Act V - The Dark Below

Chapter 23 - The Crash of Thunder

[Tower Medical Wing | Last City | Earth]

"-now light up the sky with you right by my side~" Zane sang to himself softly, knowing to wary of his roommate's tendency to throw sharp objects his way when he was woken up, hence why the medical team now strapped him down to his bed while the explosive Titan slept. "Every night I'll pray for you, even if you don't want me to, I gotta hope my hope can give you power, now I want you to believe that for you I'd do anything-"

"Open up your eyes, don't keep your view narrow. So please just let me be your hero~" With a final strum Zane jumped at the clapping coming from the doorway, spotting his favorite Hunter stroll in with a ghost by his side

"Mmm, really wish I could play... but I'll just break the cords," Cayde deflated at his hands, but recovered immediately to jab his Rookie with a playful elbow, apart of him thankful he was alright. "And how is my greatest success story?"

"Tip-top shape," Zane answered, rubbing his forearm. "Well, Light's a bit drained so I'm out of a job for a while, I practically used up everything alongside Rika's, and all that Hive Suppression stuff, having been exposed for so long had a damper on recovery too."

Cayde hummed at that, hand rubbing his chin. "You know, Eris said something like that, as well as many things I chose to ignore, but hey, you're fine, that guy over there is totally, probably fine, and Crota's dead so cheers, hive-five, slow clap."

"He was stressed out of his mind." Artemis nutshelled for Zane, with Rika stifling her own laugh on the table, while said Exo glared back at his ghost, clamping a hand around the shell. "Y-you can silence me but you can't silence the tru-mphm!"

"The tales she comes up with, don't know where she gets them from. Her aside... you both gave everyone quite the show and story to tell, bound to give you a new title after this is over," Cayde waved, having said what he wanted and having a job to go back to, much to his irritation. "Really though... good to see you back again, Rookie, I mean it," With that, he waved. "Rest well, Guardian."

Zane couldn't see Cayde's face, but he imagined her was relieved. Other than Summer, Cayde was his mentor, and he had grown to like the name 'Rookie'.

Another visitor, this time around it came in the form of a flying right cross to the jaw, Zane plummeting onto the floor with a groan. "Hi, sis... ow."

Dimitri huffed, finally getting in the punch she rightfully deserved to belt. "You ever do something like that again and I'll come belt you another, got that?" She growled dangerously close to malice. Zane sat up, bowing his head while kneeling, Rika floating away but saw the worry in Ray's gaze. "You... idiot."

"I know." Was his meek reply, expecting her to kick him this time, instead, her hands rested on his cheeks, both siblings eye-level as Zane felt a familiar warmth stretch over his body, even seeing the cute blush on his sister's face made his previous mistakes fade. "I'm sorry, kind of suppose to set an example for you."

Dimitri pouted. "Doing a crap job at it, but I can relate," She murmured, both sharing a smile and laugh. From there, both put their temples together gently, enjoying the silence between them as the two ghosts bumped side-to-side in tangent with their Guardians. "No matter what happens we'll always be family."

This was starting to seem like a common occurrence today for Zane, another visitor, though Reiner was awake and tied down with a muzzle silencing his words so only his deathly glare remained. Before Dimitri left she promptly drop-kicked the slumbering Titan deeper into his bed before leaving just as quickly. Now, Zane was greeted with a wave from Taka.

"Sup?" Zane waved back, tuning his guitar while sitting on his bed, cross-legged. "Here to chat?" Her brow raised

"I suppose Cayde and Dimi's visits tipped you off?" He gave a nod, Taka sat down by a chair, lightly punching his forehead with a smirk. "That was for worrying us, Ceres and Dimi especially."

"Yeah... I had a guess our absence would do that," Zane admitted honestly to the Titan. If there was one thing that made Taka a great friend it was that she would always sit and listen to anything you had to say, be it casual talk or ranting, she'd listen so it was nice. "Revenant sure didn't like us, man he was annoying to lose."

