Epilogue – Never 'Walk Alone.

"I still don't like this."

"Come on, you've done it before."

"I know but not to find him – shouldn't we just wait?"

"No, we can't rely on them forever; it's our turn now. You want to see him again right?"

"We all do; all right, let's do this before I have an outbreak of common sense. I'll be in the middle, I'll need all of you who can to channel the mana, I can't control enough on my own. Everyone hold hands and pray Hirin distracts Tiz long enough – if she finds us out here it'll be our necks!"

"I think she'd aim lower; all hold hands," a rough but close circle was formed between seven beings, surrounding the largest of them in the centre as she wrestled down nerves and focused, the spell invented by her father clear in her mind as she carefully assembled the mana her friends collected, framing into a workable whole. Her mind was racing; she had cast this spell before but this was a step into the unknown – it was a big risk but at the same time her brother was right. It wasn't fair to expect the adults to carry all the burden if they could help and it wasn't fair on the one they were seeking to miss the start because of his sketchy sense of time. It was justified recklessness, the legacy of both her parents that let Jayah Beleren speak the last few syllables of her spell, grip the barrier around her and pull it apart, her friends and brother disappearing into nothingness as a small pair of eyes, watching unnoticed from the corner of a doorway, looked up at the legacy of her spell and, showing remarkable sense for one so young, toddled off to find help.

XXX

She opened her eyes, saw mist all around her and felt her heart leap into her throat as she realised something had gone wrong,

"Did it work?"

"Where are we Jayah?"

"Can I open my eyes yet?"

"We're in the Eternities," she gasped, dread clawing as her mothers' stories of this place filled her ears, "oh no, oh no, oh no..." Her panic was infectious, several of the younger children sharing looks before one of them, third eldest after the first-born Beleren, took charge to squash it,

"Quiet, all of you; we're going to get out of this. Keep hold of each other, Jayah hold on to me," with both his hands occupied gripping onto the children at his side the boy held out a foot the sitting girl latched on to, "no-one let go, if you do you might get lost. I've been in here before, we all have – just relax, someone will..."

Before he could finish everything rippled, one or two of the children crying out, the impression that something was coming overwhelming as the mists swirled around them,

"It's like a river; don't fight it," Jayah called, closing her eyes, "keep hold of each other, we'll wash up somewhere. Tiz will be able to find us, just stay calm." She wished she could fight her own hammering heartbeat and only hoped she sounded confident as the sensation of the primordial chaos pushing them hither and thither like a cork on the ocean threatened nausea. Here and there she took glimpses, the endless mists just as disconcerting as she remembered them as the current picked up speed; she could only hope they were flowing or being pushed to a safe destination. There was a sudden brightness on her closed eyes, a few of her friends crying out in shock at the light; she opened her eyes just in time to see the brilliant whiteness of a breach in reality before with a jarring thump all eight of them were cast back into reality, Jayah left gasping as her saviour landed squarely on top of her before pushing himself to his feet,

"Are you all right?" She nodded and scrambled up, repeating his question, "Anyone hurt?"

"Oww," Jayah recognised her brothers' voice, Kerran sounding somewhat squashed, "two Vulshok and a half-elf landed on me."

"No harm done, we landed on his head," a gravelly voice cut off his protests as a half-steel paw helped haul the youngest Beleren to his feet,

"Some friend you turned out to be," he glowered, Marthu not looked the slightest bit chagrined as his younger brother was helped to his feet by Kurissa, the half-elf the first one up, "what happened sis?"

"I don't know," Jayah was already reaching for a solution, glancing around each of them for inspiration, "Volm you know that spell, has this ever happened to you?"

"No," the eldest Sarkhan shook his head, plaited hair swaying as his coal-black eyes surveyed the scene, "but I've not cast it with my father or mother being there and only to find them. I know their sparks better than all others." Jayah nodded, belated fear crawling over her like maggots; Tiz is going to kill me, then she's going to give me to mum and dad and they'll really kill me!;

"Right, everyone stick together," she couldn't change what had happened but she could try and salvage something from it that might keep some of her hide in one piece, "I have no idea where we are or what's out here; I think, I hope we were pushed here by an Eldrazi. Ker you read mums' books all the time, anything look familiar?"

"Uh, yep"; thank goodness, some good...; "him."

XXX

I'm popular today; with age came experience, not that he truly aged any more – still, as time had passed and more work had been done the secondary effects had become more pronounced for those affected by them, or so he was told. The Eternities, and though them the Eldrazi, were all but quiescent, entering the space between planes like pulling aside a curtain when before it had been, to use the colourful parlance of the father of two of the children before him, like breaking through a stone wall with your body. The titans and the broods themselves were aware that things were changing and, having no concept of time, accepted this, their realm as a consequence becoming less hazardous, if still difficult, to navigate – some were even becoming curious to the interlopers, observing as he once had; and, when needed, putting a helping tentacle in. Still they don't need to know that, and I think they've just seen me – Ker always had sharp eyes. Now what did I said to... that was it;

"Well isn't this cosy?" He took an instant to regard the faces before him, seeing familiar features in all of them, "Sorry I forgot to pack a picnic."

"Naruto?"

"Unless you know another blue-eyed blonde who wears my colours?"

"Prove it's really you," one of the children said, holding her bladed switch, a precursor of the stem-staff she would one day carry, as she faced the planesmaker levelly, her pointed ears slightly quivering as several of the other children regarded her amazed, "he could be a clone, they look and smell the same but they cannot bleed." Naruto nodded, biting the edge of his finger to let a bead of bright blood show and assuage Kurissa's fear,

"Good thinking Kur-chan," she tried not to blush, "you should always check things like that all of you; remember everything you see might be real but that doesn't mean it's always true. So, now you know I'm me," the planesmaker drew himself up to his full, if unimpressive, height, "what made you all plunge into the Eternities like that? You were lucky one of the brood was in the area and I wasn't busy."

The assorted children all glanced at each other uneasily and Naruto touched the metal plate over his forehead softly, having a sudden image of its original owner starting over a desk at him before someone summoned enough courage to answer his question,

"It was my fault," Jayah heard a building hubbub and quelled it with a look she'd learnt from her mother, "I was, well we were trying to find you; we used the spark-sense spell but something went wrong and we ended up there. I'm sorry, none of us meant to disturb you, we just wanted to find you."

"Why would I be angry? I'm touched and don't worry Jay-chan," she glanced away, hair as black as her fathers' falling in a curtain over her face at the nickname, "you found me in the end. Just for the record though using that spell to find me will always drop you into the mist – I'm bound to the Eternities and the spell latches onto that." It actually latched on to something a little more tangible but they could find that out when Jayah wasn't feeling so down, though as one of the three Sarkhans present tutted and turned to his twin he glanced over,

"How often did mother tell us that?"

"Far too often."

"We should have remembered, sorry Jayah," the Ravnican girl smiled before Naruto whistled, regarding the youngster appraisingly,

"You're moving in the right direction if you still want to get that killer look Aron-kun – your plan's still not changed for when you grow up?" The boy, almost the image of his older brother save his hair being ochre and eyes hazel, nodded severely,

"No, though lady Vraska has said I must wait until I'm at least twenty and my parents agree."

"And they should," it had been last year when, having been asked what he wanted to be when he grew up by his favourite uncle, Aron had stunned the Vulshok and all else within earshot when he proudly answered 'a gorgon', "it's not a step taken lightly for you or her. How is your mother these days, and you've a little sister now so I hear?"

"She's well, and we do," it was Aron's sister who answered, Arabeth slightly the taller, slimmer and elder of the two with a habit of answering questions aimed at her brother, "it's everyones' resting day; that's why we came to find you."

"Resting day, already – where does the time go? Let me guess your parents are all or mostly away and you gave your carer the slip," he glanced from one suddenly guilty face to another before chuckling, "nice work, though Tiszta probably wouldn't agree. It was her right, and Melira?"

"She's not here this time, looking after the Hammer for a while," Marthu piped up, his younger brother Rothe nodding but saying nothing having inherited his fathers' more passive side compared to Nurthus' slightly quicker temper, "dad keeps laughing now, a Sylvok helping run a Vulshok tribe; wouldn't have happened when he was my age."

"Time changes everything in time," Naruto quoted sagely before his blue eyes sparkled, "still, now you're here I suppose we'd best wait for the others to find out where you've got to, they're probably already looking. So, actually yes," he took a pace forwards and they shied away; all of them had met the planesmaker and some had even seen him at work – it was hard not to have a healthy respect for someone that powerful even if he was a good friend to their parents, "tell you what, let's do a bit of sparring."

