Author's Notes
The following is a guide to what is canon in my verse and what is merely my headcanon, or in other words, AU (Alternate Universe). As a reward for reading, I've included three preview scenes for the sequel to Arashikage. Keep an eye out, they're inserted in spots that I thought made sense within the guide.
I wrote this because I've been seeing bits and pieces of my headcanon being used by others with no credit given and sometimes, the disjointed pieces used don't work too well as stand alones and I find myself second guessing myself on whether or not they worked at all, ever. Finally, being copied is not the nicest way to find out someone likes or even read your stuff and that has happened.
I think that in most cases, this happens because the writers think these elements are canon. I've seen writers use something of mine without batting an eye and proceed to credit a different author when using something of theirs a few weeks later; that doesn't say 'plagiarist' to me.
Thus this brick of a guide.
Important note! If you want to borrow any of my original characters, please ask. This includes Fearless Master, Ayame, Misao and the greenshirts Thompson, Hart, Clearwater and Holmes. If you want to borrow anything else, GO RIGHT AHEAD. Just please give me a little shout out or credit in the summary of your story or in an author's note.
The Need for Heirs and the Amaterasu Jewel
The idea of the Amaterasu comes from Arashikage Showdown. It's not the most loved comic in the GI Joe universe, partly because it features a magic jewel and partly because said magic jewel ends up saving the day. Also, it kind of sucked.
For Arashikage, I took the idea of a magical artefact but decided it would never be confirmed to have actual power. I also made it require sealing ceremonies while in the comic, it was hidden and its power was free for the taking by anyone who'd find it.
My universe's sealing ceremonies have to be performed by blood descendants of the first leader of the clan (back when the jewel was entrusted to them), and the person performing the ceremony must still be the leader of the clan. So, basically, the clan has to keep leadership within the bloodline and make sure that bloodline survives, or the very reason the clan was founded – to guard the Amaterasu - will no longer be relevant. Not to mention the jewel could end up destroying the World if not sealed – supposedly.
This is why in my stories, Tommy needs to have children: he's currently the last of the bloodline. It's not that the rest of the clan are all convinced the jewel really is magical but generally speaking, they're not willing to declare that it's not. Psyche Out would probably blame the inability to resist the lure of feeling important for this, as well as an attachment to family traditions.
So, if you think Obake Obaasan or anyone else within the clan feels it's important for Tommy to have children that are genetically his own, know that it's not canon and that it's got magic jewel cooties all over it.
The Amaterasu being the purpose of the clan is also why the Hard Master offered Snake Eyes to HELP lead the clan instead of offering him to lead it altogether in Arashikage – even though he thinks the whole Amaterasu thing is nonsense, he is, like his wife, intent on not bringing a tradition literally at the heart of the family's and clan's history to an end. Not to mention he does need to agree with his brother on such important matters.
Speaking of heirs, here's your first preview!
Phone Conversation
This is a phone conversation Tommy would have had with his aunt shortly after joining GI Joe; he's recalling it in the sequel.
"Hello."
I swallow nervously, feeling like I'm ten again and I've been caught doing something bad. "Good evening, Dearest Aunt," I say. My voice is calmer than I had dared hoped, but of course, it doesn't fool her for a minute.
"Ah, Tomisaburo, good morning to you," she replies. "I assume from your nervousness that although you are back to yourself, you haven't avenged my late husband yet?"
Straight to the point. This would be a wonderful start to the conversation if I could tell her that I have. I take a deep breath.
"No," I admit. "I've come to the conclusion that the Hard Master would not have wanted it and that my seeking vengeance was only for my own satisfaction. I feel I do not deserve this satisfaction, especially in the light of everything I've done in the name of revenge." I pause a moment. "I'm sorry."
She succeeds in completely masking any anger – her pulse and breathing change so little that if I couldn't guess, I would have no idea as to her feelings regarding my giving up on avenging the Hard Master.
"What about his apprentice?" she asks. Her voice is just as calm and dry as ever. "Have you been in contact with your brother? Is he taking up where you left off?"
