This was a chapter whose idea was suggested to me by a commenter on the last chapter, and it was an idea that I thought was too juicy to not do. So, after a few hours of work after finally having some free time with my busy life, here it is.

I hope you enjoy!

Bliss.

If there was a word that Kaden would put in this moment, it would just simply be… Bliss.

Here he is, sitting on the couch of his stately home he had just finished cleaning for the weekend, watching a nice movie with the most beautiful girl in the entire universe under his arm, snuggled up against his body, feeling her warmth, her comforting touch.

He glances away from the movie to turn his head, looking at Marie resting her own against his shoulder. She feels him stir, though, so she picks her head up as well, and as they lock eyes, she simply gives a small smile that meant all the world to him, easily plant on of his own upon his own features as he gives her a small squeeze in his arms.

He lingers in her wonderfully pretty violet eyes for a few more moments before his gaze wanders down to the small, sleeping baby she was straddling in her arms, gently rocking him back and forth as they watched the film. Kaden looks upon his innocent, sleeping expression, mouth slightly agape, barely able to hear the small breaths he took into his equally small body, one of his large ears idly twitching in his sleep, making him give a light chuckle as he feels that familiar happy warmth of knowing that was his child he was looking at.

"Can you believe we made that?" He asks in a quiet, content voice, resting his head on top of Marie's as they both look down onto him.

"Oh, is that what we're calling our son now?" She replies in an amused, similarly quiet voice so as to not wake him. "'That'?"

He huffs a small laugh through his nose with a roll of his eyes. "You know what I mean, Marie."

She gives a small giggle. "Yeah, I know. And, no, by the way. Not really."

"Not really what?"

"It is hard to believe that we made this." She says in a voice filled with love as she continues to rock the tiny infant in her arms. "Just the fact that this is a person, a life we created together… It's just…"

"Amazing." Kaden finishes, using his free hand to bring it up to his son's face, lightly brushing his cheek with the back of his hand. "Like it's the most amazing thing ever created in the entire universe."

"Yeah." She replies with a blissful sigh. "…What kind of person do you think he'll be when he grows up?"

"Mmm… I dunno." He replies with a small shrug. "But if he's anything like his mother, then I know he'll grow up to be strong, and sweet, and charming." He says, finally tearing his gaze away to instead pick his head up to look back at Marie's face with a smile. "And maybe he'll be a little pipsqueak like his mom, too."

She scoffs, rolling her eyes while elbowing Kaden as hard as she could without waking up their child, making him begin to snicker. "And when he grows up, hopefully he won't be as much of a smartass as his dad." She returns playfully.

"Oh, don't worry about that." Kaden says pointedly. "You won't have to hope for it when I ensure that's the case. I've gotta teach him a lot about life, and one of those things happen to be how to be just as witty as his old man."

"You mean pain in the ass?" She argues, raising an eyebrow.

He shrugs with a smirk. "Eh, potato potato."

She simply scoffs once again before placing her head back on his shoulder as he chuckles once again, and the both of them resume gazing at their sleeping child together, and thinking about the future they'll spend as one big happy family together. Raising him and watching him live his life, up to the point that he may even find himself someone special, and hold a child in his arms just as they themselves did now.

"You are right about needing to teach him a lot, though." Marie quietly mutters as Kaden gently rubs his hand across her upper arm with his own wrapped around her body. "And I doubt it's going to be as easy as telling him a joke or two that he can use to annoy his mother, either."

Kaden gives a slow, thoughtful nod. "I know. But if there's anything I'm sure of more than anything, it's that I'm up for the challenge."

"I know you are. Which is why I couldn't think of a better father he could ever ask for in the entire universe." She says, picking her head up to look back at Kaden with a tender grin. "You're going to be a great father, Kaden."

Kaden grins as well as he feels a swell of warm love in his heart, hearing those words and seeing that smile she gave him.

"And you're going to be the best mother ever, Marie." He says lovingly, squeezing her once more. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Kay."

