This is a drabble from Ashitaka's point of view, a few months after the end of the film.
Disclaimer: Characters and places belong to the genius of Hayao Miyazaki. I just write the words.
Restored.
The scar on my hand will never heal.
Like the forest, which still bears signs of the destruction Lady Eboshi and the other humans caused, it is a reminder of what greed can do to a soul.
But with the Spirit of the Forest restored, life thrives again.
In Iron Town, reconstruction is their focus.
Lady Eboshi is setting her sights towards trade, which would not only restore Iron Town's economy, but supply its citizens with stable professions.
The ironworks are gone. In their place are homes and burgeoning workshops.
Families are made and grow. Children run the streets, laughing.
It is a different place. A peaceful place.
The forest grows green again.
San looks over it with her wolf brothers, nurturing and tending to its subsistence.
She visits Iron Town, but not as often as I visit her in the forest. She says that humans still set her on edge, though she seems to have no qualms in admitting me.
Sometimes, we go to the place where Moro passed on and where the Spirit of the Forest healed my gunshot wound.
I realize now that the place is sacred.
The kodama appear often, clicking and staring, watching and waiting.
They make me smile.
The forest truly lives.
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