Steve and Jennifer stepped out of the portal and stopped to appreciate the yellow sun above. However, their attention was almost immediately drawn away by an explosion of light in the sky. They found themselves staring at an aurora of colours, many of which their world had never seen before. Each shade was more brilliant than the last.

Suddenly, a wind whipped their hair as Drake Junior swooped past. Their eyes followed the young Enderdragon as he swept so low to the ground the shrubs and flowers of the ground began to scratch his exposed belly. Then, purring with satisfaction, he shot back up into the sky and began to bite playfully at the intangible rays of the aurora.

"Be careful up there!" Steve shouted.

The dragon didn't seem to hear him and continued to swing around still more boldly. Steve gritted his teeth and stood on tiptoe as he tried to follow every turn.

Behind him, a laugh erupted from Jennifer's throat and Steve turned in exasperation, only for her hand to touch his face and brush the worry out of him.

"Hey," she smiled.

She had removed her armour, just leaving a t-shirt and jeans. The multi-coloured lights bounced off her shining red hair, an aurora in its own right.

"Hey."

He reached for her waist and drew her in.

"You know I love you, right?"

She leaned in.

"I got the impression."

Their lips touched. The sun was warm, and so was she. He held her tight to him. Their eyes drifted shut. The lights of the sun and aurora danced atop their closed eyelids, turning the void of blindness into a radiant glory. They stayed that way for the longest time.

Finally, the aurora dimmed, and they drew apart. Still holding hands, they took in the quaintness of Brine Manor. Atza, Steve's mother, stood at the door, fussing over a reluctant Ozen. Wolfric sat off on a bench on the porch, drifting off into a peaceful sleep after the exertions of the day. On the top floor of the manor, a light shone in Dad's room, and Steve could see his silhouette, upright and reading over an old book.

A look across the Manor's colossal lawn and into the forest revealed a road, and people coming up it. Alex sat astride a horse, her long orange hair flowing in the breeze and her diamond armour looking almost black beneath the shelter of the bows of trees. Behind her, her friends, Dylan and Rana led a donkey laden with supplies.

In the other direction, Steve saw Mark and David of Morbrook riding up a redstone railway of their own design. Behind them trailed a line of minecarts containing villagers and chests, full to bursting with melon and bread and pork and… so much else both wonderful and familiar.

"Now they show up," Jennifer rolled her eyes wryly. "When it's time to celebrate."

Steve laughed.

"Eh, I'll trap the Alliance members into one hell of a Dungeons and Enderdragons game tomorrow and then we'll be even."

They began to walk down toward the crowd, then suddenly they stopped. Steve was frowning, and his shoulders hunched.

"Actually," he said. "What do we do next?"

"What do you mean?"

"In the nightmare, I saw a world where I had everything. You were there, and we had… a family. And Ozen was there, and I was still adventuring, and Dad had fully recovered, and it still didn't make me feel complete. So, I…"

He trailed off, shame filling him. He tilted his head and looked at his right hand as though it were stained. Once again, Jennifer's hand touched his face, this time to straighten out his fretful confusion.

"You know what I saw?"

His eyes locked with hers. There was a trust, profound enough that it superseded words. And it melted away all worry within him.

"No?"

She drew back and pretended to huff.

"Well too bad, because I'm not telling you."

She winked, and it was like the signing of a sacred covenant.

"Love ya, Steve," she ordained.

Steve chuckled and cast a glance to the side. Atza and Ozen were building long tables while David, Mark and the villagers carried over their plentiful banquet. Dad was waving from the window in his fragile way. Drake had come to rest on the ground, where Alex threw him a cooked porkchop. The aurora was faded, but its colours lingered like a welcome stranger.

Steve and Jennifer drew each other in for one last kiss, and they set off to enjoy whatever this new future might hold.