The word had spread across Spira like a wildfire. By word of mouth, by comlink, and by the flyovers by the battle-tested and victorious Spiran aerospace force, the news exploded planetwide that the Empire had been defeated. The Executor had been destroyed, the Imperial forces routed, and Spira was once more in their control. All across the planet, in every city and village, those who had not joined the fight for their freedom broke out into joyous celebration the moment they heard the news.

---

In Guadosalam, a young Guado boy ran through the streets of the city, heading directly toward Tromell's home. An expression of pure rapture was evident on the boy's face as he ran, his arms flailing at his sides and causing the sleeves of his robes to ripple with his movements. "We did it!" he cried out jubilantly. "We defeated the Empire!"

As he ran and shouted his joyous message, other Guado who had heard him stepped out of their homes, wondering what all the commotion was about. Each of them got to the point of hearing the words "Empire" and "defeated" before they too joined in crying out joyously, shouting thanks to the gods and clinging happily to one another.

Just as the boy reached the steps of Tromell's home, the Guado leader stepped out into the city, having heard the triumphant shouting of his people. He kneeled down as the boy skidded to a halt in front of his steps. "What is it lad?" Tromell asked softly, looking out at all the Guado celebrating in the streets. "What's all the fuss about?"

"Th-the pilots...!" the boy exclaimed, out of breath. "They just flew by and told us that the war is over! We defeated the Empire!"

Tromell took a moment to respond, digesting this wonderful news he had just been given. He glanced over his shoulder toward the north, toward the direction of Bevelle. He knew that Lady Yuna was there, as was the majority of the Spiran population. They had fought hard, he knew, and won their ultimate victory. Because of them, Spira could know peace once again. A great debt was owed to each and every one of them.

The aging Guado stood up as he heard the sound of starfighter engines passing overhead; he could not see them for the roof of the cavern within which Guadosalam was built. But he could hear them passing, and counted each individual set that he heard. Almost three dozen had passed over the city, and he could also hear bursting sounds from the air that he at first thought were explosions, then came to realize that they were specialized Firaga spells, serving as celebratory fireworks for the war heroes passing overhead.

---

In the port city of Luca, the streets were thick with citizens as the news broke over the spherescreens. All over the city, people were pumping their fists into the air triumphantly, embracing strangers they had never met before, and reveling in the feeling of their recently-rewon freedom. For the fighters of the Spiran army passing over the city, it looked as though there was one solid mass of every color imaginable coating the streets and balconies from the sea to the Mi'ihen Highroad. A mixture of the Firaga spells and actual fireworks burst in the skies around the fighters, a small measure of the gratitude that the citizens had toward the soldiers.

A LAAT/i pilot took his transport gunship down low, flying between the buildings of the city, with the bay doors open. Inside, a group of about twenty soldiers stood on the edges of the transport bay, waving down at the crowd below. The cheering of the crowd doubled as they did this, and as they passed by the sphere theater, they heard a loud voice call out above the cheering, "FREEDOM!"

---

Dona stepped out of her home in Kilika, grumpily rubbing at her eyes. She was not pleased with the fact that she had been awakened by all the commotion going on outside on the docks. As her eyes focused, she saw every single person who called the island home, including the members of the New Yevon that normally stayed at the temple, had gathered out on the docks, and were dancing around, shouting joyously, and acting as though they'd all just been handed a million gil.

Even Barthello was caught up in all of it; the big oaf was strutting around the walkway before their house like a horny peacock in the middle of mating season. That situation was quickly rectified by Dona's palm landing on the side of Barthello's head. "What's going on out here, you big moron?" she asked irritably.

"The news just came in!" Barthello replied, his enthusiasm not at all curbed by Dona's hit. "Lady Yuna and the others have taken Bevelle and destroyed the Empire's Star Destroyer. Spira is ours again!"

The big man's words momentarily stunned Dona. Naturally, like every other citizen of Spira, she had been hoping that the rebellion would succeed, but she hadn't thought they had any semblance of a prayer. But to know that they had won...

"Dona?" Barthello ventured, put off by the ex-summoner's silence.

