A big fat thank you to those who left reviews for my first three chapters! You guys are just so AWESOME! *blows kisses*

WARNING: Get your tissues ready for the final flashback scene!

"...what?"

Mind in a state of shock, he couldn't believe what he had just heard.

"What did you...just say?" His voice quavered as he stared at her with unblinking eyes.

Hanging her head in shame and guilt, Setsura swallowed hard in an attempt to remove the lump that was wedged tightly in her throat. Her hands were resting on her knees and her nails dug into her skin. She kneeled before him, her shoulders drooped and her body hunched forward. Her wavy hair acted as a curtain, hiding her face from Rihan. She was trembling in fear as she prepared herself for the worst to come. She knew that he would definitely be extremely mad and disappointed in her.

But still, she has to say it sooner or later.

Lifting her head up slowly, her eyes met Rihan's. Those eyes of his looked very much like a child that was hurt badly. She couldn't bear to see him torturing himself anymore. He has suffered so much while trying to find his lover and yet, he didn't know that his efforts were fruitless.

It was finally time to end this.

Mustering up her courage, she delivered the tragic news to Rihan.

"Otome-chan... She has passed away..."

His body flinched violently once before freezing in complete shock after hearing the words that came as a bombshell from Setsura's mouth. A wave of emotions washed over his face - hurt, anger, pain, misery and guilt. His heartbeat and breathing were becoming erratic. His hands that were hanging loosely by his sides, balled into fists angrily.

He shut his eyes tightly as he tried to steady himself. There was an important question that he needed to ask her before he lost his cool.

"When did she..."

His trembling voice cracked as he forced the words out of his mouth. However, he couldn't manage to say out the last word because a part of him wanted to deny that whatever Setsura had just said was merely a falsity. He wanted to believe that Otome was still alive out there, waiting for him to come for her.

"I-it was some time before Edo became Tokyo," Setsura confessed contritely. Her nails dug into her pale skin even harder, drawing a little blood. Hearing her words, Rihan's eyes widened in absolute shock.

"But that was so many years ago..." His voice faltered, unable to think straight. His mind was in a turmoil. All those years that he spent searching for Otome were in vain?

He stood up suddenly, a shadow crossed his face. "What a bad joke, Nee-san..." His voice lacked emotions as he spoke to her. He waited for her response, but there was no intention of her agreeing with whatever he had just said because Setsura looked away and remained silent.

This made him feel even worse. The truth was like a slap in his face.

"Why... Why are you telling me about this only now?" His hands and body started to shake uncontrollably as he could no longer remain calm. Setsura closed her eyes as she braced herself for what was going to happen next.

"Why, Nee-san? Why? WHY!?"

He screamed loudly. Triggered by his emotions, his Fear was unleashed and the whole room exploded. The tremors from the deafening explosion shook the ground like an earthquake.

He shut his eyes, Fear emitting off from his body. Setsura stared up at him with wide, fearful eyes. When he reopened his eyes slowly, she gasped in extreme terror.

His scleras, no longer the usual white, were a dangerous black color. His irises were glowing a mysterious amber color. Staring straight into his fearsome eyes ran shivers down her spine and left her body immobilized.

"Rihan-"

His large hands shot towards her neck unexpectedly and choked her. Air was cut off from her lungs as he gripped even tighter.

"Setsura... How dare you..." he growled threateningly. He could break her neck in a second if he wanted to. How could she hide the truth from him for such a long time? He trusted her so much.

However, Setsura said the one thing that he never expected her to say.

Smiling bitterly at him, she choked out her words sadly. "It's alright... I don't mind dying by your hands." She paused for air when he loosened his grip on her neck a little after her words took him by surprise.

"But... Otome-chan wanted me to tell you one last thing."

Rihan froze and his heart pounded louder and louder. Time seemed to have stopped as he waited for her to continue.

Taking a deep breath, Setsura whispered, "she said, 'I love you'."

Her words reverberated in his mind before sinking into his broken heart. He released his hold on her neck and took a step back. Setsura coughed and spluttered as air entered her lungs again.

When she stopped coughing, she finally noticed a few drops of water splattering on the wooden floor and looked up in atonishment.

