Pursuance: Epilogue - In which letters are written and plans for the future are made.
A Detective Conan/Hattori Heiji Fanfic
By
Deborah J. Brown

Acknowledgements: All usual disclaimers regarding ownership of Detective Conan and related characters apply. This stuff is copyrighted to Aoyama Gosho.

Much thanks to Icka M. Chif for her beta-read. Not to mention reviewing even after being Beta Reader.

(Email from Kazuha to Ran)
December 20th

My dear Ran,

Yes, I know. It's amazing the trouble our boys get into. If it weren't for the fact that they just plain eat it up I'd worry more. Still, Heiji's a bit quieter than he was before the trip. Something happened aboard that I think helped him. Not the case itself, maybe Mrs. Shiratori told him something that made him think. He's more at peace with it, I think.

I don't want you to think he's all sweetness and light, though. He's still mouthy and sharp-tongued, but it's lighter hearted than it had been for a while. A lot of the anger he'd been holding onto is gone. He and his father are still fighting, too, but that's changed a bit. It's like they respect each other a bit more. Maybe that drop in the bilge tank was good for them, though I wouldn't recommend it myself. They both stank to high heaven for a while there.

I was telling you I think I have an inkling of what's troubling him. I'm not sure I'm right. If I am, though, it's something I can't help him with or protect him from. Nor would he let me if I could. I guess I'll just have to be there for him. Someone's got to keep an eye on that boy. He'll always be in trouble otherwise.

Kazuha.

***

(Letter from Hattori Shizuka to Shiratori Amiko)
December 21st

My dear Miki,

I have to thank you. Your help over the last few days has been invaluable. I'm not sure what you said to Heiji, but I believe it's helped him.

If the old Talent of my mother's family's has returned full force in him, then there isn't much to be done. I would like, one day, to convince him to work with you, but first he has to admit to the ability. I'm just glad that our experiences years ago gave me someone to turn to at this time. No one has shown the Talent for years now and I had thought it gone. Had it not been for your skills as a fortune-teller I would never have believed Heiji might be similarly affected.

In any case, it was wonderful to see you and we shall have to find more time to get together. It was especially wonderful to see Nosey I'm sorry, Ninzaburo-kun again. He's grown quite handsome and I'm sorry his relationship with that young lady he works with didn't work out. Still, he's young and I'm sure that he'll be all right. At least this case helped take his mind off matters, even if it did mean cutting short our cruise. I'm just glad Akemi-san's troupe was able to pull through with a replacement mystery to make up for all the troubles the ship was going through.

Again, thank you for your help and I hope to see you again at our next Kendo reunion.

Sincerely,

Shizuka

***

(Email from Hattori Heiji to Kudo Shinichi, by way of Agasa-Hakase's address)
December 23rd

Hey.

Yeah, the case was a bit of a pain, ghost wise, but at least I got the satisfaction of seeing that smug twerp Yamamori taken down a few notches. Don't know for sure he saw anything when I tried touching him, but he certainly acted a lot more nervous than he used to be. I only wish he could have felt it as well.

Tell Ai that I understand her opinion but disagree. Sure, it could just have been my picking up on Akemi-san's pain and fears but that doesn't explain how I knew what it was like to be chopped up. I don't want to talk about the nightmares I had that first night after the case was over. Maybe it was my own fault, I hadn't slept for hours and I guess imagination could have been the culprit but damn, it felt realistic. Sorta glad Kazuha woke me up. Whatever it was I picked up on the ship is gone now. Toshini himself and those poor souls down in the tank. I only hope they're at rest.

Anyway, Franky seems to have decided to have a head now, though he only shows it to Kazuha. She's commented a couple of times that she's dreamed of a nice doggie taking care of her. Doesn't seem to bother her that it's just a head, but she's a weird girl anyway. Still, it's sort of nice. She's stopped pestering me about why I keep staring off into space and I haven't had a complaint about the static shocks in a while now. Makes me wonder if she suspects.

I don't know why, but I sort of hope she does, as long as she doesn't push to find out for sure. I like having her around. Don't you dare tell her I said that or a little bird will be telling Ran just how much a certain missing detective misses his girl.

Oh, I hear from Dad that a white-clad thief of our acquaintance is threatening to make an appearance in Osaka. Time to salt some tail feathers, I think. Wanna help?

Hattori.

The End

Author's Notes:

If you want to know what Shiratori's mum looks like, watch Iron Chef. The judge named Kasuko Hosoki is my template for her general appearance and some of her behavior.

I like to think that what happened in Ysabet's "Conversations Among Ghosts" is part of what made Shiratori all depressed. Go read it. She does GOOD stuff.

The next story will have Kaitou Kid returning. Tentative title, "Hitonaiya Park". Gotta check with someone who knows Japanese to make sure on that one.

Kesenaibs: Thanks. Heiji's first appearance didn't really make him seem like much, but he's been growing on me each time he appears.

Ke: Thanks!