Darkness surrounded me. I inhaled sharply and air rushed into my lungs. Clean air. No more smoke. No more debris. No more scents that reminded me of blood, death, and fear. Slowly, a low series of beeps resounded through my head from beside me, as if my ears had managed to clear themselves of whatever had blocked them before. Fogginess? That's what it felt like – confusion, to where I felt dizzy, and I couldn't tell if I was sitting down or standing up.

Where was I? Was I dead?

I inhaled again. If I could recognize any nearby scents, it would help me identify my surroundings. Clean air filled my nose and lingered there, flooding me with a sense of calmness that contradicted the emotions provoked by the smell of the atmosphere in Enfer City. I tried to recognize the scent. Was I dead? If I was, I couldn't tell. I had no idea what the Afterlife smelled like.

"May? May, are you awake?"

That voice. So familiar. It made my heart jump. My stomach grew warm with affection.

"Drew…" I mumbled, like a reflex.

At that, I felt something. A hand on my arm, fingers soft with a touch of concern and desperation. Another scent filled my nose. Roses and mint, and I could hear the heavy breathing as if the owner loomed over me. I knew that scent as if it was a vital part of me. I followed it. Darkness still covered everything, but then light began to intrude from the center of it all, spreading over me until I realized that I had finally mustered the strength to open my eyes.

"Drew," I said again.

The first thing I saw was a pair of emerald eyes. Emerald, dragon-like eyes. They brightened as I stared into them, my vision finally clearing.

"May!" Drew said, a large smile crossing his face. He got up from his chair, in which it slid back slightly from his rush. "You're awake! Thank Arceus!"

My fingers clenched. I felt the smooth materials of a blanket; soft, yet not as soft as blankets I was used to. I looked down – the whiteness of the sheets beneath me felt blinding compared to the darkness from before.

I was in a hospital bed. That beeping sound I had heard earlier originated from a heart monitor that sat beside me, its measurements steady. An IV protruded from my arm, connected to a bag of medical fluids, which ironically didn't help the throbbing pain that seemed to linger from the needle's puncture. The door into the room was closed, muffling any voices from the outside halls. The window curtains were shut, and they blocked out the large rays of sunlight that I could still see through their weaved fibers. The rest of the room was average – not too small, but not too big, and filled with other furniture of various mild-based colors that matched with the plainness of the walls.

"Drew…" I said. It felt as if I hadn't talked for an eternity, but yet Drew hadn't moved from his spot on the chair right beside my bed since I opened my eyes. "Where are we? Where's…where's Enfer City? Where's Kruismara? And…and the fusions? What happened?"

"Shh," was all Drew replied with, his eyes warm, his tone comforting. He brushed his fingers through my bangs and caressed my cheek.

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, relishing in the softness of his touch, remembering the fear I had felt when Verdana stabbed him. I wanted to ask about that, too, but I found myself at a loss for words as I nuzzled my face into his hand, just relieved that he was here.

"It's over, May," Drew said. "We're at the hospital in Lilycove. Our escape pod reached the shore shortly after you passed out."

"Where's Kruismara? Or the fusions?"

"Gone, May. All gone. Enfer City detonated, and it took all of the fusions that were down there with it. So, Verdana is definitely dead, the fusions are all gone, and Kruismara was destroyed in Enfer's blast. Soldiers who went back there said that Enfer is nothing but an underwater crater now, and they can't pick up any signs of fusion existence, including Kruismara. It's over. It's really over, May. We made it."

Relief filled me at that. It was finally over. We had escaped the living hell that had been Enfer City; we had survived Verdana's trap. With the fusions and Kruismara destroyed, the Chimera Virus had been destroyed with them, and Verdana's ideology of a fear-based society controlled by monsters had died alongside it.

I leaned my head back against my pillow. My eyes grew wet, and I couldn't tell if it was from the joy that came with the end of what I thought would've been a never-ending nightmare, or from the pain that shot through me in numerous waves. Still, the aches were nothing compared to the realization that we had lived, that we had survived, that I could now continue on with the rest of my life.

