Notes: So apparently Stacker Pentecost has scars from when he piloted Coyote Tango solo, and having just learned of this, I had to write something about it.
.o
Every time Raleigh took off his shirt, she'd see her father in him.
It was no coincidence that Raleigh and Pentecost shared the same scars. They both solo-piloted a Jaeger, and the strain of it ended up searing the circuitry lining their suits upon their skin, marking them with their great sacrifice to protect their world.
From the man who saved her, to the man that she's able to save the world with. While she admired the scars, she hoped she'd never have to wear them herself. When Raleigh had nightmares, sometimes she'd be awake, and those are the times they talked about it. How it felt to be alone in a Jaeger, how it felt to lose everything, despite her already knowing after being intimately connected via the neural handshake of their first time together in Gypsy Danger.
Stacker never truly went into detail about how it felt to pilot one alone. She knew of the risks, of the dangers that came with solo-piloting; it was briefly documented in the initial race to build something that would actually work against the Kaiju. But every person reacted differently, and Stacker was no exception. It hurt that she'd never know how he truly felt. Sure, he'd say that he was determined to save her and her home, from the alien menace, but never spoke of how much doing so took a toll on his body.
After all, his own Jaeger ended up taking years off his life. Having to describe something physical that could be described through the visual reminders on his body... she stopped asking when he told her he had cancer.
But now she's able to see him again through Raleigh. A man who risked everything to save his world, even if it meant pushing through the searing pain, disfiguration of once perfect skin. And Raleigh told her everything. How it hurt, how you have to struggle to move. Sometimes he felt that if he were just a little stronger, a little wiser, he wouldn't have ended up like this. He wouldn't have to look at the constant reminder of losing his brother.
But it's also a reminder of all the good he's done, all the years he's served in Gypsy Danger, and—when Mako told him—how and why Mako sees her father in him, and why she's so accepting of these scars.
She can only find Stacker in the drift, but those scars are a physical memory that she'll cherish forever.
Raleigh shakes Mako's hand, flashing that smile that gives her confidence that they'll make it through another round, and before they go into their own rooms to suit up for a new battle with the new Kaiju that's surfaced, it's the flash of those scars that makes her smile back.