Disclaimer: I don't own Tron, Disney owns Tron. Here's the final chapter, please R&R :)

There was no crowd in the Arena to cheer them on, no care free atmosphere as the anticipation of the match settled on them. Tron and Risie were alone in the Arena. The only sound either heard was the sound of their own breathing under their helmets. This was probably a bad idea, but the lack of fighting Risie had done since Clu imprisoned her had left an itch in her mind no other activity could calm.

Tron drew his disk, crouching into an attack position. Risie mirrored him. They circled each other, trying to decide how to begin. Risie struck first, flinging her disk at Tron. He easily dodged it and threw his own. They went back and forth until, during one throw, Risie charged him. He had been paying attention to her disk and could not get out of the way before she tackled him to the ground. He heard a soft growl in her chest as he flung her aside.

They engaged in close combat after that. Every move one made the other countered. Neither combatant noticed Sam and Quorra as they entered the Arena stands. Tron and Risie were a blur of motion. It was a stalemate. Then everything changed.

After one of her jumps, Risie's left arm went limp. Tron paused as she shook her head, clenching her fist. The armor lines on her arm flickered, then changed to a dark orange. She took up a new battle stance and split her disks in two. Tron didn't have time to process this development before both disks were careening towards his head. He threw his own disk at her, but she dodged more easily than he had ever seen her able to. She caught her disks and jumped at him. She landed on his chest, knocking him onto his back. He saw his own disk fly past, out of reach.

She had one knee on his stomach and a hand on his chest, holding one disk to his throat. She raised her other disk above her head. Tron folded his helmet back.

"Risie," he said, "look at me."

Her helmet folded back. Her eyes were glazed over and Tron knew what had happened. The Rinzler code was in control of Risie's combat routines.

"Risie," he said, "you can overcome this."

Her hand started shaking. Her disk fell as her hand went limp. She quickly backed away from him, her eyes clearing. She was breathing hard and her eyes revealed the panic she felt.

"I couldn't stop," she said quietly, "I could see you, but it was like something else was moving me in the Arena."

Tron slowly stood, walking over to Risie. She took another step back away from him.

"I could have killed you, Tron," she said.

"You didn't," he said.

They looked at each other in silence. The sound of footfalls broke the silence as Sam and Quorra joined them.

"Are you all right?" Sam said.

"I'm intact," Tron said.

The security program looked down at himself. There were scratches on his armor. Apparently, he didn't dodge as well as he thought he had. He looked up to see Quorra talking quietly to Risie. Quorra retrieved Risie's disks, clicking them into place on Risie's back. Quorra started to arrange Risie's code, doing so carefully as to cause Risie no pain. When she was done, Quorra waved to Sam. Tron followed Sam as the User approached Quorra.

"So what was it?" Sam said.

"The Rinzler code is in charge of all her combat routines," Quorra said, "I used what you taught me to arrange her code so all of the 'Rinzlers' are in one place. Now if it engages, she can bypass it."

Quorra tapped the area inside Risie's disks on the other program's back.

"There is a logo here that will light up when the bypass activates," Quorra said.

Risie rubbed her eyes. Tron smiled. It was what Flynn had done whenever he overworked himself. Flynn said it was because he was tired and needed some sleep. Programs didn't sleep, but Tron knew Risie had to have exhausted herself. Tron walked forward and scooped Risie into his arms.

"Let's go home," he said.

They arrived at Risie's private quarters just as all the other programs were starting their tasks. They sat around the scoreboard as a new set of matches were announced and getting ready to begin. Sam kept smiling at Tron. Finally, the User spoke.

"So, did you think about our offer?" Sam said.

"I just don't know," Tron said, "I'd almost rather stay here."

"What's going on?" Risie said.

"We offered for Tron to come back to the 'Real World' with us," Sam said, "we're going to reboot the entire Grid."

"It's never been done," Risie said, "why now?"

"It should reset everything to its original state," Sam said, "besides, we think he's earned a vacation."

