Author's Note: This is the final segment of the story. If you've been following GDW's sequel, "Ginga Densetsu Weed Orion", then you should know what the Kamakiri reference in this is talking about. If not, well, that's okay too. ;) Thanks to everyone that reviewed! Later!

7 months later…

Jerome yawned widely, feeling his eyes drooping even more than they had earlier that morning. He felt exhausted, and wondered silently if it was possible for him to fall asleep where he sat, without having to lie down. Wondering how tired Lydia was, he yawned again, silently watching and listening to everything around him. They had arrived back in Ohu only a week ago, and already the areas damaged by the fire during the war against Scimitar were beginning to come back. They still had a long way to go, he saw, but at least it was a start, and there were still many parts of Paradise that had been relatively undamaged. The humans, apparently, had done their job well in protecting it from the flames.

Many things had happened in the interim since they'd left, and though their time up in Mutsu had been peaceful, something they had all been grateful for, Jerome was glad to be back home. Ken's leg had fully healed, thanks in most part to Akame's knowledge and care, and he had begun holding himself a little higher than he had since Kagetora's death. They had all been glad to see this, and Jerome mentally reaffirmed how relieved he was to have his friend almost back to normal. They had also been reunited with Lydia's brother Maxime, who had swam over from Russia once he had gotten over a serious injury of his own. He had been happy to see his sister again, and to hear of Scimitar's demise, but had been understandably saddened to learn of everything the warlord had done before that, and he had tearfully apologized to Gin and Joe for his role in the events that led to Scimitar's coming. Gin had told him that there was nothing to apologize for, and that since Scimitar had made his own choices, fault for them rested solely with him. The German Shepard had been relieved to hear this, though Jerome suspected that it hadn't assuaged his guilt as much as he'd let on. Nevertheless, he had promised to stay with them until such time as they could return to Ohu, a time, it turned out, they didn't have to wait that much longer for.

Prey had returned to the area, a fact that Rocket had discovered during one of his scouting runs from Mutsu, and after ensuring that it was enough to sustain the pack, they had departed for their own territory, thanking Kisaragi and Izou for their hospitality. This time though, the trip had been a little more difficult, because their number had increased since their arrival. Lydia had had her pups up in Mutsu around 2 and a half months ago and despite how happy and excited he had been about his newfound fatherhood, Jerome had quickly discovered how exhausting pups could be.

'6 pups!' he thought almost irritatedly. 'Why did it have to be 6? I haven't been this tired in years!'

Lydia of course had gotten it even rougher, and the other members of the pack had taken over for her on multiple occasions, watching after the 6 bundles of energy while she and Jerome had finally gotten the chance to rest a little. That, of course, hadn't worked out very well either, because Jerome's other 4 charges had immediately succeeded in occupying the little time he had to himself. As one of the leaders of Ohu, Jerome had to divide his time between his duties, his own family, and Weed's pups, though Gin and Joe were helping greatly with the last of these three. The two Akitas were spending more and more time together recently, despite Joe's increased responsibilities as leader, and Jerome suspected that Gin was trying to bond a little better with his last remaining son. He suspected that neither one of them had quite gotten over Weed's death yet; he knew that he hadn't, and that they were helping each other to move on. This, of course, gave Jerome more time to learn about his new godsons and goddaughter, and he quickly discovered that each one of them had a distinctly different personality.

Sirius, the oldest of the 4 of them, was a spitting image of his father, both in physical appearance and behavior, and he was constantly trying to watch out for his other siblings, though he didn't always succeed in keeping them out of trouble. Rigel was the youngest brother, and with his black fur, he was pretty distinct. He had a tendency to be sarcastic and Jerome had had to reprimand him more than a few times. Bellatrix, the youngest and the only female, was less adventurous than her brothers, and had a tendency to be a little overemotional, a trait that Jerome saw in a few of his own pups. When she got older, he suspected, she would grow into quite a magnificent dog, but as of right now, she was something of a runt. The final of the four was the second oldest brother and the pack's new troublemaker: Orion. The young pup was practically a clone in appearance of his uncle Yukimura, and he had developed an unparalleled knack for pissing off the adults of the pack, usually by insulting them or getting the other pups into various kinds of trouble. He had a good heart and a strong sense of justice, and he was both a promising fighter and the protector of his siblings, but young Orion's arrogance was truly a sight to behold, and Jerome found it astonishing how simultaneously similar to and different from his father he was. As he thought about all this, Jerome suddenly sensed something behind him and rolled his eyes, knowing instantly what it was.

"Don't even think about it, kid." he said and heard a grunt of frustration.

"How'd you know I was there?" came Orion's irritated voice as he walked up next to Jerome from where he had been crouched.

The Shepard turned.

"It's a skill." he said, marveling at how quickly the young dog was growing. "And you're not as quiet as you think you are."