"Sparring; we can't fight you," Volm was aghast at the thought; child of warriors he might be but there was a difference between valour and suicide,

"Of course not, I don't fight much as a rule but there may come a day when you have to so," he shucked off his chained book and the Worldslayer and lay them on the ground behind him, "better to be prepared than not. Kerran I know you never turn down a scrap; you got your mothers' temper as well as her hair," the boy tried not to look too abashed as he scratched his unruly red mop, "how about you first?"

"Sure," he also had his mothers' reckless streak, though thankfully somewhat tempered compared to hers at his age, "uncle Koth taught me some geomancy since I saw you last."

"Good, give me everything you've got and don't look so worried," he smiled gently as the boys' face dropped slightly in alarm, "not to blow my own horn but I deal with supernovas as an occupational hazard; none of you are going to hurt me. Ready," Kerran nodded, mentally recanting all the spells he knew and gathering the mana he could safely use, "let's go!"

Sometime later; he had long ago given up counting specific times as he moved between so many different worlds; Naruto watched the lithe figure before him roll to her feet just as her mother did, regarding him levelly and planning her next moves after he'd blocked and countered her last attack with a soft push,

"Not bad Kur-chan, just stay light on your feet; your weapon's a lot lighter than your fathers, you don't have to plant your feet to use it. Anything else?" He saw the question echo in her expressive brown eyes before she nodded, albeit a touch reluctantly,

"Yes, though it'll take time."

"Plenty of that; take as long as you need," Naruto assured her, watching on intrigued as the half-elf sank into a low, wide-legged crouch, putting a hand on the floor while at the same time staying ready to spring away at an instants' notice. He felt the mana course through her, and not just that used by her father either; Nissa's done wonders getting her tribe to accept other mana than just the forest – hell she's done a lot more than that, least of all the girl in front of me. So, swamp and forest, what's she summoning?; he had expected a few things, however the squat, powerful shape that sprang into being in front of her and drew gasps from the other children hadn't been on his list,

"Wow," he said, admiring the creature and giving its summoner time to catch her breath again, "spiritmonger right? You bound him yourself?"

"Yes, father took us on a hunt," she said, proud despite herself as she gently placed her hand on the powerful beasts' shoulder and feeling it rumble in contentment, "the prey was female and he took her down, this is her young."

"That's not full-grown?" Marthu was looking at his friends' summon with awe, "And you took it down yourself?"

"Mother helped with the binding but I trapped him," she assured her audience, "he'll grow quickly, more quickly with battle though." She narrowed her eyes and the spiritmonger growled, sensing her rage as Naruto backed up a step,

"This could be tricky; right, have to summon something of my own," he announced, seeing several of them assembled children crane forwards; for some reason most of them were fascinated by the Eldrazi that were his only option for creature-based combat; still I suppose I was the same at their ages, always wanting the strongest, flashiest jutsus and never thinking about the subtle stuff; "let's see what he makes of this."

A small hole burst open in reality and from it came one of the smaller brood from Kozilek's line, about the same size as the young spiritmonger and not powerful enough to unmake the physical world around it. Even as it re-orientated itself to its new plane of existence its opponent pounced, Kurissa giving a whistle and her beast bounding forwards to the attack. Powerful jaws crunched and slashing talons bit home in protoplasmic flesh before the Eldrazi retaliated, its tentacles and proboscises jabbing into the resilient hide of the beast and sending dribbles of blood to the ground though it came off much the worst. With the cheers and questionable tactics of her friends ringing in her ears the half-elf channelled the power of the wild into her most powerful summon, the spiritmongers' muscles swelling and allowing it to fully overpower the unnatural creature, the Eldrazi showing no indication of pain or suffering as it began to sublime into nothingness. I won; the flush of victory lasted until a sudden touch made her gasp and then giggle, trying to pull the tip of her ear free from the fingers gently teasing it – though not as sensitive as her mother, they were still one of Kurissas' vulnerabilities,

"He's a powerful companion Kur-chan," a voice from just behind her said, Naruto letting her go and watching her greatest summon lick his wounds, "just remember though keep your eyes on your opponent as well as their allies. As I'm sure any of the Sarkhan clan will tell you, a dagger in the dark can be worth a thousand swords at dawn." She nodded, stepping up to pat the spiritmonger on the snout before dismissing him in recognition of her loss; however just as her partner vanished from existence everyone felt a sudden prickling they were all familiar with, most of those assembled glancing at each other alarmed as the Sarkhan twins summed up the sentiment,

"Uh..."

."..oh!"

XXX

The planeswalker arrived just before them, the trail blazed by their escapade wide and easy for her to follow even burdened. She took in a breath, then another and then her head snapped up, seeing her errant responsibilities and snarling as she shifted the youngest and most responsible of them in her arms before letting her fury show,

"I was expecting a prank," she confessed as they all scuttled backwards, "I was even expecting a few spells to go out of control, maybe some minor property damage. What I was not expecting," she growled, grey eyes burning as the children she'd been in charge all clustered together and tried to look innocent, "was for 'Ringu to come in and say 'outside', and I definitely did not expect to see what I did out there! Jayah, what did you do?"

"We all..."

"Shut up," Tisztas' youngest brother meekly feel silent, Rothe having no defence against her blazing look, "I'll deal with you later – now what happened?"

"I, I tried to sense Naruto's spark," she admitted, trying hard not to cry as she wretchedly realised just how foolish she'd been; she could have gotten them all killed, "I didn't know it would send us to the Eternities Tiz, I'm so sorry."

"Don't 'Tiz' me and save your sorries, I'll be speaking to your parents about this"; I'm so very, very dead – dad'll kill me and mum'll, well she'll laugh and then ground me forever;"and you did more than just pierce the veil. I know uncle Jace has taught you the rules of magic; what happens when you transport physical matter into a non-physical magical media containing physical entities non-specifically?" The girl thought for a moment before paling rapidly, only Volm's hand on her arm steadying her as the full ramifications of her actions crashed down,

"Translocation," she moaned in horror, the planeswalker who was both older sister and aunt nodding, "we didn't...?"

"Oh yes you did; you swapped positions with the closest thing in the Eternities and I found myself face to face with a very confused Eldrazi spawn! Come on, I'm all ears," as the toddler in one arm squirmed she cupped the other around her ear, brushing back her dusty-blonde hair, "what have you got to say for yourselves?!"

"Is the Eldrazi okay?"

Tiszta blinked, dumbfounded to the point she could only answer with a simple,

"What?"

"Well it came face to face with a very confused you," Marthu pressed on before the inevitable happened; as his mother liked to say if the furnace is going to blow you might as well throw more coal on and go to the other side covered in soot, "it might never recover." There were a few choked sniggers at this, least of all from Naruto himself as the planeswalkers' face flashed into a bare-fanged snarl and her grey eyes became incandescent, a slight glow appearing in her left hand as Marthus' expression dropped,

"That. Is. It!" She paced forwards menacingly as her brother cringed, trying to hide behind his friends, "No use cowering, dad put me in charge!"

"Not that..."

"Oh yes," he smile was vengeful as she held up the flat steel paddle, "exactly this – come over here Marthu of the Hammer or it'll be..."

"Tiz," she stopped dead in her tracks while Marthu silently swore he'd smelt an image of the planesmaker every day for a moon-cycle if he stopped that dread weapon coming into play, "put the shiri no roddo away, at least for today."

"Naruto?"

"Indeed, a little hard to pick out in present company I admit," he said grudgingly, looking at the children of his friends, "seriously I held most of them as babies and now some of them are almost taller than me. You think growing up sucks – it's better than the alternative, trust me!" One or two of them smiled as the planeswalker realised something,

"They actually found you?"

"Of course they did, have a little faith," he replied, stepping forwards to greet the girl and the smaller figure wriggling in her arms, "and let Ringu-chan down, someone else can look after him. Kurama, your friend's here." Smiling, Tiz let the half-moonfolk go as there was a small ripple of mana and the bijuu discarded his book form, pacing over to the child who approached him at a stumbling run,

"'Rama!"

"Indeed kit," the bijuu spoke with a vulpine smile, small enough that the son of the soratami he had a very dim memory of could throw pudgy arms about his neck, "and the rest of you, still getting into trouble I see?"

"Uh, no," Kerran wheedled, making the summon snort as he flopped down and let the younger child pat his back and ears, "we just wanted to do something for our parents."