Not a word from Taka, just her deep onyx eyes staring back through light-blue hair. "Revenant... those colors he wore when he was a Fallen before, I think they belonged to the House of Stone... a House that Variks told me perished on their home planet," Zane's eyes met Taka's briefly. "That thing... whatever it is came from their Collapse."

"You think it's after the Traveler?" Taka spoke, earning a nod and shrug from Zane

"Maybe, maybe not, I don't, I don't care, he'll be in the dirt like all the rest someday, but that won't happen now," Zane sighed, knowing fully well of its power, even so much so to hold his hand close to his face for a second. "He's strong, very strong." His smile never wavered. "I'm alive though, so he's clearly not as strong as I thought. Moving on, how's you?"

Taka hummed. "Good, you should expect an audience with all of us later, everyone's very curious in how you both escaped." Subconsciously, Taka was just happy to know Zane was fine, after the way Ceres acted during their own assault on the Moon she half expected Zane to be very ashamed, but he looked more relieved than anything. "Well, I've got a patrol to do, so I can't stay for the story, but I'm sure I'll get the gist of it later."

Zane blinked. "Huh? Just ask Rika, she recorded everything so whenever you want to see the next blockbuster just come by!"

She smiled, bowing her head. "I'll be sure to ask then, get well soon, Zane - You too, Reiner!" She stifled a laugh at his muffled grunts and strain against the strangely strong bindings

"Hello~" Zane waved to the door, causing Ceres to jump from how sudden his greeting was

"Hi, Zane, sorry I couldn't visit sooner... I had," She sighed weakly, holding onto the drinks she had. "Alot of paperwork,"

"Correction, 'WE' had alot of paperwork." Ghost reprised her answer, causing her to erk and sit down with a heavy breath, handing Zane his soft drink with a smile

"Here, thought this might do you more good than harm." Taking the beverage he raised the tin with a bright smile

"Thus the Goddess blesses me once more!" His joking manner made her hold back a pink hue from crossing her face, but that smile of his kept causing butterflies and Taka's own talks lately weren't helping. "You two are the best."

"I second that!" Rika chimed, shoving Ghost away. "Come on, I got alot to tell you."

"Right... you can stop shoving me." He added flatly

"Nope!" Rika was off on her own world again, leaving the two friends as Reiner rolled his eyes and turned his attention elsewhere

After a moment to drink, Ceres kept her eyes glued to her finger running circles over the rim of the tin. "I know you don't need to hear this... but don't ever do that again, I'm not doubting your skills, however, seeing you... hurt just... angers me, I feel so useless when I'm the only one unscathed, so please, trust me next time."

This was the only conversation Zane dreaded, knowing his actions caused so much grief, he even dragged Reiner in too, and that almost ended poorly. He wanted to reach over to grab her but he stopped himself and just took a drink. "...You always care more about others than yourself, but you should do the same, don't feel the need to get yourself killed for the sake of saving others," He raised his hand to stop her. "If you died for real one day, how could you save everyone then?"

"I..." Ceres finally found a coy smile. "Ugh, you have no room to talk, but fine, I suppose that's fair, dummy." Zane raised his hands in mocked-dramatics

"Again with the insults, my heroics are left trampled by your sharp tongue!" He laughed alongside her, his face brightened at the laugh she shared. "In the end, Crota's gone, we're back in one piece, and we kept our promise, win-win-win!"

Ceres let a chuckle leave her lips. "That's true, although..." Now it was her turn to be all awkward. She had discussed her way of thanking Zane before with Taka and Ghost... both of which weren't that helpful but in Ceres' mind, it was the best thing she could do, for now anyway. "So then, Zane, since you saved us, before I go I-I... well, wanted to...erm..."

