Author's Notes: This chapter was a little late due to the holidays and because I really, really wanted to get it just right. It's a reunion I've been planning since the very beginning of Aurora Borealis. The details of Raleigh and Yancy's estrangement from their sister are dealt with in Chapter 6 of Aurora Borealis.

FYI, one bummer in the news - I got kicked off Tumblr in last week's purge. My blog was not marked NSFW and never had an explicit flag - cats, landscapes, fandom, and politics are pretty tame. Really depressing because I had actually planned on staying and hadn't backed up any of my headcanons or other Tumblr-exclusive content. I've tried to appeal, but so far no response. For those of you still on Tumblr, please pass the word that I didn't bail (I was 3Fluffies), but obviously can't post update alerts there for the foreseeable future.

Chapter Nineteen: Candle on the Water

Hong Kong Shatterdome...

Jake stayed behind. "The first screening tests are in six weeks, so I need to study. I want to make it on the first try."

Mako grinned. "You're only sixteen, Jake, you don't have to rush."

"Nah, it's not rushing, really, I just..." Jake looked down and shrugged. "I want to...y'know...make him..." Mako put a hand on his shoulder. She might never have drifted with her little brother, but she could finish that sentence easily. "And anyway, I shouldn't go on this trip. He...y'know..." He shrugged again. "He'll need you."

Mako threw her arms around him. He yelped, then whined in protest, but she laughed and wouldn't let him go for several beats. "We may not be back before you start testing."

"That's okay. The tests last almost a week." Jake grimaced. "I'm not gonna want to talk to anyone."

"Oh, you will, before it's over," she countered. "I thought the same, but in the end, I couldn't stay isolated for that long. Liling and I cried on each other's shoulders by the fourth evening, and it seemed like the entire applicant pool filled up the local bars the evening testing finished." She pointed at him. "However, as I was not yet old enough to drink, I drank water and tea, and I expect you to do the same, Mr. Pentecost!"

Jake mock-groaned, then they both started laughing.

Anchorage Shatterdome…

Almost a year since closing, Anchorage Shatterdome hadn't fared as well as Tokyo or the other Domes that'd closed only a few months earlier. It hit Tendo hard to see it again, with whole sections demolished and gutted, stripped of much of its metal to feed the Wall. At least the Wall was coming down even faster. The rumble of demolition equipment had been loud and gratifying near the Anchorage airport.

Raleigh stopped in his tracks when he saw the Dome and didn't make a sound. Tendo and Mako just stayed on either side of him and waited.

"Will it…will it come back up?" Rals whispered. His weak voice made Tendo want to cry.

"The Academy is reopening," said Mako, her arm around his waist. "Also the Assembly Building and Proving Grounds at Kodiak Island. No decision has been made yet about the American Shatterdomes, but either this one or Los Angeles will probably be reopened."

The section that'd housed Gipsy Danger was gone, along with the pilots' quarters. The room where Yancy and Raleigh had last lived was gone. Not that there was anything left of them in that room; the crews had cleaned it out, unable to bear leaving anything inside. But Raleigh might've wanted to see it again.

Eventually, Raleigh managed to start walking.

Tendo was pretty sure Raleigh had never seen the Anchorage Shatterdome Memorial by the fence, a giant tablet of stone inscribed with the name of every pilot who had launched from here or been stationed here, their Jaeger, and the date of their death.

Kaori Jessop, Tacit Ronin, November 10, 2018
Jing and Min Li, Horizon Brave, December 16, 2019
Yancy Becket, Gipsy Danger, February 29, 2020
Duc Jessop, Tacit Ronin, July 7, 2021
Andrés Alcazar and Daniel Moreno, Matador Fury, March 6, 2022
Victor and Gunnar Tunari, Coyote Tango, November 6, 2022
Alejandro Quispe and Sunya Flores, Solar Prophet, May 1, 2023
Juliette and Nathan Girard, Cascade Victor, May 1, 2023
Elida Morales and Nicho Conte, Rio Sentry, May 1, 2023
Kenneth Gould and Robert Kanda, Mammoth Apostle, October 4, 2024
Bruce and Trevin Gage, Romeo Blue, January 8, 2025
Caleb Mitchell, Yankee Star, April 17, 2025
Ilisapie Flint and Zeke Amarok, Chrome Brutus, May 4, 2025
Peter Lepp, Eden Assassin, July 19, 2025
Stacker Pentecost, Coyote Tango, Marshal and Commanding Officer of Anchorage Shatterdome, July 31, 2025

Yancy Becket…

Raleigh knelt, and Tendo and Mako stayed on either side of him, hands on his shoulders. Tendo fought to keep a grip on himself as he felt Raleigh quietly sobbing. "He'd be so proud of you, kiddo. They all would." Mako had turned her face slightly so Tendo couldn't see it, but he had no doubt she was telling Rals the same in the ghost drift.

