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After returning to the pantheon, life had more or less become life as usual, through as Cosine already knew, it was hard to keep a Spirit Guide still for too long. Even more so when said Spirit Guide was eager to spread his wings. Ankou had only lasted a week before wandering off, as he so often did.

However, it was obvious that he had something planned, if only because of the strange coming and going pattern he had developed.

Still, it was in one sunny afternoon that things became a little stranger, in the form of a scrap of parchment that Infinity would bring to Cosine. When asked where it had come from, the crow would not say anything, but the uneven handwriting was definitively Ankou's.



A cherry blossom and.... a hint ?

And yet Ankou was quite obviously not there - he would certainly be hard to miss, shape shifted or not.

There was something different in the gardens, however - mostly the rows of drawers. They had all been re-painted, and the ones that had been damaged either repaired or replaced. The hexagonal box had also been restored, but the stick was already placed into one of the slots - the number two.

And when she would look in the second drawer...



Clearly Ankou was hiding out somewhere a little more... private.

It was not long before the next note would be found, not-so-carefully hidden into a low bush. Really, the point of it was to be seen, and clearly he had not intended to send her on a complete wild goose chase.



That would have been cryptic if not for a telltale, brightly glowing feather to her left, and the dimmer glow of others like it which more or less made a path up the small hillside.

The steps were easy to retrace, and what she would find... was a waterfall.

It was so cleverly hidden that it was possible that the mortals of the temple did not know about it. Truly a beautiful sight, with the pure, pristine water running along the hillside and gathering into a rather inviting pool formed by natural rock. The pool had a faint dusting of cherry blossom petals that had been blown there by the wind.

"What do you think ?"

Sure enough, Ankou had not been there a second ago, but more or less seemed to manifest out of the blue. He stepped to stand beside her, careful to keep his wings out of the way. "I found it when I came back here." It was obvious that he knew many of such spots, scattered along many worlds. Incredible sights that most did not see... or simply could not reach.

This one was different, through. This one, he figured, was likely to be more personal, being so close to her temple. That was exactly why he had looked for it.

"Ah, but rules like that are no fun." Really, no fun at all. Rules ? Psssh. He would find a way to get around that. Probably get points for creativity at the same time.

Suitably intrigued, then ? Well, it would be a lie to say he was not a little nervous. Not enough that it truly showed, but really, if he did not feel a least a bit of nervousness at what he was about to do, then he would not be taking this seriously, It was a good kind of anxiety, this time around.

"Better cut down to the point before you simply decide to figure it our yourself, then." He said, rather amused indeed. "Close your eyes."

When she did, he remained still just for a few seconds, teasingly so. Then he did move, resting a gloved hand on her cheek. She was... beautiful, so beautiful in all the ways possible, and sometimes Ankou wondered if she actually knew it.

Something was slipped over her head carefully, something light was settled to rest to her front, and the object had the feel - and scent - of leather.

"...Thank you for putting up with me. All this time." Everything. Everything she had done, and everything she would ever do. Ankou was certain anyone else would have given up on him long before that.

"Will you stay with me... Until the end ?" Because this would end. It was inevitable. Eventually, one day, it would simply be time, and that would be that. All they could hope was that this time was not going to come anytime soon... And would not be brought forth by outside interference once more.

It was not a ring... But it meant much the same thing. And he had never been traditional, anyway.

He could not help it - there was some smug satisfaction on how utterly speechless she became. Usually Cosine always had a witty retort or two up her sleeve, and at the other times where he had made her speechless, well...

Usually it had been for the wrong reasons.

"I am glad for that." He smiled, and for a moment longer was silent - content to just enjoy her presense. The wind picked up, sending more light pink and white blossoms fluttering along... And those which passed through his wings came out a faint, glowing blue, as if charged up by touching the barely substantial feathers.

It was obvious that this was not the only thing he wished to talk about, but he was certainly taking his sweet time voicing himself. This was, actually, the part he was a little anxious about - he would have been the first surprised if Cosine had turned him down.

This... Well, he actually was not sure if she had been serious with it, or if she had only been bringing up a possibility.

"I have been thinking. About what we talked about before we left to Daelyth."

He left it at that, pondering if she would guess what he was talking about.

"Well... I think-"

No, not really.

"...No, I know. I know that I can do it." Really, everything was clearer now, now that he was not caught in-between, now that it did not feel like his awareness was being stretched thin and pulled in all direction. Oh, he still felt it, felt the presence and the faint whisper of the dead - all of them - but now it was perfectly manageable.

It had been the biggest reason why he was re-thought what he felt about it, though he had started to loosely ponder it before that.

He could balance everything now. Maybe not perfectly, but... Now he had the faith that his attempts might not end in utter, complete failure.

That was certainly more faith in himself that he had before, at least.

"And if you are willing... I would like it. I miss the wisps... Their laughter." It had been endearing... And perhaps one of the things that had helped him pull through, ultimately. And the laughter of his own children could only be even sweeter, really.

It was a very important responsibility, and he knew it. But he had seen it in her reaction to the wisps, on how she herself had been endeared to them... worried for them. However, this was not only for her sake. It had taken him a long time, a blink of an eye for an immortal but... Ankou felt like he had, finally, found out who he was, and what he wanted.

"So I will ask." He smiled again, bringing her hand up to kiss it tenderly. "Would you give me the honor to be the mother of my children ?"

"Duty, uh." It amused him a bit, but he could see the point. If that had been the only reason, well, this would have been where he might have backed out, but thankfully that was not the case.

That done, however...

"...So do you have any idea how to do this ?"

Well, he had a clue - he honestly was not that dense, but he was certain there was more to it than well... the mortal way, or it might as well have happened already.