Disclaimer: I don't own the original FY characters; I own Kei, Taki, Lily, Jason, their kids and any other person who isn't a FY character.

Thoughts

Memories


            Kimiko laid Hiroshi's body down on a grassy field. She wasn't completely sure of where she'd brought him. All she knew what that it was peaceful here. The wind blew casually passed them, but other than that, nothing disturbed her.

Tears streamed down Kimiko's cheeks. "Hiroshi…please…don't leave me…" She held his hand against her chest. It was cold. "There has to be something I can do…Daddy said so…he said I could save you…"

As she cried quietly, the symbol of Suzaku glowed softly on her forehead.

"Kimiko…"

She dropped Hiroshi's hand and stood up, ready to kill whatever approached. Her hands dropped when she saw the source of the voice. "Daddy."

Suzaku stared at Hiroshi's body. "What happened?"

"Stabbed in the back by one of Reizo's demons…" She collapsed next to his body. "How do I save him?"

"You want to give up your immortality for him?" He knelt on the other side of Hiroshi.

"Why wouldn't I? I love him. How could I live forever knowing I didn't do everything I could?" She snapped at him. "There's no point in living forever otherwise!"

Suzaku held out his hands. "Give me your hands, Kimiko."

She looked at him unsure, but took her father's hands. He started to chant. A red glow encompassed the three of them.


Reizo spat out a tooth and a mouthful of blood as he recoiled from Kano's fist. The Oni symbol glowed its brightest as the young seishi smiled smugly at his wounded adversary.

"This is not over…" He growled.

"Like you could win…" Kano snapped. "Even in your own world of darkness."

Reizo glared at his brother. He swore to himself and shook his head. He could have sworn he saw the ghostly images of the twins standing with them. "Impossible." He launched a large chi blast at Kano.

Kano flinched, but the blast bounced harmlessly off a shield in front of him. He smiled. "Thanks guys."

Akane stood behind Reizo. "Hey! Reizo!" She pointed the sword at him. "Let's finish this. Kano, go stay with Nakago." She cast a sideways glance at the fallen friend.

"But Akane…"

"Go." She cut him off. She began to walk towards Reizo. "Neither one of us has anywhere to run Reizo. It's time to figure out which one of us will come out of here."

"Fine by me." Reizo created another one of his swords of darkness. "I am tired of playing anyway."

"Oh we're still playing…but this time, it's for keeps." She smirked and prepared for the fight.


Kimiko felt so tired as she held onto her father's hands. It felt as if a part of her had been torn away and given to Hiroshi. As the red glow died around the three of them, Kimiko collapsed on top of Hiroshi.

At the sudden pressure on his chest, Hiroshi let out a groan and opened his eyes. His vision was blurred by both his sudden return from death and Kimiko's hair. He saw Suzaku smile and then fade away. He raised a weak hand and shook Kimiko. "Hey…Kimiko…" He coughed. "What…what's going…" He couldn't finish. He was too tired.

After lying in silence a few moments, Kimiko began to stir. "Hiroshi?" She pushed her hair back and rolled off him. "Hiroshi?"

He took a few deep breaths. "Yeah?" He attempted to sit up, but only caused himself pain.

"Are you okay?" Ignoring her own exhaustion, she sat up and leaned over him.

"A little sore…but it's an improvement over being dead." He managed a small smile.

"Don't joke about that." She sighed. Normally she probably would have smacked him in the arm, but this of course, wasn't normal.

"Sorry." He finally found the strength to sit up. "Now…what happened? I remember getting stabbed in the back and dying…but then what?"

"Ummm…I went a little nuts…" She answered sheepishly. "I destroyed all the Dead Hands and brought us here…" She looked around for her father. "Daddy helped me save you but…I don't know where he is now…"

"Save me? How?" He looked at her strangely.

"I gave up the immortal part of me." He opened his mouth to interject, but she stopped him with a finger on his lips. She rested her other hand over the necklace he gave her what seemed like an eternity ago. "Why would I want to live forever without you?"

Hiroshi had no answer. He just wrapped his arms around her.

She could feel him tremble in her arms. "Hiroshi?" She ran her fingers through his tangled hair.

