2024-01-27: Resolve ~RESOLUTION~
- Cast: Guy Shishioh, Mikoto Utsugi, Leo Shishioh, Kizuna Shishioh
- Where: Division Train, Jupiter
- Date: U.C. 0097 12 28
- Summary: Every light in the sky is your family.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
It's been scant days since the end of the King of Ruin, the rescue of Sakura Akamatsu, and the purification of Galeon. Right now, the Black Boxes and cores of Galeon and each of the Genesic GaoMachines are in hangars set aside for them - barely more than piles of scrap, right now. But already, the awesome power of the Trinary Solar System is seeing to their regeneration. Everyone is slowly unwinding from weeks - months - years, of stress.
And Jupiter....is slowly recovering. GGG has not yet turned back for Earth, taking a few extra days to make sure the largest planet in the Solar System, home to one enemy empire and no small number of Terrestrial colonists, would return to its proper glory. The singularity the King of Ruin punched in reality to get here, ripping Jupiter's mass down to create it, is even now steadily unpacking itself. One might call it slow to watch, but it is of course actually a massive vent of thousands of metric tons per second.
Guy stands in his room, a window out of the Division Train peering out into the space of the swirling gasses of Jupiter. For the first time in a long time, he feels some tension off of his shoulders, watching the stars glimmer in the inky sky.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Utsugi has posed.
The silence is interrupted by two quick knocks at the door to Guy's room.
"Guy, it's me."
That's about all the warning Guy gets before the door opens, and Mikoto steps in. She's still wearing her new 3G Green uniform- practically the same as the uniform she wore as part of the Gutsy Galaxy Guard, but there's a significance to changing out of the constantly regenerating uniform she wore when she was part of Triple Zero.
Quietly, calmly, she walks in to stand next to Guy, taking in the sight of the expanding Jupiter. The King of Ruin is a memory now, no longer standing ominously in the sky.
"...We really did it, didn't we? It's actually over now." It's taking a while to settle in. "Everything that started when Pasdar crashed to Earth... it's really, finally over."
The Zonderians, the Primevals, the Masters of Sol and now the Oath of Omega... Even if the Earth is still in peril from other things...
They're still here. Still them. Still standing together, after everything.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Guy doesn't even need to respond; Mikoto knows she's welcome. When she draws up to him, his hand slides around her waist, tucking her up against him, and he doesn't quite notice the breath he releases at the same time.
But he has to shake his head. "Not quite," he says. "We still have one problem. The Power is still leaking into this world through the same hole the King of Ruin used...the same gap Jupiter's returning through. We can't let that stay open." At Orange Site, they were all willing to close the gap from inside, and perish at the cosmic egg, to ensure it. Now they're on the outside, but the problem remains. "We'll have to come back here soon enough, to finish what we started."
And then, from neither of them, a voice; familiar, womanly.
"You won't have to worry about that, Guy."
Guy looks; just out of where he'd been looking, she's appeared. A vision of a woman with short-cut hair and a tender smile, wrapped in an eternal kind of robe, hands clasped in front of her. Kizuna Shishioh. Next to her, shorter, grinning widely, is her husband Leo, his big mustache sticking out to either side. "Mom, Dad? ...I can see you as you are, this close," Guy says. He shifts his attention to Mikoto, though he's sure she can see them just as well. This near to the root of The Power, it won't be hard for someone with her abilities.
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Utsugi has posed.
With Guy's arm around her, she leans against him, resting her head on his shoulder. She's missed this sort of quiet and comfort- and she intends to never pass up on an opportunity for it again.
"...Right." There's a hint of exhaustion, there. It always seems like there's one more step between them and victory. One last moment. "I'm sure Dr. Liger will-"
And then she hears the voice speaking through the limpid channel, and looks up. "Mrs. Kizuna? Dr. Leo?" It's not just Guy who can see her this time. A mixed expression of happiness and surprise creeps onto her face, before settling into a warm smile.
"I'm glad that we... we get the chance to see you again." Her own eyes turn to Guy- every meeting with his parents like this must be bittersweet. They weren't exactly ghosts, but they could never return to the living world- their existence was tied to Orange Site- to the leaking energy of The Power.
There was always the possibility that any time they spoke, it would be the final time.
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
That's the problem of being Chief - you can't ever, quite, stop thinking about just how many problems there are to solve. But Mikoto's warmth against him helps Guy to keep his focus together and his eyes on the goal.
Kizuna smiles kindly. Leo twiddles his mustache and chuckles. "It's been a while, Mikoto," Kizuna says. "You two...truly look wonderful together. I am sorry we couldn't do much more than this. But...we'll take the problem of The Power from here."
"King J-Der is nearly in operable condition. GGG needs to recover still...but J-Der can finish this task. We'll have them close the rift on this side, to make sure nothing else can come through," Leo says. He chuckles, just a touch melancholic. "I had young Ikumi relay the message. It seems trying to rush to the rip was how they fell into the Trinary Solar System to begin with. We'll finally see all this behind us."
