One day, the news about the existence of another powerful force was spread and reached the celestial army, which led its governor Jakoh to go berserk and set a bounty on whoever's responsible for this army in a way or another. The report reached Falco as well, who was the general of the source star army.
Meanwhile, Lin and Bat were so happy for the victory they have achieved for their first try, despite the loss they went through. Rihaku noticed that and feared their happiness would slowly turn into pride, so he had to remind them that they should be prepared for like Rihaku warned, their second encounter against the celestial army unfortunately failed. Despite the grave loss of the innocent lives they were supposed to save, the two young leaders decided to keep it together until the end of either this mess or life. Ever since the acknowledgement of both sides about one another's existence, Lin and Bat tried their best to keep themselves anonymous or else they're both put down for no good. Until one day, the two went to the western area to investigate and attack later, just to find out that two random citizens were picked by Bask, to accuse the two hostages of being Lin and Bat for the sole purpose of the bounty. That day, and at the pseudo execution event, the return of Kenshiro caught everyone by surprise, and after what is about to be a decade or even surpassed it, the man of seven scars has finally been reunited with his old friends. It even made the two young warriors much happier to hear Ken treat them as a man and a woman, and as fighters as well.
Along their new journey, Lin and Bat reliberated more areas that were conquered by the source star force, whose general found out about Lin, the toddler whom he saved once, and had to get rid of her so that the heavens don't split. Thankfully, Ken was there to handle this man of the Source star after Bat's trial and error. Meanwhile, and as he, Lin and their new ally Ein, were in the Celestial castle, Lin's other half called for her. And so, the three followed the lost emperor's cries until Jakoh helped them get to the emperor by dropping them in a dry old well through a booby trap, wishing to imprison them with the unknown twin forever, along with Myu and one of Falco's loyal soldiers, Saiya. After Myu explained the Celestial twin's past and Jakoh's manipulative plans, the squad decided to get out of the abandoned well they were all thrown in, and Ein volunteered with all of his strength and even his life to do the job. After many painful blood-inducing punches through the ground, the well blew up with copious amounts of water and pushed everyone out, as Bat shouted out the truth about it all to the fighting Kenshiro and Falco. The two once-rivals, have united to take this narcissistic governor of a man once and for all.
The empress was set free and so was the water that was locked underground, but unfortunately, a dear life was lost. Ein left that cruel world, leaving his little girl Asuka to the new friends he made, and to add more salt to the fresh wound; Lin was kidnapped when she went back to the now-demolished castle, trying to save Saiya and the old slaves from the ruins by one of Jakoh's remained sons, Jask. But for Bat, it wasn't that worrying since the man he looked forward to for his strength, and meant to bond with Lin, is here to do the rest for his supposed lover, believing that his job is over for the moment.
"Why would they just take my little sister away from me? We just met for the first time in forever." sorrow appeared on Lui's face.
"Don't stress, Lui. Ken is, as you've already seen, a strong man. He will bring her back, safe and sound." Bat assured the celestial twin, "Heh… Guess I gotta get back on doing my little duties, now that the big ones are over." The young man sighed with a smirk.
"Hm? What big duties?" Lui asked.
"Y'know… Facing the celestial forces when Jakoh was still around and keeping your sister safe for… him." Bat tilted his head down.
"Oh! Well, I must thank you for that, Bat. Perhaps we wouldn't have met if you weren't around. I deeply apologize for all of the mess that happened because of my empire."
"Oh please, why the apology? It's not like you were the one giving such orders. But yeah, don't mention it. I had to do so. She and Ken are so dear to me and I have no right to let death do them apart because life was already doing so. Besides, they are meant to be together, and I have no part in their story." The environment around the empress and the young warrior went silent, until Lui broke the silence.
"So… What will you do once they're back?" That question struck Bat right in his heart like a needle.
"I… Honestly, I had other plans… and I didn't prepare plan B." Bat grabbed his own pants by the thigh side, tilted his head down even further.
"Do you have a lover of your own, may I ask?" Lui posed the question out of curiosity.
" No, not really. I shouldn-'' Before Bat could even finish his words, a loud thud was heard from behind, accompanied by a yell from Saiya. "Lady Myu! Are you alright?!" The young guardian ran to Myu, who fell sick and nauseous. The other two ran straight to her checking up on whatever happened.
