Hihi! Well, here we go, the end of Star of the Elements. Had a blast writing it and I hope you all enjoyed it! I have another Elementally-related fic running loose in my head, buuuut...I shall take a short break while I take care of some RL necessities. Take care, thanks for the reviews and keep writing! - TN
Only a few moments after I had destroyed Aku, his castle began to dematerialize around me and I found myself back in the ghostly castle mirroring my father's. Instantly, my wounds vanished as if I had never fought Aku at all. I sheathed my katana and looked around, searching for where the Spirit Elemental had gone.
"Hello?" I called out.
A light breeze fluttered my kimono at my back and I turned around to see her standing there on the balcony. I immediately bowed, keeping my eyes lowered to the existant-but-nonexistant floor, watching the stars as she approached. When she stopped, I could see the hem of her gown just in front of me. The silence was agonizing as I waited for her to speak.
"You have done well, samurai. The citizens of the former Aku Earth and myself and my daughters all thank you." she said.
"I am only doing what is right. There is no need to thank me."
"Oh, but there is and now you shall be rightfully rewarded."
"Home..."
"Yes. Home to the past where you belong. I can send you back mere seconds after Aku sent you here. He'll be weak from your attack soon and you won't have as hard a time defeating him as you did here."
"And if he tries to send me through time again?"
"He won't be able to. The Star of the Elements will see to it that any attempts to send you back through time will be made ineffective."
"Very well. I would like to go home now, please."
"Of course. We wish you luck, Jack, and a prosperous life in your home time."
I gave her another bow and stood, watching as she raised her hands, holding them out in front of her, glowing and becoming solid again. The castle faded out and disappeared and I found myself in Aku's lair once again, yet I knew that this time, it was for good. I would not be seeing the Elementals again as far as I knew.
I heard muttering behind myself and turned to see the figure of Aku standing there at the edge of the entrance ledge. I quietly drew my katana and moved closer, wondering how large of a gap had been left between my leaving and arriving back home. One strike would do it, just one quick strike and his treachery would end in a heartbeat.
As I drew nearer, he turned around, eyes showing his shock when he saw me.
"You! It can't be! I sent you into the future!" he cried.
"Indeed you did, but I have returned. Prepare yourself."
"You can bet I will!"
I tensed, waiting for him to strike, knowing that he was too weak to sustain another form other than his usual one. He would have to draw a great deal of power from his lair and I knew that he did not have the resources he was said to have in the future. He struck quickly, catching the side of my leg with a sharp talon.
I gave a hiss of pain through my teeth, readying myself for another strike. I could see genuine fear in his eyes, a desperation to destroy me or drive me off until he could recover. The same desperation that I saw in his eyes moments before he threw me through time into his twisted future.
His hand came up and a hot wind washed over me as he attempted to open another portal to send me back into the future. My breath caught in my throat as I waited for the same sickening, twisting feeling that had accompanied my first journey through time. Only this time, the dark magic was stopped in its tracks, the hot wind being cut short as a pale blue glow filled the cavern.
"What?!"
I opened my eyes to see the Star of the Elements peeking from my kimono, shimmering brightly. Of course. It had blocked the attempt, rendering his magic useless. He would be unable to send me into any other sort of timeline as long as I wore it. I would have to be careful to keep it around my neck.
"NO! It can't be!"
I lunged forward and struck, slicing down his arm, but not cutting deeply enough to do much more than burn him. He snarled and struck again in return, claws raking down my back for the second time today. I swung around and sliced deeply across his chest and stomach, nearly cleaving him in half.
He melted down into a puddle of shadow for a moment before reforming, looking weaker, but not defeated.
"Damn you and that sword!" he gasped out.
"No. Damn you, demon, for all the pain and suffering you have cause my people and that you will cause others in the future."
Somehow, I began to feel a burning anger rise in my chest, verging on the edge of hatred. Yes, I hated the demon for all that he had done, shattering the peace my people had enjoyed for decades, for tearing me from my family when I was just a boy and for enslaving my people. I could feel the energy burning in my veins, fueling the strength within me needed to fight.
