"No, no, no! That goes over there, on that table! Honestly! Don't you know how to read a perfectly clear diagram?"

The men carrying the centerpieces looked at each other, and then shrugged helplessly at Aki's intense eyes. They started pulling it back down to put it where she indicated.

"Did you get this fired up helping plan Carly and Jack's wedding?" Judai laughed, leaning his elbows against the nearest table.

Aki glowered at him, folding her arms against her chest.

"Jack wouldn't let me touch his plans, which he should have — because if I had been in charge, the incident wouldn't have happened."

"Carly seemed to enjoy herself, at least," Yusei said.

Aki rolled her eyes, and then whirled on the movers, who were setting the tables up on the grass.

"What did I tell you? That goes over there!"

She stormed off, leaving Judai giggling so hard that he fell face first onto the nearest table.

"You okay?" Yusei laughed.

"I'm just giddy," said Judai. "It's all a lot, isn't it?"

Yusei reached for Judai's hand. His gloves were tucked into his pocket, so they both felt the faint spark when their bare skin touched, saw the little sparks of black and white glimmers pass between their fingers when he rubbed his thumb over the back of Judai's hand.

"It's all been a lot," Yusei said. "Are you nervous?"

"Of course not."

Yusei felt the faint, nervous shudder pass through Judai, though, and he had to smile.

"Judai, we just had to put a whole universe back in order, and you're nervous about wedding plans?"

"Shush! It's — it's a lot more...everything than I expected!"

He stuck his tongue out at Yusei, head still flat on the table.

"Ugh! Everyone's coming too early!" Aki's voice rose over the commotion of set up. "Don't you all know how to read invitations!"

"Should we calm her down?" Judai asked.

"I don't think she wants to be calmed down," Yusei said with a laugh.

Judai's eyes wandered out over the space, grass bobbing lightly in the breeze. Aki had pretty much taken charge of the planning, but it looked beautiful. There were pretty white morning glories entwined in every bit of the decor, looking like stars on the black and gray tablecloths and table settings. It was like a field of stars in the middle of the day, spread out beneath the clear blue sky. In the distance, the skyline of Neo Domino City sparkled like jewels.

There were already people milling about the grass between the tables, and Yusei could hear the faint laughter and chatter of people talking amongst themselves.

"How do we know so many people?" Yusei said.

"That seems to be our thing. We collect people," Judai said, finally lifting off the table. "Hey, that must be Crow's new boyfriend. We should go embarrass him."

Yusei laughed, and might have agreed if he had gotten the chance.

"Judai! You look so...weird," Asuka said, laughing as she threw her arms around him.

"Hey! I look fine in a suit," Judai grumbled, but he hugged her back with a grin.

"I'm just not used to seeing you in anything other than that ragged old jacket," Manjoume said, coming up behind them with Shou trailing behind, pushing Ryo in his wheelchair in front of him.

"Kaiser! You made it!"

"I'm feeling all right today," Ryo said with a weak smile, gripping Judai's hand when he broke free of Asuka. "I can't exactly miss the once in a lifetime occurrence of Judai Yuki getting married."

"Why is everyone teasing me! Did you all think I was gonna be a spinster?"

The group all exchanged a glance before breaking into giggles, and Judai flustered, flapping his hands and blushing at them. Yusei laughed. He reached for Judai's hand again and curled his fingers into it, feeling the faint tremor of sadness through their mind link. He was happy to see his friends, Yusei could tell, but he felt horribly sad, too, about how he'd missed out on growing up with them.

Still, Judai thought, he'd chosen to come back to this time after they'd finished their work. And he wouldn't regret it. Not while he was holding Yusei's hand.

A hand dropped down on each of their shoulders, squeezing them next to each other in a hug from behind.

"Aren't the grooms not supposed to see each other before they get married!" Johan said in their ears with a loud laugh.

"Oy, oy, no hogging the groom!" came Crow's voice, just before he tackled Yusei and pulled him away to give him a fierce noogie. "Best man coming in!"

"Crow! Aki's going to kill you if you mess up my hair," Yusei laughed.

