Motoko Aoyama: I'm in an extremely good mood since all my marks came out and they were very decent, plus the fact that it is spring break! Yay! So, here I am writing a spring special for the promise trilogy! This happens during the time period between “Another Promise” and “Forgotten Promise,” but it doesn't really relate to the two stories anyway, so even if you haven't read them, feel free to enjoy this little one-shot! Be aware that flashbacks are in italics!

Background: Motoko and Keitaro have undergone many obstacles in the past, and now with Naru's departure, the two could finally officially start their romantic relationship. However, what would happen when a mysterious island from the past resurfaces into their life?

Disclaimer: I don't own Love Hina

Blur of green, whispers of the breeze, a speeding figure in white and red sprinted along the winding path of the forest. Her raven hair flew freely in the air, gi and hakama grazing above the overgrown shrubs as her tatami sandals tapped lightly on the moist forest floor with each agile step. A pair of determined emerald eyes gazed onwards into the vast distance, strong hands clutching the hilt of the sheathed katana, ready to reveal the gleam of the razor-sharp blade. This was the same sword, the same land, and the same scene as twenty years ago.

“ A strong demonic aura is near,” Aoyama Kanaye muttered as he stared into the distance outside his family dojo in Kyoto. His hand took the katana with one easy sweep, and ignoring his wife's heeds, and his newborn daughter's cries, he ran along the steep steps descending down from the mountain.

“ Should we follow otousan, I'm worried about him,” Aoyama Tsuruko, a young child of age twelve, stared into her mother's gentle, brown eyes, pleading for her to take them down the mountain as well. The elder woman stood emotionlessly for a while, and then placing her newborn daughter in Tsuruko's arms, she treaded down the steps in the direction that her husband had left.

“ We'll go too. We'll go wherever your father goes,” the woman said.

The rolling plains seemed endless as they treaded and treaded, their only guide was the crushed blade of grass where the tatami sandals had grazed. Pink and gold ribbon streaked across sky as the sun descended behind the mountains when they finally came to a figure walking along the deserted beach. His heavy footsteps landed on the soft sands, but took an abrupt stop beside a sandbar that ran from the beach out into the ocean waters. Tsuruko gasped as the figure turned sharply towards them, eyes glinting ferociously at them with his hair flying in the breeze. She had never seen her father so serious before.

“ Don't follow me, I'll be back soon, I promise,” he said, stepping onto the sand bar and disappearing into the distance.

The canopies thinned, the shrubs by her feet scarcer and scarcer. Light shone on her sharp features through the swaying leaves while she continued her run towards a challenge lying in front of her. The ground was now rocky, the lands barren with withering trees and the scent of acid overwhelmingly hanging to the crisp air of autumn. The aura was getting greater and greater, her hands gripping the katana with a tighter grasp, and she was ready, ready to...

Leap...

It was night. The woman was tending to the baby girl as her elder daughter made a fire against the bitter winds. As the flame's orange glow danced upon their faces in an endless pattern, Tsuruko gazed at where her father had disappeared, seeing a menacing red mist hanging above the skies.

“ Father said it was a demon,” Tsuruko commented. The baby girl was crying, but neither warmth nor food nor kind words from her mother seemed to be bringing it to peace.

The skies suddenly lit up with a streak of lightning, revealing a dark island in the middle of the ocean, connected to the beach by the sandbar. Mystical red vapors radiated upwards from the island's dark forests, the aura of which caused the baby girl to cry even louder.

“ Let's go, your father is in danger,” the woman said, bringing her children along as they ran down the sandbar.

She could see a rain of crackled boulders flying in the spot where she had just stood, now charred with the terrible burn of lightning. More bright flashes awaited her, and she dodged and leapt, evading the blows. A sickle of light zoomed towards her with violent velocity, but she lunged forth, her katana drawn in a quick sweep.

“ Hiken Zankuusen!”

Rain poured onto their muddy faces and they ran and ran, waves slapping at the sandbar as the ocean surface became scarred with countless ripples. Claps of thunder, torrents of downpour, streaks of lightning blazing on the violet ceiling of Earth caused the baby to scream in terror. They could now hear the clashing of metal against metal, rings that echoed continuously in their ears, and witness the human ki blasting through demonic powers, bright light soaring into the heavens. Wild winds slapped mercilessly at their faces, but their steps kept on landing on the path that would hold many more promises to come.

Her katana was but a blur when it collided with the sickle of lightning, the whirls of ki slicing the flying blade apart in a single sweep. More sickles flew down towards her, but she leapt from one to another, using them like her stairway to heaven. With one last leap, she landed onto the arm of a giant, dark monster, causing a pair of glowing red eyes to flick open.

