A/N: Aww, well this is the end and it's the longest chapter of the story.. it was fun while it lasted! I really want to thank Golden Dragon36, Twilight Guardian, and Courageous Flame for reviewing especially Golden Dragon36 whom has been reviewing every chapter of the story.. God bless thee..(teat tear) it was because of you I can keep on writing.. you kept me going knowing you'll be there to review my story! (: But I'll be working on my other fic now, now that this one has come to an end.

Chapter 25: Final Oblivion

She had never been inside a dimension portal before, it wasn't like the time where she had to travel through eyeball portals back in the digital world. For that it was like walking through a door from one place to another but a dimension portal was different. There apparently was no grounding to the portal realm but that didn't stop Izumi from going after Death, other doors seem to be opening and closing all around her as she flew on by. She didn't even know where to start let alone go after a guy who has the ability to zap her to oblivion if he wanted to. She looked around nervously, only if Aoi was here to help her she seemed to know about this place a lot better than she did and she was the one that opened the portal. It was as if she has been opening these things all her life, how weird that she never really knew that Aoi had powers like that on the other hand she hardly knew about her family either. She had never seen any of her parents or siblings before nor has she ever seen them together at school events, but right now wasn't the time to think about such nonsense things, right now she has to find that man named Death. Just then she heard a whooshing sound coming from the other side of the portal way and she squinted her eyes to get a better look, a bright red flame flew past her in a second and she turned around to look at it again. Wasn't that Takuya's? She felt hope rising from the bottom of her stomach as she went after it, but just as she turned she felt something hit her from behind and sent her hurdling backwards to who knows where. All she could do was shut her eyes and pray that she made it through to the end.

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It was taking too long, where was she? It wasn't suppose to be a confrontation, she hoped that Izumi knew that. She would be a fool if she thought she can take her brother on all by herself even if she was one of the legendary warriors, she would lose. She exhaled a deep breath as she held onto Takuya's body, if she didn't return soon his body won't make it, it would start decomposition the minute she let her spirit pressure off his body from decaying. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she looked up to meet Kouichi's eyes with her own worried ones.

"Will this work? I thought he was..." he said but was cut off when Fate intervened his words.

"Don't you dare say those words Kouichi, he's not gone yet as long as Izumi can provoke Death to come back then he might still have a chance." she said softly looking at the empty air before her and Kouichi's grip tightened.

"But you have to look at the reality of things, she might come back in time before you know..." he tried again to sway her optimistic on look of hope that seemed never to be there in the first place, "Aoi... please be reasonable about this."

"I am! Have a little faith will you Kouichi!" she said angrily at him throwing him a dirty look, he stepped back with a frown pulling on his lips. She had never snapped at him like that before and this was the first time.. But he was out of line with what he said about Takuya, he knew that he was a fighter and Takuya wouldn't give up if this situation was about him so he shouldn't either.

"Being my twin brother you are very pessimistic you know that?" Kouji said coming out from the dark with Tomoki and Junpei. Tomoki's eyes widened as he saw Takuya's corpse in Fate's arms and Fate tried to explain without killing Tomoki's spirit that his nii-san was dead.

"Tomoki..." Fate murmured reaching out to him but he curdled from her reach, she gasped a little at his reaction from her and she lowered her hands away from him. Tomoki stepped back further and turned to run but Junpei latched onto his arm and gave him a stern stare.

"Are you going to run again? To think I thought you changed Tomoki, I thought you would face your challenges." he said with a monotone voice, but it had the effect of a knife to Tomoki as he stared into his eyes with fear and disbelief.

"Junpei! He's dead! Takuya's.. Dead..!" he sobbed his green eyes pouring with water and he tugged at his arm to be let go, this was it. He didn't want any of this anymore, this was all he could take he didn't want to watch anymore people dying for the sake of nothing. Why was it always them getting into trouble like this, no one was suppose to die though, that wasn't part of the plan to begin with. All Takuya said was that they were going to see Izumi again and that was it... he wasn't suppose to die.

