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Finn's life was anything but easy. Locked in a never-ending fight with the Creator, all he ever knew was death, and death was not something Finn had thought gratifying. He was Finn the Ender, a magical being capable of almost anything. He was lonely much of his time, though he made up for it with little hobbies here and there. Much of that involved studying the history of his job. In the Ender line, he was still relatively young, being only tens of thousands of years old. Most lived up to hundreds of billions of years.

Before his time, the oldest Creator and the oldest Ender used to work together; one would make and one would destroy. Their co-worker relationship was not to last, however, as they disagreed on nearly everything. They ended up drifting apart from each other bit by bit every day until they finally broke all contact with each other. When the last Creator made the next Ender - Finn - he forbade Finn all interaction with the new Creator. Neither knew each other, but they had both learned from their masters of old.

They learned of the skill they received, of the hatred between the two entities. They inherited only one piece of knowledge, and that was that one was prophesied to destroy the other. A century passed before Finn was ready to inherit his job, though that was impressive for any Ender. A century was the least amount of time any Ender had spent from conception to job-holder, and that was something Finn was proud of. He had learned much from the old Ender, but the old Ender had long since passed and Finn was alone.

As an Ender, Finn aged as quickly as he pleased, but spent most of his time in the form of a young male. The Enders were traditionally a race of cats, but Finn found himself most comfortable in the thin body of a coyote. He devoted much of his time to eliminating black Essence, which had some malicious intent or another against the world. They were beings created by-

"Finn?"

The coyote was snapped out of his thoughts. He turned to see the substitute teacher calling out his name. She was a lanky leopard of some sort, though Finn suspected some cougar history. Her fur was dyed purple and red.

"Finn? There's no last name listed here."

Finn raised a paw, showing his location. He tipped the seat back on its hind legs to relax, the back of the chair resting on the wall. "It's just Finn, ma'am," he replied. "There isn't a last name to be listed."

She nodded in assent, but looked back at her paper with an awkward uncertainty. She hesitated before continuing down class roster, unsure of what to think of the anomaly.

Finn snorted in amusement of the befuddled cat before returning to his thoughts. It was the second day of school and already he had a substitute teacher, even if it was in a class as useless to him as environmental sciences. He looked out the window, watching the birds on the trees flutter by as a show of play. Oh, how he wished to be one of them; free and outside to enjoy the warmth of the glorious sun, the fresh air and the smell of pine, the flowers-

"Didn't you hear, Finn?" came a feline voice, "We're starting the bookwork." Finn could clearly hear the arrogance in Miss James' voice as she commanded him and caught him not paying attention. If only he could just put an end to this miserable being. But, alas, that was against the rules of the Terminatus and everything an Ender stood for. She would be spared another day.

"We have partner work this period, so pick your partners, read chapter one of the textbook, and answer all the questions at the back of every section together." And at that, the room exploded into chatter of what happened over summer; who they hung out with, who they last fu-

"Hey, boy," rose a bold voice off to the coyote's left. Towards him stepped a lemur, dressed worthy to be working the corners of the street at night. She was just one of many girls who were appreciative of Finn's attractive body. "Let's hook up and do this shit, huh? I can give you a good time after, if you want." She thought that a seductive undertone might have swayed Finn, but it led to nothing; not even a stir in his pants.

The latrine scanned the room, spying a lone raccoon in the back of the room. The ringtail looked bored and didn't even look to find someone else to work with, but a quick mind read and a bio scan told Finn of how alone that raccoon felt. Mind reading and background scanning were just a couple of Finn's magical abilities as a part of being an Ender. What he found out about the ringtail surprised him though, enough to trade the lemur for the raccoon. His name was Cooper Caper, leading life as a student but also worked underground as something less common, a thief. Several likeable aspects called out to Finn and drew him closer to the raccoon. His mind was set by then, even as he looked back to his lemur "friend" in an gesture of consideration; it was an easy choice on who to pick.

"Sorry, sweetie," Finn apologized, waving a paw carelessly, "but I promised I'd work with Cooper over there today."

The raccoon's ears perked at the mention of his name and the lemur left, flustered and jealous of the coyote's decision. Her tail nearly lashed Finn as the ringtail scooted into the empty desk by the latrine. Cooper was clearly confused that someone popular like Finn would want to work with a lean outcast such as himself.

"Let's get that book out now, shall we?" Finn didn't mean it as a question, more of an assertive statement. He noticed the raccoon staring at him, but he didn't say anything about it. But let it be said that there was a curious quality to Finn that made him so agreeable; a quality that he had not been given through his Ender powers nor from the old Creator.

"Why did you pick me to work with?" Cooper questioned, "There's so many others that you could have done this with. Why me?"

The coyote shrugged, bringing the chair back down onto all four legs. He got a good sniff at the raccoon and was surprised with how clean he smelled. "Wanted someone I can trust more that those guys, I guess."

The raccoon gave Finn a look of bewilderment. "Trust? It's only the beginning of school. Why does trust even matter yet?"

Finn winked at Cooper, whipping his tail as he held up a paper. "'Students are to pick their own partners for the bookwork. These partnerships will remain for the rest of the year.'" He grinned before concealing the substitute teacher's lesson plan from view and transporting it back to the teacher's desk telepathically without Miss James finding out. "'Don't let them know about that part until the end of class.'"

Cooper gave the coyote a wide-eyed stare. "How did you get the lesson plan?"

Once again, Finn shrugged. He crossed his arms behind his head, tilting the seat back on its hind legs again. "Eh, I know a few tricks." He picked up his book and began reading, though he had started a half page behind Cooper. It didn't matter, though. He already knew everything there was to know in the book. He could feel the lemur's glare from across the room, but paid it no heed.

Cooper looked into the text intensely, pausing to read for a couple minutes before making a last comment. "Rest of the year, huh?"

* * *

"So why did you decide that you could trust me of all people?" Cooper asked the following day. The ringtail figured out quickly that there was no getting out of working with Finn. It was worth it just for the status he would gain for being around the coyote. "I mean, you barely even know me and you're one of those 'cool kid' types. Like, I half expect you to be high on weed half the time."

Finn barked a quick laugh as they pushed open the door to the science wing. "No, I'm not on weed. I don't burn or smoke. Kills the nose, y'know?" He tapped the cold, rough tip at the end of his muzzle just for good measure. "Besides, I do know quite a bit about you."

"You do," Cooper challenged.

