The inside of the Wonder Confections candy factory was sweltering with the late summer heat, infested with dust particles thriving in the stray beams of sunlight streaming through the broken ceiling. Hiro craned his neck to gaze up at the inside of the brass dome, taking in the sight of it. It had been a while since he had last been here. But he knew there was someone who came here more often than he did.

Navigating the abandoned maze of vats and machinery, he quietly found his way to the docking bay, peering through the doorframe to see a girl with a black ponytail standing by the edge of the open dock, staring out into the endless stretch of barren earth.

Hiro chuckled. "Not much of a view, huh?"

Vanellope turned to see him. Her hazel eyes lit up when she did. "Hiro? Hiro! What are you doing here?" She crossed the room to him and threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

The boy winced at the strength of her embrace, some pain flaring in his ribs. "Sss—! Va-Vanellope!" he squeezed out, patting her shoulder. "I'm not in top shape yet—"

"Oh! Oh, sorry!" She quickly pulled herself away, holding up her hands. "Sorry, should've asked, huh?"

Hiro let out a strained laugh and pressed a hand to his core. "Yeah. Not actually supposed to be out anywhere yet. I snuck out."

"Yeah, I was wondering about that," she murmured, cocking her head to give him a sly look. "Didn't think you were allowed to be here. What was your ride?"

"Moped."

She eyed his leg. "With that limp?"

"It's fiiiine."

"Will Aunt Cass be upset?"

"Eh, she'll stress eat a bit maybe. Nothing major."

Vanellope waved Hiro over to the dock. "Well, let's sit. Still plenty of gummy bears to go around." As they seated themselves on the lip of the dock, she grabbed a nearby packet and flung it at him playfully.

Hiro caught it in his fist before ripping it open and popping a stale gummy into his mouth. "Thought I'd find you out here."

"Mm," was all Vanellope said.

"Trying to get away from all the hubbub?"

She hugged a knee to her chest and leaned her chin against it. "I guess." Her voice seemed to dip in tone, mellow.

"How come?"

She tossed her head, pursing her lips. "…Lots of bodies needing to be burned or buried. I just don't…want to be around all that."

"Oh. Yeah, I get that."

"I hear all the gang heads made it, though," Vanellope continued. "They're talking about migrating back into the city, right?"

"Yeah. There's no way we can fix up all of San Fransokyo on our own, so they're trying to contact the government about the situation. If they know that the Cybugs are gone, they can send over help from the mainland. Then, we'll be on our way to rebuilding our home." Hiro let out a sigh and looked out across the bland scenery. "It's hard to believe it's all over."

"Yeah," Vanellope chuckled. "Past months went by fast."

"Was it even a year? Man, I don't even know anymore. I'm almost scared to look at a calendar."

"It'll be a crazy thing to tell future generations, don't ya think? That we lived through the great Cybugs infestation of San Fransokyo?"

"Absolutely. I'm sure it'll be a good story for Dashi and Honey Lemon to explain to their kids. Imagine: so kids, mom and I met during the great Cybug infestation ten years ago."

Vanellope snorted. "Are they dating yet?"

"Actually, Tadashi asked Honey recently. Pretty sure it'll be endgame." Hiro rolled his eyes. "They get all gooey and stuff when they're around each other. Can't imagine it not being endgame."

"How about the others?" asked Vanellope. "How is Jordan's leg? He doing okay?"

Hiro crumpled up the empty foil packet and stuffed it into his jacket pocket. "He's getting used to it," he answered. "Tadashi is already drafting up a prosthetic for him. He hopes to get started on it as soon as he can. But in the meantime, Jordan sure is loving Baymax as a falling cushion." He snickered. "Likes having Baymax help him use his crutches just so he can fall against him."

"Sounds like Jordan. I'm glad he's taking it well."

Hiro nodded. "And all the others are doing fine. Fred, Cadence, Francis…GoGo keeps wondering where you disappeared off to, though she guesses its somewhere out in the ruins."

"You didn't tell her did you?"

"Nah. I know this is like your hideout. I'm not gonna go and spoil it for you."

Vanellope smiled over at him. "Thanks." She turned back to the horizon. "So…the government will be coming in soon, huh? Do you think they'll find Ishioka's lab?"

Hiro puffed and shrugged. "I don't know. We can always tell them where it is if we need to. I'm sure they'd bust in and clean the place up. Keep something like this from happening ever again."

"He's still out there, Hiro."

He blinked, giving her a sideways glance. "I know."

"Or maybe he's dead. Who knows what he's doing on that island of his." Vanellope's gaze softened in a look of quiet thought.

