Two Years Later
After Daniel graduated from First High and after he was officially sworn in as the liaison officer of the Joint Magical Military Task Force, he got right to work not only to make sure they performed their duties to the best of their abilities, but also to get them to all work together as one, cohesive unit. There were initially some trust issues among the members of the Japanese Independent Magic-Equipped Battalion, particularly in light of a few of the past incidents involving STARS. However, Daniel and Lina worked to allay those concerns, stating that such actions would no longer be sanctioned under their watch. As Daniel was the liaison officer, and Lina was the STARS commander, this carried significant weight. Tatsuya also gave significant support to their efforts, which went a long way to easing the initial tensions.
With Johnny Zhou now out of the picture, the international anti-magic movement began to splinter and become disorganized. While there were still a few radical portions of the movement determined to take magical society down by any means necessary, they were largely ineffective due to a lack of resources and support for their methods. The joint task force engaged in a lot of intelligence gathering in order to bring the groups and their members to justice, and were occasionally called upon to use force when possible and deemed necessary. Meanwhile, both the U.S. and Japanese governments worked on their ends to counter the misinformation campaign Johnny had run regarding the use of magic and magicians. Slowly, but surely, the tide was beginning to turn on that.
As for Johnny, his trial before the International Criminal Court at The Hague resulted in him being found guilty on all charges, with a prison sentence of fifty years to life. Considering his age at the time of sentencing, even the lower end of that sentence would most likely take him to the end of his life.
During this time, Daniel continued to train Lina to improve the use of her Jedi skills. Within another year, she had perfected not only the basics and her lightsaber techniques, but had also learned Daniel's special speed skill and was beginning to learn how to perform a mind meld. At this point, and with master Kenobi's blessing, he deemed Lina ready for the Trials – the test to determine whether she would become a fully-fledged Jedi knight. Lina was confident in her skills and felt she was ready, and it showed as she passed the Trials with flying colors, with Daniel bestowing the honors and title of Jedi knight upon her proudly.
Meanwhile, his personal life was going as well as he could have ever hoped. His relationship with Mayumi was as strong as ever, as they eagerly anticipated their impending marriage. When they got back from the United States after Daniel was sworn in, they made the decision to wait two years to get married. This would not only allow Mayumi to complete her college education, but also allow Daniel to completely settle into his new position with the task force.
The other development in their relationship that occurred at that time was that Daniel was invited to move back to the Saegusa residence, where he and Mayumi could spend their evenings together. Now that they were officially engaged and Daniel's position was secured, the politics surrounding such an arrangement were no longer a factor. As Daniel moved his belongings from the Shiba house, he thanked Tatsuya and Miyuki for everything they had done for him over the last few years, including giving him a place to live. Miyuki then bowed in respect and said, "It's us who should be thanking you. You helped to free big brother, and you influenced us in ways we could never have imagined."
One of the biggest influences was in how Miyuki conducted herself both in her duties as the new head of the Yotsuba family, and in her personal life. Her reign as head of the family so far was very different than Maya's or her grandfather's, as the Yotsuba family was no longer so secretive. While they were still very powerful and emphasized magic use for its members, the ability to use magic was no longer a determinant of whether they would be treated as family members, and everyone was given a chance to develop talents wherever they could. In addition, she used her new role as one of the leaders of the Ten Master Clans to encourage the other families to move away from "experimentations" on family members as she had done with the Yotsubas.
Regarding her personal life, Miyuki had finally accepted that Tatsuya was in love with Honoka, and opened herself to other possibilities. While there wasn't anyone in particular yet that she was seeing or had caught her eye, it was definitely a start.
As for Tatsuya, he began to work full-time at Four Leaves Technology after he graduated from First High School, with Division 3 led by Mr. Ushiyama as his secret weapon in his role at the head of company research and development. Meanwhile, his relationship with Honoka continued to be strong, as she was completely devoted to him and loved him more and more every day. As a result, it was not a surprise when the two of them announced their engagement around New Year's Eve in 2099. What did surprise them a bit was that Mikihiko was so inspired by Tatsuya that he decided to follow suit and ask Mizuki to marry him, giving her the ring on White Day.
