Once the young man, who was believed to have been dead, woke up and got the fact that he is indeed still alive through his head, he was somehow not pleased. The same night, he and Lin got into an argument at the temple he was laid in before he woke up.

"But why?! What did you two promise me, then? If you knew this is what would happen anyway?" Bat complained.

"Please, hear me out! It's not what you think. I did not know Ken would do this for you!"

"Y'know this argument works against you, right?!"

"Wh- ...How?"

"How? …HOW- You meant to break my promise anyway!"

"Bat, I did try finding happiness with Ken, but I couldn't, I promise! I thought it would be easy!" Lin pleaded.

"Then why didn't you tell me "no" back then? Why did you promise something just to have a turn-around in your own words?!"

"I wouldn't have gone through that maze of decisions at all if I knew what was going to happen. It was a mess, Bat! I just had to think what was best for that very moment, I wasn't able to think for any near future!"

"...What are you even saying?!" Bat's blood heated up.

"She wasn't able to find the same kind of happiness you two thought of with Ken. Wasn't that already clear enough?!" Mamiya interrupted.

"Miss Mamiya, this is between me and Lin. So please-" Bat contained his anger that slipped out a little through his tone.

"So what? I was there too! Besides, I am an older friend of yours so I have the right to help solve this misunderstanding between you two." Mamiya stood up between the arguing couple.

"Miss Mamiya, it's not worth it." Lin murmured, holding Mamiya's shoulder from behind, "... I can handle this." The maiden turned back to the red haired man as their old friend stepped aside, "... What Miss Mamiya said was right, I just… I do love Ken, but… the same way you do. I don't feel as strong about him as you think I do… At least, not anymore."

"Then what was protecting you for all of these years for?"

"Listen, I am not who I used to be when I was a teenager, and you know it because we both passed that phase."

"All of that was just… a 'phase'? You yearned for him every minute! Even when you were no longer a teenager. What is your point?!" Bat yelled.

"Inside voices!" Mamiya warned.

"Miss Mamiya, I have NO time for that childish nonsense, can't you see I'm busy solving something?!" Bat turned towards the middle-aged woman.

"Well, this doesn't seem like… "solving something". It feels more like you simply wanna hear something specific from her and it doesn't matter whether it's the truth or not." Mamiya rested her fists on her own hips.

"... What?" Confusion appeared upon Bat's face as he cringed.

"Don't you play dumb on me, young man! Lin's been explaining herself over and over yet you ignore every single statement she makes. You think it all should only go your way and no other? You think of Lin as your own pet, don't you?" Mamiya argued.

"I'm doing this for her own good!" Bat yelled.

"Watch… your… tone~" said Mamiya behind her teeth, raising her index at Bat's face, "Besides, I would've agreed with you if this were about her fighting on her own with no backup, in the middle of nowhere. But look at what you're doing! You're controlling her love life!"

"If that's the case, then you're controlling her speech as well!" Bat approached Mamiya by a step, "Why are you speaking on her behalf, ya hypocrite?"

"Bat! Mamiya! Stop!" Lin stepped in-between to stop the arguing, but Bat incautiously pushed her aside so violently shouting: "Out of my way!". That gesture struck a nerve of Mamiya, which drove her to straighten her hand and smack Bat in the face.

"Raising your voice on her was already too far... But raising your hand?!" Said Mamiya, as she watched Bat stumble from the slap, holding his slapped cheek from the slight pain and shock, "The audacity of doing that RIGHT after you claimed to protect her?!". Lin on the other hand, widened her eyes in terror as she covered her mouth with both hands, watching Bat pant with his eyes wide open, staring into nothing.

"B-Bat, please forgive us." The young woman reached out to his arm, "Miss Mamiya just lo-" Bat flinched it out of Lin's hands and walked towards the door.

"Whe… Where are you going?" Lin murmured in hesitation.

"...Bat?" Mamiya asked.

"Oh, now you care for me, huh?" Bat slowly turned his head back to the two women, giving them a tired side eye, "... Why bother? Keep at your old pace, will ya?"

"Bat, we always cared for you-" Lin's voice shook.

"No, just… Stop... I've always been some disposable guarding dog to you! That's why you kept me alive, I'm not even worth having a place in your heart, since a promise can't even be kept for my sake..." Bat turned around one more time as he reached the doorway.

"Bat, why don't you understand?! That is not the point at all!" Said Lin, in a shaky voice.

