A/N: I just finished reading the entire Shaman King manga, up until its final official chapters (not the ending that volume 32 presented us). In honor of that and my unexplainable love for the pairings in the series, I present this work. I don't believe we've seen the last of this series with Shaman King Flowers coming out this year… could be just the beginning for this wonderful universe.

Aftermath: Death Becomes Life Once More

When Hao released them and returned the souls to the bodies of those who wished to return—Faust, sadly, was not among them—Team Ren and Team Funbari Hotsprings, along with their families and cohorts, found themselves back in the place where it all began: the Flame Inn itself.

Horohoro was the first to speak, as they looked at each other in a sort of stunned silence. Hao was the shaman king—still was. They had all failed the quest they had set out for—none of their dreams would ever come true now, right? And they had the added bonus of Hao's threat, so the words that tumbled from his mouth were of great significance yet of no true revelation to those standing there, huddled in silence.

"He won't make good on his promise now, will he?" he whispered, looking from Ren's face to Yoh's to whoever would look him in the eye as they all dropped their gazes to the ground. No one knew—no one could possibly know. "I mean, we won, right? We changed his heart or whatever, so he won't still destroy mankind… will he?"

"I—I don't know," Yoh answered quietly, gaining the attention of everyone gathered; maybe because he was the last one they expected to hear from after everything that had happened. "I want to believe that I saw something in his eyes that made him—that reminded him of myself. A human quality that could learn to value the lives of the earth but…"

"But we have no way of know," Ren concluded, brushing off and turning sharply on his heel. "All we can do is sit here and wait for the fucking apocalypse like the rest of the world. Who knows, maybe he's just taking his time to think of something really creative. Especially for us."

"Ren, don't be so negative—," Yoh soothed, trying his best not to sound condescending or dismissive of his worries.

"Shut up, Asakura!" he snapped, turning to glare at Yoh with all the fierceness he could summon after the long battle. "I should have known that Hao would never change, after all, he's your brother," he spat, pausing to let the silence sink in for a moment before growling to the rest of his family, "Come on, we're going home."

The elder Taos followed Ren without question; having completed their business in Japan it was high time to return to China—especially if Hao's evil was still pervading the earth in some unfathomable way. Only Jun Tao paused and lingered behind. She stared at the defeated contestants of the long, bloody battle with a hint of sympathy—but only a hint.

"Do not fear living as you wish, any of you," she uttered at last, locking eyes with Yoh. "I don't know what everyone saw in there, nor do I know what you all saw up until that point, but I too believe I saw something change in Hao's heart." Her gaze flashed to Anna for a brief moment before she too turned and left to follow her family back home.

"What a load of crap," Horohoro muttered sadly. "We all lost and now we might not even live full lives. Maybe it would've been better for Hao to kill us in the Great Spirit. Damn it. What did we fight for—if only to lose in the end like this? Hate to say it, but Ren's right. It's time to go home." With a sad, hangdog expression he looked at Yoh one last time before turning and walking away.

Joco glanced around at the group and shook his head as well. "We should have finished him when we had the chance. Well… guess I better head out too. Enjoy the time you have left."

Yoh's now pained expression turned to Lyserg, but the emotion he found in the boy's eyes was no great surprise.

"I don't even need to say it, do I?"

He followed suit, of course, and that left only the Asakura clan, Manta, Ryu, and Tamao.

"You know I think you did the right thing, Boss," Ryu finally whispered, breaking the tense silence that had quickly fallen over the remaining group. "And I'll keep sticking by your side! Hao was an evil bastard, probably still is on some level, but any brother of yours—scratch that—anyone who can see spirits can't be all bad, right?"

"R-Ryu's right," Manta agreed, looking up with a smile at Yoh. "It's like you said all the time—everything will work out, and this will too. If Hao really wanted to destroy us, I think he would've done it already."

"The little guy's right," Ryu agreed with a smirk. "Now come on—I don't know about you guys, but I could sure use a dip in those wonderful hot springs!"

Yoh's grandparents and parents both declined joining the rest in the hot springs… Mickey was the only one who gave a good excuse—he had to find Salerm and Ludsev—but the others just needed time to train… and think. After all, this had all began long, long ago with the conception of the Asakura bloodline. As much as none of them wanted to admit it, everything—every life lost, every heart broken—was, in a twist, the Asakuras' faults.

