Second Chances (KPop Demon Hunters)

A/N: Fixin' up Ahri's grave~

-x-X-x-

"Thanks for coming, Rumi."

Jinu watches as Rumi puffs up a little bit.

"Of course! This is important, for both of you! Thank you for inviting me along."

Celine doesn't say anything, but she and he do exchange a quick glance. In the end, they both silently agreed that bringing Rumi along was for the best, because even after all this time, they still didn't really like each other. Better not to leave the two of them alone together because then who knew what might happen.

That said, they were at least united in their affection for the other people in their lives. Rumi, Bobby, Mira and Zoey… and of course, those who were lost but never forgotten.

Which was why the three of them were striding out among the gravestones dotting the Hunter's Shrine over on Jeju Island right now, with Jinu lugging along a large stone in his arms.

Heh, at least they hadn't had to make sure to set up a 'paper trail' this time. They had no intentions of going into town or staying the night, so they were able to get on Derpy and have him bring them to the Hunter's Compound instead of taking that blasted helicopter.

Celine hadn't been too sure about riding on the Derpy Express, but all it had taken was one beseeching look from Rumi and she'd folded almost instantly.

"Here it is."

Arriving in front of the worn down stone marking his little sister's grave after a few moments of walking, Jinu sets the new marker down nearby so they can get to work. There aren't many words exchanged between the three of them as they handle business. It's a quiet, altogether somber affair… but there's something uplifting about it all too.

Almost four hundred years ago, Ahri had been one of the second generation of hunters. She, much like her fellow hunters, had lived in defense of humanity and the newborn Honmoon, striving every day to protect both from Gwi-Ma and his demons while doing everything in her power to strengthen the Honmoon through her and her fellow hunters' songs.

And yet, even in the midst of all of that, even with how hard it must have all been back in those times when Gwi-Ma would have been his most powerful and the Honmoon at its weakest… she'd still found the time to try and figure out what happened to her big brother. More than that, Ahri had gone the extra mile and sent him Derpy and Sussie to keep him company.

Would Jinu have had even a modicum of a heart left in the present day without the two Spirit Guardians watching over him these past four centuries? Would there have even been enough of a person left for Rumi to reach out to in the previous timeline if not for their companionship?

Privately, he doubts it. If not for those two, he's fairly certain Gwi-Ma would have finished grinding him down into dust centuries ago.

So yeah, there's something to be said about giving back to his sister now by repairing and fixing up her grave. Removing the old stone, worn down to a nub by time, cleaning up the surrounding greenery… and finally picking up the new stone to put it in its new resting place.

They'd worked on it together back at the penthouse, with even Mira and Zoey putting their own touches on it. Mira had chiseled a tasteful little flower pattern into one corner while Zoey had drawn a cute sea turtle in another.

The center of the stone though was more official, while also being simplistic in its design. It gave Ahri's name and came with a small message underneath.

The best little sister a big brother could have

Sliding it into the hole left behind by the original stone, getting everything put back together… eventually, they all step back and just take a moment to enjoy the view. The ensuing silence is only finally broken when Celine steps forward and runs a finger along the top of the stone.

"Thank you, Ancestor, for all you did for us. Your contribution to the world will never be forgotten."

With that, she takes a step back again and then gives an incredibly deep bow to Ahri's grave. Holding it for a few moments, Celine eventually rises and looks to Rumi.

"… I'm going to go visit Mi-yeong now. If you wish to join me… I would like that."

She inclines her head to make it clear there's no expectation, before turning to begin making her way across the graveyard. Rumi hesitates for a moment, torn between supporting Jinu and going with Celine. Smiling softly, Jinu decides to take the choice out of her hands.

"Go. Visit your mother with your eomma. I would like a moment alone with my sister anyways."

"… You sure?"

Nodding, Jinu slides his hand into Rumi's own for just a moment, giving it a reassuring squeeze before letting go.

"I'm sure."

Finally, Rumi slowly nods as well and turns to follow Celine. Jinu watches her go for a moment before turning back to his sister's new gravestone and letting out an explosive breath. Carefully, he kneels down in front of Ahri's grave. His mouth opens, but he honestly doesn't have a clue what to say. Fortunate then, that in the end he never has to figure it out.

"Sheesh, I thought they'd never leave!"

Jinu's head snaps up and around, his eyes widening and his jaw dropping open as he lays his gaze on a truly impossible sight. There's a glowing woman dressed in old fashioned mudang attire leaning against the seonangdang tree in the center of the Shrine. He recognizes her face immediately, despite her being much older than he ever knew her to be.

