It was a cool summer's day, clouds obscuring the usually bright blue sky and blocking out the heat from the sun. After weeks of baking in its scorching rays, the Beacontowners were excited for the rain to finally come.

Radar smiled as he looked out the window at the forming clouds and the welcoming shadows they cast over the colourful town. He always loved the cool, cloudy weather. It reminded him of her.

Turning away from the window, Radar walked back to his desk and began sorting through the neat piles of paperwork. He was almost done, and then he could go home for the week.

A soft knock at the open door caused Radar to jump slightly. He rarely got any visitors at the office, and hadn't been expecting anybody. But when he lifted his head and his eyes met those of the person who was standing in the doorway, he could feel the colour draining from his face. It was like staring at a ghost.

Jesse.

She didn't look anything like the emotional wreck who left them behind over a year ago, the broken fighter who had come out of Romeo's battle. Instead it was her, the Jesse who he loved and trusted. Her brown eyes filled with kindness, that permanent smile resting on her tan face.

Radar's mouth opened slowly, but he couldn't find his words. Tears sprung to his eyes, his breath catching in his throat. And without thinking, he ran into her open arms.

Jesse enveloped Radar in a warm and loving embrace, her arms around him gentle. He had forgotten what a good hugger she was.

"I missed you so much!" He choked out, tightening his grip on her. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"And I missed you." Jesse pulled away from Radar, her hands still resting on his shoulders as she gazed at him with tear-filled eyes. "I'm so sorry for leaving, I... I needed time to find myself, before I could fix the mistakes I made."

"You're... you're normal again." Radar said, beginning to smile as he looked up to her. "Are you staying?"

Jesse expression saddened, more tears willing up in her eyes. She shook her head, rubbing Radar's shoulder.

"I'm no longer the horrible person I was a year ago, but I'm not the old Jesse either. This is just a glamour, I... I didn't want to scare you."

Radar's eyes widened, taking a step back as the woman in front of him slowly transformed. Her tan skin faded to a rosy pink colour, while her long chestnut hair turned to a dark magenta colour. Most frightening of all, her calm brown eyes completely changed to a powerful gold.

"Don't be afraid, Radar." Jesse said softly, taking a step closer to him again. "I'm an Admin, but I won't hurt you. I can control my powers now."

She rested one hand on Radar's shoulder again, smiling down at him. Despite finding them frightening at first, he could see that same kind gaze Jesse always wore, in her new golden eyes.

"I'm restoring the Underneath with Xara and Binta." She explained smiling. "The people down there need us. Beacontown on the other hand, I think they're doing just fine with you leading them."

Radar's eyes widened. "Really?" He asked softly.

"I can't express just how proud I am of you." Jesse said, her words causing Radar's face to visibly redden. She smiled sadly. "And hey, I'll always be around. If it's something you'd want, I could build you your own portal to the Underneath, if you ever want to come visit."

Radar nodded, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his jacket. "I'd love that."

"Come on." Jesse said, giving him a pat on his shoulder. "Before I leave, I owe it to Beacontown to tell them the truth."

Jesse had thought long and hard about whether she wanted to reveal that she was still alive to Beacontown. She could easily begin her new life in the Underneath without anybody aside from her friends knowing about it. But it felt wrong.

Beacontown deserved to know.

And when Jesse saw the joy on all the Beacontowners' faces when she stood in front of them, she knew she had made the right call.

"There was some truth in Romeo's lie when he used my identity to rule this place. Defeating him eventually did give me his powers." Her words caused a sea of whispers and murmurs to arise from the crowds. "I had no control over said powers, and they made me do several things I regret. The last thing I ever wanted was to treat Beacontown the way Romeo did in my name, and at the time my only option was to leave. The rest of the Order respected my wishes to keep this in the dark, and thus covered up my disappearance with the story of my death."

Beacontown erupted into cheers as the beacons behind Jesse flickered, the dark blue one that represented her flickering back to life. Jesse couldn't stop smiling. She hadn't expected any resentment for her disappearance, but she also hadn't expected such a warm welcome back.

"When I first set out to defeat Romeo, I still remember telling somebody that, in my world, there are more important things than who has the most power." Jesse said, recalling a conversation she had had with Stella. "Which is why, with these powers, I'm going to step back and allow Radar to continue leading you all. I'll always be around, but Beacontown doesn't need me the way other people do right now."

While some were visibly disappointed, it seemed that Beacontown's happiness about her being alive overcame their dismay that she wasn't there to stay.

"I'm going to miss you." Radar said after the announcement, hugging Jesse goodbye. "But I'll see you again."

"Definitely." Jesse responded as she hugged Radar back.

"Are you going straight back down to the Underneath?" Radar asked, the two of them walking to Beacontown's large red gates together.

