Author's note: Thanks to everyone on the Jashi Discord server for their help and encouragement with this fic!

Emptiness. Nothingness. Silence.

The sun moved across the sky, same as it always did, but the shadow of the moon covered it briefly, sending shockwaves through the air, penetrating the ground. A black mass seeped to the surface, waking from its long slumber. Its mind slowly awakened as its face formed and it remembered who it used to be. He took no time to celebrate his newfound life. Revenge was the only thing on his mind as he sped toward the castle in the distance.

People screamed and ran from the intruder, but he paid no mind to anyone and shrugged off any weapon strikes. Maybe later they would pay for their insolence, but now only one person would feel his wrath.

"My Lord, Aku has returned!" A servant shouted as he threw open the door, and ran toward his prince, interrupting his daily meditation.

Jack's heart stopped a moment as he went deathly pale. Three words he thought he would never hear again. He automatically reached for his hip but the sword was not there. A prince was not a warrior. A prince did not carry a weapon on his person in his own castle in peace time. Stupid social traditions! The warrior in him cursed as he ran at breakneck speed to the throne room, but he was too late. "No..." He slid to a stop, unable to stop himself as he gawked at his mortal enemy, once again holding the sword in his evil grip. The vision of his frequent nightmares now standing before him in reality.

"You thought you could kill me, Samurai? You will pay dearly for your arrogance."

Jack tried to dodge as Aku reached out for him, but the hand merely expanded, almost filling the room, giving him no chance to escape. He relentlessly fought the demon's grip but it was to no avail.

"Now you will learn the true horrors of the Pit of Hate." Aku growled lowly as he carried his nemesis away.

Far away on the other side of the castle grounds, there was a flash of blinding white light, and a naked woman appeared in its wake. She coughed violently as she gasped, filling her lungs with the sweet air of the mortal world again. "I'm back?" She wondered aloud in a raspy voice, her throat unaccustomed to speech. No time to question this great gift, she had to find Jack. She stood up on wobbly legs, regaining her sense of balance, and was overwhelmed by a strange, powerful feeling coursing through her body. This wasn't natural, not something typical of a human body. "Don't tell me." She closed her eyes and imagined clothes, and sure enough, a black magic spread over her, covering her body, leaving only her head and neck exposed. "I'm a monster again, damnit."

"Aku has returned! He has captured the prince!" People shouted as they ran past, ignoring their returned princess.

She growled. No one was going to hurt her Jack. No one.

Using her demonic powers, she transported herself to the former location of Aku's castle, but now a new one had risen in its place, a rather haphazard one, giving her plenty of access inside. She silently descended to the bottom level, following the echoes of Aku's gloating.

The Shogun of Sorrow paused a moment in his torture to admire his handiwork with sick pleasure. Jack was tied to the wall, gi torn and bloodstained, and his hair down, unevenly cut. His body was a myriad of cuts and bruises, his left eye nearly swollen shut, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. Still the samurai maintained a defiant glare, refusing to let his mortal enemy break him.

"But you're too accustomed to this, aren't you, Samurai? What's a beating after 50 years of fighting? No, something else must be done." Aku transformed into an almost perfect replica of Ashi, but with green colored skin. "How do you like me now?" He asked while he posed seductively, the chest thrust out while the arms were folded behind the head.

Jack stubbornly clenched his jaw. He didn't want to give Aku the satisfaction of a response, but his body betrayed him. The love of his life, gone from this world, being represented in such a perverse manner, he couldn't tolerate this. His lips curled back in a snarl, a low, menacing growl escaping his throat, and he struggled against his bonds. Without his sword, he couldn't do any actual damage against the monster, but it would be extremely satisfying to repeatedly punch the demon in his ugly face.

Keep it together, Ashi mentally instructed as she entered the room, creeping toward his back as he was distracted by his prisoner. Death is failure. She was Jack's only hope at a rescue. If she failed, he would die, the future would be the same as before, and this time, there would be no hero to save them all. She gripped the handle of the sword, having rescued it from a hidden alcove on the way. Aku had learned a few things from last time, but fortunately still retained his love of theatrics, which kept Jack alive.

"You're sick, you know that, for having relations with my own daughter. Did you settle for second best? Too bad I would never grant you the honor of being with me."

With a loud battle cry, Ashi made her presence known and sliced Aku with a long strike, taking a large chunk out of his torso. He let out a deafening roar as he transformed back to his usual form, but she didn't let up her attack, repeatedly attacking with quick slices, and hacking away at his body. She couldn't hear what Aku was saying because of the roar in her ears and the fire coursing through her body. She hadn't felt this kind of rage since her first fight against Jack alongside her sisters, this surging need for someone to simply die.

Aku tried to slink away, dragging his half-formed body on the ground, desperately clinging to what little life he had left, but Ashi was having none of it. Jack always spoke of honor, of showing respect to your opponent, if only as a fellow warrior, but Aku did not deserve such a grace. He had done nothing to earn respect of any kind. "There is no escape!" She cried, launching herself into the air, and planting the sword firmly between Aku's horns. With a deafening pain filled cry, he was absorbed into the blade once more, and Ashi's hands shook as she physically resisted the urge to bury the sword into the ground and expel the trapped being. Clearly that didn't work to forever stop him. With a roar, she threw the sword to the side, watching it slide to a stop against a wall, but did nothing to free Aku. She smiled for a moment before gasping out in pain and clutching her head. The fight was over, but the deep seated rage was not, demanding more violence from her.