Daniel was also able to get his payback against Erika unexpectedly one day when he came by the Chiba family dojo to pick up some items to use in training Lina on her swordsmanship skills. He was looking for Erika and was walking around quietly when he came across her and Leo in an empty side room kissing each other (fully clothed) and getting lost in their own little world. Taking advantage of the fact that they hadn't noticed him, Daniel quickly took out his phone and used the camera to capture the scene.
The 'click' of the camera phone caught the pair's attention, and as Erika turned to find Daniel standing in the doorway, Daniel showed her the phone and exclaimed, "Look, Erika! It's payback – being a bitch as usual!" As Daniel quickly left the scene, Erika followed him, shouting angrily, "Get back here with that!" while shaking her fist at him. While Erika was fast, Daniel's Jedi abilities made him faster and Erika couldn't catch up – at least not before Daniel was able to send the photo to all of their friends (which got quite a reaction, as you might expect). Needless to say, the incident left Erika quite frustrated with Daniel, but it dissipated a bit when she received words of encouragement and congratulations from everyone on her and Leo's relationship.
Now that Mayumi had graduated from college, and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom, it was the perfect time for the wedding they had been waiting two years for. One of the issues that they really had to discuss was who would take the other's family name. While Daniel personally felt that neither of them should have to give up their family name, as his mother and sister had both married without changing their names, it was still Japanese law that a married couple could only have one surname between them. As he wanted to make Japan his long-term home, and also wanting to show Mayumi yet again how much she meant to him, the couple decided that it would be him who would adopt the Saegusa surname – a decision which Elizabeth supported (and was even a bit impressed by).
In addition to appeasing his soon-to-be wife's family, Daniel's decision to take the Saegusa surname also made things easier in one other respect. As he was marrying into a prominent Japanese magical family, he decided to see if he could obtain dual citizenship for himself. After getting the go-ahead from the U.S. government (he wouldn't be giving up his U.S. citizenship, and would therefore still be eligible for his appointed position) he told Tatsuya that he wanted to take him up on his offer from a few years ago – sort of. After explaining what he wanted to do, Tatsuya helped him navigate the process and thanks to a certain amount of influence, was able to obtain approval for dual citizenship from the Japanese government.
The ceremony itself was be a traditional Shinto one, as was the Saegusa family custom, to be performed by a priest who was close with the family. This wasn't a problem for Daniel, as he wasn't particularly religious, though he was able to convince the priest to allow for one small Jewish tradition to be inserted into the ceremony – the breaking of a glass with the foot by the groom. The traditional Shinto ceremony also meant that Tatsuya, Mikihiko, and Leo could serve important roles in assisting Daniel with the ceremony, as they knew far more about the specifics than he did. On Mayumi's side of the aisle, meanwhile, her primary wedding party consisted of Mari, Kasumi, and Izumi. Mari was taking mental notes, as well as helping out Mayumi, as she was preparing for her own nuptials with Naotsugu Chiba (her relationship with Erika had improved over the last couple of years, but they were still working on a few things).
Before the ceremony was set to begin and as Daniel stood next to the altar, he looked through the audience, which filled with his many friends as well as many of his family members, including Elizabeth, who had come to Japan to see the wedding and give him a proper sendoff into married life. He saw the rest of Mayumi's close group of friends, including Azusa, Suzune, and Jumonji, as well as the rest of his group of friends that had been with him through three years at First High – which now included his protege and fellow Jedi, Lina. He also saw the Third High trio he had befriended - Toko, Shiori, and Airi, who was there with Masaki Ichijo as her plus one. From what Daniel had heard, the two of them had gotten closer during the last year of high school and had started dating each other shortly before graduation. As they seemed to be happy together, he wished them nothing but the best in their relationship.
