Disclaimer: None. Time to say goodbye...
Ikimashou!
=====
Epilogue: Life Goes On
=====
Megumi couldn\'t believe her eyes. She knew Naya had been mixed up in all manner of weirdness, but this was a lot more than she had expected.
“Greetings, Morisato-san. Welcome to my home. Please, come in!” Lupe opened the door wide to give the older woman access.
Megumi stared at the other woman for a bit, then smiled. “You really are a kitsuneko, aren\'t you? Please ignore my astonishment, Guadalupe-san, but I am amazed. I never thought I would live to see such a one as yourself.” She itched to touch the other woman\'s ears. “May I?”
“As much as that may please me, Morisato-san, I must refuse. I reserve such an act for two people and two people alone.”
“I can guess who those two people are,” Megumi said with a grin that made the fox-girl blush. “Speaking of which, I thought this was her apartment.”
“It was, but since she now lives with Miss Annette, she allowed me to live here. It\'s quite convenient, as I can travel to their apartment and back rather quickly, and the people here are quite kind to me.”
“Where are they living, then?”
“In Jackson Heights. I could take you there. In fact, I believe they are expecting you.” Lupe grabbed a coat and an odd-shaped hat. “We can go right now, if you so desire.”
Megumi had to laugh. “You\'re covering your fox ears with a hat that has fox ears?”
“Believe me, I was also surprised when Naya said that the costume shop a block away had them. I could not resist!”
“Well, I must say...it looks adorable on you! Shall we go, Guadalupe-san?”
“Please, Morisato-san...call me Lupe!”
“If you insist, Lupe-chan...but then you must call me Megumi.”
“Yes!” Lupe took her new-found friend by the hand. “Let\'s go, Megumi-san!”
As they reached the last landing of the walk-up, a small monkey sat waiting for them.
“Do not worry, Miss Gina,” Lupe said to the little capuchin. “The rent will be paid on time. Please let your master know.”
The monkey screeched once and then scampered off. Megumi looked on in wonder.
“She works for the new landlady. It\'s an odd arrangement, but it works very well for all of us.”
Megumi simply nodded. “I guess New York will take some getting used to.”
- - - - -
“Wow!! This is so completely awesome!!!” Jane\'s voice echoed into the Alaskan wilderness.
Jenna wanted to smack her twin sister in the head. “Why don\'t you try screaming that a little louder...I\'m sure the folks all the way up in Barrow want to hear how happy you are.”
“Come on, Jenna,” Jane replied. “You have to admit, this is the most unbelievable trip ever! Being able to ski down Mount Denali, the tallest mountain in America! How many people can say that?”
“The ones that lived to tell about it...which might not include you if you keep that up. And for your imformation, it\'s Mount McKinley!”
“Denali!”
“McKinley!”
“You\'re both right,” their father said, putting an arm around each of the twins. “Regardless of what it\'s called, we\'re gonna kick its butt, right?”
“Right!” Jane answered emphatically.
“Whatever...I\'m going inside. It\'s cold.” Jenna dislodged herself from her father\'s arm and went into the chalet. When she got far enough away from him, she let out a small squeak of joy and pumped her fists.
“Don\'t mind her...we\'re gonna have a good time, Dad! Thanks for taking us...and for really taking us.”
That last part stung the former captain, but he knew he deserved it. “From now on, I\'ll never let you girls down. I promise.”
“I know,” Jane said with a smile. “Mom will make sure you keep that promise!”
Elena stood on the porch of the little chalet, watching her husband...and waiting for the day he even thinks about running off to \'protect the world from terror.\' If that day ever comes, she swore to him, it\'ll be the last time he\'ll see her or their daughters ever again.
- - - - -
A black SUV pulled up to the corner of Water and Old Fulton Streets in Brooklyn, and out stepped a man in a black tuxedo, his hair slicked back. He checked his watch and smiled; he was early by a minute, which was more than enough to prepare him for her entrance.
The man watched as a black sedan parked behind his SUV. When the door opened, it seemed to the man like a black form poured itself onto the sidewalk, rising into quite a feminine-shaped column, topped with a sternly beautiful face which itself was crowned by a stack of perfectly placed dark brown hair.
“Punctual as usual, Constanza,” the man said, “and more beautiful than ever.”
The woman blushed furiously. “Thank you very much, sir...though, if I may speak freely, I feel quite uncomfortable.”
“Permission granted, but there\'s no need for you to feel uncomfortable.” Cortez reached out a hand to assist Constanza. “And please, we\'re off the clock, so enough with the \'sir\' business. Just call me Guillermo.”
“Yes sir—er, I mean...yes, Guillermo.” The brunette had her head down the whole time, trying desperately to hide the rush of blood that was threatening to turn her head into shrapnel.
“See? That didn\'t hurt a bit. Now come along. Dinner\'s waiting.”
