Eien Ni

Author's Note: Hello, wayward fanfic author is back just to drop a new story from the Gintama universe and the GintokixOtae ship. LOL. I've recently re-watched Gintama: Kanketsu-hen - Yorozuya yo Eien Ni Nare for the nth time because I can't get enough of the drama and angst and the FEELS in this movie. And so amid all the sniffling and 'why-am-i-watching-this-again' reflection, I decided to write this what-if story set after the events that happened in the movie or well technically the Gintama gang was able to 'erase' that future or prevent it from happening, so I guess it didn't really happen. So there's no 'after the events in the movie' after all. Lost yet? Me too! Anyway, let's just forget about all that timey-wimey stuffs (only The Doctor can really explain it) and enjoy this here story that I wrote for your reading pleasure. I hope you'll like it as much as I did. ありがとうございました。

Gintama is copyrighted by Hideaki Sorachi. I make no claims of owning it.

Everything seemed to be back to normal in Edo and the rest of the world. As Gintoki walked the familiar sights of Kabuki-cho and looked at its people, he smiled in relief and silent gratitude. Everything was back to where it was. There wasn't even a trace of the devastation he encountered not too long ago. Nothing had changed. Even the sky with that hideously tall structure pointing to space looked the same. And he liked it that way.

"Ne, Gin-chan, are you listening?" asked the young Yato, walking in front of him. She stopped in her tracks and turned to the silver-haired samurai. "We'll be late for lunch if you keep dilly-dallying like that. We don't want Shin-chan and Anego to wait, yes?"

"Huh? Ah…yeah," he looked back at her with dead fish eyes. "Mou, Gin-chan, would you stop daydreaming," an annoyed Kagura said as she resumed walking. She desperately wanted to hit his head with her umbrella to snap him out of his stupor. He had been in this state for a couple of days and she wondered when it will wear off. "I wonder if he's worried about something…nah…Gin-san is too lazy to worry about anything, yes?" she thought.

She turned back to Gin-san sharply, pointing a finger at him. "Don't blame me if there won't be any sushi left for you because you're being slow as a turtle, yes?" And then she broke into a run, laughing maniacally.

Gintoki was surprised at Kagura's action. But realization dawn on him rather quickly. Free sushi supreme for lunch was hard to come by, especially for freeloaders like them. And Kagura knew it. "Oi, Kagura! Come back here, you brat!" He shouted after her.

So what turned out to be a peaceful walk through the town he just came back to became a mayhem of a race to the Kudokan dojo.

'Heh, it can't be helped, everything's back to normal after all,' he thought happily. "Teme! You are one hundred years too early to beat me to a sushi supreme race! Hoooraaaaaaa!" He turbo-charged after Kagura, leaving dust in his wake.

The hapless inhabitants of Kabuki-cho just looked at them and thought, "There go the Yorozuya fools again."

At the Kudokan dojo's gate, both Gintoki and Kagura were out-of-breath.

"Don't tell me," said Shinpachi without emotion. "You both thought that whoever gets here first gets more free sushi, right?"

Both Gintoki and Kagura smiled broadly. "Hah…hah…Shinpachi, you know us so well…hah…hah," said Gintoki as he took in big gulps of air.

"I don't know if I should take that as a compliment, Gin-san. Something inside of me wanted to be ashamed that I know you guys that well," sighed Shinpachi as he led them inside where a beautiful spread of sushi supreme on a table was waiting for them.

"Uwaahh…it looks so good!" Kagura said with glee. "I can't wait to try them all!"

"Souka…this is what a sushi supreme looks like," said Gintoki, wiping the corner of his eyes. "In all the years I've been freeloading, I haven't seen such a wonderful sight. Arigatou, Shinpachi-kun and Otae-san!"

"Gin-san, I didn't know you have such a soft spot for sushi," deadpanned Shinpachi.

"Datte…" said Gintoki, choking back fake tears as he waved grandly at the sushi on the table.

"Ah sou…how could I forget? It's because it's free." he sweat-dropped.

"Ara, what are you all waiting for? Let's sit down and eat," called Otae as she placed teacups on the table.

"Itadakimasu!" the three said in unison. They took a bite of sushi at the same time and shouted: "Omai!"

The dojo was once again filled with Gintoki, Kagura and Shinpachi's antics. They fought over the food, they whined, they bickered, they pulled pranks on one another. It was a normal day in a normal place for the Yorozuyas.

Otae smiled as she watched them silently. Once in while, she would join in the banter but most of the time, she would just smile and watch them. She wanted to etched their smiling faces in her memory forever. She wanted them to be this way for many years to come - smiling and enjoying each other's company. She wanted them to be together like this for a long time. She sniffed unconsciously and tried to look up. Her tears were starting to well up in her eyes.

Gintoki glanced at her. Somehow he knew what was going through her mind. He desperately wanted to reach out and wipe her tears away. He wanted to hold her hand tight and tell her: 'It's alright. I'm here now.' But he was never good at giving comforting words. So he did the next best thing: "Oi, Otae-chan, eat up. Don't tell me you're on a diet. Your ass is already bon…UGH!"

