The Custodes

Chapter 42 - Epilogue

When a twin burst of red and blue light shot from Zuro's lifeless body and flew into the sky, it signaled - finally and irreversibly - that the man was dead. As the red-skinned demonic body lay still at his feet, for a moment Neo wasn't quite sure what to do. For the last half a year his only goal had been defeating Zuro and saving the city. 

Now that he'd achieved those goals he almost felt lost. Purposeless. 

Until he remembered a certain someone standing next to him. 

Kayla let out a cry of alarm as Neo tackled her to the ground out of nowhere, but the noise turned into a cheerful laugh as she realised he'd wrapped his arms around her waist as tight as he could. Neo buried his head in the crook of Kayla's neck, hugging her close like he would never let her go, and then all of a sudden he was crying. 

It started as small sniffles and a sting in his eye, but five seconds later he was full-on weeping tears of joy - his mind unable to process just how happy he was. "Kayla..." He mumbled weakly, pulling his head back to wipe his face and looking her dead in the eye, like he was trying to work out if it was really her or not "How...? How are you here? I watched you die...I was sure of it..."

Kayla gave the faintest of chuckles, looking up at him with a twinkle in her eye and refusing to break his gaze "I don't know Neo. I just woke up and all my injuries were completely healed. I caught a glimpse of Kelsie nearby, but she ran off without a word. I have no idea where she went, but it must've been her who did it." 

That was as much of an explanation as Neo needed. Kayla was there, alive, in front of him.

Everything was right in the world again. 

"C'mere..." Kayla said softly, moving up to a kneeling position and placing a hand against his chest. A green glow gently emitted from it, and all of a sudden the agony of Neo's injuries rushed away, his body going back to how it was after Kelsie healed him the first time.

Neo didn't fail to notice the peculiar fact that Kayla's powers seemed to be back and working perfectly. Too elated to comment on their return and too overjoyed to chide her for using them, the boy simply smiled and gave a quiet "Thank you." 

The pair peeked at each other almost sheepishly for a moment, an inescapable silence falling between them. It was awkward for maybe a tenth of a second, and then the pair remedied it by suddenly colliding with each other, smashing their lips together in a burst of euphoria as their arms gripped each other gently.

The kiss washed away the last of the heaviness in Neo's heart, proving to him fully that Kayla was there now and wouldn't be leaving for a long while. They stayed like that for a few quick seconds that lasted a lifetime, before finally breaking apart and grinning childishly at each other.

Neo noticed a pink blush on Kayla's cheeks that almost made him laugh out loud, but he swallowed it when he realised his own cheeks were burning - and there was no way she wasn't going to comment on it.

"We need to get to the others." Kayla said, suddenly serious, as Neo nodded firmly in agreement. He stood up with ease, feeling lighter than air now that his injuries were gone, and then helped her up like any true gentleman would. 

They put their celebrations on pause as they went to help all of their friends, starting with Nexus and Quinn so they would have another healer with them who could lighten Kayla's load. Quinn helped heal Noah and Axel, who although incapacitated had the slightly lesser injuries of the group. Kayla dealt with Daigo and Synthia, sending their bodies back to heal their larger injuries and bring them back to consciousness while Quinn cleaned up any cuts, bruises or other remaining wounds. 

And once the last member of their group was healed, the celebrations started right back up again as every one of them let out their joy by cheering, crying, laughing, hugging, or kissing one another.