Chapter Forty-Three

I open my eyes and I find myself human and looking up at a blue sky with a lot of grass around me. Sitting up, I find myself surrounded by my family, all of whom are rubbing their eyes as if to get the sunlight out of them. We're in my paradise, sharing that dream that was supposed to come two years later; it's been a heck of a two years.

Once everyone is able to see, we all lie on our backs and stare up at the sky. All we do for a while is just watch the clouds.

Eventually, Shawn drags Jen off in the direction of the forest, both of them jumping from tree to tree along the edge of it; Shawn is using his air to make his jumps higher while Jen uses her earth to make it all easier.

Next to go are Victoria and Kyle, who head off to the lake so that Victoria can mess around in the water and Kyle can just practice making shapes with fire in the air above the water.

Finally, Alexa squeezes my shoulder and leaves with Brandon to go over to the obstacle course. The two of them begin racing one another.

It's only Erik and I left now. We're both still just looking up at the clouds, my mind not thinking about much of anything except how peaceful it is in my paradise.

"Erika…?" Erik asks hesitantly.

"Yes, Erik?" I reply.

"Did you think about Victoria's question at all?" I sit up to look at him, surprised by the question as I hadn't been expecting it from him.

"Yeah, actually, I did," I admit as he sits up as well, our knees touching as we sit face-to-face.

"And what did you think?" Erik's voice is still hesitant, as if he wants to know but doesn't want to push me.

"Well, I was comparing you to Alexa," I say quite truthfully; the look on his face tells me he knows I'm not lying. "I realized that while Alexa is very important to me, one person beats her as the most important person in the world to me." Erik's head, which had fallen to look at our touching knees, shoots up to stare at me in disbelief. "Erik, you mean more to me than anyone else in the world," I whisper softly.

"Re-really?" His voice stutters as disbelief colors his voice.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life," I respond. "I don't know what I'd do without you in my life, Erik."

"I've felt like that for years," Erik says quickly, as if trying to get everything out and not thinking he can do it. "When I first met you, you were hurt and wounded – and I don't just mean physically. The thing is, I knew even then that you'd become my best friend and the one I'd always care for. There was just something about you…" Erik trails off.

"Either way," he continues suddenly, "I've known for a really long time that no one could understand me like you do. You've always been the most important thing in the world for me; ever since I first met you."

I can only gape at him for the next few moments before everything he said shoots through my mind at the same time as every memory I've ever had of him. He's always been kind, protective, sweet, loving, caring, and anything else that I needed at the time. He's not lying at all.

I look Erik in the eyes, and I see something in them that I've always noticed but never recognized or been able to name: It's love. He's always had it in his eyes, and I have a feeling that he always will.

Closing my eyes momentarily, I find my feelings for Erik and realize that they're beyond just caring for him. Not only is he the most important thing in my life, but the only one who can ever fill that spot.

Looking into his eyes, I see them widen as shock begins to merge with the love in them before it goes away, the love becoming more pronounced. Raising my hands, I smile slightly and let his fingers intertwine with mine.

Without any warning, Erik gently pulls me to him. One of his arms goes around my back while the other continues to hold my other hand right between our hearts. Putting my hand gently on his side, I smile up at him.

Right here, with his arm around me, my arm almost around him, and our hands twined together, I finally feel a peace flow over me; it's as if my entire past is gone and none of those horrible things ever happened to me.

Then, Erik lowers his face to mine and places his lips against mine softly. My entire body feels like it's heating up with a fire that was never there before. The soft feel of his lips on mine shocks me so much that I can't think, I just move.

I turn my head to the side slightly and push my own lips a bit harder against his, a smile working its way onto the ends of my lips. A slight movement of Erik's lips tells me that he too is smiling gently.

When we pull apart, the kiss done, the fire still stays in me, this time emanating from the hand on my back, the arm around my waist, the hand intertwined with mine, my knees touching his, and my hand on his side.

For the first time in my life, everything seems perfect for me.

I may have agreed to fight against Itex, but I'm fighting for what's right and by my own choice, not someone else's.

Itex no longer has me; I'm finally free from Itex.

My family is free; we're all finally together at last.

Erik is with me, and we both finally realize what we have.

For the first time since the dreams started all those years ago, when we wake up, nothing will change except for the scenery. We'll all still be with one another; we won't be apart.

I can finally fly away from my problems.

My dreams for a better world can become a reality.

My life is my own, not someone else's.

I am FREE.

Fin.

After 150,000+ words, 43 chapters, 10 months (almost exactly), and 166 reviews (as of this moment), this story is done. It took a long time, ended up shorter than I expected (I'm actually not lying...), and there was a lot of work and thought put into it, but it's done. All of you who have read this story, whether you've reviewed or not... Thank You. It was seeing the number of hits and getting those reviews that kept me writing this story. It doesn't matter if you haven't reviewed at all, if you have only reviewed a single time, if you've reviewed on basically every chapter, or if you've reviewed on every chapter since you've found it: They all meant so much to me.

I've got to personally thank Vamps-with-Wings, one of my good friends on here, for reviewing every chapter, even if we've both done them in groups at random times after ignoring updates for weeks. The next is The Layman, who's been with this story since chapter two and always has his two cents to add; thanks! Finally, Don't knowDon't careDon't ask because even though you haven't been with me the whole time, your reviews have a lot and made me think a few times; plus, they were awesome reviews.

For those I haven't mentioned, I love all of your reviews. These were just the three that always stood out. I read every review I get, reply to those I can, and enjoy every single one of them. Thank you for all of the reviews and support!

Now... I've got an idea on my Profile for the sequel to Old and New Attack, which is where chapters 37 - 40 come from, but I don't have a title idea, and there's a 4-way tie on my Poll, so I'm going to need a name. Just... I might not write that story for a while because I've got a Harry Potter idea I've been working on, but it will be written, and if you want, I can PM anyone who wants to be notified that I'm working on it. Erika and her family WILL be in it, and I might even use Erika's POV again while writing it. It's certainly tempting.

So... Until next time I write, I truly hope you all enjoyed this story, like how I wrote it, and thought the ending fit. I had the kiss as an idea for the ending since the very beginning, so it was bittersweet to finally write it. I just hope you all thought it fit.

Please, review one final time and tell me what you thought of this chapter and this story in general.

Miz636 or Miriam

Posted: 8/13/10.