(Originally posted 7/28)

Chapter Forty Six

Ileana wasn’t sure how Kris and she managed to sneak away from the celebratory crowd and into an unused conference room, especially with Kris towering slightly over the crowd.  With a tight grip on her hand, he whispered some words to Tao before he led her away.

“We did it.” Kris said and let out a long breathe, as if he was holding it in for hours. Ileana nodded along, biting her bottom lip. The abstract painting on the wall behind Kris suddenly became very fascinating as seconds of silence went by. She didn’t know where to begin. The high she had from completing his entire mission was crashing, and it was crashing hard.

“Congratulations,” she managed to say, “You’ll be a great leader.”

“Thanks for your vote of confidence.” Kris gave her a small smile. She met with his eyes and she could tell he knew what was coming with the barely noticeable gloom hanging over the both of them. “Congratulations on completing your mission.” He whispers.

“Thanks.” She mumbles out and looks to the floor. was becoming parched and her skin itched. Why had the room become so dry all of a sudden?

“When are you…leaving?” Kris asked.

She shrugged her shoulders in return, “I’m not sure. But, it’ll probably be soon. Very soon.” She thought back to when she destroyed the crystal. The Tree of Life wasted no time meeting her after she completed the first part of her mission.

The silence between them grew as did the tension. Kris’ stare was roaming her body. It didn’t take much time for her to do the same. She took in his frame, his hair, his bone structure and his eyes. She wanted Kris to be firmly planted into her memory. But, it’s not like she could ever forget Kris even if she wanted to.  

“And if I ask you to stay?” Kris broke the silence. They met eyes again and it nearly tore her heart apart at how much they were pleading her to take the offer.

“I can’t.” She said, her voice involuntarily cracking. “I don’t belong here, Kris.” She sniffled a little when she feels her sense clogging up. “You’ll find someone. I know you will. You’re too great of a person to continue on alone.”

Kris didn’t reply. However, his eyes turned cold after her statement. He opened his mouth and shut it shortly after. He ruffled his hairs in frustration, “Do you really take yourself and my feelings so lightly?”

 “That’s—I’m not. It’s just... What do you want me to say, Kris?” She sighs back, feeling a little at loss for words.

“There are a lot of things I want you to say. Telling me to find someone else isn’t one of them.” Kris bitterly laughs and gives her a look that meant a thousand words. Her heart soars and she immediately feels sickened afterward. She is leaving. She is leaving EXO. She is leaving Kris.

“You’ll find someone—“

“I love only you, Ileana and will continue to love only you. Have you not seen what you’ve done to me? I can’t imagine anyone else coming close to how much you mean to me.” Kris took a step forward to her and she took a step back in response, hitting the conference table behind her.

“Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be, Kris.” She warns with a shaky breath, gripping the edge of the table. Kris stops advancing, still a decent amount of space between them. He closes his eyes and sighs. He rubs his hands over his face and stares off to the side. He nods to himself before he takes a step back.

 “Nothing then.” He mumbles to himself. She blinks at him, a little confused. He catches her expression and smiles something sad, “You feel nothing for me. But I suppose that does make things a little easier knowing that nothing would have happened between us regardless.”

She wanted to tell him he’s wrong. She wanted to march over to him and shake some sense into him because she of course cared for him. But it was better for him to believe otherwise. If that was what got him over her sooner, then she would keep shut.

“You should go celebrate with the others. I want to some time alone.” She whispered, averting her gaze. She gripped the table harder and she wondered how white her knuckles were as a result. Kris took in her closed off stance once more before he nodded.

“Okay.” He replied in the same low manner. He turned his back to her and casually walked out. The door closed with a light thud. She looked up to the door, irritation filling her. This isn’t how she imagined it. This isn’t how she wanted to say good bye. She kicked the chair next to her in frustration and it fell to the floor with a crash. Before she could realize her actions, she walked to the door and swung it open.  She was going to walk out the door and catch Kris, but there was no need. There was Kris. Standing right outside the door.