"And give me an ulcer," Tiszta remarked cuttingly before looking at the planesmaker again, "they weren't any bother were they; I swear I'd just gone inside for a minute."

"I've heard that before," Naruto mused, looking at the girl who was the dream of an ancient planeswalker given form, though since her spark had ignited she had learnt the truth from her parents. Naruto had been there too and was grateful when her aunt had stepped through her recriminations, saying to Tiszta words she had once said to a knight clad in darksteel and telling her in no uncertain terms who she was; daughter of Koth of the Hammer and Nurthu of the Helm. Elspeth was always good at aiding others with more than just her mana; "usually after you got adventurous and in over your head, especially when said head was under a forging anvil." Tiszta cringed at the reminder before capitulating with a sigh,

"Well they did help I suppose; I'd have looked for you myself when the others came back, uncle Jace found an excellent tavern this year and reckoned it'd be about midday-ish. I left a note for them to redden me when they were in; I'll guide them to wherever their little darlings ended up unless you could carry them back? We do all want to see you, you are coming?"

"Something tells me I don't have much choice in the matter," the shinobi chuckled before glancing at her, "still we were in the middle of sparring, fancy a bout?"

"No chance," Tiszta snorted, "I didn't take up aunt Elspeths' sword for a reason, a lot of which stands before me trying to look innocent. Carry on thrashing them, and if any of you put a toe out of line no amount of pleading from Naruto will make me spare the rod!"

XXX

The sparring went on until the children were tired, Naruto fondly playing ninja and testing each of them to their limits as Tiszta watched from the sidelines and looked after both Hiringumaru, who at four was far too young to compete, and Kurama, who had his head in her lap and was enjoying the attention. Such a tart; the shinobi scoffed lightly, preparing to change hiding places again as he felt the tickle of a detection spell; nicely done, Chandra taught her well. Can't believe I forgot it was resting day – nice to know even those who can't 'walk as their parents do care enough to try and find me.

It had been ten years, give or take, since the battle of Ilyonde and in that time much had changed, most of it, thankfully for his peace of mind, for the better compared to what it could have been. Those he considered friends were all happy and had, to different degrees, helped ease his burden despite having their own lives; some of the planes he had visited after they were done honestly made him break down in tears, his task validated. Together the planeswalkers had done great things and fostered new ties with not just each other but the planes themselves, though as they now knew 'planes' was slightly the wrong term; the Multiverse wasn't layered like a sandwich, it was more like each plane existed within a bubble of reality within the Blind Eternities. He had made more of these bubbles over time and would one day recombine them into a greater whole but that was a long way off; instead he focussed on smaller gains such as the tradition he was now part of.

Every year, to commemorate the first meeting they'd had four months after beating him at Ilyonde, all the planeswalkers who could make it gathered with their families for a day-long celebration, usually on either Ravnica, Mirrodin or, more recently Illustria. The general structure was that the adults would share a midday meal while the children old enough to do without them a few hours were left supervised with relatives, usually Melira, Kiora or Tiszta, and following that meal the rest of the day was spent together. It was a day to strengthen ties, share news and discuss future plans and, for Naruto, a day to set down his task as the planesmaker and be amongst people who knew who he was. It was the day he looked forwards to more than any other and was always a surprise when it came around, and as he heard Tiszta shout suddenly he realised the time for the reunion was probably nigh,

"Times up; you all lose," there was a collective groan as the children on the hunt for him slouched back towards the planeswalker with a polished red stone in her hand, the legacy of ingenuity now allowing planeswalkers to share their thoughts across the Multiverse as its inventor had originally intended, "Naruto, come out."

"Right," he hopped down from the tree he'd been hidden in, eliciting a few gasps as all of the children had looked at that spot a dozen times, "and no I wasn't using mana to hide; sometimes your eyes will tell you more than any spell. Underneath the underneath don't forget," he told his listening audience before beckoning them away as Tiszta placed the stone away and concentrated, "now give Tiz some room, we have no idea how many are coming in."

XXX

The light of Mirrodin; as he watched the girl begin to glow with an ethereal radiance he had to hide a smile; perfect title considering what her spark can do – not sure if that was the aim of Phyrexia or because she formed in the Eternities but either way it's useful, and fitting. In his changed vision the adopted Vulshok pulsed like a bright star, the power of her spark unleashed through the Eternities like a lighthouse leading lost ships home, a signal any within the aether could see and home in on. Following her ignition after years of working hard to see Mirrodin restored to its original glory, a process still ongoing in the wildest regions, Tiszta had been helping her parents, aunts and uncles as Kiora had in younger years – when most of your family was made up of planeswalkers, an interplaner childminder was a well-valued commodity. Under her guidance he sensed presences incoming, then the veil parted and several of the children assembled called out in joy to the quartet of figures that appeared, though these faded a little at their parents expressions until,

"Hey trouble," the youngest of the arriving 'walkers broke the tension, her little brother running into her arms with his bijuu friend trotting behind,

"Is'ta!"

"You bet," the mergirl was now a mermaid and, as the man beside her had once warned her adoptive father, a heart-thief through no fault of her own. Tall for her race, Kiora scooped the youngster up after kneeling to field him, her face reflected the eyes he'd inherited from his mother as she nuzzled him nose to nose before holding him at arms' length,

"You're getting so big now. Blow bubbles," giggling, Hiringumaru blew a small raspberry before trying to pop the ones his big sister blew, those who'd arrived with her left trying to look stern under the onslaught of cute,

"Dare I ask? Oh," Jace noticed the figure stood slightly apart and sighed, "don't tell me you've started corrupting them Naruto; we've got enough trouble stopping Liliana digging her claws in." He shot a glance at his daughter and Jayah blushed red, knowing exactly what he was referring to; but she said she knew someone who channelled both your manas – how was I supposed to know she meant Niv-Mizzet?;

"Charming; as soon as something goes wrong blame the little guy," the shinobi responded, folding his arms at them all, "and just for the record you should be proud, well, nearly proud," he amended, each of the 'walkers swapping glances; they'd heard that tone before, usually preceding something enlightening or embarrassing, "your little ones got it right to get here but during our spars they didn't quite grasp it as you did. Care to show them how it's done before we get going?"

The challenge was answered by the butt of a spear striking the ground, the man pacing forwards not one of the original thirteen but absorbed into the growing ranks of the planesculptors, as Kiora had named them ten years ago, after Chandra had stopped trying to flambé him for that messy business on Zendikar. As three of his children, the fourth and youngest awaiting his return with his blooded, watched on Sarkhan Vol paced forwards and nodded respectfully towards the planesmaker,

"Naruto-khan"; one habit I can't break him of – still, beats gaki or baka I suppose; "it will be good to cross spears with you again."

Even as they looked from the dragon mage to his opponent Naruto was in motion, a puff of smoke and blur of steel resolving into a figure familiar to the Vol children, each of them shying away from the nezumi who emerged from the smoke,

"Five swords," Volm whispered, ashen-faced,

"He looks ridiculous; surely he..." At the nudge in his ribs Marthu fell silent, wishing the earth would swallow him as each of the dragon shamans' children regarded him as though he were profoundly stupid,

"That stance," it was Aron who spoke, his tone drenched in respect towards Splay-Paw, "has held off my mother, father and aunt Melira together if no mana is used; I've never seen anything so dangerous. It may look, unorthodox," that was putting it mildly, apart from his hands and tail the rat-man held a blade in his teeth and was balanced on one leg to hold the fifth in his left knee, "but it's deadly."

"Children," at their fathers' bark Volm, Aron and Arabeth stood straighter and obeyed; their father loved them but, like their mother, he was strict when it came to fighting, "watch a hopeless battle." Setting his spear and channelling his mana knowing it would likely do him little good the Tarkiran nodded then flung himself to the side as a ball of fur and razor-edged death cart-wheeled towards him at breakneck speed.

