"I remember now, Everything that happened...The fighting, tartarus, all of it... And how I fell in love with you. I'm sorry I forgot it all. But everyone remembers now... "
It was a bright and sunny day, It felt like everything would come together, everything would get better...
"And starting now, we'll never be apart..."
Those were the last words I spoke to Minako, Before she closed her eyes forever...We brought her back home to our dorm, We sat around, keeping an eye on her. We all feared what was going to happen next...And then the next morning, our fears became our reality, and she had slipped away from us that night...
After that I graduated, All I could think of was her, She was the only other person I could get close to other than Shinji, But now both were gone from my life along with my sister. With not much else left for me in life, I decided to roam the world, training and getting stronger. Maybe it was something to do, Maybe it was an escape... Every time I thought about her I punched the palm of my hand to remind me of what I was doing, All I knew was that it was helping, I slowly forgot all the pain, and just focused on getting stronger, I just got stronger and stronger, And I kept looking for new challenges for me to test my strength. Before I knew it, three years had passed. That was when I got the text from Mitsuru, "URGENT" I grinned with excitement, Another challenge for me, and I can show the others How strong I've gotten! I hopped on the next plane to meet up with her. Something about recovering a new anti shadow suppression weapon with her and Aeigis, It had been the first time in a while I heard the word shadow in that context...It sparked up old memories...My heart felt as if it hat hit the floor as it envisioned her, as her eyes slowly closed, her struggling to keep them open, and then it seemed as if she was sleeping...but... "no!" I shook my head trying to keep those memories behind, punching the palm of my hand. "I need to keep my mind on fighting..." I needed to go meet up with mitsuru and Aigis...
After I met up with Mitsuru and Aigis they told me that our enemy was inside a TV... "Huh...Sounds like fun!" More like something to keep these damned memories out of the way... I volunteered to go into the TV to retrieve the weapon, "We agreed to do this, I'm ready to stake my life on the mission." I have nothing to loose, I thought as I punched my palm again. They decided to pull the others from there homes and bring them out. Mitsusru and Aigis came with me. "This situation... it brings back memories..." And with that we headed in...
Everything went black, and I had woken up in a gym, Chairs stacked from floor to ceiling. Mitsuru and Aigis were not in sight. The feeling in the air reminded me of something...
~Flashback~
"Aki!" She called from the other side of the dorm,she called me that from the day I asked her to, The day I told her everything and had her in my room... "Lets train today!" She smiled as she ran up to me, It was soon after shinji had passed, and she was defiantly the light at the end of the dark tunnel. "I don't know, We just went last night. Your going to wear yourself out..." I Sighed, I stroked her cheek, her skin was glistening and soft like porcelain. I couldn't help but smile. "Please Aki, Lets go, We have to train to defeat Nyx..." She looked up at me with those eyes, Those beautiful eyes of hers... I kissed her on the forehead. "Fine...But your resting tomorrow, Promise?" She smiled and her eyes lit up "I promise!" she said as she hugged me...
~End~
Tartarus...Akihiko once again punched his own fist. I stood up and took a deep breath "Come on...I need to keep my mind on this mission" I looked around trying to spot anyone, no one was around, but in the distance I saw one chair sitting normal among the stacks, It sat there, and something white was sitting on it... I squinted my eyes, and with shock I gasped lightly... "It couldn't be..." With each step I took I trembled at the thought... and the closer I got to the chair the more I knew it was for sure... Sitting on that chair was a stuffed rabbit... Not just any stuffed rabbit... It was hers... Picking it up I brushed its ears back. "If someone is trying to fuck with me, I swear... I will kill them..." A tear fell on the doll, crap...It was mine... Just then I heard footsteps walk in my direction, A pace that seemed to be familiar to me. As I looked over towards the sound, there stood a figure in the doorway...
"You tried to forget me..."
That voice...no... "Who are you!?...Answer me!" I said quickly as I put the rabbit in my back pocket.
"After all you said, after everything I did for you, After you left me alone, then finaly remembering me, you purposely forgot about me again!?" There was no way... It couldn't be...
"I Said who are you!?" I barked, my heart racing. There was no way... S-She is gone...
The footsteps got louder, as well as the pounding in my chest, The door slammed, and the lights in the room turned on. My heart stopped as I saw her, It was Minako.
"You know damn well who I am...Don't you Akihiko..." She spoke, her voice sharp and cold. "at least you should! You are the very reason I gave my life, And you do nothing but try and forget everything?! Ill show you how bad it feels, The pain of being lied to...and the pain of dieing." She pulled out her neginata from behind her and pointed it at me...
"M-Minako!" It hurt to say her name, a name that wasn't spoken in almost three years... "I didn't want to, I-It was painful! You were the last thing I had...Y- you cant blame me!" I threw my fist in the air and squeezed it tightly, "You have to believe me! I thought of you everyday!"
"Every day huh... Right before you punched yourself to forget again, don't try to lie to me again Akihiko...It wont save your life..." She plunged towards me, running quickly as if she had been training every day... "Minako, I wont fight you!" I said as she kept swinging at me, Keeping up my defenses, I continued to block. "Then Ill just have to kill you wont I Akihiko?!" She chuckled manicly...
