Wish!

To Live Happily Ever After!

Episode 36

Red light surrounded her as Lina found herself looking at Suzaku-seikun again.

Three times. This was her last wish.

Are you sure about this? Suzaku-seikun's lips didn't move, but the words reverberated in her head.

Was she? Ever since she had learned she had three nearly unlimited wishes to use, she had been worried about what to actually wish for. She had already figured on wishing protection for Konankoku and to get Naga out of Nakago's hands... but the third wish had eluded her. Everything she wanted beforehand (unlimited supplies of food or treasure, a larger bust size, and so on and so forth) seemed petty now. She had toyed with the idea of staying in this world forever. She had even thought of using the wish to bring Nuriko and Chiriko back to life.

Silly, useless things, those wishes were. Greedy, selfish wishes. The fate of this world, of her own world, and ultimately her own fate as well was riding on this wish.

Use it wisely, my miko.

Seven people inside of her agreed with her. Seven people gave her their assent, their trust, their forgiveness, and their love.

"Suzaku-seikun! This is my third wish! Destroy Tenkou! Destroy him for everything he's done! Destroy him before he takes over this world!"

I hear, and I comply.

"Impossible!" protested Tenkou loudly. "I am a god! Nothing can stop me!"

"I, too, am a god. And so are my brothers." From the skies, a scarlet phoenix glided down to join the dragon. From the earth, a white tiger and a black tortoise appeared. In a flash of light, the four gods had surrounded Tenkou in their human-like forms.

"I am a god!" shrieked Tenkou angrily. "You cannot stop me!"

"You are not a god," the black-armored god of the earth, Genbu-seikun replied coldly.

"You are a vengeful spirit," agreed the white-armored god of the wind, Byakko-seikun.

"Many years ago you find the Shijintenchiso. You found the power that it held, and you wanted it for yourself," said the blue-armored god of the waters, Seiryuu-seikun.

"Because of this you were sentenced to death. The power you held was rightfully judged too dangerous," spoke the red-armored god of the flames, Suzaku-seikun.

A strong wave of power solidified, linking the four gods and creating a sphere around Tenkou.

"But your spirit lived on. In its vengeance, it entered the world of the Shijintenchiso," intoned Genbu-seikun.

"You have gained power through your machinations, your plotting, and through your allies," said Byakko-seikun.

"You even dared hope for the power of a god," reproached Seiryuu-seikun. "You planted yourself as the god of the Hin race, waiting for a day when you could gain that power."

"You deluded yourself," Suzaku-seikun continued. "You believed you had power, and you forced others to believe you had power - until this belief became so strong it became a conviction."

"But you forgot one thing," said Genbu-seikun.

"You are not a god," said all four gods. "You are but a vengeful spirit. And we will extinguish that spirit. So it has been requested, and so it will be done."

The sphere of energy grew in intensity until the light was blinding.

"No! This can't be happening! Noooo!" Tenkou's strangled cries weakened.

"Fuusatsu!"

There was a great explosion of light.

Lina opened her eyes and blinked several times. The afterimage of the explosion was fading, and she looked around at the entirely different but entirely familiar surroundings:

A rugged mountainscape complete with flowers and bees, spheres and pagodas, Taiitsukun and Nyan-Nyans.

"How did we get to Mount Taikyoku?" she wondered out loud.

Naga the White Serpent looked around the surroundings, quite confused. "Where is this place? What the heck is up with those little floating spheres and pagodas, anyways? And who's that old lady?"

"Welcome to Mount Taikyoku, Suzaku and Seiryuu no Miko."

"SUNAKAKE BABA!" screamed Tasuki in horror.

"Welcome also, Suzaku and Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi," added Taiitsukun belatedly.

"Minna!" gasped Lina, as she saw fourteen (not including herself, Naga, Taiitsukun, or the impossible-to-count-because-they-were-bouncing-around-too-much Nyan-Nyans) people and/or spirits staring in surprise at the mountainside.

Someone tapped Lina's shoulder. She turned, flicked away a bee, and looked at Naga, who had a disgusted look on her face. "Please tell me what's going on here," she demanded shakily, trying not to stare too closely at the locals.

"Everybody's here!" cheered the Nyan-Nyans with sugar-hyped enthusiasm. "Great!" "Wonderful!" "Let's get started!" "Cure, cure, fix, fix!" "I wanna fix Taiitsukun's face!" "I -"

"EXCUSE ME FOR A MOMENT!" the creator demanded testily, staring within inches of the Nyan-Nyans' faces.

They shut up. Reluctantly, of course, but at least they weren't babbling like brooks in the background.

"You're probably wondering why you're all here."

THAT set off the time bomb. Everyone started talking at once. There was lots of yelling, arguing, accusing, naming, and finger pointing going on. The Nyan-Nyans weren't helping any; they were going around trying to heal people (mostly Lina and Naga) and succeeding only in getting in the way.

"EXCUSE ME FOR A MOMENT!" Even a being of infinite patience, knowledge, and power can get fed up.

