EPILOGUE

Hank leaned on his rake, tilting his head toward the sky, eyes closed, so that the sun's warmth could wash over him. He saw nothing but the color red behind his closed lids, but he felt the warming, healing rays caressing his face and embracing him. He loved the way it felt; it reminded him of the way his beloved Yuki had held him, when she was alive. When he stood like this, the sun caressing his skin, he almost felt like she was there with him, encircling him with her arms and holding her soft, warm cheek against his face. He sighed softly and opened his eyes, looking around him and slowly taking in the neat, white, two-bedroom house with its broad porch that surrounded it on three sides, the neatly-clipped, green lawn, the flowerbeds bursting with colored blooms of several varieties, the hedges, which surrounded the lawn and hid the encircling chain-link fence from view, and the small pile of grass clippings at his feet, which he was presently raking. Hank smiled. He couldn't help it. His house, his lawn, his flowerbeds, his hedges, his fence, his pile of grass clippings --- he still couldn't believe it. He just couldn't believe his good fortune.

He and Keiko hadn't had any trouble getting out of Japan. The passports and plane tickets that Ran and the others had given him had made that possible. At the time, Hank had hoped for nothing more than to simply get back to Texas. If Ran and the others had made that possible, they would have done much more than was ever necessary. After all, they hadn't owed him anything. It had all happened so fast that he hadn't even really been able to look into the fat envelope Ken had shoved into his hand that night. It wasn't until he and Keiko had arrived in Houston and he felt truly safe, that he had taken a good look at it, only to discover it was full of cash. It had turned out to be enough money for him to settle almost anywhere he chose, but Hank had decided to go back toward what he felt was his home --- San Antonio.

In the end, he had decided to settle in Schertz, a small town just outside of San Antonio. Hank liked the idea of raising Keiko in a small town, and the area offered calm, quiet living, good schools, and friendly, helpful neighbors. With the money Ran and the others had given them, he had been able to buy this little house, paying cash for it, and to purchase all the things they would need to start over: furniture, clothing, and the other necessities of life. There had even been enough left over for him to invest in lawn care and gardening equipment, and he had started his own little landscaping and lawn care business. The business had been going for several months now, and he already had a lot of very pleased, regular clients, including a few businesses in San Antonio. Keiko had started in the local school, and she had adjusted quickly to her new life. Within days, she had become the bubbly, out-going child he had remembered, and she seemed to love school. Not a day went by when his house wasn't filled with the laughter and happy voices of Keiko and her little friends.

Hank sighed and started raking the dwindling pile of grass clippings into a metal tub. Once he was done, he would carry them to the back of his house, where he kept a compost pile, which he used in his landscaping business. It had only been a few months since they had left Japan, but that life and the things that had happened there all seemed like a dream now. He could almost believe he hadn't ever known Ran or any of the others, except for the fact that he knew he owed his life to them. Everything would have been perfect, if only he knew, for sure, that Ran was all right. He knew it had been the best decision to leave Japan at that point, that it was the safest thing for all of them --- him, Keiko, and, even Ran. But, when he owed Ran everything, when the quiet redhead had so freely given him friendship, and, even, placed his life on the line to save Keiko, it had killed him to leave without seeing everything through to a resolution. Even now, he didn't know if Ran was even alive, and that haunted him. He thought that, had Ran been killed, Yohji would, probably, show up on his doorstep eventually, to exact revenge. He didn't hold it against the man. Yohji was just like that, especially where Ran was concerned, and Hank knew he had only gotten out of Japan alive because Ran's friendship had protected him from Yohji's wrath. Not a day went by that Hank didn't half-way expect to open his door in the morning to find Yohji sitting on his front porch, wearing that black leather coat of his, and chain smoking, but, all the same, he didn't live in fear of it. If it came to that, he considered it a debt he owed, and he'd be happy to pay it, even if it meant his life. He had already made arrangements for his parents, who lived in San Antonio, to get guardianship of Keiko, should anything happen to him. He only regretted not knowing what had happened to Ran, and, in a way, it seemed unfair that he should be so happy, especially when there was a good chance his friend had died to purchase this new life.

"Daddy! Daddy!"

