Well, this is it folks. The final chapter. I won't keep you waiting, I'll save my final thoughts for the end.

Chapter 22: Eternity

Shortly after defeating Bowser, the last grand star appeared for them to use. Mario was able to help Zion get up and limp to the star, which brought them right back to the platform where Princess Peach was waiting. Mario grabbed hold of her as they were passing by, as the star continued to bring them back to where they started. Zion wasn't sure if Mario had absolutely crazy luck, or if he was truly blessed; but either way, he wasn't going to question it.

"Mario!" The princess shouted the moment they landed. Zion decided to give them some privacy. He sat down and pulled out a small case from one of his suit compartments. Opening the case revealed a small set of tools.

"Let's see if I can't get this leg functioning somewhat before we leave," Zion attempted to do some patchwork fixes on his right leg. He was doubtful he'd be walking correctly, but if he could get the right thruster working somewhat, then he could at least fly out.

"Damn, he really did a number on this thing," he said, trying to set up a temporary connection between a severed wire. "Give me something to work with here, analysis please."

Scanning…

Scanning…

Results founds

The suit displayed the schematics for his thrusters, but the steps to correct it would never work given his current tools.

"Shit, give me just what I can do with emergency tools." The armor gave him what he asked for, which wasn't much.

"Alright then. Hey Mario, can you two give me five minutes to work on my leg? Then we can get out of here.

"Okie dokie," he heard Mario reply.

"Thank you," Zion got to work on his leg.

…

It had taken about eight minutes, but Zion had completed what he could. The results…

Right thruster at 15% capacity

Left thruster at 75% capacity

Flight inadvisable

"Lower the left thruster to match the output of the right," Zion ordered.

Adjusting output

Adjusting…

Adjustment complete

Flight is now possible

Flight efficiency heavily reduced

"I'll take it, it's enough to get us home. You two ready to go?" Zion slowly got to his feet to see the Mushroom Kingdom duo ready to go. "Alright then. Mario, take the lead."

Mario gave a smile and a thumbs up.

While she was defending her home, she had been efficiently distracted. Once the fighting had come to a sudden and complete stop, Rosalina had been nothing but worried and nervous. She and the others merely watched the doors to Peach's Castle, and waited.

'It's ironic. Watching and waiting is what I do and yet…I hate this. Please Zion, come home so we can put this all behind us.'

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, to her it felt like hours, but eventually she saw movement from the castle doors. She breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness," she prepared to greet them as they approached, but fate had a different idea.

At that moment, all hell broke loose.

A black hole had opened up from the remains of Bowsers sun. It had formed almost instantly, and was expanding just as quickly.

Everything was being pulled in: The castle, the observatory, the remains of Bowser's airships, everything.

Zion panicked, he tried to fly in order to fight against the black hole's pull. He watched as he was separated from Mario and Peach. His suit was damaged, he knew there was little he could do for them. His thoughts were now focused only on reaching the observatory, reaching Rosalina.

'Not again, not this time, not when I have something worth living for!'

The black hole was too powerful, even if his thrusters hadn't been damaged, he doubted he would have been able to resist its pull.

"Rosalina!" He shouted, knowing she wouldn't hear him.

He felt a different pull, as a familiar shaped bubble surrounded him and pulled him towards the observatory. On the observatory grounds, Rosalina held her wand out, pointing at Zion. She focused and pulled with all her might. Against the might of the black hole, they made little progress. However, the observatory itself was moving closer to Zions location.

"All power to thrusters! Use everything we've got left! Siphon energy from the emp! Do everything we can!" Zion shouted desperately.

While the pull of the black hole worked against them, the movement was chaotic and erratic. Zion could see numerous lumas being pulled into the black hole behind him, streaks of light following them. Eventually, Zion only had to be moved horizontally to reach the observatory.

Rosalina pulled with all her might, while Zion watched the last bit of his suits power depleting. Through their efforts combined, they succeeded. Zion came crashing into Rosalina, the two of them rolling onto the ground. As soon as they could, they grabbed hold of each other. The two of them embraced while on their knees.

"Is there anything you can do?" He asked, his voice clearly terrified.

Rosalina didn't reply, she merely tightened her grip on her lover.

Zion, in turn, held her tightly. Knowing there was nothing more he could do, Zion openly wept. "I'll never let go, I promise I'll never let go."

"...I love you Zion,"

"...I love you too, Rosalina"

They were getting close to the event horizon. It felt like they were being ripped apart molecule by molecule, all mixing together as they were pulled ever closer.

Then, everything went dark.

…

…

Zion opened his eyes, startled. He was standing, but seemingly floating in an empty void. There was nothing around him but darkness.

…

"It's time to come back soldier,"

Zion recognized the voice immediately. It was his own voice.

What seemed like a small tear in the darkness opened up. Beyond it he saw outer space. With planets, stars, and…them. He could hear their monstrous cries, their terrifying howls.

"It's time to come back soldier, the front line needs you,"

Hearing the voice, Zion took a step forward, then stopped.

"Why are you hesitating? Don't you want to get back to the fight?"

Zion was indeed hesitating, in both his actions and words.

"But…Rosalina, I can't leave her."

"Why not? You don't belong in this universe, you never did."

