News of Jayesh's heroism in battling the Witness from within, of the loss of his Ghost and Cayde's final sacrifice, rippled through the entire Coalition. Jayesh gave his report and dropped into his cot to sleep for twelve hours. When he awoke, he found a little pile of gifts beside his cot from well-wishers. He and Phoenix examined them with grateful hearts. A little package of dried fruit, a chocolate bar, a beautiful bracelet made of salvaged metal. But the best gift was a replacement Ghost shell.
Jayesh went to work to swap Phoenix's old, cracked, scorched shell for the new one. It was only a basic white shell, but it was undamaged and clean, and Phoenix was glad to have it.
"The cracks in your core and eye are gone," Jayesh told him as he worked. "So are those oxidized spots where you burned yourself. Cayde did something major when he revived you."
"I returned to Light," Phoenix said, gazing up at Jayesh as he attached each segment. "It's a beautiful place, but I didn't want to be there. I was searching for a way back, searching for you, until the second I revived."
"I wish it hadn't cost Cayde his life," Jayesh whispered, tears creeping into his eyes again.
"A life for a life freely given," Phoenix replied softly. "Don't cry, Jay. He told you it was his choice."
"Doesn't make it hurt any less," Jayesh whispered.
He finished attaching the new shell. Phoenix floated into the air, spinning the shell, opening and closing it. "What a relief! The old burned one would hardly open anymore."
"Come on, let's go find everybody," Jayesh said. "Especially Commander Zavala."
He left the little series of rooms the Coalition had turned into barracks and walked out into the Tower plaza. It was late morning and the battle bustle had quieted down to a weary relaxation. Guardians, Eliksni, and Cabal were scattered here and there, engaged in quiet activities like repairing armor, cleaning weapons, or just sitting and talking. A number of huge Cabal warriors sat in the sunlight comparing the size of their bandages. Jayesh recognized the Iron Wolf he had treated and approached them. The aliens looked up, and Jayesh gave a Cabal salute, arms at his sides and a short bow from the waist.
"How are you faring?" he asked the soldier.
The alien's whole torso was wrapped in bandages, and he wore no armor and little clothing. Sitting there like that, the Cabal resembled a huge leathery frog more than anything. His toothy mouth stretched into what passed for a smile. "The little warlock who treated my wound!" He held out a hand and Jayesh clasped it. The alien's hand engulfed his arm to the elbow. "I owe you my life," said the soldier. "I am Bracus Aulus. The wound is healing well with no infection thanks to you. Should you ever need a favor of the Cabal, come to me."
"I'm glad it heals well," said Jayesh formally. He turned to the other wounded soldiers, who were watching. "Such Light as I have left to me, I will share. But first I must check in with my commanders." He saluted them again, and departed for the command center.
It was quiet there, too. A couple of warlocks were there, typing up reports on laptops, but there was no sign of the Coalition leadership. When Jayesh asked, a warlock told him, "Commander Zavala is patrolling the Tower and City. Ikora is off meditating somewhere. Caiatl is doing cleanup duty around the Witness's tower, and Mara Sov went back outside the Traveler to check in with the forces we left to guard Earth. Mithrax is somewhere around here, too."
"What about Crow?" Jayesh asked, feeling a little lost.
"Oh, he's around," said the warlock, already returning to his work.
Jayesh thought about calling him, but the effort involved wearied him. He picked up a ration pack from a cold chest and returned outside to the Cabal soldiers. He tried three times to cast a healing rift, and finally managed a thin, weak one. He sat in it with the soldiers and ate his breakfast, Phoenix floating companionably at his shoulder.
After a while Commander Zavala appeared in polished parade armor, walking with Crow at his side. Crow wore a brand new cloak with the Vanguard symbol stitched across one shoulder. In addition he had pulled his hair back, and altogether presented a much more professional look. They halted and surveyed the plaza. Jayesh waved, and they approached him.
"Sitting among the wounded, I see," said Zavala gravely. "Are you hurt?"
