STRIKE WITCHES: HEROS' RETURN: EILA AND SANYA'S STORY: ALTERNATE ENDING
This picks up where Sanya is recovered from the sea.
Eila shot through the water. Though her strikers were not made to swim they churned through the sea, boosted by Eila's adrenaline. She swam deeper and deeper. The water was getting colder, and darker, and the pressure was building. Searching for Sanya in the sea was like finding a needle in a haystack. The fact that her guise and her strikers were dark colors only made matters worse. Eila searched for several minutes, growing desperate. She could not see Sanya, and was barely aware of where the surface was. If she was not careful, she would soon drown. Drifting backward, she bumped into something. What? Eila thought. She turned around, and saw Sanya! The night witch was unconscious, her strikers and weapon gone. In the back of her mind, Eila wondered if Sanya was even alive, given the depth of how far she sunk. However the rest of her focused on getting Sanya to safety. Eila scooped her up the best she could underwater, and shot upward.
Suddenly, the water burst apart, and there was Eila, carrying an unconscious Sanya in her arms! Thank goodness, Drake thought. However his elation was short-lived.
"Sanya! Sanya, wake up! Please wake up!" Eila cried, tears pouring down her face as she shook the motionless witch.
"Yoshika!" Drake ordered. Miyafuji flew down and placed her hands gently on Sanya's neck.
"I can't feel a pulse." Eila's heart nearly stopped.
"NO! There has to be! She can't die!" she said, her voice cracking. Sanya lay as still as stone. No breath, no pulse, no movement. The flesh on her chest was burned badly, and given that her back was similarly burned, Eila suspected several of Sanya's internal organs were charred as well. Eila's world was turned upside down. "I'm sorry Sanya, I'm so sorry! I never meant to hurt you," she said, weeping. Her heart felt like it had been wrenched apart and put through a meat grinder. The Orussian girl did not respond. Drake came over. "I'm sorry, but Sanya is-" Miyafuji began, tears beginning to flow down her own face.
"Not dead," Drake said calmly. Both Miyafuji and Eila looked at him in confusion.
"I can sense brainwave activity. There is some with Sanya. She's still with us, but quickly fading. We need to get her healed now," he said, helping Eila support Sanya. Miyafuji set her hands back on Sanya and closed her eyes. Her body glowed, and magic flowed from her fingertips into the injured witch. Her minor injuries healed themselves, and Eila felt warmth return to Sanya's body. "There is a pulse now," Miyafuji said. At the same time, Sanya inhaled sharply and coarsely.
"Sanya!" Eila cried, hugging her friend closely. However Sanya still remained unresponsive beyond slow ragged breathing.
"She's alive, but in a coma. We should get her back to base, heal those burns," Drake said. Together the three of them supported Sanya's body and carried her carefully back to base. A group of medic witches were waiting for them, and with Miyafuji's help, healed the worst of Sanya's injuries. They moved her to a dry bed in the hospital wing. Eila did not leave her side. "If she's healed, why isn't she awake?" she asked Drake, on the verge of tears once more. Drake looked only slightly less worried. "Her external injuries have healed, but there is nothing we can do about the coma. She may wake up any moment now... or she'll never wake up again. We just don't know," he said.
Eila looked over to Sanya, where she was wreathed in blankets and pillows for her comfort. "Sanya," she breathed, finally breaking. She collapsed on the chair next to the bed and cried, and cried and cried and cried. Whenever she thought she was done, she would see Sanya unconscious in front of her and new tears would spill from her eyes. Her stomach twisted and seized, and she rushed for the bathroom, vomiting in the toilet until nothing could come up. When she was done she returned to Sanya's side, the tears never ending, her body quivering and weak. "I'm so sorry I yelled at you," Eila sobbed, pouring her heart out then and there.
