Part Six: In the House of My Enemy

They made it to the hills after nightfall, the pair walking along in silence, knowing very well that this could be their last night to live. Neither of them wanted to talk about it - talk about regrets and could have beens; talk about how it could have all been different if they had never encounter Aku to begin with; about how they could simply walk away from the responsibility of battling Aku regardless of the outcomes.

"We should make camp for the night," Jack said as they approached the base of one of the hills. Several trees formed a half circle, branches battling for moonlight. Yarrow simply nodded, walking along side the bear mount. As they stopped, she slipped the reins from the bears head, burying her head in the mossy coat and muttering a few words into his ears. The bear mount made a deep guttural sound, growling softly. Finally, it gave a massive sigh, butting against Yarrow before turning back in the direction that they had come from.

"He knows the way home," she said, watching the bear mount for a few moments before turning her attention back to Jack. "There is not need for him to die. I think he should have some cubs to take care of by now." She shook her head. "What needs done?" she asked, indicating to their camp site.

Soon, the two of them had gathered enough fallen branches to make a small fire. In the darkness of the night, it shone softly, casting a golden glow on the two travelers. They sat in the silence of the fire, the occasional crackle of the burning wood making conversation with the soft wind that whispered through the branches of the trees. Yarrow finally broke the silence, looking over at Jack, who was poking the fire with a loose stick.

"Do you have any regrets?" she asked quietly, her voice sounding loud in the silence around them.

"Regrets?"

"About your path, your fate and all," she said. "I mean, if you could have, would you have done everything differently?"

Jack thought for a few minuets. A day didn't pass that he did not think about what his life could have been if it had not been for Aku. He could have stayed with his parents, grown to be a samurai and worked at his father's side as a general or a commander. He could have lived what he had always considered a 'normal' life.

But on this quest to get back to his true time, he had meet so many different people - friends and allies of strange characteristics and species. There had not been a moment where he had been 'bored' or without something to do. It was almost like a job - something to do day in and day out. Even though it brought no monetary reward, it always seemed to pay him with rich experiences.

Jack shook his head. "There are things I would do differently - I would have wished Aku away, but I would not even trade my worst days in this alternate time. Even though it has been a hard life here, every minuet of it was worth its work."

Yarrow smiled faintly, looking into the crackling blaze before them. "There are some things I would trade or change - maybe some people's view about my kind, how we live too long to keep life long friends among the short lives. But I would have to agree with you. Even the worst days, I would not trade." She sighed, silent once more. "Do you think we honestly have a chance against Aku?" she asked, her voice tinged with sorrow. "I mean, as great as our powers are - you with your sword and I with my earth magic - do you think that we stand a chance against him at all?"

Jack looked over at Yarrow sadly. Despite the fact that she was aged more than he would ever even dream of, she was still terrified of leaving this world behind, no matter how much she said that she was ready for the next life.

"We stand a chance," Jack said. "Aku has not chosen to allow himself to face me in battle for as long as I have been in this realm. Perhaps he fears me. And with your powers, your abilities, we may stand an even better chance. He has never battled your kind before, only his minions have."

"I wish I'd never heard of Aku, or had to have battled him," Yarrow muttered, ever plunging deeper into sadness. She pulled her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on her knees.

"So do all who survive him," Jack said, reaching over and placing a hand on Yarrow's shoulder. Despite the fact that she looked like a finely carved wood doll, her skin was like any other humans, soft and warm to the touch. "Better times will come once this passes. You will see."

She gave him a weak smile, a reshaping of the lines of sadness on her face. "Perhaps there will be." She gave a soft laugh. "I haven't even thought of what I will do once Aku is dead - I haven't thought beyond revenge."

Jack realized he hadn't either. Would he be able to go home? Return to the life that he had known there? Or would he be trapped in this universe that he had come to both love and hate? What would he do then? "I haven't either," Jack confessed. "I'd probably travel this world if I wasn't sent home. If I was sent home, I don't know what I would do there either."

Yarrow smiled slightly more . "Then I would come with you. I have no where else to go or no one else I know that I not sleeping in the eternal," she said, as if that decided it. "You could probably use a friend either way."

Jack smiled slightly. "I would like that," he said simply.

"Than that's settled," she said. "Better for worse, for here or at your mythical sounding home, we shall be fellow travelers of time and space." She extended her hand towards Jack. Giving a lopsided grin, the samurai clasped the girl's hand, her small hand almost disappearing within his sword callused one.

"And tomorrow, we battle," she said, her voice almost sounding cheerful. "Tomorrow, the first day of the rest of our lives."