(continuation of chapter 7)

The next morning, it was already the men's funeral. Before leaving for the cemetery, Yoneda remembered something and he fumbled in the trash can for Ichiro's letter. He never thought that he will be giving the letter to the girls. Yoneda put the letter in his pocket and left with Ayame by his side.

It was a pretty big funeral with tons of people. Sailors, families and officers were there. The men's bodies were placed in coffins. Ichiro and Kayama's coffins were much different because of their status, rank and job. Beside Kayama's coffin were Tsukigumi agents. Some of them were weeping while the others kept quiet or talked amongst themselves. Their flag fluttered as the wind passed through it and went to the Hanagumi flag which, like the Tsukigumi flag, fluttered. Ichiro and Kayama are about to be buried along with all the other men of the Harusame.

The glass on Ichiro's coffin were full of tears. Most of it came from Sakura and Iris and the rest came from the others. Yoneda and Ayame were there, walking around the cemetery looking at those men who gave their lives for theirs. Yoneda stopped and talked to the Tsukigumi agents while Ayame stared at Kayama.

After looking at Kayama, she looked at Ichiro's coffin. She could see that the girls had settled down from crying. They were on their seats except for Sakura who stayed beside Ichiro's coffin, talking to him. Maria is reading a book, Kanna is eating some of the rice cakes which are being served, Kohran is stroking Iris' hair while Iris slept peacefully on her lap after crying her eyes out and Sumire is socializing with the other people. Kasumi, Yuri and Tsubaki were talking amongst themselves. All of them were wearing black including the Tsukigumi agents and the other people. Lots of people who had no relation with the men came to give thanks and to honor their sacrifice to save their city. They went to each family and gave condolences especially to the Hanagumi because their lost loved one is the captain of the ship.

Eight men marched with their black and white uniforms, carrying rifles. The band was readying their instruments. Admiral Sato went up to the stage and sat on one of the chairs there. Vacant chairs were there for Ayame, Yoneda and the Wise men council members.

Admiral Sato went to the center of the stage and called everybody's attention. He then made a speech about the bravery, sacrifice and courage of the men of the Harusame who gave their lives to give them the peace they are enjoying now. The men with the rifles fired their twenty-one shot salute in honor of them.

After the short ceremony, the burial rites were read and the men are already going to be buried.

It took the Hanagumi a pretty long time to pull Sakura away from Ichiro. Once Sakura fell back on her seat, the others comforted her. Iris had already awaken to the commotion and they all watched with tears on their eyes as the Navy men covered Ichiro's coffin with the national flag of Japan and buried him beside Kayama. Yoneda took Ichiro's katanas and wrapped them in cloth in a plan to give it to Sakura.

Sakura stood in front of the grave of Ichiro with the others. They were silently talking to him as they looked at the tombstone which is engraved,

Shinguuji Ichiro

Chuu'i, Imperial Navy

Teikoku Kagekidan Hanagumi taichou

Born, January 3, 1903-- Death, March 22, 1934

Yoneda came over and placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura just looked at Yoneda while he placed his other hand in his pocket.

Yoneda pulled out a white envelope, "Here. Ichiro wanted me to give this to you guys when something would happen to him." he then handed the envelope to Sakura. "I thought I would never give it to you demo something did happen to him."

Sakura gingerly took the envelope. "My family" she muttered as she read the familiar handwriting in front of the envelope.

The others cramped behind her trying to read the letter.

Sakura opened the envelope and started to read the letter aloud.

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To my family,

No doubt by now you have already heard of my death. I never really wanted to give this to you because I know that I had promised to come back and I will but there are some promises that have to be broken. You should know that we have purposes here on earth. We have our own purposes to live. I had already fulfilled my purpose here to live. I hope you will understand that I had to do this. Sakura, many people have already died and most of them are still young and their lives were not complete. Oh, how much they wanted to do before they died! Our child still has a long life ahead. He or she is one of the reasons why I accepted this mission. Gomen that our child will be fatherless but I hope that now, when our child is born, he or she will have a good, happy life which I had fought for. I hope that now, even when I'm gone, you will all have stronger teamwork, trust and understanding with each other so please don't cry, I am already happy now that at least even if we didn't beat Tenkai, I died fighting for you and Teito. You are my home away from home.

