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Not 100% satisfied with this chapter but decided to upload it anyway...

Chapter 25: A Smile Once More

Three months have past since Subaru-san came back from the Dimension Sphere, which disappeared just as soon as she appeared in a soft light, without either Ghost or Yuuki-san with her. Everyone took their loss pretty hard; the ones who were hurt the most were Asakura-san, Subaru-san and Sakura-chan.

After Asakura-san treated Subaru-san's wounds, she and her soldiers disappeared as quickly as they appeared and no one has heard of them since. It was no surprise, she had lost her fiancé in an attempt to help us, who had nothing to do with her, have a better future than the one she was living in, and in the end she was left alone herself. Behind that mask…I wonder how she felt…not that I'd ever get the chance to find out now.

Subaru-san's injuries would have made it nearly impossible for her to function as a solider had it not been for Asakura-san and her knowledge of the Combat Cyborgs. She has started her rehabilitation and has trouble walking without the support of crutches. Asakura-san said that there was nothing wrong with her physically so Aoi-san believes that the problem is mental, that she still blames herself for his de-…for not being able to save him.

Aoi-san has drilled it in everyone that her son was still alive somewhere, on that other planet, trying to find a way back to us. I find it hard to believe, but she stands firm on it and refuses to hold any sort of funeral service for him. It seems like she's in denial…but when I asked her she told me, after dealing me "that" punishment, that she firmly believes it but I still think that she had to remain strong for Sakura-chan's sake.

The TSAB had begun rescue and relief efforts on the areas that were damaged during the short yet devastating war and every TSAB member who was on the Stargazer was given leave. I wanted to use this time to help Sakura-chan.

Sakura-chan…I remember when Subaru-san woke up from her operation; the horrible, heart-wrenching scream she let out then was burned into my memory. After that she seemed to have closed her heart to everyone as she hasn't said a word or even shown the slightest change in expression.

Aoi-san told me that this had happened before, when Yuuki-san left home due to his mental disorder and it took her three years to recover. This was probably the real reason why I traveled back to her home, the planet Earth, to take care of my first and best friend's little sister, as he no longer could.

Today, I'm taking her to her hometown, the place where she lived with him for the first six years of her life. I heard about this place from Shichiro-san; there was a certain place in this town that the two of them always played in before they moved to the place they lived in before all of this happened. Yuuki-san had said that he planned on taking her back here for a bit after we had stopped Null from destroying the TSAB…

This may seem like a bad idea, but she doesn't have anything left of her brother. All of their photos and belongings were destroyed by the Cyber Knights. If she could even show just a little bit of happiness…

I held her hand as we got off the bus at a stop in the middle of town. "Do you recognize this place?" I asked her softly. She looked around a bit before her head dropped to the ground. I couldn't tell if she did or didn't. I began to lead her around the town. Occasionally she would look up and take in the scenery but no matter where we went she didn't say a word.

I noticed an ice cream stand a further bit down the road. "Hey, do you want some ice cream?" I asked her as I pulled her over to it. However she simply ignored me and kept on staring at the ground.

It was passed noon by the time the two of us walked all over the town but nothing changed, she was as silent and expressionless as ever. With nothing else to do, I decided to take her home. As we headed toward a bus stop I felt her pulling against my hand. When I turned to look I see her staring at a field, or rather the tree in the middle of it. The field was large with many different flowers and plants. It seems like the people of this town take care of this field, treating it like a symbol of their town.

The moment I stopped to take a look Sakura's hand slipped from my grasp as she ran towards the tree in the center. I quickly chased after her, being careful not to walk over any flowers. When I caught up to her she was staring at the base of the tree with her hands on it. I slowly moved closer to see what she was doing.

She had her hands over two deep marks that were carved across the tree's side. They were parallel to each other and there were similar markings as looked up as if someone did the same thing year after year. Sakura moved her hand away from the bottom most one and I saw some writing over the lines…

"'YU' and 'SA'?" I read as I crouched down next to Sakura.

"Yuuki…and Sakura…" a small voice mumbled.

"Huh?"

Sakura had answered me. She was looking back at me after answering my question. "Onii-chan and I…did this when I was three," she explained as she placed her finger on the bottom line. "This is mine and this one is his," she pointed to one that was around her eye level. "Until we moved…we did this every year…I would always try to cheat…by standing on my toes…" her voice was hoarse since she hadn't spoken for such a long time but she was trying her best. "Now I'm taller than him when he was eleven even though I'm only ten…for the first time…I beat him…"

She gave me a soft smile as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Yeah," I replied as I turned my body to face her. "You did your best, right?"

She then ran into my chest and clutched my shirt with her hands and started crying. For the first time, she seems to have accepted her brother's disappearance. I didn't say anything as she continued to cry on my chest except wrapped my arms around her to try and comfort her as she released all of the emotions she had held inside her to this day. I believe she will get better starting today.