They bring their faces together, closing their eyes as they share a quick yet passionate kiss, the both of them never feeling more assured about anything else in their lives except that they will do what it takes to be the best parents they possibly could, giving their child the happiest life they can provide, and willing to do anything to make that happen.

And as they break from the kiss, they look in each other's eyes for a few more seconds, wearing blissful smiles before looking back to their little Lombax in their arms, snoozing away, dreaming his little dreams. And as they look onto him, his face crinkles up a bit before he gives a tiny sneeze in his sleep, making both of them giggle at the sheer cuteness that is a baby Lombax sneezing.

And as Marie rests her head back onto Kaden's shoulder, using the child's blanket to gently wipe away at his nose, Kaden looks back to the holovision in front of them, returning half his attention back to the movie they were barely watching as the other half is too busy thinking about how perfect his life was.

A loving wife, a son of his own, a steady living as general and Keeper of the Dimensionator, and a whole future ahead of him and his family, knowing that whatever comes their way, they would prevail, no matter what.

Full of bliss, he simply closes his eyes, wearing a content smile on his face. Everything was just… perfect. And there wouldn't be anything in the entire universe that he would ever trade for this moment.

He takes a deep breath, filling his lungs with the sweet smell of…

Of…

Ash.

His eyes snap open, and instead of being met with some cheesy romance comedy that Marie picked out when they sat down, he instead looks upon a blood-red sky covered in tarry black smoke, ash raining down that stung his eyes, the sounds of warfare surrounding him as well as flames as the eye can see.

He snaps to his side, and realizes that neither Marie nor his son were next to him anymore, only their front lawn that had a light grey film of ash already settled on the ground he was currently standing in.

"Marie?" He asks, his heart beginning to pound, cold dread curdling in his stomach. "Marie?!"

He continues to look around, seeing nothing but the ruins of the city he called home, buildings razed and destroyed, bodies of Lombaxes strewn about the ground—men, women, and children. Even looking at them for mere seconds was too much for even him, a seasoned military general, and he snaps around to tear his gaze away from them, his voice ready to call out for his wife once more before it's silenced as he looks upon the façade of their home—nearly completely destroyed.

"No." He breathes, standing frozen in shock for a few seconds before he shakes his head, running to the door. "No, no, NO, NO, NO!" He cries out, taking no time to open the door, instead bashing it down with his shoulder, nearly stumbling down with it as it slams onto the floor of their nearly-destroyed living room he only sat in mere seconds ago.

"MARIE?!" He yells out, thinking nothing except for the safety and whereabouts of his family, eyes wide in spite of the sting of the ash sprinkling from the air like snowflakes, breathing heavily to try and remain as calm as he could, heart feeling like it was going to beat out of his chest.

"Ka… Kaden!" He hears her voice calling from upstairs, weak and strained before being followed by a fit of coughs.

"Marie!" He calls out with some relief, sprinting for the stairs, stepping over the rubbles of the ceiling and walls, racing up the steps and almost falling in his rush, but doing nothing to hinder his search for his wife and son.

"Marie?!" Kaden calls out once more upon reaching the landing.

"H-Here!" She replies, sounding just as weak.

Kaden doesn't bother to respond, instead instantly dashing for the source of her voice, tracing it to the nursery in an instant, feeling immense relief that he just needs to take her and their child, and just get them away from this apocalypse, not knowing how, but as long as he had them in his arms, he'll be sure to think of a plan to find a ship or get the Dimensionator or…

Or…

Or none of that will happen, as he bolts in the doorway, and freezes, blood running as cold as ice in spite of the heat of the flames of Fastoon burning around him, the dread in his gut sinking even lower, the only thing keeping him from puking being how paralyzed and shellshocked he was as he sees the love of his life, the most beautiful girl in the universe, the mother of his child lying in a large pool of her own blood, trapped beneath their collapsed ceiling, her clothes already dyed as red as her teeth as she coughed up even more blood, looking back at him with a weak, quickly fading eyes.