Life is too short to waste. Hopefully when I died, we have already beaten Tenkai. It is the reason I had to leave you. I had to protect you, my friends and family and my lovely wife, Sakura with my life. I had to fight for our child's bright peaceful future and give Teito its peace that it deserves back to it.

As I write this letter and as the sun sets on my life, I remember the times we were always together. The times when I played Hanafuda with Koran, times when I would make tea with Sumire-kun, times when Iris would cheer me up, times when I train with Kanna-san, times when Maria-san would help me be a better taichou to give you what you need and lastly, the times Sakura and I are together. These are the memories I would always treasure and bring with me no matter where I am.

About the play, "Romeo and Juliet", gomen nasai that I'll be unable to see it with my own mortal eyes and I know that you don't feel like continuing with the play because of me. Please don't. Many people are dying to watch it as much as I do so please start rehearsing and acting as if I'm there because I will always be there with you all no matter what happens. This promise will never be broken ever by anything else in the world and above it. I love all of you especially you, Sakura. My sweet, sweet, Sakura and our child.

Now, I leave everything to you. Continue what we have started with. Protect the Capital when the need arises. Protect each other like what I did and do not ever give up. Always bear in mind that I will always watch over you and be with you. Sakura, please take care of our child. Tell him or her that I love him or her. I hope this peace that we have fought for may endure and last forever. I hope that my death would be the last of these casualties of war.

Maria-san, Kanna-san, Iris, Koran, Sumire-kun, Tsubaki-kun, Yuri-san, Kasumi-san, Ayame-san, Yoneda-shihainin, and lastly, Sakura, all of you will always be in my heart forever.



Sayonara, my beloved family.

With love,

Teikoku Kagekidan

Hanagumi taichou

Shinguuji Ichiro

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"Ichiro" Sakura muttered as tears drenched the letter. She sobbed, saying "Now he can't see the future he gave to our child!" and she sobbed even harder.

Yoneda stroked her back and Sakura knelt and cried in front of his grave. The others couldn't help but shed their tears from what they read and Ayame had started to weep again. Yoneda was the only person who didn't cry that time.

Admiral Sato came up to them with some other military officials, carrying a piece of paper. They waited until they all calmed down from crying and spoke to them. "Excuse us, ladies." He bowed and waited until they acknowledged his greeting. He gave the paper to Sakura. "This is Shinguuji-chuu'i's life insurance papers which are kept in the Navy's files. When he passed away, he wanted to give half of his insurance money to his family and the other half to the Teigeki. The navy will continue to pay you Shinguuji-chuu'i's pension for his service to Teito."

Sakura didn't care about any of the insurance or anything else or even wanted it either. The only thing she cared and wanted most more than anything in this world is to have her dear Ichiro back which she knew is utterly impossible. Money would never, ever bring him back now. Yoneda took the insurance papers and thanked Admiral Sato. Admiral Sato and his men bowed and gave their condolences before leaving.

The group stayed in the cemetery up to the afternoon, revisiting their past memories with Ichiro before finally deciding to let him rest in peace.

It has been over one week since Ichiro's funeral. The Hanagumi continued their everyday lives. They would eat together, help each other and they would comfort each other when one should cry. The only difference is that they had gloomy faces and, they still didn't rehearse well for the play despite what Ichiro asked for in his farewell letter. They tried rehearsing for the first three days and it didn't come out satisfactory. Even Sumire, the Teigeki top-star fared as well as the others.

Yoneda watched as the Hanagumi tried one last time to rehearse well. Mistakes were evidently seen and the girls' faces were only forced smiles which are noticeably fake. Yoneda sat in a chair and buried his face in his hands, sighing.

The most affected by this is Sakura. You could see that in her acting and her awkward movements. Sometimes, she would stay in their apartment the whole day and sit on her favorite wooden chair. She would even hallucinate, hearing Ichiro's voices and she would look around, only to remember that he's gone. 'He's gone'. It replayed on her mind over and over again. "He'll never come back to us anymore." Sakura covered her mouth with her right hand and started to sob.

After calming down a bit, she lay on their futon and she looked at Ichiro's side of the futon. She took his picture which she always placed under his pillow and kissed it. She returned the picture back under the pillow and stared at his katanas which she placed on the shelf beside his night table. Yoneda gave her the katanas and made her keep it as remembrance.

Just then, a knock was heard at the door. She stood up and slowly walked towards the door, wiping her tears for she remembered the times when Ichiro would fight side by side with her. She opened the door and smiled for the Hanagumi visited her once again.

