This was supposed to happen after Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, which I haven't played yet. I just got spoiled (so annoying) but still wanted to write this. This is a combination of the game and the movies. If there are wrong related scenes to the game, just let me know. I'm happy to make revisions. No shipping intended. I just made it in Yukari Takeba's point-of-view because she was the first person the P3 protagonist met in the cast.
NOW PLAYING: BATTLE FOR EVERYONE'S SOULS BY SHOJI MEGURO
MEMORY FRAGMENT [想イ出カケラ] BY NANO
MY TESTIMONY BY YUMI KAWAMURA
"Our promise..."
"It hurts...it hurts!"
"Please...stop..."
The world is falling once again to decay.
No matter how much we tried, no matter how many of us emerge, the cycle of rise and fall of humanity will continue.
We continue to be consumed by our own darkness, giving birth to the shadows we keep foolishly trying to hide.
After all, we humans are the perfect representation of the two sides of everything.
"Why...why me?"
"No no no!"
"AAAAAHHHH!"
Three years had passed since that ominous day, the thought of living normally was nothing short of a dream. We have started our own lives in separate ways, stepping foot on college, starting our jobs, going to wherever our hearts would bring us. We have our regrets, words that we are unable to speak to him, gestures that were unable to reach him. After all, we owe him our lives. If it weren't for him, we might not be enjoying our lives to the fullest. Though our greatest challenge has finally come to an end years ago, we still face some similar predicaments. We are Persona-users after all. Trouble always comes with the territory. But sometimes, I wonder...
What does he truly felt?
"Watch out-!"
"S-Stop this!"
"Please...help me! Save me!"
I never expected that the unusual call I received would lead us here. To face the past once more and heal the blight that we were not aware of. I could only guess that he painstakingly kept silent about this. It was something that he would do. A trait I find vexatious ever since I met him. Perhaps, he doesn't want us to worry, being the erratic leader he is. But if he did, in a form that Stupei would say to irritate and yes, scare me, I might as well fire my arrow or summon my Persona, scared out of my wits to listen even a word from him.
"That's-!
"Be careful, everyone!"
"It's so cold...and dark..."
Our reunion was not one I would expect, nor who our caller is. I often hear just her name from his lips, just recently meeting her personally in an all-out fracas months ago. Yet, with the same mindset, we followed her to the place we last came upon three years ago. An infinite space, glittering with a myriad of twinkling stars, beholding the golden door that hides away a being that can brought upon humanity's demise. Suspended like a melancholic decoration was a stony replica of him, fashioned out of the life essence his body might still have if he were still among the living. Yet, that was not the thing brought a horrified gasp to my lips. It was the blight that the former Velvet Room resident spoke of. The decay that is slowly eating through the very core of the Great Seal. An infection brought upon by the progressive contribution of mankind for the ultimate end.
"Everyone..."
That voice! That voice I know so well yet barely heard. With a mixture of excitement and disbelief, I quickly turned, blindly wishing to see what my heart desires.
"...Yuki...Yuki-kun...?"
He was standing just in front of Night's doorstep. The right eye that was always hidden beneath that long fringe of blue hair. The male counterpart of the uniform I wore for three years in Gekkoukan High. The nostalgic red armband marked with black letters S.E.E.S. Everything! Everything that we have known him for was right in front of us.
"You...returned..."
"Y-Yuki-kun? Is that really you?"
"Me..." He shook his head. "I..."
His eyes conveyed sadness. An emotion I am not accustomed to see from him. "Please...I..."
"Yuki!" Mitsuru-senpai's voice cut out through the emerging silence. "Tell us what happened. Elizabeth brought us here. We can help."
"I..."
"Fuuka-san? Is there problem?"
"This feeling..."
Elizabeth reached out her arm, stopping us from approaching any further. "Do not come any closer. That is not the Makoto Yuki you know."
"What? What do you mean?"
"That is..."
His eyes, when our gazes conneted, were not the same silver eyes that I know of.
"I...I do not want to be alone."
It was menacing color of yellow. The same color I fixed upon when I faced my other self. The part of me I kept suppressed for years.
"A shadow...of Makoto?"
"I don't want to be alone...I don't want to feel the emptiness I am chained for years...please...stay..."
