A/N: Okay, this is it, the final chapter =(

I have really loved writing this and even though I'm sad that I've completed it, I'm also glad that I managed too. Also, even though I finished this on Wednesday, I decided to wait until today because it's exactly four months since the first chapter went up.

Special thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. I have really appreciated it.

And I'm not going to stop writing Chiaki/Kotoha stories, since now that this is finished, I will be working on the 'FireFlies' sequel I mentioned months ago, so please check that out soon ^_^

Fated: Act XIII

Epilogue

As they walked back to the Shiba mansion, Genta kept his head lowered, walking slowly behind the others. He didn't understand why they had all kept it a secret.

Take-chan and Mako-chan knew and also Ryunosuke seemed to have an idea, but why didn't they tell me? Don't they trust me enough? He lifted his head slightly as he watched Chiaki and Kotoha who were smiling and laughing, his arm tightly around her, and sighed. I don't get it.

Despite her happiness, Kotoha felt that there was something not quite right. She turned her head to see Genta looking dejected. She mentally kicked herself as she realised.

"Chiaki," she said quietly. He turned to look at her and she jerked her head backwards towards Genta and he nodded.

"Genta."

Genta lifted his head to see both Chiaki and Kotoha standing in front of him, the other three a few steps away, watching. He looked at them, confused.

"I'm sorry." Kotoha bowed to him.

"Yeah, we're really sorry, Gen-chan," Chiaki added.

"Why?" Genta asked, his bitterness creeping into his voice.

Kotoha lifted her head. "We should have told you, but Tono-sama made us promise not to."

Genta snorted and looked away from them.

Chiaki frowned. "Anyway, we actually didn't tell any of them," he said, "they all guessed."

"So I'm stupid."

"That's not what we're saying," Kotoha said gently. "We were planning on telling all of you when this was over, but, well, we were beaten to it."

"Do you know how much it hurt?" Genta said. "Finding out from the mouth of Dayu. It really hurt, especially then hearing that everyone else knew! It felt like you didn't trust me!"

"I know, I'm sorry," Kotoha replied, tears brimming her eyes. "We should have told you."

Genta looked at her and felt angry with himself. He hadn't meant for her to cry about it. He lowered his head again, this time in shame and embarrassment. He was surprised when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. "I'm sorry," Kotoha's voice whispered and he was taken aback when he felt her kiss his cheek gently. He looked up at her.

"I'm sorry, Kotoha," he told her. "I was just shocked."

"You weren't the only one," Takeru said, taking a step forward. "When I found out, I wasn't as... supportive as I should have been, but," he smiled, "but I regret my decision for them not to tell you, any of you, so it should be me, not them, who apologises." He then bowed to Genta. "I'm sorry."

"Take-chan..."

Chiaki then punched Genta lightly on the arm. "Cheer up," he said, wrapping his arm around Kotoha. "This is supposed to be a celebration. We're supposed to be happy, not sad."

Genta sighed as he smiled. He then quickly leapt at Chiaki and Kotoha, startling them as he pulled them into a hug. "I'm so happy for you guys!"

"Uh, thanks," Chiaki muttered, trying to push himself free, but the more he tried to pull away, the tighter Genta's grip became, until Takeru, Mako and Ryunosuke came to their aid, trying to free them from Genta's grip.

XxX

It was early in the morning, a couple of days after the defeat of DayuKage, when Hikoma found Kotoha sat on the veranda, staring out at the garden. As he approached her, he noticed that she still hadn't removed her bandages. He sighed sadly to himself.

Kotoha heard footsteps approach her and she quickly turned. "Jii-san!"

"Kotoha, may I sit?" he asked. She nodded and he sat down next to her. "How are you?"

She looked up at him, though her eyes didn't meet his. "I'm fine."

He sighed once more, knowing that she wasn't being truthful, but he knew that it wasn't his place. If anyone is going to get her to open up, it will be Chiaki, he thought.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked after a few moments of silence.

"Of course."

"I was wondering, how was Chiaki able to find me?" she said. "I know he said that his Origami led him to me, but, I don't understand how."

Hikoma leant back. He had been wondering when one of them would ask and was still surprised that Chiaki still hadn't asked him. "As you know," he began, "the Origami are able to communicate with each other, but this is only possible over very short distances, no more than this garden for example. After Chiaki brought you back and told me what had happened, I did some research and I discovered that Origami can communicate with each other over vast distances if they are connected."

"Connected?"

Hikoma nodded. "Yes, now the source didn't elaborate on this, so I had to do some more research and I came across a note by a previous ShinkenRed and I came to the conclusion that because of Chiaki's love towards you and the depth of your love for him, a connection was created between your two Origami."

Kotoha, who had been listening intently, let out a small gasp of surprise and she looked back across the garden. "Our love..." she said quietly to herself. She then wondered if that meant that a similar situation had happened in the past and of what the outcome had been. She was about to ask when she suddenly felt tears spring to her eyes at the thought that the outcome may not have been as happy for the previous Shinkengers and as she also felt a relief that things had turned out the way in which they had. Despite all the pain, she had come out of it happy, knowing that she and Chiaki were in love. She hastily wiped them away, but Hikoma noticed her movement.

"Kotoha," he said, but she jumped up.

"I should go back inside," she quickly said, not wanting him to see her cry. She made to turn, but he stopped her.

"It's okay to cry," he told her and he placed his arms gently around her. She moved into his embrace, crying on his shoulder. He noticed Chiaki standing in the doorway and Hikoma gave him a small nod. Chiaki walked over and Hikoma moved Kotoha into Chiaki's arms, before bowing.

