Jubei Samurai Shodown
Fan Fiction
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Samurai Spirits; The Legend Continues
by Helen


Chapter 19-----If only....



it's almost night time. Shizu and the others are at a half-frozen lake near the temple..
Rimururu and her friends stand aside and watch as Shizumaru gently carry Akane to the lake...
[soft splash]
the ice may be melting from the lake, but the water is still cold as hell but Shizu doesn't care.. he can't even feel it....
all he care about is AKANE...
but she's gone..
she's really gone...
when the water is deep enough, Shizu knows what he must do..
he must let her go...
"......." Shizu lowers his head, he don't want to let her go...he want to hold her forever, he want to be with her forever... is this what people called love? he don't care anymore...he just want her back. he want to tell her how much he care about her, he want to tell her the truth. his feelings...
but it's too late..
he closes his eyes, he feels like crying but no tears come out. he just feel so empty... and without Akane around, he feels even worse..
"......?" Shizu saw there's a pendant in her hand. the same pendant she wore since they were kids. he takes the pendant from her hand, it belongs to Jubei now. but why was she holding onto it? she and Shizu are almost the same, they both can sense danger before it happens. why didn't she run away? Akane knows she'll get killed...why did she stay anyways..?
he must ask Jubei..he's the only one who's knows the whole story..
"......" he take the last look at Akane..
she looks so peaceful, beautiful..
he wish he can keep her around forever, but her spirit is gone from her body...she'll never talk again, never smile again..
Shizu closes his eyes, then he opens his eyes again.
he gently let her go...
Akane's body slowly begin to sink...
disappearing more and more...
until she's totally gone...
..........

later, Shizu walks back to shore. Rimururu and her friends tried to cheer him up, but he ignored them all. he went straight to Jubei, who didn't watch the funeral..
"Jubei." said Shizu, and went up to him, "TELL ME."
".........tell you what?"
"EVERYTHING." said Shizu, and continues, "...please Jubei!! you're the only person who knows Akane better than anyone here!! you must tell me the truth..!! the dreams...this woman..the angel...Akane...Kojiro..WHAT IS THIS ALL ABOUT?! WHY DOES AKANE HAVE TO DIE?!"
"......" Jubei ignores him
"...PLEASE JUBEI-SAN!!" shouts Shizu
Jubei turn to Hanzo. Hanzo didn't say anything. Jubei faces Shizu,
"...allright, i'll tell you..follow me."

they followed Jubei to the temple. Jubei went up to the altar, "..i thought this would never happened.. i thought Akane can live normal like all others.." Jubei faces Shizu, "...it was 17 years ago...when Zankuro was still around, bringing fear to all in Japan. and it was 17 years ago...when I met JULIA..."
"........Julia..?" blinks Shizu. she's the woman from his dreams!
"Julia was the last survivor Sacred Sage. her parents who were also the descendant of the Sacred Sage were killed by Zankuro.. Zankuro's goal wasn't to be the most powerful samurai alive, but to conquer the world with his master Kojiro, the heart of Ambrosia..the heart of evil."
"..so he's the messenger.."
"Zankuro will not stop until he reach his goal: terminate all Sacred Sages. cut off the blood line. as long as one descendant is still alive, Kojiro cannot be free.." said Jubei, "for years many samurais have challenged the mighty Zankuro, but no one ever succeeded. they are either dead or seriously wounded. Zankuro's powers were not human... anything or anyone in his way, either your another fool to challenge him or an innocent child, he will kill it. because of his powers, he can track any Sacred Sage survivor for miles..and he won't stop until Kojiro is freed."
"........."
"..one rainy day, Zankuro stumbled on a small village. he destroyed and killed every living thing there..." whispers Jubei, "...ALL EXCEPT ONE.."
"..???!"
"an infant." said Jubei, "no one really knows why Zankuro didn't kill it... but Zankuro feared the infant and ran away.." then he faces Shizu, "..that infant...WAS YOU, SHIZUMARU."
".....!!!" he gasps
"Zankuro feared you..the glow in your eyes." said Jubei, "you possess powers since you were born that all mortals feared...the power to kill, the power of destruction. YOU ARE ZANKURO'S SON. you are...the NEXT MESSENGER OF KOJIRO..."
"............" Shizu trembles, "...Zankuro..my father?! noo..!!! it can't be.." then he kneels down, "..i killed my father.....YOU'RE LYING..!!!" he gets up, "HE CAN'T BE MY FATHER! he..he killed my people, he killed mother...!!"
"because messenger don't have feelings." said Jubei
"........"
"just like you, Zankuro slowly grows from an innocent infant to a cold-blooded killer. he lost all his feelings as he grows up each day..his powers getting out of control..and finally, he lost all his feelings and senses, and he's no longer a normal human being..but a DEMON." said Jubei, "..and you will become like Zankuro."
"...I CAN'T BE HIS SON..!!" shouts Shizu, "..impossible.."
"he killed everyone because he lost all his emotions. he killed your mother because he don't even remember who she is anymore but another enemy in his way." said Jubei, "but Zankuro ran away because of your glow in your eyes...it shows power inside of you. your true powers..."
"....."
"that's how you defeat Zankuro. even the strongest samurai can't do it, not Hoahmaru. only a demon possesses that kind of power to kill. that agility to move like the wind and the senses sharper than an animal." said Jubei, then he lowers his head, "...Julia. she was there. she could've killed you..."
"........???"
"Julia could've killed you because you are the next messenger. you hold the bloodline of Kojiro's. she could've end the bloodline that time and save herself and Akane.." whispers Jubei,"but she have hope in you, strangely. she erases your memory to remember what happened at your village so you can live as a normal child like all others. that's what Julia wants for every kid...even herself and Akane....to live normal...but destiny will come sooner or later."
"........"
"after she hand you to the monk, Zankuro caught up with her. she ran until she found me and my friend Rikimaru were in training.." said Jubei, "we hide her in my house, and challenges Zankuro..and he left. 2 years have passed, Julia and Rikimaru fell in love had a child..Akane. everything went well until Zankuro shows up again. they both know we can't defeat Akane alone...so Julia made me promise her before I ran away with Akane, that I must NEVER reveal to her that she was a Sacred Sage, but a normal human being. she gave her pendant to Akane..and then she and Rikimaru left to fight Zankuro.."
".....then what happened?"
"they lost." said Jubei, "they were both killed by that bastard. but Zankuro didn't stop there..he knows there's one more survivor... so me and Akane always have to move around and run from him...and over the years, a strange prophet appears who is also searching for Akane.."
"..the prophet from 7 years ago.."
"yes. he and Zankuro are the messengers...but i never knew who the mysterious man was. there should only be one messenger, like the legend said. but after that battle against the prophet 7 years ago...I saw the glow in his eyes..the same glow as YOURS, Shizumaru.." said Jubei
Hanzo finally step up and say something, "...that prophet was your future self."
"...but how.."
"the prophet must be very powerful in order to travel in time and find Akane." said Hanzo
"...and..Akane knows it." said Jubei, "she knows about you and the prophet. she was able to escape for the festival because she knows she will face her destiny...she could've killed you while you're still weak enough right now so she can save yourself just like Julia could've done that 17 years ago... but Akane let you live..."
"........." Shizu lowers his head, "..so she knows about it. that's why she didn't run away.."
"even she's only half Sacred Sage and half human in her blood...she still possesses the power of her ancestors." said Hanzo, "as long as she's alive, she must face her destiny as a Sacred Sage and seal Kojiro away in the temple...as long as she's alive, the prophet will continue hunting for her.."
"......" Shizu don't know what to say. this is so much for him to handle...
"WHOA. some story huh?" smiles Hoahmaru
"SHUT UP HOAHMARU!" shouts everyone
"damn..fine.." whispers Hoahmaru
Shizumaru gets up, and walks away...
"...WHERE YOU GOING..?!" shouts Rimururu, wanting to come with him.. Jubei stopped her.
"no..." said Jubei, "..he need to be alone.."

