Chapter 24: Happy Ending

Disclaimer: I do not own Alien/Predator series or any characters and may not follow all customs and cultures found in Alien/Predator movies.

I sat with my legs crossed on the edge of the cliff, looking down at the city once in a while. He had seen the great changes that have been done over the past seasons. The wreckage from the war had almost disappeared with a few minor debris left from some of the demolished buildings. Other than that, the city had returned to its former glory . . . and maybe a bit more. New buildings were established since new clans were born. The coalition that stood to create the army brought good tides to few and many pups were born. I had my own happiness as well. My eyes were closed, letting myself go back to that hidden world where I could hear Mia.

You did well, Daugo. I'm proud of you.

I smiled inwardly. I know, Mia. And you did as well. This is what we've been waiting for many seasons.

I imagined her smile and that giggle she would make when she was right. They were such rare moments but etched into my soul. I watched as her blue eyes sparkled with love and warmth. I felt happy as well.

"Daugo!"

My moment of peace was shattered. Normally, I would have thought of it as being disrespectful and would show aggression, driven by annoyance. But I recognized the voice right away. I opened my eyes to find the source but was met with a small body tackling my face. It was enough of a shock to throw me into my back.

"Grandfather!"

Another body soon joined in, jumping on my shoulders. I was fully prepared for a sneak attack and I knew who it was. X'aiya and Du'man-de giggled and growled, trying to pull me down by my neck. In their Yautja forms, they were a bit stronger but they still were not strong enough. I played along and fell on my back.

"Okay. You got me."

"Hunt! Hunt! Get the trophy!"

"No! I'll have his skull first!"

Du'man-de tried to pull a dreadlock to force me back. I hissed and grabbed both of them by their leather collars. They protested, trying to breach my hold and escape but to no avail. They chattered their mandibles and growled playfully

"That's not fair. Let us go!"

"Come on!"

I snorted. "You need to work on your stealth skills and not on revealing yourself too early."

Du'man-de huffed. "We had you!"

"Not enough, it seems."

"X'aiya. Du'man-de. Enough."

Anya appears from the bushes with Lar'ja right beside her. Kur'tar, as usual, stayed close to Anya. I swear that my son never is more than an arm's length away. But then again, he was proving to be a great father. Much more than I . . . I didn't dwell anymore on that stinging subject and lifted the two pups until they were sitting on my shoulders.

"Father. You should be more careful. You're not as young as you were back then."

"Come on, Anya. Give me more credit than that. If these scars don't prove that I survived the war, then what else should I show to give my worth?" I pointed at my missing mandibles for emphasis.

She shook her head. "I can't believe you would use that excuse to make a point."

"Yautja males, regardless of age or relationship, will do that. You should know better."

My son pressed his mouth on the crook of her neck and Anya responded with a moan and a giggle. X'aiya and Duman-de tilted their heads for a moment and then averted their eyes. Hehehe . . . Still too young to understand.

"So . . . how did it go?"

That's when the whole conversation went sour and uneasy. Anya froze, pulling away from Lar'ja. She lowered her gaze and the sorrow around her was easy to detect. My son's moods reflected the same. I opened my mouth but shut it quickly. They should tell me. But this isn't good.

"Rory . . . passed away right as we made it. There was nothing we could do for him."

I didn't like how this affected her. Regardless if she is half Yautja, she couldn't deny the other half of her nature. And it showed greatly despite her futile attempts to control it. With the pups around, I couldn't do much but at least I could give her one thing. I moved closer and leaned my side into hers. Lar'ja, sensing what's going on, leaned on her other side. Duman-de and X'aiya wrapped their arms around her head while Kur'tar held our legs as much as his arms could stretch. We surrounded her in a cocoon of warmth and muscle. She relaxed right away and purred.

"Okay. I get it. I'm fine now, guys." She shook her body to break up the hug, taking X'aiya in her arms. "What's done is done. He's at peace and we need to move on. I got a c'jit load of work to be done."

"Not to mention these small pups driving us insane," Lar'ja growled as Du'man-de pulled his dreadlock, laughing.

I chuckled. "Of course. But you need to rest with the travel. And you have another pup to take care of." My eyes lowered to her stomach.

"Yeah, yeah. I swear this is how I know both you and Lar'ja are related. Overprotecting of me."

"And for good reason."

Another voice pulled our attention. Walking behind, Sa'iye came. The golden spotted female emerged, holding Za'hir by the hand. Metal oculars replaced the area where his eyes would be. Due to the excessive nerve damage to his sight, they were beyond repair . . . much to Sa'iye's disappointment. So Arkarb constructed a mechanical loophole around that problem. It was innovation so there were still areas of improvement and with Za'hir still practicing, he still needed guidance.

