**Author's Note:: Hi!

This is the last chapter!

Thank you soooo much for reading this far! I appreciate all the reviews and follows and favourites this story has gotten! I always love when I get feedback and this fic had really exceeded my expectations! I had a blast writing this!

Please review and tell me what you thought! Once again, thank you, and Merry Christmas to anyone who celebrates it! :-) **

...

Epilogue

...

The next morning, Amaya woke up to the usual smell of hot tea.

She was comfortable, wrapped in warm blankets and her head on a fluffy pillow.

She didn't want to get up, so she laid there for a while before finally heading into the kitchen where she knew Stein would be.

He was sitting at the table, staring at the wall, holding a cup on the table. He looked a bit tired this morning, which worried Amaya a bit.

"Good morning, legal guardian," Amaya joked to him, sitting in the chair next to his. She wanted to show him that she was in a good mood, after everything that had happened.

Stein looked down at her and returned her smile, amusedly.

"Good morning," he replied, sipping his tea. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Amaya shrugged, leaning back in her chair as silence returned to the room.

Amaya had been thinking about something... The three days when she was alone with the Kishin she had thought about it as well...

Amaya was a bit curious about what Stein had said before about their soul wavelengths now matching.

Amaya had been able to fight with him, but Stein was also able to change his wavelength to match others.

She wanted to try to see if she could resonate souls with him without him knowing it.

So she tried to nonchalantly bring her soul close to his, so she could study it. Sort of like what she had done with Kid a long time ago, but secretly.

Amaya pulled her soul as close to his as possible, trying to sense his own wavelength.

She could get a presence from it, a familiar presence. Maybe their wavelengths really HAD matched over time...

Suddenly, Stein glanced over at her as if he was aware of what she was doing.

She pretended to act casual.

"What are you trying to do?" he asked, curiously, an eyebrow raised.

"Whatever do you mean?" Amaya looked up at the ceiling, obviously lying.

"I can feel your soul wavelength prying at mine," he replied, with an amused chuckle.

"I don't know," Amaya finally said. "I was just curious. I was thinking back to what you said about our wavelengths matching now, and I was just trying to prove it to myself. And to pay attention this time."

Stein shrugged.

"I won't change my own wavelength," he said, his exhausted eyes studying her. "Go ahead."

"You won't change yours at all?" Amaya asked, leaning forward in her chair.

"I swear," he chuckled. "Give it a try. It'll be good practice for you, anyway."

Amaya watched him for a second, absent-mindedly wondering how he still believed her to need practice after what had happened the day before.

She paused, then let her soul near his. She let her soul expand from her body, and felt his power radiating from him.

She pushed her soul toward Stein, and he held his head up with a hand.

Amaya noticed that he probably hadn't slept at all last night-

Suddenly, before Amaya even had time to prepare, her soul was sucked into his, and their wavelengths became one.

Stein's eyes locked with hers, and his green eyes were wide with surprise.

Amaya knew something was different-

Stein's wavelength was more open-

Where it had cracked before, in the fight-

His soul dimension, Amaya could SEE inside of it-

She gasped and felt Stein try to block his thoughts, and she felt about a hundred different emotions in the wavelength between them-

Frantic-

Desperation-

There was a scene before her-

...

There was a young Stein, a child. He was sitting beneath a tree, ripping apart a leaf. With eyes that held so much pain, he watched other children play tag on some green grass-

Frantic-

'You can't-'

Something was pushing her mind from Stein's, but Amaya could still get glimpses.

Amaya saw a woman with blond hair. She held on to Stein's arm as if she were asking him about something- there was a bitter resentment around her- she had left- was gone-

Stein, maybe about eighteen years in age, was standing in the bathroom, bleeding arm held over the sink, as he stared at his own reflection.

"How can I defeat myself?" he asked his reflection, his voice sounding like he were under water. "Everything is so painful... And I'm so alone... Nobody understands..."

His reflection didn't answer.

The two Steins stared at each other, as if even they didn't understand.

The images were gone suddenly, like someone had pulled a black wool over her mind.

But the emotions in Stein's soul were still overwhelming Amaya-

There was so much loneliness-

Sadness-

The memory's voice returned for a moment...

Stein's voice, so young.

"I'm so alone... Nobody understands... They tell me to act strong... To pretend that I am alright... That everything is alright... But it's a lie. I've realized that's all my life boils down to. Lies. And charades. Pretending to be who I'm not. I keep telling them... I scream, this isn't who I am. But they don't care if all their lies cause me unhappiness. I'm not normal, anyway... I don't deserve happiness..."

Suddenly, Amaya was sucked from Stein's memories, and she was sitting in the kitchen again, her hands clenched into fists on top of the table.

She noticed that the entire room was blurry, that everything was unclear. She wondered why, until she blinked once and hot tears spilled over onto her cheeks.