“I knew it.” He said, taking a step toward her. She didn’t move back this time. She couldn’t find herself being able to move her lips and ask what he meant, “I knew it.” He whispered again and leaned his head to her level. His eyes sparkled with a mixture of relief and care before they closed and their lips met.

Ileana stiffened from the shock of having Kris’ lips on hers. Warm hands had crept up and cupped her neck, thumbs resting against her jaw. They guided her face to tilt on an angle as Kris deepened the kiss. She could feel what Kris was trying to portray to her through his action. His touch both tender and assertive. His lips both careful and persuasive.

I will miss you, they said. I love you.

The kiss broke when the taste of salt mixed into the kiss. Leaning back, Kris was able to see the tears falling from Ileana’s eyes. A pang of hurt ran across his eyes as he gently caressed the trails of tears away from her cheeks.

“I’ll miss you too.” She said, hating the sound of how groggy her voice was.  She removed the vice grip she had on Kris’ shirt and back away into the room. “G-Goodbye Kris.” Kris didn’t say anything. He just stared at her as she continued to back away and close the door.

As soon as the door was shut, her back met with the door and she slid down it, head in her hands. She sobbed. She couldn’t remember the last time she cried that much or that hard, but it just all came out of her in a burst. All the things she had built up just exploded right there.

She brought her legs up and brought her forehead to her knees. Tears continued to fall and stain her pants. She chocked, sniffled and took panting weeping breaths until , eyes and nose started to hurt.

She felt a light breeze brushed against her and the door behind her disappear. She slowly looked up and saw that she had been transported to the same meadow as before, the one after she destroyed the crystal. There in front of her stood the Tree of Life.

Ileana wiped away her tears vigorously, feeling slightly embarrassed to be seen in such a sad state. She stood up quickly and tried to clear her nose and throat the best she could.

Congratulations on completing the second and final part of your mission, Miss.

The Tree this time did not have the same cheerfulness to it. At least the tree could show some sort of sympathy. Ileana bit her lips and remained silence. She didn’t really know what to say.

You did well, Miss. We are very thankful for your service here on EXO.

Her arm itched and she looked down to it. She saw the tree tattoo that she had acquired vanished slowly until her skin was bare. This was it. It was time.

 I suppose with that being said, we shall send you back. Where shall you like us to place you?

“Just where my family is.” She said dryly. The first time she wanted to see when she got back home was her family’s faces. She figured only they could ease her pain.

I’m afraid there is a slight issue with your request, Miss. The tree’s tone sounded regretful. This sent shivers of panic in her. Her heart clenched. We’re afraid that…your family is no longer in existence.

Ileana’s breath caught and she chocked on her own saliva. She coughed a little to clear , “What did you say?”

Regretably, your family is no longer alive on your planet Earth. You see, there is a time difference between planet Earth and planet EXO—

“They’re dead is what you’re telling me.”

Yes, the last family member you knew had died approximately 50 or so years ago on Earth. The difference between EXO and your time frame is an estimate of 1 day to 10 years.

She barely could pay attention to anything the Tree was saying. Tears started to cloud her vision. Her family was gone. There was no way to see them ever again. She didn’t get to say goodbye, to say her loved them, to tell them how much they meant to her. Anger started to spurted in her core and expand.

“You knew about this, didn’t you!” She yelled, tears of fury streaming down, “You knew!”

We didn’t wish for you to be distracted on your—

“Distracted? How unbelievably manipulative and heartless! You took me from my life, my home!” she cried. “And you did it without having the decency to tell me that everything I was taken from would be gone when I returned! How…how could you do it?”

EXO’s was in danger and only you could—

“I don’t care! I-I didn’t even get to say goodbye.” She whimpered, wiping her eyes, “Couldn’t you have at least given me that? So I could let them go in peace; that they could let me go in peace. I can’t imagine how worried they were. Couldn’t you have at least…” She quieted down and her legs weakened, feeling suddenly exhausted. She slumped and sat down among the tall grass, assuming her original position of her forehead on her knees and arms wrapped around her head.

