Three days later after the Kathuz City incident, an Aries-wide establishment of a new governmental community involving the Seraphians took into immediate effect following the Jester's maniacal rule. News broadcasts, podcasts, interviews, hoaxes, and worldwide spread commenced throughout Aries and Earth, desperately searching for those responsible for threatening the underground with the plague. Evidence of the Seething Vipers organization surfaced on Aries, condemning their actions and blaming them for the destruction of Kathuz City.
Social media posts sided with the ones who saved Kathuz City, but their names were completely concealed from the public. Celebrities, bloggers, and word of mouth continued to spread worldwide in only three days.
However, nothing would go unfinished, for there was a much bigger mystery behind the scenes.
It was early afternoon in Aries. Amid a busy airport, one particular individual planned to return to the past to clear up the mess that others had made underneath her skin. Dressed in a puffy tropical orange sweater with long black tight jeans, Natia held her briefcase full of accessories, gifts, and police equipment up an escalator with people rushing to their flight zones or purchasing tickets. Human and alien families and children rushed past her, until one little girl slipped and fell, dropping her plush doll beside her.
Natia kneeled and handed the girl's doll to her, responding with a light smile. The girl waved at Natia and laughed, thanking her with mere giggles. Natia stood back up and approached one of the ticket generator machines, purchasing a one-seated flight to Iran. She pulled back from the ticket machine and ascended another flight of escalators, providing her badge to the security guards when they checked her luggage.
She only had ten minutes to spare before she would go on her flight. How long, she thought, she never really knew. But the one thing that bothered her was how no one had come to see her off. The airport was filled with families planning to fly with one another, families cherishing and cheering to see their loved ones returning, and tourists planning fun-filled vacations that would last them weeks or months. She was the only odd one out who did not have anyone besides the others.
After taking a seat on a blue chair, Natia took out her smartphone and checked her texts. The last time Saki had texted her was two days ago, and ever since she texted to inform her that she would be going on a trip with an unknown return date, she never responded. She checked through all of her texts and no one even managed to shoot her a text of luck, supporting her decision to return to the past to improve it for her surviving family.
Disappointed by her decision, she placed her smartphone away and stood up from her seat. A young agile little boy suddenly leaped over her chair and snatched her suitcase by the handle, stealing it and making a run for it. Without any security guards around, Natia took matters into her hand. She chased after the little boy down the hallway, following the agile child through a series of corners into a small shopping district built inside the airport.
By the time she turned the corner into the shopping district, Natia's eyes gleamed in utter shock. Jinrai, Claire, Weiss, Saki, Saki's grandmother, and her stepfather Rux stood in a horizontal line adorned in comfortable casual clothing baiting her arrival. Natia stood completely still like a statue, speechless at how jovial she was at the moment.
"SURPRISE!" They all cried out in unison, jumping in the air. Saki's grandmother screenshotted photos of Natia and the rest of them rushing toward her to celebrate her going off.
"NATIA!" Saki cried. She was the first to shoot herself toward Natia, embracing her in a deep affectionate hug. Her blue ponytail and side bangs tickled Natia's short black hair. She rubbed her head against her shoulder. "I'm sorry I didn't text you back! I really wanted to, but the others were like, noooo, wait for the surprise! And I'm like, screw that! But then Claire's really cute sister was all like, if you don't wait, then I'll never hang out with you anymore!"
"Hey, hey," Natia said, calming Saki down with a pat on the shoulder. "It's all right. I get it."
"But, but, hey!" Saki said, handing over a pastel-colored animal-themed cute cloth bag full of confetti, chocolates, and Japanese capsule toys. "I got you this cute goodie bag. It's full of stuff that you will totally need in Iran. That place is super hot, by the way! You shouldn't go around wearing that sweater there! Did you pack an extra set of clothes? Should my grandma make you another one?"
"Uhh... dude," Weiss voiced out, annoyed by Saki's pelting questions. "Let the girl breathe."
"I... should... be fine," Natia replied, laughing at her hyperactivity.
"Okay, Saki, Natia!" Saki's grandmother called, holding up a smartphone camera toward them. "Say cheese!"