“ Die, demon!” she cried, running up the arm towards its shoulders. The katana gleamed brightly in the sunlight, ki whipping down its silvery length, and she hacked it towards the monster's neck.

Blood splattered everywhere...

“ Okaasan,” Tsuruko cried, gripping onto the woman's kimono sleeve. The baby was still crying, loud as ever, and the clashes of metal, dueling auras, wouldn't cease the slightest bit.

A scream, a spurt of blood...

The storm paused. All was silent. The three looked at the island in front of them, hearts linked in prayer that their beloved man was safe.

But there was nothing...

“ Kanaye...Kanaye...” the woman called. No response.

“ What happened to otousan?” Tsuruko asked innocently.

The woman placed the baby in her elder daughter's arms once again, and then getting up, she walked onwards.

“ Okaasan...”

“ Take care of Motoko for me.”

“ But okaasan...you...you'll be back right?”

“ I'll be back, with your father.”

“ It's a yakusoku?”

“ It is a yakusoku.”

She lied there, her blood dripping down the monster's claws.

That promise from twenty years ago...

Was never kept...

SPRING SPECIAL: PATH OF PROMISES

“ Tur...tur...TURTLE!” A loud scream emitted from an ancient inn on the mountain just outside the city. The crows in the entire town flew off amidst the shuddering of the red, autumn leaves, branches swaying dangerously from the enormous ki that had just erupted throughout the land. It was another typical day in this small, small town, leaves falling onto hot spring pools creating small ripples, floating along with the warm waters kissing its elegant surface. Steam rose up into the skies, swirls of the humid mists sailing in the air, with villagers, old and young, walking underneath on their olden paths of polished stone. This is Hinata City, a paradise, a dream, and a miracle...

A man with messy brown hair rushed down the halls of the ancient inn, his worn-out glasses jumping up and down with his hurried steps, the tape struggling to keep the lens and the frame together. A dark skinned girl was sitting in front of him, eating bananas at mach three speed, yellow peels soaring in mid-air and falling like rain. The man was too rushed to notice, leaping to the side to avoid the girl, but landed onto a mass of banana peels, making him slide uncontrollably down the hall.

“ What the, Keitaro? Is this the newest Hinatasou amusement park or something?” a woman in pajamas said as she peeked out of her room, wearily rubbing her eyes with her smooth hands.

“ Urashima-sempai!” a young girl cried, carrying a cake in her hand. It was too late, the man collided into her, cream flying everywhere in an instant, and the impact sent him tumbling through the sliding doors out into the hot springs.

A splash of water erupted from the hot springs like a mushroom cloud created by the atomic bombs of World War Two. The woman forgot about the chase she had with the resident turtle, and grabbing the white gi beside her, she clothed herself in a split second, watching the hot mist part to reveal the face of the handsome kanrinrin.

“ Motoko-chan! You are alright!” the kanrinrin stumbled forwards in the water, pulling the woman into his embrace.

Motoko was stunned as she stood there in the arms of Keitaro, feeling his warm breath caressing her smooth skin. She let out a slight blush as the two remained standing like this, but the resident turtle’s distinctive chirp reminded her that the kanrinrin's soaking wet shirt that she was pressed against had turned her white gi nearly transparent.

“ Urashima...” Motoko muttered.

“ Heh?” Keitaro returned.

“ HIKEN FUUJIN RANBU!”

And guess where our beloved kanrinrin went?

“ That must be Motoko!”

“ That must be tama-chan! Let me eat it!”

“ Tama-chan is not edible!”

“ Myuuuu...”

“ KYAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH AND THAT TURTLE! GET IT OFF ME! SOMEBODY! HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!”

This was how it always was at Hinatasou, Keitaro getting into trouble, his girlfriend Motoko (who never admitted she was his girlfriend in the first place) would send him into lower Earth orbit, then Kitsune, Shinobu, and Kaolla would chatter like professional commentators, noting every detail about the perfect arc their kanrinrin traveled through the sky, a flawless trajectory that could be investigated by a calculus equation. Of course, Urashima the Immortal would return eventually, with maybe a hole in his head, blood squirting out like a mini geyser, but nonetheless he would be alive, smiling as he described the places he had soared above. Obviously his stupid words might just as well had annoyed our already very irritated swordswoman (she's worried about her boyfriend, of course) to send him into another orbit, and the cycle of events would just repeat itself. However, some things seemed to be different today.

“ MYUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU...”

Motoko had thought that the end of the world had come as the turtle finally caught up with her, who she presumed to be chasing her in order to violate her innocence. The familiar turtle cry was the least she had expected, and her heart sighed in relieve thinking that Su had finally captured it, and was likely to be boiling it for lunch. It was a great shock when she turned to see the turtle pinned down by a great white bird.

“ Nani?”

Everyone crowded around Motoko as she picked up the bird with her hands, its pure white feathers not moving the slightest bit as it rested on her palms. Gazing at its silver talons, the swordswoman spotted a small strip of paper tied to the bird.

“ A note,” Shinobu noted.

“ It's a mystery unveiling, Shinobu-chan,” Kitsune added.

“ Must be a secret recipe for extra extra hot curry,” Su chimed.

Motoko removed the note and stared at the neat kanji and hiragana characters printed on the pale paper, spelling out a message she would rather not understand. Rushing back to her room, the swordswoman changed into another pair of gi and hakama, and grabbing her two swords, the Hina Blade and Sakabatou, she rushed out of the inn down the stone steps leading to town.

Keitaro was in mid-air, soaring above the clouds, and soon he felt his vertical velocity reach the limit of zero before he found it turning negative, his immortal body breaking through the clouds in a sharp descent. He closed his eyes waiting for the impact to come as his body crashed onto the rocky paths, shattered boulders and mounds of dusts bursting into the air where he landed.

“ It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!” Keitaro smiled, blood streaming out of his head as he stood up, staring at the pedestrians who all fled from the terrible sight. Looking around, he tried to distinguish where he was, but all he saw with the swordswoman ahead of him.

“ Keitaro...” she muttered.

“ Motoko...what are you doing here?” Keitaro asked.

“ I...I...I thought I kind of wanted to get some groceries...” she stuttered.

“ I thought Shinobu just got some yesterday,” Keitaro added.

“ I wanted to buy more I guess...” Motoko replied.

“ Oh...then what are you doing with those swords?” Keitaro asked.

“ Well...I was scared of robbers and perverts roaming around the streets,” Motoko hastily answered.

“ Why don't I come with you then, I'll protect you!” Keitaro innocently cried.

“ YOU ARE A PERVERT!” Motoko yelled.

“ Hey guys, stop flirting around with juniors here,” Kitsune pointed out as Shinobu and Kaolla stared at the couple in front of them.

“ WE'RE NOT FLIRTING!” Motoko screamed, the crows flying away again.

The grass swayed with the wind as the Hinata gang ended up treading along the meadows towards the ocean where Tsuruko had supposedly disappeared. The note said that an island had resurfaced after twenty years of disappearance, and Tsuruko had gone to investigate the demonic aura radiating from that area. However the elder swordswoman had been missing for two weeks without a sign of her return.

“ She must have eaten too many bananas on that island that she can't move,” Su said.

“ I think she's just playing with the wild bunnies,” Shinobu reasoned.

“ Maybe she is plotting to take over the world! Evil!” Kitsune added.

“ Stop guessing! Tsuruko-san is OK!” Keitaro cried.

“ Who said she wasn't...” Motoko answered coldly as they finally reached the deserted beach she could faintly remember from her younger days.

“ I've been here, with ane-ue, and...haha-ue too...” Motoko whispered, the wind sweeping her sleek, raven hair flying backwards in the air. Everyone looked up at their proud swordswoman; the first time they had heard her mention her mother.

Tsuruko's eyes opened slowly, a piercing pain in her shoulders jolting her awake. She was in a tavern on the island, bounded by heavy vines with spikes that scraped excruciatingly against her delicate flesh. Outside the tavern was the dark shadow she had seen earlier, undoubtedly the storm demon who had disappeared along with her father and mother twenty years ago.

“ It was sealed, that I'm sure, because the island in its control had collapsed after the battle. Then, how come it is resurrected twenty years later?” Tsuruko thought. It was growing dark outside, the sun starting to descend like it did twenty years ago when she had visited this island. Just then, she remembered one thing. Twenty years ago it was a full moon, and this day, was also the day of the full moon!

“ It must be the moon's demonic powers. Twenty years ago, it had absorbed so much of the full moon's powers that its demonic aura was so great that it could be felt all the way in Kyoto. After it had been sealed, it lay dormant at the bottom of the ocean, silently absorbing the moon's ray to be resurrected twenty years later,” Tsuruko thought.