We’re sorry.

She didn’t accept the apology. Her anger was decreasing yet it was quickly being replaced with grief.  Her body felt as if it were being lifted and then placed gently on something soft. She peeked through her arms and recognized that she was on a couch back in the apartment that Lay had let her stay in.

She heard the beep of the front entrance and didn’t bother trying to fix her appearance or calm herself down. She lost her family. She had the right to grieve.

The person who entered was a cleaning maid with her cleaning cart and she seemed equally surprised as Ileana was to see her there. It took a minute of them surveying each other before the maid slowly back up and left the apartment.  The slight uneasiness of someone catching her in the middle of crying left her quickly. She curled herself in a ball and attempted to find comfort in her own warmth.

The entrance beeped once more but the door sounded like it had been slammed opened. Ileana lifted her head from her ball and saw Lay rushing into the living room. He stood there frozen as he processed her.

“Ileana…” He breathed, “What are you doing here?”  He quickly rushed over and sat down on the couch next to her.

“I-I,” She croaked, “I can’t go back.” She cursed when she felt the tears starting to build again. “My family, they’re—“

Lay wrapped his arms around her and cuddled her back and forth, “Shh, it’s okay. You don’t have to tell me anything.”

Lay held her for moments she couldn’t keep track of. She found her mind replacing Lay’s image with her mothers. Her mother used to hold her the same way he did. She used to be patient through Ileana’s crying fits and calmed her down with hush tones and light caressing of her back. This in turn only made her cry harder.

Lay released her and gripped her by the shoulders. “I’ll be right back, okay?” He told her in a whisper, using his thumbs to take away her tears. It was all in vain because a new stream flowed not long after he did.  She let Lay slip away from her. She heard him shuffle away and out of the apartment with the door clicking shut.  She curled herself back up into a ball and tried to stop the memories of her family appearing in her mind.

She was busy telling herself to stop crying already and that it won’t change things when the entrance beeped, signaling someone had arrived.

She lifted her head and waited for the person to arrive. For the first time in a while, her mind went blank when she met eyes with someone unexpected.

And SCENE! 

The next two chapter are the Alternate Endings! First one (47) is Sehun's ending while the second one (48) is Kris' ending.  You can read only one if you want. Or both...though it might be a little weird. Anyways, They're not hugh or filled with dialogue. They're epilogue styled. So a lot of summarizing and stuff. And very very sappy.

Okay this chapter discussing: BOOM!!! Of course I wouldn't send her back home! But in return, I had to do this >> Sorry Ileana. Anyways, some of you guys might see me describing her as a little too mopey. But I'm doing some personal projection here in regards to her reaction. I, myself, am very very very very close with my family. Like super close and stuff. (I have way with words, don't I?) So, Ileana reacted the way i would if I lost my family. Of course, read the next two chapters...or one if you don't like Sehun or Kris...if you wanna continue seeing how she copes. 

Thanks for waiting so long for this update! I ran out of juices and feels after last chapter. I don't know. My original plot line didn't call for alternate endings and it left me a little confuse on how to continue it. So, hopefully this chapter was okay. I really didn't know how to end them >> Anyways. Yeah. 

Okay, here is my ending speel to end all SPEELS 
First off:
THANK YOU!

You guys have been ridiculously supportive for me! This has been my first fan fic I've posted in over...I think 5 years? (And it's a hella long one too) And to receive so much support and comments has been uplifting to me and makes me feel very appreciative. I know I still have a long way to go in terms of writing and it still needs some improvement. Either way, I had fun writing this and I feel like I accomplished something now that it's done. Besides, how many people can boast that they wrote a fanfiction over 100,000w long? Not a lot I think>> Maybe. Anyways. Enough about me.