Hiro shook his head. "I don't know. Still…dang, he was a psycho."

"Uh, GaDOYYY," Vanellope said, giving him a look. "Of course he was a psycho! Man, good riddance to that guy." She reached up behind her head to pull the magenta hairband out of her ponytail, letting her hair fall across her shoulders and sway in the breeze. "He can rot and I wouldn't care."

"He already is, really," Hiro pointed out. "He was sick with something. Might have been tuberculosis. You're right, he could be dead already for all we know. If he is, that's such a bad way to go." He leaned back, propping himself up with his arms. "Makes you wonder if you should despise him or pity him."

Vanellope stood up. "I've decided that I'm not going to waste any more emotions or feelings on Ishioka," she said firmly. "I know Ralph wouldn't want me to." She looked down at Hiro through her hair. "So that's what I'm gonna do."

Hiro looked up at her before letting out a breath. "Sounds like a good plan."

"It's a great plan," she said, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "I'm going to move on from Ishioka. From Cybugs, gangs, gunfights, distrust and…all this death. I'm moving on from it all, Hiro." She squared her shoulders. "But I won't forget any of it. Not on your life."

Standing up, Hiro joined her with a resolute nod. "So will I."

She ducked her head, looking away. "Oh, yeah, and…by the way, glad you're doing okay and all that."

"Thanks."

"I'm sure you hear that a lot from everyone else."

"Yeah."

When nothing else was said, Vanellope drew in a breath. "What you did with the beacon. And the Cybugs…that was amazing. We all wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, you know?"

"Oh. Yeah." Hiro rubbed his neck, feeling awkward. "Gonna give me a backload of scars, though. I'm sure people will think it's cool."

"I'm really…" Vanellope started suddenly, turning to face him, but trailed off. "I'm…really glad that you're alive, Hiro."

Hiro met her eyes and gave her a small nod. "Thanks. So am I."

"We were all really super worried about you."

"Oh, I've heard."

Playing with the drawstrings of her hoodie, Vanellope finally let out a pent-up breath and held out her arms. "One more, okay? I'll be nice this time."

Hiro nodded and the two shared a hug.

Letting her cheek rest on his shoulder, Vanellope sniffed. "You…you're a really good friend, Hiro."

Trying not to blush, Hiro held her a little tighter. "Yeah. You, too."

With a sharp inhale, Vanellope pulled away, hoping she hadn't been too awkward. "So!" She changed the subject. "Now that all the Cybugs are out of the way, once San Fran gets restored, you gonna finally chase your dreams of being an inventor?"

"If you will with your dreams of being a champion race car driver."

Vanellope grinned. "You bet." She pointed a hand toward the plain. "You see all that out there? It's dry, barren, and practically a desert, but for the first time in a long time…it's free." She took in a breath as if relishing the smell of the air. "Free and bursting with possibilities. And we'll be able to make something of it together. We just gotta seize the opportunities. Right?"

Hiro followed her gaze toward the horizon, setting his face toward it with a smile. "Yeah."

She held out a fist. "Top shelf."

Hiro raised his arm and bumped her knuckles with his own. "Fist bump."

THE END Y'ALL! *blasts a party popper while crying*

Thank you to all the readers who made it to the very end, holding out during my spontaneous spells of inactivity and encouraging me through your positive reviews and reactions. You're support means a lot, and I've loved hearing from you guys~ uvu

It was extremely hard for me to keep pushing to the end of this fic, I'll be honest. About three years ago, I started writing an original novel, and that was taking up all my writing time and energy. On top of all that, school was a thing (and still is), so…this fic got pushed to the backburner of backburners. I just wasn't inspired to write this story, and I lost the connection to my characters. There were several times where I went back through the mess of my old chapters trying to remember what was even going on. I also tried to find as many of the plot point strings as I could to tie up by the end. I definitely didn't get them all, haha, but I hope the ending was satisfying enough. Probably not, since I was really just trying to finish this and get it out of the back of my brain. Nevertheless, I hope it sufficed.

I remember saying that I would try to finish the fic before the end of 2020. Welp, it's 2021 already, but you know what, better late than never. Even if I wasn't really invested in it anymore, just knowing that it's finished is such a joy and relief to me. There were so, so, so many times when I considered quitting this fic, but the main thing that kept me going was you guys and knowing that somebody out there enjoyed the story I started writing back in 2015. So, even though I was uninspired and unmotivated, I kept writing. Now, I've finally reached the end, and BOY has it been a ride. Not to be sappy, but again, thank you for the support you guys have given me.

- kiwii