Jayesh rose to his feet. "Not much, only tired." He held out a hand, and Zavala took it in some confusion.
"Sir," Jayesh said in a low voice, "I was mortalized and now I know how it feels. If there's anything I can do to help you, anything at all, just ask."
Zavala smiled and shook his hand. "I heard of Cayde's sacrifice, and your own. We now share a common grief, don't we?"
Jayesh nodded, a lump rising in his throat. He shoved it down desperately. "I … I didn't ask him to do it. He said it was his choice."
"Cayde was always a wildcard," said Zavala, shaking his head. "Crow told me about his inadvertent wish."
"I had to," Crow burst out. "They kept blaming it on the Traveler and I couldn't stand it anymore."
Zavala smiled. Jayesh was almost startled. He hadn't seen Zavala smile much since the Red War, and hadn't expected it now.
"Yes, all secrets have been laid bare in the Light," said Zavala. "Cayde returned just long enough to give us closure, and he never really wanted to return. Now he is at rest again, and because of his deeds, I imagine his rest is all the sweeter. As for me…" He held out a hand and blue ice formed over it like a boxing glove. "I am learning stasis."
Jayesh beamed even as tears filled his eyes. Blast it, why couldn't he keep it together for five minutes? The sight of his mortalized Commander pushing forward by learning a power he had once despised filled him with hope, and pained him deeply at the same time.
"It's still Light," he blurted. "Stasis is. And strand. None of it comes from Darkness. Nothing good does."
"Yes, I had a talk with the Traveler about it," said Zavala. "He walks among us in the shape of a Guardian. He was here last night to lecture the Coalition on their behavior while here." He lowered his voice and quirked an eyebrow. "I have never seen Mara Sov so chastened."
Jayesh laughed aloud, and Zavala and Crow chuckled.
Zavala patted his shoulder. "Get some rest, Khatri. Ikora wishes to study your Light, and she has dozens of exercises planned for you."
Jayesh groaned. Zavala grinned and walked off, but Crow stayed behind. When Jayesh sat back down on the grass, Crow joined him.
"You share a bond with our ambassador, I see," said Bracus Aulus, giving Crow a terrifying grin full of pointed teeth. "The healer and the Crow."
"We've been friends since his resurrection," said Jayesh. He turned to Crow. "Nice cloak."
"Cayde had it made for me," said Crow, plucking at the nearest fold. He dug into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He handed it to Jayesh. "This was the note he left with it."
The page was filled with Cayde's messy handwriting.
"Crow, this cloak is for you if you want it. Call it an emblem of your new post as Hunter Vanguard. Now, I'm not forcing this on you. Nobody should have positions of power forced on them. But I think you're ready. I've been watching you and asking around. Everybody talks about how hard you work and how you have a heart for justice and the wilds. More than that, even the Eliksni and Cabal like you. I bought Mithrax a couple of drinks and got him talking about when he was just a Captain. He'd tell you his dreams of becoming Kell of the House of Light, and how you always took him dead serious. He also told me about all the things Spider did to you, and made you do. Kid, if you can go through all that with your conscience intact, then being Hunter Vanguard won't faze you at all. In fact, I shouldn't even call you kid anymore. You're a man, so hold your head up and don't be afraid to look everybody in the eye. - Cayde."
Jayesh handed the note back with a wondering smile. "He really did his homework on you, didn't he?"
"I'm embarrassed at how much he learned," said Crow, returning the note to his pocket. "Silvan read it and hugged me because she said she couldn't hug him. She loves it when anybody is nice to me."
"So, I assume you said yes," said Jayesh, nodding at the cloak.
Crow chuckled a little and looked down. "I took some time to think about it. We had to defeat the Witness and all. Hard to accept a job if all of reality is going to be erased. But … as soon as the Witness fell, every Hunter on the field turned to me for orders. It wasn't until I got done cheering with them and sending them out to scout for the Witness's remaining followers that it hit me. I've been the Hunter Vanguard for months. Learning the ropes. Winning their trust and loyalty. And right there on the battlefield … I finally was. So I came back here and put on the cloak."