"Hah~… There's no doubt…" Said Myu in-between breaths.
"Lady Myu! What happened?" Bat asked.
"Heh… That is it… Does anyone of you own a paper sheet and anything to write with? I'd like to inform Falco about our upcoming child." Everyone around Myu was surprised by the announcement.
Many weeks have passed, and neither Ken, Lin nor Falco made it back from the ocean of death, that was what made Bat's blood run cold. Remembering what master Rihaku told him about said ocean, Bat started having constant bad expectations about his two dear friends. The thoughts were so often and intense that they even got to occur in his sleep, even if it were as light as a catnap, which even led him to skip sleeping. Lui noticed his terrible state, and had to check up on her sister's co-leader, one night at the edge of the beach where Ken and Falco headed off from. The empress found him sitting down, hands on his forehead without a single move. She decided to walk to him and sit next to him and had a closer look at his pale horrified face, right when the moon shone on both of them. The white moonlight made Lui look more beautiful while it didn't help hide Bat's paleness.
"... Bat?" Lui asked in concern.
"L-Lui? Remember when I said… That it's not a big deal to me? Hehe…" Bat shook as he spoke.
"Yeah? It is, right?" Right when Lui answered, Bat broke in tears and put his head on his own kneecaps.
"For how long have you been holding back?" Lui was utterly worried about the stressed boy.
"Ever since… Falco's letter reached us… Are they even alive anymore?!" Bat stuttered.
"But… Ken is also there, he will certainly do it! He'll get my sister back, right?"
"I… I don't think so… It's been many weeks, for heavens' sake!" Bat stood up, "But again, you may be right, but if Falco didn't make it, then how will… Man, I don't know anymore, it hurts!" The north star army leader dropped on his knees and elbows crying even more.
"Do you want to cross the ocean for them?" Lui put her hand on Bat's shoulder.
"Yes! I would and will if you guys give me the equipment! I'll take my men with me and we would all die for Ken and Lin, I do not care! I've sworn to sacrifice myself for her! … And him."
"Her?" Lui wondered, "... I'm sorry if I'm reading this wrong but did you… Have feelings for Lin?"
"Wha- no! That's ridiculous! I always thought of as my little sister, not to steal her from you, haha… Heh…" Bat sniffed and wiped some of his flowing tears.
"But the way you're pained about it says otherwise. Even as her sister, I am not as stressed about it as you are."
"Of COURSE you're not! You spent your whole life in a-" Bat yelled at Lui then realized who he was yelling at, "I'm deeply sorry, I just… Fine… I do admit, I've loved her ever since childhood, but what's the point? Her heart belongs to someone else, and you could guess who that is." Bat swallowed the sadness as he explained to Lui. The empress thought for a while before replying.
"So all you're saying is that you want to go out there to make sure, at least, that they are both fine? And help them reunite, at most?" Lui concluded.
"Hmph! Yeah…" Bat stuttered once more, "it would be much better if I died helping them get together."
"Which was your plan A the whole time?"
"Haha! About time you got it!"
"... Wouldn't it be inhumane to just let you do that? I mean… I do wanna support your choice, but I don't wanna sound like I don't value your life." Lui worrily wondered.
"Nah, no offense taken... I wanted this conclusion anyway. But do you know what could be inhumane? Telling anyone what I'm about to tell you. Promise not to bring it to anyone?"
"Cross my heart." Lui promised.
"Well, I always wanted to die once the two are finally together because I honestly can't stand a second to live in a world where I'm not hers, or just being there, a bother to their bond. But y'know what? I don't care if she'll love me in return or not… because I'd be all-long gone by then." Bat smiled with more tears building up.
"So far, I may have seen so many men dying for the sake of others, yet your story is different." Lui stood up and hugged Bat, "But I promise you, you will be in her heart, in a way or another. Mark my words."
"Yes, your highness." Bat let go of Lui and kneeled to her.
"... So what are we waiting for? I'll set up a boat for you guys." Lui broke the short silence.
"Do you think you have one that fits Black King as well?" Bat asked.
