Alex blinked with his single eye, and stared at the cloudy fluid in the cup before him.

A week had passed since the battle with Lunos. He had made it back to Weyard without a problem, slipping away from the others like a shadow. Though he doubted that they would have made the effort of looking for him in the first place anyway.

He took a sip from his cup. The coffee was a simple brew, not too strong in taste, but not underwhelming either. A sobering drink, which was just what he desired. He would have to leave the waitress a generous tip.

He was back in Tolbi, in a nondescript coffee shop. The aftermath of Felix and Xion's escapade had left the place in chaos, but things had mostly settled down since then. Iodem was dead, and his experiments on the previous leader had left his legacy soiled. While the public had been less than fond of Babi in his later years, the inhumanity of what Iodem had been doing to him was enough to brand him a monster to the people of Tolbi. They were unanimous in the fact that they would not stand for someone treating another human being in such a way, even if said victim was a tyrant.

Perhaps that was a sign that civilization was maturing. The past few centuries had seen a decline in the barbaric practices and horrific wars of the ancient days. If that were so, and a new enlightenment was indeed coming to the people of Weyard, than the return of Alchemy had been timed well.

And Alex was ready to take a step back and observe things.

He had attained what he was after. With the four Essences of Pure Alchemy, he had the limitless power he had desired, and with what was left of the Lunos' white mask on his face, he had the safeguard he needed to control that power. He had his immortality, though with Lunos gone it had returned to mere agelessness rather than the regenerative invulnerability of before. Alex was content with this. He was quite possibly the most powerful living thing on Weyard now. And with both the Wise One and Lunos gone, only the gods themselves could contest him, if they even existed.

He had power, which he had always desired. But he had no desire to abuse it. He was strange in that regard. Power is said to corrupt all, which could be seen many times in history by those who had found it. But now that Alex had his power, he felt at peace, possibly for the first time in his life.

Did that mean he had always feared weakness? Possibly. His whole life after all, had been a manipulation aimed at acquiring power, which he finally had. All it had cost him was one of his eyes.

Alex was not evil, though he would not call himself good either. He had long ago learned that morality was too complex to be divided into two halves. He was powerful, and he knew that, and he would not hesitate to prove it should it be challenged. But he had no desire to force others to bow at his feet as Lunos had.

Lunos had only lost in the end because of his own foolishness. There were so many paths he might have taken, so many ways he could have regained his empire. But in the end, he had written his enemies off as nonthreatening mortals, and that had been his downfall. Had Lunos simply ended Alex at the moment when he no longer needed him, he would have won. But his pride had destroyed him.

Now, Alex was the god among men. If he wished it, he could go out and forge an empire of his own, that would rival or even surpass Lunos'. And indeed, he had considered it. But he had no wish to do such a thing. Empires always fell, no matter how great they proclaimed themselves to be. Sooner or later, Alex's own pride would have clouded his judgment, and a boy with bright eyes and a magic sword would have appeared and defeated him. History had a tendency to repeat itself, and he knew that he would be remembered not as a warrior, or an emperor, or even a god, but the first human to transcend.

Exactly what he would transcend to, he did not yet know.

He took another sip of his coffee. For now, he would relax. Let some time pass before his next adventure. He had seen all of Weyard, after all. His new abilities would easily give him access to the dozens of worlds Xion and the other Nobodies have seen, as well as the thousands they had not. There was an infinite universe of realms for him to go to, each with their own rules for him to learn and master.

And he had all of eternity to do it.

Alex finished his drink and rose, placing a few coins on the table for the waitress. His coffee had been quite good.

As he left he caught sight of the man called Blados, holding in his hand a bottle of alcohol. A woman was with him, a beauty with flowing pink hair and what appeared to be horns atop her head. An unusual sight, which would have drawn attention, were it not for the subtle illusion she had over herself. A simple trick that would fool a human, but even the more novice Adept could see right through it.

