A/N: Part of the journey is the end. Love and be loved. Read… and review!
Autumn Ends
Rika Nonaka is falling. She sees many lights. 'Green, red, blue, white. Lights.' Everything is so bright that she is blinded. She shuts her eyes and then feels it.
THUD! splash
Rika has landed very suddenly. She opens her eyes and finds herself ankle deep in water. The water is not exactly blue though, instead a mix of purple and a deep navy. All around her, the sky, the horizon, it is the same shade of purple and deep navy. She knows this place. She remembers it. She dreamt of being in this place, just the other night.
'Not a dream. A nightmare.'
Rika has lived her waking nightmare and come out the other side. But what and where is this other side? This place is gorgeous, but still she wonders, 'Where have I come to?'
For the first time she notices that she is holding something. It is wooden. She blinks and realizes it is the empty rowboat again. She looks to her right and isn't surprised. She is holding this small boat, in ankle-deep purple water, at the edge of a waterfall. She knows what awaits her when she turns back to her left.
She doesn't look back. She looks down at the rushing water and the black abyss below. She doesn't want to see who is in the boat. Would it be Takato again? Or Jeri? Maybe her father is watching her from the other side? Or would she see herself?
A cold, calm hand is placed on top of hers. Her eyes are drawn to it and then follow the arm to the source. A boy with a visor and tall brown hair sits cross-legged in the boat. He says nothing at first, but his warm blue eyes welcome her.
"Kazu?"
"Hello Rika."
The memories strike her like a rush of wind. Tentatively she asks him, "Is it really–"
"In the flesh," he says, trying to comfort her with a smile. "Well, sort of anyway."
Rika keeps a firm grasp on the boat. She wants to release it. She wants to embrace him. But she knows if she lets go, the boat will rock forward and edge closer to the waterfall. A mix of emotions sweep across. Her memory banks around all that's happened. She notices that she again wears the blood soaked kimono and scarlet pants. She averts her eyes and hangs her head.
"Kazu. There are so many things…"
Her hands begin to shake and threaten her grasp on the boat anyway. She has so much pain in her heart. She wants to wipe her slate. She wants to say exactly the right thing and mean it. She wants to impart on him his importance and the gap that he leaves behind.
He squeezes her hand. "Rika, it's fine. I'm okay with what's happening. I told Takato that too. You've given me what I always wanted…"
She looks up at him, hands shaking, tears welling. He tries to comfort her from his rowboat seat. He wears a sad smile, "I can finally rest now."
Rika let's a few tears slide down her cheeks, as a broken smile dawns across her face. A surge of guilt exits Rika. She breathes a slow, deep breath. She looks down at her hands as they shake violently out of control now. She tries to still them.
She could, and so she did.
She looks around a second and takes in the surroundings. There are rolling verdant hills in the distance. The purple haze permeates everything around her. She turns to her right, sees the deep void of the waterfall, but then looks up. For the first time, she sees what extends out.
The waterfall drops down into the abyss, but a different abyss waits out into the distance. The vast expanse of space unfurls before her. A dark canvas of the ever expanding galaxy branches out before her. It is awe inspiring and terrifying. In the distance she sees stars and galaxies she could never hope to reach.
Without looking away she asks him, "Where are we?"
Kazu ponders it a moment and then ventures, "I'm not quite sure. But if I had to guess, I'd say we're at the Event Horizon."
Uncertain if she heard right, Rika tentatively turns back to him. "The Event Horizon?"
"Effectively it's the point of no return," he says, still staring out. "Once you travel onward, the gravity of it is so strong that nothing can escape."
His eyes shift to look into hers, "Not light, not darkness. Once you move forward from here, there is no turning back."
Absentmindedly she nods and mutters to herself, "The Event Horizon."
She turns back towards Kazu and now looks beyond him. The river she stands in extends further back than she can see. The deep navy and purple water, encased by verdant rolling hills are something out of a painting. Her eyes are drawn to something further to the left. A small dock extends out into the river and standing on the dock are a male and female figure. Rika's eyes open wide as she recognizes them.