So much sadness... So much pure, innocent despair... From someone who worried that they would always be alone, and unhappy...

Amaya still stared, not blinking anymore, the extreme sadness still permeating her every cell. It immobilized her. Her heart seemed to be ripping apart in her chest.

She couldn't think about anything but the overwhelming unhappiness of the innocent child in the memories.

"Amaya, breathe," Stein grasped her shoulder, his voice sounding alarmed. But Amaya couldn't grasp the concept of 'breathe'. Her mind was clouded.

Breathe?

Stein's hand shook her shoulder more rapidly, but she could only stare.

Suddenly, his fingers pushed her face toward him, and she could see his eyes, but her brain couldn't concentrate, kept tumbling around the word 'breathe', and it's purpose.

"Amaya..." Stein's voice seemed stretched, as though he were talking from the end a tunnel.

The edges of her vision blurred.

If only she could remember what it was to breathe...

Suddenly, Stein blew in her face, and her mind seemed to jar, causing Amaya to gasp in a lungful of air.

She quickly dragged in ragged breaths, her mind finally clearing itself from the despair of his memories.

Amaya put a hand to cover her face, to stop herself from hyperventilating.

"I'm- I'm so sorry," Stein said, sounding upset with himself.

Amaya looked up at him, with wide eyes. Her tears still made her cheeks wet, but she blinked them away.

He was studying her, cautiously.

"Were those really your memories?" Amaya asked him, quietly.

Stein didn't reply.

He stood up, and made to leave the room, but Amaya quickly blocked the door.

Wrapping her arms around his waist, she hugged him to her, and laid her head on his chest.

"I'm so sorry, Stein," Amaya cried, feeling her eyes burn again. "I'm so, so sorry."

She felt him put a hand on her hair, lightly.

"What are you sorry about?" he asked, in his calm voice.

"I'm sorry that you ever had to be so sad," Amaya replied, squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm sorry you ever had to think such horrible things about yourself. None of it's true- you do deserve happiness, Stein! You do!"

She heard him chuckle once, but she couldn't tell if it was a humorless laugh or not.

"It's strange that you feel that way," Stein muttered.

"No, it's not!" Amaya exclaimed, still clutching him in a hug, her eyes still squeezed shut. "I love you, Stein! I care about you and I understand how you feel now, please don't ever think that you're so alone, I'll always be here if you need to talk about anything! I don't think you're insane and I don't think you're odd, and you DO deserve happiness no matter what you or anyone else thinks, you're a good person and you're so kind, please believe that!"

She hugged him tighter, her tears now falling freely onto his shirt.

The room was completely silent except for the sound of Amaya's crying.

For a second, Amaya thought Stein was angry at her for some reason, then she felt him lightly pat her hair.

"It's alright," he said, quietly. "Calm down."

It was hard for Amaya to calm herself, though. His memories had honestly gotten to her.

"No," Amaya said, her voice thick with sadness.

"No?" Stein repeated, surprised.

"Say that you deserve happiness," Amaya demanded.

Stein was silent.

"Say it," Amaya prodded. "Please."

"I... deserve happiness," Stein muttered, setting his jaw as if he still didn't believe a word of it.

"That wasn't convincing," Amaya half-laughed, half-sobbed. She finally looked up at him, and he gave her a small smile, as if he were afraid she'd break down again.

"Now, calm down," he replied. "Take deep breaths."

Amaya put her head back to his chest and listened to his heartbeat.

"You can't be calm about everything, Stein," Amaya told him. "You have to be passionate about the things you care about."

The room was quiet again, except for the quick beat of Stein's heart.

"I'm sorry you had to see my memories," Stein said. "You're surprisingly strong. You overtook the slight barrier I had put up very quickly."

"Don't put up any more barriers," Amaya suggested.

"You saw two of my memories and practically quit breathing," Stein replied, in monotone. "I do this for your own good."

"I only forgot how to breathe because your memories are so sad," Amaya said. "You shouldn't have to carry them all by yourself."

"No," Stein finalized. "I'm perfectly fine."

"Well... If you ever feel like they're too much, I'll listen," Amaya squeezed him tighter. "No matter how sad you think they are. I don't want you to ever be so sad again."

"Trust me," Stein chuckled. "I'm not sad." He put a hand on her hair. "Although it makes me happy that you care so much about my well-being."

"I love you, Stein," Amaya told him, quietly, still listening to his heartbeat. "Of course I care about your well-being."

Stein was quiet and didn't answer, but his pulse was still quick.

"I'm sorry if it sounds insane, but I'm so glad that you adopted me, and that you've been teaching me," Amaya said. "I meant what I said a few days ago. To me, you're my father, and I love you so much. I wanted to tell you before the Kishin took me, but I was so upset about having to leave you that I couldn't even think. I'm sorry if it's strange."