He caught snippets of their conversation as he discreetly eavesdropped. He heard her name – Chalis, and another word that was repeated several times – Tuaparang. Blados mentioned Psynergy Vortexes, which she seemed quite interested in.

Alex was intrigued. The woman was clearly powerful, and her clothes were unlike anything he had ever seen. They were clearly planning something big, he could tell by the expressions on their faces and the weight of their conversation. If he should involve himself, it could be quite the possibility to gain more power or knowledge.

He thought about it for a moment, then concluded that he had better things to do.

Alex turned from the two, and left, the door of the coffee house swinging behind him.

Chapter XXXV

Adrift and at Peace

Felix awoke slowly in a room he had come to know quite well.

The guest chamber that had more or less been declared 'his' room, in the palace of Kalay. He knew the walls, and the ceiling, and so he felt a sense of familiarity and comfort when he opened his eyes.

As usual, there was nobody there. Sunlight steamed in through the open windows, stinging his unadjusted eyes. Some birds could be heard chirping, perched on the tree branches. It was a beautiful day, with few clouds in the blue sky.

Felix rose from his bed, finding himself dressed in warm, clean pajamas. He had a few bandages beneath his clothes, where he had taken wounds in the battle.

The battle...

Xion.

He felt pain rising in his chest, and his eyes burned. He reached up and wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He couldn't cry. Not yet. He had to check on the others first.

He changed into his regular clothes, which were all washed and folded. Then he stepped out of his room into the hallway of the palace, which was deathly quiet.

"Hello?"

He received no answer. There was not a soul in sight, not even the guards. He wandered down a few hallways, and checked a few rooms. The dining room, the kitchen, the throne, the basements...

Nobody.

Felix began to wonder if he was actually in Hammet's palace, or he had found himself in some sort of purgatory. Had he died back in the depths of that dark realm, after finishing off Lunos? Was this that realm itself, merely taking the shape of a place he knew well.

If so, why not become Vale or even Prox? He knew those places much better than the Kalay palace. No, it couldn't be something that farfetched.

But he just didn't understand why there was nobody around.

Felix decided to head outside, to clear his head. As he neared the front door of the palace, he began to hear a faint sound from the other side. He hesitated, then pushed open the doors.

The sound was music. Down in the town square, Felix saw there was a great festival in progress, much like the ones he had gone to early in his life, when Vale would celebrate the coming of a new year.

Felix saw two familiar people, Isaac and Jenna, on their way up the steps of the palace. They both had ice cream in their hands. Jenna looked up and saw him, and she exclaimed and ran up and gave him a big hug.

"You're finally up!" she said. "I was hoping you would be up soon! This is the last day of the festival, and I would have been disappointed if you had missed it!"

"Festival?" he asked.

"In celebration of the eclipse," Isaac explained. "That red star in the night sky only passes behind the moon every couple of decades. This is the second time it has happened since Kalay was founded, and they had a week-long festival the first time, as well."

"The red star..." Felix muttered. "Lunos was going to return on the eclipse."

"Yeah," Isaac said. "But thanks to you and Sora, that didn't happen. For us, it doubles as a celebration of our victory."

Felix nodded. "I understand."

"Mia's been pretty anxious to see you," Jenna said slyly.

His eyes shot wide open. "Mia! She's... she's back?"

Isaac nodded. "Yup. I'm not sure how to explain it... Nobody is, really. But we're all glad."

"Why don't you come say hi to her?" Jenna asked. "C'mon, there's something we gotta tell you on the way."

The three of them made their way down the stairs towards the lively sights and sounds of the festival. As they walked, Jenna spoke to Felix with barely contained excitement.

"So you know that Ivan can see stuff that happens in the future, right?" Jenna asked him. "But he can't tell us any of it because we might try to change things and that would cause a paradox?"

"Too well," Felix muttered, thinking of Xion's death.

"Well, he saw something that he could tell us," Jenna said with a big smile. "Guess what it is?"

"Garet would get indigestion?"