"Right, I do. You want to give me back that pen you took out of my bag?"

Cooper frowned, pulling his ears against his head. "There's no way you could have known about that." His ringed tail wrapped around his leg defensively.

And there wasn't... except that Finn could read minds. "I don't trust you that much." He held out a paw for his pen. "Now, if you will."

Cooper harrumphed, reaching into the folds of his shirt and dropping a gold-lined pen into the coyote's paw. "It's a beautiful pen."

"I know it is," Finn replied smugly. After all, he had put it in there to bait the raccoon into taking it when he got home the day before. He flipped the pen around in his paws, moving it dextrously between his paw digits. "You've learned your lesson. Be careful with who you steal from. You can have it back now." He passed the pen back to a stunned Cooper.

The raccoon looked down at the gold and traced over it with a claw tip. "This is really valuable. You're just going to let me keep it?"

Finn nodded, sitting down at his choice seat near the back of the room by the front door. "You need it more than I do. Hell, I can always get another one." At the ringtail's protests, the coyote put up a paw to stop Cooper. "You need the money and you know it. You could sell it for tons. I'm just helping."

And Cooper only stood by Finn's desk, dumbfounded with the pen in his paw and trying to process the coyote's words.

"Now sit down before class starts. Miss Dill is going to mark you tardy."

* * *

The next day, Finn was well prepared for the barrage of questions that Cooper had asked. The raccoon's questions were not very deep, but they worked together cleverly to try to unmask Finn's mysterious life. The latrine, however, loved the way the raccoon could only fluster himself with these questions whenever Finn would answer in a way that would dextrously avoid the point of the inquiry, how he could rattle the raccoon down to his very Essence, but who could blame Cooper? Finn knew the ringtail down to his very Essence.

Essence...

The word stuck in the coyote's mind. He reflected back to a time when the old Ender was still alive. The power of the word was only the beginning of Finn's troubles. The Essence of any being, be it living or nonliving, was the "miracle," or says the Terminatus. Essence was shaped into various things by the Creator, who could work with broken or raw Essence. No less and no more. But Essence wasn't Finn's enemy. He, himself was made of Essence. The Creator, a being made of nothing, was the enemy, as he was taught. It was one without a body of Essence, a being that should not exist. Yet it still does does.

Finn's train of thought was broken by the slamming of books on his desk. "Okay, how do you know so much about me?" Cooper demanded. The coyote's eyes followed a ringed tail that was close to lashing in frustration. "If you tell anyone about-"

"You'd be kicked out of school and bring failure to the Caper name under long line of infamous thieves," the coyote finished. He smiled inwardly to the further furrowing of Cooper's eyebrows. He hadn't mentioned that he knew of Cooper's thieving history before. "I won't do anything of the sort."

The ringtail growled. "Why won't you? I'm a criminal," he snapped.

"Not all criminals have bad intentions," the latrine countered, "and I like to protect people I enjoy being with and trust. People of my kind," he misspoke. It was all just a ruse to get Cooper to understand things more quickly. He was feeling dangerously brave and even though he knew Cooper's secrets, Cooper didn't know Finn's. Maybe the coyote would do something about that, though. Finn noticed that no one else was in the room, but that was most likely because there were still four minutes before class began.

"Your kind?" Cooper dared to ask.

In a sudden motion guided more by recklessness than actual planning, he pulled the raccoon down, turning to face him away from the door and thus any spectators. He cast a diversion barrier to shield them from watchful eyes and sudden intrusions. He quickly brought Cooper's head down with a paw and gave the ringtail a gentle brush on the muzzle, followed by a light kiss.

The surprise on the raccoon's face was in no way a surprise to the coyote. As they parted lips, Cooper's tongue reaching out for more, the reality of the action struck the ringtail. He felt the blood rushing into his face and ears, flushing as he stood staring at the coyote, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Not 'my' kind," the coyote explained, "'our' kind." He rubbed the raccoon's cheekruffs, earning a nuzzle and a deep, content vibration from Cooper's throat, then broke away from the ringtail completely.

Cooper cleared his throat, trying to form words. He wanted to comment on how Finn had said 'my' kind the first time, or that he wanted more of that hot, latrine muzzle. His words couldn't seem to come out, however, and he was left standing, his cheeks and ears flushing deeper with the passing moments.

The ringtail moved to take in seat in class and waited out the lesson, constantly checking Finn. Every time he looked over, he would lock gazes with the coyote. Every time, Finn would give Cooper that same smug, reassuring smirk that kept that moment they shared right before class fresh in Cooper's mind. The raccoon's tail twitched in excitement as it swayed behind him, though Finn's calmly lay behind through the back of the chair, betraying none of the coyote's emotions. Finn watched Cooper's tail flick to and fro with some amusement.

But it wasn't until after class that they spoke again. "Want to come over later?" Finn asked. He held open the door for Cooper.

"Well..." The raccoon started, thinking about his "job" for that day. There wouldn't be anything happening until later that night and he could leave early from Finn's house if he had to. Finn would understand. He already knew so much. "Sure." He was confident, and he admitted to himself that it wasn't just to be around the coyote for casual purposes despite himself.

Finn smiled, ripping a piece of notebook paper for Cooper, holding the paper daintily with his claw tips. Cooper took the paper,reading over its contents. On it was Finn's address, his phone number, and a little message. "Anytime is fine, even in the dead of night!"

"Thanks Finn." But when the raccoon looked up, the coyote was already gone, a post-it note stuck in his place. Finn really was a piece of work.

"Don't be late for class!"

* * *

Finn was born as an Ender, and with that came many special powers. For one, he could see into the Essence of all things. All people had an Essence. Much like a soul, it functioned to shape the person. Finn, with his unlimited access to Essence, could find out anything and everything about anyone but the Creator - the Creator was without Essence, after all - but he only did it for specific purposes (Cooper for a different specific purpose, of course).

With this access, Finn was given the power to manipulate Essence. According to the Terminatus, he was not allowed to influence the Essence of living things, plants and people for example, but things that didn't have life to them, like the teacher's lesson plan, he could transfer through space, morph, anything he wanted. With this, magic was often suspect of Finn, which he didn't deny. He could teleport and travel however he wished since the Terminatus encouraged trying his powers on himself before using them on others. He could change his musculature and youth to what he wanted. He achieved immortality.