"Oh, who cares anymore?! Why don't we all just do what each one of us wants? No need to pity me anymore… I'll set you free and let you decide on your own who your true love is… "

"Bat-"

"If I'm the one who's CONTROLLING YOUR LOVE LIFE!" Bat exited the temple with tears in his eyes.

"But the one I love…" Lin's body was shaking as she extended her arm towards Bat, "... is you." She broke down in tears and fell on her knees.

The army leader took off by his motorcycle to the north star army base. While leaving his best friend heartbroken but accompanied by his other childhood friend.

"Honey, it's okay… He's got to be one of those who rage for a while then come back like nothing happened." Mamiya squatted and put her hands on the weeping lass's shoulders.

"It's all my fault! He is right, I walked all over him this whole time and I never appreciated anything he did for me~" Lin bawled her eyes out.

"Oh, quit the nonsense, Lin! First of all, I fueled the argument." Mamiya confirmed, "Moreover, he was the one focusing on the wrong part. Why couldn't he just accept your love for him. It isn't out of Shikanhaku anymore, it is your own intention!" She added.

"But… He does have a point… I broke a promise- No! I made a promise that I couldn't commit to." Lin explained, while swimming in her own tears.

"Oh- Psh! You weren't the one who made the promise in the first place… It was Ken! Why did he only go off on you, though?"

"Because that man went away like the… smartass he thinks he-"

"Watch your profanity, young man!" Rihaku warned.

"..." Bat sighed in annoyance, "But… if he knew that I would remain alive, why did he promise me in the first place?!"

"Can't you tell? He left it as a surprise. His intention was to make you two happy together. He knew about your love for Lin." Rihaku answered, "Even if she still loved Ken, he wouldn't love her back, because you know that the only one in his heart is Yuria."

"B-But that doesn't excuse the fact that he broke a promise!"

Rihaku sighed: "...Why are you obsessed about the promise?"

"Why not?! I trusted him and put him and Lin above me all these years, and this is how they treat me in return?!" Bat complained.

"What exactly is your point from all of this complaining?! Have you ever thought about how they probably couldn't do what they promised you to do because… they cannot easily erase you from their memories? You are a man who made a difference in their lives, you cannot just be forgotten about."

"But-"

"If you think it's easy for them to just replace or forget about you, why didn't you do the same?" Rihaku got up from his throne, "Why didn't you just pick another woman to fall in love with all these years?"

"Because… I can't love anyone else… But… She doesn't love me back, so-" and before he finished his words, Bat got hit in the head with Rihaku's cane, "Ow! What was that for?!" Bat shouted.

"She lived most of her life with you, witnessed you give up on your own life for her several times, and she came back to you despite not knowing your life was spared… You think those were signs of her not loving you?!" Rihaku shouted at his lieutenant.

"What if she just did it to pity ME~!" Bat flinched by shielding his head with his arms once he saw Rihaku raise his cane once more.

"Just… What Kind of a moron do you strive to be?"

"Th-there is a better reason..." Bat tilted his head down, with a lump building up in his throat. "I wanted her to be with Ken instead because he's stronger… I could never protect her as he can."

"Bat, Oh, Bat… If you really were as weak as you believe you are, Lin would have been all-long gone… You are already the strongest for a man who trained in such a corrupted world and time."

"Still, I will be facing harsher situations in the future, how will I be able to defend her until then?"

"By getting stronger?" Rihaku countered, "This isn't your peak, kid. This is just your beginning."

"How am I supposed to be the strongest, though?" Bat raised his head to look at Rihaku.

"Bat... You cannot be the best in a fast-changing world. I know what you mean, you want to be as strong as the martial artists you have witnessed all these years, but those people came out of conditions, far more different than yours " Rihaku turned his frown into a smile, "Just win your own race."

"..." Bat tilted his head back down in shame, with no word said.

"Now that we're done with you, tell me; Are you still mad at Lin and Ken?" Rihaku broke the silence.

"No… In fact, I'm now mad at myself. I hurt the woman that I love when I promised to keep her safe... I don't think she'll love me back after that, I ruined everyth- OW!" Once again, Bat got hit in the head with Rihaku's cane by him. He said: "Did you even try apologizing yet?! Aaagh… That's your only problem, Bat. One error and you entirely give up. About time you changed this habit of yours!" as he pulled a palm-sized sack, opened it and showed his lieutenant two rings, the young man was out of words.

"Before you head off, take these with you and fix what's between you two. She wants you and nobody else, Bat. You two are for one another."

