El Hazard: Continuations
Chapter 9 (Conclusion)

Days had passed since peace reigned again in the
Kingdom of Roshtaria. And there was even greater joy
for it was the wedding of Makoto and Ifurita, two
important people who had played an important role in
the recent development.

Having decided on a traditional Roshtarian wedding,
Makoto was dressed in a simple if somewhat
formal-looking Roshtarian clothes. Ifurita on the
other hand was beyond exquisite. Decked in the most
elaborate and ornate wedding costume, she looked like
a goddess of beauty.

The list of guests there was enormous. While
understandably Katsuhiko Jinnai had chosen to absent
himself, Queen Diva was there. Dressed rather royally,
she was accompanied by her daughter Inari and a small
entourage of Bugrom. She nodded with a slight smile
when her eyes met with that of the Roshtarian monarch.

Ura was also there and had a beautiful sash tired
around her. Fatora and Alielle were busy going around
chasing some of the girls working there. Palnus and
Afura were seen talking together and mingling with
everyone but spending the most time talking to each
other. With some bandages still wrapped around some of
his wounds, Londs had also shown up and was chatting
with Dr. Schtallabaugh. Even Fatora had shown up and
she seemed to be in a benovelent mood today.


Before the actual wedding ceremony, it was of course
customary for both the bride and the groom to be
seperated first. Fujisawa and Miz had dropped by to
see Makoto in his dressing room. "Way to go, kid. You
make your sensei proud."
Looking around to make sure Miz wasn't looking, he
whispered ,"In a marriage, remember not to let your
wife have the upper hand. You got to show her who's
boss."

"I heard that!"
Fujisawa's face turned red as Miz marched and pulled
him out by his ear. "Time for us to go."
Smiling, she turned to Makoto and spoke,"Remember to
treat your wife with love and affection. After all,
where would you men be without us wonderful women?"


In Ifurita's dressing room, it was a different story.
Kalia was sitting by the radiant bride and helping her
with her make-up.
"Take good care of Makoto, okay? Or else..."
"Or else what?"
"I'll steal him away from you."
"Oh, you..." Ifurita gave Kalia a playful nudge on the
ribs.

There was a knock on the door. Kalia went to door. She
opened it and was surprised to see Shayla Shayla,
Nanami and Kauru Taurus. Shayla was the first to
speak.
"We..umm..eh...just..uh...w-wanted to congratulate
you."
"Yes, we're happy for you." Kauru chorused back.

Nanami leaned over to whisper to Ifurita's ear. "If
you ever have any problem with Makoto, you can be sure
to talk to me. After all, I've known him for such a
long..."

Looking over with a kind look, Ifurita leaned over to
answer back to Nanami,"You sure you're okay with this?
After all, you and Makoto..in high school...."
Nanami gently placed her finger on Ifurita's lips.
"Hush. Now is not the time to talk about such things.
Be a good girl and may you be blessed with a happy
marriage."

**************************

They had pulled the seats out of the balconey of the
Great Hall so that the Bugrom delegation would have
room to stand. Only Diva and Inari were seated, on
elaborately carved oaken chairs just overlooking the
parapet. Behind them the Bugrom preened proudly,
festooned with ropes of flowers that the children of
Roshtaria had made for them. Diva and Inari held gift
bouquets tied with cloth of gold.

"I'll never understand how you did it, Mama!" Inari
whispered. "How did you get Papa to let us come? When
you first suggested it, I thought he was going to go
through the hive!"
"Your father is very protective of us both, Inari.
Considering what's happened to us over the last while,
can you blame him?" Diva turned at a munching sound
behind her. "My children, stop eating the flowers!
Lord Jinnai's strict orders were that no one should
eat or drink anything!"

The Bugrom dropped them guiltily, while Inari looked
nervously at her bouquet. "Mama, you don't think
they're--"
"Of course not, my love. But we did promise to obey
your father, didn't we?"
"Yes, Mama. You're right." Inari peered over the
parapet. "Oh, look at all the handsome men! And there'
s that nice Mr. Fujisawa! Mr. Fujisawa!" Inari called
out, waving cheerfully. Mr. Fujisawa (and quite a few
other people) looked up at her. Fujisawa scratched his
head and smiled until his scowling wife took him by
the arm and spun him 'round to face front. Inari
frowned. "She's not very nice. She doesn't look too
willing to share him, does she, Mama?"
"I told you about human women and their
possessiveness, Inari. Besides, you don't need to be
worrying about Mr. Fujisawa or any other men for some
time. No babies for you until you're truly old enough
- promise me?"

