Awhile back I decided to check out a show that my boss recommended to me. At first I put it off, so much in fact, that it "almost fell off the table." Recently, I decided to watch the first episode out of curiosity. Then the next episode. And before I knew it, I was getting angry at Ichigo at 3 in the morning. It turns out, I love this show. And, I love the story behind it.
This story touched on some important human emotions that we tend to not think about everyday, more or less, appreciate. Without them, we'd be missing out on a lot; not just general happiness, but life itself. And that is a concept that made me fall in love with DITF.
So what is DITM?
The last episode of the anime is strongly criticized for how vague it was in terms of a wrap-up. I wasn't personally mad that it ended the way it did, but I'm not completely satisfied either. After a week of SOUL SEARCHING, and browsing through Reddit, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't alone! We needed a continuation of this story, and it had to be something that filled the hole in our hearts. That's what Darling In The Meadow is. The story continues off of the anime's ending and builds on what was left for us fans to dwell over. I won't say too much, but that's the gist.
Last but not least, this is a fan-sequel. I will give you all a new story and a new world that takes us farther and into the harder struggles of humanity, while also trying to do my best at making everything as if it were canon. I'm not perfect, and I will make mistakes; as a writer though, I want you all to know even just a simple read makes me happy. It shows that people take interest in what I make, and that makes me smile. So thank you.
I hope you find yourself the missing pieces with this story, as I hope I can create them. Let's do this!
—Darling In The Meadow—
Prelude - day after Stretlitzia goes into deep space
"Humans.
They're weak. And Pathetic.
Yet I find myself admiring them. Why?"
001 looked up into the sky noticing the differences between each of the clouds. She began to understand why humans were problematic.
"Humans are all the same in theory. But the truth is, they're all different. Each one of them leans on the fence one way or another, but with completely different mindsets and beliefs. Surely, that 1 quality that my species lacked weakened me."
She stepped closer to the edge of cliff she was standing on. In a haze of confusion, she gathered a quick realization.
"But.
That's not why I admire humans. I admire them because...
... they can love. They can trust and care for one another with no limits. They can give each other hope... you two taught me that. Thank you, Hiro and... 002."
001 smiled and closed her eyes. She loosened her weightless body and fell-back off the cliff and started to fall towards the water below. Up until the moment her body disappeared into the water, she never broke that smile.
It took two people who were deeply in love and faced the point of death to make her smile, but.
She smiled.
—————— Chapter One: A new story begins ——————
One day. For sure.
Yeah. For sure.
Throughout the years that passed after the battle with VIRM, humanity rebuilt as much as they could. In short, the use of magma cores stopped completely with an agreement within the new founding leaders of Hope-Origin or H.0. (H-Zero) as locals called it. Hope-Origins prime goal was to make sure that what happened previously would never repeat again; it was their job to make sure that peace and prosperity could be preserved for generations to come.
Although a new world was opened up once again for humanity, there were 3 big issues that would raise more concern than relief among Hope-Origin. The first was finding out how earth as a whole held up during the many years of humanities absence. Targeted with plenty of issues, Hope-Origin sent out an ex-parasite to the lands far out of the Gran Crevasse's reach; specifically, he was sent to the east. Traces of humanities past were scattered among the lands that stretched away from the Gran Crevasse in all directions. Because of this, 3 more found themselves as lead-voyagers for Hope-Origin. The other 3 traveled the north, south and west regions in small groups that slowly grew in number over time. During these expeditions, the Gran Crevasse was given a new name, now to be known as Grencrevasse City.
The end game was simply to find any means of life beyond the Gran Crevasse and too learn about the once life-filled planet humans called home.
After years of close study and careful evaluation, the expeditions were called off and Hope-Origin started to get things ready for other areas to begin re-populating.
This was great for humanity, as science was beginning to understand how earths natural world worked again. You could even say it was like a bunch of old work friends getting together to chatter about their past together. With some filling in the details that another one missed. The world was starting to come together as it had been before.
The second issue that Hope-Origin had to address was civility. In the beginning, the freedom that humans were given seemed like an absolute paradise. And in theory it was, but... a city full of people without 'Papa's' watch and control could lead into a path of chaos. Without order, civility was not a guarantee.