"We were worried about you, Sakura. We had to come visit you to cheer you up. The taichou would never forgive us when something happens to you." Kanna spoke.

Sakura welcomed them in and they talked for a while in the dining room.

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The next day, the group decided to rehearse again for the play. It didn't turn out as well as before. In fact, it became a little worse.

Yoneda went in and talked to them. "Come on, you can do much better than that! Opening night is in two weeks and you are just half-way through! Come on, do this for Ichiro!"

The girls' faces fell when they heard the words 'opening night' and 'Ichiro' because they would always remember Ichiro happily clipping tickets during the opening nights of their plays before. They rehearsed for another hour and decided to call it a day.

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That night, in their apartment, Sakura lay on her futon staring at the ceiling. It was very dark except for a white glow which gradually became brighter in the corner of the room. She gasped as the glow came closer to her. She tried to move and get Arataka but she couldn't. She couldn't even cover herself with the blankets. She then wished that her love was there for he would always be by her side, protecting her. She just waited in horror as the figure, head and body covered in white glow, surprisingly leaned forward to kiss her. As the figure's lips met hers, she gasped at the figure's familiar scent and the familiar flavor of the figure's mouth. It radiated a comforting warmth into her as she hesitantly returned the kiss. The figure broke from the kiss and tenderly stroked her cheek and hair, lovingly looking at her. "Ichiro?" she asked as tears were forming in her eyes. The figure smiled and vanished, returning the room to pitch black.

Just then, she woke up. She could still smell the familiar scent and she could still taste that familiar flavor in her mouth. "That dream." She thought. "That was so real." She turned on the night light on her night table, illuminating a yellow glow. As she sat herself up, something fell from her stomach. She looked at it. "What's this?" She then picked it up and gasped for it is a flier of their play, "Romeo and Juliet". "Ichiro." she thought as tears splattered on the flier and she sobbed.

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In the morning, Maria went to the basement and started to do her target practicing. She went into her favorite slot and readied the target. She loaded bullets into the chamber and released the safety of her revolver. Then she aimed at the target and fired. The loss of their taichou overcame her emotions and as she fired, she didn't get straight bull's-eyes as before. Maria stared at her shots and loaded another round of bullets and fired. After emptying a round and getting one bull's-eye, she opened her locket and looked at the picture of her taichou from the Russo-Japan war.

She wept because now, she had lost two taichous. Her weeping started to become sobbing because she didn't do anything to help prevent both their deaths. She lost her hold on her revolver and it dropped on the table causing a slight vibration which caused the bullets to fall. Maria closed the locket and she weakly picked up her revolver and the seven bullets which fell on the floor.

As she loaded them, she was startled to hear three gun shots. It was odd for her because she was the only one who handled guns in the whole theatre aside from Ayame and Yoneda but they were not in the theatre. She quickly loaded the bullets in her gun, alert for any attacks. As she cocked it, smoke from the target on the left of hers caught her attention. There were three bullet holes on it. The bullet holes' positions were strangely familiar. Then, she remembered it. Everytime she and Ichiro would target practice, his shots were always in the same position the bullet holes are now.

Maria slowly went to the slot adjacent to the target with the holes. As she looked at the slot, she saw nothing except for a smoking gun and a piece of paper. She took a closer look at the familiar gun and gasped, remembering that the gun is Ichiro's weapon which he always brought with him. The gun acted as a paperweight to the piece of paper below it. Maria took the paper and looked at it. It is the flier of their play. "Taichou..." she thought and her tears slowly slid down her cheeks.

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Iris went back to her room after a dip in the pool. She took Jean-paul and placed him on her bed. She went to her drawer to get a book to read. As she fumbled for a book, she saw the blue book which Ichiro gave her for her birthday. As tears started to form, she went to her desk then she opened the book and started to read it.

Suddenly, she felt something terribly odd and at the same time, familiar. She didn't know if she should be afraid or not. Then, the feeling disappeared. She closed the book and looked at her bed and saw that Jean-paul was gone. "Jean-paul?" she started to get worried but when she saw that her friend was with her other stuffed toys, she felt relieved. "How did you get there, Jean-paul?"