"I… I… I saved him." She says weakly, moving her arms with as much strength as she could muster to reveal their son that Kaden only just now realizes has been crying this entire time.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Kaden yells out, snapping out of his shock as tears start spilling out of his eyes, running over before collapsing onto his knees next to her, holding her cheek with one hand while tightly gripping onto hers with the other for dear life.

"Marie, stay with me, y-you can't die! You won't die, you hear me?! I-I can save you, I just need to get you out from under here!" He states desperately, looking away from her to instead start trying to lift the rubble that was pinning her, trying to ignore all of the blood coming out from under it. "A-and we just need to find some nanotech, and you'll be okay, he'll be okay, we'll be okay! Just stay with me and I-I'll just—"

He's cut off as he feels a gentle hand on his cheek, making him stop as he turns back to look at Marie, giving him a weak smile.

"No." She whispers, tears coming out of her own eyes. "It's too late for me, Kaden. Don't bother. Just… Just save him." She says, gesturing to their screaming son in her arm.

Kaden's throat threatens to close to keep from unleashing a barrage of sobs as he places a hand over her own resting on his cheek.

"I… But…" He swallows, choking back a sob. "I can't lose you, Marie! I-I can't live without you!"

"Yes, you can." She whispers back weakly, still holding a smile as she blinks away tears. "And you will, Kaden. Just get Kipler safe and far away from here, and leave me. It's too late."

"N-No, it isn't!" He argues. "I just need to save you and… And… Just…" He says, broadly gesturing between her and the rubble with increasing frustration.

"Kaden." She states, bringing his attention back to her as tears continue flowing freely out of his eyes. "It's too late for me. You couldn't save me. But it's alright, because you can… You can save him instead. So, please… Just… Protect him for me. For us." She says, her voice growing weaker, the grip on his cheek getting fainter.

Kaden wants to protest—yell, argue, scream, cry, throw a fit, curse, everything—but he knew it'd be pointless. Because she was right. She was going to die right here and now. The shining light of his life, getting snuffed out right here before him, and there wasn't a single damn thing he could do about it at all.

Nothing, except to be there in her final moments.

He gives a solemn nod, taking everything within him not to break down completely as he grips tightly onto her hand, not wanting to let go.

"Okay." He whispers. "I will, Marie. I will."

He leans down, giving her one last kiss, tasting her blood in his mouth, but not caring about the bitter coppery flavor of it, only savoring this one last act of their true love together—a love that he will never get to experience ever again.

"I love you, Marie." He whispers, breaking away from it, on the verge of outright sobbing.

"I… I love… You, too… Kay…" She utters, giving one last smile before it begins to slowly fade, her grip releasing on his cheek as she closes her eyes.

Kaden sees her chest rise for one last, raspy breath, before it is exhaled quietly. And he sees no more movement.

In that moment, she was gone. The girl that he fell in love with the moment he laid eyes on her from the floor of the Academy as she picked him off the floor after Lorna ran into her. The girl that surprised him with the fire she had in all their dates they had together. The girl that never looked any happier than that day she said 'I do' and practically knocked him to the ground in excitement as they shared their first kiss as husband and wife. The girl who gave him the most beautiful baby boy he could ever ask for, and the girl that was supposed to be right there with him to watch him grow up into a man.

The girl that was his entire world… Simply gone. Just like that.

He only stares at her corpse for a few seconds before it all becomes too much, making him finally release all of the sobs he was keeping under control, hanging onto her lifeless hand as if it would somehow drag her back to the land of the living as he buries his head into her chest, wanting nothing more than to her her heartbeat for one last time, just wanting her to be here with him more than anything.

He didn't know how long he was sobbing for, be it minutes or hours, but he eventually decides to pick his head back up to finally look at the baby that was in her arms.

But instead of being met with the sight of his dead wife, he was now faced with the sight of their child laying inside of a basket resting atop a concrete doorstep in the dead of night.

He was momentarily confused before he understood what was happening, making a fresh new round of tears spill out of his eyes as he clenches his fists.