"I'm pregnant!" Jenna delightfully exclaimed. "The baby was conceived just before we left!"

"You are?" Felix said. "What what about...?"

Jenna touched her belly and smiled. "Well, I didn't think it would be possible again, after what Alex did. But I guess I was wrong. Or maybe it's just a miracle."

"Well, good for you then," Felix told her.

"Ivan won't tell us if its a boy or a girl," Jenna said. "But I think it'll be a boy."

"What makes you think that?"

Jenna shrugged. "I can just feel it."

"If it is a boy, then his name will be Matthew," Isaac said.

"There's more good news," Jenna said. "We've decided that since everyone is here already, and we're having a child, that we may as well push things ahead and..."

"Get married," Felix concluded for her.

"Yeah!" Jenna said. "Are you okay with that? We can wait if you're not feeling up to it."

Not feeling up to...? Oh.

Xion.

"No, go ahead and get married as soon as you wish," Felix said. "You have my blessing."

"Oh brother, thank you!" Jenna exclaimed, giving him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Felix went down into the festival, where the villagers of Kalay were entertained with a number of amusements, including music, food, games, and dancing. He immediately spotted three familiar faces seated at a table, sharing a large dish of fries – Sheba, Ivan, and Sora.

Sheba spotted him as he approached and she ran up and hugged him, complete with the usual exclamations of relief and joy at seeing him.

Felix pulled a chair over from an unoccupied table and sat with them.

"Jenna and Isaac are with child once more," he said. "And they want to get married this evening."

"Yeah, it's all they've been talking about," Sheba said. "Aside from wondering when you would wake up."

"They tell me this is due to your predictions," Felix said to Ivan. "You're certain of this?"

The young Jupiter Adept nodded. "Indeed. Now that all the chaos is over with, I can tell you guys some of the less serious stuff. Basically, the things that it doesn't matter if you know of or not."

"Anything you can tell me?" Felix asked him.

Ivan gave him a long look. "No. Not yet anyway. I'm sorry."

Felix nodded, and bowed his head. Sheba, seeming to have picked up on his somber mood, offered a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry you couldn't save her," said Ivan.

"I knew it was a small chance to begin with," Felix said quietly. "But still..." Then he rubbed his eyes and brow, and drew himself up. "Now isn't the time to grieve. In the wake of this tragedy, there's new life. Mia is back, and Isaac and Jenna are having their child. I'm going to focus on that."

Sora twirled a fry around in his hands, unsure what to say in their conversation. Felix noticed his silence, and spoke to him.

"Thank you very much for coming to help," he said. "Without you, we would have all died, and our world would have been lost. This should be a celebration in your honor."

Sora waved his hand, and smiled bashfully. "Hey, don't mention it. I've saved a couple worlds already, so it wasn't really a big deal. I don't really know whats going on around here, but I was glad to help anyway."

Felix thought of Riku, and again he felt guilty. "Um, your friend... we made a grave for him over in another village. If you want, I can take you there..."

Sora smiled. "Sheba already took me two days ago. And you know, the funny thing is... there was no grave."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, it was weird," Sheba said. "I remember the exact spot where we buried Riku, but when I took Riku there, it was gone."

"Did you ask Hama?"

"Of course. She said she hadn't seen anything. The last time she had checked on the grave was when we had been there, after getting back from Venus Lighthouse."

Felix scratched his chin. "What in the world could that possibly mean?"

"Well, I'm going to be optimistic," Sora said. "I think he's still alive."

Felix turned to Sora, staring at him in disbelief. "Sora, he isn't..."

Well, he couldn't say what he was thinking.

"I'm sure he's still out there, in some form," Sora said. "I'll find him, and I'll take him back to the islands. Kairi's there, waiting for the both of us. I can't let her down."

Felix didn't have the heart to put down his hopes, no matter how foolish they sounded to him. After losing Mia, and then Xion, he knew the pain of loss. Denial was an easy thing to slip into. It was a comfort.