Yoh sighed into the hot springs along with Ryu and Manta while Tamao went to work making dinner. After everything that had happened, all they wanted now was a hot bath and a hot meal. Thinking about Hao would only ruin the evening, and as far as they were concerned, they had won. They had flooded Hao with so much positive emotion, so much friendship, and just the right people that his powers vanished—the very thing that had haunted him all these centuries, gone.

It was hard to say if simply seeing his one-time friend and mother was enough. It was hard to say if destroying the powers he had clung to would really help in the long run. But then again, it had been hard to say from the very beginning what Hao was thinking.

"Boss, did you hear me?" Ryu asked, sounding only a little annoyed but mostly concerned.

"Oh, no, sorry," Yoh chuckled lightly. "Say again?"

"I said don't let everything that happened get to you. If you let it all bug you and never move on you'll end up becoming something that we've had to fight against—whether that's a fixated ghost or another Hao," he repeated seriously. Then his frown vanished and was replaced by a grin. "Besides, even if Hao really does has created a set amount of time for us to live, we should enjoy it to the fullest, right?"

"Yeah, you're right."

"Besides, wasn't it you who talked most about starting a family?" Ryu concluded triumphantly. "I know I want to get myself a nice girl before I die! And I'll bring her to my Happy Place!"

"W-well I mostly said that because I'm the sole heir to my family so I should probably you know," Yoh explained, stuttering and blushing.

"More importantly, isn't your "Happy Place" here? I don't remember giving you permission to start a family in my house," growled a surprisingly feminine voice. The three guys slowly turned to see Anna towering over them, glaring down at Ryu in particular.

"H-hey we're kind of n-naked here!" Manta stuttered, desperately trying to cover himself.

"Shut up, it's nothing I haven't seen before!" she snapped—causing the other two men to glare at Yoh for a brief moment. "Now come inside, Tamao's finished preparing dinner." She turned and stomped off, leaving the guys to stare after her with a familiar look: one of awe and fear… except for Yoh. He suddenly looked less depressed than he had since they survived their encounter with Hao. Now he looked almost… curious.

Ryu and Manta were quick to jump up after Anna rounded the corner to get dressed and enjoy their first decent home-cooked meal in months. Yoh followed behind slowly, his mind now preoccupied by—perhaps—an even greater problem than Hao.

"I really can't believe it's been that long," Manta muttered, catching Yoh's attention and bringing him back to the present.

"Yeah I know," Ryu agreed quietly. "Some days seemed to take forever, but others seemed to pass by in a blur. Maybe because we spent so many dead or injured. And I'm not even thinking of the prelims."

"What are you guys talking about?" Yoh asked curiously as he pulled his shirt over his head and followed them inside. They sat down at the table and waited impatiently for Anna and Tamao to make their appearance.

"The length of the Shaman King tournament," Manta clarified. "I thought the preliminary rounds were scary and fierce, but then when I caught up to you guys at the Patch Village I thought we must've been pretty far in… But that was only the beginning."

"And it lasted months—months of our lives," Ryu added. "I don't know if I can go back to the way I was."

"I don't think any of us can," Yoh agreed easily. "But I think that was the sacrifice we had to make for all the strength we gained."

"Yoh…"

"Hey let's stop with the long faces and talk about the future!" Yoh suggested, breaking into an easy grin. "What will you guys do now?"

"That's easy for me," Manta answered quickly. "I'm way behind on my studies. I want to get into a good school still, so I need to hit the books harder than ever—and maybe with all that I've witnessed I can put all these book smarts to good use."

"As for me, I'll go and find my gang tomorrow, tell them I'm all right." Ryu replied, crossing his arms and rocking back. "I think I'll hang out with them for a while, and who knows, maybe I'll find that girl I've been looking for."

"Good luck to both of you!" The three grinned at each other for a moment before Anna and Tamao entered carrying pots of steaming, delicious food and setting it down on the table in front of them.

"Dig in and enjoy everyone!" Tamao exclaimed happily, spooning food onto her own plate. Ryu promptly proceeded to stuff his face and for the first time in months they all sat around the table together enjoying a normal meal.

Not worrying about keeping their guard up in case someone tried to kill them in the middle of their meal.