"No. The universe has taken enough away from me. There's one thing that I can save, and it'll be—"

He reaches down to grab the basket, determined to stay with his son instead of abandoning him, and never being able to see him again. But as he does, an invisible force keeps his hands away from the basket, confusing him, but the harder he pushes against it, the harder the force pushes him back.

"What? No!" He cries out in frustration. "Let me see my son!" He begs the force.

However, the force doesn't listen, as it instead starts pushing even harder—hard enough to start actively pushing him back. It first starts pushing hands back into his body, but then eventually starts pushing against Kaden's whole body, now pushing him away from the sleeping little Lombax in the basket.

"No! Stop! Please!" He cries, even more tears flowing down his cheeks as he continues to push back against the force giving no yield, his feet digging into the Veldin dirt below him, and sliding backwards. "I can't be alone! I can't!"

No matter how much he pushes, the force pushes harder, and he's forced to watch as he's pulled further and further away from his son—the only thing in his life he had left.

As he's being pushed back, vainly yelling and arguing and begging against the force, he glances over his shoulder, and realizes that he's been led to the open cockpit of a ship, primed and ready to depart at a moment's notice, making his gut drop as he fights back even harder.

"NO! LET ME TAKE HIM WITH ME! I CAN PROTECT HIM MYSELF, I CAN!" He screams out desperately, face contorted into pained desperation, unable to fight back against the force. "YOU ALREADY TOOK MARIE! I CAN'T BE ALONE! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE! I HAVE NOTHING ELSE LEFT, PLEASE, LET ME SEE MY SON!"

However, the force doesn't listen, instead now pushing him at an all-time high speed, now practically shoving him along against his will. And right as he opens his mouth to unleash another torrent of protests, the force suddenly gives a sudden push that sends him stumbling backward, making him fall into the ship as the cockpit closes by itself.

"Leaving Veldin." The autopilot announces indifferently as he scrambles up into his seat, mashing all the buttons, but none of them doing anything as he hears the thrusters begin to hum, ready to blast off.

"NO! PLEASE!" He cries, resorting to literally just punching at the console with tears streaming down his cheeks, only going at it for a few seconds before he looks out the window, back at his son now sitting a few yards away from him on that doorstep, about to leave his life forever.

"I CAN'T LEAVE HIM! PLEASE, LET ME TAKE HIM!" He screams, pounding on the window with his fist.

But as his hand begins to hurt, he suddenly hears the familiar blast of ionic thrusters revving to full throttle, and just like that, the basket holding his son and the building he's left on disappears in a dark smear as the ship blasts off the planet, leaving him utterly and hopelessly alone as he looks onto the brown dot of Veldin, getting smaller and smaller, along with all chances of ever seeing his son again.

Of ever seeing Marie again.

Of ever being with his family again.

Of ever being happy again.

Kaden awoke with a large gasp, bolting upright in his bed in a cold sweat, panting heavily as he stares straight ahead with wide eyes that were soaked in a film of tears, ready to beg the unspeakable force to turn the ship around to go back for him.

But after a few seconds, his mind clears a bit, and he looks around, still panting, and slowly realizes that he wasn't in a ship that ripped him away from his son and any chance of being happy, but rather, just his bedroom in his house.

And as he realizes this, his panting slowly stops to more regular breathing, and his heart stops pounding as he closes his eyes, planting his face in his hands with a long, shaky sigh.

It was the nightmare again.

The one where he has to relive that living hell that was the Exodus, having to feel his wife die in his arms and having to forever abandon his son, and being unable to do anything to prevent either from happening. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how aware he was that it was a dream, nothing he did ever stopped Marie from taking her last breath or allowed him to turn the ship around to raise his son himself.

It was an annoyingly frequent nightmare, and one that plagued him for the last twenty years. Sometimes it's not as bad, sometimes it's so horrible that he has to call Mags or Julie to help him calm down and recover, but no matter what, it was always something that had haunted him ever since he had woken up in this dimension after his fight with Tachyon.

