DM: Digital Mutants: Series 02: Epilogue
[A/N: Would you look at that? It's the end of 02. Have no fear. I have plans.]
[Disclaimer: I own what I create, but not what I borrow. Don't steal, and don't sue.]
"…and that, little V-chan, is your uncle's memorial stone."
The little silver-haired boy reached out for the polished black stone that read 'Shazaki Kusanagi' as his mother held him in her arms.
Shinji knelt down and stood Vahn up by the stone so he could run his little fingers over the engraved characters and smiled slightly as the one-year-old giggled.
"I'm going to have a child. Did you know that?"
"I sensed the kid in you. I was wondering why you were protecting that spot so vehemently."
Shinji blinked at the unexpected memory and looked towards Vahn. He had wiggled free of her hands and had plopped himself down in front of the three memorial stones.
"And those other two are for your grandma and grandpa." Shinji explained as Vahn looked at her with a baby's confused sounds, "They would have kept hugging you and saying how cute you were."
Vahn smiled at the praise, his advanced little mind picking up on everything with no trouble.
"Sorry I didn't see it sooner." Kusanagi groaned, "Listen, Shinji, I'm sorry about what I've done my whole life. Never meant to do such bad things, I suppose."
"It's OK." Shinji said in a quavering voice, "For every good intent, there is an equal and opposite intent, remember? I was one side, you were the other."
"The bad side." Kusanagi sighed, "I shouldn't have done it all."
"At least you're calling me family now." Shinji smiled just a bit, "By the way, your spirit's going to be an uncle."
Kusanagi glanced at her with a faintly bemused look.
"I'm going to have a child." she explained, "Did you know that?" He grinned and chuckled, blood coming from his mouth.
"I sensed the kid in you." he coughed, "I was wondering why you were protecting that spot so vehemently."
The two were quiet for a while. Shinji looked pained, and Kusanagi stared at the sky genially.
"I'll do my damnedest to help you out as a spirit." Kusanagi muttered, "Just think of me as a guardian demon, all right?" Shinji let out a laugh, tears starting to come from her eyes.
"Hey, you see the little string around my neck?" Kusanagi's voice was getting softer, "Get it off me." Shinji gingerly lifted the string from her brother's neck and lifted it to see it in the sunlight. A tiny, perfect-sphere black stone was attached to the string.
"Wear that." he said in a whisper, "My last gift to you, OK?" Shinji looked at him, her breath catching in her chest.
"And Shinji?" Kusanagi whispered, his eyes barely open, "Love you, sis."
His eyes slid closed, and his breath slowed to a stop. Shinji's breath caught again and she let out a low sob and lay across her brother's chest, crying.
"Love you too, bro." she whispered, "I love you too. And I'm sorry it had to end like this. I wish we could have been a real family. You, me, mom, and dad. Not like this."
She remained there for a long while, unable to stop crying.
"Mama?"
Shinji jerked back to the real world and found Vahn tugging at her shirtsleeve with a scared look. She felt at her cheeks and felt tears.
Shinji looked up towards the three memorial stones and thought of what she had done that long year ago. She had turned her brother to ash and flew to the highest place she could in the sky.
She scattered the ashes, murmuring the last goodbyes she could. It was the very least she could do for him. The very least.
"Mama?" Vahn looked very scared now, "Mama?" Shinji looked back at him, and scooped him up in her arms, hugging him tightly and not letting him go.
"Vahn, I love you with all my heart." she whispered, "Don't ever forget that, all right?"
Vahn hugged his mother back as best he could with his little arms, glad she wasn't hurt or something bad.
"I wish we could have all been a family." she whispered, rocking her son in her arms, "It would have been the best thing in the world. You, me, Kusanagi, mom, dad, Myotismon. We could have been a family."
"We ah famwe." Vahn said as well he could, "Mama, papa, V-chan, gwama, gwampa, an uncle Ku-san-agi. Fa-mi-ly."
Shinji looked at her son, saw him smiling, and couldn't help but smile in return.
"Oh, V-chan." she laughed weakly, "That's right. Family. We are. Even if some aren't here with us." Vahn smiled more broadly and hugged his mother again.
Shinji rocked the little boy in her arms and then was struck with an idea. She put him on her knee and pulled off the little stone necklace. Vahn looked at it with a questioning look.
Shinji put a finger up to the stone, and carefully cut it apart with a tiny bit of energy. It became two halves, and she put the half with the string back on. She created a string, melded it into the other stone half, and tied it around Vahn's neck carefully.
"This little stone is for you to always remember that no matter where you or your family are, you'll always be together." Shinji explained, "Keep it on, and you'll never be apart from your family."
Vahn looked at the little stone and then smiled at his mother.
"Can we go home to papa?" he asked, "Bet he misses us."
"And I bet you're right." Shinji stood up, giving him another quick hug, "Let's go home."
As the two left the memorial site, perfectly happy, two more people entered it.
"This, Tabris, is where your father is. This is where Kusanagi is."
The End?