He slashed at me again, just barely missing my neck as I lunged forwards, driving the blade up to its hilt in his chest, taking advantage of his fatal overstrike. His eyes, burning with an equal hatred for me, widened at the realization of his mistake before the fire in them began to fade. I could feel my hands shaking around the handle of my blade as I held my ground, not wanting to give him a second chance to cause my people pain.
Slowly, his shadowy form began to melt from around my blade and onto the floor before vaporizing into mist. Once he was gone, I fell to my knees, panting heavily. It was over. Finally, at long last, it was over. We were free once more.
After a few moments, his castle began to fade away into nothingness, his magic no longer being supported by him. The mists and demons and heat of the cavern faded away, leaving me kneeling alone in the ruins of what had once been my father's castle. My entire body shook as I tried to choke down the raw emotion that rose in my chest to replace the anger and hatred.
My quest had been completed...I was finally home.
Home. That one word made me remember that my work was not yet done. I had destroyed Aku, but my people needed to be told that they were free once more and their captor had been banished. With that in mind, I rose and resheathed my katana, heading out of the ruins of my father's castle to seek out what had been left of my people.
Upon stepping outside, however, I was greeted with a surprise. Every person who had been enslaved by Aku in this time stood out in the ruins of the courtyard, waiting to see who had destroyed Aku's palace. I had expected to have to find them all, yet they had made their way here before I could get out of the castle.
A loud cheer went up, people hurrying over to hug me, to touch the one who had saved us all from Aku. Some of them were crying, others were simply glowing with gratitude. I could feel my chest burning with raw emotion as each of the people I had freed came near to show me their gratitude.
"Masurao-san!"
The crowd quieted and parted from around me. That voice. I could never have forgotten that voice as long as I had lived, even though it was older than when I had last heard it. I had not seen her before Aku had sent me through time, and I had prayed for a long time that she would have survived his enslavement.
"Sa...Sakura-san?" I asked, barely able to keep my emotions in check.
She nodded as she walked over to me, standing only a few inches shorter than myself. Her long, raven mane of hair still hung down to her waist, pinned back by a worn lacquered clip, her peach-colored kimono threadbare, but she had grown up to be very beautiful. The last time I had seen her had been when we were children, the morning before Aku had taken over my kingdom.
We had first met in one of the farmer's fields nearby, chasing grasshoppers into the late afternoon. Neither of us had managed to catch one and I recalled the disappointed expression she had worn as the last one flew away. Not wanting her to go home disappointed, I had taken a piece of paper that I had tucked into my kimono and folded it into an origami grasshopper for her.
We had been only children, but the memory of the light kiss of gratitude she had placed on my cheek that day had remained in my mind all these years.
"Is it really you?" I asked.
"Yes. Welcome home, Masurao-san."
Unable to hold back any longer, I reached out and quickly drew her into my arms, holding her close as I pressed my face into her soft hair. Her slim arms wrapped around my midsection tightly, clearly having missed me as much as I had missed her, even though she had no clue what I had gone through in the future. It meant so very much to me to see that she had survived Aku's treachery.
"It is good to see you alive and well, Sakura. All those years I had been training, I had never forgotten you." I said softly.
"And I never forgot you. I thought of you day and night, waiting for the day you would return and free our people from Aku's clutches."
"Yes...I, too, waited for the day when we would once more be free. Now that we are, I wish to hold you close to my heart and never let you go ever again."
She looked up at me, her eyes wide.
"Masurao-san..." she said softly.
"Shh. Sakura, you have not left my mind since the day we had last seen each other. I have waited all these years, not just for the day in which I would see Aku destroyed, but for the day that I promised myself that I would ask you to be my wife."
Her brown eyes widened even more as I gently trailed a fingertip along her cheek and down to her chin, tipping her head up so she would look me in the eyes. She was speechless, but I could see her answer in her eyes and knew that she had thought about me as often over these years as I had thought of her. The years that we had spent apart had only made us want to be near us more now that we had been reunited and our love had blossomed without either of us completely realizing it until now.
Slowly, I leaned down until our lips lightly met, drawing her close as the rest of our people cheered us on. The two of us were oblivious as the crowd suddenly quieted again, at least until someone cleared their throat. I quickly pulled away, momentarily wondering if Sakura had another suitor and had been inadvertently intruding.
Thankfully, that was not the case. Instead, the surprise this time was even sweeter than seeing my beloved Sakura alive and well. There, near the edge of the crowd awaiting us, stood my father and mother, aged, but very happy to see us.