A little girl's voice brought Hank away from his thoughts, and he looked up to see Keiko stepping off the school bus. She waved to him and stopped at the mailbox to pull out the day's mail. She was wearing a little blue jean skirt that hung to her knees, knee socks, and little, blue Mary Jane shoes, along with a pink peasant blouse, which tied in the front with a blue ribbon. Her hair was pulled back into a rather untidy ponytail. He had been trying, but he had to admit that he still hadn't quite gotten the hang of fixing a little girl's hair. Keiko didn't seem to mind all that much, though. As she reached into the mailbox, she dropped her pink backpack, which had, previously, been hanging loosely off one shoulder, onto the ground. It kicked up a puff of dust as it landed, and Hank couldn't help but laugh and slightly shake his head as the "Powerpuff Girls" picture on the bag came into clear view.

Hank waved back and smiled as he watched her standing on her tiptoes, face frowning, tongue held between her teeth in concentration as she stretched to reach the very back of the mailbox. She smiled in triumph when she managed to grab and retrieve a small package before skipping up the sidewalk to the break in the hedges that would allow her to pull open the gate and enter the front yard.

"Hey, pun'kin!" Hank called, kneeling down and holding out his arms for her as she ran across the front yard, right through the pile of clippings he'd been gathering.

She laughed as the loose pieces of grass scattered on the gentle breeze, and, even though he'd been working at gathering up the clippings for the better part of two hours, Hank couldn't help but laugh in return. For him, Keiko's laughter was always contagious. It was like a drug, and he couldn't ever get enough of it. Every day, he hoped he would always hear laughter from her, and, before getting her back, he had sworn that, if he was ever able to hold his daughter again, he'd do everything possible to make sure she had a happy life. Keiko threw herself into his arms, giggling as he wrapped her into a big bear hug and nuzzled her cheek with his beard.

"Daddy, it tickles," she complained, still laughing.

"So, what'cha got? Anything good in the mail today?" Hank asked.

"Mmmm," she said, holding up the package she had pulled from the mailbox, "Lookit, Daddy. This one came all the way from Japan! Who sent it, do you think?"

Hank frowned slightly as he took the small box from his daughter and turned it over in his hands. There wasn't any return address, and his address was typed neatly onto a sticky label, so there wasn't any handwriting that he could recognize.

"I don't know," he replied. "Why don't we see, huh?" She nodded in agreement and shifted to a comfortable position, leaning against him, and still encircled within his arms, so that she could watch as he tore the package open with shaking hands.

He quickly ripped open the box and removed a small picture frame, which contained a snapshot. As soon as he saw the photograph, Hank smiled. He couldn't help it. Finally, his prayers had been answered. The picture showed a group of four men and a large, black dog, seated on a stairway. Ran sat in the middle of the group. The redhead looked pale, exhausted, and sick. His right arm was tightly bound to his chest with a sling, but he was alive. He was definitely alive, and that shy, crooked smile Hank remembered so well played across the younger man's lips. Yohji sat directly behind Ran, one arm draped around the redhead's neck, and a silly, happy grin softened his features. The tall blonde's other hand was stretched out in front of him, his index and second finger making the shape of a "V". Ken sat slightly above and to the right of Yohji, leaning over the older man. Hank could see his elbow resting on Yohji's shoulder, and the ex-goalie had a big, stupid grin pasted on his face. Omi sat directly in front of Aya. The youngest member of the group was also grinning like a fool, and he was also making a "V" sign with his fingers. Bubba sat on Ran's lap, and Hank would have sworn even the dog was smiling for the camera. He couldn't tell how long ago the photograph had been taken, but the postmark indicated it had only been mailed a couple of weeks before its arrival. They must have taken it long after his departure from Japan, and Hank could feel relief surging through him at the realization that his friend, Ran, was alive and, from the looks of it, doing okay.

"Oh, look!" Keiko exclaimed, pointing to the photograph, "That's Mr. Aya, isn't it? And, Mr. Ken, and Mr. Omi, and that other man. I don't remember his name."

"Yeah," Hank replied softly. He struggled to keep the tears in his voice from reaching his eyes, but he felt them sliding down his cheeks, just the same.

"Daddy? Why are you crying?" Keiko asked, shifting around to look at him and taking his face between her small hands.

Hank rubbed his cheek against his shoulder to dry the tears, and said, with a smile, "Daddy's happy, sweetie. I'm crying because I'm happy."

He turned the picture over in his hands and found an inscription on the back of the frame. There, written in four distinct, easily recognizable styles of handwriting, were the following four lines: "Peace. - Omi"; "Happiness. - Ken"; "Absolution. - Yohji"; and "Redemption. - Ran".