Jayesh slapped him on the back. "Congratulations, man. It's been a long time coming."
Crow nodded. Then he leaned an elbow on a knee and scrutinized Jayesh. "What happened to you, then? The Witness snatched you twice, and both times you just disappeared. We thought you were dead, but each time you reappeared again."
Jayesh launched into an abbreviated account of his dives into the Deeps to free the dissenters, ending with his final attack alongside the Traveler on the Witness's actual mindspace, and of how Phoenix had spent his Light in a laser that destroyed the Witness from the inside. Phoenix strutted back and forth in the air, and if he could have puffed out his chest, he would have.
Then Jayesh explained about how Phoenix had died and how Cayde had brought him back by sacrificing his Light. He choked up again, and Crow passed him a bottle of water without a word of judgment.
"So I have my Light back," Jayesh concluded a moment later. "But it's about what it was when I was first resurrected. No song, no sword, no wings. Even the other powers, prismatic and stasis. I'll have to train for years to regain it all."
"You'll be able to train in the areas that worked best for you," said Crow thoughtfully. "I know Ikora was talking about how she can't wait to study you."
"You're right about that," said Ikora, striding up. She had changed her battle-stained violet robes to a simple white robe with her Vanguard rank insignia on the shoulder. Jayesh and Crow stood up to greet her.
"I see you've met our new Hunter Vanguard," said Ikora, smiling at Crow. "Cayde wrote us several letters of glowing recommendation. It set Zavala and I at ease about the whole thing."
Jayesh looked back and forth between Ikora and Crow. Something had changed between them. Just as with Zavala's unexpected smile, warmth had come to the Vanguard. Zavala and Ikora had decided to like Crow and welcome him as a friend, instead of only a smelly new Guardian who needed constant training. Crow sensed it, too, because he beamed and bowed a little. "I hope that my work is worthy of the post."
Ikora turned to Jayesh. "Come with me to the HELM. I have better instruments there. I want to see what happened to your Light, and try to discover why."
Jayesh submitted to heavy testing for the rest of the day. Ikora called in the Thantonaughts, the Gensym Scribes, the Cryptarchs, and eventually a couple of Awoken Techeuns. Jayesh performed basic Warlock forms with instruments strapped to him until the sweat poured off him. Even Phoenix had to wear an instrument pack, which he did with much complaining. The Light came when Jayesh called it, but it was only the smallest amounts. A puff of fire, a spark of lightning, a flicker of void. Stasis came only as a bit of frost on his fingertips, and strand he couldn't use at all.
The experts studied the readings on the instruments and argued with each other. The Thantonaughts insisted that the Ghost's death and resurrection, separate from the Guardian's, had weakened the bond between the two. The Gensym Scribes blamed all the dives into the Darkness to fight the Witness. He was forever crippled by Darkness, they said. The Cryptarchs pulled up every study on Light and Darkness in the HELM's database and argued from this or that historical case. Shin Malphur came up quite often, who had taken up his dead mentor's Ghost in order to hunt his killer. But Shin's fire had begun strong, not as a series of weak flickers. The Techeuns shrugged and said it was because Jayesh had been Prismatic. "He must regrow his powers balanced between Light and Dark, as the Awoken do."
As the light dimmed outside, the various specialists took their leave and left for dinner. Jayesh sat on a bench in the training room and mopped his face on a towel. Ikora sat nearby, making notes on a tablet with her bottom lip between her teeth.
"Doesn't sound like the prognosis is very good," Jayesh said, leaning against the wall and taking a long swig from a water bottle.
Ikora looked up, her expression distant, as if still lost in thought. Slowly she focused on Jayesh and smiled. "All that we learned is that nobody knows anything about your condition. Your Ghost reads like a newly-created one, which is something we haven't seen since the Traveler first sent them out. I was interested to read about the first Risen, who worked tirelessly to strengthen their Light and themselves, no matter who stood in their way. I think, perhaps, your Light will grow stronger in time as you work with it."
