Tingxiang and Jiraiya simply looked at each other. At last, after a moment, Tingxiang gave a slight nod, her light voice falling gently.
"Okay."
At that moment, Jiraiya felt every worry in his heart vanish.
The ice melted, and a spring breeze brushed across his face, as soft and warm as stroking a lover's cheek.
His heartbeat quickened uncontrollably. His old face flushed, glowing red.
"I, I, I, I need to use the restroom."
Before he had even finished speaking, he dashed out the door and rushed to the sink, repeatedly splashing cold water onto his face.
The chill of the flowing water made him realize that he was not dreaming. This was reality, the real world, and he had not been caught in any Genjutsu.
He braced both hands against the sink, raised his head, and looked at himself in the mirror.
He lifted a hand and touched the marks time had left on the face in the mirror, his gaze slightly dazed.
"So I'm not an eighteen-year-old kid anymore?"
He removed the forehead protector bearing the character for "oil," looked at the wrinkles on his forehead and the red tear-like marks stretching across his cheeks, then raised a hand to touch them.
"If I'd known, I never would've learned that Sage Technique. Before I learned it, these tear marks were just a tiny bit. I was so handsome back then."
As he muttered to himself, scenes from the past surfaced in his mind. After he and Tingxiang had fought and become acquainted, they had both been exhausted, sitting quietly by the riverbank as they watched the sunset sink below the horizon and listened to the brook murmur along.
"How could I have...?"
Regret rose in his heart. If only...
Unfortunately, there were no ifs. Time would not turn