"My brother has also chosen not to follow a path of vengeance," I say, "but I would not dream of refusing you if you were to specifically ask me to kill my uncle's murderer."
There's a pause.
"You haven't lost your talent for dancing around limits and rules," she says. "If I were to make such a request, you would not kill for vengeance but simply to carry out my instructions, yet you would still get to kill your uncle's murderer and satisfy my right to vengeance. An ideal scenario, except for one thing: I will not ask."
My eyes widen. I expected her to demand his head on the spot, to be delivered yesterday at the latest. "I'm sorry… what?"
"Only a fool seeks out death, be it for himself or others," she answers flatly. "Death will come no matter what you do."
I'm not sure I agree, but if it takes a fool to seek out Death, it takes an even bigger one to contradict the Goblin Granny: the students – myself included – used to be more scared of her than of even the Hard Master. I don't have time to figure out how to respond before she starts again, having paused just long enough to indicate a change of subject.
"Now that you are yourself again, you need to find the jewel. The Soft Master did not want to leave it with only me to guard it and brought it with him."
I smile. "I already have it," I announce. "My brother knew where it was and recovered it after…" I stop and my smile vanishes as the battle where my uncle died starts replaying itself.
Focus. I need to focus on the phone, on my aunt.
"The Soft Master is, I'm sure, happy that his death was not in vain and that you have eventually regained your freedom," she says. Her tone is as abrupt as ever, but it doesn't take away from the meaning of her words. She once again doesn't give me a chance to find a reply, displaying her usual talent for guessing when her interlocutors have no answer worth speaking. "When are you arriving?"
This is the other question I dreaded. I take a deep breath before I answer, certain once again that she won't like the answer, although this conversation to date has gone so unexpectedly well that I find myself actually hoping to be wrong on what her reaction will be.
"I have engaged myself to fight in the same unit my brother is in, against my former employers and others like them."
"You're trying to reclaim your honour," she says. "Very well, I can manage here. Not being bound to our traditional lines of business anymore has made things easier."
I sigh in relief, but she's not done talking.
"However, Tomisaburo, you are not getting any younger," she continues. "If you're only going to be playing soldier for the next little while, I trust you will use your free time to find yourself a wife and have her carry your children. I have not yet devised any way to make new heirs out of thin air."
My eyes widen again and I feel my cheeks growing warmer.
"I…"
"Goodbye, please call again when you have news."
She hangs up and leaves me staring at the phone, simultaneously trying to find ways to explain why I won't find a wife and thinking of how to go about securing one.
- End of preview -
Other Ninja Clans
The allied clans and enemy clans in my stories (other than the Red Ninjas, which I do intend to use eventually) are AU elements, and so is the idea that other clans call the Arashikage samurai wannabes. I wanted to acknowledge that they are unusual for ninjas. Snake Eyes: Declassified has the Hard Master literally say the Arashikage way is not the usual ninja way, which matches the opinion I had anyway before I ever read it.
The whole clan war storyline is AU. The idea of two levels of clan wars is as well, as is the idea that all out wars end with the losing clan being massacred to the last soul.
The clans I made up (to date) are the Mizu clan, the Akai clan, the Kagenohi clan and the Kamura clan.
Contracts
The comics don't show them doing contracts, except in the Storm Shadow miniseries, and although his file card says Tommy comes from a long line of assassins, the clan members we know certainly don't seem to fit the profile. I also feel that Snake Eyes, good and righteous as he is, would not have stayed and be a proud member to this day of a ninja clan that killed whoever they were hired to.
I have them doing contracts because I figure they have to make money somehow and I think that's more likely than charging students. Besides, ninja were, historically, mercenaries. To reconcile with the reasoning above, I limited those contracts to exclude hit contracts. They do kill, without hesitation, but never because they're hired to do so. It's got even more to do with pride than with moralities. The Storm Shadow miniseries also implies that the business side of the clan helps support them – I intend to use that eventually.