He looked at the ground. "Death is a cold, dark place, Kimiko…I don't want to go back…"

She rested her chin on his head. "You won't…not until we're old and ready and done everything we ever wanted to in life…"

He clutched her tighter. "I hope you're right…"

"Of course I am…I'm always right." She grinned.

A small smile passed over his lips. "Of course…how could I forget?"

"I'll forgive you this time." Kimiko smiled and kissed him.


Akane ducked low under Reizo's blade. It came at her again, this time towards her midsection. She brought the blade up to block, creating a shower of sparks. She stumbled backwards.

Reizo's eyes flashed with anger. Akane quickly regained her footing and got ready to defend herself. Reizo came at her again, fast and strong.

Akane wasn't enough of a swordswoman to block and counter, even with Nakago's guidance, so she only avoided his attacks as best she could.

They were soon at a stand off. Reizo raised one hand and disappeared. Akane gritted her teeth. "What? Afraid Reizo? Where are you?! We're not done yet!"

"Follow my voice if you think you've got a chance."

Akane wasted no time in following him.

Darkness swirled around her, threatening to swallow her if she didn't keep moving. She cursed loudly as she ran after Reizo's mocking laughter. She paused for a moment, trying to figure out which way to go next.

"Bad move." Reizo laughed. He suddenly appeared behind her and slashed.

Akane twisted around just in time to throw off his aim. The blow that was meant to cut completely and deeply across her back only succeeded in making a 5-inch gash on her right side. She yelped in pain, but at the same time she knew it wasn't the worst damage his strike could have done.

A glint on the floor caught her eye. Even in the darkness she could spot the glimmer of two long knives, Kano's. Not taking a split second to think about how they got there after she'd just seen one in Reizo's shoulder, Akane threw Reizo's sword as far away from their fight as she could and went for the knives. Moving faster than Reizo could react, she grabbed the weapons and twirled them tauntingly. 'Thanks for the help with the sword Nakago, but I gotta do this myself…'

"Come on, Reizo. I'm ready when you are."

"I was ready a long time ago." He snarled and came at her.

Reizo came at her with what seemed to be a rather standard attack pattern. There was nothing unusual about it. His sword followed a path that was standard for a soldier in any army, although it was faster.

"You lack originality, you know that?" Akane feigned a low blow and as soon as Reizo moved to block it, she jammed her other knife into his right shoulder. She yanked it back out at an angle, making the wound deeper.

He stumbled backwards, completely unprepared for her less than orthodox ways of fighting. "A cheap shot…nothing more."

"Cheap shot? This fight isn't about fair hits. It's about survival." She growled and lunged at him again.


Though Kano couldn't see the fight, he could feel everything Akane was going through. 'I should be there with her…'

"Then go." Nakago muttered.

"Huh?" He stared at the bloody general.

"Go be with her and help her. You want to right?" He growled at the bandit. "I'm dying here, standing around isn't helping anyone."

"Look, I can't watch you like Akane wants me to and watch Akane like you want me to. I figure since you're dying anyway it won't matter if I piss you off. I'd rather Akane not get mad at me."

"How can you be so sure she won't lose against Reizo fighting alone?"

"If you've been her guardian for so long, you should know her better than that. Akane doesn't lose." Kano sighed.

Nakago paused for a moment, partially to think, partially to work through the pain coursing through his body. "Perhaps…"

They both stared in the direction Akane had run.


Akane screamed when Reizo's sword cut across her left leg. Dark power searing through the wound wouldn't let her think straight. She couldn't understand how he had so much upper body strength even after getting so many injuries in his upper body. He must have been running on pure adrenaline now. But she wasn't faring much better. Blood dripping from a gash in her forehead mixed with tears of anger and determination blurred her vision. She felt weak. She was running low on adrenaline and blood.

Both tired fighters stared each other down. The next person to get hit was most likely the one going down.

With one last burst of strength, Akane came at Reizo. A frenzy of slashes took Reizo off balance giving her the opportunity to knock him over with a swift kick to the stomach. She kicked a freely bleeding wound, sending a new wave of incapacitating pain through him.

