A few young kitsune children, siblings, no older than 7 were outside playing near the outside of the capital, when their mother came up to them.
"Children, I thought I told you two not to..." The mother began scolding before they all suddenly heard footsteps approaching the city.
The family looked to see three figures, a tiger girl, a fox girl, and a human boy leading in the front with the great Fukushu behind them and Abolith directly behind them. They also noticed two human girls in strange armor with a dog walking alongside them. Behind them, the rest of the large army marched behind them. It wasn't just that family that saw the army marching towards the capital, pretty soon, every kitsune man, woman, and child was looking to see the massive crowd heading towards the capital and many of them were whispering to each other about the group as they passed by. They heard a few of the whispers and chatter as they went along.
"Why isn't Fukushu leading them?" One man asked.
"Aren't those three related to Tatsu and Shizen?" A woman asked another woman.
"The three of them? Even the human boy is related to Tatsu and Shizen?" The other woman asked.
"I recognize that one they're carrying, it's Hinata, the three of stopped Hinata and are taking her to the capital." A man said as the group ignored the the talks and walked on ahead, although they would admit if they were asked that they all did feel proud for being able to save as many lives as they could.
They approached the gates of the capital as they were let in and Tatsu and Shizen saw then as well as Hinata and Tatsu had a few of the guards come over to take her away.
"Wait, grandfather, please, have her taken to the infirmary first. Then give her a room to stay in." Kari asked her grandfather.
"You want our enemy to be given special treatment?" Tatsu asked them surprised.
"Please, grandpa, we didn't kill her and we didn't come to have her brought here as a prisoner. She's just....scared and alone. She's been like that for a long time, please make sure she's treated well." Haley asked her grandfather as he also looked at Mason too for his request.
"Please grandpa?" Mason said.
Tatsu took a deep sigh and nodded. "Take....Hinata to the infirmary and place her in one of the spare rooms once she's well enough to rest." A guard nodded as he took Hinata out of Haley's hands.
Shizen now jumped over and wrapped her arms around Kari, Haley, and Mason, and began kissing them furiously.
"Oh my precious grand babies, you're safe! You're all safe! I'm so happy you all made it out alive!" Shizen said as she hugged them tightly and kissed all their heads.
"Grandma, you're hugging as tightly as Haley does." Mason commented feeling his grandmother's immense strength.
"That just shows you all how much I love you all." Shizen said with a smirk as she gave them another hug before releasing them.
"Don't worry, I won't give you all a big hug like Shizen, I promise to be more gentle." Tatsu said as he began to speak to them individually.
"Kari, I'm sure you made sure you fought well beside your siblings on the battlefield. I'm happy you're a true kitsune warrior." Tatsu said as he gave Kari a gentle hug and held her shoulders.
"Thank you Lo....thank you grandpa." Kari said as she gave a smile and nod towards her grandfather.
"Haley, I have a feeling you were the greatest protector of your siblings and friends during the height of battle as I see everyone safely made it back in one piece." Tatsu said to Haley as she gave him a big hug.
"Thanks gramps, anything to make sure my big sis and little bro are safe." Haley said as Tatsu now made his way over to Mason.
"Mason, I can't imagine what this was like for you. I'm sure it was quite frightening out there, but I know you to be a brave young man, just like me and your uncle. You may be human, but you have great kitsune blood in you." Tatsu said as he gave Mason a hug.
"Thanks grandpa, but I'm sort of a werewolf now too." Mason said.
"Come again?"
"On our travels, we found Fenrir here," Mason said as the wolf came over to him and he scratched him behind the ear. "He's small now, but he can become a huge animal. He was actually the one causing the recent tremors. He was chained in a cave we found. I discovered my sword can let me and him fuse together into a mighty wolf form." Mason explained.
"Oh my, I suppose you and Fukushu will have some great training to do then in due time." Tatsu commented.
"Do you think you could uncle?" Mason asked Fukushu turning with a smile.
"If it is your wish nephew, I shall abide by it." Fukushu responded as Mason cheered and Anjelica came over and gave Mason a hug making him blush a little bit.
"Speaking of wishes beloved, I believe you had a wish for Mason you wish to be held up. I shall return shortly." Abolith said as she left her husband's side.