Okay, definitely not ridiculous; to Marthu uncle Vol was a good friend of his father and frequent visitor of Mirrodin; he'd seen him spar with aunt Elspeth several time and knew aunt Melira had been trained by them both so if there was one thing Sarkhan Vol was not it was a pushover. However the fight, if it could be called that, between the dragonmage and the nezumi lasted less than half a minute and forever dispelled the notion that the smallest of Naruto's masks was not a dangerous opponent, most of the children taking a pace back as Splay-Paw leapt acrobatically backwards off Sarkhans' chest, letting the taller man retake his feet. After clenching his fist in salute to the victor the shaman set his stance again, regarding the onlookers with a slight smile – things would be different this time,

"Now see how you fight such a battle." He beckoned the nezumi in again and the instant the flensing machine rushed towards him again a shout came from behind, a translucent shield flying up from the ground,

"Got your left Sarky," he grimaced at the nickname but as the curtain of water bent but didn't bow under the points of the flashing daggers he was grateful, completely disregarding his defence on that side as he looked to press his advantage. Rebuffed, Splay-Paw set himself to defend as the man advanced, the shield keeping pace with him as Kiora rolled under the soil, her first unique spell by now so instinctive she could maintain it through her feet while playing with her little brother,

"Duck," he obeyed and the rat-man was forced to leap aside from a bolt of force, just as planned as his feet were suddenly caught in a sticky morass, the ground he landed on sucking him in and stopping his treasured mobility. He threw two of his blades to try and ward off his aggressor but to no avail, Sarkhan shielding himself with dragon scales and the tip of his spear was at the nezumi's throat, Splay-Paw dropping his other blades as the shaman removed it and spoke to the onlookers, smiling slightly,

"You fight such a battle together."

"Right-right," his opponent chittered, heaving himself out the swamp as its creator released her mana from within it, "you had friends in sparring but none used them." There was a collective groan, especially from the victors' family before eventually one of them spoke,

"And we've been told that how often?" Arabeth asked her brother forlornly before from a cloud of smoke Naruto answered,

"Being told isn't the same thing as seeing and trust me your parents were harder than anything to convince – if any of them tell you otherwise ask about Ilyonde."

"He's right," Kiora chipped in, "I was only a bit older than most of you but even I could see it was nearly impossible to get planeswalkers to work together; still is in a lot of cases." Oh really?;

"Don't look so down kids; tell you what, Kurissa's shown me you can handle it so who wants to bind an Eldrazi?"

"No!"

"Was that a unanimous negative?" He didn't even try to hide his laughter as the five planeswalkers glared death at him, "See Kiora, it's all about asking the right questions." The mermaid scowled, realising she'd been had and falling back on her one advantage against the planesmaker,

"Still taller than you."

"Likely for a long time; anyway, time's wasting; Ravnica ho and let's get going."

This was met with general approval, each of the children moving towards their own parents or, in the case of temporary orphans, those aunts or uncles they knew best, an exception to this rule glancing up at the figure who held his hand and trying hard not to blush,

"Uh, nice, ah, nice swamp lady Vraska."

"Thank you," the gorgon appreciated his compliment as Kurissa took her other hand, the child of the elf she considered a sister happily recounting how her spiritmonger had banished an Eldrazi, "though what was agreed between your parents and I still stands regardless of flattery." He had no hope at that compliment, going crimson as his friend snickered from Vraskas' other side and his father spoke,

"All ready?"

"We'll just be a moment," Jace said from beside the planesmaker, raising a hand to his children as they held on to Kiora, "I need to speak to Naruto, we'll see you there. Look after your mother for me."

"We will," his son assured him, the mind-mage smiling as he glanced away as his friends and family; no, Chandra was right – it's the latter; disappeared through the Eternities and a long-awaited celebration, his reverie disturbed only by a sigh from his side,

"They grow up so fast."

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" The Ravnican snorted gruffly, mostly unchanged by the turning of the years save for the first grey hairs appearing, "Two of them are mine after all."

"Two and a half last I heard," Naruto glanced up at him slyly, "life in the old dog yet, though you're still behind sword-and-spear, though sadly not in the literary stakes. Thok must have been a lot more popular than I'd guessed, a lot of people were put out he only got a bit-part in the follow-up."

"He got a good wedding though," Jace pointed out reasonably, remembering the opening pages of Sword and Spear before snickering, "good night after it was released as well from what I heard. It took her a while to forgive Elspeth Sword and Hammer's dream-scene but Nurthu's a big fan of yours."

"As are most of you; don't think I don't know your copies are well-thumbed," the planesmaker said warningly, "and I know for a fact Lili's kept a copy of Beast and Beauty on her since she started her journey. Is she coming by the way; I haven't seen her in a while."

"She's already there; never misses a trick that one," what had once been anger and disdain had, over time and trial, matured into acceptance and respect even if his one-time lover did have her irritating habits, "won't have any of her own so she has her fun trying to corrupt mine. Honestly when that bloody invite from the Izzet arrived for Jayah I thought they'd be picking pieces of the Guild up all over Ravnica by the time Chandra was through, and the tongue-lashing she gave the pair of them – even I was cowering and deal with the Guildmeet!"

"Why'd she shout at Kerran?"

"Not Kerran, Liliana," Jace corrected him, remembering the evening meal in his house that night with a shiver; Chandra's fury had been all but striking sparks off the walls, so heavy it seemed to be pushing their daughters' head under the table, "sometimes I swear you must have a hand in keeping them both reasonable friends."

"Not anymore; I haven't looked to the future since before Ilyonde, I told you that at your wedding," that was another treasured memory, visions of the bride and grooms' face dropping as he met their suspicions of cellar-based matchmaking with an easy shrug and declaration that he'd just said as he'd seen it at the time; and to be honest I thought murder was the more likely option; "and speaking of which you have no leg to stand on calling Lili cruel. Getting that poor little elf to marry you, the Guildpact, off on her first real ceremony; there's mean and there's mean!"

"It was Chandra's idea," the mind-mage defended himself, "she was always fond of Auriea and we invited her to the reception, or some of it at least. Anyway it also stopped the Guilds moaning I was showing favour to the Selesnya; she married me because she was my former employee, not because of what Guild clothes she wore. Luckily Lavinia was able to keep a lid on them all while we were on our honeymoon..."

"Not for long afterwards though, and that was definitely you," Naruto chuckled, remembering what the Guildpact had done with his wedding gift; that was supposed to be a one-off publication after the arrestor handed out copies of Ice and Fire to the whole Guildmeet under the 'other business' heading – trust you to turn the trick back on her; "still, going by the two godchildren you've now got it worked."

"It did; Book and Blade was such a hit it had three extra print runs, one of which I'm sure was brought solely by Ral Zarek," remembering the Izzet planeswalker who had turned down his offer to join the planesculptors in favour of finding new and more creative methods of blowing things up always made Jace antsy; like most of his Guild Zarek was flighty, arrogant and impossible to trust, "Tajic took it reasonably well, though Lavinia's still after your head."

"Making Naiavil look sexy in glasses shouldn't justify a writ of summary execution, and speaking of which why haven't you overturned that writ yet?" The Guildpact snorted,

"If the arrestors catch and contain you they'd deserve to take your head; you've broken into my house often enough. They were at our meal just now actually, though Tavina and Razeal were with their grandparents rather than Tiz, just as well as things turned out."

"Too right, that would have been an interesting conversation," though knowledge about planeswalkers was becoming slightly more common it was a very gradual process; out of the Guildmeet, for instance, Jace had let only Lavinia, Tajic and Zarek know his secret and even then none knew about his wife, "you should be proud of them all trying to help and it was good to see them again even if every time I see Kurissa-chan I wince a little."

"You're not the only one but it was – don't laugh – a big thing Nissa did having her, last in a long list of big things now I think of it. She's been all but canonised by the Golgari you know?"

"Really? For those plants she brought in?"

"Wiped out hunger in the undercity," Jace confirmed, remembering his confusion a month or so after Ilyonde when a packet of wrapped leaves had been passed to one of his staff with a note; give these to Vraska – tell her I understand now, the flower matters less than the fruit. They certainly did to the Golgari; "Vraska swore her into the Guild as soon as she saw her at our first meeting, empowered by all their Beggar Courts. I was surprised she said yes to be honest, even more surprised when we all found out why."

"True, a bloodless revolution; well, nearly bloodless," Naruto corrected himself, "the whole Joraga council, beat the lot after they wouldn't listen to her. Guess it is true, nothing beats arrogance like a punch in the chops."

"A dosage repeated as necessary," the mind-mage agreed, remembering the fights with a wince, "she learnt some of those techniques off you didn't she?"

"Well Mel did promise her a rematch," Naruto reminded him before snorting, "besides that wasn't the only thing she learned from Ilyonde."

"The hunt the year afterwards?" Jace snickered at the reminder, having been there when the one Nissa had manipulated; sort of, he had her respect since that day, and it was the best way to teach the Joraga there are those who aren't elves worthy of their respect and more; arrived in his front garden desperate for advice, "Oh to have been a fly on the wall when she dropped that curtain!"