The only other thing he could do with Essence was destroy it. According to the Terminatus, "an Essence is not to be destroyed until it has broken the boundaries of its capacities. As Ender, you are entitled to this duty of destroying an Essence. You must destroy the Essence of he, she, or it which has an Essence that has broken, weathered, aged, or blackened. Destroyed Essence will return to the Creator, where it will be reused to create a new Essence."

As of late, there had only ever been one line taken out of the Terminatus. Lost to Finn, that line escaped him. It was the only line he did not know even through traces of it remained. The Terminatus, itself, was written in a special ink visible only to the Ender. The Essence of the ink had been changed and passed down through the years and generations of Enders. There were-

A knock at his door brought Finn out of his mind's trip. It was a light knock, but he could hear it through even the roars of his thoughts. He wouldn't miss this guest for anything.

"Finn? It's me, Cooper," came a high tenor. There was no mistake, it was definitely the raccoon.

Of course, the coyote already knew that this was the ringtail he had expected. The scent of raccoon quickly wafted through the door. Finn quickly traversed his living room and opened the front door, greeting Cooper at the doorway.

"Come in. Want anything?" He opened the heated box by the door, pulling out a wet towel from the stand next to the door for the ringtail to wipe his bare feet. He always kept the stack wet in case he had guests. He noticed that look of jealousy the raccoon had on his muzzle.

"Only everything." Finn chuckled. "Your parents must make lots of money of something if you can afford all this."

Finn's ears flicked at one word in particular. "Right," he gave Cooper the towel, making sure it was adequately warm, "parents."

The same word made Cooper look around the room. He breathed in the light scent of coyote, drinking in the sights the room had to offer. Certainly, the house was bigger inside than it looked outside. A lush carpet, a lively red, covered much of the floor over a redwood floor. A sofa rested against the wall to the edge of the carpet and sat facing the fireplace. The short furs on the couch tinged orange by the raging fire that licked the air inside and around a cobbled fireplace. The natural colors of the sofa were patterned so that if Finn sat in just the right spot (which was any spot Finn wanted to make it) he would blend in perfectly - after all, he did keep that in mind when he designed the house. Black curtains hung draped over Finn's windows to keep viewers and light out if needed. Tables held fancy vases full of different kinds of flowers, most of them dark in color. The room had only two exits: the front door and a hallway path.

"Are they home?" Cooper asked, continuing to study the house. The polished wooden walls made the house seem more like a cabin. The fresh smell of forest pine, light and enhancing, added freshness to the other scents - mostly coyote - in the room. He followed the pictures on the walls. Some were of older characters who resembled Finn, which Cooper guessed were Finn's parents, but the pictures were drawn by paw, even though they were in great detail. They looked primitive, even menacing. Some were of what looked like Finn and his grandpa together, even though the older one was a cat of some sort. These pictures seemed more recent, but they were still drawn. They were fitted with a waxy covering so that the marks on the paper wouldn't fade. The many other pictures were of Finn, alone, and of these only two were color photographs. "I see you have some feline ancestry."

"I have no genetic relation to that man. He was my mentor, nothing more." The coyote spoke coldly though in truth had much affection for the old Ender. "I don't have parents anymore," he reminded himself.

Cooper, overhearing that comment, gaped at Finn in surprise. "You don't have parents? How do you afford all this stuff?" He queried. "Are you... How do you do it? Do you do what our family does?"

"If you mean thieving, then no," the latrine snapped, "my life is very complicated, is all."

It was then that the raccoon saw the ancient book Finn so treasured trapped behind a glass stand. He read the title slowly. "Terminatus." The ringtail reached for the glass then stopped. "What is it about? There's no author or anything. Just a title."

"It's an occupational heirloom. It's very special. I'll tell you all about it in due time." It wasn't that Finn was trying to push the raccoon out of his secret life, it was more like he was waiting and building until the ringtail could be trusted enough to keep his terrible secret. But that also required a demonstration. There were Endings every night. Maybe he could take Cooper to one some time. "Listen, that's enough about me. In due time, all of the secrets of this house and coyote will be revealed. It's all in a matter of time."

Cooper's ears folded on his head. "Okay, then." He stayed standing but allowed himself to give away all the awkwardness he had been feeling, standing in Finn's house. He was unsure of what to do next. "Umm..." He sat down on the sofa, where Finn had already taken a seat. The coyote changed his position to allow Cooper to fit better.

Finn watched, only letting his eyes follow the ringtail as he rested against the far curve of the couch. He leaned back to let Cooper lean back onto him, but the raccoon didn't seem to take the hint. Nothing a little mind manipulation could fix, but Finn looked at the old book behind the glass stand and balked at that thought. Breaking rules had serious consequences, Finn knew.

"What do you want to do?" He would have to settle for words.

Cooper shrugged. "What do you have to do around this palace?"

The coyote grinned. "Well it's not a palace, but there's loads of things to do. Really just whatever you want to do, I can make it happen." That was true, at least. "Or we could just do homework if you want."

Cooper looked at Finn, a coy expression stretched over his face. "I had other things in mind."

A quick mind scan told Finn that the ringtail wanted something much closer. Apparently that kiss before second period really wasn't enough for Cooper. Though it was much more tame than what the raccoon wanted, Finn only stretched his arms wide apart for Cooper. They came together, the raccoon's back resting on the coyote's front, the fur on his arms tangling with Finn's canid fur. Finn felt the banded tail trapped between them twitch slightly in excitement.

"It's hard being alone isn't it?" the latrine asked. His paws traveled through Cooper's fur, feeling the rough patterns in it. He nibbled one of the raccoon ears presented in front of his muzzle and later gave the coon a light peck at the top of his head.

"I have a lot of siblings," Cooper argued. The attention Finn was giving his ear, however, made him squirm in delight under the coyote's hold. The comment soon lost whatever scant weight it held in the matter.

"None of them like us, I'm willing to bet."

"No," Cooper sighed, "the only family I have who's of age to be thinking about their love life is a cousin I don't hear about or from very often. Last I heard, he's off getting chased by some vixen he's chasing, too."

"That's sad to hear about."

"But... I don't know," Cooper breathed, "this is really nice. I mean, who needs him, you know?"

"Just relax and enjoy it," Finn cooed.

Family...

