Firestorm – Flame of Recca After War

War of the Ancient World

"Now then, you will answer my questions. Lie to me, you will lose your head."

Kaoru is still pinned to the ground, barely able to move. Breathing itself is difficult, let alone speaking. He had his eyes fixed on someone he seems to know, yet the other person doesn't seem to share the same feelings. As he gasps for hair, he can feel the edge of the blade on his neck ready to draw open another wound. His interrogator is dead serious, and he better cooperate. Not only does he have Kurei to save, even Raiha is now a liability. Worse, his life is at the mercy of someone else.

"Were you the one who opened the time portal?"

That's it!

Kaoru suddenly remembered. He knew this person. How could he not? He had been with her for quite some time. It isn't a surprise that she looked quite different. Even someone who doesn't grow old changes with time. She used to be an enemy, but later on... an ally... a friend... a mother. Kaoru mustered the strength his body permits him, struggling to draw out words from his mouth.

"Ka...ge...rou..."

Kagerou? Did he just say my name?

Episode 12 - Reunion

For a brief moment, there was silence. Kagerou wasn't so sure how to respond. A few seconds ago, she was the interrogator. This time around, her pointed questions seems to shy away from what she perceives to be a more important matter. Kaoru had just called her mom. Ever since he left Kurei, he really didn't had a place to stay. For Kaoru, it was an experience he never wished repeated. For many months, he didn't have a roof to sleep under. He didn't have money. He had to survive like any homeless children in his day. There was an old proverb that says experience is the best teacher. While many would disagree, that statement sheds some truth value: you will never know what it's like until you feel what it's like. He had every good reason to leave Akai and Raiha. Whether they live or die isn't really his problem. But knowing what it was like to live without food, shelter, and parents, instinct tells him that he'd rather not have other people experience the same. When he went out to get food for them, he knew he was exposing himself to danger... yet he's willing to lift a finger, because the comfort of having someone to look after him is priceless... and he wants the same for Raiha and Akai.

The love of a mother is not always given by one's biological parents. Sometimes, it can come through other channels. Sometimes, none at all. One can say that only a mother can endure so much to alleviate the pain of her children. Kagerou was that kind of a mother. For some, they would spend a lifetime looking after her children. Kagerou spent four hundred years to find her son... and even at that, she wasn't sure she'd find Recca alive. In her, Kaoru found a mother he would in no way exchange.

"What did you just say?" Kagerou asked, attempting to clarify what she had just heard. Kaoru was still struggling. He cannot move his body much, yet he already felt a sigh of relief. He broke open a smile, and repeated, "Kage...rou... you're... Recca onee-san's... mother." Kagerou did not speak a word. For a few seconds, there was a deafening silence in the cave. Tears began to well up her eyes. She hadn't seen her son for a month. At the time of their separation, she saw Kurei jumping into the portal with dagger in hand. Would Recca live in the hands of Kurei? To be uncertain of your child's life is worse than knowing he's dead. No one at that time knows the fate of Recca. No one, but Kaoru.

Kagerou set aside the blade that was on Kaoru's neck. Almost like a mother winning back her son, she helped Kaoru up from the ground and gave him a hug. The more she hugged him, the more tears that crawls down her cheek. Kaoru began to weep as well. I have... never been hugged by my mother like this... Kaoru never felt how it's like to have a mother until he met Kagerou. The same gentle touch in the midst of her combat abilities is what distinguishes Kagerou from most ninjas. Her touch was motherly. No wonder it didn't take a lot of convincing to persuade Recca that she was his biological mother.

"My son... is my son still alive?"

Kaoru smiled again. Something he thought he'd never do. Ever since he and Kurei got separated, this is the only moment he put up a genuine smile. He nodded his head. Confirming the good news. More tears gushed out Kagerou's eyes. It wasn't of sorrow, but of joy. At least, if Koganei was telling the truth, then she has just stumbled upon a gold mine.

"Tell me more."

Raiha found himself walking in the midst of a vast array of tree. Tears also rolling down his cheeks. A few minutes ago, he had used Raijin against the only person he could trust... and if he was to defend his decision, he wasn't so sure he could.

"Raiha?"

"Who goes there?"

"Do you want to bring your brother back to life?"

Raiha was stunned. To think of it, he never really had a chance to mourn for his brother. Ever since he ran into Kaoru, his life has turned into a roller coaster ride. He wasn't so sure what to believe. How could a six years old understand much of what's right and wrong? "Can you really bring him back?"

"Of course! But I need your help to get it done."