Always there, taunting him that he was alone and away from his family, and likely unable to ever see his own flesh and blood ever again with the Council's stubbornness to refuse his appeal every single time, and making those wounds of having to lose his family feel as fresh as the day he first experienced them. It was just… awful, in every sense of the word.

He takes another deep, shaky sigh, having spent his usual few minutes of breathing exercises to calm himself down from the trauma of the nightmare—an unfortunately well-practiced habit. He removes his hand from his face to wipe the tears in his eyes, and glances to his nightstand next to him to see that it was just past midnight.

Another unfortunately usual habit of the nightmare—almost always waking him up in the dead of night, robbing any chance of being well-rested for the next day. He could count on his hands the number of times throughout the last two decades that he was able to actually fall back asleep from the nightmare and not just blankly stare up at the ceiling for a few hours before just giving up and going to watch holovision until dawn came.

But as Kaden frowned at the clock, he suddenly notices a picture next to it, and he scoots a bit on his bed to get a better look, right before realizing what it was:

A picture Mags took of him posing with Ratchet and Clank as a little family photo.

Ratchet. His son. His son that was back in his life once again, and not stuck on Veldin and forever separated from him like his nightmares told him. He was safe, and protected, and most importantly, just here, back in Kaden's life, and without worry of him being ripped out of his arms ever again.

The scowl on his face slowly melts into a smile as he grabs the picture frame, staring at him and Ratchet side-hugging each other with wide grins as Clank stands between the both of them with a wave. And as he stares at it, he simply repeats in his head that Ratchet was here, and he wouldn't leave, over and over again to further calm himself down from the nightmare.

But as he stares at the picture, his waking mind suddenly remembers something else as well concerning today's (or technically yesterday according to the clock) events, and about how Ratchet had visited yet again so Kaden could teach him a thing or two about interdimensional theory as per his newfound Keeper status. And they had spent so much time together that it was soon dark, and Ratchet decided to spend the night here.

He looks up from the picture to instead look at his door, now remembering the fact that his son was soundly sleeping just across the hall.

He grips onto the picture a little anxiously, wondering if it'd be an intrusion of privacy or otherwise just plain creepy if he just went to look at him, to assuage these now unreasonable fears that he was gone from his life once again like that vivid nightmare tried to tell him.

But as he thinks about it, he finds that he just really needed the reassurance, and it's not like he was going to just stare at him or anything, just a quick peek to tell him that he was here and just as real as he himself was. For twenty years he wanted this very luxury, so the least he could is indulge in it just this once, and maybe—hopefully—make this the first night that he can actually go back to sleep with a sound mind.

With a deep breath, he puts the picture back on the nightstand next to him, and gets out of bed and over to the door (making sure that he was wearing pajama bottoms, lest he scar his son if he happens to wake up), opening it as quietly as he can before carefully stepping out into the hall, making as little noise as possible.

He reaches the door to Ratchet's bedroom, and he takes another deep breath as he slowly turns the nod, pushing open the door, making it quietly creak open as he looks into the darkened room, seeing Clank folded up into his sleep mode next to Ratchet's bed, and seeing Ratchet himself sleeping soundly, able to see his face wearing a content expression while he snoozes away, mouth slightly agape, and seeing one of his ears twitch in his sleep.

Kaden smiles, already feeling the anxiety and awful fears brought on by the nightmare wash away into relief, and more than that, that same warm happiness he felt when he looked onto Ratchet's sleeping face in Marie's arms, knowing that he was a father to a beautiful boy, and ready to be the best damn dad he possibly could.

And that was a sentiment he still held right now—doubly so, in fact—assuring that even though he wasn't there for his son for the first twenty years of his life, he would be sure to more than make up for it for the rest of his life as long as he was here.

He didn't know exactly how long his 'quick peek' lasted, but he knew it was at least a good minute or two he stood staring at Ratchet with a fond smile, feeling all the terrible emotions from the nightmare fade for wonderful ones instead, putting his mind at ease for the first time since… well, ever, since having those nightmares.

