GLITTER GULCH

Epilogue: Twilight

Thanx so much for sticking with this fic over the years. Yes. Years... It's been a fun ride. You've been wonderful.

"Rowan!"

The blue-haired doctor looked up from his newly reassembled horseless carriage and shut off the engine. He peeled the heavy goggles off his face and squinted at Anubis who just stepped into his workshop and newly appointed garage.

"Cye and Kento are here for dinner. Time to wash up."

"Oh! Right!" Rowan tugged one of his gloves off with his teeth, curiously eyeing the small parts in his other hand. He wasn't quite sure where they went, but they couldn't have been anything important. The horseless carriage still worked just fine. Matter of fact, it was a little bit quieter.

He made it to the washroom and to the dining room table without too many distractions. The sink still didn't put out as much water as he thought it should, but after a gentle reminder from Anubis to hurry, he'd stowed his wrenches and washed his face, the same curious eyes from 30 years ago staring back at him from an only slightly wrinkled visage.

"Ro, dear, your smock."

"Oh. Right!" Rowan let Anubis slide the grease-painted jacket off him, as well as the aromatic shirt underneath.

"Really. We should have given you a bath or something. At least go back in there and make your neck the same color as your face." Anubis gave him a pat on the ass and sent him back into the washroom.

"What? I look-" He peered in the mirror again. "Oh." The lye soap was rather rough, but at least it got him clean and smelling quite a bit better. He was fairly doused by the time he was done and wound up just having to change all of his clothing.

By the time he made it out to see the Mayor and the town's schoolteacher of 30 years, he was clean and spit-polished. His graying hair was slicked back, but no matter how hard he tried or how much grease he put on it, that one strand of hair still hung in his face. Anubis called it endearing. Rowan called it annoying.

Cye and Kento looked great. Due to popular consent, Mayor Hardrock had served several terms after Mayor Sekhmet had stepped down due to medical reasons, going to live with Lady Kayura at the saloon where she helped the former Mayor kick his new habit. Since this was still considered 'the Wild West,' if a town so chose they could make a few of their own rules, and Kento had won the vote even when he hadn't run. He was fuller around the middle, Cye's cooking proving even too wonderful for the power of the yoroi to stop Kento from eating as much of it as he could as often as he could. His dark hair was laced with silver and Cye called it distinguished. Kento called it old.

The schoolteacher was still just as fit and trim as he was the day that Rowan met him, and the sparkle in his green eyes had never faded. Although his red hair had. He was gradually going gray, the color in his hair dwindling each year.

They hugged and said their hellos, Rowan teasing Kento about the extra paunch, and Kento teasing Rowan about the bottle-lens glasses he was supposed to be wearing.

Rowan patted his shirt and his ass, searching for them, and blinked owlishly up at Anubis who kissed him lightly on the nose then placed the missing glasses on his face.

What a beautiful sight Anubis was after all these years. He had kept his long hair, silky smooth and smelling of ginger to this day. There were a few more laugh lines around his eyes, but Rowan liked to say those were all because of him. He was still fiercely proud of his bartender-turned-librarian and thanked the powers that be everyday that they'd found one another.

Cye had brought dinner; neither Rowan nor Anubis was a very good cook. Mostly because Rowan kept trying to find new ways of making the stove just a little bit hotter so things would cook a little bit faster. Luckily, he'd had the foresight to make the area around it out of stone and metal or the house that they shared would have burned down several times over.

The bell in the outer shop jingled and Rowan held up his hand. "I'll go. You get the dinner ready. I'll be right back."

They'd moved into Doc Kaos' old place, Rowan immediately adopting everything in the old man's shop. He'd been amazed when he'd found the ancient texts of Japanese and Chinese among Kaos' possessions, but even more amazed when he realized he could read them. He'd studied them for quite a while and soon became the resident doctor in Glitter Gulch, but that didn't take him from his love of inventing. He just found more inventive ways of providing for his patients.

"Can I help-?" Rowan stopped short. Standing in front of him were Judge Dais and Sheriff Cale. "Well. What brings you two here?"

Cale snorted.

"Dinner, Rowan. Anubis invited us." The Judge's voice was as beautiful as ever. The smooth sound flowing through the blue-haired Yank and immediately calming him. He still didn't get why Dais had chosen Cale though...

The Sheriff was as rough and grizzled as ever, albeit very fit with the scar adding a dangerous flair. Rowan found himself admiring the way Cale filled out that weskit, wondering what it would be like to rub his hands over the man's hairy chest.

"Rowan?"

He snapped out of it. "Oh. Right! Come on in. I thought you were a patient. I'll just make sure the sign's turned before I go back. Just go on, Cye and Kento are already here."

They nodded and made their way into the house, the Sheriff gently guiding the Judge. Dais' eye had never recovered and the strain on his other eye was showing. He was prone to headaches and had a hard time getting around at times, but Sheriff Cale was always right there beside him when he needed him the most.

Flipping the shop's sign to 'Closed but ring for emergencies,' Rowan sighed as he peered out into the night.

He couldn't believe that it had been 30 years since he'd lost his best friend.

It seemed like it was just yesterday.

It had been the most difficult thing to get Ryo to let go of Sage's body long enough to get it ready for burial. Even then, the Indian had insisted he do everything, Rowan only getting to volunteer to help out. It had been tough seeing the pale body with its lifeless limbs and closed eyes, knowing there would never be breath or laughter coming from those sealed lips. However, none of that had changed Sage's ethereal presence. But now, when holding Sage, there weren't any warm arms hugging back. He and Ryo had bathed the cowboy, dressed him in fine clothes and then delicately carried him up to the top of Halo Hill.

