Lost Heaven
by BridgitKiido
Disclaimer: I don't own GX.
Spoiler warning: This story will contain occasional references to flashbacks first mentioned in the fourth season. However, the majority of it takes place during the first and second seasons. There will be heavier spoilers for those (though, obviously, things will be quite different in parts).
For Smokey. I miss you.
. 1 .
Just for a moment I was back at school
and felt that old familiar pain,
and as I turned to make my way back home,
the snow turned into rain.
-Dan Fogelberg, "Same Old Lang Syne"
There is good, and there is evil. There is light, and there is darkness. Many people would like you to believe that the light is good, and that the darkness is evil. But to be frank, how can elements be good or evil? It's how people use their abilities that determines their alignment, not what their abilities are.
Those whose chosen element is darkness fall along two paths – those who choose its power, and those who are chosen by its power. It is the ones that choose to embrace the shadows that have a choice in how they use it. Those who are chosen, however, are stripped of their free wills and, afterward, are given a choice of what to keep: their memories, or their lives. For pure, elemental darkness is tightly controlled by one master, and no one has ever argued that Darkness is fair.
Those who follow the light… well, we'll get to them later, now won't we.
This story follows the events caused by the decisions of a boy who, after being enslaved by the darkness entrusted to him by his friend, was forced to choose between his life and his memories, and who, clinging desperately to all that he had, chose to give up his own life rather than forget his sister.
…Of course, had he done things the canon way, he would have been able to keep both eventually, but that's not exactly the point, now is it?
This was supposed to be a cause for celebration.
…Okay, maybe not quite celebration, but at least slightly higher morale. After all, Judai had managed to defeat the first two of the Seven Stars, and Asuka's brother had returned relatively safe and sound from wherever he had disappeared to. That was supposed to be a good thing.
Except that relatively was a relative term, and instead of congratulating Judai on his victories, or determinedly analyzing the various plays he had made in his duel against Camulla, or even discussing what would happen now with two of the keys lost, everyone was gathered around Fubuki's hospital bed, and no one was smiling.
Asuka was clutching her brother's hand, while the latter was barely managing to keep his eyes open and focused on his sister. The rest of the key-holders, as well as Sho and Hayato, were standing around the bed, close enough to see what was going on while far enough away to give the siblings sufficient space, while Ayukawa was standing off to the side, monitoring the boy's failing vital statistics and at a loss for what to do. Even the life support his heart was on wasn't helping.
"A-Asuka," Fubuki spoke quietly, seemingly struggling just to gather enough energy to talk.
"Hush, save your strength. All that matters is that you're safe now, Brother," Asuka insisted, failing to keep back her tears. She, as well as everyone else, could tell something was wrong.
Fubuki smiled sweetly in response. "I'm glad I got to see you again, one more time, Asuka."
"What are you saying?" Asuka kept insisting to herself that everything would be all right. "You're going to be just fine. Everything will be fine, and we'll be a family again, just like before, before the day you disappeared."
Managing to shake his head ever so slightly, her brother's response was barely a whisper, so hushed that Asuka had to strain to hear it. "I don't have enough strength to hold on any longer." And, his eyes closing, he managed just one more phrase:
"Asuka… I'm… sorry…"
And with that, his hand, which he had been trying to grip Asuka's with as best he could, went limp. One final shudder passed through his body as his heart's pulse reading leveled off. Daitoukuji looked over at Ayukawa, who shook her head sadly.
"Brother?!" Asuka leaned closer to Fubuki, terrified and unwilling to accept what had happened. Just a moment later, she was screaming in his ear, "Brother! Brother, wake up! Brother!"
"It's no use, Asuka. I did everything I could, but," Ayukawa said sadly, placing her hand on Asuka's shoulder. The girl froze up, her face twisted in sadness, shock, fear, and even a slight bit of anger, as she heard the nurse conclude, "He's gone."
Everyone in the room was shocked by the announcement. The first and second years in the room who didn't know Fubuki at all simply stood there, a mix of shock and sadness on their faces. Chronos hid his face, while Ryo gritted his teeth, fighting back tears himself, and Judai and Daitoukuji stood there like twin deer in the headlights, trying to get their minds around what had happened. Even Pharaoh the cat had stopped purring to gaze sadly on the scene.
Tenjoin Fubuki, third most promising honors student that Duel Academy had ever seen, was dead.
The next few days, as far as Asuka was concerned, passed like a blur. The entire school was in mourning, though only a select few students knew the details as to why, since Samejima had been told to keep the death as quiet as he could by the school's financial sponsors. A private memorial was held later on during the week, and the entire extended Tenjoin family attended.
Asuka would later wish she hadn't seen them ever again.
"We've decided to pull you out of the school," her father told her when they were alone.
Asuka tried to argue. "But Dad, you know it's always been my goal in life to be a professional duelist! I thought you sent Brother and me here so that we could live our dreams."
