Jack smiled sadly as the ladybug flew from his finger. He slowly lowered his hand, watching it fly off in the distance.

He sighed, sitting down against the tree and closing his eyes. He couldn't contain how he felt. He... missed her. He missed Ashi. He missed...his Ashi. Slowly, Jack began to fall into a restless sleep.

"SAMURAI!"

A booming voice made Jack open his eyes, he looked around lostly. This was not the place he had fallen asleep to. It looked almost like the sky, but much brighter and in more colors Jack has only ever seen a few times before in his life. He slowly blinked in realization-...wait...
He spun around, only to be before the three gods he's only seen a few times in his life.

He starred, speechless, as the one in the middle began to talk. "Samurai...You have done a great deed for us." The one on the left began to talk, "You have vanquished the evil that was Aku!" The one to the right spoke last, "And for that, we will grant you one wish."

All three spoke now, "Anything of your choosing."

Jack blinked, "..A-a wish?" He muttered, his gaze searching all three of them. For a moment, Jack didn't say a word; until a desperate sputtering came out of him. "A-ashi! Bring Ashi back!" He said. When the gods said nothing, he got to his knees. "T-the girl. W-without her Aku would still be ruling. Please. That is my one wish. Bring her back to me." He begged in a shaky voice. Usually Jack was able to hide his despair, but here... It was all coming out. He was on his knees to these gods, his body shaking and his eyes watering at the thought of Ashi.

There was a moment of silence, before the gods slowly nodded. "Very well." The middle one said. Jack looked up, his eyes wide.

"But..." The left one pointed at him, "That girl had Aku within her. She will be different than she was before." Jack frowned, "...H-how so?"

The right one chimed in. "She will be weak. Physically, emotionally, and mentally. You will have to nurse her back to health." "That's fine!" Jack quickly cut in. "I will do anything for her. If it takes every second of my day that will be fine." He whispered shakily.

"Alright then, Samurai. This is the wish we have bestowed upon you." The three gods all moved their hands up, a light began to shine from them and onto the ground in front of Jack. Jack had to shut his eyes due to the extreme bright light, but after a minute- everything went pitch black. Jack had kept his eyes closed up until he heard a weak fit of coughing. He cracked open his eyes to see... "ASHI!"

Jack quickly scrambled up and ran to her, tackling her into a hug and pulling her into his lap. His hug only got tighter, his eyes brimming with tears as he breathed out shakily. "A-Ashi...I thought... I thought I lost you..." "J-ja...Jack, you're hurting me..." Jack gasped, instantly loosening his hug as he looked at her. He studied her eyes for a minute, shakily running his hand into her hair. She wasn't in anything, so Jack took off his robe and put it on her. She sat up, but looked like she was having trouble. "W-what...happened, how am I here?" She coughed again, rubbing her eyes as Jack continued to stare at her; as if looking away would mean she would disappear again.

"The...the gods. They...gave me one wish, for defeating Aku... I-i wished for you to come back." Ashi's eyes widened, and she starred at Jack for a long moment, before letting out a small cry. Her eyes began to water and tears began to slowly fall from her face. "I-i d-didn't want to go...J-jack... I didn't want to leave you. I-i was...finally happy for once..." She rubbed her eyes, crying out freely now as Jack instantly held her again. "Shhh, shh. it's okay. I'm here now. You're not going anywhere, Ashi. You're here to stay. For good." He told her quietly. His hand began to pet her hair again, her cries eventually went to light sniffles.

Ashi clutched onto his shoulders, snuggling herself into his robe as she looked up at him. She now noticed how Jack's hair was done and messy, his eyes looked baggy and tired, but his face seemed happy with relief. "...How long...have I been...gone?" She trailed off in a quiet whisper.

Jack frowned, "About two days, perhaps. Maybe longer. I...didn't really pay attention to the days." He explained quietly. Ashi slowly sat up, but closed her eyes tightly right as she did so. Jack frowned, "What's wrong?" After a moment Ashi sighed, "I just felt dizzy." She whispered. "The gods did mention that you'll be weak..." He murmured, "Perhaps it is because you no longer have Aku in you." Ashi frowned, "...Which is also half of me. So I basically lost half of myself." She murmured quietly.

Jack frowned, "Well... at least now I don't have to worry about you kicking my butt." He gave a small smile, joking around with her. Ashi blinked, suddenly hitting his shoulder as he flinched, letting out a small laugh. "Alright, alright. You can still do that." He said, rubbing his arm and giving Ashi a loving smile. Ashi glared at him with anger, but her lips betrayed that- showing a happy smile.

After what seemed like hours of them just sitting there, holding each other and enjoying just being near each other again; Jack slowly got up, holding Ashi bridal style in his arms as he looked down at her. "We're going to go straight home, so you can get some rest." He whispered. Ashi blinked, frowning and shaking her head. "N-no, no. I don't want to go to bed. I want to be awake, with you." She said quietly, looking at him with wide; scared eyes. Jack's own eyes softened, and he gently kissed her forehead. "Ashi, you won't disappear again. It's okay to close your eyes." All Ashi did was look away and shake her head, it was obviously she wasn't believing that. Jack let out a simple sigh, and began to walk back home.

There was a lot of commotion when Jack returned home. Everyone was confused on how Jack had got Ashi back, but after a quick word with his father- things slowly began to calm down. It made sense Jack was gifted by the Gods after all he had done for the world. Jack was now with Ashi in his room, she was being looked over by one of the many workers here. The lady moved her hand along her skin, making sure her body was doing okay. "She seems quiet weak, so we'll put her on a specific diet to hopefully raise her energy levels." She said softly, placing her hand on Ashi's head. Ashi flinched slightly, her eyes glancing over to Jack who gave her a reassuring smile. Ashi seemed a bit more jittery after coming back, but she wasn't as strong as she used to be. Her punch from earlier was something he had barely felt, he didn't want her to think of herself as weak though; he knew with enough love she would be back to her old self.

Ashi was starring at her feet, letting the nurse do whatever it is she needed to do without much protest. Her eyes glanced back up at Jack when the nurse backed up a bit. "Lady Ashi, could you stand up for me?" She asked. Ashi blinked, glancing at Jack. "Lady?" She murmured. Jack blushed a bit, glancing away. "Heh, well...you are...my wife." He murmured. Ashi gave him a soft little smile, slowly sitting at the edge of the bed.

"Even though we weren't able to finish the ceremony?" She asked, in which Jack shook his head. "That doesn't really matter, you're still my wi- Ashi!" He gasped when Ashi attempted to get up, but fell- the nurse caught her in time and tried helping her stand up. Ashi was shaking horribly as she tried standing upright, the nurse was holding her hands tightly, but Ashi fell back onto the bed. She breathed out shakily, "I-i can't." She murmured.

The nurse frowned, she moved closer to Jack and whispered; "She's going to need some physical therapy." She murmured, "Keep an close eye on her, I'll bring in her food in a moment." She did a small bow before exiting the room. Jack glanced back at Ashi; who was quietly starring at the ground.

Slowly Jack sat beside her, moving his hand onto her back and rubbing it up and down. She gripped her robe that the nurses had put on her, it was black and silky. Ashi closed her eyes tightly, letting out a quiet sigh. "...Was I worth being brought back, Jack? I'm...not the same." She trailed off. Jack grabbed her chin gently, tilting her head to look at him. "...You're still Ashi. I'll love you no matter what." He whispered quietly, leaning in and kissing her lips. Once they pulled away Jack noticed the tears in Ashi's eyes, she hugged him; her arms wrapping around his neck.

"I love you too." She whispered.