Eight months later
"Cheers!"
Train gulped down his glass of milk while Eve sipped more delicately at her juice and Sven took a swig of his coffee before setting down his cup. The town bustled about around the trio as they sat at a table in an outdoor cafe, enjoying the beautiful weather and their recent success.
"At any rate, we picked up twenty-five million for bringing in the notorious thief gang, The Rams." Sven mused, thinking of the gang that was now behind bars thanks to the trio's excellent teamwork.
"We've been earning over ten million for a few days now!" Train noted cheerfully and Sven glared at him.
"Yes… amazing how one can change when they get their priorities straight, isn't it?" Sven asked testily but Train completely ignored the bite in his friend's remark as he responded just as cheerily as he had before.
"Yep!"
Sven mimed strangling Train while Train laughed blithely, when Eve piped up, "It is good that we have been able to have successful jobs recently. We were starting to need to dip into our savings fund again until we came to this city."
"Ah, little princess! Always so serious!"
Train beamed at the young girl who just deadpanned back, "Someone had to be."
"Well," Sven interrupted before Train could provoke Eve, "it's not much of a cause for celebration. But I got you a present."
Train immediately perked up like a child and he asked gleefully, "Oh! What is it? Tell me!"
Sven just lifted his briefcase onto the table and he clicked it open before turning it to reveal the contents to Train and Eve. Both blinked in surprise.
"Well, I'll be. My old Hades!"
Train grinned in delight as he examined the familiar decorated handgun while Eve gasped in awe, "Wow! You really fixed it!"
"Yeah. It was really hard restoring it from the state it was in." Sven nodded as he pointed to the parts that were now perfectly restored on the gleaming weapon while Train hefted up the gun in his left hand.
"The barrel was almost completely shattered so I compensated using the parts from other guns. It shouldn't be a problem to fire bullets, but…" Here Sven hesitated slightly as he looked at Train. "Since the parts aren't made from Orichalcum, you won't be able to use the railgun."
To his surprise however, Train just shrugged.
"It doesn't matter." Train revealed. "No matter what I do, I can't fire the railgun anymore. That one shot…"
He thought back to the last time he had held Hades in a fight and the last time he had been able to gather the urge of energy needed to fire the railgun. Even at the time, he had suspected that it may be the last as he relied on Lia's support to keep himself steady but in the subsequent months, he had grown more certain.
"It was the last one. Ever since, no matter how much willpower I gather, I'm not able to create an electric current."
"You mean… your body's back to normal?" Sven asked with no small amount of surprise. After all, Train had never mentioned this before.
"So it seems." Train smiled as he leant back in his chair thoughtfully. "I guess… my duty was finished."
"Duty?" Sven repeated questioningly and Train nodded.
"Originally, the railgun was an ability I got when Creed forced his nanomachine on me. It was created when I electrified Hades by pure chance. But, I really think it was a power I was given to defeat Creed." Train revealed. "Maybe it was Saya's spirit or maybe it was Fate's intervention. But when my duty was done..."
Eve tilted her head, her now shoulder-length hair brushing against her arm as she did, while Sven nodded slowly.
"I see." Sven said thoughtfully. "So when your duty was finished, the railgun ceased to exist."
Train grinned while Eve commented, "You're unexpectedly romantic."
"What do you mean, 'unexpectedly'?" Train demanded, feigning offense. "I'll have you know, I'm very romantic!"
Eve just gave him a look that said all of her skepticism but Train completely missed it as he lifted his Hades high above his head and mused in satisfaction, "Anyway, it's been a really long time since I've felt the weight of my Hades."
"Hey! What are you doing waving a gun around in a sidewalk cafe?"
The trio all turned in surprise at the familiar voice and Train called brightly, "Rins!"
"Hi!" Rinslet beamed as she strode over to join the trio. "It's been a while - oh, Eve, you cut your hair!"
Eve nodded while Rinslet cooed over Eve as usual and Sven said thoughtfully, "It's been a few months."
"Is that all it's been?" Rinslet wondered as she pulled up a chair at their table.
Eve nodded while Sven added, "Oh, by the way - Kevin and River wanted me to send you their thanks. Since it seems you're the one who managed to save their lives. They didn't realize before that we knew you personally."
"Oh, you mean when I took all the wounded to the hospital by helicopter all those months ago?" Rinslet asked before she shrugged. "They don't need to thank me for that. It was really Jenos anyway. He called and told me what happened and to help everyone off that island."
"Yeah, we had Leon's help getting off the island but he had to disappear before any officials could catch up so we couldn't help the other Sweepers." Train agreed just as the waiter returned with their food.
Instantly, Train perked up and he dug in immediately into one of the several large plates while Rinslet raised a brow. She had heard, of course, of the changes that had occurred in the last eight months but to see it first hand… Snagging a chip from Sven's plate, Rinslet chewed on it thoughtfully.