His eyes looked down on her head, seeing the nervous frown and averted gaze hide under her bangs. This was beyond his understanding, so he reached out to tap her shoulder. "Hey-"

"Alright! Tell us how you did the thing!?" Dimitri shattered the moment immediately when she kicked the doors in. Cayde, Taka, Morbin, Eva, Pip, Jay, and Jack all shambled into the room, Ceres franticly adjusting her posture with a blush, silently cursing the timing of their arrival

"Context please?" Zane begged, and Morbin stepped forward

"How did you, the biggest idiot and an unsociable mess, escape the Hellmouth built of pain and misery by Detroit?" Morbin inquired, walking up to Zane to hold his fist out, of course, he yelped and expected him to punch, but Morbin didn't, he still glared back though with cold, orange eyes. "Before you answer, it... ugh... is good to have you back..."

Zane squealed in delight at the offered fist-bump, Ceres having talked him into doing so while watching with glee herself. Morbin groaned. "I'm already regretting this."

His fist tapped with Zane's. "You're the best, buddy!"

"Go die in a pit made of the screams of orphans, Worst One." He stepped away, putting his back to the wall while crossing his arms

Both Zane, Rika, Dimitri, and Ray shared a look. "Tsundere."

Jay immediately chimed in. "HOW about we save the deathmatch till 'AFTER' we get an explanation, please..." Ceres had noticed it, Jay had gone from a nervous Hunter to something akin to Dimitri's standard of confidence. She wondered if the two have been working together or if it was thanks to his Fireteam?

"Guardian's right, Rookie," Cayde pulled up a seat, the rest standing or sitting on the floor. "Zavala and Ikora are really making me and C work for this little outing to get you guys out of that Hive breeding ground, but now they're as confused as the rest," His eyes settled on his Rookie evenly. "How'd you do it? What kind of story have you both built up down there?"

All eyes locked to Rika and Zane, the latter looking to his ghost for assistance. "Well, to start, Rika here recorded it all so that makes storytelling a breeze these days, also the reason I'm banned from the Crucible, besides the point! Point is, sit back and relax as we delve into what I can safely say was, ahem," He waved his hand to Rika with a smile. "A [BEEP], thank you, Rika."

"I hate you and Artemis for this," Said ghost giggled behind her Guardian while Rika took center stage. "Alright, warning this show contains scenes of violence, blood, and scary voodoo stuff, viewer discretion advised." Without any more delays or puns, her shell fractured to reconstruct the scene from only a day ago...

[The Stills | Hellmouth | Moon]

One Day Ago...

"-Not this way! Not this... - Hah, we're back!" Zane's voice echoed into the abyss before the scar in the wall, gone was the Ascendant Realm and instead, the blanket of darkness loomed over himself and Reiner. Both fell onto the grate-floor, facing the maw stretching with a tongue to The Stills. "Hey, buddy, we made it!"

"I can see that, moron, and quit saying that, we're not friends!" Reiner glowered over Zane, his sidearm loaded a final time judging by his lack of extra magazines and clips. "Dammit, I've run out."

"Eh, I have plenty, though my Light is utterly spent! I'm surprised we're alive!" Zane was overly optimistic, having hunched over a wall to catch his breath. Reiner peered over, judging him furrowing against the backdrop of the Ascendant rift

"What the hell are you planning? You spend all this time using your Light, telling me not to, what's your aim?" His voice was low and full of confusion over the idiot of a companion he was forced to stick by for three days, and only on the second day did they lose Revenant, both suffering injuries that would otherwise be fatal if not for the Light

Zane didn't answer right away, scratching his nape while facing the Hellmouth above, though only a veil of darkness met his eyes. "I'm not... the smartest Hunter, I'm not like Ceres as to where I can provide a solution to about any problem, and I'm by far nothing like Summer..." His fist clenched. "I don't need people to tell me that, I'm not ignorant, but this time, just this once I'm going to think like them," He turned his head with a click of his fingers. "I have a plan, and it kind of rests solely on you or we'll suffer a fate worse than death."