Elizabeth hefted her book, the Persona Compendium, and flipped it open. "It pains me to say but, we must refuse your wish."
"Why? Are you going to leave again? It...it hurts! Please...help me! Save me!"
Chains appeared and wounded themselves around his necks, wrists, and ankles. The swirling burst of energy strengthened around our leader's shadow. It swept against us, burning our skin and casting the negative emotions upon us. Every pain, every emotion cut through us over and over again. Is this how he felt?
Slowly, in shards of red, an all too familiar persona. A persona I last saw during the attack on the rooftop. The embodiment of Death itself. Thanatos.
"Ack!"
"Stop this, Yuki-kun!"
"I-I can't hurt him.."
"We have to fight-!"
"Akihiko-san! Stop this, Makoto!"
"What do you know of my pain? If...If the Kirijo didn't continued their research, then...then, my parents would still be alive! I won't be going through all this!"
Shards of bloodred scattered from his cognition as persona after persona were summoned. The air swirled with suffocating mist of black. Blue and red clashed as personas were summoned in an effort to overcome the opposing force. Tears streamed down from his cheeks. The sight of him crying was shocking and painful. I never saw him cry. The Yuki-kun I know never show much emotion. Why? Why are you crying? Do...do I really know him that well? Did I tried knowing him enough?
"Why do you keep bothering me? I didn't ask for this! Why? Why me? I don't want this! It's painful to see my friends fighting on that day three years ago!"
Agony. That was I felt. It's our fault. We're selfish...we, we never considered his feelings. Nor did it cross our minds what torment had we brought to him. Please. The heartache...the torture I am feeling seeing him like this is nothing compared to any mortal wounds I took in my whole life. Please stop crying.
"Yuki-san!"
"WOOF!"
"Artemisia!"
"I summon you, Thanatos!"
"Makoto-san! Have you forgotten our bonds? Have you forgotten our promise? You're the one who taught me that!"
"Our promise..."
"You, suicidal idiot!" I screamed. "I will hate you if you don't remember!"
He looked at me. Our eyes met. For that moment, I saw all the struggles, the pain, he went through. Everything he kept hidden within. The things he feared to share. The kindness that Ryoji has spoke about. Everything. Everything hidden within the hard shell he created to protect himself. The swirling burst of energy weakened into a gale.
"You, moron." I began. "Always keeping things for yourself. Speak little to nothing. You always followed orders without a care for the world. Ugh! I hate you for that."
"Yukari..."
"Yet, you always listen to others. Always trying to help in your own ways." I chuckled lightly. "I sometimes thought you have a split personality. Honestly, you're so unpredictable." I shook my head. "You rarely smile. It was like a miracle if you did. Maybe because you were destined to create miracles. A lot of them."
He listened quietly. The gale turned into a breeze yet the mist was thick. I approached him carefully, begging with my eyes, my actions, my words
"You saved us. You saved me. Do you remember? When I was grieving for my father back in Yakushima, you were there. You consoled me when you suffered more than I have. You took in being the field leader. You took in all the risks, the injuries, the babysitting of all of us. You took the responsibility of saving humankind when we cannot. Even...even if it meant...you..." The word tripped on my tongue. I cannot say it. I cannot bear anyone seeing like that. I don't want lose anyone important to me anymore.
Please...
"I..." Junpei's hands closed into tight fists. "I am not really that cool and powerful unlike you. I am weak. A no-good showoff. I am jealous of you...to the point I blamed you for the Fall. But you..you never become angry of me. You even saved my sorry ass many times. The day you were gone...I thought...I was the worst friend in the world. I apologized for blaming you but still felt hostile to you. That moment made me realize...I will never be able to really say sorry. I...that's why...I am going to fight you! If it means getting my best friend back!"
Please...
"I am clumsy at many things but Yuki-kun supported me for it. I know...I know somehow...that even if my cooking is bad, he still encourages me to keep practicing. He helped and supported me in many things, no matter how bad I am at them. He's one of the people who made me feel I have a place in the world. That I am special. That's why...that's why I want to support Yuki-kun at the end!"
