Motoko Aoyama: Thanks a lot! I'm so happy to see people reading this story. Though this is not doing as well as my other fics, I'm still really proud of it and I'm really happy to hear about the comments that you people have on this story. Anyway, this is going to be the end of this fic, the final epilogue, so please enjoy and leave a review behind after you are done!

Disclaimer: I WILL MISS THIS! (well, I won't be writing any disclaimers for this story anymore...) I DON'T OWN LH! NEVER DID, NEVER WILL!

WHAT IS TRUE STRENGTH, MOTOKO?

Epilogue

Years have passed since the day I became the true leader of the Shinmeiryuu clan. Ane-ue, who finally fulfilled her responsibility, completely left her sword behind to become a complete housewife. At times when I finished giving lessons to my students, I would walk down the hill to where she lived and visit her family and her. When I was young, I used to hate my brother-in-law, thinking that he took away my sister and made her weak, but now I showed my respect for him. He was, in fact, an honorable man and truly loved my sister very much.

As for the residents of Hinatasou, everyone took their own paths and pursued their own goals. Haruka-san and Kitsune-san saw the growing economy in Kyoto so decided to move here to open a teashop. When I have spare time, I would go help them out or just go to have a talk with them. They were both respectable elders, although Kitsune-san always seemed like a big fool. After visiting them I would always feel happier.

Shinobu and Kaolla both moved to live with me and went to school at the foot of the Shinmei Mountains. Kaolla said that she couldn't sleep without me and Shinobu said that she felt safer with kendo masters around so they were both very glad to stay at the dojo. They actually learned a bit of kendo from my fellow Shinmeiryuu members. Now they are both in University, Kaolla completing her high-tech courses while making trips back to her home country to see how her company was running (she started the company a year ago) and Shinobu completing her courses as a cooking teacher.

As for Sara and her dad, they continued their trip around the world in search of amazing artifacts. Sara grew up just like her dad, with a great interest in history and digging, so she became a world-renowned archaeologist. The two of them found an ancient wall mural in Africa that dated back to the time of the homo habilus. Sometimes they would stop by at our dojo and Seta-san would do some digging here and there. Our clan members were sometimes annoyed by Seta-san's weird actions, but I told them that it was all right. I was, in fact, also interested in what he might find around the dojo.

Many of you might be interested about Kanako, the temporary kanrinrin who posed the most rules in the history of Hinatasou. The thing I got her to do was to take good care of Hina-san who was already very old. Kanako agreed and returned to Hinatasou where Hina-san had decided to spend the rest of her lives. She said that it was a weird place to be in, a place full of dreams and fantasies.

" It is a place where you want to hide in forever, but there is one day when you have to leave," she said to me during a visit to Kyoto. She also said that she was different and that she had seen enough of the outside world and is ready to live in her dreams. With that said, she turned Hinatasou into a senior home where the Hinata elders and herself spent their last years of life in the care of Kanako.

As for me, I am still my old self except that I managed to grow a bit stronger. Keitaro's marriage with Naru no longer bothered me and so at times I would even talk to them through the phone. Everyday I would practice kendo with everybody then take some time making sure that the youngsters, Shinobu and the hyperactive Kaolla are doing all right. My greatest change was that I finally continued my job of feeding the great turtles and the back of the dojo. I finally found my strength to confront them and admire their majestic postures. Sitting under the great trees, I would remember the very question my sister asked me that allowed me to sit amongst the turtles once more.

" What is true strength, Motoko?"

Motoko Aoyama: FINAL EPILOGUE! I WILL MISS THIS STORY SO MUCH! Thank you so much for supporting my fic from the start to beginning! Your support made this story possible! I'm so happy that this fic has finally ended, but then I will really miss this story. Please continue to support my fics: my Cardcaptor Sakura fics if you have any interest in that anime, my other LH fic "Another Promise" and also my new fic that I will post up in place of this fic called "Hinata Memories". Here is a summary of my new fic:

Everyone has memories, be it Keitaro whose past meant even more than his future, or Kaolla who seemed to forget what just happened yesterday. When Haruka hands Keitaro the journal of Hinatasou after her marriage, Keitaro finds out more about everyone in Hinatasou, as well as himself.

I must give you one last thank you before I leave. I really thank you for supporting this fic and hope that I will see your reviews popping up in my inbox even after this story has ended. Hope you enjoyed this story! Bye to you all!