I looked at Drew.

Drew and I could continue our lives. Together.

I pushed the thought aside. "How long have I been out?" I asked.

"A few hours," Drew said, sitting back down on his chair, his hand on mine. "Paramedics immediately met us when we reached Lilycove's shore and brought us here. I remember hearing them say that you passed out, but would be okay in the end. I dozed off myself, and I woke up when they were still tending to my wounds in the other room. As soon as they were finished, I came here to stay with you." He turned his eyes away. "Despite what the doctors said, I was still worried for you. Now that I see your eyes again, I can breathe easy."

I smiled at him. "Such a guardian."

"It's just who I am, I guess."

"How are you feeling?" I asked. I looked at his shirt and saw the shapes of bandages that were wrapped around his midsection and over his back wounds.

"Well," Drew said. "I would be lying if I said I didn't hurt. But…" He met my eyes. "No pain would compare to what I'd felt if I had lost you."

He reached forward and brushed his fingertip down my cheek again. Needless to say, I wanted nothing but to lean in and kiss him, but I held myself back as another thought came to my mind.

"Where's Lionel?" I swallowed hard. "Or Soledad?"

"They're both fine," Drew said. "Lionel brought Soledad here when their pod hit shore. They're still here, actually. The doctors wanted to admit Soledad to make sure none of the trauma we faced down in Enfer affected…" He faltered, and he let out a deep sigh. "They wanted to make sure none of it affected her baby."

My throat grew tight. I closed my eyes. Memories flashed against the darkness, images of a purple-haired man. Harley Davidson. My coordinating rival for sixteen years; but, in reality, he had been so much more than that. The memories I had made with him; the relationship we shared; and the fact that, without him, none of us would be here…it all played out in front of me as if the backs of my eyelids made up a large movie screen. My heart ached.

"I miss him…" I whispered, my eyes still closed. "I miss him so much."

"I know…" Drew said. "But we…we made sure his death wasn't in vain. If I knew Harley as well as I thought I did, then…" He cupped my chin, and I opened my eyes to meet his. A soft smile crossed his face. "He would've been proud of you and glad that we were safe. He may not have been my most favorite guy in the whole world at times, but…I was honored to have known him." Drew shook his head. "And, right at this moment, he's probably looking down at us from above, laughing at how corny I'm making all of this sound."

I laughed – a laugh that pushed away my tears, a laugh I released despite how it worsened the pain that shot through me, a laugh that I felt like I hadn't laughed for a decade. It was a laugh that made Drew crack another smile and snort, until he also broke out into laughter.

When our laughter died down, he leaned in and brushed my nose with his. I smiled and returned the affectionate nuzzle.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too."

He pulled back, met my eyes, and mirrored my smile. He leaned in, and I felt his hot breath caress my chin as his lips brushed against mine-

We pulled apart almost immediately when the door into my room opened. A man poked his head in, his coal-colored hair modeled into a short fauxhawk. He didn't seem much older than us, his face angular and smooth. Visible stubble lined his chin and his dark blue eyes had a youthful semblance within them. He raised his brows at us.

"Uh, sorry," he said. "Am I interrupting something?"

Drew and I exchanged a bewildered – and somewhat embarrassed – glance. I shook my head.

The man nodded and stepped into the room. He was tall and mostly thin, though some broadness existed around his midsection and shoulders. The brown trench coat he wore made it hard to tell. He closed the door behind him and approached me. "You two are May Maple and Drew Trandafir, right?"

"Yes," I said.

He pulled a wallet out of his pocket. "Detective Jericho Karvás," he said, flashing the badge inside of it. "I heard you two are survivors of the Attack on Enfer City. Is this correct?"

"Yes."

"A team of other investigators and I are looking into the event, including who caused it and why they did it, and what just plain happened to begin with. We're hoping to get viewpoints on what occurred down there from any survivors we can reach." Jericho scanned his eyes over the hospital room. "If we can ask you two some questions, that would be helpful to our investigation. However, we won't push you, seeing the conditions you're currently in, and we'll be willing to wait until after your recovery and release from the hospital before we schedule a proper interview."