Everyone shut up.

"Seiryuu has been summoned. Suzaku has been summoned. Three wishes each have been granted." That was stating the obvious, but Taiitsukun wasn't finished yet. "That also means that this story has come to a close."

Two seconds passed.

"Whaaaa?" blinked Lina.

"You chose wisely, Suzaku no Miko, in that last wish. You sacrificed much of your happiness to save the world."

Lina blushed and said demurely, "Oh, no trouble at all, it's not like it's the first time..."

"However, as I have said, the story has run its course and come to its end. You are here because..."

Another pause.

"I personally have no idea."

Everyone fell over.

"Normally the miko returns to her world after all three wishes are granted. I suppose the four gods are feeling especially benevolent today and are giving you the chance to say goodbye before the last page is turned and the book is shut."

"Going home?" asked Lina and Tamahome in the same breath.

Taiitsukun regarded the red-haired girl closely, although not in the up-close-and-personal fashion she was wont to do. "Wasn't that your wish when you first came to ask for my help?"

Lina thought about that for a second. "It was. But... things change. Months have passed. Lots of stuff has happened. And... well... it's easy to change your mind."

"Be that as it may, you knew perfectly well this was a temporary adventure. You knew that at the end of the story, you would go home."

Lina reflected on this again. "That's true. But it doesn't stop me from wishing otherwise." She sighed, rubbing the edges of her eyes. "I suppose I should be glad we're even able to say goodbye for one last time."

Taiitsukun nodded and floated high overhead, dragging the Nyan-Nyans with her and leaving them alone and in peace.

Lina turned to the Suzaku no Shichi Seishi and Naga turned to the Seiryuu no Shichi Seishi. It was time to say goodbye.

For her part, Lina couldn't find anything to say. Words got stuck in her throat. Finally, she managed to say lamely, "I guess this is it."

"Yeah," agreed Tasuki just as awkwardly. "You know, after working with you, maybe I don't hate all women as much as I used to. Good luck, Lina-chan, no matter what you do."

Tears shimmered in everyone's eyes. No more words were passed, they merely hugged each other tightly.

"I won't forget you," said Lina.

"We won't either," assured Tamahome, holding her like he would never let go. "I'm sorry... I wish you could stay here... or I could join you... but it's not something that'll happen, will it?"

Lina hugged him back. "No," she replied softly. "I guess not. Some things just... aren't meant to be, I guess. No matter how hard we wish..."

"Lina-chan... I just wanted to say I'm proud of you." Tamahome's tears trickled onto her shoulder. "When I felt what your third wish would be... no matter what... we trusted you, and that trust wasn't wasted. We're all proud of you. We're a family, you know. No matter what... No matter where we are or what we do... we'll always have each other. Even if we're in different worlds... We'll never forget what's happened here." He let her go slowly, reluctantly, then pressed something into her palm.

"A golden ryou?" Lina blinked, "You're giving away money? What in the world... Are you in your right mind?"

"You'll never forget me this way now, will you?" Tamahome smiled through his tears. "Think of it as a momento."

Things started blurring. Colors started fading. The world was turning into a red haze.

"No... not yet Suzaku!" Lina reached out for Tamahome's hand, found it, and grasped it tightly. "Please... please!"

There are some things even a god cannot do, came Suzaku-seikun's voice, laden with regret. I am sorry.

"Just one more second... Just one more!" Swiftly, Lina pulled off her headband and thrust it blindly at Tamahome. "Don't forget! I won't! Maybe we can still be linked with this!"

She felt his other hand catch it, mere seconds before he and everything else disappeared into a red light.

Red light was swirling, twisting, and spinning around her. It was like the time she arrived for the second time. Tamahome's coin was clutched tightly in her hand. Lina closed her eyes, feeling tears slide down her cheeks and disappear into the psychedelic crimson world, until...

WHAM!

She landed on the side of the bed in an inn in the middle of Rand McNally. Beside her, Naga landed as well.

Lina stared across the bed at the desk. Gourry slumbered peacefully, his head resting on his arms. In front of him, the Shijintenchiso's glow slowly faded into nothingness as an errant breeze from the open window blew the last page over.

The story had ended.

Gourry snorted a few times and sat up wearily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He stared down at the book and instantly starting panicking. "Oh no! I've lost my place! What's going on with Lina and Naga and everybody else? What's that Nakago up to and... Huh?"

The puzzled reply came when Lina tapped him on the shoulder, forestalling him from flipping the pages in the book.

"You're back? You're back." Gourry felt best when grounding himself in the obvious before venturing into unknown territory. "But... how did you get back here? Why's the story over? How did the story end?"

Lina looked at Naga.

Naga looked at Lina with a perked eyebrow.

Finally, Lina stood up and walked over to the desk. She closed the book's cover gently and with infinite care, caressing the spine for a moment. Then, she turned to Gourry and explained to him with wet eyes:

"It ended happily ever after."

Continue: Epilogue: Expected! A Parting of Old Pals!