“ You aren't too dumb, kendo girl. I might as well tell you that I kept you alive so that your blood could stain the moon red tonight, making its demonic powers so limitless that a storm would rage eternally on this Earth!” the demon said, turning to face Tsuruko. It had read her mind!

“ You devil!” Tsuruko cursed.

“ Of course I'm a devil! And what's more, I'm going to devour those pathetic fools from Hinatasou, including your very own sister! Soon, I'll get my meals very, very soon!” it cried.

The Hinata gang was standing on the sandbar, facing the island before them. Motoko could sense a strong demonic aura radiating from the near distance, and a faint ki, the familiar energy of her sister, was lying close by.

“ This is dangerous, you all should just leave,” Motoko warned.

“ Motoko, don't try to ditch me now! I'm coming!” Kitsune said, holding a thumb up.

“ So am I!” Shinobu said with a determined look.

“ Me three!” Su chimed.

“ Don't worry, Motoko-chan. We'll go in, save Tsuruko-san, and then come out together. It is a yakusoku we'll all make, we'll all keep!” Keitaro yelled.

“ Keitaro...”

The forest greens covered their vision in every direction, the only sound they could hear were their own footsteps echoing off the solid trunk of ancient trees. Motoko caught a swift motion from the corner of her eyes, and she leapt in that direction, her hand fingering the hilt of the Hina Blade.

As soon as Motoko leapt towards the shadow in the distance, everyone followed close behind with Keitaro in the lead, but dozens of blades of light blasted in their path, separating Motoko and Keitaro from the rest of the gang.

“ This is a trap,” Kitsune commented.

“ That's okay, I brought along my portable mecha-tama!” Su yelled, distributing her weapons to her companions. As a blade soared towards the dark skinned girl, she dodged to the side, her mecha-tama held out before her, and with a light squeeze, a flare of electrical energy escaped the turtle's mouth, blasting many of the light blades apart. Shinobu and Kitsune nodded in understanding as they too squeezed their mecha-tama, destroying the enemy's weapons easily.

Motoko sped down the endless greens, Keitaro struggling to catch up. Smiling at her companion, she detached the sakabatou from her sash and threw it at the kanrinrin, who caught it with a bit of difficulty.

“ You'll need it. Survive like you normally do, okay?” Motoko asked.

“ Of course. We made a promise before we came here, right?” Keitaro replied.

Motoko smiled once again, her heart pounding hard from the exercise, but her fear lost in an instant. She too would survive, everyone would survive, because they all had a promise to keep, a paradise to return to.

The storm demon was delighted to see the sun descending further, the smell of humans increasing. With all that blood, from Tsuruko and the Hinata gang, the moon would definitely be tainted, and his demonic powers would grow so great that his storms could engulf the entire universe! Turning, it recognized the girl in the white gi and red hakama, the baby from twenty years ago had grown into quite a beautiful young maiden, and the fool beside her, that man, was obviously her beloved.

“ You've come for your sister, kendo girl...” the demon's voice rang in the breeze.

“ I've come for your life!” Motoko yelled, drawing the Hina Blade with a fluid motion. The ki crackled noisily from Motoko's hands into the length of the cursed blade, turning the black metal into a glowing sword. The demon looked on amused, its claws slashing towards the young woman who dodged quickly upwards with a loud kiai.

“ Raimeikan!”

Lightning blasted out of the katana towards the youkai, but the ki blasted harmlessly apart as it collided with the demon's thick hide. It moved to the side, spiting lightning blades at the swordswoman and the kanrinrin, the woman dodging quickly, but the clumsy young man only able to hold out the sakabatou in fear, watching the blades split apart upon colliding with his weapon. Motoko stared. Keitaro's kind heart gave him the ability to purify the demonic aura of the demon!

“ Don't just dodge, Keitaro! Turn the sakabatou over and slash at it!” Motoko ordered, leaping away from the demonic sickles.

Keitaro nodded, flipping the sakabatou in his palms so that the sharp blade was now facing towards his enemy. Trying his best to remember the things he learned from Seta-san, Keitaro slashed at the demonic sickles with his brute strength, and amazingly they blasted apart.

“ Fools! The best you can do is to evade my attacks! There is no way you can defeat me!” the demon roared. Motoko leapt onto its arm and gathered her ki, letting the aura grow stronger and stronger around her blade.

“ Zantetsusan!” Motoko yelled, the ki so strong that the air around it seared with heat. The bright energy struck the demon's neck, but it just made a scratch!

“ Take this! Urashima attack!” Keitaro yelled, hacking the sakabatou at the demon's giant feet. His purification energy was great, but it too only made a scratch!

