44It was finished... but I still had one more chapter left in me.
Enjoy. Happy 2015!
heroes and thieves
epilogue
"You're doing this backwards, aren't you?"
Hiyono always finds it hard to be happy when she sees Narumi Kiyotaka, at least not without pretending a little bit, but she smiles at him as he approaches anyway. She is sitting all alone on a park bench, clothed in white with blooming flowers in her hair, and for once the approach of this tall, brown-eyed man with a wry smile means something good for her.
"I suppose that we are." She smoothes the folds of her dress, breaking eye contact with him as he settles down on the park bench beside her, the smile still lingering on her lips. "But it can't be helped, can it?"
"I suppose not." Kiyotaka chuckles, stretching his long arms out along the length of the wooden bench, and she can feel those sparkling brown eyes of his on her, examining her. His eyes are so much like Ayumu's, as they must be, but somehow still so different. "How are you feeling this morning?"
"Very good," she answers.
"And how is your little bun doing?"
At this Hiyono has to smile genuinely; she presses her hand flat to the swell of her midsection, where something that seemed like nothing more than a little bump just a few days ago has grown into a noticeable sign of new life, and wags one of the fingers on her other hand at him. "It's not a bun, Kiyotaka-san. It's your niece, and soon she'll have a name."
"Ah, so it's a girl after all?" He seems genuinely pleased, his brown eyes really sparkling now. "How wonderful. But Ayumu wanted a boy, didn't he?"
"Nar - Ayumu wanted nothing more than a healthy child." She is still having trouble remembering to call him by his first name, even after four months of engagement. Old habits are hard to break. "When we found out, he was scared of what might happen… so now that the tests have all come back showing the baby is normal, I don't think he minds the gender very much." She pauses to smile down at her abdomen. "And he will be a wonderful father no matter what. I believe that."
"As do I."
"And I'm sure our daughter will be spoiled by her doting aunt and uncle, of course."
"Of course," Kiyotaka agrees, emphatically. "Not to mention her extended family of the remaining Blade Children, the entire police department… hmm… and probably Kirie-chan, because although you wouldn't think it, she's really very fond of children."
"No, I wouldn't expect that." Hiyono laughs, reaching up to adjust the crown of flowers in her hair, and then for a moment everything is quiet and still. She glances at the thin silver band on her left hand just once before swallowing, gathering her courage to say a few words that are both very difficult and very much necessary. "I'm glad that… we're becoming family, Kiyotaka-san."
"Oh?" He cocks his head at her. "Truly? I was still under the impression that you despised me."
"Ayumu has forgiven you, so… I should, as well." She fingers the delicate petals of a white lily tucked above her ear. "But… at the start of all of this… regardless of your intentions to use me as a pawn, to play me against him… you never intended for me to feel the way I did. That was my own weakness. So in the end, the grudge I held… the bitterness I felt about being away…"
"Well." His voice is deep and pondering; he lifts his head to look up at the sky now, long brown bangs falling away from his handsome face. "Even so, it isn't as if I didn't know how you felt. When you volunteered to help with his treatment… even before that… hm." He exhales. "The fault is mostly mine. I set my sights only on clearing the board of its pawns, without considering how that might affect you."
"Or Ayumu."
"Or Ayumu," he agrees. "They were all very short-sighted decisions, the ones I made back then. That even he could forgive me, or Madoka... I expected no forgiveness, when it all ended."
Hiyono folds her hands together in her lap. "Many things have changed since then."
"You are right."
"There isn't any way that I could become part of your family without forgiving you, though. Even if I don't understand, I…" She pauses, breathes out, smiles a little. "I want my daughter to have a different life than I had… and a better relationship with her parents than the one that you and Ayumu had. And I believe that all starts with accepting the past for what it was, and moving forward… together."
"Those are very wise words, for someone so young." She sees the trace of a frown on his brow. "But will you tell her about the past? About how this all came to be?"
"No. Not unless we have to." She shakes her head. "So many people were hurt… and even we were hurt. It would be better for her to live her life without knowing about all of the sadness… and instead live each day in happiness."
"And if something happens to Ayumu…"
"That's a risk we're willing to take." She swallows. "But if something does happen… at the very least… I'll be able to see his face every day, when I look at our daughter… and even when I look at yours, Kiyotaka-san."
"Wise words," he says again, and finally looks at her, chuckling softly. "I knew I picked the right girl to work with, after all."
She giggles a little. "Even if it ended up like this?"
"Well, it's certainly not a bad thing that the two of you are getting married." They hear a distant voice and Kiyotaka promptly stands, stretching his long arms above his head quickly before readjusting the jacket of his suit. "But as I said. You're doing things a bit backwards. Not that I care very much, but there are others who insist it's a problem."
"Madoka-oneesan's still…"
"Hmm. I expect your daughter to be in high school before she lets up on lecturing the two of you for conceiving her out of wedlock."
Hiyono sighs. "I see."
"Hiyono-san!" A cheerful voice greets them, and Takeuchi Rio bounds over to the blonde as she stands; Rio takes one of Hiyono's hands and squeezes it tightly, an enormous smile on her small face. "Everything is prepared. Are you ready?"
"Yes." Hiyono returns the smile before turning to look up at Kiyotaka. "Well, Kiyotaka-san?"
He purses his lips. "You're certain about this?"
She blinks at him. "Eh?"
Rio makes a face, shifting the basket of flower petals she carries to her other arm. "It's a little late to be asking if she wants to get married, isn't it?"
"That isn't what I mean." The tall man sighs loudly. "You don't have to be walked down the aisle by someone. If you'd rather walk alone…"
"No. In a way, it seems fitting." She reaches up to check on the flowers in her hair one last time. "If anyone was going to give me away… it should be you. Not because you're anything like a father to me, but because… well…" She laughs softly. "It makes sense."
"Ohhhh, it does!" Rio nods emphatically. "Smart thinking, Hiyono-san!"
"Well, then." Kiyotaka grins a bit as he extends his arm to her. "Shall we?"
"Yes," she answers; then, with a grin of her own, "because if we keep Ayumu waiting any longer, I'm certain he'll come storming across the park to find us himself."
They all laugh at that, and then their little group of three starts to make their way through the grass and toward the small clearing where everyone else waits - toward the end of Yuizaki Hiyono's existence and the next chapter of her life, where she'll be known as Narumi Hiyono. And she can't help but think to herself, as she tightens her grip on her new brother-in-law's arm just a little, that this is the name that finally feels right.
And somehow, in the end, she's glad for everything - even for Kiyotaka - because it all brought her to him. To Ayumu. And soon, to their daughter, who for now sleeps soundly somewhere inside of her, dreaming of a future life where she'll know no heroes or thieves, just happiness and love and life.
