Thousands of years had passed. Friends had come and gone, Dan Heng had grown and changed. People he once loved, like March 7th, the Trailblazer, Himeko, and Welt had been buried long ago. Dan Heng didn't visit their graves as often as he should. He still saw Blade sometimes, a passing shadow when no one was looking. His companions, Kafka and such, were gone as well. Perhaps that's why Blade didn't seem to want to fight anymore.

Now that he'd embraced his truest form as Imbibitor Lunae, the people of Xianzhou looked at him differently. It was easier to see Dan Feng now that his horns and tail had grown back. The resemblance had actually led to Dan Heng spending another few decades in the Shackling Prison. Jing Yuan had died a few years prior, finally reaching the end of the long-lived Foxian lifespan, so there hadn't been anyone to speak on Dan Heng's behalf.

Until he'd met you.

You had been a nurse for the inmates of the Shackling Prison that weren't mara-struck. And you'd spoken out vehemently about his imprisonment until the Council of elders caved and released him. Dan Heng could never return to Xianzhou, not that he had anyone left to return to. You left with him, as you two had formed a special bond over the years.

Life was far different now than it had been on the Astral Express. But it belonged to the two of you. A warm home by the water on a lush little planet where no one knew his name. And for the first time since the last of his friends had departed, Dan Heng was smiling.