There was spray paint and other obvious vandalism on the lower areas of the Dome walls that nobody had bothered to clean off. Even this monument had been hit by vandals more than a few times that Tendo had been at the Dome in 2024 and 2025 – but even when there'd been no money to replace it, the public had stepped in and taken care of it almost overnight.

Raleigh must have noticed the dozens and dozens of flowers, bouquets, cards, and candles along the nearest part of the fence. Many of the flowers were fresh, and there weren't many that were dead or wilted. So the people of Anchorage were making sure that whatever else happened, their pilots were being honored.

He discreetly wiped his own eyes. We've brought him home at last, Yance. He's gonna be okay. I can't promise your sister'll understand, but we'll take care of him, no matter what happens.

It took Rals a couple of tries to get to his feet, and Tendo hauled him into a fierce hug. "It's okay. It's okay," he murmured into Raleigh's shoulder.

"I can't…" Raleigh glanced toward the remains of the Dome and shuddered, turning away.

"Come on," Mako urged, sliding neatly under Raleigh's arm. "This wasn't your fault, you know that."

Tendo nodded and waited until the kid looked at him, then slapped Raleigh's cheek gently. "Let me take you down to the docks. I'll show you how you and Yance are remembered in this town." Raleigh trembled, eyes wide, wet, and anxious, like that sweet, innocent kid Tendo barely remembered anymore, grieving for his friends in Whiskey Gamma in 2019. Finally, he closed his eyes and nodded, and Tendo and Mako ushered him back out of the gate.

The docks weren't far, so they just walked, hoping the cold, damp air would clear Raleigh's head a little. A couple of times, Rals faltered, and Tendo wondered if he'd change his mind – and if it would be okay to push him to see this through. I really think you should see this, kid. It might help you heal a little more.

But there was no way it could fail to be overwhelming. Maybe it would be too much when Raleigh's real goal was to try and reconcile with Jazmine.

In the end, Tendo didn't have to persuade him; Raleigh kept himself going. Just like he always has, our passionate, stubborn Baby Becket.

They made it all the way to the docks before anyone recognized him. Actually, it was Mako who a couple of sailors' wives recognized, her blue tipped hair standing out in this world of gray slush, gray skies, gray smoke, and gray fish. The two women, their ruddy features and gray knit caps blending in equally gray to the surroundings, gasped, and before anyone could think of what to say, their eyes traveled to Raleigh.

Connection made. A couple of fishermen noticed him next and also turned into statues. A third stuttered, half-turning further towards a dock. "The – the - "

Tendo helped them out. "Is the Saltchuck in?"

"Y-yeah. You wanna…?" the guy croaked at Raleigh.

Raleigh just nodded. Tendo left Mako with him and trailed after the fisherman as he stumbled down to one of the boat slips.

The Saltchuck was in, unloading a catch. They had to be busy, just calling, "Hey, man!" at Tendo's escort.

Then one of them said, "What's the problem?", half-laughing at the guy's slack-jawed shock. Then he saw Tendo.

It was Colin Stuart, the first mate. Tendo remembered his face all too clearly. And obviously Colin remembered Tendo, because he froze completely.

The other crew noticed the sudden paralysis – and they too recognized Tendo. The semi-organized chaos of the unloading halted, with the dock crews wondering what the hell was going on and crew from neighboring boats wandering over.

Colin was the one who managed to voice the question. "Is he…?

"He's here," Tendo said.

"Oh my God," someone muttered.

"Who?" a bystander hissed, but more shell-shocked fishermen were arriving, having recognized the familiar stranger further down the docks.

"It's Becket, guys. Raleigh Becket. He's here."

The captain shoved a clipboard into a random dock worker's hands and jumped onto the dock. The whole crew followed. To their impressive credit, some of the other fishermen from other boats promptly boarded the Saltchuck and took over handling the unloading of the perishable catch.

Some kids and wives followed. A few of the crew tried halfheartedly to shoo them away, but one of the wives retorted, "It's because of that boy I'm not a widow. I've waited seven years to set eyes on him."

"It's okay," Tendo said awkwardly. "Just…take it easy, y'know?"

"Yeah, no autographs," someone added.

Unlike his co-pilot, Raleigh Becket would've easily passed for belonging in this place. Cold and twilight gloom – and distress - had leeched color from his face, and he'd donned the old coat Tendo remembered him wearing the day Pentecost brought him to Hong Kong. Except he didn't have the same worn, dull expression. Now his eyes were huge as he stared at the men walking closest to Tendo, at the small crowd of women and kids trailing after.

