Following Juli's diagnosis, Juni took control of the situation. First, she notified the other dolls of Juli and her condition. While Juni was working with the other dolls, Juli was making her own plans.
First, with the help of Marz, she sold her floral shop and her and Kirina moved into a beach house that was owned by Juni. It was once a safehouse used by Shadowlaw, but Juni laid claim to it when Shadowlaw was destroyed. Depite the doctor's assumption that Juli would last no more than six months from leukemia, Juli held on long enough to see her daughter celebrate her thirteenth birthday.
One day, while Kirina was training with her aunt Satsuki on the beach, Juli was on the front porch, sitting on the bench, writing two letters. One to Kirina, the second to her father. Juni walked out of the house and sat down beside her. "How are you feeling?" Juni asked.
"I feel okay," Juli replied softly, not loking up from her writing.
Juni looked at the two sheets of paper that the former assassin were working on. "What's that?"
"Two letters," Juli replied. "One to Kirina, the other to Ryu."
"Are you sure that Ryu will accept that Kirina is his daughter?" Juni asked. "Don't you think that she would be better off with on of her aunts?"
"I've thought about it," Juli replied. "But I promised Kirina that she was going to meet her father and it would look bad on my part if I didn't deliver."
"For the record, I think that Kirina should be better off with me," Juni said.
"Objection noted," Juli remarked dryly. She stopped writing for a moment and watched her daughter. The young Eurasian teenager was at the moment sparring with her Japanese aunt. Kirina was holding a bokken as Satsuki was holding her Musumasa sword, the blade still in its scabbard. Juli watched her daughter train and felt a tear run down her cheek.
'Kirina...my ray of light,' she thought. 'I've taken you as far as I can. Now I can't be with you any longer. I hope your father will honor my final request and take you in.'
She finshed the letters and placed them into two envelopes. She then stuffed the two letters into a manila folder, labeled TO KIRINA. After sealing the letter, Juli handed the envelope to Juni.
"Juni...can you promise me that when I am gone, that you will hand over this folder to my daughter."
Juni slowly nodded. "You have my word."
-Two Months Later...-
The main reason as to why Juli had fought against the cancer was because her Psycho Power had kept it at bay. Now that her powers have all but depleted, the cancer began to take its toll on her body and she was left bedridden. Several weeks later, it was clear to Kirina, Juni and the other dolls that the day that they have dreaded had finally arrived, they were all at Juli's side.
Juli, now dying, was touched by the gesture. "My dolls...," she whispered. "Where's my daughter?"
Kirina had to push her way through her aunts just to get to her side. "Mom. I'm here," she replied as she sat down in a chair and taking her mother's hand in her own.
Juli then ordered the other dolls out of the room, leaving only Kirina with her. Kirina's voice was caught in her throat. "Mom..." she managed to get out. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Juli asked.
"For not being a good daughter," she replied.
"You were a great daughter, Kirina," Juli replied softly. "You were a handful at times, but I never regret having you. And now, this is my final lesson to you."
"What?"
"Always remember what I have taught you," Juli said, "and always remember who you are. You are Kirina Houshi. Juni has some items for you. Follow the instructions in my letter. I will be with you always, my dear Kirina."
Kirina couldn't hold back the tears as she and her mother embraced, her mother crying softly as well.
-Around 3 a.m.-
Kirina woke up in her chair. Apparently, she had fallen asleep. She heard the voices of her aunts in the other room. They were obviously sharing some of their past exploits with her mother.
Speaking of which, Juli was still in the bed. Kirina noted the peaceful look on her face.
It was then she also noticed that her chest wasn't rising. Or falling.
Kirina nudged her mother. "Mom?"
No response.
"Mom?"
Silence.
"Mom?" Kirina croaked, her voice breaking.
It was no use. Now Juli belonged to the ages.
Kirina took a moment to let out several sobs before she managed to clean herself up and present herself to her aunts.
-Outside...-
The dolls were talking amongst themselves about the days they spent as Shadowlaw assassins when Kirina entered the room. All eyes were on the young girl as she faced all of her aunts. The look on their young niece's face confirmed the worst.
"She's gone," Kirina deadpanned. "She's gone..."
Kirina then broke down in tears as Juni and Satsuki rushed to console her as she cried. Decapre, the Russian doll, slumped to her knees, her mask falling to the floor. The Chinese dolls, Xiayu and Yanyu had a brave face on, but that didn't stop the tears from falling. The other dolls were in the same state as Kirina, sobbing and consoling each other.
-At the same time in Japan...-
Inside a dojo, located in the small resort town of Sora, the man's eyes snapped open. He was Japanese, muscular and in his mid-thities, although you wouldn't even guess by looking at him. He was dressed in a sleeveless grey-black karate gi, the black belt adorned with several Japanese kanji. A red headband was wrapped around his forehead as he stood up and walked over to the open shoji door.
His wife, a shapely Chinese woman in her early thirties, who was also meditating, looked up and watched her husband walk to the open door. "What is it?" she asked. "What's wrong?"
"I felt...something terrible happening," the man replied.
The woman was confused. "Huh?"
The man shook his head. "It's nothing," he replied. "I've just had a hard day. I'm going to bed."