Saki spun around, wrapped her arm around Natia's arm, who reserved it in her sweater pocket, and held up a peace sign for the snapshot. Natia, who was unsure of how to react, only expressed surprise and confusion toward the camera. "Cheese!" Saki said as the camera snapshotted their silly expressions. "Okay, let me see, let me see!" Saki said, diving toward her grandmother to review the photos.
"They have a lot of energy, that's for sure," Jinrai said, holding Claire's hand. "Now you're heading off, making a big step. It's awesome."
Claire nodded. "Sorry about the whole 'element of surprise thing'," She indicated, pointing at the child who stole Natia's briefcase. He was playing with Weiss. "That's my little brother. Rai hired him as a plan to surprise you."
"Hey, you have a robo-arm now!" Natia exclaimed, looking at Jinrai's newly acquired left arm. "And it looks just like Claire's. You two are matching now, just like I called it!"
"She forced me to do it," Jinrai said. Claire rolled her eyes. "Hey, I was the one who thought that walking around with no arm would be a badass move, but Nah, she insisted I had to do it. And it's romantic. Guess I saw the light in it after all." He chuckled, placing his robotic arm on his waist.
"Natia," Rux called for her, separate from the group of visitors. Jinrai and Claire returned to Weiss, Saki, and the others to glance over their photos of Natia's cute and surprised reaction. Natia moved to her stepfather, embarrassed and unaware of what decision her stepfather would say about her return to Iran. After all, she had not told him of her departure, which is exactly what she predicted he would say. "Why didn't you tell me you were going home?"
Natia sighed, looking down at her goodie bag. "I didn't want you to worry." She admitted.
"Well, of course, I'm going to worry!" Rux expressed, laughing at Natia's response. "I haven't seen you ever since you went on that dangerous mission! And have you been losing weight? You need to eat more. And what are you wearing-"
"Dad, Dad," Natia interrupted. "It's okay. Just relax."
Rux sighed and gently nudged Natia's shoulder. However, after coming face to face with Natia by his side, he moved closer to her and hugged her with all his might. Natia suddenly remembered Ryo's words at the commercial district, explaining to her that she had a father all along and that she should treasure it while she could. Because of that, Natia dropped her goodie bag and wrapped her arms around him.
"I love you, Natia," Rux admitted, holding her arms and looking deeply into her eyes. Wrinkles surfaced around his forehead and nose as he grinned at her. "Your old man is here for you, and I support you on your journey home. I just want you to be happy and safe. And-"
After hearing his words, Natia hugged her stepfather again. "I love you, Dad," She said, accepting him as her true father. She remembered the first details that led to her being adopted by Rux, but she chose to conceal it after the others approached her from behind. Natia turned around and graciously smiled for their arrival and appearance to support her. "I'm bad at looking happy. But... thank you all. I'm so happy you all came to see me. I... I thought I would be alone."
"My dear Natia, you're never alone," Rux said. "We are always here for you."
"Yeah!" Saki cheered.
"Yaaaaay." Weiss groaned.
After scanning her eyes across the group, she realized that something was missing. She looked at Jinrai. "Wait, where's... Ryo?" She asked.
"What, he didn't text you?" Jinrai asked.
Natia's heart sunk to the bottom of her stomach, losing a gradual sense of almost everything that she had worked for to achieve a positive emotional state in her life. She sighed and looked around the shopping district for him, but he was not there. "No. He didn't. I told him I was leaving too, but he never replied."
"Wow," Weiss groaned sarcastically. "He must really care about you. Jackass."
"Hey, it's okay," Claire said, touching Natia's shoulder and picking up her goodie bag. "Wherever he is, I'm sure he's happy that you're going on your own to help your family. He might be busy, who knows."
"Flight 301 boarding zone opens in five minutes," A woman from the airport's intercom called to signal Natia's flight. "Flight 301 boarding zone opens in five minutes. Please make your way to the line and have a safe flight."
"Oh," Jinrai said, grabbing Natia's suitcase. "There it is. We'll walk you to the zone."
"Y-yeah..." Natia stammered, following the group behind as they walked out of the shopping district.
