The next day, the house had regained its calm.
Sunlight filtered through the large leaves of the garden, and a big black car was parked in front of the home. It looked like a simple, almost ordinary scene—but one filled with a new kind of peace.
At the back, Sakolomi, Bakuzan, Bakuran, and Salomi were unloading several bags of supplies.
"Be careful," said Amu, placing her hands on her hips. "There are fragile items in there; don't shake them like stones."
"Don't worry, Mom!" Bakuran shot back, a bit too confident.
A little further away, Amu was talking with Baham, the family friend who had driven the car.
"Thanks for your help, really," she said.
Baham shrugged with a calm smile.
"We're family. We help each other; it's normal."
He then looked at the four young adults bustling around the car.
"Look at them…" he said with an admiring breath. "They've grown so much. Feels like just yesterday they were running barefoot in the garden."
Amu smiled softly.
"I'm so proud of them…"
Baham's expression grew serious.
"To be honest… I never thought I'd see Bakuzan again. Not after he disappeared."
Amu lowered her gaze slightly.
"I understand… but I… I prayed. Every day. I knew that one day…"
She suddenly stopped.
For a voice rose sharply behind them.
"Let go of that!"
They turned around.
Salomi and Bakuran were fighting over a large blue bag.
"I saw it first!" protested Salomi.
"Maybe, but I grabbed it first. Learn the idea of 'first come, first served'!" replied Bakuran with exaggerated dignity.
"I don't care about your concept! Give it back!" Salomi shot back, pulling on it.
Amu ran her hand across her forehead, exasperated.
Baham burst out laughing.
"Oh yes… they've grown… but not everywhere."
At that moment, Bakuzan appeared quietly behind them.
He placed a firm hand on both their heads.
"Good. Since you can't agree… I'll take the bag. Is that okay?"
His tone was calm—but the pressure behind it could make a mountain tremble.
The two immediately froze.
"That's not fair…," grumbled Salomi.
"Come on, drop it…," said Bakuran gently pulling Salomi by the sleeve. "This bag isn't worth a war."
Bakuzan picked up the bag without a word.
Then he turned to his mother.
He said nothing.
But his gaze said it all:
Don't worry. I'm watching over you.
Amu looked at him with gentle emotion, a tender smile on her lips.
"Luckily, he's back," she murmured to Baham. "He's always known how to bring balance."
Bakuzan walked away with the bag, moving slowly.
The sun lit his back.
His steps were calm, his shoulders relaxed.
In his eyes, a peaceful gleam.
He was breathing... at home.
He had crossed solitude, war, pain, fear.
But here, with them—where laughter flew, where mythical flowers scented the air, where his mother could look at him without fear—
He was coming back to himself.
A discreet smile softened his face.
After so many years…
He had finally come home.
When mealtime came, the table was full—a true mosaic of colors and smells.
Grilled squid still steaming, fragrant rice, roasted chicken, caramelized pork, creamy soups…
Even the air seemed to savor it.
They didn't need to be invited: each sat down, hungry, happy, alive.
Salomi, chin slightly raised, asked with poorly controlled pride:
"So? What do you think of the pork and the squid? I made them myself."
Bakuzan, without lifting his eyes from his plate, answered in a perfectly neutral tone:
"I only understand now why it's so disgusting."
Salomi stiffened immediately, indignant.
"Huh?! Are you mocking me?! Two minutes ago, you said it was delicious—and you took half the pork dish!"
Next to her, Sakolomi, who was literally destroying the plate of squid all by himself, said with his mouth full:
"Hmmm… yes… it's true… disgusting…"
Salomi pointed at him, outraged.
"You have ZERO credibility. You're literally eating the last pieces!"
Bakuran, who had just finished his bowl of soup, sighed, satisfied.
"You should be used to it by now. Those two were born to talk nonsense while eating."
Salomi crossed her arms, frowned, her eyebrows knit.
"I'd like to see if their future wives will cook better than me. I doubt it very much."
Sakolomi gently placed a hand on her head, almost brotherly.
"Come on, relax. It's very good. By the way… can you bring me some more grilled squid?"
