Shop of Dreams Final Episode: Finale

[Alisha Readman]

SHOP OF DREAMS FINAL EPISODE--FINALE

 

One by one, the tales were told,

one by one, they all have ended.

 

Kaname carried the shop sign inside and handed it to Yuri. "Go ahead through the portal," she said. "I'll catch up in a minute."

Yuri nodded. In the year since her release, she had grown used to this new world. She was at the moment wearing a blue silk kimono and had her hair in a bun. Satsuki wore a long jean skirt and white blouse, looking slightly uncomfortable in something besides pants. Nadeshiko, however, looked very comfortable in a white sequin gown with long flowing sleeves, several bangle bracelets and her hair being curled and hanging loose down her back.

"We'll be waiting for you," Satsuki said.

"Don't take too long," Nadeshiko added.

The family left the room and headed upstairs. Kaname sighed as she took from the window the "Open" sign. She wore tan slacks and a white button-up shirt, her hair left loose. She turned and surveyed the empty room. All of the antiques, tables, books, bookshelves and even the cash register had been taken out. All that remained was the counter, which was a part of the wall.

She ran her hand over the counter, smiling slightly, almost sadly.

"Kaname, you contacted the real estate agents, right?" Yue said, coming into the room in his human form. He looked slightly surprised at the look on her face.

"Yeah, I did. A lot of memories here, huh?" Kaname said. "I feel sorry to leave."

"Not like you to be sentimental," Yue said.

"I know. But we're leaving for good." They went upstairs into the portal room, and stepped through the portal. It vanished after them, leaving a completely empty building, the upstairs a lot smaller without Kaname's Extra-room spells.

 

The Hall of Records is where the records of all the worlds are written and stored. The Recorders live here, in this huge stone building. Suna is tall and has Arabian features, and wears pants, a vest and sandals. Tsukasa is small and Oriental-featured, wearing an exquisite kimono reminiscent of the past Japanese princesses. Mikhail is about average height, with blonde hair, green eyes, and wearing jeans, a tank top and a Scottish plaid tartan over one shoulder.

On this occasion, everyone, and I do mean everyone, was gathered in the Hall for a party. Mikhail wandered around, making sure everyone was enjoying themselves. The Shinigami came in shifts, one shift was just leaving while another was arriving.

"Yuuko Nakahara!" Mikhail exclaimed, hurrying forward to shake one of the new arrivals' hand. "I'm so glad to finally meet you in person. I wrote about your passing the test and becoming a full-fledged Shinigami, but it's just not the same as meeting someone in the flesh. . .er, spirit?"

"I'm glad to meet you too!" Yuuko said. "You're Mikhail, right?"

"Yes, I am," she replied. "There's plenty of snacks and drinks over on those tables. Don't worry, spirits can eat them as well as humans."

"I'm so glad," Yuuko said. "I haven't had soda in so long. You'll excuse me, right?"

"Sure," the Recorder said. As all the Shinigami made a beeline for the tables, she murmured, "I'm glad that they're able to enjoy themselves to an extent. They'll never be able to get over the pain of their job, but I think they have the right to have some fun."

"I agree," a voice said from behind her. She turned to see Tsunada grinning at her.

"Hey, Tsunada!" Mikhail exclaimed as they hugged. "I haven't seen you in a long time."

"I know. By the way, I see Tsukasa by the punch bowl, but where's Suna? I wanted to ask him something."

"He's over with the 'orchestra'." Mikhail gave the requisite two finger quotation marks in the air. "Can you believe that Kaname was able to find enough mechanical men to play the instruments. It's amazing."

"Yeah, it is. Well, we'll talk later, I want to get my question to Suna out of the way." Tsunada walked over in the general direction of the orchestra.

Mikhail walked around some more, noticing that Loki was elated to find a huge platter of her favorite fried donuts. "Jus' like at th' Chinese rest'raunt," the Guardian exclaimed after tasting one.

She found a couple friends she hadn't seen in a long time by the drinks. Kage and Hikari, the Watchers. Kage was about 5'4", with short black hair and dark gray eyes, glasses and was dressed in black slacks and a dark gray shirt, looking somewhat like a business executive. Hikari, on the other hand, was 6', long platinum blonde hair, deep blue eyes, and wore tan cargo pants and a baggy white sweater.

"Hey, Mikhail! Great party!" Hikari said with her usual cheerfulness.

"Very good, but the punch is a bit too sweet," Kage said with his usual severity.

"Stop being so grumpy and have fun!" Hikari said.

Kage gave an acidic reply as Mikhail moved on. She nodded to Nabiki and Alexis, who were deep in discussion. She waved to Byakko and Genbu, and directed Suzaku to where Tsunada was. She noticed that the twin fox-spirits had roped Seiryu into trying to teach Yuri the waltz, and almost burst out laughing at the embarrassed and awkward look on the dragon-spirit's face.

"Hi, Mikhail," Kaname said from where she was leaning against a pillar.

"Hey," she replied. "How are you feeling about closing the shop down?"

The Time-Keeper shrugged. "I dunno exactly. It was time to do it, is all I can really say."

They shared a compatible silence for a few seconds, then Kaname grimaced. "Uh-oh."

"Looks like Seiryu managed to escape," Mikhail chuckled.

"Yeah, but now they're trying to rope in Yue," Kaname said. "Sounds like they're trying to flatter him into it."

"I think you better go rescue him. He looks like he's about to give in."

"Think I'd better. He'll regret it in a few minutes if he does, and he'll be sulking for a couple days." Kaname pushed herself off the wall and headed off.

Mikhail leaned against the wall for a few seconds, then snapped her fingers. A large tome and quill pen appeared in front of her. She turned to the last page and wrote the following:

And they lived happily ever after. The End.

 

END

 

Ran finished telling this story, and cleared her throat. "I have decided that it's time to close the doors of the Antique Shop of Dreams. I realize that some of you may not like this, but I have to. There were many more stories I had thought of. But when I tried to write them, they just would not come. It's been going on since I wrote the Mother's Day story in 2008, and I've just decided that the saga needs to end. I tried my best on this last one. It's not as long as the others, but it is number 7 in the saga, if you can even call it that. Thank you for all of your support so far, and I hope you enjoyed it up to the end. Thank you." She bows, and leaves the stage.

Edited April 28, 2009 by Ran Yoko