our Mr. President ?' asked Kaito as he stole food from the table ( as usual ) .
'Oh , he's asleep ' Yuuki told him .
'Was ' Zero interrupted her , entering the room . He had ruffled hair and a sleepy look on his face . But despite that , he looked as handsome as ever . Yuuki greeted him with a kiss .
'What the hell did you put on your head , old man ?' said Zero with a smirk . 'You look ridiculous.'
' I told him that too , brother . He never listens .' chimed in Kaito , a look of disapproval on his face .
'Kiryuu !' said the Chairman , outraged . 'This hat is f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c ! '
Yuuki kept smiling all the while . They were going to have a great time .
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Later that night , after the dinner was over , everyone went to sleep in their rooms .
Yuuki was switching the lights off in the living room and was about to go upstairs , when she felt a soft hand grab her wrist . She turned surprised to look at Zero , who was looking at her with a somewhat awkward and goofy smile.
'Hey,' he whispered .
'Hey.' she answered back , smiling to him .
'Can we … go for a walk ?'
'What's with the mysterious attitude ?' she said , but he didn't answer , instead , he kissed her , preventing her from speaking . 'Just come with me .'
She followed him outside . He lead the way , pulling her by the hand , until they arrived to the lake next to the house . It was one of their favorite spots to be alone .
She sat next to him on the grass , while he held her close .
They stayed like that , in silence , for what it seemed like a long time . Kissing , holding , just enjoying each other's company after the long day, until Yuuki found herself laying on top of him looking at the stars reflecting in his gorgeous moonstone eyes , while he stroked gently her cheek with his thumb .
He looked lost in his thoughts , like was trying to find a way to tell her something .
' C'mon . Whatever it is you are thinking , tell me .' She broke the silence, knowing somehow that the needed to tell her something , because he had brought her somewhere no one with a vampire hearing could hear what they were saying .
He smiled ruefully . 'I'm afraid you'll be angry at me. '
'Shoot. It's not like I'm gonna bite you if I get mad , you know.' She air quoted him . He laughed , remembering instantly the last time he had told her the same thing , in Cross Academy . It seemed like a gazillion years before .
' Before … at the dinner party .' he started , then paused .'When Ruka … mentioned Kaname . I saw the look on your face .'
She stiffened , and slowly got free from his embrace , sitting on the cold grass . 'What look ?'
He came too to a sitting position and looked at her .
' Are you.. still sad ? About what we did ?' he asked, hesitantly .
'We haven't talked about him in ages …' she said , staring at the water in front of them .
'Just answer to my question.' he told her , putting a hand on her shoulder , as if he knew that even talking about him would be painful to her .
'No.'
' No you don't want to answer me , or no you aren't sad ?'
'No , I'm not sad .' she stated firmly .
'Liar .' he said , chuckling softly , like he was expecting that answer from her , and then lied down again on the grass , both his hands behind his head .
'I'm not lying .'
'Yes , you are . Because deep down , even after everything he's done , you still feel bad and guilty for what we did to him .You don't have to pretend.' he said sincerely .
'You mean what I did .' she said bitterly .
'What we both did . I didn't stop you , remember ? And to be honest I didn't even want to .'
They were silent for a moment . Then , looking somewhere distant , at the sky , he started speaking again .
'But … Yuuki , listen to me . He has suffered enough , don't you think ? Fifteen years , locked in a box in the depths of the ocean, alone … With his veins burning and burning because he couldn't feed .'
Yuuki turned to look at him . She was surprised in an unimaginable way , because Zero was talking about Kaname , and he didn't have that angry , anguished look on his face he usually had when he talked about that man . He seemed completely at peace .
'What are you trying to tell me ?' she asked .
He then reached out for her and held her hand .
'I just …don't want to be a bad person . All that hate, is pointless. Even though that man destroyed me , destroyed my family , I …I've forgiven him , Yuuki . You should too .'
She was speechless . 'Oh , Zero …'
'I just don't want to see that sad look on your face ever again ' he admitted awkwardly .
She smiled a teary smile and then kissed him . 'You won't . I've never been happier, Z .'
'I really don't know what I've done to deserve someone like you . I love you so much ' she told him .
'Ditto.' He replied , smiling .
Then , he pulled a folded envelope out of his pockets and handed it to her .
'What is it ?' she asked , curious .
' This is my Christmas present .' he told her mysteriously .
She giggled . 'Another one ?' she said , since they had already exchanged presents .
'Let's just say this one is very different .'
She took it and opened it . She found a photograph . It was like one of those paparazzi pictures , where the people are completely unaware of being photographed . It showed a crowded fast food and groups of people eating , sitting at the tables .
She looked quizzically at Zero with a slight smile , completely lost . 'Am I missing something ?'
'Look harder' he encouraged her .
She stared again at it , until she noticed one person in particular and her heart stopped .
A tall , dark haired man with ruby eyes .
'What the …' she said , out of breath .
There was no mistaking it . That man was her brother.
And that picture obviously didn't date back to fifteen years before .
God , he looked so different !
' I don't understand …' she said , seeming completely at loss of what to do .
' It's a very long story …' he said. 'All you need to know , is that you can stop being sad for him . Because he's free , happy , and … human .'
' WHAT ?' Yuuki almost yelled , shocked .
' Yep ! 100% human , and he doesn't even remember about us anymore , Yuuki .'
'But it's impossible ..' she couldn't believe to what she was hearing .
' Do you seriously think that the Kaname Kuran we know could be nonchalantly eating at McDonald's , wearing a sweatshirt and jeans ? No Armani trousers , no Dolce and Gabbana shirt ?' he joked .
She smiled . Yeah , it was very unlikely .
'When I freed him , we had a long talk , and I gave him a choice . He chose this. A chance at happiness . No longer being bound by the horrible things he had done .'
' But I thought that only purebloods could turn one of their kind to a human .'
'Well , I thought that too . But then I discovered that every spell has a loophole .'
'And you helped him.'
'Yeah.'
'God , you have the kindest heart.'
'Nah , I'm not kind .'he replied .
' But I have to admit that I'm pretty amazing ' he said then , flashing a 300 watt smile towards her.
She couldn't agree more .
' I still don't know how you managed to keep all this a secret till now . I drink your blood almost every day !' she said , incredulous .
'Us hunters , we know a lot of tricks …' he said mischievously .
'Oh really ?'she asked him , smirking . ' Mind to show me some of them ?'
He laughed . 'Not at all , princess .'
Before he captured her lips in a passionate kiss , she looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time .
He had grown so much , her Zero . He wasn't the broken boy anymore , the one who hated purebloods , who hated himself , the one she had met almost twenty years before .
His wounds had finally healed . He was happy , and happy to show it .
' Till death do us part … ' he whispered on her lips .
'No , Z.' she shook her head.
'Not even death can tear us apart .'
THE END .
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Author's Note : Sorry for the wait guys ! I had to work a lot during the last months , and so I haven't had much time to write .
Did you like how things turned out ? :) Let me know .
When I started the story , I didn't want a fairytale ending , but since I don't think the manga will end in a good way , I decided to give Z&Y their happy ending … I hope you liked it .
I really want to THANK YOU all of you that have read my story . The fact that you spent some of your time to read it and review it means a lot to me . :')
This is for you !
*hugs*
PS : Have you read the latest VK chapter ? ( ZERO , I'M SO PROUD OF YOU , BABY !) I can't believe VK is ending. What am I going to do with my life ? LOL .
