This was the official last chapter before I decided to also write an Epilogue. So there will be one more update next week, but I wanted to use this chance to thank everybody who stuck around for so long and left a comment to motivate me to continue.

I really loved reading all your comments, and they kept me motivated even when sometimes I feared I'd never finish this story. This is the longest thing I ever wrote and I'm incredibly proud of it. Thanks a lot!

Father and Son

It was cold outside. It was the end of October and apparently this year autumn was skipped, and winter had started early – or maybe autumn was always cold like that and he just wasn't used to living without his quirk yet. In any case, it was cold. Freakishly so. It didn't help that they were in the middle of the ocean. They had just crossed the bridge to Tartarus. Now, Enji climbed out of the car leaning heavily against the vehicle. The fresh ocean breeze ruffled his hair, made him shiver in his thick turtleneck sweater and jacket. There was salt in the air.

"You alright?" Hairo scowled worriedly. He had both hands buried deep in his pockets. Only a few days ago he had stopped offering a hand every time Enji wanted to go somewhere. Progress, Enji thought, although he knew that Hairo would still walk only half a step behind him, just in case… to catch him if he fell. It gave Enji a sense of security, as he pushed away from the car to stand on his own two feet. "You sure you want to do this?"

The mutant turned to look at the infamous prison. The most secure prison in Japan where the worst villains were held in abhorrent conditions – not that Hairo knew much about the conditions. Even Enji wasn't informed about the full extent of it.

"I have to," Enji answered. His voice was deliberate and slow, though more so out of habit than need. Speech had been the easiest thing for him to relearn, which was a surprise since he hadn't been able to say a word after first waking up from his coma.

"I know you keep saying that," Hairo argued as he followed him to the gatehouse, "but as far as we know, he doesn't even want to talk to you."

"He'll have to." Enji pulled out his hero license to show to the guard. It was a somewhat useless gesture as the man had recognized him on sight. At least the license was still good for something, although he wasn't active as a hero anymore. It was only thanks to this little card, that he could force Touya to meet him. Touya didn't even know of his luck yet, but he wouldn't get around this meeting.

As Enji followed a guard to the main gate, and then down a flight of stairs, he dragged his right leg behind. It moved a little slower and more sluggishly than the other one, but it was able to carry his weight, which had been a slow learning curve. He was still struggling with movement, but mostly he had the gross motor skills down again. Walking wasn't very graceful but possible. Fine motor skills on the other hand… Even though his left side was in much better condition, writing was still a chore – although it was difficult to say if that was because of the ruined shoulder or the stroke – and he couldn't even tie his shoes or button his shirts. Good thing he didn't wear them very often.

He leaned heavily with one hand against the bannister when they took a second flight of stairs. Then they walked down a long corridor. He was already getting exhausted again, keeping one arm against the wall for balance. Hairo edged a bit closer to him without even mentioning it. Enji could hear him breathe right behind himself.

"This place is spooky," Hairo commented on the eerie silence and strict security. There were cameras everywhere and heavy doors locking the corridor after every few steps. Once they passed through, the doors would slide shut again with a decisive thud.

The guard turned half around to glance at the mutant. He had an eyebrow raised. Did he remember the villain Rhinocerus? Hairo ignored him, but Enji glowered at the guard.

"I never liked it here," Enji admitted. He hadn't been here often and only ever to interrogate one of the captured villains, never to visit one.

The guard turned back to the front. "The worst of the worst are imprisoned here. Only the most dangerous villains from all over Japan. If it's a little spooky, that's just as well. As long as the villains can't escape. What do you think would happen if there was an outbreak here?" He shook his head with a shudder. "No, spooky is good." He glanced at Enji. "The one you want to visit… No offense, I know he's your son. But he's right up there with the most heinous. I don't know what you'd want to talk to him about."

Enji grimaced. He wasn't entirely sure himself.

Then the guard stopped in front of a heavy plain white and iron-set door. "We're here." He swiped a key card through the locking mechanism, a green light beeped, and then he held the door open for Enji and Hairo to enter. The guard entered last, closing, and locking the door behind them.

