Chapter 56: Interlude – The Good Ending.

[A/N : Major, massive, humongous spoilers for the story endgame ahead. Be warned. Or don't.

I'm an author's note not the police. And if you wanted to, it's not like being the police would stop you anyways!

So here we go. To the good ending. Read at your caution.]

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Two hooded figures walked through the frozen halls, past the gossiping nurses and the smoking physicians.

A song hummed gently in the background almost as if it were following their footsteps.

Borrowed Time by Tennis.

It had taken a while to figure that out. And then the implications behind it.

They turned a corner and came to a stop before a door, the song increasing in intensity, ever so slightly as the first figure laid his hands on the niche in the door, pressing the button within.

The door slid open, to reveal her. Offee.

The woman he had loved.

"Stay here until I call." He whispered to the other, and got a nod in reply.

.

Offee saw the world freeze and thought.

It was time.

The end of her life was here.

But as the moment stretched out, she began to worry.

Was this death? Just a single moment of time stretched across eternity?

Or was this a delusion as the soon to be dead are wont to see?

Such thoughts though quickly left her, as she saw no point to them.

She had already accepted her fate. There was no point arguing anymore.

But still, she hummed her favourite song, as the boredom creeped in, even though she couldn't move her lips.

Another moment passed, and she thought she felt something, a wave of power filled with love washing over her, like those in the oceans of Naboo.

She had a soft spot for that memory.

The time spent at the beach.

Floating in the ocean, in a world of silence, just her and her beloved Jay.

His flustered face when her top washed away.

The cute blush he wore, despite having seen her form a thousand times over.

How he held her close, as he brought her out.

She was almost glad she didn't use the force to catch the floating top.

Wearing his oversized shirt, she remembered kissing him under the moonlight in the quiet night, the sands glowing purple with the bioluminescent microbes.

And she remembered, little Star, running over and piling on top of them, hugging them tight, crying about some nightmare he had had.

Memories she would never get to experience anymore.

Silent tears trailed down her face, as she struggled to keep calm.

She didn't want to die.

"I don't want to die!" She screamed in her mind, "Jay! Save me! I don't want to go! I don't want to be alone!"

And a single line resonated inside her mind.

"You won't."

She turned, ever so slightly, as much as the pain could allow her, and saw a hooded figure enter the room.

The song she had heard so long ago burst in with him too, gently so.

And now she knew where she had heard it.

She could feel something familiar about it, as it walked closer, and took a seat by her side, taking her hands in it's....no, she realized, as a small smile broke out on her face.

His hands.

And Offee knew. Everything was going to be alright. And not just because her body had stopped aching.

A foul smell broke out from her for a second as blood poured out of her stomach, disappearing into nothingness.

Then, he pinched his fingers and slowly pulled them apart, revealing a golden orb glowing, pulsing with a divine power, far outstripping the Mortis gods.

With the fingernail sized orb in his palm, he pressed it into her chest, and she gasped at the power that flowed through her, like a current, only instead of shocking her it felt like it was breathing new life into her.

She jerked, and gasped for breath, as a novel warmth spread across her body.

She was fine now. And she would be forevermore.

She knew that instinctively.

And she was happy.

Letting go of his hand, and she pulled back the robe, revealing a face wet with tears, a hint of greying hair, the scars of time peeking ever so slightly on his face. And all the more she knew.

It was her idiot. Back to save her.

.

She raised her hand, and caressed my face, her forefinger latching into my ear as her thumb wiped away my tears.

And like a flood my emotions overwhelmed me, memories of times past flashing through me, and old, long forgotten feeling bubbling up to the surface.

It was almost as if a hole had been filled in my heart with her kindly smile.

And I remembered what she really meant to me.

Something I had been lacking in my travels across the multiverse.

Something I had never once found again.

Not in Wanda, for she was to me an ideal, the power of dreams.

Not in Lazuli, who brought me the thrill of adventure and the zest of life.

No. Offee was something more. Something so rare, the only other time I had felt it was when I lay broken and battered in the fen beyond Bree, and the comforting boom of the song of the Ainur came upon me.

Yes. That was the last and only time I had truly felt it since losing her. 

The feeling of a rock in the middle of a thrashing river.

Of having a shoulder to cry on, in times of distress.

A pillar of support that would hold even as the world threatened to fall upon you.

Like a lakeside cabin filled with childhood mistakes and joys.

Someone to hold you tight and promise you not the world but just simple care and love.

A glue that held you together when all you wanted to do is break and fall apart.

A salve to your very soul.

Offee to me was the quiet comfort of home.

"Welcome back, dear." She said, and I couldn't hold back any longer.

Like a dam broken, I fell into choked sobs, my voice catching.

"I'm home." I cried, falling into her embrace.

Once I had calmed down, nuzzling into her bosom, I looked up at her, and couldn't help but smile infectiously.

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This was my Offee.

My first love. Perfect in her imperfections. Just as she was.

She ran her hand through my hair, and smiled back.

And we were happy again.

"I'm sorry." I said, "I didn't come back. I should've been here in your last moments, by your side, not tinkering away like an idiot."

"But you are here." She assured, her deep blue eyes pulling me in.

"I suppose I am, huh? Still, I'm gonna give my past self a good whacking before we leave."

Offee giggled cutely, before she realized.

"We?" She asked.

"Oh right! There is someone here who wants to meet you." I said, as a satisfied grin spread on my face.

"Luminara! Come on in." I called out, as a second hooded figure ducked into the room smoothly, slowly walking up to the bed.

Offee looked confused, and raised an eyebrow at the visitor.

But the confusion washed away when they lifted their hood, addressing her.

