The nuclear explosion evaporated the city of Chicago. The helicopter wreckage was found just miles into the maximum radiation fallout zone of the explosion. Out of the wreckage came Douglas, breathing heavily as he punched a part of the helicopter out of the way and crawled out of the wreckage. Blood trickled from his forehead; the bare socket exposed from where his robotic right arm used to be. The helicopter crashed head first, its back facing upwards. Doug fell down with a thud, and he coughed out some blood. He looked around and there were wreckages of vehicles and tanks, some flipped on its top.
"This is what hell must've looked like," thought Doug. He looked around and saw his sister, lying down next to turned bus with her back propped up by the bus. He quickly crawled to her with the only hand he got and checked whether she was alive. There was shallow breathing coming from her.
"Rina! Rina!" called Doug, weakly. Rina slowly opened her eyes and looked at her brother on the ground beside her.
"Brother, I feel dizzy…….," replied Rina. Doug felt dizzy too. He knew it was the cause of radiation poisoning. He knew that he and his sister wouldn't survive long enough for the NEST teams to arrive and recover them. So they could only stay there and wait for Death to arrive. He held on to her hand and she gripped his.
"Rina, remember our song?" asked Doug, looking at her. Rina could weakly blink and nod once. She coughed out some blood and cleared her throat. She wiped the blood from her chin.
"When my time comes…..." started Doug. Rina opened her mouth to continue.
"Forget the wrong that I've done….," continued Rina. Then they both sang the song together.
Help me leave behind some,
Reasons to be missed.
Don't resent me,
And when you're feeling empty,
Keep me in your memory.
Leave out all the rest.
Leave out all the rest...
Douglas remembered the time they got conscripted into the German Army, and then pulled apart by TSWAT to serve the Western and Eastern Fronts. It has been five long years before they could meet again here face to face. And circumstances made this their last. Doug tried to make the most of it by keeping alive for as long as possible. He gripped his twin's hand harder, but he began to lose consciousness.
"I see a white light brother….," said Rina weakly, her eyes slowly shutting.
"Sleep well, Rina," replied Doug as she loosened her grip of her hand. Doug shed a tear for he lost his beloved younger sister. The tear was black. He turned and looked up to the sky. The sky was raining dirt. He smiled as he remembered the short time he spent with his newly-wedded wife, from when they were proclaimed husband and wife to the only night they were together in bed before his departure.
"Sorry I can't keep my promise………Madeline….," mumbled Doug before closing his eyes.
The German sky was very grey. A tree with its bare branches stuck out like the only living thing in the area. The news of the Chicago nuke reached the Europe hours after it went off. Maddie, watching the news in the mansion where the team used to live, got worried. James and Yee Lin had left for the Alps, leaving Maddie and Vespin behind in the mansion. Then the sound of a car parking outside the house and people exiting the vehicle were heard. She walked out and saw a man in military uniform walking towards the door. A few of his black-clad bodyguards stood by the vehicle. Vespin came and stood behind her.
"Is there something wrong?" Vespin inquired. The man just took the cap off from his head as if he was mourning. Maddie collapsed at the gesture. Vespin could do nothing but began sobbing and catching Maddie from her fall. She fell to her knees and hugged Maddie tightly to comfort her as she wailed. The man too knelt by them and consoled them for what has happened.
Weeks later, Nationalist America has fallen after the invasion of the nothern states. The military retaliated against the fascist government, moving in to capture the president himself. With his loyalist soldiers dead and the military closing in on him, he took a cyanide pill and killed himself. His other loyalists were captured, then tried in a democratic way. They were tried for their war crimes against all codes of conduct; so many that the new American government decided to execute them than giving them lifetime imprisonment. Surprisingly, when the time came for electing a new senator for America, General Toby Anderson took office and began reconstructing America to the way it was, before the war. In the next election eight years later, Terry McCormick won the elections and took office, crediting his experiences of his life to Commander Douglas Kreig.
(10 years later)
Peace has resettled in the world. The world has been united under one federation; 'The United Earth'. The world began its massive reconstruction effort since the end of the war and slowly returning to its pre-war state. The cities that have been nuked have been reconstructed with a different map compared to its pre-war state, and with the word 'New' added to its original name. The location where the United Nations used to stand before the Nationalists annexed it had been used as a memorial for the billions that died in the war.