She raised the knives above her head. "This is for everyone you've killed…your mother, your father, my cousin…and part of me…" Without another word, she brought the knives down into his chest, finding the perfect mark.

Reizo let out a silent scream. He looked at her stunned, as if he truly never thought she could win. She pulled the knives over of him and turned away as Reizo let out his final breath.

"It's over…I won…" She felt the knives slip from her fingers. "I killed him…" She whispered incredulously. "I killed him…" Her strength gone, she collapsed.

A pair of strong arm caught her and eased her to the ground. "You did what you had to…" She looked up and saw Kano's face. He wiped away the blood, sweat and tears from her face.

"It's over." Nakago stood on shaky legs. "At last…" He whispered. His body was beginning to fade.

"Nakago…where are you going?" Kano held a hand up to his eyes as moonlight began to break though the black dome encasing them. It was fading at the same rate Reizo's body was.

"Dunno…probably Hell…" He looked up at the full moon.

"I hope not…you don't deserve that…" Akane whispered. "Thank you for everything…"

"It wasn't much…" He stared at his fading hands.

"It was enough." She smiled.

"Thank you…" Nakago nodded. As the last of the dome disappeared, so did the rest of Nakago.

"Akane! Kano! You're alive!" The ecstatic cries of the young twins drew their attention.

Akane and Kano waved to them as they ran over. Happy as Akane was though, she couldn't smile. "I knew it…Hiroshi's gone…where's Kimiko?"

"She…she went nuts after he got killed…" Toshiro started. "She killed all Reizo's…things…turned into a giant phoenix and flew off with him."

"Whoa…" Kano looked up at the sky. "Think they'll come back?"

Naoko shrugged. "I hope so."

"Can we just go back to the palace? I'm so tired…" Akane was curled into a small ball against Kano's body.

The others nodded and Toru and Toshiro took them back to the palace.


The battered company trudged into the gardens. Akane was by far the most beat up. They all collapsed into the grass and fell asleep.

Later that evening, Akane felt her mother's touch. "Akane…Akane, can you hear me?"

She opened her eyes slowly. "Mommy?" She found herself looking into her mother and father's concerned eyes. "Daddy?" She got herself into a sitting position with her father's help.

"Oh Akane…you're safe!" Kei hugged her. "What happened to Reizo?"

"I…I killed him…" She whispered. "I killed him because he killed Hiroshi…" She sobbed.

"Maybe I'm not as dead as you think…" Akane and the other kids looked up. Hiroshi and Kimiko were standing nearby. Both of them looked perfectly fine.

Akane's eyes widened. "Wha? What the hell?!" She found the strength to get up. She grabbed him and began shaking him. "How are you not dead?! Was that some kind of joke you asshole?! Are you trying to mess with my head?! I really don't appreciate that!"

Hiroshi found himself at the mercy of his very pissed off cousin. "Akane! Lemme go! I'll explain! Well, I'll try anyway! Let me go!" He struggled to free himself of her surprisingly strong grip.

She made a face and let him. "Better be a damn good explanation…"

"I brought him back, okay? I freaked out after he got killed and I used my own power to bring him back." Kimiko put herself in between Akane and Hiroshi. "Relax will you? You're beat up enough, no sense in stressing yourself out when you're in this condition."

"Okay, okay…I'll stop. Boy am I glad you're okay…though I wish I could say the same for me." Akane felt her legs give out on her again and she fell into Kano's arms again. "Boy I could use some sleep…"

Kimiko smiled and put her hand on Akane's shoulder. "Sleep is always good." A warm glow passed from her hand to Akane's body. The multiple wounds closed and she began to nod off.

Kano picked her up. "I'll put her to bed."

"All of you should get some sleep. It's been a long day for all of you." Nuriko ushered the other kids back into the bedroom hall of the palace.

Kano set Akane down in the large bed. "Good night Akane. I'll see you in the morning."

She grabbed his hand. "Stay a little while, will you? We finally have some quiet time."

He sat on the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"Better since whatever Kimiko did." She stared at her hands. "I can't believe I killed him…I never thought I'd be able to do it…"

"I think Nakago was right though…sometimes the ends do justify the means. He would have killed us all given the chance."