Tommy's Parents
They are barely mentioned at all in the comics. We know his father is dead, but that's pretty much it, other than the fact at least his mother lived in California at some point or at the very least passed through since Tommy is supposed to be from there.
So, everything else you have seen about them in my stories is only part of my AU, including their names (Fearless/Insane Master, Tomisaburo, Ayame), personalities or skill levels. The comics don't even formally identify them as ninjas. For all we know, Tommy's father in the comics will turn out to be an architect named Ryo.
Teaching and Wage Earning
Tommy doing contracts when he returns from the war is pure invention on my part. His not enjoying it is as well. In fact, he is said to be training again while Snake Eyes trains in Snake Eyes: Declassified.
As mentioned before, he does do contracts in the Storm Shadow miniseries and it is a very normal thing for ninjas to do. The AU part here is really just the idea that he does it full time and that he wishes he didn't.
As for teaching, the idea that Tommy likes teaching is an interpretation on my part. It does not contradict the comics, and I always felt he kind of pounced on the chance to have a student in Billy and later in Junko, if you choose not to ignore M&A II, but it's not an established fact.
Speaking of teaching, the nature of the bond between a master and an apprentice is not in the comics either. I made it up because it seemed like the kind of thing Tommy would be right into and it allowed for Billy to be flippant about it before coming to appreciate it later. It also seemed like promising ninja students that they won't die would be good for enrolment and would help to maintain structure in the clan and foster loyalty.
Jinx
There are several different versions of Jinx. For mine, I used ARAH with a bit of tempered Sunbow and a dash of Snake Eyes declassified.
I wanted her to be a first cousin to Tommy rather than a second cousin, and I liked the idea of her being at the Arashikage compound growing up, so in my stories, she ended up being a cousin on Tommy's father side rather than a second cousin on his mother's side (how she's on his mother's side and yet name Arashikage is not delved into in the comics) and I made her grow up in Japan, with the clan. She is a fully qualified agent by the time she joins GI Joe and nobody's apprentice in both the comics and my verse.
In my AU, she is at a lower rank than Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow (that is implied in the comics by her not being identified as a Master) and they're helping her improve further. The idea that she is around at the same time as Billy and Kamakura in GI Joe is AU – it never happens in the comics.
She is quite a bit older than Billy and Kamakura both in canon and in my AU. How old any of them are is not well defined in the comics, but she's a College graduate when Billy is a teenager. I defined it in my canon as her being only 8 years younger than Tommy, which makes her about 12 years older than Billy and 11 years older than Kamakura.)
Her being good at fighting blind was inspired by the cartoon, although I got rid of the idea she can only fight well when she's blindfolded. However, since the Arashikage seem to like sensory techniques, I kept the idea she's good at them.
The comics don't give any information about her parents at all. So, anything you've seen in my stories about her mother is part of my AU: the fact that she's a ninja, the fact she lives in Japan, the fact she's single, her name (Misao), the fact she was adopted, the fact that she is dead and definitely the fact that she haunts her former house as a ghost.
Tommy's Abilities
How well Tommy can hear varies wildly in canon, even within ARAH. I went with the best he's shown to be able to hear and unlike the comics, stuck with it because I didn't have enough sense to realize how inconvenient it can get. This is not technically AU. I just push it more than the comics have done since issues 26 and 27, but it is canon-ish.
The other ability I gave him, however – the perfect long term memory – is absolutely AU. I feel it's balanced by his equally amazing talent at being as wrong as one can be and at making atrocious decisions, and later on, by the various mental problems brought on by the brainwashing and by the trauma he self inflicted in the name of vengeance.
Making Snake Eyes a super learner is also AU. I made him become extremely good even faster than the comics implied, so it kind of followed that he had to be a fast learner.
Tommy's Personality Traits
I already covered the idea that he likes teaching, but what about his other main personality traits? I maintain that Tommy shows a very similar personality in the comics as the one I gave him, but it is a fact that it's all more fluid in the comics – it has to be because Tommy is one of a gazillion characters and gets a lot less attention than I give him in my stories. So, here's a list of what I'm working with and why.