"Don't be cruel," despite himself Naruto couldn't help giving his point of view on something he'd heard only second-hand, "though I could picture some of it; 'Garruk, glad you accepted my invitation to our annual hunt and even gladder bringing back that chromatic snake alive won it, even we thought it was just a myth. Ah, yes, the prize; well about that, you're now a great hunter and as a shaman I have to pass my bloodline on – can you see where this is going?'"

"We know where it went," Jace was doing his best to keep his face straight; despite their differences he had a lot of respect for both the Wildspeaker and the Revane leader, "Zendikars' first half-elf, and better all around as far as Nissa sees it. I know Garruk keeps returning and taking them both hunting, Kiora too if she can make it – Joraga men aren't part of their childrens' lives at all usually, apart from providing food."

"A change for the better then, maybe," Naruto mused, "Kurissa certainly got the best of both of them, unfortunately for you."

"Thank you for that, I'd just buried those flashbacks," the Guildpact glowered, irked by one of his most embarrassing memories, "her reactions, his muscle and just the right height to make them count. There's no way a five-year old should hit that hard, I was walking stooped over for a week!"

"So was Chandra, I thought she'd die laughing," Naruto recalled with grin, "and honestly anyone stupid enough to shout 'boo' behind a Zendikarian deserves everything they get."

"I said excuse me; I just wanted to move past and she forgot I was there," Jace reminded him, despising how the incident had quickly been spun into something it wasn't; mostly by my supposed-beloved!; "she was so contrite no-one could shout at her, me least of all."

"Just as well given you were a falsetto at the time," Naruto said snarkily, "though Nissa's not the only one who can set up a good story; must be something to do with Zendikar. How long was Kiora under your bed after that picnic?" The reminder made Jace groan,

"Don't, just don't; I've not seen Gideon angry often but that was the worst. She had good intentions, I'll give her that, but the execution could have been better."

"I don't know, it worked in the end; genius, madness and success and all that," Naruto defended the then-mergirl, "and she was right in what she told Kaguya-san; it's not that he won't hurt her, he can't hurt her; it's just not in him. That and the fact she liked fishy anyway meant she never really had a chance, and good for her – she deserves a happy ending after everything she went though, though having said that so did all of you." Despite himself Jace laughed,

"You're good at those, though I can't believe you made Whip and Wave a tear-jerker; that accident when Rioka's trying to run away from those orphanage people changes everything. I didn't realise the book Arju was reading at her bedside was the law on adoption until the fourth time I read it; made me cry all over again. Speaking of that one though," he cast out a hopeful line, "are we likely to get the sequel any time soon? I know quite a few people who'd read the return of the Multiverses' most cock-blocked man."

"He got lucky once," Naruto pointed out; despite having his mothers' eyes and her wonderful vision Hiringumaru, like Kiora, was a Jura through and through, "and I am working on it but it's not easy, might even slew the series in a whole different direction. For a start it'll have to be a cross-over, for a second I don't have as much fun with Kaguya as I do with you lot given her history and lastly it's not easy to, write someone out, you know?"

Jace did, placing his hand on the planesmakers shoulder,

"I miss him too," the mind-mage said quietly, "I can't say he was like a father to me but when he was being serious, admittedly not often, he was the best teacher you could ask for."

"He reminded me a lot of my godfather, the one whose books inspired Herotica," Naruto admitted, remembering the first of the planesculptors to pass away, "good at his job but irreverent with it, knew how to have fun. It's Tami I feel sorry for; they were great friends and I know it hit her hard even if they were both preparing for it – time's one force I can't meddle with and even if I could I wouldn't."

"None should," Jace agreed before brightening a little, "still, hands on Sojourners' helm and knowing he'd helped put one of his closest friends at ease for good – apart from having Tamiyo in his lap I can't think of another way he'd have wanted to go. And she's never alone, not on that ship," he recalled the planesfaring Sojourner, Vensers' dream made real after years of diligent study and construction in the depths of Urborgs' swamps; much like the communications stones, Jace had played a hand in its realisation and upon its creators' death it had been bequeathed to his best friend, "there's always at least one of us with her and it'll always be Tiz's dream to captain it. Koth says she's already counting the days before she can sign on and until then Ajani pretty much lives there, says he's getting too old to 'walk."

"Anything for an easy life; glad that he and Elspeth kept in contact though, and that he agreed to help. He knows a lot of different places and the mana he can use makes seeding planes easy," Naruto had met the leonin several times and was grateful they'd all been peaceful; as he had sworn to never meddle as he had before there were several planeswalkers he didn't know and therefore he was always cautious when a spark glowed in his changed eyes, "just as well given what you buggers did on Illustria. Really if Elspeth was surprised I was gobsmacked; I should have been suspicious when you had us all board the Sojourner."

"Chandra promised she'd help and she held to it, we all did; the hardest bit was keeping Elspeth from finding out, though luckily Sarkhan made that easy."

"Almost too easy," Naruto snickered before catching the Ravnicans' suspicious glance, "don't even go there, I wasn't the one who found him. Blame Garruk for that, though I'm sure Liliana wasn't that happy when he turned up on the Heliod temple doorstep with a mad old-looking man in tow; if he'd have been carrying a saucepan it'd probably have triggered bad memories." It was Jaces' turn to snort,

"True but he did recover under her hand..."

"Before and after you pair found him."

.".. and considering he tried to eat Chandra and I last time we crossed paths some minor singeing and a few scrambled brains were the least he could expect," the Guildpact amended smoothly, "though we did apologise when the bandages came off."

"True, though I reckon he still bears a grudge you cost him his whiskers; can't think why, wish I could get rid of mine," Naruto groused, scratching one of his marked cheeks before glancing up at the taller man, "even if he's a solider though I didn't expected those two, especially so quickly. It was what, six months between meeting and blood-swearing – I didn't even know they were together until it was over." Jace snickered, channelling more than just his mana as he called upon a memory; I only wish you were here to tell him yourself old friend;

"Neither did anyone until Venser outed them; this is how he told it to me word for word," as Naruto glanced up amazed the mind-mages' eyes glowed bluer than his own, "picture the scene, we've got the Sojourner overhead and there's me and Tami down along with Ajani. We meet up with Elspeth and the fire-breather and meet Melira just as we get into the main Hammer village, now a lot bigger given the repairs they've done. We're sat around Koths' table, Nurthu with Marthu being a nuisance when she notices Elspeth glancing at him and asks if she wants to hold him. She politely declines; sensible given Vulshok are born throwing punches and small fists still hurt when they're made of metal; and Nurthu makes a comment about how she's missing out. Of course given the conversations we've had through our communication stones, and remind me to carve Sarkhan's rune onto mine when I get a minute, that's where I have to step in; she's missing nothing I say, she's taking part in a classic love story. Girl has squire, squire meets boy, boy trains squire, girl finds out, girl forbids training, boy and squire get clever, girl finds out again, girl gets mad, boy says something rude, girl asks squire to leave, boy and girl fight, boy and girl collapse exhausted, girl agrees boy can train squire, girl and boy train squire, girl and boy fight, girl and boy fight, girl and boy fight, wise old man arrives, wise old man sees grass and mud stains on girls' cloak, wise old man guesses how they were fighting, girl goes crimson and boy kisses girl to prove wise old man right! And wouldn't you know it she does, so does he and I honestly thought Elspeth must have slipped or thrown her cloak off; I was expecting her to swing at me for the joke!"

Naruto smiled but didn't laugh, instead looking up at the clouds drifting lazily overhead; sounds too much like you, and Jiraiya for that matter;

"He always did have a knack for insight," the planesmaker recalled, "I know Sarkhan's on Mirrodin a lot anyway because he gets on with Koth, he met her there didn't he?"

"Apparently so, actually he met the squire before he met the knight. He taught her a few things and Elspeth found out after she realised why Melira's blade-work was a little odd – she was getting too used to fighting a spear. They didn't see eye to eye about training so Elspeth banned them; Melira couldn't talk to him and he couldn't approach her – next day she goes to the training field and sees the two of them sparring again; Sarkhan was playing defensively and correcting her while Melira fought silently and she took it out on him and from there, as Venser would say, to eternity."

"Or at least to the Illustrious two," Naruto quipped, shoving the mind-mage lightly, "still can't believe you threw your other half into the maw for that one."

"She did a lot of the work, in fact most of the work," as they had all gathered on the bridge of the Sojourner above the world Chandra had directed them to he would never forget the look she'd shot him as, having taken Jayah off her hands, he pushed her in front just as a heavily pregnant Elspeth was led up the stairs by her blooded, "it was only right she got to pull the curtain down."

