Hiya! To all you beautiful individuals who choose to take a few minutes from your day to read my oneshot (and first fanfiction, I am pleased to say), I am very appreciative!
Disclaimer: I do not own Higashi no Eden or its characters. I also do not own Eden of the East or its characters. Yes, yes, I know that they are the same (just in Japanese and English, respectively), but I want to make that clear…
Anyway, enough prattle. This story takes place at the end of the movie, Paradise Lost.
…
It's been six months since that day. As far as I can tell, Japan doesn't seem to have changed that much. But someplace we can't see it, some change must be underway. I believe that.
I look out over the water, gazing at someplace far away, past the buildings and bridges that block my view.
And I know Takizawa must be dashing around this city alone right now, believing the same thing. Carrying the burden of everyone's hopes on his shoulders…
Glancing back over my shoulder before following my friends back to the car waiting for us, my eyes connect with an old carrousel, and its blue-saddled horses. I hear Ōsugi-kun calling for me.
"Saki-chan, are you coming?"
"Ah—yeah! Give me a second!" I yell back, waving my right hand in the air. I close my eyes and take one more moment to breathe in the harsh New York air. Opening my eyes, I look down at my necklace, on which lies the carrousel's golden ring from my last trip to New York. I was with Takizawa, and he told me what little he could remember about his past. I remember reading the Japanese version of J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye in school, and I truly felt like Holden's little sister when I was riding around on the carrousel, reaching out for the golden ring. What was her name? Phoebe? Fiona? Something like that. It was like a dream, being there with Akira.
It was just too bad that it had to end so swiftly.
Well, almost end…
Even though it has been six months since that day, it does not mean that I have not seen Takizawa since then. I saw him once, while I was visiting Washington, D.C., around two months ago. It very closely resembled our first meeting in front of the White House, except that he was fully clothed and gun-less. I had begun to cry, and he had placed a soft kiss on my lips. He had grinned at me and ruffled my hair. He had held me close; his arms around me created a warm fuzzy feeling, like he would never disappear again. Even though he did manage to vanish after that—yet again, he left me with another promise, one that I knew he would never break. After all, he had kept his first promise, even though it took four months. At that time two months ago, he gave me something much, much more precious than empty words.
A dog's bark jolts me back to the present.
I take my necklace off, gently sliding the string over my head, and look at it. Smiling tenderly, I place a kiss on the golden carousel ring, then move it to the side of my palm, making way for its rival in my affections—as of two months ago.
The setting sun glints off of a single diamond, embedded in a beautiful silver ring.
Making my way towards the car with my patiently-waiting friends, I smile again and slip the chain back over my head, letting both rings jingle happily.
They make a dreamy sound… almost like... bells...
…
Sorry for the slightly vague ending, but I like to have my readers connect dots and fill in blanks. I apologize if any character was OOC. Feedback is greatly appreciated! ^_^