Finn's ties to his parents were nowhere near as powerful his attachment to the old Ender. He had lost his parents and was then taken in by the old cat and it was from that man that he learned how to be an Ender. Of course, it wasn't some kind of coincidence that Finn and the old Ender would meet that way, Finn being created to be the next Ender, but it all came as a rush. He came to accept his destiny and trained for the rest of that lifetime under the old Ender. After all his training, he started to think of the old Ender as his father instead of his real parents. There was just that bonding between master and apprentice that deepened their relationship. After his training, Finn would be rewarded with more training - he liked the challenge of his training. Sometimes it would be work with mortals, sometimes, he would work with the old Ender.

But for Finn's last test, he steeled himself to something he thought was cruel for any apprentice, for any master. The test was difficult. It was arduous, long, yet induced a fear so sharp, it nearly cut through the coyote when he had to go through the trial.

His final test was to End the old Ender.

"Finn?" Cooper asked, concerned. The raccoon felt a warm fluid tricking down the back of his head. "You're squeezing pretty tight there."

The coyote sighed, "Sorry. Guess I just let my mind wander too far again."

The raccoon didn't need his eyes to tell what Finn was doing. "What about?"

"Just some old scars. Nothing you'd want to hear about." He licked the raccoon's ears affectionately.

Cooper paused, letting Finn do his work with his tongue, but he didn't squirm, even at the tingling pleasure. "You're crying."

Surprised, Finn brought one of his paws to his eyes and felt the warm tears flowing freely. He wiped them quickly. "So I am." He laughed mirthlessly. "It's hard watching people you care about die."

Cooper gave Finn a moment to recuperate. "I didn't know that family's a touchy topic for you," he apologized. He stroked the coyote's arm fur. Finn was surprisingly calm even though it was the most emotion he had let out in the past couple years. He wondered why it was all coming out now.

"It doesn't matter. It isn't something I should still be crying about."

The embrace was no longer as warm as it had been prior, the ringtail feeling awkward in his position in front of the coyote. Finn, sensing this, let Cooper go and they both rose from the couch.

"Can you feel that awkwardness?" Finn laughed again. He was no longer crying. "It's like you can cut it with a knife."

It was so like Finn to make a joke to clear away all the feelings. He'd been doing it for eons, after all. But things in the room had changed. The room was darker. The pictures seemed more obscure than they were before and the walls felt like they started leaning inward as if to wrap around the two. The fire in the fireplace had calmed down, no longer lashing as furiously as before. Everything about that room was suddenly uncomfortable, but Cooper didn't want to leave, either.

And Finn was ever attentive to the ringtail's feelings. Sensing his friend's discomfort, he started feeling claustrophobic. The room was suffocating to be in. "Let's go. Wanna see the rest of this 'palace?'"

Cooper snickered and looked, once more, around the room. "Hell yes. But I think it'd be hard to top what you have in this room."

The coyote grinned in response, turning up his muzzle in a show of canine pride. "Oh you'd certainly be surprised." He grabbed Cooper's paw and led the ringtail through a doorway leading to Finn's house's main hall. There was another lush, red carpet there over redwood flooring and pine walls. The ceiling was higher here than in the other room and was adorned with crystal chandeliers. The light was fragmented, shooting only in rays that were visibly separate. Tables were placed in the hall and were decorated with more fancy vases and more flowers. No flower was the same. Pictures adorned the walls, pictures of Finn and his trips around the world.

Cooper had to admit, Finn looked good in no mater what he wore. The cultural wear in all the different countries proved the raccoon's point. When he looked away from a particularly nice picture, he blushed, having realized that he stared at the picture of the coyote clad only in a loincloth for so long. If Finn had noticed it, he didn't say anything about it. The snapdragons on the table nearby seemed to laugh at Cooper.

"We need to go out to my backyard," Finn said repeatedly. He was excited like a kit who had gotten a new toy and was eager to show his friends how cool it was. "You have to check it out."

And blinding sun soon hit the raccoon's eyes when they stepped out the door leading out of Finn's house at the end of the hall. The polished brown and lush reds inside the house were replaced by a clear, blue sky and the fresh green of lawn grass. A garden of assorted flowers lined a grey, stone road that circled the garden and led indirectly to a fountain in the center of the flower arrangements. The backyard, elliptical, had its boundaries marked by a line of fruit trees that stood at attention along the edge of the yard. Trimmed hedges were used as walls to keep people from going to the fountain directly. Looking back, the outside of the wall was covered in crawling ivy that went all the way to the top of the house. On the ivy there were flowers that had bloomed pink and bright purple. It was an absolutely luxurious garden, one that even multimillionaires would covet. Cooper, in awe, was unable to do anything at the sight, standing simply in the doorway, sucking in deep breaths.

Amazing what Finn could do with Essence and Ender powers.

"What..." Cooper gasped.

Finn let go of the raccoon's paw and strode over to a patch of white roses, pulling free a batch - removing the thorns with his powers took some effort to hid from the ringtail - and returning with them to the dumbfounded raccoon. "Well, how is it?" He held the roses out for Cooper. "I spent a damn long time on this garden."

"It's so beautiful, I could just cry." He took the roses from the coyote and inhaled the scent of the flower. His tail swayed lazily in a calm joy. "How did you-?"

"I have a very special life, remember? I recommend you don't dive too deep into that yet," Finn interrupted. "You'll be pulled in more than you think."

Cooper raised an eyebrow. "More dangerous than having witnessed people you love die?"

The words stung. "The world is a dangerous place. At all times, in all places. This may be the only safe haven from any of that."

"How can you say that?" The ringtail furrowed his brows. "You can't control any of that."

"I can control everything if I want to!" Finn snarled, cross that a mere mortal could question his abilities. He could feel his hackles rising for battle, but he remembered that Cooper really didn't know anything, then calmed down. "Sorry. Forget I said that."

That outburst worried the raccoon. Cooper looked up and saw the streaks of orange in the sky. Signs of the sun's trip back below under the horizons of the Earth. "I think I have to go now." He tried returning the flowers back to the coyote, but Finn made no movement to take them back. "Thanks for letting me stay over."

Finn sighed, regaining his composure before taking the ringtail's paw - the one without flowers in it - in his own and lead Cooper back through the house. "You're welcome. I have a nice time."

"Me, too." As they reached the door, Finn looked longingly at the Terminatus. "Be careful tonight." He'd known about the Caper family's escapades and the thieving streak they had, though the record was mostly tame because they usually only stole from cheats and scandals. It was still a risky business, nonetheless. "Who knows what could happen?"

Cooper Caper rolled his eyes. "Apparently you know." He started out the door.

Finn didn't say anything until the raccoon was at the end of the front walkway. "See you soon."