"Hey, I dueled Jack and Kiryu fair and square to be your best man, which means I get the privilege of noogieing you whenever I want!"

"I still think you cheated," drawled a familiar voice.

Yusei extracted himself from Crow with a laugh as Kiryu wandered over, raising his eyebrows and grinning at Yusei. Yusei gripped his arm and pulled him in for a hug.

"I'm glad you could make it," he said.

"I'm not about to not be here for your damn wedding," Kiryu said. "And since I didn't get to be your best man, I made sure to one up Crow and Jack with the wedding present, so get ready to be wowed."

"Hmph! As if you could one up me at anything!" Jack said, appearing suddenly behind Kiryu and making him jump and swear.

Carly, holding his hand, rolled her eyes and laughed. "Don't let him say anything. I had to help him pick something because he had a shortout in the store trying to pick."

"We weren't supposed to talk about that!" Jack said, flushing.

Johan slung his arm over Judai's shoulders, sending him a mischievous grin when Judai grumbled at how much taller Johan was than him. Ruby squeaked, leaping from Johan's shoulder to Judai's to snuggle him, as Winged Kuriboh landed on Johan's head and twittered.

Something fat and warm smacked into Judai's legs, and he looked down.

"Pharaoh?" he said, voice leaping with excitement. He scooped the big cat up like a baby, and it yawned, sitting comfortably in his arms. "No way! It's been thirty years! How are you still around, old boy?"

"That cat is clearly an eldritch horror," said another familiar voice, and Judai's eyes leaped up with a huge grin to see O'Brien. Not just him, either, but Edo and Saiou were wandering over along with him.

"O'Brien! Edo! Saiou! You guys came?"

"Considering you all left me out of your saving the world scheme this time, I probably shouldn't have," Edo said with a sniff. "But since Saiou insisted, we're here."

"He wanted to come," Saiou said in a fake whisper.

Edo smacked him gently on the shoulder, blushing. Pharaoh squirmed to get down, and Judai let him, the big cat padding back over to O'Brien and purring.

"Have you taken care of Pharaoh this whole time?"

"He's taken care of himself," O'Brien said. "I swear, that cat's not mortal. It followed me out into the bush and scared off tigers."

"Well, Pharaoh is a very special cat."

Judai jumped at the spectral voice, and Yusei looked up curiously.

"No way," Judai said, gaping at the spectral form that appeared over Pharaoh. "Daitokuji? You still haven't passed on?"

"Sounded too boring," Daitokuji said cheerily. "Besides, aren't you and Yusei gods now? Shouldn't you know things like that?"

"Don't tease me," Judai grumbled.

"Yusei! Judai!"

Yusei oofed at the sudden impact when Lua threw himself at him, from about three feet away. He managed to catch him before he tumbled backwards again, and the younger boy giggled, looking already rumpled in his little suit.

"Lua! Take this more seriously, you're going to lose the rings!" Luka said, running to meet him, looking flushed. She quickly tried to smooth out the rumples in her pale pink dress from running, fixing the flowers that had begun to tumble out of her basket.

"Nuh-uh! I've got them right here," Lua said, patting his breast pocket. "Don't worry, Yusei! I'll protect them with my life!"

"Your life is more important than the rings," Yusei said, shaking his head with a smile.

"What do you people think when the invitation says the wedding starts at noon?" Aki's voice clamored over the group, appearing with flashing eyes and thrown up hands. "You are crowding the people I need to organize! Shoo, shoo!"

She shoved Jack with both hands, and he swore when he almost fell over. Carly smothered her laugh behind her hand, and then scurried out of the way of Aki.

"Jack, you're not even wearing the right suit!" Aki said. "If you're going to be one of the groomsmen, wear the suit I sent you! Even if you're not best man you should take this seriously!"

"It was itchy," Jack growled.

"Well, change now! I'm not having you walk out there in that damn stupid coat of yours! Yusei wore the right suit for your wedding!"

Judai tried his goddamn best not to laugh by turning his face into Yusei's shoulder and smothering the giggles. Yusei's chest shook a bit too, and he slung his arm over Judai's shoulder so that he could hide his own laughter in Judai's hair.

