IT'S BEEN SO FREAKING LONG AND I HAVEN'T PUBLISHED A FINALE YET. OOOO MY GOD. These are the perks of having such a large span of time for myself.

Ah, whatever.

I reckon it's time for me to wrap this up and give out little lovebirds some good times to relieve all the pain they went through. MY BABIES.

I'll divide this in two so you don't have a seizure over its length. Have fun!

It had been ages since he had had such a good night. Seemingly, all nights of sheer exhaustion and desperation collapsed on him and knocked Ivan into a deep night of straight slumber. He stirred, still on the bed and tucked in like a baby.

If it were his choice to make, he would stay in for another year and never wake up. Just some kind of hibernation to make up for lost sanity. Alas, Ivan knew that he hadn't made all that effort just to stay in forever. His school was waiting for him to come back after the longest of times replacing him with substitutes.

Apart from that, Dirk wouldn't have any of that. When he saw him get home after his confrontation with Emiko, them both saw stars. They hugged so tightly for so long that both almost fainted out of blood overpressuring. But God forbid him of that hadn't felt good. Sensing another person's warmth after so long.

Ivan had also some things to sort out with Freya. He had left without telling her. Dirk had surely told her his reasons for leaving, otherwise she would have been left in the dark. She knew his reasons... he hoped.

And of course there was that special person waiting for him awaiting in the little cottage in the outskirts of the town. Just picturing her smile made him all squishy inside.

Ah, he felt old.

That's why he got the scare of his life when he heard the door being knocked on to somebody's content. He had been on the verge of sleeping again, but now he would have to answer the door. Dirk was out with Antoinette if he was correct, and he wouldn't come back until early evening.

Ivan rubbed his eyes and yawned while getting up and buttoning up his shirt. He was adquiring this awful habit of sleeping with his shirt mid-done, consequently getting wrinkled to the point of disaster.

He was finished with his quick dress-up when he opened the door. He had expected Felix at his door to welcome him back, or Claire and Nellie to do so and tell him about Anita, or Lloyd to pat his back and welcome him back as well.

None of the mentioned happened.

He glanced down at a teary Freya who paled upon seeing him. Her eyes widened to a big extent, as if she hadn't expected him to actually be there. Freya stepped back, striken by shock.

"Oh my... God." she managed to say, as if gasping for air. A hand flew to her mouth, then the other one. "Ivan... is that...?"

Clearly she was upset because of his departure a year prior to that moment. Ivan felt tragically akward, so he simply waved his hand with a deep weird smile. "...good day, Freya. How did-"

She didn't even wait for him to finish. Instead, she rushed to him and slammed her quivering body onto his chest, crying and battling her fists against him. "Where did you go!?" screamed she frantically, sobbing. "YOU LEFT ME ALONE, IVAN! YOU LEFT DIRK ALONE! YOU... you..."

Freya calmed down rather quickly. Her ire vanished, faded, leaving her in a weak state.

"I missed you... so much. And... I bet you didn't have the... the slightest idea." mumbled she. "God, Ivan... I... I..."

Ivan sighed. "I know, Freya..."

The blonde wrapped his arms around her, a hand on her back and the other one caressing her hair, like he used to do years ago when she was upset.

"Trust me, I know."

Ivan caressed Freya's strands softly as she slept quietly in his chest after half an hour of wailing and screaming at him. It had been more like a counseling session and not a reunion, but it had been enough for the day being.

She had reiterated that she initially understood – as Dirk had stated that he was doing it for Anita, and that was to be expected. Freya and Anita had been very good friends, so she was likely to be his first supporter. She was smart woman, and knew he left to help Anita.

However... friendship was another story. If he heard that Freya was leaving he wouldn't throw such a tantrum. Still, he would be upset, just as she sure had been. She accordingly kind of threw her ire to him, stuffed it into his throat and fell asleep after reasoning and remembering that, again, he had left for Anita's sake.

He had been so focused on calming her down that he didn't even ask about the farmer's health. Ivan waited for Freya to wake up while reading a book and eyeing her hair.

"So... short hair, huh?"

So much time had passed, and he didn't know how to make up for lost time yet.

"Did you get to see any interesting places?"

Ivan took a sip of his Fall tea. "I did. There were many beautiful coasts and parks around the nation. Actually, if I hadn't been in such a hurry, I would've stayed for a bit longer."

"Such a shame!" sighed Marian. "Didn't you take any photos?"

Teacher made a sound. "In fact, I did." he took a bunch of photographs and handed them to Joan. Lauren and Cindy peered from their seats. "They aren't much."

Cindy took one of them with sparkling eyes. "Ooooo! This is very pretty!"

Ivan recognized the photo and chuckled. "Ah, yes, that one is quite good. I had never seen such a beautiful sunset in a long time."

