A/N: So here comes the last chapter! First of all, thank you so much for reviewing and actually reading this!

Secondly… If you got confused with the flashbacks in the last chapter, try to read the last three flashbacks (aka. the hospital scenes) as whole. That should help you get the picture. They go in timeline, happening right after one another.

And thirdly (geez, this'll be a looooooong a/n…)… The song in this chapter is Switchfoot's "Dare You To Move". I don't own it (tough I'd very much want to), but I thought it fit here beautifully.

Anyways, on with the story! Hope you'll like this chapter.


Welcome to the planet

Welcome to existence

Everyone's here

Everyone's here

Everybody's watching you now

Everybody waits for you now

What happens next?

What happens next?


As Kai slowly opened his eyes, everything was dark at first. He frowned. What had woken him up?

In fact, it was a miracle that he'd actually fallen asleep. During the passed long months, all sleeping had offered him were nightmares, so cruel and painful that he'd rather chosen not to sleep at all.

But tonight was different. Not a single nightmare had been haunting his mind. First time in a long while he'd actually been sleeping peacefully.

Was it because of the soft scent of vanilla that lingered in the room?

Just then he heard the whisper, so quiet that he almost missed it. " Kai?".

The voice… It was so familiar… He refused to get up, too afraid that he might not see the face he yearned the most.

" Kai… Please…".

Slowly, extremely carefully, his forced his body into a sitting position – and felt his heart skip a beat as he saw the figure sitting by his bedside.

She smiled to him. " Hi".

He blinked, closed his eyes for a while and then opened them again. She was still there. " Hilary?" he whispered.

She nodded in conferment, smile widening.


I dare you to move

I dare you to move

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

Today never happened before


For a long time the two simply looked at each other, almost like not believing the other was really there. Neither spoke in fear of breaking the magic, destroying the sweet dream that was so tempting and beautiful.

Gods, for so many times when he had actually fallen asleep Kai had had this exactly same dream of Hilary coming to him… Each time he'd kissed her, told her he loved her, and she had replied feeling the same.

But that could only happen in his dreams.

Was this another dream?

Eventually Kai decided to take the risk of waking up from his dream and slowly reached out his hand, carefully brushing the soft skin of Hilary's hand. He half expected that the hand would disappear and he would once again wake up alone, with the now familiar, unbearable pain in his heart. But, to his great surprise, that didn't happen. Instead Hilary closed her smaller hand softly around his, the warmth of her skin warming his ice-cold hand.

He looked at her, eyes slightly widened. " Is this a dream?" he dared himself to ask, taking the huge risk of getting hurt once again.

But Hilary didn't disappear. He didn't wake up. Instead another warm smile made its way to her rosy lips and she shook her head, tightening her grip on his hand. " No. I swear to you, this is for real".

He didn't know what to do, no words willed their way through his lips.

How ironic. Always in his dreams he'd known exactly what to say and do. But now… It occurred to him that reality was indeed much more difficult than dreams.

Eventually it was Hilary who begun the speaking. Her smile had faded, instead she seemed sad, perhaps even slightly indignant. " Why did you do it, Kai? I don't understand…". She swallowed and looked away for a short while, then back to him again. " If you really love me, why didn't you tell me so instead of running away?".

He gave a dry, bitter laughter. " Because running away has always been what I do the best, I guess". It wasn't even close to the whole truth, but Hilary didn't have to know that.

But as he looked into Hilary's eyes, he found that he was wrong. The sad, disappointed look told that she did know much more than he'd thought. Damnit! He'd hurt her again. It seemed that pain was all he could bring on people. He wanted to apologise to her, but yet again words wouldn't make their way out. And then she spoke. " Come back with me". She sounded pleading, almost desperate. The tone broke his heart. " Please, Kai, come back. I miss you, we all do".

Gods how much he wanted to say yes! His entire heart and soul begged him to give in, to surrender under Hilary's enchanting eyes, but he couldn't. Not after all he'd done to protect her from him.

He shook his head, fought back the unbearably hot tears. Refusing to look at Hilary, he closed his eyes tightly, so tightly that it hurt. " No", he whispered, so quietly that he was almost sure Hilary couldn't hear him.

