This is it. The last chapter. After almost a year since the last update, this is the ending of all endings. I should just let you know that I hate, hate endings, so please excuse me if I shed a tear or two.
Chapter 26 - Endings Are Beginnings in Disguise
Rebuilding Altair was a long and arduous task, but as Matt liked to say, "Nothing this important was ever meant to be easy". And as long as they were together, they were happy enough.
On the first day of planning, Mimi had asked Sora to be her royal advisor. It was the logical choice. Sora was sensible and street-smart, but more importantly, she was loyal and trustworthy. Sora had accepted, nearly in tears, and had immediately sent a messenger to contact her mother. She had thought that she'd finally proved to her mother that she could make it on her own. But upon hearing of her mother's joy on her behalf, she soon realised that what she had actually done was prove it to herself. As a result, she and her mother were on the road to patching up their broken relationship.
Sora and Tai were also spending a lot of time together. Since Sora had let down her defences, their love for each other had only grown. And while both were being very cautious, and taking their relationship forward at a snail's pace, there was speculation in the air that they would be the first Altair citizens to wed in the reformed city.
Tai and Kari, who had only ever wanted a place to call home, were finally given one. They accepted Matt and Mimi's invitation for a permanent residence in Altair without a moment's hesitation. There was a large house in an attractive part of the city that was unique in that it seemed to have remained largely unoccupied since the siege. It was made of light grey stone, but its plain façade hid an expansive interior. Two storeys, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, plus various other rooms and chambers. The windows were huge, letting the sun stream in. It was filthy, of course. Mud had been tramped across the floors, windows and walls had been smashed, curtains were ripped, dead leaves and debris had been blown in from outside, and everything was covered in a good inch or more of dust.
But none of that mattered. Because it belonged to them, and that alone made it better than anything they'd ever dreamed of. The house could be fixed and, even if it wasn't, they'd stayed in far worse places in their time. For the first time in so many years they had a place to call their own. They didn't have to live as drifters any more. They could stop, relax, settle. They knew they'd always be safe and welcome.
They were also always welcome at the castle. Matt liked to have his second-in-command around for moral support, and TK and Kari were still fast friends, if nothing more. TK was adjusting well to his royal life, though his true identity had come as a huge shock to him when he had first been told. It was even harder for him to accept than it had been for Matt, as he could remember nothing of the time he'd spent with his parents. But once he'd become accustomed to the idea, he embraced it wholeheartedly. While still too young to engage in anything but tutelage from Celestria's finest royal instructors, he had big plans for the humanitarian work he would do later in life. He would use his status as a means to assist to those who needed it - all those who'd had a troubled childhood like his own.
Joe was remaining in Celestria for the time being. He was studying medicine at the Royal University, so that he might become the doctor he'd dreamed of being. After graduation he had plans to return to Eschar and bring health and prosperity to his suffering home village. Once he'd completed his sworn duty, he had stated that he would return to Altair and set up a medical practice there. He even hoped, once he was too old and frail to keep working, that he would then pass on his medical knowledge and create the doctors of Altair's next generation. He claimed it was to repay them for taking him in, saving his life and putting him back on the path he had lost sight of. But more than anything, he just wanted to be with his friends.
Izzy was given a chance to really use his intellect. He had been given access to the town archives, and any official city documentation that had been saved from before the uprising. It was his job to wander the streets, town blueprints in hand, and decipher the destruction that was being cleaned up, day in and day out, by crews from Celestria. He was responsible for dictating which buildings could be demolished, and which were heritage listed and should be preserved and renovated. Along with the builders he assessed damage and began to map out cost-effective architectural plans for the reconstruction.
It was during one such expedition that he met a small child, still living on the streets, whose parents had died as tragically as Izzy's own. Having found someone who at least in some way understood his pain, Izzy had begun to talk more often and more easily. He was, in general, happier than he had ever been.
Happiness seemed contagious. Matt and Mimi married, as was their destiny. It was a far more low-key event than Mimi's planned marriage to Prince Ken. It had to be, of course, with Matt, ruler of a forgotten city and seemingly back from the dead, as groom. But honestly, both preferred it that way. Pierre and Liliana paid all costs, and only citizens of Celestria were able to attend. But both Mimi and Matt hoped for a day when Altair flourished, and their anniversary could be celebrated with festivals in the street. It was funny, the way they did everything as a unit. There wasn't any 'I' or 'me'. Only 'we' and 'us'. It made Mimi feel oddly warm and tingly.
Mimi's days were long and hard, but rewarding. Spending all day negotiating with contractors, calculating costs and drawing up plans - all the things needed for the rebuilding of a city - made her feel useful and needed. Something she couldn't remember feeling prior to meeting Matt. Better still, she knew she was good at what she was doing. Somehow she just knew that Altair could prosper under their reign. And maybe, just maybe, if she succeeded in this, it would make up for all the mistakes she'd made in the past. She could pull a city up from the very lowest depths. She could be a good ruler - fair, kind and diplomatic. And far beyond that, she could share that with Matt, the man who was the love and light of her life. She would have lived on the streets with him forever. But this was even better. She could take the Guardians' advice and use her status for the greater good.
And Matt finally knew who he was. His past finally made sense. The missing pieces to his puzzle were found and put in place. But after spending so many years questing for everything he'd lost, suddenly there was something so much more important. Knowing his past no longer seemed so integral to his being. He'd thought that it was his past that defined him. But now he knew it was his future. He could choose who he was. He was Mimi's husband, and her love completed him. With her beside him, he could do anything. He could be anything. Even the King of Altair.
All in all, there were no guarantees, just as there are never guarantees in life. But Mimi had the notion that they might all just live happily ever after.
HEAVEN AND EARTH, IT IS FINALLY FINISHED! It took me three years and two months (to the day), but it's finally finished! 46500 words and 26 chapters and now it's all done! It feels so strange… like I'm letting my baby go. Like it's the end of an era. I'm really a bit sad… :(
I hope you all enjoyed this long journey, and I hope the epilogue wasn't too much of a let down after everything else. If you've liked what you've read, please review. And then, if you want, you can even go and read my other stories! But no pressure.
Emma's useless facts about nothing in particular
The average person will make more than 1,000 telephone calls every year.