[silent]
Shizu sits down outside of the temple, thinking..
he understands everything now..why he doesn't have any feelings..why his powers grew so strong recently....why he have those crazy headaches... it was all because he carries the bloodline of the demon..
because HE IS A DEMON...
"....." Shizu put his head down, looking at the ground. WHY?? why him??? out of all people why did Kojiro choose him??? if it wasn't him, Akane would be alive and...
he closes his eyes, "...Akane...."
she's the same as he is. she carries the bloodline of her ancestors the Sacred Sage... they were both born to be enemies.... is this all Fate? is that what Julia and Nakoruru meant? WHY?! why Akane? why me..
he don't know if he should be angry at Kojiro for giving him this power or be angry at Fate for Akane to die...
"...i'm so confused.." whispers Shizu. for the first time in his life, he don't know what to do. he don't know where he shoud go now, what he should do next. fight? run? be the messenger? or live normal as nothing happened?
he feel so hopeless as samurai....he feel so weak...so alone...
he takes his sword out from the sheath..and looks at it...
was he even meant to be a samurai at the first place? if only he didn't become an apprentice..he would never know how to fight, he would never have this power to kill.....
"....DAMN!!!" he shouts, and throw the sword away..
[CLANK]
[thunder] it started to rain... more and more raindrops everywhere. Shizu is all wet, but he don't care. he just put his head down, don't know what to do... his life is going to change forever..
[clank] [clank]
the raindrops hit on the sword, making clanking sound...
[clank] [clank] [clank]
"..........." Shizu looks up, looks at the sword.
[clank] [clank] [clank]
he walks up to the sword...and get it...
he looks at the sword..
raindrops continue to fall on it.... Shizumaru can see his reflection...
he can see his scar on his face made by Shogun..
he can see the glow in his eyes, even though he's not angry right now..
".........." he stare at his reflection for a few minutes... this is who he is. this is who he will always be...Hisame Shizumaru. the messenger of Kojiro...that's his destiny.
but what if..
what if he can control his fate? what if he tries and change his destiny?
he might be able to stop Kojiro...just like what Akane would want him to do. finish what she was supposed to do, seal Kojiro away forever.
he put the sword back into his sheath....
then he looks at the sky as rain rains down on his face....he don't care..
he can see the some stars in the night sky when some black clouds aparts...
the stars are beautiful...
he does have feelings......he does have friends the whole time...he just never realized it..he didn't feel it the whole time but he knows deep in his heart there was friendship to Rimururu and the others...and he knows that there's love too...

if only Akane knows the truth...
if only he told her the truth..
if only he told her he loved her.....


Chapter 20-----Fire vs Ice


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