Still, there was hope in the boy's eyes. His words didn't sound like those of a person in grief... they sounded honest and true. Perhaps Sora really did think he could be reunited with his friend.

Well, Felix had seen stranger things than a person back from the dead. After all, he had thought for sure that Mia was gone forever, and she was back now.

Felix looked to Sora. "You really value your friends."

He nodded.

"You really are like her then," Felix said. "Xion's friends were everything to her."

"I know," Sora said sadly. "Her last thoughts were of Roxas and Axel... and you."

"You have to live the life she couldn't," Felix told him. "What remains of her is inside you now."

"I have her memories, but I don't feel anything," Sora muttered. "I can feel Roxas, but not Xion."

Felix looked down at the ground. Perhaps they had both been wrong all along. Perhaps Xion was gone so completely that not even a remnant remained.

After parting with Ivan, Sheba, and Sora, Felix wandered around the fairground, looking for any of his other friends.

He eventually came to an area off to the side, where gentle music drifted from some unseen place nearby. The place was strangely dark, resting in a corner under a building where shadows gave the impression that the day was later than it truly was. He saw an isolated gazebo, illuminated by the warm light of candles. An area set aside for couples.

There was only one couple there at present, a distinctive pair with eye-catching hair of blue and red.

Mia and Axel danced slowly and carefully. Mia knew the steps, and she appeared to be teaching them to Axel. It was strange to see the girl leading with that dance, but Axel clearly needed the help. It was like he'd never danced in his life.

Or perhaps he had. He seemed to be trying a bit too hard at looking clueless. The reason so became clear a moment later, when he slipped up and fell back, pulling Mia with him. She gave a little yelp of surprise, but they were both laughing. She fell forwards, landing on his chest.

The laughter died down as they gazed into each others eyes. Then Mia leaned forward, and their lips met.

Felix felt a mixture of unnameable emotions. Partly, he was glad for Mia, and relieved that she had moved on and found someone else. Partly, he wished it was anyone but Axel. And even so, he still couldn't help but feel a shadow of jealousy.

And guilt at the thought of Xion.

As quietly as he could, he turned and left. They never saw him.

Felix spent the rest of the day with Garet, Piers, and Kraden. He didn't speak much, despite the former's ceaseless questions about Lunos. The others had already told him everything that had happened, but Kraden knew Felix had spend the most time around Lunos, and he wanted to learn as much as possible and write a book about it.

Felix thought of the later parts of the battle, specifically Lunos' final form, and the maggot-like core. He told Kraden that he would help him write his book, but he had no wish to speak of those things yet. Kraden seemed to accept this.

The others seemed to understand that Felix was grieving. They all were as well, just not as much as he was. None of them had been as close to Xion as he had been, with the possible exceptions of Garet and Sheba, and they had all already had a week to mourn.

It put them in a tough position, because they had a lot to celebrate, particularly Isaac and Jenna's wedding. But every time they looked at Felix, they saw the sorrow in his eyes, and they were reminded of what he had lost.

After dinner, when the sun was setting, the festivities were moved to the side and many candles were lit. Then Isaac and Jenna emerged and were married in front of their friends and family.

The sun set, and everyone got drinks and gave their respective toasts to the newlyweds. It was an old Vale custom for each person related to the couple to say a few words, so inevitably it came time for Felix to speak.

When it did, he stood up and raised his glass. Rather than the long-winded speeches of the parents, he said only a single sentence:

"Cherish your time together."

With tears in her eyes, Jenna nodded and told him she would. Isaac held her close and kissed her.

Once the celebrations were all done with, everyone parted. Sora said his goodbyes to everyone, then he went off and vanished. The villagers all returned to their homes, and the Adepts went back to the palace, tired after their long week of celebration.

Felix remained outside for a while, looking up at the moon and the red star nearby. Then he went back to his room and started packing his things.