Cooper raised a lazy paw in farewell, unaware that the two would see each other sooner than he'd think.

But so was Finn.

* * *

Finn only worked his job at night. He was only really supposed to be Ender at night, but he was discrete enough with his magic that he didn't get caught during the day, so he bent the rules a little a did magic whenever he wanted to. That was so long as he didn't get caught. But now it was night-time and all of his powers were on display over the city. If anyone were to see him magicking, rules would be broken and there would be no going back to fix it. It was dangerous work with heavy consequences, but as Ender, he had no choice but to do his job.

Finn draped a cloak over his body, bringing up the hood just over his head, but no so far as to cover his muzzle. He liked to keep his clothing loose on the job. Sure it would sometime drag him down, but if needed be, he could always take it off and besides, he was a very fast coyote. He wasn't the traditional Ender, his species deviation being the first hint, but also there was the fact that all the Enders before him were, no doubt, strength-based. They were large and powerful where Finn was thin and nimble. He was twenty times faster than any Ender before him, but he was also twenty times weaker. That didn't mean anything to someone that could use magic, manipulate it, and fight with it, so Finn opted for a quick, graceful form.

And it suited him well. Most nights, he would finish his job well before anything serious happened. He was always back early from the job after fighting the black Essences that plagued the world at night (though it was usually only in the city in which he lived that this happened). But tonight was probably more important than any of those other nights, even more than that night a thirty-pack attacked in the Middle East, than that night a humongous one attacked in the Far East and caused an earthquake. Tonight, he was going to have to protect Cooper and the rest of the Caper family. The raccoon had no idea what he was getting himself into, but he was a thief. Danger came with that job as well.

Thoughts of the raccoon pervaded his mind. In the bank under his feet, there was a heist going on. Granted it wasn't a very popular bank, but for those it did service, it wasn't a very polite system, nor was it very trusting. It stole nearly fifty percent of everything that was put into it. It fancied the coyote that the ringtail whose tail he was chasing was more of a Robin Hood figure. But it was true, most of the things the Caper family stole ended up going back to whomever needed or deserved it. That included the police, so they were usually pardoned from the law in this city. It also explained why the raccoon kept himself slim and fit just to Finn's liking.

Cooper wasn't just a fluke character Finn saw in environmental sciences to be his partner so that he could evade the lemur who was, undoubtedly, putting out for some wealthy man in the backseat of a limousine. Maybe he was a skunk tonight. He'd smell the man on her tomorrow, anyways, so he didn't bother continue on the thought. No, Cooper had honestly caught the coyote's attention that morning because he was so appealing. It was difficult for Finn to admit it, but Cooper's body was the thing that made Finn notice first. How many relationships had Finn had like this? None usually ended well, but there was always someone who didn't mind sharing a bed or their arms and bodies for at least a night. None had really struck the coyote as much of a lover or a partner. That was the price of living so long, he believed, so he took it in stride that at least he would be experienced enough when the right one finally did come along.

His hopes were high with Cooper, however. He didn't usually give flowers to the others, save for that one cougar back in the 1800s, but he was really just another promiscuous flirt, looking for a nice night. Finn wilted the flowers later that same hour, replacing their light scent with that of rot and death. The memory brought chills to his spine, making him cold all over. He was just another cat in the road of Finn's life. He would forget him in time. Maybe it would just take another two hundred years; he'd already been waiting that long anyways.

Finn scanned the horizon of the night, moving his eyes between the buildings of the city and the twinkling night sky. There. Between the buildings. This one was making its way quickly to the bank, but speed didn't mean anything to Finn. He could make himself go faster than the speed of light if he wanted to. He looked around once again. No one was watching him on the roof of the bank even though the area was almost entirely residential. It wasn't even very late at night, so he could still see the lights on in various houses on the horizon. That left him plenty of time to catch up with the raccoon later.

The coyote anticipated the black Essence figure coming. He could feel its presence dripping into the atmosphere, strengthening all the negative emotions he felt that night: worry, fear, stress. It was a dangerous job, of course. And there were no guarantees as to what would show up.

To protect this town and the world from the doings of the Creator. Finn thought that line was a little cheesy, but he had guessed that that was the best the old Ender could think of. If memory served, the Enders didn't rely on their intellectual abilities until Finn came along. He made another mental note about changing that saying in the Terminatus, but that involved getting out the secret ink. It was just so easy for that to slip his mind after each night's Ending.

Quick movements near the bank brought him out of his thoughts again. He knew the black Essence was nearly at the bank. Finn reached out and felt the Essence of the creature, but something was not quite the same about this Essence compared to other black Essences. The Essence felt familiar, like he'd felt it before. He was introduced to it recently, quite possibly that same week. The coyote struggled to remember whom it belonged to, but his mind drew up blanks. Whoever it was, he or she was not interesting enough for Finn to remember. But Finn did not need to be reintroduced to the figure that jumped onto the roof of the bank in a blur. He was quite certain of whom he was dealing with as soon as unnaturally dyed, purple and red spotted fur had caught his eye.

"Miss James?"

A deep, throaty laughter escaped the substitute teacher's mouth, a voice so earthy and deep that it couldn't have possible been her. Finn had seen odder things, however, so he wasn't intimidated. "That was her name?" she bellowed. With its volume, Finn was getting more worried that someone might hear them and peer through a window or over a ledge to see them. "She wouldn't tell me before I killed her and took this crap-ass body."

So it was a corpse-taker. Finn hated fighting them when they had occupied someone's body. He always had to keep in mind that the body of the person who he was fighting had already died. There was no chance of saving Miss James and he knew this from experience; he was unable to save others who had fallen to the same fate no matter what he tried. "What are you here for? You already have a body. Are you not satisfied with it?"

It shook its head, keeping a smirk on its face. "This body is nice, much nicer than that one of yours by the look of it." Finn always liked to keep himself looking frail and thin. In truth, he actually had lean muscles lining his body. Easier to move and deceive that way. "But it isn't enough. I'm here for that family of trash-diggers below. One of their bodies should do just fine. They're much better than this hunk o' shit!" It laughed again as it cruelly pulled out patches of the dyed fur. "Now it's my time to ask a question. Who the fuck are you?"