Not wondering if one of their friends would make it through the night.

No more stress over wondering how they could ever possibly stop Hao from killing them all in the end.

Yet there seemed to be something else to worry about, some new feeling the pervaded the room—but it also seemed like only a couple of people noticed it. Namely Yoh and Anna. No, really the new feeling was coming from Anna and Yoh seemed to be the only one aware of it. He watched as his friends sat there enjoy their meal and for a surreal moment the whole room twisted and blurred.

Was this really happening? What if this was all some illusion created by Hao? Maybe nothing that had happened was even real. Maybe the entire Shaman Fight had been staged because everyone knew that Hao would be the victor.

Yoh shook his head. He had to leave these thoughts behind. He had to stop worrying about his elder brother. Ryu and Manta were right—it was over now and time to move on with their lives. But how could he do that if he didn't even know everything around him was real? He recalled again the feeling of hopelessness, of despair that flooded his mind as they encountered Hao's newly awakened form.

"Yoh!"

His head snapped up to see everyone at the table looking at him in concern. He looked down to see his hand clenching his shirt over his heart and slowly commanded the fingers to release their hold.

"Yoh are you—?" Manta started, but he was promptly cut off by Yoh standing and turning away from them.

"Have a safe trip home if I'm not up to see you off," he said quickly, not daring to turn and face them. "Thanks so much everyone—for everything." He plodded away from the room, headed towards the safety of his own bedroom, but not before he heard Ryu whisper in concern.

"He didn't even touch his dinner."

He wasn't sure how many hours had passed, he might have dozed off at some point, but he knew that the noise downstairs had stopped drifting up. And—if he had indeed been sleeping—he knew exactly what woke him up. He sat up in bed and peered towards his door, finding her silhouette in the darkness of the hallway.

"Anna?" he called out softly. The girl stepped forward out of the shadows and casually strolled over to his bedside, taking a seat at the foot of the bed and staring him down.

"What's wrong Yoh?" she asked without even a hint of hesitation. Just like her to get straight to the point.

"I'm just tired, that's all," he answered, smiling that gentle smile he reserved for her alone.

"Don't give me that—I may not be able to read thoughts anymore, but I know you well enough by now that I don't have to," she snapped back in reply, although the anger was hallow with no real weight. She just wanted to know what had him so down.

"It's just… everything that happened with Hao. There really is no way of knowing, and it was me who wanted to solve things peacefully. What if—?"

"Oh, now you want to go back on your peaceful philosophy? Newsflash: the world doesn't turn that way." She paused and looked away from him for a moment, studying the bedding beneath her. Yoh recalled the feeling that had rolled off of her earlier that seemed to be directed towards him at dinner. Suddenly all his worries about Hao fled his mind, only to be replaced by concern for his typically-tough-as-nails fiancé.

"Anna… What's wrong?" he asked quietly, scooting over to sit next to her and cautiously wrapping an arm around her waist. She wasn't always the most "touchy-feely" person in the world and she was always keen in letting someone know how she was feeling at the moment—typically with violence. But when she didn't even flinch away, Yoh's concern only deepened. She wasn't quite acting like herself—well, granted he wasn't either, but who could be after all that had happened? Still…

"Yoh, I…" she trailed off and one of her hands found his while the other rested on her stomach. Yoh gave the hand in his a gentle squeeze and looked at her with a mix of curiosity and concern.

"What is it?"

"It's just that Ryu was right earlier," she whispered, refusing to meet his gaze. "Whatever happens with Hao—it's probably already happened. For all sakes and purposes he's a thing of the past. It's time to stop wasting our lives worrying over him and move towards a better future. A future… one that might include new friends or even…"

She paused again to look at him finally and what he saw in her expression caught him off-guard. It was soft, loving, and… something else he couldn't put a finger on. "Or even some new family."

"Anna are you… you're…" Yoh swallowed nervously, not expecting this turn of events.

"Yes, of course, I'm pregnant," she sighed, turning away from him but more to hide the smile on her lips than out of annoyance. "What did you think was going to happen after that night?"

"Oh, yeah. I guess I kind of forgot about it, what with all of the fighting going on—hey, wait does this mean you were endangering our child all along? You shouldn't have been at the Shaman Fight if you were—!"