" Why not?".

He looked at her, and his heart ached worse than ever before as he saw the unshed tears in her eyes. So much pain… So much pain because of him… All because of him… " Because I can't make my shadows yours", he whispered.


Welcome to the fallout

Welcome to resistance

The tension is here

The tension is here

Between who you are and who you could be

Between how it is and how it should be


" Is that what you think you'll bring to me? Shadows? Pain?". She sounded so compassionate that it made it almost impossible to hold back tears. He closed his eyes again, even tighter this time, to keep the tears from coming, and nodded. " Kai, look at me". It was a gentle, yet firm demand. He refused. " Please, look at me!". The desperation in her tone finally forced him to look at her. First of her tears were already rolling, shining painfully beautifully in the silvery moonlight, like a small rivers of diamonds. " I will never let go of you, not ever", she told him, squeezing tightly his hand she was still holding. " And I am not afraid of you, Kai. I know that you have your shadows, dark ones at that, but they don't matter. Nothing will bring me down as long as I have you". More diamonds shined on her cheeks, her grip on his hand was almost painful. " Can't you see? Don't you understand, after all this time? You are what makes me strong! And I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I'd let you fall like this".

Those words… All the sincerity behind them… The cold, icy fist that had been squeezed painfully around Kai's heart for almost all his life shattered. And it hurt, almost more than he could bear, to feel his heart start beating all over again. It almost felt like he was coming back to life again.

He no longer held back his tears.

Hilary smiled through her own tears, seeing his painful layer of ice finally coming down. First time ever, when she looked into Kai's eyes that despite the tears had finally regained their old fire, she realised that she was looking into the eyes of the real Kai Hiwatari.

No more masks. No more ice. No more dreams. This was for real.

But, as anyone could tell, even tough the ice was gone, the cold still remained. And so did the pain.

" It h-hurts s-so…", Kai whispered, sounding almost confused, as he'd never before, not even in the hands of his grandfather, felt such pain. He couldn't understand. How could something good, something that was supposed to happen, hurt so much?

Hilary, however, nodded in understanding, her tears beginning to dry. " I know".


I dare you to move

I dare you to move

I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

Today never happened


For a long time the two sat in silence, Hilary holding Kai's slightly trembling hand to prove the boy that she was there for him, that it wasn't just another dream.

They'd both had enough of dreams.

Eventually Kai's tears settled, and the boy looked at her, seeming to be deep in thought. Hilary couldn't help wondering what he was thinking about, but didn't dear to ask, afraid that any wrong word might make the ice return to his eyes.

She didn't want him to withdraw again, not after all they'd just accomplished.

But they both knew that questions had to be asked. Serious questions.

" Why… Why did you came?" Kai finally whispered.

Hilary smiled and, slightly tentatively, pushed some silvery bangs off Kai's forehead. He scolded at the touch first, but then relaxed. The small gesture gave her the courage she needed to reply. " Mr. D called me and told that… that you needed me. I couldn't stay away". She brushed the bandages on his wrists and shuttered slightly. " You should've let us help you, Kai. Let me help you. I wanted to".

Kai was surprised, to say the least. She had actually wanted to be there for him? " Why?". The question escaped before he even really thought about it.

A look that was a mixture of amusement and hurt placed itself onto Hilary's face. " You still haven't figured it out?". She laughed a little and shook her head, looking at him with a soft look in her eyes. " Gosh, you have such a thick head in some things…".

He smirked. " So I've been told".

They sat in silence for a while again, both knowing that the hardest questions still remained unasked.

Finally, Hilary gathered all her courage. It was time to mouth the question that had been haunting her for eleven long months. " Kai… Was it true? What you wrote in that note?". She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, squeezing Kai's hand as if it was her lifeline. " Do you love me?"

There was a long pause, and for a long time she feared that the answer might not be what she prayed it to be. But eventually Kai spoke, so quietly that it was hard to hear. " Yes".

She opened her eyes and looked at him, her gaze locking into his captivating burgundy orbs. Gods how she'd longed them, longed him! " That's good", she whispered, her voice slightly choked, as if it'd been hard to speak. " Because… Because the thing is that…". It was so hard to say it, almost unbearable. " I love you too".


