Disclaimer: This series and its characters belong to BONES Animation Studios; any other series mentioned belong to their respective owners.
Special thanks goes to Acidwyre13 for proofreading this chapter and any concurrent ones. He has his own story under this topic in circulation, known as 'Prescience', and everyone should go read that if they haven't already. After you're done with this of course. ;D
EDIT: I forgot to put a notice in here. I will still be updating the original story until it's completed. I said I would finish it and I stand by that, but I'm also excited for this revision as I have a much better grasp of what I want to do unlike in the first draft where I looked at the story that was there and then wrote whatever came into my head. So, don't worry about it being discontinued if you enjoyed the original story.
"Speech" / 'Thoughts'
Iwato Jima (Okinawan Union, 2015)
Rain… What a coincidence that it would rain tonight of all nights.
Whenever it rains, people tend to experience deep emotions or a lack of them. They say that our deepest sorrows are felt in the rain as well as our deepest passions. In either case, the rain holds an influence over our lives that no other weather condition can claim. So it's only appropriate that it would rain on the night she believed to be the final step in her long journey. Of course her mind was elsewhere as she manipulated the steering apparatus which caused the metal giant, in which she was currently seated, to extend its arm and land another punch on the colossal black creature which was threatening her home.
She'd been on that island for nearly four years now. It seemed strange that she could even call it a home after most of the islanders had cast her out as some kind of freak. She had to endure, though…
She had to… for her son, her little boy.
'Ao…'
That boy was her life now. She had resigned herself to endure the hardship of living here, the hatred of the islanders, and hardest of all, the guilt she felt every time she looked at him. It was all so he could live here and away from the dead world that was her true home and his as well.
She grunted as she took a hit to the lower torso, damaging some of the motivators and knocking her off-kilter. It may have been more fortunate than she thought, however, as she spotted something out of the corner of her vision.
Down on the ground, frozen in fear at the battle before them, was a very familiar pair of a young girl and her pet sloth. She'd have to be a fool not to recognize them by now.
'Naru! This is bad!' she thought, catching a ring of energy and tossing it right back at the Secret, 'Space is starting to warp. She'll be caught in the blast if I don't do something!'
Indeed, blinding particles of light were beginning to fill the whole area as the Coral's anxiety rose and it's Quartz's energy began to flare up in unpredictable waves; a deadly combination to be sure. The Secret she was fighting was screaming in pain as it tried to keep a hold on its cognition with all the Trapar and other quantum forces being thrown around.
Practically safe from further attacks, she commanded her metal giant to kneel in front of the girl, placing its hand on the Coral's surface. Though she had given herself over to humanity fully by this point, they were still her brethren and would listen to her wishes if she was in desperate need. Clasping her hands together, she took a blind chance and made a prayer, a desperate plea to save the child which had brought some light to her family in the few years they'd lived on the island.
Responding to her indomitable will, the Scub rose up, building on top of itself over and over again, forming a gigantic wall to protect the young child from the tidal forces spreading all throughout the surrounding area and causing untold destruction.
Barely able to see anymore and satisfied that she was able to save the one who mattered most to her son, she sat back in her seat and watched as her body began to turn transparent.
'I knew this would happen.' Taking one last look at the shield and the girl she knew was behind it, she gave one last thought before leaving this world.
'Take care of him for me, Naru. I know you can do it.'
Unknown Location
"Where... am I?"
After fading out only moments earlier, she'd somehow ended up in a tunnel of gentle light completely surrounded by darkness. There was no telling where exactly she would end up after being exposed to the Quantum Displacement Phenomenon, but she assumed that there would at least be a destination. Was she doomed to float in-between dimensions forever?
"You're not there yet," answered a calm voice coming seemingly out of thin air.
"Who's there?"
"It would take countless eons to explain my exact nature. Know only that I am your ally."
"But where are you," she responded, looking all around.
"I am where you are going," the voice said, sounding much closer this time.
Gazing dead ahead, she was able to see a figure silhouetted in the light at the distant end of the tunnel. It was incredibly hard to make out, but if she squinted it looked vaguely like... a man?
"When you arrive," it continued, "I shall teach you many things. You will learn how to move through this outer space as naturally as breathing or walking."