Enji's eyes got used quickly to the bright fluorescent light. It reflected off the clear plane of glass in the center. And on the other side...

Touya sat slumped in a chair with high back- and armrests. As the door closed audibly, he raised himself, blinking at them with narrowed eyes. Then those eyes widened in surprise. He made to jump up, but chains kept him locked to the chair. Frustrated, he screamed without words. The voice was muffled through the glass.

Enji wearily eyed the guns in the corners of Touya's side of the room, trained directly on the young man's head.

"Calm down, Touya," he demanded.

Touya pulled against his restraints. At least he wasn't trying to use his quirk, or their meeting would be over already. "What are you doing here?" he hissed. By now, the guard had pressed a button on a panel at the side, and the voice was transmitted clearly through a set of speakers. "I told them I don't want to see you!" He glared venomously at Enji.

"It's not your choice, I'm afraid." Enji gave himself a push and then limped to the chair opposite Touya.

Touya's furious glare turned calculating as he watched Enji. Then a vicious sneer spread across his lips. "So, it's true," he guffawed. "It's true what they say. You had a stroke!" He leaned forward to get a better look at Enji although his vision should be unimpaired already.

Enji sat with some effort. His hand only trembled slightly as he pulled the chair out for himself.

"How is it," his son sneered, "to pay the price for your sins?"

Enji eyed the young man. Touya would turn 26 in January. The many burn scars made him look older though. He had gained new ones after the battle. The right side of his face was bright red. The skin was wrinkly and raw. It wasn't as bad as the old scars, where he had purposefully pulled the skin back and worsened the injuries with his piercings. After his capture nobody would've cared for his aesthetic choice to peel the skin away with these metal clips. Instead, the doctors had put some effort into healing the burns, and clearly failed.

"You tell me," Enji answered. "You must know by now."

Touya's eyes narrowed. He seemed angry at the statement but before he could insult Enji or scream or tell him why Enji was wrong, he caught himself. He leaned back in his chair. Then his eyes traveled to Hairo, who was sitting on the other side of the room with the guard but watching the conversation like a hawk.

"Who's the ugly rhino?"

Enji turned his head, eyes sliding to his friend apologetically. "He helps me," Enji answered in a neutral tone, looking back at Touya.

Touya's brows furrowed. "With what?"

A vague gesture. "Everything."

Touya understood at that. He laughed out loud. "You're a cripple, Father! How's life as a failure, huh?" Enji watched the way his laughter turned to manic cackling. "Ha! I couldn't have wished for more. I have to take it back. Thank you for coming, Father, seeing this made my day." He wiggled in his chair in amusement. "Is it true you lost your quirk too?"

It was surprising how well the flow of information worked even here, in the depths of hell that was Tartarus. "You'll have to thank your friend Shigaraki for that."

Touya's laughter escalated again. It echoed and reverberated off the walls. The noise and the bright fluorescent light gave Enji a headache.

"Priceless!" Touya exclaimed. He looked at Enji as if he expected him to share in the joke. "Don't you see it? After everything, it turns out, you're the most useless of us all. How does it feel to be a quirkless cripple? Do tell! Even I wouldn't know how it feels to be such a failure."

"Are you done yet?" Enji asked, annoyed.

Touya sneered. "Done? Hell no, this is just too funny! I'm thoroughly enjoying myself! Did Natsu have a laugh too? I bet he appreciates the irony just as much as me."

"I don't know," Enji shrugged. "I haven't seen him recently. You'll have to ask him when he comes to visit."

At first, Touya quieted at that. Then, finally, with a more subdued voice, "I don't want to see him." It was as if he only now remembered the fact that Natsuo had betrayed him. "I don't ever want to see him again. He betrayed me! He betrayed me more than anybody!"

Enji shook his head. "That boy loves you. You're the only one too blind to see it."

"He betrayed me!" Touya screamed. "He betrayed me! He chose you over me! Used me to get to the League."

