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"Huh; so this is what we look like in this timeline, I take it," Ryouma noted, holding the brim of his hat as he and Oryou looked up at the statue of their counterparts.
They were supposed to be on a mission in a particularly familiar area of twenty-first century Japan, but had stumbled upon some free time between jobs. So they had decided to check out the local tourist attractions...that happened to revolve around them. Hence their current standing below a statue of themselves from another timeline.
And boy, did they look kind of different here!
"Yeah," Oryou replied bluntly, expression flat. "Nice hair, Ryouma. Did you cut it?"
He smiled sheepishly at her remark, and slightly tugged his hat over his bangs. "Hahaha, I don't know. Maybe I never grew it out as long in this world. But I sure do look like a classic samurai, eh?"
Oryou floated a bit upwards. "Yeah, Oryou-san remembers others wearing that style. Hey, hey, Oryou-san's hair is up, too! And she's pretty short. Was she always that short in our timeline, Ryouma?"
He tipped his hat back up. "No, you were always as tall as you are now, Oryou-san. I think it's because this Oryou is human, remember? She wasn't just posing as one while she followed me - er, him, I guess..."
"Right," Oryou nodded. She hooked her legs between the two statues, right below where this Oryou held that Ryouma's sleeve, and coiled herself around her counterpart's torso. She poked her head between the two of theirs with a big grin. "This Oryou-san was very tough for a puny human, from what we've heard. Oryou-san the Great Orochi approves!"
Closing his eyes with a smile, Ryouma agreed. "Yup. You're amazing in every timeline, Oryou-san. I wouldn't expect any less."
Her grin widened. "Ryouma, too! Ryouma is also amazing. Oh, hey, hey, do you think we have a statue in our timeline like this one? With you looking all cool into the distance and Oryou-san holding your arm while she looks out there with him? Or maybe in our world, she's carrying him on her back in the sky!"
He chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Who knows? I doubt there's any of you as an orochi since not many people knew about that, but yeah, there might be a similar statue of us at home. Ah, but thinking of having a real statue dedicated to me...all the statues we've heard about being in our world...it's making me blush. I really didn't do a whole lot to deserve that..."
He pulled his hat over his face completely, hiding his reddening cheeks and embarrassed smile.
Oryou frowned. She disentangled herself from the statue and floated back down to him, sticking her nose close to his hat. "Oh, Oryou-san bets someone could argue against that. Like her."
Blush remaining, Ryouma pushed his hat back up with a little laugh and quickly changed the subject. "Well, anyway, it's about time we get going, isn't it? If we want to get all the tourist sites in before work starts back up, we can't dilly-dally here forever. Ready to go, Oryou-san?"
Oryou reeled away thoughtfully. "Yeah, she guesses. Ooo, she really wants to see their wedding marker! We can fly there real quick, then come back."
He relaxed. "Yeah, that sounds good."
"We should get a wedding marker, too!" she added eagerly. "We can keep it in the Sakamoto Agency for everyone to see. Besides, we never had a real wedding ceremony, did we?"
"Um, I'm not sure how necessary that is," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Nor do I think we have the proper paperwork to get legally married in the modern day - and that's assuming anyone believes our identities."
Oryou deflated. She looked away with a frown. "Oh, right."
"Hm, but," Ryouma reached out to gently stroke the hair above her ear; he was glad they were alone, the only others around the inanimate statue, "we can probably figure out a way to have a private ceremony for just us. If that's what you want, of course."
She instantly brightened back up. "Oryou-san can be her own wedding coordinator! She can be Ryouma's beautiful bride and the beautiful brains behind the operation. Yes, she accepts the job!"
"Is it really right to call a wedding an 'operatio-' ? Oh."
He cut himself off when Oryou reached over to kiss him on the cheek.
"And that is a yes to Ryouma's proposal," she told him, eyes lidded.
Ryouma felt himself redden all over again. He grabbed the top of his hat, laughing at himself. "I'm glad to hear it, Oryou-san. I can't wait to make you my wife - er, a second time."
"That's what Oryou-san likes to hear." She straightened up and clasped her hands behind her back, swaying in the breeze. "Okay, is Ryouma ready to go? Before we dilly-dally any longer."
He lowered his hand to his brim, sliding it along the front. "Yeah, I am. - Ah, but before we go, I just had a thought."
Ryouma turned his gaze back to the statue.
Oryou followed suit, confused. "Eh? What is it?"
He smiled cheekily. "Well, it's cheesy, but I'm glad it seems we were happy together here, too. Even if it ended more or less the same, another version of me got to meet you and fall in love. That's nice, isn't it?"
She cocked her head, thinking it over for a few seconds.
Her eyebrows shot up. "You know what, yeah; you're right. This Oryou-san lived a different life as a human, but she got to meet Ryouma and fall in love with him anyway. They made each other happy, like we make each other happy. That is very nice! No matter where we are, we always find each other, don't we, Ryouma?"
"I guess so," he concluded cheerily. "I wouldn't want it any other way."
"Oryou-san either!"
The two exchanged loving expressions for a moment, before they both turned back towards the path.
"All right, let's head out," Ryouma happily announced.
Oryou floated in lockstep, twirling around on her back. "Let's catch some frogs to eat for lunch, too! All this sap is making her hungry."
"Hahaha. Sure, we can do that."
Behind them, the statue of this timeline's Ryouma and Oryou stayed where it was, the two just as eternally together as the pair walking down the path. This version of the couple might have been long gone, but the other was still right; just like them, these two had found each other, and that had made every difference in the world to them, no matter the end.
Love always brought them together. How very good indeed.