"I'm still better than half of you adults." Orion responded haughtily. "And you should learn to lighten up a little, Uncle Jerome. You're too serious. You're about as much fun as Tesshin-san."

"Well if you'd let me sleep for once then I might do just that." Jerome responded good-naturedly. "And Tesshin? That's a low blow, Orion."

"Hey, the truth hurts." the pup laughed, then turned and walked a few steps forward, looking up at the sky as he did.

"Uncle Jerome?" he said after a pause.

"Hmm?"

"What was my dad like?"

Jerome tensed. He had been wondering when the young dog would ask this question, especially now that he'd seen Weed's grave, and he was surprised that it had taken him this long. He bowed his head a little as Orion looked at him.

"Your father…" he said, thinking carefully about his words. "Was a true leader, and a good friend. He was probably the greatest dog I ever knew."

Orion took all this in, then turned back to the sky.

"I wish I'd known him." he said and Jerome felt a lump rise in his throat.

"Me too, kid." he said sadly. "Me too."

Suddenly, Orion whirled around, his expression changing instantly as if he had just thought of something exciting.

"Wait! You're still gonna teach me some of your assassin dog moves later, right Uncle Jerome?" Orion asked eagerly.

"Sure thing, kid." the Shepard said, cocking an eyebrow. "There's just one thing you need to get first."

"What's that?"

"5 years added on to your life." Jerome answered and Orion froze.

"HEY!" he yelled and Jerome laughed as the pup let out a growl at him, squaring himself off to the older dog.

"Why you backstabbing – !" he started, but then someone barked behind him.

"Orion!"

The pup cringed instantly and turned, looking sheepish. Before him stood Joe and Tesshin, the former looking right at him.

"Are you behaving?" the Akita asked with an amused smile, already knowing the answer.

"Of course, Uncle Joe!" he said. "I swear!"

"Good." Joe answered, not bothering to scold him for not calling him "Leader". "Because I'll be watching you."

Orion sighed disgustedly, mumbling to himself about adults being killjoys as he began walking back the way he'd come. The three older dogs laughed as they looked after him. Then Joe turned to Jerome.

"We have to go." he said. "Teru just reported that there's trouble brewing in the East."

"What kind of trouble?" Jerome asked.

"We don't know." Tesshin answered at Joe's right. "But it sounds bad enough that we should go intervene. All Teru could tell us was that it involved Kamakiri in some way."

Jerome frowned.

"Kamakiri?" he said in surprise. "He's been dead for years. What could he have to do with this?"

Joe shrugged.

"I guess we'll find out." he said and Jerome nodded in understanding.

Then he glanced over at the sulking Orion.

"Orion!" he called. "Tell Gin and the others that we'll be back when we can. And try not to get in any trouble."

"Yeah, whatever." came the answer and the Shepard shook his head.

Then the three leaders took off running away from Gajou towards the East, their powerful strides taking them further and further with each step. As they ran, Tesshin glanced at Jerome.

"What did he say about me today?" he asked nodding back over his shoulder at where they had left Orion.

"That you were dull and no fun." Jerome answered and the ninja dog cocked an eyebrow.

"Really?" he said, looking amused. "Well, I'll have to work on that then."

Jerome chuckled.

"He's young." he said. "He'll learn respect eventually, and maybe even how not to cause trouble every 5 minutes if we're lucky."

"You kidding?" Joe answered from their front. "That's like asking him not to breathe."

The three dogs laughed again and then disappeared from view, the still growing forest of Ohu swallowing them up as they entered it. Watching them leave was Orion, and the red-furred pup snorted after them.

"You wait and see." he said out loud. "I'll be the leader one day; the best this place has ever seen!"

"Hey Orion!" someone called and he turned, seeing his brother Rigel.

At the black-furred pup's side was Duke, one of Jerome's young sons, and Sirius, their oldest brother.

"What is it?" Orion asked.

"We're going to explore down by the river in the canyon." Rigel answered, sounding excited.

"Mom told me that that's where my dad fought Ronin the Butcher!" Duke added, wagging his tail.

"And Grandfather Gin said that an enemy of his named Sniper drowned there." Rigel said. "So we're gonna go check it out. You coming?"

"Why not?" Orion answered with a shrug. "It can't be more boring than here. Come on!"

At that, the four pups took off running towards one of the paths that wound down into the canyon, Orion leading the way. They only got a few paces before Sirius turned to his brothers.

"Wait, does anyone know we're doing this?" he asked and Orion laughed.

"Who cares?" he said, sounding mischievous. "What they don't know won't hurt us."

Rigel agreed with a wide grin and Sirius shook his head and kept running. Then the small group descended into the canyon as the sun shone down on them from overhead, none of them noticing the ghost of a young Akita atop Gajou, watching them proudly as it disappeared with a smile.