"We'll see…"
Many days later, at the land of Asura, Kenshiro and Kaioh are fighting one last time, Lin has already got her Shinkanhaku channeling point struck, and saved by the slowly dying Hyoh to be brought back to Kenshiro and to take revenge on Kaioh. Suddenly, Kaioh's men caught Kenshiro's biological brother and were about to wipe this man off this world and take back Lin, their lord's prey but the man of Hokuto Ryuken didn't hold back and wiped them all off despite that taking a toll on his body, while keeping Lin's eyes covered so that she falls in love with no random Shuran out of the ones surrounding her and Hyoh. Luckily for him and Lin, the north star army set into this hellhole and Bat carried the two on top of Black King and hopped off to where Kenshiro defeated Kaioh, just so that Lin gets back to Ken, and so does Hyoh to Kaioh for one last fight between the two. Unfortunately, the last two are both knocked out already. Sadly, Hyoh couldn't kick Kaioh but the bucket instead, Kaioh admired the effort his old friend made to get to him, so he chose a spot for the both of them to reunite one last time under raging lavas.
Once it was all over, it was time for Bat to get off of the gigantic dark horse to walk towards Ken and make the two official. After Kenshiro took the bandage off Lin's beautiful closed eyes, he refused the offer, saying that it is no longer needed for the young woman to risk her life for him anymore, and left Bat for her to take care of. It sure was something Bat always wanted, but as time went on, something within refused this fraud love, caused by Kaioh.
After sealing the boat, and heading back from Asura, Bat and Lin's life just felt the same to him as it's been at first. Lin was as friendly as she always was, and Bat accompanied her in everything she did, completely forgetting about the fraud love, caused by Kaioh, and not noticing how Lin developed feelings for him each day. One day, Bat decided to go back to doing his usual military stuff, but Lin insisted on going out with him. Despite pretty much forgetting about the love curse, the young man was still aware of his little friend's memory loss, but with her constant pleading and begging, he hoped that she could probably gain back her fighting skills, and so Lin won and followed Bat to liberating areas. In the last moments of their first fight in a while, Lin screamed as she got her crossbow slammed out of her hands by some goon who was swinging a medium-sized sword on her and slashed some of her fingertips, and he was ready to shove its tip between two of her ribs. Bat ran to his co-leader of the army as heard the scream, and like his first time in the battlefield, he threw his metal club boomerang-style straight to the bandit's head and hit him so hard that he let go of his own sword. The young warrior took the chance to pick up that sword and thrusted the whole length into his head from beneath his chin. As the juvenile redhead turned around to check up on Lin before any of his men.
"Lin, you're okay?"
"Agh… N-not exactly. I hurt my fingers"
"It's fine." Bat pulled the long piece of cloth that he always hung on his shoulder, removed the big pin from it, shredded some of it into small pieces for each harmed fingers to band them. The images of Bat taking her from one country to another by boat, and protecting and listening to her just dropped her in love with this young man deeper and deeper until this very last gesture from him made her fall in the deep pit of love. At this point, she was crazy about him and wasn't able to hold back for another time.
When they went back to the base, and right in front of everyone, including the elder Rihaku, Lin held Bat's hand and looked into his eyes.
"Bat… I can't believe you did all of this."
"Did what?"
Lin inhaled before responding: "You saved me from an island full of men that were surely trying to capture me. You saved me from a horrible place!"
"What? Oh, not technically, I-"
"And you brought the whole army for me? You did all it took to save me!"
"Well... I've always been doing that-"
"You never said no to me ever since we first met, you treat me like a princess."
"No, I don't!" Bat cringed, "If I did, I wouldn't have let you fight with me!"
"But I wasn't so harmed. Worst thing that happened was a few small scratches on my fingers that you took care of immediately." Lin turned around before starting to blush, "All I want to say is… I love you for all of this."
Everyone in the hall gasped, and Rihaku widened his eyes then smiled. Bat was stunned to reply to such a confession.
"You made my life so happy that I don't even remember how it was before you."
"Huh? W-what?!" Bat quietly answered.
"Because you changed my life. You made me feel so special and happy that I wasn't able to remember my past. Which I'm pretty sure was darker than a cloudy night."
"... It sure was." Bat sighed, "But that's not the case!"
"Bat's always been here to rescue you, Lin. Even when he was a kid." Rihaku added.