"I didn't know at first and either way, you needed me there. Just think, without me you would have thrown in the towel long before you reached Hao," she growled. Yoh grinned in embarrassment—yeah that much was spot on. "And what's this about 'I kind of forgot'? Are you saying you forgot one of the best nights of your life?" she demanded. Now that was the scary, threatening Anna he knew and—well, feared.

"N-no of course not! I just wasn't thinking about it all the—!"

"So you're saying it wasn't a memorable experience?" she snapped.

"No, no of course n—!"

"Then I guess we'll just have to do it all over again and hope you remember this time. What a pain."

"No, don't strain—wait, what?"

"You heard me Yoh Asakura," she said, turning her face towards his and planting a kiss on his lips that grew until they both fell back on the bed breathless.

"Anna, I—."

"Shut up idiot," she whispered, her head resting against his chest as they caught their breath. "I thought—when you left—that I'd never see you again. There was always that possibility. And don't ask something stupid like if I regret it—it was going to happen someday anyway."

"Anna," Yoh whispered, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tightly against him.

"I'm so glad it was with you Yoh," she whispered, her voice so muffled by his shirt that he almost missed it. He lifted her chin up to look at her eyes and the same look from earlier had returned—a look she could only have from taking this next step in her life. He flipped her over on the bed, surprising her and causing her to grab onto his shirt.

"It was too sad last time," he murmured with a goofy grin on his face.

"Jerk," she muttered, looking away for a brief moment until she felt his lips on hers.

"I love you Anna," he whispered, breaking the kiss.

"…I love you too, Yoh."

Lyserg Diethel was not a favorite to win the Shaman Fight. In fact, he didn't even show up as a blip on the radar for anyone until he had a falling out with Yoh and joined the X-LAWS. Until he met Marco, the Iron Maiden, and the rest of the crew, he had no real place in the Shaman Fight, but when he joined them he received not only an exceptional power boost but something he had missed out on: a family.

So it should come as no surprise that the first thing he did once he left Japan was head to where he hoped to find Marco and the other X-LAWS. After some searching he managed to find the car dealership that Marco had spoken of, and the remnants of the company were able to give him enough of a lead to find Marco—but not in quite the way he was expecting.

He found himself standing before a tidy row of gravestones on the countryside, far out of the reach of any typically traveling human being. The dirt was fresh, almost as if the burials had just been completed moments before his arrival.

"Marco… Luchist… everyone is—."

"Lyserg Diethel?"

The young, aspiring detective spun around at the sound of his name only to find the Iron Maiden Jeanne herself standing before him, a sad but satisfied look on her face. Lyserg looked back at the graves and then to her, a questioning look in his eyes.

"They all felt their mission was complete here. Marco and the others found rest within the Great Spirit together," she explained in a whisper, as if afraid of awakening them. "Luchist wanted to stay by Hao's side and the rest of them had no purpose here now that Hao is one with the Great Spirit. It's a bit sad, isn't it?" Tears started to spill out from her eyes, slowing trickling down her cheek.

"Lady Jeanne…?"

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to seem so weak but—but I realized I'm like them; I have nothing left for me here," she apologized, wiping away the tears. "What's a leader without her followers? Just a little girl who's known nothing but violence and suffering her entire life."

"What will you do now, Lady Jeanne?" Lyserg asked cautiously, fearing more tears.

"I honestly don't know," she sighed with a small smile, approaching him to stand before the graves. "I don't think they meant to leave me here alone. I suppose they thought that I would just come along with them."

"So why didn't you?" he asked quickly, a blush reddening his ears as he added, "If you don't mind me asking."

"Of course not, Lyserg. We are equals now—we always have been," she said with a small giggle. "I suppose I still have things I want to do on earth before I join them, but I know when the time comes, we'll all meet again."

"D-do you need anything? Money or directions or—?" Lyserg asked quickly, instinctively wanting to protect and help the Iron Maiden in anyway he could.

"Actually, I was wondering if you knew where I could locate him?" she asked quietly, resting a delicate hand on the headstone of Marco.

"By him do you mean…?" Lyserg asked confusedly. Who could she possibly know that she would want to track down at such a time? He had always thought that the X-LAWS were really the only family and friends she had, which in retrospect might have been a bit shallow of him.

"I mean Ren Tao," she answered easily. Lyserg coughed loudly, hiding his surprise before meeting her even gaze.