"I also wanted you both to be in a safe environment, and look what happened to Fubuki. Do you really think I'm going to allow you to continue in his footsteps when what he did killed him?"
"It was an accident, Dad!"
"I'm not going to take that chance. I am your father, and you will do as I tell you without complaint. And my decision is that you are leaving Duel Academy."
"But Dad…"
"My decision is final."
Her father turned to leave the room, and Asuka turned away from him, refusing to shed the tears that were forming. "This isn't what Brother would have wanted."
Her father's only response was, "What Fubuki would or would not have wanted holds no bearing over this, Asuka." And he left his daughter alone to cry.
"S-So that's that," Asuka replied, still trying to hold a calm face even though her turmoil was obvious. "Dad says I'm leaving the school."
"I'm sorry to hear that, Asuka," Chronos replied. "You have been a wonderful student, and I will miss having you in my classes, na no ne."
"Good luck in whatever you wind up doing next, nya," Daitoukuji added, though his tone was strangely quiet and distant. Something else was obviously on his mind, though what it could be wasn't apparent.
Asuka gave her teachers a sad smile before turning to one of her fellow first-year students. "Sho," she said, "I was impressed, during the pair duel when you and Judai faced the Labyrinth Brothers. I think you've got a lot of potential, and, if it's okay with you and Principal Samejima, I'd appreciate it if you could protect this key in my place."
It was the truth – his performance during that duel had been impressive. But it was only half of the truth. Though she said nothing about it, she was still grateful that Sho and Judai had come into the Abandoned Dormitory to rescue her from Titan that one time. She felt she could trust both of them, but Judai already had his key to burden him.
Samejima considered it. "Well, Sho has certainly shown significant improvement over the course of the year so far, so I don't see why not, if that's what you want." It was apparent that the principal was deeply shaken by Fubuki's death as well, but he had to keep up a strong façade.
Though deeply surprised by what she was asking, Sho accepted the key from Asuka, stating quietly, "I'll do my best."
She was allowed one final night on the island before she would leave with her family on a boat back to the mainland. Her first order of business was leaving one final rose in front of the entrance to the Abandoned Dormitory in her brother's memory, but then she spent the rest of the night by the lighthouse, staring at the sea. This time, however, the ocean gave her no comfort or direction, only loneliness and loss for what to do. It was hard to imagine that this would be the last time she would ever stand by this lighthouse again, even harder to accept that she would never achieve her dream, and harder still to cope with the idea that her brother was deceased.
"Asuka."
Ryo's voice almost made Asuka jump slightly; she hadn't really been expecting him to show up, and she had come out here to be alone. However, now that he was here… "Yes, Ryo?"
"I just came to find you, to talk to you one more time before you leave," was his response, all emotion hidden as usual. "I'm sorry about what happened to Fubuki."
"It's not your fault," was Asuka's response as she lowered her eyes. "You didn't drag him into the Seven Stars."
They stood in silence for a little while longer, until Ryo finally replied, "So, what do you plan to do now?"
Asuka closed her eyes sadly. "I don't know. I really don't know…" She looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment, but was fighting to hold them back.
Ryo placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Whatever you wind up doing, I'm sure Fubuki will be watching over you, and he'll be proud."
"Thanks, Ryo," she replied, and the two of them stood there in silence once more.
A single boat left the next morning from Duel Academy, bearing the entire Tenjoin family back to the mainland. Asuka stood at the rear of the boat, watching Duel Academy become smaller and smaller in the distance until she could no longer see it, and even still, she continued to look back.
Her father came up to her briefly once, just once, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Everything will work out better this way, Asuka. There's more to life than cards, and I'm sure you'll find something that you like even better."
"Not likely," was her response as she pushed her father's hand away.
"Now, Asuka," he replied in what could almost be considered an accidentally condescending tone, "I know you might not understand this now, but what matters the most is your safety. I'm sure Fubuki would want –"
"And how do you claim to know what Brother would want for me?" Asuka interrupted. "He would want me to follow my own dreams, to be happy no matter what. He was always a free spirit like that. He wouldn't want me to be shut up in some hovel all day and never take risks." And before her father could respond, she got up and began to walk away toward the cabins, muttering under her breath, "You don't care at all, do you, Father."
Author's Note: Because I was asked once to provide name translations… In the dub, where the names are significantly more pathetic, Asuka is known as Alexis, Fubuki as Atticus, Judai as Jaden, Manjoume as Chazz, Sho as Syrus, Samejima as Sheppard, Ayukawa as Ms. Fontaine, Ryo as Zane, Daitoukuji as Banner, and Chronos as Crowler. I will add to this list in later chapters… really, I think it's pointless to do, but so that you don't ask later…
Inspired by the Econtra roleplay on LiveJournal, for which I created this particular universe. And it all goes spinning out of control from here…