It wasn't for nothing, kiddo. I know Yance would agree. Even though we lost someone so precious who can never be replaced, look who you saved. So much more than just ten guys.

The captain went first, addressing Raleigh in a low, gentle voice that made his wife stifle a sob. "Ranger, I'm Captain Roger Stevens. We're so grateful to get a chance to meet you." He held out his hand, and when Raleigh took it, he closed the free hand firmly. "God bless you and your brother, son. Nobody here'll ever forget what you did or the price you paid."

Tendo had no doubt Stevens had been composing that speech for a long time.

Raleigh said almost nothing. It was Mako who thanked each of them as they shook his hands and murmured their gratitude and their condolences for Yancy.

Only nine of Saltchuck's crew were still around. The tenth had died of cancer two years earlier. His wife arrived while introductions were still going on. "I promised Jerry I'd find a way to thank you some day."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Rals murmured. Tendo kept a tight hand on his shoulder as he first shook the woman's hand, then hesitantly stepped closer to hug her.

That set a lot of people off. One of the Saltchuck's men had a brother from another ship. The brother broke down sobbing as he told Raleigh, "It's because of you and your brother that I didn't lose mine that night." Raleigh squeezed his eyes shut and tears slid down his face, but he hugged both men.

Kids thanked him for their fathers' lives. Wives thanked him for their husbands'. Both Raleigh and Mako were soon wiping tears away in between handshakes and embraces, and Tendo silently sobbed into his hand.

Finally, the first mate asked, "Have you seen, uh - " He gestured to the point of golden light on the dry land near where crews and workers parked. It too seemed out of place in this gray, dirty world. Tendo knew it, of course. He'd spent a lot of time there during the restoration project.

Raleigh shook his head, and the group started walking. Nobody said anything.

When they got close enough to make out what it was, Raleigh faltered, and Mako's breath caught.

It was a stone lighthouse, or a model one, anyway. Seven feet tall, six sides made of fine granite, with a thick glass and stone lantern that burned with an actual flame. A few paces away, the Saltchuck's crew and Tendo stopped to let Raleigh approach it alone. Only Mako stayed with him. Tendo was glad for that. If she hadn't stayed, Raleigh might not have managed to stay upright. God knew Tendo had collapsed the first time he'd looked at it.

Ranger Yancy Charles Becket, November 7, 1995-February 29, 2020. Yancy's picture was below his name on one of the sides, beautifully framed and behind more thick, clean glass. Beneath the picture was a stone and metal plaque.

On these docks moored the fishing vessel Saltchuck, which on February 29, 2020 came face to face with a kaiju in the Gulf of Alaska. The ten souls on board were saved by the intervention of Jaeger Gipsy Danger, piloted by Rangers Yancy Becket and Raleigh Becket. This heroism came at the cost of Yancy Becket's life. From these docks a search and rescue mission was launched involving more than 80 vessels and more than 400 men and women. Yancy Becket's body was never found. On these docks, the crews and families of the Anchorage sea industry raised funds for this lighthouse, in memory of the man who died in defense of one vessel and ten lives. Let the light of his sacrifice burn here eternally, that all who sail from and visit these docks may know and remember.

In the lantern's glow, Tendo could see Raleigh shaking. He reached toward Yancy's picture, then pulled his hand back and clung to Mako. Tendo went closer and put an arm around him from the other side. Finally, Rals mustered himself and turned back to the fishermen and their families.

"Thank you," he whispered, no longer bothering to wipe his tears. "This is…beautiful. Thank you."

"Thank you," said one of the wives. "We all take care of it, and our boys still come check on it after every trip. We've even got a few Jaeger flies who make sure it stays clean when they're at sea."

Raleigh actually chuckled. "He'd really love that." Amid the stifled sobs, there were other weary laughs too, including from Tendo.

He's gonna be okay, Yance. It hasn't been easy, but we're all gonna be okay.

Raleigh felt completely wrung out by the time that afternoon ended, so he let Tendo and Mako persuade him to go back to the hotel and get some rest before trying to contact Jazmine. Tendo had found her address. She lived in Glennallen, about two hundred miles from Anchorage and over a hundred miles inland from the nearest coast, through mountains from any direction. It'd gone from a population of less than five hundred to ninety thousand as people fled inland.

Her name in the phone books was Jazmine Saunders. She'd formally changed it. Tendo said hesitantly, "Maybe it was just so the press wouldn't harass her."

Raleigh doubted it.

The next morning, he told them, "I should do this alone." Tendo sighed and nodded, but Mako bristled. "Look, I just think - "

" – I'm going with you," she said curtly. "You're not torturing yourself by facing this alone. Yes, some of her grievances are legitimate and you should apologize, but you aren't to blame for your estrangement entirely, and certainly not for Yancy's death."