"I know…but he was human once, right?"

"Maybe once, but probably too long ago to matter…Maybe when Nakago was still alive…"

"Maybe…I wonder if Nakago's really gone this time." She sighed. "I kinda miss him."

"He was always around you, even if you didn't know it." Kano yawned.

"Sleepy?" She smiled and ran her fingers though his messy hair.

"Maybe just a little." He smiled.

"Come 'ere you." She smiled and pulled him close. Before he could say anything else, she kissed him.

"What was that for?" He pushed her hair behind her ears.

"Just 'cause…" She studied his face.

"What?"

"Nothing…really."

"You're thinking too much again…what is it?"

She shrugged. "I dunno…I just…I don't think I'm going to see you in the morning…"

He pulled her closer. "Why?"

"Maybe it's just a bad feeling…but Reizo's gone…what's keeping me here? What's keeping any of my family here?" She sighed against his body.

Kano didn't have an answer. He rested his chin on her head.

"Hey, isn't this the point where you say something hopeful?" She looked up at him.

"How long have you known me? You know I'm not good at that." He smiled shrugged.

"I know…" She smiled and kissed his cheek. "I love you Kano. In case I don't see you…"

"I love you too Akane…just in case…"

Akane curled up against his body and fell asleep. Kano ran his fingers through her hair a few times, thinking about the next morning. He didn't want to go to sleep, afraid of waking up alone. He'd learned to trust Akane's feelings, to trust his own. And he found that he felt the same way.

Eventually, exhaustion just took over and he fell asleep anyway.

Kimiko and Hiroshi walked by the door together. She looked inside. "I feel bad for them…I wanna do something about it…"

"I know…I do too. Akane's like my sister…but what can either of us do?"

"Yeah…but I hate feeling helpless…It's not me."

"No one said it was. Maybe things will work out anyway though…it worked out for my parents…"

"That's true…" She slipped her hand into his. "I guess we can hope…"

"We'll be together tomorrow, right?"

She nodded and looked up at him. "Of course. My world is your world. You can't get rid of me."

"I wouldn't dream of trying."

Kei picked at the hem of her shirt. Tasuki watched her. "That's not helping."

"I know…but Akane…"

"She's strong. Like her mother."

She raised an eyebrow. "Tasuki, we're already married. No need for flattery."

He chuckled. "Come on Kei, it's late. We should go to sleep…"

"Yeah…but I feel like she does. That fear of not waking up with you. I went without you for two years…I don't want to see Akane go through that…" She sighed and came over to the bed.

"I'm not leaving you and nothing can keep Akane and Kano apart for long. They're too close. They've been through too much together. Besides, he has to answer to me if he makes her miserable. I don't think he wants to do that, do you?" He smirked.

"No." She rolled her eyes. "I don't think anyone would." She slid into bed next to her husband. "Good night, Tasuki."

"Good night." He wrapped his arm around her waist and they fell asleep.


"Kano!" Akane woke up with a scream. She sat bolt upright in bed and looked around. She saw her radio next to her bed. Sunlight peeped through the blinds onto the white carpet. She stared at the black sheets with gold and silver stars that covered her. She was wearing baggy gray pajama pants and gray t-shirt.

She looked across her room at her mirror. She stumbled out of bed and looked at herself. Her face wasn't cut up and bruised like she thought it would be. She wasn't tired and sore. "A dream…was it a dream? Kano…" She whispered his name like she didn't completely remember him. "Kano…Reizo…" She shook her head and went back to her bed.

"A dream?" Her amber eyes darted around the room, as if she was looking for something. "No…it wasn't a dream…I remember…" She supported herself by putting her hands behind her.

Her fingers brushed something cold under the sheets. "What the?" She pulled away the sheets and stared in disbelief. "Not a dream…" She smiled and pulled out a pair of twin knives.

She ran her thumb over the hilt of one of them. "Always gotta be around huh, Kano? Well…I'm glad…" She hugged the sheathed knives tightly. "I miss you already."

She felt a presence behind her and looked at her door. Her entire family including Kimiko and her mother was standing in her doorway looking at her. She raised her eyebrow. "Good morning. Can I help all 15 of you?"