"I'm sorry I acted so selfishly, and I'm sorry I never told you how much I love you. You mean the world to me and I would be lost without you! I love your eyes, how they sparkle in the moonlight and are the most beautiful green I've ever seen. I love your hair, soft as velvet! Your voice is like an angel's, I could listen to you sing until the day I die. Your song makes my heart ache and melt. I love how you know and love me for who I am. You are my one and only, Sanya. You are my soul mate," Eila said, before her tears rendered her mute. That night she cried herself to sleep, beside her beloved. Drake quietly left, shutting off the lights as he went. "I hope Sanya wakes up so she can hear that," he said under his breath, so he wouldn't wake Eila.
The next day, Eila woke up from a terrible nightmare. She had dreamed Sanya had been shot down by the Neuroi. Breathing a sigh of relief, she stretched the kinks out of her neck... only to see Sanya out cold in the hospital bed in front of her. "No," Eila said, her throat closing up. "No no no no..."
She began to cry fresh tears, drops dripping from her downcast nose onto Sanya's blankets.
Eila made it her task to care for Sanya in every way, from cleaning her bedding to checking her IVs and other life support systems she was hooked up to. The doctors were at first objective to Eila's assistance, but under Drake's order they let her help, going as far as to teach her how to operate the machines. Eila - when not operating something or otherwise caring for Sanya - would often sit by Sanya's side and hold her hand, quietly crying, even past the point where her tears ran dry.
The days went by. Eila never left Sanya's side for a moment, except when to use the bathroom. Food was brought to her, and she ate very little. Nothing else interested her, she never took her eyes off Sanya.
"You know," Drake said one day, "You need to take better care of yourself. Think of it this way: what good are you doing Sanya if you starve yourself?" and Eila was convinced to eat enough. She still never left Sanya, even during attacks.
The rest of the 501st saw the changes in Eila as the days turned into weeks. She became more withdrawn, all humor and mischief had left her, and she only spoke when absolutely necessary. Eila's skin was pale to begin with, but it became a sickly grey from her depression.
Minna gave Eila indefinite leave of duty, Sakamoto also let her stay out of training. Barkhorn was less harsh with her, and Hartmann often payed her a visit, talking about stuff her and Sanya would chat about. Such conversations were always one sided. Shirley provided what moral support she could. Lucchini tried to cheer Eila up with her antics, until she almost smashed an oxygen tank. She was promptly banned from the hospital wing because of that. Perrine apologized to Eila for her many snotty remarks to her and Sanya. Miyafuji, Lynne, and Emily did their best to cheer their friend up. They made sweets, they sat in silence with Eila, they brought in food for her. But no matter what they all did, nothing worked. Eila remained depressed, falling deeper into the pit with each moment Sanya remained still. Then one day, Miyafuji had an idea...
One day everyone was seated around the comatose Sanya. "Hey Eila-san, I have an idea," Miyafuji said.
"Eh?" Eila managed to croak out, not taking her eyes off Sanya.
"An ancient Fuso legend speaks of making origami cranes for someone you love. If you make a thousand of them, you are granted one wish. Maybe we could try that with Sanya-chan," Miyafuji offered. Eila looked up, a small sparkle of hope in her eyes. "That could work..." Eila said, pulling out her tarot cards. The reading however, was vague. Eila's shoulders sagged.
"It's worth a try Eila. In any event it will give you something to do besides pine over Sanya," Drake advised. Eila nodded faintly. Drake ordered several stacks of paper to be brought to the room, and under Miyafuji's instructions, they began to make paper cranes. Eila fixated on her paper.
If I make these cranes, maybe... just maybe she'll get better, she thought. Her resolution was set: she would make one thousand of her own paper cranes, no matter how long it took. She followed Miyafuji's instructions carefully, making several crudely shaped cranes by the end of the day. She didn't stop when Miyafuji and the others left though. Eila continued folding paper after paper long into the night, until she fell asleep with a half folded crane held delicately in her hand.
