Every now and then Hakuryuu asked himself all these "important" questions about life. Why were their born? What was the purpose of their lives? Why did they strive for happiness so much? What was happiness? How could one maintain it in a world like theirs? Why were they working against each other? And so on and so on. Of course, he hadn't found an answer, not for himself and not for others. However, he had found out what made him truly happy – so he may have found an answer at least for the question, what made one happy.
It was easy to be happy about a gift or a compliment – although Hakuryuu had the terrible habit of doubting any kind of praise or kindness directed at him –, because it was easy to remember how happy one had been when one got it. But how often did one get a gift, especially one without a specific reason besides to make one smile? How often did one get a compliment? Yes, there were also other reasons why someone could be happy, however most of the time one could only think about the "big" things or the "rare" ones that made them happy. Yet Hakuryuu had found out that he was often happy due to ordinary things.
It was a wonderful feeling to return to his private chambers and be greeted by a small and happy little sunshine. When he had visited Judar's home village the two of them had adopted a girl, because why not – and Judar was not even aware that they had done so. The girl needed someone to take care of her and save her from her horrible family. Without thinking at all Hakuryuu had taken her with them to the palace. Now he tried to be a good parent for her. Her smile mad him happy.
Since she had no clothes, they took the old ones of Hakuryuu's sister Kougyoku, who had a lot of fun dressing the little girl up. But it was somewhat impersonal and he wanted her to have her "own" clothes, so he started to learn how to make dresses. It was hard work, but he gave his best and was really proud of himself when he finished the first one – not a masterpiece, but not bad either – and the little girl loved it as well, which was the most important part. Another thing that made him happy, was remembering how Judar, the girl and he thought about a new name for her. Strangely he could not remember why they wanted to change her name in the first place, but they did. She liked her new name a lot.
Besides her he also was happy when he had time to cook. Thinking of new recipes and try new dishes out was great, especially when others praised his meals. However, the process of creating the meals was already enough to make him happy. It was even better when Kougyoku joined him – Judar was not a good addition in the kitchen, because he would cause more chaos than he would be of any help. "Unfortunately" Judar loved to join him in the kitchen and try out anything Hakuryuu prepared – the Magi was too impatient to wait for the meal to be finished and Hakuryuu's meals were too good, even when they weren't completed.
Consequently eating with his family also brought happiness to him. As child he often had eaten with his mother, father and siblings – at least when all of them were at home. But even when it was just his mother, sister and him it was still a nice memory – a nice memory that also hut, because now he knew that his mother had just pretended. Now he had Kougyoku, Judar and his adopted daughter to eat with him. One could learn so much about others by just listening. Judar mostly complained about all his duties and how everything was so exhausting, while Kougyoku couldn't stop talking about all the great achievements of the empire and what she had contributed to it. Her self-esteem was growing as well and Hakuryuu was happy to see his sister becoming more and more confident in abilities and started to be happier, just like him. They were more similar than he had thought and one on hand this made him happy, while on the other hand it also made him sad, because he knew about her pain, since he had felt it too. Just a wonderful person like Kougyoku should have experienced so terrible things. She deserved only the best and he hated himself for hurting her with the civil war.
Also it was great to talk about oneself without being judged, because they all knew about his past and pain. Judar understood him the most and Kougyoku, after they had talked things out, understood him as well, even when she did not agree with his past actions, she did not judge him without knowing more about the subject – but even then she often just stated her opinion and wouldn't criticized for his, because this was how things were: Everyone was allowed to have their own opinions and one opinion did not say whether a person was a good one or a bad one.
In the end their dinners were filled with laughter and remembering them made him feel warm inside.
Seeing those who were dear to him smile made him smile and feel better as well. Hearing they were fine was another reason to be happy – who wouldn't be happy about hearing that their loved ones were fine and happy? Even better when he was the reason why they felt good – something like this made him pushed his own self-esteem and made him feel great again.
He also liked to see the flowers in the garden. Together with Kougyoku he had created a small garden in the palace – not that there weren't enough, but the two of them wanted to make their own garden. They had done so to get to know each other better, since it was easier for them to open up, when they were able to relax, which was the cause when they were gardening. Nowadays they sometimes would even agree on a time to meet in the garden and take care of it. Hakuryuu's adoptive daughter also help out sometimes.