"You are always reliable. You always follow my orders even if it does not interests you. You always support me as our field leader. You lent us your help even if it seemed as if we were forcing you. You never complain. You even took the burden when I lost my father. I...I know it was my family's fault. It will always be. I am one of those who are to blame for losing your parents. But you...you never told me that. You never blamed me even if I never apologized. I...I am sorry. I truly am. That's why, it's my turn to bear your burden!"
Makoto-kun...
"I am reckless, you know that. I always charge to battle without thinking about myself. You could have scolded me like Mitsuru, but you didn't. I never had anyone to listen to me but you did. As your senpai, I should be the one looking after you but it turned out to be the opposite. You looked after me, placed your life on the line instead of mine. You protected and supported me. You become my strength. Now, it's my turn to be yours!"
"Yuki-san! Do you remember when we first met? Mitsuru-senpai placed you to protect me. When I awakened my persona and joined S.E.E.S, you treated me not as a helpless kid but someone who has potential. You saw what I can do, what I can achieve. I apologized for the times I made you worry. The moments I made you sad. You saved me. You're like a big brother to me. I promise! I promise I will be someone who can make you proud! This time, I will be the one to save you!"
I beg you...
"WOOF! WOOF! AWOOOOOOO!"
"Makoto-san. You taught me what it means to be a human. How to act, to speak, to feel. You taught me that I can be more than just a maiden robot. That my purpose is not solely for eliminating shadows. Because of that, I thank you with all of my heart. You never gave up on the impossible- on me. You were the one who gave my purpose on both your life and death. Now, at this moment, I have a new purpose. I will not give up on you! I will save you even if it's the last thing I do!"
For a moment, I thought I saw a familiar figure behind him, smiling as if encouraging us to go on.
I smiled. I see...even you Aragaki-san.
"So please...Yuki-kun. Please...Please come back!"
He flinched, taken aback by our words. The breeze faded into still air and the mist dissipated.
"I..."
Fresh tears tumbled down his cheeks.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. Forgive me."
He sobbed over and over again. I grabbed him and hugged him tightly. We both fell down our knees.
"I missed you. Don't cry. It isn't like you, you know." I smiled. "Welcome back, Yuki-kun."
"...Thank you..."
Slowly, we watched as the chains broke to pieces and Makoto's shadow dissipated into a floating shower of light. It drifted toward the Great Seal. Light covered the whole statue and the blight vanished.
"He has finally found peace." Elizabeth said.
"True." Mitsuru-senpai nodded with smile.
"I am so glad." Fuuka said.
"We will continue making sure that Yuki's sacrifice will not be in vain." Akihiko-senpai said. "We will continue living."
"Heh. Of course." Junpei said, tapping his baseball hat. "I don't want him worrying at us. Anyway, I am hungry. Anyone up for ramen? My treat!"
"How generous of you, Stupei! I'm going for the most expensive, alright?"
"Gah! Yuka-chan!"
"Hehe! Just kidding!"
Three years had passed since his death. Three months after we fought his shadow. I wonder how his soul is now? I'm sure he's in heaven or any place equivalent. It's his right after the sacrifice he made. I want to see him again- the real Makoto Yuki, of course. If by any chance he's still alive, he would already be in second year college like me. I wonder what career he would pursuing, in case. Maybe a doctor? Probably. It fits him. The Messiah. Elizabeth called him that once. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he will be saving people and creating miracles.
BEEP! BEEEEEP! BEEEEEEEEP!
SCREEEEECHH!
THUD!
"Urgh...what happened?" I rubbed my head and looked around. I was on the lying on the asphalt. People had gathered around the commotion. The road was in chaos as a car hit a streetlight. It almost hit me too.
"Are you alright?" A voice asked.
I looked up. A blurry figure was looking at me with worry. Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the harsh sunlight.
Blue hair.
Silver eyes.
He was wearing a pair of non-medical eyeglasses and a uniform from a well-known university. But it was no mistaking it. It's him.
"Can you stand? The ambulance's coming. Here, take-"
I hugged him and sobbed. "Yu...Yuki-kun...You're alive. You're back. Idiot. You..."
He smiled and hugged me back. "Tadaima [I'm home]."
...
...
...
"Okaeri nasai [Welcome back], Yuki-kun."