Anya's face lit up. "Sa'iye. Long time, no see." She bowed her head and turned to Za'hir. "How are you, my friend?"

"Working on using this. Still can't see that well . . . except for dark shapes and blurs."

"I'm sure you'll get the hang of it. Where's H'imi-de?"

"Here."

The male pup moves around and stands tall with his chest up to greet Anya. He was a mix between his father and mother, bearing the golden speckles outlining the dark green spots from his father. As a custom, he bows his head with his arm crossed. Much more mature for his age to behave. "It's an honor to see you back and well."

Anya chuckled. "Same here, H'imi-de." Her head turns towards Kur'tar, nudging her head forward. "Go on."

Out of character, Kur'tar runs without hesitation and rough houses with H'imi-de. Both male pups clicked and growled playfully, spurring the other pups to join in. Kur'tar is a quiet one but seemed to be comfortable when H'imi-de was around. Each of them jumped around the other, avoiding the attacks from X'aiya and Duman-de.

"The pups are so glad to be back here. How's everything with the Council? I heard that the reconstruction of the buildings is going well for the new clans?"

Za'hir nodded. "An'tar and I accommodated as much as we could. It's unusual to have many clans come together in peace. But then again, things have changed since the war."

"Of course."

I huffed. "Let's go to the society building and celebrate a great warrior passing on into the next life. I'm sure Rory would appreciate it."

Anya smiled. "Of course. Come on, children."

The pups cheered and ran ahead of our small group. I swear . . . Regardless of species, any pup gets excited about food.

"After you."

I held my hand out and Anya passed by but not before stopping for a brief second. She smiled and grazed her hand against my shoulder.

Thank you.

Her words echoed in my head as she passed. Lar'ja smiled as well, nodding his head in respect before following along. I waited until Sa'iye and Za'hir took their leave and even then, I watched them. It was a brief moment that I was at peace, seeing my family grow and be happy. With Anya surrounded by her own and finally made peace with my son, I felt like I could fly away. Yautja Prime had also changed for the better with new clans growing with the peace treaties going on. Things couldn't get any better.

I looked up to the sky, watching the stars emerge from the sunset. I smiled as I could see Mia looking down in joy.

We did it, Mia. We did it . . .

"Grandfather!"

X'aiya ran from out of nowhere and grabbed my hand before I could react. Although she was small and barely could pull me, her persistence was something to behold. "Come on! Everyone's waiting."

"Alright. I'm coming." I lifted her until she sat on my forearm. "Let's not make them wait."

"Yes!"

With that, I walked to catch up with the others as X'aiya roared in excitement. I never thought I would be in this position any time in my life. In the beginning, I thought I had lost everything. My eldest son and lifemate . . . then Mia . . . and the support of Lar'ja. I was at my lowest.

But in the end . . . I gained so much more.

I held on to X'aiya as we went towards a bright future. One that I promise to watch over . . . until the end.

Change . . . is everything.

[The End]

Hi Readers!

The end of Nexus has come and it's such a fitting end for a great story. Daugo had been through so much . . . just like Anya and the others. But he never gave up and kept going. In life, sometimes . . . change is everything. You may think life is over after such a loss but you never give up hope. You never know what you could gain in the end.

Daugo's story has come to an end but there's more to come soon. I hope you can all wait for it.

Thank you for all the reviews and Good Hunting! :)))

So the announcements I intend to make is here:

1st - I have decided to remove The Ripple of a Stone (Part 2). It has been difficult since I love this story but I feel it best to move on. It's been hard to make a great story from someone's work that is not my own. But that doesn't mean I intend to give up on it. I'll be focusing on other stories until I get comfortable enough to return to it. My apologies for this.

2nd - I'll be taking a break to finish a project for a friend. I'm not sure how long yet but I intend to work on the next stories. I plan to make the whole stories first and then edit as I post them. That way it's not too much stress to keep up with my goals. Updates and sneak peek will be posted on my Instagram so that you won't be left in the dark.

3rd - The next stories will be Rise Up and Respect for now. I'll be working on these during my break.

And thank you for all your support and hope you can all wait for great stories to come.

Good Hunting! :))))))))

Reading notes:

Normal = Human speaking English (ooman language)

Bold = Any Yautja speaking English (ooman language)

Bold and Italic = Any Yautja speaking Yautja language