With that idea in mind, one of the leaders of Hope-Origin proposed a set of guidelines that, in turn, could become new "laws" to keep civility a guarantee. It would also punish those that went against it.
This however, was easier said than done. As one can imagine, telling a large sum of people who haven't ever seen freedom that they must be 'controlled' didn't end too well. This led to the first of many self-inflicted human problems.
After weeks of this continuous debate on human freedom, Hope-Origin announced a doctrine known as Freedom First. In this doctrine, all 7 elected members of Hope-Origin signed their names in agreement to a set of basic rights to all citizens spanning across Grencrevasse City, with other such documents coming about for other places in the near future. With it came the civility laws that were required for all citizens of Grencrevasse City to follow, so peace and harmony could exist among everyone.
Perfect in theory, and almost perfect in reality; crime was almost non-existent with the Freedom-First doctrine in effect. However, the ones that went against those laws would be sent to a facility just on the outside of Grencrevasse city's limits. They would then be put through programs of "rehabilitation," to help ensure their return to society would not haze the peace anymore. Not much is known about this facility though.
The last problem that humanity in a whole faced, was territorial borders and who would lead what. Of course, Hope-Origin began to make claims on why their reach should stretch over Grencrevasse City, but that was not well-received with people looking to venture out on their own.
As the years went by, places did eventually become filled with wild life and greenery, thanks to the Klaxosaurs. The world was booming with natural life, so of course other settlements were a must. But how?
If society could face so many issues with one huge city, then how could they re-inhabit the earth as a whole?
Well, another ex-parasite (and a mom!) had an idea that would gather support from people even outside of Grencrevasse City. Her name was Ichigo Sakuri, who happened to be married to Goro Sakuri - the first official voyager of Hope-Origin.
Ichigo's idea proposed freedom-first would be in use among the other settlements as they evolved. She also made it clear that her people were equal to anyone else outside of Grencrevasse City.
This idea was rejected for its inability to answer the issue still at hand. Still, Ichigo insisted that her idea was not simply to have freedom-first only enacted for one society or another, but rather for every place that wished to have freedom and peace. Her goal was to allow people's lives total prosperity no matter where they went.
This, as well with intense support, was seen as the first act of global peace. A first of many, but a first at that.
Even with her idea being accepted, the issue of territorial borders still remained. And still to this day, a solution has not been put in stone yet. There are rumors that Hope-Origin split up two divisions for this rising problem, but they're only rumors. There's also talk about taking the city and grouping it with others nearby, but again, rumors are rumors.
Many of the ex-parasites did not have names the same as Goro or Ichigo did, let alone last names. But overtime people found old books and records that listed names used from many other cultures that existed before plantations came about. A growing demand from people that wanted their own names rattled society, and very shortly after humanity left the plantations, it was clear that it was a must for society as a whole. It was only natural for people to have their own names.
This tiny event was a massive stepping stone for recreating the world as it once was. But it gave people individuality, and that itself was a great thing.
The world was growing. Even if slowly. And it was all thanks to them.
Although humanity grew from Hiro and 002's bravery and absolute love, very few would know about it. Outside of Squad 13 and a few squad members from other plantations, no one would remember them as they should have. But that was fine, because the friends that waited for their return home, did. The wish they all shared, would shortly come true; the wish that the two could happily live their lives together, forever.
There was pink-pedaled tree that sat beside a meadow that had watched humanity grow for many years. It's petals would flower the ground all around and attract people from all over the city to visit.
It was common place to find a certain little boy reading under its branches. He would often read and write when the sun was just starting to set while also watching the colors illuminate the sky. Why does the sun always rise and fall? Where do all the pretty colors in the world come from? He was often full of questions but hesitated to ask them. For him, it was a mix of wanting to find the answer himself and being worried that his question would be ignored.
He sat against the tree's stump with a book in his lap almost every night. But tonight was special! This time, he would read himself a book about happiness, dreams and the love between a prince and princess; a book that he rewrote and drew all by himself. Tonight was the night he had finally finished it.
When the sun was finally started to set, the sky went from blue to pink with various hues in between. The boy sat down in the cozy spot he'd made for himself over time. He looked at the cover and smiled. His eyes glistened with happiness.