"Wait, Kazu, wait, what are they doing here?"
Kazu turns back in the boat and looks to the shore. There on the dock he sees Janyu Wong and Jeri Katou. He replies nonchalantly, "You'll have to talk to them yourself."
Rika's eyes dart back to Kazu, and the boat, and her hands holding it steady. If she goes to talk to them she'd have to leave his boat. She asks him, "But what happens if I let go of you?"
"I'll move on," he replies with a soft smile.
Rika wants to object, but she isn't sure what to say.
His eyes connect with hers. He tells her, "We all have to eventually, Rika."
This sad realization takes root in her mind. Like a warm blanket, acceptance settles over her. Her eyes dance about, looking inside the boat, looking at the hills, looking at the endless horizon of stars and far away planets. Staring into the deep void of the waterfall that awaits him if she lets go.
She looks back at him and asks, "What if I'm not ready to let you go?"
He smiles wider at this, "We can stay a while, but I'll go eventually, whether you want me to or not. We don't get to choose what stays and what fades away."
Rika ponders this a moment. Riddled with apprehension she asks him, "Well, can I stay here with you for a while then?"
He nods somberly and says, "For a while. Then you'll need to decide if you want to stay or go."
A little surprised, Rika asks him, "But you just said I can't choose?"
He nods his head more vigorously this time, "That's true, we don't. But you do get to choose when you move on. And only you can choose that."
And so they stay a while. Rika stands in the waters, steadfastly holding his boat, keeping it from the abyss. They don't say anything to each other, but just take up the time. Rika let's her mind ease, and just basks in the beauty of the Event Horizon. It is quiet for the first time in a long time, and she finds it energizing. She is reassured by the silence. Just being around him gives her peace.
Finally, something tells Rika it is time. She is ready. She is sad, but she accepts it. She turns to him with a broken smile and tells him, "I know what happens next."
"Do you?" He says, earnestly surprised.
"I had a dream about this."
"Huh," he says and looks away. He thinks a moment and then says, "I'm not sure any of us really know what happens next. But I'm excited to find out. I've been waiting so long to find out. And now I'm here, right on the edge of it."
With his use of the word 'edge,' Rika looks back down the waterfall, into the darkness. She turns back to him, and he now matches her broken smile. Emotions are overcoming him. He says to her, "We're all born, and we all die, Rika. What matters is what happens in between. But I don't think anyone ever really dies. I think there's another great adventure waiting for us afterwards."
Rika swells with emotion. Tears threaten to break free, but she keeps them back like she holds the boat back. She asks him, "Is-is there anything you want me to tell your family or Takato or anyone else? If I go back, I mean."
Kazu's eyes water but like Rika, he does not cry. He shakes his head, "No, I already spoke to Takato on the dock a while ago. He knows everything now, so you can move on if you want. I just wanted him to tell my family I love them. That's all I really want."
Rika sniffles and shakes her head. She looks away and then back to his eyes, then away again. Finally she takes one finally dive into his ocean blues and says, "Goodbye Kazu."
He smiles right back into her lilac eyes and replies, "Goodbye Rika."
She releases the boat and steps away from it. It rocks ever forward, towards the waterfall. It bobs up and down and begins to tip over the edge. Rika holds her hand up to her mouth to cover her sob.
But the boat doesn't tip over the edge. It drifts forward, off of the top water. It rocks on, through space. It goes onwards towards the distant stars and galaxies. As if the water extends on forever, the boat continues on and Kazu sits perfectly still in it, never turning back. Rika stays a while, watching him drift away into the abyss. At last she shakes her head in amazement, and turns to face the shore.
Rika trudges through the water and comes to the dock. She steps up onto it and Janyu Wong stands before her, smiling.
"Rika! Welcome!" He greets her.
He opens his arms wide, catching Rika off guard. Nonetheless, she embraces him. Jeri stands in the background, visibly nervous and not even acknowledging that Rika is here.
"So, have you come to join us?" He asks, pulling the hug back but holding her still.