They laid him to rest up there, a carved rock headstone courtesy of Kento marking his grave with an epitaph that read, "Sage Halo - the best damned friend you could ever have."

A dark cloud had settled over Ryo after Sage's death, following him everywhere he went, seeming only to lift when he visited the gravesite and saw the yellow rose bush that had bloomed shortly after Halo's funeral. He refused to speak to Cale or Dais, blaming them in a roundabout way for the cowboy's demise, and their well-wishes and even apologies went unacknowledged.

All of them had met with taciturn gruffness when they approached Ryo about it, and one by one, they all gave up trying. All of them except Rowan. He refused to let the Indian slowly waste away by not living. He knew Ryo was made of sterner stuff, he just had to find a way to unlock that.

He'd enlisted the help of the pale Judge, asking him one more time to unlock the power of his yoroi. He'd known it'd worked when he'd seen Ryo later that same day.

Wildfire came back with a smile on his face.

Rowan couldn't believe it at first and teased Ryo about having a doppelganger. Then miracle of miracles the Indian had actually laughed out loud. They'd had a good day after that, Cye made a grand feast and everybody had attended, even their former enemies. Laughter and fond remembrances of the violet-eyed cowboy were traded over dinner, and when it came time for the others to leave, Ryo gave the dark Sheriff a hug and apologized for his behavior.

Rowan could have swallowed his tongue he was so shocked.

Of course he couldn't just let Ryo walk away without an explanation. It wasn't his style.

He cornered him later outside on the porch, the big cat White Blaze lounging at the Indian's feet. "What gives, Ryo?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Rowan plopped down next to him on the swing, the wood swaying slightly. "You know what I mean. Not that I don't like it, but why the sudden change in behavior?"

The Indian shrugged.

"Stop the bullshit, Ryo. You know. Something happen up there on Halo Hill today?"

Ryo tried to avoid looking at Rowan, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to resist telling the Yankee everything, but he could still feel those deep blue eyes on him. "All right. All right. I- I talked to him today, Rowan. He- he told me that he misses me, but I gotta move on with my life. He still loves me and he'll be waiting for me. Then- then he kissed me."

Those dark blue eyebrows raised into the permanently out of place lock of hair on Rowan's forehead. Dais had gone so far as to kiss the Indian? That hadn't been in the plan. "Ryo-"

"I know. I know. It's impossible, right? But-" The Indian turned to face his friend. "It happened. I KNOW it did. He was there. And he kissed me."

The hope and love in those sky blue eyes stalled Rowan's protests.

"We'll be together again someday, Ro. Sage and me. I'll get to see him again. He's waiting for me."

A sad smile curved the Yankee's lips and he reached out to take Ryo's hand in his. "Yeah. He is. We'll all be together again one day. But don't go making it any sooner than nature intended, got it?"

Ryo smiled and nodded, wistfully glancing up toward Halo Hill.

Wildfire still made his daily trek up to the gravesite, sitting and talking for a while before coming back down. But now instead of a dark shadow dogging his footsteps, he had a golden sunshine that seemed to emanate from his very soul. The others were pleased to see this change, their own worries about the Indian being lifted by seeing the smile in his eyes and on his face, but Rowan kept a close eye on the man.

Ryo never truly settled down. He spent his days wandering with his giant cat, traveling and every once in a while coming back to Glitter Gulch to visit his friends, but never staying long. He would alternate between staying with Kento and Cye on their land and staying with Anubis and Rowan at their new house in town. He did take the time to finish Sage's book though. He'd found the manuscripts in Lady Luck's saddlebags and had started putting pen to paper shortly after that. Of course, the handsome cowboy fell for a doe-eyed Indian maid and they lived happily ever after in this version.

But in real life, time eventually caught up with them all and another grave was added to the top of Halo Hill.

They never expected him to be the first to go, but then again, they should have. He'd been alone for too long.

Ryo Wildfire was laid to rest on top of Halo Hill next to Sage Halo, White Blaze roaring his grief and refusing to let anyone but Ulee lead him down from his master's side.

The lovers had been reunited at last.

A red rose bush grew from Ryo's grave, the wiry, clinging branches intermingling with the elegant, graceful yellow bush that already grew there. Eventually, those rose bushes no longer bloomed a lemon yellow or a fiery red.

Instead, they began to blossom a sunset orange.

Ulee had kept and taken care of White Blaze, the large tiger still making the daily trek to see his master until one day, his grave was added to the top of that hill.

Rowan suspected they'd all share a plot up there one day, but until then, he was going to enjoy the time he had been blessed with.

He eyed the ivory-handled saber that hung on the wall next to a small jade-handled knife and an old ratty poster that read, "Ryo Wildfire and the Amazing White Blaze!" The only tokens he had left of his friends besides the dog-eared copy of The Golden Cowboy.

"Rowan? You coming, dear?"

Startled, he turned to face the love of his life, concern showing in those gorgeous gray eyes. "Yes. Just remembering. Wondering what it would be like if they were here."

"They are here, dear," Anubis whispered. "They're in here." He touched his hand to Rowan's chest. "And in here." He touched his hand to his own chest. "We'll never forget them."

Rowan smiled and let Anubis guide him back to where their friends were waiting.

THE END