Epilogue

The next morning, Ronin awoke in his own bed in his palace. Sonya had been right. It had been one hell of a party. He had stayed through clear to the end of the reception. He had eaten, drank and been merrier than he had been in longer than he could remember. After having a dance with Sonya, he had acted as an informal escort while all the other male Earth Realm warriors got a turn on the floor.

Finally, he surrendered the bride to her husband as they cut the cake and got the pictures done. After that, Ronin had gotten a dance with Kitana before surrendering her to Kung Lao. Those two then stayed in each others' arms on the floor for the rest of the night. It was visible to the naked eye how much more at ease they were with each other now that Liu Kang had given them his blessing. Ronin suspected he would be receiving another wedding invitation before too long.

The memories receded and after lying there for a time, he felt Amperica stir next to him. As she let go of him and rolled to her other side, Ronin got up and got dressed. Quietly going down to the kitchen with a surprise in mind for her, he entered the kitchen to find Jiro already up and about preparing breakfast. Ronin said: "How do you do it Jiro? How do you manage to always be up and moving before me?"

Jiro smiled and said: "Trade secret my Lord. What would you like this morning?" Ronin said: "Actually, I want to serve Amperica breakfast in bed. Do you have some kind of portable tray?" Jiro pointed to a side closet and then focused on his task at hand. Ronin found the tray and set it with some silverware as Jiro finished making her favorite breakfast, scrambled eggs with cheese, a muffin with butter and strawberry jam and a glass of orange juice.

Ronin reentered his room to see that Amperica was awake and just about to get out of bed. She saw what was in his hands and said: "What is this for?" Ronin smiled and said: "Good morning beautiful, please stay where you are." When she did, he sat down on the edge of the bed and placed the tray over her lap. She looked in surprise and said: "My favorite! How did you know?"

Ronin smiled and said: "I wish I could take the credit, but it was all Jiro's doing." After she ate, she asked: "What's the occasion Ronin?" He smiled and gathering his courage, he said: "I don't want you to be my concubine anymore." Before she could react he continued with: "I want you to be my companion from now until eternity. I don't know if I'm allowed to marry because of my status as a god but I do know that I want you to stay. Stay with me forever."

Amperica's eyes widened as large tears coursed down her cheeks. Ronin wiped the tears away but more replace them as he said: "What's wrong?" She cried a moment longer and said: "Nothing is wrong my Lord. I am just happy. Yes, I will stay with you for as long as you wish. Be it a day, a century, or millennia. I will stay with you."

The two lovers embraced and it was so.