"True enough, though be grateful Elspeth was carrying the twins or she might have been wearing her armour still. Chandra would have ended up a red patch on her breastplate, which probably isn't the worst way to go now I think about it."

"Rather you than me to tell Sarkhan that but Illustria was important for all of us. It took us over a year but we did it, we made that plane live and not just for Elspeth," the planesmaker accepted the backhanded compliment with a grateful smile, remembering the tears he'd shed in time with the knight as he saw the birds circling over head, the herds of deer, the life given to his work a gift by those who could have hated him but did not, "though staying there until she had Aron and Arabeth took bottle from both of them even if it meant they were the first Illustrian-born. Nice of Liliana to step in and help, though acting as midwife might be the reason she swore off having any of her own; well, that and her goal. Tell me Naruto," Jace looked severe and, respecting this, the planesmaker gave him his full attention, "can she do it? I only ask because I suspect we only managed because all of us were there and regardless of what's happened before I won't have her waste her life chasing the, though I don't like the word, impossible."

Naruto thought about this for a moment before, to the mind-mages' horror, his face darkened and he shook his head,

"I had a thought you'd see it first; yes it is impossible to cast that spell alone but," he raised a hand, "that's where I step in. If Liliana truly wants it and she does master all mana as she has that of tundra, ocean and fell I will teach her my kage bunshin; five of them, each one channelling a colour of mana should be enough. She'll do it alone, though when she does she'll need you all more than ever."

"How?"

"I've read the account she did Jace, it still exists," despite his new goal Naruto still had a weakness towards powerful, flashy techniques and anything that could break his aspect of annihilation was certainly that, hence his research, "according to the records the one who cast it during the invasion died, not because of it, but because of what happened afterwards. I'm not sure if it's because of the spell or something else that happened but from what I read it seemed they simply slipped away, forgot to eat or drink and drifted off. It'll be up to you and the others to save Lili should that happen again."

"We will"; and that reminds me; "and Chandra asked me to say this but it comes from all of us Naruto – thank you." He looked confused,

"For what?"

"For everything," Jace raised a hand, clear azure mana twisting around it, "with your permission?"

Curious the shinobi nodded and felt the fingertip touch his brow, just above his head band and concealed gaze as he allowed the mana to infiltrate his mind, form a coherent picture from his memories and see...

XXX

...the smile on the face of the kneeling Wildspeaker was driving his opponent to fury,

"Fall, over," Kiora yelled, heaving against his side, "come on, I really want to hunt a kraken!"

"If you can knock me down I will hunt with you small-claw."

"And you'll stop calling me that as well, I'm not little any more," the mergirl demanded and Jace had to concede she was right – it had been a few months since she'd cowered under his bed while he tried desperately to calm down her raging guardian but she had put on several inches of willowy growth since. After passing the man who'd been attempting to leather his adopted daughter to within an inch of her life a drink he was forced, as he often was for both his wife and his little girl, to call playtime to an end,

"Time."

"Aww," Kiora slumped to her knees and looked crushed before a massive paw gently patted her head, "don't start, I still can't do it."

"You'll need to hobble greater prey than me if you would hunt the ocean Kiora," Garruk warned her, his tone laced with respect for her attempts – she was growing as strong as he'd suspected she would and, as he put a hand on his knee and a sudden impact made him wobble dangerously, more cunning as well.

"Lampreys," she swore, prostrate after springing up for a drop-kick, "thought that wou – uh oh!" She scrabbled away belatedly but far too late; Garruk had already recovered his balance and the mergirl squawked as he hoisted her into the air by an ankle, meeting her perpendicular grin with a stern scowl before glancing away and smiling evilly,

"Swim fishy."

"What – no," he heard Gideon chuckling as the taller man paced towards his goal, Kiora flailing frantically as she saw what he was heading towards, "help, he's gonna dunk me!" No aid was forthcoming, something that made Jace glance over with a smirking smile,

"Not looking to save her?"

"After the trick she pulled on Kaguya and I she deserves to be dunked," Gideon smiled vindictively, Jace recalling the tale the mortified sun mage had recanted to himself and his wife with Kiora trying desperately to shrink into the wall as Chandra stood between the two, simultaneously amused by the younger planeswalkers' antics and proud she'd been so creative, "I know she won't drown, mores' the pity."

"You heartless parent." Gideon snorted,

"You've got this to come Jace; Jayah might be young but she'll get clever when she's older, and don't think for a minute she won't turn heads if she takes after her mother."

"Don't, two firebrands in the family is the stuff of nightmares; Garruk," the Wildspeaker paused, his prey looking relieved at the reprieve, "not the fish pond; she might still be salty."

Gideon inhaled half his water, Garruk likewise chuckling as the mergirl shot the mind-mage an upside-down look of betrayal followed by a rude gesture – though she was eventually able to look back and laugh at the statue of Ula being made from pure sea-salt and unable to be moved from her submarine shrine, having fallen into a pit trap full of the abrasive crystals there was an insult that still rankled,

"You're playing on the edge there Jace," Gideon warned him, wiping his face and proud his daughter was still fighting with legs, fists and tail thrashing against Garruk's iron grip, "if you wake up in a bubble some fifty feet in the air don't come running to me."

"I'm sure she wouldn't kill me."

"No but it's when she's trying to help you want to be worried. I wouldn't have minded but she made it sound like she was dying on Kaguya's plane; I 'walked there so fast I flattened my nose against a larch!."

"Don't be too hard on her; Kaguya-san enjoyed your meal together didn't she? You know what Nissa would say, anything that breaks down a shell is a good thing and you seem to be wearing hers away quite nicely. I go to her plane when I need a little peace – did you see what it was before?"

"Massive swamp wasn't it?"

"It was, I was there within a month of Naruto making it – seeing what she turned it into proves if there's a plane he's made she can't make something grow on I've not seen it yet. So, have you talked about the ceremony yet, or names for the children?"

Gideons' flat glare told more than a hundred denouements could before it suddenly shifted and he nodded behind the Ravnican. Seeing what he was gesturing towards Jace couldn't help but smile as he saw the two beings he held dearer than anything else in the Multiverse, one of whom had proven his fears groundless and the other who'd made his entire existence bright. He had thought it would be a sacrifice for Chandra to finally give up her life of travel and it had but she, and he to a lesser extent, had adapted – they had sworn they would make it work and they both held to that promise and later their vows. She still explored, both with and without Vraska depending on the gorgons' timetable with her Guild, but rather than hunt down Naruto's planes she was now discovering how they could truly realise the planesmakers' vision and, as she confessed to him privately over a game of chess and a good book, help bury Elspeths' ghosts for good by putting that knowledge to good use.

She was gone days rather than weeks or months and it worked, it worked so well they'd announced their engagement at the end of the first meeting of the planesculptors and given Auriea the shock of her life some three months after that. Now he was a father, the beautiful infant holding her mothers' hand named after the most famous pyromancer of the Multiverse, founder of the monastery Chandra herself had studied in and there wasn't a day, not a single one, where he wasn't thankful for such blessings. This thankfulness quickly had him narrow his eyes; even at this distance he saw his wife looking upset and he wasn't standing for that. Leaving Gideon with a nod the Guildpact swiftly approached, dropping to a knee to hoist his baby girl off her feet with one arm and while the other found Chandras' shoulder,

"What's the matter?" She swallowed before facing him, her hand coming up to cover his own before she answered, happy and choked at the same time,

"I'm just," she paused and he got the feeling she was thinking how best to say something, "look behind you Jace, what do you see?" He did and, despite himself, smiled,

"I see a mergirl trying desperately not to get upended in our water butt," he joked before turning back as Jayah hugged his neck, "but you always saw more than I did." She chuckled then his free arm was around her waist, the Beleren family together as she embraced her husband and daughter,

"Family, Jace; people I'd give everything for and who'd do the same for me," she breathed raggedly, the Guildpact holding her closer as he understood, "I thought I'd lost mine in fire and I'd never want another, remembering hurt so much."

"Shhh," he breathed, feeling her shiver against him, "you're right Chan; come on, no need to cry, or make me cry either," he heard her laugh and held on until she twitched to get away, her eyes sparkling as she winked at him,

"At least I can blame the baby; we went to see aunt Emmera didn't we Jayah?" As the toddler giggled at the memory of the Selesnya elf her mother placed one hand on her stomach and the precious secret it contained as her husband looked at her thunderstruck, "Our family's about to get a little bigger; he'll be summer-born Jace."