Enji shook his head, but he didn't argue over it. "I'm not here to talk about Natsuo. As I said, you'll have to make it up with him yourself."

Touya banged his head against the glass. Chained as he was, he didn't have enough purchase to so much as rattle the barrier. Enji didn't even flinch. "I don't want to see him ever again! How often do I have to say it?"

Enji laughed drily. "You think you have an option? What? Do you want to hide away in here?" He leaned forward a little. "The only reason you could avoid talking to him so far, was because he's patient. But his patience will run out. And then he'll find a hero to give him an audience with you just like this one."

Touya scowled at him. Maybe he didn't mind seeing Natsuo again this much, or maybe he was bluffing, but he didn't look that concerned.

"And not just him," Enji added. "Fuyumi too, Shoto…"

"What makes you think I care about any of them?"

"…your mother."

This got the first reaction out of him. Touya's brows twitched angrily. "Leave her out of this!"

As Enji's laughter bubbled from his chest, Touya ripped against the chains in fury. "Don't you dare!" he yelled out. "Is that what you want? You want to use her against me? Risk another breakdown?" He was still struggling against his chains. "Haven't you hurt her enough?"

Enji's laughter died then. He shook his head. "Touya, what do you think of me? Of course, I won't send her if that's what you fear." There was relief on Touya's face. "She'll come all on her own." Touya's mouth opened in silent protest at the sudden turn. "What did you think, Touya? That you could hide from her forever? I know you made Natsuo promise not to tell her. Why? So, she doesn't see your scars? Or so she doesn't see what you became?"

"Leave her out of it!" he repeated silently seething.

"She's your mother, Touya. I couldn't keep her out of it if I wanted to. And if you think, she might suffer—seeing you the way you are—don't you dare put that blame on me." He shook his head. "That's all on you."

Touya seemed stunned at that. He shook his head. "You… You made me who I am. Look at me! Look at me! You created me, Endeavor! What am I but the consequence of your actions! I'm your failure!" He rattled against his chains, screaming. "My sins are your sins, Endeavor! Don't you dare deny it."

Enji waited, until Touya shut up, seething, and panting in his chair. "I deny it," he said easily, "all of it."

The young man ground his teeth together. His many burns made him look feral. "What?" he hissed.

"You wanted me to look at you… But now, I want you to look at me." He waited for a second. "The way I am now. I lost my quirk, Touya. I can't work anymore. I can't tie my shoes, and barely walk, half of the country still hates me," he admitted it all freely. As he spoke, Touya's anger gradually dissolved into glee. "If your goal was to destroy Endeavor, you succeeded. If your goal was to destroy me, you succeeded. So now what? Will you spend the rest of your life hiding in here like a coward? Running away from the consequences of your own actions?"

The glee vanished from Touya's face. Anger and a hint of confusion took over again. "You think I'm hiding? What would I be hiding from? As you said, I've achieved my goal! Once I'm free again, I'll scream it from the rooftops! Will you be happy then? When I'm not hiding away?"

"You'll never be free again, Touya."

Touya snorted. "Shigaraki will free me," he guaranteed. "He'll come to take his brother back. Unlike Natsuo, he is loyal, and we want the same things!"

Enji cocked his head to the side. "What about your own guilt?"

Touya's eyes widened, as if Enji had hit a nerve. "My guilt?" he repeated, eyes narrowing. "You talk about my guilt?"

Enji closed his eyes for a moment. It was more difficult than he had thought. Seeing his son like that. He didn't know which part he hated more, the chains or the sneer on his face. "You murdered people, Touya."

Touya laughed haughtily. "Oh, yes, I did!"

Enji nodded. There wasn't even denial there. "Your guilt. Your responsibility."

"Your flames," Touya added, glowering at him. "My fire is your fire. How does it feel to know that?"

"But that's where you're wrong, Touya. I didn't kill anybody. There might be a lot on my conscience, but murder is not. That's all on you." He shook his head. "You're 25 years old, Touya. Why don't you accept the responsibility for your own actions?" He looked around the room. "You're already suffering the consequences, anyway."

