Chance
I wonder when it was that we forgot…
Waving both hands up and out, as if to the exterior, as if to the tapestry of a vacuum in which the echoes of time itself lay bare yet hidden, the young man fell back onto his bed, a distant sort of look in his eyes. Even though the walls between himself and the exterior were thick, and blocked out the pressure, and kept back the cries, he could still see it.
For there was a vacuum within himself.
'When did I forget you…? Why did I forget you? Mother…'
The other boy had said that he was glad about having forgotten. But, of course, that boy had not been given the choice: his mother had died, along with his family, along with his friends, along with… the entire colony…
Get a chance…
'Mother, I don't want that to happen to you… I won't let it happen. I'll become a Pilot for you. …Mother.'
In my cluttered room, […]
She smiled a bit, sighing deeply and settling her head deeper into her pillow. The warmth she radiated was captured by the covers over her, and that feeling permitted the encouragement of the desire to stay in bed today. She was glad there was still time to waste before breakfast.
'We'll make it someday, he and I…'
The memory of her naivety as a child brought a rosy coloring to her cheeks and curved her lips into a childish grin.
[…] I searched for an excuse not to run […]
'My dreams… are the same as his… And so, together, we will make it there someday. Someday… Someday, our dreams will be reality…'
[…] and for a dream that would be easy to fulfill.
"Surely being a technician is simpler than piloting an Ingrid. There is also a lesser risk of dying at an unexpected time…"
"Fighting Victim… That is the purpose of GOA." He eyed the bespectacled boy, his head tilted and his gaze lifted. "Both the Repairer and the Pilot are necessary. Death is… honorable in battle. There will have been purpose in that life."
He sighed, tendrils of green hair floating in the escaping air current. "Why do you think they're called that? Victim. That makes them seem as if they're the ones suffering, and not humanity…"
A nod and adjusting of glasses were performed in one swift movement. "Analysis is far more intriguing to me. It is also crucial."
"Fighting is crucial! We can't just let people die!"
"I… I wonder if… they have feelings, the Victim…"
The dismayed look on your face […]
Her tray made the lightest of clicking noises as she gently set it down on the table. Taking a seat next to the red haired girl, she placed a small hand on her shoulder and looked at her with those kind eyes. "Is something the matter?"
The other girl sighed and glanced at the food on her own tray, which remained the way it had after she had taken a bite or two of the mushy substance. "We're never gonna make it to Pilot and Repairer… and they'll all say it's my fault."
She gave a sympathetic grin and pat, along with a shaking of her blue hair-covered head. "That can't be true. It isn't just the Repairer Candidate's fault. Candidate pairs are teams."
"That's true…" She picked up her spoon and scooped a bit more of the meal into it, then paused before she lifted it toward her mouth. "But I wish he would try harder…"
"I'm sure he will if you tell him to." With that, she shifted her attention to her own meal and ate without tasting it.
[…] and that lonely evening— […]
She said softly, "I hope so…" Her violet haired friend was wearing thoughtful expression when she cast a glance in her direction.
Breaking out of what seemed like a trance, she gave a small, delicate smile and said, "He will do well. You'll see. Your bond is strong, and that accounts for very much in this race."
[…] it's like they were knocking on my heart.
'Why… Why won't you see me as an equal, as someone who can help you…' She continued her walk away from the simulation chamber, concentrating on getting to her destination. 'I… Am I that bad at…'
Without speaking so much as a word of command to her, he, too, had turned and left. No thoughts of her were in his head, no traces of guilt tore at his heart. There was no room for such emotions. There was only room for the goal, for obtaining the goal, for getting what he wanted.
I knew for sure […]
"Today could not have gone better!" she chirped, her curled hair bouncing with the motion of her spin to face her friend.
"I think it could have…"
She frowned a bit at her friend's expression, which was thoughtful and a bit sad. "How so?"
"Well…" She sighed and set her hat down on the table before her. "For one thing, that poor woman wouldn't have had a broken arm if she had not forgotten to stay calm; and that Candidate could have been more careful with his Pro-Ing." She shook her head. "I suppose it can't be helped sometimes."
The other girl laughed lightly. "Yes… You're right about that. But if things like that didn't happen, life would not be real, right?"
Finally she smiled, a small, genuine grin. "Yes. I'm sure of it."
'All will be well…' thought one.
'Someday…' thought the other.
'Surely…'
[…] what I really wanted to do the most.
"We have done everything there is to be done here, haven't we?" He caught the mistake in his words and quickly added, "Figuratively speaking, of course."
