AN: Wow! I can't believe how many of you asked for a sequel! Well… how about this: we'll see! Because I think the epilogue wraps everything up quite nicely, but I do enjoy writing Fuu/Ferio fics! Plus… I mean… Work. Schoolwork. My writing. But we'll see. ^_^ Aw man, I'm gonna start to cry or something. I hope this fills in all the plot holes I have, and thank you once more for all the reviews. (I'll let you in on a little secret: I keep a lot of them. Half my inbox is reviews. Anytime I start feeling sad, I crack open the folder, and I start to feel better about my writing skills. But, shh! It's a secret!) *hugs everybody who reviewed*

FHOH Epilogue

A couple of years later. . . .

"Okay, men, take him away." Lafarga felt ridiculous telling his men to take the wounded rule breaker away in the squad car. The other one rolled away with the victim in the back seat, taking her to the hospital. Sighing, he allowed himself a small smile and walked down the empty alleyway. When he was immersed in darkness, he felt six distinct patterns of breathing on his neck.

"I don't know how you guys do it, no matter how many times you try and explain it to me. But thank you, again. You six are making my job a lot easier."

Shadow smiled, the only hint of the action in her visible red eyes. She was always smiling anyway. "It's our pleasure, Lafarga. We have these powers, and this is our last life here. We should make them count." A hand fell on her shoulder, proud to hold her. She smiled up at Lantis, and covered his hand with her own. "Lives should always count for something, even if they only mean the most to other people."

The Green Knight nodded to Lafarga. "We're glad to be of service. We've all been fighting so long that we don't know what to do with our spare time."

"And I don't suppose sleep ever crossed your mind?" the police officer inquired. His companions laughed. "Well, you might not like sleeping, but I know that thanks to you people a lot of folks are sleeping soundly in their beds." The heroes smiled proudly under their masks, except for those few who didn't wear them.

Luna came up and gave him a camera. Her leaf-green eyes were begging. "Please, Lafarga? Ferio and I could really use the story!" After staring into her eyes a moment, Lafarga agreed to take their picture, making the pregnant archer clap her hands and give him a friendly kiss on her cheek before she hurried out of the way of the picture. Fuu didn't quite look like herself when she was Luna: her glasses gone, her hair silvery-white, and her eyes much lighter, but the thought of showing Alcyone a picture of Luna pregnant while she was only three months to her due date might make the editor just a little suspicious.

Alcyone had wanted to put and keep Fuu in entertainment, knowing it was the only way the poor girl would be able to travel and see the world, but after a week she asked to be moved back to the stories of the Green Knight: permanently.

'But, Fuu!' Alcyone had said. 'We don't know how long they're going to be around! We don't even know he's real! There hasn't been a sighting of him or the Green Magician in weeks!'

Fuu had sat in the chair, smiling kindly, and twirling the ring on her finger. Ferio had sat in the chair beside her, trying very hard not to look over at her and smile. 'I'm aware of that fact, Miss Alcyone. But I have a feeling they're going to be around for awhile. Several years, hopefully. And maybe more of them might show up. Who can really predict these things? All I know is I was the one originally assigned to these people, with Ferio as my photographer, and I would kindly appreciate it if I could have my story back, if they ever show up again." She could see that Alcyone was still thinking about it. "Mr. Ferio and I make a wonderful team, Miss Alcyone."

She then sighed, and had to agree that Fuu and Ferio were a great team together; even if they were a newly married couple. No body in the office could understand that one! One day they weren't, and the next day… it could give an editor headaches! She arched an eyebrow as she looked at the smiling girl opposite her. "All right, all right, Miss Hououji. I can't get over how much you've changed the past few days. Everybody at work is commenting on it. I don't know why, but it seems like you were brought here a cute little girl, and now you're a respectable woman capable of holding her own." Alcyone sighed, and glanced at Ferio, who was beaming with pride at his wife. "I suppose most of it is your doing."

Ferio had only shrugged and smiled. "You never can tell. People surprise even my, Alcyone, and I've been around the block a few times."

Gripping the camera tightly, Lafarga took some shots of the heroes fleeing the scene, and then handed the camera back to Fuu. "You're a better picture taker than I am, and you're not in the shots," he said. "So why don't you take them yourself?"

"Because you make them blurry," she answered. "They're fuzzier that way, so she can't tell they looked slightly staged. I don't know how Spiderman did it, taking pictures of him when he was fighting. Besides, it makes Ferio's look better."