Salomi brushed his hand away as if shooing a fly.
"Go get it yourself."
"Huh?" Sakolomi said, genuinely shocked.
Bakuzan and Bakuran immediately burst out laughing, almost leaning on the table, delighted at his defeat.
Amu, who was watching all this, calmly put down her spoon, her gaze soft but firm.
"We are at the table, not in a playground."
The four of them, taken by an almost instinctive reflex, answered simultaneously:
"Sorry, Mother."
Silence fell.
But it was a smiling silence.
Amu resumed her soup, and her heart warmed more than the bowl's heat.
Seeing her children like this… teasing, laughing, existing together…
She had dreamed of this moment, prayed for it, cried for it.
And now, it was here.
Real.
Alive.
She breathed in silently.
Her home had returned.
Amu suddenly lifted her eyes toward Sakolomi, fixing him with a look half-tender, half-strict.
"Sakolomi."
He stopped cold, a bite still suspended in his hand.
"Yes, Mother?"
She narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Did you get a tattoo?"
Sakolomi looked at his arms as if discovering them for the first time. The dark marks spread in fluid, almost organic patterns. He immediately became agitated, panicked.
"Ah! No no no, Mother, it's not… it's not that at all! I can explain everything, but it's complicated!"
Amu rested her elbows on the table, the firmness in her gaze increasing.
"So Mr. thinks I didn't notice anything since the other day?
So you've become a delinquent, is that it?"
"MOTHER, I assure you it has nothing to do with tattoos! These are marks of mythical transition, of my body's evolution—wait, listen—"
The other three were already doubled over laughing.
Bakuran was shaking the table laughing.
"You really have no luck, Sakolomi!"
Bakuzan added, unperturbed:
"I see that with time, your legendary bad luck remains intact."
Salomi, arms crossed, triumphant:
"Here's the price for mocking my cooking. Justice served."
Sakolomi grumbled something between shame and exasperation, while Amu tried (unsuccessfully) to keep a stern expression.
Later—4:57 PM
The beach.
The salty wind, the quiet waves, the setting sun tinting the water pale gold.
They all walked, shoulders almost aligned, silent but together.
Sakolomi walked with his hands in his pockets, the breeze playing in his hair.
"It feels good to get away a bit from myths… don't you think?"
Salomi nodded gently.
"Especially when we're all here. Like before."
Bakuran looked at the horizon.
"I wonder what would happen if Father were still alive."
Silence fell.
Not a heavy silence.
A respectful silence.
Salomi inhaled.
"He'd have given Bakuzan a serious scolding for disappearing so long."
Sakolomi shook his head.
"No. I think if Father were here… Bakuzan wouldn't have disappeared at all."
Bakuran then turned his gaze to Bakuzan.
"And you? What do you think?"
Bakuzan stared at the sea, motionless.
His expression was calm, but profoundly distant.
"Monor City… it's been a long time.
I missed it.
That feeling… like a river of memories rushing back all at once."
A discreet smile formed on their faces.
"Yes…" murmured Bakuran.
"It comes back. We hadn't gathered like this since…"
"It's like we came back to the past," added Sakolomi.
Salomi, overwhelmed, didn't hold back.
She wrapped her arms around them, forcing a clumsy, disorderly but genuine hug.
"I want it never to stop…
I want us to be together like this, for good."
Bakuzan closed his arms around the other three, resting his forehead against Sakolomi's.
"I love you all.
You have no idea…
How much."
Elsewhere
By a tomb, in the middle of a small garden of white stones.
Amu was alone.
She wasn't crying out of sadness.
Her tears were clear, almost luminous.
"They're all here," she said in a voice broken by emotion.
"Together. All of them.
If only you could see this…"
She laid her hand on the stone as if placing a hand on a cheek.
"They've grown.
They've become strong.
And they're coming back to me… like before."
Her voice tightened, but she continued.
"Only you are missing.
But don't worry.
I will protect them.
I won't let any of them sink again."
She closed her eyes.
The gentle wind answered her—as a familiar breath.