The young mother and pilot frowned at this declaration. The being had called itself an ally, but gifts like these were rarely given without a price. It was clear that whatever this thing was, it most likely wanted something from her in exchange.
"Just what is it you hope to gain?" she replied, making her suspicions known.
"I know it's hard to trust me as we're only just about to meet, but I hope to gain your help in shaping the future."
Her eyes narrowed. She was never going to escape conflict was she; she was going to be forced to act as a pawn for one organization or another for the rest of her life, wasn't she?
"It may sound selfish to you, but I have no interest in whatever future you want to bring about. My only wish right now is to live peacefully with my family," she replied in an oddly cold manner.
The voice, however, seemed unperturbed and the figure with which it was connected remained unmoving. "And I can make that happen, but first we must create a world of peace, unfettered by the ravages of war over Scub Coral or the destruction brought about by the Secrets. With your assistance, this is all possible. I can go into further detail when you arrive, but for now, will you help me?"
She looked forward as a shadowy hand was extended to her. Had it been any other situation, she would have given the situation more thought, but considering that if she didn't accept his help she would be forced to wander time forever without any idea of where she was going, it wasn't really a choice. Even if she didn't trust him, it was at least fair to hear him out.
Though reluctantly, she grasped his hand and let herself be pulled in.
"Welcome to our convergence, Eureka."
10 years later...
Iwato Jima (Coastal Town, 2025)
His eyes flickered open as light began pouring into his room. Groggily, he rose from the position in which he'd slept and stretched out his limbs, relieving the tension from the night before. Speaking of the night before... he sighed as memories of his dreams came to him.
'I had that dream again,' he thought to himself, lamenting his inability to get over his past. Once again, the day of the Scub Burst haunted him in the night. It was the last day he had ever seen his mother; she'd left that morning with parting words to his grandfather as he watched from afar where they weren't aware of him. It had broken his heart to watch her leave and even more so when the UN soldiers arrived to tell them that she wouldn't be coming back. He'd have drowned in a maelstrom of his sorrows if it hadn't been for her... For her...
Suddenly realizing that he had an appointment with "her", he quickly arose from his bed and dressed himself, pulling on his typical blue hoodie and black shorts. Rushing out of his room, he passed his grandfather, Toshio Fukai, on the way out.
"I'm going out, Grandfather! I'll be back before dark!" he called out as he made his way outside.
"See that you do! You start Middle School in a few days!" was the reply he received, causing him to smile as he mounted his Flying Platform or FP for short.
Despite how much he was irked by the old man's strictness at times, he was truly glad to have him as he was one of the few on this island that even cared for his well-being. The only other, aside from a couple of the local delinquents who sympathized with him, he was heading towards right now as he sailed down the roads in his boxy FP, green streams of light flowing from behind him.
He was entirely unsurprised to see her angry visage when he arrived at her place. In spite of her frail condition, she had quite the temper. Her father staring disapprovingly at him from a window of their house didn't help.
"Ao, you're late again!" she said loudly. "You know we start Middle School soon, don't you? You'd better be there to pick me up on the first day!"
He simply waved her in, not changing his expression whatsoever. "Yeah, yeah. Just come on," he replied, sighing.
Upon entering the rear compartment, most of her haughty attitude melted away to reveal genuine concern which only intensified as they took off in the direction of one of the forested areas of the island.
"Ao, what's wrong?" she asked softly. "You're not yourself today."
For the third time that day, he sighed at his predicament. "It's a lot of things, Naru. I had the dream again last night."
"The one about that day?" she said, the pain of the past clear in her voice.
He merely nodded in response to her question. "I can't stop thinking about it, even after all these years. It was the last day I saw her..."
Almost thankfully, the painful memories had to stop as he heard his charge burst out into a coughing fit. She took out a small pouchette and popped it open to reveal a device which she breathed into for relief. His best friend, Naru Arata, had a disease known as Trapar-based Respiratory Atrophy, or TRA for short, which crippled her lungs after being exposed to a high Trapar density during the Okinawan Scub Burst 10 years ago. Ever since then, her prospects at living a full and healthy life had been woefully diminished with doctors surprised that she'd been able to live even this long. Of course, this was most likely the reason why she'd stuck so closely to his side these days, not that he was ungrateful.
