Title: Gotta Fight With All My Might
Rating: PG
Word Count: 212
Pairing: Team Underpants
Round/Fight: 1/A
Summary: "Gotta fight another night, gotta fight with all my might": The definition of "All". (Part of "Free" prompt cycle; lyrics by Bryan Adams.)
When he was a child, the definition of "all" was "as much as I can get away with". Used in context, "all" sounded like: "Mama, I ate [i]all[/i] my vegetables!" when really he had choked down half and then pushed everything else around the plate, into his napkin, and onto the floor under his chair.
When he turned fifteen, he joined the Riders, and as he handed in his recruitment documents to Sarge, Queen Thayet looked him in the eye and asked him, "Are you prepared to give your all?"
He said yes, but "all" turns out to be, "until I'm hungry, or hurt, or tired, or ill-tempered"… until the battle at Pirate's Swoop, and he opens his eyes for the first time.
When he's made it through his trainee year, and then the year after that, the definition of "all" becomes clearer. It's been days and weeks and no relent and no rest, but he's finally understanding. He's accepted what "all" means, even when it hurts because he cannot give "all" to anything or anyone else; not even someone like Dom, who knows and understands and hurts. He's accepted what "all" means, and he gives it, the way he told Thayet he would, and Buri watches him and thinks to herself.