Lafarga rolled his eyes. "Only you two would start a monopoly in your own newspaper. See you guys tomorrow night. And try to take it easy, Fuu! I don't want to see anything happening to Caldina's only other relatives!"

She laughed. "I will! Tell Caldina we say hi!"

Jumping in unison to the rooftop of the closest house, the six figures sat and stood on the rooftop, looking out at the city of lights. It was odd to think of this place as their home when they were by themselves, for they had all had many homes, and none had been as crowded or colorful as this place. Yet when they were together they knew they were amongst family, and were at peace, even in the midst of battle. Each of them saw something different as they looked out across the city. Fuu saw a place of danger, and touched her swollen belly, knowing that her children would have flesh and blood heroes to protect them. Umi saw a city that was held together by boundaries; boundaries everywhere! But she knew that love could transcend those boundaries, as it always did, and so she was not sad at the materialism of the world. Ascot looked at the world and saw people waiting to be helped, and he knew that he was the one who could help them. Ferio saw a place of demons, but knew that it was possible to beat any of them down, as long as the will of the human in people outweighed that of their shadow self. Lantis and Hikaru both saw the same thing: dark corners and shimmering lights, always in a constant battle with each other and themselves, for the light could not be beautiful without the dark, and the dark could not be frightening without the light.

Shadow yawned and pulled back her hood. "I'd love to stay out longer, but I should be going back. Father always gets worried when I'm out late, even if he does know I've got five wonderful friends to cover my back." Because of the battle that had taken place in the Shidou Dojo, Hikaru had been forced –although the decision had been made willingly and with Lantis' approval- to tell her family what had taken place. Not only did it explain why their dojo was the scene of a police investigation, Hikaru and Lantis didn't have to worry about keeping their relationship, or their marriage, a secret from their Sensei.

Lantis, at first, had been frightened that his Sensei would disapprove, but when the story was finished, Lantis had gotten a tight hug and a hearty slap on the back.

"I admire your honesty," the older Shidou had said with a smile. "And I also admire your obvious honor, for myself, for yourselves, and for each other. Lantis, I will be honored to call you my son. The only thing that would make me prouder is to hope that you would take over running my dojo with my only daughter after I am retired."

His jaw had dropped in surprise. "Me? Sensei… sir… um… yes! I'd be honored to take over the dojo for you." Laughing, he had hugged Fuu and kissed her red hair, thinking that he had never been happier. But many times had he been proved wrong, since he had been named the heir –co-heir, really- of the Shidou Dojo. In each circumstance, he had been with Hikaru.

Umi laughed and playfully punched Hikaru. "I think it's only one of your five friends he doesn't trust." She gestured to Lantis with her laughing blue eyes.

Picking Hikaru up, his movements enticed a giggle out of her. "You're right, of course, Hikaru. We all should be going to bed. School's tomorrow. I'll escort you home. See you all tomorrow night, everybody." He leapt off the building, and Ferio managed to take a shot of them for the Rune. Lantis glared at Ferio when he landed in the sidewalk, but otherwise he didn't seem to mind at all. Everybody had gotten used to Fuu or Ferio snapping pictures of them, although some (like Umi) preferred it more to others (like Lantis, who was completely unphotogenic and made pictures look ghostly… and with Halloween quickly approaching, why shouldn't their picture look a little eerie?)

Ascot yawned and leaned back, letting Umi tend to the small wound in his shoulder. "We should probably be getting back too. Umi shouldn't be out later than Hikaru, really."

Fuu gave him a curious look and he continued. "See, her dad's really over protective, because he's always afraid of Umi getting hurt to hurt him. The paranoia of the rich, I suppose. We're afraid of getting caught. But even worse than sneaking out against his wishes, is that we haven't even told her dad we're husband and wife. Sure, it's not legal yet, and he won't accept it until it is, so we're going to wait. We're going to wait until he can let Umi out of his sight for more than an hour or two at a time, and then we'll let him get used to the idea of Umi dating me."

"Why wouldn't he want you to date Umi?" Fuu gently inquired. "You're a wonderful person, Ascot!"

The Summoner shook his head, his brown bangs obscuring his gentle eyes. A blush spread across the visible portions of his cheeks. "Thanks, Fuu. That may be true, and we might all accept that… but we're not willing to risk it with Umi's dad. We want to wait until everything is absolutely perfect. Ouch!"

"Sorry!" she said, sounding genuine. She wrapped her arms gently around Ascot's broad shoulders and covered his face with kisses. Umi smiled as she held her soul mate in her arms.