Yeah, Mako knew all too well what Raleigh was imagining Jazmine might have to say. He gave in, even though he could also imagine Jazmine's opinion of Raleigh showing up hiding behind his co-pilot.

"Raleigh!"

"I know," he sighed and buried his face in her neck. "Sorry."

He also chickened out and let Tendo make the phone call. After a few minutes, Tendo confirmed, "She said yes. You can go to her house."

Here goes nothing.

The guy at the car rental place nearly had a stroke when he recognized Mako and Raleigh, but got a grip on himself when he saw how tense they were. Raleigh wondered if she'd moved here before or after the inland housing boom started. Jazmine's neighborhood was fancy, modern-looking townhomes, far newer than where they'd grown up, but bigger than a lot of the inland housing that'd been built when the war really started going badly. In fact, this townhouse was about as unlike the house where the Beckets had grown up as it could be. He wondered if that was deliberate.

When their family's house had sold, Yancy'd said the price was only okay, due to the house's age and lack of some modern features. Still, their dad had paid it off years ago, so the sale price was all theirs. Yancy had sent the proceeds – all of it – to Diane Saunders in trust for Jazmine. Raleigh hadn't disagreed, even though Rangers' actual salaries weren't all that big.

I figured, what did we really need? We weren't going to college, but Jazmine might want to. We didn't pay rent or most meals, we had healthcare covered for damn near anything short of nose jobs (hell, if we'd gotten our noses broken in an engagement or training, then it would've been covered!). We both figured that might make up a little for leaving her.

Yeah, that'd been a fantasy. Raleigh'd sensed it more than once in the drift, Yancy hoping she was okay and that the money would help.

When he saw a face at the townhouse window, he froze. Memory nearly hauled him out of the present. Mako squeezed his arm and snapped him out of the rabbit.

She left the window – like she did in 2016 – and opened the door. Raleigh walked mechanically, half in the present and half in the past. We came in, and Yancy hugged her. He hugged us both, and we cried.

She didn't try to hug him now. They came into the house just far enough, then Raleigh and Jazmine stared at each other.

She looked so different. No shit, Sherlock, it's been nine years. They'd been teenagers then. Now she was an adult – hell, that's an engagement ring. Her hair was darker. She'd been the only Becket child to inherit their mom's wavy dark hair. She wore it short now.

In the end, Mako broke the silence. "I am honored to meet you, Miss Becket. Thank you for seeing us."

Jazmine blinked as if just realizing Mako was there. "You too, I guess?" Before Raleigh could be relieved, she looked at him and blurted, "I didn't think you'd ever come."

"I…I…" Smooth, Becket. "Were you okay?"

"What kind of question is that? I lost everybody, while you were off being a rock star, I lost everybody!"

Raleigh gulped. "Diane?"

"I was nineteen." Jazmine took a heaving breath and turned away. A lifetime ago, Raleigh would've assumed she was being melodramatic. Now he knew she wasn't. "I'd just…started getting on a good track. Then there was a car accident."

"'m sorry," he murmured. It would've been 2019. Either in the aftermath of Hardship or the aftermath of Clawhook – or maybe we just were too busy with our own lives like usual and it never occurred to us to check. Even Yance, who sometimes worried, hadn't ever quite been able to bring himself to try to reach her again. "You were…okay?" She shot him a look. "I mean – you had anything you needed?" He couldn't quite make himself say money, but she knew what he meant.

"Yeah, I had the money from the house, and I was Diane's only family. Enough to pay for a metric shitload of therapy when I could only manage to work as a temp. I still have bad…times." She looked away. "I can't hold a full-time job."

"I'm sorry." He really did mean it, even if it felt hackneyed and pathetic against the enormity of everything. "He…"

Jazmine's eyes flashed. "'He' what? Don't try to tell me Yancy gave a shit!"

That lanced through the haze of shame and awkwardness, and Raleigh snapped, "You know he did! He tried calling again and again, and you never answered. He tried sending you stuff, you sent it back. You either blocked him on every social media account you ever had or you deleted them all! How long was he supposed to go on trying?"

"The last time he tried was less than six months after Mom died," she retorted. "Don't try to canonize him to me. I was a fucking basket case, but no, you were so easy to deal with, so he picked you, and you were so smug about it!"

"I wasn't…" Raleigh trailed off.

"Bullshit. You were like a limpet with him before you ever started drifting."

"And you weren't?" he exploded, like he'd vowed he'd never do. Yancy'd died five years, nine months ago, and Raleigh and Jazmine were still fighting over him.

But where he was chastened, Jazmine was unrepentant. "He chose you. Deal with whatever baggage that gives you. God knows I've had to deal with the baggage that gives me, for a lot longer than you."

"I know," he mumbled, looking down.

"You both treated it as a zero-sum game," Mako dared to say.