Joan looked at each of them with a tender smile, eyeing him from time to time. There was a particular shine to her eye whenever their gazes met. Ivan knew what she was thinking about, but she beat him to speaking out loud.

"Ah, I'm sure Anita would have loved to see these."

That made him get tense like a fishrod. "Hold on, what do you mean with that?"

All the girls in the room shared some worried glances. Marian gripped her mug of coffee. "She's unconscious since last night. Claire reported that her convulsions died down and she remained still all night long."

Seeing his expression, the young sibblings cringed. He blinked twice. "So... I take it she's alright now?"

Marian took her time before speaking, which put Ivan on the edge of his seat. She tapped her fingers against the mug, as if meditating her answer. The blonde avoided meeting his eyes, so curious and worried at the same time.

"She will wake up soon." deadpanned she. "But I don't know if she's going to wake up anytime soon. Neither do the doctors or the Mayor."

"So she's... stable?" wondered Ivan. He titled his head slightly, kind of afraid of an answer. He was enormously relieved about Anita's stability – however, he was afraid of any little detail that could alter his relief.

"She is!" exclaimed Cindy. Lauren nodded accordingly. "Isn't that great?"

"Does that mean that-"

Joan frowned. "No, Ivan, you can't go visit her."

"Eh? Why not?" Ivan gritted his teeth. "I've been away for too long! It's only fair that-"

"Ivan." she put her hands on his trembling right one. "She's being observed all the time. None of us have been able to see her, but Claire has told us she's fine now. They don't want any nuisances now that she's on the right road."

"Simply put, they are trying to get her to her normal state as soon as possible. They won't waste any time with visitors." Joan said. She took all the empty plates on the counter a few steps behind.

Ivan sighed and ruffled his own hair, stressed out. He was a bit too eager to see her, even if she wouldn't answer all his questions or listen to his ramblings. Just her presence would have been enough. "Ah, whatever."

"I'm sure you will see her very soon. Just wait a little bit longer." assured Cindy. "In the meantime, you can come to this little party we're throwing tonight at the square!"

"Huh...? Which party?"

It turns out the Mayor had decided to organize a tiny event to celebrate Ivan's return home. Even if it had caught Ivan off guard and he would have liked to stay in, Freya had insisted on him going because, of course, it was his night!

It took her a lot of time to convince him, but he broke eventually and gave in. He could take advantage of the ocassion and catch up with the townsfolk. Lots of things had happened according to Dirk, and he sure needed to stay tuned. He was a teacher, yes, and a very serious one too. However, Ivan had missed his friends and he hadn't seen none of them.

Besides, a little dose of gossip was healthy once in a while.

Ivan took a glass and poured some red wine in. There was a wide variety of sweets, snacks and sandwiches on various tables, almost unable to be seen under the dim light of the streetlamps.

"It's been a long time."

Ivan turned around and almost choked while swallowing the drink. "Goodness grac-ious, Lloyd!" he coughed a bit. "You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Sorry for that." judging by Lloyd's face, he wasn't that sorry. He had that stupid smile tugging his lips. "I couldn't help it."

The first thing that Ivan noticed was that his hair was a bit shorter and he wasn't wearing glasses anymore. His turban was still crowning his head, and he was clad in his trademark loose clothes. The most remarkable difference was how at ease he seemed: while he would always show a constant poker face to the world, Lloyd looked rather relaxed compared to his general stiffness a year back.

"Where are your glasses?" asked Ivan, a hand in his pocket and the other holding his wine. "Did you throw them out the window after a tough day?"

Lloyd chuckled and approached the table behind Ivan. The latter stepped aside to let him pass. "Actually," he poured some wine. Lloyd offered some to his friend, which he rejected. "this is a pretty recent change. I accidentally broke them last week during a Bazaar day: I left them on the counter and one of my ores fell on them."

Ivan smiled. "I am truthfully sorry for your loss. I bet you two were close."

Lloyd punched his arm playfully. "Gimme a break, will you? I've been awfully busy lately and I got distracted."

"That's new." mused Ivan, looking at his wine. "As far as I'm concerned, you used to be skillful at your job."

He eyed Lloyd and followed his friend's gaze. His eyes landed on a certain redhead. "Snap out of it, Lloyd." the raven haired tensed up. "We are trying to have a conversation and I would appreciate that you had the decency to, at least, listen to me."

"Stop sounding so chiding." sighed the merchant. "I was just searching for the Mayor. I-I wasn't-"

"You haven't told Sherry yet?" moked the teacher with a mean hue to his voice. "I thought you two would be already married for the time I came back."

Lloyd went to rise his glasses – a weird thing he did when he was embarassed or frustrated – but he ended up touching the bridge of his nose. Ivan didn't notice that slip. "We had our dates and trips to the city. We haven't talked about us yet."

