NO LONGER ALONE
Shizuka-chan16
Chapter 1- Pondering
I found myself walking slowly up the shoreline, hands jammed in my pockets, cape draping around me, almost like I was in a turtle shell, ready to pull myself in further. I'd felt this way for sometime at that point, isolated and alone, despite my friends and new wife. Yes that's right, Rain and I had made a point to marry soon after the end of the Gundam Fight. The entire Shuffle Alliance and their friends arrived to see us on our way to a new life, with their encouraging words and hearty slaps on the back. Ever since then, a full year ago, we divided. It wasn't that we were any less one big family of crest-on-hand Gundam fighters. It's just that life continued on for them. Chibodee and his girls returned to Neo-America to continue the bid for the next competition. Sai Saici decided that before he would buckle down to his duty to the Shaolin Temple, he would try to find a way to Neo-Denmark, home of his crush Cecil. Argo and Nastasha left somewhere unknown now considered outlaws to the strict Neo Russia, though neither seemed to mind. Finally, George had since become betrothed to the princess Maria Louise. Still, we all vowed to meet again at the next match. Yes, to maintain our responsibility to the Shuffle Alliance. I kicked a shell off the dock and into the water, watching as it skipped once before disappearing beneath the surface. It reminded me of how the Devil Gundam sank into the ground, taking with it whatever remained of Kyoji and Schwarz. My brother, or rather brothers, had fallen and it was all thanks to me. While I had always sought to kill him in belief that he had caused our family to crumble, I was never prepared to actually do it. Only the tearful words of Schwarz persuaded me, as he held up Kyoji to meet their fate together. Gulls leapt from the pilings and into the sky as I approached with my exposed hand running along the railing. I was in Neo Japan again, visiting the home I knew as a child and in my dreams since then. It was on the docks that I celebrated my last birthday at home. I never did forget the smiling faces of my parents and Kyoji's happy laugh as he held me up on his shoulders, something he had done ever since I was old enough to hold on to his head. On that last birthday, we all stood together, my brother in the front carrying me while Mom and Dad proudly watched behind us. Rain, who was no older than me, came running up and yelled for me to smile for her camera. The next thing I knew, I nearly fell off Kyoji's shoulders. At the very edge of the pier, I took a moment to allow my pent-up grief to resurface. My master, as well as Schwarz, always said that holding in one's emotions could be devastating, as well as distracting. Besides, I was alone there on the docks, with the home I once knew behind me. So the salty bay took in some extra precipitation, one that came from the heart of an aching warrior. Looking down, I could almost see their reflections: Mom's gentle eyes, Schwarz's determined glare, Master's mustached smirk, and Kyoji's cheerful grin. They all seemed so close, but yet so distant. Blinking, I realized I wasn't alone.
I found myself walking slowly up the shoreline, hands jammed in my pockets, cape draping around me, almost like I was in a turtle shell, ready to pull myself in further. I'd felt this way for sometime at that point, isolated and alone, despite my friends and new wife. Yes that's right, Rain and I had made a point to marry soon after the end of the Gundam Fight. The entire Shuffle Alliance and their friends arrived to see us on our way to a new life, with their encouraging words and hearty slaps on the back. Ever since then, a full year ago, we divided. It wasn't that we were any less one big family of crest-on-hand Gundam fighters. It's just that life continued on for them. Chibodee and his girls returned to Neo-America to continue the bid for the next competition. Sai Saici decided that before he would buckle down to his duty to the Shaolin Temple, he would try to find a way to Neo-Denmark, home of his crush Cecil. Argo and Nastasha left somewhere unknown now considered outlaws to the strict Neo Russia, though neither seemed to mind. Finally, George had since become betrothed to the princess Maria Louise. Still, we all vowed to meet again at the next match. Yes, to maintain our responsibility to the Shuffle Alliance. I kicked a shell off the dock and into the water, watching as it skipped once before disappearing beneath the surface. It reminded me of how the Devil Gundam sank into the ground, taking with it whatever remained of Kyoji and Schwarz. My brother, or rather brothers, had fallen and it was all thanks to me. While I had always sought to kill him in belief that he had caused our family to crumble, I was never prepared to actually do it. Only the tearful words of Schwarz persuaded me, as he held up Kyoji to meet their fate together. Gulls leapt from the pilings and into the sky as I approached with my exposed hand running along the railing. I was in Neo Japan again, visiting the home I knew as a child and in my dreams since then. It was on the docks that I celebrated my last birthday at home. I never did forget the smiling faces of my parents and Kyoji's happy laugh as he held me up on his shoulders, something he had done ever since I was old enough to hold on to his head. On that last birthday, we all stood together, my brother in the front carrying me while Mom and Dad proudly watched behind us. Rain, who was no older than me, came running up and yelled for me to smile for her camera. The next thing I knew, I nearly fell off Kyoji's shoulders. At the very edge of the pier, I took a moment to allow my pent-up grief to resurface. My master, as well as Schwarz, always said that holding in one's emotions could be devastating, as well as distracting. Besides, I was alone there on the docks, with the home I once knew behind me. So the salty bay took in some extra precipitation, one that came from the heart of an aching warrior. Looking down, I could almost see their reflections: Mom's gentle eyes, Schwarz's determined glare, Master's mustached smirk, and Kyoji's cheerful grin. They all seemed so close, but yet so distant. Blinking, I realized I wasn't alone.
