A/N: Here we go, the finale of this story. Thanks so much for sticking it out for this long, so now it's time to wrap it up.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own OCs. Ginga Densetsu Weed and the other Ginga series belongs to the rightful owner.

Special thanks to the reviewers and to the readers who Fav/Alert this story, I really appreciate it.

Finale

Back home...

"It's so lovely to have you home Daisuke. Your father and I find ourselves lonely at some points thinking about how you've been."

"That's right, how was your trip Son?" Daisuke's mother and father watched as their grown son maneuvered heavy boxes around the home. He had returned not too long ago, paying a visit to his family in the town that he grew up in.

"It was great and I met Gin again." He replied with a smile. "To be honest I wasn't expecting him to show up but he did."

"Gin? Your old dog?" His mother asked, her eyes widening when she recognized the name. "How is he?"

"He's same old same old, if not a little older." Daisuke laughed, stacking a box on top of another. "You two would probably recognize him if he decided to stop by."

"I also hear that the doctor is back in town." His father spoke up from where he was lounging on the sofa. "He left to handle some kind of disease in another country and got back around the same time as you. Why don't you go and pay him a visit?"

"The doctor?!" Daisuke dropped everything he was doing, grabbed a jacket and rushed out of his home. "I'll be back!" He ran down the road, letting his legs take him down memory lane. When he arrived at the home he noticed an older man standing on the driveway, taking care of an elderly.

"Drink water and don't do anything that could strain your back." He was saying, putting a leather pouch in his patient's hand. "These should help you, just take them at nights."

"Thank you so much, Doctor." The elder said and went on his way. Releasing a sigh the man rubbed the back of his head before pulling out a clipboard and flipping through the papers, mumbling to himself.

"Oh! Mr. Hidetoshi!" Daisuke exclaimed as he ran up, waving his arm in the air. The hunter had long since retired from hunting, gathering a reputable reputation in the business. About to reach 50 years old he didn't want to squander the rest of his years moving around too much so he ended up being the doctor.

"Daisuke? It's certainly been a long time." Hidetoshi replied, putting the clipboard down and addressed his neighbor. "You look well."

"I thought you didn't hunt anymore." Daisuke noticing the rifle leaning against the wall of the home and decided to ask about it. "Why do you keep that thing around?

"Well hunting has been a part of me for the longest time. So it's quite hard to part with something you've been doing for a majority of my youthful years."

"Mmmmm I understand." Daisuke replied as he followed the doctor inside. The insides of the home hasn't changed , the walls still propped with trophies of animals the hunter had killed. One picture caught his attention and he walked over for a closure look. "Oh, when was this taken?"

"Hm? That was a time when John and I traveled to Africa." Hidetoshi looked over Daisuke's shoulder to stare at the picture. "We hunted a lot of game."

"Bark! Bark! Bark!"

"Huh? A dog?" Daisuke rushed out with Hidetoshi on his heels, the gun in his arms. When they got outside they looked around before the younger of the two spotted the said animal. "Sir? Isn't that..."

"John?" Hidetoshi uttered when he saw the dog sitting not too far away with his tail over his paws, one of his ears seemed to have been ripped off from a fight. There's no way he could ever mistaken the marks of his former hunting companion. However this dog wasn't John and the hunter slowly lifted the gun and pointed it at the animal. "A wild mutt huh?"

"Sir! Don't shoot!" Daisuke pleaded, placing a hand over the gun and lowered it. "Maybe he wants something from us." Sensing something, the dog stood up and walked off, looking over his shoulder every now and then to see if they were following.

"He wants us to follow?"

"Maybe something has happened that needs our help."

"Well if that's the case..we don't have time to waste." The doctor said, replacing his gun with a medical box and gave Daisuke a nod. "Let's go."

At the shrine...

The dog led the two humans up the mountain, stopping every once in awhile to make sure he didn't lose them. At first he was afraid that he would have gotten shot at but luckily it didn't happen that way. Bounding up the steps he kept climbing, eager to get back to where he came from.

"John, slow down." Hidetoshi spoke, trying to keep the dog in sight. He winced when he had to walk at a steep uphill slope but he managed and stood breathless once the ground leveled out. "I'm not as young as I used to be."

"Sir, I thought you said that he wasn't John..." Daisuke said as he walked behind the old hunter, making sure he didn't fall.

"Where is he leading us? Don't tell me there's actually something up here..."

"It's been a long time since you've come back from your hunting expeditions but we have an old shrine up here that's been abandoned for quite some time." Daisuke explained. "If I remember, there was a dog who lived here but I left for my trip so I couldn't validate it."