"All right, you're forgiven!" He grinned at her and touched his lips. "But you forgot to kiss it better. Just right here?" They gazed into each other's eyes and kissed passionately. Ascot stopped the kiss and noticed their longing expression. "How come you two haven't been all… you know… lately? It's normal for Hikaru and Lantis to be reserved out in public, but you two are in the prime of life, and all you do is look at each other!"

Fuu felt herself turn red. "Well, there's a reason for that." She looked down at her belly and patted it gently, wondering what her child would look like, how it would act…. "We just think that… as parents to be… we probably shouldn't be acting like teenagers in love when we're not teenagers now. Even we are still deeply in love with each other."

"We can't get enough of each other when we're alone together." Ferio reached out and clasped Fuu's hand. He smiled at his best friend, "But you two feel free to go ahead and make out. It's not like you can do it at Umi's house or anything. We're going home now anyway. My crazy wife here has decided that on top of her part-time job, and on top of being a heroine, on top of being pregnant, and on top of trying to get her degree in journalism, she's still trying to survive on only a few hours of sleep a night. If either of you can talk some sense into Fuu, please, try! I worry that she's going to wear herself out like this!"

"I'm as fit as a fiddle. Even the doctor says I'm doing fine. Ferio: the baby is healthy, and I'm healthy. More importantly, I'm happy. Thank you for trying to protect me, but I'm going to just fine. I promise you I will. If I'm not… I'll willingly give up being a crime fighter, at least for a little while. I want to keep my income, and I can't give up school. Or being pregnant."

He patted down her hair gently. "Fuu, I can easily take of both of us," he told her, his golden eyes filled with a degree of warmth that made her smile no matter what.

She smiled at him gently, cupping his chin in her palms. "I know you can. I'm not making a comment on your ability to be a good father or a husband, but this is a partnership. We have to do everything together. I don't want to have to be dependent on you anymore then I have to be."

Ferio chuckled gently. "As you say, Shutterbug." Fuu giggled at her old nickname. They waved goodbye at Umi and Ascot, still cuddling on the rooftops of the building, and took off.

Eagle felt strangely comfortable. He felt like he was in Heaven. It was hot, but not too hot; squishy, but not grossly so. He had never realized how comfortable it felt, held safely in the cradle of life. He squirmed a moment, then rested again.

Life was going to be good, this time. Geo was somewhere out there, and Eagle swore he would find his best friend. They were meant to be together, they were meant to be comrade-in-arms, and he would not let anything stop them from finally being the good, gently, people they had always meant to be.

'Ouch.'

Fuu rolled over in the large bed she shared with Ferio, and found him talking on his phone.

"No, Momma, you can't speak to Fuu. She's sleeping right now." There was a pause. "Of course! I'll be glad to tell her that you send your love. The baby's just fine, Momma. No, we haven't gotten the doctor to tell us the sex of the baby; we want it to be a surprise. Well, then, you'll just have to get Dad to paint the baby's room after the baby is born. Besides, we were thinking that we would pain the baby's room green, regardless of the gender. Why green? Well, it's just such a soothing color. . . ." He felt Fuu reach out and touch his pajamas. "Fuu's up, Momma. No, you can't talk to her! How would you like to have a phone shoved in your face the moment you woke up? Oh, never mind what I did as a baby! Talk to you later. I love you too. Bye, Mom."

The blush that painted his cheeks when he turned around was priceless. He grinned his crooked smile at her, making Fuu think her hero was no more than a thief, and she smiled back lovingly in return. "How was your sleep, Shutterbug?"

"Ferio," she said in an awed voice, "the baby just kicked."

"What? Really?" His golden eyes danced and sparkled as he held a hand over her stomach. The baby seemed to have quieted. . . .

"So what did they do?" the little boy asked his grandmother.

"Yeah, Grandmother! What did you and Grandfather do next? I bet you had sex, didn't you?" the little girl asked. The Grandmother only chuckled at the direct question.

Fuu leaned back and let the rocking chair sway her to and fro. "Well, maybe we did, and maybe we didn't. After all, your Grandfather and I love each other very much. That's what people who love each other do. But the important thing is that we all became pregnant. Your father was born first. He had my brown hair and your grandfather's beautiful golden eyes. After much discussion, we named him Hawk. Hikaru's pregnancy was next. That's where your mother was born. Ignis was a gorgeous baby, with red hair and bright amethyst eyes. Her Ignis and my Hawk fell in love with each other right away. Her twin looked exactly the same as her, except he was a boy. They name in Clef, after the Master Mage who had gone with the Firebird, because his hair was as red as flames. Umi became pregnant last. Oh, what a commotion that was, with her father! Umi had a little girl, with her blue eyes and Ascot's hair. That was your mother, Presea. And you all already know that Presea and Clef and Ignis and Hawk fell in love with each other the moment they met."