Eila continued to make crane after crane for the next several weeks, creating a few dozen each day. The rest of the 501st - and after Drake's assembly notice, the whole base - added their contributions to the list. Soon there were so many cranes Drake had them all moved to the assembly hall, where they wouldn't be in the way, or in harms way. By the end of one month, there were well over several thousand cranes made for Sanya, several hundred of them being Eila's. Still she continued, never stopping until her Sanya would wake up.
At two months, Eila reached her thousandth crane. As she folded the last fold, now an expert at it, Eila made a silent prayer. "Please. Whoever is in charge of the whole thousand crane thing, please bring me back my Sanya. I can't live without her," and she strung the bird along with the others. She then cast her gaze on her beloved, who lay still on the bed. Eila still thought of her as the definition of beauty, even with all the tubes and machines around her.
"So many cranes," Miyafuji said solemnly, as she hung up another string of cranes in the assembly hall.
"Yeah. I'm thinking of renaming this place 'The Hall of Cranes'. Fitting, no?" Drake said, smirking slightly, despite the mood that had been hanging around the base for three months.
"Drake, will Sanya ever wake up?" Emily asked timidly. Drake sighed.
"I don't know. I really don't know. I hope she will though. Not just for Eila's sake, but for the sake of the world," he said cryptically. Miyafuji and Emily looked at each other in confusion. However they knew asking Drake what he meant would get them nowhere. They headed back to see if Eila had any more cranes ready.
Six months had gone by since Sanya was rescued from the sea, yet still she remained in a coma. Eila had already made several thousand cranes herself, and the ceiling of the assembly hall - now officially called the Hall of Cranes - had several hundred-thousand crane strings. Paper was in low supply. Eila was on the verge of giving up. Several times she pleaded to have Sanya back, and so far the Orussian witch lay in stillness. Drake had tried to hide it, but Eila knew that they couldn't keep Sanya on life support for much longer. Each day when she took a break from making cranes, Eila would check her tarot cards, only to come up with the same Death card. That would send her into a fresh wave of tears. "Sanya..." she choked, clutching the pale girl's hand to her chest. She fell asleep soon after, resting her head on Sanya's lap.
The next morning, Eila awoke with a groan. Sleepily looking over the life support systems, she didn't give it much thought, given her fatigue. But then, she looked again. The machine that monitored Sanya's heartbeat... was silent.
"No... no, no, no, no, no! This can't be happening!" Eila cried. She checked the machine again, making sure it was plugged in and working properly. There was nothing wrong with it. Eila fearfully put a hand to Sanya's chest. It was still. No heartbeat, her lungs empty. Her skin was cold.
"Oh my god," Eila wailed in horror. Her world collapsed right then and there. Her Sanya, her precious, beloved, beautiful Sanya, was gone.
Emily was with Miyafuji and Lynne, as they were going through drills given by Sakamoto. Suddenly, a wave of overwhelming grief washed over her, bringing her to her knees.
"Emily-chan! What's wrong?" Miyafuji asked, as she saw her friend fall. Emily was silent for several moments, choking back tears that were not hers. She knew who's they were though.
"Poor Eila..." Emily sobbed, clutching Miyafuji in a tight embrace. It was then they knew that Sanya had passed.
"She's gone," Drake said sadly, in the middle of a meeting.
"Excuse me?" an army general asked. Drake stood up.
"Pardon me gentlemen, but I must leave. We've lost Miss Litvyak," he said, leaving the room without another word.
Drake, Sakamoto, Minna, Lynne, Miyafuji, and Emily entered Sanya's hospital room, where Eila was clutching her beloved's body, wracked with a pain Drake knew all too well. "Eila..." Emily said. She tried to hug the grief-stricken girl, but it was as if Eila didn't even know they were there.
"If only I had been with you that night," Eila sobbed. It felt like she was a ship without an anchor, and she was lost at sea in the middle of a typhoon. The tears never stopped, they only seemed to get thicker, to the point where she couldn't see past them anymore. She shook and shivered, and unbearable pain pierced her to the core.