Rihan was...crying?

His glistening eyes stared back at her in hurt as burning tears streamed down his cheeks unrelentlessly. All those years of loneliness, sorrow and pain gushed out of him finally. He fell to his knees, bawling in great pain. He buried his face into Setsura's shoulder when she went forward to hug him. A shaft of moonlight shone down on them as they both cried and grieved over the loss of his wife. His fingers clutched at his chest as his heart ached in pain for her.

Otome... My darling...

Why did you have to die? You have done nothing wrong to deserve this... This is all my fault. I'm so sorry...

If my words can reach you wherever you are, I want you to know that...

...I love you so much.

Rihan sat under the beautiful cherry blossoms trees with his current human wife, Wakana. He sipped from his sake cup as he watched his child played with his subordinates happily. The Nura House was noisy and lively, just like any other day.

"Rikuo! Don't give them such a hard time, okay?" Wakana, who was sitting beside him, called out to their son. Rikuo grinned back at them cheekily before running off and pulling pranks on poor Kubinashi, Tsurara and the others again. She shook her head while laughing at him. Whenever Rikuo was out to have his fun, nothing could stop him.

"He takes after you, Wakana," Rihan said teasingly. He held out his sake cup gratefully when she poured him another drink. Rikuo's features resembled his mother more than him.

Although they were both humans, their existence and warm smiles brought a lot of life and happiness back into this house. He was very grateful to have both of them in his life. And of course, he loved them to bits.

"Ara ara, he takes after you, Rihan. Not me," she teased him back. "Just like you, Rikuo likes to bully poor Kubinashi-kun and the rest."

He smiled back at her. She has a point there. In some ways, Rikuo resembled him, but just not in terms of looks.

Wakana headed back into the house, saying that she has to help Kejoro with the laundry or something. He was left on his own and continued to drink sake. At some point of time, Rikuo has decided to make them play hide-and-seek with him. Rihan chuckled at the sight of Tsurara facing the tree and covering her eyes. Unfortunately, she has been chosen by Rikuo as the "It" again. The rest of them scattered off in different directions to hide when Tsurara started counting.

A pink petal fluttered down slowly and landed in his sake cup. He stared at it, watching the reflection of the breathtaking cherry blossoms in his drink. It brought a sense of tranquililty over him, reminding him of his deceased human mother, who had passed away a few centuries ago. He missed her a lot and it was a pity that she couldn't get to see her grandchild.

Setting down the sake cup, he lay back on the grass and gazed up at the dazzling night sky and cherry blossoms. A breeze ruffled his long, black hair. He was enjoying the captivating view when after a few minutes, he felt a little drowsy. A nap, he thought to himself. I'll take a short nap. He shut his eyes slowly, before lapsing into a peaceful sleep.

"It's time to wake up, Rihan."

Rihan stirred slightly when he heard a silky, female voice calling his name. Or was he imagining things?

Otome?

"...Daddy?"

Someone shook his shoulders. "Wake up, Daddy!"

A child-like voice shouted into his ears. He felt someone poking in his side to get him to wake up. It took him a moment to realize that he had probably dreamed of Otome again. Groaning a little, he pried open one eye and realized that it was just his son. "Hey, kiddo," he greeted.

Rikuo sat on top of his chest, pulling at his kimono. "Wakey wakey!" he exclaimed. "Daddy, you've to come with me! Now!"

Rihan frowned at his excitement. "Why?" he asked curiously.

Excited, Rikuo flapped his hands in the air. "Because there's this pretty Onee-chan who's lost!"

Onee-chan? Lost? And wasn't Rikuo supposed to be playing hide-and-seek with the others?

Rikuo got off his chest and pulled at his hand. Rihan stood up slowly and allowed him to drag him to wherever he wanted to go. He was perplexed by his son's behaviour.

"Daddy! This Onee-chan is really pretty and nice! She's lost and she wants to ask for directions," Rikuo enthused. "Can I get her to play with me before she leaves?" he asked eagerly.

"Sure," Rihan replied while laughing. "If she wants to."

After walking a while more, Rikuo suddenly stopped and this was when he finally noticed that he actually brought him to the garden at the back of the mansion.

