Epilogue

                                    

                                          
"Honestly, why did you drag me all the way out here? I've been wearing a blindfold for hours!"
                          
"Patience, my love. We're almost there."
                          
Four years came and went just as quickly as day turned to night. Yuuki and Aoi had given birth to two sons and Sawamura had spent two of those years in Meijin as a caretaker. Another brief war had broken out when Komadai Fujimaki made baseless advances on Yakushi, which meant that both Meijin and Seido went to their aid. While Sawamura and Miyuki spent much of those two years apart, they did in fact still find time for each other. Today, was the one of the predetermined days that they would spend together for the month. Summer had come around once more and the two men found themselves sweating enough to fill a small pond.
                          
Elara and Aria, Sawamura's horse, halted, signaling that they had arrived.
                          
"Okay, remove your blindfold."
                          
"What did you want to show m-" Sawamura stopped dead in his tracks with the piece of cloth no longer blinding his vision.
                          
He sat atop his horse staring wide-eyed at a familiar cottage. Except, it wasn't a complete heap of wood and glass. It had been repaired, red bricks standing where wooden slabs once had. All the windows were in tact and and a new smoke stack insinuated the installment of a fireplace. There were dozens of peony and daisy shrubs planted around the perimeter of the cottage, and a new cobbled pathway meandered to the stairs for the porch.
                          
"Welcome home, Eijun," Miyuki gestured towards the cottage.
                          
Sawamura was speechless-- all he could do was stare in awe. 
                          
"I bought the land right before the war, but I didn't get a chance to fix it up until last year. I even built a few stables in the back for Elara and Aria. No more sheds for them," he laughed.
                          
"Come, paradise awaits." Miyuki helped Sawamura off of his horse and led him inside.
                          
The cottage had been completely repainted and refurnished. Fur carpets lay in front of the empty fireplace, and the Kitchen was no longer bare. Various paintings adorned the walls and heavy silk curtains draped in front of the windows. Sawamura had thrown out his habit of crying at every turn years ago, but he could not hold back the tears that escaped his eyes today. Now that he really thought about it, the last time he'd been here was four years ago. Four years had passed and Miyuki was still showering him with such intense love. 
                          
"Hey, why are you crying, my sweet love? You have't even seen the best part," he said as he wiped away Sawamura's tears with a soft chuckle.
                          
"There's more?" Sawamura couldn't help the laughter that bubbled in his chest.
                          
Miyuki led him by the hand out of the back door of the cottage and down another cobbled pathway that disappeared behind the newly built stables. His breath hitched in his throat when he laid eyes on the pond where their love first blossomed. Surrounding the edge of the pond were bushes full of roses in full bloom. They were everywhere- floating face up in the pond and intertwined in the vines that wound around a wooden bench on the edge of the cobbled path. 
                          
"Our own rose gardens," Sawamura gasped.
                          
"What do you think of our new home?"
                          
"I love it- I love it so much. It's absolutely wonderful, Kazuya," he shouted as he embraced the taller man.
                          
"Once I'm relieved of my duty, live with me here, Eijun," Miyuki asked as he plucked a single rose and put it in Sawamura's hair.
                          
"I'd love to!"
                          
It was easy to pinpoint the exact moment that he fell in love with the smaller man-- it was here, where they shared their firsts; yet, every day, Miyuki fell in love with him all over again. It was memories like these that he treasured deeply. His lover was smiling from ear to ear, completely lost in happiness. Miyuki picked him up and jumped right into the pond, clothes and all. Together, they shared more moments amongst the roses.
                          
 Oh how he loved the man named Sawamura Eijun.