Author's Note: Even more confusion in here. x_x I'm going to try and get this fic over with first so I can focus on the other three/four. This chapter contains spoilers about the ending and stuff near it, so if you didn't beat it (uhh... like me.), then I advise you not to read. But here you go. Some good sap. ^^;
Darkness ... then light...

Oh no, had he died?

There was absolutely no warmth, but he could not feel himself shiver either. And the light was just there, not caught through his eyelids. He could have sworn that his eyes had been closed in the last thing he had remembered...

Where exactly was he, and where was Vahn? Where was that bitch Zora, too?

He had seen her go flying backwards before her damn bubble of black energy had encased him, and he had felt very tired. His body never knowing it was a trap, he'd shut his eyes a second before realizing that he was on his way to dying and couldn't open them again.

Death in Legaia isn't as bad as it seems anywhere else -- everyone knows that the ones who pass on, pass to the Valley of Noaru. Would he be going there? He had been corrupted once to destroy Karisto and unite Seru and mankind ... would he be rejected from such a glorious afterlife and be left in some enclosed nothingness?

All he knew is that he would probably never see his siblings nor Vahn ever again. He would exist until the end of time ... alone.

Suddenly he felt himself drifting back, like he had been separated from his body. As if he was a soul floating back, he shuddered deeply and tried to regain control of his extremities. Not staring out of closed eyes like he had imagined it to be, but rather feeling everything sort of come back into existence beneath and around him.

He felt alive, but barely. When the little bit of his brain wandered back that told him it was okay to open his eyes, he did. A hand was gripping his, and he shuddered oddly in joy. Vahn? Was it him, was he here?! Was fate so kind to give him a second chance and just let them have their happily ever after already?!

"Gi, you came back!" cried a high voice.

No ... just Lu. No...

His settings solidified from their melted sort of way through his eyes, and he knew that he was back in Nivora Ravine once more. Damn it. Fate was being a bitch and was just making him say goodbye to the two people who were most important in his life before his positive corruption.

To roll onto his side to face her hurt like nothing he'd ever felt before -- of physical pain, anyway -- and his body twitched violently afterwards. "Ssh, you're all right," she said, placing a hand ever so gently on his body. For no good reason, probably the reason all people had who felt they were staring death right in the face, a tear escaped his eye and slid sideways down his cheek towards his ear.

That's when Che arrived, strangely found without his weapon. "Gi, what the hell happened?" he asked gruffly, but still quietly. "You disappeared and then came back. What happened to Zora? ... What happened to you?"

It was either her name or his weakness that caused him to shudder. "I thought she killed me, and I thought I killed her," he began, but stopped to catch his breath for a few seconds. One kiss was all he needed for a life's supply of oxygen... "And I don't know what happened to Vahn. Is he here?"

"Last we know, you went with him," Che answered, shrugging.

"Damn it. What about Noa and Gala?"

"They're here." Lu turned and pointed over to another section of the cavern, where the duo was sitting. Noa's faint sobs could be heard from where the Delilas siblings sat, and they tore at the heart regardless. This situation seemed so hopeless that it was just plain pathetic.

Lu stood and looked over to them. With Zora had gone her manipulative hatred, but not the wounds inflicted. Those would have to heal, physical or emotional. "Noa? Gala?" The two looked up slowly, without happiness or sadness or surprise ... or anything. "Do you know anything about what happened to Vahn?"

"No," sighed Noa. "-- But we could try to talk to Meta, his Ra-Seru! Hold on!" All slowly fell to silence as she put a hand to her chest and bowed her head. Terra's gentle green light enveloped her body, and she made believe again that she was talking to herself inside of her head. -Terra, can you find Meta for us?-

*I'll try to sense him.* She felt herself shuddering from a strange cold as she waited for a response... *I can feel him coming near. Vahn must be traveling back with his powers.* Sure enough, before Noa could broadcast the news to everyone, the red light flickered into view and a tired Vahn appeared kneeling. His companions ran to him, shouting his name. He did not seem to hear them.

"Vahn..." But he did seem to hear the faint call of his name from halfway across the room which he heard all too well. Gi was here! Barely, but he was here! His entire world lit up as he got to his feet and turned to face the downed enemy-turned-lover-turned-savior. In just a moment their gazed locked like never before, and he felt his heart break in two and rearrange the bones in his feet.