He emerged from his room and looked around carefully. Nobody was in the hallways. They were all back in their respective rooms. He emerged, and made his way down the hallway with the bag over his shoulder. He knew exactly what it would look like if one of them happened to see him, so he was hoping that he would simply slip out like a shadow.

None of his friends appeared to challenge him. He made it to the front gate of the palace. The guards there gave him a look, but said nothing.

He made it halfway down the stairs before a voice interrupted him.

"You're running away again?"

Felix turned to find his sister sitting on the palace steps, off to the side where he hadn't seen her. She rose and approached him.

He bowed his head in shame. "I can't stay here."

"I know," Jenna said. "It's because of her, isn't it?"

"Mia?" Felix asked. "No, I don't care about that."

"I wasn't talking about Mia."

Tears welled in his eyes.

"Oh, Felix," Jenna said, moving to embrace her brother. "It's okay to cry."

"It's so hard, Jenna," he said quietly. "It's so unfair. She did so much. She sacrificed so much. And for what? Nothing."

"Where are you going to go?" Jenna asked him, knowing that he needed to leave. She wasn't going to stop him, but she did want to know where he would be.

"I'm not sure," he said. "I just need to wander. I just have to get away from everyone."

"I understand," she said, releasing him. "You still have the Teleport Lapis, right? So you can come back anytime, right?"

He nodded. "Don't worry. I'll be back before your child is born."

Jenna smiled, and gave her brother one last hug before he left.

Felix walked alone for a few days, with no real aim or goal. He just went wherever his feet and the road beneath them happened to take him.

He eventually did find himself in a very familiar place. He didn't know if he had been unconsciously headed there the entire time, or if it had been a coincidence. Or perhaps fate. But he couldn't deny there was a sort of poetic beauty to him arriving at the Aleph Chasm. His adventure with Xion would end at the exact place it had begun.

He wandered around the chasm for a while, eventually locating the old tent in which he had lived for several months. Surprisingly, it was still standing. He entered, to find that most of his things were still there. Somehow, no bandits or travelers had discovered it and taken all the things he had left. Not that he had really left much of consequence. Mostly just vague plans at getting inside the chasm to find Alex, and empty bottles of ale. The most valuable things there were his old weapons, but they were all obsolete next to the Sol Blade.

He looked around the tent, disgusted by the state in which his former self had lived. With a sigh, he turned and made for the exit, intent on never returning to the place again.

When he caught sight of something that hadn't been there before.

A small white envelope, unmarked, but clearly left for him to find. He picked it up, tore it open, and held his breath when he saw the familiar handwriting.

Felix,

If you're reading this, I am dead.

But that's okay, because everyone else is fine.

You see, I haven't been entirely honest with you, Felix. I spoke with Hama during our stay in Kalay. She explained the paradox of foresight to me, and the problems with knowing the outcomes of potential futures. And she told me that there were, indeed, possible futures where I did survive.

The problem was that I was the only one who did in these futures. Both you and Axel, Garet, and all the others who came to save me... none of you would make it. And after losing Roxas, I just couldn't bear the thought of anyone else dying for my sake.

Does that make me a hypocrite? After all, I left the Organization all those months ago simply because I decided that I had the right to exist, at the cost of others. I told myself, and I told you, that it wasn't fair that I should be expected to give my own life so that others could exist.

And yet, here I am doing exactly that. I'm right back where I started, at the same inevitable fate, except that we've lost Demyx, Riku, and Roxas along the way.

I know you won't like this resolution, Felix. You may even hate me for it. But its really the best outcome.

At least there is a silver lining to all this. You'll have Mia back. At least one of my mistakes can be undone. And this way, Sora will be able to wake up. Please, tell him how sorry I am about Riku, though I have a suspicion he'll already know.

I'm leaving you something. You gave a lot of yourself for me, so I didn't think it was fair that Sora should have every bit of me. Hama tells me that the Essences will guarantee that its still here for you, even after I dissipate to nothing.