"You know, I still can't believe it but the fact that you ordered this much food proves it must be true. To think that that lazy Train could become so responsible."
"Yeah," Sven agreed. "It took him less than six months to clear up all our debts without even having to sell any of our assets so Lia wouldn't struggle financially after joining us. Which is why he's an even greater bastard for not doing it sooner."
Sven shot Train a look as he spoke, but the brunette man just shrugged casually as he continued to dig into the food that eight months ago they wouldn't have been able to afford to eat.
"Where's the fun in all work and no play?" He asked with his signature lazy grin that really did make him look too much like a cat.
"The problem was you were ALL play!" Sven accused.
Train defended fiercely, "I had no motivation!"
"What do you mean, you had no motivation, we were swimming in debt until Lia joined us!"
"Where is Lia?" Rinslet interrupted Train and Sven's little domestic as she looked around for the blue-haired woman curiously and - if she were honest - a little disappointedly. She had become quite fond of the formerly ice-cold woman.
"Oh, she has a check-up today so she stayed behind at the motel." Train explained, reaching for another plate after clearing the first already. "She should be here shortly though."
Rinslet stared at Train incredulously.
"She's alone? You didn't go with her?" Rinslet scolded, and Train shrugged again.
"Someone has to earn the money to buy bread." He replied and Sven said rather dryly, "That's really ironic coming from you. And stop pigging out!"
"Gah, leave me alone! I worked up an appetite today and I got those gang members, didn't I?"
"You barely moved, Eve did all the heavy-lifting, all you did was shoot a couple bullets!"
"Do you know how hard that is?"
"Sven, your sleeve's dragging in the sauce."
At Eve's comment, Sven let out a loud, "Gah!"
"You're so all so noisy - as usual."
At the dry voice, Rinslet turned away from yet another of Train and Sven's domestics while Train brightened instantly. Fight with Sven forgotten, Train greeted delightedly, "Jules!"
The blue-haired woman gave a small smile back at the group, her silvery-grey eyes filled with good humour as she nodded at Rinslet.
"It's been a long time, Rins."
"Yeah, it has - you're looking good. And you've also cut your hair, I see." Rinslet answered warmly while Train helped Lia into his chair before he snagged another one from a nearby table and settled back down at the table beside the blue-haired woman.
"Yeah, it was getting too long anyway. And thanks, but I don't feel it." Lia admitted with a sigh at the same time that she picked up a fork and started digging into the pasta Eve silently placed in front of her.
"Did the doc say anything?" Sven asked and Lia shook her head.
"Everything's fine and all normal, he looked happy when he left." She answered, tucking back her mid-length hair, when Rinslet perked up.
"Oh, that reminds me."
Rinslet turned back to Lia and she relayed, "Jenos has a message for you two - he sends his love to you, Lia, and his unborn niece or nephew although he really wishes you would just find out the gender already, he's dying of curiosity. As for you, Train."
Rinslet turned to the dark-haired Sweeper as she recited, "He said, 'Tell Black Cat that he'll be skinned alive if he ever breaks Lia's heart'."
Train laughed while Lia smiled, and Eve noted calmly, "It's the same message every time."
"I know." Rinslet beamed. "Isn't it sweet?"
"You have a warped idea of what that word means." Sven answered while Train placed a hand fondly over Lia's stomach.
She was just beginning to show at four months along but Rinslet had heard from Eve that he and Sven were already fussing over the types of jobs she could join them on. Eve also admitted that she meanwhile recited facts she'd read in baby books, but it didn't look like Lia minded. Since getting back together with Train, the former Number had become much happier and she sometimes looked like she enjoyed the attention she got from her new teammates, at least a little bit. Rinslet didn't blame her either: who knew how long it had been since Lia had received such open affection and concern from someone other than her brother? And even if she had yet to go to a hospital, instead opting to have local doctors in the different cities they traveled to pay house calls to do her check-ups, it was a large step from before when she had refused almost every medical attention unless she was ordered to go.
As she observed Train stare fondly at Lia while she ate, Rinslet noted the changes in them both: Lia's more relaxed posture although the tension would never truly leave the former Number; Train's unconscious shift to be facing Lia almost constantly no matter how she moved; Lia's much warmer silvery-grey eyes that were now no longer even comparable to the cold gaze Rinslet remembered from her first meeting with the blue-haired woman; the positive determination that radiated off Train as he faced each day with purpose; and the smiles that appeared more and more frequently on Lia's face with each visit Rinslet paid them although she had yet to see Lia really laugh. At least, yet - there was still hope, growing stronger every day.
"What did you come by for today?" Train asked, breaking Rinslet from her thoughts. "Did you have something you wanted to talk to us about?"
"That's a great guess! You're right!" Rinslet grinned, leaning back in her own chair and winking at the foursome. "I have some great business to discuss with you guys today."
Train and Sven stared at her while Eve just tilted her head and Lia just munched on her lunch.
