*
"Hey Myuu, what is your dream?" (Kaori)
A slightly sly but exuberant smile adorns her face as she finished her question, her complexion vibrant as her gaze full of life, as if the world was reborn anew and she was the vortex of that beauty. This question, of course, bore a lot of significance to this couple.
"... Fufu~ Perhaps a housewife? Ah, but I'd leave cooking in your hands, I'll only clean and nothing else..." (Myuu)
Blush like apple red rose creeps over her cheeks, but her lips don't lose composure and she powers through the embarrassment. Kaori was flattered, but this wasn't the time to back down! Her heart rate increased, beating loudly and clamorously over her thoughts, pushing her to speak faster.
"Hey! I-it was a serious question. Of course, it's also to bring back nostalgia. My dream hasn't changed one bit, which might be reason enough to say I haven't grown mentally since then.
But I also felt like I experienced so much that they can no longer be taken away. Experiences that would affect my choices in the future. " (Kaori)
" Hahah... How silly. Then you can say I changed a lot since I have a new dream! It's to be someone like you, someone who could love magical girls like you and enjoy your own existence this much!
But I wouldn't say my decision making is any different from before. Sure I might have more options now, but the process and essence is ultimately the same.
It's not the ambiguous and incoherent dreams I had before. It's grounded firmly into reality since my ideal is always standing in front of me, and is also so kind to me. " (Myuu)
Ah... What is this good mood going on? I can sense Myuu's mum right outside this room, twitching around and finding it hard to enter... But I'm glad. It's been a day since, there are 5 days left until the Life festival. To think that these sorts of small moments would be more common from now on, maybe it's heaven?
Perhaps it's because she was semi-retired, but Kaori began to be more conscious about such moments. With more idyllic days, it's as if time had slowed without her having to consciously speed up her perception. The world itself was showing her these moments out of its own accord. Before she noticed, a big grin surfaced on Kaori's face, flooding her stretched cheeks with a flushing red. She was too amused by her own thoughts to notice Myuu's enamored expression.
"Anyway, when is the reunion that's happening today? Barius is still cooped up at Central with jobs, so I'll have to be the one to catch up with Kenzi and Garion today." (Kaori)
"If I'm remembered correctly, it should be around 1 pm. Even though I was gone for a bit, I also have a lot of news to bring back, y'know?" (Myuu)
Her back stood straight and her dignified atmosphere spread around as she spoke. Well, she wasn't wrong at all. Before the fight with Zedicia, she really did help a lot. It would be wrong to say that she allowed Kaede to live and exist, it was only because of her skill that Kaede hung on by a thread. Speaking of which... She now went by Kaori. Kaede didn't want to disappear, it was a complex feeling to 'be Kaori' now. It didn't bug her so much before, but when Myuu reminded her about it, it shot to the forefront of her thoughts.
Was Kaede gone? Does she no longer exists? Well, the moment she fused with Himei, their individuality had already faded into oblivion. She was technically dead since she no longer existed. Then the combined Kaori Himeishin split back into Kaori and Himei. After attaining all the rightful memories, it was possible to split them up. Though they both now retained each other's memories, they could still repress them and function as themselves.
Then what about Kaede? Even though she was so afraid of losing her existence... She lived on in Kaori. Their personalities were pretty much the same even if they had different egos. Kaori's reputation preceded her ego, she could only suppose this was the logic behind it. Kaori and Kaede no longer have any individuality, as a God magical girl, they could freely create clones and lose sight of who is the original.
If one person split into 2 equal parts, which one can be considered the original? Likely, neither. This was the circumstance that she arrived at, and the circumstance she must push on and continue living through. There is no way to go back. If she reversed time on her own body, she would lose the ability to use her final skill so she would only revert to before she fused with Himei. Kaede would come back, but 'Kaori' and 'Himei' wouldn't.