The elongated hallway toward the Flight 301 zone was not far off from where they stood. Natia took miniature steps, falling behind on purpose after realizing that Ryo was not coming. She placed her sweat-soaked palms and fingers on top of each other, wrestling with them in restlessness. It was not until her somber attitude prevented her from moving. She clumsily and awkwardly stood in the middle of the hallway as other airport guests passed by her.
Saki took notice of Natia's pause and informed the others about it. She turned back and approached Natia until they were arm's distance away. "Natia? Are you okay?" She asked.
Natia shook her head, shrouding her eyes. She hid her mouth underneath her sweater collar, not wanting the others to see her mouth wriggling and twitching in anguish. She sniffled mucus down her throat while putting her feet together, brown boots clacking together. Her breathing cycle weakened, panting as she clutched her hands together even tighter. She finally revealed her face to the others, breaking it down into pieces. An overload of tears streamed down her face, landing on her fluffy sweater and absorbing it all.
"N-No..." Her high-pitched whimper was riddled with innocence and denial. "I don't want to go. I don't want to go without seeing Ryo."
"Heh. That rhymed." Weiss said.
"Shut up," Jinrai whispered.
Saki approached Natia and held her closely. Natia sobbed and breathed erratically now that she had someone to hold. Her blotchy eyes rubbed against Saki's neck, quavering her voice aloud as she could not cease her grief-stricken mentality. Her memories of his words and his face welled up in her chest, weighing down against it. She babbled incoherent words as her inaudible cries commenced afterward. The others watched as they were unsure of how to comfort her.
"It's okay," Saki whispered, stroking Natia's black hair. "It's okay, Natia. You'll come back and see Ryo another time! And he'll text you once he's done with his busy work! You still have another time!"
"No other time..." Natia muttered. "No other time..."
"Natia..." Saki said.
"I just wanted to see him," Natia repeated. "Was that... too much to ask for?"
"Speak of the devil." Jinrai abruptly said, approaching Natia to tap her shoulder. He pointed behind her and Saki, aiming at the man that she had been waiting all along to see.
It was Ryo, placing his hands in the pockets of a casual royal blue sweater with a navy blue T-shirt inside. He wore black shorts and Japanese sandals. He held a brown gift bag of his own, wrapped around his shoulder. He locked eyes with Natia as she turned her head around to revel in his sudden arrival.
Natia released her grip on Saki, dropping her goodie bag and rushing toward Ryo down the hallway. Her boots clattered on the tile floors. He walked toward her, completely unaware of what was happening in front of him. He saw Jinrai, Saki, Claire, and the others and realized that he had arrived fashionably late for the surprise that he eavesdropped and overheard prior.
She couldn't see his face from the distance, but she sensed how much she had grown ever since she met Ryo. As she rushed down the hallway, she brushed by past versions of herself standing reservedly and watching her sprint by. One version was the one whose arrogance defined her personality. Another version was one who had just met Ryo, irritated by the Nakai's bloodline. Another version was one who started to open up about her past to him, and another was an injured version at the battle in Kathuz who learned how to grow.
It was now the present, and everything had changed for her. She acknowledged her past self, but she was even more inviting for who she was now.
Half-expecting Natia to attack her for being late, all expectations were dropped when Natia jumped onto him, sliding his goodie bag down his shoulders to cradle him affectionately. Her wettened cheek brushed against his, connecting the two with tears that Ryo couldn't believe came out of her. She locked her chin on top of his shoulder and sniffled rapidly, crying tears of joy with her heart pounding now that he had arrived. Ryo closed his eyes and caressed the back of her hair, surprised to see her reaction.
Natia pushed herself back and stood with a neutral expression. She then dove in and began pinching Ryo in the sides, forcing him to yelp and jump back to protect himself. She continued the pressure as the others approached them from behind.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Shit!" Ryo shouted. "What the hell was that for?!"
"That was for being five minutes late, you douchebag!" Natia whined. "You fucking made me cry!"
"Sorry, I was just... coping with everything for a moment back there," Ryo said.
