Jack had escorted the seven elder daughters to the City and watched the tearful reunion of the family of ten.

Knowing his own parents and daughter would want to know of his safe return, he tried to excuse himself from the scene quietly, with the strange sword he'd found wrapped up in linen. The father, however, stopped him briefly to thank him and humbly offered to let him take one of his daughters as a consort, saying that they were the only thing he could really offer him.

Jack blushed and politely turned him down, saying that there was only one woman he really wanted.

As he shut the door behind him, he suddenly heard a barrage of angry screams coming from nine women being directed at the only man in the room with them. He wasn't quite sure if they were angry with the head of their family or him, but he didn't particularly care either way.

Jack kept his face hidden as he walked though the streets of an open market, stopping briefly by a well for a drink.

"Haven't you heard?" a peasant woman whispered excitedly to her companion. "There could be a new princess!" Jack rolled his eyes at the statement as he filled his cup.

"How could that be? I heard that the Prince was heartbroken and inconsolable over what happened to poor Princess Ashi," the companion said.

"No, no, not like that," the peasant corrected her. "I have a friend who works in the Palace. She overheard this strange little girl calling the Prince her father!" Jack nearly dropped his drink in surprise.

"What!?" the companion nearly shouted. "A-are you – Is she sure?"

"Pretty sure," the peasant said. "Apparently, the girl looks a lot like him, too."

There was a pause before the companion spoke. "I… suppose it is possible that the Prince may have sewed a wild oat while he was out training. Has he acknowledged that she's his? I haven't heard any official news about this."

Jack wanted to say something, but stopped himself, realizing they'd only look at him in the same manner his parents had when he'd first tried to explain the situation with Kiko. He finished his drink quickly and continued on his way.

When he arrived at the palace, he was showed to the private gardens quickly, and found his parents entertaining Kiko, who was now dressed in a lovely green kimono and giggling about something they had told her.

The second she noticed him approaching, she ran over to him and hugged him. Jack couldn't help smiling and knelt down to embrace her.

He watched as his parents approached and saw their eyes fall to the linen-wrapped sword he carried with them. He rose and removed the cloth to show them the strange golden blade. A look of recognition came to the Emperor and the Empress's faces.

The Emperor closed his eyes for a moment and breathed slowly.

"It is just as she told us," the Empress whispered to her husband. When Jack's expression shifted as if to question, she continued before he could ask.

"Amaterasu told us that another holy blade would present itself to you and that it would be one of three tools needed to slay Aku in -" she paused, not quite sure how to talk about the other timeline. "I-in the other world."

The strange, familiar weight of the sword finally made sense.

"How long will you be gone?" the Emperor asked solemnly.

Jack was silent as he looked at Kiko, wondering if he should tell them her age and his mind wondering back to his own questions on the passage of time. However, he knew exactly what to tell them.

"As long as it takes," he said with conviction in his voice.

"Very well," his father relented. "We shall attend to matters here. There is however… one situation we need to address first."

"It came to our attention earlier today that our people have become aware of… a rather curious child running around the palace, and they are asking questions concerning where she came from."

"I have heard our people speak of her outside the palace," Jack spoke quietly, placing a hand on Kiko's shoulder. The child looked up to him briefly before looking back to her grandparents.

"What do we tell them of your absence?" his father asked.

Jack took a deep breath and paused, understanding what questions were being asked. He thought of the entire situation at hand and considered that telling everyone Aku was alive somewhere could incite a panic, even if they were certain that he couldn't be in this time.

"There isn't a need to over complicate our situation, or to give details that would just frighten our people," he stated calmly after a moment. "We only need to tell them this truth: Kiko is my daughter, and I will see her reunited with her mother."

He didn't need to look at the girl to know that she was smiling.

Amaterasu smiled at the conviction in her descendant's voice as he made his vow.

Lachesis sighed, thinking of her poor tangled threads.

"The sooner we resolve this, the better," she whispered to herself.

"Indeed," the Sun Goddess responded, turning to her. "Now we need to care of another necessity. Your sister mentioned someone within your Pantheon that could help with keeping Ashi and Kiko alive after we reforge their souls?"

Lachesis gained a grave look on her face that told the Sun Goddess that she didn't wish to speak of that.

"I know whom Atropos was speaking of," she said quietly. "There is only one Goddess in our Pantheon that would have the power of rebirth."

"I must confess my knowledge of your Pantheon is limited," Amaterasu spoke thoughtfully."Am I correct in assuming she means The Dread Queen of your Underworld? She who's name is considered unsafe for mortals to speak?"

"Not unsafe for us, however," the Fate Goddess explained."Her name is Persephone, and she and her husband do not take lightly to mortals escaping death. I am not certain that she would help us."

"I think she will, once we explain the situation to her," Amaterasu responded calmly.

"What makes you so certain?" Lachesis asked.

"Because she's met the Samurai and was impressed with him," the Sun Goddess explained. "She may insist upon issuing another test but I'm sure it would be nothing they couldn't handle."

The Fate Goddess looked to her, confused by her statement.

"Persephone and the Samurai have met? When did that happen?" she questioned.

"Well, he didn't know it was her; she was in disguise. I doubt that he even questioned her identity," Amaterasu continued. "I was angry with her for trying to trap him at the time, but once she explained her reasons to me, I was more… understanding."

"But I digress. We need go to her," she finished. "Are you able to take us to the Underworld?"

"Well… yes, but..." Lachesis hesitated, not sure how to explain. "She wouldn't be there. It's springtime, so she'd be with her mother for sometime now."

"Why would that be?" the Sun Goddess asked.

Lachesis hesitated again.

"It's… complicated."

Author's Note: We are getting there. Slowly, but surely. We are getting there. Work has kept me busy and exhausted and I'm currently getting distracted by another old fandom, but I won't let that stop me from finishing this.

Chapter 13 will introduce Persephone and further explain how Amaterasu knows her. (For those who want to take a stab at guessing, the event Amaterasu tells Lachesis about here is in reference to an episode from when Samurai Jack still had a TV-Y7 rating.)

Chapter 14 will focus back on Jack and Kiko.