"But I love her."

"Do you? Do you really?"

"Of course I do!"

"Please, we both know you only 'fell for her' because of circumstances. You stayed because it was convenient. Admit it, the second things started heating up, you were itching to fight."

"...I…" it was true that the circumstances of meeting Rosalina lent themselves to the pair falling in love. It was also true that Zion DID enjoy combat. After all, it made him feel like he had a purpose.

"When you fought Leventhan your blood was pumping. When you fought Bowser and lost you found a reason to keep fighting. You're just a lost soldier looking for his next fight. So quit pretending you're anything else…and come back, soldier."

Zion clenched his fists.

"It's true, I DO like fighting. It makes me feel useful. When Bowser beat me the first time, I wanted to get back at him. To prove I was better."

"And?"

"But I don't fight for the sake of fighting. You said it yourself, I am a SOLDIER! I fight to protect those that CAN'T! My universe has many others. Others just like me, itching to fight and protect all they hold dear."

"Your point?"

"...Rosalina…she was all alone. She's strong, both mentally and magically, but she was alone until I showed up. I refuse to leave her. It doesn't matter to me how circumstantial our meeting was. I'm sure if alternate timelines exist, then there's most likely one where I died in space and none of this ever happened…but it did happen we fell in love, and that love is real."

The other voice was silent.

"I swore that I would protect her, that I would stand beside her and love her. And that's exactly what I'll do, as any good husband would."

…

…

"This is your only chance to return home. If you don't, you will be fully assimilated into this universe."

"My home is with Rosalina, my conviction won't be swayed."

…

…

Zion!

This voice was different, it was hers!

Zion!

Zions vision became blurry, and everything went dark once again.

"Zion! Zion, wake up!" Rosalina shook him while shouting.

He was groggy, slow to wake up. Putting his hands to his head, before suddenly realizing he was alive. Zion sat up quickly, hyperventilating.

"Take it easy Zion, slow breaths," she rubbed his back slowly, "In and out, nice and easy."

Zion closed his eyes, and focused on breathing. He felt weird, lighter. It was obvious that he was no longer wearing his armor.

"Much better dear. Now please, stay calm, and open your eyes," she instructed.

Zion did as instructed, and took in his surroundings. He noticed they were still on the observatory, in the grass outside the terrace specifically. Everything seemed fine. He saw Rosalina beside him, looking at him with relief and fresh tears on her face. He reached out and embraced her, which she returned in kind. He could feel her warmth, his arms holding her tightly and-

"What?" Zion said, his heart skipping a beat. Rosalina, knowing why he said that, released him. Zion slowly let go of her and stared.

"My arm…how?" He stared at his left arm, unable to comprehend how it had been restored. "Is my leg?" He looked to his right leg. Unfortunately, the lower portion of his right leg was missing, as was his prosthetic. He looked back to Rosalina. "How? What happened?"

Rosalina cupped his face, and brought him in for a kiss. After everything that had happened, it felt like the greatest thing Zion had ever experienced.

"Our old universe ended, and in its place a brand new universe has been created." She hugged him again, "I knew I would be fine, as well as Mario and the others, since we're all from the same universe. But you?...I was scared. As you don't originate from this universe, I thought the reset would either send you back, or worse, outright kill you...I was so worried you wouldn't come back." She began crying again, "I'm so glad I didn't lose you." Zion hugged her back. "If you're here now, my guess is that you too, have been reborn, but are now properly integrated into our universe."

Zion didn't quite understand what she was saying, but that didn't matter to him at the moment. What mattered is that he survived, Rosalina survived, they had both survived.

"I love you, Rosalina. I promise I'll always be here to protect you."

Rosalina sniffed, pulling back in order to kiss her knight, "I love you too Zion, forever and always."

Epilogue

Inside the library of the observatory sat Rosalina, reading a book to the many luma.

"What happened next mamma?" One of the luma asked.

"Yeah, what happened to the knight and the princess?" Another chimed in.

Rosalina smiled, "Well, they started by getting the knight back to fighting shape again, with shining new armor befitting of his title."

The luma "ooh" and "ahh"ed at the explanation.

"They also had a small, but wonderful wedding, one that befitted their humble lifestyle," The luma cheered.

"Anything else, mama?"

Rosalina smiled softly, "Well, they were unable to have a child of their own, but they had many 'children' that were luma, just like all of you." There were squeaks of happiness from the luma. "They were, however, blessed with a miracle of their own. Whether it was the observatory or the stars themselves, we don't know, but the knight was blessed with a long lifespan just like the princesses, allowing him to continue protecting her throughout the ages."

Rosalina closed the book, looking down at the ring on her finger, and smiling. "They lived happily ever after, together forever," she lifted the book to show the luma the cover, one of a knight in shining armor, and a princess beside him, along with the title of the story "Among the Stars."

The End

Wow. I actually finished this story. Do I have any regrets? Well yeah, I could have done more with fleshing out Zions backstory. I guess at the time I started writing it (way back in 2020, oof) I didn't think it was critical as it wasn't originally the focus of the story. Either way, I'm happy with how this story turned out overall. Now I can shift my focus to my other story before trying to start on a monster sized piece.

Have a good one everybody, and thanks for reading!