I think when I started this there were about 300 stories under the 'exo' tag. Goodness, look how many there are NOW! Incredible! I'm so happy for EXO! They deserve the fans! They're so amazing, don't you agree ;)

Now, for my final comment replies! (And I have some catching up to do)(ps: I'm high on caffeine right, please keep that in mind):

@u-knowkey - Ahaha, she managed to somehow :) Oh well, they needed to get the sticks out of their bums eventually. Thanks for much for commenting! I hope this story has been enjoyable enough for you! <3

@yeollikeabuffalo - But BUT I gave alternate endings! So technically, the ball's in your court. Muwahahaha! Anyways, thank you! I'm glad you like my other stories and thanks for sticking with this one! And thank you for commenting more than once. It's nice to see a familiar username :) Much love, okay? xoxox.  Ps: I'm not sure if I've told you this before, I probably have but I adore your username. Like a lot. You a genius!

@Mokonazuna - Ahaha, yup, a bunch of stuck up set of women, aren't they? Oh well. Action, boom bam laa dee dahh! Gahh, what am I saying anymore? Darn caffeine. Anyways, thank you for sticking with this story for so long! I appreciate all your comments! I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it!

@zombiecandy - D: Oh dear, I hope the ending was to your liking. I want to say thank you for being a continious commenter and for reading this fic! It means a lot to me :) And I'll continue being awesome if you continue doing the same!!

@JinChannie - :D THANK YOU! I'm glad your like the characters.LOL, you like my A/Ns? They can be sooo long sometimes. I'm glad you managed to find this little (not really) fic of mine! You're so nice :') I'll try to stay healt-Wait. Did you say Kai? *COUGH COUGH HACKING imsosick* Bring on Dr. Kai!! And psttt, lemme love you!

@Breanna - Goodness! Thank you so much! Gahh, I feel so unworthy of your praise O////O' I personally like action/adventure fics, and the teaser were like begging me to write this so boom bamm dang, this was created. Thank you for such a nice comment, brings tears to my eyes :') I hope the ending was okay for you. I don't know what else to say besides thankyouthankyouthankyou and oh, you're like really cool. Just rememeber that. 

@Lullycream - Lullycream ;A;. I'm-I'm done. This story. Where we have met. My feels. I am so thankful for this fic, cause I met such a wonderful person like you. You are just so amazing. You really are. Thank you for continously cheering me on  and giving me such insightful comments and make me feel so just so goshdarn motivated! I just wanna *throws buckets of love* Okay, let's pass my love confession and onto your comment reply. Can I just say I love your Harry Potter references? And your brackets. Creepy, but I feel like I'm inside your head. You're so funny <3 And even though there were no deaths in this fic, I still hope you liked it nonetheless (I did give you some blood, I was originally going to make it less exciting but there you go!). Lol, I'm glad you like Lay. He's one of my favs too <3 So your welcome and thank you and I love you loads and and and Merci beaucoup ma beau amie. mwahh xoxo. Let's continue this wonderful friendship of our in other fics and other sites and stuff like that! <333

@xXBubblizXx - Anneyong! Lemme hug you right now, okay? You ready? Cause here it come! *glomps* You've been so nice with your comments! I'm going to miss them ;A;  Thank you for staying with this fic for so long and reading it. It's so nice to have a reader like you (and to call me unnie, gahh make me get all flustered and happy). About Chanyeol and Minister...err, didn't really go over that cause you know, I just didn't lol. I'll leave that up to your imagination. Anyways, I hope you liked the ending. It kind of ended quickly, but yup. This is it :'( Imma miss this fic and you! /sobbing/ LOVE YOU LONG TIME!

@toffeelove - Bahaha, I wanted her to do SOMETHING. Not like hiyahh, I'm kungfu, but something realistic I guess? I mean, people can smash a mirror over anyone's head right? BUT BAHAH SHOOTING LLAMAS! What an AMAZING power! Gahh, if only I thought of that! Oh well. And about her being quiet, I could have made her speak but I wanted Kris' authority to shine through in the scene. She's more there as a symbol of support I guess. Sorry if it wasn't to your liking :'(. Anyways, thank you so much for reading this monstrous thing of a fic! Your comments have been so great, I really enjoyed reading them :) Thank you again!