"Hey, don't," Raleigh said. Let me deal with this myself.

But Jazmine scoffed. "No, let her. Hell, you go. I can't even deal with you. I'll talk to her. I've got no problem with her, I guess, her bad taste notwithstanding."

Shit. Raleigh didn't like the idea of Mako being left alone for Jazmine to dump all her venom on…but she has a point, I guess. Mako gave him a nod towards the door. Yeah, Mako could handle anything. Maybe she could handle this better than Raleigh ever could.

So he relented it and went back outside.

Mako waited until Raleigh had gone, not that it mattered since their ghost drift was still enough to pick up the gist of anything that was said. "Do you hope to accomplish anything?"

Raleigh's sister stared her down. "Why should I? He came to me, remember?" She paced away, tugging at her sleeve, and Mako noticed scars on her wrist. She felt a stab of anguish through the ghost drift.

Yes, Raleigh and Yancy had suspected their sister had some kind of mental illness or disorder even before their mother died – a teacher had even approached Yancy on the subject – but the teenaged boys had had little real help or understanding of what to do. Their parents would never have acknowledged it, let alone helped get their sister into treatment.

So Mako cautiously asked, "Was there something you wanted to know from me?"

Jazmine looked at her thoughtfully. "Are you two sleeping together?"

That was abrupt, but Mako saw no reason to cringe or prevaricate. "Of course."

"Yeah, I've heard about drifting. They say it makes pilots inseparable."

"Yes, that's true, but the drift isn't the only factor. Most pilots are close and connected before they ever drift – that's the reason they're compatible. Raleigh and I…hadn't known each other long, but it worked that way."

"Some people said…" She trailed off and paced away, shoulders hunched, like Raleigh when he was anxious but resigned…

Oh. Mako realized where this was going. Yes, some people had said many things over the years about Jaeger pilots, latching onto the strange clinginess of the Rangers, even those who weren't romantic couples but rather relatives. The gutter press had made a great deal about it more than once.

Rumors of incest even rippled through the Corps from time to time, but most pilots and crews had reacted with rage at the indecency of such allegations. And yet…strange things had come through the drift, memories of thoughts and impulses that had frightened and disgusted Raleigh and Yancy at the time. Mako had found herself not immune from strange and frightening intrusive thoughts even though her only drift partner was Raleigh.

So no, nothing physical had ever happened between Raleigh and Yancy or any other related pair they knew of, but…many pilots had wondered.

Still, Jazmine's long silence gave Mako time to brace herself and decide on her answer, to simplify entirely an issue that was far too complicated for any non-Ranger to understand, let alone Jazmine Becket with a massive (and not entirely-unjustified) grudge against her brothers.

"People said related Rangers had to be doing incest," Jazmine blurted, very fast. "Did they ever?"

Mako didn't hesitate. "Of course not. It's true that Rangers are very tactile people. It's a side effect of the drift. But no, there was never any truth to those rumors. They were started by people seeking sensationalism."

Jazmine shuddered. "I…yeah, that makes sense, I just…sometimes wondered. The two of them were best buddies all my life, and I didn't think it was possible for them to get closer. But in the news, they were. It seemed weird."

"Our world is a weird one," Mako admitted. "I never met Yancy when he was alive, but I have many of his memories now. He did love you. He never stopped even though you hurt him."

Jazmine wrapped her arms around himself. "Did he know how much he hurt me?"

"Yes. He didn't know how to be what you asked of him and also be a Ranger." Mako considered defending him more, arguing that Yancy had a right to want something for himself after all he'd had to do for his family when his parents failed, but she bit it back. Though she shared Yancy's memories, it wasn't her place to speak for him. After all, Mako herself had been deserted by her family, if with far more malice than Yancy had ever felt towards his sister even at her worst. What right did she have to argue that Jazmine should forgive?

"Did they ever tell you what was wrong with me?" Jazmine asked.

"What? What do you mean?"

Jazmine scoffed, still not looking at her. "You must know they thought I was crazy."

"You're mistaken," Mako said with complete confidence. "They didn't think that. They thought you might…be suffering from a, er, a mental condition, but nothing so crass as that." She didn't mention what Jazmine's teacher had told Yancy. It would probably only upset her.

"Borderline personality disorder, at least that's the primary diagnosis. I guess it's what happens when your parents are shitty and your brothers are perfect and you're not, and it gets worse when your mom dies, your dad runs off the minute she's in the ground, and your brothers bail. You're nobody's problem, except the one person who thinks otherwise gets killed."

"I'm sorry," said Mako. Her feelings – drawn from Raleigh and Yancy's feelings in the drift – about Diane Saunders were mixed. Diane had been unsympathetic, even cruel about Yancy's decision, and that was hard for Raleigh to accept. Yet she had stepped in without hesitating to be surrogate parent and guardian to Jazmine, defending the youngest Becket fiercely, and both boys had been grateful for that.