Finn only looked at the creature in disgust. He pulled the hood off of his head and threw the rest of the cloak off of his body, revealing his tight clothing underneath. While he liked having his mobility, he always thought that looking nice while Ending the black Essences felt more comfortable and, thus, increased his confidence. Tonight he sported a pair of shorts that didn't quite make it to his knees, but hugged his thighs and butt to show off his taut body. He wore a cardigan, a size too small for him, but was warm and matched his fur well. Inside that he had only a thin T-shirt that clung to his body. He'd hoped his throwing off the cloak would be more dramatic than his twinkish dress style, but that was okay. As long as he got the job done.

He reared himself, positioning to make the first move at the corpse-taker. His tail lashed the air dangerously and his ears flicked every which way, showing his vigilance. "My name is Finn. I am here today to End you. Make your time last, there isn't much of it left."

And with that, he made a powerful leap at the black Essence with finesse and speed, knocking it down quickly before it even had time to react. Though the corpse-taker could take the physical prowess of its victim, in this case Miss James, and multiply it tenfold, it was nowhere near fast enough to be able to react to the coyote's movement. It was far too weak to stand up to him. Finn continued at the cat, making accurate strikes that kept it flat on the roof. The battle was going well for the coyote.

But Cooper had been faster in this heist than Finn had thought the ringtail would be.

"Finn? Is that you?" In the midst of the beating the coyote was giving the leopard, Cooper had made his way to the roof. He carried a bag of gold bars and dollar bills, a cap on his head that he had not worn earlier that day.

The voice had surprised the coyote. He hesitated and looked straight back at the raccoon, very certain that Cooper could see exactly what Finn was doing. And in that moment, he felt more air rush past him and he quickly glanced back and forth to to find that the leopard had moved to Cooper. It pulled a knife out and held it to the raccoon's throat, face gleaming as if it had been treated to a king's feast. A feeling of dread and horror rained down on Finn. He could feel the panic rising up as well as his impulsiveness.

"It's one of them trash-diggers! This must be my lucky day!" It raised the arm holding the knife back to stab at Cooper. The ringtail's eyes widened in fear as time seemed to slow down. He dropped the bag of money onto the rooftop and whimpered faintly.

As light as it was, though, the sound was enough to crank the coyote to the next gear. In a surge of emotion, Finn conjured a ball of energy and struck the leopard in the face with it, obliterating the head. No blood flowed from the mortal wound. He reached into the very core of the weakened black Essence - they didn't die until they were Ended - and crushed it. The flailing body of the cat ceased all movement. The knife hadn't come down on Cooper, but it clattered onto the roof, sticking into the bag of wealth. Cooper stared in horror at the corpse of his substitute teacher, then back at Finn's whose face shared that same horror, though for a different reason.

Finn had broken a rule. He'd shown a mortal his powers without his knowing before-hand about said powers. There was a white glow and Cooper was dazed for a moment before picking up his head and looking back at the coyote once again. He looked at the headless corpse again, then his gaze wandered to the knife in the bag of money, still confused before drifting his eyes to meet Finn's still horrific stare.

"Oh my god, what did you do Finn?" Cooper demanded hysterically. "What are you?"

"I..." He couldn't voice out his words.

"You just killed her!" Cooper was panicking and jittery. No doubt he was in shock of the sight after having his mind wiped of Finn's magic usage. "You're a monster!"

"No..." This was just one of the effects of breaking that particular rule. The mind wipe would be followed up by at least a couple weeks of bad luck and other maladies. Bad luck for an Ender was serious on its own when sometimes luck was needed for a particularly tough black Essence. "She was poss-"

"Our substitute teacher." Cooper picked up the bag of money hastily, taking the knife out and throwing it at the coyote, who caught it by the hilt with ease and surprise at the gesture. "Get away from me."

"She was trying to-"

"You don't have anything to back it up!"

"Cooper," he spoke calmly. He tried to calm the raccoon down, but he could already feel the effects of the bad luck sinking in. He thought it was strange that it wasn't as pervasive as it usually was. He stepped forward with a paw outstretched.

The ringtail moved one step back, holding out the bag of money as a shield. It was just another step closer to the edge of the rooftop. Finn wasn't sure if Cooper knew the ledge was there, so he took back his move. "Don't come near me!" Cooper cried out. Fear laced his voice.

"It's not what it looks like-"

"That's what they all say," Cooper interrupted. "Were you going to kill me later, too? You only found out that much about me so that you could kill me later, huh?"

"No, I'd never-"

"Who else are you planning on killing? Maybe that lemur from class!"

"I-"

"No. I don't want to see you anymore. I should have known that you were nothing but trouble. I should have known." He turned, surprised to see the ledge, but jumped off anyways, landing safely on his feet and running. Finn couldn't see the tears, but he felt them as they flew off the ringtail's face as he ran. Finn looked at the knife in his paws, feeling his rage build up inside him. He flung the knife as far as he could upward and in a mix of magic and fury, he clasped the Essence and broke it into pieces before splitting them far and wide. To the rest of the world, it was just an explosion, but that was how Finn was feeling inside. He wanted to let it out. To not dwell on it. To get over it as quickly as he could.

He cleaned up the site, ridding the body of the evidence that Finn had done the deed. When he'd finished, he went home, finding that the Caper family had already gone. He didn't get any sleep that night, even under the watchful eyes of his flowers.

* * *

Finn found himself guilty to find that Cooper wasn't at school the next day. That guilt turned into remorse when Cooper had pleaded absence the next day as well. When a week had gone by without the raccoon sitting next to Finn in nearly every class, the depression and loneliness started to kick in once again. Finn's curse wasn't bad luck, it was bad spirits. He was also given a side of loss of confidence to let it revel under his fur. Having been rejected from the raccoon ("I don't want to see you anymore."), he was not allowed to view Cooper's activities or his location by his Essence. That hurt the latrine most in the days after the bank incident.

It wasn't until Monday two weeks after the incident that Cooper finally returned to school. Finn immediately took the opportunity to catch up to the raccoon. "Cooper!" He couldn't keep the excitement and longing out of his voice.

"Don't talk to me," the raccoon responded. His voice was cold and crusty as if he'd been sick all this time. He turned pointedly away from the coyote, his ears pressing down firmly onto his head and his banded tail making confused movements.

And after that, Finn returned to his somber state. He needed to talk to the raccoon. That was the only way he was going to clear himself of the guilt of breaking one of the Terminatus' rules. But that thought left him hollow. Was he really doing this just to atone for his mistakes of breaking a rule in the book? That explanation felt hollow. As much as he knew that Cooper would be better off without him, Finn couldn't shake how much he still wanted the ringtail. No, at the center of the issue was a banded tail and the beautiful dark eyes that he had come to love looking at. He wanted Cooper back. He would atone for his mistakes as Finn the friend rather than Finn the Ender.

