Chapter 14: Epilogue
A/n: I've adhered to a request and will now refer to Nuriko as "he" (hehe, this's the last chappie anyway...)
"You're body's considerably weakened, Akire, though I don't see any wounds on the surface, but it looks like you're recovering," Mitsukake said, when they were back in Hotohori's casa. Akire nodded, being too depressed to reply. "And how are Tasuki's injuries?" she whispered. Mitsukake replied, "His wounds aren't healed yet, but he's going to be fine." Akire gave another nod, and fell silent. "You should rest, you know," the seishi said after awhile, "it'll give you time to think about how to patch things up with Tasuki. If, of course, that is what you want." She arose from her chair and walked silently to her room. "Thanks, Mits," she said, trying to sound cheerful, "Though I won't be around to spend more time with you guys, anyway. I'm...sailing back to my country first thing tomorrow."
She stretched out and yawned on her bed, and heard a barely audible rustle beside her. "You haven't answered my earlier question yet, Chichiri," she smiled, turning towards the direction of the sound. "Nice to know your senses are sharp," he replied, popping into view. "So, what question was that, Akire?"
Akire looked out her window and said, "You haven't told me yet what happened when we...disappeared." Chichiri sat down, rubbed his chin and finally said, "Hmm, as I could recall, there was this flash of light, and you two disappeared. First you have to tell me what happened there before I continue." Akire, not in the mood to explain her powers, said simply, "It was Ikegai's, um, chi. I, or we, anticipated that move and dived in, causing us to merge with his mind. Now go on."
He nodded and continued, "So, we were quite shocked to discover that you two were gone, and Ikegai was standing there, staring at nothing. He moved like he was a puppet and someone was randomly moving his strings. We honestly didn't know what to do with him, so we waited. And waited some more. Then, Tasuki appeared, lying down and his breathing's stopped. It was in the nick of time that he completely materialized, or another second and all that'll appear is a limp corpse."
Chichiri narrated to Akire about the falling cavern incident, and how he, Tasuki and Ikegai were left in the cavern. "So, in a way, I was causing that," Akire said. "Ah, don't sweat it," Chichiri replied, and continued, "so, anyway, the only way we can get Ikegai out was if I can send Tasuki back in there to help you seal Ikegai's mind. The minute I completed the process, I was knocked out on the head by this rock because I was a bit weak from the transfer. There, I think, the cavern was almost completely on us. I woke up and everything was dark, and tons of rubble was pressing down on me. I erected a barrier to force away the rocks and saw Ikegai's bleeding body on one side, and Tasuki's slowly materializing form in the other. Since Ikegai's almost dead weight now, it was easier for me to get us all out of that cave."
Akire nodded. The force that was all killing them seconds before they were "eaten" by the white void was the cavern roof falling upon Ikegai's body. But since Chichiri woke up and got them out, he was able to stop them from dying in there. "It's a bit weird, though, that Ikegai's body disappeared," Chichiri said after awhile. "Do you have any explanations, Akire?" Akire shook her head. "What DID the Council do to that pathetic excuse?" she thought.
Meanwhile, back in the Council chambers, Ikegai whimpered pathetically (think Gollum, for all you LOTR fans). "Akire...Akire...don't leave me here!" he kept on repeating. Mikhail looked at him with pity and asked, "Should we transport him to the Amrian prison? It seems like he's lost his mind. I actually pity him." Judge grasped the gavel and shook his head. "No, no, Mikhail, he won't go to prison. And, no, he won't go into an asylum, either." He pounded the gavel two times, and the chains that held Ikegai disappeared. Another two hits of the gavel and a wormhole appeared in front of the villain, transporting him away.
"Where did you send him?" Mikhail asked suspiciously. "You didn't send him into hell, most likely." Judge shook his head, "Not hell, most certainly not. I released him, for Akire to hunt down again, if Ikegai 'resurfaces'." Mikhail darted up from his seat and bellowed, "Preposterous! You would risk the lives of mortals by sending that hellish creature BACK? You finally have gone mad!" Another Councilman spoke. "Silence, Mikhail. Unless you would like to be removed from this Council and be stripped of your authority, you would best keep silent about this recent event. The Paladin wants to prove herself to us? She must capture him again, and she better do it right the second time." Mikhail, aghast, sat down again. He dared not risk being booted from the Council, for only as Councilman can he try and help Akire, the daughter he never had.
Okay, enough about them. Akire strolled depressingly around the palace, looking for someone to talk to. "If I talk to Tasuki, he'll push me away. If I don't, he'll stay angry with me. I don't want to leave things like this." She finally came across Nuriko, who had a puzzled look on his face. "Do you know that Tasuki doesn't remember anything about the fight in the cavern?" he asked her. Akire sighed. "Ye—no, I don't. It's probably because a rock fell on his head back there." Nuriko replied, "Impossible! No rock can hurt him! Nothing is possibly thicker than his head!" Akire mustered a few giggles, before going silent again.
Nuriko said after awhile, "Look, I know your still upset about Tasuki being forever mad at you and all, but you have to forgive the guy. He's been through a rough childhood, or so he says." Akire said, "Nuriko, I've forgiven him a long while ago. The thing I worry about is if he can do the same to me." He patted Akire's shoulder, and then said, "Ah! Dinner! Now there's something to liven up your spirit! There's nothing like a good bowl of food!" Akire smiled. "At least I've known a friend like you. I'd like to thank you now for all the kindness you gave me," she said, hugging Nuriko. He smiled and said, "Well, if you want your dinner, you better run or Miaka will eat it all!"