"Don't give up on Takuya just yet Tomoki, you know that idiot always has something up his sleeve." Kouji said putting his hand into his pockets and looking up at the star lit sky, that was all he can do for now is to calm the others while they waited for a miracle to happen. He just can't believe that Takuya's gone, that imbecile is too stubborn to just give up like that. A whirring sound came from the empty sky above them and they all looked up when bright lights flashed from beyond the stars and landed around them with crashing sounds that Fate and the others scrambled out of the way.

"What the hell is going on?!" Kouichi yelled above the roar of the ripping skies, Junpei fell to the floor aghast at what he saw was happening above the city of Nagasaki and Tomoki hid his face behind his hand. Both Kouji and Kouichi stood ready to fight when a red ball of fire came breaking through the dark colored background and hovered over Takuya's body. Fate walked over to the middle of the hurricane of power and looked directly at the center of the white hole with a dazed look in her plum colored eyes.

"Aoi!" Kouichi yelled trying to get to her but his brother stopped him from getting any further, "Shit Kouji! What the hell!"

"Let her do what she has to do Kouichi!" he shouted over the wind and scattering branches that was hitting them all from everywhere.

"It's breaking.. The portal's breaking open." she said in a small tone raising her arms to the air, her hair were around her like an aura of light and she closed her eyes and opened her mouth to sing a single note into the opening. The ground started rumbling with a force of a mild earthquake as the others screamed and shouted rambling things to each other, then suddenly stopped as Fate stopped singing and the portal stood wide open still and frozen in the midnight darkness. It was all quiet when two bodies dropped from the top and fell swiftly onto Earth, Kouji recognized one as Izumi with her light blonde hair flowing in the air and he ran and reached her before she hit the concrete. She landed softly into his arms whereas the other slammed into the ground making the earth shake once more breaking ground and dirt. He leaped onto the other side just in time as the dark figure rose from the floor sending immense energy out. His head rose with his white hair dangling from the side of his head and his eyes glowed with annoyance and bitterness.

"Bitch!" he growled from his throat looking at the girl in Kouji's arms and he turned away in reflex to shield her from harm.

"Brother...!" Fate gasped falling backwards slightly from surprise, her head turned to look at Izumi who was stirring awake in Kouji's arms and getting to her feet, "Izumi watch out!" Death attacked with his out stretched arm with a glare in his eyes, attempting to take Izumi's life. Izumi gasped, his attack was too fast to dodge and all she could do is try to cover herself with her arms, thinking she was a goner only one thought crossed her mind.

'Takuya!'

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She felt a warm breeze graze her cheeks and she opened her eyes slowly, the sunlight shot through the trees and hit the grass making them look greener than usual. It was quite pretty actually, but where was she? She quite remembered that she was at the Saionji Temple earlier and it was night time too, so what was going on? She got up from the tree trunk she was leaning on and rubbed her eyes, the area was so warm with lush bushes and eucalyptus trees that the place didn't look familiar to her. She yawned and stretched her arms to let her blood flow around, then stood up to scanned the land around her, it didn't look like Kyushu to her so where the heck was she exactly? 'Hmm... Takuya..' she thought miserably to herself, maybe she was dead and this was heaven or something. She had failed to save herself and Takuya, some warrior she was.

"Izumi." her head shot up from his voice and her sour face turned to delight when she saw his light brown eyes twinkle down at her along with that joyful smile of his, he had his hand extended out to help her up but she didn't take his hand but literally jumped into his arms instead.

"Takuya! I thought you died! Oh my God... I.. I.. Thought I..I... Lost you." she stammered with useless tears coming out from her eyes, dammit she was crying again, but she couldn't help it she was just so damn happy to see him alive and well. He laughed wrapping his arms around her waist and pulled her into his embrace, she fell into his mold and long arms that she remembered so well and took in his smell. The way he felt and the way he smelled was so inviting that she smiled involuntarily and relaxed into his hug. The wind made the leaves sing a with a soft tune while the two stood in each other's arms, she was in too deep already and she couldn't keep herself from falling any deeper. So this was how it felt like to feel like this, she liked it, she couldn't believe she's been shutting it out all these years. "Where are we Takuya?" she murmured into his chest hooking her fingers into his white shirt, he kissed the top of her head and answered with a simple reply.