"Ahri?"

The spectre of his little sister but all grown up as an adult hunter and clad in the colors of the Rainbow Honmoon, pushes off of the tree and floats over.

"Sup big bro. Long time no see."

Blinking rapidly, Jinu can only stare as Ahri runs a ghostly finger across the top of her new stone in a mirror of what her descendant had done mere minutes before.

"I like the new stone. That was nice of you. Though, what wasn't nice of you was how fast you skedaddled the last time you visited!"

Wait, what? Also what was with his sister's speech patterns? Ahri sounded so… strange.

"I don't… I don't understand."

Looking back at him, Ahri just rolls her eyes.

"Okay so I know it wasn't your fault or anything, but the first time you found my grave, I was literally on the other side of the world at a Linkin Park concert. I rushed back and everything, missed a whole half of the concert, but by the time I got back, you were already gone! What, couldn't curl up around my stone and spend the night wailing over all the time we missed together?!"

She crosses her arms over her chest petulantly but also smirks in a way that tells Jinu she's definitely just messing with him. He should know, that smirk on her face was HIS smirk after all. Huffing, Jinu feels the corners of his mouth quirking up as he shakes his head.

"You're not what I would have expected my little sister to grow up to be."

That gets a derisive snort from the ancient hunter. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on Novᴇl_Fire(.)net

"Let's be honest, Jinu… you didn't have much expectation of me getting to grow up in general back then. The little sister you remember was a whiny, perpetually hungry, sick little brat who didn't understand how the world worked, only that it didn't work for her. Sorry for making you feel like such shit when we were separated that you wound up down in the demon realm."

That… Jinu can't help but flinch at all of that.

"You didn't… it was too late for me the moment I made the deal with Gwi-Ma. The patterns might have spread a little bit slower, but one day he would have taken me from you all the same, even if the Emperor didn't take me first."

Ahri hums at that, nodding. Then, she grins.

"Hey, chin up, it all worked out for the best in the end anyways, right? So enough of that morose shit. If you wanted morose, you should have followed the other two over to their own little reunion. You and me though… we've got a lot of catching up to do, so let's get to it."

For the briefest of moments, Jinu wonders if he should go help Rumi with whatever Ahri was alluding to. But as much as he loved Rumi, as much as he cared about her and wanted the best for her… there were some things he just couldn't pass up, even for Rumi's sake.

Switching from kneeling to sitting cross-legged, Jinu grins as Ahri does the same across from him, leaning back rather irreverently against her own gravestone.

"Sure, sis. That sounds great."

-x-X-x-

Mi-yeong's stone is as pristine as ever when Celine arrives before it. Maybe a little bit of dust, some newborn weeds to be pulled out from around it, but beyond that… it's perfect. As perfect as Mi-yeong herself was. Smiling softly, Celine kneels down… only for her smile to grow a bit when Rumi joins her a moment later.

When Rumi puts out her hand, palm up, in silent offering, Celine only hesitates for a second before reaching out and taking it. The time that had passed since the Idol Awards has been… interesting to say the least. She'd found herself in a committed relationship with Bobby. She'd been drawn into helping the girls and Bobby and Jinu with more of their work than she'd been involved in for years before now. And all of that… it'd kept her relatively busy.

It's been good, really. Better than Celine would have expected after all the revelations. Better than she truly felt she deserved. Letting out a soft breath, Celine looks at Mi-yeong's name on the stone in front of them.

"I wish she could have lived, Rumi. I wish she could have raised you. She would have done a better job than I ever could have."

Rumi stiffens beside her, grimacing. She opens her mouth but…

"Not from where I'm standing, Celine."

"Yeah, you did about as good a job as anyone could have, given the circumstances."

This time its Celine's turn to stiffen… because neither of those statements came from Rumi. Rather, they'd come from two separate voices… two very familiar voices. Celine's head snaps up at around the same time Rumi does, their jaws dropping open in unison as they stare at the ghostly, spectral forms of Mi-yeong and Jia standing before them.

The dead Sunlight Sisters are awash in the colors of the Rainbow Honmoon, both of them translucent and very much not alive. And yet… and yet, it still should have been impossible for them to appear like this.

"… Mi-yeong? J-Jia?"

The woman she'd failed to save and the woman she'd been forced to kill. Celine wonders if she's hallucinating for a moment, but before she can go down that path, Rumi is squeezing her hand.

