Twenty Years

Author's note: I strongly recommend listening to the MOTHER 3 Love Theme from Mother 3 when Caeldori says, "Hisame, what's wrong?"

Hisame opened his eyes as sunlight relentlessly shone down on him, which nearly blinded him. He felt blades of grass rub against his back and arms, and he realized he was laying down in a peaceful meadow.

"Where am I?" He asked as he stood up and looked around. To his left, he could see an ordinary hole in the ground with some purple… gas seeping out of it, and to his right were some trees set against the sun.

Upon closer examination, he remembered that mysterious violet holes in the ground were not normal, so he began to investigate it. Strong winds buffeted the saggy cloth of his armor while he walked to the purple crater. He leaned over it, stared deep into the swirling abyss of violet, and a voice echoed out of it.

"Ah!" The yell was quiet at first. It was barely inaudible from the tweeting of birds and the wind howling, but its volume rose as the seconds passed until Hisame swore it sounded familiar.

As if on cue, Caeldori tumbled around in the hole, and flew out of the crater directly into Hisame's arms. This knocked him onto his back with a thud. "Hisame! Help me!" Tears streaked her eyes as she pressed her head into his chest; her arms were wrapped around his back in an embrace. He held her tightly as well and watched out of the corner of his eye as red mist began to pour out of the hole.

The foamy substance built itself up into a humanoid form until it resembled someone Hisame knew all too well: Subaki.

"Not on my watch!" Caeldori's father was absolutely massive; his torso alone towered over them as it poked out from the hole. Hisame took a stand against the massive knight while Caeldori hid behind him in fear.

"Subaki, what do you want?" Hisame asked; his voice was not full of anger, but rather normalcy.

"You're unfit to be her husband!" Subaki responded while slamming his hand into the ground. His arm shifted into red mist before seeping its way around Caeldori's ankles, then shifted again into a rope. Caeldori fell onto the ground and Hisame could only stare in disbelief as she was dragged towards Subaki.

"Help!" She screamed as she clawed at the ground in an attempt to hold onto something. Hisame ran after her before reaching out his hand. She grabbed it tightly while fear was in her eyes. Subaki flared his nostrils and snorted; puffs of steam emanated from his nose while he dragged Caeldori along.

Caeldori was yanked further towards the hole as Hisame was dragged along. He dug his boots into the ground, but to no avail as he was still pulled. Subaki disappeared into the vortex before Hisame was brought to the very edge of it. Caeldori still had the rope around her leg and was suspended above the hole by Hisame's hand.

Another red tendril seeped its way out of the purple crater and wrapped itself around Hisame's knee before making itself taut, which yanked Hisame into the hole. All he could see -besides Caeldori- were lavender swirls that rotated in a circular fashion. In a panic, he released Caeldori from his grip and watched as she fell further and further into the swirling purple.

"No!" He exclaimed while he outstretched his arm. Caeldori fell at a faster rate than he did, so he was forced to watch as she tumbled into the white center of the vortex. She disappeared into the bright core, which Hisame was about to reach. He shielded his eyes and braced for impact as he fell into the center.

A feeling of numbness overcame him.

Hisame opened his eyes and hurriedly stood up. He glanced around at the glade of sakura trees that had their color accentuated by the sunlight.

"Help!" A shrill voice called out. Hisame's ears perked up and he turned around to see Subaki -who was now the average size of a human- entering the base of a Hoshidan tower. His left hand was wrapped around Caeldori's neck as he dragged her along into the dark recesses of the tower.

Hisame broke into a sprint after Subaki while blades of grass were kicked up by his feet. When he got to the entrance of the tower, he doubled over and panted for breath before a smoke burst from the ground. After the puffs of steam dissipated, Kamui stood in its wake.

"Hey, Hisame." Kamui had materialized against the wall of the tower and leaned against it. "Let me share some advice with you."

"Al...Alright…" Hisame wheezed for air as he looked up to Kamui.

"Duplicates have a hard time recreating everything. They'll often mess up on one detail, and that's the indicator of who's real and who's fake." Kamui sounded as if he were teaching basic math, which was at complete odds to how cryptic his hint was.