"Are you alright, Akane?" Kei asked concerned.

"No…but I'll be okay…eventually…" She stared the knives again. "Eventually…"

The group quietly left her alone. Akane opened her window and leaned out. "Nakago, where'd you go? I hope you're okay…" She sighed.

"I'm okay. About as okay as a dead guy can be." She let out a startled gasp when she saw Nakago's transparent figure floating next to her window. "Sorry to startle you."

"Wouldn't be the first time today I've been startled." She looked up at him. "So where are you headed now?"

"Where ever I happen to be told to go." He shrugged. "Some kind of hell I assume…"

"Don't you think you're being a little harsh on yourself? You did save me more times than I can count."

"Does it make up for those I killed? Directly and indirectly?"

"I dunno. I'm not some final judge. But I do think you should get better than hell."

He shrugged again. "I can't say I care much anymore either…"

"Nakago…time to go."

Akane and Nakago looked to the left, expecting to see Nozomi waiting to take Nakago. Instead, there was a woman with reddish brown hair.

"Soi…" Nakago said her name in disbelief. "Why…?"

"Come on. I'll explain on the way."

Akane was more than a little confused.

"Where are you supposed to take me? I saw you the first time I died and I ended up in limbo…what now?"

"Final rest Nakago. Your mission is over and you can come into a quiet paradise if you want to."

"Will you be there?"

"If you want." She shrugged.

Nakago glanced down at Akane. "Bye Akane."

"Bye. Umm…have a nice afterlife? Not really sure what to say…"

"That works." He chuckled and began walking away hand in hand with Soi's spirit.

She watched them fade away with the morning mist. "Guess I should ask Daddy who that was later…" She smiled and closed her window again. "Dammit! I should have asked him about Kano…not that he'd know for sure…oh well…just gotta watch and wait now…" She sighed and went to her closet to see what she should wear that day.


~*~Epilogue~*~

"Man…I did need this." Akane smiled as she walked down the deck of a large cruise ship. Winter was just to cold at home so the whole family went on a Caribbean cruise. The ocean air whipped her light skirt around her ankles. "Mom and Dad were right."

A few months had passed since she'd seen Kano or Kouji. The first couple of weeks had been the hardest but she had been able to go on. She also knew it was hard on Tora. Every day she hoped to see Kano, but she wasn't letting it rule her life.

"Akane! There you are!" She turned and saw Kimiko, Naoko and Nyoko running up to her.

"Hey, what's up?"

"It's pretty empty by the pool, wanna relax and tan for a while?"

"Sure. Sounds good."

The four girls went down to the giant pool and sat down in some beach chairs. They ordered some sodas and started talking.

"You think Kano would like something like this?"

"Naoko!" Nyoko gave her sister a sharp jab.

"Ow! What?!"

"That was rude!"

"Says you!"

Akane laughed. "It's okay Nyoko. Kano's not some forbidden subject." She put on a pair of sunglasses and sipped her soda. "I miss him, yeah, but he hated it when I was upset so I won't be." She shrugged.

"That's the way my mother is. She misses Kouji, but she won't let anyone know it." Kimiko set down her drink. "I miss having him around. And I think Akira does too. Boy, does he hate being the only guy around again."

"Kouji was cool. Even if he chased me around when I first came into the bandit stronghold." Naoko pulled her hair back into a short ponytail.

"You pushed your way past him and demanded to see Akane." Kimiko nudged her.

"Did I?"

The other girls nodded and laughed. Naoko stuck out her tongue. "If you want to look at it that way."

"And we will." Kimiko smirked.

Naoko opened her mouth to respond when a volleyball from the pool came flying at them into their table of drinks. The four drinks went flying, covering the four of them in soda. One of the guys in from the pool climbed out and walked over to them.

"Hey uh…sorry about that." He scratched his head. "Can we have the ball back?"

Naoko glared at him. "No." She picked it up.

"It was an accident! Give it back!" He looked annoyed even through his sunglasses.

"Then go get it." Naoko put the ball behind her head and chucked it right off the ship.

"Naoko, it was just soda. You're overreacting." Akane sighed and looked at the disgruntled boy. "Sorry about her. She's a pain in the ass." Naoko made a face.