And feeling assured that this little remedy did the trick as he thought it would, Kaden takes in a deep breath, and exhaling it in one long, pleasant sigh as he begins to turn around, ready to head into his own room.

That is, before he saw stirring, and looks back to Ratchet to instead see the content expression on his face begin to contort into one of pain as he begins to grow restless, his body stirring as he tightly holds onto the blankets.

"No…" Kaden hears him mumble out. "Don't… Stop…"

Kaden freezes as cold dread begins to seep into his gut, realizing that he was currently watching his son have a nightmare of his own, and a bad one at that judging by his muttering and stirring.

"No… Stop… Please!" Ratchet says a little louder, now stirring even more in his sleep, tossing and turning. "Alister!"

Hearing that name makes Kaden's fur stand on end, hearing it come out of Ratchet's mouth, and with such pain, too. But more than that, it told him exactly what he was having a nightmare about—The Great Clock.

Kaden's snapped out of his thoughts as Ratchet continues to toss and turn, still loudly pleading for Alister to stop, now prompting even Clank to come out of his sleep mode, opening his eyes before looking over to Ratchet next to him with concern.

But before he could do anything, Kaden decides that he's had enough just watching his son suffer like that, making him rush over to the bed to begin lightly shaking Ratchet's shoulders to rouse him from his sleep.

"Ratchet, it's okay, wake up, I'm here!" Kaden quietly says in as soothing as a voice he could while Clank stands next to him, now fully awoken out of his sleep mode.

Kaden ignores him as he focuses on Ratchet and bringing him out of his nightmare, still shaking his shoulder, still telling him to wake up and that it's okay. And a few moments later, Ratchet's eyes shoot open as he bolts upright, breathing heavily, surprising Kaden slightly before he sits down on the edge of the bed next to him, still holding onto his shoulders.

"It's okay, Ratchet, it's okay." He says calmly. "I'm here."

"I…" Ratchet utters, Kaden now noticing that there were tears in his eyes as he looks back at him in confusion and pain before looking down, seemingly regaining his bearings after getting ripped out of his sleep.

He takes a deep, shaky breath, wiping his eyes. "I'm… Sorry for waking you up, I guess." He mutters quietly, still looking down.

"No, don't apologize." Kaden says, scooting closer to him to instead take him into a hug. "You don't have anything to be sorry for. It's alright. I was already awake anyway, just calm down. Breathe."

Ratchet doesn't respond, Kaden feeling him freeze up a bit in his arms out of surprise before he eventually relaxes a tiny bit, enough to hug him back as well, and taking deep breaths as per his suggestion.

They sit there on the bed together for a few minutes, Kaden not attempting to say anything or move, instead just focusing on being there for his son, comforting him, trying to help him recover from the hell of a bad nightmare like he himself must constantly be plagued by, all the while Clank stands next to them, looking onto them with concerned sympathy in his optics.

"…Why were you awake, anyway?" Ratchet mumbles from Kaden's shoulder.

Kaden takes a breath. "Nightmare. Same as you."

"Oh." He replies dumbly, beginning to let go, to which Kaden does as well, backing away a bit as Ratchet continues to look down onto the bed in front of him with a miserable expression, his eyes still wet with tears.

Seeing his own son looks so pained like this makes KAden frown, hurting his heart, and he reaches out to place a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks quietly. "I know it helps me when I do. But only if it's alright with you, Ratchet. I'll understand."

Ratchet doesn't answer, instead still just staring down, giving an occasional light sniffle. And a few seconds later, Clank steps closer to the bed, and rests one of his hands on Ratchet's own folded onto his lap, making him look over slightly to see Clank returning a sympathetic expression and a nod; an assurance that he was here for him as well.

Ratchet looks at him for a little bit, then up to Kaden, who musters a small smile for him in assurance, and Ratchet looks back down before taking a deep breath.

"It… It was about Alister." He mutters. "And the Great Clock. And our… Our… Our fight." He chokes out.