"Huh? You mean… that's why?!" Lin exclaimed, "So he does love me!"
"But Rihaku! She doesn't-"
"Bat! You always wanted this, didn't you? You always loved her but neglected your own feelings this whole time since she didn't confess." Rihaku interrupted Bat, "Maybe she just admired Ken the way you did this whole time… "
"I doubt she remembers who he is."
"But you did save me and cared for me all this time…" Lin put her hand on Bat's bicep, "Do you… Love me? Because I do."
"Well, I do care for you, I always did, but…"
"Bat! Quit running from your own feelings. I know this is such a hard thing to believe, but I promise you, you will adapt to it and be thankful that you took the chance."
"O… kay…" Bat took a deep breath then let out a heavy sight, "I… I did love you."
"We are talking about now, Bat." Rihaku crossed the conversation once again.
"..." Bat turned around to his master, and looked back at the young woman, "I… think… I still do." He slowly gave Lin an enforced light smile along with sorrowful, doubtful eyes that she couldn't notice because she was too busy thinking of how to pop the question. After some short thoughts, she no longer cared and let her heart speak for her. The female warrior shouted, as she dropped to one knee while holding one of Bat's hands and tilted her head down: "Will you marry me, then? We can't just love each other and stay separated like this! I know we're already together all the time but I want something to keep us attached more firmly!" The red haired young adult just couldn't get what he heard through his head, he shook in disbelief and his heart pulsated faster than ever. Every other man around the two cheered for him, wanting him to accept Lin's proposal.
"Do it… Do it… Do it… Do it! Do it! Do it!" The men chanted for the young wolf.
"You always did everything for Lin to be happy, right? Why not this time too?" Rihaku smiled.
"... I… Y-yes…" Bat stuttered.
"What was that~?" The guards said in unison.
"Yes! If that's what will make you happy then yes!" Bat yelled for everyone to hear him. The men applauded and clapped in joy for the two bride-and-groom-to-be. The blooming woman hopped into her future husband's arms and hugged him so tightly then locked her eyes with his. That was when Bat saw something strange in her looks; Lin's eyes always oozed with bravery, and most importantly honesty, whenever she said anything. This time, her sight felt like decorated flowery curtains that hid void and emptiness. All of what happened a few minutes prior, after that conclusion, felt to Bat like the entirety of it was nothing but an unintentional lie, but he couldn't turn around in his own words after what he decided in front of everyone.
Everyday since then, Bat did his best to convince himself that it was just another sacrifice for Lin like every previous one, until the wedding day arrived. At church, the soon-to-be newlyweds were being prepared for their ceremony. Lin was all for it, she was so excited that she started stimming but she had to be stopped so that she doesn't ruin her looks for her special day. On the other hand, Bat's feet got colder than ice, he had a quick turn-around after his constant self-convention trials had failed in one go.
"Sacrifice?! What was I thinking? Sure, I agreed to always make Lin happy, but not in a way that humiliates me! I gave up on my life, not my dignity! I'm not just gonna be her doll and just let people control me around her! Besides, she blindly loved me, I've seen it in her eyes! None of those feelings of hers were from an emotional source… It was all neurotypical! That was all the effect of Kaioh's Shinkanhaku! She never loved me… Ken is her only one! I cannot let this go any further! But… I can't blow it all like this… When will I get to speak the truth?"
Back at the outdoor hall of the church, the ceremony was a few minutes away from happening and Bat was standing there beside the priest, with all the guests, Mamiya included, waiting for Lin to come out. Once those few minutes passed, Lin walked out with her white long gown, head down, covered in a veil and straight to be beside Bat to make the priest stand between the two. Everyone was staring at the couple and whispering to one another some comments about how the two young warriors who kept the land safe all these years would finally be for each other and bless the nation even more, some of their murmurs reached the groom-to-be's ears and made him sad, sad that he'd soon be breaking their hope about that, but for his and Lin's own good.
"Ladies and gentlemen." The priest announced to cut the murmuring, "Grace to God of the heavens above us, we were gathered here on this blessed day to celebrate the union of our beloved leaders, Lin and. Bat of the North Star army, who risked everything they have got to keep us all safe and sound, after God and Lord Kenshiro. Bride and groom have vowed, in our presence and before it, to be loyal and loving towards each other. Unfortunately, we couldn't afford a ring, but we do have witnesses of all kinds of your union… By the power vested in me, I pronounce you two, Husband and Wife."
