Jade Empire - After
Furious Ming/Sky
Open Palm Ending.
The sound of sparring came from the training room, though it didn't last long. A lacking defense, a sudden attack and Furious Ming the Spirit Monk had Sky the Guild Master flat on the floor, his hands held beside his head, panting slightly from their workout. Ming leaned over his eternal companion with a fond smile.
"You're getting slow, old man." He said. It was true. There was a time when they could spar for hours just for the pleasure of it, and while Ming had a power that could not be lessoned by time, Sky had not been blessed in such a way.
"It's not like I've ever been able to beat you before, does it really matter how fast my inevitable defeat comes?" Sky replied, slipping his hands from beneath Ming's with far more ease than if he'd struggled. He thread his fingers through Ming's silver hair.
"At least I'm not the only one getting old." Sky leaned up and pressed his lips to Ming's in an infinitely familiar dance of life and love.
After they and the others had freed the Water Dragon and defeated Sun Li, Sky had become ambitious, declaring war on slavery across the empire. While Ming was busy playing hero, publicly giving his support for Princess Lian to become Empress, Sky was leaving his mark on the Imperial City. By the time Empress Sun Lian was comfortably seated on her new thrown Sky had gained leadership of the Guild and was well on his way to making it what he deemed, a 'respectable' organization.
Sky had set up base on Gao's old island near Tiens Landing, with a sizable army by the time Ming was able to join him permanently. It had been quite a sight when Ming came flying into the heart of a criminal fortress on a flyer with imperial banners. Ming didn't want to know what the mercenaries thought when Sky ran out to meet him, and with a shout, picked him up and swung him around before planting a big, wet kiss on his lips.
Over the years they'd had many adventures together, never really settling down in any one place. But in the last few years they'd often ended up at the rebuilt town of Two Rivers. Dawn Star eventually rebuilt the school and Ming was surprisingly content to see the place being used to teach once more. They always had a thing or two to show the students when they stayed here, although the things Sky liked to teach them were best done without Dawn Star around to see. And so here they were, two old men lying on a training room floor, with nowhere to go and nowhere they'd rather be.
"I was half afraid your experience with the Water Dragon would lengthen your life far beyond my own." Sky mumbled thoughtfully, still running his hands through Ming's hair. Ming took Sky's wrists, pulled them both up of the floor.
"Impossible. What would I do without you around to scare the children with stories of our misspent youth?" Ming countered. While shutting down slavers they had encountered quite a few orphaned children. They'd been able to find homes for most of them but still ended up adopting or semi-adopting close to a dozen children over the years. Most were grown up now but three were still young enough to travel with them. They were with Dawn Star right now, helping her in her garden.
They left the training room and went down the path, past the Water Dragon shrine, towards Dawn Star's garden. Many people now kept small shrines to the Water Dragon. When the spirits of the dead had walked the earth for so long, people had started to understand and respect her purpose. Dirge had been rebuilt and while there were no more Spirit Monks, the Water Dragon's importance would not be so easily forgotten.
They reached Dawn Star's garden, and watched as the children ran around the old woman who was a life long friend to them both. Ming turned to watch Sky as their children played, and then somehow... he knew.
"How long?" Ming whispered. Sky turned to face him.
"I wasn't sure. I figured you'd know when it was time, so.."
"So soon?" Ming asked weakly. Sky actually laughed.
"I've had a long, full life, love." Sky said.
Ming was suddenly struck with a totally unreasonable sense of fear and loss. Unreasonable because if anyone knew about the inevitably of death it was him. For the first time in a long time he felt his age, how much had gone before, how little lay ahead. Sky placed his arm around Ming's shoulders, seeping the calm reasoning of his spirit into Ming's fear and devouring it.
"I'm glad you're an old man, love, I won't have to wait forever to see you in the next life." Sky contemplated.
"We will find each other there." Ming reasoned. He remembered and felt assured, they were eternal companions, something like death could not keep them apart.
"Hopefully not under such... strenuous circumstances of our own first meeting. Not that killing pirates with you isn't a blast, I just thought we could try a slightly quieter approach next time." Sky replied in his sly, joking way. A burst of laughter came from the direction of the children. "Until then, take care of the kids for me."
"Oh no, you're not going anywhere yet, you take care of the kids. I'm going to teach the senior students how to do a proper tiger's claw." Ming started back down the path towards the school. Sky watched him for a few seconds in surprise before shouting a reply. "Then why in heaven's name did you walk all the way up here with me?"
Ming stopped and shouted back. "You're an old man, who know's if you could make it on your own anymore!" Before walking on.
Sky passed on in his sleep almost a year later. His spirit appeared only once to Ming before leaving, to tell Ming he'd see him later and how he couldn't believe he'd died in bed like some coddled noble. The funeral was held in Tiens Landing with a very mixed crowd in attendance; Ming, their children, their children's children, Dawn Star, most of the Guild, the Empress and her court, a huge crowd of people Sky had met and helped at some point in his life and another crowd who'd wanted to make sure he was really dead. One of their daughters took over the Guild, and as her first act as head, had the last group roughed up in a spectacular fashion.
By the time the last of their children were grown, Ming was a very old man. The Water Dragon appeared to him as she had that first time in the caves beneath the school. She thanked him one last time and promised to put his spirit near Sky's. With that, Furious Ming entered the Water Dragon's embrace, and finally became a part of the great wheel he had fought so hard to return.