"We're in your memories, don't you remember?" Izumi looked up rather surprised than shocked, he flicked her forehead and ran off laughing. Without a sound she ran after him wanting to know answers to what he meant by saying what he did

"Hey! Wait up!" she huffed running after him, he turned around once and smirked soon he was slowing down to wait up for her. He was facing a pasture filled with sunflowers and he climbed the fence over it and disappeared into it's density of yellow and green. Izumi rolled her eyes and went into the flowers in suit, she pushed through the stems trying to see where Takuya had run off to when she felt someone's arms snake their way around her abdomen and pull her down to the soft moss like ground. The flowers muffled her cries when she fell next to a warm body and next to her.

"You're a screamer," he teased pulling on her hair, grinning at to her. The flowers next to them began to rustle and two other beings popped out of the greenery giggling, they stopped short when they saw Takuya and Izumi on the bottom. Izumi's eyes widened in shock, it was Kouichi and Aoi but in a different era's clothing style more like 18th century fashion.

"Oh, didn't know you two were already here." Aoi giggled looking at the two of them, her face with tinged pink from the sun with her dark brown hair in curls bouncing around her snow white face and cherry red lips. Those purple colored eyes glittered under the sun like amethyst crystals, her eggshell yellow dress flounced around like the sun with frills and layers of petticoats. The dress enhanced her bust and other areas making her look more beautiful than before, not like she needed anymore beauty she was hot as hell as it is. Kouichi was in a dark suit looking outfit with a white shirt underneath, he looked handsome as they say. Both looked like they were from wealthy families and great stature.

"That dress looks cute Aoi..." Izumi said out-of-the-blue and was surprised that she even said it out loud, Aoi turned around and smiled.

"Thanks, you look adorable in lilac Izumi." Izumi looked down at her own outfit and was taken back that she was wearing something similar to that of Aoi's except of different style and form, "Come on Kouichi! Let's get out of here and leave these two love birds to their own business."She took his arm and they left laughing together, their voices ringing in the distance. Izumi laid back down and snuggled closer to Takuya, the sun didn't seem to be warm enough. She felt him sigh and come closer seeking her body warmth, his head slightly touching hers.

"Takuya..?" she mumbled with slurring to her words, she could feel her eyes droop with sleepiness.

"Hm?"

"What year... what year is this?" she asked the grogginess getting worse as she spoke, she felt his fingers touch her face lightly and she shivered under his touch.

"I don't remember.. 18- something."he replied causally looking down at her with a small smile. She nodded a little drifting off to sleep, "Takuya... I'm so sleepy.."

"Oh.. But you must wake up Izumi...wake up." he said, she heard him and his voice echoed in her head.

'Wake up...'

Izumi's lashes fluttered open, she blocked out the light that was shining in her eyes as she sat up. Those memories felt so real... she was back in the 18oo's, and it seemed like she had known Takuya and the others for awhile now.. Back then in another life time, way back when they had loved each other. She remembered the feeling when she was in his arms, the warm emotions that flooded her whole being from head to toe and made her heart soar above the clouds of heaven. 'Love.' it has always been about love, he came back because he had followed the sound of what his heart told him and he went through so many obstacles just to get to her. He was even willing to give up his life for her and in return she ran away from him because she was too afraid to return any feelings, refusing to open up because the fear of being alone again. She was scared he was going to break her heart.

"Holy shit, thought you would've died back there. Are you ok?" Kouji asked snapping her out of her trance, the 4 fours looked at her with eyes full of concern.

"I saw Takuya..." she said not looking at anyone in particular, "Where's Aoi..?"