As she went towards Jean-paul, she felt the odd feeling return. She tried to feel where it came from and it pointed her on her desk. She looked at her desk and her book was now open. She moved closer to the book and saw a flier of their next play on it. As she cried, she spoke "Oniichan... please, show yourself. Iris knows you're here. She wants to see you again." she looked around the room as she picked up the flier. She looked at the open page while wiping her flowing tears away with the sleeve of her dress. On the open page were a group of words which are highlighted: 'I will always be with you. I love you so much.' she sobbed and held her precious book in her arms.

Her voice was as weak as a whisper from crying. "Jean-paul. Oniichan visited us. He came. He loves us Jean-paul." and she slumped down on her bed, holding the book and Jean-paul. She started to cry hard on the sheets. "We love you too, oniichan. We love you!"

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Kohran was walking towards the basement to check up on the Kobus. They haven't been used for so long so she figured that there might be some broken parts. She wanted to fix Ichiro's Kobu first so she went to the Kobu and as she touched it, it felt... dead. Fearing the worst, Kohran quickly went to the engines and immediately started to check the status. It was totally destroyed beyond repair. "Ichiro-han, your Kobu had died along with you. It loves you Ichiro-han, so do we." and she started to weep.

She opened the cockpit and it was totally useless. The controls wouldn't respond and Ichiro's scent isn't there anymore. "He is depressed, Ichiro-han." sadly, she closed her toolbox and sobbed in a corner of the hangar. After calming down, she went to the other Kobus and proceeded to check them. Strangely, they were all fine and working.

After she's done working, she took one last look at Ichiro's Kobu except that it was now emanating a white glow. She went nearer to the Kobu and stared at it as its engines started to come to life. Kohran didn't move but she stared as the Kobu started up.

A few seconds later, she could feel a strong white light illuminating behind her. As she turned around, the Kobu lost its white glow and shut down. At the same time, the light disappeared and a piece of paper floated down to where the light was. She picked up the paper and like the others, it was a flier of the next play.



She looked at the now silent Kobu. Life flowed through it for a short while before it calmed and fell back to its slumber. She sat on the foot of the Kobu and leaned on the metal leg, sobbing. The flier dropped from her hand.

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Sumire sat down on the salon, fanning herself. She was thinking all about the play. If she is the top-star, she would've acted well no matter what happens but now, she couldn't. Finally, she thought that maybe a cup of tea would help her relax.

As she took out her cup, she remembered the times when Ichiro would make her tea. She just stared at the cup until she snapped herself out of it. She went over to the kettle and started to heat the water. Then, she took a pack of tea and as she went back to the table, she was startled.

If she had less self-control, she would've dropped the tea cup and the pack. There on the table, was a steaming cup of tea made just for her. She returned the cup and the pack of tea she was holding and she sat on the chair, looking at the tea in front of her. The tea made her remember the time before Ichiro left. That time, she told him that when he comes back, she will make him her best cup of tea. She wept, hoping that she hadn't said that because there is no more Ichiro to make tea for.

Closing her eyes, Sumire slowly and hesitantly brought the cup to her lips and took a small sip. More tears formed as she savored the tea for it was the same tea which Ichiro made her before with his tenderness and care. The tea relaxed her body and helped her feel better but it didn't help comfort and relax her aching heart. She finished the tea until the last drop. Every single sip she took was full of tender loving care only her chuu'i gives. Her hands started to tremble as more tears formed in her eyes and slid down her cheeks. If she hadn't lost her self-control, she would've sobbed and dropped the now empty cup.

After she placed down the cup, she was startled to see a flier of their play on the table in front of her. She took the flier and looked at it. "Chuu'i... Arigatou gozaimas." and she started to cry on the flier.

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Kanna was cooking lunch in the kitchen. All the ingredients for their lunch were placed on the table. She lit the stove and began to heat oil in the frying pan. While waiting, she cut the vegetables and fish in an attempt to make sushi. She took the rice rolls and the sushi wrapper and placed them on the table. After cutting the vegetables and fish, she proceeded to make the sushi. She then took some pork and covered it in her mixture of egg, milk, flour and bread crumbs then she fried it in the heated frying pan.

While waiting, she went towards the dining room. She saw Sumire and Maria sitting there, holding fliers of their next play. "Hey, what's with you two? Is there something wrong with the fliers?"

Sumire was weeping so Maria was the one who replied to her, "Iie, taichou gave us these fliers."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Iie, I'm not."

