Notes: Last chapter...and it kind of sucks. ...Sorry.

So…they were on the lily pad. Dave and Karkat next to an unconscious Jade. A cacophony of voices rang out across the platform. Dave thought about everything that was to come; meeting his alternate bro. What he would say to him. Would he delve straight into an uncharacteristic shouting bitch-fit? Would he talk to the person like he was the Bro from his timeline only for that boy to wonder what the fuck he was talking about? Would he hug him? He had always wanted a hug from his Bro; never got it. Now it seemed like such a fucked up need. Why would you want to hug someone who made your life a living hell? Why would you want affection and validation from that person? His opinion and feelings shouldn't mean two shits to Dave. Yet, he wanted to feel like his family loved him. He had created family on the meteor; so there is that. The acceptance and love and comfort. They may have picked on each other a little; but there was always a sincere caring nature underneath it all. Was it so weird to want that from someone you've technically never met; but also grew up with and hated? The whole issue in his mind just felt like one big clusterfuck.

And then there was the crushing anxiety he felt, but refused to show. Not so much for his own life; but that of Karkat's. The troll was a good fighter, no doubt, but he also had a severe disadvantage of not being able to fly. Dave realized that his almost-immortality probably wouldn't mean much in this battle; but at least he could save himself from falling at a great distance. Karkat couldn't; and on top of that the troll had this ridiculous self-loathing that would probably lead him to do something stupid. Just so he could prove to himself that he is useful, even if only because he can save someone else from being killed. That shit didn't fly with Dave. He didn't want Karkat doing that.

Karkat was thinking very much along similar lines. He wanted to make himself useful; but he also wanted Dave safe. And while Dave didn't like fighting, he also wasn't the kind of guy to back down from a challenge. Karkat also realized that his own life would probably expire before the battle was through. It made him kind of sad. Maybe if he wasn't so fucking useless he would stand a chance. Even if he did stand a chance though…he would give it up for Dave. Dave had to live no matter fucking what. The human's shades and stoic persona were on; with this many people that's a given. Karkat wished he had had more time to see his matesprit smile, he had such a nice smile. Maybe in the next life…if there is a next life…will the dream bubbles even still exist after all of this? Probably not.

The troll's thoughts were interrupted by a pale pinky linking around his grey one. "Listen….don't do anything stupid, okay?" The voice low, so the others wouldn't hear; private but entreating.

"Like what?"
"Like doing that stupid thing that you do where you believe that everyone's life is worth more than yours. Don't fucking die on me okay?" The pinky squeezed tighter and Dave's voice barely above a whisper. Not for privacy; out of fear.

"I going to be fucking useful for once; I going to contribute and earn my fucking place in our new universe. I'm not going to take a fucking nap while everyone fights their hardest. I'm going to fight too; even if it costs me my life, I don't care –"

"I CARE!" Dave hissed; as loud as he could without risk of the others overhearing. "I care a fucking lot. I-" He made a small choked sound; doing his best to cover it up with a cough. "I love you so fucking much Karkat…don't die on me; don't you fucking dare."

"…I'll do my best okay?"

"Mmn." That was the best he was going to get, but he didn't have to be happy about it.

"So…what's with this?" Karkat lifted his hand connected to Dave's; in hopes of changing the subject.

"S'just, something humans do sometimes when they want to be close with someone, but don't want to be obvious to everyone about it." John was supposed to show up soon…Dave wasn't really interested in explaining the intricacies of his relationship right now. He…he wanted to feel out John's stance on everything first; maybe explain some things to him.

Karkat was just as hesitant. He didn't hate John, not even platonically. Dave thought pretty highly of him and Karkat could see he wasn't a bad guy. But the whole "I'm not a homosexual" thing was still an odd concept for Karkat to comprehend. Dave tried to explain it a couple of times; but Karkat still only had a vague understanding. Plus…while he enjoyed talking about quadrants and romance stuff in a general sense; if it's one thing his relationship with Dave taught him…it's that he doesn't like talking about how it relates to him personally. Maybe with a select few, but John wasn't one of those few.

"This is so fucking nerve wracking." It was Karkat's turn to squeeze Dave's pinky. The waiting was killing him.

"I know dude, I know."

"If we both make it out of this…does…this…continue?" Karkat hadn't even planned on saying it; he didn't even know it was a question in his mind until it came out of his mouth. But, yeah, does this continue? Dave said he loved the troll; but will those feelings change when this is all over? Will he suddenly go back to the way things were before the meteor? Dave was really a nice guy…maybe he would fall in love with someone else? Will he not want Karkat to be his matesprit anymore? But then, he wouldn't have said he loved that much if he didn't mean it, right? Right? Why did it always take him until the last minute to think of these fucking things? He was probably just being his stupid self, thinking WAY to into things…and now he made this fucking awkward.

"Of course…unless, you don't want it to…" He didn't even hesitate to answer. Now he sounded kind of nervous though. God, Karkat was such a fuck up sometimes. Making his matesprit nervous right before a huge fucking fight of their lives. No, he was going to reassure the fuck out of Dave.

"No, I want it forever; I don't think I ever want to be apart from you again Dave. If we both make it out alive…I want to be by your side for eternity."

"Then we both should do everything in our power to live; so we can give a big middle finger and a 'fuck you' to everything we've been through..and stay together."

"Yeah…"

"Yeah."

With one last squeeze they unhooked their pinkies and fell into a comfortable silence…both fidgety now. Dave, more impatient than anything.

"Hey, Vriska?"

"Yeah?"

"is it time yet?"

Notes: Okay, long AN here: I know the ending was kind of anti-climactic and kind of boring. Sorry about that, but since I'm doing a sequel, I wanted this to end before the final battle.

Okay lots of things to address. First, the laptop I'm using right now is on borrowed time. My new one should be arriving within the next few days and it's going to take me a few days to get that set up.

Second; before I dive into the sequels I'm going to do a few one shot things using the writer's tool thing called Storymatic. They will just be stupid oneshots, but I like playing with it. Also, I would be happy to take a few requests if there is anything you want to read. I'm open to pretty much all pairings (barring pairings with kids and their guardians. e.g. Dirk/Dave=okay but Dave/Bro= not comfortable writing). So if anyone wants a oneshot or something feel free to saw so in a review or PM me.

Third: While I'm definitely doing sequels, and I have some ideas of my own for them; is there anything you guys would like to see? Suggestions for things in either the Jake/Dirk or Davekat fics are most welcome.

Fourth: September 9th. I may start the sequels before this date; but this is the date I'm starting with; only because my GRE test day is the 8th and I'm kind freaking out about it because I need to score in the 85th percentile on my verbal scores or better for it to be a good enough score for applications and I'm barely squeaking through that goal (can I just say that standardized tests suck.). So, I'm hesitant to dive into a long story just yet (mostly because I end up thinking about the next chapter when I'm supposed to be studying). Oneshots are different though, because I can just sit down and write without think about what's going to come next. After that though, I'll have two weeks before school starts and I want to write up a storm.

Lastly, Thank you all! Really you guys are amazing and awesome and I SUPER appreciate all of the reviews and favorites and follows! Thank you for reading! And please look for the sequel in about two weeks!

Lind065cliva: Thank you, I will! And OMG that's amazing! Italian, English, French, and German, (even if it's just a little bit WOW!) Very impressive! Thank you! And I'm glad you liked Karukato...what do you think of Dabu (Dave)?