PHOENIX

Chapter Sixty Seven: Home

The harshness of the sun forced me to open my eyes, blinking away the darkness from the portal.

We were home.

My eyes widened when I saw the community house, still destroyed yet its familiarity brought me nostalgia. The trees, the lake with fish of all kinds swimming inside, the dirt ground. I didn't realize how much I missed it all after being stuck in the end for about two days.

"We're home!"

Tommy's voice yelled from behind me, making me cringe at how loud he was.

"Yep, we're home," Dream sighs, covering his ears from being next to Tommy.

Tommy's voice was loud enough to get the attention of a few citizens of the SMP territory, who immediately rushed to our sides to make sure we weren't dying. After we checked on everyone and did a headcount, more citizens started showing up, asking too many questions to answer.

"What was the End like?"

"How did you kill the goddess?"

"Did anyone die?"

We weren't sure how to answer that last one.

Then the question I had been dreading arrived.

"Where's Alyssa?"

The silence that ensued gave the answer they needed. The questions stopped after that. It was strange that even though we were done now, none of the group split off from each other. For a few hours after we got back home, we stayed together, none of us really wanting to leave the company of those who had shared an experience.

Funnily enough, a lot of the citizens were gathered around the community house since tonight was New Year's Eve. Food covered long tables inside the community house, each dish being from a different home. Right outside, a few people were setting up fireworks for when midnight hits, and we begin a new year. Dozens of families full of kids ran around about the warm building, excited for the new year, and even more excited for our return.

"I've always heard about this New Year's party, but I've never actually been to one," I whisper to Dream, who hadn't let go of my hand.

"Really? What do you normally do on New Year's?" He asks, leading me over to the food.

"Sit inside with Tommy, Wilbur, Fundy, Tubbo, and Eret. We usually wait until we hear your guy's fireworks go off, and then celebrate the new year," I explain with a fond smile. "But this is exciting! I'm glad I'm learning more about how you guys celebrate things."

Dream places a warm piece of bread on the wooden plate he had picked up, then turned to watch me.

"I want to learn more about how you celebrate things too. Your traditions and holidays. We'll have to find a way to integrate them together," He says softly.

"Like Christmas?"

"Exactly like Christmas," He nods.

With a contented smile, Dream and I continue going down the line of food, piling our plates high. We needed all the extra protein we could get. Our bodies were exhausted. Slowly, we made our way outside to the chilly night air, using the fences on either side of the prime path as a place to sit. Just as I'm about to dig in, Dream takes off his mask.

"Oh," I say in surprise.

Dream notices my surprise, and shrugs.

"I think I'm making an early New Year's resolution," Dream says with a smile. "The stupid mask was always more of a hassle than anything."

A bright grin fights its way onto my face, and I nod with pride, trying not to make it into a big deal.

"Do you have any New Year's resolutions in mind?" He asks me through bites of chicken.

"Hmmm," I ponder. "I want to take more leadership positions like I did with the war. It was strange at first, but the more I got comfortable, the more it felt like second nature."

"Good," Dream nods. "You responded so well to how quickly you were thrust into that position. You're very flexible with that kind of stuff."

"Thanks," I smile softly. "Let's have more conversations like this, and less about the fate of the world."

"I agree. That can be our New Year's resolution together." Dream points out.

"Together." I agree. "I like that word for us. Let's stay together."

With slightly pink cheeks, Dream hops down from the fence across from me and comes to sit on the fence next to me.

With a small shoulder nudge, Dream murmurs, "Sounds like a plan."

We finish our plates quickly, and sit back, waiting for the fireworks to start. As we wait, we laugh about how worried we were only hours ago, only days ago, and how happy we were now. Dream talks me through everything that happened after I flew off to fight the dragon, and my heart hurt when he quietly expressed how broken he felt when I was dead. In turn, I talked him through everything I saw while in the void, specifically asking about the raven haired goddess. Dream only shrugged, unsure of who they were.

Eventually, there was a shout, and then an explosion of lights ran across the dark sky. Dream and I snuggled in closer, me leaning into him as he put his arm around me.

"This is so beautiful," I marvel, watching the colors change and pop.

"Not as beautiful as you," Dream replies.

"Stop it," I laugh.

"Never," He taunts, shaking his head.

"You're insufferable."

"A good kind of insufferable?"

"The best kind."

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Author's Notes:

I told myself I wouldn't cry writing the final chapter, but I did. Goddamn it. I've got an epilogue planned shortly, so stay tuned for that! Thanks for coming on this journey with me. Have a luminous day!