"Y-Yes, Rihaku!" Bat stood up and took the sack with him, ran off the homeport, then hopped on his motorbike. He noticed the sky-filling gray clouds, but didn't pay much attention to them because he had a situation to fix.

Unfortunately, the motor ran out of fuel and the motorcycle stopped just a few miles in, yet that did not stop the man from running back to his lover. He grabbed the motorcycle by the gears and dragged it along the way, hoping to get lucky enough to find a fuel trader or seller driving by. Many hours passed by, and no luck yet, but Bat did not give a single damn about that, as long as his legs worked. Pushing the motorbike with him helped him drain his own energy faster, though, and that was when things went from fifty to zero in no time. The gray clouds above Bat from a while ago grew darker and heavier when he wasn't paying attention, so heavy that they had to cope with emptying its water onto the ground. The deluging moisturized the dry surface of the soil and turned it into slippery mud, which made it easier for the man to slide his motorbike, but harder for him to walk. And to make things even worse, the night fell and everything went darker than ever. On such a heavily rainy night, it surely is difficult to see through the horizon, or see it to begin with. Bat believed that this was a punishment from Lady Yuria, for breaking Lin's heart.

"I know I messed things up but I will fix them back! I'm sorry! Wait…no… I won't let my guilt stop me just to grieve and waste my time even more. I will get back there and fix whatever's between us. I'm coming, Lin! Please be patient! I'm going through this one last challenge… To prove to myself before you and everyone else… That I'm braver, that I'm stronger… That I will know my own worth despite my selflessness! I won't humiliate myself any longer!" Said Bat, as he took big, deep steps into the wet soil in the middle of the night.

The next day, Bat found himself near a village that looked a bit strange at the entrance, he walked in with his dry mud covered boots, and dirty motorbike as his forearms were shaking from dragging such a mass of metal with him the whole night nonstop. "I hope it didn't take longer than usual… She's pretty much made up her mind, I'm sure about it." He thought before stopping himself from continuing the thought, "No! What did you talk to Rihaku about last night?" Right after his monologue, he saw the temple from afar, and ran straight to it, leaving his motorbike behind. Soon enough, he reached the gateway and got in, just to find Mamiya on her own.

"..." The red haired woman looked Bat dead in the eye.

"Wh- … Where's Lin?" Confusion and slight fear appeared on Bat's face.

"WHERE … were YOU?!" Mamiya yelled.

"Oh, yeah, last night … Look, I do know what I did was atrocious, and I'm super sorry! I really need to see Lin right now, I owe her a massive apology!"

"Well, if that's what you want, then go to her! Why me?"

"You were in my- Wait … She's not here?"

"Why, of course! You made her so upset! You're lucky she just ran away to look for you!"

"She … what?"

"I did my best not to let her go, yet she was so slick and did it anyway this morning! God knows where she-" Mamiya stopped talking as Bat ran back outside, she followed and saw him heading to his motorbike, but as obvious as it was, the thing was not able to work at that moment. Bat stood next to it and sighed in annoyance.

"What's the bigger problem, ran out of gas or is it the mud blocking the wheels?"

"I guess both…"

"Leave it there. There's another one here, it was for one of Borge's men. Let's get it instead!"

"We? You're coming with me?"

"You bet!" The two grabbed more weapons and picked the motorcycle.

The two redheads went off with the new motorbike, each scanning a side, hoping to eye Lin, or at least a glimpse of her.

"Did you happen to observe what direction she first ran to?" Bat had to shout through the motor noises.

"The same one you're taking." As the two drove past a low cliff , while still eyeing their surroundings from every angle like a two headed radar, Mamiya eyed up a squad of men surrounding a young woman who looked familiar… It was Lin! Surrounded by a group of thugs!

"Bat! Over there!" Mamiya shouted, as she pointed at what she just saw. Bat turned his head and saw that too, and with no second thought, he drifted towards that cliff and found a way of riding up to it.

Lin ran out of arrows after constantly shooting into huge four males who kept dodging her shots by swinging their chains and nunchakus, and she didn't want to risk hitting them directly with her crossbow, so the least bad thing she was able to do was to step back slowly, and the boys took that as a chance to step her towards the cliff and surround her so that she doesn't escape.

"Someone… P-please…" Lin murmured below her lips.

"Whaz da matter, chickadee?! Can't stand for ya'self no mo'? Gyehehehehee!" One of the four jerks scoffed, before suddenly falling down because of an arrow that was shot through his skull from behind.

