The Guardian was taken aback by the man who approached the portal. He looked just like…no, it was impossible…it couldn't be…not after all these years.
"They call me Jack." The man finally said. He requested to use the portal. The Guardian, of course, refused. Undeterred, Jack engaged the Guardian in a fight, despite his attempts to warn the samurai off. The samurai will fail. Only one man was prophesized to defeat him in battle.
And that battle already took place thousands of years ago.
A man, who looked so similar to the man the Guardian fought now, had come to him.
"I wish to use this time portal," the man said as he dismounted his horse. "But I know I must defeat you in order to use it."
"How'd you know that?" The Guardian asked.
The man smiled. "You've told me before."
"What? I've never seen you before in my life!"
"You are right, you haven't…not yet."
The man pulled out his sword and attacked the Guardian. As they fought, the Guardian tried to persuade him to leave as he did for all the other foolish warriors who were inevitably slain by his hand.
"Never!" the man retorted. "I will fight until my last breath to use this portal!"
The Guardian was awestruck by the warrior's intensity and determination. Others who have tried to gain access to the portal always did so in a quest for power. The power to manipulate time and space to their will. But this warrior had a desperation in him the Guardian had never seen before.
That's when the Guardian realized: this was the one.
The Guardian was defeated, and therefore, the victor had a right to claim the portal. His options for how to use the portal were practically limitless. He could go into any time period he wanted, he could create alternate timelines, he could alter important historical events, he could grant himself immortality.
But his request was simple: "I just want her back."
The portal came alive in a blinding flash of light. Once the Guardian could see again, he saw inside the portal was a woman. She was young, petite, and had short, black hair. She was lying in the fetal position naked with her eyes closed. Like a baby just born. Or, as it appeared in her case, reborn.
The man gently picked her up and took her out of the portal. He wrapped his gi around her. All the while looked down at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
After a moment, he finally whispered, "Ashi?"
The woman, Ashi, opened her eyes. She looked up at the man in shock. "Jack?"
"Ashi…" Tears fell down the man's face. "Oh, Ashi…"
"Jack…how did you…? How am I…?"
"It is thanks to this noble guardian," Jack looked up at him. "That you have been returned to me." Jack stroked her hair as tears streamed harder down his face. "My Ashi…"
Jack carefully picked Ashi up and bowed his head to the Guardian. "Thank you."
The Guardian could not help but be moved. He understood why this was the man prophesized to use the portal. It was not his great skills as a warrior that made him worthy, it was his unselfish love that allowed him to use the portal for such a selfless act.
Jack mounted his horse, still cradling Ashi in his arms, and rode away.
Little did the Guardian know, that would not be the last time he saw Jack. Nor was it the first time Jack saw him.
As he was about to finish his opponent, the portal spoke to him. It all made sense. This was the same man from all those years ago. They have met…in the Guardian's past and Jack's future.
He summoned the Flying Creature to take Jack to safety. The Guardian watched as the flew away.
"You can't use it yet, Samurai Jack." The Guardian turned to the portal. Before him, a vision appeared of an older Jack with hardened eyes and battle scars. "Not yet…not yet."
Inside the portal's view of the future, a woman appeared by Jack's side. The same woman Jack had saved from the portal, now aged just like him. Upon seeing her, his eyes softened. They stared lovingly into each other's eyes before sharing a tender kiss.
The Guardian smiled. "But I assure you, it'll be worth the wait."