"O..kay…?" Hisame raised his eyebrow before waving to Kamui. He stepped into the tower and looked around. He was currently standing on a tiled floor that contained orange tiles and green tiles. Unlit torches lined the walls, which Hisame could only see the general outline of, due to the darkness of the circular room.

Suddenly, the torches crackled to life, and the darkness of the room was lifted to reveal Caeldori, who sat against the wall with her hands tied.

"Hisame! It's a trap!" Caeldori spoke in a panicked voice as she looked to the space behind Hisame. Hisame whipped his head around just in time to see a pair of hands wrap around his neck.

Hisame struggled for breath as an unknown assailant's fingers strained his breathing. He had never experienced something this painful, and he felt his hands go numb. He began to cough furiously and desperately fought back against the hands with his own. Hisame ripped the fingers off his neck and sprinted to the wall next to Caeldori.

Subaki stood in the middle of the room with a polished, glimmering spear brandished in his left hand.

"Why do you bother struggling?" Subaki had an incredibly menacing scowl on his face as he strode toward Hisame. "All you're accomplishing is the prolonging of your death." Hisame rubbed his throat with his right hand.

"I'm… I'm gonna..." His voice sounded as coarse as a desert. His fingers were balled-up.

"Can you speak up?" Subaki leaned over the boy and had a smirk on his face. "Oh, I forgot. I crushed your pathetic throat. A pity nobody will get to hear you whin-"

"I'm going to send you straight to hell!" Hisame's voice now sounded rather normal, save for the seething contempt for Subaki that dripped out of his every syllable.

Before Subaki could even react, Hisame swung his clenched fist directly into his gut. Subaki doubled over in pain, and Hisame followed through with a kick directly into Subaki's groin.

Subaki let out a howl of pain as he fell to the floor. His arms sprawled out across the tiled surface as Hisame leaned over him. "Beg for your life." The only emotion that Hisame's glare conveyed was anger. Pure, never-ending, rage.

"Excuse me?" Subaki looked up at the man, then felt a pair of hands tightly wrap around his neck.

"I want to hear you beg for mercy!" Hisame screamed in his ear.

"You'll... have to pry that plea from my dead hands." Subaki wheezed the words out and grew another smirk on his face, which was completely unbefitting of a man being strangled.

Suddenly, duplicates of Subaki began to emerge from him and dance around the room. Hisame quickly noted that each of the duplicates had a mirror image of Subaki's hair. To put it in simpler terms, the original Subaki had a tuft of hair that jutted out to his left in an L shape. All the duplicates had a tuft of hair that jutted out to their right instead. "Have fun with my clon-"

Hisame decided that he was simply done with Subaki's complicated attacks and smashed his fist into Subaki's skull. Hisame slammed his fist into Subaki's face again, and again, and again. He continued to pummel Subaki until all of his clones had disappeared.

Subaki wheezed for breath as Hisame removed his fingers from around the knight's neck and stood upright. Subaki's nose was now receding into his skull. "That's… not fair..." He gasped, and his outstretched arm as desperately trying to grab his spear.

Hisame walked over to the spear, lifted it off the ground, and angled it above Subaki's chest.

"You want to know what's unfair?," Hisame asked in an absolutely hateful voice that resembled an animal rather than a human. "Having the love of your life ripped away from you by some insane pegasus knight."

"You're still unfit to court he-"

Before Subaki could state his comment, Hisame plunged the spear into Subaki's chest. Subaki shot upright, then Hisame watched as his eyes slowly closed. Subaki's corpse was left sitting in the middle of the floor. Hisame took a minute to catch his breath then walked over to Caeldori.

Hisame untied the ropes around her wrists and helped her to her feet. She promptly responded by leaping into his arms like a bride.

"Thank you for rescuing me," Caeldori spoke, then pressed her lips to Hisame's. Her tongue coiled and toyed with his own while his hands combed through her messy hair.

Hisame couldn't believe this was happening, but that didn't stop him from holding Caeldori. He had finally gotten the girl of his dreams.

