Senshi (Guardians)
Chapter 37: This Tale Ends

“How am I going to clean my dress? What am I saying? I’m not sure I can do this even with a clean dress.” Kyoko sobbed.

Hana was crying, “That poor girl.”

Una spoke up, “My Princess, I know this is hard for you because it isn’t easy for any of us. However, if the ceremony stops – they win. You and Prince Thael must be strong. We will accompany her back to her home planet and see to it she is properly honored there. Then we will root out the traitors and see to it they can never cause anyone grief again.”

Kyoko dried her tears and blew her nose into a handkerchief, “Wakata… I want to do that, but Hana’s beautiful creation is ruined. I can’t be married with my gown soaked in an innocent’s blood.”

Una put her hand on Kyoko’s shoulder, “Aren’t you a Taelon Princess?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you have Guardian powers?”

“Yes.”

“Aren’t you able to dress yourself with only a thought?”

“Yes, but…”

“Look in the mirror. Study the dress. Imagine you are still wearing it, but the blood stains are all gone.” She did as she was told and in a minute or two the stains were gone.

“Sugoi…!” Hana exclaimed.

Kyoko straightened herself and looked in the mirror, “Oh Hana, I’ve ruined my makeup.”

“Not a problem, Princess,” she opened her kit and fixed Kyoko’s makeup.

When Hana was finished, Kyoko looked at her reflection in the mirror and said, “I will do this because Orianna would want me to.” She bowed her head and said a silent prayer.

When she finished she turned her head to one of her Imperial Guardians, “Azura…?”

“Yes, Your Highness”

“Tell them I’m ready, Onegai?”

Not long after, the music started once again and the attendants headed up the aisle. When the wedding march began, Kyoko appeared looking like a goddess in angelic white. For a few minutes everyone temporarily forgot the horror that had occurred earlier.

When the ceremony was over, instead of leaving the altar, Thael and Kyoko remained.

“Thank you all for coming today. I truly wish Orianna were alive to witness this, but somehow, I believe she was here in spirit.” She continued, “Thank you all for staying.” She bowed, “You honor us and the memory of Orianna.”

“Yes,” Thael added, “Thank you all. There will be a reception dinner here in one hour. Please stay. We would like to greet you all.” He went on to explain that they were having a baby princess. Finally: “Kyoko and I have decided to call our daughter Orianna in honor of our fallen friend.”

The room went silent a few seconds. Then as if commanded they all stood up and applauded. Some of them could be heard saying, “Long live Princess Orianna.”

During the reception dinner Kyoko and Thael mingled with the guests. Thael was having a conversation with the Larrian King and Queen when he realized Kyoko was missing. He quickly looked around. He finally saw her in the garden. She had climbed up on Lord Rocknash’s hand. He lifted her up to his shoulder.

They always did get along together, he thought.

Later that night the girls approached Takeda Sensei.

“Sensei…?” Yamada sama said. “We’ve been talking together about Orianna and we would like to go to the Palace chapel to pray for her. Is that all right?”

“Of course it is. Let me go with you. We can pray together as a group.” As they were walking down the hall they ran into Una and Shinto.

They bowed to each other. “Kombawa Una san; Kombawa Shinto san.”

“Minna sama, Kombawa,” they bowed to the girls. “Where are you off to?”

Takeda sensei answered, “We’re going to the chapel to say prayers for Orianna.”

Una nodded, “That’s where we were going. May we go with you?”

“Of course...”

When they entered the door to the chapel they saw two figures kneeling at the altar. On the altar was placed a picture of Orianna. The group quietly came in and knelt in the aisle. They were close enough now to see who the two people were. It was Thael and Kyoko. They were still wearing their wedding outfits.

Princess Leurianna came in and saw all the people praying for her fellow Larrian and started silently crying. She knelt behind everyone and prayed.

The next day, Thael, Kyoko, Shinto, Una, Kip and Lord Rocknash met on the patio for breakfast. Princess Leurianna came out to join them. Everyone rose from their chairs and bowed.

She bowed to them, “Thank you all for being so kind to Orianna and me. We’re going to take her home today so she can be honored in Larrian tradition. I did not expect you to treat a servant like family. I knew Thael was brave and courageous, but often our ideas and memories of heroes are opposite of what they are truly like at home. I was most pleased that Kyoko sama is such a wonderful person. She is the perfect Queen for Thael sama.

“I am sorry I deceived you about being just a servant girl. I don’t expect you to forgive me. I know you both will rule with truth, respect, and love; something sadly missing in many Kingdoms and I will miss you.”

She bowed and turned to leave.

“Chotto Matte, Kudasai!” Kyoko commanded.