Jesse began to smile.

"Not quite. I have one more stop to make."

--------------------------

Petra closed her eyes as the cool breeze whipped through her short red hair. She could smell the coming rain, knowing it'd be there by the time evening came.

"Hey, Petra!"

She opened her eyes again, turning her head in the direction the voice had come from. Lukas was grinning at her from where he sat on his dark bay mare's back, Ray excitedly tossing her head.

"Race you back to the cabin?"

Petra begin to grin as well, circling around her new horse so she was standing beside Lukas and Ray. "You're on!"

Both horses excitedly leapt forward at their riders' command, galloping across the open meadow. Lukas and Petra both glances sideways, exchanging excited grins as they both urged their horses on. They pulled up outside the cabin at almost exactly the same time, the horses both eagerly tugging at their reins for more. Laughing, Petra and Lukas both leaned over to give each other a high-five.

"That was so much fun." Petra said, leaning down to hug her horse's patchy white and chestnut neck.

"It was amazing." Lukas agreed, throwing his leg over the saddle and scratching Ray behind one of her ears. "It's been ages since I rode like that."

"Impressive riding, you two!"

Petra and Lukas both turned their heads to see Jesse not standing far from them. She was grinning from ear to ear, her golden eyes sparkling. Instead of the ragged overalls they last saw her in, she was wearing a new set of armour that complimented her Admin colours.

"Jesse!" Petra called excitedly, dismounting as well and limping over to hug her friend.

"Didn't think we'd see you again so soon." Lukas greeted as he too came over to give her a hug. "How're things going down in the Underneath?"

"Incredible." Jesse responded, beaming. "Xara has completely restored the Oasis, and Binta's Keep looks like a whole new town!"

"Let me guess, you decided to take on Romeoburg?" Petra asked curiously.

"Not Romeoburg any more, but yes." Jesse replied, laughing. "Reuben's Rest is coming along nicely. The two of you really need to come see it for yourself at some point!"

"Oh we'd love to, but how?" Lukas asked.

"When I arrived and you two were still out, it gave me the perfect opportunity to set up a little present for you." Jesse said, grinning. "Hopefully you don't mind the spot behind the house I chose for your portal."

"You built us our own portal?" Petra asked in awe, looking over at Lukas excitedly. "That's incredible!"

"This'll take you straight to Reuben's Rest if you ever want to come visit." Jesse said, holding out a piece of acacia wood with a town's emblem carved into it.

"We'll definitely stop by." Lukas said as Petra took the trinket from Jesse. "It's nice to hear you've been enjoying your time down there."

"It's been amazing." Jesse said softly, absent-mindedly stroking Petra's new horse's white blaze. "Xara's really taught me a lot about these powers – the three of us even competed in Romeo's old challenge! It's actually so much fun with powers, six hundred stages fly by almost too quickly." She chuckled, before looking back up at them. "I truly have the two of you to thank for this. The fact that you didn't give up on me and stuck by my side all the way through that journey... thank you so much."

"You know we'd do anything for you, Jesse." Petra said, smiling.

Jesse returned the smile, stepping forward to give each of her friends one more hug. They waved after her as she strode off to where she built the portal, ready to return to her new home.

"I'm so happy with how everything turned out." Petra said to Lukas when they were alone.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, the two of them leaning against each other as they watched Jesse disappear into the distance.

"Me too." He said, smiling over at her. "Me too."

Petra closed her eyes, smiling contentedly as she leaned her head against Lukas. It may not be the perfect ending, but she couldn't be happier with how that adventure had concluded.

While she hoped it was the last for a little while, she was ready to tackle whatever life threw at them next.

___

Ending a book always leaves me feeling somewhat sad, but excited for what's to come next. This book especially it's... it's very special to me. I wrote it during one of the hardest times of my life, and I think working on it helped me cope with a lot of shit. I'm doing amazing now, but that doesn't make me any less grateful for how much writing this book helped me!

I want to give a massive thanks to each and every one of you who stuck around till the ending. As the fandom shrunk a lot of readers left, and I didn't get to share this story with as many people as I hoped, but it still meant a lot to me that some of you are still around, reading my works. 

I am nearing the end of fanfiction writing, as much as I hate to admit that. Not soon, I have a new story already sitting in my drafts and a brand new series planned for after that. But after those... I think I might be stopping for good.

It kills me to say this, but I'm not leaving. I'm moving over to the world of original stories when I finally let fanfiction go and I really hope that some of you will come with me and continue reading what I create.

But enough of that, I still have four to five fanfictions I will 100% be writing! So I'm not leaving too soon!

On that note, thank you again to everybody who stuck around till the end of this story. Your support means more to me than you'll ever know