Perfectionist: this was inspired by his skill level and various little things such as sweeping an already gleaming floor. The true AU element on this is one of his motivations in my verse – since he has to be the leader of the clan, he thinks he needs to be perfect or at least the best in order to make sure the clan does not suffer from a lesser leader, in particular through other clans no longer respecting them and potentially attacking them. This concern stems in large part from the Clan War with the Akai.
Talkative: Canon. Storm talks a lot in the comics, even when he's not having to carry both sides of the conversation because he's alone with Snake Eyes.
Very active: Storm doesn't spend a lot of time sitting still in my stories. That's partly due to perfectionism – he'd rather train – and later on, partly because he made that excessive vow to spend every moment of his life doing his best to redeem himself. The trait is not really present or absent in canon. He's not shown inactive, but nobody is much – it's a comic, you don't waste page space on characters doing nothing. That being said, he doesn't seem to be shown doing anything leisurely, either, which is where I got the impression he tends to keep busy with productive things. The vow mentioned above is completely AU, although it was inspired by his wanting to reclaim his honour in canon.
Healthy eating: In my verse, this is a matter of upbringing and a side effect of perfectionism. All the students in the clan would have been forbidden unhealthy food and drink with the assumption they would sneak some in, but Tommy being a perfectionist who wants to do everything right, he just never touched the stuff. He imposes the same restrictions on his apprentices because as their sensei, he considers himself responsible for their well being and development as ninjas. None of this is canon, it's not even inspired by anything in it.
Relationships: let's call it that to keep this to a T rating. I've established that the Arashikage teenagers who could not rely on treats to comfort themselves after a hard day turned to activities that consume calories rather than pile them on. This is a complete invention on my part. The idea that Tommy in particular followed that pattern is as well of course, although he no longer does that on a regular basis while in GI Joe – I have him way too keen on spending every minute redeeming himself for him to be flirting much, not to mention certain traumas suffered while with Cobra.
Snark and general smart-assery: this is also inspired directly by canon, ARAH in particular. Some of the disavowed continuity actually negate this trait and have him be practically meditative zen at some point (I guess they were going for the mystical ninja angle), but he's way more fun to write as an occasional wise-cracker. Occasional because…
Mood swings: Tommy does not have the most stable temperament in the comics. It's not identified as such as being prone to mood swings, but there are times that he gets very angry only to calm down again rather quickly, and right alongside the snarking, he'll suddenly go all mystical and serious – and sometimes mean it. I emphasized the trait for my AU and gave him, as Stalker puts it, a 'stormy personality'.
Loyal: I feel that Storm's main characteristic in the comics, besides being a ninja, is his loyalty. So, 100% canon. And yes, that does make it a bit ironic that he's the one who changes sides.
This is a good spot for another preview!
Meet the Red Ninjas
This is taking place at the Arashikage compound, which is under attack by the Red Ninja. This will be the first time Tommy encounters them in my AU.
I recognize him as he thrusts his sword towards me. It's such a shock that I almost miss my block.
"Takeru-kun?" I ask. "What…?"
"You have no right to call me by my first name!" he thunders. "Traitor!"
His attacks get more vicious, and my eyes widen further. I continue to block – what else can I do against one of my own brothers?
"What are you talking about?" I ask. "Do you even know?"
He swipes at my leg. I jump over the hit but land on the sword to make him drop it.
"Stop!" I plead. "Takeru-kun, we're brothers! We grew up together, you used to trip me up with branches when I had those goggles… you hooked me up with Masaki-kun…"
His heart rate increases as he gets angrier. All right, bringing back memories is not helping.
"What did I do for you to be so angry with me?" I ask him.
"You destroyed the clan!" he snarls. "I was forced to leave when the state declared war on ninja schools, and when things should have been settling down and allowing us to return, you welcomed a gaijin bad luck charm in our home! If not for you two, we wouldn't have lost our Masters!"