'She's really the only friend I have here,' he thought, pulling over on the side of the road not all that far from their destination and getting out to check on her.
"You alright?" he asked, rubbing his hand across her back in an attempt to bring her some comfort. "It's the memories of that day, isn't it? I'm sorry; I never should have brought it up."
"No," she said in between several deep breaths. "It's better than holding it in."
As they started trudging along the forest path, they continued to make idle conversation.
"So, what else is on your mind?" she questioned him, treading behind the boy at an even pace.
"Just thinking about Middle School... and how awful it's going to be."
She gave him a light punch in the shoulder. "Come on, it won't be that bad. I'll be there."
She received a snort in response. "Yeah, you... and all the other kids on the island who've been raised to hate me. I'll be lucky if I can get by one day without getting picked on or having to fight someone."
The older girl shook her head. "Just think of it as a chance to show everyone that you're a good person, and besides if anyone tries picking on you, I'll knock some sense into them!" she replied, a cough coming on at the perfect moment.
At the girl's overblown statement, the younger of the pair could only give a light laugh. 'At least it cheered him up,' she thought, mentally shrugging.
In truth, she was just about as worried he was when it came to his upcoming public education. It was no secret that the islanders blamed a lot of their misfortunes on the arrival of Eureka all those years ago and now, with her gone, their anger and frustration refocused on her son, despite the fact that he was born on the island just like the rest of them. Even her own father who had been one of the few willing to accept the mysterious family had turned on the boy after that day... that day when-
"Ah, there's Noah!" she heard Ao exclaim, breaking her out of painful memories that threatened to rise from the back of her mind where she'd buried them.
There, hanging off a tree branch was the object of their journey: her pet sloth, Noah, who she let play around here on his own every once in a while so he could be closer to nature. Retrieving him, they made their way back to the vehicle.
As they turned around to leave the area, he could have sworn that he saw a person that had been behind him, but thinking on it in hindsight... all he could really remember were the muddled colors of pure white and gold. 'Must have been my imagination...'
Despite his own affirmation, he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched from afar for the entire journey back. With that in mind, he made sure to keep an even more watchful eye on Naru. Perhaps this is the distraction that caused him to crash his FP.
Speaking of which, the sound of an engine down-cycling made itself apparent in his ears just before his head was violently propelled forward into his steering wheel, airbag deploying just before he made contact and knocking him out instantly.
Iwato Jima (Beach Front)
"OUCH!"
That was the first thing he'd heard upon reawakening. Looking up from his very uncomfortable position on the ceiling of the upturned FP, that had once been his prized possession, he saw a man with horribly messy and unkempt dark hair desperately rubbing the back of his head. Apparently he'd fallen out of his own custom FP and landed in an unfortunate position.
Not that that mattered much to him. There was only one thing that really mattered at the moment.
"Naru, you alright?" he called out to her, looking back through the dividing bars to see that she was still unconscious... and hanging upside down from her safety straps. She looked pretty banged up with her head having impacted the diving bars between the driver's seat and passenger's compartment, not to mention the other cuts and scrapes all over her body. Quickly crawling out of the vehicle and ignoring the man from before, who was now aggressively dashing at him, he reached inside the passenger compartment and undid the safety straps, gently taking her into his arms so she wouldn't fall to the ground and be hurt even more. Making sure he didn't bruise any of her limbs as he did so, he removed her from the defunct mode of transportation, holding her bridal-style.
"That's Mitsuo's kid, isn't it?" he heard a voice say from his side. "That would make you the Fukai boy, wouldn't it?"
Turning to face the voice, his eyes met only with the man who had been furiously running at him earlier, though his expression had softened significantly since then, most likely because his companion was hurt.
"Gazelle," he stated accusingly as he laid Naru against the remains of his ruined FP. "Only you would drive so recklessly around here."
"It's not like I could help it; the engine blew out on me!" he all but shouted with an air of indignation. "Never mind that, anyway. Is she going to be okay? Can't say I like Mitsuo all that much, being one of my father's thugs, but that doesn't mean I want to see one of his kids hurt."
