Hello everyone, this is MidnightFenrir speaking and I am proud to present you my latest fanfiction "Seeking the Horizon".

This is a post-game Okami fanfic focusing on Amaterasu as she returns to Nippon one year after the events with Yami. This does not take into accounts the events of Okamiden. As stated in the summary, this will be an Oki X Ammy fanfic so for those who wish to see Ammy X Waka or Ammy X Issun, I'm afraid to tell you you have come to the wrong place.

And without further ado, let's start!

Enjoy.

"I've seen this great land from every angle. I know it's every animal, man, tree, stone or river bend. Yet, I have come to realize that knowing a thing is not the same as healing or saving it."

One could think that being the Mother Goddess is a though job. It has many responsibilities, such as protecting Nippon from the darkness, answering the wishes and prayers, make sure the Celestial Plain isn't subject to chaos, welcoming the souls of the deceased who have gained the right to access the heavens (and that meant more than ninety percent of all the souls that came by each day), ordering the brush Gods around to ensure they were not lazing off… the list goes on.

But, the truth is, Amaterasu was bored.

Sure, all of those responsibilities were keeping her busy but she was getting tired of doing the same things over and over again every single day, saying the same speeches and watching the same events unfold once again.

Oh how she missed her days back when she was roaming Nippon to cleanse the land of the demons and their corruption... Sure, the Celestial Plain was nothing short of great, but it lacked one thing: excitement. Nothing exciting ever happened in the land of the Gods.

Which is why the Sun Goddess was currently taking a nap, hoping to re-live her adventures through her dreams. But, her internal clock was ticking and she knew that, soon enough, the same thing that had happened for several days at the EXACT same time was going to happen once again.

"3... 2... 1..."

Just as she finished the counting, Amaterasu heard a thundering roar echoing across the Celestial Plain followed by shrieks of fear and she sighed as she sat up. The Hanagami brothers had pulled a prank on Gekigami... again...

With a yawn, the divine wolf go up and blinked, shrugging off the aftereffects of her nap, before she began to trot in the direction the cries. Not even a minute later, she was watching the three monkeys running for their lives as the great white tiger was chasing them, shooting arrow-shaped lightning bolts in rapid successions at the trio.

Amaterasu shook her head. They would never learn...

Quickly, she flicked her tail to the side and Power Slash stopped the bolts of lightning. Not stopping, she created a cherry bomb right in front of Gekigami with another motion of her tail. The thunder God's expression must have been priceless as the three monkeys were now rolling on the floor, laughing hard. Not one to let an opportunity slip, the sun Goddess flicked her tail once more and Water Sprout made several tendril of water shot from one of the numerous river bend to soak the Hanagami brothers, interrupting at the same time their laugher.

As their 'mother', it was Amaterasu's duty to stop her 'children' from wrecking havoc and punish them if necessary. And she was getting really tired of their antics. Why couldn't they be as mature as Yomigami or Tachigami?

"Now, if someone could explain to me the meaning of all this, I'd appreciate it." she said, glaring at the three bloom gods.

Fearing the wrath of the mother to all, they were quick in telling her that seeing their brother asleep, they had decided to have some fun by showering him with rotten fruits. That explained the foul scent she smelled from Gekigami when he joined them, along with the different colored stains that were tainting his usual white fur. A quick shower, courtesy of Water Sprout, had resolved the problem. The thunder God seemed to have calmed, even if his irritation was clearly visible, and shook himself to dry his fur.

" Apologies, Amaterasu. It seems that I have yet again lost my cool and went overboard." the white tiger said, bowing his head to her.

"Apology accepted, Gekigami. You had every right to be angry and even if I wish you could get that temperament of yours under control, it is part of who you are. Now, tell me what would be the appropriate punishment for those pranksters?" Amaterasu replied, gesturing her head toward the Hanagami trio.

Gekigmai seemed to ponder it for a moment before his face turned into a feral grin.