I nodded. "Thank you. But, there is something I can tell you now. Katherine Verdana, the mayor of Enfer City, was the one be-"

"Behind it?" Jericho inquired. "Yes, we know."

My face fell. "What? You know?"

"During the time of the Attack, one of the survivors that escaped happened to be a scientist who worked with Verdana on the construction of Enfer City and, supposedly, 'other projects.' We questioned her sources, but she then offered a disk with access to the files for the Chimera Project, which, as you both probably know, was led by Verdana. The information on the disk was encrypted, though, and it took our computer teams a while to decode it all. Because of this, we have only been able to confirm Verdana's involvement behind the Attack since yesterday."

"The thing is," Drew said, "Verdana is dead."

Jericho nodded. "We know that, too. But, we still need to document everything as best as we can, to make sure we accurately know what happened and we properly inform the families of those who lost their lives down there. We also need to figure out how Verdana died, exactly."

I turned my eyes away at that. "Detective Karvás? I-"

Jericho raised a hand. "As I said, our interviews with you can wait until you're both out of the hospital and fully recovered. For now, just focus on getting better. I can't even imagine what you two must've gone through down there, so I'll give you all the space you need. With the fact that Enfer is gone and any existence of the Chimera Project has been destroyed, we're not in a rush anymore."

With that, he smiled at me, and I felt at ease.

"Thank you both for your time," he said.

He turned and made his way to the door. As he opened it, a blond-haired man stumbled through the threshold and almost smacked into him. He mumbled apologies, and Jericho only waved it off with another easy-going smile before he left, shutting the door behind him. The man who had run into him turned to us, and I grinned at his familiar azure gaze.

"Who was that?" Lionel asked, though he then shook his head. "Bah, stupid question. What I meant to say is, how are you two?"

"Could be better," I said.

Lionel walked over from the door and smiled at me. "I'm just glad that you're both okay. Enfer's explosion could be seen all the way from here in Lilycove, and I got worried as soon as I saw it." He sighed. "Is…is Verdana…?"

"Verdana's dead," I said. "And the police already seem to know that she was behind the Chimera Project and the attack."

Lionel's eyes darkened. "Well, that's one problem off our hands. I'd rather not ask about it. I'm just glad it's over. I wanted to stay with you down there to help you confront her, but I knew that you wouldn't have let me."

"No, we wouldn't have," Drew said. He flashed a smile. "You did your part by making sure Soledad got here okay."

"Where is she, anyway?" I asked Lionel. "Is she awake? Does she…" I faltered. "Does she know? About Harley?"

"Yeah," Lionel mumbled. "She knows, and her baby's fine. She's just…I don't know. She's definitely strong, but it's hitting her hard. She would be in here with me otherwise, but…she rather be alone right now."

I nodded. "I understand."

"I guess we should all get some rest," Lionel said. "It's been one hell of a trip, and it's probably going to take a while before everything can go back to being what it once was."

"Things can never be what they once were," I said to him. "But, they can certainly try to move on."

He met my eyes and a goofy grin crossed his face. I chuckled as I leaned up in my bed and pecked him on the cheek.

"See you, guys," he said. "Let's sleep easily for once."

"Later, Lionel," Drew said.

As the door shut behind him, Drew met my eyes.

"May…" he said. "Verdana was right. Fear is a powerful weapon, and when we were down there, I was so terrified of losing you. Ten years were bad enough, but the idea of living without you..." He closed his eyes. "It scares me to death. Hell, the idea of having to deal with these memories and the future, it's frightening, and-"

I placed a finger to his lips and cut him off. Then, I cupped his face, pulling him toward me. Our lips were inches apart.

Harley's voice filled my head.

The strongest weapon against fear is realizing that…

"You're not alone," I whispered.

Drew's eyes brightened. I leaned in and kissed him. When I pulled away, I met his gaze.

And we both smiled.

AN: Thanks for reading, guys! This marks the end of YNA, but be sure to look out for the epilogue!

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear."
- Ambrose Redmoon