Touya's eyes narrowed. "What do you know about it?"

"LOOK AT ME!" Enji bellowed, suddenly angry. He banged with his fist against the small table separating him from the glass. "Look at me, Touya!" Touya actually jerked upright in surprise, staring at him. "You're sitting on your moral high horse, blaming everybody for your actions, but yourself. Between you and me, there's only one person who has accepted their guilt!"

Clenching his teeth, Touya glared at him. "You think that will erase it? What, you think because you're sorry, everything is forgiven? I'm still here, Endeavor, and I will never forgive you!"

"Oh, I know," Enji grunted. "But it's you who doesn't understand. Your mother divorced me. Natsuo has cut ties with me. It was never about being forgiven. What I did, I can't undo. Neither can you bring your victims back to life. What? Have you been following along, watching what I've been doing these last few months, and just assumed I did it, because I wanted your forgiveness? Because if that's the case, you haven't been paying attention. I couldn't care less if you forgave me. Hate me all you like."

He looked right into his son's eyes. Burned beyond recognition as he was, with his hair still dyed, it was the one part of him that still looked like Touya… that still looked like Enji himself. The turquoise burned with fury.

Enji continued, "I know that I deserve your hatred. And I deserve Natsuo's scorn. And Rei's fear… And I might be what you called a useless quirkless cripple, but believe it or not, there are days, when I'm fully content with that. There are days, in which I think I'm still a good person, that I can die a good person. That my conscience is balanced. Can you say the same Touya?"

Touya didn't answer. His eyes were still narrowed, he was still angry, and his chest was heaving with his pants, but he didn't say anything.

"Because if you can, I'll leave right now. Then there's nothing left. Of course, your mother will still try and look for something, try to find that boy she lost so many years ago. Of course, your brother will still come eventually, searching for his best friend. Your sister will come too, for the brother she missed… They'll all come, eventually. And none of them will find what they're looking for. And when they leave heartbroken, you won't care…" Enji waited for a reaction. "So, tell me Touya, do you think that's how it's going to happen?"

He was still quiet. The young man's fury made Enji nervous. He felt unsure of himself, but he had come so far, he couldn't pull back now. If he only embarrassed himself, he'd survive that last humiliation too.

"Because I don't think so," he added, when the silence dragged on for too long. "I think you will care. Because you know, in your heart, that you did wrong. That it's your fault. Your responsibility. And that you'll have to live with that."

Finally, Touya snorted. It didn't sound quite as amused and manic as the laughter before. Instead, it sounded forced. It sounded almost painful. "That's why you came? To tell me to change?" He paused, giving Enji a chance to reply, but Enji didn't. "To do what you did? What you think you did?" He shook his head as if it was all hilariously funny to him. "You still think it matters what you do now? When your sins are already out there and the consequences sitting right in front of you." As if to demonstrate said consequences, Touya sneered at him. Scarred cheeks spreading into a vile grin.

"Newsflash! Your sins can't be undone. You're too late! You created a monster. And the monster can't be undone."

Enji acknowledged the words. In a way, he had said what he wanted to say. "Since I know how much you hate me, I don't plan to visit again… Not unless you want me to, anyway." He nodded softly even as Touya scoffed at the mere suggestion that he might want to see his father ever again.

"Your trial will be in February. I know you don't have a lawyer yet, so I suggest you get one." He knew he couldn't suggest a lawyer. Touya would never listen to him. Nor would he offer to pay for one. He knew Rei would do all that, and indirectly, if she couldn't afford it, he'd pay her so she could pay the lawyer. But first Touya needed to get one.

Touya looked confused at the change in topic. His brows furrowed for a moment, then he understood what Enji was saying. "I don't want a fucking lawyer," he said. "In this corrupt system. What's the point? Shigaraki will get me out within the year! Just you wait!"

