Chiriko soon occupied the bed Boushin had been in the day before, and Juan had settled down next to Boushin with some soup Houki had prepared.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Yes…"

"You weren't… it didn't hurt, I hope…"

"…"

"Juan," Chichiri startled them. "Would you help me go fishing, please?"

He quietly complied. The warrior and the child sat in silence for a while, until as last Chichiri felt it right to speak up. "Your uncles Tasuki and Chiriko and I have known each other for a long time, you know."

"I'm sorry."

"You don't need to feel sorry."

"It's because of me he got hurt."

"He's been hurt before, but another friend of mine helped him. He felt happiest if he could help, so Chiriko let him. He was a doctor, just like you want to be."

"Did he give him medicine?"

"Not at first. He had to calm Chiriko down, and tell him how to help himself, you know?" he smiled. Juan grew a brief smile at this, but quickly melted back down to a guilty frown. "Is that what Uncle Chiriko did for you?"

He nodded.

"He did the same thing for Boushin, too. The monster that was inside of you put a monster inside of Boushin, and he had to tell Boushin how to get away. Getting lost or stuck is nothing to be ashamed about, you know? He wanted to help you, just like my friend helped him before."

Juan only nodded, and Chichiri invited him to tell him what happened. "I was stuck in… something dark and stringy. I couldn't move. Uncle Chiriko told me to wake up and get out, but I was scared. So he cut the strings with a red sword."

"A red sword?"

"But I still didn't move, because… because I saw the monster."

"And you were scared?"

"And then Uncle Chiriko made a circle around me with a scroll, and I watched him fight the monster. He kept telling me to get away. And… and he made the monster get close to him, and then he…" Juan's hands started to shake as he motioned holding a sword with two hands in front of himself, "he pinned it to himself."

Chichiri grimaced behind his mask. "Did you get away after that?"

Juan hung and shook his head. "It was loud. The monster was loud. But I heard Uncle Chiriko tell me to look for Boushin, and I did. That's when I woke up. But Boushin wasn't there yet... and then you were there too, and," he looked back over to him nervously, breathing faster with each statement. "I just… I don't… and Shouka… I…"

"It's alright," the warrior drew him in for a hug. "You're safe now, that's what's important. The monster won't come after you anymore."

Juan looked back up with tearful eyes. "But Uncle Chiriko..."

"Juan, Uncle Chiriko made a sacrifice for you. You need to make sure to honor that by taking care of yourself and living a long, good life. You'll help a lot of people, but you have to make sure to be happy too." The boy nodded as best he could in response, and Chichiri smiled. "I get the sense that Uncle Tasuki and Aunt Miaka are going to be here soon. They'll be happy to see you!"

Boushin was outside of the house, tending a fire for the fish as best he could. Houki had started it for him when he was having trouble, but he was newly frustrated by how easily it would go out. How he pitied his subjects for their difficult conditions.

The weather was mild that day, and small children were chasing each other without a care. He couldn't help but break a smile when he saw them—until one of them kicked dust into his struggling fire. On an impulse he stood and turned to yell something, but stopped when he heard a whooshing and crackling sound behind him. On the ground, his humble fire had raged into an active flame. From the corner of his eye, he spotted someone. "Tasuki!" he smiled and ran to greet him.

"Havin' a little trouble there?" he smiled back and patted his head.

"Not anymore, now that you're here!"

"Sounds like someone's a little more grateful now."

"I beg your pardon for my behavior at the palace."

"Well, as long as my worth around here is appreciated, no hard feelings," he folded his arms, but couldn't wipe a smug grin off his face. Miaka appeared from behind him just as excited.

"Boushin! What are you doing back here already?"

"Hey, that is a good question!"

"Oh," he couldn't hide a guilty smile. "It's not entirely my fault."

He went on to briefly explain that he had pursued Mayo and his mother and their encounters since then, when Chichiri and Juan returned with a few small fish, which Juan nearly dropped as he ran towards them. "Uncle Tasuki!" he wailed and clung to him.

"Juan! You're alright! An' look at you all the way out here in the middle of nowhere!" he hugged back tightly with a wide smile. Juan only cried back as Tasuki laughed.

This gave Boushin a chance to fetch his mother. Despite having been warned, she initially looked flushed and shocked to see Miaka. Miaka smiled to her sheepishly, but then looked away with a pit of shame in her stomach. Houki stepped towards her, but ultimately sank to her knees in sobs.

"You had to expect something like this when you decided to fake your death, you know," Chichiri said as he served his wife-in-name-only a cup of tea, all the while stealing nervous glances in Chiriko's direction.

"I know," she frowned. "I'm really sorry, Your Highness."

She smiled tenderly. "You can still address me by name. I've had enough time to consider why you might have chosen this, and I'm not angry with you. I only…"

"…wish my father knew?" Boushin finished for her.

"Don't worry, he did! He was my first accomplice," she laughed at herself. "He caught me when I was falling, after all."

"When he announced your death, he did say he heard your final words."

"Yes. He did try to talk me out of it, just so you know."

Her smile was faintly downcast. "I'm sure. He said that your last request was for the fighting to end."

"I did ask him to make it end, yes," she frowned. "I only wish I knew what that meant at the time. Houki, had I have known—though I should have known—I would have done everything to stop him!"