He's still attacking me as he's saying this, and I can barely concentrate on defending myself; he's my brother! He can't be attacking me! Things get downright ugly when another one of the red ninjas joins our battle… I recognize him too – Sanato-Sensei thought me swordsplay for years and once pulled me back up from the ground and prevented me from getting killed when the Akai attacked us.
I shake my head, horrified. Are they all former Arashikage? All these red ninjas… I almost shout out to the others not to attack before it hits me that if I were to do that, they would be torn to pieces. Just as I will be if I don't start defending myself properly.
"Stop!" I beg as I continue blocking both of them, backing up little by little. "We can talk this out! I don't want to fight you!"
"You die today," is Sanato-Sensei's answer, and suddenly, he reminds me WHY he used to teach swordsplay: I barely manage to block his next few strikes and Takeru-kun takes advantage of my being so busy to bury a knife in my side.
My survival instincts kick in and his head rolls. My brains then kick back in and I completely stop moving, staring at the corpse and the disembodied head.
I killed him. I killed Takeru-kun. I murdered my brother.
I hear the blade coming towards me but I can't move a muscle and it goes right through me, coming out just a bit above my navel. Sanato-Sensei twists it while circling it, widening the hole enough for my intestines to fit through and start spilling.
- End of preview -
Brainwashing
The idea that Storm Shadow was brainwashed by Cobra is absolutely not mine. However, the nature of the brainwashing is different in my universe than in canon.
The whole fiction of the World Order and Cobra being the good guys is my invention. It was vaguely inspired by Sigma Six, where Storm believes Snake Eyes betrayed the clan. The idea that he believes Snake Eyes is the one who was brainwashed is mine as well. Billy being trained by Storm while he's brainwashed is also an AU element – in the comics, Storm does not get brainwashed until much, much later.
The idea of a safety chip in Storm Shadow's head is mine. Therefore, the idea that it warns Cobra if the brainwashing is wearing off and that it can be used to incapacitate him is entirely AU. There is no safety chip of any kind in canon. Cobra puts a headband on him at one point to re-wash him in the disavowed continuity, but that's as close as it gets.
The idea of a change in how he is brainwashed is also AU. The extent of that brainwash is as well – he was never that dysfunctional in canon.
The idea that he constantly breaks the conditioning is an exaggeration of canon, where he breaks free a few times, temporarily, in the disavowed continuity. He doesn't do it nearly as often in there, however, and Cobra Commander is unaware of it until he breaks free completely and thoughtfully lets him know, bringing about the Commander hunting him down and brainwashing him again.
He regains his senses and his memories much more often in my verse because of his perfect memory. How he finally breaks free for good is completely AU in Arashikage – nothing of the sort happens in the comics. He just sorts of breaks free off screen.
Cobra
Brainwashed or not, what Storm Shadow did while in Cobra is mostly AU as well, at least when it comes to body count. He doesn't have much of one at all in the old ARAH run. I changed that in Arashikage because it seems to me that Cobra, as a terrorist organization, was not causing enough death in canon to be horrific, and also because I think canon Tommy probably did kill for Cobra plenty of times in order to impress his superiors and rise through the ranks, and I wanted there to be no question on that in Arashikage.
The idea that he prefers not to kill American soldiers (until he gets brainwashed) is mine, although it's just my being consistent with his being a very loyal sort – they are his former brothers in arms. Note that reluctant or not, he does kill them when he has to in order to stay in the Commander's good graces.
Before I forget, the terms of his employment with Cobra are also different in my verse than in canon. In canon, he joins as a rank and file and climbs through the ranks with the hope he'll someday earn the information he seeks. I felt it fit his character better, and the Commander's, to make an actual deal with a defined time frame. Worked better for my plot, too…
The terms of his employment with GI Joe, that is the oath he made and the pardon deal, are also my own idea.
Billy
Billy is in the comics, and his early history is the same. I made him train under a brainwashed Storm Shadow, but other than that, I followed the comics pretty closely until he takes off on Tommy.