"What do I need to do?"

"It's quite simple. You see, for me to cast the spell to bring him to life, we need another life to replace him. In other words, you need to kill someone in order to bring your brother back to life. When your friend comes back, I want you to kill him."

"I would never-"

"I'm not forcing you Raiha. I am only telling you what's needed. If you don't kill your friend, then Akai will remain dead. But if I can use his life in exchange of Akai, then you will get what you want." The stranger was silent for a few seconds, waiting for the message to sink in. "Think about it. I'll be waiting on the hill east of this cave. Once you've accomplished what's needed, come to me."

Raiha knew he betrayed the person who saved his life three times. Was he right to choose his brother over his savior? For someone his age, he wasn't so sure. All he knew is that he wanted his brother back... and he had to make a choice. The last words he spoke to Kaoru flashed back to his mind. "I'm sorry, Kaoru, but..." he murmured, "I WANT MY BROTHER BACK!"

Kaoru had won Kagerou's heart twice over. Once from where he came from, and the other, a few seconds ago. Kagerou understood that Recca is still alive. She had to wait four hundred years to be reconciled with her son... and for a mother, half a millenium is a walk in the park if at the end of the road is a reunion with her dear son.

"Kaoru, I need to tell you something." Kagerou started, changing the topic. "You just said that you came back here with Kurei through that time portal." Her face is now serious. Kaoru's smile also faded. The look on Kagerou's face is not something he would rejoice at.

Present day...

The Hokage, and the rest of their allies gathered in SODOM. Raiha was at the forefront, on his hand was something only he could see. "I'm sorry..." Raiha murmured in shattered voice. "I failed... once more..."

"Kurei, you idiot!" Fuuko lamented, drilling her fist to the ground. "When you opened that portal..."

Kagerou looked straight to Kaoru's eye. "He didn't have the power to close it."

WHAT?

All this time Kaoru thought that the portal would go away. He could remember clearly the moment he and Kurei left the place. "It should close soon." Kurei theorized. Trusting his foster brother, Kaoru kept silent. It was his first time seeing the portal. For someone who had seen it twice, he felt he didn't have any good reason to distrust Kurei. Never, until this time. "The time portal remains open at this hour, and Tendou Jigoku is headed exactly where it is!" Kaoru's heart began to pound with greater intensity. In the world where he came from, nobody there is a match against Tendou Jigoku. If Tendou Jigoku gets into the other side, the whole world will be obliterated. He glanced at the Koukai Gyoku. Before him, was perhaps the last hope. Should he screw up, he will have to pay with his life... and the life of everyone else in his time.

"So Raiha, it looks like you did your end of the bargain."

The boy was silent. Guiltridden as he is, he found himself having made a decision he could in no way reverse. "Now, I need you to help me once more." Almost mockingly, the stranger knew Raiha was in a pinch. He now had the boy under his spell. Raiha had no one to turn back to. His only hope is for this man to give him his end of the bargain. "Come with me." The stranger commanded. Raiha tagged along. Hoping all would turn out just as it was promised.

Kaoru's body is now beginning to recover. His senses are now regaining their usual effectiveness. "I am torn..." Kaoru confessed, shedding a tear. "I want to save Raiha and Kurei... but I want to save my friends from my time as well." Kaoru paused, trying to compose himself. "I... I don't know what to do..."

Kagerou draws out a madougu they're both familiar with. "I suppose you know how this works." She revealed an orb with skeletal hands holding it. Eikai Gyoku. She chanted a spell, and the ball begins to show where Kurei and Raiha are. Kaoru observed closely, thinking to himself if what he sees is true. Kagerou was clueless. She didn't travel with him long enough to know the background. "Raiha is with Kurei?" Kaoru wondered, speaking in a voice audible for Kagerou to hear. "But that place... I've never seen it before."

Kagerou studied the place where they stand. Not far from them, is a village on fire. "Are they thinking of attacking a village?" Kagerou inquired.

Suddenly Kaoru got the point.

"No... they're on their way to destroy it! That's Hanabi!"

Kaoru and Kagerou exchanged looks. They knew they had to do something. Without speaking a word, they both know where they should be headed, and they raced their way outside the cave.

Kurei... this time... I'll get you back!

End of Episode 12.

Author's note: As you may know, onee-san is older brother in Japanese. I cannot find a good english word (since there are none) to portray the sentence in its best term. The Japanese grammar holds the true power of how Kaoru feels... and so I decided to inject the Japanese thing to draw out the emotion I would like to be portrayed. Please R & R. :)