"Coping with... what?" Natia asked before she exploded in rage once again. "Is that an excuse to-"
"No, it's not an excuse," Ryo said, moving past Natia with his gift bag. She followed him, slipping past the group that observed the two of them moving down the hallway. "It's just hard to see someone go for a time that's not even given. Especially someone like you."
"You... you know I'm coming back," Natia said, placing her hands on her hips. "So, it was an excuse! What kind of stupid-"
"I... I'll miss you," Ryo admitted, gazing deeply into Natia's eyes.
After he did so, Natia shyly looked down at her wrestling palms, flustered by his words. She twisted her waist to the side, unsure of what to say until she came up with something quick. "You better miss me," She said. "Otherwise I'll never come back."
"Hey, before you go, I got you a gift," Ryo said, digging into his small gift bag to pull out an expensive small black box with a jeweled design on it.
"A gift? For me?" Natia asked, examining the box.
The others watched Ryo open the small black box, revealing two matching platinum and golden jewel-encrusted rings with his name etched on one and hers etched on another. He picked up the ring that had his name on it, closed the box, and held it up for Natia to examine. "Hold out your finger." He said.
"Dude..." Weiss muttered.
Natia's jaw dropped. Is he being real with me, right now? It looks like he's about to fucking... propose to me! What the hell is he doing? Is he really giving me a ring right now? All of those multiple thoughts made her blush inhumanely, reaching her index finger out for Ryo to hold.
He placed the ring through her index finger and gently patted it. Ryo then placed the other ring with Natia's name on it on his ring finger and held up the inlay for her to see. "Bond rings," He said, smiling at her. Natia's name was on his. "Cost me quite a bit, but I thought it would be worth it."
"Bond... rings?" Natia asked.
"Yeah," He said. "Since I don't know when you're coming back, I wanted to give you this just to remind us of the vows we made since we met. I said that whenever you needed me, I would be there for you. Well, realistically speaking, since I won't be there in Iran, if you need me, just look down at your ring. You'll see my name and know that I'm there for you."
"Ryo..." Natia whispered, looking down at her jeweled ring. The name "Ryo" was etched on it, and on the opposite side, there was Japanese calligraphy that etched his full name.
"I don't want you to be alone when you're there," Ryo said. "So, when you see your family again, show them this ring and tell them all about the stories that you have. All the fights, all the insults, all the good times. That way, even when you're by yourself, you can remember it too, so you don't ever have to feel alone ever again."
His words entered her heart and resuscitated it to pump it full of life. Her natural reaction was to cry at how beautiful her ring was, but for some odd reason, she began to lightly chuckle and gradually ramped it up into a dramatically evil laugh. She placed her hands on her sides to contain her laughter. Ryo's voice escaped through his throat, unsure of how to respond to her unusual reaction.
"Oh..." Natia wiped the tears off of her uncontrollable laughter. "Sometimes you really can be one corny motherfucker." She said.
"Okay, if you don't want it, I can take it back-" Ryo said, advancing on her.
"No!" Natia shouted, pulling herself back. "I... I like it."
Ryo's eyes lit up, overjoyed to hear her positive response. "I'm..." He stuttered. "I'm glad."
"Then, the same goes for you too!" Natia said.
"Huh?"
"Since I won't be there to cover for your ass in Sunlight, you can look at your ring and you'll see my name on it," She explained, following his exact rehearsing. "That way, whenever you want to call my name, I'll be there too!"
Ryo smiled, proud to see that his gift was appreciated so much. He nodded in understanding and approached Natia with his pinky finger ready to swear another oath. Natia held her pinky finger out and the two crossed pinkies, vowing with each other once more.
"It's a deal," Ryo said.
"Yeah..." Natia replied, pulling back her briefcase.
"Flight 301 is now boarding," The intercom's voice played. "Flight 301 is now boarding. Please make your way to the gate's entrance. Thank you, and have a safe flight."
"There your stop," Ryo said, placing his hands in his pockets. "Guess it's time."
"I guess it is," Natia said.
Instead of moving away to the flight gate, Natia moved her ached legs closer to Ryo, scooting herself until she was in a suitable and comfortable position. She held her breath in and wrapped her sweaty hands around his. An invisible spirit dictated her movements, as could not believe was what she was doing.