Whenever he passed by the garden he just had to smile. All those beautiful flowers! Besides flowers the garden also had some vegetables, which Hakuryuu used for his meals – further they could save money when they used the fruits of their own garden. Gardening was a nice and fulfilling free time activity. Judar often made stupid remarks when he watched Hakuryuu taking care of the different plants. At first Hakuryuu had been annoyed by it, but now he only smiled at Judar and threaten him with "peach prohibition" or reminded him, who was the cook. It was funny to see Judar changing his behavior. Who would have thought that the so called black Magi could be so obedient? Sometimes Hakuryuu wondered whether Judar took his threats serious or was just playing along. Whatever it was, it was fun – at least he had fun.
His favorite aspect about the garden was not that he and Kougyoku created it, but how colorful it was. Only recently he realized how much he liked colorful things. So, whenever he saw someone dressed in beautiful colors his mood got better – luckily his daughter and Kougyoku loved colorful clothing. Those two always looked so gorgeous.
After a stressful day the best way to calm down and relax was to take a hot bath. Hakuryuu used that time to relax and remember all those funny moments with his brothers. Hakuren had always tried to make bathing an adventure, because it was so boring. Hakuryuu could not agree, but maybe this was because of Hakuren's efforts. Hakuyuu, on the other hand, had to ensure that his youngest brother got clean. Not an easy task, when one was constantly interrupted by Hakuren. Playing was more fun than bathing.
Now a similar situation was between Judar, him and their adopted child. While Judar disliked bathing and focused more on playing around, Hakuryuu tried to get everyone clean – it had been his daughter's idea for the three of them to bath together. Back then, when he was still a child, he had never understood why Hakuyuu was so annoyed and even scold him and Hakuren, now he could perfectly understand his oldest brother and he felt bad about his past self. He wished, he could turn back in time and be a better little brother, but this was not possible. Maybe he got his punishment for being a bad little brother herewith? Who knew? Who cared? In a very strange way he still enjoyed bathing with Judar and their daughter or else he would have given up a long time ago – seeing those two smiling, laughing and being happy made him feel great and at ease. Also those moments made him remember his own family and thereby also reminded him that he know had found a family again.
He also hadn't given up his training sessions, although they had become fewer because of all his other duties. His teacher hadn't changed over time and it was nice to win against him from time to time – it was some kind of prove that he had grown stronger. And being praised was great as well, especially when his trainer compared him to his older brothers. Hakuryuu knew that it was stupid to compare himself to his older brothers, but he still did it. He had done so in the past and he probably would still do so in the future. Hakuyuu and Hakuren weren't Hakuryuu, but they were his role models, especially Hakuyuu. Regardless of the praise he may got, Hakuryuu enjoyed the sessions, because they showed him that he had gotten stronger and this was very important for his self-esteem. Even when he lost, he now knew that his opponent hadn't won easily. Sometimes he wished he could show his new skills to his bothers and be praised by them as well. But he knew this was not possible anymore, however dreaming about his brothers praising him, especially when it was not a farfetched dream, caused him to smile and be satisfied with himself and his achievements.
Actually, there were so many little things that made him happy. Things like, for example, good weather, a good meal, cooking, seeing his loved ones were happy and well, nice conversations, colorful flowers, spending time with his family, finishing his paperwork, a restful sleep at night, making dresses for his adopted daughter, gardening or simply relaxing. It was easy to forget all those things, because they were so ordinary, but they were so important.
Not so long ago, he had often asked himself, what he was living for, what his purpose was. Now he knew a lot of things that were worth living for and so many things that made life enjoyable. Now he could only shake his head in disbelieve over his own ignorance. How could he not see all those little things until now? Why had he overlooked them? On the other hand, did it really matter now what was in the past? Probably not. Important was just, that he had found his own answer to the questions "what make you happy". The "big" questions were left unanswered. What was happiness? Why was it so important to humans? Why did humans work against each other? What was their purpose on earth? Why were the born in the first place? And there were more questions. However, Hakuryuu had stopped searching for an answer, because he had found one to the most important question. So, why bothering with himself with anymore unnecessary questions? From now on he would enjoy his life to its fullest together with his family and appreciate all the little things in his life that made it worthwhile – hoping he could share his happiness with everyone else, so they also could enjoy their lives like he did with his own.