CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

Bailey stretched her arms over her head as she walked down into the kitchen. "Good morning," she chirped and headed over to the stove, breathing in deeply. "That smells great, Mrs. Manning."

"Thank you, Bailey," Kristen said with a bright smile. Her smile widened as Christian, who held a pitcher of juice in his hand, leaned over and gave her a kiss on the back of the head. "I hope you managed to get enough sleep. I know how noisy things can get here."

"That's alright," Bailey said with a wave of her hand. She smiled a little as she took the plate Kristen handed her and walked it over to the dining table. "Something tells me it's going to be quiet for a while." She shared a knowing smile with Crystal as she sat down at the table across from her before reaching over and pushing Aaron's chair in.

"I don't know," Max said as she rested her chin in her hands. "Anytime Zack and Cody are anywhere, they're never that quiet." She nudged Tapeworm with her elbow. "And to think we got caught up in that when they first moved here. We may have been able to live a normal life if we hadn't met them."

"Yeah, but we also wouldn't have been able to make some of the best friends we've ever had," Tapeworm contradicted. He then paused when Max frowned and elbowed him once more. "Apart from you, I mean." He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek, causing Crystal to laugh.

"Nice save, Tape," she said to him. "Nice save." She laughed again as their guardians suddenly appeared in their laps, placing their heads near their plates. "If you wanted anything, Dricer, you just had to ask." She lovingly patted the top of his head as her mother and father sat down at the table with them. "Daddy, I think your grocery bill is still going to be high no matter that my cousins moved you. And you know you'll be bored with how quiet it is."

"You're saying that now, but you'll probably be singing a different tune later," Christian warned her. He smiled over at his wife as Aaron moved to sit in her lap. Since Uriel's defeat he had grown close to Kristen very quickly. "Does everyone have enough?"

"I think so," Bailey said. She shook her head then her hands. "Oh, I don't know if I can even eat. I haven't seen my Mom and Dad in so long and they're coming here to see me get an award! It's like a dream come true."

"It wouldn't have been possible without all of you," Kristen pointed out, wrapping her arms around Aaron's stomach. "You certainly deserve it. "

There was no one else more deserving.

"Zack! Wake up!"

Zack rolled onto his side and opened his eyes to find Cody standing above him, hands on his hips. Raising an eyebrow, Zack reached up and rubbed a hand over his eye. "Why is it whenever I'm having a really great dream I wake up to a nightmare?"

"No one's attacking, Zack," Cody reassured him.

"I didn't mean that, I meant waking up to your face!" Sitting up, Zack rubbed at both of his eyes and yawned, stretching as hard as he could. "I haven't gotten that much sleep in a long time. Not having to worry about anyone attacking is such a strange feeling." He turned and glanced at the floor, where Blazen sat in his small form nestled in some of Zack's shirts. The one thing he certainly hadn't lost was his messy tendencies. "What do you think, Blazen? Are you bored without having to constantly fight someone?"

"No. I actually find it to be very peaceful," Blazen replied. He flew up and perched on his ward's shoulder. "Besides there's plenty to do in the Element World. So going back and forth has given us enough to do." Cody smiled lightly and reached out a hand for Zack to grab onto and get pulled to his feet.

"Get dressed; I already got the food set up and everything."

"That's great, in your free time you've become so much more of a girl than you were before." Zack stood up and roughed his hand over Cody's shorter hair. "At least you've finally got the hint and cut your hair, Goldilocks."

"At least I can change my hair, you can't always change your personality," Cody shot back. "It's too late for that." He and Zack smirked at each other before Cody left the room so that Zack could get dressed. Once finished, Blazen moved to sit on his head and he headed out into the sitting area of the suite. He stopped to give his mother a kiss on the cheek and his father a pat on the back before going over to the window that looked over the street. He pulled it open and stuck his head out in the fire escape, coughing as he waved cigarette smoke from his face. "Koto, it's almost time for breakfast."

"I'm good out here, thanks," Koto replied. He stabbed his cigarette down onto the railing of the fire escape. "I'll be in, in a few minutes." His green eyes shone as he smirked. "I don't want to miss the action."

"Ha ha."

Zack pulled his head back in front the window as there was a knock on the door to the suite and it opened with a flourish as Maddie, London, Julius, and the Jacksons all walked inside, carrying plates and trays. Reihu trailed behind them, immediately going over to the fire escape and climbing out, greeting Koto with a head nod.