"...and when that happens, you'll no longer be able to appear in this world," Guy murmurs. "Your existence is maintained by The Power, right?" His fingers curl tighter against Mikoto's waist, dismayed.
Leo shrugs. "Who knows? We won't be testing it."
Kizuna looks to Guy, and then to Mikoto. "We're going to stay inside Orange Site, and close the way out. Perhaps we can help anyone else who gets lost there, while that world persists."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Utsugi has posed.
For a moment, Mikoto beams like the sun and blushes like a total idiot at the complement from Kizuna. "Ehe... your mom thinks we look good together, Guy."
Still, that moment of unfettered Mikoto doesn't last, as she turns to look back at Kizuna and Leo again. The plan seems simple- and already decided. If Ikumi's already told J...
As Guy's grip becomes tighter, Mikoto rests her hand on his. It's gentle and light as she intertwines her fingers with his.
"...you've made up your mind, haven't you?"
It was always borrowed time, wasn't it?
"This is goodbye, then." It's easy to see the tears in the corners of Mikoto's eyes- but instead of succumbing to them, she smiles. "...don't worry about Guy, okay? We'll be sure to look out for each other. We'll let everyone know what happened. It was... It was an honor to work with you, Dr. Leo."
She blinks a few times, to get the worst out of her eyes. "And Mrs. Kizuna... I was so happy that I got to meet you, even once. And..." She looks up at Guy. "...It'll be a long, long time before we see each other again, okay? And when we do, I'll tell you everything about the life Guy and I will have led together. There'll be enough stories to last us forever. Right, Guy?"
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
Kizuna chuckles. Leo fully laughs, grinning up at Kizuna and nudging her in the side. "It's been rough. But I know you'll take good care of our boy, Mikoto," Leo says, warmly.
"It is," Kizuna agrees, to Mikoto's recognition. "After this, we'll return, and become part of the nascent universe."
"Likewise," Leo says, straightening up and tucking his hands behind his back, professional and proud. "I couldn't ask for a better girl to watch over Guy. He's a little stubborn, but after what we've all been through, after what you've been through...you'll have no problems, I think."
Kizuna showers Mikoto in the warmest smile her ghostly form can. "Please. Take as long as you want in this world. I think...we won't be back until the next. We'll become part of everything."
Leo grins wide. "I guess you could say that means everything in the universe to come...the universe we're in now, is our child."
Guy's hand quiets under Mikoto's touch, twining their fingers together, but as the conversation goes on she can feel his fingers draw tighter again. Still...he relaxes to smile, and chuckle. "Of course. The first and most precious gift..."
"If you want to invent a kind future, you must first invent the universe," Leo chimes, and then guffaws.
Kizuna dips her head low, as their forms flicker. "Don't forget us. But more than that...remember to be kind. Remember that bravery in your heart."
She stands up, and smiles big. "Everything in this universe born 15 billion years ago is your sibling. Take care of them all."
Their forms turn ghostly and start to fade, and Guy watches, saying, "I will," softly. "Everything we swore together is part of this whole world...I'll make sure they learn it well."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Utsugi has posed.
Mikoto nods firmly to Leo. It's a promise to the parents of the man she loves. Becoming part of the nascent universe- becoming a part of everything... it's a bit much to fully comprehend, really. The complicated timestream around Orange Site only confuses things more. But it's easy enough to understand that the Leo and Kizuna they know will be gone.
"He is," Mikoto says, quietly. "But we both are. Even if he's a little more stubborn than me."
She can feel Guy's unease in his grip. So she tightens her own grip, just a little. "...Then you'll be with us wherever we go, right?" She looks up to Guy, hoping he's heard what she did. Hoping it helps.
"We won't forget." She can't stop the tears falling down her face any longer, but she keeps a smile on her face. Her other arm, however, wraps around Guy's back. "Goodbye! Safe travels!"
It's when they fully fade away, however, that she finally looks back up.
"...Are you okay?"
<Pose Tracker> Guy Shishioh has posed.
He waits for a long few moments before answering, turning and pulling to bring Mikoto fully into a hug. The light of the stars highlight tearstreaks down his face, but he's smiling just the same. "Yeah," he says, happy. "I guess...you could say I lost them a long time ago. Mom's death really set all this in motion, in a way. And Dad...he got to be with her. I can't be sad."
"And you're right. We'll have a lot of stories for them the next time we meet. And they've given me a lot of brothers and sisters to meet in the universe. I couldn't be happier."
He takes a deep breath, pulling his face away to marshal himself against the ceiling before turning his eyes down on Mikoto, smiling warmly. "We'll go see the worlds together for them."
<Pose Tracker> Mikoto Utsugi has posed.
As Guy pulls her close, Mikoto presses herself close to Guy's chest. She doesn't interrupt as he says what he needs to say, listening.
"...I'm glad." She says, after a moment. "There's a whole universe waiting for us to explore, isn't there?" She reciprocates the hug as best she can.
"Let's see it all- everything this universe has to offer us, okay?"