"Wake up."

"Zane? Wake up, it's time to get out of bed." Nana shook his arm vigorously as she tried to wake up her groggy boyfriend. 

He sighed, rising up from the bed. He looked at her and noticed the dark rings that hung below her eyes. 

"Nana, what's wrong..? Did you not get enough sleep? Was I snoring or something?" He panicked. "Wait no, that must have been Garroth or something..."

She giggled and shook her head in reply. But despite this, she still didn't explain why she wore bags underneath her eyes. 

"Nana.." He whimpered. A worried frown appeared on his face as he rested his hand onto her shoulder.

"Zane, please. I'm fine. Just getting over having a tough time as of lately. Especially with Damien and all.."

Zane nodded, but still felt as if something was wrong. She doesn't normally act like this. If anything, she would be excited to go home to MyStreet after being at Starlight for so long.

"Wait." He said, holding onto her wrist as she began to stand up. "Stay with me for a bit."

"But Zane, you know I can't. I have to finish packing the last of my things, and I-"

"That can wait! I just want to be with you right now."

"Zane..." She sighed, but reluctantly gave in. He pulled her into bed with him with the both of them giggling. Placing a kiss onto her forehead, they snuggled close and drifted off into sleep. 

. . .

Zane's eyes slowly fluttered open to the sounds of sniffling from underneath him. 

He looked down to see Nana crying into his shirt. He hugged her tighter and nuzzled his chin into the top of her head.

"Nana..." He whispered, her cries silencing into sniffles. "Don't cry.."

"I'm sorry." She sniveled as more tears spilled into his grey shirt. He cradled her in his arms and tried to understand what was going on.

She seemed upset earlier that day, but now she can't even mutter a sentence back to him. He calmly whispered sweet nothings to the crying Mei'fwa. 

"Zane..." She whispered before further digging her head into his shirt. "I'm so sorry for what I said."

"Huh..?"

"I just hope you know what."

"All the mistakes I've made..."

"And not once did I make sure you were alright."

"I'm sure that you've already realized it by now."

"Nana..."

"You probably don't even want to look at me; a horrible excuse for a partner."

"What kind of lover doesn't even see the signs from the start..?"

"From your dad and the way he treated you.."

"And then everything with Damien..."

"And Ghost.."

"Even when we were on the street, I should have learned to be more attentive to you."

"You were the one who needed helping, not to have more dead weight attached to you."

"I can't believe I'm just realizing this now."

"After all this time.."

"I'm such an awful person.."

"A disgrace."

"Someone who shouldn't be loved by you or anyone else."

"I don't deserve you."

"I know you would never want to see me again."

"You might not even love me anymore."

"Not after everything I put you through."

"Nana."

"Stop it."

"H-Huh?"

"Just because you think this way doesn't mean it's true."

"I   l o v e   y o u."

"And nothing is ever going to change that."

"I know you've made mistakes."

"But who doesn't?"

"We're all human. And we make mistakes."

"It's okay to make them, Nana."

"Don't waste your tears on temporary feelings."

"There are some things I wish I could have done differently too."

"I sometimes wish that I could have had a better fatherly figure, and was treated differently."

"Sometimes..."

"I wish I could go back and change they way I acted towards people."

"But during that time of healing, I got to make up for it."

"I made a stronger bond with loved ones, and even managed to have you by my side."

"So even if you say that you don't deserve me, just know that you do."

"You were the one who was there for me."

"And also know that.."

"I.."

"I'm here for you too."

Nana sniffled, looking up at him. He gave a soft and caring expression back as he adorned a faint smile.

Zane planted a soft kiss onto her forehead. As a response she pulled his head close to hers as they shared a tender kiss.

"Now promise me you'll never say those things again. No more bull coming out of that pretty mouth of yours." Nana smiled and nodded. Again, he placed another kiss on her forehead, making her giggle.

"It's just I had a dream about it. And then was up last night being all down and self-conscious about it." She said. 

He nodded in reply, assuring her that everything was going to be alright.

The two then drifted off once more, entangled in each others arms.

. . .

"Can you guys hurry up!?"

"Yeah, yeah. Hold your horses, Aphmau!" Garroth rebuked. "I need to look good before we board the plane!"