There was no hope for his composure; Chandra felt herself pulled forwards and didn't resist, holding him in kind as tears trickled from the corner of his eyes, Jayah with her hands in the hair of both her parents as they celebrated the splendid genesis of her future sibling as the picture began to blur and fade away...

XXX

"I hope you've no delusions I did any of that."

"Didn't you? We talked about it later when the others were gone and we realised it, the whole thing staring us all in the face for years and none of us saw it, none of us looked underneath the underneath," Naruto smiled in appreciation of the saying his friend had taken on, "we came close but it wasn't until then it hit us; family. That was behind it all wasn't it; beyond Herotica, beyond even the planesmaking – you brought us together because we were alone."

"It was a major reason," Naruto wasn't going to fight, not today of all days, "the fate commonest between you all, the one I feared most because I'd lived it. I was jinchuuriki before I ascended Jace, I know what it means to have no-one and nothing; the sparks were like your bijuu in a way. They forced you apart from the rest of the Multiverse, strangers wherever you went and fearful of letting people in because you were so different. Even when you did cross paths; unlikely given the Multiverse is a big place even now; you were more likely to fight than talk unless there was a bigger threat looming, a threat I could provide. Don't kid yourself though," the former jinchuuriki warned, "I stand by what I've always said – I cannot create and I rarely destroy. I didn't make your family, any of the families that exist now; I merely gave what was always there a chance, no more than that, and you all did the rest yourselves. Kaguya said it best; oh yes," despite himself he smirked as the mind-mages' looked flabbergasted, "not the first time I've had this conversation – I was there just after Hiringumaru came into the world and we spoke then as she, Gideon and Kiora held their new arrival. She cannot force her seeds to grow, even with mana; she can only scatter them and hope they take root in the soil – that was my hope as well."

"I... in that case I truly meant what I said Naruto," Jaces' voice was serious, as he regarded the smaller human; forget being a planesmaker, being a jinchuuriki – if he wasn't human he wouldn't care; "thank you for that chance."

"Chances given mean nothing if people don't take them," the boy sighed before seemingly regathering himself, "speaking of which we'd better move; we've been nattering like old men and, well, you might have an excuse but no chance for me."

"Watch it," Jace glowered, still irked that even his daughter was making fun of his first grey hairs; I blame the Guildmeet – I should have had another decade damn it; "just because you never grow up."

"Not true, I age as the Universe does – if all goes well I should pick up a razor a couple of centuries from now," Naruto groused as his eyes became ripples again, a doorway to his home opening up before them, "so then, to Ravnica?"

"You know the place."

"Intimately; still, let's see if you've improved your security at all..."

XXX

."..That'd be a no then."

"I could have invited Lavinia back after our meal," Jace pointed out mildly before being accosted by his children, "ah, I wasn't expecting this reception."

"Oh is that so?" Even a being capable of remaking existence shuddered as a menacing silhouette threw him into shadow, "Maybe I can do better – where the hell have you been?"

"Nice to see you too Mrs Beleren," Naruto replied mildly, Chandra trying valiantly to keep her features stern, "and for the record I was entertaining your children until recently, something I'm sure Kurama's been doing since." The fire mage, aged gracefully by the years and the children she'd brought into the world, snorted,

"When does he ever miss a belly-rub?" Sure enough the bijuu was on his side as the Sarkhan twins sat on either side of him, his hind leg kicking as Arabeth snuck him a few nibbles, "Still, glad to see you here." She stooped enough to hug the child, Jace already being dragged away to officiate a game of dodge-the-creeper as Naruto returned her greeting,

"Glad to be here you big ball of fire."

"I'm smaller than I was; well, for a couple more months," she chortled, patting her slightly swollen midriff as she stood and watched her husband keep an eye on the game, speaking with the other 'walkers as they looked out for their offspring, "thanks for listening, I know he's wanted that off his chest for years."

"Why didn't he years ago? Actually don't answer that," he knew the mind-mage too well, "still not one for talking about his feelings is he? Unlike you; hard to believe you cried more over someone else's' child than you did your own." Chandra went pink, remembering the last time she'd broken down from an unexpected emotional blow before rallying,

"You can't hold that against me, I never saw it coming; nobody did apart from Elspeth and her bloody Vol. And Koth, he had to know, and Nurthu 'cause he can never keep a secret from her, and maybe... okay let's just leave it there," she drew a line before Narutos' grin got any wider, "come on, the little ball of fire's with her mother."

"You should be grateful she cares Chandra," he said in an undertone, nodding left and right as all present realised he was there and gave the greetings from different planes of the Multiverse, "let me guess, if it's a girl you'll...?"

"Oh no, no chance; she made me promise not to."

"At the tip of her sword?"

"At the tips of her fingers," the firebrand remembered with a shudder, "which reminds me I still owe Jace for snitching that'd work. Hey Els, look what the Eldrazi dragged in." The woman who had been talking with Vraska glanced over at her dearest friend, leaving her eldest son to continue his conversation with the Golgari as she noticed who stood in Chandra's shadow. Smiling she came forth, Naruto bowed in the manner of his home plane and she embraced him when he straightened up,

"A second too late," she told him as she stepped back, a peace about her that had been present since she and Ajani had gathered those of Alaria who would trust them enough to board a sky-ship and set off through chaos to found what she had always sought, a home of her own, "Koth, you still have her?" The Vulshok, the first tinges of rust appearing at the edges of his bristles shook his head but gestured to another who approached them serenely, a small bundle in her arms as Elspeth took her chance to whisper,

"Sarkhan told me what happened; I'm sorry if they were a nuisance but tell me one thing, were you going easy on him? Lasting half a minute against five blades; that's a tall challenge for when I pick my sword up again."

"Not until she's at least a year Elspeth." The knight scowled even as a rough hand found her shoulder, her blooded running a finger across her cheek as she tried not to smile,

"You're just happy I won't show you up," Sarkhan chuckled, drawing her backwards into him as he nodded gratefully towards his friend and the captain who had seen his bloodeds' people returned to a new, safer home, the soratamis' grace not impeded by the little burden she carried with Koth in close attendance,

"Well hopefully by the time you're back in fighting trim I'll have mastered that dance a little better; its original creator uses seven swords and he doesn't have a tail," Naruto had said his home plane would never see him again, not that he wouldn't visit and he did drop by every so often, grateful it was rebuilding itself under the eyes of its kages, "don't tell Kurama but I'm hoping to get it to nine, though for now every time I try adding the sixth I end up cutting half my ear off."

"Ouch," Chandra winced, watching her children trying to fight off the vines a laughing Nissa had tangling around them, "there are two sticky-fingered reasons Jace hasn't worn piercings for years, and there'll soon be a third."

"I am sure Liliana-san will be grateful to hear that," Tamiyo broke in, giving the bundle back to her mother as the shadowmage, a little removed from the celebrations with a hand on the ground, talking to Garruk and Ajani together as even here she sought another toe-length along the path towards recreating her greatest achievement, "it is good to see you Naruto-kun."

"You as well Tamiyo-chan; I'm glad the Sojourner still steers true under your steady hands." The moonfolk nodded, the name a slight but welcome pain she would always bear just as the hand-written letter bequeathing the vessel to her would be kept folded close to her heart until the day she joined her friend in the next life; but that is for later; remembering how the artificer had made her smile with his irreverence even in the face of the inevitable she wiped away the pain to hear the knight of Bant and also of Illustria speak as she presented her youngest daughter to the planesmaker,

"Naruto," with the greatest of reverence he held the latest addition to this family, blinking back tears enough to look up and see the assembled clearly, "little Chandrah has heard all about you."

As he saw the black eyes regarding him curiously and ran a finger through the baby's soft, tawny hair the Uzumaki felt his burdens shrived from his back, just for a few hours. As he looked around at the familiar faces he heard the words Chandra Beleren had once said to the woman whose child, named in her honour, he now held echo in the back of his mind, and was at peace...

...welcome home.

XXX

Card/Technique List:

These are the Magic: the Gathering cards and other terms used in this fanfic; check them out on Gatherer (any search engine will find it) if you want to know more about them:

Sekai no rimeiku no kotan – Nativity of a World Remade (ironically not a card but based off Hashirama's Nativity of a World of Trees because that name's awesome)

Chinmoku – Silence.

Nemurenai no ketsugo – Pillory of the Sleepless (translated as binding of the sleepless to stop my translator melting).

Mu e no tobira – Door to Nothingness

Chijo no ketsugo o kiru – Cut the Earthly Bond

Yochi noryoku – Second Sight

Eko hokai – Echoing Decay

Juko – Muzzle.