"I know." He mumbled. The four girls looked at him. "What?"

"What did you said?" Nyoko looked him over. His hair was dark blue but the sunglasses hid his eyes.

"Nothing." He shook his head and walked away. "I better find another ball."

"You don't think that was…" Naoko pointed at him.

"No way…" Kimiko shook her head. "He would have recognized us."

"He seemed to know Naoko." Akane took off her sunglasses.

"Yeah, but wouldn't he have said something to you?" Nyoko looked over at Akane.

She shrugged. "Never can tell with Kano. I mean, if it is him…"

"Are you okay?" Kimiko asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Akane got up. "I'm…gonna go find another skirt. This one's all sticky." She untied and folded up dirty skirt and went walking back to her room.

After tossing the skirt in a bag with her other dirty clothes, she put on a clean one and dug Kano's knives out of her suitcase. There weren't too many places she'd go with out them. "Is it you? I hope so…but I've learned not to get my hopes up too much…" She sighed and put the knives down again. "Maybe, maybe not…but I'm getting tired of waiting…" She tucked the weapons back into a corner of her suitcase and left her room again.

The day passed without seeing the boy from the pool again. Dinner came and the whole family sat down in the humungous dinning room to eat. After dinner, all the adults except for Tora went out onto the dance floor. Akira also found a dance partner and disappeared into the crowd.

"Hey Mom, why don't you find someone to dance with? There's gotta be some single guys around here."

"Kimiko!" Tora rolled her eyes. "You know I don't like to dance."

"Aw, you're just saying that Ms. Arataki." Akane laughed.

"I am not." She propped her chin up on her hand.

"You shouldn't be teaching kids it's okay to lie." A voice came from behind them.

"Well excuse me, but it's really none of your buis…" She trailed off as she turned around to face her critic.

"Kouji!" The eight people at the table squawked in surprise at the sight of the older bandit.

He grinned. "Hey all."

Akane was speechless for a moment. "Is Kano…?"

"Somewhere. He disappeared after dinner. He's not really one for dancing." Kouji shrugged.

Without a word, Akane jumped up from the table, nearly knocking the whole thing over and ran off.

Kouji smiled. "She's in a rush…"

"She missed Kano. And he's not the only bandit who was missed." Kimiko grinned and gave her mother a quick shove of her chair.

"Kimiko!" Tora would have landed on the floor if Kouji hadn't put an arm out to catch her.

"I didn't do anything, did I Hiroshi?" She looked at him.

"Ummm…I refuse to answer that on the grounds that someone will be mad at me no matter what I say?" He shrugged.

Kimiko gave Hiroshi a dirty look while the twins laughed. "Come on you. We're going to dance." She grabbed him and dragged him off despite his protests about having two left feet.

Kouji smiled as he helped Tora up. "Should we?"

"Why not?" She took his hand and they went to dance. "Kimiko was right. I missed you a lot."

"I missed you too." He pulled her a little closer.

She smiled and sighed. "To think I'm in love again at my age…"

"You're not that old." He kissed her lightly.

"Kids add on the years quickly. You know that."

"Yeah. That's true." He conceded.

Tora rested her head on Kouji's shoulder. "You won't have to leave again, will you?"

"No…this world is stuck with me and my kid now."

"I do love you Kouji." She bit her lip. "I just didn't want to say it before…"

"I know…I understand. No point in saying it if we were just going to be separated after that." He looked at her in silence for a moment. "I love you too Tora."

They paused to kiss, unaware of two pairs of eyes watching them.

"They look to cute together…don't they?" Kimiko smiled when she saw her mother with Kouji. "I hope I can find a guy like that."

Hiroshi rolled his eyes and cleared his throat rather loudly.

"Oh yeah. I already did." Kimiko giggled and hugged him. "You're so cute when you're annoyed."

"Any other times?"

"Umm…when you're mad, when you're thinking deep thoughts, when you're sleeping…"

"When do you watch me sleeping? You stalking me?" He raised an eyebrow.

"No! You tend to nod off when we're working on homework. It's a bad habit of yours."