After she finally stopped crying, Sakura passed out in my arms. I carefully laid her under the shade of the tree and continued to examine the tree. I could only find five height marks. The top most one had 'YU' while the ones below had 'SA' next to them. If I had to guess, Yuuki-san probably challenged Sakura to grow taller than him when she reached eleven years old, but it looks like she already beat him.

I took out Flare Facón and made a small cut over the top line from memory where Sakura's head stood.

"What are you doing?" a voice behind he asked. I quickly hid my device and stood up. There was a woman standing on the path led up to the tree. She was wearing a hat that blocked her face from my view.

"Oh, I was just letting my friend rest while I look at this tree," I said as I touched and looked up at it.

"I see," she said as she walked up to me. "This tree really is an important part of this town's life after all." She touched the tree and looked at the growth marks. "Hmm, they're still here huh?"

"Hmm? Do you know about these?" I asked her.

"Yes. My family used to take care of these fields and quite a few years ago there was a pair of siblings that came up to this tree and decided to record their growth on this tree. I think it was around seven or eight years ago. I wonder how they're doing." She said looking at the markings.

"Well…the girl is the one sleeping below you," I said pointing down at Sakura who was mumbling something in her sleep.

"Oh, she's grown up quite well. What about her brother?"

"He's…been missing for three months now…"

Wait a minute…why am I talking to this woman about this?

"I see…by any chance would it happen to have been during that attack that occurred three months ago?" she asked.

"Huh? Uh…yes…"For some reason I couldn't lie or not answer her. It was if her voice demands the truth without her even wanting it. "He was trying to protect his family…"

"I see, was he a soldier as well?"

"A soldier? I guess-" I began but I stopped as I remembered the conversation we had so long ago. "No…he was just an ordinary man."

"I see…"

All she keeps saying is, "I see"…what's really on her mind?

"My fiancé was a soldier and he died then as well." She said this in such a "matter of fact" tone that it shocked me. As I continued to look at her in shock, she continued, keeping her face hidden from me.

"He was a friend of my brother's so he was about four or five years older than I was when we first met. Even though he was older than me, he never treated me like a child. He was kind and strong and I loved him. And then he died...trying to protect the lives of people that will never know who he was, leaving me behind."

I swallowed hard as for some reason, my throat was feeling dry as I listened to her story. But she had stopped talking and seemed content with just looking at the tree.

"So what brings you here today?" I asked.

"This was the place where he proposed," she said simply.

"I'm...sorry..."

"It's fine, really."

She then walked around the base of the tree, keeping her hand on the bark.

"So why are you here, really?" she asked.

"I...I wanted to help her," I said looking down at Sakura-chan. "She closed her heart to everyone, even her own family, and I was trying to get her to open up again...to accept her brother's...disappearance."

"It sounds like you don't think he simply disappeared."

"He made a promise to her...to return for her birthday. The man loved her. He wouldn't break a promise like that if he had any control. I think...he's no longer with us. If he was...he'd carry his broken body across the ocean to get back in time for the party."

The woman giggled at my hyperbole as she looked up at the tree's leaves.

"It sounds like the two of you were close."

"I can honestly and confidently say, that that man was my first and best friend. Even though I had only known him for a short while. He was everything I aspired to be...and I still do."

"And? What about her?"

She pointed down at Sakura-chan who was mumbling a bit louder but I couldn't make out anything.

"I...I just want to help her. To help her slowly accept the fact that her brother is gone, and move on. I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

"Hmm...do you like her?"

"Huh?" the question took me by surprise. I hadn't even considered that possibility. "She's...she's ten..."

"And you are?"

"Fift...fifteen..."

"So what's the problem? My fiance and I were five years apart as well. The average married couple has a five year difference in ages. There's nothing wrong with it."

"I..."

"Listen," she said coming closer to me. "Whether you plan it or not, you are going to be the biggest support this girl has. Even if you don't intend for it to be like that, she is going to bond with you. Perhaps it will be a brotherly love at first, but eventually, perhaps sooner than you could ever expect, those feelings will become a lot less innocent. If you truly wish to support this girl, you must be able to accept her feelings when that time comes."

Her face was so close to mine that the hat no longer covered it. She had a large burn scar running down the left side of her face and it seems to extend past her neck line. She also had bright amber eyes...and that voice...

"Wait...you're...!"

But she cut me off, not with words, but with her body. She had pressed her lips against mine. I could only stare dumbly at her as she pulled herself away and walked around me back toward the street.

She stopped for a few seconds and whispered into my ear.

"Take good care of her, okay?" she said. "You hit the jackpot with this."

I turned around trying to catch her but she had already disappeared, leaving behind her hat on the flagstones.

"No way...all this time...she...I...huh?" the information was too much for me to take in and I was unable to find the words for it. Luckily for me, Sakura-chan woke up.

"Alex-kun? What's wrong?" she asked, rubbing her eyes.

"No...nothing's wrong," I said as I picked up the hat and placed it on her head. "Are you ready to head back?"

"Yep!" she said with a smile.

Can you see this, Yuuki-san? This smile that you wanted to protect...has returned.

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