He wipes his eyes once again. Another deep breath. "I just… I want to save him. To stop him. To keep him from trying to do what he did, but… But… No matter what I do, he always… Always…"

His voice starts getting shaky as more tears form in his eyes, struggling to finish the sentence, but he never gets a chance to as Kaden takes him into another tight hug.

"Shh, it's okay." He whispers soothingly, beginning to rub his back. "I get it. I do. I know how you feel, it's okay."

Ratchet tightly grips onto him as well, Kaden able to feel his warm tears soak into the bare fur of his chest. "Y-You do?" Ratchet asks.

"I do." Kaden replies with a small nod. "You remember every single detail about it, every little word, every horrible feeling. And no matter whatever you do, there's always something that stops you from preventing the inevitable, and you wake up in a cold sweat, trying to forget about the entire thing, but unable to help but remember everything instead."

"That's…"

Ratchet sighs, and Kaden feels his grip on his body tighten.

"That's it, yeah." Ratchet mumbles miserably. "…How do you know?"

Kaden takes a deep breath. "Because do you know what my nightmares are about?"

He feels Ratchet shaking his head.

"They're always about the Exodus. Where I lost you and your mother, having the both of you ripped out of my life just like that." He answers solemnly. "And I always try to save the both of you, to keep her alive and to keep you with me, but… It never works. Ever."

Kaden lets go of Ratchet, but just so that he can place his hands on his shoulders, and look into his tear-filled eyes.

"And I know your situation isn't the same, but I know it has the same answer as mine does when I tell you that there wasn't anything you could've done, Ratchet." He says firmly. "You and your mind giving you those nightmares will say otherwise, but no matter whatever you could have done, that was they way it was going to end, no matter what. You couldn't save Alister like I couldn't save Marie, and it wasn't either of our faults. I know it's easier said than done—a lot easier—but it's something neither of us could change, so we shouldn't torture ourselves about it. You especially, Ratchet."

Ratchet doesn't respond, instead looking back at him with wide, surprised eyes, but Kaden still holds his resolve, determined about his words, holding onto his shoulders. But a few seconds later, Ratchet looks away once more, the tears still flowing down his cheeks.

"I… I know you're right, but… It's not just about him." Ratchet says. "It was… Also about you."

"I… How?" Kaden asks, eyebrows furrowing in slight confusion.

"By all those things Alister said to me during our fight… About you. And… How much you'd hate me for what I was doing, trying to stop him." He says in a voice on the verge of tears. "How I was a disgrace to the Lombaxes and a disgrace to you, a-and that you'd try to stop me, too. A-And… And… It's just that…"

He takes a deep, shaky breath, and returns his gaze to Kaden's with a miserable, pained expression.

"You don't hate me for what I did, do you, dad?" He asks. "For stopping him from saving mom, and him, and the Lombaxes, and me, and… A-And…" He stutters, his emotions beginning to get the better of him as his voice starts breaking down.

"No." Kaden states firmly, hugging him possibly the tightest he ever has. "No, Ratchet, don't you ever think that. I don't hate you at all, and don't let him or anyone else ever try to make you think otherwise, because I love you with every fiber of my being."

"B-But… What if there was a chance that I could have gone back and—"

"There wasn't." Kaden cuts him off, not letting him trying to excuse himself out of Kaden's assurances. "You did what you had to do Ratchet, and you saved more people by doing that than if you actually listened to his insane plan. And even if there was a chance, then there's no use fretting over something that could have been, just like how I shouldn't fret over Marie and how you shouldn't fret over Alister."

Once again, he lets go of Ratchet, placing his hands on his cheeks to wipe the tears away with his thumbs while looking right into his eyes.

"I don't hate you for what you did, Ratchet; I'm proud of you, because I know for a fact that I wouldn't ever have the strength to do what you had to do to protect the universe." Kaden states. "And that makes you a better man than I am, sacrificing any chance of having me or Marie or your species again for the good of everyone else. That is the definition of a hero, Ratchet, and that's exactly what you are, and that's why I'm proud of you. You hear me?"