"One week working with Yomigami sounds like a reasonable answer, wouldn't you agree?"

The sun Goddess chuckled as she saw the three monkeys shiver at the thought. The rejuvenation God was in charge of the Celestial Library and also had the task of ordering the writings while also recording new ones. As such, it wasn't unusual for him to spend twelve hours a day working in the library. Spending, so much time working without the chance to have fun would indeed be a nightmare to the bloom Gods.

"Now now, Gekigami. Don't you think that is a bit too harsh? You wouldn't be able to last that long. How about three days?" she answered.

"You're too soft on them, Amaterasu. Six days." the thunder God replied

"Four days, starting today."

"Five days, starting tomorrow morning."

"Four and a half days, starting tomorrow afternoon."

Gekigami hummed for a moment before he nodded to himself. "I suppose I can agree to that." he said as he turned around and started to walk back to his sanctuary.

Amaterasu smiled at his retreating form. Of all the Gods in the Celestial Realm, Gekigami was without doubt one of those she was the closest to. The thunder God was sort of a brother for her, in more ways than one. When she was thinking about it, she and the thirteen brush Gods were one big family with a lot of different persons with different personalities. Some were more eccentric than others, some were energetic, some were lazy, ect... But Amaterasu loved her 'family', be it as a 'mother' or as a 'sister'

Turning to the Hanagami trio, she said, "You heard us. I suggest you make good use of the time you have left before you have to start your new duties. And if I hear that you didn't go to Yomigami or pulled another prank in the meantime, I will double the punishment. Am I clear?"

The three monkeys nodded frenetically before they ran off to who-knows-where. With a short sigh, the divine wolf turned her gaze to the destruction the incident had brought upon the plain.

"Time to clean this up."

She flicked her tail several times and soon enough, Rejuvenation had restored the plain back to it's original state.

"Ah... As always, it is such a beautiful sight to see you use the brush techniques, ma chérie! Dare I say, you use them in a perfect way!" a familiar voice declaimed behind her and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Oh, Waka. I didn't see you there." Amaterasu replied nonchalantly as she turned, not really paying attention to his compliments.

The blond prophet gasped and clutched his chest. "My heart! You wound me, my dear Goddess! I was merely stating one of the truths of this world, and yet! Ah... Such cruelty..."

Amaterasu refrained to sweet drop at Waka's behavior. Even if she had become used to his antics at some point, it was still a strange thing to witness, especially for her, the subject of most of his tirades.

"Right... So, what brings you back? Has the Moon Tribe been reformed yet?" she asked.

For the past year, Waka had put a lot of time and effort in looking for his kind. It seemed that there were indeed survivors scattered upon the land or hidden in some faraway places and the prophet had made his goal to find them and reform the Moon Tribe once again. But that hadn't stopped him from coming to the Celestial Plain more than often. After all, now that Yami was no more, there was no need to rush.

"I am pleased that you asked! While it turns out that several trails have turned cold, I have managed to find the location of several of my brothers and sisters. I have addressed a message to each of them in which I ask if they wish to start the tribe anew along with me. Should they wish so, I also mentioned that I would be waiting at Kamiki village's sacred tree every full moon. But, should they decide to keep the lives they have now, I told them to dispose of the letter and forget about it." Waka told her and she nodded.

"A wise choice." Amaterasu commented. "It will give them time to decide what they want to do with their lives. But no matter what their choice will be, I'm sure that things will turn out well." she said with the closest thing a wolf could do to a smile.

"Ah, Amaterasu! Tu es trop gentille ( You are too kind)! I do not deserve such kind words." the prophet replied with a deep bow.

"Sometime, you'll have to teach me that language of yours..." the wolf Goddess simply said.

Waka raised an eyebrow at her. "Comment (What)? My lady wishes to learn this parler (way of talking) of mine? I would be very much honored to teach you, ma chérie!"

"In fact, never mind. I think my way of speaking is fine as it is."

