It's a short chapter, I know. And the ending got kinda hokey… but what ending doesn't? After all, I didn't want it to end! And no, there will not be a sequel to the sequel. "Reincarnation Lessons" is not one I'll be writing. But the rest of you are welcome to it. XD

I remained a little heap of sad spirit on the ground, until Nakago finally returned. He nonchalantly walked over to me, and nudged my head with his foot. Feeling so overwhelmed by sadness, I didn't bother responding. He gave a sigh of annoyance, and easily picked me up by my hair.

"What is it now?" he asked sternly. "You have no reason to be feeling worse now than before you talked with Miboshi."

"But," I forced my eyes open to meet his, even though they were clouded with leftover tears. "Without my anger towards him, I have nothing left to keep me going… nothing to…"

"And?"

"It's really… all my fault!" I hiccupped on a few tears. "Those lasts wound… I gave them to myself. I shouldn't have taken my life. It was all over before it even started!"

"And now you're left to cry about it?" Nakago let his grip loose, and I fell back to the ground with a thud. "Your friends have done enough of that for you. Tears do nothing."

But my useless, hysterical tears wouldn't stop. "That won't change anything now! Not after… not after--"

Apparently, frustrated with my crying fit, the blonde man back handed my cheek, and set me soaring a few feet away. Even as spirits, we are able to feel pain. The shock made me stop crying, and I lifted my hand to my cheek. If I had any blood to spare, surely it would have been bleeding.

He stepped over to wear I wound up, and kneeled down to see me eye to eye. "Are you finished?"

I sniffled, and regained my composure.

"Of course your friend's tears won't change anything," he continued. "But neither will yours. Tears are useless, but not meaningless. So don't waste them."

I took a few more deep breaths before replying. "But what am I supposed to now?"

"That's not for me to decide for you," he smiled his usual higher-than-thou smile. "What are you supposed to do now?"

I shook my head in uncertainty. He rolled his eyes a bit, and decided to help fill in the answer. "Consider what I've done for you today. If I were alive, would I have gone out of my way to help a little lost boy?"

My puzzled look pushed him to continue. "There's an expression, 'live and let live'. It doesn't apply so much to dead warriors, but it means that things shouldn't bother much when you can't change them. Our fates have been sealed, and there's no way for us to go back and relive our lives. So get over it."

"Then, Nakago," I asked quietly. "Does that mean you're content with your death now? Nothing from your life bothers you now? You aren't even mad at Tamahome for killing you?"

"Hmph. I might be a little upset that he saw more of m life than what was good for it. But over all, yes. I accomplished as much justice as I needed to in my final days, and then some. Perhaps I did get a little carried away with myself."

"By that, you mean you regret some of your decisions?"

"No. But I received what was bound to come to me. The life, be it in our spiritual or physical bodies, has a system of checks and balances. You wrong those who wrong you. And to those that you wrong, you atone. Is this making any more sense to you now?"

I paused, piecing together what he had said. If wrongs are either met with more wrongs or atonement, then perhaps everything he was doing for me was in return for everything he had done against my friends before? I decided not to question that as I nodded that I understood.

"Tears won't bring justice. Only action can," Nakago helped me up.

"But how does this apply to me? I've forgiven Miboshi now, and I've never really wronged anyone else…"

"Weren't you just saying otherwise?" he seemed annoyed again. "You owe it to yourself to move on.

My eyes widened as I understood what he was getting at. Instead of staying depressed over what I had done to end my life, I needed to work at fulfilling everything I didn't do in my time. It wasn't too late to still become a stronger person by spirit, even if by nothing else. I smiled widely, with a new found hope. "Thank you, Nakago."

"Go satisfy the wounds you gave yourself in the way you see fit," he turned around as he bid farewell. The general disappeared a final time, and I found myself back in the Sairo temple.

Not letting the bloodstained rubble remind me of such painful sadness, I said a final prayer for the sake of my own soul, calling to mind everything my former enemies had taught me.

That evening, I returned to Mt. Taikyoku very late, where Nuriko and Mitsukake were waiting.

"You sure were out late," Nuriko smiled. "We expect it from His Majesty, but it was a surprise from you."

"He's not a little boy with a curfew anymore, Nuriko," Mitsukake laughed, but then looked back at me as I tried to laugh with him. "Your eyes look puffy, Chiriko. Are you alright?"

"Alright?" I laughed more. "I'm dead!"

Nuriko raised his eyebrows. "You say that, even for having shredded clothing and a big bruise on your cheek."

"Just a rough day in the after life," Taiitsukun suddenly appeared before us. "It makes me thankful that I'm immortal."

Even now, I'm still sad. But I can't let that sadness keep me down. Not after everything that everyone's done for me. Just like the wrongs Nakago mentioned, my favors still have to be returned.

No, there will not be a sequel to the sequel. "Reincarnation Lessons" is not one I'll be writing. But the rest of you are welcome to it. XD Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. But what I'd love most is if you tell other people to come read this and the original, especially once it gets lost in the big mess of Chiriko-less fiction here.