They were only boys. Yes, perhaps they did not handle it the best way, but they were boys. They'd lost their mother and father too. Raleigh was seventeen. Yancy was twenty, still carrying more weight than a boy his age should ever have had to carry. His childhood had ended when he was still a child, when he understood his father's notion of taking care of his family involved providing money and a home and nothing more.

Raleigh still tried very hard not to see Yancy's memories of that night before their mother's funeral, when Yancy had tried and failed to reach a compromise with his sister.

"Jazz, I can't…until I'm done with the Jaeger Academy, I can't be a guardian." Jazmine had pulled away from him on the couch and buried her face in her arms. "What I thought we could do is ask Diane, until I either graduate or get cut. Hey, come on, either way, it's a good career, and I need to have an income especially for taking care of you. I'll be over at the Shatterdome, but they've got a good family leave policy."

Jazmine had scoffed, "You mean over at the Shatterdome taking care of Raleigh. What's the point of even pretending you give a damn about me?"

"I do, and you know it!" Yancy had exploded.

"Then prove it! You can get a job where you'll actually be here!" his sister had demanded. "Instead of kicking me out of my own house and making me stay with Diane, fucking be my brother and stay with me! You were more of a dad to me than Dad for the last decade anyway!"

He'd known that last part was true, and it had only made everything more painful. Worse, he'd suspected before even starting this conversation that his sister would try to make him choose. When it came to it, he'd already made up his mind as to what the choice would be. "If you make me choose, you're not gonna like my decision." She'd sobbed, but he'd held firm. "Please don't make me choose. You're my sister, and I love you, but I can't live only for you and nothing else." He'd grabbed her arm and pulled her back when she tried to get up and walk away. "Listen to me! And before you go blaming Raleigh, this is my decision, not his. Jazz, for the first time in my life, I feel really good at something, like I might actually really succeed. It's hard, it's stressful, it's scary, but I love it! Can't you at least try and understand that? I've spent the last decade giving up on everything I really wanted so I could pick up Mom and Dad's slack!"

"Oh, so I'm slack."

"That is not what I meant, and you know it!"

Jazmine had shoved him away and wrenched free of his hands. "Fuck you! Make up your mind, Yancy! Me or Raleigh?"

"Jesus." He'd rested his elbows on his knees, face in his hands. She really was going to force it down to that. It wasn't the Jaeger Program she hated – well, not only the Jaeger Program. Jazmine had hated anything and anyone that might make Yancy take his attention off her. She'd wanted to be his first choice, first over , she would want nothing to do with him.

But Yancy had made his mind up, and forced himself to look at her. He'd supposed it was the least he could do as he broke her heart. "I choose me, Jazmine. I'm not giving up everything I want just to prove something to you. Not Raleigh or my career. I'm going back to the Jaeger Academy at the end of the week. Diane can be temporary guardian or permanent. It's up to you."

She'd been sobbing quietly as he said it, but he'd kept his eyes on her. She hadn't answered, just ran out the door and across the street to Diane's.

"Uh…hello? Are you okay?"

Mako blinked back to the present. The adult Jazmine Becket was hesitantly waving a hand in front of her face. Mako swayed and granted, "I apologize, that – that can happen. We forget where…" Where we are. Who we are. "I – because of the drift, I remember things."

Jazmine folded her arms again, but like she was chilled rather than belligerent. "You mean…you remember him?"

Mako nodded. "Every memory he had, Raleigh has. Now I have them too. We're not always aware of them…right away, but they come back." Maybe it was Yancy and Raleigh's lingering defensiveness that broke through her own self-edict not to intervene in this. "I saw…the night you and Yancy talked, before Mrs. Saunders became your guardian."

Now Jazmine was defensive. "Then you know he didn't choose me."

"I know he didn't want to choose at all, and told you so. You demanded that he choose you over everything else, abandon everything else to prove something. That was terribly cruel."

"I was six. teen!" Jazmine hissed.

"I know," Mako sighed. Absolutely nothing productive would come of quarreling with this woman. Jazmine Becket wasn't Mako's sister, however powerful the memories and emotions of being her sibling were. "Do you want Raleigh to stay a little longer?"

Jazmine stared at the floor, pondering it. That made Mako a little hopeful. But then the older woman shook her head. "No. I want him to go. I'm not ready for…anything."

Mako managed not to flinch, but felt Raleigh's tug on the ghost drift. He'd respect his sister's decision. "As you wish. But if you ever want to see him, you can contact us through the PPDC. He'll answer. Thank you for seeing us."