Kanna, confused, returned to the kitchen to check on the pork she's frying. As she went inside, there were already plates on the table and they were elegantly decorated with vegetables. Startled, she slowly went to the plate and examined a vegetable. "Who could have done this?" she thought. She didn't mind the plates and proceeded to the frying pan to check the pork. It still wasn't ready yet so she decided to get some water ready. As she took the pitcher, she felt a cold, odd feeling and her hair stood up.

The sounds made by pork being fried had stopped. "It couldn't be them. I'm the only one here in this kitchen." slowly she reached for a butcher's knife. As she turned around, she dropped the knife.

There on the table, is their lunch, cooked, hot and ready. "H-how could t-this be?" she went closer to the food and examined it as if there was a disease in it. She looked up and saw a faint glow slowly disappearing. She went to it, feeling the area around it for something she knew she couldn't grasp.

Mystified, she returned back to the table. She gasped when she saw a flier in the middle of the table. She ran to the table and took the flier. "It really was taichou." she smiled and tears formed in her eyes.

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Kohran opened the door of the Teigeki only to be greeted by a puffy-eyed, gloomy Sakura. "Ah, Sakura-han. We're glad you came."

"Arigatou, Koran."

Kohran led Sakura to the dining room where the others were looking at their fliers and they took their seats. "Minna-han, you've gotten fliers too?" Kohran asked, holding up hers.

The others looked at Kohran including Sakura with puzzled looks on their faces. Maria was the first to speak. "You've got one too?" and she looked at Kohran's flier.

"Eh? I got one too! In our apartment... Ichiro visited me." Sakura interrupted, showing them her flier which had dried up tear spots on it.

"Y-you saw taichou?" Maria asked curiosly.

"Hai!" Sakura quickly replied and her tears formed again. "He kissed me demo, I can't see his face. This white glow covered it."

Maria smiled as Sakura wiped her tears. "Taichou will never leave you. You were lucky that you saw him. We didn't."

Kohran interrupted, "I almost saw Ichiro-han, he was right behind me. If I had turned much faster, maybe I could've caught a glimpse of him."

Iris came down to the dining room, sobbing. "Iris felt oniichan her room! She knew oniichan was there because he gave me this!" Iris showed them her flier and the page of the book. "She wanted to see oniichan demo oniichan didn't show up!" and she cried.

The others comforted her as she slowly calmed down.

Just then, Kanna came out of the kitchen, carrying food. She placed the food on the table. "Taichou just showed up. He gave me this flier." she placed her flier on the table.

"Did you see him?" asked Sumire.

Kanna shook her head.

"Looks like it's only you Sakura-san." Sumire looked at Sakura.

The girls then talked with each other on how Ichiro came and gave them the fliers.

Maria, analyzing the events, suddenly spoke, "Now let me get this straight, I'm sure all of you have already known that taichou wants us to make the play successful. He could see us and I think he's feeling pretty bad about us not reahearsing and not doing our best."

"You're right, Maria-san." Sumire replied, "Even if he broke his promise, we mustn't break ours. We had promised him to put up a good play and we must do it even if he isn't here!"

"Oniichan will be watching us, minna." Iris added. "Iris knows he would never break that. At least he's now trying his best not to break that promise."

"Hai! We'll dedicate this play to Ichiro!" Sakura spoke, cheering up a little.

The others smiled and they stood up to their resolve to act their very best in the play.

The girls decided that they had to eat first so they did just that. As the girls took their first bite, it's like heaven had taken them. They began to admire Kanna's cooking a lot more.

"Wow, Kanna-san! This is the best! I've never thought I would ever like your cooking at all!" Sumire commented.

"Mmmm! Kanna cooks much better than before!" Iris cheerfully added.

"Why didn't you cook like this before?" Maria asked, still expressionless.

"Kanna-han, even the Kobu would like this!" Kohran exaggerated.

Kanna too was beginning to admire her own cooking. Wait,... her cooking?

"It's too bad... Ichiro couldn't taste this anymore." Sakura interrupted, tears dripping down her face.

The others lost their appetites and their contented faces fell back to sadness and regret when they thought about him. Kohran comforted Sakura who now dropped her chopsticks and sobbed on her hands. Iris couldn't help but sob and the others comforted her.

"Actually," Kanna interrupted. "I didn't cook it." the others looked at her. Sakura and Iris stopped sobbing and also looked at her, teary-eyed.

"I forgot to tell you," she added, "When I wasn't looking, the taichou prepared it. The food was already there, prepared, when I looked."