There was no way she would speak like that, even if her life was depending on it. She could already picture Issun's horrified expression if she did.

Issun... Amaterasu often found herself wondering what the wandering artist was up to this days. Maybe he was practicing the thirteen brush techniques or painting another representation of the Gods.

...Or he was actually sleeping inside a woman's kimono. That's Issun she was talking about here.

"As you wish." Waka's voice snapped her back to reality. "We're talking about me but how about you? How have you been for this past year, Amaterasu?"

At his question, the sun Goddess sighed. "It's been fine, Waka. But even though I'm back and the Celestial Plain has returned to it's former glory, I can't help but feel bored. It's not that it isn't lively or anything, just boring." she replied.

The blond man stayed quiet for a moment, looking at her. "...You miss them, don't you?" he asked rhetorically, his tone having changed form his usual playful one to a serious one.

Amaterasu nodded. "Aye. I miss them very much, my friends and companions. But most of all, I miss our adventures. Each day was different from the previous one, full of surprises. And even if it wasn't always easy, these are memories that I will cherish for all of eternity." she answered with a sad smile.

The prophet had fallen silent once again, a rare occurrence mind you, as he seemed to ponder something. Then, his face lit up and he pointed at something behind her.

Turning, Amaterasu found herself found herself facing the thirteen brush Gods and, for a short instant, she wondered how much of that conversation they had actually heard.

"Everyone..." she said softly as Yomigami stepped -or rather floated- toward her.

"Are those your true feelings, O Amaterasu?" the dragon asked in his usual deep tone and she simply nodded. "It would seem that, in our joy of being back home, we have paid little attention the way you were feeling. And for that, I apologize on the behalf of all of us." the rejuvenation God said as he bowed to her. "However, why didn't you tell us? Surely, there was something we could have done."

The divine wolf shook her head. "Just like all of you, I have duties and responsibilities as the Mother Goddess. I cannot simply leave the Celestial Realm just because I feel bored and wish to see my friends in Nippon. That is why I kept quiet." she replied.

"Nonsense!" Gekigami roared. "It is a fact that our duties are important. But that does not mean you aren't allowed to be selfish for once in a while!"

"Gekigami is right, Amaterasu." Tachigami said, his blade loosely settled on his back. "Durinf your whole journey, and even now, you've been selfless. You have always putted the others before yourself, be it human, animal or god. I think it is time that you began to think about what YOU wish to do."

"Besides, if you miss Nippon that much, we could have discussed of a compromise between your responsibilities and your wish to go back on Nippon. We do not have schedules for nothing, Amaterasu. If they cannot be changed depending on what we want, there would be no point in having them." Nuregami added.

"Thus, I think I that everyone will agree with me if I say that we will allow you one month on Nippon." Moegami said, as he released a cloud of smoke form his pipe. "You deserve it."

Amaterasu felt her jaw drop at that. A whole MONTH on Nippon?! Even in her wildest dreams she hadn't imagined this would happen.

"B-but, if I'm not here-"

"We will take care of things during your absence. Trust us, sister." Yumigami stopped her from objecting.

"We are not so incompetent without you that the whole realm will collapse in your absence. You need not worry about us." Kabegami added.

"Everyone..." the Mother Goddess muttered as she looked at her family, all of them wearing smiles on their face, encouraging her to go to her friends.

"Now go. And may the wind accompany you on your journey." Kazegami said.

"...Thank you. All of you." Amaterasu whispered, tears of happiness in her eyes, as she turned around to face Waka, who was watching her with his arms crossed and a smile on his face.

"To the Ark." she simply said and he bowed before taking flight with her running close behind.

As she was running, Amaterasu heard Itegami blowing in his conch horn, his message loud and clear in her mind.

"May yours be a pleasant journey. Return to us safely, Amaterasu."

So? What do you think? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Review and give me your opinion! I take anything from praise to flame and passing by critic and advices.

This is MidnightFenrir, author of "Seeking the Horizon", signing off.