The cover displayed a drawn out prince and princess holding hands under the moon. It wasn't perfect, but he was satisfied. He opened to the next page that displayed a girl with bread in her hand running from a baker. As he was about to start reading the words on the page, a little girl came running towards the meadow just past the tree.
In a split second, the boy heard the girl scream and trip over a few of the overlaying roots from the tree. He watched as her pink hair waved in the air.
"Ouch! That hurt." She whined.
"Are you okay?" The boy asked. His face wore a worried expression.
"Uh.. yeah, well... I think so." She looked down and noticed her knee was scraped.
The boy smiled and stuck his hand out. The girl looked up and blushed.
"Let me help you." He gently held her hand and lifted her up.
"What's your name?" She asked, curiously.
"Me?"
"Yeah, you!" She giggled.
"I'm well, my name is — "
"Zera! That's what happens when you don't watch where you're going." A voice from behind, said.
"I know, I just... I can't contain it! They say there's an ocean over there, and I wanna see it." The little girl pouted.
"I told you, we will soon." The woman got into the light and looked similar to the little girl. She sighed and started to find a bandage in her bag.
Her mother, maybe? Hiro thought to himself. Shes kinda young... maybe she's –
"What was your name, again?" The little girl asked.
"Hiro. My names Hiro."
Hiro... she thought.
Hearing that name made her smile even more than she did when the ocean was mentioned. "My names Zera!". She smiled and rushed to a quick hug with Hiro.
Her hair... why does it smell so sweet? Hiro starting to blush. His face casted a shadow that didn't show it, but he was.
She stood back and grabbed a piece of candy from her pocket. "Here! You can have it." She held out her hand that had a piece of caramel candy in it.
Hiro nervously laughed. "Thank you." He said. Zera looked over at what was lying on the ground. She noticed it was similar to something she had at home. She just had an idea! But for now, all she could do was feel happy, and stay completely unaware of her stinging knee.
Hiro stared at her knee and noticed she was bleeding a little. He felt weird. "Let me help you with your knee," he smiled. "You banged it up a little when you fell."
"Oh my, Zera. You really need to pay attention to where you're going." The woman smiled.
Zera smiled and nodded her head in agreement with Hiro.
He bent down on one knee and pulled out an extra bandage he had from when he scraped his knee.
On the very same root.
"Is this your sister?" Hiro was taking the safe route and going with the more polite way of asking out who the woman was, something he learned the hard way.
"Yup! This is Melody. We're not blood sisters but she's raised me since I was born. I didn't know my mother, but I've always known her. But she was quite young too, at the time." Hiro sealed the bandage on and stood up. Zera smiled. She rushed in for another hug. "Thank you. Hiro."
Melody smiled. Zera likes him, doesn't she."Alright Zera, it's getting late. Let's head back for tonight."
"Aw, fine." She moaned and turned around. "Hey Hiro. Me and you, let's see each other right at this spot tomorrow!" Her face lit up at the thought of the next day.
"Of course." Hiro nervously laughed.
They both smiled.
Zera started running off back towards her home with Melody struggling to catch up. Her hands stayed in the front in the whole time, which Hiro thought was kinda funny.
He watched them walk off until he couldn't see them anymore.
"Okay. Let's see how my book turned out!" Hiro said, joyfully. He turned around and his jaw dropped.
M-my book. It's gone. Hiro started to panic. "SHE TOOK IT!" Hiro yelled.
——————o —————
Meanwhile, Zera had reached her door step and rushed inside. She ran upstairs to her room and closed the door with a goofy smile on her face. She set the book down and opened it and began to read the story out loud.
The entire time all she could think about was the gift she was going to give Hiro the next day.
But on the other hand...
"OH, SHES GOING TO GET AN EAR FULL TOMORROW." Hiro yelled out loud.
——————o —————
As you can see, I spent half the chapter explaining the situation that the world is in. This is so later down the line, things make sense. I tried to recreate the situation that I see humanity facing itself in while also keeping the idea that DITF gives off.
I'm excited to let these two begin their lives in way they didn't before. I hope you all are excited just as I am!