"Is it such a bad habit if you like watching me sleep?"

"Well…I guess not…" She smiled.

Hiroshi smiled and kissed her. He almost made if a French kiss when he felt some one jab him in the ribs. He turned around and saw his mother giving them a dirty look. Hotohori was giving them a slightly disapproving look, but not nearly as much as Taki. "Leave a little breathing room, will you?"

"Sorry…" They both murmured. When Hiroshi's parents left, they looked at each other and laughed.


Akane found herself out on the well-lit deck. "Now why did I run out here? Well…Kano probably did leave the dinning room…"

She started walking towards the pool at the front end of the deck. The closer she got, the more she could have sworn she heard someone playing the guitar.

It wasn't anything complicated, just some simple chords that sounded vaguely like a melody. She took off her sandals and continued towards the musician. He was sitting on the edge of the pool not paying attention to much else.

"Kano?" She called out timidly.

He stopped for a moment and looked up. She could see his bright green eyes shining in the dark. "Akane?" He put down the guitar and stood up.

"Kano!" She ran over to him and jumped at him. "It is you!"

Her sudden weight made them both topple over into the pool. Kano grinned under the water and grabbed her for a kiss. They held the kiss until they needed air. They came up to the surface and both started laughing.

Kano pushed his hair out of his face. "Little different than last time don't cha think?"

"Maybe just a little." She giggled and hugged him. "It really is you…"

"Who were you expecting? Reizo?"

She shoved his back into the water. "Don't joke like that, you moron!" Even though she was a little mad she couldn't help but laugh. She was too happy to see him.

He chuckled. "Come on. We should get outta here before someone comes and finds us in here." He cradled her in his arms and carried her out of the pool. They found some towels to dry off and stood on deck together. He hugged her. "You look really good in a two piece you know that?"

"You pervert." She gave in a mock glare and pulled her towel tighter.

"I wouldn't bother with that. I've seen you naked before." He remarked casually.

"You were spying on me in the bathroom! I knew it!" She whipped his leg with another towel.

"Ow! Hey! Ex post facto! That happened a while ago." He rubbed the spot on his leg. "I shouldn't be punished now."

"I reserve the right to punish whenever I please."

"Fantastic." He rolled his eyes.

Akane yawned. "I'm tired…"

"We can go back to my room and watch TV until we fall asleep."

"You have a TV in your room? Mom wouldn't let me get one!"

"Then let's go."

"My dad might kill you if he catches us."

"He didn't last time."

"That doesn't guarantee your safety every time." She took his hand. "But we'll go anyway."

After the short walk to his room, Kano and Akane got comfortable on the bed together.

"I'm so glad you're back Kano. I love you."

"I love you too." After about half an hour they nodded off together.

"Told ya they'd end up in his room."

"Lucky guess."

"I hate you."

"I don't like this bet."

"Quit whining and pay me."

"Fine."

"Stupid little…"

"You'll pay later."

"Just gimme the money and quit whining. I know Akane and Kano better than you three."

"When we're 21 we're all going to Vegas and we're gonna make you beat the system."

"Maybe, but pay now."

Toshiro smiled as he collected 10 dollars from his brother and the twins.

"I still wanna know how you knew…" Toru grumbled.

"Who really knows?" He shrugged. "I blame the book."

"It's a convenient excuse for a lot of things." Naoko muttered.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't ever wish I hadn't gone through it." Nyoko sighed wistfully.

"Even though we found out Mom was a guy?"

"That was pretty weird." Toru snickered.

"Shut up, your dad's a monk." Naoko snapped back.

"Hey! Nothing wrong with that!" Toshiro huffed.

Nyoko cut in. "Hey! There's nothing wrong with anyone's family. I think despite the fact that we now know more about our families than we ever wanted to, it's important to know where we came from."

The other kids nodded in agreement and headed back to their rooms. They walked in silence but the same question swam around in their heads. Was their business with the book finished? Could it ever come back and create more chaos in their lives than it already had?


And it's done! Well, mostly. Afterthoughts will be done soon. Maybe one or two this weekend and whatever's left next weekend. I have another three day weekend so it'll give me some breathing time.

~*~Shadow Hawk~*~