The others looked at their plates, startled at what they heard. "Ichiro wanted us to have a good meal to cheer us up." Sakura spoke, her tears forming again.

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The girls went to the stage and began rehearsing for their play, feeling that Ichiro is watching them. They kept their promises and put up a good rehearsal.

Over one and a half weeks had past and the opening night is in four days. Yoneda was delighted at the wonderful rehearsals the girls had performed these past days. "They really love Ichiro so much to finally start their rehearsals well." he spoke at Ayame as the two watched the girls rehearse.

"I'm not sure about that. Rumors have it that Ichiro-kun showed himself to them, giving them fliers."

"Good one, Ayame! But I have to see it to believe it. Only thing is, I already believe it. I know Ichiro very well even 'till his death." he chuckled as he looked at the balcony of the theatre.

Finally, opening night had walked straight into the Teigeki's front door.

The girls were in the costume room, checking their costumes for the play. Tsubaki was at the gift shop, arranging souvenirs and putting up the bromides. Yuri was backstage, checking the props and the lights. Kasumi, on the other hand was relieved of her paperwork and was assigned to be the new ticket clipper to replace Ichiro while Yoneda and Ayame took over her paperwork.

With only twenty minutes before the doors opened, the girls took last minute check-ups. The anxious crowd waited impatiently as the front doors began to unlock.

A very long line was seen as people excitedly held their tickets and talked about the play. Fortunately, no one brought up the topic about the Harusame's fate even if some knew that the taichou of the ship was just a lowly ticket clipper in their favorite theatre. The doors finally opened and they were greeted by Kasumi. The crowd waited in their lines as Kasumi clipped their tickets one by one.

Kasumi managed to keep her composure as she tiredly clipped the three-hundred and eleventh ticket belonging to an old man. She wiped her forehead, experiencing for the first time what Ichiro had been through without complaining.

The crowd, or should I say, audience, restlessly stirred in their seats, waiting for the curtains to rise. Yoneda and Ayame were on the balcony where they always stayed, talking to each other. Finally, the lights dimmed and the audience hushed each other as the curtains rose. Sumire, the lead actress playing Juliet, slowly walked to the middle of the stage.

She stood up straight with dignity and pride and started to speak. "Ladies and gentlemen, this play, Romeo and Juliet,..." her voice was beginning to tremble "...is...dedicated to our...beloved...ticket clipper,...Shinguuji Ichiro, in...in memory of him. He'll always be remembered." her eyes began to water but she immediately controlled it, regaining her composure. The audience then started to talk with each other about the former ticket clipper. Word about what happened to him spread out quickly in the theatre. Sumire interrupted, "We will already begin the play, please remain in your seats." the audience's voices then died down and they eagerly looked at the stage.

The play started and ended a smashing success. Sakura, despite her pregnancy, managed to act well. Yoneda and Ayame couldn't help but smile at the courage the girls put up in the stage.

The girls bowed at the audience while being peltered with applauses. They smiled at the audience.

Iris felt that familiar odd feeling return again. At the corner of her eye, a faint white glow caught her attention. She tugged Sakura and pointed at the glow. Catching her attention, the others were forced to look at it and finally, they saw him, Ichiro, standing at his favorite spot. His transparent figure smiled at them and waved. The girls, on the brink of tears, smiled back. They planned to go to him right away but in a blink of an eye, he was gone without a trace.

The girls waited in the lobby, thanking the audience as they passed by for watching the play. The audience, aside from thanking the girls for the magnificent play also gave their condolences especially to Sakura for they knew long ago that the young widow is Ichiro's wife.

After the last person left the theatre, they sobbed.

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It had been over a year and Sakura finally gave birth to a healthy young boy. During her days in the hospital, the Hanagumi, Kazegumi, Ayame and Yoneda visited her almost everyday. Each day, they would debate with each other about what would be the baby's name.

"Let's name him Shinji!" Iris exclaimed as she looked at the small infant in Sakura's arms.

"That's a good name!" Koran replied.

"Shinguuji Shinji? Hmm, not bad. Not bad at all." Sakura thought as she tenderly held her son closer to her.

"Okay!" Kanna exclaimed. "It's decided then! Shinji's the name of our nephew!"

"Well, I don't know. It sounds more like a rhyme than a name." Sumire spoke as she studied their sleeping nephew. "Shinguuji Shinji." she murmured.