Otae had shoved a handful of ebi tempura in his mouth before he could finish his sentence. "Oh my, Gin-san, I think you should eat some more ne. You're getting a bit pale-faced."

Shinpachi and Kagura laughed out loud. "Gin-san, you should be thanking Aneue for this feast. She's the one who got us all these today," Shinpachi said, downing a maguro.

"Anego, you're the best," chimed in Kagura as she busily heap raw fish into her mouth. "Oi, Gin-san, you should say, thank you, too, instead of just stuffing your face like that, yes?"

"Aho, I'm not the one who stuffed my face with the food, you know," Gintoki corrected. "But yeah, Otae-san, thank you for the food." He looked at her straight in the eyes and smiled genuinely. Reassuringly.

Otae blushed slightly. "Ara, no need to be so formal, Gin-san. I thought a peaceful day like this is hard to come by, so why not celebrate it with friends, right? Life is too short and we don't know what the future will hold for all of us. Isn't it nice to be together with everyone like this?"

Gintoki felt a familiar ache in his heart. Apparently, the events that he put them all through still made him feel so guilty and sorrowful. He came close to losing everything and everyone then. And they came close to losing the same thing. He promised to himself that nothing like that would ever happen again. He would never allow it, he would fight it until his body breaks. This here now, this moment with the people he loved the most, he will protect and fight to keep.

"Ah…" he simply said, looking at Otae with an uncharacteristic gentle smile on his face. "Oi, Shinpachi, Kagura, and you, too, Otae, let's kampai!"

The other three agreed and held up their teacups to tap them with Gintoki's cup and gleefully said, "Kampai!"

After an hour or so, the food was gone and all that was left were four satisfied people. Gintoki, Kagura and Shinpachi were all lying down on the tatami mat, rubbing their full stomachs. "Uwaahh…I think I had enough sushi to last me for the whole day," said Kagura. "I don't even want to look at anything fish right now!"

"Just for a day? I don't want to eat anything fish for a month," said Shinpachi. "I think I might throw up from eating too much."

"Oi, Shinpachi, have some respect for the dead fish. It's not their fault that you ate too much until your stomach burst. So don't you dare throw them up," Gintoki warned.

"Gin-san, I have no control over my stomach. If it wants to throw up, it will throw up," whined Shinpachi.

"Shin-chan, Gin-san is just saying not to waste food, especially free and expensive food. Anyway, why don't you eat again what you throw up, yes?" asked Kagura. "This way, you're showing your respect to the food and not recklessly wasting it."

"Kagura-chan, do I look like a snake to you?!" shouted Shinpachi, exasperated at the thought of eating what he would throw up. "That's just disgusting. And besides, why are we talking about eating regurgitated food. We just ate the best sushi supreme ever and we're talking about gross things."

"Shinpachi, it's not just about showing respect for the food. You're also showing respect to the person who bought the food," Gintoki pointed out. "Think about it, your aneue spent a lot of money just to provide the best sushi for you to eat and then her own little brother is too squeamish to again eat the food he'd thrown up. What kind of a brother are you? Can't you take responsibility?"

"Why should I take responsibility for what I throw up? My stomach should be the one taking responsibility. Like I said I don't have control over what it wants to do," shouted Shinpachi again. He was getting really annoyed at the talk of vomit food.

"Hmmm…if that's the case, why don't just commit seppuku," said Kagura nonchalantly. "Since in seppuku, you slice open your stomach to take responsibility, yes?"

"Wow, Kagura! Nice logic," said Gintoki, giving her a high-five. "You've nailed it right on the head with that one."

"What do you mean nice logic!? I don't see anything logical about that reasoning. Since when does throwing up food lead to seppuku?!" said Shinpachi incredulously. "Mou ii…let's stop this kind of discussion. Instead of throwing up, I now feel like I'm getting a bad headache from all this talk. Tonikaku, I think I want to eat some dessert. I need something to take this fishy aftertaste off of my mouth."

Just then Otae came back from the kitchen. "How about eating some Bargain Dash?" she said cheerfully.

"That's a good idea, Aneue," said Shinpachi. "Do we still have some?"

"Unfortunately, we don't have any in the fridge," she said in dismay. "I remembered we haven't done our grocery shopping yet so there's nothing in there. Oh, if I had only known, I could have bought some earlier when I picked up the sushi."

"Don't worry, Aneue. Kagura and I can go buy some right now," Shinpachi said enthusiastically. "Hora, Kagura-chan, get your lazy ass up and come with me to the store."

"Shinpachi, I don't want any ice cream. But if you promise to buy me a cake, I would come with you, yes?" Kagura pouted.

"What?! Did you forget you're just a freeloader? Freeloaders don't get to request what they want, they should just accept what's given to them!" Shinpachi rebuked.

"Then, I'll stay here," Kagura said stubbornly. "Anego, Shinpachi is being stingy!"

"Maa…maa…Shin-chan, why don't you buy both cake and ice cream? I mean, they both go together. I'm sure, Gin-san, would like to have some cake, too, right Gin-san," said Otae, turning to the white-haired Yorozuya.

