Resurfacing by Strawberry'd

Chapter Thirteen: Epilogue


It was chaos.

Yoh was dozing in the living room. Anna was reading a book in the kitchen. HoroHoro was contently eating the entire contents of the Asakura fridge. Ren was doing tae kwon do or whatever the hell he does outside. And of course Pirika and Tamao watched helplessly as Pirika's two children ran around the house absolutely destroying the place.

And of course, Lyserg-kun and Jeanne-sama had to choose that exact moment to ring the doorbell, causing little baby Hana to cry.

That moment triggered a series of events. The cry of her baby, made Anna get up, throw her book down and go to comfort Hana.

After that, Anna yelled at Yoh, who woke up, who then, in turn, hugged her, kissed her, and went back to sleep again.

She noticed that Hana had fallen asleep as well, so she put Hana in his loving father's arms.

Anna, now fully awake and not engrossed in a novel, went to go slap HoroHoro and take repossession of her fridge.

So then HoroHoro went to his wife, and then went outside to retrieve Ren.

Ren comes in, goes to his wife, calms down his sons and began to converse - more like argue - with HoroHoro.

Pirika and Tamao, with the children quietly playing, started to talk with Jeanne and asked her if married life was suiting her.

And then, Hao comes in with Ayame, waking up Hana, making him cry, making Anna go to him, making Yoh wake up and almost making Hana fall off the couch, making Anna yell at him, Making a huge racket, making Pirika's children to start to join in the yelling and making Ren bring out his kwan dao to shut everyone up.

Yoh woke up; Hana curled around his leg sleepily, and came into the main room. As he watched the mayhem, he knew they never would get to the dinner table.

Lyserg noticed Yoh and went to greet him. Ayame, now seventeen, picked up Hana and twirled him around.

Anna noticed this from the corner of her eye and firmly told herself to keep an eye on those two.

Today was the tenth year anniversary for Yoh and Anna. They both survived ten long years of each other's company.

They both knew specific traits of the other that they… excessively disliked. Yoh was lazy, he was always tired. Anna was commanding, and stubborn.

But they showed everyone that even with all those things that they hated about one another, the good outweighed the bad by far.


Horohoro was on the couch, feet propped up, eyes scanning the TV that lay in front of him. Quickly, he flipped the channels with the air of a master. Sighing he turned off the set, and turned to his girlfriend- no, fiancé. It took quite a while, but Horohoro finally mustered up the courage to ask Tamao to marry him.

"I'm bored." He said.

She laughed quietly, flipping through a magazine. A few more people had yet to come. "Go find Ren."

"He's talking to Pirika." Horohoro whined.

"Talk to Yoh-kun, or Lyserg-kun." She smiled and looked at him. "There's always Hao-san."

Scowling, Horohoro turned away and huffed. "You're no help."

"I'm sorry." She teased.

Horohoro started to walk away. He turned and stuck his tongue out at her. "I'm going to the kitchen. I'll find something to amuse me."

Tamao laughed. "I'm sure you will."


Lyserg wrapped one arm around his young wife's waist. They had spent the last year in Rome, celebrating their marriage and first pregnancy.

Although that ended in a miscarriage, Lyserg didn't give up hope. He nuzzled Jeanne's neck, smiling at the gentle swell in his wife's belly.

She smiled at him, hugging him. "It'll be alright…" She whispered to him.

He held her tighter. They both knew that they wanted a child more than anything.


Ren grumbled. Everyone had to be such loud people! They couldn't give him a moment's rest. Chaotic and messy, loud and noisy, absolutely arduous!

"Otou-san!" his eldest son came running up to him.

"Oh, Wei, what are you doing here?" Ren smiled at his son of five years. "Why don't you play with your brother?" He said, naming his other son, of four years.

"You looked sad, 'tou-san." The young boy looked up at his father with wide eyes.

Ren laughed. "I'm not sad. Now go run off."

When Wei ran out, he bumped into his mother. "Mama, 'tou-san looks sad." Then he ran off.

Pirika smiled. She walked into the room.

Ren looked up at her and scowled. "I'm not sad."

Pirika laughed. "It's ok to be sad, anata (1)."

He frowned. "I'm not sad."

She reached up and messed up his hair. Ren scowled again. "Stop that."

"Are you sure you're not sad?" Pirika tilted her head a bit.

Ren sighed. "I'm not-"

Pirika kissed him. She moved back a little. "Are you sure you're not sad?" She whispered.

"Maybe a little sad." Ren wrapped his arms around her and drew her into his embrace.


Yoh grinned at all his guests. He took their coats, and made small talk; everything he was supposed to do. But Anna was still irked at him.

He sighed, watching her out of the corner of his eye. She was rocking Hana to sleep. Just as she placed him in his cradle, Yoh came up behind her.

"Anna?" He said.

"Not now, Yoh, I have things to do."

He sighed. That was what she always said. "Later?"

"Maybe."

Yoh reached out and tucked a loose hair behind her ear. "Please?"

She stared at him for a bit. With a gentle smile, she nodded. "Sure."

A bit later, when everyone was settled and talking quietly amongst themselves, Yoh spied Anna going into the kitchen. He abruptly ended his conversation with Lyserg and followed her.

"Anna?" Yoh frowned.

"What is it that you want, Yoh?" She was preparing a bottle for Hana.

"I feel like I'm losing you." He said.

She waved his statement off. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Anna… what do you say to a weekend together? Just the two of us?" Yoh said, closing the distance between them.

She frowned. "What about Hana?"

"We can leave him with Hao, or Ren, or Lyserg, you know they would take good care of him."

She looked doubtful. "I don't know…"

"Please Anna?" Yoh looked at her, enfolding her with his arms. "I feel like I don't know you anymore."

She didn't say anything. "It'll just be for the weekend. What do you say?"

She laid her head on his shoulders. "Just for the weekend."

Yoh breathed in her scent. "Thank you…"

"Yoh… I'm not going anywhere." Anna whispered.

"I know. I know."

The two stood there for a while, tranquility overflowing within. They reveled in each other, and their love.


Note: This chapter is dedicated to Keeper of Yoh and Cherri-chan.
(1): means 'you', used also as an endearment between couples. ex. darling, sweetie

End of Chapter Thirteen