Reiner blinked, but said nothing, watching as the Hunter lifted a finger to the shadows above. "You're gonna blast us out of this pit like a rocket!" And any light that shined down upon Zane flickered

"Huh!?" Reiner couldn't even describe how stupid that sounded, while the idea was clearly designed by that of a four-year-old, there was no other way to win, to beat back the Hive with how low his reserves were

"Look-Look-Look; You'll channel all your Arc Light down into your feet, building up a gargantuan amount of energy and magnetic charge, that magnetic polarity needs to be tuned to the Moon's, you're essentially going to be a positive to a positive, propelling us up!" Zane concocted the plan over the third day, and Reiner was a Striker too and the only one capable of pulling it off. "Once you release the tension between you and the Moon's gravitational push send all that Arc forward, that will create a torrent of lightning across your body, use that to aid in your aerodynamics once airborne so we don't, you know, crash into a wall or something."

"This could work!" Reiner's ghost, Base, sprung to life. "When a Guardian uses Arc Light the more they consense it into a singular point they can manually adjust its very polarity like a magnet. You'll be like a rocket!" Reiner scoffed and shoved Base aside. "You know its true, man, don't deny it!"

"Go to hell!" He took a step forward, towering over Zane. "I'll do this because there's not much else we can do, as much as I hate working with you..."

He was given a thumbs up with a glow. "Knew you're a softy!" That earned him a punch to the gut. His voice strained. "Ack! Why... I have the hardest job!"

While Reiner strolled across the bridge, he turned his head back alongside Base. "What?" He got his answer after Zane wheezed, grabbing Quickfang slowly. The Hunter stepped aside, jabbing the point against the wall's blinding light, between sharp shadows of the doorways teeth, one was taller, shifting between them while its own shadow eclipsed them both. Reiner growled, but refused to fight and crossed the bridge to prepare. "Let's go, Base."

"On it!"

Zane stepped back onto the bridge, his eyes adjusting to the blinding light while the shadow ceased it's flickering, forming into a large Hive Knight, however, dark, distorted energy rippled over the chitin, the eyes a sickly crimson. Compared to last time, Zane was weak, injured, and out of Light, and Revenant merely towered over him like a boot to an ant.

"...You... have alot of employments, don't you?" Zane coughed, holding his sword low. "Rika, save your Light."

"What?" Zane shook his head

"No time, read my thoughts." A second later and Rika let out a winded chuckle

"You're an idiot..." "I'm an optimist!"

Without so much as a warning, Revenant slammed the cleaver down on Zane's head, his own sword almost unable to parry the blow as it grazed his shoulder, the two separate for a moment, horror-struck Zane, the pain in his stomach flared at the stroke of the blade cleaving through his armor, leaving behind a large gash across his abdomen, despite a Darkness Zone's absence his vitality had shattered into the red, eye twitching at the discomfort.

Clutching his stomach, Zane faced Revenant, his cleaver poised in a way a Knight never would; Held down low, the edge vibrating angrily against the bridge as Zane's hummed with the void. "Guess I should get this out of the way, since I don't plan on dying down here but I could use a breather," He did exactly that, smiling under his chipped helmet. "The reason I'm here, why I stayed, was so I could make it up to Harrow, you know him, the one you killed back in the Vault of Glass?"

Revenant neither spoke nor made any sign of being attentive to Zane's words. "Because of you, Ceres won't ever stop thinking about the person she failed to save, do you have any idea how infuriating it is that I can't take that pain away? No matter how long I stand by her and Morbin, because of you," Zane's sword crackled with remnants of his Light, surging in the dark. "I'm actually pissed off, and I hate that."

Their blades clashed again, this time with thrusts that left Zane on the defensive, each solid strike was slow but with how powerful Revenant was he barely managed to parry the blows as they grazed his arms and legs. One slam shook the bridge, but gave Zane an opening to slash the helmet, followed by a downward laceration to Revenant's back, his cleaver swung high, narrowly missing Zane's neck while Quickfang dug across Revenant's lower back, rolling away with his blade against his back, blocking another blow that threatened to break his arm from the pressure alone.