Another small boat drifts forward, seeming to appear out of nowhere. It comes to a rest up against the dock. Rika turns to face it then looks back at Mr. Wong. "I'm… not sure yet."
He closes his eyes and nods his head, his glasses dropping down his nose. "Of course. It's a tough decision. But I know I've made up my mind."
He steps towards her and she steps out of his way. He carefully steps into the boat and sits down. He grips the dock and so it stays. Rika walks to the end of the dock and looks stunned.
"You're moving on?"
"Yes, I am, Rika. It's my time."
"Bu-but what about Henry? And your family?"
He looks at her with sad eyes. He looks away a moment and then back at Rika, "If you go back, please tell him I love him. Tell them all that I'm sorry I didn't have more time with them."
Rika stands on the edge of the dock herself and implores him, "You can tell them yourself if you go back."
He shakes his head. He has done the math. She is too young to understand. He tells her, "I can't, Rika. The living need to bury the dead, or else the dead will bury the living."
Rika is stunned by this comment. It comes from nowhere and she isn't sure what to say in response. Janyu knows she wouldn't understand now, but in time she will learn. His arm grows tired from holding the dock as the boat tries to drag him forward. He tells her, "The sooner I move on, the sooner I'll see all of them again."
Rika is too shocked by his decisiveness. Such a difficult decision and he made it without hesitation. Kazu made it without hesitation.
'Why do I hesitate?'
"Please tell my family, Rika. If you go back, please tell them those things."
She comes out of her trance and looks at the blue haired adult in his tiny rowboat. She shakes her head and he smiles broadly in response.
"Goodbye Rika."
He releases his grip and the boat rocks forward and he drifts out. Rika watches as he drops off of the waterfall and, just like Kazu, he drifts out into the edge of universe.
Rika hears the dock creak behind her. Before she can turn around, two rowboats appear on the river and approach the dock. She watches them each come to a rest, side by side, in front of her.
She turns to face her brunette friend. Jeri Katou stands before her a defeated woman. She wears the same midnight blue dress she had planned to wear to the dance, although it is frayed at the bottom now. She can't quite stand still, swapping the weight of her feet from one foot to the other. She doesn't look right at Rika, nor at the boats, nor the water. She looks out at the rolling verdant hills, then out at the cosmos, at Mr. Wong's shrinking boat. Rika says nothing, trying to wait to hear what Jeri wants to say first.
Jeri's eyes finally turn to the two boats on the dock, barely a few steps away. She doesn't look at Rika but asks, "Do we have to get in?"
Rika tries to sooth her with a calm, controlled voice, "Do you want to?"
"I don't know." She replies quickly. She fidgets with her hands, shifting her weight again to the other foot.
Rika pushes off the decision a little longer, but tells her, "If we want to move on we can."
Jeri finally buries her brown eyes into Rika's lilac ones. She asks her, "Can we do it together?"
Rika pauses. Jeri is terrified of what is happening. Rika does not want her friend to be alone. But she needs to think about it herself too. She asks her, "We can, but do you want to?"
Jeri looks away, and replies again, "I don't know." She pauses and then a question rises to her mind. She turns to Rika and asks her, "What do you want?"
The time to decide has come. Rika has spent so much time recently thinking about death. For most of her life, the concept of her death felt more like a memory rather than a moment she had yet to face. She has faced death in many ways, forms, and fashions. From her father, to her own in the Digital World, all the way until this moment, death has always been a part of her life. Like an old friend, she had hoped to greet it when it was her time. She thought she would be ready. She thought she would walk hand-in-hand alongside it.
'Maybe I still can?'
She can go bravely. She can smile and face death, and hold Jeri's hand and slowly drift off into the void. She can go with grace. She can go with Jeri, her friend who has seen just as much death. They can do it together. They can move on.
A pair of almond eyes flash in her memory.
The long, sweeping red hair of a woman wrapping her in a bear hug.
The wisdom of an older woman trying to guide her through rebellious stages.
