Cinder

Epilogue - Always Together

SIX YEARS LATER

For the fourth time in as many minutes, she sighed. Gates looked up at the night sky, the bright and seemingly endless array of stars all twinkling back at her.

"Hon, dinner's ready. You coming in?"

"I'll be there in a minute," she called back, not bothering to turn around from her comfortable position in the grass of their backyard. "You and the kids feel free to dig in."

She didn't hear a response other than the sliding of the door as it closed behind him. Her mind was dwelling on other thoughts- she always became rather nostalgic when looking at the stars.

It had been years since she'd held a gun- longer still since she'd had to use one. How close extinction had been was burned into everyone's minds on that day- and inspired a new level of cooperation and camaraderie among the human race. It hadn't been easy ... but they'd managed to rebuild most of what they'd lost.

The Codex had been assumed destroyed with Regis. Vale had become the leader of the Embers and created a temporary, unified government over the frontier. Once the dust settled and the situation had become more stable, she stepped down and retired from the military life as a whole. She and Buck would come by every now and again to check up on them, an event which Gates always looked forward to. There were few enough friends left after the war that she always cherished seeing one.

The others had all gone their separate ways, though they did keep in contact from time to time. Rose had returned to Harmony and retired like she had. That was where the similarities ended- while she and Davis enjoyed the quiet life, he found his status as a war-hero rather enjoyable- especially when it came to drinking free at whatever bar he visited.

Fallon and Gray had opted to remain in their old militant lifestyles; he was helping to train the next generation of soldiers for whatever other unexpected threats that might appear on the horizon, while she had completed physical therapy for her wounds and apparently became an elite operative that deployed to eliminate any remnant forces of New Humanity- mostly Pilots and Titans that had willingly joined Spyglass, knowing what his plan had been.

Physical therapy had been something she and Gray had in common, it seemed. Rubbing her prosthetic leg absentmindedly, she noted with some humor that, despite her own scolding of a particular Pilot for not requesting synthetic digits for his missing fingers, she'd also had some difficulty in accepting the need for an artificial limb at first. It still felt odd at times- she didn't believe the feeling would ever go completely away- but it certainly provided more freedom for her to enjoy time with her family.

And speaking of a certain Pilot ...

She thought back to that day, the day where she'd believed the world itself had ended even as everyone celebrated their survival. She thought back to Vale's frantic orders, the hours that turned into days of scouring every last pebble for some sign of Tobias and KT ...

They never found them.

The entire ocean bay of the fold-weapon's location had seemingly been absorbed by the portal. Even now, six years later after the incident, wreckage was still being recovered on various worlds- and not all at once. It appeared that, without Spyglass to direct the time and destination for the portal, it had all been scattered across the frontier wildly. Some had materialized instantly while other debris would phase into existence every so often, finding itself years in the future when only seconds had passed from its perspective.

Each time, the seven of them would answer the call and journey to the location in search of answers. Each time, they would be left disappointed.

But Gates hadn't given up hope- and oddly enough, it was because of the stars.

Tobias had once told her about his promise to Kay- how she'd wanted to travel the stars and see untouched worlds, how she wanted to spend her life as a pioneer among the unknown. Gates hadn't understood at the time, all she saw were stars in the sky. But now, she believed she finally grasped why KT had loved the idea so much.

A star wasn't just a ball of gas out in the void of vacuum- its light could be seen millions of miles away, illuminating the path for those you'd never even dream it would affect. In a universe where the natural state was one of bleak dust, and echoes, stars burned bright in defiance. They were symbols that even when everything seemed dark, hope held on and shone all the more brilliantly.

Kay had always wanted to be more than what she was- and Tobias had been the one to show her that she could.

Now, the stars had become Gates' companions every night. She would look up at them and wonder, are they out there somewhere? Are they forging a a path on new worlds, or did they finally find peace?

"El ... you alright?"

With a smile, she stood up and turned around to face Davis. "I am now. Let's eat- don't wanna let the food get cold."

She walked back to the house with him at her side, thinking on what had finally given her the strength to move on. No matter where they were- whether the two of them were somewhere journeying among the stars or had long since embarked on life's next great adventure- she knew that they would be doing so together.

Always together.

A/N: And with that, the Architects series comes to an close.

This series has probably meant the most to me out of any other. It's been a source of many headaches and late nights in trying to figure out exactly how to progress the story, but it's also been one of immense joy- not just for me, but in seeing how much enjoyment you all have gotten out of these stories.

Despite how happy I am to finally complete it, I'm also somewhat saddened- just as I'm sure you all are to some degree as well. It's been an incredible journey, one which I never imagined would take me here- I thought I'd make one short story which maybe a few hundred people would ever see.

Instead, I've been given a fanbase of thousands upon thousands between both FF net and Wattpad, and that short story grew into a a trilogy filled with characters that I've come to love. But as much as it pains me to let them go ... I know that their story is complete.

Will I ever make another story in the Architect's universe? Maybe, but certainly not until Titanfall 3 comes out- and even then, it would be with different characters and places to explore. For now, the only thing left is to keep rewriting Inferno, Tempest, and Cinder, then add them to 'The Architect Codex'- that's as far as I've planned concerning the future of the series.

My final thoughts; just as this saga has been an adventure for you all, it's been an adventure for me- and a fun one at that. Whether you stuck around for the writing, the characters, or some other reason, I can't thank you enough for doing so. All of you have helped me in some way- whether it was assisting me in trying to iron out plot-holes, beta reading, or just sending a compliment my way, I've appreciated every last one of you.

Don't think of this as an end, or a goodbye- think of it as an 'I'll see you later'. Think of it as the starting point for new ideas, new stories, and new adventures to be had. Because for every one of you that just finished reading, there's someone out there who's reading about a lonely Pilot and Titan stranded out in the snow for the first time. All of our ends are beginnings for someone else.

Until the next time,

- Matteoarts