I'm done writing this letter now, and I will be leaving it here for you. I came here with the Teleport Lapis while you slept, and I will be returning to your side. I'm going to cherish every moment that I have left with you, before I have to go and play the part of Lunos' thrall.

When you find this, please don't grieve for me. Just cherish the days we had, as I will.

With love,

-Xion.

He folded the letter up and put it in his pocket, unsure of what to feel after reading that. She hadn't been under Lunos' control at all... she had simply been pretending to be, for his sake. She had known all along that she wasn't going to make it, so she had simply gone with the best outcome possible.

He felt a slight weight in the envelope. It was the thing Xion had left for him. He reached inside, and pulled out a strand of black hair, braided and tied.

Xion's hair.

A tear fell. But no more than that. He was out of tears to cry. His sorrow was fading, being replaced by that feeling of numbness.

He knew this cycle. He had gone through it before, after Mia had left. First there was the sorrow. Then, the emptiness. And then, he would find something and cling to it, to fill that emptiness. With Mia, it had been revenge.

Who could he go after this time? He had several choices. Alex was still at large, but he had actually been responsible for helping them defeat Lunos in the end. Xemnas and Xigbar were gone, but who knows what world they had gone to? What chance did he ever have of finding them?

Still, it was better than nothing. If he didn't find some goal, some direction for his life to fill that void, he would die.

He stepped outside, and looked at the void. So massive... so empty...

He took a step towards it.

"Felix?"

"Xi-!"

He spun around and froze, disappointed. There was a girl standing near the tent, who looked and sounded almost the same as Xion.

But it wasn't her. This girl had blonde hair, and wore a white dress.

"Who are you?" he asked. "How did you get here?"

The girl smiled. "Hmm, yes. How indeed... My name in Namine. I'm a friend of Sora's, in a way."

"A friend of Sora's?" he asked. "I'm afraid you're out of luck, then. Sora already left. He's gone back to... wherever it was he came from."

"I know," Namine said. "I chose to stay here. I have no intention of going back there. I'm going to start my own life here, in Weyard."

"Fine," Felix said, shrugging. "Then what are you doing here? Did you follow me?"

She shook her head. "No. I've been waiting. You see, I got an idea, and I wanted to share it with you."

Felix crossed his arms. "Okay. What's this idea of yours?"

"You have a piece of Xion's hair in your hand," she said, pointing to his hand. He tightened his fingers around the braided lock. "Don't you think its strange? That a piece of her still remains in this world after she is gone? Typically, Nobodies and Replicas return to the darkness when they die."

"She had those four Essences," Felix said. "That's why. She explained it in the letter."

"Yes, you're right," Namine said with a coy smile. "But there's a little more to it than that. It's simple conclusion, even if its not immediately obvious. Think about it, Felix... who else had those four Essences?"

"Alex."

"Right. And what ability did it grant to Alex?"

"Immortality," Felix said. "The use of all four elements. Regeneration..."

He froze.

No.

No.

It couldn't be.

Namine smiled from ear to ear. "Lunos' death took away the full capacity of those abilities. They don't really work anymore, but that piece of hair you're holding is in the process right now. It just can't finish because it was cut off from Lunos' power supply."

"Xion... did she... plan this?"

"No, Xion had no idea," Namine said. "I think Hama did, though. She said herself, that there as no way for everyone to survive, and Xion would have to die. But Xion 'died' during a state of immortality, right?"

Felix held up his hand, looking at the lock of hair. "Then... what do I have to do?"

"Just find a way to kick-start the regeneration process," Namine said.

Kick-start the regeneration? Where could he possibly go that had healing so powerful...?

Oh, of course.

He ran up to Namine and gave her a big hug, lifting her up off her feet. The small girl gave a surprised, "Oh!"

"Thank you very, very much!" he said to her.

"Hey, glad to help."

Then he let her go, and took off. He teleported away in mid-step.

Felix appeared in front of Mercury Lighthouse.