"Stop that! That confrontation that day was purely his own decision. It was his fortune that he saw the final day of the war on Konan's soil."

"The war is over, but it's not gone," said Boushin, furrowing his brow. "The peace we know now is merely an agreement to lay down arms. The people are still oppressed by taxes, and as if destiny itself were angered, drought continues on."

"Have you not seen your peoples' lives, my son?" his mother snapped back in a hushed tone. "There will always be poverty unless you have the will to change it. They are resilient. Without fear of violence, they still live their lives in peace."

"Mitsukake didn't have peace. And the other warriors still linger, waiting for Suzaku to be summoned. What plauges Konan most is a lack of hope—a lack of will to make change!"

"My son, do not oversimplify the state of your country's affairs and how to fix them."

"No," frowned Miaka. "He's not entirely wrong. The taxes don't bother people much—until they reap puny crops or need expensive medicine for their families. But hope is what will hurt them most—hope is what drives them to fight for no cause."

"Miaka," he extended a hand to her. "Come with me."

He led her into the bedroom, where Mayo was bedridden but alert. "I was wondering when you would come see me," she made direct eye contact, "Priestess of Suzaku."

"She said it! Sakaki is officially not crazy anymore!"

"Now if only we could reach out to her—had she left anything important to her here!" groaned Keisuke.

"What about Miaka?"

"It's been ten years for her already. The only thing that would still hold some significance for her from that long ago is a teddy bear that's not even in this world anymore. I've already been wracking my brain about this! What about Yui? Don't you have something of hers?"

"Well," he struggled, "not yet."

"…What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I have something I was going to give her, I just hadn't yet."

Once he was egged on enough, Tetsuya went to his bedroom to fetch a small box. It held clear, sky blue-tinted earrings. "Even though she cut off all ties with Nakago, she still felt like she should have kept the earring he gave her," he explained. "I thought these could fill that place, maybe. Without being too similar, you know? What with the anniversary of when we first found the book and all the madness with Sakaki stalking her, I thought it'd be better to wait on giving them to her."

Keisuke eyed him, then eyed the earrings. "You put a lot of thought into those, didn't you?"

"I put a lot of thought into everything I do with Yui! I don't want to make any mistakes!"

"At least you have a girlfriend to think about," he sighed. Then an idea shot to his head. "You did put a lot of thought into those, didn't you? They practically belong to her already and she just doesn't know it yet!"

"Uh… yeah?"

"This might work!"

Miaka knew who Mayo was right away, and she sensed Suzaku's presence so keenly that the air in the room felt heavy. "Hello," she said meekly.

Unexpectedly, Mayo gently smiled. "It's about time. Suzaku is stronger now. It took some effort to unseal himself."

"Yes, I could tell."

"So you really hoped you could disappear and be done with it, huh?" she asked. Miaka said nothing, and Mayo sighed. "I thought the same thing too, only I was hoping for something better to replace it all. Sometimes a fantasy sucks more than reality, though. I don't really care anymore."

"Don't say that. You should go back to Japan, to your family."

She rolled her eyes. "You're one to talk. Konan seemed so wonderful while I was back there. The people, the drama, the attention, the magic. Being the Priestess of Suzaku looked like the most excitement one girl could ever dream of having. Anything looked better than staying home, and going to school, and pretending to get along with the people around me. But now that I've been here, I guess it wasn't that bad after all. The Tokyo I see when I close my eyes is just as wonderful as I imagined Konan—it just doesn't need me there. It will go on just fine without me."

"Please don't say that."

"But this world is different. This world really does require a single person to set its destiny on course," she looked back to Miaka, and then put a hand to her abdomen. "Even someone like me was needed here. I could make a difference! This story is only moving again because of me. I'm content." Miaka didn't look her in the eyes, but Mayo looked intently at her. "But I can't end it. You're the Priestess, and you need to play your role. I've brought Suzaku back to you. You need to summon him forth."

"What's wrong with Chiriko, anyway?" she ignored her and stepped back into the other room. "Shouldn't he have woken up by now? He's beaten Miboshi before."

Removing his mask. Chichiri explained what Juan had described to him earlier. "I think he may have been trying to ensure that nothing would be left of Miboshi this time. The form his consciousness took had likely become distorted after an unnaturally long life, and Chiriko had probably pinned him there to make sure his life force would dissipate away. Since he had fought with him before, he knew how to restrain him."

"That's good," smiled Boushin. "Then he won!"

"He was falling back on what he had tried to do before."

A silence fell over them, but only briefly. "What, take himself down with him?" Tasuki exploded. "What's the point in that, huh? Chiriko, you idiot!"

"I don't understand," Boushin looked at him with wide eyes. "He tried to kill himself before."

"That's exactly what he's doing again! Damn it! It still counts if you're doing it to yourself on the inside! What was the point of doing this all again? Huh? Idiot!" he screamed to the body lying on the bed. "Damn—"

"Who gave you permission to die, Chiriko?"

Tasuki stopped at the sound of a second voice, and he looked down to see Boushin approach the bed. "You can't even come back as a ghost if you do it this way!" he shouted. "Stop it and wake up this instant! Stop it! I… I always knew you were stupid! Wake up! Wake…"

Seeing no response, he felt his face go pale. His hands shook as he raised one over Chiriko's head to slap him, but he gave way to tears and turned to bury his face in his mother's gown, sobbing.