"Heh?!" The masked thug squealed.

"Who the … hell?!" The fat ponytailed boss turned around.

"Hey, swines!" Bat whistled from afar, "How about you pick on someone your size?!"

"You!" The boss recognized that face from an old bounty from months ago.

"Do I know you?"

"G-GET HIM!" the boss shouted at his two remaining minions while pointing at Bat. The masked one ran to the warrior first before he swung his leg across Mask's face and knocked him away for long enough to pull his sword and stab him in the stomach once he picked his pace once again. Mamiya, on the other hand, handled the bald one, he swung her nunchakus like a male bird trying to seduce his targeted female but the middle-aged woman was having none of it, as she sliced the sticks off the chains with her yoyos. The thug was shocked then peeved at her and before running towards her, she wrapped him with her yoyo threads, pulled her needles and stabbed his lungs with them. The boss saw what happened to his men, and out of stress, he grabbed Lin by the hair and put her in a chokehold, as he was standing with her at the edge of the cliff.

"Th- That's it! One more move and she's gone for good! You think you'll be slick for way too long?! Killing my men was enough!" The boss threatened.

"Oh no you're NOT!" Mamiya ran towards the boss with no hesitation, but the big man struck her by his flail. The spiky ball busted her forehead out with blood as she fell off.

"Mamiya!" Bat screamed, and before he turned around to the two, Lin smacked the boss's head with her crossbow. She said: "You let go of us, now!" as she spat on his face, which grit his gear even more, so much that he threw her off that cliff.

"LIIIIIIIN!" Bat screamed at the top of his lungs as he ran towards her, but the boss blocked both of his hands with his own and pushed him back.

"Only getting manly when pussy's around, huh? Let's see how tough you truly are~ Nyehehehe- Heh?" Soon enough, the boss noticed that his steps were getting slower and lighter, as he felt his feet leaving the ground, until he noticed … Bat flexed his muscles as rage was building upon him, slowly lifting the fat man off the ground and high up, then bounced to throw this useless mass of a human into the air.

"Ararararararararararara! EARRRAAA!" Bat shouted as he fed his enemy constant fast punches to the torso and ended them with a stronger punch that sent him to the other side of the cliff, just to grab him by the leg and smack him onto the floor, right and left.

"Just so you know... These are sore arms that're carrying you!" For the last toss, he threw him up in the air, jumped to him and kicked him in the gonads so hard that he sent him to roll down the long hill-like side of the cliff, break all of his bones, blow his fat out and die in the most painful way.

After all that Bat was done with the purge, he felt empty. The man looked around him to see the injured Mamiya among the corpses of his enemies, then the realization hit his heart like a sledgehammer; Lin is no longer here with him. The young warrior remembered how the woman he came for was tossed off the cliff. Silence filled the top of that cliff, not even the wind dared to blow. It was at that moment, he realized; Lin is gone, and it is all his fault. He fell on his knees, and the shock was so intense that he couldn't let it out, hence he waited for tears or cries to come out.

Mamiya woke up from the hit with sharp swaying pain in her head. After slowly getting up and regaining her consciousness, she noticed Bat weeping along with the absence of Lin in the scene; he failed to save her. The tricenarian mistress anxiously ran towards the cliff edge, expecting to see Lin's gore from above, but the unexpected caught her eyes; Lin was miraculously safe! The young lady survived a terrible death, thanks to the old thick tree root that was hanging out of the cliff face.

"Lin?! Oh thank goodness!" Mamiya covered her mouth with one hand, doing her best not to tear up.

"Miss Mamiya! Did you deal with all those guys? Where's… Bat?" Lin heard loud sobs that turned into wailing from a voice she was able to recognize in no time.

"Hold on tight, sweetie! I'll be right back!" The red haired lady dashed towards Bat, "Bat! Get up! Lin's alive!"

"I don't care if she lives "in my heart"! I messed up!" Bat covered his flooding eyes, sobbing even harder.

"BAT!" The tricenarian woman kicked her friend in the thigh, "SHE'S LITERALLY ALIVE! Hurry up and help me get her up here!" Those words knocked some sense into his mind, and made him get up instantly, grabbing Mamiya by the wrist and ran her towards where she guided him to.

"Lin!" The man wailed once he saw that his woman was indeed alive.

"Bat, look at me! Hang me down to her, she'll hold onto me and then I give you my other hand to pull us both, okay?" Mamiya explained, as she held one of Bat's hands tightly. The young man hung her by her hand down the edge until she got low enough for Lin.