"Good," Enji said easily. "Whatever you say." He gave a half-hearted shrug. "I'm not a hero anymore, Touya. Honestly, I couldn't care less if you become a villain again. If you want to kill me, you know where I live. You won't be able to make it a big public event the way you wanted to… But I'm always up for a quiet murder. It's not like I'm terribly attached to my life. If that's what you want… You're 26, and if that's the only aspiration you still have in life, so be it. Though it would be a shame." He paused to breathe, but he didn't give Touya enough time to formulate a response.

"Or you can do something else. Maybe, all this killing isn't doing it for you anymore… Touya, this is your life. And what you do with it, is ultimately your choice. The moment I captured you, it stopped being my concern." He spoke matter-of-factly. "But… As your father I've come to tell you what I've learned recently. Maybe my first and final wisdom I impart on you. Maybe, the only thing I can ever teach you, Touya…"

"Am I rid of you then?" Touya asked. "Once you shared your wisdom. Will you leave me alone so I can never see you again?"

"Yes, Touya. So, listen closely. This is what I've learned… In a way, this is what you've taught me:

"There is no too late. When you say it's too late what you mean is, it's too hard. It's a coward's way out. It's just an excuse. Changing is hard. Accepting your sins, and your responsibility and the guilt that comes with it is hard. Accepting the consequences is hard. Learning how to be a better person is fucking hard. And you don't do it for forgiveness, or for pity, or praise, or a lighter sentence, or sympathy or whatever. You do it for yourself.

"You do it, because at some point, you wake up, and you know you screwed up. You know you're guilty. You just know it. Without anybody having to tell you. You know it in your heart. And then sleeping becomes difficult, and living with yourself becomes impossible, and living at all is a constant drag. And then you have two choices: You can hide away. You can blame others and tell yourself it's too late. You can wallow in self-pity and hope that eventually somebody will share that pity and give you a second chance that you know you don't deserve. Or you can try to change. It's never too late for that."

"Thank you," Touya replied with a sneer when Enji's voice died down. "What a wise speech." Sarcasm dripping from his tongue. "Now get out!"

With a curt nod, Enji stood. He leaned heavily on the desk as he pushed himself up. "I know you hate me, Touya. But if you ever decide to… Now, or in a few years… Even if you manage to break out of here, even if you manage to kill me… It's never too late." He took a deep breath, voice shaky, then he started again. "Doing it alone is impossible. But you don't have to."

Whew. I always wanted to end the story with a conversation between those two in prison, but it turned out much harder to write. I struggled to find the right tone, because Endeavor of all people telling the son he neglected about what's right and what he should do, is automatically grating, but I liked the idea. Enji has gone through some very significant change, and I like to think that he can use the experiences he made to help Touya. This is always how I wanted it to end between these two.

I got a few comments asking about what's happening to Touya. Will he survive, will he go to prison, can he be redeemed. Ultimately, redeeming Touya is not something I think I could just do within the context of redeeming Enji. So, I always wanted to leave it somewhat open-ended with Touya. The thing is, Touya murdered people and is a terrorist. There's no way in which I could bend the laws of the universe so that he wouldn't go to prison without it seeming utopian, but I like to think that for a young man like Touya who HAS the support of his family, even if he doesn't want to accept it quite yet, prison is NOT the end of the world. In a way, I like to see Enji's redemption as a test run for Touya. What Touya did is ultimately worse, and unlike Enji, he doesn't yet have the right incentive to change, but those are just variable that don't take away from the general idea that IF Enji can change, why not Touya. But this isn't something I can just do in this story. Enji's story ends and HAS TO END with him offering his experience and help to Touya. He can't do more than that. It's now on Touya to accept that help, or maybe deny Enji's help specifically but accept his experience anyway.

This chapter more than any other made me aware of how much time passed between starting this fic and writing this finale. I always had it in mind roughly like that, and I'd hoped that over the course the story, Enji could grow enough that it's believable and justified for him to say these things to his son. This was pretty tough, because Enji had to grow a lot for it, and I didn't really know if that could work. As you know I kept making the story longer and longer, so I'm really glad that at the end, I still managed to write a final chapter close to what I had originally planned.

