Lawfully: Epilogue

AR: Two chapters in one day woot! I would actually like to explain about my writing. Usually I due like to be more descriptive and concentrate on characters emotions a bit more but seeing as this story was all about the drama it was pretty fast paced. In the future I will hopefully try to get some kind of balance ;)

Fifth teen year old Sakura Shindou opened the large rusty gate of the oh-so-familiar place. The ancient gate closed with a thud causing little flakes of rust to peel off and float to the ground.

Sakura wiped her hand of the little brown shards and swapped the small bouquet of white roses she was carrying from right to the left. She then cut across the grass, avoiding many grave stones, to her destination.

And there it was in the far left hand corner of the cemetery shaded under a small tree. Her biological father's grave.

As she always did Sakura went down on her knees in front of the headstone and arranged the flowers in a way she hoped would please her father. After doing this she tentatively reached her hand traced the letters of the name carved into the stone.

S-H-U-I-C-H-I S-H-I-N-D-O-U

All her life Sakura had been coming to this sacred place with an assortment of relatives and family friends. But just recently she'd started coming on her own. She had chosen today specifically to visit. June 16th. Her fifth tenth birthday. This man's death day.

Sakura had truanted from school to be here. All her friends would think she had taken the day off to celebrate her birthday. Sakura smirked; they'd think her seriously weird if they knew she was spending her birthday in a grave yard.

Running her eyes over the stone again Sakura thought of the years she had spent battling the feelings guilt she harboured. It always weird for her knowing this man whom she'd never met had actually died for her. He'd given up his life so she could have hers.

It had been so hard for her to come to terms with this. She'd always dreaded her birthday

Sakura had tried many things to ease her guilt from making sure she did well at school and was respectful to her dad and aunt and uncle, so her father could see that she wasn't ungrateful and wasn't wasting her life. She'd even tried composing a letter to her dead father but had felt utterly ridiculous writing to a lump of stone.

Her birthday had always ended in tears until last year when her dad sat her down and told her the whole story of her birth. And then he said 'So you see Saki you mustn't feel guilty. You must always remember your father of course. But also remember that I knew him better than most and I know how much he loved and wanted to you'. This made Sakura feel a whole lot better and even though her and her dad had never been a very touchy feely family she had given him a big hug then and there. She'd even knocked his glasses off!

It also pleased Sakura to know that her dead father had named her. Apparently it was one of the last things he'd whispered to her dad before he passed away.

"Thought you'd be here" said a voice behind her. Sakura turned to see her dad standing at the foot of the grave. Before she could explain her dad continued.

"You should have been home an hour ago! Your aunt and uncle are going crazy" Eiri pushed up his glasses and examined his daughter. "Are you ok Saki?"

"Yeah" Sakura sighed brushing the dirt of her school skirt "It's just…Dad is it weird I miss him? I mean I've never even met him. When you and Uncle Hiro talk about him I just feel so…" Sakura couldn't stop the tears trailing down her cheeks.

Eiri stood in front of his daughter and pushed her short stylish red hair (which he refused to let her dye) out of her face. "Of course its ok to miss him. It's more than ok it's good. I just wish you would talk to me" he stroked her face "then we can miss him together". Giving his daughter a short swift hug and turned her in the direction of the cemetery gates. "Come on lets go home. Someone's got a pile of presents waiting for them"

As they walked Sakura suddenly "Hey dad did you get me that diamond bracelet I wanted?" she smirked.

"Don't push it kiddo" was the curt reply.

the end