"Fighting off her brother as long as she can," Junpei answered, Izumi got up in a dazed rush and ran towards the front and saw devastation. Both Aoi and Death were on the ground panting and bleeding everywhere, Aoi's arm seemed to be broken and her brother looked more ferocious than before with leathered wings sprouting from his back and steel claws where his hands were suppose to be. Aoi looked at her with large eyes and screamed, "Izumi! You have to get to Takuya! It's time you tell him the truth! It's the only way to save him! Don't be afraid to get hurt Izumi." Death saw Izumi's reaction and grinned maliciously at her, Izumi and Death both eyed Takuya's body that still had his soul looming over it and at the same exact moment reached for him. She got to him first and covered his body with hers, she dug her fingers into his clothes and shut her eyes getting ready for the impact of his attack.

"I love you Takuya," she whispered into his ears and gently kissed him on the lips.

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Takuya felt a banging in his head and he opened his eyes to see Izumi laying on his stomach and slowly got up and nudged her awake, she didn't move and this worried him.

"Don't worry, she'll be awake soon." a voice spoke up from behind him and he turned his head to see Fate staggering forward to where he was, he smiled and turned back to look at the sleeping form on his lap.

"I heard what she said Fate."he said touching Izumi's face, "I don't know what happened but when I heard her voice I just had to come back... from where ever I was.. I think I was gone wasn't I? And she brought me back.. I think I've been waiting life times for her to say that to me. When I first saw her on the platform.. It was the feeling of exhilaration."

"She was hiding, due to fear. She hid her heart and suffocated in the end, but you saved her you know that.. Even though it was your fault to begin with." she joked sitting next to him. He turned to look at her, "Fate, will you tell me what happened?" she shrugged looking at the sky that was beginning to turn into dawn.

"I don't know really, when my brother attacked it never got through to you two, a big flash erupted as if in rebound and the next thing I know the whole place is desecrated and we were all unconscious. Your soul reunited with your body when she told you her feelings that she's been hiding all these years and this time she saved you instead." she strummed her fingers on the floor and laughed, "I can't believe it's over.. Finally."

"Not really dear sister," a dark voice sounded from the side and Fate froze in her seat, 'No!' She whirled around and confronted her brother, "Why won't you stop? There's nothing left for you here, the cycles over, the girl's feelings are out and we're free so why don't you just go back. Caroline's waiting don't you understand?" Her brother stopped and looked at her with confused eyes, for once in centuries he looked almost human. "You've been so angry at your fate that you've forgotten about the promise you made to Caroline that you would be back for her, that you would be by her side.. I know you can't save her... so.." she took a deep breath, "So I'm willing to give up my immortality for Caroline brother." she closed her eyes and touched her heart, a soft hum came from deep within and a glow began to form around her body. She opened her eyes and in her hands was a ball of light in which she handed to her brother who didn't say anything but look at her sister with a blank expression. Suddenly he doubled over in pain and a dark cloud shot from his body and screamed before disappearing, he heaved up vomit then fell backwards looking up at his little sister.

"Te-chan... is that you?" he mumbled incoherently squeezing his eyes shut for awhile from the sudden brightness around him, "Dear God.. it's been years since I've seen sunlight..." he stood up on shaky legs and without a warning Fate rushed over to him and threw herself on top of him laughing with tears in her eyes not caring that barf got all over her. She didn't have to say anything to let him know that she was glad that he was finally back to the old Death that she had known and love when they were little kids, the one brother that she had spent a life time with, the one she had grown up with. She pulled back and wiped away the tears that were forming in her eyes and laughed.

"I can't believe you were right, I am still a cry baby." he stopped her hand and smiled shaking his head.