Standing before Rika is Jeri Katou, her best friend and a girl for whom she has much affection. She would give anything to assure Jeri that everything is going to be okay. She would give anything to grant her peace. To go with her on this journey.
But Rika can't. The memories of her family, the memory of Takato, of her mother, and her grandmother all come to her. She hesitates when the others didn't because she is not ready.
Jeri averts her eyes. Rika raises a hand up and touches her cheek. Jeri looks at Rika, and reaches up her own hand to clasp Rika's.
The redhead slightly shakes her head and says, "I don't want to, Jeri… I'm not ready."
They stand a moment staring into each other's eyes. Jeri nods her head finally.
"I… still don't know, Rika. I… I need more time."
Rika lowers her hand. They stand a foot or so apart on the wooden dock and hold hands for a second. Rika nods her head. "Okay… okay. No matter what you decide, I'll understand and I'll be waiting for you. Take your time, Jeri."
Jeri nods but tears well up in her eyes. Rika takes a long, final look into the brown of them.
"Goodbye Jeri."
"Goodbye Rika."
They let go and Rika steps past her, away from the boats. She walks to the end of the dock.
Rika steps off the dock and onto the verdant green grass. When she turns back to look at her friend, she is gone. The boat is gone. The dock is gone. The river is gone. The ever expanding cosmos is gone. She stands alone upon some billowing clouds. The black of space has been replaced with the light blue twilight of a rising sun. She is alone and Jeri is gone. An immense guilt builds inside and sadness sweeps over her. A voice speaks from behind her.
"There's my Dream Girl."
Rika swiftly turns on spot. Standing a few feet away is her Goggle Head. He stands with the sun at his back. He wears a white dress shirt and dark red tie. His shirt has a hole in the chest and is soaked in dried blood, right where he had been stabbed by Reapermon earlier. He extends his arms out wide.
Joy overcomes all of her sadness. She runs at him, leaps into his arms, and shouts, "Takato!"
He holds her up for a moment, then lightly drops her down. Her hand reaches up and cups his cheek. She pulls his face towards hers and their mouths meet in a passionate kiss. Her free hand clasp his back and pulls him closer. He wraps both his hands around her waist. She feels energy rush through her. The kiss breathes new life into her and she feels his love surging through her.
After a long few moments, but far too short for either one, they break for air. Rika draws hushed breaths and then pulls him into a hug. She rests her head against his chest and again listens to his heart beat.
Bump bump
Bump bump
He kisses the top of her head and holds her tight. She notices for the first time a tiny light shines through his shirt, right below the neck. His crest of Miracles is illuminated. She reaches a hand up and touches it. It's warm to touch, and vibrates slightly.
He whispers a question, "You ready?"
She stays against his side, holding him to be sure he is real, and replies, "For what?"
"I have so much to show you."
He detaches from her embrace, reaches a hand down, and takes her hand-in-hand. He leads her through the clouds for a little bit then comes suddenly to a stop right on the edge of them.
"Look!" He says, pointing across the sky.
Rika comes to a stop and then follows his finger. Atop some clouds across the way there are some steps made of still more clouds. They reach up into the sky high, but Rika can see a golden gate extending into the sky at the end of the steps.
However, Rika's eyes are drawn down. At the foot of the steps, a teenage boy with spiky brown hair stands waiting. He does not see them, does not acknowledge them. Out of nowhere a blue haired adult man appears and approaches the boy. They embrace upon meeting and Rika chokes up.
"You did it, Rika. You did it. You saved all of us and defeated The Shadow, and now they're free because of you. You gave that to them."
"No, they did it. We did it. We all did it." She says, holding his hand tightly.
He smiles at her and they look into one another's eyes. All around her the clouds transform and change. She is transported. They are on firm ground now, the sun high above. Still holding hands, Rika looks away from his eyes and takes in her new surroundings.
They stand on a beach, a picture perfect day. The hairs on the back of her neck don't stand up. There is no water drip behind her. No wind howls. No sand whips her. No lightning cracks above her. The water ebbs and flows. Like the wave, she has crashed. She has returned to the ocean.
