Cycles of Memory

By: Sol-chan and Fire-chan

Death, rebirth…

Humans are naturally curious, curious about things that they shouldn't be curious about.

Is rebirth is a true thing?

Humans really should stop asking these questions. They shouldn't have all the answers, because sometimes the truth sucked big time.

If Rebirth happens then at least there should not be any chance that you remember your last life.

Should you?

If anything, Suburu's life wasn't normal, and that meant he wasn't normal.

It all started one fateful day, the day a certain FM alien barged into his life without even a "how do you do". Okay, that sounded a bit silly.

Most people would think those moments of War-rock trying to possess him were dreams... he'd hoped those flashes of memories were dreams.

He didn't want this: he didn't want to remember his past life. Was it wrong to not want to remember Hkari Netto, for even though some memories were good there were also ones most people thought could only come in nightmares?

Rockman. War-Rock… how strange that in this life the name Rockman would come back That he'd fuse with another being again, almost like crossfusion.

It had been a mistake to address him as "Rock" that one time…that first time. Yet somehow, Netto had reawaken, reawakening that simple habit of addressing his best friend.

Certainly War-Rock had not been at that level…yet.

It hurt: hurt that he enjoyed War-Rocks friendship... somehow that was so different yet felt so much the same as Saito.

Netto had always been one who thrived on friendship—thrived on having someone always by his side. Subaru could deny that he was not Netto—ever was Netto—yet War-Rock, unknowingly, filled that void. That void of companionship that he had denied himself for so many years.

But he felt, for some reason, that he was replacing Rockman. No, not Rockman, Saito. It would have been something else it Rockman had been just a navi…but he wasn't. He had been a brother.

The brother of someone long gone.

Someone who should have been forgotten long ago.

Yet he remembered and it tore him apart, even though he tried to push it away. That had been someone else: not him.

But he had to remind himself that the past wasn't going to change, Saito would never return to his life... or this life.

He stared at the midnight sky, the moon a pale smudge while the stars twinkled cheerfully. Was Saito out there? There were no Net navis or Copybots on earth anymore.

Out there though was War-Rocks world, the FM planet… a world that wanted to destroy his own.

Planet destroyers.

But the sky was still beautiful.

"It's beautiful," War-Rock said from beside him.

"One day I'll go up there," Suburu said softly.

"No, we'll go up there," War-Rock promised.

Suburu smiled as he realized something; it was okay to be friend with War-Rock. He could never take Saito's place; it was okay to call War-Rock… well Rock and to take the name Rockman when they fused.

That name was destiny, and he wondered if it would somehow follow him to the next life.

"Hai Rock, we will," he promised his friend.

END