"Mr. Bat… You may now kiss the bride."
Before making his final decision, Bat chose to look into Lin's eyes one more time to see the fraud look again and see if it was a real deal or was it just him miscalculating. The groom lifted the veil and looked into his bride's eyes; they still had the delusional affection that hid a memory-drained from behind. Bat needed one more clarification before making his move, he asked: "Do you really love me?". Lin nodded silently with a smile that only Bat saw the doubt within.
"No… No, you don't. All of this is a farce! You're only like this because your Shinkanhaku point was pressed! You gave your heart to Ken a long time ago and you just do not remember!" Bat explained, and that left the whole audience shocked. How come this youthful man canceled his own wedding at the very end?
"The man… You truly love… IS KENSHIRO!" Bat bawled, as he used his limited Divine fist Of The North Star knowledge to wipe Lin's memory. The young bride screamed as what she just created out of pseudo love had been getting erased as well. She fainted and fell, but Bat was there to catch her. Everyone was out of words to say about such an incident, Bat did not like what he did either, but there was nothing else to do about this mess of a plan the two had taken the night before. The Groom-'s tears flooded and dripped on his bride-in-denial's new white dress that was meant to bond her with Bat.
"Forgive me… But I did this for our own good."
After the awfully ruined wedding, Bat left the village with the newly brainwashed Lin and took her back to her now-abandoned home village, so that he could bond her back with Kenshiro. But before he did, he made a flower necklace out of the bouquet that Lin had for her unfortunately rejected wedding and went to Lady Yuria's grave and put it on her tomb cross as an apology to her for all that had happened. And to ease Bat's plans even more, he found Kenshiro crawling back towards a well that Bat happened to be filling a container for Lin from, with his memory all gone as well. This gave the young man a better and faster idea to get the two together, now that he could start from square one, after making sure that Ken revised his fighting skills and taking him and Lin to the old abandoned prison the three met for the first time to rewrite her memories without his name mentioned. And to make things go even more smoothly, an old enemy for Ken named Borge happened to be nearby, and what was even better is that he was blind, since Ken slashed his eyes once. Bat took Mamiya with him and went to where Borge was lurking, the juvenile warrior gave himself seven big dipper shaping scars, to trick his enemies-to-be into believing that he is the Kenshiro whom Borge was waiting for all these years.
While the seven-scarred man and the celestial twin sister were together figuring out what went on around them, Bat and Mamiya found Borge and the first fought him, but unfortunately he lost the fight, and got crucified to get the punishment and torture that Borge was yearning to give to him, while still believing that the man he caught this time is indeed Kenshiro. Mamiya tried, for as long as she could, not to tell Ken until she found an alternative for getting out of this. She decided to take Bat's life herself and end his suffering, using her crossbow, after failing to attack or at least distract the enemy. Suddenly, the real Kenshiro appeared on the field with Lin by his side, still not recovering entirely from his amnesia. The truth's reveal, along with the fact that Ken does not remember this man whom he disabled once, blew Borge's brim out with rage and caught the man of the north star at point. If it weren't for Bat's final cry, Kenshiro would have not regained his martial art knowledge of over 30 years, nor did he put Borge in his place before succeeding to strike him with his sword. Even then, Bat had to do one final move before putting the transgressive elderly down entirely, to avenge himself and unintentionally remind Lin of who she should truly love. After the four united one last time, Bat asked Ken and Lin to promise him that they find happiness within each other so that his sacrifice would not go to waste. After the young warrior "died" and Lin followed Kenshiro like the two have promised the new martyr, Lin felt like she was not able to feel the kind of love she was told to find in Kenshiro and found it in Bat instead, neither did Ken. In fact, he encouraged her to follow her heart, because his will be with her still, leaving her a surprise for when she goes back to her supposed lover. Once Lin hugged Bat for what she believed was the last time, she felt his heart beating once again; The man she loves now is alive! Kenshiro rescued him!
Since then, Lin had promised herself to love this young man forever, and lived with him… Not happily ever after yet, because their love had to go through another obstacle.
To Be Continued...