Even though I would love to keep this story going, this is the last chapter.

8 years later

Swish. Swish. Swish.

The sound of two shinai swinging through the air filled the dojo. One was held by a boy, eight years old and tall for his age, with bright amethyst eyes and long, straight, raven black hair that was tied in a low ponytail he had slung over his shoulder. The other was held by a smaller boy, no older than six, with sparkling blue eyes that glittered like the sun reflecting off the ocean, and unruly plum colored hair that he had pulled up high. Sweat beaded his forehead as he tried desperately to keep up with the older boy's swings.

"No no, you're holding it wrong again," the older boy reprimanded, coming over to correct the younger boy's grip. "You have to do it like this." He adjusted the boy's finger placement. In front of them, Saito frowned.

"Mirai, if you're going to correct your brother's grip, at least make sure you do it properly." Mirai scoffed at the reprimand and looked back at his brother's hands, realizing too late that he had placed them in the wrong spot. Sheepishly, he corrected himself. Saito smiled and nodded his approval.

"It's hard to correct him when he holds his hands differently than I do," Mirai said with a scowl, attempting to cover for his mistake.

"That's no excuse," Saito replied. "We teach left handed and right handed stances here. If you want to take over the dojo someday like you say you do, then you have to learn to teach both."

"I'll learn!" Mirai insisted, looking up at his father with fierce determination. "I swear I'll learn." Saito gave him an affectionate look.

"I have no doubt you will." It had been eight years since the night Saito and Chizuru declared their love for each other, and much had changed. The biggest change was the addition of their second son. Chizuru had named him Mamoru, meaning 'to protect', because, as she said, she wanted him to grow up to have the same strong will to protect others that his father has. Saito could not have thought of a more fitting name.

The second change was the dojo. After some deliberation, Saito and Shinpachi had decided to establish a dojo together. They taught a practical style that was more functional than flashy, based on the skills they had accumulated during years of hard battle. They also had a strict non-discrimination policy and accepted any student who wished to study there, regardless of their rank, birth, family…or preferred hand. It soon became common knowledge that anyone wishing to become a left-handed swordsman had to study at their dojo to learn from the master himself, and they had a fair number of students. The newest left-handed student was Mamoru, who was only a few days into his lessons.

"Oh, diligent as always I see," Shinpachi said with a grin, appearing in the doorway. "Practice is over you know." Both boys' faces lit up.

"Ojisan!" Mamoru said with glee, running over to him, but Mirai bowed respectfully.

"Sensei," he said in acknowledgement. Shinpachi grinned widely.

"Man, you know I love it when you do that, but it's after hours. Let loose a little."

"But we're still in the dojo," Mirai pointed out. "In here, you are my sensei. I can't call you ojisan until we leave." Shinpachi rubbed the back of his head in exacerbation. It was an argument they had had many times before, but it seemed it was one Shinpachi was destined to lose. Mirai had been raised by Saito after all.

"Mirai is correct," Saito said in his son's defense. "As long as we are in the dojo, we are their senseis, not their father and uncle. Mamoru, you need to learn that too now that you are training here." Mamoru nodded.

"Sorry otousan, I'll remember,"

"Sensei," Saito corrected him, gently but firmly. Mamoru blushed.

"Se…sensei," he stuttered and Shinpachi laughed.

"Man you are too strict on them," he said with a grin. "Come on, let's get out of here. The girls said they'd make something good tonight."

The third change was Shinpachi and Sakuya's marriage. Shinpachi had been uncharacteristically shy about admitting his feelings for her, but Sakuya forced it out of him one day, and they finally held a wedding. Their daughter arrived about a year later. Kaho was only four, but already a beauty, and Shinpachi was excessively overprotective.

They headed towards the small house behind the dojo where Shinpachi, Sakuya, and Kaho lived. Chizuru often came over to cook with Sakuya so that the two families could eat together. The smell of dinner wafted towards them.

"Oh, smells good in here!" Shinpachi said as they entered the house.

"Otousan!" came a tiny, excited voice, and Kaho bounded over to her father. An enormous grin spread across Shinpachi's face as he lifted his daughter and placed her on his shoulders.

Chizuru came over to them and knelt in front of Mamoru.

"Let me see your hands," she said, and he held them out to her. As one of the the 'mothers' of the dojo, Chizuru had treated more than her fair share of cuts and bruises over the years, and she knew from experience that new students' hands were often covered in blood and blisters before they developed the callouses they needed. She didn't really have that problem with her own sons (they were half pure-blood Oni after all), but she was still a mother, so she still had to be sure. As expected, Mamoru's hands looked fine and healthy. Chizuru had noticed early on that, while her boys didn't heal from the normal scrapes and scratches of childhood as quickly as she did, their wounds still healed in mere minutes.

"Do they hurt?" she asked, and Mamoru shook his head. Chizuru smiled at him, then looked up at Saito.

"How's he doing?" she asked him.

"He's doing well," Saito replied, the pride in his voice clear. "He's dedicated, and that's important. He'll be strong, I'm sure of it."

"You bet he'll be strong!" Mirai said. "I'm going to teach him everything he needs to know since I'm going to take over the dojo one day!" Chizuru laughed.

"Is that so?" she said. "Well train hard, both of you." Mamoru nodded and Mirai flashed her a huge grin. Saito gave his sons a proud smile.

"It's important to have goals," he said. "It gives you focus and direction. I expect great things from you." Mirai grinned at him.

"What about me?" Mamoru asked, giving Saito a hopeful look. Saito gave him a tender smile and placed a hand on his head.

"Of course I expect great things from both of you. Someday you'll have a goal and a dream too, and we'll support you however we can."

"And maybe one day one of them will marry Kaho-chan," Chizuru said with a sidewise glance at Shinpachi. He scowled at her.

"Absolutely not! I forbid it! No one is marrying her! I won't give her away to anyone!" Chizuru giggled. Sakuya appeared in the doorway.

"Ok everyone, come and eat," she said, and the party moved inside.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooo

With dinner completed, the Saito family left for their own house, walking together down the moonlit street. Mirai and Mamoru ran a bit ahead, laughing together and talking excitedly about training.

"This is perfect," Chizuru thought to herself. "This is the way life should be." She looked at Saito who was walking beside her and felt a rush of affection towards him. She placed her hand in the crook of his arm.

"Hajime-san," she began. "Thank you." Saito looked genuinely confused.

"What for?"

"For…for everything, I guess. For marrying me when you didn't have to, for loving me despite everything that happened, for Mirai and Mamoru, for this…unexpected life. Thank you." Saito was taken aback by her words, but he recovered quickly. He smiled softly and covered her hand with his own.

"There is nothing to thank me for," he replied. "In fact, I should be thanking you."

"For what?" Saito smiled.

"For marrying me when you didn't have to, for loving me despite everything that happened, for Mirai and Mamoru, and for this unexpected life. Thank you." Chizuru gasped. Hearing her own words reflected back at her made her realize just how touching they were, and how much they must have meant to Saito. She leaned her head against his shoulder and said the only thing that seemed appropriate.

"There is nothing to thank me for."

The End

Thank you all for reading! I loved all of your reviews, you really made my day, so thank you guys! I'm glad so many people enjoyed this fic, because I really had fun writing it.

And, since I love writing about Saito and Chizuru so much, I'm working on another one! It will be called "Snowflakes and Sakura Petals" and should be posted soon :)