They step forward until they are ankle deep in the water. It splashes against them over and over again. A smile spreads across her face as the warmth of the sun and the sand hit her. She looks up at Takato, and he happily stares out across the water.
He catches her looking at him and turns to her with a sly smile. He gives her a nudge with his elbow but doesn't say anything. She giggles at this and nudges him back as they hold hands and stare out at the water.
"You know what I love most about you?" He asks her.
She looks sideways at him again, but doesn't say anything. She playfully narrows her eyes at him and waits for him to go on. He looks away and out at the vast expanse of the ocean, "It's not your breathtaking beauty. It's not your incredible skill at a game we both play. It's not that you go to a fancier school or are smarter than me."
She blushes a bit at his compliments. His voice is full of life. He is giddy to tell her the things he loves about her. His earnest excitement makes it all the more meaningful to her. She waits for him to go on. He pauses longer to draw out the suspense and leave her waiting just a moment longer. His almond eyes turn back to her. His head turns back to her.
"It's your fire."
Rika looks away. She doesn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her blush. Just like that tunnel a year and a half ago, she looks away and he faces forward.
"It's your belief in yourself. You inspire me with it, every day. It's resolute. It's absolute. You are strong of will, strong of character, you have a passion that other people can't even dream of matching."
Perhaps the sun grows brighter, because her cheeks certainly feel hotter.
He goes on, "I don't know if I'll always have you in my life, but I know that every day you are with me is a blessing. I want you to know that I am thankful for every day that I have with you. I have learned so much from you."
"Takato, stop, I get it." She says, smacking him in the shoulder.
"You saved all of us with your fire. You didn't need me or anyone else to save you. You're your own savior."
Holding her breath, slowly she says, "I don't need you to save me. But will you just stay with me?"
He smiles warmly and envelopes her in his arms. Takato's words charm her. But she can only think that she didn't save everyone.
'Kazu is gone. Henry's dad is gone. Jeri may be gone.'
The sound of the ocean stops. The warmth of the sun fades. The feeling of the sand hardens. She feels it all transformed again. She opens her eyes, still in his arms, in a familiar place.
They stand now in the Shinjuku Central Park. The sun is setting, casting it's golden hue all around them. The autumn leaves scattered all about the ground like stars in the deep of space.
"Come on," he says, separating their hug apart and leading her again by the hand.
They walk through the park, but Rika feels like she's still on the dock. Takato can see something is troubling her. He asks her, "What's on your mind?"
"I'm scared of what Jeri will decide."
"So you're afraid that she'll move on?"
"I guess? And maybe that's right. Maybe Mr. Wong and Kazu are right. Maybe it's my time to move on too. What's even the point of going back? What more can I do for the world?"
Takato shakes his head, "You haven't learned yet, have you Rika?"
They walk side-by-side, hand-in-hand through the park. Rika's hair falls down her shoulders, the ember locks partially blocking her view of him. He smiles knowingly at her.
"The point of existing isn't to make some greater meaning. The point isn't to accomplish some massive thing," he says. "It is enough for us to just be. It is enough for us to just live."
"Our world may be just a pale blue dot in the universe," he comes to a stop and stands before her. He takes both of her hands in his. "But the universe was made just to be seen by your eyes."
Rika realizes where they are now. She looks at the large oak tree. She sees the letters "D + E" inscribed within a heart on it. She releases his hands and steps away. She slowly turns and looks all around her. The soft, red-orange sunlight breaking just above the treeline. The way the shadows extend on the ground towards them. The pavement and grass, covered in all the colors of Autumn.
She turns and he is standing in awe of her. She asks him, "Is this real, or is this a dream?"
He smirks at this, puts his hands on his hips and quips, "Hmm. You know, I thought that about you once. 'Is she real? Was it a dream?' But even if this is a dream, that doesn't make it any less real."
Rika smirks back at him. She turns back to the sunset. The sun breaks through the skyline. It blinds her view, so Rika brings her hand up above her head to block it out. She looks through the gaps in her fingers at the golden beams, which erupt from the outline.
