Creation began on 07-31-10

Creation ended on 11-05-10

Kannazuki no Miko

No more sorrow

A/N: After reviewing the Kannazuki no Miko story, Collision by Kaonchik, I became interested in writing a Kannazuki no Miko story of my own. Why not? I haven't looked at the anime yet, but I like parts of the manga, which, in my opinion, has the better ending. This will be based on the anime, but with a better conclusion. I don't own Kannazuki no Miko or its characters, am not doing this for profits, nor am I attempting to get sued by the owners. I do own the grand Brother Correction, however, and he helps me to right many a great wrong…and to grant many a happy ending. Let's get to it!

"Ame no Murakumo, you and Yamata no Orochi must end this cycle of hatred and self-destruction, immediately," said the human-sized deity known as Brother Correction to the humanoid mecha and the eight-headed dragon, respectively, having brought both deities to his home dimension in order to right the many wrongs that have been repeated for too many generations. "All your followers, your priestesses, they've suffered enough, especially the priestesses themselves. They should've never been made to pay such a hurtful price that brings them further suffering."

Murakumo and Orochi, having been deprived of their power after being brought here by this deity that wore the flesh of a dark man with a frown, decided to hear him out. What choice did they have? They had no idea of what he was capable of.

"Orochi, your desire to turn the world into a place of darkness and violence is nothing more than the result of the negative emotions inherited within all living things. You are never warned that distorting the balance between light and darkness will bring upon everyone a grand disaster, including yourself." Correction told him.

"What do you mean?" The eight-headed serpent asked, using all eight heads.

"No disrespect, but for a god yourself, you have no clear perception of the consequences of your actions. The world may be divided between the light and the darkness, but they cannot exist without each other. Wherever there is light, you must also have darkness, even if it's suppressed. Yin and yang, as the Chinese would refer to the balance. You'd be destroyed by the immense negative energy generated by those with evil and corruption in their hearts. In other words, you would cease to exist, never to experience anything other than the fact that you did live once… More than once, in fact…but never to live again, cast away to the mists of time."

"Impossible," Orochi uttered in shock. "I could never cease to exist. I am immortal!"

"Not even immortals are perfect," Correction told him, and then looked at Murakumo. "Murakumo, why must you require such a terrible price to restore the world each time Orochi rises from the ashes of its previous defeat at your hands? The Solar and Lunar Miko, Himeko and Chikane, respectively, they were meant for each other, I cannot deny that, but why must they be forced to face each other to the death where one has to lose the other? So the Lunar Miko, Chikane, has sided with Orochi several times in the past because a part of her heart despised you for taking her only love away, each time bringing nigh-disaster, but there was always a reason to why: She had always put her hope in the possibility that Himeko could break the cycle of death and rebirth, that she could end the suffering that she carried in her heart that made her the person she became in every reincarnation, always trying to break the cycle that your combined antics deny. While I don't approve of her methods in each life she has lived, I approve of her love for the Solar Miko and her desire to spend her eternity together with her. Please, the both of you, end your endless cycle of restoration and destruction, allow the people to correct their own flaws on their own and seek out their salvation and let the miko be together. I believe in letting the world live on its own terms without having a higher power decide its predetermined end. Do not, I beg of you, make me have to force you to agree to my request against your will, because, if it becomes necessary to make things right, I will."

The mecha and serpent looked at each other, both wondering why they should take their fellow deity seriously when they had just about as much power as he did; he didn't seem so opposing or menacing to them at all nor did he seem to want anything more than what he had requested. They even knew of the reason he brought them here; while Himeko had been spared Chikane's latest fate, she had been stripped of her memories of the Lunar Miko that had been sent back to the shrine on the moon, which had enraged Brother Correction to no end because he saw what these deities had done as a mistake that had to be undone as soon as possible. Why did he even care what they had done many times? And why did he choose now, out of the blue, to act?

"Your thoughts are not hidden from me," he told them. "I became aware of your crimes the moment the Solar Miko's memories of her only love were taken after she had been killed and taken from her."

"You're not very omnipresent, then, are you?" Orochi asked him.

"I am omnipresent…but never always. Nobody can truly be everywhere at once. It is impossible. Instead, they only need to realize the ultimate truth of being omnipresent."

"Which is?" Murakumo asked him.

"That being omnipresent is nothing more than an empty dream, an unachievable desire…an unreachable wish that can never be granted."

"Really?" They both asked.

