Written in one day like a boss. Where was this madness in the seven months it took me to write the last chapter.

Ah well. Read ahead.


There was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

Aj poked her head in. "Healed yet?"

"You've only been gone a few hours," Mike said, resting his bandaged arm on his stomach. The doctors in Hearthome had done surgery to reconnect his broken nerves.

"You coulda come up with some massive recovery method in that time," Aj shrugged, sitting on the bed next to his.

It had been a week since the final battle against Syzygy. Aj had woken up the next day in that hospital bed next to Mike's. It seemed her Lynch recovery had been affected by Mike's nemesial, through her nemesial. It wasn't as slow as his, fortunately.

Since then, Ashley and Kyle had visited every day, the last of the admins – just J and Iro – had been arrested, the Syzygy PC had been hacked (that's how there were so many Syzygy pokemon, despite the much smaller number of trainers), rescue teams had been going out to put out fires and bring back survivors, and the funerals began. Most took place in the hometowns of the deceased.

Aj and Mike, still in recovery, had attended one.

"…the courage to innovate a solution and stay with it, for the sake of others," the pastor or whoever he was said. Needle and Chira stayed with the Lynches at their trainer's memorial service. There had been an unexpected turnout – besides the gym leaders and frontier brains, a number of trainers who had fought with Kevin were here. Aj knew there were two, Anna and Ian, who were with Kevin from the start. Still others regretted not trusting him.

"…persistence in the face of opposition saved many lives…"

They'd heard the story from Ian. While supporting an aura shield, Kevin had started to drain himself of aura energy. Aj had accidentally done that while battling J; it hurt like h #$. Kevin hadn't stopped, and extracted the aura – the life force – from his body. He'd also been directing energy attacks into the 'copter at the same time. Too much at once, even for an aura guardian. Kevin's body continued to course with sparks for several minutes before vanishing.

He was the real hero, Aj thought as the empty coffin was lowered into the earth. Wasn't he.

"How was she?" Mike asked in the present.

"I thought she'd be mad, but she was pretty calm about it all," Aj told him.

"High security cell?"

"Yeah. Iro's next door to her."

"Family first." Mike studied her thoughtful face. "You asked her about Syzygy?"

Aj nodded. "Syzygy's the idea that all Lynches in the organization are equal, but it's a system based heavily on gratitude. Fyr and Iro joined after Mystor saved their lives. And Mystor was rescued by Smokelius."

"The old guy who died months ago?"

"Yeah."

"So why did Mystor turn traitor on them?"

"I'm getting there. Fyr said Mystor had started talking about his debt being repaid, and not owing anything to Syzygy any longer. He didn't like Syzygy's ideals anymore, at least not as much. Fyr said she felt sort of lost after Mystor died, like she didn't know what to fight for anymore. She went on autopilot until her arrest."

"Iro and J seemed to think differently."

"Yeah. They were just in it for the power."

Mike analyzed her face. "What's wrong?"

"Hm? Nothing," she said too innocently.

He looked at her.

Aj shrugged. "I didn't visit Iro. I'm not sure if I want to."

"Ah. That."

"It seems like a lot of his motives had to do with me… or were connected to me in some way," she told him.

"That doesn't make it your fault."

She thought about it. "I guess not. My heart was already spoken for, anyways."

Mike jumped. Figuratively. He was lying down with bandages all over him. Jumping wasn't worth it. " 'Was'?" he repeated.

Aj shifted uncomfortably. "Is," she said.

Mike was silent for a minute.

"WHY DIDN'T I REALIZE IT EARLIER?" he shouted suddenly, making Aj (literally) jump.

"Realize what?"

"You're so obvious, now that I think about it," Mike groaned.

"Am I now? Who, then?" Aj said in surprise.

"Who what?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"Huh?"

"Aj. You know what I mean."

"Well, you know what I mean," she grumbled.

They stared at each other for a few seconds and broke into laughter. Irrational, euphoric laughter that wouldn't stop for the longest time.

"Aah… Aj, I like you too," Mike sighed once they calmed down.


Kyle found her on the roof of the Hearthome gym that night. She was lying down with her legs dangling over the edge, eyes closed. He didn't really want to disturb her. Kyle pulled out Apade's pokeball just to have something to do. The new seal on the surface covered the crack, holding it together quite well.

"Hey, Kyle."

He put the pokeball away. "…oh. Hey."

Never trust a dark type to be asleep.

Ashley opened her eyes, grinning. "What's up?"

"Not all that much, I guess. Where have you been?"