"The trial is over, but you may linger if you desire. Speak to me when you are ready to depart." The voice from the temple boomed inside Hisame's thoughts. Hisame figured he wouldn't be contacting the voice anytime soon, so he began to walk out of the tower with Caeldori in his arms.

And he was absolutely right.

Hisame's boots made a squishing sound as they smushed against the soggy dirt path to the house on top of a hill. Rain cascaded the top of his head as he walked up the path. He held a fishing rod in one hand, and he used his other to tightly hold onto the hand of his daughter. Yesterday had been a long day at his occupation of teaching Hoshidan youths how to use a naginata, so he was happy that he could spend today with his daughter.

"Daddy, can I jump in that puddle?" Shigeki's voice was high-pitched and sounded as adorable as a mewing kitten. She wore a tiny yellow sundress, and she tightly held onto the fabric of Hisame's grey robes.

"Sure, Shigeki. Just don't tell your mother that I said it was fine." Hisame gave his daughter a beautiful smile as he let go of her hand. She excitedly ran toward a nearby pond while giggling, then began sloshing her boots in the murky water. Her red pig-tails flapped in the breeze while she continued to laugh.

After Shigeki was done playing in the puddle, she joined her father and the two continued up the hill. Atop the slope was a house that looked rather cozy, and it was set against the rumbling storm clouds above.

A lone figure stood in the doorway of the house; she wore a white robe that stuck out due to her child-bearing stomach, and her red hair almost touched the ground. Hisame noted that her elegant looks had not changed at all, no matter the small amount of wrinkles she had on her face.

"Mommy! We're home!" Shigeki gave her mother a bright smile as she ran up the hill and directly into her mother's embrace.

"Hello, Shigeki. How was your fishing trip with your father?" Caeldori asked her daughter, who had become one of the main sources of joy of her life in recent years.

"It was great! I caught a fish that was this big!" Shigeki stepped back from her mother and had her hands outstretched; she was mimicking the size of the trout she had caught. "I wanted to catch more, but then we had to go because it started raining..."

"I'm sorry to hear about that." Caeldori's gaze went from her daughter to her husband, who had surmounted the hill. "Ah, there you are." Caeldori's smile got even brighter when she looked at her other source of happiness.

"Hello, sweetie. I got you a present." Hisame smiled as he fidgeted with the back pocket of his clothing. He pulled a miniature velvet box and handed it to Caeldori.

Caeldori opened the box and was delighted to find a necklace adorned with garnets inside. "Happy fifteenth anniversary, dear." Hisame noticed that Caeldori's eyes widened when she lifted the necklace out of the container.

"It's perfect!" Caeldori placed the necklace on her neck, then approached her husband. The two embraced, and Hisame relished in the comforting warmth of her presence. Caeldori had loved the last twenty years with Hisame, and she was certain that sentiment was shared with him.

"I knew you would like it," Hisame spoke in a soothing voice into her ear.

"Thank you," Caeldori responded back before pressing her lips to Hisame's. The two kissed passionately for what Hisame perceived as an eternity until Shigeki opened the door to their house and stepped inside. "We should probably follow her." Only now did Hisame notice that it was still pouring outside.

Hisame led his wife inside their house and placed the wooden basket he had been carrying on the table. The inside of their house consisted of a dining room/living room that was connected to the master bedroom, and Shigeki's room. Hisame had made the house based on the perfect conditions to raise his perfect family.

Inside the basket was a week's worth of fish and other food he had purchased. Caeldori grabbed a fish out of the basket and began to prepare dinner with the help of her loving husband.

After all, they were expecting a guest tonight.

"That fish tasted great," Kamui stated as he placed his silverware next to his empty plate. He sat opposite Hisame at the table, who sat next to Caeldori and Shigeki, and he wore a black shirt with the Hoshidan emblem sewn into it. He looked like he hadn't aged a single day.

"Yeah, what Uncle Kamui said!" Shigeki had to stand up to reach the table, considering she was six-years-old. Kamui had been a close friend of Hisame and Caeldori for twenty years, and every month he made sure to check in on the two.

Caeldori smiled at her daughter then looked to Kamui.