Said child was beginning to stir to the apparent notice of the pair and to Noah who had crawled out of the wreckage to join his master. Her eyes fluttered open and she began to make muffled sounds as she attempted to sit up.
"Naru," Ao spoke softly, placing a hand behind her back to ease her up. "Are you okay? Does it hurt?"
"I... I think so," she replied woozily, rubbing her bruised forehead, "but it does hurt. A lot."
A wave of relief washing over him, he allowed himself to smile a bit. "I'll bring you home to Grandfather and get you patched up. You can rest with us tonight. We can explain the accident to your dad in the morning."
Despite her situation, she returned his smile, taking hold of his hand. If she was being honest, she was just glad to see his spirits lifting. "I'd like that," she told him before a devious thought crossed her mind. "Say, how long has it been since we shared a bed? Not since we were kids, huh?"
Gazelle looked at the now-blushing boy in astonishment as he affectionately argued with his injured charge about their sleeping arrangements. 'THIS is the boy that father's telling everyone to hate? I mean, I know he looks different, but otherwise he's a perfectly normal kid! Oh, I'm going to make sure my old man gets it one of these days!' he resolved, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth.
"Oi, Boss!" his strongman, Pippo, called out, "Could ya quit messing around with the kids and help me pick this stuff up?"
Gazelle turned and his eyes widened significantly when he realized the briefcase that his team was supposed to be transporting had blown open and the contents had spilled all across the beachfront. His muscled associate was currently trying to rectify that while his mechanical genius and computer whiz, Han Juno, was attempting to fix up his FP.
"Shit!" he swore, not caring that there were children not five feet away. "We need to clean this up and fast!"
He quickly ran over and started to assist in picking up several black rectangular objects and stuffing them in the slots of the briefcase. Ao, whose attention was pulled away from the girl holding his hand, noticed a small green bracelet sticking out of the sand near where Gazelle had been standing. Reaching over he plucked it from its precarious position and examined it for a moment before pocketing it, being careful to hide from Naru which wasn't too hard since she was checking on Noah. He might give it to her later as an apology gift for not paying enough attention to where he was flying. 'As if being curled up next to me tonight isn't enough,' he thought, lightly blushing, 'At least I won't have the dream if... If she's with me.'
"Hey, Han! How's the ECU looking?" the voice of the shaggy-haired man called out, drawing him from his thoughts. "We need to get out of here as quick as we can if the JAF are still tracking us!"
"JAF?" His whole body froze as the question slipped from his jaw. Why would the enemy of their nation be tracking this bum unless... whatever was in that briefcase was vitally important. In which case these men were either in deep, DEEP trouble or they were traitors. He honestly couldn't decide which was the more preferable option at the moment.
The bum in question raised his head and eyed the brunette boy warily. "You just forget you ever heard that, boy. I'm feeling real generous now that I know what you're actually like and you should take advantage of that. Take the girl and leave; understand me?"
Ao blinked a couple times before nodding lamely. He used his grip on Naru to pull the confused girl up and lead her away from the crash site, sloth wrapped around her shoulder, heading for his home down the road. What the man had said wasn't entirely threatening but that didn't mean there wasn't an edge in his voice, and Ao wasn't stupid. Even if he stuck his nose where it didn't belong, it's not like he could actually do anything about it, not to mention his best friend was hurt and he wanted to get her back in good shape as soon as he could.
"Surprisingly mean of you to scare kids like that, eh Boss?" Pippo absentmindedly noted.
The boss shook his head. "If our dads find out we've been working for the JAF, we'll look like hypocrites. Can't let the old man have any dirt on me, huh?" He gave his colleague a wry smile.
Over by the damaged custom FP, Han finally managed to pop open the engine compartment with some elbow grease, a crowbar, and all the sheer persistence his shrimpy body could muster. As he fell on his ass from the lock's sudden release, the hood flew open to reveal a massive pile of glowing green cubes.
The thin mechanic blinked a few times, a few of the cubes falling off the top of the pile and bouncing off his head, before turning to his scruffy-looking boss who had just clasped the briefcase closed. "What in the world did you do, Boss? I've seen a lot of things happen to engines, but this is new to me."
