Epilogue: The Legacy of the Shadow's Fool
Months later, the village of Oruko had changed. The mist had lifted, and the sun actually reached the square. Mama and Kanpe were serving their sentences by rebuilding the homes they had helped rob. Daddy John had used his wealth not to hoard stones, but to build a school for those the village called goofy.
At the edge of the village, near the old baobab tree where Scorpion used to sit, two figures stood. Scooby, still tall and a bit clumsy, was helping Ada plant a garden of jasmine. He still tripped over his own feet occasionally, and he still struggled with his sandals.
But when he looked at Ada, and when she looked back with a love that was no longer forced by magic but chosen by the heart, nobody laughed. They didn't see a fool anymore. They saw the man who had turned a catastrophe into a masterpiece.