"Garroth, can you just hurry! We're going to be late at this rate because of you." Zane yelled, Nana humming in agreement.

"You guys just don't understand! It takes a while to look this good, y'know!"

"I'm so sorry about him." Zane turned to the girls with a sigh. "He's always like this. Just like Dad always is."

"But after all, he takes after his father's smarts." Zianna sighed. 

Nana giggled at what they had said. Aphmau rolled her eyes and had a chuckle as well.

After a few minutes minutes, Garroth finally joined the rest of them. His hair was slightly different, but not to the point where it was clearly obvious. 

As they headed towards the boat heading towards the airport, they traveled in a large group. Nearly taking up the entire boardwalk, they carried their luggage to the boat. 

They all got in one by one; Zane and Nana being the last ones to get in. They laughed and joked around playfully as they waited. 

"You're so cute. I'm so lucky to have you." He said, kissing the top of her forehead. 

"I can almost say the same thing about you." She giggled. "You're so cute and I really am grateful to have you."

She scratched the back of her head, her cheeks glowing a light pink. Nana held onto his hand as she studied the small freckles dotted on his arms, lost in her own introspection.

"And last night, when I realized all of what I was doing wrong, you were still there for me. You didn't turn me away like someone else would have. I still don't think I'll ever understand why, but I'm so happy you didn't." She sniffled, wiping away a tear. 

"Nana, please. I would never leave you. Not after what you have done for me. You stuck with me, when I felt at my lowest of lows. You helped me heal. And I could never thank you enough for that."

His pinky finger was entangled with hers when he spoke. She looked up at him with an overwhelmingly heartwarming face. 

"Aww! Zane!" She cooed, kissing him on the cheek. "That's so sweet.."

"Alright, enough with the sappy stuff! We have to get back home, you two! And finally show off my new favorite ship-- Zane~Chan!" Aphmau beamed at the two, rushing them on board.

Once on board, they placed their luggage in one of the rooms built on the boat. The entire gang had fun with each other, eating the food banquet and nearly dunking others into the pool.

"Ack!" Melissa screeched, catching the attention of everyone on board. "Aaron, you butt! I just got this outfit!"

"Hahah! That's what you get for taking the last lobster tail." He laughed, but still helped his sister out the pool. 

The couple laughed at the scene. Zane turned to her while wearing a smirk.

"You know, Garroth would do something like that to me. Knowing him, he'd jump at the first chance to." He laughed.

"You're right! Come here!" Garroth yelled, chasing after Zane.

"Garroth, noo!"

. . .

Zane and Nana stood by the front of the boat, side-by-side while they watched the sunset. Zane rested his arms on the railing and Nana wrapped her arms around one of his biceps. 

"It's nice to be finally going home. I would like to go back to our homes." She spoke softly and rested her head on his shoulder. 

The sun tinted her hair a rose-gold as it blew in the wind, her face glowing a warm peach. Zane watched the breathtaking woman next to him, feeling speechless on what to say.

"Zane, stop staring, ya dork." She giggled. He stuttered as his face began to grow red in embarrassment.

"Sorry! It's just that you look so beautiful standing here next to me. I-I couldn't help but stare. Heheh.." Nana smiled and  held onto him tighter. 

"I love you." She said, her voice dripping with love and compassion. Zane treasured this moment. That very voice made his heart swell up with emotions. With a loving gaze, he looked her in her honeycomb yellow eyes.

She stared at him with the same expression, her smile evident. Nana entwined her hand tightly in Zane's, leaning in towards him.

Pulling down his mask, they shared a slow, tender kiss between them. Zane held Nana closer to him, deepening the kiss. 

He pulled apart, brushing a hand away form her face. With the same soft, tender tone, he stared deep into her eyes and said;

"I love you too."

. . . .

OKAY, THIS BOOK IS OFFICIALLY DONE-

But being serious here, I want to not only thank those who've waited so long for this finale to come out. 

I really like this, and it's a nice ending to a decent book. xD

Also, thank you to those who stuck around for it! It was hard writing sometimes due to having minor writer's block and all that. 

It's been one crazy journey! And that you for sticking around with me for the whole thing.

Thank you. From the very bottom of my heart. <3

Hugs and kisses,

CandyDropMix ❤︎