When I first created the story, I worked with the premise that Touya cares for his family, now we know he doesn't really, and blames Rei in canon as well... This chapter again made this passage in time strikingly obvious. In connection to that, I also noticed how in a way, this final chapter the way I originally planned it, was very much in response to common fan criticism of the time (that being two years ago). When I started planning this project, Endeavor wasn't a character well-loved especially in the fanfic-community. He's still fairly devisive, but over the years, Endeavor became a character that most fans can at least agree is very interesting and exciting to read (if not necessarily likeable). A common fan-criticism back then, was how Endeavor's redemption came too late. How he couldn't hope to make up for what he did, after everything. How, the fact that he needed 20+ years to see the wrong of his actions is the reason his actions now are irredeemable. I was quite glad, when I read the manga and it later turned out, that this is also a belief Touya shares. The idea that Endeavor's sins can't be undone, and the past doesn't forget.

I think I made it obvious in this chapter, that it's something I don't agree with. It's never too late to be a better person. Sure, it may be too late to undo the harm done, but that doesn't mean that changing becomes worthless because of that. And I like the idea that the same applies to Touya. He murdered people, there's nothing he can do to undo that, and he will be punished for it, but ultimately, that doesn't mean he's now locked into forever being just that: a murderous villain with Daddy issues. He has it much harder than Enji, because what he did is harder to come back from. But he also has it much easier, because he's younger. Bringing your life around and starting new at 25 is easier than at 45, he has much more time left to do good. He also has a lot more help than Enji had.

They are the opposite in that regard. For Enji, a huge part of the journey was to isolate him. That made it a lot harder for him to pull through, but it also gave him time for self-reflection. But for Touya, the whole family has learned. In a way, the entire Todoroki family had a crash course in 'forgiveness' and 'atonement', which will make it a lot easier to apply those lessons to Touya. So even if Touya can't bring himself to ask Enji for help, any member of his family can apply the lessons learned through Enji to Touya and help him that way.

Now, I've talked a lot about Touya... this was the way I wanted the story to end, so I had a lot of thoughts about it, but there's something else:

I've been asked a few times about Eri. Whether she can heal Enji, and give him his quirk back. The simple answer is: no, at least not in this story.

The long answer is: Eri exists in this fic, but she's very unimportant. I left it entirely open if she even healed Mirio yet. Eventually, yes, she WOULD be able to heal Enji (at least his shoulder and the quirk, not sure if she can heal the stroke), but why would she? Eri's quirk is a stock piling quirk. She's also not very good at it yet, so using it is both exhausting and dangerous. Using it once, means she probably won't be able to use it for a while after, until enough energy stock-piles to do it again. And why would she go heal Enji who she doesn't know, over people she loves and cares about. Eri is a what? eight-year-old kid? She'll use her quirk to help her friends when she can, and to in her mind make up for the damage SHE caused. (she learned to control it in canon specifically to help Mirio who she thought lost her quirk because of her). She's not obliged to go from hospital to hospital to heal just anybody, and unless he world literally depends on it, I don't think the heroes would demand it of her either. She's not their nifty healing tool to use, but a badly traumatized young child who's afraid of her own quirk and the damage it can cause and who's only slowly learning to control it and be more confident in it. Maybe some time in the future she'll control it very well, and then MAYBE Deku will ask her to heal Enji, and then maybe she'll do it. Or maybe, by the time she can control it enough, Enji has gotten used to his new life, the League is defeated, they are at peace and nobody needs him anymore as a hero, so he'll just be content as it is. Also keep in mind, that healing Enji would also put him back in danger. The man was already in danger of a stroke before this, and on his way to retirement anyway. During the whole story he's realized that his body will probably give out on him in the next few years. Sure, losing the quirk and the stroke were bad, but he survived that. If Eri heals him, who'd guarantee that he'd survive the next five years, and then she'd only feel guilty for it.