"Sanya... my Sanya..." Eila cried, rocking back and forth, holding Sanya's body close to her. Her friends stood vigil beside her for an hour, before Drake knew it was time. He gently placed a hand on Eila's shoulder.
"Come, it will be okay," he said. Eila stiffened, and slowly turned to his direction.
"It'll be okay?" she said slowly. "NO! She's gone Drake! Gone! Sanya is dead. My life ended with hers," she said, her voice harsh as a raven's.
"I know how you feel Eila, trust me. April was everything to me, and I was lost without her. I still am. But we need to go. She's gone, there is nothing more you can do for her," Drake said. He gently tried to pull Eila away, but the Suomus girl clutched even tighter to Sanya's body.
"NO!" she screeched. She buried her face in Sanya's collar.
"I will never leave her again... Even if that means I have to follow her into death!" she said. She dashed to the window and smashed it, using her magic to make her stronger. Not caring about the dangerous shards of glass, not even feeling one shard cut her palm, she vaulted out the window, and fell to the hard concrete, two stories below her.
"Where... where am I?" Eila wondered, as she opened her eyes. It was white all around, a featureless void. "Is this where you go when you die?"
Eila wandered around, looking for a change in the scenery. Nothing changed however. She felt lonely in this empty world. But it still wasn't enough to mask the excruciating pain of Sanya's death.
"Sanya, I'm here. Where are you?" Eila shouted, hoping for an answer. Not even the echo of her own voice came to answer.
"Please! I promise to never leave you again, and to never hurt you. I love you! Please, just tell me where you are!" she begged, tears welling in her eyes. Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement, and the slightest whisper of a voice.
"Eila..."
"Eila! Wake up!" a voice shouted, waking Eila with a jolt. She opened her eyes to see the concerned faces of her comrades. A wave of relief washed over them as she did so. Eila tried to move, but found her body would not comply.
"Don't bother, you're in a full body cast. You're damn lucky to be alive, after that dive of yours," Drake said sternly, coming into Eila's field of view. She scowled the best she could.
"I don't want to be alive. I want to be with Sanya," she croaked. Her voice was weak and dry, and it hurt to speak.
"Sanya would want you to live, and not let her death be in vain! It would shame her memory to throw away your life and the lives of those you protect," Drake shot back.
"You don't know what Sanya would want! You didn't know her like I did!"
"Really? Then enlighten me. What would she want out of you?" Drake countered.
"She would want- she would want..." Eila stuttered. In truth, she herself did not know what Sanya would have wanted in this situation.
"You don't know, do you?" Eila looked down miserably, and Drake's expression softened.
"Look. I know you are heartbroken. I know Sanya meant the world and more to you. I felt the same way about April. But neither of them would want us to throw away our lives for them, or to waste our lives mourning over them. They would want us to be strong. They would want us to celebrate how they lived, not mourn over how they died. If you truly love Sanya, and want to make her proud of you, then live. If not for yourself, then do it for her. Wherever she is now, she will be watching, and will wait for you to come when it is your time. But your time is not now. You have a life to live. Sanya will want you to make the most of it," Drake said softly. Eila felt more tears coming, but she understood his meaning.
"Thank you," she said, barely above a whisper. Drake nodded.
"You're welcome. Now, get some rest. Everything will be okay."
After giving Eila their condolences, the rest of her squad – minus Miyafuji, Lynne, Emily, and Perrine – left to give her space. The four sat in silence around Eila, who was stuck in a lying position, given the full body cast.
"You really loved Sanya, didn't you?" Miyafuji asked. Eila was slow to reply.
"Yes. More than anything," she said.
"I'm sure she felt the same way too," Emily said, placing a comforting hand on Eila's. The Suomus girl sniffled.
"What am I going to do without her?" she wondered, looking up at the ceiling.
"Did you two have any plans? Any idea of what you two were gonna do after all this ended?" Lynne asked.
