Epilogue
O nce upon a time, there was a boy who was afraid.
It was a perfectly fine thing to be, because he had a girl to protect him. In her steady companionship he found safety, and in his she found the same. Some days he wished his sister were there to experience such happiness with him, but she lived on in his heart, and though a part of him knew it may never be enough, he found comfort in her memory nonetheless.
The demon had not yet awoken from its hundred-year sleep, but the loss of the dragon soul would be a minor inconvenience. It had hundreds of years left to live and acquiring another victim would be of no consequence.
The boy and the girl traveled through their great bamboo city. The girl parted with her master, thanking him for all he had taught her. The boy visited his thief lord and his wife, then the proprietor of an herbalist shop who had once been kind to him.
The two passed through many great mountains and rivers. The girl painted them all. When they returned to the village of the girl’s birth, her family was overjoyed to see her and likewise welcomed her handsome companion with open arms.
When the boy felt compelled to return to his family, the girl followed him back, because he had followed her.
It was there, surrounded by bustling streets and swaying bamboo stalks, they married and lived happily for many years.