"So, Kamui, after dinner do you wish to go out to town with Hisame and me?" Caeldori asked.

"I would love to; it's always nice spending time with you two." Kamui smiled at Caeldori, then to Hisame, who smiled back.

"Great, so we'll leave in-" Before Hisame could finish speaking, a voice that he hadn't heard for twenty years spoke in his mind.

"Hisame, I am sorry to say this, but I simply cannot maintain this realm any longer. I have placed an exit back to the real world outside your house. You have an hour to leave." The Temple God's voice was loud and served as a reminder to Hisame. A reminder that this perfect family he and Caeldori had made was nothing but an illusion. A reminder that Shigeki, his daughter who was the light of his life, did not exist.

A reminder that in the real world, he was a lonely young adult that hated his parents and couldn't confess to the girl of his dreams.

"Oh, gods…" Hisame thought. He knew this day would come, but nothing could have prepared him for this numbing wave of regret that consumed him. "Caeldori still has to deliver our second child… I… I have to go outside for a minute." Hisame's lower lip quivered as he hurriedly stood up and went outside through the front door.

"Hisame, what's wrong?" He could hear Caeldori's soothing voice echo from outside the house as he stood atop the hill. At the very bottom of the hill was a swirling mass of purple mist; the very same mist that had brought him to the tower where Subaki had kidnapped Caeldori twenty years ago. Hisame shielded his eyes from the setting sun, then sat down at the entrance to his house. He simply wasn't ready to leave his family; the family that he had always wanted.

Caeldori emerged from the doorway and was followed by Kamui. "Are you alright?" She spoke in a worried tone.

Hisame responded by looking sullenly at his wife and friend before shifting his focus back to the purple hole.

"I... I have to leave." Hisame's voice sounded like he was on the edge of having an emotional breakdown; he was indeed nearing that point.

"Hisame, what are you saying?" Caeldori stood behind her husband while her worried expression continued to grow.

"These twenty years we spent… This was all part of the trial. We only had them because I chose not to leave." Hisame began to wipe his eyes with his sleeve. "I don't want to go." That thought endlessly repeated itself inside his thoughts. Hisame watched as Caeldori sat at his side, and placed her head on his shoulder. He always loved the comforting glow from her body.

"So you have to go back to the world you came from?" Caeldori asked as her hands wrapped around her husband's arm.

"Yes. The world where we're not together. The world where I'm nothing more than an angry child." Hisame slowly placed his hand on his wife's shoulder.

"That's…" Caeldori sniffled her nose. She desperately didn't want Hisame to depart, and a thin layer of water began to form in her eyes. "Oh, Hisame."

Hisame held his wife against his chest while they both sobbed. "Please... don't go..." He couldn't bear the thought of not being able to comfort her like this.

As if on cue, Shigeki burst through the entrance of their house after Hisame spoke. Her eyes were soaked with tears.

"Daddy, don't go!" Shigeki threw herself into her parent's embrace. She crawled onto her father's lap and continued to sob profusely. "Don't leave me and mommy!"

"Shigeki, dear…" Hisame sniffled his nose, and Caeldori tried her best to soothe her crying daughter. "Please dry your eyes."

"No! You can't go!" Shigeki clenched onto her father's clothing with her tiny hands; her tears were staining the fabric of his robe.

Hisame couldn't bear to leave his daughter like this. He knew he had to sing that song; the song he had sung when she first came into their lives.

(The following song is set to the tune of Sadness and Happiness from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door.)

"Dear sweet child oh pl~ease." Hisame began to sing in a surprisingly beautiful voice. "Dear sweet child oh please, dry your eyes, please, love, dry your eyes, for, me, dear." Hisame cradled his daughter slowly in a back-and-forth motion. "Dry your eyes so we can all see your beau~ti~ful smi~le."

Shigeki's eyes began to close, and her sniffling came to a stop. Hisame's voice quivered.

"Please dear dry your eyes so we, can, all see." Hisame rocked his child to sleep. "Your beau~ti~ful smile that bright~ens up, my, day."

Shigeki had fallen into a slumber and was now snoring peacefully as Caeldori's lower lip trembled.