"Not really, other than finding her parents. I promised I would help her do that," Eila replied.
"Then why not do that? Find her parents, and tell them what happened. Although no one wants to hear that their daughter died, it would be best coming from you I would think," Lynne said.
"What if they knew I was responsible? They would never forgive me," Eila said, tearing up. Miyafuji wiped away Eila's tears, and when she spoke her voice was harder than usual.
"Don't you dare say that Eila-san! You are not responsible for Sanya-chan's death. You had no control over what happened. Wherever Sanya-chan is right now, I'm positive she doesn't blame you. So you shouldn't blame yourself either," she said fiercely. Eila remained downcast.
"I am responsible. I'm the one who yelled at her, I'm the one who didn't join her on that night. It's my fault she's gone," she said in defeat. Miyafuji however, being the stubborn girl that she is, did not give up. She slammed her fist onto the table next to the bed, making the others jump.
"It is not your fault!" she shouted. Getting face to face with Eila, Miyafuji looked her in the eyes. Eila had no choice but to stare back at the witch in front of her. It was not anger that blazed in her eyes, but resolution. She knew what she said was right.
"You loved Sanya-chan, right?" Miyafuji asked.
"Yes," Eila said without hesitation.
"And you wanted nothing but for her to be happy and safe, right?"
"Yes."
"Then don't blame yourself! Sanya-chan talked to me later that day. Yes, she was upset at you for what you did. But she also knew you did it because you cared! She may not have known what kind of love you had for her, but she knew just how much you loved her. Sanya-chan knew that everything you did, you did it for her. And you know what? Everything she did, was for you. Although she didn't know it, and you sure didn't notice it, I did. She loved you just like you loved her. You both loved each other. It was just that time cut her life short before either of you had the courage to admit your feelings for each other. Do not belittle or blame yourself. You're a wonderful person Eila-san. Never forget that," Miyafuji said.
"Miyafuji... I... I don't know what to say..." Eila said. Tears started to form around her eyes. The Fuso girl's expression softened to its normal gentle features, and Miyafuji wiped away her tears once more.
"You don't have to say anything. Sanya-chan would want you to be happy and live well. The last thing she said to me was ' What I want more than anything in the world, even more than seeing my parents once again, is for Eila to be happy. No matter what happens between us, or if we become separated. I just want her to be able to smile. Because if she is happy, so am I, wherever we might be, apart or together. That is my wish.' That is what you should do Eila-san. You should fulfill Sanya-chan's wish, and be happy. So long as you are happy, she will be too," she said.
Sanya... Eila thought. She couldn't help herself, and cried once more. Miyafuji and the others stayed by her side, until she fell into a troubled sleep.
Eila was back in the Void for the fifth week in a row, as she called it. After all, there was nothing but light in every direction. She wandered for hours, cautiously moving in case she came up to a wall, or something of the like. She met no wall however, the floor beneath her was as smooth as glass, and seemingly continued on forever.
"Sanya, where are you?" Eila would call out many times. She was convinced that the voice she heard before waking up belonged to her beloved. There was no answer, and finally Eila grew tired, and sat in the middle of nowhere. Then again, everywhere in the Void was the middle of nowhere.
"Why am I here?" Eila wondered.
"Eila?" a voice called out. Eila's head snapped towards the noise. To her greatest surprise, there stood Sanya!
"SANYA!" Eila cried out, running to the Orussian witch and clutching her in an embrace.
"Sanya, Sanya, Sanya, Sanya! You're here!" Eila said.
"Yes, I'm here Eila," Sanya said, returning the hug. Eila looked into Sanya's eyes, marveling at how vibrant green they were. She looked alive and well, yet Eila knew she couldn't be so.
"But... but... you can't be alive," Eila said. Sanya laughed softly.
"No, I'm not. But that doesn't mean I can't see you in your dreams," she replied.
"Wait, I'm only dreaming?"
"Dreams are as real as you think them to be."