Then, strangely enough, Dona smiled as she looked first over the crowd of celebrants on the dock, and then back to Barthello. "Then I guess that is ample reason to celebrate. You should have woken me up sooner, you big oaf."

Whatever reply Barthello would have made was drowned out by the rising volume of the crowd as two squadrons of Jedi starfighters passed overhead in formation.

---

The many celebrations that had immediately sprung up all around Spira paled in comparison to that of the one being held by the victorious soldiers in Bevelle. One would be hard-pressed to hear their own conversations over the sounds of the temple bells tolling, fireworks bursting overhead, and almost the entirety of the Spiran air forces flying through the skies. Confetti filled the air around the central square, released from the Airship and Celsius before the two command ships had landed to let their crews join the party. Bonfires had been started in over a dozen places around the square, and those fires had become main gathering points for the celebrating soldiers.

Gippal, Baralai, and Nooj pushed their way through the crowd of soldiers, accepting handshakes, high-fives, hugs, and congratulatory remarks from all around them, and eventually made their way over to the central fountain where the commando strike team had gathered. A round of hugs and congratulations ensued, before the massed group split off into smaller pairs and trios to discuss the events past.

"Nice helmet, Gippal," Rikku quipped, motioning to the clone pilot helmet he held under his left arm. "Maybe you'd have better luck with the girls if you wear it all the time."

Not offended in the least, Gippal took the helmet by its open lower end and lightly bounced the plastoid helmet off Rikku's forehead. "Hey, that was good, Cid's girl. Glad to see you've advanced beyond the realm of kindergarten insults. Next thing I know, you'll be cracking 'your moma' jokes."

"Owie," the Al Bhed girl whined, rubbing her head gently. "That hurt, you big meanie!"

A few feet away, Baralai stood with Jake and Stev, the two Imperial defectors, who were still wearing most of their stormtrooper armor, sans helmets. "Again, I can't thank you enough for all that you've done for Spira," the praetor of New Yevon said to them. "We are deeply indebted to you."

"Don't worry about it," Stev answered, waving an armored hand nonchalantly. "We'd been thinking about jumping ship anyway, but being as how we were assigned to the Executor, we didn't have many opportunities to go AWOL and find a local Rebel Alliance recruiting station."

"So we got one started here on Spira," Jake said with a chuckle, slapping his comrade on his armored back. "Just as well, too." The former stormtrooper nodded to where Tidus and Yuna were talking to Nooj. "I'd rather avoid tasting lightsaber anytime in this life."

The three of them shared a laugh that could barely be heard over the surrounding celebrations.

"I don't see how you manage to put up with it, Yuna," Nooj said, calmly as always, a short distance from Baralai and the stormtroopers.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her head tilted to one side in slight confusion.

"This is the third time now that Spira's relied on you to see it through its darkest times," the Youth League meyvn responded. "It must be growing tiresome."

Smiling faintly, Yuna shook her head. "Spira didn't rely on me this time," she said. "Everyone fought for themselves this time. I did no more than fight alongside them."

"Yeah, but the fact still stands that you're a symbol to the people, Yuna," Tidus said, then gestured to the square that they stood in. "Just look at that last battle. Before you joined the fight, it was a stalemate."

Nooj nodded his agreement. "And once you arrived, the soldiers followed you and charged the Imperials. They weren't waiting for the five o'clock news to end before they charged. Your presence was a tremendous morale boost, and inspired them to victory."

Yuna blushed a deep shade of red and looked away, the lightsaber at her hip glinting in the firelight as her body turned. "I wish you wouldn't put it that way..."

Smiling faintly, Nooj decided to change the subject. "So, you're now a Jedi, was it? That term that Skywalker man used in the recording we sent you."

Her color returning to normal, Yuna smiled proudly and nodded her head. "Yes, a Jedi Knight. With Lord Skywalker's help, I could perhaps find more people on Spira who carry the blood of a Jedi, and train them to become Jedi as well. That way this will never happen again."

