The moon was an interesting place. Perhaps a part of ancient history, rather than distant future. Scars on the surface marked as constant reminders of the past. The constant assault of comets wouldn't go unheard of- it reminded the samurai much of himself. He stripped his shirt away, and ran his hand along his chest scar from his encounter with the Order. He stood upon the moon's surface staring off into endless space, when suddenly a jarring noise brought him back down to earth.

Knock, knock, knock, knock!

Dogura's eyes opened slowly, and he realized that he wasn't on the moon, but rather awakening from a deeper slumber than he'd like to admit. He hadn't slept soundly in some time- it was rather dangerous that he slept so well on the surface land. He felt Evelyn's delicate hand across his torso, and the cool caress of the sheets across his legs and feet. He rubbed his eyes, and carefully removed Evelyn's hand. Lifting himself out of bed, he found his robe, and quickly covered up.

Knock, knock, knock!

This time, Evelyn awoke. "Honey, who's at the door."

"Don't call me that." The samurai replied coldly. "And I don't know."

Evelyn sighed, "How do you not know? Can't you sense an aura or something."

Dogura frowned as he exited the room. Mortals... He thought bitterly as he advanced to the door. She was right though- the aura was unmistakable. If he'd thought that it was danger, he would have grabbed his sword, and melded into the shadows. But he knew better. In fact, he might not have gotten out of bed had it been anyone else. This particular person was someone he'd been waiting to hear from for some time. He unlocked the door, and pulled it open to see his son standing in the doorway.

Katsuro's clothes and armor were tattered and worn. He carried an unfamiliar looking sword, and a new shield on his back. Come to think of it, since when did Katsuro buy armor? The boy looked tired as could be, and worn ragged like no other. The child- no. Thought Dogura. The man, looked up at his father with tired eyes.

"Hey... Good morning..." Were his first words to his father.

The samurai couldn't help but smile proudly. "You look like you've been through hell. Get washed up. Food, water, and rest too. We'll talk when you wake up." Dogura stepped aside, and let the boy pass through. Evelyn immediately ran from her bedroom to Katsuro, and threw her arms around the boy. "OH, MY BABY! You're home!"

Dogura was surprised at Suro's reaction to this. The boy would have groaned and pushed away before this. Instead, he smiled, and hugged her back. "Yeah, ma, I'm home..."

Maturity.

Wherever the boy had gone, he'd found maturity in his travels. Dogura couldn't have been happier in this moment. He was quick to sour up though- last time he was this content, heaven didn't like it.

The boy disappeared into the washroom, and a few seconds later the water could be heard running. Evelyn hurried into the kitchen. "I'll get a hot breakfast cooked up!"



* * *


Several hours later, Dogura and Katsuro stood outside, enjoying the breeze from the backyard.

"So, all of that happened huh... Darkin, Alpha, and Taint... I remember Yukie too. Tayro isn't a name I've heard in quite some time. And crossed paths with Saber too, did ya?" Dogura puffed his cigarette in amusement. "What a tale..."

Katsuro shook his head. "You know all of them huh? I should have figured..."

Dogura frowned. "Now what is that supposed to mean? You're not calling me old, are you?"

Katsuro shook his head. "I honestly feel like you're a lot older than you probably are... A lot more than you'd like to know." The boy watched the clouds sail by overhead. "Yeah... It was a fantastic adventure... I'd like one again, but not too soon. Almost lost my life back there. I'm lucky my allies were so talented. OH, that reminds me! Mr. Alpha taught me some magic! You want to see?" Katsuro immediately formed a shimmering ball of magic in his hand, and launched it skyward. It exploded into a blast of water that rained down on the two.

Dogura laughed heartily, "Ha ha ha ha! Now that is an elemental burst! Alpha taught you good, did he? You formed that magic pretty quick too!"

Katsuro nodded excitedly. "I practiced the whole way home!" He wiped his blond hair out of his face, and yawned. "Boy, oh, boy. I wish I'd exchanged some contact information with those folks... I'd like to do something like that again sometime."

Dogura closed his eyes in thought. "Hrm... I know that Saber has a little mercenary service that he runs. It's out in Tantari, not far from the Cafe. Taint sails around north of Tantari frequently. I know where Darkin lives- or at least I think he still lives there. But if you're looking for Alpha, or his friend Yukie... Well, you kind of just have to wait for them to come to you. I've never known how to track Alpha, Din knows I've tried my damndest. He's a man who values his privacy and peace." He smiled. "Something tells me that if I ever tracked him back to wherever he goes, he'd never forgive me. Ha ha ha!"

Katsuro nodded. "I'll head to Tantari and see if Saber wants to go adventuring. He seems like he's the closest to my skill level, and if he runs a mercenary service, then he'll definitely be interested in what I've got."

Dogura eyed the boy. "Interesting. What've you got?"

Katsuro removed a piece of rolled up parchment from his clothing. "I have a treasure map. Looted it off of a pirate ship on our return home. They were sorry fighters, but they had some good loot! I've got a couple more of these in the house."

He's adventuring just like I used to... Ahhh, I miss those days... Before any of that stuff with Uncle Tybalt happened... Dogura ruffled the boy's hair like he used to. "Atta boy. If you ever want to go adventuring with your old man sometime, be sure to give me a holler. If I ain't busy, I'd love to do some good ol' fashion treasure hunting."

The sun shined down on the two, as a perfect day was drawing closer and closer to dinner.