-Several days later...-
The funeral was a private one, with only Kirina, her cousins, and the other dolls attending. The distraught teenager was dressed in all black while her aunts, in a show of deep admiration and respect for Juli, were all dressed in their Shadowlaw uniforms, complete with red gauntlets and their garrison caps. Juni escorted Kirina, her two twins Reece and Rayne, both dressed in their military academy uniforms, followed close behind. Satsuki and Fevrier followed them, both had their weapons, six of the dolls acted as pallbearers and Xiayu and Yanyu brought up the rear.
Juni had bought out a funeral home for the day, allowing them the privacy that the dolls needed. The dolls paid their final respects to their former commander and best friend while Kirina said her goodbyes to her mother.
Following the service was the cremation. As the coffin was rolled into the oven, flames engulfed the casket as the oven lid closed. At that moment, all eleven dolls snapped into a salute as Kirna watched her mother's cremation.
After the ashes were gathered and placed inside an urn, Kirina and her aunts made their way to a beach, where a boat was waiting for them. They boarded and the boat went out to sea, where, where it finally stopped. Her aunts watching behind her with Satsuki raising her sword in a salute and Fevrier firing off shots into the air with her rifle, Kirina opened the urn and upended it, her mother's ashes scattering out into the sea.
The remaining dolls then saluted one final time.
After the funeral, Kirina was in her bedroom, looking at a picture of her and her mother as Reece and Rayne talked with one another. Her aunts were in the other room, talking about her mother when Juni walked in. In her hand she was holding the manilla envelope that Juli had given to her before she died. "Kirina?"
The young girl looked up. "Aunt Juni?"
Juni handed Kirina the envelope. "You mother wanted you to have this."
Kirina tore open the envelope and emptied the contents. There were several items inside. The first was a small crystal pendant. Kirina recognized it as her mother's.
"She wanted you to have that," Juni noted.
Kirina looked at the pentant for a moment before fastening it around her neck. The second and third items were a letter addressed to her and a plane ticket. Kirina picked up the ticket and looked at the destination. It was for Tokyo, one-way. The final item was a letter addressed to Ryu.
Kirina picked up the letter with her name on it and opened it. She pulled out the folded sheet of paper, unfolded it and began to read.
'My Dearest Kirina,
By the time you are reading this, I will be gone and you have alreadycarried out my final wishes as to my funeral. I am sorry for not being there with you, but now it's time for me to keep my end of the bargain. I promised you that you would met your father and I am a person of my word. Enclosed with this letter is a plane ticket for Tokyo and a letter for your father. His home address is on the back of this letter.
Kirina, go to Japan and find your father. Give him his letter and he will take you in. Show him the gloves and he will believe you. I wouldn't worry about Ryu thinking otherwise, because I know firsthand that he is an honorable man and will not refuse his own flesh and blood.
Always remember what I've taught you and I will be with you always.
Love, Mom.'
"Well?"
Juni's voice broke Kirina's line of thought. She looked at her aunt. "What?"
"What are you going to do now?" Juni asked.
Kirina folded the letter up and sighed. "Looks like I'm going to Japan."
"You're going alone?" Juni asked, shocked.
"Not alone," Satsuki butted in as she entered the room. "I will go with her."
"I'll come as well," Juni replied. "It's been a long time since I've seen Ryu face-to-face."
Satsuki didn't like the tone of Juni's voice when she said that.
-Satsuki's School of Japanese Swordfighting, Shinjuku District, Tokyo, several days later-
It was early morning when Kirina woke up. Ever since arriving in Tokyo three days earlier, Juni had insisted that Kirina should see her father with both Satsuki and herself. Satsuki countered that it should be Kirina's decision to decide.
The teen quickly got dressed and gathered her knapsack and backpack. As she left her room and started to walk down the hall, using the stealth techniques that she had learned over the years from her mother and aunts. She passed Juni room with ease who was asleep like a log. When she was past Satsuki's room, she thought that she was asleep.
"Kirina."
Satsuki's calm voice stopped Kirina cold. Kirina turned around and saw that Satsuki was standing behind her, wearing a robe over her pajamas. The former Japanese doll noticed the bags that she was carrying and knew of her niece's intent. "You're going?"
Kirina nodded. "Yes. Aunt Satsuki, I have to do this alone."
Satsuki nodded. "I understand. You should get going before Juni wakes up."
"She'll have a fit when she wakes up and finds me gone," Kirina noted.
Satsuki grinned. "I know. I'll keep her in line. If all goes well, Juni and myself will be there tomorrow."
Kirina bowed before grabbing her things and departing from the school.
-Later on...-
Satsuki told Juni that she had already left earlier in the morning. Juni was not very happy.
"Kirina DID WHAT?!"
Satsuki was sipping her tea. "She got up early and went on to Sora."
"And you didn't stop her?" Juni asked, pacing the kitchen.
"Why should I?" Satauki countered. "She said that this was something that she wanted to do alone."
"And if she comes crying back saying that Ryu refuses to acknowledge her as her daughter," Juni shot back. "What then?"
"I'm well aware of the risks," Satsuki replied. "Just calm down, Juni. I have a feeling that Ryu will not refuse his own flesh and blood." When it looked likt Juni was about to sat something, Satsuki continued on. "Your problem is that you worry too much, Juni. Kirina can handle this by herself."