As he continued scanned the audience, he caught a glimpse of someone waiving his hand at him – it was Ray Clark, who had come to the wedding all the way from Berkley as Shizuku's plus one. Over the last few years, they had begun a long-distance relationship, and it seemed to be working out. In fact, before the wedding, Ray had taken Daniel aside and told him that he was planning to surprise Shizuku by telling her of his plans to move to Tokyo. "I've simply fallen in love with this country!" he exclaimed. 'At least one aspect in particular, anyway,' Daniel thought as he chuckled to himself. He then replied, "I'm sure Shizuku will be very happy to hear that."
Before Daniel knew it, the ceremony had begun, with everyone participating in the ceremony (non-audience members) wearing various kimonos. Mayumi's, of course, was completely white. As the priest began his recitation, Daniel couldn't help but admire at how beautiful and elegant Mayumi looked in her kimono. Soon enough, Daniel and Mayumi were exchanging their vows and the priest blessed and solemnized the union, making them officially husband and wife.
As they made their way down the aisle and outside the temple where they gathered with everybody before heading to the reception, Daniel saw out of the corner of his eye a familiar ghost-like glow. He turned towards it and saw the familiar figure of Ben Kenobi standing there looking on. However, he was surprised by what else he saw – there, standing next to Ben shroud in the same ghostly glow were the unmistakable (to him) figures of his parents, watching and waving proudly as their son took this big life step. Perhaps a wedding day gift made possible by his old master through the Force? As he instinctively began to wave back, Mayumi tapped Daniel on the shoulder, turning his attention away from the figures and to his new wife. Seeing that something had distracted him, Mayumi asked, "Daniel, what is it?" As Daniel looked back, he saw that the figures had gone as quickly as they appeared. He smiled to himself and replied to Mayumi, "I'll explain later."
The reception looked more like a western-style wedding, with a feast, music, and speeches made all around. After the ceremony, the wedding party changed out of their kimonos and into the suits and dresses they had set aside for this part of the day, with Mayumi wearing a white gown with cloth straps crisscrossing her neckline, going behind her back. Daniel, on the other hand, was wearing a traditional tuxedo outfit, except for the fact that there was a cover button at his collar instead of a bow tie (he really didn't like bow ties).
As the music began playing and people began to dance, Daniel provided another small surprise for Mayumi, as a song he had requested be played for the two of them started up – Coldplay's My Universe – another little gesture from Daniel to express his feelings for Mayumi. Mayumi blushed, but then smiled mischievously as she made her way to the dance floor, where she and Daniel showed everyone how it was done, leading to hollers and cheers from the crowd that gathered.
Later on, as Daniel and Mayumi were swaying on the dance floor together to a slow, romantic tune, Daniel thought back on the last five years of his life. He had made a lot of friends – friends that were genuine and loyal – and he had built a life for himself from almost nothing. It was true that it could be argued that there was a bit of luck involved along the way, but who could really say that anyone's life success didn't involve at least a little luck. Now, he was in a position of significance where he could serve the public. He was able to use the powers he unexpectedly discovered in the way he had always wanted to, and was surrounded by people who knew and loved him for who he was. At that moment, Mayumi began whispering teasingly in his ear about the room they would be enjoying later than night at the resort. In particular, she made sure to mention the fact that the room had its own private hot spring (wink, wink). As Daniel chuckled in anticipatory embarrassment, he thought to himself, 'Yep, life right now definitely does not suck.'
And that's it! Just so all of you know, I have no idea what a Shinto wedding is supposed to be like, and I didn't want to get really into the weeds on that point, so I made the details on that part vague enough so that I would at least not get it obviously wrong. I apologize to any of you for whom those details matter.
Thanks to all of you who read my story to the end. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please let me know what you thought about it as a whole (as per usual, constructive criticism is welcome, but no flames!)