"Otousan! Okaasan!"
I released Sakura, hurrying over to hug my mother, having missed her and my father more than anyone else while I had been trapped in time. This time, I allowed the tears to fall, the raw emotion and joy welling up in my chest. I could feel my mother's arms hold me tight, my father's joining hers a few moments later.
Behind us, Sakura smiled, waiting politely until my father motioned for her to join us. Shyly, she walked over to join my family, even though she had known my parents for years before Aku had attacked. We had practically grown up together before that fateful day and now we were to be married.
Perhaps Edo would once again rise and be prosperous after all...
[A Few Years Later]
Four years later, the city had indeed risen again, including my father's palace, with a few additions. Additions that had included Sakura, a son, a daughter and another on the way. Aku had not returned and it had almost been like he had never attacked at all.
My father and mother still lived at the castle, although the power over the city and nation had been handed down to me. I wore ceremonial robes with the family crest on it proudly, my beloved katana hanging at my hip as always. One day, I would hand it down to my son and with it, the family legacy.
As I walked out to the balcony overlooking the city, my mind drifted back to the journey I had traveled on in the future and those that had helped me on my way. Memories filled my mind as I closed my eyes and drifted back. I hoped that wherever they were, they were happy and free and at peace.
Images of the Woolie coating my hand with drool as it took the apple I had offered it, of the three monks that had guided me to Fatoum, and of the rowdy Scotsman, who had also been on the run from Aku. I chuckled softly to myself as I recalled his large and equally rowdy wife. She had been a kind, polite, and gracious woman for the most part, but you did not tell her she was "large" or "big" or "fat" or one would end up with a black eye for a week.
My eyes clouded a bit at the memories as I hoped that they truly were at peace in the other timeline.
The Elementals, I had never seen again. Chimitsu, Chame, Asagi, Himoto, and Hirame, I missed them all, especially the sweet Chimitsu, but I had not seen any of them since my return home. Now that things were safe and returned to normal, I guessed that they had no reason to show themselves or intervene in my new life. A part of me wished that I could have introduced them to my new family, but the other part of me knew that they were watching over us from afar and knew my family as well as they knew me.
As for the Star of the Elements, that had been kept in a locked box with the feather that Chimitsu had given me before I had left for the Spirit Castle. I would one day pass that onto my children, but until that day, it would stay safely locked away in a small trapdoor hidden under the tatami panels in the bedroom I shared with Sakura. Whether or not its power would be needed in the future had yet to be seen and I hoped not, but if it ever came another time to call upon it, I knew that it would serve my family well.
"Otousan!"
I turned to see my young son hurrying up to me, his mother standing a few feet behind him, holding his baby sister. I smiled and leaned down, scooping him up into my arms. He wore a similar kimono to the one I had worn as a child and as I had once done, he carried a wooden sword that his grandfather had made for him.
"Are you behaving for your mother and grandparents?"
He nodded and I could see a mischevious glint in his eyes, which led me to think otherwise. He had been in some sort of mischief, but knowing his mother and my own, it could not have been anything too serious. I shared a quick look with Sakura for a moment before ruffling his hair.
"Have I ever told you the story about your father and the great shadow demon?" I asked.
"Lots of times, 'tousan."
"Hai, that I have, but have I told you about the magical journey he sent me on into another world and another time?"
"Uhuh."
"Would you like to hear it then?"
He nodded and I smiled, carrying him inside, setting him down when I got beside Sakura, taking his hand and leading him into the throne room.
"In his desperation, the great Shadow Demon Aku cast a spell that opened a portal in time around me, opening up into another place and time in which chariots flew like birds...."
Note: "okaasan" is the formal term for "mother" and "owari" simply means "end". And each name that I gave the Elementals and Jack and the little girl from the flashback episode each have meanings. The little girl, had I used her last name, would have been "Youei Sakura", meaning "lingering cherry blossom", seeing as how she lingered in his mind for 20-some years. ;P Jack's real name of "Masurao" means "hero." Each Elemental has a name tying into their element. Chimitsu means "delicate", Himoto means "origin of fire", Chame means "brown eyes", Hirame means "flash" and Asagi means "light blue".