At first, Jazmine didn't answer, so Mako went to let herself out. But as she opened the door, she heard Jazmine say very softly, "Nice to meet you."

Raleigh wasn't all that surprised. He tried not to let himself be disappointed. I don't know what I expected. But why should she just get over it? We left her. Yeah, she told us to, but she was only sixteen. We could've at least tried. Yancy wanted to, but I didn't. I'm probably the reason he didn't keep trying longer than six months. She probably figured that much out. I liked the fact that he chose me.

Mako drove them back to Anchorage, occasionally reaching to rub Raleigh's neck without taking her eyes off the road. The car rental guy didn't question them when they returned the car. Raleigh knew he probably looked like death warmed over, and Mako wrapped an arm around his waist as soon as they were out of the car.

Tendo picked them up, but instead of going straight to the airport to get their tickets, Raleigh said, "Can we…go back to the docks?"

He didn't look up, but heard the emotion in Tendo's voice. "Sure."

Saltchuck was still there, probably getting ready for another run, but Raleigh didn't go see the crew. A few of them still came down to check on him, but they left him alone to make his way back to the lighthouse.

I tried, Yance. I'm so sorry. She seems like she's okay, though. She's engaged. No idea to who. Maybe some day she'll call. Resting his forehead against the stone next to his brother's face, Raleigh kind of doubted that. He held onto the stone and pretended it was Yancy and let himself silently cry.

Then there was a faint commotion, some men hurrying down the walk. Sound echoed further over the snow and noise of the docks in the biting December cold. "Uh, miss, honey, hang on, this isn't a good time!"

Some Jaeger fly was approaching, Raleigh figured. He didn't lift his head or look around. He didn't want to be a picture –

A lance of emotion came through the ghost drift from Mako, and Raleigh jerked back. Mako was looking at where the men were talking, trying to dissuade someone from coming to the lighthouse now.

It was a woman, a scarf around her hair, carrying a bucket with cleaning supplies…where the golden light of the lighthouse met the colder light of the docks, her face was perfectly clear.

It was Jazmine.

The protesting men fell silent as they saw Raleigh staring, the shock also on Jazmine's face. Mako approached them to intercede. "It's all right. She…she's all right." He felt her look at Jazmine, but Jazmine didn't take her eyes off Raleigh.

What was she thinking? Here I am, still clinging to Yance even when he's gone.

He made himself back away. So it wasn't just Jaeger flies keeping the memorial clean. She must not have ever told any of the locals her name, and nobody had recognized her. All those years, we were rock stars, and then he was gone and this was all she had left of him.

He swallowed back the sobs he'd been trying to purge from himself and turned to go, on a wide path so she wouldn't even have to be close to him unless she wanted. Then her mouth moved. He heard her cough in the cold wind, and then her voice. "W-wait. Raleigh? Wait."

It was Mako's hope that swept over him, overwhelming, while he just felt dull and empty and lost. But he stopped. Jazmine came toward him, unsteady on her feet. She slipped on an icy patch and would've fallen if Raleigh hadn't caught her. She dropped her bucket and held onto him instinctively.

He felt her body seize in a sob. She couldn't talk, just pulled at him, and he picked up the bucket for her as they returned to Yancy's lighthouse.

She didn't let go. He hesitantly put his arm around her, ignoring the murmurs of the onlookers and the gentle scolding of Saltchuck's crew and the others who'd been here last night. "Hey, come on, quit gawking. Give 'em some privacy."

"Sorry, sorry – I always thought she was a Jaeger fly, she's here at least once a week!"

"She'll have had her reasons, now let 'em be. C'mon, back to work – hey, boss, Colin and I are gonna go up to the lot fence, try and keep the reporters out if they come sniffin' around again!"

"Good deal! Barny, are you all about done? You wanna hang around the public entrance and make sure nobody gets a camera in?"

"I'm on it!"

When they were kids, Jazmie always cried aloud. Now she barely made a sound, but he could feel the sobs shaking her as she put her free hand next to Yancy's face, mirroring Raleigh's. As it was, Raleigh had to whisper, and his own voice still gave away his own tears. "He did love you. He did. He never stopped."

She sucked in her breath, but not to deny it. To ask a question. "They say…did he suffer?"

She wasn't trying to hurt him, but somehow that question cut deeper than the meanest, nastiest words she'd ever said even when she was trying to hurt him. But he had to answer her. "He…I…yeah, but it was – over fast. Seconds." His voice cracked completely and he had to cover his mouth to keep from dissolving into wracking sobs.

She released the lighthouse so she could hang onto Raleigh with both hands, like she was barely able to keep herself upright. "I hated you, y'know," she muttered roughly.

Incredibly, a weak, teary laugh escaped him. "Yeah, I know. 's okay. I guess it was kind of mutual. We tore each other apart trying to 'win' him."

