Please don’t sue me, I can’t afford it! I don’t own the Troopers (gosh darn it!) or anything affiliated with them.

By Wildefyre

Epilogue

(This chapter is my way of tying up most of the lose ends that have cropped up over the 14 chapters... Just to make things clear, each change of time is occurring after the previous one. )

=======================================================================

“Come on Suti, you can do it! Just one more push darling.” Ryo sat behind his wife on the bed in the delivery room, coaching her through her labor. “That’s it sweetheart, you’re doing great.” He kissed the back of her head in hopes that she would have enough strength to give birth to their child.

“I’m so tired Ryo... I don’t think I can do this. I don‘t have enough strength to push anymore.” Nasuti said weakly as she felt another contraction hit. “Oh God Ryo here goes another. I don‘t think I can take this anymore.” She braced herself for the pain as she made every effort to push.

“Nonsense darling, you can do this... You are one of the strongest women I know.” Ryo looked at the doctor who nodded his head, letting Ryo know that things were progressing. “We’re almost there Suti, the baby’s head is out... One more push... That’s the way!” Ryo laid his face against hers, speaking softly as he watched it all through the mirror that was there.

Nasuti used all her strength to push, grunting and almost whimpering as she held onto her husband’s hand, until she heard a cry pierce the room. Leaning back against Ryo, Nasuti felt her tears stinging her eyes as she listened to what she considered to be sweet music.

“Congratulations you two! You have a healthy little girl!” Dr Yamato smiled.

“Oh God Suti! We did it! You did it.” Ryo said as he slipped out from behind her to allow his wife to lie back on the pillows. Leaning down, he kissed her lips and brushed the damp hair from her face.

“We have a daughter Ryo... A little girl.” Nasuti felt her tears sliding from her eyes as she looked into her husband’s face. Nine months of worries and fears were now over as they made way for the new ones that all first time parents feel. “Is she okay? Is she healthy?” Nasuti asked, trying to see what they were doing.

“Our daughter is perfect Suti! My little girl... Our baby...” Ryo couldn’t control the emotions flowing through him as he cut the cord and waited for them to place his daughter in Nasuti’s arms. When they did, he began showering both with kisses. “Welcome little one. I’m your daddy.” He smiled through a haze of tears. Never had he known such a rush of emotions as he did now, they flowed from his heart and into his wife and daughter.

“She’s beautiful Ryo and look she’s got thick black hair, just like her daddy.” Nasuti cried as she cradled her baby. “Would you like to hold her?” She smiled as she lifted her gently towards him. “I love you Ryo Sanada.”

Gently Ryo picked up his daughter as his tears fell and his heart melted. Kissing the top of her head he smiled. “Happy Birthday Sakura. Daddy loves you.” Looking down at Nasuti who was smiling up at him Ryo kissed her lips. “I love you sweetheart. Thank you for this precious gift.” He cried softly as he held his newborn with one arm while he held his wife’s hand with the other.

His life was full and complete now... A beautiful wife to adore and a newborn to love, what more could any one man want?

********************************************************************************

“Has anyone heard anything yet?” Touma asked as they rushed into the waiting room. “We were out to dinner and only got the message when we got home or we would have been here sooner. Thank God Satsuki was visiting, she‘s watching the kids.”

“All we know is what Shin told us. Lorelei started bleeding and went into labor that’s the last thing we heard.” Ming said as she held her husband’s hand. “Shin sounded so scared on the phone. You could tell he had been crying... MY God it’s too early! She’s not due for another 8 weeks!”

“She can’t lose this one, she just can’t.” Touma sat there with his hands shaking. They all knew that Lorelei had been confined to a bed for the past 2 months after being rushed to the hospital with contractions... Luckily they were able to stop them but not before her cervix had dilated quite substantially. “Losing this baby will devastate them both! Lors wants this baby more then anything.”

Tears stood in his dark blue eyes as he looked up to see Seiji come back over. “Seiji? What’s going on? How’s Lors and Shin? What about the baby?” Touma began asking.

“Calm down Touma okay? From what I’ve learned, they couldn’t stop the forward progress and have decided to allow the birth to happen. Lorelei and Shin are in the delivery room now and they have the neonatal unit all ready to go.” Seiji sat next to Touma and took his mate’s hand. “She has been hemorrhaging so they are giving her blood... All we can do is hope for the best.”

