Himeko set down the cup in her hand, and smiled.
"Don't be shy," she said, gesturing to the cup on the table, still untouched and sitting neatly atop its saucer. "There's plenty more where that came from."
"T-thank you," the lady sitting across her said, apprehension dripping from every syllable.
Strangers aboard the Express were nothing new. If anything, it had become a common sight nowadays, especially after their latest silver-haired member (who had a strange knack for making new friends) joined.
"No need to be nervous," Himeko assured her. "Everyone gets a little overwhelmed when they first come aboard the Astral Express."
"Huh? Oh, um, yes," the lady said, picking up the cup as though she were handling a giant spider. "I-I was just intimidated by the train. Certainly."
Taking a sip of Himeko's signature coffee, she grimaced, but refused to back down. Plunging in for another sip, her whole body convulsed as though an electric shock had run through her nervous system. To the untrained eye, this may have come off as some sort of torture or interrogation.
"Not a fan of bitter stuff?" Himeko surmised, taking a sip of her own. "It's okay. We have cream and sugars too."
"It's okay," the lady replied. "It's... unique, in its own way."
In the corner of her eye, the lady sitting across Himeko saw a trio of strangers (one with silver hair, one with pink hair, and one with black hair) barely hiding behind a couch, talking in hushed tones. Her intuition told her that they were making bets about how many sips she could withstand before passing out, and made a mental note to beat some common decency into them later. If she was still conscious, at any rate.
"But... this sure is a nice place," she said. "You travel across the galaxy, visiting new places... You must have many stories to tell."
"You could say that," Himeko nodded. "The path of the Trailblaze takes us through lots of uncharted paths. There really is never a dull moment."
"Do you have fun?" the lady asked.
"I wonder," Himeko replied, looking down at her own reflection in the surface of her drink. "There're a lot of things to worry about, too."
"Oh?"
"We've all left behind a lot of things to take on this journey," Himeko elaborated. "Places we'll likely never return to... People we may never meet again... But that's just how it is. Plus there's the dangers that come with walking paths no one's ever walked before. You never know when someone may get hurt or worse."
Himeko paused. There had been no lies in her words, but what surprised her was how forthcoming she was with sharing this information. And with a stranger, no less.
"That's why you're there, isn't it?" the lady asked. "You're here to take care of everyone and make sure they come back safe."
"I wouldn't say that," Himeko chuckled. "Everyone here can take care of themselves... for the most part," she added, as a loud sound rang out from behind her. It sounded like a metal can being knocked over, and with Pom Pom's angry scolding voice following it, she could hazard a guess what had just occurred. "Plus, I have Welt to help me shepherd these kids."
"Welt?"
"Oh, right. He's another member of the Express," Himeko explained. "He's one of the more mature members, so he helps me with more complicated problems, like negotiations with new planets and so on. He's nifty to have around."
"Sounds like you're one big family," the lady smiled. "That's great."
"Are you... okay?"
"Huh?" the lady asked, touching a finger to her cheek, where a glistening trail flowed from her eyes. "Oh, sorry... Watching you guys just made me remember some things..."
Wiping the tears from her eyes, the lady turned to look out the window, at the sea of stars beyond its panes.
"I... had some friends I had to say goodbye to," she said. "I didn't want to. I'm sure they didn't want to, either. But sometimes, life just... gets in the way, you know? And now I don't think I'll ever see them again."
"I see," Himeko said. "You're also trailblazing your own path, it seems."
"You could say that," the lady replied. "Sometimes, I wonder if this was all worth it. We can't suspend time, so all we can do is leave the past behind and move on, but... Sometimes, all I ever wanted was to stay in the moment, you know?"
"I get that," Himeko said.
"There's always a longer road ahead," the lady continued. "So long I don't think I can see the end. And when you can't see the end, you start to wonder how much longer you have to keep walking... Or if you're lost."
Himeko nodded, without saying a word. She couldn't quite place it, but it felt like the lady before her had been talking to her, yet to herself at the same time. Whichever the case was, it did not feel right to interrupt.