Maybe redemption has stories to tell

Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell

Where can you run to escape from yourself?

Where you gonna go?

Where you gonna go?

Salvation is here


Kai's eyes widened by Hilary's words. No… He couldn't even believe it… It was just too good to be true… " W – what?". He had to hear it again, just to be sure.

She blinked her eyes, another diamond-storm ready to outbreak. " I love you, Kai". She sniffed, blinking now furiously. " That night, when you left, I understood… I understood everything…". One tear escaped, then another. " God, I was so afraid that I'd never have a chance to tell you… That I'd never see you again…".

" Sh…". Not bothering to resist the temptation any longer, he gently released his hand from hers and wrapped both his arms around her slim, quivering form, pulling her as close to him as possible. As he closed his eyes and buried his face into her vanilla-scented hair, he could feel her heart beating strongly against his chest, in a perfect sync with his. " Sh… It's going to be okay… Everything's gonna work out…".

With much reluctance, she eventually pulled herself slightly away from him to look him in the eyes, her own eyes still filled with almost ceased tears. " You're going to have to promise me something".

He felt his heart jump. He'd never been good with promises. " Hilary, I… I'm not sure if I can…".

" Promise me", she repeated, eyes flaming, ignoring his protest. " Never leave me again". Second time that night, her fingers brushed his bandages. " And never do anything like that again".

He tried to smirk, but it turned out to be just a pathetic attempt. " That was two promises".

Hilary glared daggers at him. " Kai!".

Looking at her, he suddenly felt powerless to reject her. And actually, he wasn't sure if he even wanted to. Smiling gently, he freed one of his hands from Hilary to brush her silky hair. " I can only promise you to try. None of us can do more than that, ne?".

She nodded, also smiling. " Then that shall be enough".

With that they both laid down, completely exhausted, and Kai sighed contentedly as he pulled Hilary close to him and took in her soothing scent. God, he'd missed her so much, waited for so long! And as long as it should be in his hands, he'd never be away from her again.


I dare you to move

I dare you to move

I dare you to lift yourself

Lift yourself up off the floor

I dare you to move

I dare you to move

Like today never happened

Today never happened

Today never happened

Today never happened before


Some hours later, Tala carefully inched the door and smiled as he saw the sleeping lovers in each other's arms. Seeing the way Kai was holding Hilary, he knew that the boy would never let go of her again.

Sure enough, there was a long, rocky road ahead of the two. But as long as they should have each other, Tala was sure that they would make it. The healing had already begun.

They would save each other, keep one another from falling.

Always.

Still smiling, Tala soundlessly closed the door, leaving the long-parted lovers to rest.


Two days later, Igor was just practising blading in his backyard when the door opened. He quickly called his blade back and turned his head, seeing his mother at the doorway. " What's going on?" he inquired.

She offered him a letter. " A young man left this for you", she replied. " He told me you would understand it".

Frowning, he stepped forward and took the letter from his mom. " Thanks".

As soon as she was back inside, he hurriedly ripped the envelope open, anxious to see what was in it. The note wasn't long, but made him smile nevertheless. What drew his attention even more than the words, however, was the beautiful picture of a phoenix rising from ashes drawn onto the paper.

Thank you for everything.

Remember to practice well, for I'll be watching every single one of your matches. Perhaps one day we'll have a battle of our own…

Kai Hiwatari

Igor's smile became even brighter, as he knew that what the boy he now knew as Kai had written was a promise. " I will battle you one day", he murmured in Russian, squeezing the paper tightly, his eyes flashing. " Just wait and see".

If only Igor had turned his head, he would've seen Kai standing on the nearby street. The silver-hared Phoenix smiled as he turned around and walked away, disappearing from view.


End.


A/N: Awwwww... Call it corny, but I think those two deserve a happy ending.

Well, the story is over now. Once again, thank you all so much for all the more than encouraging reviews! After all, its you who I'm writing to.

Anyways, off towards new adventures! Don't forget to review this last chapter, please?

So long – but only for now!