She sighed loudly from her seemingly uncomfortable position on the couch, casting him half a glance before averting her gaze to the ceiling again. "I would assume so." Sitting upright and admiring her fingernails, she continued, "Why the sudden retrospective question?"
He shrugged. "I was simply wondering if this is what we really wanted."
Was it? 'Of course it is.' She was sure. "If it wasn't, we wouldn't have come this far."
He nodded absently, letting the words permeate his interior. 'It's what we wanted.'
Even with these trampled sneakers, I can jump.
The expanse before her was made unreachable by thick glass. The fingertips of one of her hands rested on the surface, and when she turned to face his slumbering form, her hand gently falling to her side, there were no smudges on the glass. A small, loving smile came upon her facial features.
She stepped toward him, carefully, silently, taking in everything that was him. "We will be victorious," she whispered, standing several feet away. "Even if there are imperfections within, victory can still be achieved."
She cupped one hand over one of his and closed her eyes, feeling the release that only this contact offered her. "You will… see this truth… And if not in this life, in your next."
With this newborn feeling, I'll come to you right away!
"Wait! Wait for me!"
Her playful voice and cheerful laughter brought a smile to his features, perfectly complementing the look in his eyes. Her hair bounced with her as she jogged to him. Her red-colored lips were curved into the most beautiful grin he had seen: hers.
She stopped a foot or so away from him, smiling fondly at the taller young man. "I'm glad there was no need to ask for assistance. And I'm also glad that you're safe, as they all are."
He snaked his arms around her waist and brought her close, so that their foreheads met. "You don't have to tell me anything else." And he placed kisses along her jawline, and she giggled softly.
-
I want to see you so much.
-
"You're not hurt, are you?!"
He shook his head and tried to continue on his way to get a meal. "No. For the fifteenth time, I'm fine."
The smile on his face disappeared when she successfully hit his arm. "Don't be so rude! I'm just worried about you! I don't want you to die!"
He patted her head and faced her, giving her a lopsided grin before dashing off down the hall. Her eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed in anger, and she began to chase him, her cries reaching his ears even at the distance they were from each other. "Get back here! You're so rude! And inconsiderate! Next time I won't be so gentle!!"
That smile of yours, […]
But deep down both of them knew that she neither meant it or would follow through with it. She shook her head and smiled when she saw him put a huge spoonful of mush in his mouth; when he saw her, he grinned, eyes closed.
[…] you only gave it to me once.
She watched him sip tea from the small cup she had filled with the warm liquid only seconds before and sighed softly before doing the same from her own cup. 'No need for words…'
Though he had not seen it, he had felt her gaze. But he kept his eyes closed and continued doing what he was doing, for she understood his silence. 'I am sorry I cannot smile for you.'
I want to test my strength.
'I am sorry I cannot smile to bring you back good memories… I am sorry that I am not happy… not the way I was before… before then… You are much stronger than I. …Let's be strong together.'
It's awkward and impertinent, […]
She watched his graceful momvements, movements that seemed perfectly timed, but were merely movements that he made so naturally. Inwardly, she sighed with a longing that she knew would never be placated; but she held on to it.
'I hope my feelings do not conflict with yours… I love you… but I won't tell you, because I want to see you happy, the way you are now… the way you will be… always…'
[…] but in spite of all that, […]
Solitary and reserved, he continued, further and further away from that place from which he had emerged once again. 'It will end… but will we live to see it?' In his mind flashed the images of his past, of nearly his entire life. 'I must thank you, for giving me a purpose to rise to this place… I felt your pain then… and I feel your peace now…'
[…] it's simply mine alone.
'Even when we had not met… you reached out.'
A warm grin crept onto his lips. He released a breath and let his eyelids cover half of his turquoise eyes.
'That overwhelming joy… It became ours… It became mine…'
His heartbeat was calm, as was his breathing, as were his thoughts, as was the expanse of space, as was the beautiful Last Star…
'It healed me…'
Just a chance…
Banging a hand on the panel before her, she yelled at him to listen. But, as always, he went on, seeming to ignore her.
Chance will […]
She shook her head with a weary smile when he proclaimed he had defeated the virtual oponent. 'If you only knew how much control a Repairer has over the status of the battle…'
He smiled smugly as he stopped beside his partner, then blinked in wide-eyed surprise at the wack she delivered to his arm. But then he smiled again, this time happily and laughing, because she was laughing as well.
[…] smile on us!