She brings her hand down and turns to Takato, but he is gone. Quickly behind her now, the sun sets and she is alone in the park. Swiftly all of the lights go out, the shadows reach for her, and she is shrouded in darkness.
Rika floats in the darkness. At first she is uncomfortable. Being alone is hard after all of this time with others. She needs people like Takato and Jeri. She has needed people in her life to make it this far.
'I did not come this far to only come this far.'
Her body relaxes. The stress leaves her. The darkness is not her enemy. 'Us… and our shadows.' Being in this darkness, she is just as whole as when she is in the light. She is enough, all by herself. 'It is enough for us to just be.' Rika hears something in the distance.
Bump…
Bump…
She hears it. It grows closer. She feels the darkness envelope her. It's right up against her ear now.
Bump… Bump…
Bump… Bump…
She hears Takato's heart beating. She feels him in the darkness too. So she stays in the darkness with him.
Bump bump
Bump bump
Rika opens her eyes. It is dimly lit but she stares up at a white ceiling. Pressed against her body is her stupid Gogglehead. Her head rests on his chest, but she otherwise lays comfortably in the bed. He, on the other hand, appears to have squeezed himself into the bed in the little space that was available.
She can barely lift her head because her neck feels so stiff. She notices bandages on her arms and legs. There are all sorts of machines stationed next to her bed, right by her head. She searches for a clock and finds an analog one in the room. It reads 3:41 AM. Rika feels beaten and weak. Realization settles upon her that she is in a hospital.
She rolls her head ever so slightly to look out a window. There is no fog to cloud her view. Only the vague light of the moon and darkness of night. She looks back at the sleeping boy beside her.
She knows that her body is damaged. She knows she must recover from the battle. She knows she is in great pain. But laying beside him brings a smile to her face. She closes her eyes and settles back in to return to sleep.
They lay together for a moment. They lay together for as long as they need.
A few hours later Rika awoke again. Takato was still there, along with her mother and GrandMa. There were many tears shed by the older women to find the young girl alive and functioning. Rika had been unconscious for over twenty-four hours, and it was now Monday, the 21st of September. Rika learned very quickly that Jeri was in a 'minimally conscious state,' or rather catatnoic, on the same floor of the hospital. To Rika, it sounds like she's in a coma. To Rika, it sounds like she is still on the dock.
Yamaki eventually came by later that day to personally check on her. He explained that the Shinjuku Central Park took massive ecological damage, and various city blocks of Shinjuku near the park had been decimated. Apart from Hypnos and a few offices downtown, however, there was little impact on the city. He shares that Kazu has passed, but they now have a body to bury for the Shiota family. Yamaki also explained that his professional career is effectively over now, as it was almost instantaneous that Digimon were blamed for the damage and his covert work was exposed. He had lost his best friend, his life's work, and his entire career. The Shadow hadn't succeeded in killing him, but the day still extracted a heavy toll.
By the afternoon of the 21st, Rika feels strong and healthy. Rumiko, Seiko, and the doctors all choose to hold her for another 2-3 days to monitor her symptoms and ensure there are no setbacks. They have no Earthly explanation for the damage she took from her fight, nor can they explain how she recovered so quickly.
Rika asks to go visit Jeri, but her request is denied by the doctors and nurses. Henry, Ryo, and Kenta all visit together on the afternoon of Tuesday, the 22nd. They recount her heroics both as the Maid Mode digivolution, as well as trapping and destroying The Shadow in her crest of Fate. Rika is quick to point out they would have lost if not for Kenta and Ryo opening the portal and bringing in reinforcements. Ryo happily points out that surrendering Justimon's power to her was another turning point in the fight. There are many laughs which mask the trauma of nearly dying.
Before leaving, Rika asks Henry to stay. She does her best to explain what happened in her unconscious state. She also admits it may have just been a dream. Henry cries and she holds him for a long time, his tears, his pain, spilling out into her hospital gown.