The four just watched silently as the two reunited, haunted by the hushed sobs which they heard. Vahn took Gi's hands into his and bowed his head down low, feeling so dizzy and so confused that all he wanted to do was fall asleep right here -- goodness only knew and gasped at the fact that "right here" was on the chest of the one he loved most.

Gi's time was short, it seemed ... at least, until he passed on towards the end of time. Alone. "Vahn, I want you to stay here with everybody. I'm going to take myself before the pain even comes for me. Take care of my brother and sister ... will you? They can't be too bad. And try not to party too hard without me." His eye twitched into something of a wink, and even though he was crying he was smiling.

He flipped his right hand over, it tense in Vahn's grasp, so that his palm faced the ceiling. A small dot of darkness rose over his body, trickling downwards in all sides to begin taking the shape of a sphere very similar to what Zora had put him in before. Vahn paid no attention to the surprised gasps behind him from Noa, and shook his head wildly.

"I'm not staying here, after all I've gone through to get you and then get you back! You aren't leaving me, do you understand?! Not now, not ever...!" He realized what a babbling fool he sounded like, and how hard it was to yell and cry at the same time. The sphere began moving towards their hands, to the only thing that kept them together at the moment, applying pressure in hopes of separating them.

The veins in his wrists were rising above his skin just trying to keep his loved one here, and he decided not to be such a stubborn fool or else he'd get killed first. He threw it open like a door with his shoulder, allowing him just enough time to slide beneath it and place one lingering (and hopefully not last) kiss upon the dying prince's lips. It hurt him so to know the pain just to react to it, even if it was a gesture of love, it was still movement.

Their tears mingled on the ground just as it came down upon the back of his neck, forcing Vahn to retreat slowly without being decapitated. All of a sudden it clamped down tight and lifted him off of the ground, becoming more and more solid until nobody could see inside of it.

"Brother!" Lu cried, dashing to Vahn's side. Both clawed at the sphere, but it did not move. It was like glass, robbing him silently and painlessly of life. They felt Gi's hand press outwards against it before it collapsed inwards and disappeared into thin air.

Nobody dared to speak.

They had watched him die ... willingly.

After a few minutes of hearing nothing but the wind singing mournfully throughout the ravine, Vahn rose to his feet with his head still declined. "Lu, Che. Will you help us do what we've been trying to do all along? You won't die if the Mist is cleared, we'll make sure of it."

The plan sounded good and promising, but confusing. "And ... then what?" Lu asked softly, placing a hand on his shoulder. She tried to ignore how tense his muscles were beneath it, and that he probably did not want any other touch right now.

"And then ... well, we might just give living our lives a chance." He winced at his own words, at how horribly empty his own life would be. Maybe he would get lucky and be visited by Gi's spirit in his sleep one time, and go completely mad and claim his love to someone who was no longer in this realm. Run out of his house cackling with a wedding band, married to a ghost.

Yes, he was losing it already. What left he had to lose, anyway. He had nothing more to offer the world, then.

* * * *

Time, fortunately or unfortunately, marched on. Lu and Che allowed the Ra-Seru heroes to finish their job, discover their pasts, go through more drama than could fit inside the Juggernaut, and find out things about themselves (especially Noa) that had been behind bolted doors. Though it hurt Gala to have finally destroyed the power-hungry Songi, he had moved on to better things ... what they were, he did not know.

Speaking of the Juggernaut, it had nearly consumed Rim Elm and was draining the life out of the villagers inside of it. This is where it had began, and this is where it would end...

... with Noa's annoyingly powerful brother, Cort, who had become part of the beast and was no longer human. Every second of this battle Vahn felt strong, but weak at the same time. His thoughts were out of order, floating around his head like they were in water, and he couldn't stop praying that he wouldn't die right now -- but then again, did he want to die so he could be with Gi and live in happy misery?

Agh...

Darkness...

He remembered keeping on his feet and fighting, but then again he did not remember what exactly went on in the fight.

All he remembered was that when the darkness cleared and silence took the throne right next to the light, he collapsed and did not feel anything at all for days. When he woke up, a group of eager faces were hanging over him. Noa, Gala, Lu, Che, his father, and his sister...

He was back in Rim Elm. Damn it. They hadn't died. Damn it more.

"Vahn, you blanked out on us when we won! Are you okay?" Noa chirped, placing the back of her hand to his forehead. He simply groaned and tried opening his eyes wider to clear his vision, which happened only when the tears began to fall.

Finally he realized that he couldn't keep being so selfish and running on one track that wrapped all the way around the world -- he would keep on going and going and never hit the end. He sat upright and yawned. "I'm fine. Meta, Terra, Ozma ... what happened to them? Did they get sapped of their energy?"