Kill.

"No," she growled, digging her hands into the ground, leaving marks in the solid stone below her.

Kill him.

"Get out of my head, mother."

Kill the Samurai.

"Ashi?"

She leapt to her feet and turned, getting her first real look at her beloved ever since she came back, and cried at the sight of him. She had never seen him so bloody, so bruised, so cut up. Her great warrior, a punching bag for a coward who couldn't face him in a fair fight. "Oh Jack, I should have gotten here sooner. I'm sorry." She ran over to him, undoing his bonds. She stepped back as he slid down from the wall, wanting desperately to take him in her arms but she didn't want to hurt him further. Jack felt the opposite as he pulled her close, ignoring the pain as he kissed her with a passion, tears streaming down his cheeks, stinging the open cuts. She returned his eagerness, crying harder when she tasted his blood. Her body shuddered with fresh rage, wanting to continue to hurt Aku for what he did, but calm prevailed as he laid a gentle hand on her cheek, her skin rejoicing as his touch once more.

Kill the Samurai!

No. He's not the Samurai. He's my Samurai.

"Please," Jack begged as he broke the kiss, his voice full of emotion, resting his forehead against hers. "Please do not leave me. I cannot bare it if you disappear again."

Ashi's heart broke for him. Her pillar of strength, now weak and helpless. "I won't, trust me," she smiled, wiping away his tears. "As long as he still lives," she glared at the prisoner within the sword, "I exist."

"Powers and all?"

She frowned and lowered her eyes. "Yes," she sadly admitted, moving her arm out and transforming into a needle point before returning to her normal hand.

"Ashi," he placed his fingertips beneath her chin and raised her head.

"I've missed those square fingertips of yours," she smiled.

He smiled back, "That does not matter to me. All I see is a kind, loving, good woman, who can be so fierce when she protects what is hers."

"You are certainly mine, my Samurai. There is nothing I wouldn't do to keep you safe. Come on, let's get you home." She extended her arm, grabbing the sword, and returned it to its rightful owner.

Jack looked sadly at the dark blade, ignoring the two eyes that glared dangerously at him, missing the reflection of his own. "I am sorry for your sacrifice, old friend, but perhaps this was your original destiny all along."

"If only your father realized that years before. You wouldn't have suffered so much in a hell torn future," she lamented.

"I would not change a second of my life if it meant I was to meet you," he argued.

She was stunned to silence. Being separated from his parents during his childhood, living for fifty years in a nightmarish future, enduring psychological damage from his seemingly endless quest, was worth it all for her, the biological daughter of his mortal enemy? "Jack, I…"

"I love you, Ashi," he said firmly, as if it was the answer to everything. "I want to pick up where we left off, getting married, trying to have children, and spending the rest of my life with you."

"I love you too, Jack, and I want the very same." She briefly kissed him and then effortlessly lifted him into her arms, what was her own strength and what was her demon powers at work, she refused to say. She transported them both back to their castle and reluctantly surrendered him to the doctor's care, taking back the sword. She knew exactly where to stash it where no one could ever free Aku again. She teleported to the base of the gods' mountain, staring up at its immense height, the top of the mountain buried in the clouds. "I seek an audience with the gods," she called out, her powers making her voice echo across the land.

She didn't wait long before Sleipnir descended from on high to greet her, and carry her back to his master. Odin, Ra, and Vishnu waited for her at the top, but she pointedly ignored them for a moment to thank for Sleipnir his assistance.

"Who do you think you are for summoning us, girl?" Odin bellowed.

"Someone important if I get your attention," she coolly responded, holding out the sword. "This sword contains Aku's essence trapped within the blade. Keep it away from the reach of mortals, but do not destroy it. I intend to live a fully and happy life with my husband, and for that, I need this monster trapped but alive."

"And why should we listen to you?" Ra demanded.

"You brought Aku here in the first place! You couldn't be bothered to defeat him on your own! You depended on mankind to fix your mistakes! Now I am ending this madness once and for all by ordering you to keep this sword safe and keep this world free of this demon's ugly grasp. If you don't, I will come back here, and personally feed you your own beak, Ra!"

"We will keep the sword safe for all eternity. You have our word." Vishnu assured her, taking the sword from her and having it disappear. Ashi patiently waited but nothing changed within her. She still had her father's abilities, so he was still alive, and she could remain with Jack.

"Thank you," she said with a bow and once again mounted Sleipnir, allowing him to carry her home to the castle, giving him a quick hug and kiss before rushing to the infirmary, where Jack was now sufficiently bandaged and stank of antiseptic. "It's done, the sword is safe, and Aku is forever trapped inside the blade. We're free to be together for the rest of our days."

"Together," he agreed with a smile, taking her hand, their fingers intertwined, and kissing her knuckles.

Angry Ashi is Scary AF Ashi, but hell of a lot of fun to write. I hope you enjoyed this and please leave a review, fave, and follow if you'd like!