"A noble goal, indeed," Nooj said. "Should you come up with a method of searching for these potential Jedi, the Youth League's resources will be at your disposal."

"Hey Noojster, why d'ya gotta be so selfish?" Gippal's voice called out from nearby. "She can use the Machine Faction in her search as well."

The trio looked to the side to see Gippal and Rikku making their way toward them. On their other side, Baralai and the stormtroopers were also wandering over.

"Actually, my friends," Baralai said, "I've had some thoughts on the matter. The reason why the Empire had such an easy time of moving in and taking over is partially due to blame that Spira is divided into a number of political and leadership power sources. We could have been able to coordinate a more effective, and faster, resistance if such a thing were not present."

"Wait wait wait," Gippal said, placing his helmet onto the rim of the fountain and flopping down next to it. "You're trying to suggest that we consolidate all three of our groups into one main governing body?"

"We had already been planning to do that, Gippal," Nooj replied, the voice of reason as always. "It was the lesson we learned from the Vegnagun crisis, remember?"

"Yeah I know," Gippal answered, miffed. "That's not my point. The point is, you remember how it was back two years ago when Yevon was the sole governing body on Spira. The people are probably still afraid of that sort of rule."

"Gippal has a point," Yuna said, looking between the three men. "However, the problem with Yevon was that so many secrets were kept, and so many things were covered up, that the people had no reason at all to trust them. But the people know all three of you. They know the mistakes that have been made, and they know that you're sincerely trying to correct them. The people have great faith in all of you. They will not fear a single governing power in the hands of the three of you."

Gippal, Nooj, and Baralai were all silent. They knew Yuna was wise beyond her years, but that was quite possibly one of the wisest and most insightful things they had ever heard. Finally, Gippal said, "Yeah, that's gotta be that Force thing of hers."

Yuna blinked several times and tilted her head to the side.

"She's right, though," Baralai said. "Even if we don't want to admit it. If the three of us were to consolidate our groups, and ask the Guado and the Ronso to join with the new governing power, we could solve a lot of the problems Spira has been plagued with."

"Aw, come on, Baralai, we can worry about that stuff later. For now, it's time to party!"

"Are you sure we have to invite Gippal?" Nooj asked Baralai, quipping against the Al Bhed man.

"Hmm, maybe not," the praetor answered, playing along.

"Okay, now you guys are asking for it," the Al Bhed said.

Suddenly, Yuna looked up and turned to her left, where she saw the Rebel pilot Arren pushing his way through the crowd, still wearing his orange flight suit, and with his helmet tucked under his right arm. But she could easily see the wide smile on his face, and through the Force she could sense that he was pleased about more than just the Spiran victory.

The Rebel pilot made his way into the group, exchanged a round of handshakes and backslaps with everyone, then raised his black-gloved hand into the air to get everyone's attention. "If we did not already have our tremendous victory to be celebrating," he said, "I would now be providing you with a reason to celebrate. I just received a hypercomm transmission from Home One a few moments ago. The massed Rebel fleet that had been out at Endor to destroy the Empire's new Death Star succeeded in their mission."

"Good," Stev said, nodding his head in congratulations to the far-off Rebel fleet. "I was glad when the first one was destroyed. Superweapons like that have no right to exist in the galaxy."

Arren grinned infectiously at the ex-stormtrooper. "Oh, it gets better, my friend. Word like this may not have leaked far enough down for the stormtroopers to hear about it, but it's been confirmed by Commander Skywalker that Emperor Palpatine himself, and Darth Vader, were on the second Death Star when the Rebels lit it up."

It took a moment for the news to sink in with the stormtroopers, while the rest of the Spirans were largely oblivious. Suddenly, Jake rocked back as if he'd been gut-punched. "Holy shit. That's it. The war is over. With the Emperor dead, the Rebels have won."

At that explanation, expressions of happiness erased the confusion on the faces of the Spirans. "That's great!" Tidus exclaimed. "The Empire isn't ever going to bother us again!"

"That's wonderful," Yuna said happily, turning her gaze to the starry sky, and wondering which bright point of light held the atomized remains of the Dark Lord of the Sith that had almost killed her.