"Then you aren't in a relationship, at least yet." said Ivan. He drank from his cup. "I hope you confess to her soon. You both would make a great couple."

Lloyd laughed quietly. "I'm not so sure about that, but I will try my best to sort this out."

Ivan sighed in contentment, looking at the reflection of the moon on the red liquid. Red liquid that, mind you, would do wonders to his lips.

Despite his general giddyness, the ambient about him was kind of eerie. The wind blew through his tresses gently, moving the belt that hung from his new green denim jacket. His heart rocked with the wind softly in a relaxing lullably.

However... his mind was restless. Everything around him unfolded in slow motion while his brain went crazy as it tried to place his being in its belonging place. Ivan still needed to asume that, finally, he was home– and no, he wouldn't leave ever again.

"It's good to be back." muttered he, rocking the cup as the wine crashed against the glass.

His brows wrinkled slightly. Ivan looked to the sky, missing a certain someone by his side. "Anita..."

A sweet laugh corrupted his train of nostalgic thinking. His glance sunk from the sky to Sherry's shaking form at something that Daisy had said, apparently. She seemed to be looking at Lloyd with the same spark that he had looked at her with.

Ivan smirked mischievously and eyed Lloyd, taking a final sip from his glass. "I think she's beckoning you to go to her."

Lloyd drank from his cup as well, looking at his lover from the corner of his eyes. "I see." he smiled to his friend. "I'll catch you later, Ivan. I shouldn't make a lady wait."

"I will be waiting for that." responded he amusedly, seeing how Sherry and Lloyd ignited upon seeing each other. He chuckled – it wouldn't take much more pushes for them to be together.

After losing his friend out of sight, he searched for his brother through the crowd. Eventually, he spotted Dirk's magenta hat amidst all the citizens. Ivan poured some more wine and padded towards the dock in front of Raul's shop, where Dirk sat. His feet dangled above the tranquil waters.

The younger brother heard the footsteps near him as Ivan approached him. He sat by him. "It's not usual to see you so alienated from the crowd, even less considering the ocassion."

"Sorry, I needed a little bit of time to breath." Dirk moved his head a bit to undo the tension in his mind. "Ugh, I don't really enjoy such full places, y'know."

"Neither do I. But I'm having a good time nonetheless."

Dirk chuckled and looked at Ivan with tenderness. "I'm so glad to see you again, brother." the oldest one of them looked at the youngest. "It's been too long."

"I know." Ivan sighed. That was his 5-star answer because it got him out of complex explanations all the time. He wouldn't dwell too much onto the remorse he constantly felt after his departure, even if he was already back. "I am eager to get back to my life prior to this mess."

Dirk picked his glass, hidden by his side, and offered a toast. They clinked their glasses and took a sip. After that, Ivan had a lingering question on the tip of his tongue, one that he had been struggling with after his chat with Joan and co. at the cafeteria earlier that morning.

"Say, Dirk..." the brunette looked from the river to his brother. "Have you been able to visit Anita?"

Dirk shook his head adamantly, remembering the previous day. "Not at all. Claire and Nellie refused to let anyone in..."

Both sibblings sighed, defeated.

"They told me she's fine, though." he said through a bashful smile. "So I guess they will let us in someday...!"

Ivan ran a hand through his face and hair, suddenly a little tired. "Yes, I have been told about that as well." he smiled in a heartfelt way. "I will try to convince them to let me in."

Dirk rose an eyebrow. "It wouldn't be that fair to let you in while us all can't even get a glance." he then laughed sheepishly. "But, to be honest, it would make sense if you were allowed to. You saved her, after all."

Ivan's brain clicked at hearing that. Did he seriously think so highly of him? Or, did everybody think so highly of him? He hadn't done much, really! Yes, he had the brains, but not the heroism they all considered him to have! He was glad to hear that everyone knew he had done something for her, but he hadn't really saved her!

"I most certainly did not save her!" spoke he loudly. "I just took so long thinking a proper solution to her illness. You really shouldn't think of me as a hero of some sort."

"Ivan, you are her savior!" argued Dirk with a grim, tight smile after remembering what the past year had been like. "I can't even understand how you don't feel like a hero for all you have done."

Ivan sank in his place. He kicked his feet slightly at the superior thought of being a hero. His humbleness couldn't load such positive considerations to his matrix. But... now that he thought about it...

What would Anita think about it? Was she aware of his little adventure searching for the infamous cure? Had she been listening to him when, before his journey, he rambled on and on about how much he loved her? Would she slap the world out of him, like Freya, because she actually noticed his absence?

"I don't fancy being showered with affection to this extent." murmured the teacher. "Everyone has changed so much, yet so little. I like thinking time has stopped here and everything lies where I last left it. Alas, lots of things tell me otherwise."

Dirk put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. We missed you– a lot more than we'd admit out loud. We never forgot you."