"So, who is this pretty Onee-chan that you are speaking of, Rikuo?"

Rikuo responded by pointing his fingers in the direction of the flowers and Rihan's eyes followed. His eyes roamed across the lovely yamabuki flowers and a familiar aching feeling filled his chest instantly.

And then, he saw her. The ravishing Onee-chan that Rikuo was speaking of. She was standing close to the flowers and staring at it intently, oblivious to their presence.

"Hey, Onee-chan! I've brought my Daddy here!" Rikuo, who was beside him, shouted across and waved at her. She stiffened slightly after hearing his voice, but looked up afterwards.

When she turned around, Rihan swore that his heart nearly stopped.

Raven hair with pale skin, she was clad in an all-black outfit - long-sleeved rompers, flats and thigh-length socks. But what surprised him the most, was that she was a splitting image of his beloved Otome. They both have the same lips, hair, noses and skin color. She was a youkai too, and he knew it from sensing her youkai aura.

No way, he thought. Nee-san told me that she was dead...

"O-Otome?" he asked hesitantly. Tears were threatening to prick his eyes and his body started to tremble a little. If it was really her...

She frowned and smiled at him before replying. "No. My name is Hanako, not Otome. You must have mistaken me for somebody else."

Hanako? So, she wasn't Otome? His heart fell and a part of him was disappointed. But what could possibly explain her identical features to his Otome? They were so alike. Even her voice! It was Otome's voice.

She stepped closer to them. Upon taking a closer look, he realized that there was really one thing different about her.

Her eyes, it was a ruby color. Otome's eyes were black, not red.

Was he really mistaken? Was this really not his Otome?

"I was lost in the forest, but I bumped into Rikuo-chan and he was very kind to bring me here," Hanako started explaining to him her situation. Rihan listened to her intently and his eyes were fixed on her. His heart has been aching to see Otome and hear her voice for so many years. And now, standing a few metres away from him, was an identical-looking girl.

He finally spoke after staring at her for so long. "Which clan do you belong to?" he questioned her.

Her smile faded. "I do not belong to any clan," she answered. "I'm merely a lowly youkai who's searching for my father. My mother has passed away a few years ago." She paused to cough a little.

"And your father? Have you found him?" Rihan asked her. She sighed deeply and shook her head sadly.

"No. It's difficult to find him since my mother refused to give me his name before she passed on. I didn't know where to start looking either." She coughed once more and shivered slightly as a gust of wind blew against her slim body.

"Are you alright? Are you, perhaps, sick?" Rihan felt himself growing worried and concerned for her.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah, I guess. I think I'm a little sick from all the traveling."

"If you don't mind, you can stay at our house for a couple of days until you're well enough to look for your father again," he offered. There was no harm in letting a young girl stayed in their house. She didn't seem to be an evil youkai anyway.

Hanako's eyes widened in surprise. "Really? But wouldn't I be imposing on your family?"

"No, you wouldn't. I insist on you staying with us," he said. He gave her an encouraging look and after a while, she replied him with a grateful nod.

"Thank you very much, etto..."

He chuckled a little and finished her sentence for her. "Nura Rihan. That's my name." She beamed up at him, her eyes full of gratitude.

"Thank you, Rihan-sama. I'm in your debt."

A second later, Rikuo tugged at his hand and asked, "does this means that I get to play with her?" Rihan looked down at him, feeling very bad because he has forgotten that his son was there too. Hanako answered for him and promised Rikuo that she would play with him when she was feeling better. He grinned happily at her.

Rihan, too, smiled at her and hastened her to get into his house to warm herself up. She obliged and took a couple of steps forward. However, she stopped in her tracks, as though she has thought of something, and turned back to look at the yamabuki flowers.

Rihan furrowed his brow in curiosity. "What's wrong?"

Hanako spoke a few seconds later with a wistful smile on her face. "These yamabuki flowers... They reminded me of my mother. She loved them so much..."

"And she was the one who named me 'Hanako', which means 'flower girl'."

Rihan blinked a couple of times as his brain registered whatever she had just said. A few things clicked into place as he observed her appearance once more.

Hanako... Was she Otome's daughter?