The group parted for him to show that a set of smaller beds had been brought in, all holding three different people. Val and Nene went outside to give them some room in the small house, and he got up to see who they were.

He was both joyed but shocked by what he saw. "They ... took human forms?" he asked with an air of surprise.

"They wanted to stay with us instant of disappearing forever," Gala said, "so they took the forms of three humans. They're now resting to get their life energy back, so they should be awake later tonight." Vahn paused to look them over. This wasn't like just staring at an entity on his arm which made him so much stronger, they had taken respective forms and looked something like young teenagers. He supposed that after all they had done, this was the best they could do. Meta looked like he was about thirteen with fiery red hair, pale skin, and very light red clothing.

As the four were about to leave him alone for a while, Nene burst in with someone behind her. "Vahn, Dr. Usha came to see you." Now here's a face they hadn't seen in a while...

*Ugh.* Vahn thought. *And I wanted to keep it that way.*

Dr. Usha gave him a hearty slap on the back, which made him sputter and cough a bit. "How are you doing, my boy? Congratulations, and my deepest thanks! I believed you could do this, but to actually witness it is something else. I'm sure that all of Legaia would love to crowd in here and hug you right now."

*Yeah ... and a few people up in Noaru, too...*

The doctor took a step back and adjusted his glasses. "Are you thinking of leaving this town? I would think this quiet little village life isn't enough after all you've been through." He chuckled a bit at his own joke, and Vahn fought the urge to either shove the old cook out of his house or just roll his eyes.

"Kind of," he muttered in reply. "Though it's safe to travel now, I don't know where we'd go."

"What about that girl, Mei, who lives right next door?"

"Oh ... um..."

"She seems very nice, she fixed my pants when I tripped walking here and almost split them right down the middle."

*Agh! Mental images!*

"She is nice..." Man, did she ever bring back some whoppers of memories. Who knew what she'd say if he told her everything, including a love that would never return again who also happened to be male. He'd see stars for weeks. "But I ... don't think I'm quite ready for that yet." To change the topic and stop everyone from crowding his breathing space, he turned to his comrades with a smile. "I'm sorry, but ... could you all leave for a while? I think I'm going to rest a bit more."

They all nodded, muttered goodbye, and left one by one. He closed the door behind a babbling, teetering Dr. Usha, and collapsed backwards onto his bed. He had a plan that would probably make him look like a coward, but a damn good thinker. It would take skill, cunning, energy ... and sleep.

Later that night, the house was still empty of everyone but the resting Ra-Seru ... er, humans. Ra-Seru humans, right. Vahn slid out of bed and over to where Meta lay with a smile on his face, looking quite satisfied. Slowly and gently, he shook his shoulders. "Meta? Hey, you! Human boy, wake up!"

To his surprise, Meta's eyes slid open -- and they, too, were red, just a much tamer color. He smiled and sat upright, signifying he was perfectly rested, and spoke in the same voice he had when he was fixed onto Vahn's arm. "Nice to see you again! We did not want to leave you three when all was said and done, and plus I wanted to see how you would fare. So, here we are, looking like children." His smile widened, and he shrugged.

Vahn smiled in return, but it really didn't last. "I have a favor to ask of you, and I'm really hoping you can do it in your condition."

"Yes, what is it?"

His gaze fell like lead to the ground, and he hesitated a bit before letting the thoughts flow out in the form of badly placed words. "I want you to send me to the Valley of Noaru. I want Gi back, any way possible."

Meta was silent. It didn't seem possible, at all. "But the Valley of Noaru is the place of the dead. One, you are not dead. Two, if you go, there is little no no chance that you will come back! You'd be tampering with nearly every rule of nature there is, you know..." But he stopped when Vahn put on that look that screamed he didn't want to hear about it.

He slid off of the bed and stood in front of Vahn. "Are you completely sure about this?" Vahn nodded mutely. They joined hands, and like the connection of two wires, energy began flowing throughout their arms until they were full. "I don't know what might happen, so brace yourself for the best ... and the worst. With this energy you can contact me just in case we can get you back." And in a release of their arms and a great flash of light, Vahn had disappeared.

The flash had poured through the windows, woken Terra and Ozma up, and sent everybody running out. Meta turned as the door flew open and they stood there asking who what where when why how where the hell is Vahn.

He smiled a feeble, vague smile. "He's living in the world of the dead."