"If you don't mind—uhm, why Ren?" he asked uncertainly. "I know where he is, of course, and I can help you get to him but…?"

"I've seen much in this Shaman Fight. Yoh Asakura was a highly notable part of that, giving up his chance to be king in order to save his friend—but his friend might be even more interesting than him," she explained as she started to walk down from the slopping hill. Lyserg followed behind loyally and listened carefully.

"I didn't think the two of you talked much," he remarked, seeing the car in the distance that must've been the angel left to her.

"We didn't, really. I brought him back to life and he was mad at me for the most part, I believe. Still, he made some remarks I want to ask him about—including a question posed about what caused Hao's powers in the first place," she continued to explain, climbing in the car and propelling it forward after Lyserg stepped in. "I believe I want to speak with him at some point, and that's as good a point as any to start."

"Start what, exactly?" Lyserg asked, watching her face carefully as the car carried them towards their destination.

"Just to start," she answered with an optimistic smile.

Lyserg delivered Jeanne to Ren Tao's palace as promised, and she declined his offer to wait in order to escort her elsewhere, saying that, "He had to be his own leader now." He returned to London shortly after, not daring to intrude on the Taos like Jeanne had, and embarked on the journey his destiny had originally set forth before him: his destiny to become a great detective like his father.

As for Ren Tao, needless to say, Iron Maiden Jeanne's sudden appearance caught him off-guard. He expected plenty of people to chase after him from the Shaman Fight—not all with good intentions—but she hadn't even registered on the list. As the door slammed shut behind Lyserg Diethel (annoying little creep), Ren turned his attention fully to the leader of the X-LAWS. The rest of his family was out at the moment, so it was the perfect opportunity to dispose of this problem without interference.

"I expected to have some enemies after the fights had finished, although I failed to consider the X-LAWS—those obsessed idiots," he growled, a tight grip on his polearm. He pointed the tip of his spear towards her and took up his fighting stance. "Oh well, at least they sent the big fish first so I can get this over and done with."

"The X-LAWS are dead," Jeanne deadpanned sadly, causing Ren to nearly lose his grip on his weapon.

"What?"

"They all chose to remain within the Great Spirit," she explained. "Their mission was complete, so they no longer had a purpose here."

"So why didn't you join them?" he demanded, still not trusting her motives.

She shrugged sadly. "I was never really some holy maiden. I was a girl that Marco raised to be the symbol of a group he created." She paused and met his angry gaze. "I'm not mad at him for what he did—his heart was in the right place, I believe that through and through. Even if he did cause a lot of suffering in the process." She gave a sad chuckle and her shoulders slumped. "But then again we all caused each other a lot of suffering."

"Hmph. Let's say I believe you—then why would you be here? To apologize? Fat chance." Ren took a step towards her, weapon still raised and on guard. She surprised him by taking a step towards him as well, putting her within range of his spear.

"Our personalities are quite different, Ren Tao, but I believe our spirits are much the same," she explained.

"What are you blabbing about now?"

"We are both afraid of being alone—especially now that we don't have an excuse to be with the people who supported us throughout the Shaman Fight," she pointed out, reaching a hand out and resting its feather-light weight on top of the blade, pushing it to the side after a moment. Ren flinched to raise it back up, but his arms remained slack.

"Fear being alone? I don't—!" he started, but she closed the distance between them and rested her hand on his shoulder.

"But you do fear it, and that's why I'm here," she whispered softly. She was close enough to hear Ren swallow nervously and see a single drop of sweat roll down the side of his face.

"I—."

"It's okay, Ren," she murmured. "You can put your weapon down and rest your heart now."

His grip slipped and the polearm fell from his hand, clattering to the stone ground and shattering the silence. His hands clenched at his side and his shoulders trembled with the tension; he felt like he was on the brink of realizing something that he had tried to repress throughout the Shaman Fight. It slowly dawned on him what it was; Jeanne had been right about one thing, but maybe not in the vein she suspected.

He was going to miss his friends—the idiot Horohoro, the lame joker Joco, the blind follower Ryu, the creepy Faust, and most of all… his once-upon-a-time rival Yoh Asakura. They were gone now and his heart trembled at the thought of never seeing them again. He was no wimp. He didn't need such ridiculous things as friends or support to help him sort through all that had happened during the fighting.