She raised her eyebrows at the sky. "Axel just left. Something about Hoenn. I was seeing him off."

"Isn't it always Hoenn?" Kyle laughed weakly.

She likes Axel, doesn't she? I figured she did…

"He'll be coming back soon to take the Tower Tycoon spot," she said, noticing nothing. Sitting up, Ashley asked, "So what brings you here?"

Kyle sat down next to her, swinging his legs over the side of the rooftop. "I was wondering… How did you know I had an idea?"

She stared at him blankly. "Sorry, what?"

"You knew I had an idea to blow up the ship. How'd you know? I don't remember telling you."

Ashley kept staring.

"…What?" Kyle finally asked.

"You didn't figure it out?"

"Figure out…?"

"The prophecy," said Ashley.

Kyle shook his head.

"Oh. Well, we had it wrong this whole time. Both the League and Syzygy. It wasn't about body parts and it wasn't about elemental types. And it wasn't the requirements for the winning side. It was just a prediction for who'd win."

"…continue."

"For example, heart of steel. Aj's the steel type, so we figured it was her. But the heart of steel is supposed to 'resist the conquering feel.' And you've seen how much she needed to stay with Mike through everything."

"She panicked when Syzygy took him," Kyle remembered.

"Right. If the conquering emotion is love, then her heart really didn't fit the description."

"So what was it?" Kyle wondered.

"Uh… I'll get back to that. There was also the mind of a fighter. You're a fighting type, so we all figured that meant you. But you get headaches every time you teleport, and… no offense, but that's not something I'd associate with the mind of a fighter."

"Okay. Who's the mind of a fighter?"

"It's Mike. He's the one who came up with most of our tactical stuff throughout all this. He took the lead so often, whether in organizing teams to investigate Syzygy or planning our next move. And the part about vanquishing all after – he wiped out J's forces pretty much singlehandedly. He finished off the last six henchmen a week ago, after getting the rest of them on the Hearthome plateau."

"What else?"

Ashley considered the next line to explain. "Well, heart of steel. That's me. I've been… I've been pushing down emotions for a while. It worked out really well, and I didn't get distracted by them like I'd feared."

She didn't say what emotions she was pushing down. Kyle had a feeling she was talking about feelings for Axel… "So if Mike is the mind of a fighter," Kyle recalled, changing the topic a bit, "then who's the wings of lightning?"

"If you'll remember, the prophecy said two wings of lightning. We sort of skimmed over the number because, I mean, every bird has two wings. But it's really two separate entities who are the 'wings of lightning'."

Kyle frowned. "So… you and Mike?"

"No. We didn't even consider these two in the prophecy. Sagitta and Aquila are faster than me or Mike will ever be, and the lightning is a metaphor for their speed. They rescued Ash and Dawn from J a few months back, they stopped Fyr from stabbing me after they took my eyes, they pretended to be us so that we could get to the engine room. A ton of the fights we've been in would have been way different without Sagitta and Aquila involved – usually for the worse."

"Always for the worse," Kyle said.

"Yeah, always for the worse," Ashley agreed. "So I guess you could say they confused the fighting."

Kyle smiled. "Dawn was talking about the look on J's face when the latii swooped in. She was laughing about how J looked so bewildered and confused, but I never would have made the connection."

Ashley grinned. "How are they? Dawn and Ash?"

"They joined a rescue team. Dawn buried her quilava at her house. Ash said it was a small funeral."

Ashley nodded.

"So back to our conversation."

She laughed. "Eyes of a dragon, to spot the heart's worst abrasion. Aj finally managed to find Mike using aura, at the Eterna HQ. Besides that, she notices things quickly." Aj had also figured out who Ashley liked ages ago, but she didn't mention that. "She's got the eyes of a dragon cause she sees things better than most of us. It couldn't be me; I'm way too dense to have eyes of a dragon."

"Then it didn't matter that you don't have dragon-type eyes," Kyle realized.

"Oh yeah," Ashley said. "Heh. I forgot about that somehow."

"What about the one nobody could figure out… Dark's brightest light?"

Ashley hesitated. "It's…" She cleared her throat. "When you fell that night, I… I realized your eye color doesn't match your type. You were in Bankai, and your eyes were this color," she told him, gesturing at his eyes. "They're this dark, dark shade of brown, and… they sorta light up sometimes. Like when you go on a nerdy rant. They were bright that night, and… well, it's you. The dark's brightest light that ends the fight. That's how I knew you could end it."

"Weird way of wording it, though."

She shrugged. "Hey, Cynthia was sleeptalking."

"Good point. Plus the author was only in Xth grade."

