Aegis held Rose on his lap, gently kissing her hair as she cried into his sleeve.  He sat upon the bed in the room Kiera had lent them, leaning back against the pillows as he waited for her to speak.

“Daddy’s dead..” she whispered finally, clutching a fistful of his shirt tightly.

“Yes..” Aegis said, kissing. “But there are some things you need to know about your father…”

“I know Daddy did bad things,” she sniffled.

“Wh..what?”

“Every time you or Uncle Sikari or Uncle Xin lied to me I knew…none of you are very good liars,” she said. “But I also knew Daddy wanted to protect me..”

“Oh, Rose..” he said, holding her.

“I know Daddy was a bad man..but I miss him..” Fresh sobs swelled up, and she clung to Aegis, crying.

“Sh…Rose…Xin and I will never leave you…” he said, kissing her tears.  Xin walked in, a cup of steaming cocoa in his hand.  He gave it to Rose, dabbing at her cheeks with a tissue as he did so.  She drank it and cuddled against them.

“Do you promise?” she asked, after she had downed half the cup and could feel its comforting warmth in her belly.

Xin stroked her cheek.

“We swear it.”

“Alright!  Question and answer time,” Jada said.  They had all gathered around Kaitlyn’s new kitchen table (which was about twice the size of its predecessor), prepared to discuss the events of last night.

“What I was wondering is why Etienne’s necklace picked up on the shards in Xin and Charon but not on the one in Aegis’s pendant,” Lani said.

“I believe it was due to the fact that the pendant is technically an inanimate object.  However, the memories inside it gave it a faint soul, which acted as a holding place for the shard.  But since the soul’s energy was so weak, I don’t think Etienne’s pendant was able to grasp it,” Kiera explained.

“Um…okay.”

“I think there should have been more mass property damage,” Roan said idly.  Kiera rolled her eyes.

“I wonder when we’ll see that Sailorknight again…she’s awfully volatile,” Azura mused, as if she were her only audience.

“What I wonder is if we could have killed Riordan if she hadn’t shown up and done it for us,” Jada said, sounding almost bitter.

“I don’t think there would have been a need to kill him if she hadn’t shown up,” Kaitlyn said calmly, her eyes focused on the table.

“Man, what is wrong with you?” Jada threw her hands up. “Damn pacifists and their damned pacifistic tendencies.”

Kaitlyn drummed her fingers on the table, speaking wearily.

“Please… I don’t want to argue about this right now..”

“Whatever…” she glanced at Jigoku. “How’s being human?”

“You act like I’ve always been a fish,” he answered, flexing his fingers. “But it’s quite nice.”

“Aegis and Xin moved out with Rose the other day…” Kiera said. “If you want somewhere to stay, you’re welcome at my home.”

“Well thank ya kindly,” he grinned.  Kaitlyn tuned out as the conversation continued, her mind wandering as they talked.  She barely said anything when they finally rose to leave, and none but Etienne took note of her laconic attitude.

“Kaitlyn?” he said gently. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah..” she said faintly. “I’m fine.”

Etienne bit his lip, but did not push the issue.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then..”

“G’night…”

Etienne slunk out.  Kaitlyn crawled into her bed, pulling her pillow to her chest.  She supposed she should be happy.  She had saved all known existence, or at least helped with it.  She buried her face in her pillow.  Why couldn’t everyone just forgive everyone else?  Why did people always have to die for conflicts to be resolved?  She curled up tighter, turning these questions over in her mind.  She could not fathom why it always had to end in death…and all she could think of was the image of Rose, tears staining her cheeks as she called for her dying father.

Well, friends.  That's it. ^^;;
::pauses::

::runs around screaming because SHE ACTUALLY FINISHED SOMETHING::

eeeeeeee ~~

Okay, I'm better now. ^^;;

Um, if you have any questions, then it's probably about stuff you're not supposed to know yet (like stuff about Charon ^^;).

To those of you who have been  here since THE VERY FIRST CHAPTER... thank you.. and to all of you who have sent me pretty pictures and feedback forms and just generally made me feel like I wasn't a total idiot for doing this, THANK YOU...

And my beta readers: Kendra, Kai, Del, Sally,  E-bug, Genki.
Wow.. I can't believe I finished something.. okay.. anyway..Feedback, dammit.  On the ending.  On the first series of Clarity as a whole.  Please?