Jayesh gave her a tired smile. "I thought that the whole time."
"Did you?" Ikora raised an eyebrow.
Jayesh nodded. "It feels like it did when I was a new Guardian. I'm sure it will strengthen over time. Phoenix lacks a lot of his old strength and sass."
"Dying will do that to you," said Phoenix soberly.
Ikora studied her tablet for a while, and Jayesh sipped his water and let himself rest. The HELM was quiet around them, most of the technicians who worked there having gone to the Tower for the evening meal and a break from work. The Traveler's heartlands were peaceful and quiet now that the Witness was gone. Some Dread remained here and there, as well as other allies like the Scorn that the Witness had ferried in as backup, but the Guardians were cheerfully rooting them out day by day. Jayesh felt the quiet of the Traveler's heart in his own. No longer was a black knife wedged in his chest. Now all was at rest, at peace.
"What do you want to do now?" Ikora asked abruptly. "Given your own choice?"
"I want to go home," said Jayesh. "I could recover my Light faster on my own farm, with my family, than I could by staying here."
"You don't want to stay in the Traveler?" Ikora asked in surprise. "I thought you, of all people, would want to live here forever."
"Oh, I'll want to visit often," Jayesh assured her. "But my home is Earth. It's always been humanity's home. As much as I love the Traveler, the heartlands are only a facsimile of the real world. Kari's waiting for me, and my children."
"Then you're dismissed," said Ikora. "You've fulfilled your duty to humanity and the Traveler by destroying the Witness. Go home and recover, Jayesh Khatri. The next time the Light calls, you must be ready to answer."
Jayesh rose to his feet, half-inclined to bolt for the nearest shuttle right then. Instead he gave a Vanguard salute. "Thank you, ma'am. I'll pack my things right away."
Later, as Jayesh was headed for the next shuttle to Earth, Crow caught up with him, panting as if he'd been jogging. "Jay! Wait up!"
Jayesh halted in the shadow of a supply ship, which stood with its staircase lowered, the pilot waiting for him to embark. "Yes?"
Crow held up the Spirit Sword, once more safely enclosed in its sheath. "We wanted you to take this with you. The Vanguard, I mean. It's yours and nobody else can really use it."
"Oh, thanks." Jayesh took the sword and smiled at it. "You know, I was thinking of naming it something like Ergo Sum. I think, therefore, I am. Since it seems to be a part of my soul." He didn't mention that touching it reminded him painfully that the Witness had quenched his Dawnblade's Light. But now he had hope that as his Light returned, so would his Dawnblade and his song. He was just as eager to get back to his guitar as he was to return to his family, for already he felt the music stirring inside him, waiting for an outlet.
Crow grinned and gave him a one-armed hug. "Come by the Earth Tower sometime and say hi, all right? I'm going to have my own office and everything."
"You bet," said Jayesh. "Ikora wants me to check in every three months for more Light measurements. I'll bring Kari and the kids and we'll make a day of it."
"Silvan and Rega will love that," said Crow. "See you later!" He walked off into the blue and violet night of the Traveler, whistling. Jayesh had never seen him so happy. Whatever Cayde had written to Zavala and Ikora about him, it had made a world of difference to Crow.
Jayesh lifted his bag and his sword and climbed aboard the shuttle at last.
The Solstice of Heroes celebration that summer was the biggest celebration ever held in the Last City.
It had been a beautiful summer with rain and sunshine in all the right places. The event planners had decided to hold the celebration later that year to allow for the wheat and barley harvests, so it was late August. The City had plenty of food and drink for once. The Black Fleet had been conquered, the Traveler saved and still lingering in orbit, the Guardians hailed as heroes.