"This will be big news for the soldiers," Baralai said. "Some of them have been worried that all we've fought for will be naught; that the Empire will return and destroy us next time. Now they will know they have nothing to fear."

"You got it," Arren replied with a nod. "And since the hypercomm message came with text and audio, I had a little chat with the communications specialists of the fleet. Every comlink system on the surface of Spira should be picking up the news right about...now." He punctuated his statement by pointing to the clone pilot helmet sitting next to Gippal.

Taking the hint, Gippal picked up his helmet and held it near his head in time to hear, "...Empire's new Death Star superweapon was destroyed by the Rebel Alliance fleet at Endor. Reports indicate that Emperor Palpatine was on board the Death Star at the time of its destruction. With the death of the Emperor, the Empire's reign of terror over the galaxy is effectively over, and the Rebellion has become the victor in the Galactic Civil War."

A whole new wave of shouting and cheering rose from the crowd at the conclusion of the message, which was set to repeat for a few minutes to ensure that everyone heard it at least once. The single sound of exhilarating cheer from the soldiers blocked out all other sounds for several minutes, during which time Yuna wandered away from the main gathering toward a small open space near the LAAT/i that had brought the commando team to the square.

A moment later, she felt something in the Force that she had never felt before, prompting her to turn toward the open cargo bay of the LAAT/i. There, appearing in a washed-out blue color, stood Lenne, Shuyin, Jecht, and Auron. The four of them seemed almost transparent, and Yuna had a feeling that they could be seen only by her. Each of them displayed pleased expressions for the outcome of the war.

Then, as she watched them, a fifth form slowly materialized. It was Braska, her father, but he was not clad in the summoner's garments that she was so used to seeing him in. Instead, he was wearing a rough-hewn tunic and brown leather boots, with a long, hooded brown cloak over it. She knew, without knowing how she knew, that her father was wearing the traditional robes of a Jedi Knight. Then as he shifted his position slightly and his cloak pulled away from his body, she could see a shining cylindrical object hanging from the belt around his waist. She knew immediately that it was a lightsaber, and she could also see that it looked quite different from hers.

She felt warmth deep inside her heart as she saw her father there. He also bore the Jedi heritage of Juun Toral, so it was obvious that he too would have become a Jedi Knight. Now, more than ever before, Yuna felt proud of herself, and of the heritage that she had, and would continue, to live up to. And as she gazed into the loving face of her father, she knew for a fact that she had lived up to her heritage, and that Braska was very proud of her.

A moment later, she felt strong hands on her shoulders, and looked back to see Tidus standing there, a perplexed expression on his face. He could not see them the way that she could, she knew. After a moment, the blond blitzer looked down at the young summoner-turned-Jedi Knight. "What 'cha looking at?"

"Nothing," she answered with a contented smile, allowing him to turn her around and lead her back toward their friends. But as she did, she turned her eyes one last time toward the quintet of ghostly figures, all of whom she knew was very proud of her. She knew she would see them again.


A/N: Nope, kids, sorry, it isn't quite over yet. I said there would be celebrations, promises fulfilled, and a glimpse at how the new Spira would turn out. This is just the celebration part. I figured that it'd be good to end it on such a powerful note. So now, for shout-outs.

Xephon: Magic beat a Star Destroyer? Pardon me while I go bash my head against a sharp pointed object. :D

Euphoria's Tragedy: Yeah, I'm awesome. You can feel free to worship me and send me all sorts of kickass Star Wars merchandise such as Rebel pilot helmets, a fully-wearable, authentic set of clone trooper (Ep. 2 or Ep. 3, no preference) or Jango Fett armor, or almost anything else that is affiliated with the Rebel Alliance, like this nifty year-old t-shirt I got from Disney MGM studios that has the Rebel Alliance logo on the front, and the phrase "Leading the fight for freedom" on the back. ;)

Ahem, pardon my ranting. Anyway yes, I'm quite proud of the work I've done on Shadows of the Empire. But like I said, it's not quite finished yet. I still have an epilogue to do now.