"Let's go with that name. I'm sure taichou would like that name." Maria replied. The room fell silent and Sakura dropped her head.

"Arigatou, minna-san for being there for me and for giving me and Ichiro's son a name." Sakura finally spoke, raising her head with a forced smile.

Another week passed and Sakura was released from the hospital along with her son who is now baptized as Shinguuji Shinji. Sakura first visited Ichiro's grave to talk to him and tell him about their son. After a few minutes with him, she bid him goodbye and she brought Shinji to Ichiro and her apartment and they lived there.

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Four years had passed and Shinji had grown a healthy child. In the apartment, a mailman was seen walking towards the room. He took out an envelope with the Navy insignia on it and knocked. Sakura opened the door and took the mail. It was another payment for the pension of Ichiro. She thanked the mailman and closed the door, returning to her waiting son.

"Mommy, what is that?" the four year old boy pointed at the mail Sakura was holding.

"Oh, its money the Navy pays us for your daddy's pension." she replied.

"Mommy, what is a Navy? Was that daddy's job before?"

Sakura took Shinji and they sat on the chairs on the balcony. "Hai. Your daddy used to work there. The Navy protects us from evil and harm much like what your aunts, cousin Iris and I do as Hanagumi members. Your daddy was our taichou too in the Hanagumi demo he protected us."

"Wow! So daddy was a hero?" the little boy asked curiously.

Sakura looked at her son's innocent face, longing for answers about his father. She wiped some of her tears away and nodded. "He is our hero and because of that, he's not here with us anymore."

"Mommy, can I see some pictures of daddy?"

"Honey, we've already seen his pictures earlier."

"Please, mommy?"

"Why don't you look at the mirror? You'll see daddy in it." She looked at the child. Shinji looked so much like Ichiro: his face's shape, his ears, forehead and most importantly, no one would ever forget that spiky hair which also came from Ichiro. His eyes, nose, lips and the texture of his hair came from Sakura. He was the product of a beautiful maiden and a handsome sailor.

"Mommy, you're so silly." the boy giggled.

Sakura sighed and took their photo album. Shinji excitedly looked at the pictures of his father as Sakura told him stories about Ichiro, sometimes stopping to wipe some tears for remembering some of the most memorable times with him. "Okay, it's time to go to the cemetery to visit your daddy." she closed the album and returned it.

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At the cemetery, the mother and child walked towards a familiar tombstone which is also the most important to them. Shinji broke away from his mother and went to play around with almost anything. Sakura smiled at her happy son and placed some flowers on the tombstone.

"Ichiro, I know you can see our son now. He has grown up to look just like you. I hope you're proud of him." She lit some candles and decorated them in front of the tombstone. "He doesn't know much about you nor seen you in person. Only my stories kept him happy but I know deep down inside that he's hurt." she tried to fight back her tears. "Why did you do it, Ichiro? Why?" she wiped some off her tears away. "He was born and grew up fatherless and has a widow for a mother!"

"Mommy! Is that where daddy is?"

Sakura looked at the owner of the voice and saw the boy looking at the tombstone then to her. Wiping her tears, she simply nodded.

"Why is he down there? I thought you said he was in heaven?"

She looked at Shinji. He was so innocent, so pure and yet, his family's like this. She knelt and hugged him tightly. "Oh, Shinji!" and she sobbed.

"Mommy? It's alright mommy, it's alright. Don't cry, daddy is happy now like you told me." he too, began to cry on his mother.

"I love him so much, Shinji! I love him! I miss him so much!" she spoke, her voice straining.

"Me too mommy, I love him. I've always wanted to see him someday. I love him too!"

The two hugged each other tightly and cried into each other's shoulders.

At the clear, blue sky, transparent figures began to appear. As the figures cleared up, the transparent figures of the crew of the Harusame looked down at Teito. They smiled for they saw the result of their hardwork, bravery and sacrifice. Ichiro looked at the family he left behind who are crying beside his tombstone. His face showed signs of worry. Kayama stepped up and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and they disappeared, contented with the result of what they have fought and died for.

The peace Teito has is their Medal of Honor.

THE END.

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Sorry if the letters were not nice because I kinda hurried them up.

I made Sakura and Ichiro's child a son so he would look like Ichiro and it would add a little more drama to the story.

I hope you liked it. *sigh* It took me a while to think about these last two chapters. Please R&R.