Epilogue: Student of Carona High
Mint could be really old-fashioned sometimes. She preferred hand-written letters over phone conversations and email (not to mention Claire explicitly requested for them, since East Heaven stamps were world-famous and very sought-after). Mint didn't mind the extra trouble at all. From the start, she and Claire had gotten along extremely well.
Rue sat on the couch in the living room of his, Claire and Ruenis's rented bungalow in Carona, reading the sixth or seventh letter Mint had sent him since she had moved back to her kingdom. He and Claire always replied in kind, and he absently fingered a pen as he thought of what news he was going to write her that time.
It was that particular letter that changed the status quo.
Things were going admirably in East Heaven, Rue was glad to know. The king's health was doing better after an out-of-season attack of Asian flu. Maya had finally gotten the hang of public speaking, and was at last warming up to her appointment as assistant regent. Produce of the agricultural sector was as bountiful as ever that year, and exports of native crafts were at an all-time high. The water level at the river dam was lower than normal, and if things didn't improve they would have to start rationing, but it was nothing that they couldn't handle.
Mint had gotten a dog, a husky having light-gray skin tinged with sandy brown, whom she had named Regret (because he soiled her favorite green blouse during the first time he got vaccinated, and she wanted to name him with something that began with an 'R'). She sent pictures, which Rue had mixed feelings on seeing. Mint was hugging her pet, who wore a white doggie hat with a single blue-and-silver diamond trim in front. The moment Claire caught sight of the photo, she stuck it on the refrigerator to Rue's eternal dismay.
At the end of the letter was news of a different sort. 'Rod visited me last summer. Would you believe it? He drove/sailed all the way here on his Pinto (Johnny Wolf was his navigator)!' Driving no less than two thousand kilometers, more than half of which was over relentless ocean.
Rue never answered her letters after that. Although they still arrived regularly for him and Claire, he stopped reading them altogether.
School started again. Annette was elected student council president, and Neil became captain of the kendo team for their final year, with Rue as his deputy. Rue was still best fighter—Neil never did beat him to the title—but Neil had one-upped him on leadership and people skills. Marco was the only veteran sophomore (they had a sad lack of recruits the year before), but the club had a significant number of good new draftees, even among the freshmen.
Ruenis wasn't one of those, preferring extreme sports over traditional ones. He, like Elena, was a freshman at Carona High that year. His status with the female population was even more notorious than his older brother's ever was. Perhaps it was the scar, his fashionable attitude, his striking good looks of East-meets-West, the exotic crimson eyes, or maybe all of those combined. Or maybe it was because he actually enjoyed his reputation albeit, like his brother, he never used it to his advantage. Devotion to a single woman (the grapevine never found out who) coursed in their veins. Ironically, it only added to his popularity.
Rue totally immersed himself in his schoolwork and extra-curricular activities. He joined a couple of competitions involving mechatronics research, where Professor Samuel Cadmon's advice had been invaluable. The most he won was a second place. The kendo team fared a lot better, however. They went to Gamul that year and snatched championships, there and in two other national tournaments.
He no longer had time to go gallivanting about the ruins, and with Claire safely back with him, he didn't need to anyway. He seemed to have lost all his appreciation of them, even the many myths of Carona that he used to have been so fond of. The Arc Edge in its violin case he had permanently shoved into the deepest nook in Ruenis's closet at home—he couldn't even bear to see it in its black covering kept inside his own. When he thought no one would miss him, he took long walks in the rain without an umbrella, and always came up with spurious excuses of wanting to be alone if Claire happened to ask. Often on his way home, he would turn his gaze towards the lakeside, but only during the reddest of sunsets.
Although he hid it well from everyone else, Claire, his seatmate in the second row, had noticed the change. If he had been quiet before, he was even quieter now, and practically recluse. No one noticed, but Claire knew him better than anyone. Even in class, he was only truly comfortable talking to Neil and Annette, and herself barely. She had only the vaguest idea of what the reasons might be, but she never said a word. Not to him, anyway.
During the November month, at home one night, she caught Rue's attention with a piece of paper.
"You might want to see this," she said, waving something in her hand. It was a newspaper clipping, with a picture of Mint in front and several other students. 'East Heaven Diplomat to Visit Gamul', the headline read. Rue skimmed the article, his eyes quickly moving through the lines—but it was only for Claire's benefit as most of the words just passed him by. "Why don't you go see her? I'm sure it's alright for you to miss class a couple of days."
Rue shook his head no, and excused that he was too busy with schoolwork. Claire shrugged, and when she wasn't looking, he threw the article unread into the wastepaper bin.
The Christmas holidays came and went without much incident. Parties were held at Mel's and the Klauses, and the BladeStar Arcade held an open house. Maya came to visit, but only for a couple of days—she couldn't afford a longer reprieve from her princessly duties. Mint didn't come, but she sent presents for everyone. Claire's was a pair of blue diamond drop earrings, Ruenis got the latest hoverboard, and Rue was given an orange-and-olive-green leather case for his multi-tool. Oddly enough.