"Fukushu, wait, I want to speak with you privately." Stephanie said coming over to Fukushu.
"You may speak."
"I'm glad we were able to help you with your cause. So I wanted to give you something I was working on while I had some time to rest when we were traveling to fight Hinata." Stephanie explained as she reached into her bag and took out a wooden carving of a fox figure and handed it to Fukushu.
"A fox? How cute, is it meant to be me?" Fukushu asked looking over it.
"You can tell others that. But between you and me, it's meant to be Raiden." Stephanie said quietly as so no one would hear her.
Fukushu nearly stopped short of breath and was lost for words for a second.
"Thank....thank you....Stephanie. I'll keep it in my private chambers. I also want to tell you: keep trying with your husband. I hope you have a healthy and perfect child." Fukushu said as he bowed his head as Stephanie did in return.
Meanwhile as Fukushu and Stephanie were having their chat, at the same time, Mason and Anjelica were having their own talk.
"So....Mason, I never properly thanked you for saving me out on the battlefield earlier." Anjelica said with a slight blush.
"Oh, well, you're welcome. I mean it technically was both Fenrir and me who saved you." Mason said rubbing his neck.
"Yes, and Fenrir is a very good boy." Anjelica said as she rubbed Fenrir's head and kissed it.
"Huh, I think you're one of the few females who has shown me any affection in a long time." Fenrir commented.
"Well you deserve it, and you Mason deserve a little more than a simple thanks. So.....Mason Harris.....do you....want to go out with me when we get back home?" Anjelica asked with her face turning bright red as did Mason's face.
"Oh.....uh.....I....I mean.....I'd.....really....I'd be happy to Anjelica." Mason said fumbling with his words.
"Great, it's a date!" Anjelica said kissing him on the cheek.
"Awww!" Haley and Kari both exclaimed at their little brother as he blushed.
"Our baby brother has himself a date." Haley said with a smirk.
Before Mason could say anything else to his sisters, Abolith suddenly returned with Raiden and Stella trailing behind her.
"Kari, Haley, Mason, I'd like you to meet your cousins, Raiden and Stella." Abolith said as she stepped aside to let her children speak with her nieces and nephews.
"H-H-hello Kari, Haley, Mason. It's nice to meet you all." Stella said.
"Yeah, it's good to finally meet you all." Raiden said as they saw Mason holding back tears.
"Mason, are you alright?" Stella asked.
"Y-y-yeah, it's just really great to meet you both. Do you think....I could give you a hug so I know this is real?" Mason asked as Stella nodded.
Mason and Stella gave each other a hug as Mason felt as happy as he had back when he spoke with Fukushu.
"Hey, do you guys want to play a game of kemari with us?" Raiden asked the three of them.
"Uh...sure, but what is it?" Haley asked her cousins.
"It's a game where you play ball with any part of your body except your arms and hands." Raiden explained.
"Yeah, we'd love to play." Kari said as the three of them followed their cousins to go and play their ball game.
Anjelica stood beside Fenrir as they watched Mason, Kari, and Haley go play with their cousins. Abolith watched her and shook her head with a sigh.
"Did you also want to befriend my son and daughter?" Abolith asked Anjelica looking at the group.
"Oh no, I...I shouldn't, I don't want to intrude on Mason's happy moment." Anjelica said as Abolith put her hand on Anjelica's shoulder.
"Very well, but I saw how well you fought and protected our soldiers. Mason has chosen an excellent match in you." Abolith complimented Anjelica as she blushed.
Anjelica stood there with Fenrir petting him as they both were happy for Mason.
Fukushu then came over and stood next to Abolith as they watched their children along with their nieces and nephew having a fun and exciting time.
"There's still one thing I don't understand: why did you want Mason to meet our children?" Abolith asked Fukushu.
"Because beloved, I was once like him. Before....before I was shown the cruelty of the world, I was like Mason. So confident and happy with my family that you would probably not even recognize me if you met me back then."
"Well, he did show me out there on the battlefield that he is indeed family." Abolith smiled.
"Does that mean you want them to start calling you Auntie Abolith?" Fukushu smirked as Abolith gave him a slight sock on her husband's arm.
"Don't test me beloved." Abolith said she now put her hand on his shoulder.
After a long day, everyone needed to relax and enjoy themselves for better days ahead.