Twisting around sharply, Zane's sword was knocked from his hand, another reached out and clamped down on his helmet, closing tightly as Zane grunted, feeling his very Light pull from his body while the eyes of Revenant glowered with hunger, the wisps of white Light slowly pulled from his skin. "He's... stronger... I... just need one hit!" Despite his growing desperation, and the fact Reiner would be defenseless if he failed, and even the weight of his promise to Ceres, he smiled. "Thanks... sis, for the gift."

*Blam-Blam-Blam-Blam*

Four large, explosive rounds dug through flesh and bone, finally forcing a grunt from the shapeshifting creature. It lost its handle on Zane, the few wisps stolen pulled themselves back to their owner. Zane stood tall, leveling the red glare with his helmet, the silver chamber rotating once more to the hammer's click. The Handcanoon was smaller than Hard Luck, built with a Vex lens and laser, packing explosive rounds too. Imago Loop fired once more with a satisfying 'bang', shoving Revenant backward.

He unloaded the last of the moon-clip into Revenant's charging body, the cleaver crashing into air, rippling a line of white energy across the length of the black walkway, Zane having cracked his knee into Revenant's face, spinning around to avoid an overhead swing slicing down in a zigzag motion that left Revenant growling, his body consumed by the black and white mist, the sparks of red clouding his form while Zane quickly reloaded, holding Imago high with Quickfang chipped to his side.

*Boosh*

A second later and Zane would have fallen off the bridge, the Wire Rifle's bolt struck the darkness, from the veil of darkness came Revenant in a smaller form, this time as a Vandal, a lining the rifle again he fired, the extra appendages grabbing two shock grenades that were hurled Zane's way, forcing him back toward the Ascendant gateway. "He's weaker?"

"Zane, look!" Rika announced and past Revenant, a large bolt of lightning tore into the darkness, Reiner having gathered all the Light we could as a maelstrom took form with him at the epicenter. Unlike a Striker the lightning corraled around his legs, turning him bright blue with bolts snaking up his nerves that lit up over the armor, a pair of icy-blue eyes pierced the helmet. "Is he... you planned this? But you're an idiot?"

He laughed weakly, Revenant having switched to four blades while sprinted toward Zane mercilessly. "He had two elements of his Light awakened from the day he was brought back, that's why he's so prideful because he can back up that smugness. All I did was, regrettably, pour some fuel on that fire, and now he's the first in recorded history," Zane grinned despite the closing razor blades. "A Striker's true potential. The Thundercrash!"

"...Seriously...?" Rika deflated for a moment, then pouted. "...Dammit, that's actually a good name..."

It was time to leave. Revenant pounced, all four swords were drawn to the single swipe of Quickfang that deflected them all, locking them in place while Imago Loop broke two of the blade with a single bullet, two more disorientating Revenant while his arms flailed in Zane's direction, only for him to press a foot to its forehead, bouncing off and back onto the glowing rune that kept the bridge active, distant cries of Thrall finally reaching his ears.

"Time's up, Rika!" Emerald eyes danced around them, Reiner having finally hit his limit clearly, but Zane had to stop Revenant or it would be for nothing. Rika appeared, her shell splitting to envelop Zane in large whitish-gold wisps, her frame circling his body as he felt his wounds numb and a familiar warmth gathered between his hand, wrapping tightly around Imago's frame

Revenant charged franticly, but a sudden flash of gold and orange between the Light blinded all onlookers, Zane held the Golden Gun down at his feet, letting off a final sunshot that tore into the sync plate, a wave of fire blowing through his cape and across the ground, the bullet having burned through the Hive's mechanism, the bridge starting to disassemble under Revenant who tried to cross in time.