"No, you're not. You're crying in place of me.. I have my own body and yet I choose not to shed tears... I was a fool. You saved me Te-chan, you should be proud.. I could've killed you back there if you stopped believing in me.. but you didn't you fought me till the end and for that I thank you you." he said gently brushing a tear away with his thumb, his eyes reverted to the ball of light in her hand and he frowned, "Te-chan.. what are you doing with that? It's dangerous to be flailing your immortality like that." She looked up at his ruby red eyes and cocked a small smile before stepping back and looking at him at a full length. Fate had already decided what she wanted from her life and that was to be with Kouichi even if it meant giving up her life being as a Guardian and all the nonsense that came with it,

"I already told you, I want you to be happy nii-san, and I'm willing to give it all up for you. I mean.. I've always got Kouichi with me with the other guys too." she said pulling Kouichi by her side, Kouichi smiled a greeting and extended his hand.

"I'm glad you're back," he said and Death took his hand in his large ones, he looked back at his little sister. He couldn't believe what she was doing, she was giving up her life for him even after what he had tried to do to her and her friends and the centuries of torture that he had her endure. It just wasn't fair to her, he can't take it.. even if it meant losing Caroline. Fate read her brother's and eyes and touched his arms.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine. You deserve to be Caroline... she's waited all these years for you anyways don't make her wait any longer than necessary." she jested giving him a soft punch to the arm, she diligently put the orb of golden light into his hands and snapped her fingers making a portal appear before them. She pushed him forward towards the opening but he stopped her before he went in.

"What am I suppose to tell dad?" he asked in a panicked voice, she chuckled and gave him a shove sending him through the light, then she yelled right into it after him.

"Make up something you dork!" the light began to fade around the portal and both Kouichi and Fate took a step back before it disappeared, Kouichi looked down at the dark brown haired girl and gave her a kiss on top of her head and she looked up giving him a warm smile in return. The fight was finally over, the two just stared at the rising sun before them when Kouichi put a hand around her small shoulders and lead her back to the others.

"You gonna be ok?" he asked steering the tired girl to the group on the other side of the building and she nodded with her hair sticking to the dry sweat on her face, dirt had made it's way all over her face. She desperately needed a shower and a good bed to lay in with warm covers.

"I'll be alright, I've spent over 6 life times with you.. I think I know a little about being a mortal Kouichi, but it'll take practice to get use to everything now that I am one." she giggled, just the fact that she was human made her laugh. She felt free for once in her life she didn't have the duties of a Guardian anymore. What more could she ask for? Fate and Kouichi walked up in with their tattered clothes and looked at the others before them, they looked broken and exhausted, but still ok. Izumi was still out on Takuya's lap, the last part of the battle must have really taken a bite out of her. Fate kneeled next to Takuya and Izumi while Kouichi tended to others, she gave him a skeptical look and he stared back with his bronze colored eyes.

"What are you going to do now?" she asked him, it was a simple question but yet it was the hardest question Takuya had come to face. "Are you leaving again." this time it wasn't a question it was a demand to know. He closed his eyes against the wind of the new day as the sun rose from behind the mountains staining the morning sky with hues of pink, purple and gold.

"I'm taking her home," he said quietly, he swooped her in his arms and began to walk away. Just from his actions Fate knew the answer and she swayed her head in disappointment.

"I hope you know what you're doing Takuya Kanbara." she murmured into the light blue sky that was dawning the vastness of he open area above her. After all these centuries of looking after mortals this one perplexed her beyond anything she had ever come to face with. She didn't understand his motives of leaving, and she didn't understand why he would do that to a poor girl who has spent life times trying to tell him three simple words that had exploded into an all out war in the end. Maybe it was one of those things that are not meant to be understood. Human aren't difficult to understand but when it came to dealing with their feelings is a whole other story. She watched the back of him slowly disappear into the horizon carrying his blonde beauty in his arms, her hair flapping in the wind of the morning mountains. He felt her shift in his arms seeking his warmth, and he smiled feeling a sense of satisfaction knowing that she subconsciously sought his presence in her sleep.

"I love you Takuya..." she mumbled in her sleeping state, he lowered his head just a little so he could kiss her fore head. His dark chocolate hair covered his eyes, but still he felt the pain that was stabbing at his heart as he held on tighter to the girl he loved.

"I love you too..." he whispered.