Epilogue (for Ultimatum)

So here I am again. I've come full circle.

I listen to the rustling of the bright green leaves and feel the lively spring breeze play through my hair and nestle against my skin. Everything is so much more pleasant than the first time I was here. Then, everything seemed dead and threatening. Then, everything was hopeless. Now, even these trees have found reason to celebrate.

Has it really been five years since the first time?

I find the tree I'm looking for and stop under its wide canopy. It's grown since I was last here. That's not surprising, of course, but I am surprised to see that the scar hasn't healed it its time. I smile as I reach up and touch that scar. The sword on my back seems so much heavier as I do.

Having seen the place where my nickname originated, I take a deep breath and peer around to the other side of the tree to where my passion originated. The area between two roots still seems depressed with the weight of a body. Of course, there's nothing there, but the essence of that man remains here. Here with my vow. Waiting for the fulfillment of that vow.

I smile down at the invisible figure of a dying man.

"It's done," I say.

Then, I take out my sword - this beautiful katana given to me five years ago - and push it into the soft soil beneath the tree. Then, I leave.