HEY. DON'T GO GIVING OUT MY AGE.

"Okay, okay…"

"…And yeah, that's the prophecy," Ashley said, lying back down.

Kyle looked out over the city. Hearthome had the most lights in Sinnoh, after Sunyshore. The view from the gym top shone with streetlamps and window lights in varying shades of blue and yellow and white, distanced just enough from the gym to isolate them in darkness.

Ashley noticed. "It's a great view. Sunyshore's too bright. Lights are so much prettier in darkness," she said, sitting up and observing the view with him.

Wait. Kyle looked sideways at her. The expression on her face suggested she had something on her mind.

He shifted. "…are they usually?" he asked.

Ashley rolled her head sideways to look at him. His eyes were shining.

"Yeah," she said.

There was a pause.

"I like your eyes."

"I thought you liked Axel's," Kyle admitted.

"Axel? Nah."

"Oh." Kyle got to his feet.

"Going somewhere?" Ashley sat up. Crap. She shouldn't have told him.

"Not particularly," said Kyle, pretending to stretch.

"Ah."

Kyle breathed in. "Aj really does have sharp eyes. She figured out I liked someone within a week of me realizing it, myself."

Ashley raised her eyebrows. "You like someone?"

"…yeah."

She stood up and faced him. "Can I take the fact that you haven't run away as a good sign?"

"Well, we are on a rooftop. It's a bit difficult to run away if your teleportation abilities aren't worth anything."

"Ah. Never mind then–"

He laughed and pulled her into a hug.

"Wow, you could have said something," Ashley told him, grinning.

She hugged him back.


Kevin Yale – Eh, you'll never read this. Hey, you're a cool guy. I wouldn't have put you in this story if you weren't. You'd have been Iro or someone instead. Aaand that's all I had to say to you.

Mike Voltwing – I… yeah. It was great being on a team with you. Sometimes I think you were the first to move on from it, which amazes me because I had such a hard time with that same task. I doubt you'll read this either, but keep your head, okay? Despite being friends with "those" guys. I made you the mind of a fighter for a reason.

Aj Ferra – Heyyy. Thanks for reading this semi-idiocy for so long :) I guess I finally killed a character like you wanted. Seriously though, I'm glad you read it. You didn't get your kissing scene, but tbh hugging is more romantic to me than kissing. Sorry for making Aj… Haha, no I'm not. Your character's deviated far from who you are, but I regret nothing. If anything, I'll just say you're more like Ashley, and I'm more like Aj in real life. At least regarding the hearts. Maybe I'll make you read my other stories now XD

Kyle Delta – Oh Lord. Where do I begin… I did like you. I guess that's a good place to start. And I did like your eyes a lot. They really are – or were, I'm not sure anymore – night-dark with lights in them, like your character's. I wanted the ending to go this way since the very beginning, and I decided to stay true to my Xth grade self. I've been over you for quite a while now, but I don't regret having liked you. You were the first guy I ever liked who was a close friend first, and that was a whole new experience to me. I enjoyed it a lot. And I liked you a lot. Thanks for the experience.

Axel Nightblazer – Everyone go check this guy out under the name Requiem Wings. He thinks he can't write, but he's fantastic as both a writer and a person, and the whole reason I started writing online. Axel, you have no idea how much I joyfully freaked out when you reviewed my story for the first time. Thank you so much for staying with EOAD, and staying with me. There have been points when I felt hopeless, and during those times I felt like you were my only friend. I get funny looks whenever I tell people I have a friend from SINY who I've never met, but it's way more than worth it. Thank you.

To everyone else – Thank you all for reading! Whether you've stuck by EOAD from the beginning or only recently found it in the fanfic archives, I'm immensely grateful for your support. Eyes of a Dragon took from April 2011 to July 2014 to write, and I couldn't have done it without the readers' support. This is the first story of significant length I've ever finished, and I'm so glad I've gotten to share this with you.

If you look back through the story, you'll find a lot of things – both big and small – that the characters said and did that foreshadowed the prophecy. I couldn't list all of them; that would take too long. I put in as many hints as possible while doing my best to stay discreet. Did I succeed? Read back and let me know ;)

I'm probably not going to edit this. There's too much else to do, and my present self sees too many things to go back and spend time working on. I have band next week, and I'm starting new responsibilities this year. I'm going to work on Novas are Shattered Stars, which will be my only fanfiction for a while. A few ideas from the other one I had in mind will be incorporated. Eyes of a Dragon, however, is finished at long last.

All right, that's it. I'll sign off now.

Til next time,

~A. Eon.