Otherworld 7: Ch 26 - The Return



Chapter 26 - The Return


Lukana was with Kaiba, Shinjou had sent her to him in the hopes that the girl could satisfy her curiosity from the source instead of drilling him for answers he didn't know. She was asking questions about Kaiba's foster son Taiki when she collapsed to the floor. "Lukana! Are you alright?" Kaiba said as he ran around the table between them.

	On the floor where Lukana once stood lay an infant. "Shinjou!" Kaiba called out for Lukana's stepfather. "Well, little one, looks like your mother and sister were successful." Kaiba gently picked her up and cooed to her as she started to cry. "Don't cry, Lukana. Your mother will be back soon and everything will be as it should be." Shinjou ran into the room and stopped in his tracks as he looked at his transformed step-daughter.

When Lukana saw Shinjou, she stopped crying and reached out for him. He took her from the mage and looked into her emerald green eyes. She looked back at him and smiled. Shinjou couldn't help but smile back. "You know, Kaiba, I could get use to this. I can't wait until we can have more children." Kaiba gave him a knowing smile. "Be careful what you wish for my friend, you just might get it." Shinjou didn't hear him. He was bewitched by Lukana's smile and giggling. "Let's go watch for your mother, little princess," Shinjou said. He left the room with the baby in his arms.

Hotoshin was trying once again to talk to Kayla. They were standing out on the hillside when both of them fell senseless to the ground. In the Village, Niiro crumbled to the floor to the dismay of his mother, Kenji stumbled and fell into his father's arms, and Kara dropped like a stone on her porch.

	Kayla woke up, dizzy, and put out a hand -- a slightly smaller hand. She looked at it uncomprehending. What had happened? Then she remembered. Everything. Her past had returned. The spell was broken. "No!!!!" Hotoshin cried, looking at his small hands. "Not now!!!" He jumped to his feet. "This isn't fair! I was happy the way things were!" he yelled at the sky. He looked at Kayla. 16 to 20 years was not that much of an age difference, but 8 to 14 was an abyss which he could not traverse. Tears began to run down his face. "I love you…." Kayla could not find the right words. Hotoshin was a boy who would grow up to be a prince. She was a Fire Master with a whole future as a Protector before her. They were, and would always be, worlds apart.

Hotoshin looked at her, a plea in his eyes. When he saw Kayla shake her head, the boy fled down the hill to the Village, wanting nothing more than to hide in some dark corner. His future was gone! Everything was ruined! At Kenshin's feet sat his two-year-old son. He called for his wife and Kaoru rushed out of a side room at the dojo, then stopped when she saw her son. Her baby! He had been returned to her! She scooped him up into her arms, hugging him tight. "Kenji! My baby!" She said with tears of joy in her eyes. "He's back! My baby is back!" Kenshin smiled and embraced them both. "The Unicorns… they've been searching all of Otherworld for that entity. They must have found and killed it." he said. "Probably all the children have returned to their true ages." An eight year old Hotoshin suddenly ran into the dojo and stopped in horror when he saw Kenji -- now a toddler. Tears were still on his face as he glanced at Kenshin with such a look of pain that Kenshin's felt it in his own heart. "Oh, Hotoshin…" The boy fled into his room and slammed shut the sliding door. Kayla walked slowly home, sad for herself and sad for Hotoshin. It was for the best. She knew that, but it still hurt. As she approached Kamara's home she saw that her cousin, Kara, was a demon two-year-old once again, at least for a couple of seconds before she turned into a wolf pup. That must mean we are all back to normal, she thought. She saw Miroku and Sango walking their way, a bundle clutched close to Sango's breast. "Even Niiro must have returned to his infant form." she said softly to herself as she joined them. "Well, at least now we know what they'll look like." she heard Kiba commenting as he was holding his wriggling, much larger, puppy daughter. "And now I know Niiro will have an air void when he gets older. I can prepare him for it." Miroku said, as he and his family joined them. Kirara gave a chirpy mew at his feet. "Yes, Kirara, you will have to wait until he is old enough to ride you again, but until then you can watch over him." The cat mewed again and he lifted the cat up to nuzzle the baby. Instead, Kirara leaped from Miroku's hands to Sango's shoulder so she could stay near the baby. Kenshin joined them, and told them about Kenji and Hotoshin. "Is Hotoshin alright?" Kayla asked as she stepped up to the porch. "He was crying." Kenshin said gently. "I guess he isn't happy about becoming eight again. He liked you a lot." "I know," she said sadly. "He wanted me to be his Princess." "Oh, Kayla," Kamara said. She stepped over to her niece and embraced her. "I was going to have to tell him 'no' but not like this. It shouldn't have been like this," she sobbed.

Mariah burst into the room, making Keiko jump. "Mariah, what in the world..." "They're back!" she interrupted her mother, grabbing Keiko's skirt. The young girl was dancing nearly out of her skin. "Who's back?" Keiko asked. "The children! They're back to normal!! I saw them! They just changed! Does that mean it's dead?" Mariah asked. "I don't know. Probably. I'm sure we'll find out soon. Wouldn't that be good news! And now you'll have some playmates near your age, won't you?" she smiled down at her daughter, who returned the grin.

Hotoshin left the Village shortly after his transformation, saying nothing, only ordering his guards to bring his belongings and his horse. Once at the Suzaku palace, he shut himself in his room. His guards immediately went to the Emperor and told him the news, that his son was again a boy. The spell had been broken.

	Boushin went into his son's room and found the boy curled in a chair, tears still running down his face. "Son, why are you crying? I thought you'd be happy to return to normal." The boy shook his head. Boushin knelt beside his son. "Please let me help." "I loved her...."

"You loved someone? Who?" "Kayla -- I wanted her to be my princess -- and now I'm just a stupid little boy!" Boushin said nothing for a few moments, rallying his thoughts, trying not to say the wrong thing -- again. Finally he spoke, his voice soft and gentle, filled with love. "You are not a stupid little boy. You are a wonderful, smart incredible person who has been through an terrible ordeal. I'm very proud of you." Hotoshin lifted his head. "Proud?" "You survived an evil creature like no other and that's something to be very proud of. If it's meant to be with Kayla, then it will happen. You'll grow up in a few years and so will she. If your heart still is hers, you can still ask her to be your princess." "A few years can be an eternity..." "Or it can be a moment. What is meant to be, will be." "But it hurts so much..." "I know, son, I know." He looked into Hotoshin's eyes with empathy and understanding. Hotoshin suddenly realized how much pain his father had endured. Perhaps his love was not conventional, but it was just as strong. The pain was just as real. He slipped off the chair and went into his father's arms. "I missed you." Boushin kissed the top of his son's head. "I'll always be here for you, son. And I promise to be a better father than before. We'll make a point to do more things together. Would you like that?" Hotoshin looked up and smiled. "I would like that very much."