This is the last chapter... Don't forget to read my other story, The Four Outlaws, too!

CHAPTER 5: THE SECOND CHANCE

Yoshiro woke up, shivering. The rain had stopped, but he was soaked. Yoshiro most likely caught a cold last night while he passed out in the rain. He didn't want to get up. Unfortunately for him, a man was standing over him, shaking him, thinking Yoshiro was still asleep..

"Sir? Wake up, sir..." said the man, shaking Yoshiro as Yoshiro was lying on the ground, "Sir? It's morning... you poor bastard... probably got drunk last night..."

Suddenly, Yoshiro sat up, "I'm not drunk!" he bellowed at the man.

Angry, Yoshiro pushed the man out of his way, stood up, and marched away.

Yoshiro passed through an alley and leaned against a brick wall.

"Achoo!" Yoshiro's cold started to act up. Wiping his nose, Yoshiro began to reflect on what happened last night.

"What was I thinking? Angel's dead... I was acting like an idiot! Aki must think I'm crazy now... Then again, maybe I am crazy. Hell, I must have lost my sanity seventeen years ago when I killed Angel! I was never really the same since, right? Dammit! I'm sorry, Angel..."

Yoshiro then pulled out a cigarette from his coat pocket but it wouldn't light. The rain soaked all of his cigarettes. "You guys die on me just when I need you most!" he yelled at his cigarettes. Once again, Yoshiro was talking to himself. Throwing down his pack of smokes, Yoshiro sucked it up and stepped off the wall. There was only one thing he could think of doing now...

He walked out of the alley and on the street. There he saw a stall selling flowers. He walked up to the stall and started picking out flowers. He kept looking and eventually found the best-looking flowers he could afford. "How much are these?" he asked the flower girl. "250z, sir." replied the girl. Yoshiro put 300z on the counter and walked away. "Keep the change" he said over his shoulder. He let out another loud sneeze and walked away.

He searched all of the cemeteries and graveyards in Cael, but none of them housed Angel's grave.

...He searched...

...and searched...

...where was it?

Yoshiro eventually passed by the old acacia tree he and Angel used to sit under. Seeing the tree again gave Yoshiro a warm feeling in his heart. So warm, in fact, that he couldn't help but walk even closer to it. Then, he saw, a small grave marker on the ground. It read...

Here lies Misato Angel...

How could he have missed it? The one spot that brought back his sweetest memories... The garden in the desert... The only place in Cael where the grass grows and the flowers bloom. Angel was buried under the acaia tree...

Yoshiro kneeled down and placed the flowers next to the grave marker. He caressed the engraving of Angel's name with his fingers. He then saw on the left side of the grave marker, three old candles that must have not been lit for years. He took out his lighter and lit them. Tears began to roll from his eyes as he looked at his lover's grave

"I'm sorry, Angel... I'm sorry... I'm sorry you lost your life because of my pride..." said Yoshiro, "...I'm sorry I was still hoping that you would come back... I know you're happy, wherever you are... Can you remember the times when we used to sit under this tree?"

Yoshiro looked around and took a deep breath as a cool breeze passed by. He then looked back down at Angel's grave.

"Can you remember the song we made when we were sitting here? The one only you and I know? I still do..." Yoshiro said.

Yoshiro then closed his eyes and began to sing...

Now, we're together, but nothing lasts forever

And we'll be left with a broken heart

As I hold your hand, you and I should understand

There will come a time when we will part...

Suddenly, a familiar voice began to sing as well...a girl's voice...

That, I know, but don't let go

You'll always be part of me

Nothing can erase every warm embrace

That we have shared from my memory...

Without turning around to see who was behind him, Yoshiro sang together with the girl in a beautiful chorus...

And when I'm troubled and when I'm scared

I just think of you and I'm home

As long as we remember the love we've shared

We'll never be alone...

Yoshiro was still kneeling, eyes closed. Suddenly, he felt the girl embrace him from behind. "Aki...?" Yoshiro asked, placing his right hand on the girl's arm.

"I've really missed you, Yoro-kun..." said the girl.

Yoshiro looked over his shoulder. He saw the girl. She had long purple hair and yellow ochre eyes. She was looking at him with a pleasant smile...

Was it Aki? How could Aki know that song? Only he and Angel knew it... unless...

"Angel?" asked Yoshiro. Angel smiled at him. Her eyes were shining with tears, but her face was full of joy. Yoshiro turned around and hugged Angel, placing his head on her shoulder, he shouted, "Angel, I'm sorry!" Yoshiro started to cry.

"Hey... You're crying again... It's okay..." Angel said, starting to cry as well...

Yoshiro wiped the tears off his eyes and looked up at Angel. "Is it really you?" he asked her.

"Yes, I remember everything now..." answered Angel.

There Yoshiro realized... Angel was by his side since the day he came back to Cael.

How could he not see, that Aki was Angel all along, brought back to this world and given a second chance to be with Yoshiro? There he and Angel realized that this was their second chance to love again.

Yoshiro and Angel looked deep into each other's eyes. At long last, after seventeen years, two hearts were made whole again. Yoshiro and Angel close their eyes and slowly kiss. Their first kiss in seventeen years that seemed to last forever...

Two days later, Yoshiro and Angel were sitting under the same acaia tree. Yoshiro had recovered from his cold thanks to Angel's care. Yoshiro put his arm around Angel and Angel leaned on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

She softly spoke to Yoshiro, "This is so nostalgic..."

"Haha... sweet memories..." Yoshiro replied.

"I love you, Yoshiro..." Angel whispered.

Yoshiro had a tingly feeling in his chest. He never thought he would say the three words he thought to be the most cliche of all.

"I love you, too, Angel..."

Suddenly, a sound echoed in the air, the sound of a flute. It was playing a familiar tune that made Yoshiro look up. It was so familiar... then he remembered...

"Ryoma?"

-fin

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