Leurianna turned to Kyoko and tilted her head to the side slightly as if asking her what she could possibly want of her. Kyoko grabbed Thael and started crying on his shoulder.

Thael spoke first: “Leura chan…? Considering your elevation in social status you may not want to be Kyoko’s Lady in Waiting anymore, but we didn’t grant you permission to abandon our friendship. If you think you can just leave us here to be miserable when you’ve gone away, you need to understand something: We love you.

“We have always treated you like family because you are part of our family. We thought you felt the same way. Kip is family; Una, Lord Rocknash, and, of course, Shinto are part of it too. There is no way we can let you abandon us over a trivial matter, ne minna?”

"Hai!” They all said in unison.

Leuriana’s eyes filled with water, “Honto?”

“We all want,” Kip began with a purr, “to be with you for Orianna’s services and to aid you in ridding your home world of those terrorists. Most importantly, we need you. We just finished agreeing on how best to help when you…” he choked a little and stopped.

Lord Rocknash wiped his eyes with his tablecloth sized napkin.

Thael smiled, “Like Kyoko said to Kip once: ‘Just because you defeat your enemies and end the war on your planet, doesn’t mean our friendship is over.’”

Kyoko ran over to Leurianna and hugged her tightly.

“We can always replace another Lady in Waiting, Leura, but we could never replace you. You will always be in our hearts.”

“Yokata! I was so afraid you’d hate me for lying to you. You are all in my heart as well,” she hugged Kyoko.

The others came over and surrounded the girls.

“…and then what happened, Mama?” Princess Kyoko asked.

“…Yes. Please tell us, Your Majesty, did they help her save her planet?” Thael chan asked.

Princess Orianna said, “Yes, Auntie. Please tell us.”

The other children were all clamoring for more.

“Shh…you must be quieter. Your Aunt the Queen is napping and needs her rest; besides, the rest of the story is another tale to be told another time.”

They all said in unison, “Ohhhh…”

A man’s voice from the doorway said, “What’s going on here?”

Princess Orianna got up and ran to the man, “Daddy!”

The other children all ran to him too. One small Shnark flew into him, attached herself to his chest, and knocked him over. The other children piled on top.

“Uncle! Did you come to tell us the rest of the story?” she asked.

He hugged the Shnark, scratched behind her ears and pet her. “You know, Kyoko sama, your father used to do this to me too. Now that he’s grown up and become King, I really miss that. Children, let me up okay? Your cousins need some loving too.”

Kyoko looked somewhat like a Shnark, but her tail and some of her features looked different.

Queen Leurianna came over to the prone King. “Yes children, let’s all act like the Prince and Princesses you are.”

Queen Kyoko came into the room. “What’s all the commotion down here?” The children got up and started to run for her, but King Thael stopped them.

“Da…me! You know Kyoko sama is about to have a baby. You may hug her if you wish, but be gentle. Remember what you promised?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” they all bowed and walked over to Kyoko.

King Thael hugged his daughter and kissed her forehead. “Orianna sama…? Are you excited about having a brother? It’s almost time for him to join us.”

“Oh, yes Papa,” she ran over to her mother.

Kip walked in. “Tadaima,” he yawned. He walked over to Leurianna and took her in his arms, “Gomenasai, My Queen. My meeting with the Orthons took a little more time than expected. I’m sorry I’m late.”

“Okairi, my King,” she kissed him and nuzzled his nose. Little Kyoko sama ran up to Kip, “Okairi Papa, You’re here!”

She had Leurianna’s bushy tail, her foxlike ears, her father’s golden eyes, and Shnark wings.

Kip saw Thael and in a matter of seconds, Thael was on the floor again only this time he had a much larger Shnark on his chest.

“Uncle…!” He suddenly realized he had knocked Thael down. He jumped up and bowed, “Sumimasen! I…” Thael was still on the floor, “Forget it. Come down here and give your Uncle a hug.” He did.

Leurianna looked at the two Kings hugging each other on the floor. Kip was nuzzling Thael, while Thael scratched and pet Kip. She had her fists on her sides and a stern look on her face. Her tail had an angry twitch in it, “Do you two need some privacy? There are children watching, you know.”

Little Kyoko laughed. Queen Leurianna couldn’t keep it in any longer and burst out laughing too.

Una and Shinto came in. They were wondering what the commotion was about. Seeing the two Kings on the floor Una said, “They’re at it again, aren’t they?” She began to laugh.

Shinto slowly shook his head, “It was bound to happen. They haven’t seen each other in over a year. I‘m glad we’re having this reunion, but should our son, Thael chan, be watching this?”

Una laughed even harder. 