I veered off at that point because knowing Tommy was brainwashed, he didn't leave just to go confront his father (he'd be too afraid to get brainwashed too) but to go find help. The stuff that happens after is completely different from the comics, except that he does reunite with his mother for a while in the comics as well (although not for as long). So, in terms of his bio after the water tower, what you see in my stories is mostly my invention.
Personality wise, I stuck to his portrayal in the early ARAH run. Storm and he seemed closer than they do later on, and since I had them in more danger in my verse than in the comics, it made sense to strengthen the relationship rather than downplay it. The idea of a foster father-son relationship is mine, but it was inspired by those earlier comics, and I wouldn't be surprised if others read those comics that way too. This characterization is completely abandoned in later comics, however, where the two grow apart a bit and Tommy eventually describes Billy as a little brother to both him and Snake Eyes. This does not happen in my verse – they remain as close as earlier on.
Billy doesn't train at the same time as Kamakura in the comics, and because I don't have those issues, I don't know whether they got along in what little time they spend together. The idea of their being in training at the same time, within GI Joe, is mine. It was inspired by Kamakura and Jinx having that status in Sigma Six and in Willwrite4fics' stories. Their initial feelings for each other were also inspired by Kamakura and Jinx bickering when she's the other apprentice, once again in Sigma Six and in Willwrite4fics' stories.
Since they don't train at the same time and aren't shown together much, the difference between their skill levels and their sensei's respective teaching style were entirely made up by me.
Cobra after effects
I went into far more details on Tommy's time with Cobra than the comics ever did. I made him do a lot more than they show, and most of it is naturally horrible. Keeping in mind that Tommy's clan in my verse does not approve of hit contracts or killing because someone paid you to, Tommy is not at peace with his actions.
This conflict is an AU element of sorts: he doesn't seem to really care that he's working for the bad guys in the comics while he's doing it, although he does later work towards redeeming his honour. It seems like he's just accepting of the fact he needs to do this and can make up for it later, and there is no indication that he would normally be adverse to hit contracts. The only trauma he shows is following his being used to create Serpentor, due to the other personalities leaving their traces in his mind. He takes some time off and when he comes back, he's 100% fine. Only visible effect is his new stance against vengeance, which he bills as coming to realize it is the refuge of the weak.
I turned the dial up to 10 on the stuff he did with Cobra, and also with the repercussions. He suffers from many symptoms associated with PTSD by the end of Arashikage, including flashbacks where he loses track of reality and debilitating feelings of guilt. These don't magically go away – the flashbacks become rarer and less powerful, but he has yet to forgive himself and still considers that he has to spend the entire rest of his life, as in 100% of the time, making up for it. He also reacts strongly to things that remind him of his time with Cobra and the various abuse he endured, such as in Vigilante. This is all pretty much AU – he does not suffer from the same symptoms in the comics, although he does have demon hallucinations in the Master and Apprentice books as well as an enduring urge to fight Snake Eyes that seems to surface only when convenient.
Miscellaneous
The idea that the Arashikage compound has a 'public' area is mine. I figure that the place has to be somewhere and with satellite shots, it'd be hard to hide completely. The 'public area' is the way they hide it in plain sight, by making it look like it is something it isn't – a private Shinto temple. This also allows them to be closer to their client base and reduce travelling time and cost. The idea that Tommy is trained to pose as a Shinto priest is also mine, as you can probably guess. The secret is not perfect – some clans do know where they are, the Akai and the Mizu clan in particular.
There are no ninja spirits or ghosts in canon, and other than the fact she chooses to use a haunted house fair attraction as a meeting place, there are no indication that Obake Obaasan can communicate with the dead or feel their presence in any way. That aspect of the character is entirely my invention.
The Arashikage Mindset is first introduced in canon when Storm puts Snake Eyes under it to allow him to forget Scarlett – who they both think is basically already dead – and focus on a mission that Tommy secures for him. It turns Snake Eyes into a 100% focused killing machine. It is eventually used again for various things and its effects become a bit loosely defined. I decided to keep it in its original form. The idea that one needs assistance to enter it and later break out of it (or at least usually) is also inspired by that first appearance and contradicts some later uses.