"What about Zagato and Emeraude?" Thom asked. He was the little boy, with amethyst eyes and green hair. "How did they fair after the battle?"

"They were just fine, Thom, thank you for reminding me. Yes, they were just fine, and went on running their bar. They had a little girl, whom they named Hope, but the long ago moved away. They contact us every once in awhile. They are living their days in each other's arms, somewhere on the coast, where they can have the plains, the sea and the forest all together. Hope, unfortunately, died when she was very young. Emeraude could not have another child. But she says Hope still hangs around, to make sure her mother is all right, and she has Zagato, so Emeraude says they could not be happier."

The girl with the blue eyes and the jet black hair frowned slightly. "How come you always tell us the same bed time story, Grandmother?"

Fuu scooped the child up in her arms and laughed. Her spectacles were thick from age, but her eyes were still vibrant. "Because you never get tired of hearing it, my little angel! And because neither of you must forget it. You are the only two who know the story now. It's your job to keep it safe. We're getting old, and one day we won't be here. And something can always go wrong. But that's a risk your parents have to take. This is a story of your past. It explains why you two are special. You two have the power, and you must use the power as best you can. And one day, believe it or not, you'll be sitting on a rocking chair, with a grandchild in your lap, telling them this very story. And it will be their job to protect the world."

She kissed her granddaughter's forehead. "Off with you two to bed now. It's long past your bed time. Your parents would kill me if they knew I kept you up this late!"

Thom grinned. "That's the best part of them being superheroes, Grandma. We can stay up hearing your story as often as you'll tell it to us, and they won't know at all!"

Chuckling, she kissed Thom's cheek. "You're so much like your Grandfather. Go get ready for bed, you little rat!" They both spotted Ferio at the same time, and he scampered off. Fuu wearily stood up, hearing her joints crack. "You're not going to tell on an old woman who only wants her children to know the truth, are you?"

Ferio kissed her gently and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I don't think so. No harm was done." Like Fuu, his inner fire still burned, despite the lines on his face or the graying of his hair. "You're not that old, Fuu, love. I look at you and I still see the woman who stood beside me… oh… two and a half millennia ago, or so."

"You always were the silver tongued devil! And you drive like one too, even now."

"So, why didn't you tell them what happened after Hawk kicked for the first time? You certainly didn't mind telling them about all the other times we kissed!" Fuu only smiled in return, until Ferio pocked her in her ticklish spot, planning on wrestling her if he needed to, to get an answer out of her. "Hm? Why didn't you tell them?"

Fuu giggled. "You mean why didn't I give them a romantic ending instead of ending it as I did? Time. They're young, and need their rest. If I went on with all the philosophies life with you has taught me, their heads might have exploded, Ferio! That and what else can I possibly say? We've already said everything there is to be said."
The depths of love in his golden eyes made her forget she was an old lady. She still felt like a teenager in love, when Ferio looked at her. Or smiled at her. Youth was plentiful when he was just in the same room as her. "You forgot one thing, Shutterbug. You forgot the most important thing in the world to a story! Didn't a degree in journalism teach you anything?"

She smiled softly. "I'm sorry. Let me correct that. Ferio looked at his wife of insert-some-number here decades, and smiled lovingly, thinking that his fifty-plus wife was still the most charming creature in the world, the kind of girl who made him think the thoughts of the nineteen year old boy he had been when they'd first met in this lifetime. He kissed his wife passionately until their chests heaved and their lips were swollen. 'I will always love you, Fuu,' he said in his most seductive voice. Fuu almost swooned in his arms, feeling the damsel who had been rescued by a thief, instead of the superhero she knew he was, and always would be. 'And I will always love you,' she breathed, letting Ferio's arms envelope her as he kissed her passionately again."

He gave her a suspicious look. "Are you trying to suggest something, or are you just trying to tease me?"

She giggled. "Maybe a little of both. Either way, Fuu and Ferio, and all their friends, had their ups and downs, what with jobs, children, and heroic deeds to keep, raise, and perform. But ultimately, they did, and always will, live happily ever after."

Ferio sighed and kissed his soul mate, his perfect other half. "Now that is how you end a story."