"Business?!" Train repeated incredulously and Sven complained, "Give us a break! Why can't you ever just chit chat with us?"
"It's not like that!" Rinslet insisted. "Just listen!"
Several hours later, after Rinslet had flown off almost literally with promises to follow-up with details on the job that Sven and Train had reluctantly agreed to (as the women and Eve had known they would), the four left the city they had been staying in for a good week.
With less crime after their successful week, the four were headed off in search of new targets in a different city. But as they cleared the city outskirts, Train suddenly perked up from the backseat where he was settled with Lia leaning against him.
"Oh, that's right! I forgot to say, thanks Sven for fixing my Hades." Train called, shifting just a little bit to peer at his friend.
Sven glanced back at Train through the rearview mirror, his one eye behind his eyepatch a little hesitant.
"Is it really… alright?" Sven asked. "The way I repaired it."
"What are you saying?" Train asked while Lia also lifted her head curiously from where she had been leaning it on Train's chest."I'm the one that asked you to fix it in the first place."
Sven paused, glancing from Lia to Train as he phrased his words carefully.
"Hades… was like a symbol of your pet cat past. It would have been a good opportunity to part with it. You could have replaced it with a new gun."
Eve glanced over from where she had been leaning out the window of the passenger seat, while Train smiled as he leant back again thoughtfully.
"To part with it, huh?" The former Chronos Number mused. "I've had chances to throw away Hades before."
Sven glanced back at Train again before he looked back at the road as Train continued.
"When Saya died… I had a fight with the Elders and I took Hades back."
He glanced down at Lia where she was once again leaning against him quietly, their hands intertwined over her stomach.
"I could have chosen to leave this image behind. But I chose not to. I think for the same reason Lia hasn't gotten rid of Elysium."
Train paused as he also thought about how to voice what he was feeling; had always felt and would likely continue to feel.
"The reason is simple. I'm always thinking about it." He admitted.
"The past… isn't something you can throw away. It stays with us forever. It's the same for everyone. We must live on, carrying the burdens of our past with us. That's why it's important that you carry the burdens of what you do now. And how you decide to live your life today."
He smiled and nuzzled Lia affectionately as he added, "Well, I've already decided how I'm going to live mine."
Sven nodded, glancing back at the couple again before refocusing on the road. Eve also turned to gaze out at the desert they were rolling through, her thoughts also on her past and more importantly, her future.
Lia meanwhile smiled as Train bumped his nose against hers and she reached up to press a quick, soft kiss on him. He answered willingly, his left hand lazily tracing his newly returned Hades. The sunlight glinted on the metal band he wore on his ring finger while Lia's matching one remained tucked against her side. On the car floor just below Lia's hand, lay the familiar black, gold and silver scythe that was currently collapsed into it's rifle form. On top of it lay Train's wallet, lying open from where he had carelessly thrown it down while getting comfortable in the car seat. And inside, on each side of the open wallet, were two photographs.
On one side, a girl of about eighteen in a white dress was smiling widely at the camera. One hand held her long blue hair back as the wind threatened to whip it across her face, and her silvery-grey eyes were bright with joy and love as she gazed at the man behind the camera. Train had been grinning just as widely as he'd taken the picture that sunny morning atop the mountain, the first picture he could remember taking, before he'd groaned as he was jumped from behind by a hyperactive Saya while Lia just laughed even harder as Train choked under Saya's tight hold.
On the other side of the wallet was a photo of two people. Train's brown hair was in its usual uncontrollable spikes, made all the worse by the hand ruffling it. The rest of his body was relaxed as he stretched across the sofa like a cat, and his gold eyes were soft as he gazed down at the woman tucked under his arm. Lia lay with her head against his shoulder, evidently listening quietly to whatever Train was saying. The blue-haired woman's gaze was more mature than in the other photograph in Train's wallet, and there was a solemness to them that would never be completely erased. But the love was still evident in them and in the way her lips were pulled up into a natural smile just in time for Eve to capture it. Under Jule's hand where it lay resting on Train, the XIII tattoo was just visible on Train's left chest from beneath the edge of his shirt. And peeking out from where Lia's shirt had shifted just high enough up her side, a glimpse of the black VI tattoo marked on her right hip could be seen. Reminders of the pair's darker histories, of pained times and decisions that couldn't all be unturned or forgotten.
But it was clear from the photograph that both ex-Numbers were content as they lounged about on a lazy day not long after they had left Creed's island. Sven had even sent a copy of the picture to Jenos - through Rinslet, of course. For it was proof more than anything else that things were well. And that tomorrow had never looked brighter.
For all of them.
Fin.
*A/N Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story to the end. I want to make a particular thanks to everyone who favourited or reviewed, and please know that I do read every review and cannot find ways to express my gratitude for all the support and encouragement except in this small note to everyone. Finally, the last song of the Day: Omoi, from Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. The link is: /wMto8O0b2hY. Merry Christmas all!