"Reiner!" His head snapped up at Zane, his arms reaching out to him. "Come on!" Grinding his teeth he unleashed the pent-up eruption under his feet, the blue light melting downward just as Zane's arms wrapped around his waist, a microsecond past and the two blipped from sight, a flash of lightning snaking up and through the weight of The Stills, and away from Revenant's eyes

Reiner held his arms high, carefully directing their flight path past large walkways and other obstacles that lined the trench of Luna. It was unlike anything he had experienced with his Fists of Havoc, the level of Arc that conjoined to his nervous system, to how each heartbeat accelerated with the incline of power flowing through his body to a single point of contact. He had become the very flash of lightning before the thunder and rain.

"All aboard! Next stop, the surface! Hahaha!" Zane gleefully held on for dear life, but his joy was, for once, not personal

[Tower Medical Bay | Last City | Earth]

Present Day...

"Thus we live, and brought to life the true potential of a Striker!" Zane's arms were wide with glee, Reiner, now free of his restraints, shared a glare that hadn't wavered this rewatching the fight for their lives play out once more. "I'd say it was a success - That and, you saved my ass, sis, thanks!"

Dimitri snorted a laugh. "You're better with Handcannons than me, consider it a replacement for Hard Luck." She received a large hug after that, causing her face to burn while elbowing her brother. "I-I get it, you're happy! Stooooop~!"

"I love you~" "Die you ass!"

"These two..." Cayde pinched his nose and broke the two apart, grabbing Zane in an arm lock. "And here I was worried for nothing! My Rookie puts every Warlock and Titan to shame, suck it, Zavala..." His response earned a stick-eye from half of the people currently in earshot. He smiled anxiously. "Hey, you guys are fine, don't sweat the details."

"I think they are..." Zane whispered, both him and Cayde nodding as Taka cleared her throat to cut the tension

"That aside, I'd definitely give this new ability a try later," Her gaze met Reiner's. "Of course, having a good guide may help in that cause."

"Huh!?" His own, constant stink-eye locked to her eyes, himself confused by what she was talking about. "There's no trying, you do this to kill everyone with your power!" He drew a thumb across his neck to emphasize his point

"Your sociopathic teammate aside-" Jack trailed on

"What'd you say, Stripes!?" Reiner barked madly

"-Remind me never to tick your brother off, ever." Jack grinned sheepishly, though Zane laughed and waved her off

"It's fine! You're friends with Ceres so that makes you a friend in my book!" Zane immediately gasped after receiving a smile from Jack. "I just realized something important!" Now the room grew tense, and Zane's dramatic pause didn't speed things along. He pressed his hands to his cheeks, paling as though a shadow loomed over him. "I never insured Summer's Wolf Pelt Weave! Banshee's gonna kill me! Noooooo...!"

The air lightened with a collective, 'That's all?', Zane having fallen back onto the bed, weeping behind his arm while Rika shivered. "No more taxes, no more taxes, no more taxes..." If that didn't scare them into believing the wrath of Banshee, the same Exo that forgot everything half the time then nothing else would

Cayde was the first to stand up, patting his knees. "Well, lovely as the death of my Rookie would be to watch comfortably from around a hundred meters, I still got... more... paperwork... *sigh*," He raised a hand. "Oh hey, can I join you in-"

"Nope! Let's go, Cayde," Artemis nudged his horn toward the door, ignoring his complaints as the two bickered out the door

"First you escape the Vault of Glass, then rescue a whole Fireteam from it, fight a large Vex, and now taking on Crota and this 'Revenant' guy? Alright, calm down you're gonna make me look rusty," Eva warily reminded Zane, though she gave him a pat on the shoulder, exciting a silent squeal from the Hunter. "Good job out there, though cool your jets on being a sacrificial lamb."

He saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" With that, Eva gave her goodbyes alongside Morbin who only shared a silent nod with Zane, but they both could see it, a level of respect that the two had built, even before the events of Crota's defeat. Soon, it had all whittled down to just Ceres and Zane, Reiner having been dragged out by Dimitri with Taka trying to tell her not to, but with no real injuries the two were free to leave

Sitting back, Zane sighed with a smile, wobbling slightly. "What a day... definitely gonna see a Vandal running at me in my bloody nightmares for a week or so!" He chuckled, noting he was the only one to do so, his joke having only brought out a small smile on Ceres' face, she looked lost in thought, even while Rika replayed the recording. "Um, Titan Lady?" He shook her gently. "Ceres?"