He didn't need any of them and he didn't need this upstart girl…

Water fell and splattered against the frigid stone beneath his feet.

"Damn," he choked out. "Damn it." He stayed rigid, locked in an uncomfortable slump as smooth, warm arms wrapped around his waist and the rain continued to fall.

"Ah, I've missed being home, Kororo," Horohoro sighed happily as the boat crashed against the shore. "Too bad I can't just return home and say hi to my dad, eh?" Kororo gave him a look that clearly said "You're-insane," but chirped happily and followed along behind him.

After losing the Shaman Fight his father wouldn't want him around any more, but he couldn't care less about that. Hao's threat was a bigger concern at the moment. He would gather supplies and do what he could. Who knows, maybe Hao would keep his word if he could succeed. If he could succeed and grow his own fields of butterbur.

Make his dreams come true on his own.

"Kurru?" Kororo questioned, tugging on his sleeve.

"Oh, it's nothing," he answered with a thumbs-up. "Just wait here, I'm going to sneak in and grab what we need." Kororo looked at him worriedly but nodded nonetheless. The boy slipped in through the window and vanished from sight for a long, heart-pounding moment before poking his head out after a bag he tossed through the window.

"All set," he announced quietly. His father had been sleeping—yeah, he had checked like a sentimental idiot. His sister was in her own room, dozing peacefully, and now resting with the last word she would hear from her brother.

The world was too big for him to stay with his family any longer. Even if his father did want to disown him for losing the contest—who knows, maybe he would've accepted him back—Horohoro doubted he would've stayed behind anyway; even if they had begged him, he still would've packed his bags. Not only because of the promises he'd made to build the largest butterbur fields in the world, but because he couldn't be confined anymore.

Now that he had seen a small portion of the world, he wanted to see it all eventually.

He had to be out in the open, roaming free, with his hands in the soils, working hard at creating new life and new possibilities.

Stomping down the trodden path, wondering what his first stop would be his mind started to drift back to his friends—especially Yoh. He shifted the bag over his shoulder and Kororo turned her attention to him, sensing the trouble brewing in his mind.

"It's hard to believe it's all over, isn't it?" he asked solemnly. "Everything that happened, everything that was revealed—you—I mean, wow." He chuckled a bit despite himself and Kororo beamed up at him. "And as bad as everything was, I think I'm kind of going to miss some of it.

"Late nights hanging out with all the guys, feasting on some freshly prepared home cooking. Training to be stronger—strong enough to defeat Hao. Don't get me wrong, the training was like hell—actually we did train there too I guess—but the strength of my body and soul… I never could have reached this level without my friends pushing and supporting me along the way.

"I wonder what they're all doing now? I bet Ryu is still following Yoh around and mooching off him. Anna's probably pissed about it, too. But I guess it makes sense for Ryu to continue hanging out with Yoh, since he was from the same area. Ren's probably locked himself in his little princy-bedroom by now. Bet he's pouting about losing—not to mention taking another draw against Yoh. Now that must've really pissed him off—when Lyserg interrupted like that.

"Bah, that Lyserg guy… I never did really trust him. But I guess he's like a lot of the other competitors; everyone had something to vie for, everyone had something to lose. He's probably back in London by now though. Makes me wonder what all the other guys who competed are doing now, like all those jerks from the X-LAWS and Hao's gang. I wonder how many decided to just…

…Stay dead."

"W-what?" the police officer stuttered, not certain he had heard correctly.

"I'm turning myself in," Joco repeated calmly. "I killed a man on Christmas Eve a couple years back; a father of two children. Please arrest me."

"Sir, are you—?"

"Look," he snapped, glaring at the man who must have thought he was insane by this point. "I'm turning myself in, please arrest me and allow me to pay back some of my debt with some of my own life."

The police officer studied him for a moment longer before he slowly nodded, called a code into his radio, and slammed a pair of handcuffs over Joco's wrist.

"Okay then, come with me and we'll get this sorted out," the policeman said in a gruff voice. The young boy didn't bother answering, only following the officer to his squad car. The car that would take him to a prison cell now and eventually land him in one of the biggest prisons in the United States.

He refused to talk about what happened during the time he served until Yoh asked him privately, seven years later.