"Over time, the demons became fewer. The oni retreated to the darkest corners of the world.”
“And what happened to the hunters?”
I let my hands fall to the table. "With no more threat. . .they had to become something else. Some became monks. Some became farmers. But most became warriors. Samurai."
"And then yakuza."
"And then yakuza." I smiled grimly. "And through time, the shadows stayed. The bloodline continued. But the purpose changed. We stopped hunting demons and started hunting men."
I reached across the table and took both her hands in mine. "My father spent my whole life telling me it was all bullshit. Fairy tales. Nonsense my mother made up to feel special. And as I got older. . ."
I exhaled. "There were times I started to doubt it too. Started to wonder if he was right. If my mother was holding onto a child's fantasy."
My thumbs traced circles on her knuckles. "And then I became a teenager and my father took me under his wing. I didn’t see my mother as much as I wanted. Later, I went into football and then. . .my mother died."
Nyomi's hands tightened around mine.
"But. . .when she passed, I hoped more than anything that it was true. All of it." My voice roughened. "Because if the shadows are made from her soul. . .then she's still with me. She never really left."
“Yes. That’s true.”
I lifted her hands to my lips, kissed her knuckles, and then held them there. "You've given me something tonight, Tora. Something greater than the spies you exposed. Greater even than your love."
She bit her bottom lip.
I looked into her eyes. "You've told me that my mother is still here with me."
Her eyes glistened. "Kenji. . ."
"What's it doing now?" I asked quietly. "The dragon-shadow?"
Nyomi's gaze moved over my shoulder again. And then something shifted in her expression.
"It's closer," she whispered. "Right beside you. And it's looking at me differently now."
"How?"
"Like. . ." She paused and then searched for the words. "Like it's grateful."
My chest cracked open.
All these years.
All these decades.
My dragon-shadow had walked beside me, behind me, within me. And no one had ever seen it besides my mother. No one had ever acknowledged its existence.
Until her.
"If you can see my shadow, then you'll be able to see our children's shadows too."
A nervous laugh escaped her. "Our children?"
The words hung in the air between us.
Heavy.
Loaded.
