Golden Era (Book 2)

EPILOGUE

After that day, they never saw Shiraishi again.

The Creator had capitulated to Shiraishi's demand, but not without conditions. Fuji and Ayuna were permitted to stay together for this life. In exchange, they would have to be reduced to strict mortals and be banned from the Garden for eternity. The Creator was also free to revoke His generosity at any given moment, meaning the exact length of their time together was unknown. 

Shiraishi kept his archangel title. As Masayuki had pointed out, angels couldn't exist without one. The catch was, he would be confined to the providence for the next two centuries and be prohibited from contacting the mortal world. Again, the Creator could also rescind this sentencing and redefine his punishment at any given time.

While Shiraishi stayed incarcerated, his responsibilities concerning the mortal world would be passed to Masayuki. Meanwhile, Ayuri would continue with her assignment on earth as previously scheduled, due to report back to the Garden in sixty years.

With Ayuna effectively exiled, Noa was no longer obligated to protect her or continue as a guardian on behalf of the immortal world. A review of her recent actions revealed she was nothing short of an accomplice to Shiraishi's scheme. As punishment, the Creator nullified all future delegations and alliances with the Ami family.

Certainly, it wasn't the perfect outcome, but they each serendipitously got what they wanted.

***

Five years had come and gone.

In the mortal world, life had moved forward for everyone. Tezuka welcomed his second daughter into the world and permanently relocated to Germany. Ryoma was recently engaged with his girlfriend—a professional gymnast competing at the Olympics level—and moved into a seaside home in southern California. Yuuta graduated and started dating a girl he met during his senior year in college. Eiji, too, was recently married. He met his wife at the music store, where she'd been a frequent customer. After their engagement, Eiji decided to stay in Kyoto and build a new life there.

Everyone was living out their version of a happy ending.

Ayuna couldn't say she wasn't, but there was a crucial piece amiss: she couldn't get pregnant no matter what.

"Consider it a serious blessing," Noa responded with naked envy. "If you only know how hard I try to avoid having a kid, you'd be laughing in your sleep."

Ayuna smiled at this.

Atobe and Noa had been married for three years now. Before saying wedding vows, their very first vow was not to have children until they were at least thirty. The union of the Amis and the Atobes was tantamount to two kingdoms colliding to form an empire that ruled over the Japanese business world. With more wealth and power than ever imaginable, Atobe and Noa refused to be anchored by kids so soon. 

Out of all their friends, they were the actualization of a modern fairytale.

Though their public appearances dwindled over the years to maintain privacy, photos from exotic locations would occasionally leak out, one more jaw-dropping than the other. There were candlelit dinners on top of the Eiffel Tower, moonrises over Morrocan deserts, scuba diving trips through the coral reefs in Belize, expeditions through the verdant jungles of Costa Rica, mountain excursion in Patagonia...

Wherever they went for their travels, Ayuna could always count on a postcard and an odd trinket in the mailbox within the week. It was Noa's way of taking her best friend around the world.

In the beginning, Atobe and Noa had tried to coax her and Fuji to join their travels. They could surf in Hawaii or go skiing in the French Alps. They could rent a beach house or a log cabin together. Wouldn't that be paradise on earth?