At New Berlin, at the epicenter of the blast, what constructed was a huge public space called 'The six heroes of the German Republic'. The big public area had a stone carving of the Iron Cross with German inscriptions about the many people that have been lost in this terrible war. And surrounding the monument in a circumference was six statues of the heroes of the German republic; two of which was Douglas and Rina Kreig. Both the statues showed both of them holding their national flag and looking sadly upwards towards the German sky; some people said it was the expression of them bearing the pain of the German people. On its opening day, the Senator of America and teammate of Douglas Kreig till the end of the war, Terry McCormick, with other world leaders initiated the opening of the public space. After an hour long honorary speech by the German Senator and Terry, Terry went to the statue of Douglas Kreig and left a bouquet of flowers on the pedestal. He touched the pedestal, his head down; and hidden from public view, he cried.
On the outskirts of New London, in the Pendragon family house, Yulie helped her younger sister Arthuria, to take care of her only son, the son of the deceased Ivan Gredenko, who died just weeks at the Washington DC front after he met her from the Chicago campaign. The child came running into the kitchen when Yulie was washing the dishes from dinner they just had.
"Ivan! Ivan! Come back here! Don't disturb auntie in the kitchen!" yelled Arthuria from the living room. Yulie set the dishes in the sink and stared at the little child of ten. The child was frozen in his tracks.
"Ivan, what did I say about the kitchen?" asked Yulie in a very scary tone. The child got scared.
"Not to run in the kitchen," replied the kid.
"Good boy, now go back to mommy," said Yulie. The child left the kitchen slowly.
"Thanks, Yulie!" called Arthuria from the kitchen. Yulie just sighed and looked out to the window. It started to snow.
At Okinawa, Japan, a car drove on the winding road that hugged the hillside. It was a very clear day. A little girl with a Eurasian look and dark brown hair at the age of ten was belted to her seat at the back of the car, looking out to the sea.
"Auntie Vespin, the sea looks beautiful," said the girl.
"Yes Enma, it sure is," replied Vespin, her black hair slightly longer than it was ten years ago.
"Are we there yet?" asked the girl.
"Not yet, sweetheart. Just a few more minutes," replied Vespin. Enma pouted. Vespin took a glance at the back mirror and laughed at Enma's cute pout. They stopped at a flight of stairs leading up towards a hill. Vespin got out and opened the back door for Enma to come out. Clutching her hand, they walked up the flight of steps and reached a family tomb. There waited Maddie and another girl that looked like Enma.
"Shirley!" exclaimed Enma as she reached out to Shirley and hugged her. Both the girls giggled as they played along the small observation point of the tomb. Vespin and Maddie could just smile.
"They're becoming more and more like their father," commented Vespin. Maddie could just agree. It has been ten years since his death, but his actions was still fresh in Maddie's mind, all reminded by the little girls that she gave birth to.
"Oh, I almost forgot," said Vespin, taking out an envelope containing photographs of their tour of New Berlin last year. Maddie checked the photographs and found one that appeals to her most and set it on the tomb. It was a picture of her and the twins, standing next to the statue of the man she loved most; the man she'd married to.
"Look honey, they've built a statue of you in Berlin. Our little girls are growing up and becoming just like you. I…….miss you," said Maddie, with tears filling her eyes. Vespin could just put a hand on her shoulder, consoling her. Maddie wiped the tears off her eyes and looked at her children.
"Enma, Shirley, do you have anything to say to daddy and auntie Rina?" asked Maddie. The two girls stepped forward and stood in front of the tomb.
"Daddy, please take care of mommy and us on our journey through life. Also auntie Rina as well," said the girls said in unison. Maddie and Vespin smiled.
"Come on, girls. Let's go home," announced Maddie. It was getting late as the sun sinks into the ocean. The twins took a glimpse of the sunset before leaving with their mother.
"Aww, how cute. They asked you to look after her and me," commented Rina. Douglas let out a laugh.
"Ha ha, yeah. They've grown so fast. So sad that I can't see them by myself," replied Doug. Rina inched closer to Doug and held his hand.
"Come brother, let's see the sunset," she invited Doug. They both turned to the sun that was setting into the ocean. A leaf flew by and they both disappeared from view.
"Who would've thought the Otonashis eavesdropped on the conversation between Arthuria and Rina?"
When my time comes,
Forget the wrong that I've done,
Help me leave behind some,
Reasons to be missed.
Don't resent me,
And when you're feeling empty,
Keep me in your memory,
Leave out all the rest.
Leave out all the rest…
"Leave out all the rest" by Linkin' Park
"When you're feeling lonely or helpless, remember; friends are there for you." Douglas Kreig, Commander of TSWAT 1st Alpha team.
THE END
A/N: I do not own Saya, Diva and Kai(Blood+, Production IG), Arthuria Pendragon(Fate/StayNight, Type Moon), Peach(Mario), and Kairi and Namine (Kingdom Hearts, Square Enix) and they all belong to their respective owners. It has been a journey and I hope you enjoy it.