"Uh-huh. Now we're each all the other has left who really remembers him. Well…" She heaved a sigh. "You are, I guess. You've got your crew."

Something softened the hard edge of the hole in his soul, like nothing and no one could – not even Mako. Amazing. "Not entirely. They knew us since 2016. But they don't remember growing up with him. Monkey in the middle."

She let out a half-laugh, half-sob. "Ice skating."

"Remember those birthday cupcakes we tried to make for you?"

"Hey, those were good."

"Sure, as 'deconstructed cupcakes' go." His throat closed completely, and he couldn't talk or laugh anymore.

Jazmine pulled away from him, but instead of leaving, she bent and started pulling brushes and cloths out of the bucket she'd brought. She showed him how to clean salt and grit off the stone and off the glass without scratching it. There wasn't much there. She must have been doing this regularly.

"When are you leaving?" she startled him by asking.

"…you want me to stay?"

He felt her shrug against his side. "I didn't, at first. I couldn't forgive you. Or…or Yancy." That made him ache, but he bit his tongue. She felt how she felt. She had a right to it. Yancy had understood that better, even though it'd hurt him. "Maybe I never can. But I don't want to forget him. Or you."

"Me either. I-I tried to forget everything. It never worked."

They stood there for a long time, no longer crying, just together in front of Yancy's picture and his light. So here we are, Yance. It took a long time, but somehow we made it after all.

Eventually, Jazmine released him. "My fiancé drove me down here. Come meet him."

Well, that made Raleigh nervous all over again. He felt Mako's amusement ripple through the ghost drift. "Okay."

It was actually funny. Jazmine Becket would never have expected anything about her first reunion with Raleigh to be funny. She'd spent the morning leading up to her only living brother's arrival in a frenzy, storming around the house oscillating between wanting to call Tendo Choi back and tell him she'd changed her mind and composing speeches she wanted to give to both her brothers. After all, Raleigh was sort-of Yancy too now if the stories about drifting were to be believed.

Almost as soon as Raleigh and Mako had gone, Jazmine had regretted how it had gone. She'd been hysterical when Alex had returned home, and he'd agreed almost immediately to go to Anchorage and try to clear her head.

She and Alex had been together almost five years, and he still didn't know exactly what she did on those trips to Anchorage to "clear her head." But he respected her privacy and her boundaries – even when they abruptly changed.

So he was waiting in Resolution Park after Jazmine called and said she was bringing her brother to meet him.

Alex knew Saunders wasn't Jazmine's real surname. But he had no idea it was Becket.

And judging by the look on his face, he really had had no idea that Jazmine was sister to Raleigh Becket, savior of the human race. It was funny. His eyes darted from Raleigh to Mako and back to Jazmine and his mouth kept moving without making a sound.

Jazmine took pity on him. "Raleigh, this is my fiancé, Alex."

Raleigh was a little hesitant, holding out his hand. Apparently Alex wasn't the only one who got nervous. But to Alex's credit, he'd known well that Jazmine was estranged from her brother and had never asked why. So as shocked as he was, he didn't fall straight into hero-worshipping and quickly grew cautious. "Ranger, I'm, uh, honored. And you, ma'am. Thank you both. I'm, uh…okay, I wasn't expecting this." He smiled weakly at Jazmine as she slid an arm around him. "Then again, as awesome as you are, maybe I should have."

Raleigh's smile was actually shy, and sad. "Believe me, I can't take credit for her being awesome. She got that way all on her own steam." But he was looking at Jazmine when he said it, and Jazmine knew he meant it.

Maybe we can feel like a family again. Better late than never, I guess. We've got baggage that we're gonna carry for the rest of our lives, but I guess we just keep dealing with it. That'll be okay, right, Yance? It'll be okay.

To Be Continued...

Coming Soon: Generation K reunites - Team Gipsy with their wayward Ranger, and Raleigh and Mako with their former fellow pilots in Chapter Twenty: When I See You Again!

PLEASE don't forget to review!

Original Character Guide

Liling Gáo: Mako's best friend, her roommate from prep school in Pennsylvania. Chinese, granddaughter of Hong Kong Shatterdome's late commanding officer, General Liang. Sadly unable to qualify as a pilot due to severe asthma, but graduated Jaeger Academy and worked in K-Science.

Diane Saunders - a friend of the Raleigh and Jazmine's mother who babysat them as children, then agreed to become Jazmine's guardian after their mother died, their father left, and Yancy refused. She was disgusted by the brothers' refusal to stay with Jazmine and never forgave them. Died in 2019 in a car accident.

Roger Stevens and Colin Stuart - captain and first mate of the Saltchuck, the Alaskan fishing vessel saved by Gipsy Danger.