13 - 2

"Great." Said Takehaya, "Lets get back to Luna." Mary grabbed the mirror and she hastily returned to Luna while Takehaya followed behind as he locked the door.

FOREST

Luna reached out to the people that were in the hospital as she informed them minutes before to expect the arrival of two patients and she hung up the call. She saw Mary from afar and assured the injured Naoya and Ella that they were going to be safe. Mary arrived and placed the mirror beside Naoya and Luna punched through the mirror and transported the wounded Naoya and Ella through the mirror.

Luna then said, "Takehaya, you go along with them and return to your body."

"Got it." Said Takehaya as he went through the portal with Naoya and Ella.

Luna then instructed Mary, "Okay, now that they've been transported, lets get out of here! Take the mirror with you-"

But Mary asked, "Aren't we going to join the others at the hospital?"

"And leave the mirror here?" Commented Luna, who didn't want to take any risks of leaving it in an open place like the forest. "Come on, lets move!"

Luna and Mary stood up and with Mary holding the mirror, they made their way back to the city. Meanwhile, Raimei, from atop the trees, watched Luna and Mary as they walked away.

AT THE HOSPITAL

There were a group of nurses and doctors waiting for Naoya and Ella as they arrived and upon their arrival, they immediately began treating their wounds as they carried them to their rooms.

Takehaya's foggy body emerged from the mirror and immediately, he travelled at high speed from the entrance to back into his body where Yu and Jin were there and waiting for him. And upon seeing his foggy body enter into the now zombie-like body but after doing so, the body began recompose back into Takehaya as the cells in his body began redeveloping and then reproducing. And upon completion, Takehaya opened his eyes as he expressed a shocking gasp.

And upon minutes, the changes that were seen back in Yomi began to transition into Takehaya as his hair turned from black to light grey and his eyes shifted from brown to gold yellow and finally, lines appeared on Takehaya's body from his hands that linked up to his back which appeared incredibly thin in design.

Takehaya coughed saying "Oh god!" As that fog began exiting from his mouth. "My god!" Said Takehaya, his body taking time to fully reevaluate itself with the soul.

"Takehaya!" Said Yu, sounding relieved.

Seeing his father, he got up and said "Dad-" but standing up, his legs caused him to fall as he couldn't properly control them yet.

Yu grabbed his son and helped him back on the table. He said, "Hey its okay! I got you. Here you go... Its good to see you again." He then hugged his son with joy in his eyes. His expression change to remorse as he said, "I wanted to apologise to you... I failed to protect you as a father and I had worries if whether I could fix or EVEN develop a true bond with you... I wish not for your forgiveness son... But I hope I can make it right with you in anyway."

Takehaya smiled and placed his hand on his fathers shoulder as he explained, "In fairness, I made it difficult for you since the beginning and... To be honest, when I learned about my mother, I was surprised but... I was also sad... It made me look back on the horrible things that I did in the past and... It made me wonder whether or not I had any sense of redemption in me... So don't blame yourself too much dad... Let's move away from the past and move forward into the future."

Yu smiled back and together the father and son hugged together, making Jin happy.

Takehaya then turned to Jin and stood up, facing him. He then bowed and apologised saying, "Great Thunder Warrior Raijin, as a failure of the trainings of thunder, I'm sorry for the reckless act that I had commited that day... My only excuse was that I wish to prove my worth to not only my father but to you all... It was because you and them that I have become who I am and for that, I will do all in my power to make the Enigma's pay for kidnapping Raimei... I hope you can at least accept my offer of righting my wrongs."

Yu appeared proud of seeing his son being more responsible in his role as the Storm Warrior.

Jin stood there quiet. He then placed his hand on Takehaya's shoulder and said to him, "Stand up you foolish boy!"

Takehaya lifted his head, believing that he was receive a scolding or a harsh rejection or maybe even a hit to the head.

Jin then explained, "What happened that day was your fault, I will agree with you on that but... I understood your later reason for actions after that incident as I could see in your eyes, on that day... You genuinely wanted to right the wrongs and you were willing to risk your life for that... But that doesn't excuse your later actions and that is why... I forgive you and I want to see this new journey of true redemption from you Takehaya... There is a saying, someones story may not have a happy beginning but that does not define you... It is the rest of the story..."

Jin patted Takehaya on his head and turned to leave, followed by Yu.

Takehaya stood there as he watched them leave. By himself, he stood up, a tear shed on his face, which was led with a smile. He wiped off his tears and exited the room to go and see Naoya.

HOSPITAL ROOM

Takehaya sat down beside the resting Naoya and Ella with Ella's condition being that she was almost at the brink of death and would need extensive time to properly heal. But for Naoya... the mucus had ran through his foot and into his skull which became immensely infected which left the nurses no choice but to remove it and replace it with a robotic leg.

Takehaya watched as the nurses took the infected foot away which they noted had to be burnt due to likely risk of anybody wanting to steal it and they didn't want to take the risk.

After a while, Naoya woke up and saw Takehaya. He groaned for a second before he got up, finding himself in the hospital bed beside Ella.

Seeing her, his eyes lit up as he said, "Ella!"