The idea that the trance of the Sleeping Phoenix could be overdone to commit suicide is never discussed in canon, most likely because it's a lot like saying you can commit suicide by holding your breath – very unlikely anyone would manage to pull it off. Tommy only attempts it because he's out of options.
Little Harlem: in canon, the Soft Master runs a restaurant, not a convenience store.
Snake Eyes being in basics with Tommy is completely AU. In canon, they meet in Vietnam.
Plotlines
Most of my stories have original plots. Arashikage was partly a mish mash of existing and modified canon plotlines, but nearly everything since is completely original. I'm not going to list plotlines here since it's such a simple rule of thumb, but if you're wondering about any particular story, feel free to ask.
Alright, for reading all the way here, you deserve your third preview.
Goodbyes
This takes place towards the beginning of the sequel. GI Joe is being disbanded.
The rest of the meeting is mostly Hawk going through our various options in terms of continuing to work with the military – my brother seems to be listening attentively, but I can't say I am. We're finally dismissed as soon-to-be civilians.
Snake Eyes grabs my arm as soon as we're out of the office and signals me to follow him. He leads me to his quarters, closes the door and signs to ask me what I'm going to do.
"Why did you want to ask me that in private?" I ask, genuinely puzzled. Everybody has been asking the very same question to everybody else ever since Hawk's announcement.
He crosses his arms, waiting for me to actually answer his question. I shrug.
"I don't know. I think I'll go home and decide from there."
His heart rate inexplicably picks up and he signs to ask whether I'm okay with that. If he wasn't such an independent person, I'd think he was worried about missing me; as it is, I really can't figure out what's wrong with him, so I settle for trying to offer a solution to the one problem I can think of, despite the fact I doubt it's what's bothering him.
"You could come along, if you'd like. You can even bring Scarlett, if that's what's worrying you. After all, she hardly ever stabs me anymore."
He shakes his head and signs that he's more thinking of a long vacation at his cabin, where they'll decide together on their future. It takes some effort to resist making a face – I did not need the mental image of them spending months at his cabin with basically nothing to do; it's all too obvious how they'll be killing their time.
He thankfully changes the subject and asks whether Billy will come along with me.
"I doubt it," I reply. "I'm guessing he'll want to visit his mother and he's mentioned before that he'd like to travel without hiding and running if he ever gets the chance."
He signs to inquire what I think Jinx will do.
"I think she'll try to figure it out with Budo," I reply. "Hey…" I add, grinning, "He just lost his one argument against my calling him a Ronin!"
Snake Eyes chuckles silently before becoming serious again and repeating his earlier question of whether I'm okay.
"Why wouldn't I be? I'm disappointed that this," I motion at the room to symbolize the Pit and therefore, GI Joe, "is over, of course, but we all are, don't you think? We're big boys and big girls, we'll move on."
He signs to ask me whether I still want to dedicate every second of my life to making amends. I blink at him, taken aback by the question.
"Of course I do," I reply. "Why wouldn't I?"
He signs to ask whether I'll be okay with the fact I won't have as much opportunity to have as much of an impact anymore.
My eyes widen in sudden understanding – that's what he's worried about. He thinks I'll go mad without a chance to fight Cobra on a regular basis. It's very touching, but above that, it's really silly.
I chuckle.
"I intend to do my best. If my best is less than it was here, it will still be my best. I'll be fine, Brother. I hope you decide to join me back home once you've had your vacation, but I'll respect whatever your decision is."
He audibly relaxes and offers his hand. I pull him into a hug instead. Even though we're still here for a couple of weeks, this feels like the real goodbye, and I think that beyond being worried about my sanity, it's why he wanted privacy. He returns the hug, makes it fit his standards of manliness by slapping my back a couple of times, and eventually, lets me go.
- End of preview –
Thanks for reading!