Both of their faces were beet red. Natia's sakura and citrus-scented perfume entered his nose. Ryo moved his face even closer to hers until their noses were nearly touching. Their eyes connected as they stared passionately into each other's souls. The idea of them separating apart for an unknown amount of time ruined them. They both knew they did not want it to happen, and they needed more before it was time to depart.
Once, they were enemies.
Now, they were something else much closer.
Natia held her breath and dove in for a warm embrace, releasing her affection for him. Ryo did the same, realizing how much he truly appreciated Natia deep down in his heart. In the center of the hallway, Jinrai, Saki, Claire, and the others watched and basked in its glory, believing it never happened after sensing chemistry between them since the beginning of time.
At the time, their bond was so powerful that even April's memory did not exist. It was not forgotten, but rather deferred.
The two of them held their single embrace, clutching each other's waists. Natia took his assumption about being unable to love with a guilty and broken heart and shattered it completely. He couldn't even contemplate why someone like her would embrace him. Was it love, or was it a sign of friendship to accept their vows, he asked himself.
Ryo ran his fingers through Natia's delicate hair like silk, stroking parts of her glistened neck in the process. His left hand smoothly caressed Natia's exposed left shoulder, tickling her sweater. Natia wrapped her hands around Ryo's waist and radiated heat from her darkened cheeks, transferring all of her warmth through their bodies. The generated heat from their bodies only made them want to stay longer.
It was no longer a vow of promises, but a vow of a deep affectionate bond.
Only, this sight was the true form of Ryo and Natia linked together for the first time. Their first meeting didn't seem to matter anymore; everything from now and onward was a new beginning. Their fates intertwined with one another, as they promised each other to see the future together and to experience it for themselves.
Ryo and Natia released each other from their grasp, shocked to see it happening for the first time. Their rings twinkled in the daylight, indicating that their lives were about to change now that they had released their true feelings and devotion for one another. They relished in the eyes of each other once more, entranced by their allure and captivating nature before Natia whispered in his ear.
"See you later." She said.
Ryo lost his breath the moment she chose to whisper in his ear. Still shocked by their actions, he nodded. "See you." He whispered back.
The two of them took a step back and coughed to clear their throats. Natia's eyebrows raised themselves as she gently swayed side to side, grabbing the handle of her suitcase. She rushed toward the gate where Flight 301 was, turning back and waving at Ryo and the others for a final goodbye. Saki and her grandmother bawled and sneezed through tissues. Before she officially entered the gate, she gave Ryo one final subtle wave before disappearing.
Jinrai approached Ryo from behind and patted him on the shoulder, commending him for how smooth and courageous he was to kiss Natia. Instead of mentioning it, he changed the subject. "We've got a long week ahead of us, Ryo Nakai," He mentioned. "Time to pay Rose Accel and April Springwell a visit."
"Yeah," Ryo said, nodding in satisfaction. He followed Jinrai back to the ground, hoping Natia had a safe and steady journey. "Hope the others are okay."
"Oh, don't worry. Seira and Goro will be just fine with them..." Jinrai anticipated, returning to Claire and the others. "If anything, they might learn a thing or two, just like you learned from me."
"So, are you guys like, dating or something?" Weiss asked as they moved together in a pack.
Before Flight 301 took off, Natia gazed out the small plane's window after placing her briefcase in a safe area. She placed wireless earbuds on and drowned herself in light alternative music. She could see a reflection of herself through the window, overjoyed to see that she was taking her first step toward becoming independent and optimistic. She blinked again and witnessed a reflection of Ryo by her side, twinkling in her bond ring present.
She rubbed her ring with her fingers and closed her eyes.
"Natia... whatever happens to us, dear..." Her father's voice echoed through her ears despite her music playing. "We will always love you no matter what."
"Be better than us, Natia," Her mother insisted. "Be strong."
Natia opened her eyes as the plane ascended the skies, smiling at her family's words that she had suppressed for eternity. Ryo watched through the window from a distance, placing his hands in his sweater pocket and admiring how she managed to take a step forward in her life.
Together, as one.