"I'm aware of that." he said. "The same way you never left my mind, I know I never left yours." sigh. "Still... it's hard to admit that everything has changed and I wasn't present to enjoy said transformation. Cindy and Lauren have grown a little bit, same with Kevin, and even you! Daisy and Angelo are together, aren't they?-"

"-actually, they aren't a thing yet-" tried to correct Dirk.

"And I guess that you and Antoinette have something as well?" Dirk shut up with that. "For goodness' sake, even a new mill has been built near the race track!"

Here we go again with his unceasable talk out of panic or a soon to be seizure.

"Ivan-"

"And then, there's this new boom of tourists in the hotel, Angelo opening an exposition in the town-"

"Ivan-"

"Lloyd and Sherry will soon be together and I didn't have the oportunity to tease him about their dates!"

"IVAN!"

The panicking man went silent. "Oh."

"Stop ranting, will you?" demanded Dirk with a frown. "We must have changed a lot physically, but we will always be the same people in the inside! You were the one who taught me to never change no matter how tall I got or how old I was!"

Ivan gaped at him, speechless. "Dirk..."

"Tell me, has anybody behaved drastically different from a year prior to today?" questioned the brunette critically.

"Well, I don't think so."

Dirk smiled and chuckled. "Then, stop panicking! We haven't changed that much, really!"

Ivan took a sip of wine and breathed in, relieved-

"Well, excepting Marian, who was set up by Joan and is expecting a baby from Raul."

Ivan almost choked for the second time. "What?"

Dirk laughed way too hard after seeing his brother make such a face. "Just kidding! She hasn't gone that crazy!"

"God, she would have needed a brainwash in order to do that." Ivan tried to recover from his shock, a bead of sweat running down his temple.

Ivan laughed it off a few moments after, taking a sip of wine. Dirk chuckled under his breath at the sight of such a... disorderly Ivan. He sure seemed a bit more freed from his chains of constant seriousness. The laughter of the town behind him, the sounds of the quier river under him, and an unnoticeable breeze.

"Thank you." spat Ivan almost absentmindedly. A soft smile made his way to his face. Dirk looked at him intently. "For everything."

"Why are you saying that?"

The smile never faded. In fact, it only grew larger.

He tapped his fingers against the glass. "You took the time to look after her and keep me updated about her health. Besides, you are the only person who can stand my ramblings about any crack of my personality or any perk in my life."

Dirk scratched the back of his head. He had never received that kind of moral credit from his brother apart from some approval when he behaved relatively mature. This, however, was new... new and pleasing, even if Dirk had always done all of that without expecting any reward afterwards. He did it all out of his heart's kindness and love.

"I'm flattered, brother. It's the least I could give you after all you had to put up with when I was younger. Or even now! I know I can be a real handful sometimes." they laughed a bit at that.

Ivan drank the remainings of his wine in one go. "You are trying your best of efforts to put an end to that. And I have perceived some changes already."

"You look at ease tonight." stated Dirk matter-o'-factly, smiling.

"That is because I am at ease. Being home puts me at ease."

Dirk chuckled. "And I guess that a cute blonde girl would make this night even better, wouldn't it?"

Ivan sighed. "Yes, it would, but..." bitter snicker, full of irony. "she can't be here right now."

Before he even finished his sentence, both brothers heard a few gasps and looked back at the girls, who stood by the square clock. Right after that, the background of laughter and tuned down talks exploded into loud voices of surprise. Then, they heard running, fast running towards the bridge.

They followed their track in mind and saw three women making their way to the square. The girls exploded into overwhelming squeals of a girl's name that Ivan was dying to see.

"Is that Anita?"

"ANITA!"

"Anita, Anita!"

"Anita you're okay!"

"GET OUTTA' MY WAY, SHE'S MINE!" was that Freya?

Ivan's mind went into overdrive, throwing his brain out the window. He was purely blank after seeing a blonde head approaching the townsfolk. He muted the environment around him and got up, struggling to breath with anticipation. There was something that he needed to make clear.

If she belonged to anybody,

IT WAS HIM!

He marched to the amazed parade of girls with a straight face that broke into a hopeful smile of glee that betrayed his attempt to look collected. But who cared now? Anita was awake, she was walking, and she was nearer than ever!

He went straight to the table full of drinks and poured a bit of wine to his glass, drinking it all afterwards with a huge sip. Lloyd watched it unfold– more like watched a overwhelmed Ivan unfold – with an amused smirk as he stepped towards them as well. Ivan pushed Angelo aside a bit rudely.

His next victim would be either Cindy or Lauren, so they stepped aside as they had seen Angelo be expulsed from the crowd and they were a bit weaker. Ivan strode through some of the girls and, after pushing Daisy and Antoinette aside, he saw it.

He had never been so amazed.

If you're posting a finale clap your hands *clap clap*