“ I'm invincible! Now die!” the demon screamed, its entire body glowing blue with lightning from the skies gathering around it. With a blast, it enveloped Motoko and Keitaro, sending them meters away.

Keitaro ran towards Motoko and shielded her from the aura as they sailed in mid-air. They landed with a huge thud, leaving Keitaro charred and dazed.

“ Keitaro!” Motoko screamed.

“ I'm okay...Motoko-chan...I'm immortal...” Keitaro whispered, dusting himself off before gripping onto his blade with determination. Motoko couldn't bear much longer. She lunged towards the demon, dodging left to right, leaping and turning to evade the demonic sickles clashing beside her. A ray of lightning escaped the youkai's mouth, but Motoko somersaulted above it and gathered her ki for her attack.

“ Ougi Zangan Ken!” she yelled, the ki amplified so greatly that it resembled a single giant blade, slashing right down the demon along its middle. It screamed in pain as the ki battled with its demonic energy, but when the ki died down, it was merely wounded, not dead.

“ I'm invincible. I told you but you won't listen...” the demon muttered.

“ You're not...”

Motoko and Keitaro stared towards the direction where the mysterious voice came from. It was a tavern, and lying on its rocky soil was a figure in white and red, just like Motoko.

“ Ane-ue...”

“ Motoko, Keitaro, combine your forces. Use your ultimate attack,” Tsuruko muttered.

Motoko finally understood. They were only able to match the youkai in power because of one thing.

They had been depending on themselves...

Instead of depending on each other...

“ Slash at me, Keitaro...” Motoko muttered, her eyes gleaming with her strong will.

“ But...what if...what if I...” Keitaro stuttered.

“ Trust me, I'll keep my promise. We will return to Hinata, together...” Motoko said sternly.

Keitaro was stunned, but he believed in her words, he believed in their promise. The promise he had made to Akiko on the roof of Hinata, the promise he had made to Motoko at the JR station, the promise he had made to everybody on the path...he remembered them well, every detail, every bit of hope they carried.

“ Here I go!” Keitaro yelled, slashing the sakabatou downwards. He had given the attack all he had, letting his energy be drenched by the blade to soar towards his most beloved woman, Motoko, and he knew she wouldn't fail, not on him.

“ Hiken Fuujin Ranbu!” Motoko cried, waving the katana around her in a graceful arc to intercept Keitaro's pure powers. The ki was whipping around Motoko in a whirlwind, carrying with it Keitaro's energy, and finally Motoko could feel the ki in the Hina Blade, the life of the sword pulsing with her heartbeat, waiting to unleash the ultimate attack.

“ Ougi Shinmeiken ni no tachi!” Motoko's voice thundered. The running waters, blowing winds, blazing fires, swaying trees, soaring clouds all answered the call, beasts on the land, birds in the skies gave their power to the sword, the enormous ki now ripping through the demonic blade, released with a clean slash. The power soared forth, picking up the previous fuujin ranbu along with Keitaro's pure powers in one great tornado, and it blasted into the injured storm demon, its flesh disintegrating into thin air amidst a terrible cry.

“ Why? Why did I lose? Where did I go wrong?”

Motoko collapsed on the ground in exhaustion, panting for breath as sweat dripped down her back, making her gi stick to her like glue. Kitsune, Shinobu and Su finally arrived after being delayed by the trap the demon had set for them, so they all ran forth towards their fallen swordswoman.

“ Are you alright, Motoko-sempai?” Shinobu asked.

“ I'm fine. Please tend to my sister. She's in pain...” Motoko said. Kitsune nodded and ran into the tavern to free Tsuruko.

“ We must be off quick. The island will collapse after sun down,” Tsuruko warned.

“ Don't worry, this portable mecha-tama can transform!” Su chimed in her adorable voice, pressing a secret button on the turtle. In a blinding white light, it turned into a giant, and everyone started to climb onto its body.

“ What's wrong...Motoko?” Keitaro asked.

“ Tur...TURTLE!”

And so, despite Motoko's turtlephobia, they all rode on the giant mecha-tama, watching the island collapse with the setting sun. The sandbar was still there, its golden length laid out peacefully on the ocean surface.

This was...

This is...

This will always be...

Their Path of Promises.

Motoko Aoyama: Wow...I'm so tired after writing this. Over 4000 words one-shot, so please, please, please show some support! A note that you have read this, constructive criticism, a comment, anything is accepted besides flames, so please, I'm on my knees begging you, review! Lastly, I hope you liked it!