"Wait..." Hidetoshi held up a finger to indicate silence and they took cover behind some bushes. "We're getting close to that shrine you were talking about."

Had it always been this close to us? Daisuke thought, peering out to get a good view. It's been awhile since I've walked these paths...

"Is he waiting for something?" Hidetoshi questioned as the dog that lead them to the location padded over and sat down, curling his tail over his paws as he looked expectantly at the entrance. His ears were alert and his head tilted to the side at least once or twice.

"Sir, look." Daisuke pointed to another Shepherd laying on the ledge overlooking the shrine, his head laying over crossed paws but definitely looking at them with a sharp gaze. "Isn't that John?"

"Oooooh, John." Hidetoshi whispered as he looked at his old hunting companion. He could see how the years have been treating him but he was definitely John no less. "You seem to be in good spirits my old pal."

"Woof! Woof!"

"Something seems to be coming out of the shrine!" Daisuke said excitedly as the dog stood to his feet, tail wagging. Six bundles of fur staggered into the light, making small whimpering noises as they got their first taste of the outside world. One almost rolled away but the dog lead it back, using his snout to guide it.

"Oh...puppies?"

"Mr. Hidetoshi, I think they're John's grand kids." The younger of the two said, watching the puppies gather around the dog as he laid down.

"Grand kids?"

"That's right, John has a daughter and she gave birth." Daisuke smiled knowingly. "I know that dog when I ran into Gin during my travels. She was there with him."

"So that's what it is..." Hidetoshi murmured as he watched John descend from above, padding up to greet the pups. At first they were scared when a sharp bark escaped the Shepherd's mouth, lining up and gazing at him with wide eyes but soon they were all over him as well, nibbling on his ears, biting his tail and even showering him with kisses. "I've never seen him so happy."

"If you could turn back time...would you have let John go?"

"...he would've joined that pack of wild dogs no matter what..." Hidetoshi replied with a hint of sadness in his voice. "The same could be said of Gin. The wheels of fate is an interesting thing so I believe that no matter what I do, John would've found a way to detach himself from me."

"And chaining John to your side wouldn't have been an option either." Daisuke murmured as he thought about every possible scenarios. "So in the end there really wasn't a way for you to keep John."

"Every dog will answer the call of the wild some day if they've been exposed to the wilderness long enough...no it runs through their bodies regardless of exposure. And who am I to stop them when they do?" The old hunter rose to his feet, looking at the family with tears rolling down his face. He quickly wiped them away with the back of a hand. "John, you have a wonderful family. I'm really happy for you."

"S-Sir, where are you going?!" Daisuke asked as the older man proceeded to walk away. "Don't you want to say hello or anything?"

"Daisuke, don't you remember your grandpa's words?" The hunter asked as the man walked beside him. "Back when Gin was named the leader after Riki's death? That moment marked the beginning of Gin not being your pet...John is no longer mine."

"But..." He looked over his shoulder, watching the happy family for a minute. His eyes locked with Alayus and the female shepherd blinked. It was a quick moment but for a second he knew she winked at him. So you do remember me huh, the puppy that was with Gin that one time.

"Let's go Daisuke, there's no use talking about this anymore. Besides, I have a patient to check up on so don't dilly-dally." Hidetoshi continued walking. Releasing a small sigh, Daisuke bowed before turning and running after the doctor.

"Jerome, was it wise of you to bring the humans?" Alayus asked as she and her mate watched the two descend back to the town. "Even I've never met Father's previous human owner."

"I wanted them to see out of my own decision and I was sure you wouldn't have minded." Jerome replied. "According to intelligence thanks to the scouting groups your father's previous owner had come back so I thought it would be interesting for him to see how John was."

"So you were thinking of Dad." She teased him. After John crashed on their play in the field he gave Jerome an earful followed by a large "daddy" lecture. It scared Jerome so much that he couldn't help but look over his shoulder just to make sure John wasn't lurking from the shadows.

"I mean...he is my in-law and acts like a father to me. I gotta look after him too."

"How thoughtful of you." Alayus smiled at him before turning her head and saying, "Kids, don't rough up your grandpa too much okay?"

"Okay mom!" All six kids replied at the sound of their mother's voice.

"Alayus, who do you think I am?" John huffed, giving his daughter a lopsided smile. He turned around and lightly gripped one of the pups that wandered onto his back, placing the bundle of fur on the ground. "Don't treat me like I'm some old man."

"Oh, there's a meeting today." Jerome spoke up, licking a paw and drawing it over his ear, the not ripped one. "I almost forgot."

"Huh? How could you forget?" Alayus asked him.

"Well I was enthralled with you and the pups." He replied, drawing a tongue over her snout.