Takato comes every day, as do Seiko and Rumiko. Takato's parents come on Tuesday afternoon as well. They are all in high spirits that Rika should be able to leave by Wednesday afternoon. They plan a joint family dinner for that weekend to celebrate her return home and as a celebration of life. Rika insists that the Wong family be invited as well. There is no disagreement.
On the morning of September 23rd, Rika's persistence finally pays off. She finally badgers the nurses and hospital staff to the point that they allow her to visit with her friend on the same floor. She leaves her hospital room for the first time and walks down the hallway to room 414. As she passes a main nurse's desk, she overhears them talking about it being the first official day of Fall and general excitement for Halloween and 'sweater weather.'
She comes to a stop at the door and looks inside. Jeri sits alone in the dark, just the rising daylight giving light to the room. She is afraid to be here, but she can not abandon her friend. She enters.
There is evidence all about the room that she has had visitors. Get well cards, balloons, the works. Her family must be greatly concerned. She knows Takato and the others have also come and sat with her a while over the last few days. Now it is Rika's turn to stand watch. She crosses the room, and sits in a chair by the window.
She stares at the brown hair and shut eyes. The slow and steady breathing. Watches as her chest rises and falls in slow, shallow movements. Rika worries. Every breath could be her last. The girl has endured so much. Kazu and Mr. Wong had decided that it was too much. She could never fault Jeri if she agreed with this outcome.
Once upon a time, while sipping tea on the couches in her living room and watching the rain fall, they had made a promise. They had promised to stick with each other.
'So if this is how it ends, then I'm going to be here with her until the very end.'
Rika peels her eyes off of the rhythmic breathing and looks outside instead. The morning light cast the fall season into a subtle glory. It was beautiful in its own way. The first batch of leaves laid upon the ground beneath the trees. Rika tries to marvel at it, but her mind wanders back to Jeri and how she got here.
The Shadow had told Rika, as their armies battled in the park and around the city, 'It's going to take you years to recover from all of the damage.' As Rika thought about the world that awaited her outside of this hospital, she no longer felt that he meant the damage to the city.
It was truly difficult to quantify the damage to her friends, to their families, and to herself. She had absorbed him and all of her own light. The Shadow now courses through her. Absentmindedly she looks down at the veins in her wrist and traces a finger up and down one.
'"You can not separate from your shadow, Rika."'
'Our light and our shadows are real. They live within us. We are fully capable of both. Sometimes the light wins. And sometimes… our shadows win.'
Rika reflects on the last few days, weeks, months, and years. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Takato has gone on a journey of recovery and self-acceptance after Kazu's death. Rika had let her fire be extinguished trying to keep his candle in the abyss lit. They're friendships with the group had been strained. They had all lost a part of themselves and found it again.
It had all started when Takato called Jeri and asked him to meet her in the park. She left him alone there and by some higher power, chance coincidence, he wound up at her Rika's doorstep. Brick by brick they built their friendship, relationship, and love. Now, at the close, about a year later, it ended in that same park. This time Rika was there, and so was everyone else. Now, Takato wouldn't leave Jeri behind. Now, Rika wouldn't leave Jeri behind. Almost as if something kept all of them together.
'It's like we were Fated from the start.'
"I'm right here, Rika."
The voice startles Rika out of her contemplation. She sits upright quickly and looks around. Laying in the bed beside her, brown eyes look up at the lilac ones above.
'"I'm right here, Rika."'
The memory warms her heart.
"Relax and save your energy," Rika smiles at her. Jeri attempts the best smile she can muster in return. "I'm glad you decided to stay."
Jeri nods her head, then closes her eyes again to rest. Rika turns back to look out the window.
She thinks back to the Autumn leaves, as they start to fall from their trees. When the next season comes and autumn ends, Rika used to believe this was a death of sorts. Today, she knew it was not a death, but the next season.
A new beginning.
The next great adventure.
A/N: This Chapter's OST is "Obstacles" by Syd Matters. The story of "Autumn Ends" is effectively over, but there is an Epilogue to follow. Please stick around to read that as well :)
Love always. Rukato forever.
Notorious