Goemon lies on the plush grass as the afternoon sun shines down on him; the sounds of the soft breeze causing the leaves of the trees to rustle over him and shift the shadows of the light over him. The glimmering sun peeks through the tops of the trees with the different shadows playing over the ninja's skin, warmth and coolness spread over him evenly. Moving his arm away from his eyes, Goemon lets out an exhausted high as some of the spilling sun blinds him and wakes him from his nap.

"Even after all these years, you're still the same as always." Momo's silent footsteps walk through the forest towards the fire ninja, looking around aimlessly before setting his eyes on his long time friend.

"Good looking?" Goemon counters.

Momo lets out a small laugh before setting his eyes on a woodpecker sitting on a branch, a rhythmic tap coming from the tree that he taps into to extract any sap or insects.

"All this free time and nothing to do with it. Must be nice to have the younger generation doing all our work."

Goemon slowly sits up from the ground, resting an arm over his knee and staring at his friend like what was about to come out of his mouth was the worst news in the history of their friendship, maybe possibly even the last thing he ever wanted to hear.

"Don't give me that look, Goemon." Momo doesn't even look back at his friend as he feels his eyes staring right into him. "It's not the worst news I've ever given you and something like this would be good for your soul."

"Working with children is the last thing I had hoped to ever want. I don't hate them, I just don't want to commit to them. Even if that is to train them to be ninjas. Why do you think I've never had kids." Goemon sighs out loud, raising an eyebrow to his pink-haired friend.

"Hey, I had my own little group for a season and I loved it. I still go on missions with some of them." Momo walks up to Goemon and sits down right beside him, staring up through the trees and smiling at some of the nostalgic memories. "We're not getting any younger, Goemon. We all have to retire someday. You still have time but there is a limit to what you can do. And that fire dragon in you isn't going to stay lit forever."

Goemon nods at Momo's statement. It was painful but he had to admit, he isn't getting younger and his ability isn't as strong as it was in his prime. He hates the thought of aging as much as he still hates the thought of angry women.

"Look at it this way:" Momo begins, "this is the end of your prime and you are going into your midlife crisis,"

"How old do you take me!?" Goemon interrupts.

Momo ignores him as he continues his speech. "You do not have a wife nor children but at this time you wish to fulfill happiness and satisfaction into something other than sex and alcohol. So…"

Goemon and Momo stare at each other for a long moment, almost like Momo was trying to have the redhead fill in the blank somewhere as he doesn't continue with his lesson.

"Spit it out." Goemon frowns after a long minute of silence.

"Hanzo has put together a fun little pair of children for you to be able to teach them how to use their ninja abilities. They are two of the few that have joined this season to become experts in their abilities. Though one of them doesn't exactly want to be a ninja." Momo explains.

"One: why did they join a ninja group if they don't want to be ninjas? Two: two children?! Are you fucking nuts!" Goemon shouts at Momo, furious that Hanzo would do such a thing without consulting with him first.

"They aren't children. These two are about 16-"

"That's too late for them to just begin training to be ninjas." Goemon interrupts again with a click of his tongue.

"And how old were you, huh? You weren't born nor raised around the ninja community. And you sure as hell weren't welcomed until they learned that you could wield the Fire Dragon."

Goemon purses his lips, suddenly growing silent because his best friend was right.

"The one is only doing so because their father wanted them to train under you just for a season, even if it was only physical training and no ability training."

Goemon nods at Momo, understanding what the situation is with the new trainee before sitting in silence. Nothing being spoken between the two as they watch the surroundings above them for some time before the redhead raises an eyebrow and turns back to Momo.

"Why do you keep referring to the recruits as "them"?" Momo only slightly turns towards his friend, violet pupils staring at him from the corners of his eyes.

"I don't know nor have I met them yet. Hanzo just sent me over to tell you that we have two new trainees and you will be working with them." He shrugs.

"Then how do you know about-"

"He gave me a rundown." Momo quickly answers, giving Goemon a blank look like he was growing bored with their conversation.

While Goemon doesn't say it out loud, he feels like his friend wasn't telling the full story. Something was definitely off with what Momo was telling him but he just couldn't tell what it was.

"Right!" Momo slaps his knees and stands from the ground, stretching as though he was the one that just woke up from a nap. "Let's get heading. Hanzo is expecting us tomorrow early in the morning."

"Yeah."

~PYRODYNASTY~

Late in the evening, Goemon sat in a tea house garden with a cup of strong sake in front of him; aimlessly staring up at the cool sky as the colors darken and sprinkles of different constellations appear as the sun continues to sink. Sleep was the last thing that was on Goemon's mind and he had some mixed feelings about training some of the next generation of ability ninjas. Was he going to be a good teacher? Would he be able to help them with their abilities? Will he have a good relationship with the trainees? Questions flood his head and a headache feel to be rising.

"Goemon?" His thoughts scatter as a familiar voice calls out his name.

Turning around, Goemon finds the familiar figure of the ronin at the deck of the tea house and a somewhat concerning expression over his face.

Musashi slowly makes it up to the ninja before Goemon turns away from him and continues to stare up at the sky with the questions running wild in his mind.

"You look anxious. Is there something bothering you?" Musashi asks, sitting down on the other side of the small table and facing him.

"I have a question for you." Goemon pauses, turning towards Musashi but keeping his eyes up towards the sky. "Have you ever mentored young trainees?"

Musashi raises his eyebrows in some surprise.

"I have trained a few young swordsmen in my lifetime but ninjas I think are a bit different, I would suspect." Musashi answers. "Is that really what's bothering you?"

"I was told by Momo that Hanzo paired me with two young trainees with abilities, so I will be mentoring them for the season and I don't know how I feel about it," Goemon explains to Musashi, finally glancing back at him before looking away and down at his cup of sake.

"Geez. You're finally doing something with your life and you are having an anxiety attack about it." Goemon shot back at Musashi's statement, giving him almost a mix of horrified and irritated expressions twisting on his face.

"Huh?!"

"Goemon, you piqued years ago! You can't be a little selfish boy like you were when we had that war with Oda. We were both asshats back then. Remember how we literally had a fistfight even though I use swords and you have abilities? You can't be like that anymore."

Goemon's expression softens.

"I know you never want children, but this is something for you to leave behind. Mid-life crisis' suck ass."

"Why do you guys keep calling it a mid-life crisis? I'm not even at the middle of my life yet!" Goemon whines causing Musashi to chuckle a bit.

"Well, whatever it is, you don't need to worry about it." Pulling out his wallet, Musashi sets down some money on the table and nods to Goemon. "Get some sleep. Don't get nervous over nothing."

With that, Musashi exits the garden of the teahouse and leaves Goemon to his solitude once again.

Goemon sits in silence before holding out his hand and igniting a bit of his ability between his fingers. Concentrating on them, he watches the fire dance for the millionth time but the fascination was as though it was the first.

Extinguishing out the flames, the ninja sighs out loud and gazes back up at the completely blue sky above him. The questions still ran through his mind but he knew he had no way out of this arrangement. Whatever happens, happens.

"Ah, fuck it."