The epilogue!

And the reason why my new penname is "Sovereign Beta" is because "Sovereign" is already taken. I'm still referring to myself as "Sovereign" though.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING MENTIONED IN THIS STORY.

Just the story itself. Enjoy!

"GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

My scream of agony echoed within the tight confines of the hospital room.

I hate childbirth.

"Push, Namine, push!" Roxas urged.

"Shut up!" I yelled at him, turning away from my swollen abdomen for a second. "This is all your fault, you bastard!"

My fiancé held his hands up, palms out, in the universal gesture for surrender.

Ventus and his parents' funeral had been larger than I had imagined. He had never seemed the popular type, but when you consider the number of times his family had moved, the friends his parents had had, and all those friends' immediate families, scores of guests being present doesn't seem too farfetched.

As the friend who had found Ventus's body, I made the last eulogy of him. I broke down during the last ten steps to the podium, was calmed down by Roxas, broke down again during the last quarter of my speech, and was calmed again, this time by a hallucination (which is what I think it was, now) of Ventus.

I was written off as a suspect because of two reasons: a) I had had a good relationship with Ventus at the time of his death, and everyone had confirmed that nobody in the school had reason to attack him, and b) my DNA wasn't found anywhere in the areas of the house where Ventus and his family were…were...

I refuse to say it.

Moving onto a brighter subject, Roxas was the best boyfriend any girl could reasonably ask for.

We had our fair share of fights, but we always made it up to each other depending on who had started it. He was always there for me, no matter what he himself was going through, and I tried my best to return the favor. So when he proposed to me I felt I was both the luckiest and the most unworthy girl in the entire universe.

But hey, that's love.

And then there was the incident at the party where some idiot got me drunk (after only a single can, my pride is forever bruised) and Roxas came to my rescue. Of course, said idiot (not Roxas) was unconcious from a generous helping of fisticuffs by that time.

Disappointingly, Roxas succumbed to temptation back at our apartment, not that I complained afterwards, of course (he was quite…skilled), but he also forgot to wear protection. This I yelled out his eardrums for in the morning. I also refused to talk to him for a week.

All of that led to this.

"I'll kill you!" I shrieked as another wave of pain hit me.

Roxas winced, expecting the upcoming kicking of rear end. He should; I had signed up for kung fu classes the month after Ventus's funeral.

"I'll make you regret the day you were born!" I continued. "I'll fucking rip your balls off!"

"Namine!" Aqua scolded.

"Don't talk like that with your baby in earshot!" her husband Terra lectured. "What if your swearing imprints on his mind?"

"Shut up!" I hollered again, reaching for Roxas's throat as best I could. "Lemme at him!"

My sister and her husband frantically held me down by my shoulders as I screamed and flailed.

If you're wondering why I was being so vicious and abusive towards Roxas, then you haven't felt the misery that is childbirth.

Well? Have you?

No?

I should hope not!

Anyways, the baby's shoulders finally managed to pass through my cervix. The birth was relatively smooth sailing after that.

The doctors quickly snipped off and tied the umbilical cord; when the placenta was ejected it was thrown away.

I held my—our—newborn in my arms as Roxas sat down next to me, gently stroking the baby's soft cheek.

"What should we name him?" he wondered.

"Her," I corrected him. "Hmmmm…any ideas?"

"Sarah?"

"No, too simple."

"Ventus?"

"That's a guy's name!"

"Terra?"

"Was that an insult?" Terra demanded, obviously offended.

"No, sorry. Artemis?

"Good, but not good enough."

"Aqua?"

"Why thank you!" my sister exclaimed.

"No."

"Spoilsport," Aqua grumbled.

"Wait—I've got the perfect one!"

"What is it?"

"Claire!"

"That's…not bad, actually."

"Yeah…Claire Farron. I like it," I murmured. I turned back to my baby. "Didja hear that? Your name's Claire!"

Claire stopped crying for a moment to gurgle. I chose to interpret the sound as approval.

"She likes it!" I declared.

"Yeah well, when we're married it'll change to Claire Leonhart," Roxas reminded.

Our daughter stopped crying a second time to give her father what appeared to be a death glare.

"You got owned," I snickered as my fiancé recoiled in mock fear.

Well, that's that…

Masks is over…

But its successors live on! (meaning whatever else I write) I also plan on writing a XionXRiku sequel, with Riku in the front seat. Guess what it's about~ ;)

My grade for Masks:

Plot (self-explanatory): 7/10

Suspense (self-explanatory): 8/10

Characters (development, sympathy, personality, etc.): 7/10

Continuity (how well I tied together the chapters): 7/10

Viability (how creative I was without jumping the shark): 6/10

Overall: 7/10 (C-), not an average

Keep in mind this is what I think of this story RELATIVE to other stories of this type on the site. Idiotique's Shine comes to mind (it's my all-time favorite story). In my opinion, that warrants a 9.5/10, if not the full 10.

Still, 7 isn't too bad for a first story, right?

Special thanks to my reviewers:

ComicalXMysterious,

Kairi Granger,

4ever,

shadowofthenightxx,

Truth-Unspoken,

LovelyIn'Sanity (first reviewer),

CheezeIsMyName,

and last, but most certainly not least, ken08002!

You guys rock!

Thank you for your support!