"I know that you have to go, but..." Caeldori lifted Shigeki out of Hisame's lap and hugged her husband. Somewhere deep inside her, she knew this is the last time they would be together. "I will always love you." Her voice sank completely as her hands shook.

"I will always love you too, dear." Hisame kissed his wife on the forehead, then stood up.

Only after soothing his crying family did Hisame realized that his heart had broken.

Kamui was waiting behind him.

"I'm sorry that you have to go, Hisame." He spoke in a tender voice, and Hisame could see that his eyes were watering. "But no matter which world you're in..., I will always be there f-f-f-" Kamui choked on the last few words and began to cry.

"Come here, friend." Hisame spread his arms apart and hugged Kamui. Hisame knew that he will always remember how much of a great friend Kamui was. The two began to cry as the sun shone in the distance.

Hisame walked to his daughter and kissed her on the forehead. "Goodbye, Shigeki." His breathing became sporadic and 'funny' for a moment as he cradled his daughter. "I will always remember you."

Caeldori's eyes continued to water as Hisame placed Shigeki in her trembling arms. "Goodbye, Caeldori."

Caeldori propped her daughter on her left arm, and used her other arm to hug her loving husband.

"G-G-Goodbye, Hisame."

Her mouth quivered as their embrace ended. Hisame began to walk down the hill until he stood before the purple, swirling vortex.

He turned around and waved at Caeldori with a longing stare. Tears rolled down Caeldori's cheeks as she waved back, then watched as her husband stepped into the hole.

A feeling of numbness overcame Hisame as he fell through the vortex.

Kamui watched with anticipation as the door to Hisame's chamber opened. He expected Hisame to strut out in an energetic manner, considering that he must have cleared his trial. What Kamui didn't expect were the noises that echoed out of the chamber.

It was the sound of Hisame crying.

"Wait here." Kamui looked at Caeldori briefly before hurrying into the chamber. Inside the dusty room was Hisame, who was curled into a fetal position in the center of the area.

His sobbings grew more frequent and with shorter pauses in between as seconds passed. Kamui looked to the ground and noted the large puddle of tears that had formed around Hisame's head. "Hisame?" Kamui asked; the sincerity in his voice was incredibly obvious.

Hisame raised his head slightly and looked to Kamui with his glistening irises. He then pressed his head back to the ground and resumed sobbing. "What happened in your trial?" Kamui walked over to his friend and squatted down beside him.

"I d-d-don't want to talk about it." Hisame's voice was almost inaudible from the sounds of him sniffling. Kamui delicately placed his hand on Hisame's quaking shoulder.

"It's okay, Hisame. Everything's going to be fine. I'm here for you, and Caeldori's here for yo-"

It was at the mere mention of Caeldori's name that Hisame shot upright, let out a prolonged wail, then slumped into an upright sitting position. Kamui's heart skipped a beat, due to how unexpected that was, but he quickly resumed in comforting his friend.

After a short five minutes, Caeldori watched with anticipation as Kamui exited from the chamber with Hisame desperately holding onto his arm.

"Hisame, is everything okay?" She asked in a concerned voice while Kamui helped him across the room.

"Yeah… Everything is… fine." Hisame couldn't even handle making eye contact with her because it would shatter his already broken heart into even tinier pieces.

"Oh third champion, please enter your chamber and face your trial." The voice stated.

Caeldori assumed that she was the third champion, and stepped into the now open door. The border above the door depicted an ornate mask supported by a pair of wings.

While Kamui and Hisame waited outside, Hisame rested his shaking head on Kamui's shoulder.

"Thank you for everything." Hisame's voice was muffled through the metallic braces of Kamui's armor, but Kamui still received the message.

"That's what friends are for, right?" Kamui smiled to his friend then looked back at the door Caeldori had entered.

The Temple God neglected to mention one crucial fact about Caeldori's trial. He had not created this trial for Caeldori based on her mind. Rather, he was going to send her back in time to a different world.

A world ripped apart by a certain divine dragon.

Well, now I feel really bad for Hisame.

Mission accomplished, I guess.