“Oh dear God!” Shu hung his head. Shin had been walking on a cloud until 2 months ago when Lorelei almost went into labor. “Shin will crack if something happens to either one of them.”

“If it makes you feel better, I can go up and scrub in and check on things. That’s about all I can do.” Seiji replied. He too was quite worried, Lorelei had been getting more depressed over the past few weeks and Seiji had made a habit of stopping by often to check on her incase she was in need of medical treatment.

“Seiji? There’s something else you can do.” Touma looked at him and then pulled out the green orb he had taken from Seiji’s dresser. “Please Seiji? I know it’s been awhile but can’t you at least try?” Touma leaned in and kissed Seiji lightly. “We have to try; they don’t deserve to come so far only to...” He couldn’t finish as tears streamed down over his cheeks.

“Don’t cry Touma, please don’t cry. I don‘t know how much of Kourin‘s power I still possess, but I‘ll try.” Seiji wiped at his lover’s tears before getting up and walking down the corridor where he knew he could sneak into an office for privacy.

Touma followed while the others sat and waited. Holding the orb firmly in his hand Seiji concentrated on sending Kourin’s power to Shin who would know what to do. Shin’s link to his armor was still quite strong; but then again it always was stronger.

Touma watched the soft green glow radiate through his lover’s body and felt the serene peace it always gave off. When Seiji finished he was there to support the now fatigued swordsman, kissing him softly and whispering a heart felt thank you. Once he was sure Seiji had the strength, they made their back to the others to wait.

An hour later a joyous and tearful Shin emerged to announce that they had a newborn son named whom they were naming Colin in memory of Lorelei’s brother. Once that was said he quickly walked over to pull Seiji into a hug, thanking him for what he had done.

Kourin’s power couldn’t have come at a better time... The baby’s heartbeat had stopped as doctors frantically worked to revive him. When Shin felt Kourin’s presence his own kanji began to react, luckily everyone was too busy to notice and Shin then sent Kourin’s power along with Suiko’s power into their newborn. It worked, the baby’s heart began beating soon after.

The cheering that resounded in the waiting room was deafening and even had several hospital personnel coming in to see what was going on. Touma pulled Seiji aside and kissed him deeply, not caring if others were watching. “Thank you Seiji, thank you so much.” He allowed the tears of joy to fall. “I love you.”

“I love you too and thank you for having the sense to grab my orb... Kourin’s power is still apart of me Touma. It felt stronger then it ever has before.” Seiji held him tightly as his own tears slid down his cheeks.

He knew that someday his daughter would most likely inherit the armor and the responsibilities that went with it. That’s why he was determined to bring her up with many of the same values and traditions that had been passed onto him.

********************************************************************************

Touma laid next to Seiji holding his grief stricken lover tightly as he cried. Touma was trying his best to comfort him, how he hated seeing him like this. Kissing the top of blond hair, Touma slowly rocked him as lightly rubbed the swordsman’s back.

It was still a shock to the blond; the grandfather he had grown to love and admire had died suddenly in his sleep. He had never complained of being sick, there had been no warning signs, nothing to prepare the swordsman for the tragic news. One hour ago he was lying in his lover’s arms, content after their love making until the phone rang and Seiji’s father gave him the news. Now all he could do was lie there, sobbing over the loss.

“I didn’t get to say goodbye Touma... I didn’t get to tell him how much I loved him.” Seiji buried his face into the archer’s chest as he wept. “I miss him so much all ready.” The pain in his heart was great. Never again would he see his grandfather, never again would he be able to look to him for the strength and guidance he sought for so many times in the past. All that was gone now, in just a few a minutes’ time, Seiji’s whole life had changed once again.

“I know Seiji.” Touma found it hard to keep his own tears from flowing, he had grown quite close to the elder Date over the past two years and the news of his death had hit him just as hard. “Your grandfather knew you loved him... How could he not know?” Touma kissed blond hair as he tried to soothe away the pain Seiji was feeling. “He also loved you very much, that became obvious the day he gave us he blessings and accepted my son and myself into your family.” Touma sobbed softly.

“I couldn’t do anything. Had I known he was sick maybe I could have used Kourin...” Seiji’s body shook with the sobs that ebbed from his heart. “I’m a doctor for crying out loud! I should have seen the signs, symptoms, anything that would have told me he was sick.

“Seiji there was nothing anyone could do, no one knew about the heart condition. Your grandfather had too much pride to burden his family with it. He hid it very well. You can‘t blame yourself for this, even as a doctor.” Touma whispered softly, his heart broke to see the love of his life like this. “The important thing now is your family; they need you more then ever. It’s time you returned to Sendai.... Time for you to go home Seiji... Time for US to go home.”