"All right, actual people involved in the ceremony, I need you in the changing room," Aki yelled. "People who are here way too early, just — find a seat and get out from underfoot!"

"She's taking this pretty seriously, at least," Yusei said.

"I would be a mess right now, so I'm glad we're not planning it ourselves," Judai said.

Yusei squeezed his shoulders.

"Are you a mess right now?" he asked quietly.

Judai hesitated, just holding on to Yusei's waist and breathing in his scent. He smelled like a fresher cologne, but Judai could still catch the more familiar scent of motorcycle grease beneath.

"No," he said finally. "I'm really happy. That we're here, you know. That we made it, and everyone's around us, and we're all together again. And that...wow. This is happening."

Yusei squeezed him a little tighter, smiling. He quietly sent a melody over their connection — not the one that had brought them this far, but a new one. The one that they were making together. It made Judai relax in his arms.

"Okay, okay, can I get you all to move this way," Aki was still calling.

Luka dropped her flower basket, and the flowers went flying in a rain of petals over the ground. Aki started to swear, but then as Judai looked up and saw what Luka was staring at, so did Aki. And for a moment, the whole group fell quiet.

A very, very nervous looking Fujiwara stood about ten feet away from their group. He looked...better, Judai though. He was still the thirty-years-older version from before, but his hair looked neater, he was wearing a nice button up and beige pants rather than the black cloak, and his eyes were completely clear, a normal light purple without a hint of black. He didn't quite look at any of them, however, twisting his foot in the dirt, hands in nervous fists at his sides.

"I..." he started, his voice sounding clear and his own for the first time since Judai had started this crazy adventure. "I know I probably shouldn't have come. That no one probably wanted to see me."

Yusei looked at Luka and Lua to try and gauge their reaction, but he could only see their backs. They looked a little stiff, shoulders trembling. Fujiwara's eyes wandered to his children, and he licked his lips nervously.

"I just...it took me a while to find my way back after Darkness let go of me, and then I wasn't sure how to...I just wanted to see you all, at least once. I'll...leave..."

Luka moved first. She bolted across the space and tackled Fujiwara around the waist, clinging to him and almost knocking him over. Lua moved just a second after her, joining the tackle and actually taking all three of them down this time in a heap of hugs and tears and incoherent babbling.

"I'm sorry, I said such awful things to you!" Lua babbled.

"Oh, god, Lua, no, you were right —"

"I'm sorry, I was so mad at you for leaving —" Luka cried.

"And it's okay, you had the right to, I was —"

They just sat there in a heap for a while, Fujiwara clinging to his children, and the twins clinging back. Tears streamed down his face before he buried it in their hair, squeezing them tighter.

He only looked up when Judai, Yusei still holding his hand, walked over to him, standing over him. Judai hesiated, seeing the nerves pass over Fujiwara's eyes. He couldn't forget everything they'd had to go through because of him. Maybe if he'd just trusted them sooner, the loops could have ended faster.

It was Yusei who reached his hand out first, smiling.

"It's a brand new world out here," he said. "Why don't we act like it?"

The complete and utter gratitude that crashed over Fujiwara's face was enough to melt the last of Judai's doubs. Fujiwara accepted Yusei's hand, and he and the twins carefully pulled themselves up. The twins still clung to his shirt, putting wrinkles in the fabric, and Fujiwara put his arms lightly over their shoulders.

"Sorry," he said. "I seem to have stolen a bit of the spotlight away from the actual reason for the day."

"No worries," Judai said with a grin. "We'll steal it back."

The smile that tickled Fujiwara's lips was tentative, but it was enough. This world, this new world, would be enough. Judai squeezed Yusei's hand, and Yusei squeezed back.

"And, uh," Ushio fumbled, trying to pretend he wasn't looking at his index cards as much as he was, and proceeding to drop them. "Fuck. Whatever, this is the point where you guys say your vows, so do that."

He bent down to pick up the fallen cards, and Judai bit back a laugh.