There was nobody around, which was perfect, because he needed to fountain all to himself.

He approached the fountain, and took off his cloak. He folded it, and set it on the marble rim. Then he stepped into the water, which was only deep enough to reach his knees. The air outside was cooler than the waters, so steam rose up off the surface.

He held up the lock of hair, and took a long look at it.

"Namine... you had better be right about this."

Then he tossed the braided strand of hair into the Hermes' Water.

A few moments passed. Nothing happened.

Felix sighed, and bowed his head dejectedly.

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten so excited..."

There was a loud hiss, and the water began to bubble. Felix jumped back with a surprised yelp, stumbling over the edge of the fountain.

The water grew in volume, turning frothy. It began to overflow, and streams of clear water began to run down the side of the fountain, the heat melting the snow on the ground.

There was a loud sound, and the water burst forth in a huge wave, flowing over the fountain and engulfing Felix. He was lost under the torrent.

It only lasted a few seconds, though. Felix's head broke the surface, and he spat out a mouthful of water on the wet ground. Then he looked up at the fountain, and gasped.

A human arm hang over the side.

Felix drew himself up and ran back to the fountain. There, half-submerged in the clear water, was a girl with blue eyes and black hair.

The girl gasped breathlessly, as though breathing for the first time. Her blue eyes were hazy and unfocused, but they blinked and had life behind them. The girl breathed heavily for a few moments, seemingly unaware of where she was. Once her breathing slowed down to a natural pace, she blinked a few times and focused her eyes.

"M-Mercury... Lighthouse...?" she said, her voice strained from lack of use. "How...?" Then she turned her head to the side and saw Felix.

There were tears in his eyes and they met each others gaze. Her lips tembled, and a tear ran down her cheek as well.

"F-Felix..."

"Xion..."

She reached up to touch him, like she didn't believe he was real. Her fingers brushed against his face, and fresh tears ran down her cheeks.

"I'm not..."

"No, you're not," he said, smiling.

She smiled back at him.

Then she realized she had no clothes on, and her face turned red.

Felix wrapped her in his cloak, and helped her up and out of the fountain. The cloak was soaked, and not dry as he had hoped it would be when he first took it off and set it aside, but he wrung it out, and it did its job well enough.

They walked back to town, and went to Mia's unoccupied house. A few villagers gave them odd looks, but nobody said anything. The door was locked, but such a thing was no matter for a Keyblade Master and an Adept with the Sol Blade. They were quickly inside.

Felix quickly started a fire, and Xion sat in front of it to warm up. She still wore nothing but Felix's cloak, but he had found some old clothes of Mia's she could wear once she dried off.

Xion laughed suddenly.

"I just realized something..." she said. "The first time we spoke... I didn't have any clothes on then, either."

Felix thought back. "Oh, yeah. Way back in the cave, after you saved me from drowning."

Xion smiled. "Back then... wow, we were practically different people. I never would have thought we would end up here."

"Me neither," Felix said.

She turned to him. "Is everyone... alright?"

"Everyone is fine," he told her. "Just like Hama told you they would be. Everyone is back in Kalay, safe and sound. Even Axel. Sora woke up fine, and helped us win the battle. And Mia came back, too. Yeah, everything worked out right."

Xion looked down, ashamed. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you."

"It's okay," he said. "What you did was right. Everything worked out the best it possibly could have. For a while, I thought I had lost you... But you're back now, and everything is okay, so there's no need to look back."

"No need to look back...?" she said quietly to herself.

"Yeah," Felix said. "You're free. Sora is back, and the Organization is gone. Xemnas even promised not to come after you anymore. We have all the time in world now... Your future is your own."

Xion thought about that for a moment, then she smiled, closed her eyes, and lay back, letting Felix's cloak slide off her shoulders.

"This is what I was after," she said. "All this time, I wanted my own life. Now that I have it, I don't really know what I want to do."

"You can do anything you want," Felix said.