“Will you be happy there Touma?” Seiji looked up at him with red rimmed eyes. “You have your job at the Observatory and your work at the University... Can you give that up? Do you even want to?” Seiji knew he didn’t have to ask that, he knew Touma would go without hesitation.

“Hey as long as I am with you and our children, that’s all I need. I can get a job at the University in Sendai and I can also go back to working at home writing computer programs.” Touma kissed Seiji’s lips. “We are a family now and where you go, I go. We are in this for life... Together.” He watched as Seiji nodded then more tears fell from his once vibrant eyes.

Holding him close he allowed the swordsman to cry until sleep finally took hold. Slipping out of the bed, Touma pulled up the blankets, laying a soft kiss to his love’s cheek before slipping out of the room. There was much to be done if they were to travel to Sendai for the funeral and with two children. That required some extra planning and so Touma went to take care of it.

Touma finished up two hours later happy with the results and what he had accomplished, knowing it was one less burden for his lover to worry about. Going in he checked on Skylar and then on Tyler before walking into the bedroom he shared with his life mate. Silently he undressed and then crawled into the bed next to the man he loved more then anything.

Touma smiled when Seiji scooted over and Touma wrapped his arms around the blond. “I love you Touma-san and thank you for being so understanding.” Seiji whispered.

“Love you too Seiji... I’d do anything for you, you know that. We‘ll talk in the morning. You just try and get some sleep now. I‘ve got it all under control all you have to worry about is yourself and your family... I‘ll take care of the rest.” Touma kissed him and then closed his eyes as the two drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.

********************************************************************************

So far, everything was going as planned as Touma looked over the room full of people. They were finally in their new home, one they had built. The house was situated on land the Date’s owned, that Seiji’s grandfather had willed to him. Sensei Date knew that his grandson would want some freedom from the family even though he would someday return to take his place within the family circle.

Touma smiled as Skylar and Tyler played with the other children, both were now 3 years old and looking like their respective dads every day. Actually the trooper family was growing by leaps and bounds... Shu and Ming now had a daughter named TaiLinn who looked the splitting image of her mother; SinJin was now 5 and looking so much like Shu that it was scary almost. Ryo and Nasuti had a newborn boy, Hiro whom Seiji was cooing over at the moment. Shin and Lorelei’s twins were four and a real handful and of course little Colin was two now and just so sweet.

Seiji and Touma were even trying to expand their family; they were trying to adopt a little girl named Midori whose parents had abandoned her as an infant just because she was deaf. Seiji and Touma were both taking classes to learn sign language and were even teaching Skylar and Tyler how to sign. The kids were picking it up faster of course...

“Hey what are you thinking about? You have that lost look on your face.” Seiji whispered into Touma’s ear from behind as he wrapped his arms around the archer’s waist and rested his chin on Touma’s shoulder.

“I’m just thinking about how happy I am... About this wonderful trooper family we have and about how I am the luckiest man in the world.” Touma smiled and closed his eyes as he leaned back.

“We’re both lucky Touma-san.” Seiji spun Touma around as he took the archer’s face in his hands. “I love you, I love our children and I love this life we now have.” Seiji’s eyes sparkled as he leaned in to kiss the lips he longed for every second of the day.

“GROSS! Hey Tyler your dads are kissing again!” Five year old SinJin said as he ran past the two. Touma and Seiji looked at each other before being reduced to fits of laughter.

“Wait someday a girl... Or guy is going to kiss him and he’s going to think it’s the greatest thing in the world.” Touma said as he wiped at his eyes, which had started tearing from laughing so hard.

Yeah, things were definitely looking up for the two and Touma couldn’t have been happier. It was to the point where he rarely thought about the secret he still kept... Too much time had passed now for him to reveal it. He thanked his lucky stars that there never was a reason to tell and hoped to the high heavens that it would remain that way....

********************************************************************************

“Skylar remember not to go too far... Just around this path okay?” Seiji instructed as he and Touma sat down on a bench.

“The same goes for you Tyler... You two stay together and NO talking to strangers.” Touma gave them both a look that said he meant business.

“Okay Daddy Touma, we’ll be good. I wish Midori were old enough to ride with us.” Skylar smiled and took off down the path with Tyler in tow.