"It is only when you understand that truth, you find that you need not be everywhere, but only in the presence of those whose fates are given the highest priority, those with the desires that either get to be realized…or shot down. Such has always been the fate of Kannazuki no Miko, the Priestesses of the Godless Month. How long have they each had their desires shot down by you two? How many lifetimes have they've been forced to part with their wishes? Ten lifetimes, thirty lifetimes, maybe even two-hundred-forty-seven? However the sum, their dreams have always been denied in each life…and they've had many a grand dream: The desire to be together in holy matrimony, to grow old and die in each other's embrace, to have a family together, enjoying walks in the park or lunches in a garden, even just to wake up each day to each other's presence after falling asleep together. It hurts me to see good people have unfulfilled hopes and experience pain and death. These are the mistakes that have always existed for many a good person with a twisted fate. Now, I want nothing more than to give to them what they've earned and/or deserved…many times over. Look me in the eye and tell me that you now understand why I live to do what my name reveals to those I give it to."

They looked at him and saw, in his eyes, that he'd done corrections of many mistakes that were either made accidentally or intentionally; the deity had brought justice to the former victims of a pair of slaves that had cheated death many times, secretly returned five-hundred dollars to a teenage mother and her newborn daughter after it had been taken by the girl's irresponsible and heartless mother, restored the lives of teenage runaways so that they may achieve the impossible and bring their criminal parents, whom had survived death due to the hands of another force of god-like power, to justice and return to a semblance of a normal life; Brother Correction had even acted out to help prevent catastrophes by assuming different aliases for the purpose of gaining the trust of people that could undo the hurt and restore the hope. Nothing, not even other gods or demigods were going to keep him from granting deserved happiness to whoever he felt deserved it.

"And what do you get from all of this?" Orochi asked him again.

"I get nothing more than the satisfaction of knowing that, once more, love proves to be true, when the people that embrace it are meant to be together…and that nothing, not even gods, can tear them apart." Correction answered the serpent. "If you need more than verbal clarification on my desires of justice, then I shall show you the love that manifested from my achievements of the past!"

He flared up brightly and enveloped both deities within his light. They saw many things that could've made even demons and angels weep: Brother Correction had reunited some runaway children whose lives had been forever changed by their criminal parents; he'd restored life to the dead and near-dead that had been taken by a pair of cheaters of death; he created new people to act on his behalf to bring positive hopes to the people that had none left; Brother Correction had even prevented a group of cruel and powerful men from destroying the world that had suffered a great tragedy more than fifteen years after the dawn of a new era. He gave dreams to the desperate, children to the childless, harmony to the chaotic, even love to those that thought they had none. And, to Murakumo's greatest surprise, Correction even brought hope and redemption to an eight-year-old girl that had an evil that was genetic and had almost cost her the life of her mother, who was desperate to put an end to her darkness, along with a crooked detective, a man that had nailed his soul to the alter of the Devil for eternal youth and beauty captured in his painting, and many other tainted souls that he felt deserved a second chance to make things right. This deity had nothing but a just cause to ensure happiness could be granted to those that deserved and/or earned it, travelling to many different worlds, exploring the reasons behind their tragedies, and setting them right.

Brother Correction, a spiritual brother to all with souls, was what others could actually call a god that actually answered prayers, both unheard…and unseen.

"You…you will not stop these tasks of this grand duty of correcting the mistakes of others, will you?" They asked him.

"As long as mistakes are being made, it'll always be my duty, my mission, my very purpose for being to correct those mistakes, and to teach others how to correct the mistakes they've done more than once. Nobody is perfect, and every one I've seen, encountered and even spoken to, are my examples." Correction answered. "Kannazuki no Miko, that may be what they are to you two, but Himeko and Chikane, best friends and lovers, the only ones for each other, is what the girls are to themselves. Fate, destiny, legacy, these can be either ignored for a time or denied entirely, and because fate can be cruel to those dealt a bad hand, it is always best to give people a good hand: A happy home, great friends, a loving family and the like that some would want for the right reasons. Please, give the priestesses what they deserve to have and allow them to live out their dreams. They're like other people; they cannot be the minions of others all the time."

The eight-headed dragon lowered all his heads and submitted to the deity of redemption; he'd been defeated by mere words and a ray of light that shone on the hearts of the suffering and gave them a new life that they made better.

Murakumo also bowed to Correction and accepted that he and Orochi could not keep this up; every time the Earth was maimed by their actions, the priestesses had always paid the price for the cost of restoring the planet and her people. Even if separating them restored the world, and they did find each other again in their next reincarnated lives, it wouldn't fully mend everything that had transpired between them in the lifetimes long gone.

"Do what you will with them," he told Correction. "Give them the life they've earned."

"You make sure they smile," Orochi added. "You make sure that they laugh, too."

"Thank you both," Correction praised them.

An older and more beautiful Himeko Kurusagawa walked down the streets of her hometown to go shopping for some simple cosmetics, the little pink shell around her neck bouncing with every step she took. Today felt different for her; it wasn't that the sky was blue or that there were many people out and about, but it was more like something special was going to happen.