Every day during the week, the latrine would attempt to talk to Cooper again. Lunch came and went, but the raccoon avoided the coyote still. Then Friday rolled by. Still, nothing he could say or do would get the raccoon to listen and a voice nagged at the back of his head. Just accept that he doesn't want you. There's plenty of other beautiful boys and he'll be better off without you. But that prospect of losing the raccoon was too much for the coyote. Cooper wasn't just a beautiful boy that Finn liked. He was the beautiful boy that Finn liked.

Being with the school's popular group had suffocated him those weeks, but at least there he could find ways to take his mind (unsuccessfully) off of Cooper. But still, Cooper wouldn't listen to him. Finn, determination in every strand of his fur, decided that he would pay a visit to the Caper house. He was going to overcome this trial without relying on his powers. That was his resolve.

He knocked on the door to the house nearly an hour later. It wasn't nearly as nice as his own house, but it was pretty good considering that the Caper family thieved for a living. An older raccoon opened the door, eying the coyote suspiciously. "What do you want?" His voice was a husky and smooth tenor that washed over Finn's very Essence. Finn dared a sniff inside the house and found it an appealing smell, much like berries in a fresh patch. It was a smell that Cooper often carried with him.

"I'm Finn. I need to talk to Cooper-"

"He's at school right now," the older Caper interrupted. Finn didn't have a sixth period where Cooper did.

"I'm well aware of that, but I'm here to apologize for-"

The ringtail's eyes widened and he couldn't help but interrupt the latrine once again. "You're the one who's been making my son cry?" he shouted.

Finn sighed. "How often is it?"

The older ringtail's expression softened at Finn's concern for the son. "It was nonstop for a day, then he was just quiet for weeks."

"I'm really sorry about all that. Is it okay if I just wait in his room to talk with him? I promise you that I'll get this resolved today."

"He's just going to leave if he sees you, won't he?"

Finn looked into the Caper's eyes with boldness. They were the same eyes that Cooper had, beautiful and dark. "That's why I want your help to make sure that he doesn't leave, somehow, from the house."

"The house?" Mr. Caper raised an eyebrow.

Once again, Finn found himself sighing. "Well, at least just through the door of his room."

The older Caper nodded in understanding. "He hasn't told me what's wrong yet. I'm hoping that if this works, I won't need to know." The raccoon parted the door all the way, moving to the side. "His room's down the hall, third door on the left."

Finn nodded. "Thanks." He went directly to Cooper's room and awaited his return. Only a few more minutes.

* * *

Cooper's room wasn't all that bad, He kept it clean and bare, save for a couple valuable trinkets here and there. His bed was small, but it could likely fit two on it. There was quite a large number of books, mostly about thieving - not surprising - and mysteries - almost even less so. A window was covered by white, wooden shutters that matched the color of his walls. A single clock hung on his wall, plain and simple.

Three-thirty. Cooper would be home very soon.

It wasn't but a couple eternities later that the front door opened. Finn's ears perked and his tail twitched. His acute hearing could pick up a few brief words from son to father and the drudging of the younger ringtail's feet through the hall of the house. The smell of raccoon that quickly filled his nose as he approached the door. The scent was comforting. The coyote felt some of his apprehension lift ears flicking and upright. The heavy beating of his heart, which he had not noticed until it started to die out into silence, had been the only thing that indicated that he could still move.

And as soon as the door opened and Cooper walked in, the ringtail froze. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk," Finn answered. Keep it short and simple.

"You don't have anything that I want to hear about," Cooper growled. He turned to leave but was astonished to find the door closed and locked from the outside. A distinct whistling could be heard as well as the swishing of keys.

"I made an agreement with your dad that I'd sort this out with you," Finn explained. "He'd agreed to keep you in the room with me so that he didn't have to worry about you anymore."

"So you can kill me because I'm a witness to your murder?"

"No. There is really something I have to tell you about all this."

"Well then," he looked down at the coyote. Finn could smell the fear even though it was well covered, "spit it out."

Finn was nervous for the reason that he had never told anyone about his powers before. It was more than just his giving flowers to the guy he liked. It was a step into the supernatural, a supernatural he fought to keep away from mortal minds. "I'll need your word. I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone about any of this." He secretly cast a sound-proofing spell on the room just in case someone wanted to drop in on their conversation. This one was triple-layered. "Promise?"

"Fine, sure, whatever, I promise not to tell anyone. Thief's honor. So what's so important? You killed that leopard. How are you going to back up your side of the argument?"

Finn looked down at his paws once. His paws were actually shaking. He felt like he was Ending the old Ender again. His resolve started to weaken, but then he thought about the possibility of losing Cooper and he brought himself back into focus. "Have you heard all the rumors about me at school? About why people think I'm cool?"

"They say you're magical. You can do really awesome shit. What about it? They're just rumors." Cooper had balled his paws into fists, ready for conflict.

Finn drew in a deep breath. No better time than the present. "They're not rumors. They're completely true even though people use it as a joke. I am magical."

The raccoon rolled his eyes. "Well hardy-dar, that was a good one."

Finn furrowed his eyebrows. He hadn't felt so flustered in so long. So that was what it was like being on Cooper's end while he played his little word games. "I'm being serious here!" He nearly shouted.

The raccoon looked at the coyote with skepticism covering his fear. "So you use magic to kill people. That's great stuff."

"No! That's not what-!" He stopped himself, taking a deep breath to calm down. "That's not what was going on that night. Everything about me using magic was wiped from your mind."

"Well enlighten me. What happened?" the ringtail asked accusingly. "You're a crazy son-of-a-bitch. Should I just call the police now to take you to the hospital?"

"I'm not done talking here!"

"Well I am. Call my dad to let me out."

He was losing the raccoon quickly. "No. I can prove this. I can prove that I can do magic!"

"How?" It wasn't much of a question. It was more like a challenge.

"Give me something you have. Anything. I'll change it into whatever you want."

The raccoon fished for something at the bottom of his school bag and flung it at the coyote, the same way he threw the knife at the latrine the other night. "Then take this," he shouted, "and make it disappear! I don't want it. It reminds me of you."

