Legacy

Four years later...

King Ren and Queen Anna watched the nine year old Men and the five year old Hana turn the Kouri ballroom into a playground. Their nannies were desperately running after the children, fixing their mini suits, and trying to make them behave during King Horokeu and Queen Tamao Usui's wedding feast. Anna did not expect the couple to tie the knot because the Kouri king irritated Tamao so much but that observation was made based on the limited time she spent in Kasai. Things had changed apparently. Now, Tamao was chortling at her husband's lame jokes.

"Do you want to dance?" King Ren stood from his seat and offered his hand to the blond queen.

She conceded and they walked to the dance area where married couple, Lyserg and Pirika Diethel swayed with the orchestra music. Pirika was five months pregnant and her husband was being extra gentle so as not to tire her out. Marco, the care taker of Mont St. Michel mansion was standing still, looking embarrassed as a noble woman tried to pursuade him to become his partner. King Hao was also there dancing with a new woman everytime the music changed. Then there was Chocolove, Ren and Lyserg's school friend who was doing crazy dance moves all by himself. Anna couldn't help but roll her eyes.

When the waltz ended, Lyserg tapped Ren's shoulder and the two friends caught up about life.

"So..." Lyserg glanced at the women as they were discussing something about raising boys. "Did you ask her already?" he whispered to his friend.

"Not yet..." The Kaminari king shook his head.

"Why not? It's been five years since Yoh died... Maybe she has moved on by now?" Lyserg tried to encourage him.

"I'm not sure. We're both busy with our own kingdom's affairs. I wasn't able to visit them in Kouku lately. Their trips to Kasai had also become more frequent. Anna is slowly introducing his real father and the Asakuras to Hana."

"The boy grew up knowing you as his father, too. Maybe it's time to make your little family official."

"I don't know..."

"You really won't unless you ask her!" Lyserg was frustrated at him.

"Hey, are you two fighting?" Pirika approached them looking a bit worried.

"What is it this time, Ren?" Anna placed her hands on her hips. "Are you keeping another secret from me?"

"What?! No! I just want to ask you if you would want to come with me to the... Funbari Inn... to relax." Oh crap, asking someone if she wanted to go to a place previously owned by her dead fiancé was the stupidest thing to do.

"How about the kids?" Queen Anna scanned the ballroom with her eyes looking for the children.

"The nannies are here. The Asakuras and Marco are here. Maybe we could ask them to look after the boys while we are gone? It's just for a night and it's near this place..."

"It's alright, Anna. Brother had reserved rooms for all his guests so they could sleep here at the palace." Pirika assured her.

"Okay... I badly needed time to catch up with my sleep anyway. I'm exhausted..." the Kouku queen finally agreed. She longed for a real vacation where she can relax and eat in peace.

They booked the private villa when they arrived at the Funbari Inn. There weren't many visitors that time. The staff had limited the reservations because the owner of the inn got married that day.

After relaxing in the private hotspring, the couple stayed at the patio of the villa and savored the peaceful evening.

"Hey, Men and I missed you. He was elated when I told him you and Hana would be there at the wedding. Sorry for not dropping by Kouku sooner. I had to oversee some repairs at the Kaminari palace. Men also started his tutoring sessions two weeks ago in preparation for the Royal Patch Academy's entrance exam."

"It's fine, Ren. Hana misses you and Men, too. He has no other playmate in Kouku."

"And you?"

"What about me?"

"Did you miss us, too?"

"What kind of question is that?! Of course, I missed you both!"

"Relax, Anna. I just want you to be clear about it... By the way, I got something for you. It's in your bathrobe's pocket. I put it there when you were soaking in the hotspring."

"You peeked?" Anna accused him as she fumbled through the pockets of her robe.

"Never! I'm not like Hao!"

The queen felt something hard and took it out to have a better glimpse. It was the engagement ring that Ren gave her almost ten years ago. The Kaminari king reached out to hold her hand.

"All these years I still love you, Anna. Well, I did not stop loving you... I know that I can never replace Yoh Asakura in your heart. But.. please spare some space in there for your best friend. We've dodged our own murders, and we've been through war. It would be an epic story to tell our children and grandchildren, don't you think? But that's not my question, don't answer yet."

The Kaminari king went down on one knee. "It felt incomplete when we were not together... Will you marry me again, Anna? I promise it won't turn out to be a disaster like the first."

The Kouku queen half laughed and half cried.

As he inserted the ring, Ren noticed that the one from Yoh was already gone from her finger.

With tears in her eyes, she enclosed him in an embrace and whispered to his ear. "I thought you've never asked. I love you, Ren..."

After nine long years, they once again shared a passionate kiss.

Thirty years later...

King Hana Asakura of Kasai held his dying mother's hand. It was cold as ice as life began to fleet from her. He immediately departed the palace with his uncle, the former king upon receiving his youngest brother's telegram from Kouku. Uncle Hao took one final look at his mother then quickly left to join the rest of his friends outside. He said he didn't want to remember her like that. He could appear insensitive but Hana knew that his uncle deeply cared for his mother.

His half-brother, the king of Kaminari, Men Tao closed his eyes while he stood by her sick bed. He couldn't bear to watch the only mother he had ever known in pain. He would be forever grateful to this wonderful woman who had loved him equally as the rest of her own children. She never treated him as an outsider.

Their only sister, Queen Seira Tao was crying her eyes out as she clinged on her husband, King Yukiharu Usui of Kouri. Her mother was her long-time confidante and number one supporter. Losing her best friend was just too painful.

Queen Seira's twin brother, King Sora Tao of Kouku was comforting their father as he silently sat on a chair. He immediately reached out to his siblings when the doctor said that their mother had only a few days to live. He had witnessed his mother's health deteriorate over the past week and it pained him to see her weaken day after day. He was also worried about his father who rarely got any sleep because he had never left her bed side since she fell ill.

"Ren...?" Their mother called out to her husband. The former king of Kaminari took her hand and kissed it.

"Thank you for being always by my side..." she whispered to him. "Please don't be sad when I'm gone..."

"You may rest, my love... We will be fine... We love you..." Ren kissed her hand and wept for his dying wife.

The queen gazed at her family one last time before breathing her last.

Anna found herself walking through the woods where she had run as a teenager trying to flee from her parents' murderers. This time she wasn't escaping death.

When she reached the calm waters of the Great Spirit's River, she saw her reflection transform into a younger version of herself. She stroked her supple arm and caressed her firm face. The whites on her hair disappeared and her locks were more golden and lustrous than ever. She was seventeen again.

Then someone called her name and waved at her from across the riverbank. She crossed the Great Spirit's River bridge and to her surprise, she found a seventeen year old Yoh waiting for her at the other side.

"Hey, Anna. It's been a long time..." He greeted her with his trademark smile when they were only a few inches apart. "Hana is all grown up now."

The blond girl could not believe her eyes. After all these years, she saw him again. "What happened to you?" she asked.

"Well... our ship took a detour to avoid encountering pirates. But the waters were more perilous there and a giant wave sank us down one night. I'm sorry... I wasn't able to come home to you... I've been waiting for you since then..."

Anna stroked his hair. "It's okay, Yoh... We're finally together..."

"Shall we go then, My Lady?" Yoh offered her his arm.

"Go where?"

"Anywhere you want, my love... I will never leave your side this time..."