The Tower and main City streets were hung with lanterns and garlands, and at noon all the Guardians, the Vanguard, the Imperial Cabal, and the Eliksni of House Light formed a parade and marched through town. They carried candy and flowers that they threw to onlookers, and the city folk were armed with confetti to shower upon their favorites.
Jayesh and Kari participated, wearing their best Warlock robes. Connor strode beside them in his training armor, which he had painted with Titan white and red for the occasion. Stephanie walked at her mother's side in a pink dress, and Jayesh carried Anya on his shoulders, where she clung to his hair and squealed when confetti touched her. They all smiled, waved, and threw candy, shouting greetings to friends and acquaintances.
Jayesh had spent the summer working on his farm, and he and his neighbors had teamed up to bring in their various harvests. Jayesh had opted for peas and beans, and had seen a satisfactory yield that year, while his neighbors had grown barley and sorghum. Sales to the City markets had gone well, and the village was busy brewing enough ale to see them through the winter.
Throughout the hard work and the long hours, Jayesh had also practiced Light exercises with Phoenix. Both of them had gained ground at a tremendous rate, and Jayesh's Light was strong enough for basic combat again. He hadn't yet reached the strength he had possessed while prismatic, but he was satisfied with his progress, and so was Ikora.
"Daddy, I got a flower!" Stephanie squealed, holding up a white rose.
"Keep it and we'll make a bouquet," Jayesh said. He smiled at Kari, who had received so many flowers that she had twined them into a crown and set them on her head. By the time the parade was over, they'd all be wearing one.
"I hope the feast tonight is good," Connor said. "We just had lunch and I'm already hungry."
"Only a few more blocks," Kari said, smiling and waving to the crowd. "The warlocks agreed to swap us out at the Sixth Street intersection because it's too far to walk with little ones."
"Sixth, that's where Burgman's Ice Cream parlor is, right?" said Connor, turning pleading eyes on his parents. "Can we stop there? Please?"
Ice cream was a new treat in the Last City, for the local dairies had finally expanded enough to supply enough milk and cream to meet demand. Jayesh looked at Kari, who laughed. "We can afford to treat them this year. By next year, our cows will give enough milk that I can make it at home."
At Sixth Street, a group of warlocks emerged from the crowd and took their places, so the little family went out for ice cream. As they sat around a pastel-painted table and enjoyed the treat, Nell and Grant-4 came in, too. They bought ice cream and pulled up a second table.
"Good idea!" Nell said. "Ditching the parade for ice cream!"
"Weren't you supposed to go all the way to the lift?" Jayesh asked.
Nell shrugged and tucked a lock of black hair behind one ear. "Come on, Jay, I haven't seen you or your family in ages. Look how big you're all getting!" This last statement was delivered in a squeal of delight.
"They're all growing like weeds," Kari assented.
Grant nodded to Connor. "You'll be old enough to begin Titan training in a few more years."
Connor beamed and tapped his breastplate. "I know! My strength really comes in handy around the farm. Dad and I go for a run every morning to stay in shape."
Grant nodded his approval.
Nell held out a hand to display her shiny new wedding ring. Grant showed his, as well. "We finally tied the knot, can you believe it?"
"Yes, right at harvest when we couldn't come," said Jayesh.
Nell waved a hand to dismiss this protest. "Hey, we wanted a summer wedding. You can toast us at the Solstice feast tonight."
They ate and talked, enjoying the moment and each other's company. Kari wiped sticky faces and hands with napkins, then they headed for the Tower lift.
"The Tower is extra-beautiful this year," Nell exclaimed. "We all pitched in to help, even the alien people. You can't believe the gold stuff the Cabal loaned us. It was a whole truckload of gold chains and jingly things. We hung them everywhere."
"And the Eliksni engineered a light show," said Grant. "Part electric, part magic. But it won't begin until after dark. They plan to do it while the lanterns are being lit."
"Excellent," Jayesh laughed. "I'm supposed to perform a Sunsinger arrangement at the big dance."
"What will you play?" Nell asked, bouncing in excitement.