Gintoki sat up hurriedly and said: "Shinpachi, go buy a strawberry shortcake, okay?"

"Gee, and I thought the oldest one around here would be the voice of reason. Instead, he's the one with the sweetest tooth," muttered Shinpachi. He sighed: "All right. We'll go buy some cake and ice cream for these spoiled freeloaders! So come on, Kagura-chan, before I change my mind."

Gintoki and Kagura high-fived again as Otae gave Shinpachi an encouraging pat on the back. "Don't worry, Shin-chan. It's just for today. Tomorrow, we can let them starve to death."

She watched the two youngsters leave and then went back to where Gintoki was. The leader of the Yorozuya was stretching his legs in the garden. "Since we're eating some cake and ice cream, I figure I should do some stretching so my stomach can make room for more food," he said as Otae sat on the wooden hallway facing the garden.

An uncomfortable silence hung between them.

"Gin-san, please don't disappear on us again," said Otae seriously, almost in a whisper. Gintoki heard her but didn't look back. He pretended to do some more stretching.

"Didn't Shin-chan tell you before, don't disappear in front of us. If you weren't with us anymore, Kagura-chan and Shin-chan and me, too, won't be able to smile. Why would you leave without saying anything at all? Don't you know that we would be so worried about you? All of us, we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves. You left without saying a word. It was so painful not knowing whether you're alive or dead, whether you're still coming back or not. I thought, that Gin-san, how could he be so cruel…" Otae said in a voice that quivered between anger and despair.

"Otae-san, I…" Gintoki began but he was at a lost for words when he saw Otae quickly wiped away wayward tears with the back of her hands.

"I thought we are important enough to you to let us share in your pain and in your fears. I thought you would let us share your burden," she griped. "We've shared so many things together - friendship, joy, pain, sadness, loss - and we laughed through it together. Why do you still insist on doing things on your own? Don't you know your life doesn't just belong to you anymore? It also belongs to all the people you've helped change…"

Otae knew that she was the only one who can scold Gintoki this way. She had to let him know she was angry and scared. But at the same time, she cared about him as deeply as Kagura and Shinpachi. She stood up and looked at Gintoki, her tears now flowing freely as if a dam had broken. "You know, when you fight, we will fight with you, when you're hurt, we will make sure to patch you up…and…" Her voice broke but she clenched her fists to steady it. "And…when you lay dying, we will hold your hand…because when that day comes, when you draw your last breath, we want our smiling faces to be the last thing you'll see."

Gintoki broke the distance between them. He reached out and grabbed Otae towards his chest. He held her close and tight. "Sumanakatta…" he whispered to her as he tried to push back a lump forming in his throat.

"Dakara…Gin-san, please don't shoulder everything on your own. Please rely on us, we will always be here for you," she pleaded, clutching tightly at his clothes. Remembering the events that caused Gintoki's sudden disappearance into the future and his return to their present time had left her feeling helpless and dejected. She had to let him know. "Because…it is painful to know of a world without you in it," Otae tearfully muttered under her breath.

The knowledge that a horrific future, if it hadn't been successfully stopped, would have happened, was too much for her to bear. She wasn't afraid of knowing what befell her on that timeline, she was more concerned about the three important people in her life. That possible outcome could still happen years down the road. She could still hear her own weak voice in that future echoing in her heart, 'That silly oaf, if he doesn't come back soon, we're all going to drift apart.'

"Wakatta…" Gintoki said earnestly. "I've realized that I'm no longer alone in this world…that there are people who are willing to care about a pitiful bastard like me," he said softly. "Gomen...if I was so thick-headed. I thought I was protecting you guys but I caused so much pain instead. I'm glad that future was reversed. I'm glad everyone and everything is back to where it should be."

Otae just nodded. She intended to be quiet and accept things as they were. But unfortunately, having retained her memories from that alternative future, along with Gintoki, she knew everything that happened - his disappearance, her illness, their deaths and the overwhelming grief of their friends that followed. It was frightening. 'I wish I could see it again, the three of them smiling together,' the hopeless voice from that sick bed made its presence known once again.

So she had to make Gintoki understand, even if she had to grovel and beg, that the most important thing was the people who are with him in the present. The ones who will stand by him even when the world falls down to oblivion. And she would make sure that these important people would never feel the loss of Gintoki's smiling face in front of them.

She made a move to go back to where she was sitting but Gintoki grasped her hand. He gently placed his forehead on hers and looked her in the eyes, "Thank you for being alive, Otae-san," he said in a voice that was desperately trying not to choke with emotion. "Honto ni arigatou," he said as he placed both hands on her face. "Like Kagura and Shinpachi, you and your smile mean the world to me. I promise you I won't disappear like that again. Not ever."

Otae held one of his hands and gave him a genuine smile amid the tears that started to fall again. "Un," she whispered like a sigh of relief. "If you forget that promise, I'll punch you."

"Ah," Gintoki managed to say, smirking back at her. This here, this moment, he will protect and fight to keep. Eien ni.

THE END