"Hey mom." Luminara greeted her with a sad smile, and Offee gasped, shaking as she touched her stomach.

"Is she...is this true?" Offee asked.

"You must have felt it too, right?" I asked.

"Yes. But I wasn't sure. It could have been the dark side playing tricks on my mind."

"Well, it wasn't." I assured her.

Offee raised a hand to the grown woman that was her daughter and regret filled her eyes.

"I'm sorry." She said, caressing her daughter's face when another realization clicked.

"You named her Luminara?" Offee asked.

"Yup. Thought you'd like that." I replied.

Offee let out a tiny little squeal in appreciation.

"I think she likes it." Luminara said, looking at me, as she took her mother's hand in her own.

"And you don't have anything to be sorry about. Dad raised me well. He never let your memory be tarnished."

"Wait...just Jay?" She asked.

"Yes. You were dead, remember." Luminara explained.

"But you came here to save me, right?" Offee asked.

"Yes. But see the nature of time loops is such that I can't just save you and let it go. It could lead to an uncertainty where now, having you alive, I would never need to venture back in time to save you. And that won't end well. Besides, I couldn't risk losing you in a more permanent way. So I decided to become far, far more powerful, till no one could ever touch me or harm anyone I loved. Till I was sure I would never lose you again.

And for that to happen... Things must remain as they did, or the future could end up warping disastrously. You will need to remain the way I needed it to be for me to come back here and now. You will come with us." I said, twisting my hand as three jewels manifested within it.

Infinity stones. Reality, Time and Space.

I touched Offee and the gems lit up, creating another Offee in the air above her.

"While this shell, remains here to bear Luminara." I said.

"But Luminara is in my ...." She said, when I snapped my fingers and Offee's eyes went wide.

"Not anymore." I said, as Offee punched my chest, in anger.

"Why can't I bear her?" She asked.

"I want to be there to raise her. I don't want her to be alone." Offee said.

"I wasn't alone mom. Dad was with me. And big brother Star. And Mommy Wanda, and ..."

"Wait, mommy Wanda?" Offee asked, raising an eyebrow, at me.

"It's uh...a long story?" I said, when Offee pinched my ear.

"Ouchouchouch! Okay, I'm sorry!" I cried, "I thought you were fine with sharing?!"

"With Ahsoka! Not some Wanda whatever!" Offee whined.

"In my defense I was hurt, and I had just seen your body splatter all over the floor, and no matter how I used the infinity stones, I couldn't bring you back. I mean now I know why, but back then...I was broken, Offee. Wanda helped me out. Pulled me out of my depression. Showed me that I still had things to live for. Things like Luminara here. And Star. And you." I said, and Offee's expression softened.

She sighed.

"I suppose I'm fine with one or two more." She said, huffing.

"Where is this Wanda anyway?"

"About that..." I trailed off, and Luminara scratched her cheeks.

"Don't tell me she died too!" Offee asked, frowning.

"Well not died exactly....." I said.

"More like lost....." Luminara added.

"She likes exploration, its her hobby, but she's not very good with extradimensional navigation, so it tends to happen from time to time. She'll be fine, one of my incarnations is with her."

Offee raised an eyebrow.

"Incarnation?" 

"I ascended. To a higher plane. Now I'm an elder god, and so are you, at least will be soon, when we activate that elder god seed I put inside you. When that happens, reality becomes...fickle. If our true forms enter lower realities carelessly they'll pop like a soap bubble. So we usually send in a lower reality version of our true selves, like an incarnation, an avatar. This is an avatar too. Our whole family has ascended. And so will you. That way we can be together beyond the binds of 11th dimensional spacetime. Forever."

Offee looks utterly lost. I sighed.

"It's a long story. We're working on it." I assured her, "You'll know soon."

"I guess....And what about Ahsoka?" She asked, looking at her best friend by her bedside.

"That...I think I broke her heart but-" I replied, as Offee once again went for my ears.

"Okay okay....Just hear me out. It's fine now. I married her. I gave her all the love she deserved. I still do, actually. We even have seven kids. She's happy as can be! " I said, recoiling.

"She better be. You don't have time for Ahsoka but this Wanda, you do huh?" Offee asked, annoyed.

"Sheesh...What has you so riled up, Offee. You know you can talk to me, right?" I assured her, holding her hands, looking her in the eyes and her shoulders slumped down.

"I... don't know. I'm just scared. You have lived a full life. And .....and our daughter is already so big. And she had another mother. I ....missed so much. I'm scared I won't fit anymore.

With this gap, with other wives...." Offee shook in my arms, like a leaf in the wind.

"Shhhh...." I whispered, embracing her, "No matter what happens, Offee, you will always have the lion's share of my heart. I never stopped loving you, Offee and I never forgot. No matter what, remember. I will always love you. And we have forever, more than forever actually, to make new memories. And new kids. So many kids." I kissed her deeply as we lost ourselves into each other's embrace.

"You finally gave me the kiss that I asked for." She smiled.

"And only twenty years too late." I smiled back, lifting her chin with my fingers, pulling her into another.

"You know, I was actually afraid that you wouldn't want me, old as I am now, 42 and counting, with the grey hairs and small wrinkles..."

Offee suddenly grabbed me tight, and squeezed me hard.

"Don't! Don't ever say that! How dare you even think such a thing!" She scolded me, as we both came to the realization.

"We're both such idiots aren't we?" I said as Luminara giggled.

"You're my idiot though. And I am yours. That makes all the difference to me." Offee smiled brighter than the sun and I could feel my heart fill with warmth at her sight.

"Uhun!" I added, picking her up in my arms, like a princess.

"Let's go home." I said, and Offee blushed, nuzzling into my chest.

"Let's." She purred.

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