Amaya still hugged him, and Stein took a deep breath.

"I don't think it's strange," Stein replied. "I don't understand why you latched on to me, of all people. But I'll admit that I consider you my daughter, and I love you, very much."

Amaya couldn't breathe again for a couple of seconds, but finally found her voice.

"Really?" Amaya asked. "You- you don't think I'm strange?"

Stein laughed out loud, and startled Amaya for a second.

"No," he replied. "I don't think you're strange."

She released Stein and backed away from him, studying him. He gave her a real smile, the one where he closed his eyes and seemed to be savouring the moment.

He reached up and rotated the screw at the side of his head, which Amaya hadn't seen him do in a long time.

"I'm going to get dressed," Amaya said.

Stein sat back down at the table, and continued to drink his tea.

...

A few days later, Amaya was back at school, like usual.

Her name had been changed on the roster, so in every class, the professors would call out Amaya's new name, and everyone would stare.

She tried to pretend that everything was normal, but all her fellow students were still shocked anyway.

Her bouts of madness had all but stopped, and she seemed to be more sound of mind than ever.

The third day she was back to class, Liz and Patti approached her in the hall, their faces carefully guarded.

"Hey, Amaya," Liz started, crossing her arms across her waist. "Kid sort of filled us in on what was going on... And we're really sorry for the way we acted."

"Yeah!" Patti added, her eyes wide. "We had no idea that Kid liked you so much! He always talked about you, and..."

"I guess we were kind of jealous," Liz finished, not meeting Amaya's gaze. "We're sorry."

"That's okay," Amaya replied with a smile. "I completely understand. Kid is so awesome, and I never meant for you guys to feel like I was taking him away from you."

"Well... No hard feelings," Liz finally smiled. "Right, Patti?"

"Right!" Patti quipped. "Speaking of which..."

They all looked around and saw Kid walking toward them, his face a bit confused. Liz and Patti quickly disappeared, leaving them alone, and Amaya chuckled quietly, glad that the two girls no longer hated her.

Kid approached Amaya, taking both of her hands and kissing them.

"Amaya," Kid said. "How have you been?"

"Great, actually," she replied with a smile. "What about you?"

"Perfect," he said, intertwining their fingers and leading them down the halls. "Everything has been just perfect."

He led her to every class like usual, then, at the end of the day, he quickly pulled her aside into an empty classroom.

Amaya was surprised for a second, but Kid just smiled his lazy smile at her.

"What... are you doing?" Amaya laughed.

"I just wanted to speak with you where no one else could hear us," Kid replied, taking her hands in his. "I have to ask you a question."

"Alright," Amaya smiled. "What is it?"

"Well, Amaya..." Kid started, not meeting her gaze for a second, the stripes in his hair contrasted in the half-dark half-light. His hair hung in his eyes as he glanced up at her. "Would you... be my girlfriend? Officially, I mean."

Amaya laughed, and grinned at him.

"Of course I will," she laughed, watching as a blush rose high into his cheeks.

"People have been asking me, I just didn't know what to tell them," Kid added, almost shyly. "I wanted to tell them you were my girlfriend..."

"Well, you can," Amaya replied.

Kid leaned in quickly and kissed her lips, trying to back up afterward, but Amaya pulled him back, and kissed him again. "Kid," she said, seriously. "I'm so glad I met you."

Kid smiled at her, happily.

"I'm glad I met you, too," he replied. "We should go on another date."

"We should," Amaya laughed, as they walked back out into the hallway.

They entered Stein's class, and he glanced up at them from his papers.

Amaya smiled at him, glad to see that he seemed perfectly happy and lucid.

...

Amaya sat in the front seat of Stein's car, thinking. She looked out the window up at the sky, wondering.

Stein had informed her that he would be creating her an actual bedroom soon, although Amaya said he didn't have to.

But he insisted.

She was honestly so happy that Stein planned on her staying long enough where she'd actually need a bedroom.

She looked at Stein as he was driving, and studied his face.

She remembered back to the first day she had ever met him, and couldn't believe how far they had come.

And River, his soul was completely gone now. Although this saddened Amaya a bit, she was glad River had helped her and that he was finally at rest now.

Sometimes, when she would look in a mirror, she would look at her birthmark, which was written across her collarbones, and just marvel at her life.

About how much the words had played into her life and had become a part of who she was.

And sometimes, she would look at the stitches on her hairline and smile to herself.

As Amaya studied Stein now, in the car, she smiled to herself because she knew that he had stitches on his face as well.

Stein saw her studying him and smiling, and glanced over at her.

"What's so funny?" he asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Nothing," Amaya replied, settling back down in her seat. "I'm just... happy."

The sun laughed above them as they leisurely drove home.