"Hey, everyone's here!" Kurt cried cheerfully. He motioned to the large table that had been set up. "Come sit down. We need to dig in or we'll miss our flight."

"It's a private flight, mate, I don't think we have any worries on being late," Reed pointed out. He handed Carey a bottle of wine and she smiled her thanks, bringing it over to the wine rack in the corner of the suite.

"Where are London, Mr. Moseby, and Esteban?" Renee asked her arms wrapped around Sydney's shoulders. "I thought they would be joining us as well."

"They're in a very exclusive, top secret meeting with Wilfred Tipton," Carey explained. She placed her hands on her hips. "It figures the only time that he started to care about London's well-being was when she was directly threatened by something that shouldn't even exist."

"Yeah, you know, last I heard, she was creating a fleet of specialized fighter jets," Maddie said. "So I think the scarier thing is that she may be piloting one of them soon." She laughed with the others as Julius kissed her on the side of the head. "All of this looks so good, Carey."

"Actually, Cody made it," Zack interrupted, reaching out and taking Riley's hand in his.

"If Mom made it, you all would've been poisoned as soon as you walked through the door," Cody added, causing Carey to roll her eyes and pointed at him.

Patrick eagerly rubbed his hands together. "I don't care who made it as long as I can eat it, I'm starving!" He flung himself into a chair and started to pile up his plate. "Powers or not, moving is not joke. It's so bloody boring."

"You got your offer taken on the place you were looking at?" Carey's eyebrows rose as the others followed Patrick's lead and started to sit down as well. "That was pretty quick, don't you think?"

"It sort of had to be," Rhuben pointed out. "Not many people want to move into the neighborhood where so much had been destroyed." She tucked her hair behind her ear as she finished filling out two places. "But if there's anyone that can turn it around, I'm sure it's Core. He's really persuasive as it is." She turned on her heel and walked the plates of food out to the fire escape, handing it out to Koto and her boyfriend before sitting on the window sill to join them.

"Can you believe he's been elected into a position of political power?" Reed said with a lopsided smile. "I'd be worried if I didn't know him so well."

"Think of it this way, Dad, if you and Mum didn't vouch for him since the whole WingzCorp thing, it might fall to someone else that wouldn't know how to rebuild," Sydney pointed out.

"Or would become so corrupt they'd bring the city to the ground," Riley added, squeezing Zack's hand. "Which certainly would've been the last thing we needed on top of everything else we've already gone through, yeah?" Zack smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

That had been the same thing that plagued his and Cody's minds for a while since things calmed down. No matter how much they fixed buildings and tourism around the city, there was the chance that someone else could have come into power that wanted to get rid of their presence entirely or try to make the city better, by taking it down and building it back up. Thankfully no one had come around to do that and they had an easy sense of rebuilding in the city.

"If anyone else is going to do it, it may as well be Core," Noah agreed. It was the loudest Zack had ever heard him talk or the biggest he had seen him smile. "If Diamond hadn't had gotten that big promotion I'm sure he would have done it as well."

"Speaking of, we really should get dig in," Julius agreed. "Brekkie isn't going to eat itself and these guys aren't going to wait for us." Everyone sat down around the table and started to fill their plate with food. Zack sat down between Reed and Riley with Cody sitting across from him, grinning brightly. No matter how long Zack had gotten to know Reed since their fight, he was still a little nervous around the man despite how warm and inviting the man had been.

It was probably one of the few things he wouldn't get over.

Still, knowing Cody was always there to vouch for him—despite knowing he was also the first to throw him under the bus just for laughs—and had his back in general comforted him more than anything else. The work they had to do after the fight would have been difficult if Cody hadn't been there to help him out. Now they were going to be recognized in the same right.

Cody smiled back at his brother as he caught his eye, before allowing Phantom to sit on the table, giving him a piece of watermelon to eat. He reached out and gently ran his hand along Phantom's back. There was nothing that was going to ruin this, no one that was ready to take them over, no prophecy to deal with. He had his friends by his side, a girlfriend that he dearly cared for, and a family that had been brought back together by something he hadn't wanted to keep secret in the first place.

They had come a long way and there was nothing that he wanted more than to relax.

And he finally got it.

There was nothing more in the world he could ever want.