Here's a oneshot I've been itching to write for a while now. I was overjoyed when I found this section on this site, and Gaira is my favorite character. So, I thought it appropriate to leave him a little tribute.
Veteran
Mar Heaven was at peace. The Chess Pieces were finally defeated again. The cursed Phantom and his tactician, Peta, were gone, and with their deaths, the Chess Pieces were sure to never rise again.
Gaira walked along in the halls of Castle Lestava. He was an old man, and simply walking along these corridors allowed him to remember the painful years of his younger days. Only six years ago, he was fighting with the best of the Cross Guard, but only recently, he was simply an observer of the second War Game.
How he hungered to stand beside Alan one last time and crush that pathetic army of Knights and Bishops! How he hungered to stand beside this next generation and fight against those oppressive Chess Pieces! But fate had turned against him... He was pitted against the powerful Knight Chimera, and was defeated...
But he learned something from that defeat. He learned never to stray from the path of faith again.
He smiled as he thought of that boy, Ginta, the boy whom Gaira himself trained. The boy was full of hope, of idealism, and held to the belief that the defenders of Mar Heaven would defeat the Chess Pieces once again, even without Danna.
Gaira sighed: "Danna... I could hardly register the fact that you were still alive. My heart was full of excitement. Your soul had not left us at all! It was hiding in Babbo, waiting for the chance to take down Phantom once more and save Mar Heaven yet again! And then, you left us a second time, with Ginta, no less! Can we possibly win without either of you? No, I cannot believe that. Alviss did his best. Alan is as mighty as ever. Dorothy and Nanashi are formidable warriors. We will prevail when another evil comes our way...
"Yet why is it that I cannot be among them? The time when I stood beside you and downed my fair share of Chess Pieces fades so rapidly before me... I must train harder. Clearly, my powers are not frail. I trained Ginta, Jack, and Alviss, and look how powerful they are! There is life in this old man yet!"
"Gaira..." A voice spoke.
The old man turned and found Alan looking intently at him.
"Alan?" Gaira chuckled slightly. This was quite unexpected. Alan was not the type of man to be sensitive.
"Don't tell me you're thinking about the old days again." Alan sighed. "They're in the past."
"But sometimes the past can teach us what to avoid in the future, and it can motivate us to be stronger." Gaira offered.
"Hmn..." Alan pondered as he walked away.
Gaira shook his head: "I can't let my age hold me back from becoming stronger. Danna and Ginta are gone, thus, I have to train harder so that I serve as a pillar of Mar Heaven and fill the gap that their departure has made. Who knows? The Chess members are still alive, and they might get rowdy one day. We have to prepare ourselves in case they do..."
He walked further down the corridor, and through the window, he could see Alviss training."I'm not retiring, but, in the meantime, I suppose I can let these younger folks do the job for me." The old man thought.
Chuckling softly, he continued to walk along the corridor, the memories of more exciting days flowing in his mind.
Fin