"Sweetie! Hold on to me!" Mamiya straightened up her free arm, and swung towards her young friend. Lin squealed as she jumped quickly into Mamiya.

"Climb me!" Mamiya shouted, and Lin wrapped her arms around the lady's torso, "Bat!" She shouted once more, giving her second hand to Bat to grab and pull the two together. He resisted the soreness in his arms and pulled the two after one foot of his slipped and almost got the three of them to fall, but thankfully, Bat succeeded to save the two ladies. He panted heavily as his friend and lover were on top of him.

"Bat!" Lin gasped, with tears flowing quicker than a river.

"Lin!" Bat called back, and the two embraced so tightly on the ground.

"... Way to go, you two~" Mamiya murmured, with tears building up on her as well.

"Lin, I'm so sorry I did all of that to you!" Bat let the rest of his tears flow.

"And I'm sorry for humiliating you all these years..."

"Still, I had no right to treat you like that…"

"And I had no right to be so blind about your love for me."

"… I pressured you and Ken into doing what you guys couldn't do." Bat added, as he turned to Mamiya, "Miss Mamiya was right, I was controlling your love life. I thought you guys were as cowardly towards your emotions as I was." Bat sat up with Lin, "And I got Ken into loving you when he wasn't capable of loving anyone else other than Lady Yuria. And I finally understood that too when I believed I lost you in that minute..."

"Which is what I exactly felt when I believed I lost you." Lin laid her head on Bat's chest.

And for one last time, the two cuddled on the top of that cliff.

"Hey, love doves! The sun's setting, we gotta go home!" Mamiya called from afar, as she was standing next to the motorbike.

It was night time, and the three are finally back at Mamiya's village. Bat's younger siblings, who were adults then as well, recognized their older brother and attacked him with a group hug, and included Lin in said attack too. Mamiya laughed it off, then Airi showed up. She ran towards her partner and hugged her tightly.

"Oh, Mamiya! Where have you been?! You got me worried!" Airi held Mamiya by the shoulders.

"Don't worry about me- Augh!" The pain in her forehead got triggered, "I was just … helping these lovebirds getting back together."

"What?! Lin and Bat are … in love?" Airi looked at the two, surrounded by Toyo's old orphans. The younger brothers and sisters of Bat, who grew up into men and women as well, rushed in to give Bat and Lin a group hug.

"Wait... Bat?! Our big brother?!"

"Long time no see!"

"Big bro!"

"Where have you been, Batty boy?!"

"Alright, give us some air, please. Haha!" Bat pulled Lin and himself off of the tight gathering, "So uhh, yeah! We have been … busy. We got this whole defense army and all, it's a big unfinished story." Bat held Lin's hand and turned towards her.

"Hm?", "Unfinished?" Some of the siblings wondered. Suddenly, Bat got down on one knee and pulled one of the rings from the sack Rihaku gave to him. Airi, Mamiya and the siblings around him gasped.

"Lin … I'd like to fix what I broke last time … So, will you remarry me?" Bat looked at Lin, with sparkles in his eyes.

"Re… marry you? Heh … You idiot!" Lin gave Bat a wide smile as her joyous tears flooded once more.

"Do it… Do it… Do it… Do it! Do it! Do it!" The siblings cheered to the two to finally tie their knot.

"Yes… Yes I will! I love you, Bat! And I should have from the get-go!" Lin shouted for everyone to hear.

Bat laughed, as he got up and held Lin by the waist and did a few spins with her. "I love you… And I always did." Everyone in the spot cheered, clapped and just expressed their happiness in every way possible.

A few days later, the wedding was rearranged, except it was a quicker one this time, since the priest considered it a delayed wedding rather than a canceled one.

"By the power vested in me, I renounce you two; Husband and Wife. Mr. Bat, you may now kiss the bride."

Bat had to look at the crowd first after lifting the veil, and the hall went silent for a little while. Everyone was worried that it'll be the same incident all over again. Until Bat asked: "Hey, Mr. Priest… Do I have to kiss her?" The priest replied: "Well, I said 'may', not 'must'." Hearing that dialogue got a chuckle from some of the guests. And so, Bat picked his new wife bridal-style and said: "Alright ladies and gentlemen. We're married now! Bye!". That last thing got the whole crowd laughing and cheering, congratulating and blessing the couple as they walked out and got in a car that would take them back to the north star army base; their home ever since.