"Lucky for you that Missile and Rocket are running around spreading the word." John laughed, looking at his new son-in-law. After the fight both Rocket and Missile were employed as messenger dogs, running across Ohu to spread messages for the leader. Some of Hougen's old subordinates either joined the Ohu army or making new lives for themselves in different factions. "It'd look bad as Weed's new right-hand man."

"Oh shucks...I'm already being teased by the old man." Jerome blushed with embarrassment, drawing his tongue over his chest fur.

"Shall we get going?" The older shepherd asked as the pups all sat in front of him with excitement. "We shouldn't keep Weed waiting." As we waited outside while the family got ready, he turned to look at the path that lead to town, his eyes finding the small moving dots that represented Hidetoshi and Daisuke.

Thank you...for coming to see us...

In the heart of Ohu...

The clearing was full of dogs as they greeted one another. Hiro and Reika fell in love with each other so they were seen side-by-side with Mel talking to them. The golden retriever got bigger but he was still the same. Kagetora, Ken and their families were lounging about as well, soaking up the sun.

Gin was sitting beside Weed, giving his son some tips when addressing the army with Akame looking from the side. Tesshin, Moss and all of the other Ohu friends made themselves comfortable until it was time.

"Ooh!"

"Alayus-sama!" Ryo exclaimed from where she sat with her siblings just as the family of Shepherds padded up onto the scene. "And you became a mother!"

"Wow, congrats!"

"They're so cute!"

"They look more like Jerome than you Alayus!"

"Man, I wish I had cute pups just like yours." The pups huddled close to their mother's legs while looking at the Ohu army in wonder. They were no doubt overwhelmed by so many dogs and smells but with their mother standing next to them they gathered up their courage and padded out to greet the dogs.

"Jerome you dog you." Hiro laughed out loud good naturally. The Great Pyrenees and Reika smiled at the new family as well as smiled lovingly at the pups. "Congrats man though! Alayus is one lucky girl."

"How does it feel to be a granddaddy, John?" Gin snickered at his old friend, the light of laughter evident in his eyes.

"It feels great." John said as he walked over to them, his chest swelling with pride. "To be honest it's tiring but I can't wait to tell them about our stories."

"Oh those poor pups."

"I don't want to hear that Akame!" John snapped at him, pulling his lips back to show teeth. "I'm a great story teller."

"Just don't let your huge ego go to your head when you tell them of your heroics." Akame laughed, ignoring the stink eye the Shepherd was giving him.

"Let's sit here, we have the perfect view." Alayus spoke as her pups rushed over to get good spots, making sure they were on their best behavior and looked their best. She spent some time grooming them before they left so their furs were neat and tidy. "This is a very important meeting so please wait until the end to play. I'll even allow you to introduce yourselves to the other soldiers here."

"I wanna meet Tesshin! I want to be a ninja dog when I grow up!"

"No way, Kyoshiro is a better choice!" Another pup spoke up. "Look at all those scars!"

Heh, I like that runt. The battle-scared Kishu smirked to himself when he heard the comment. I'll ask Alayus if I could personally train him after this meeting.

"I want to be just like Grandpa! I want my fangs to be sharp and strong!"

"Daddy and Mommy are the better choices!"

"What about the Kai dogs?! Their bravery is unmatched!"

"No way, the leader is obviously better than all the rest!"

"Okay, that's enough." Alayus sighed as she calmed them down, her ears flattening out with embarrassment when she felt everyone's eyes were on them. "Everyone is special in their own way. We also have our strengths and weakness but no one is better than anyone else. What you guys need to do is figure out where your strengths are, where your weakness are and train based on that. Once you do that, then you'll develop techniques that you can truly call your own. But for now, please turn your attention to the leader and give him your undivided attention."

"Alright, it seems like we're all here." Weed nodded his head from where he sat and addressed the army before him. Giving Alayus a quick kiss Jerome took his place on Weed's left while Kyoshiro took up the space on the leader's right. "Let's get started."

"You know something Gin?" Akame turned to his old friend who calmly watched his son.

"Hmm?"

"Watching Weed talk like this in front of a large group reminds me of you when you were his age. But do you see something else? All three of them resemble us as well."

"It's true." John smiled, curling his tail over his paws. Weed replaced his father and the other two were now Weed's right hand man and army tactician repetitively. "Oh how times have changed. Maybe now I can actually enjoy the rest of my life."

"You don't say..." The old Tora mused before looking up towards the sky and smiled. Sakura...I wonder if you can see Weed from wherever you are. Don't worry, your son grew up into a fine leader. The safety of Paradise is now in good hands.