But what could it be? She thought to herself, as she crossed the street, but suddenly stopped midway through the crowd of people. It… It can't be.

Another woman, just as beautiful as Himeko, was walking down the street opposite of her. She had bluish-black, almost purple from a distance, hair that reached down past the small of her back to her knees, her skin was like porcelain due to its paleness, but it was a pretty paleness, ocean-blue eyes that were like sapphire, and she wore a lovely white dress and possessed a pink shell that mirrored Himeko's. It was almost like…like magic or something. The woman's presence had affected her like no other's had. It wasn't just her elegance; it was the mere fact that she felt like she had met her before, even when she'd just seen her today.

The slightly-taller woman stopped walking in front of Himeko and looked at her; the woman looked stunned by the sight of her. There were suddenly many things she wanted to say to her, but too many words were running around in her head. Many things were running around inside both their heads.

"Ch…ch…" Himeko started, almost incapable of finishing one simple word. "Chikane?"

The woman then responded, almost in a whisper, "Himeko?"

Their cheeks went red and their eyes teared up, and suddenly Himeko slowly fell into Chikane's arms.

"Chikane!" She cried out, holding her tightly. "I…I almost thought I'd never see you again!"

"I did, too," Chikane responded.

High above their heads, watching from the roof of a building, Brother Correction smiled at their tender reunion, having chose that as the perfect moment to restore their memories of their past lives together. All of their past lives together.

The girls then crossed the street and looked up at where he was; Correction knew that only they could see him, thus he was unafraid of their gaze on him. The next moment, he was right in front of them, having altered his appearance to that of a regular Japanese boy with brownish hair; the world around them seem to move in slow motion, as if time itself were slowing to a crawl.

"Do…do we know you?" Chikane asked him.

"No," he answered back, "but I know everything about you two…and went to many lengths to obtain your rights."

"Our rights?" Himeko asked, confused.

"Your rights to live your lives together, to express your love to one another without being restrained or hurt by the repercussions, even to grow old, have children and the like without the fate of the world resting on your shoulders. Now that I bring up the world, nobody will have to worry about it being in any danger caused by Orochi; the matter between the eight-headed dragon and the God of Swords has been resolved. Your lives, as well as the lives of Orochi's followers, are free to be decided by yourselves. While you may continue to reincarnate after death, you shall never be separated by any sort of distance, be it by mortal hand…or by a god. You two shall always be together. Enjoy your new future. You deserve it as much as you've earned it."

As he turned to leave, Himeko stopped him with a hand on his right shoulder.

"Wait!" She cried out. "Who are you?"

He turned to face them again and answered, "I am Brother Correction. I am a friend to the innocent and salvageable…and a punisher to the cruel and wicked. People would call me a hero if they could…but I'm no hero. I…am a silent-but-ever-watchful guardian, a keeper of justice. I am the hope of a better life for every one."

The girls looked at each other and then back at him, smiled and told him, "Thank you for reuniting us."

Suddenly, as soon as he responded with, "You're welcome.", he was gone, and the rest of the world had resumed its normal pace.

"He's…gone," Himeko sighed, almost sadly, and Chikane took her left hand in her right hand.

"I'm sure we'll see him again…someday," she reasoned with her.

"Yeah. We'll meet him again. Chikane, um, do you…want to have dinner with me tonight?"

"I'd love that, Himeko."

Hand in hand, they walked down the street, partially unaware of the few eyes that were gazing at them, not with contempt or shame, but with praise and acceptance. This was the way it was meant to be; two lovers united after endless reincarnations and separations. The former Solar Miko looked to her counterpart, her opposite, her restored half of the sea shell, and smiled at her presence. The former Lunar Miko looked to her restored half of the shell and smiled back. "I love you very much," was what they both said to each other. It was one of those moments where you could've cried if you had the will to, and it was one of those moments where you could kiss the one you love the most if you had the heart to, as well.

They did both, happy at their futures being intertwined with each other, never to be ripped away ever again for the rest of their existence. Their unity…would last forever.

The End.

A/N: I finally looked at the anime version on the twenty-sixth of October, the same month that Himeko and Chikane share the same birthday. Now that I've looked at it, I'm glad that I like the franchise. Though, I'm not so convinced with the title they used for the American version: Destiny of the Shrine Maiden, even if they say Kannazuki no Miko in the credits and previews of the next episode. BTW: I also looked at other select pieces of Kannazuki no Miko fanfiction and have found a few of them to be of immense interest with the Himeko/Chikane pairing. Their hurt and comfort, their romance, all of the happiness that they share.