001. every reunion is a type of heaven // open post.

[kawaakari]

Take a prompt, take your time, post whatever you like.

Comments

[atlas_shrugged]

We saw Jotunheim, Ma'am. [ A beat ] Jotunheim and the last moments of Brothers Kuzunoha and Yamazaki before they were overrun.

[kawaakari]

Ah.

[Her voice has grown soft at that point. Understandably so, because she fought alongside Makoto and Kaien. She watched them grow up, in a way. She watched them help her son, help the Vigil.

She also had to bury them, or what little there was left of them to bury.]

That must have been... difficult.

Is that her faaaacial expression now??uwu

[atlas_shrugged]

[ He notes her voice go soft. He doesn't pry. They must've been close. Zangyaku is family. ]

They gave the order for everyone to leave. That they'd buy time for everyone to get out safely. [ Great sacrifice. A pause. Pregnant with sadness and respect. ] He gave a scared child a tiny, dancing doll he'd made to comfort her. [ Compassion and kindness ]

Pretty much, yeah. Lol

[kawaakari]

That does sound like something he would do.

[It's so Kaien Yamazaki, in fact, that it's a little painful, because hearing about that makes her remember all of the other little things that he used to do around Seigi, and whenever they happened to be on the engagement. Stories. Echoes.]

I heard from the few who managed to witness a bit of his last stand with Makoto that the two of them had fought splendidly.

[A part of her wishes that she could have seen it, or stood by them. Perhaps if she and a few others had been available, they wouldn't have had to die that way.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ Then he's as incredible a man as An'yu told Brig he was. A man Brigade would like to be like. ]

Did he do those kinds of things often, Ma'am? Small gestures, great gifts?

[ Brig nods at her last statement. An'yu told him that news as well. Two men against insurmountable odds. A veritable two-man Thermopylae. ]

[kawaakari]

[She nods with a tiny smile.]

He was a man of action before he was anything else. He learned the words later, and he used them well.

[Then, with a small chuckle:]

I suppose befriending my son helped, in that direction.

[atlas_shrugged]

Brother Hikaru's a talker. [ Brig smiles softly ] And it rubs off people easily.

Brother Yamazaki hadn't always been the giver we saw in the vision, before he met Brother?

[kawaakari]

He was. There was a time, however, when his heart was crushed and his resolve broken. We were worried that he would remain that way.

[Taking more of her drink now.]

[atlas_shrugged]

Would it be all right if I asked you to tell me more about it, Ma'am?

[ Kaien sounds like a man who soldiered through much and became all the better for it. Brig would like to at least know his story, if he never gets the chance to meet him alive ]

[kawaakari]

That's a story best told by Hikaru, actually. He was the one who saw Kaien through it.

[And she, Makoto, Feranen, and all the rest were eternally grateful.]

Have you met his sister? She is still alive.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ And so Brig will ask Hikaru about it. But that last bit is very much news to Brigade ]

I didn't even know he had a living relative, Ma'am. I'd be very much glad to meet her.

[kawaakari]

She is usually in Hirato. [That was Zangyaku's power base in Kyoto.] She is the Lady of the Night there.

[And she was rather close to retirement. Understandable, given how old she was.]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ A living relative. News on Kaien would hopefully be welcomed by her. ]

If I'm permitted, perhaps I can go visit her, Ma'am. When things are less busy.

[kawaakari]

That's a possibility. I can also let you know if she drops by Seigi, and ask Kalika to inform you if she comes to Kibo.

[Kanna is still one of the best Whisperers they have, and she was always willing to train new batches.]

[atlas_shrugged]

I would like that very much, Ma'am.

[ He means it.

He pauses and takes a sip of his sake. And takes a puff of his cigarette ]

How have you been? [ He smiles at her ] It's been a while.

[kawaakari]

I have been fine, all things considered. It has been rather interesting down here as of late, but few are aware of the fact that things could be much worse.

[And she's weathered THOSE storms. This is nothing.]

[atlas_shrugged]

I do recall you mentioning to me before that there's a lot of much bigger trouble out there. [ Months before ]

I hope they haven't been too interesting [ With a dash of how Hikaru says it ] or too difficult to manage.

[kawaakari]

Not at all. We are the generation that faced another full-scale war with the Exarchs, one of the Gentry, and the Destroyer of Worlds before the Darkest Vigil happened.

[A light shrug.]

Whatever does not work out immediately always works out eventually.

[atlas_shrugged]

[ On her last statement ] And we just have to soldier forward until they do.

[ A sip of his sake ] I'm glad and sad at the same time that I missed out on those.

[kawaakari]

[Lifting a playful eyebrow at.]

It is nothing to be sad about, in my opinion. It is dangerous for one to start enjoying the romance of the battlefield.

[atlas_shrugged]

A few months ago, Ma'am, I admit I would have been guilty of that.

[ It's pretty much all he's ever known. Deep inside all the "Fight the Good Fight", which was true as well, there was always "The Fight's all I've known. I was built for war." ]

But really I'm just sad that if things had turned out different, I may have met all of you sooner.

[ He really means that. His love and appreciation for the presence of every one he's met in the few months since he joined the Pax Deorum Conspiraces. And how they've changed him. ]

Joining the fight: Not for the fight. But to lift what little weight I could have and maybe have helped save some one or two lives. [ And gotten to know you all before all the shit you had to go through ]

[kawaakari]

[Now that is a marked change, indeed. The intrigue shows on Kasumi's face as she's watching him, but it eases off with a smile. A genuine one.]

Well, what is past is past. What matters now is that you are here with us, and perhaps it was meant to be that way.

[Who knows? If he had been around sooner, would he really have been able to help?]

[atlas_shrugged]

[ He smiles ] Yeah, no point on dwelling on what-ifs. [ Books on the Chaos Theory and time-travel come to mind. A slight change anywhere, can change everything ] Just keep walking forward, right?

[kawaakari]

To a point, anyway. One always leads to learn when one must stop.

[It's an art that not many have come even close to perfecting, or even getting good at.]

[atlas_shrugged]

I'll keep that in mind, Ma'am. [ Brig nods, taking in her words. He takes a sip of his sake. ] I mean, there's no point walking off a cliff. But it's always good to keep walking home.