"I didn't do anything!" his boss yelled at him, a vein popping up on his forehead. "I just touched the signal tracker one time and suddenly I'm getting a face full of smoke!"
Han was about to say something in retort when a giant beam of light erupted in the sky behind him, knocking the trio over.
Unknown Location
"Is it ready, my beloved?" he asked, linking his fingers with hers as they stood side by side.
"Yes, it's been ready for days. I suppose you simply did not notice." She replied, giving his hand a squeeze both to affirm her appreciation for his presence and make her jest known.
"I have been busy managing the convergence and coordinating our efforts. I left matters of combat and espionage to you which I did see you take full advantage of. Feeling a bit jealous?" He'd finished that statement with a playful tone.
She smiled joyfully. Even at their most basic, she did enjoy these games of theirs.
"You know perfectly well that we're different people now and that I look forward to uniting with you if we're successful."
The area around them lit up.
She reluctantly let go of his hand. "As much as I'd like to continue verbally dancing with you, I must accomplish my task."
He nodded, not losing the gentle smile he'd been holding since his arrival. "We'll await your return. Do be careful not to squash them underfoot. They must be alive for The Contact to work."
She let out a hearty laugh as a gargantuan humanoid shape erupted from the ground beneath, carrying her up on the area protruding from its back. Wiping the tears from her eyes, she gave him a bold smirk.
"You should be the one being careful that I don't squash you, dear."
Without another word between them, she plopped down into the seat before her, with her entry being sealed as the matter that composed the giant grew over it, sealing her in. She basked in the warmth as its flesh united with hers, growing into her body and fusing with her, becoming her vessel. She focused sharply as the light of her soul filled the empty void within the creature, igniting its heart and allowing her to feel its skin, see through its eyes, and taste the air that it breathed, releasing the emerald breath of gods in return. Lamenting the need for it, she felt her memories slowly leave her as she sealed them away one by one. Her knowledge accumulated over her many years of living, her many passions shared with the one she loved, her family and friends from the distant past, her inner thoughts and resolutions and years of contemplation and study of herself and everything around her was emptied from her mind as only her identity and the mission were left. Her love was still present too, of course; there was no way she was going to let all of her memories of him vanish. Most of all though, she remembered this moment not only because she wished to recover those memories later, but also, with no small amount of pride, it gave her a celebratory knowledge that the insane plan that the two of them, sans their recently acquired third member, had come up with was finally coming to fruition.
As he watched the light take her to the skies above, he let a full and open smile break out on his face. "So begins the Last Summer of Love."
A/N: So... yeah, I'm rewriting the story. Why's that? Well, I wasn't really satisfied with the writing of the original story, due in no small part to the vast amount I was relying on the source material not to mention it was my first time attempting to write something like that and on that scale. The earlier chapters are a little painful to read through for me, I'll admit. So, this is me attempting to write the scenarios presented on my own based on what I'd already written in the original story, hence the more somber air this time around. In addition, I'll have the opportunity to introduce ideas that I developed and am still developing overtime in the original story far earlier than they were before, and I'll be introducing some new ideas that I came up with in between chapters of the original.
For example, I think I'm going to try to keep the whole otaku element of Elena intact this time, but regarding mecha instead of everything like in the original anime and manga, and yes this is because I am crazy about mecha in real life. Whenever she goes full otaku mode, that's going to be me talking.
I'm also thinking about attempting a shojou-ai between Fleur and Elena after realizing that the way I have things set up in the original, Fleur is going to be all alone. I know it might sound boring to just pair up the characters that are introduced together, but it makes too much sense to me not to do now that the idea has wormed its way into my head.
Anyway, be sure to tell me what you think and leave a review if you want the next chapter to be released that much sooner. Ciao, everyone.
EDIT: Released earlier than anticipated. Not that I'm particularly happy about that, considering that my hard drive (kind of) died, but I wanted to get it out there while it was still in my doc manager and I had the opportunity to do so. I had to convert it back from DocX format so please tell me if anything looks weird and I'll be sure to fix it. With Acidwyre beta-ing for me when he can, I hope to maintain a somewhat higher level of quality than usual.