Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Fifty years after the fall of Hikusaak…

It was a calm day. A light breeze swept the many loose petals about the graves and grassy hills that rolled on for as far as the eye could see, the sun illuminated the lush landscape with soft rays, and the clouds gathered into little clumps in the air so that the clear blue sky appeared in huge patches across the heavens. A lone visitor occupied the burial grounds, dressed in a flowing black coat and carrying an expensive silver cane

Albert Silverberg stared at his brother's grave, lost in thoughts of the past. He had again brought a small bouquet of white flowers, and it now lay almost tranquilly on the stone with no companions. Fifty years had done a lot to the strategist, although one would almost say that the Silverberg's growth was slowed by the temporary possession of the True Wind Rune.

His hair had only grayed halfway; a modest amount of white strands were highlighted by what remained of his maroon hair that was still kept at the same fashionably short length he had fifty years ago. A few wrinkles made their way across his face, although Albert had quite a clear complexion despite of his age. However, his once intense green eyes had begun to gray around the edges of the irises, harboring the signs of future vision loss. The cane was for his leg; his right one had suddenly begun aching a few years ago, and the pain never subsided. It didn't matter to him though. He was used to it, just as he had gotten used to everything else except for one thing…

"Hey Caesar," he muttered. "I might be joining you in a few years…" The wind picked up slightly, but its strength paled in comparison to the first time he had visited his brother's grave. "I wonder… have you ever forgiven me?" Silence answered him. Albert sighed, "I guess I'll just have to ask you when I see you, huh?"

"Grandpa!" an energetic little voice called from across the field. Albert turned to see a little girl waving at him, followed by Sasarai. She ran across the burial site to the strategist, laughing with joy at seeing him. "Grandpa, what are you doing out here by yourself?" she asked when she reached him.

Albert smiled warmly and bent down, patting her on the head. "Grandpa's just visiting your grand uncle."

"Uncle Caesar?" she asked. Albert nodded. "Oh! Daddy brought me here to visit him too! He said Uncle Caesar wanted to see how big I've grown," she said, laughing. "See, I'm really tall now!"

"Yes you are," Albert told her despite the fact that the five-year old only reached his waist. "Now don't keep him waiting. Go see him."

"Okay!" She went to the grave and squatted down, silently talking to it. She had inherited the penetrating green eyes of the Silverbergs, but if one looked closely, he would conclude that her hair leaned more towards the brown side than the original maroon. The girl was already showing the signs of a genius, but effectively masked it behind her child-like innocence, whether artificially or naturally. Her affinity to magic that she inherited from her father also added to her workload; Sasarai had made sure that he found the best teachers in Harmonia for both her academic and magic instructions.

"She's a bundle of energy." Sasarai said to Albert when he finally reached the strategist. "Always running off… We almost lost her in the marketplace once." The ex-bishop looked more or less the same. He had grown his hair longer than it already was during the Second Firebringer War to his waist and had tied it loosely with a piece of silk.

"You didn't tell me about that," the strategist said, raising an eyebrow.

"Sure I did. You weren't listening," the other joked.

Albert sighed, shaking his head. "I must be getting old… not being able to remember such things…"

Sasarai laughed. "I was just joking, about the telling you part of course! My wife insisted that you didn't find out or else you'd scold us!" He looked at the grave that still kept his daughter occupied. "Who'd have ever thought I'd end up being your son-in-law…" he said with a far away look in his eyes.

"Not my fault that you're older than me," the Silverberg retorted. The two started laughing, lighting up the mournful place with their voices.

Sasarai motioned to Caesar's grave with a jerk of his head. "Is this going to be the last time?"

"Yes… this will be the last time I will come here."

"I see…"

"It's about time that I stopped thinking about what happened fifty years ago…"

The stared at the grave with the girl who prayed at it and silently gave Caesar's her own thoughts as the wind picked up once again, but it was still not strong enough to blow anything but loose vegetation about.

"Just why did you decide to pass the True Rune on to him of all people?" Sasarai asked after a while. "I understand that it 'fits' his name, but I've always assumed that it was a joke of yours."

The strategist chuckled. "Bearers of the True Runes are fated to live forever until the runes are lost or the host is killed. You'd probably understand more than anyone why the other three decided to keep their runes."

"Go on…" Sasarai responded as he tried to see what Albert was trying to say.

"I just made it easier for the bearer of the True Water Rune to uphold her decision to keep her rune," he continued, closing his eyes and feeling the wind, which had died to a soft breeze once again, against his face. He had never gotten used to not being in control of that element. Sasarai observed him carefully but found no trace of the emotion he had been searching for all these years. "… but to be truthful, I was never able to accept my brother's death. As another one of the reasons, I guess you can say that the True Wind Rune was a reminder of that day…"

"Then have you ever regretted giving the rune to Percival?" the High Priest asked him after a few minutes of silence. "Regretted losing the immortality that it gave you, losing the power over the wind, losing… a piece of yourself?"

Albert smiled, looking at his granddaughter. "Never…"

The wind picked up again with a gush of energy.

Never…

…The End…

Note: Wow… it's finished! I'm amazed! When I first started this, I meant for it to be a one shot, but I had just finished Suikoden III that winter, and I couldn't get the game out of my system; I was so addicted! So I continued writing… and then stopped because of school and lack of ideas. Ironically, I started again when I started school… and made up most of the story as I wrote, ha ha! This epilogue was actually written around Chapter 15 because I kind of ran out of ideas for that chapter. I just suddenly thought of the ending/epilogue and this came out… way too early. Now it's finally free from the confines of my own computer to be with the rest of its buddy chapters!

So, last note, and it's almost on every chapter because I really appreciate all of you who have been reading (even if you don't review, but a review is nice and encouraging… insert a smiley face here): Thank you so much for reading! See you again (hopefully)!