They, fortunately, found their bowls untouched when they reached the dinner table. "Good evening, guys," Akire greeted. Then, the once noisy table went silent. After a few seconds, the silence was broken by Tasuki's chair scraping against the floor, as he arose. "I'm done with my dinner," he said simply, and left. "You'll have to forgive him," Chichiri said, "You know how he is." Akire nodded, and muttered, "Yes. I guess so."
Dinner that night was uncannily quiet, and ended quite quickly. While the rest said their "goodnights" and went to their rooms, Akire was the only one left on the table, even as the servants were cleaning up. Suddenly, she stood up and said, "Um, can you leave that bowl over there? Someone, someone's bound to come back and finish."
The minute she was left alone, she packed the bowl full of food and ran outside looking for Tasuki. "I just hope he didn't run out into the mountains," she said, half sarcastically. Thankfully, she found him brooding on top of the tree where they first fought each other. "Ah, the irony," she muttered, as she climbed her way up.
"Oh. You're here," was the curt greeting when Tasuki saw her. "You gonna speak to me? Haven't you forgotten that I don't like you?" Akire bit her lip and swallowed her pride. "M-Miaka told me to give this to you," she said, handing over the bowl of food. Tasuki grabbed it, and then stared at her. After a moment of awkward silence, Akire sighed and said, "Alright, alright, I'm leaving."
Tasuki took one look at the bowl and was about to throw it away, when he heard a voice say, "You idiot. She ain't that bad!" He looked around to find out who said it, and then realized that it was HIS voice. "Now where did that come from?" he wondered. Shaking his head, he looked at the rice bowl and saw a note stuck at the bottom. "This is so cheesy," he muttered, as he opened the note.
"'Hey, fang-boy,'" he read, "'seeing as you didn't finish your dinner, I took the liberty of bringing you more food. It's not very good to take your hunger for granted, you know, or you'll faint. Look, if I ever made you mad or offended you in any way, I am very, very sorry. I don't like leaving things like this, since tomorrow maybe the last chance I'll ever see you guys again. So...truce? By the way, I think I may have packed too much food in there, maybe you can finish if you split it with someone.'" Tasuki looked at the bottom of the tree and saw Akire standing there, grinning, and holding up a pair of chopsticks. "Why, you sneaky little vixen!"
Later...
"Oy, oy, oy Akire! You're takin' all the tasty bits!"
"Sez you."
"Oh yeah? The peas are gone! Wait, I hate peas!"
"You see dum-dum?"
"HEY! STICK TO YOUR SIDE OF THE BOWL, WOMAN!"
"Fine, fine."
The next morning...
"Oh, Akire, it's too bad you're leaving so soon!" Nuriko remarked as he hugged Akire. "I have a lot to attend to back home, unfortunately, so I can't linger, but thanks for all the hospitality!" Akire said, patting Nuriko's shoulder and then continued packing. "Oh, wait, I'm going to call the others!" he said, and ran off.
Akire checked her things one by one to see if everything's in order. Sure enough, she found something amiss. "I should've known," she murmured, grinning. She heard someone creeping up beside her, as she said, "Give me my sword back, Tasuki." The man beside her (obviously Tasuki), unbuckled her sword from his belt and handed it back to her. "Took you long enough, Akire," he said.
She grabbed it, seemingly calm, and then stepped out of her room. Tasuki grinned, going after her. Akire, losing her composure, turned back and embraced him. "Oh, you insufferable, puppy-faced blowhard!" she said, crying, "I was planning on going out of here without saying good-bye, but you had to come in my room and, and, darn it I'm crying!" Tasuki's jaw dropped when she hugged him, and was trying to pull away but finally gave up. "Ahhh, I'll miss you too," he finally said.
Akire wiped her tears and finally let him go. She was about to hold out her hand for a formal handshake, but then decided to punch his shoulder lightly. "You do know only macho guys do that?" Tasuki remarked. "You do know friends do that?" she retorted. He nodded, not really feeling like arguing with her, as he patted her shoulder and grasped her hand. "You take care now. And no dates with strangers, y'hear?" he said, trying to look away. Akire smiled and nodded, trying to repress more tears. "And you behave yourself now, li'l bro," she said.
"Yeah, yeah okay, just go already will you?" Tasuki said, staring at the ceiling. Akire grinned. She knew he didn't mean that, anyway. "Alright then, goodbye, Tasuki." With that, she turned and walked away.
She rode a horse to the docks, and sure enough her ship is there, waiting to "sail" her back to Amria. But she isn't boarding it just yet. The sound of a galloping horse drawing near signaled Tasuki's approach. He hurriedly got off, panting.
"You sly vixen!" he said, "gimme back the tessen!" Akire had already opened her bag and pulled out the fan. "Here you go," she said, "what took you so long? I wasn't planning on hauling this iron heap all the way back to my place." He grabbed it from her, then grinned and clapped his hands sarcastically. "But seriously, no-one's ever done that before, y'know, steal my tessen right under my nose," he said, "but believe me, no-one ever will again. So, don't try pullin' that trick again." Akire smiled and said, "Just returning the favor."
They both looked at the white, unfurled sails of the oaken ship. "When're you gonna stop by again? Maybe you know we can hang 'round the pub," he remarked. Akire raised an eyebrow and said, "And what? Get myself drunk again? No way, Jose, not in your life." Tasuki smirked and replied, "Hey, who said you'll do all the drinkin'? Who's gonna pay for my drinks when you're gone, seeing as you're so rich and all."
"I am not rich, Tasuki, and there's no way I will treat you to anything!" she said, sticking out her tongue and boarding the ship, which began inching forward, slowly picking up speed. Tasuki hollered, "Seriously, when will we see you again?" Akire gamely waved goodbye at him as she yelled back, "Probably never, Tasuki, probably never."