"Have you been hanging out with Drake while I'm not looking? That sounds exactly like something he would say," Eila said.
"He guided me to you," Sanya said simply. "I don't know how."
"So... this is real? I'm not just imagining things?" Eila said. She was afraid of what the answer might be. Sanya looked Eila straight in the eyes, and without warning, kissed her. Eila was in shock. When Sanya pulled away, she grinned mischievously.
"Was that your imagination?" she asked, smirking.
"Either that was real, or I'm in heaven," Eila thought aloud. Sanya blushed and giggled.
"I'm sorry I left without you. That wasn't very smart of me," Sanya said. They had sat down together, holding each other while enjoying time alone together. Eila didn't care if it was a dream, reality, or whatever. She was just happy to be with Sanya, with nothing to hide.
"Don't be! It's my fault, I'm the one that yelled at you," Eila replied.
"Didn't Yoshika tell you not to blame yourself?" Sanya said, laughing.
"Well who am I going to blame?"
"No one. The only one who could be at fault would be the Neuroi that shot me, and that one is dead. Don't worry about it, it's in the past," Sanya said. Eila held her closer and kissed the top of her head.
"I guess. It would have been nice if it never happened though. Everything else aside, it would have been nice to show off your singing and piano skills at the talent show," she said. Sanya smiled.
"You would do that," she said happily. Suddenly, a breeze blew over them, and Sanya grew weary.
"It's time to go," she said. Eila began to panic.
"What? No! I just got you back, I'm not losing you again!" she said, gripping Sanya's arm.
"I know. Don't cry though, I'm not truly leaving you. I could never do that. We have a bond not even Death can break. Whenever you need me, I'll be there for you," Sanya said, kissing Eila on the cheek. The last thing Eila saw before waking up were those sparkling emerald eyes.
"Eila, you awake?" Drake asked.
"Go away. Why'd you have to wake me?" Eila said, grumbling.
"Well first, the doctors say you are fully healed. You're going back to your dormitory. Second, I wanted to ask how your meeting went," Drake replied.
"My meeting- wait, so Sanya wasn't kidding when she mentioned you. It was you?" Drake nodded.
"It took a while, but I managed to make a soulstone," he said. Eila looked up at him. "A what?"
"A soulstone. It's a stone that has been infused with the magic of two people. In this case, yours. . . and Sanya's," Drake explained.
"How on Earth did you do that? How did you even get a hold of our magic?" Eila asked. Drake laughed.
"The crystals on your spare strikers. Magic always leaves a trace of itself. Whenever you use your strikers, a small bit of your magic stays with them. That allows you to connect with them quicker and easier. They become an extension of your body. As for how I did it, I finished constructing a spell that I've actually been working on for a year now." he said.
"How does it work?"
"By combining positive and negative energy. Magic is life energy. It has a positive charge to it. When you die, that life energy disperses, but not before flipping to become negative. When Sanya died, the energy in her striker's crystals became negative. All I had to do was weave your positive energy with Sanya's negative energy, using a diamond as a catalyst. So long as that diamond remains intact, your soul and Sanya's are permanently intertwined. You experienced the result of that while you slept. Further more, that bond will continue to solidify. Eventually, she will be able to visit you during your waking moments as well," Drake said.
"Wow... I … thank you!" Eila said. She was beyond thankful for what Drake had done for her.
"Any time. I know how much she means to you. I only wish I could have done the same for myself and April," Drake said.
"Why couldn't you?"
"Such magic require an enormous power source, number one. The power source in question being Yoshika. Second, I did not know the spell until recently. It only works if the deceased has died recently, and their life energy hasn't dispersed yet. After a certain amount of time, not even magic can recall their spirit."
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Here, take this," Drake said. He handed her a small leather pouch. The leather on the outside was hard and strong, while the inside was lined with the softest velvet. Inside the pouch lay a small diamond, no bigger than Eila's thumb. She could feel the magical energy swirling inside it, even though the gem shined crystal clear.