Touma watched as Seiji walked over and place their adopted daughter onto the swing. He couldn’t help but smile as the pride welled in his chest. Midori was a beautiful two and a half-year-old and even though she couldn’t hear she had adapted under their loving guidance surprising the social workers that were assigned to them.

The past two years had their ups and downs, the biggest being their struggle to adopt Midori but they had succeeded, just in time too. Six weeks after the adoption became official; Touma’s father had passed away. Touma was glad to have Midori around for it had kept him distracted during that time... Though the archer did have his moments and then Seiji was there to comfort him.

Touma got up and walked over to Seiji, leaning against the pole he smiled. “Do you know how sexy you look right now?” Touma took in Seiji’s form, clad in jeans and a t-shirt.

“Touma watch yourself, we have the baby here.” Seiji was amazed how easily Touma could still make him blush. He couldn’t help but smile though. Touma was as handsome as ever, and Seiji couldn’t have been any more proud of the family he now had.

“For one thing she’s a toddler now and I doubt that she’ll mind me lusting after her daddy.” He winked and walked over to the blond. “Tonight, if we’re nice and quiet I plan to have my way with you.”

“T... Touma-san.” Seiji saw the gleam in his mate’s eyes and knew that Touma would be a true test of his abilities, keeping quiet wasn’t easy when Touma was in charge.

Meanwhile.......

Skylar was racing her brother along the path when she came to a halt. Looking up she smiled.

“Konnichiwa, O genki desu ka?” She asked the man sitting on the bench.

“Konnichiwa Skylar... I’m doing quite well, arigato.” He smiled.

“Sky! You heard what daddy said... No talking to strangers.” Tyler scolded her.

“He’s not a stranger; he’s my friend.” She stuck out her tongue at Tyler. “Besides daddy Touma worries too much.”

The man on the bench just smiled, amazed at the vocabulary both kids had... Must be that blue haired one, I heard he was a genius. Well at least he’s done something right. “You sister is right, I am a friend. I’ve known Skylar since she was a baby.” He smiled again as he slipped off his sunglasses.

“Wow! Look Sky he has the same eye color as you and daddy Seiji... Cool!” Tyler inched closer, drawn to the intense violet eyes that watched him.

“Yeah I know... I think it’s neat.” She giggled when the man made a face at them. “You’re funny.” She said. Just then they heard Seiji yelling in the distance. “Uh oh, we have to go Tyler. Daddy is calling for us.”

“Well then off you go little one.” The man stood up. “Take care now sweetheart.” He said as he turned to go.

“See you the next time.” She waved to him as she and Tyler peddled off. He could hear her warning Tyler not to say anything... that their daddies would not understand.

He smiled as their voices faded into the distance and he stopped to lean against a tree. Tears slid down his face and he reached into his shirt pocket to pull out a well-worn and faded photograph. Fingers traced the face that smiled back at him and he sighed.

“She looks so much like you... So much like us. I know I promised to stay away, but I can’t... I have to see her. Forgive me my love... I miss her, God how I miss you as well. I will never forget you Suzume and I will watch over her for the both of us... That much I promise.”

Placing the photo back from where he got it, he stuffed his hands into his pants pockets as he continued walking. Turning once more he smiled... Dark and evil. “Someday Skylar... Someday little one............”

=======================================================================

Author’s Notes: Okay, there you have it... One month shy of a full years worth of writing. I am so going to miss working on this story. As I type out these last few lines I can’t help but feel a great sorrow welling up inside me. This story has been my baby for almost a year and now it’s time to set it free and move on.

I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Please feel free to email me or comment till your hearts content on this... I so love hearing your thoughts and feelings on this story. Now I know that one question was never answered... I did that on purpose. I may come out with a short saga dealing with that, in the future once I have the other fics I am working on finished.

Thank you Hiruma, TG, WingsofSakon and Djinn.... You girls have been a true inspiration to me and a blast to chat to. Thanks to all the people who were so kind to leave reviews, I wish I could thank you all personally, but that would make this longer then any of us wants.

There have been a few that have been reviewing right from the get go and I thank you for your dedication and patience. I dedicate this story to all of you! Domo Arigato Gozaimasu to one and all! This has truly been a blast for me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Until next time... Stay true to your heart and your heart will be true to you. God Bless and Good Luck.

Liz (aka Wildefyre)

If you ever want to chat... Look for me on AIM! I’m a late night chatter! (East Coast). HashibasLuv is the screen name!!