Hiasobi: I just finished watching the anime Innocent Venus. Don't let the title fool you, this is actually a mecha anime with lots of gun shooting, Special Forces, and a revolution. The only thing that I didn't like was that the series was very short, 12 eps in total. The characters though, they were so cute and heart warming and good fighters. I loved all three of the main characters, and the ending just begged for something to be written.
Dedicated to Koyuki-san to be the only other Innocent Venus author that I've found on this site.
Jin awoke to a new world: the blue sky, the smoking ruins of a battle, his body strained, and his mind broken. Somewhere, over the hills the many miles away, the wall between Logos and Revenus was crumbling and a new world was coming.
Jo went traveling. He walked, ran, swam, moved from place to place. He meet new people, he tried new foods. Sometimes he would meet some people who reminded him of some old people he knew: a flash of white hair, the petulant voice of a child. He traveled and experienced life, living and walking his own path. He went to experience all the things those years growing and fighting in a war zone, and then in Phantom, had denied him. He didn't talk often, but smiled sometimes.
Sana grew. Over the course of the years little, young, innocent Sana grew up, out, and into her curves. She spent her nights asleep with warm dreams, her days in laughter with Gora, and her youth in happiness. But sometimes (just sometimes) she dreams of a warm pair of arms that held her in a bumpy truck ride, the loud voice in the back seat, and the scary, but dependable presence behind the driving wheel. Sometimes (just sometimes) she wakes and aches for the warmth and security she had known that time, years ago, in her naive ignorance, when she thought all she would ever need was her protector (the traitor?).
: - :
Jin is blank and broken. His mind is tired and remembers nothing. He drifts from day to day, living in the slums, waiting for something he does not know. Sometimes, the slightest, and oddest, things will set him off to a rage or to fall mumbling in terror. He is prone to having 'fits' as the people call them, but he is strong, so they keep him around for he is a steady pair of hands and willing to work, and there were far too few of those. Sometimes he'll mumble names, (" Jo, Sana") names that mean nothing to him at first, and terms that everyone knows but seems to hold a larger meaning to him ( " paino, Gladiators, black box"). Slowly, as time passes, his memory slips out from behind the terror and he remembers bits and pieces (" You saved us Jo.", " I'll protect you Sana.").
Jo walks the walk of a man who truly lives: slow, steady, and strong. He does not hurry from place to place (very often anyways,) and helps out wherever he is with the reconstruction. He does not rush to leave, but he does not linger in too long at any city either. Periodically he'll listen to the news and hear things that make him content (" Our new Governer, Shiba Toraji has made implements to increase the budget", " As of today, we introduce the lady behind the man that is our Governer, Shiba Renee", " The promising political couple, Shiba Toraji and Renee attends their ward, Nubuto Sana's school concert.")
Sana grows strong and steady into her beliefs. She stands up for herself when she is bullied, she also stands up for other people when they are bullied. She learns her letters, her literature, and sports. She is smart and athletic. She joins clubs, teams, and participates in the school life. She makes new friends, which makes her think of old ones sometimes (Wataru. Akira. Hiroki.). She learns to live, and lives to learn. She stands on her own now (" So tall, Toraji." Rene remarks), and does not accept to be beaten down by anyone. She's not a weak, naive girl who will stand to be protected by anyone (because her protectors are both gone now. And she'll accept no replacements.)
: - :
Half a decade later Jin has made a living for himself. He works as a medical aide, not quite a doctor but very knowledgeable. The neighbourhood depends on him in day-to-day happenings, and in cases of emergencies. Some would say he has healed many lives. His smile is easier and his eyes are not as empty. He is out on the way home after a day of work at the Hospital, headed towards the usual detour to the broken coliseum in the back routes of the spreading city limits. His memories, good and bad, have slowly been coming back and he remembers laughter, tears, blood, hatred, and love on these rambles. Jin exits the path from the woods, looks up into the bright sun - and sees him.
Five years later Jo has seen many different places, meet many different people, and experienced many of life's experiences. His hands are no longer as calloused as they were before, the scars on his body are starting to fade (except the new ones he gained, but those were irrelevant), and his attachments to the world have only grown stronger. He sits on a large boulder, one with the shape of what might have been part of the upper edge of a window, and sees her walking along the waterside. For a moment he thinks he might have mistaken another stranger for her again (it's not rare) but then he blinks and realizes that it has to be her because no one else has those exact blue, blue eyes and that swaying long hair. She might look older, and taller (five years has passed) but it had to be her because he remembers he is back to where it all started (Revenus, I'm back at Revenus). She wears a white top with a blue sundress with ties around her neck and her stance is steady. For the first time he can remember, she's standing clearly on her own.
The wind blows through her hair and that's been one of the constant little joys that she has always loved. The feeling of her hair flying behind her as she walked, ran, or stood still has always made her feel like she was flying. She stands by the river near the crumbling stones where it had happened that time years ago and still lives in her memories. She had crossed the small bridge earlier, the boards creaking with wear and age, and soon it won't be able to support her anymore. She can hear the calls of bull frogs and remembers all those times when even if she lived in terror, she had had absolute faith in her two protectors back then to keep her safe. She stands now, alone, and she's been standing alone for such a long time now she sometimes wished she didn't have the memories of the times when she had two, large, warm body for her to lean on for support. The air is clean and the sky is blue. She turns her head to see a patch of white against the green and browns of the trees. He wears a long white coat and his hair is still as brilliant as it has always been. He is like a ghost, but one that she has always thought to be hers.
: - :
" Jo."
" Sana!"
" JIN!"
. : and the world comes full circle : .