Inari was about to protest, then sighed and smiled. "I
promise, Mama. Not until I'm old enough."
"In any case, you will have plenty of time to practice
caring for babies in the next few months."
"What do you mean?"

Diva smiled. "Ifurita is not the only expectant mother
here. We lost so many warriors in our recent battles
that I felt the need to increase our numbers again.
Our new hatchlings will arrive very soon."

"Mama!" Inari's eyes flew wide. For a moment she was
speechless with joy. "And Papa -- does he know?"

"Of course he knows. That was why he let me come." She
paused. "He was not in a position to stop me. I have
found that it...takes him a few days to recover."

Inari blinked, confused, but a fanfare of music
prevented her reply. She looked down to see Ifurita
and Makoto standing together before the altar. As they
watched, a ray of sunlight shot down through one of
the stained glass windows and bathed the couple in
golden light. Groucho, wobbly-eyed, held a
handkerchief to his antennae.

"It's so beautiful! I wish the Bugrom had some
ceremony like that! Mama, do you think Papa would
ever-"

"Hush, child." Diva's golden eyes were filled with
love, and laughter. "One miracle at a time."

********************************

As the happy couple exchanged their vows later on,
Shayla turned over to Nanami who was sitting next to
her and spoke softly,"You sure are very good at hiding
your true feelings, you know."
Nanami merely nodded without saying a word while
Shayla continued,"After this wedding, why don't we go
and get ourselves plastered. A few drinks wouldn't
hurt."
"Sure. Me too," interrupted Kauru who was also sitting
near the two girls.

*******************

AFTERWORD (A year later)

(From the pages of Makoto Mizuhara's diary) :

My dear diary,
A year has passed since I got married. Peace has
returned to Roshtaria. The land sure looks beautiful
now, doesn't it? What with trees blooming and happy
faces smiling. Hard to believe that not very long ago,
this land was on the verge of destruction.

Fatora has become a more responsible member of the
royalty. Every now and then, she will consult Londs
about the affairs of the state.

Diva is slowly rebuilding her Bugrom empire with the
help of her daughter Inari and Katsuhiko Jinnai.
Jinnai? Hmmm....this guy still refuses to speak to me.
I guess that's his loss.

Not that I'm complaining.

Back to Diva. She and the Roshtarian monarch will
often hold meetings on ways of improving the
livelihoods of their respective people and ways of
improving relations. I don't think she needs to worry
too much. Ever since the Bugrom help defeat the
Phantom Tribe, acts of antagonism towards them seem to
have almost disappeared.
Her daughter? She's showing signs of being a good
leader someday. Somewhat immature in outlook as of now
but she'll learn.
That I am sure of.

Ura is growing fat and lazy. Understandable as her
species is suppose to be used for protecting others
and she hasn't had much to do lately.

Alielle? She's become more helpful lately, doing lots
of charity work.

Palnus and Afura are seen together nearly all the
time. Some people have speculated that they may be
more than friends and something is definitely going on
between them. Others have just said that their
relationship is probably like best friends or like
siblings.
I don't know. You'll have to ask them yourself. Oh
yes! And in addition to her duties as a Wind
Priestess, I heard that Afura has set up a publishing
firm and also has been busy writing books.
Interesting, hmmm...

Also noteworthy is the fact that Nanami, Shayla and
Kauru are now best of friends. They will occasionally
hang out and just talk for hours. Sometimes, Kalia
will join them and just have a girls' night out.
Ah...Kalia, how is she now, you ask? Instead of people
fearing her, she is now a highly revered figure in
Roshtaria. She's like a godmother to..... Ah, this is
brings us to me and my family.

Well, I am now a proud father and husband. Little
Ifurina looks like her mom. Somehow, I have this
nagging feeling that my dear wife is going to instruct
her how to use that power staff someday.

Oh yes, little Taro Fujisawa came over yesterday with
his parents. He commented on how cute Ifurina is and
said that he will marry her one day when he grows up.
Kids. Always so pure and innocent. It went without
saying that his remark had his parents in an
uproarious laughter. Little Ifurina just ignored him
and went back to sleep.

I must stop now. My missus is calling me. She's
telling me that dinner is ready and she's planting an
affectionate kiss on my left cheek while little
Ifurina looks on.
Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Time to go.


(End of diary entry)


"You can't start a fire without a spark." - Bruce
Springsteen


THE END.......for now.