“Dinner?”
Cortez led his date through the entrance of Brooklyn Bridge Park, and to the corner of Pier One, where an elegant table had been set up. He pulled out a chair for the lady, and nudged her into place.
Constanza took in her surroundings; the beautiful rolling lawn of the park, the view of New York Bay, the city skyline outlined by the nightime sky, and the graceful arc of the Brooklyn Bridge, itself dressed in pearl-like lights. “Oh, Guillermo!! This is the most beautiful sight in the world!”
“I beg to differ,” the tuxedo-clad man said, staring straight into Constanza\'s eyes.
Before she passed out, the woman thought it best to change the subject. “Was this park always here? Why did we not know about it before?”
“Believe it or not, it\'s only a couple years old. And we have the reporter to thank for being able to be here.”
Constanza\'s face darkened a bit. “Stanhope? What has she to do with this?”
“Not now, dinner\'s about to be served. I\'ll tell you all about it when we get home.”
“Alright then.” The woman seethed for a moment, until her brain locked. “Wait—did you just say \'when we get home\'?”
“I did,” Cortez said confidently. “You didn\'t think I dragged you all the way out here just for dinner, did you?”
Whatever Annette Stanhope had to do with Brooklyn Bridge Park had suddenly become the least important piece of information in Constanza\'s world.
- - - - -
The ping of the elevator echoed through the hall of the fourth floor, alerting all who listened that Lupe and Megumi had arrived. The maid allowed the newcomer to exit first, then led her to the apartment. “Miss Naya! I\'m home!”
“In here, Lupe. Is Megumi with you?”
“Yes she is, Miss Naya...we\'ll be right in!” Lupe took Megumi\'s coat and her own and placed them in the foyer closet.
The black-haired woman whispered to the maid. “Would it be alright if...”
“Oh, sure! Please, place them with the others.”
Megumi smiled, then took off her shoes, putting them neatly beside Annette\'s sneakers. She looked around the apartment, admiring the ordered chaos. “It is a nice place,” she said politely.
“I did the best I could with it...you should have seen it before I came! This place is nothing like Naya\'s, but it\'s where Annette is, so it\'s where they both are.”
Lupe then led Megumi to the small bedroom, where they found Naya sitting upright in the bed, cradling Annette\'s head in her hands.
“Welcome to our humble abode, Megumi-chan!” The white-haired woman bowed as much as she could, her head nearly coming to rest on Annette\'s. “I\'m sorry you had to come all this way, especially since we really didn\'t need your help after all.”
“Please, Naya-hime...one should never apologize when seeing a friend.” Megumi returned the bow, then walked over to the bed and gave her friend a hug.
“I\'d hug you back, but as you can see, my hands are full.” She leaned into the hug instead, savoring the nostalgic smell of jasmine. “You\'re still as beautiful as ever, and you still smell wonderful.”
The older woman blushed. “But you, Naya-hime...you haven\'t aged a day! Is that a result of...”
“In a way. I\'ve already been gone and back a few times...I only age when I\'m dead, so I try to keep that to a minimum.” The two women shared a warm smile.
“So, how are things between you and Stanhope-san here?” Megumi asked.
“Straight to the point, as usual...that\'s what made you one of my best co-workers...and my best friend.”
“I seem to recall it being a little more than...friends...”
Naya fought back a few tears. “And that leads me to the answer to your question...I\'m involved with this little troublemaker here. We\'ve had quite the adventure.”
“So I\'ve heard from Choi-san. Are you happy with her, Naya-hime?”
“Oh yes...I am. I\'d be happier if she stayed conscious for more than a few seconds, but yes, I am.”
Megumi\'s face became a road map of worry. “Did something happen to her at Camp Hero?”
“She died saving a set of twins, but she\'s been regenerating since then. It\'s been more than 10 hours, and her body\'s practically back to normal. Her mind, however...” Naya massaged her girlfriend\'s temples a bit. “She mumbles things, bits and pieces of memories, but they\'re getting more and more recent, so I\'m assuming the pathways in her brain are getting stronger and stronger. She had some motor skills problems the first time she died, but her brain was intact then. This time, I don\'t know...”
Megumi\'s eyes flew open. “The first time? Is she like you, then? Can she change into an animal as well?”
“No,” Naya answered. “She can\'t change form, but she\'s strong as hell...I wonder if she still is.”
Just then Annette opened her eyes slowly, seeing Megumi and Lupe put a smile on her face. “Wow...I\'ve died and went to Japan! Sugoi!”
Naya just rolled her eyes. “You see what I have to put up with?”
“But I would bet it is a job you would be willing to do for the rest of your life, ne?”
“Correction, Megumi-chan,” Naya said, giving Annette a warm smile. “...for the rest of all of our lives.”
= = = = =
OWARI
= = = = =