Jayesh shrugged with an enigmatic smile.
"He's been practicing every spare minute," said Kari, giving her husband a fond smile. "It's definitely music to dance to."
They took the Tower lift up seventy stories and found the Tower walk ablaze with colored banners, flags, and decorations already. Lord Shax was overseeing three deep pit barbecues at once where three whole pigs were smoking, crusted with spices and salt. The Khatri family toured around, guided by Nell and Grant, stopping to admire the exotic decorations provided by the Cabal. A few Imperial Cabal stood here and there on guard duty, wearing gold parade armor with purple tabards and looking proud and imposing.
As the City parade reached the lift, the Tower began to fill with happy Guardians who were ready to party. Crow and Silvan arrived with little Rega, who was a precocious two-year-old with pale blue skin and dark hair like her father's. She flung herself into the midst of Connor, Stephanie, and Anya, and demanded to play. Silvan took them all to the dance court and gave them a soccer ball, which the children immediately began to chase. Silvan, Kari, and Nell settled down for a good chat while they watched the children, and Grant positioned himself to intercept the ball if it rolled too close to the wall's edge.
Crow elbowed Jayesh. "Hey, let's sneak off and I'll show you my office."
Jayesh followed him at once. Crow led him on a winding path between the various administrative buildings, then up a narrow staircase that took them to the top level of apartments above to Tower walk. Here was a single building on the roof, newly built, with windows overlooking the City to the south and the mountains to the north. Crow opened the door and waved Jayesh inside.
The office was outfitted with shelves, a desk, filing cabinets, and computers. But it also housed Crow's trophy collection, which he had taken from various encounters all over the solar system. A chunk of blue crystal, the eye lens of a Servitor, tattered standards of the House of Devils and House of Dusk, a delicate porcelain cup that had broken and been mended with gold.
Jayesh sat in a cushy armchair, and Crow sat on the desk, which already bore a worn spot from being sat on so often. "Nice place," Jayesh remarked.
"They call it my Crow's Nest," Crow laughed. "Apparently Cayde-6 left Zavala and Ikora detailed instructions about it. The furniture in here was all Cayde's, just been in storage since he died. He insisted that I have it all. Hunters use Hunter stuff, he said."
"He really did think of everything," Jayesh said in wonder.
Crow grinned and looked down. "Zavala's been mentoring me. First Osiris was teaching me things, you know … but it was Savathun wearing his skin. After that was over, Lord Saladin tried teaching me things, but I was too boneheaded to listen to him until it was too late. He had to trade himself to the Cabal as a hostage to save my life after I accidentally killed their head Psion. I've been … adrift ever since. My only anchor was Silvan, and I don't know what I'd have done without her. But since we saved the Traveler, Zavala started reaching out. Calling me into his office after hours for dinner and talk. It's been … really good. Ikora's been good to me, too. Everything changed once Cayde wrote them those letters."
"He must have really laid things out," said Jayesh. "And you know what? I'm glad. It's been a long road."
"It has," said Crow.
They sat there in silence for a moment, each thinking of Crow's tumultuous life, death, and resurrection. Then Crow stood up. "Come on, let's get back. You have a concert to put on."
"Oh, not until later," said Jayesh. But he followed Crow willingly enough.
Crow and Jayesh joined in the soccer game with the children. More kids joined in, as well as a number of Eliksni children, and soon the dance square was full of running, shouting children, Guardians, and a ball.
The game only broke up when Lord Shax called them over to the outdoor dining area. "Children eat first!" he boomed in a voice trained by commentating Crucible matches. "Families, assist the little ones!"
The children sat around a collection of low tables and feasted on smoked pork, potato salad, bean salad, hummus, three kinds of bread, and fresh fruit. Then the adults moved in, and for a time there was a general rumble of voices and the clinking of glasses and silverware. Just as everyone was slowing down and toying with dessert, Jayesh unobtrusively mounted the stage by the dance arena, carrying his guitar. He was flanked by two other musicians, one with a bass guitar, one with a keytar. They quietly set up podiums with sheet music and hooked their instruments to a set of amplifiers. Then Jayesh said, "Phoenix, send a general message to the other Ghosts that the concert is about to start."
