The Assassin and His Cygnet

Epilogue

[Some years later]

"Hyoga! The ceremony is in less than an hour, can you at least put something on?" little Yakov called from outside of his room.

"I do have something on, Yakov," he argued. He had his back turned to the door, but he heard it open and close.

"You can't be crowned in a t-shirt and shorts!" Yakov insisted. "Come on, your mum told me to give you these,"

Hyoga looked over his shoulder at the kid and then at the overly fancy clothes he was holding. He sighed. Of course his mother Natasha, the tsarina, would want him looking his best.

He had never expected to become tsar. After all, there was Isaak, and Isaak was good at staying alive. Nobody expected both he and the former tsar to die during a conquest. In fact, he had only gone back after his mother and Yakov called to beg him to return.

Hyoga sighed and took the clothes. Perhaps he had no choice. His eyes wandered to a painting on his wall. He had asked one of the artists to paint someone based merely on Hyoga's description of that person. The result was strikingly, almost terrifyingly similar to what he remembered of Shun.

"That's a nice painting," said Yakov, following his gaze. "And the subject is quite pretty. Do you know him?"

"I did," Hyoga responded, careful to use the past tense. Yakov didn't notice.

"What's his name?"

"Shun. You wouldn't know him, Yakov. He's from Japan," Hyoga explained.

"Ah, so he's from when you were a gangster!"

"When you put it that way, I sound like a delinquent,"

Yakov giggled. "You kind of were one, though,"

"Not anymore," Hyoga said, ruffling the kid's hair. "You can't go around calling the to-be tsar a delinquent and get away with it,"

Yakov moved out of his reach, running his fingers through his hair and trying to get it back into some sort of order. Hyoga chuckled lightly. He put the fancy clothes over his casual ones, since they were still a bit big on him. He remembered seeing them in Isaak's room before the war.

"Come on, Hyoga!" Yakov's voice rang in his ears. "Your mum just called!"

Hyoga sighed.

He had spent too long in the past.

Perhaps it was time to move on.

The handsome blonde walked up to the painting of Shun, using his hand to gently touch it.

He looked across the room, seeing himself in the mirror. It was the first time he had taken in his appearance since he ran away during the war.

Hyoga tilted his head, his reflection following his movements. He looked himself in the eye.

"Don't you dare forget about Shun, or I'll hunt you down," Hyoga told his mirror image. Then he smirked and headed out the door. Can't be late to his own coronation.

A/N: It sounded like a good idea to end this on a sweet note, although it's still... sad. By the way, Yakov is the boy we see with the sled near the beginning of the anime (when they introduce Hyoga).