Risie fell quiet as the first match went underway. She looked at each of the others in turn, her eyes finally settling on Tron.

"Go," she said.

Everyone froze with their eyes on her.

"Someone has to remember what happened here," Risie said, "to keep it from happening again. You're the only program Flynn didn't write himself. I'll keep things safe here. Go meet your User."

Sam sat back, watching the match end. Tron was looking at the User, his eyes pleading for the other to say something.

"I'll see you all off," Risie said, "I need a good sailer ride and I've never been to the portal."

Risie looked down at her hands.

"Will the reboot bring Flynn back?" she said.

"I hope so," Sam said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Risie said.

Again, all eyes were on her. Tron went to speak, but Quorra beat him to it.

"Reboot the system now?" Quorra said.

Risie nodded.

"We have to let the programs know," Sam said.

"Don't," Risie said, "they won't understand and they will likely panic. It'll be like taking a…"

"Nap," Sam finished for her.

"Besides," Risie said, "when it's over, who is going to know the difference anyway?"

"I agree," Quorra said, "plus, this should help us find exactly where the virus is in the Sea of Simulation. You have that meeting with ENCOM in the morning anyway; this is our only chance for the next week or two."

"Alright," Sam said, "let's get going."

All four left the complex. They walked to the Solar Sailer docks. Quorra reprogrammed it and soon they were heading towards the light east of the city. Risie sat at the front of the sailer, completely fascinated with the light ahead of them.

"Have you ever seen the portal up close?" Quorra said to Tron.

"Many times," Tron said, "I was the only one with access to the area. I'd escort Flynn here when he left. It was a time we could just talk about nothing."

"You miss it?" Quorra said.

"Yes," Tron said, "I miss him, and all my friends from the old system. I have discovered something over the cycles though. You never forget them or stop missing them, but you do find others that help so it doesn't hurt anymore. You find new friends and have new adventures."

His eyes settled on Risie's back. A smile crept on his face. He realized she really was his best friend now. True, no one would replace Yori or any of the others in the old system, but Risie was more like them than anyone he had ever known here. He suddenly wondered if she would come with him to visit the old system, if it was still there.

The solar sailer landed and they ascended the stairs in front of the portal. Risie's jaw dropped as she saw the pillar of white light engulfing the far platform. Tron clapped her on the shoulder.

"It never gets old," Tron said, "it's amazing."

Risie wordlessly nodded.

Quorra and Sam walked into the light, pulling out their disks. Tron stopped just before the light could encase him.

"Changing your mind?" Sam said.

Tron shook his head and turned to Risie, who was still standing at the entrance. Her hands were folded in front of her and fluid filled her eyes. Sam had finally explained what that meant to Tron during previous cycle; Risie was crying.

"It doesn't feel right," Tron said, "how much time do we have?"

"Not much," Sam said, "once we got here, the portal stared to close."

Tron held out his hand to Risie. She tilted her head.

"You've lived through as much as I have," he said, "you deserve this too."

Risie walked up and took his hand. Neither noticed Sam and Quorra smiling.

"Come with me," Tron said, "I want you to meet Alan1 too."

"Uhm…okay," Risie said, "what about…"

"The Grid will handle itself in the reboot," Tron said, "It just feels wrong leaving you here."

They walked into the light. All four raised their disks above their heads.

Live in the moment.

The disks floated out of reach, rising towards the light above them

And let it all go.

Then Risie saw nothing but light.

~fin

Author's Notes: Well, that's it. My first posted fanfic. So, let me know what you think. I've had people ask me about an extended edition or maybe a few shorts on what happens in the Real World. I haven't decided what I want to do yet and would love your input. If you don't want to leave it in a review, you can always send me a message.

Thanks for everything to anyone that helped. Especially my two "minions". You know who you are. Wouldn't have had the guts to finish this without your support. And to my editor, my hubby. Yah, he had to suffer though this from its infancy. He's such a sweetie.

-Dani