"Thank you," Chiaki mouthed at him, holding Kotoha tightly to him as Hikoma walked back into the mansion.

XxX

Kotoha carefully removed the bandage from her cheek. She stared in the mirror at the long cut that had been left by Dayu. It was almost healed.

Almost a week had passed since the defeat of DayuKage and things had been pretty quiet. Takeru and Hikoma had guessed that Doukokou was making the Gedoushuu lay low for a while in order for Dayu to recover from what had happened. Kotoha, in particular, was glad for this since she too needed time to recover and understand everything.

As she stared at her reflection, her mind drifted over everything that happened since they had defeated DayuKage.

She raised her hand to the cut and let her fingers run along it. It no longer physically hurt, but as she touched it, she worried that it would leave a scar. This made her fear that, with her features tarnished, Chiaki would no longer love her. She shook her head. She didn't want to happen. She wanted to remain perfect for him. And what if it did leave a scar? What would the others think? She knew that their eyes would always be drawn towards it. She began to place the bandage back on when a hand stopped her, making her gasp, since she hadn't heard anyone approach.

"I'm sorry," Chiaki said. "I didn't mean to startle you." His hand was still on hers.

"It's alright," she replied, refusing to look at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothing, I..." She tried to raise her hand so she could put the bandage back on, but he kept his grip on her preventing her from doing so.

"Kotoha."

She moved her head away from him. She didn't want him to see her scars, for him to realise that she was no longer pretty or perfect.

"Kotoha, look at me," he said gently.

"I can't," she whispered. "I don't want you to see me like this." Tears formed in her eyes and Chiaki felt them drip onto his hand.

"Do you really think that I care about that?" he asked.

"Why wouldn't you?" She turned a walked across the room, Chiaki followed her. She looked at her flute lying on her bedside table. "Do you really think this is all over?" she asked.

"I do," he replied.

"I want to believe that, but... I don't know if I will be able to play again. Not after everything."

"Kotoha," he began, but she cut him off.

"I want to play again, I really do, but there's something telling me that I shouldn't, especially after knowing that it was how I hurt Dayu. I can't stop my feelings, but I can stop playing."

"I don't want you to stop," Chiaki said. "I love your music almost as much as I love you. You wouldn't be you without your flute. You love it too much."

"It doesn't matter," she replied, placing her hand on her cheek, on the cut.

He sighed and placed his hand on her chin, making her face him, her eyes determinedly not meeting his. He then placed his hand on her cheek, covering the cut, his other hand touching hers, entwining their fingers. He stroked her cheek in a loving manner, keeping his eyes fixed on hers, until she eventually realised that he didn't care about how she looked, that he loved her for her. Her eyes met his and widened in surprise.

"Chiaki," she whispered. Her eyes filled with tears once more as she threw herself into him, wrapping her arms tightly around him, crying into his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay," he said, holding her tightly, his hand stroking her hair in a soothing manner. "I've got you."

"It's just, it hurt so much," she cried. "All of it."

He stayed silent, but continued to stroke her hair, as he realised that she needed to reveal everything that had happened whilst she had been imprisoned. He knew that she needed to talk and that she needed him to listen. He listened as she told him about what Dayu did to her, how she felt so scared and so alone. He had felt tears form in his eyes at her words, but pushed them away; she needed him to strong for the both of them. "But I knew you'd come and you did," she finished, her throat now dry from the crying and talking.

"I would always have come for you," Chiaki replied, gently kissing her forehead. "But, I should have gotten there sooner." Kotoha looked up at him confused. She was about to respond when he started talking again. "When you were taken, I was so wound up in myself. If I had been more focused, then I would have found you sooner. Then you wouldn't have gone through what you did."

"Chiaki." This time it was her turn to comfort him. "Chiaki, you did what you had to. You found me and nothing else matters."

"But I-"

"You found me," she repeated. She rested her head against his chest, sighing as she listened to the steady beat of his heart. She lifted her hands, gently placing them on his chest as she looked up at him. "Does it still hurt?"

"No," he replied.

"It's all my fault," she said.

"Kotoha, we can't help what happened."

They stared into each other's eyes for a few moments; both of their eyes burning with sadness and desire for each other. With a quick movement, Chiaki kissed her forcefully and passionately, his hands cupping her chin, making her take a couple of steps back in surprise before she moved herself into his embrace. Her arms wrapped around his neck, as his own slid carefully down her back. It was the most exhilarating kiss that either of them had experienced as their poured their emotions into it.

A knock on the door startled them, making them break apart, both of them out of breath, looking flustered. Kotoha ran a hand through her hair.

"Who is it?" she called, her voice breathless.

"It's me," Mako's voice said from the other side. "Are you two nearly ready?"

"We'll be there in a minute," Kotoha called.

"Okay." They heard Mako's footsteps walk away.

"I knew there was another reason, I came to see you," Chiaki said, smiling, though he still looked flushed.

Kotoha smiled slightly, remembering that they were all going out to celebrate. She back over to the mirror and picked up the bandage to cover her cheek once more, but Chiaki placed his hand on hers, lowering it, before taking the bandage out of her hand.

"You don't need that," he told her.

She looked at him, worried, but he gently kissed her forehead, smiling at her.

"Trust me," he said, slipping his hand into hers. "You're beautiful just the way you are."

"I trust you," she replied, leaning up and kissing his lips lightly. "I love you."

"I love you too," he replied, holding her close to him as they left the room.