"I see them too, Celine. They're… they're here. Somehow."

Celine's mouth opens and closes, but no sound comes out. Tears prick at the corners of her eyes but don't fall… yet. In the silence that ensues, Jia is the first to speak.

"I'm glad you stopped me, Celine."

Celine flinches at that, hard. But Jia isn't done. Her tone is gentle and soft… so unlike the last memories Celine had of the other woman.

"I wasn't in my right mind. I lost myself to grief and rage and despair. If not for you, I would have done something truly unforgivable. Do not think you need my forgiveness for ending my life… but if you still feel guilt or shame, know that I forgive you a thousand times over, nonetheless. You did the right thing and I'm so, so sorry for forcing your hand."

Trembling, Celine… Celine didn't know how much she needed to hear that until now. Even to this day, she can feel Jia's neck in her grasp. She can see the other woman, red-faced and raging and clearly not willing to stop.

And now she sees Jia as she was, as she had always been before that terrible moment. Bright. Beautiful. Sound of mind if not body. As a part of the Honmoon, for what else can she be, Jia is… whole once more. Now the tears finally do fall as Celine bows her head to her fallen soulmate.

"Thank you."

Jia just hums and nods. Which means Mi-yeong is next. Rumi's mother takes a step forward herself and Celine girds herself, knowing full well that an apology is not what she can expect from the other woman.

"You've spent a quarter of a century beating yourself up for things that were outside of your control, Celine."

… What? Celine shakes her head, unable to let that go uncontested.

"I told Rumi to hide from who she truly was. I taught her to be ashamed of herself. I'm fairly sure those were things in my control, Mi-yeong.

"And you think I would have done any better?"

Celine rears back as if slapped, but Mi-yeong just continues on.

"All three of us were taught to hate demons, Celine. We were taught that anything with patterns was bad. I would never have been able to hurt my baby girl… not in a million years. But do you really think I wouldn't have wanted to find a way to fix her as well? That I wouldn't have thought our only option was to hide her patterns?"

Mi-yeong shoots Rumi an apologetic smile, one that Rumi returns with a hesitant smile of her own. The half-demon is still holding on tightly to Celine's hand, the only outward sign that this entire situation is screwing with her head as much as it is Celine's.

"You are the best of us, Celine."

What?

"We left you alone but you never gave into despair, never abandoned Rumi, and never stopped protecting the Honmoon."

No…

"You were a Hunter during the time when the Honmoon needed one the most. You held the line all alone for years while Rumi and the others grew up."

That wasn't…

"You were a mother to my daughter when I couldn't be there to raise her myself. And she's grown into such a fine young woman, thanks to you."

"E-Enough!"

Celine finally cuts them both off, feeling almost like she's having an out of body experience. They fall quiet, staring at her with… with nothing but love and adoration in their eyes. Not a single ounce of hatred, nor disgust, nor anger. How? How can they just… be fine with her after all this time?

"I… I…"

Rumi's arms are suddenly around her, holding her. Celine shudders and then lets herself break down right then and there in her adoptive daughter's embrace. And when Mi-yeong and Jia join them in hugging her, Celine only sobs all the harder.

Was this what catharsis felt like? Did she… did she truly deserve happiness after all?

"Oh and Celine?"

Somehow in the midst of her breakdown, she finds herself meeting Jia and Mi-yeong's eyes. They're smiling at her, even as they hold her with Rumi.

"We approve of your boyfriend."

"He's a good influence on you, definitely keep him around."

They… approved of Bobby? It's around that point that Celine stops trying to make sense of any of it… and just lets herself enjoy the moment as hysterical laughter bubbles its way out of her throat.

And yet… she feels at peace. At long last.

-x-X-x-

A/N: Honmoon Ghosts! Honmoon Ghosts everywhere! Not planning on having them show up again really, so here's some extra little tidbits for how I think they work in this story:

Basically, they were always part of the Honmoon but only gained the ability to reveal themselves when the Honmoon was turned Rainbow. They can only reveal themselves at the burial grounds on Jeju Island however and obviously they don't spend their entire afterlives there. After this encounter they probably set up a single day per year where its agreed that they'll be there for their living loved ones to visit.

Or, feel free to ignore all of the above and believe your own headcanons, since I didn't bother including any of it in the story!

Feedback is GREATLY appreciated, every comment helps me shape a story like this one!

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