The first thing I woke up to in the morning were frantic voices rousing me out of sleep. I winced at the disruption and felt Sasuke stiffen as he started coming around. His arms tightened around me for a few seconds until the voices grew clearer, and I recognized my brother's voice among the conversation. It was getting louder despite the words sounding hushed. Sasuke must've come to the same realization I had, because he relaxed and exhaled a sigh that ruffled my hair. Reluctant to part from him, I pressed a chaste kiss to his mouth before I leaned up, moving slowly. The aches in my body weren't as prominent, but the last thing I wanted was to exacerbate anything. Today would be a slow day. Perhaps there would be a few slow days, and that was going to be okay. Right on time, I heard a knock at the door.

Sasuke was more hesitant to pull himself into a position even resembling upright. Beneath the sheets, he grasped my hand. I had no need to feel uncomfortable or awkward, not around my own family, but I couldn't help it. The feeling of everyone around me knowing what had happened to me left me feeling vulnerable and exposed, and I was afraid of how long it might take me to stop feeling that way. I couldn't avoid Alex, though, nor could I avoid Sasuke's family. So, I steeled myself and cleared my throat. "Come in."

The door opened with less force than I'd anticipated, creeping open shyly to reveal a sliver of the corridor that expanded to show Alex and Mikoto. Their faces were wary, tired, and Alex looked haunted, a shadow on his expression that had no business being on his young face. I felt a smile crack my lips, though the pain felt more relieving than harmful, and reached out for him. The invitation was all that he needed to launch forward, his arms slinging around me as if he feared I would vanish if he didn't get to me in time. I grunted at the suddenness, but there were no protests. While it was a bit difficult to hug him back with the way he had my arms pinned, I did manage to slip my left arm around his waist. All was quiet for a few seconds as we held one another, his head resting against my shoulder, where I could feel my shirt becoming wet from his tears. "I was so worried about you," he whispered in a shaky voice. "We thought we'd never see you again…I'm so happy that you're home."

"You can't get rid of me that easy, kid," I murmured. His shoulders trembled with hesitant mirth. The bed dipped on the opposite side, and when I glanced out of the corner of my eye, I could see Mikoto rubbing her hand over Sasuke's back. Emotion welled in my throat. This hadn't been easy on anyone. I may have been the one who had gotten hurt physically, but my brother and Sasuke (and perhaps Mikoto and Itachi, to a somewhat lesser extent) had been as terrified, as enraged, and as heartbroken as I was. There was a comforting solidarity there, that I wasn't alone and I wouldn't have to heal all on my own.

"I'll never let anyone take you away again. They won't get away with this." The threatening, low timbre of Alex's promise sent a shiver down my spine. It was hard to feel afraid when I'd had so many fight for my safety, but the cocktail of vitriol still churned inside me. Guilt, anger, a sense of loss that left me feeling like I needed to hunt. I wanted to hunt and take back my control, my freedom, everything.

"Are you…okay?" Alex ventured. I almost asked "In what sense?" before rethinking that bad idea.

"I'll be fine," I said. It was less nihilistic and more truthful than simply saying yes. "Remember what you always tell me? We're made to survive, we can get through anything."

At least, that was something we had to believe, and I wasn't about to abandon that faith when I needed it most. Alex pulled back, his tear-streaked smile making my own lips turn up. I wanted to memorize it, picture every detail, and that scared me a little. I guess when you spend some time believing you might never have something again, you never, ever want to let it go once you've got it. Especially if you're afraid something else might take it away.

Fresh terror rippled through me. Orochimaru's men knew where we were; if they tried once, what was going to stop them from trying again? Orochimaru was right—I wasn't a free person. I'd been enslaved to him, an experiment, then indentured to Sasuke, next. I was nothing but a slave without any rights aside from the ones Sasuke—or Orochimaru—gave me. If Orochimaru wanted me back so bad, what was going to keep him away? A few threats? He knew he owned me. No one cared about servants, no one gave a fuck if I or Alex or any other "pet" got hurt or abducted, the police would pretend to care, at best. "You could buy another" or "Why are you so worried about a servant?"

I couldn't change who I was. I was trapped living in fear, in uncertainty. Sasuke couldn't stay with a slave, he couldn't be expected to marry someone like me. Not when his father saw him as a tool to betroth to someone who could further his own goals.

I hadn't noticed my breathing becoming fast and shallow until I almost choked on my next breath. Sasuke's hand was on my back, and Alex was holding both my hands tightly; both physical touches that I struggled to focus on instead of my breathing, but it was too hard. Distantly, I felt Alex's grip loosen and the bed shift.

Soon soft, meaningless words were whispered into my ear, the hand on my back moving as Sasuke came closer. "In and out, come on, breathe with me, in and out," Sasuke murmured, his lips moving against my ear. "I've got you."

It was slow. Sasuke was patient. My breathing dropped from desperate hyperventilating to raspy, deep breaths as I tried to follow Sasuke's instructions. His chest swelled, I took in a breath; slowly he exhaled, and I let my breath out with a sigh. My chest burned and my head throbbed something fierce, but I didn't feel like I was drowning anymore. I opened my eyes to look at Sasuke, not having realized I'd closed them. Sasuke's chin was resting on my shoulder. "Guess I'm not as okay as I thought," I wheezed mordantly.

"We didn't expect you to be," Sasuke said, "not right away." He combed a hand through my hair and pushed it back. It was wild after being washed and having slept on it still damp. "You can't rush healing, Amaya. We're with you, even when it gets ugly."