"Huh, uh, w-what's up?" Her elegant response was hard to cover with a poker face, but Zane didn't push it. "Sorry, with everything that's happened I just had so much on my mind."

Zane blinked, facing ahead. "I don't regret what I did," He paused, thinking of the right words to the rhythm of his heartbeat. "I hated it, not being able to do the right thing, to say the right words, that's why, when I stood my ground, despite the risk I felt content... because it meant you wouldn't die," His eyes locked with emerald. "If I could do it again, I would."

Ceres stared back, partially wanting to beat him to a pulp, and the other, bounced at his words, he had risked his life not just for his sister and friends, but her, for the clumsy leader he followed without regret. Again, that toothy smile of his had her in knots. "You're my best friend so I'd do anything to make you smile!" But sure enough, his hand sat against hers. "I'm sorry I made you worry, Ceres."

Finally, Ceres let out a small giggle, something Zane missed hearing. "It's okay, I'm just glad you're back, that you're home safe." It was earnest, just like the words that came to her next. "Zane..." Her hand squeezed his. "You can rest now."

His eyes fluttered a little. "Heh... thanks..." His body soon collapsed into Ceres, moving his head to rest against her shoulder as her hand mindlessly played with his locks, but his body trembled slightly, but he wasn't the only one

[Ceres's POV]

It was silent, leaving me to listen to the ambient sounds surrounding myself and Zane, his body had stopped shivering, the heat radiating from my Light having worked the moment he connected to me. And I felt my arm squeezed around the slumbering Hunter gently, as though he would vanish from my arms again.

I could hear him breathe softly against my neck, my hand absentmindedly playing with his hair still while I relaxed, tucking myself closer to his body as to not lose the effect my Light had against his, and other out of wanting to be closer, a faint, tingling sensation of Arc Light nipped my body, it was a good sign he was recovering well.

"You dummy…" My voice trembled, as I failed to hold back a tear from falling. Alone, I lay my head against his, holding onto Zane tightly as though he may escape my grasp again, I couldn't let go, I didn't want him to disappear. The moment he would I'd probably break

My walls had crumbled, sinking my head into his hair as I tried to hold back my tears, trembling myself as I nearly whimpered. It scared me, each second I spent waiting for him, wondering time-and-time again if he'd come back haunted me so much so that I could barely sleep.

"I'm sorry, Zane… I-I guess I can't really t-take anymore…" I whimpered into his ear, my mouth shaking

"…hmm…" My eyes jumped, hearing him breathe a little more, while I nearly yelped at his shifting. He finally moved a little, his head nestled against my neck more, while his breathing struck my collarbone gently, his left arm having draped across my waist, while mine only held on tightly, smiling through the tears blurring my vision. "…ceres…?"

That I didn't expect, was he dreaming? But why did he say my name? I was a little flustered by that, but... I what embarrassed me more was what I wanted to do next, I had tried asking Ghost and Taka but they... weren't exactly helpful in that regard. I was a bundle of nerves again, but this was the only way I could see to repay Zane, even if he never knew.

With rosy cheeks, I leaned in. Tentatively, I pressed my lips to his cheek, feeling a buzz run through my body as I snuggled in closer, holding my lips for several seconds. Removing them I closed my eyes with a warm smile, protectively holding onto him the same way he did for me. "I'm right here… I promise… I won't ever let you go."

To Be Continued...

I lost the original ending but thankfully I had the old file so this was as close to the original script I had planned. Still, a lovely way to end it off, I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter Guardians!

Next Chapter: The Dawning

The 25th is drawing near and Ceres takes it upon herself to give back to those that have been there for her since her reincarnation as a Guardian.