[With a smooth forward glide, Messer steers the fighter forward and off the runway, warping through the gate the way they always did when out on a mission. As Ragna - and the beach - appears on the horizon, a memory overtakes their view.]
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After years of refusing nearly every attempt of hers to invite him to join her, Messer asks Kaname to watch the jellyfish with him, and she immediately accepts. He's surprised by this, though he knows he should not be. She's always been kinder to him than he to her, though his slights had never been intended to hurt her. Over the last few days he's been reviewing his life choices the same way he'd reviewed flight paths and combat decisions- what he'd done right, what he'd done wrong, how he could have done everything differently. He's... found a lot of flaws, in retrospect. Gained a lot of perspective.
It doesn't really matter, ultimately. What's done is done. All he should be focusing on now is how to live going forward.
She comments on the lights, and it's true, the sky is beautiful as the jellyfish float and dance. He'd watched this in previous years from the base or his room, but the experience is quite different up close. It's far more personal. He's suddenly aware of how close she is to him, what this event represents. What it implies, to those watching, for him to have asked her here.
He does not comment on that. He's here for her, not the festival. Quietly he removes his bracelet and offers it out to her, watching as she recognizes the track saved on it. Walkure has plenty of songs, but none have ever left an impact on him quite like that one. None have saved his life the way AXIA did, the way her voice did.
There are so many things he'd like to tell her, if he had the strength, or the time, or the freedom to do so. But he's leaving soon. Their lives will no longer be intertwined in the same way. To do that now, to ask anything of her now, would be… cruel. Instead he tells her the truth: that she saved his life, that she gave him a second chance. That he's grateful for what she did for him.
He doesn't tell her everything, but… he hopes it'll be enough. If she stays safe, even without him, and maybe if she thinks about him every now and then, he'll be satisfied.
She deserves so much better.
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[The light of the jellyfish flash in the sky a few more times until the world bleeds to black. When light returns, they're back on the runway, and there's an uncomfortable exhale of breath from the front seat.]
ragna
After years of refusing nearly every attempt of hers to invite him to join her, Messer asks Kaname to watch the jellyfish with him, and she immediately accepts. He's surprised by this, though he knows he should not be. She's always been kinder to him than he to her, though his slights had never been intended to hurt her. Over the last few days he's been reviewing his life choices the same way he'd reviewed flight paths and combat decisions- what he'd done right, what he'd done wrong, how he could have done everything differently. He's... found a lot of flaws, in retrospect. Gained a lot of perspective.
It doesn't really matter, ultimately. What's done is done. All he should be focusing on now is how to live going forward.
She comments on the lights, and it's true, the sky is beautiful as the jellyfish float and dance. He'd watched this in previous years from the base or his room, but the experience is quite different up close. It's far more personal. He's suddenly aware of how close she is to him, what this event represents. What it implies, to those watching, for him to have asked her here.
He does not comment on that. He's here for her, not the festival. Quietly he removes his bracelet and offers it out to her, watching as she recognizes the track saved on it. Walkure has plenty of songs, but none have ever left an impact on him quite like that one. None have saved his life the way AXIA did, the way her voice did.
There are so many things he'd like to tell her, if he had the strength, or the time, or the freedom to do so. But he's leaving soon. Their lives will no longer be intertwined in the same way. To do that now, to ask anything of her now, would be… cruel. Instead he tells her the truth: that she saved his life, that she gave him a second chance. That he's grateful for what she did for him.
He doesn't tell her everything, but… he hopes it'll be enough. If she stays safe, even without him, and maybe if she thinks about him every now and then, he'll be satisfied.
She deserves so much better.
[The light of the jellyfish flash in the sky a few more times until the world bleeds to black. When light returns, they're back on the runway, and there's an uncomfortable exhale of breath from the front seat.]