Uchikudaku – Shatter.

Memori shinshoku – Memory Erosion.

Kangaerarenai o kaimamiru - Glimpse the Unthinkable.

Heiwa shugi – Pacifism.

Kyoretsuna parusu - Shattering Pulse.

Konagona-arashi – Shatterstorm.

Shi ni taeru – Withstand Death.

Hametsu no ha – Doom Blade

Anbiru no ken – Fists of the Anvil.

Fukkatsu no sanbika - Hymn of Rebirth.

Kage no sakeme – Shadow Rift.

Kurisumasukeki - Christmas Cake (calling a Japanese woman, especially an unmarried one, this is an insult – it means she's not worth as much after her 25th birthday). No prizes for guessing this isn't a card!

Shitagi – Underwear – no prizes for guessing this isn't either!

Inkuaizu – Ink-Eyes.

Shiri no roddoi – Rod of Spanking – yes, this is a real card!

Bonus points for anyone who can guess the card the planeswalkers cast to break Naruto's avatar, and major Brucie bonus points to anyone who can spot the hidden Unhinged card lurking in the story (Hint: One of Naruto's masks alludes to it). Also, for anyone interested, look up the card Splendid Genesis – there was a reason I used that phrase where I did!

And yes, minor bonus points if you can guess where the names of five of Naruto's authors came from, include the pen-name Naruto himself used for his Herotica books!

XXX

Casual Cards

For anyone who can or wants to make cards based off this story, here are the rules I came up with for some of the events and masks in this story; I know there are some packages for making MtG cards but my computer's pretty much a typewriter with internet, so it won't run them. The card information is given in the following sequence:

Card Name: Converted mana cost (1WBGRU (U=blue mana): Card Type: Rules Text (T is the 'tap' symbol): Flavour Text: Power/Toughness (starting loyalty for planeswalkers).

Splay-Paw, Head-hunter: 1BB: Legendary Creature – Rat Assassin: Haste, First Strike, Protection from planeswalkers. When Splay-Paw enters the battlefield, target opponent puts a Contract counter on a random creature or planeswalker he controls. If attacking, blocking or blocked by a permanent with a Contract counter, Splay-Paw gains deathtouch until end of turn. 1B, pay 2 life: Return Splay-Paw to its owners' hand: 2/2.

Mel Vynsacher, Brawler-Mage: 1GU: Legendary Creature: Human Warrior: Protection from green, blue and planeswalkers. You may choose not to untap Mel Vynsacher during your untap step. GU, T: Target opponent chooses a planeswalker they control. That planeswalker cannot use their loyalty abilities and loses a loyalty counter during each of that players' upkeep steps for as long as Mel Vynsacher remains tapped. 2/3.

J'honee, Calm of the Sea: 1UU: Legendary Creature: Kor Wizard. Shroud, protection from planeswalkers. UU: Counter target spell or planeswalker ability targeting a creature you control. 1/3

Timothy, Ancient Explorer: 1WW. Legendary Creature: Human Duffer. Protection from angels, demons and planeswalkers. 1BW, T: Target opponent shuffles a random Demon, Angel or planeswalker permanent he or she controls into his library unless he or she pays X, where X is the creatures' power or the planeswalkers' remaining loyalty counters. 2/3

Spikes, Knight of Darksteel: 1GG. Legendary Creature: Human Knight. Indestructible, trample, protection from planeswalkers. 4X, T: Each opponent sacrifices a permanent with converted mana cost X. X cannot be zero. 2/4.

Blood Cultist Bomber: 1RR. Legendary Creature: Human Berserker. Wither, protection from red and planeswalkers. RR, T: Choose target opponent. Unless that opponent has Blood Cultist Bomber deal 2 damage to him, it deals 3 damage to a random creature or planeswalker that player controls. 2/3.

Aspect of Annihilation: 2WBGRU. Legendary Creature: Spirit Avatar. Vigilance, trample. During your upkeep, tap all other creatures you control. Aspect of Annihilation has protection from the colours of all tapped creatures you control. More than the sum of its parts. 9/9.

First Stone of Pyronia: 1. Legendary Artefact. When the First Stone of Pyronia comes into play, exile target instant or sorcery card with converted mana cost 1 or less from your graveyard. 2,T: Cast target instant or sorcery card exiled with the First Stone of Pyronia without paying its mana cost.

Hunters' Charm: 1. Legendary Artefact – Equipment. Equipped creature has banding. Equip cost: 0. "Many small claws can bring down great prey" – Garruk Wildspeaker.

Harrowing Decision. 9. Sorcery. Harrowing Decision cannot be countered. Each player chooses spare or slay. Players who choose spare sacrifice all non-land permanents they control, draw up to their maximum hand size and set their life total to 20. Players who choose slay return all non-land permanents from their graveyard to the battlefield, discard their hand and set their life total to 1. Dreams and nightmares differ only by what you can live with.

No! 1. Instant. Choose target spell. All players other than the spells' owner vote yes or no. If any player votes yes, the spell is cast as normal. If all players vote no, exile that spell and the spells' owner can choose two of the following: gain 3 life, draw a card, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature, deal 2 damage to target player or add B to their mana pool. "Is that a unanimous negative?"

Sense the Spark. 0. Sorcery. Search your library for a planeswalker card and reveal it. You may pay mana equal to the revealed cards' converted mana cost. If you do, put that card into your hand. If you do not, exile it. "Distance is no object for those who can step across the Multiverse."

Snuff the Spark. X2. Sorcery. Remove X loyalty counters from target planeswalker. If this reduces the planeswalker to loyalty 0, exile that planeswalker. "What was given as a gift can be taken as a punishment."

Worldbreak. 10. Sorcery. Destroy all non-planeswalker and non-planesmaker permanents. "What do you mean 'oops'!" Chandra Beleren, on Uzumaki Naruto

Kaguya, Oboro's Gardener. GBWU. Planeswalker – Kaguya. +2: Look at each opponents' hand. -1: Put X 0/1 black and white Plant creature tokens onto the battlefield, where X is Kaguya's remaining loyalty. -7: You gain an emblem with: Plant creatures and saprolings you control gain +X/+X, where X is the number of plant creatures and saprolings you control. 4.

Tiszta, Light of Mirrodin: 4. Planeswalker – Tiszta. +1: Until the start of your next turn, the next spell you cast costs 2 less to play. -2: Tiszta deals 1 damage to all creatures with power 3 or less. For each creature dealt damage this way, tap it unless its controller pays 1. –X: Search your library for a planeswalker card with converted mana cost X and put it onto the battlefield. 3.

Naruto, Planesmaker. WBGRU. Planesmaker* - Naruto. 0: Untap all basic lands you control, then put that many loyalty counters on Naruto. 0: Until the beginning of your next turn, non-creature spells or abilities your opponents control cannot cause planeswalkers you control to lose loyalty counters. –X: Search your library for X basic land cards and put them onto the battlefield tapped. -18: From outside the game, search for three cards you own called Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, Ulamog the Infinite Gyre and Kozilek, Butcher of Truth and put them onto the battlefield. Treat these cards as though you'd just played them from your hand. 5. *Planesmaker is a new permanent type; it follows all the planeswalker rules but is not affected by cards that specifically target planeswalkers e.g. Dreadbore.

XXX

A/N: I've always wanted to do a Naruto/MtG cross, especially as these new planeswalkers had come out as I stopped playing and the MtG story seems to revolve around them now – great! So I logged on and started researching who they were, trying to find a way to fit these colourful characters into a story with a good heart...

...Ho-ly moly; and I thought Sasuke had a reason to be screwed up!

Seriously, apart from maybe one exception (Gideon Jura, and even that's debateable) none of the planeswalkers we know the history of has a happy back-story – they all became planeswalkers because of tragedy or loss and even during the ongoing game they get all sorts of unpleasantness hurled at them from every angle (especially Elspeth, she needs a hug damn it!) All of them seemed to be drifters bouncing around the Multiverse and when they finally do find other people who could understand their struggles they just end up fighting for the most part – look at all the X vs Y decks! It's madness, it cannot be healthy for any of them to have all these issues and it needs to be resolved – enter Uzumaki Naruto, master of pranking, the talk jutsu and the healing punch to the face!

Let me know if you thought the Multiverse as I made it was believable, if you liked Naruto's masks and the idea of where the Multiverse came from and what the Eldrazi truly are; I'm looking forwards to the return Zendikar later this year and seeing where the storyline goes after Origins!