The coyote stared dumbly at the gold-lined pen he'd given the raccoon the second day of school. It was the last thing that Cooper had that was from the coyote. Finn's roses were nowhere to be found. It hurt knowing that Cooper was so ready to just split off from the coyote, nothing to keep them together but their memories. "I really wanted you to have this." His eyes welled at the rejection, his ears flicking to and fro.

"I'm not seeing any magic."

Finn set the pen down. "Something else? Anything else?" His voice was shaky.

Cooper's voice softened. "Just do it. I don't want that anymore so it's now your example. Besides, it was yours to begin with."

The coyote sighed, bringing the pen to his chest, trying to capture his heartbeat into it. He took a bit of what he felt towards the raccoon and morphed the pen into a red rose with heart-shaped petals. But the rose itself was only part of it. It had blue streaks running down its length, as if it were crying. "There, it's gone." He sniffed back one tear and let the other drop into the center of the flower. The petals quickly dispersed throughout the room and disintegrated, leaving behind only a fragrance that could be described as sorrow and teardrops. He gathered himself and prepared to leave. "Was that good enough?"

Cooper only stared in awe at the coyote. "How..."

Finn paused before answering. "Magic." He started moving towards the door, past the raccoon. "Goodbye." He unlocked the door with a flick of his paw.

"Wait," Cooper called, "do you really want me that much? Couldn't you have just used magic on me?"

"Simple: I'm not allowed to. The only reason you don't remember me using magic that night is because I broke one of the rules of my magic. I'm not allowed to show people my abilities unless I tell them about it before-hand."

"And your house-"

"I built it. All of it."

Cooper stared into space, lost in thought. "You haven't really explained what happened that night."

Finn nodded, but he was glad that the raccoon at least calmed down enough to hear his side of the situation. "I'm one of two magical entities in this world. I don't really know the other one, so I can't really say much about him or her except that we both have a historical thing against each other. It runs with our jobs. He, she is called the Creator and I am the Ender. The other creates everything, I destroy whatever doesn't fit in the world."

"Like the teacher?" Cooper queried, but it wasn't disrespectful at all.

Finn held up a paw. "I'm getting there. At night there are these things with black Essence. Mortals refer to them as monsters."

"Essence?"

The coyote tilted his head, turning over the word to form an explanation. "Think of it as 'soul.' They're fundamentally the same except that nonliving things have Essence, too. As Ender, I am given the power to manipulate or destroy the Essence, doing what I will with it. It is just on one condition: I cannot create.

"Black Essence is considered a monstrosity, as I said before. It is a creation that causes chaos in the world. An Ender's main job is to destroy black Essence, but it comes out only at night. What happened that night isn't too complicated. An imp, called a corpse-taker, killed our feline substitute teacher and took over her body. He was looking to possess one of your family members' bodies. That was going to be you before I Ended it.

"But by doing so with magic and in front of you, your memory of it happening was wiped and I was subject to punishment for breaking the rule." Finn drew in a breath. "That's basically it."

Cooper paused to take in the explanation. "So she was already dead. Dead before you blew off her head and killed the imp."

"I hate corpse-takers. Someone always dies,"

"I don't know how much of your story I can even believe. So your purpose in life is to kill?"

"Fundamentally. I'm not usually on the clock until night-time, though."

Cooper paused again. "How is it?"

"My job? It sucks. I hate it. It's all about death."

"No," the raccoon chuckled, "I mean, how do you cope? I mean, there's got to be some way-"

"None. I have to just live with it and get through to the next day."

The ringtail looked at his paws, which had folded together in front of him. "I'm sorry for being a dick to you."

Finn was surprised the by words. He only laughed in response, not as mirthless as it seemed to be. "You know," he started after the outburst, "I've lived through so many eons and I've never met anyone like you."

"Eons? Just how old are you?"

"I stopped counting after about ten thousand." The latrine waved a paw. "I've never told anyone any of this before. You're taking it all so well." He looked at the door and the handle, which he was still grasping. "It's hard being by yourself."

"I remember, you told me that before," Cooper visioned. They were back on Finn's couch, cuddling together in the warmth of the room. He remembered the way Finn had played with his ears in his muzzle, the way he had cared so much for the raccoon. He now knew the Finn had really cared, that the coyote had just proved that to him.

Finn gave a weak chuckle. "It's true, though."

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"

Finn smiled at the raccoon's invitation. "Your bed can fit two."

The ringtail shook his head. "You want to do that?"

"If you mean make-up sex, we ain't a couple. Let's just cuddle."

Cooper grinned. "That sounds fine to me."

They came close, sharing smiles and eyes before Finn leaned in for a kiss, meeting muzzle-to-muzzle with the ringtail. They broke away after and, panting, got into the bed together, fully clothed. They wrapped around each other and the bed creaked in strain. The coyote knew that Cooper would be tired after their discord and just held the raccoon close to him. He pulled the blanket over them both.

"So what is it with you and flowers?" Cooper asked.

"Hmm?"

"Why do you like flowers so much?"

Finn looked out the window to the bright sky above that was illuminated by the sun. Clouds drifted by peacefully with the autumn winds. "I'm an Ender. I'm not allowed to create," he answered.

Cooper raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with flowers?"

"I can grow a flower."

* * *

The older raccoon rolled the last bag of jewelry into its place before bringing himself back into the kitchen. In a way, he was glad that the odd coyote had come to his house. Two birds with one stone, he'd always say. But another matter troubled him about this. The young coyote had come into his house in the middle of his stashing, and was still here until the end. Hiding the loot took almost as much time as getting it. There was no sound coming out of his son's room when he walked by it, though. The yelling had stopped nearly an hour ago and Mr. Caper was getting concerned about his son.

"Cooper? Finn? It's been a couple hours. Are you guys done?" Mr. Caper unlocked the door and creaked it open slowly. There was no movement in the room. He looked further in to see two lumps on his son's bed, both close. There was the tell-tale sign of the two in the bed together with the blanket not fully covering the banded tail of the young ringtail. The old raccoon sighed and grinned, shaking his head.

"Well, boys will be boys."

He closed the door on the coyote and the younger raccoon, their breathing drawn out in slow, easy takes and their hearts pounding softly in time with each other's. And for once, Finn didn't have to only know death. He could learn how to love, how to care for others intimately. He was the Ender, but he didn't always have to be Finn the Ender. Sometimes he could be just Finn, and that was just fine. Finn's life certainly wasn't easy, but being with Cooper, he realized that it didn't have to be hard, either.