She swung the blade around as if it was nothing, Her aim was not the same as normal, and yet... She seemed to cut my face... "Ehh!" a bit of blood hit the floor, Minako sat and stared at me, a tear fell from her eye she still looked pained, yet something was different, "Please...Minako this isn't you..." I put My hand on her porcelain cheek, It was soft...yet cold... "I know you, And I know I didn't do everything I could as your boyfriend to keep you here, and even when I failed you there I should have took everything a bit nicer, But you dieing was the hardest thing I have been through...Ever... Even past Miki...I thought that finally my life would be complete, I would have a wonderful woman by my side, and maybe some day even a Wife...but then everything seemed to fall apart..." Minako started to shake, and more tears fell, "N-no... That's not true...!" I wiped her tears up her blade rested at my throat.
"Take my life...Maybe then I can finaly be happy, Maybe I can Finaly be with you... Ive waited so long for the end... and I've been so scared to do it on my own...but now...This just seems right..." I closed my eyes tightly, Just waiting. When I suddenly was pushed to the floor. I opened my eyes shocked looking up, "Are you stupid..." She said as she started to cry more, "I don't want to kill you, you were trying to kill me...I'm nothing but another one of your fan girls like you said, Just a face from high school...I was just a sacrifice for you to live and be a legend, you grew up without me, left me behind, moved on... Like you said..." She was crying and hyperventilating as she fell to the floor onto her knees, I sat up and took a seat next to her, "I never said any of that... None of that is even true... Why would I-" She wouldn't stop crying... "Minako...If I may ask what is going on...Why...Not that its a bad thing... But why are you here..." She looked up at me still crying, "I don't know...I remember falling asleep, I knew it was the end...He told me it would be...And yet I sat in what seemed to be an eternity of darkness...waiting...But I knew it was all for everyone to be alive, and to seal nyx was the best bet to keep you all safe...Then there was this light, and I woke up in this place...I walked around and found you..." she smiled lightly still crying, "You really did change didn't you..." she touched the scar on the left side of my head, "you have been reckless, How old are you now Aki? 20 something?" she smiled crying harder again, "Your all grown up Aki... You have left me behind..." My eyes watered, now that she mentioned it, she looks like she hadn't aged a day, Still in that cute little uniform, I couldn't help but hug her tightly, she jumped slightly but quickly relaxed "It has been hard, but your in my thoughts every day, I may try to hide it, but your there every day. smiling just like those days when we lived in the dorm... I now realize how stupid it was to hide my feelings... Minako... I love you."
"Aki..." she whispered into my chest. "Please, don't try and forget me any more, Just remember me as I was, With you happy, Use me as your strength, just as I did back then... Just make sure you look at the happy parts of everything...Stop being so wreck-less, stop throwing your life around, your an old man now, not a teen..." she giggled. I looked into her eyes, "Okay Minako, I'm sorry..." She smiled still crying, yet a laughter hit "Silly Senpai...Please keep my rabbit safe...Okay...I have to go again...I feel it..." She smiled, My heart started to feel like it was falling in to darkness, "N-No! Don't leave me! Not again! Come home with me! Please!" I cant loose her again, not now... "I cant Aki..." She touched my face gentaly as she pulled herself in to kiss me deeply. My heart raced, I could only pull her in closer... Embracing her tightly I started to cry. She pulled back and smiled, As the tears fell from my eyes she pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket with her initials embroidered in pink on it... M A... Minako Arisato... She searched around for something on herself... and she pulled out a pen... She scribbled on the handkerchief, then handed it to me, She Placed a plus sign in between the letters, then wrote forever underneath... "M+A forever..." I said as I took it from her hand... She spoke softly, "Minako + Aki forever..." she blushed lightly, "This is the promise that we will see each other someday, hopefully not too soon, But someday..." I held it tightly, "But.." She put her finger on my lips, "Sushh, You need to be a world champion first, and you need to make a family, Live on, and make the best of your life for me, That is why I gave mine, Live for me Aki!" I couldn't help but smile... "Your all I would ever want, you are my life..." Quickly I looked around for something, then ripped off a piece of my cape. "Give me your left hand..." And as she did so, I lightly tied a bow out of the piece of cape around her finger, "...You are all the family I need, I want you to be my wife..." She smiled, "I will! Thank you Akihiko..." Just then specks of light rose from her feet slowly up, "I love you Aki..." She kissed me once more and held my hands, crying again, "I don't think I'm going back to that black place..." She said, she squeezed my hands tightly again. "I love you Minako Sanada..." She laughed and blushed "I love the sound of that...say it to me, one more time..." My voice quivered, "I love you Minako Sanada...With all my heart!" And then suddenly the last of her was vanishing with sparks of light... a soft echo ran through the room, "I love you too, And I always will!" and with the last glitter of light fading something fell, like a tear, with some metal in it, A ring... I picked it up and held it close, Putting it on I smiled, "Thank you Minako...Thank you for everything..."