Ratchet looks back at him in surprise, and says nothing, but Kaden doesn't drop his steadfast expression, still gently holding onto his cheeks as he continues to look into his eyes, wanting to clearly show that he was more of sure of his statement than anything else.

But, after a few tense seconds of silence, for the first time, a ghost of a smile crosses Ratchet's lips as he gives a small nod before leaning in, taking Kaden into a hug.

"I do." He whispers. "And… Thanks, dad. That means a lot to me."

Kaden softly smiles as well as he returns the hug with a nod of his own. "Anytime, Ratchet. Anytime."

And for the next few minutes, they remain sitting there on the bed together, hugging each other, letting Kaden's words sink in to dissipate all of the negative doubts and fears brought on by his nightmare, finding relief in the other's embrace, and internally thanking the stars that they now had the other in their lives to comfort them in these times where they needed the other most.

But eventually, the both break from the hug, Ratchet wiping the remaining tears from his eyes as Kaden takes a breath with a small smile.

"So… You think you're going to be able to fall asleep anytime soon?" He asks.

"Honestly… Probably not." Ratchet replies with a shrug.

Kaden chuckles. "Yeah, me neither. So… How about instead of lying in bed until the sun comes up, we head downstairs so I can make us a little treat as we watch some bad late-night holovision and make fun of it to cheer ourselves up?"

Ratchet smiles. "That sounds nice, yeah."

"Perfect." Kaden states, reaching over to pat his shoulder before getting up from the bed with a small groan, and heading over to the door. "I'll go see what we have in the kitchen, then. I'll let you pick whatever's on."

"Alright, will do." Ratchet says contentedly, swinging his legs out over the edge of the bed as Kaden exits through the doorway.

If there was one word Kaden would use to describe this situation, it'd be… Bliss.

Sitting here on the couch next to his son at 1:00 AM, watching a hilariously bad and cheesy sitcom that ended years ago, the both of them making fun of the bad acting and terrible writing while Clank next to them argues that he actually finds it enjoyable, all the while they eat some tasty grilled cheese sandwiches and a bowl of popcorn between them, forgetting the troubles of their past brought on by nightmares that haunted them both.

Kaden and Ratchet laugh at the absolutely horrible way that the actor delivered a line—probably more so than what'd be normal, but that's what happens when you're tired enough to be watching trash at 1:00 AM in the first place, and it felt good to laugh with each other anyway.

But as they both settle down from their laughter, wiping some tears from their eyes, Kaden exhales a pleasant sigh, wearing a smile. He then turns his head, and looks over Ratchet sitting next to him, taking a bite out of his own grilled cheese while wearing a smile of his own, all the while Clank next to him watches the show with some more apt attention, clearly getting into the (bad) plot of the episode, and filling Kaden with that warmth brought on by knowing that he has a family—just like way back when with Marie.

But as he looks onto the both of them, Ratchet glances over and sees him staring at him, and he raises an eyebrow, glancing around confusedly while chewing on his sandwich before swallowing.

"Uh… What's up?" He asks bemusedly before looking down. "Did I get cheese on me or something?"

Kaden chuckles. "No, it's nothing, don't worry about it." He says contentedly, reaching over to drape his arm around Ratchet's shoulders, taking him into a side-hug. "I love you, Ratchet."

Ratchet, albeit still a little puzzled for his odd reaction, shrugs, and takes Kaden into a side-hug as well, also wearing a smile.

"I love you too, dad."

They give each other a smile, and Kaden looks back to the holovision ahead of them, taking another bite of his grilled cheese, its pleasantly delicious heat not coming close to comparing with the warmth of love that flowed inside of him inside of this moment, feeling nothing but utter and complete…

Bliss.

This chapter was WAY longer than I planned on it being, initially underestimating what it'd take to write something as heavy as this idea, but I'm still more than happy with the way it turned out nonetheless.

And, yes, in case you were wondering, I did make myself cry a little writing this as well, lol.