"But then, whenever I'm feeling lost, I remember the people who helped me walk this far," the lady went on. "They used to pull me along, but they're no longer around... Despite that, I feel them pushing me foward now and then. Is that weird?"
"Not at all," Himeko replied. "In fact, I get what you mean. In one of our more recent trips, we went to Penacony, the land of dreams. There, we came face to face with the memories of one of our older members. He'd long sinced passed, but... it never felt like his will had diminished. And I guess in a way, it still lives on."
Himeko turned to look at the Trailblazer running past them, being chased by Pom Pom wielding a broom, yelling about putting thier feet on the couch. Chasing after them was March 7th, yelling something about a pudding. Bringing up the rear was Dan Heng, adding on to the list of crimes by saying something about eating a piece of cloth.
"I guess they all felt it, too," she said, smiling as she looked at the Trailblazer blocking Pom Pom's broom with a trash can lid. Aeon knows where they found something like that, but she hoped it was at least cleaned properly. "It's especially true for those of us who follow the path of Trailblaze, but... it's important to feel the bonds we've been left with, even if those we forged those bonds with are no longer with us."
"You're right," the lady said. "After all, with all the things we've been left with... We have to live up to their expectations, right?"
"Certainly," Himeko nodded. "I guess you've already found your answer, then."
"You could say that," the lady replied. "It's not like I've never looked back, but every time I do, I see their faces... and think about everything they gave up for my sake. So of course, I have the responsibility of carrying all their hopes on my shoulders, you know?"
"Even so, you shouldn't lose track of who you are," Himeko said, surprising herself with how serious she sounded. "Even if you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, that's no reason to not seek your own happiness, you know?"
The lady opened her mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Instead, she looked down and smiled, almost to herself, as a faint blush colored her cheeks.
"That's just like you," she said.
"... Huh?" Himeko asked.
"I should get going," the lady said, rising to her feet and placing the cup back on the table. "Thank you for the coffee. It was great."
Before Himeko could process her confusion, the lady had disappeared, as though she had never been present. Setting down her own cup, Himeko turned to look out the window, as though the endless stars across the vast cosmos would clear her head.
"Oh..." she mumbled. "I forgot to ask for her name."
"Leaving so soon?"
The lady paused, as a familiar voice greeted her ears. Turning around, she came face to face with a spectacled man with brown hair, one who looked far younger than his years suggested.
"Well, I've always been one to rush everywhere," she chuckled.
"And yet you were somehow always late for classes," Welt sighed.
"What can I say?" she replied. "I know how to make an entrance."
"That you do," Welt nodded. She could tell the look in his eyes softening, as he continued to look at her. "How to make an exit, too."
"Gotta start strong and finish strong, right?" she asked, giving him a cheeky grin before it, too, faded into a melancholic smile. "Take care of her, okay?"
"I will," Welt replied. "You take care of yourself, too."
"I'll try," she chuckled. "I was never good at passing your tests, after all."
"I'm sure you'll manage now," Welt said. "You've really grown up."
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. A strange lump had found its way lodged in her throat, and heat burned at the corner of her eyes.
But she endured. She endured a second wave of tears, like how she had endured all the pain she had to experience up to this point.
Because if nothing else, she didn't want this moment to end in sadness.
Like a wish upon a shooting star, this moment, too, will pass. This encounter, this conversation... all of it will disappear into the sands of time, scattered across the cosmos into the emptiness of eternity. But now... Right now, in this moment... all of it lasted forever in her eyes.
She had an eternity's worth of things to say to them. But at the end of it all, this moment was the only miracle allowed to her. With that in mind, she chose, amongst all the possible things she could say...
"See you," she said, a warm trail of tears down her face as she managed a wide, cheery smile.
Watching her vanish out the door of the Express, Welt silently stood on the spot, gazing at the door as though she would come back. As though she would return as though nothing had happened. But he knew that, as with many other things in life, it was not to be.
"Farewell, Kiana," he said.