Why'd we pick Ushio to officiate again? he asked Yusei mentally.

Because it was funny. Now you go first.

Judai reached out and took Yusei's hands in his, holding both of them across the thin space between them. But there really wasn't any space between them, not anymore. Not time, nor space, nor even the boundaries of reality could separate them. He could feel the tickle of their shared world, always just a breath away to join the stars where they had rebegun the universe together. He closed his eyes, and sensed the aura of Yusei's light gently weaving together with his shadows.

"Fudo Yusei," he said. "We've been to hell and back again together. We've lived a hundred loops over and over again, and we've fallen in love over and over. This is the last, and the best time, that we have fallen in love."

He opened his eyes, and saw Yusei smiling at him, saw his beautiful blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight.

"But I want to keep falling in love with you every day," Judai said. "So, no matter where the world goes from here, I'll be by your side until time itself ends."

Yusei smiled, and closed his eyes, too. He could see their stars, the light and shadow mixing together among the glassy sky and mirrored floor, in the world that they would one day call their final home. But for now, he was here. He was holding Judai's hands, and his friends were all around him, happy and alive and living the lives they always dreamed of.

"Yuki Judai," he said. "You've followed me time and time again, protected me and everyone. This time, I want to make sure I'm walking beside you, and that we are protecting each other."

He opened his eyes, leaving the stars behind for the ones in Judai's warm brown eyes instead.

"We've fought together this long, and I never want to fight apart again," he said. "So, no matter where this new world goes from here, I'll be by your side until time itself ends."

Before Ushio could say anything in regards to the vows, Lua squeaked and leaped forward with his little pillow with the rings, almost tripping.

Judai and Yusei both caught him with one hand against his shoulders, and he blushed. Yusei and Judai couldn't help but grin.

"I didn't even tell you to come up yet," Ushio groaned. In the stands, Aki put her head in her hands, but that might have been because she was crying. "Whatever. Anyway, take the rings now."

Judai took the small silver ring with the obsidian black stone, and slid it onto Yusei's finger. Yusei took the one with the white stone and put it onto Judai's. Their magic sparked inside the stones for a moment, making them glow.

"So now, I guess, with the power vested in me by Neo-Domino — though last I heard you guys are fucking gods now or some bullshit, so I don't know why you need a person to give you permission — y'all are married. Kiss or something."

Yusei and Judai couldn't help but laugh. But then Yusei leaned in, and Judai leaned to meet him, and when their lips met, the whole world took on a shimmer.

In the stands, Crow let out a whoop. Kiryu yelled too as though to outdo him, and then everyone was clapping and shouting and Yusei and Judai had to break apart to start laughing, their foreheads falling against each other.

"Ready for a couple thousand years of boring?" Yusei said.

"It's never gonna be boring with the two of us in the same dimension," Judai said.

And they kissed again, to the warm melody of their friends cheering.

Among the clouds, like a ghost of mist, two dragons watched with their tails curled together. Their heads tilted in, snuggling against each other and letting out the faintest breath. And then, together, they faded away.

A/N: And that is...the end. I'm actually kind of reeling that this story is over. It's been one of my longest running fics, and one of my most popular. It was the one that I was kind of known for for a while. For those of you that have been here from the beginning, you know that this fic was started as a gift for an incredibly dear friend of mine, and I hope he knows how much I care about him even now, and I'm so glad that he's reached a better time in his life. 3 I couldn't be more grateful to him for being such an amazing friend for all these years, and I couldn't be more grateful to all of you as well.

This story wasn't one that I was expecting to write until I did, and it wasn't one that I expected to end up being so important or powerful to so many people. So to all of you who have followed it through thick and thin, through the long dry months with no updates and all the way to the end, thank you. This story would not be here without all of you.

This will be the last story that I post to FFN. From now on, I'll be posting exclusively to ArchiveofOurOwn, under the same username, and I hope to see at least some of you there. Thank you so much for being a part of my time on FFN, thank you for the reviews, the messages, and the kindness, and I hope this ending finds you well.

Until next time, I hope you all are happy and that life is at peace. You all deserve it.