@SapphireSeptember - Whoop indeed :) Thank you for your comments! They've been wonderful <3 I hope the endings were to your liking :)

@NinjiPandi - Oh, was this a surprise ending for you? Ahaha, I feel a little accomplished. Thank you for your comments <3 I'm so sad to see this fic end as well ;A; It's been a good run though. Thank you for being one of my supporters :) It means alot! 

@MarianneManson - hfjdshodsfosujf!!!!! MARIANNEMANSON! Omg, Imma miss you! Your comments, how can I go on without them D':?! Thank you sooooooooooooo much for commenting and reading and you know, being YOU! Cause you're super cool! I hope you were okay with the way this ended >< It was hard to end, but it had to be done. Thank you so much for your support! Lemme just...*glomps, cuddles and huggles you to death* LOVEEE<33

@sooyeon-ie – Hello! Oh goodness, thanks for such a wonderful and /honest/ comment! No, really, accept my first born…Okay, maybe a cookie will suffice? A cookie with your bias’ face decorated on it, maybe? Anyways, I’m so happy you liked reading this :’) I know it isn’t perfect and yes, you are right, there are some parts that are rushed and need work! I’m not 100% pleased with the way I worked some things out and sometimes I wanted to jump onto the next part I have planned in my plot, thus making things rushed. Oh well! Thank you for commenting and somehow making it through this huge amount of text! As for my gifs and picture, I got the majority of them from Tumblr. It’s a treasure trove! Gooo! <3 Oh and um, you’re cool. Like real cool. Just FYI….*runs up and hugs before fleeing away*

@claireify – All in one GO?! Goodness, you somehow made it through all that, kjfdhshf, thank you! Lol, I’m such a fan service writer. I was like, HOW THE HECK CAN I CHOOSE. Impossible…Anyways, I’m glad you liked this fic :’) Thank you for the wonderful comment. I hope the ending is to your liking and remember to stay awesome!

@PrincessLuLu – We meet again! Thank you for reading this huggge thing ahhhh, and to say to get this published! You flatterer you! You are sooo unbelieveably nice! Thank you so much!

@AntarexGreen27 – Your comment made me go into hysterics and a giggly mess. Zomg, you’re so amazing. Thank you so much a wonderful comment <3 Ahh, you’ve read this from April. Thanks for sticking around!!! Zomg, this fic…a movie? YOU FLATTER ME! O////O!! Naww, glad you like my giveaways and the gifs I post. I know my A/N’s are obnoxiously long. Lol, my bad about your shipping crisis there and bias’. I can’t help it! I can’t choose! My fan service writing just kicks in and the need to relieve my feels…it just happens!  Anyways, I hope the endings were to your, Kai’s and your unborn child’s liking. Psssst, am I invited to the baby shower? I’ll gift you with EXO merchandise? Again, thank you for reading this fic for so long. :’)


All right , comment replies done. Omg, I’m going to cry. This story is done. Thank you to all my subscribers, non-subscribers who are reading this, those outside of AFF and are reading this (yes, YOU), those who commented, those silent readers, those people who tweeted this fic or liked it on facebook, those people who talked about, recommended, read, and whatever else goddamnit! I don’t know how I can express my full thankfulness into words!

Also, my next OC fic…err. I’m going to be honest here and say my OC fic writing feels are all dried out right now. I got a taste of writing OTP fics and my feels are directed towards them right now. Will I ever come back to OC writing? YES! And I am going to write you the Lay/Sandman short story! It will be out within the month, okay? But besides that, I’m out of the desire to start a full length chaptered fic. No ideas or prompts has inspired me enough. But there will be a time where it will come again, I KNOW IT!

All right, time for my last giveaway guys. And thus. I present you.
*throws all EXO members*

 Yes, I saved the best for last ;)

Thank you times a billion once again. PurplePluto out~~~

ps: The next two chapters won’t have A/Ns. Cause yeah. Anyways, Byee<3