Epilogue

When the world is unfair, unjust, and full of sorrow, one can only lament. One can only cry, raising their fingers and clawing at the heavens. Scream until their throats are sore.

"Why was my life taken from me?"

"Why was my love taken from me?"

"Why does my soul twist in anguish?"

I know I did. I know I wept. Cried, bent my head, tore at the ground, cursed everything. Everyone. Every hope, every dream, every joy. Snatched and stolen. "Why me?"

When the light cleared, I knew I was alone. There, in the steel Monolith, I found myself without a grip. Suddenly loveless. The soul that supported mine had vanished, kicking my legs out from under me. He was gone. As if he never existed. As if the love never existed.

I was foolish to think so.

He is gone. His warmth, his touch, sound, scent, and voice. But, his lingering affection never left. It took me a while to realize this. But I did. And continue to hold that bright flame.

I feel as if he never left.

The End.

---

Lifting her fingers from the keyboard, Starfire sighed, setting her hands in her lap, reading over that last, simple sentence. "The end? Hmm." Her finger hovered over the backspace button for a moment, then smiled softly. "Well, the readers would want the end, huh?"

A knock at the door.

Moving over to the door, she glanced out the window. Endless plains, backed by eternal mountains. Smiling softly, she reached for the handle, pausing slightly. "You know, you could just come in." And she opens the door.

"Ehhh, I felt like bein' polite, a'ight?" Cyborg stepped into the house, grinning from ear to ear, and lifting a bag. "So? Let's chat, girl."

---

Rolling, rolling plains flow out before the house, reaching eternally towards the distant horizon, the sea of grasses contrasting sharply with the hazy azure. Twin suns blaze down in a drowsy heat, casting everything in brilliant contrast. Light and shadow. She sighed, brushing the hair from her face habitually. But her hair is too short now and bundled, so her red bangs simply fell back to her forehead. Wind kicked at her face, and she smiled into it. Swirling a cup of tea, Starfire turned the smile to Cyborg. "So, I take it you haven't set on a date for the wedding? Honestly, Victor, Jinx will get impatient if you don't do something soon." Sipping slightly, the grin turned to a smirk. "What is it with men and procrastination?" she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Leaning a heavy, metal arm against the patio table, he raiseed his brows at her. "Oh, yeah? Well, I'll have you know that I'm not the one who's been writing a book for two solid years. We hardly see you anymore, Star." Laughing, he handled the soda can awkwardly in his hand for a moment, before sipping. Then, "Seriously, Star, you should come out to town and see us more often. I'm sure Gar would personally love to unload a very pregnant Raven on you. Have you ever seen a half-demon with morning-sickness? Hehe. Poor Gar is going crazy. It's all he can do to run out and get her crazy cravings."

Setting the cup down, she folded her arms over her chest, in a sort of 'no-thanks' stance. "Uh-huh. I feel much safer here, thanks." She nodded sagely, before grinning. "You see? Gar has more guts than you. He popped the question and set the date in practically the same breath." She stared absent-mindedly at a red-breasted robin swinging low and land on the metal gutter on the roof just above her. It regarded her with a bright, glassy eye for a moment, before chirping softly. The Tamaranian grew distant for a moment, pulling her gaze to the window beside her, staring at her reflection.

"And how have you been, Star? Are you...all right?" Vic drummed his fingers softly on his titanium arm, before regarding her with soft worry. "You can always get away from this, you know. I'll set you in the town. A small house next to ours. The other Metas regard you as a hero, you know." His voice softened, laden with concern. "After what happened, we worry...about you." He spread his fingers out on the glass top of the table. A nervous habit.

Silence. The wind rushed up softly, buffeting her, pulling at her. She smiled sadly, the corners of her eyes creasing in some unsaid emotion. "You needn't worry, Victor. Really." Sighing, she again moved to brush her hair away, but stopped herself. "I..." She shruged softly, palming her tea, her bare feet moving softly on the wooden deck below her. "I don't think any of us will really understand, though. What he went through. I came out here to try and figure it out. Without distraction. In the end, I think I understand partially." Her eyes swept over the plains, and the distant mountains in the west. "This place reminds me of him."

Victor just stared at her. Then, he turned to stare with her, out onto her own private world.

---

The visit had ended with happy hugs and fond farewells. A very pleasant afternoon with an old friend. Discussing old things, as well as new. But once again, the computer screen shone at her, the ending of her book sitting softly behind the screen.

She sighed, leaning back and crossing her arms behind her head. "Mmf," she mumbled around a pencil she'd been chewing. Slowly, her hand moved over the backspace button. Then came down.

---

I was foolish to think so. His love still throbs in my veins.

But beyond myself, I find that I understand him and his death more and more everyday. Perhaps partially out of atonement. Perhaps partially to save the world. However, at the risk of sounding egotistical, I believe he did it for me. The ultimate sacrifice. The ultimate gesture of love. I once read somewhere that 'In living we die, in dying we live'. If we cannot give our lives up for something, life truly is meaningless.

And there, in the Monolith, I saw a glimpse of something. Of perfect love. Something so often unattainable. His soul was flung out past my fingers, and achieved something more. This life is wretched and empty if you cannot live for something.

There is no end.

And, in my soul, I doubt there ever is.

---

She leaned back from the screen, her eyes flicking over what she just wrote. Smiling, she chuckled, saved it, and closed the screen. "That'll do."

Without reason, she pushed away from the desk, and walked out to the front porch, staring at the dirty tea cup and fragments of biscotti from early in the day, and then ignored them, looking out over the plains. The sun was setting, casting fire and dying heat across the land, bruising the fat, puffy clouds with dark purples and soft pinks. Scents of the plain fill her, the dark earth, the yellow grass, the smell of rain over the mountains.

And far in the distance, framed by the setting rays, stood a figure clothed in white, smiling, his startling blue eyes unhidden. Black hair waved behind him in the breeze, his hands casually set in his pockets. He lifted his hand, and waved, smiling softly, his features clear from even this distance.

Him.

She couldn't help it. Leaning on the banister of the porch, she smiled at the distant, fading figure.

And waved back.

---

The End?

No.

The Beginning.

-Razvanor