"You promise? I can do... anything... I want?"

"Okay, then I think I know what I want to do first."

Xion stood up, not picking up the cloak off the ground. Felix, sitting in a chair on the other side of the room, blushed but did not look away. Xion walked slowly to him, and sat in his lap. She wrapped her arms around him, and kissed her way up to his ear.

"You," she whispered.

He chuckled. "Clever." He kissed her, at the spot where her jaw met her neck. She shuddered, and her breathing quickened. "I've been doing this longer than you, though. You'll find I'm not so easy to seduce."

"You don't want me?" she asked.

"I didn't say that," he said. "But not right now. I don't think Mia would appreciate the gesture."

At that, Xion remembered where they were, and she broke down in giggles.

"You're right, it might be a better idea to wait."

"But that raises the question... where are we going to go? I mean, we'll have to stop in Kalay to let the others know you're back, and it might not be a bad idea to check and make sure that Namine girl isn't stuck at my old tent, but after that... we have the whole world in front of us."

"The whole universe," Xion corrected.

"Mmm," Felix agreed. "So... do you have any ideas?"

Xion thought about it.

"I think I can come up with something."

The End

A/N: Well, that's that. The end of the story. It's been a long journey. Almost a year and a half, actually.

I guess as the author I should have a few words to sum up my feelings about this book.

Well...

It wasn't a very good idea.

It really wasn't. It was the story I wanted to tell, but not the story I should have told. For one thing, its not to most accessible fanfic out there. You have to know a lot about both series of games to be able to understand what's going on. At the bare minimum, you have to have played TLA and 358/2 Days. Even if you have played all the chronological games leading up to this fic (KH1, KHCoM, KH358/2, GS, GSTLA), there's still going to be references you don't get, like Blados.

Felix is kind of a hit or miss type character in Golden Sun fandom. Some like to portray him as a brooding loner, as I have. Others insist that he isn't anything like that in the games, and that he's been flanderized. The fact that he only appears in four speaking scenes across both games doesn't help (Sol Sanctum, Mercury Lighthouse, and Venus Lighthouse in the first GS, and then the epilogue in TLA). But the games don't really give us much to go on, so I went with the emo version.

And then there's Xion. I can tell you, there's a ton of people who hate her. Mostly Yaoi fangirls who were pissed about her "getting in the way" of Roxas and Axel's "love". These people have played the Mary-Sue card, as they do on any female character they don't like. It's a sad truth about the world. But I knew going in just how polluted the Kingdom Hearts fandom was with shitty M/M oneshots. I know, because I've spent many a night slogging through the garbage hoping to find something decent among the crap. Sturgeon's Law is usually pretty accurate, but for Kingdom Hearts fanfiction, the crap/good stuff ratio is more like 98/2 than the usual 90/10.

Hey, you can hate me if you want. There's a reason I waited until the end of the story to say all this.

I guess what I'm saying is that any Kingdom Hearts fic that isn't a Sora/Riku, or Roxas/Axel highschool AU yaoi oneshot is a challenge to the dull minds that are used to reading such fodder. Asking them to read a Xion-central crossover with an obscure RPG series is like asking a Justin Bieber fan to listen to a Dream Theater album.

This probably isn't doing any wonders for my already small fanbase.

To add to the problem of my finding fans is the fact that has its own section for crossovers. Most of them suck. Yeah, I said it. But that is no excuse however, that crossovers should be segregated like this. I have a dream that one day the site of Fanfiction, whose moderators' lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a site where little crossover fics will be able to join hands with little one-fandom stories and walk together as sisters and brothers.

Anyway, that's what I have to say about that. It was a bad idea to start with such an esoteric fanfic. And to make it so ambitious yet... 200,000+ words! I truly am a fool.

This fool is already making notes for a potential sequel.

It's just too bad all his "fans" are going to leave him now, due to his challenging of the small, secure, safe bubble they call their universe.

I guess Keanu Reeves would say:

"Whoa."