It was at sunset on the anniversary of the Tower of Maya's fall when a pair of chroma children found their way to Ruecian's grave by the lakeside ruins. The waters were calm, reflecting the dusky orange sky, and a gentle desiccated wind blew at the white hair of they who had come to visit.
The younger boy genuflected and crossed himself once, offering up a silent prayer. He bowed his head in respect as he stood behind Rue, who knelt down as he laid flowers in front of the simple tombstone.
Ruenis only had kind words to say about the late Doll Master. "He was always nice to us. I've long known that he loved my mother deeply, although…" he trailed off. "Is it true? Are we chroma children destined to love the women who possess the East Heaven eyes?"
Rue had no answer to that. He absently fingered the chrysanthemums he had brought to Ruecian's grave. "It was only a few years ago when I first lived with Claire, but it seems such a long time had passed since then. I didn't care about destiny. I used to think that duty was everything. The fight with Valen taught me that I have my will, and that I can decide my own fate. But… now I'm not so sure about that either."
Ruenis continued, "He was almost a father to me. He gave me my nickname."
Rue slowly stood and gave a reassuring look at the younger boy. "He was almost a father to me too." He shoved his hands into his pockets. He glanced down once more at the tombstone before they made to leave. "Say hi to my real dad, ok?" Wherever they were now, he was sure they were together.
May 2028. Rue graduated Carona High with honors, and was awarded the Dewprism medal. Everyone knew he would get it, of course. They had been expecting it since the year started. It was hardly a surprise at all.
Claire was present, a fresh graduate like him, and she laughed and cried with the rest of everyone. "Congratulations, Rue! Oh, oh, I'm so happy for you!" she exclaimed as she hugged him about the neck. Ruenis was shouting in his ear, Elena was shaking his arm while Prima tugged at his toga, and Rod clapped him on the back—loudly!—several times. Karwyn was there to congratulate him, bringing the regards of the former Masters, Belle and Duke (who had sent Rue a postcard from a recent vacation in Rio de Janeiro), and (surprisingly) Eugene Wylaf (whom the Masters had apparently been in continual contact with for reasons that Karwyn refused to divulge). Tonia and Davis, visitors from college, congratulated Rue as well before moving off to talk with Principal Klaus and his wife, along with old acquaintances. Neil and Annette were off a little to the side, celebrating the occasion with a full-pledged kiss.
Nothing could mar the day. At least, that was what Rue thought. Somehow, he couldn't shake away the slight pang of something missing. But he had no intention of ruining everyone's spirits, or letting any of his own emotions show—there was no point in dwelling on things that couldn't be changed, anyway.
Spring faded into summer, and Claire, Klaus and Ruenis incessantly bugged him day after day about his college applications. Klaus had logged his name and forwarded all his documents to the Ephlesia University database without bothering to ask permission, but his signature was required for confirmation. In answer, Rue always shook his head no and remained adamant. He didn't need nor want a college degree. He wanted to work and to be able to support his adopted family without help as soon as possible.
"I told you… I'm not going," Rue insisted in his most stubborn voice. Claire rolled her eyes and sighed.
And then there was a loud knock on the door.
"Will you see who that is, Rue?" she asked. Rue nodded somberly. He stepped past the living room to the front door and raised his hand towards the knob.
KAPOW!! He had barely opened it a crack when a well-remembered boot connected with his abdomen, and he slammed bodily against the opposite wall. Rue slid down onto a sitting position, his ears buzzing, his stomach one big ache, and with blurry vision he could just make out the girl's silhouette with its familiar twin ponytails against the light outside. "M—Mint?!"
She was very, very angry at him. "You know, I could almost forgive you for not answering my letters (be thankful to Claire for that—at least she kept writing!), but you… you have the gall to tell Klaus that you're not going to college, after the trouble he went through to fix your papers—after all the trouble I went through so that I could go to the same university as you…!! You still owe me! You got Claire back, while I didn't get even a single zenny in all our past adventures!" Mint's face was flushed lividly. "You [expletive]! You're going to register for that entrance exam to Ephlesia U., right now!!"
Claire was having a hard time keeping her laughter in check. "There's a train to West Desert City on the hour every hour. If you run you could just make it."
"Thanks, Claire. Now, git!" Mint turned to the fallen boy. With strength that belied a girl of her size, she grabbed him by the collar and forcibly pulled him upright.
They broke into a run the moment they stepped out the gates. Mint was still furious. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were scared of failing that entrance exam." Ephlesia U. had a reputation of being one of the most selective universities in the Continent. Mint sniffed irritably. "Coward."
Rue's head was still spinning from how fast events were happening, but when she said that last word he suddenly snapped out of it. He couldn't help but retort back, "Oh, yeah? I bet I'll get a higher score on the entrance exam than you do!"
And that's exactly what he did.