Well, that made new tears well up in my eyes, and I was too drained from the panic attack seconds prior to cry again. I sat up straight, pulling out of Sasuke's hold. He reached out a hand, but I hunched my shoulders, flinching away from it. He didn't try it again, but said my name, his voice rising with question.

I wasn't sure how to admit what I felt. So, I didn't. I stated it. "We aren't safe here. Alex and I, I mean." I heard Sasuke's intake of breath and felt like I'd punched him in the gut. He knew it, too. He had to, didn't he? It had been so easy to break in, to find us. What if Sasuke's father had a part in this? What if no matter what, he was always going to hate me and want me gone? Sasuke couldn't stay right beside me forever. He couldn't babysit me forever. "I'm a slave, Sasuke. So is Alex. No matter how you and Itachi treat us or want to give us rights, it doesn't fucking matter!" I dug my nails into my palms hard, cutting into my skin.

"Your opinion doesn't make a difference. Alex and I are only what you make us, and that doesn't carry weight with everyone else." Not everyone who was important. Even with Sasuke's considerable status, he didn't stand that far above the law, nor above tradition. I had wanted to see a future with him, but now it looked bleak. How could I promise Sasuke a future when I was so uncertain about my own? About if I would be allowed to stay with him, if he would even want me to once he understood how heavy the burden would be?

"Amaya, look at me. Please." Sasuke's sentence ended on a soft plea, coaxing me to glance at him over my shoulder. He held his hand out again, and this time I couldn't resist taking it in my own. I never wanted to lose this. I never wanted to uproot Alex, nor myself, ever again. I wanted this to be permanent; for once in my life I wanted to be greedy and to have my life stay together for a change.

"I couldn't tell you. At first, when we first met, it didn't involve you so much. Then, when we weren't sure it would work, I couldn't bear giving you or your brother that hope if it would only get broken again." Sasuke squeezed my hand as my confusion swelled. He was speaking in riddles for all that I understood.

"What are you talking about, Sasuke? What would work?" I asked, worried and impatient as I turned to face him more. Sasuke looked torn, but I wasn't going to let it go, not now. I pressed. "Tell me what you mean."

"It's the treaty that we've worked on for weeks, the one we're trying to forge with Lumen," he confessed, finally. My eyes widened, but I didn't have time to voice my shock. "Itachi has wanted to end the servant and pet trade for years, now. It became personal when our father began pushing for us to take in some of our own, and we found you and Alex. We've been trying to get in to see Tsunade. Her family, like ours governs this city, rules Lumen. We want her to release you and Alex as free ibrida, not still locked in servitude."

My heart was in my throat, and I found that it happened to make it near impossible to talk. I hadn't liked listening to Sasuke talk about Lumen when I first overheard him, Sakura, and Ino. It brought back a lot of "what-ifs" in my head. Alex and I had been born in Lumen, we'd only arrived here in Nox when we were very little. I hardly remembered it. To be freed, we would have to have Lady Tsunade and the elders of Lumen to agree to grant us our independence. "How…how do you know they'll agree?" I managed to get out.

Sasuke smiled wryly. "Tsunade already has. She wants to see us, but she's been battling the city elders as much as I've been battling ours here. She asked us to give her a week before we meet with her at the courthouse. Amaya, I promised you that you weren't a slave. Now I can truly keep that promise."

The past weeks came rushing through my mind's eye like a speeding train. How long Sasuke was gone, the paperwork, his weariness as he left for various meetings. "You worked this hard? For me and Alex?" I asked, incredulous. He cocked a brow at me, as if he surely couldn't believe I'd asked.

"You're family, now. Your futures are entwined with ours, and you deserve better than this. You always have." Sasuke brought my hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss to the backs of my knuckles. A sudden, beaming smile flourished on my face, and I was launching forward to throw my arms around Sasuke in a hug before either of us could think. We collapsed backwards onto the bed, my face buried in Sasuke's neck and his arms circled around me. We lay in silence for several seconds, my mind still wrapping around the revelation and possibilities it encompassed.

"You'll be safe. You won't have to live in fear or uncertainty anymore, no one will ever be above you again. No one can control you." Sasuke continued whispering promises into my hair as I held onto him, drinking it in. Did Alex know yet? Surely, if we were to leave by one week?

One week, just one week. After over a decade, after living a life where neither of us could remember much of a life before captivation, we would be free. Freedom was a staggering tower of a daydream, the realization it could come true…

This was either going to be our salvation, or our utter destruction. I trusted Sasuke and Itachi, I did, but turning my fears off was nigh impossible. If people could shut off anxiety, we would have progressed a lot further than we had already, I guarantee that. What if we were being lured into some sort of trap, and they took us away from Itachi and Sasuke? What if they sold us again, or returned us to Orochimaru—

No. Tsunade was a woman I'd only heard tales of, but she didn't sound the type to hand over two younglings to a rapist and torturer. The elders? Perhaps, for the sake of old law, but Tsunade's iron fist would overrule tradition. Please let it. "Sasuke…" I murmured, garnering a murmur of acknowledgment.

"Thank you."

I'm sorry for the short chapter! Next one will probably be short, too, at least compared to the others. It's the final chapter. I was going to combine this one with the finale, but in the end it didn't suit it. I debated throughout this whole rewriting process (of which has taken a few months) on whether I wanted to change the ending, but in the end I didn't. It's like an old relic. I'm mostly rewriting to fix up grammar and mistakes, and to flesh stories out more, altering them too much is a lot of extra time and effort. It also feels like I'm erasing things, and I like looking back and seeing how far I've come with my planning and plotting.