Phoenix appeared at his shoulder in a shell equipped with bright orange neon lights. The other musician's Ghosts appeared, wearing matching shells in green and blue neon. The Ghosts formed a row above their Guardians and waited for the music to begin.
Jayesh struck his guitar, and with the first note the magic began. The Ghosts began to dance, interweaving with each other to paint ever-changing light patterns above the stage. The crowd flocked to the dance floor and began to dance, while the last Sunsinger poured all his skill into dance tune after dance tune.
The concert lasted for hours. Long before it was over, Kari and Silvan had taken the children to Crow's apartment and put them to bed, except Connor, who was allowed to stay up. Then Kari and Silvan joined in the fun on the dance floor.
At midnight, the concert stopped for the lantern lighting ceremony. Everyone unfolded paper lanterns, lit the candles inside them, and set them free to drift through the skies of the Last City. Currents of breeze carried them in magical orange rivers high into the sky, where they would drift until finally burning out.
Alone on the stage, Jayesh strummed his guitar and sang a solo, a hymn to the Light he had written as a young Guardian. His clear voice mingled with the rising lanterns until they seemed to combine in a flowing aurora of magic. The crowd watched, listened, and enjoyed. Some of them wept.
Zavala, Ikora, and Crow sat on the edge of the wall with their own lanterns, ready to light them and release them. Jayesh's music permeated the air around them, seeming to lift the lanterns without the need of candles.
"We've earned this respite," said Zavala. "We will stand vigilant against the dark all the same."
"Commander," said Ikora, "stop working for one evening and enjoy the moment."
Zavala smiled and lit his lantern.
As Ikora lit her own with a spark of Light, Crow unfolded his own lantern and held it out. Ikora lit it for him, a small, companionable gesture she would not have made a month ago. Together they released their lanterns and let them soar away into the sky. The lanterns hung together far longer than expected, as if bound by a force greater than heat or gravity. Ikora laid a hand on Zavala and Crow's shoulders and they sat together like that, watching the lanterns, listening to the music, connected by newfound friendship.
Slowly the music died away as Jayesh's concert ended. In the quiet, the sound of other melodies rose from the City below. Other concerts, other voices raised in celebration and thanksgiving. Crow sighed in bliss and closed his eyes for a moment. "Thank you," he murmured.
"Hm?" said Ikora.
"For your forgiveness," said Crow.
Ikora and Zavala looked at him for a moment.
"If Cayde could forgive you," said Zavala, "then so can we."
No one said anything more. No one needed to.
As the lanterns began to wink out outside, Kari went looking for Jayesh. She found him breaking down his equipment backstage, Connor helping carry things. Kari pitched in and helped them put things away. "Your solo was beautiful," she told him. "Even better than practice."
"Being a Sunsinger means my Light is projected through sound," Jayesh said, his voice a little hoarse. "It leaves its mark on all who hear."
As he lifted his guitar case, Kari said, "It's all been worth it, don't you think?"
Jayesh looked at the guitar case in his hand, at his Ghost glowing neon at his shoulder, his son standing there with a box in his arms, then at his wife in her fluttery party dress. Vividly he recalled that moment when all had been turned to stone, when all seemed lost, when the Final Shape seemed to have gripped the universe. He remembered the Witness's temptations, the roomful of gold, the statue of himself elevated above the world. He glanced outside at the fading lanterns, at the wonderful world of chaos and noise, beautiful enough to break the heart, wild enough to crush a soul, in need of Light and healing.
He slid an arm around Kari's waist and his other arm over Conner's shoulders. "It was worth every second," he said, and hugged them both.
The end
A/N: What did you think? Did you enjoy the Final Shape? Did you enjoy this fanfic? If so, leave a comment and tell me about it!