Well, it's not as if Kaede up and vanished. It was a continuous experience that caused her to arrive here. In a sense, she was still Kaede. It was better to live as much as she could from this point on. To live enough for everyone. A wry smile hung on her face, she knew better than to end up in these pitfalls. Moving a long way has done enough to warrant that.
They would have to reach their Réunion in a few hours, there was still some leftover groceries from yesterday so she was planning to make a dish everyone could enjoy later. She managed to find some old cookbooks lying around in the ruins.
More than a year ago and right after The Great Disaster, humanity still had to rely on modern civilisation by scavenging from ruins to survive. From food to other necessities, in an odd way, capitalism had become a treasure trove of abundance. Though it was only after everything collapsed and most of humanity died off that they could freely enjoy these resources now.
Picking up from where she left off, Kaori already had a dish in mind, though she still parsed it to find other potential dishes she could make. Something easy would be ideal... With her magical girl reflexes, she could control the fire and the ingredients, but that wouldn't really attenuate her anxiety from lack of cooking experience... The morning went by peacefully with Myuu taking her mother out for a walk and Kaori cooking a few batches of the same dish.
There's likely to be a lot of other dishes there, the quantity cooked needed to be just right, neither excessive or insufficient. Already packed into large Styrofoam containers and baskets, she set out to arrive at the meeting place. She remembered back during her time in the academy for the magical girl license, there was a whole unique problem that came to being a magical girl. Punctuality, it might not be completely unique... But it was exacerbated to a ridiculous degree.
For those who were early, it was bacause their speed was so high that they did not account for the marginal travel time when they set out early. It was a habit from back when we were all ordinary humans, to always leave for the place of meeting a little earlier so that the time of arrival would account for the travel duration and possible inconveniences on the way.
What this meant was that meeting at a place with an ordinary walking time of 20 minutes would cause one to arrive 20 minutes earlier since travel time was now negligible. This would go the same way for those who were used to being late or too carefree. They might use their negligible travel time as an excuse to spend their time doing something else for a little while longer, so they end up wasting more time. Or they would barely arrive at the last second while the others watch on anxiously wondering if they had abandoned the meet up.
Well, it should be different now, anyway. It should be fine if Kaori was 5 minutes early, it would just be a small head start. Since she was setting up the dish anyway, getting there slightly early might even be spent usefully preparing what she brought. When she arrived, she was greeted with a pleasant surprise.
"Ah! Kaori! It's been a while~" (Kenzi)
A bubbly brunette with shoulder length hair and an emblazoned thick wooly cardigan greeted her with a hop. She raised her hand with a wave and a smile. Kaori felt really weird, because she was Kaori and not at the same time. Was it alright to deceive her friends? Was it alright to keep going as is, as if everything was normal? Before she noticed, Kaori had glanced down for a moment, but a single warm and firm palm pushed her forward.
She didn't need to turn around to know who it was. She simply stepped forward, changing to an expression of composure and joy so quickly that no one else would have noticed her contemplation.
"Yeah, it has! So much has happened that I wouldn't even know where to start!" (Kaori)
For now, just return the greeting. Myuu had pushed her forward in encouragement. Isn't that approval enough? From the closest person in Kaori's life, before her identity turned into the mess that it was today. Come to think of it, Kaede had also faced this identity crisis, though it was far worse... Because Myuu was no longer there to support her like she did for the original Kaori.
But in the end, Kaede came to terms with herself. She accepted herself, and resolutely chose to make the world accept her through her strength. Her sheer will to power through every obstacle while maintaining Kaori's identity, at the same time she never chose to ever run away or reveal her actual self. Her decision was to trek the most difficult path instead of running away. She was insecure about her sense of self, she was practically a new born thrown into this chaos anyway, yet strangely enough something compelled her to keep going. Not once did she consider simply quitting and living as herself. As a result, she defeated Zedicia and the Demon King.
The 'Kaori' now was but a mere vestige of the original in the sense that she had no 'authenticity'. She was not 100% the original Kaori. Kaede had the assurance that she used to be someone completely different and had another life to return to if things ever got sour. This 'Kaori' didn't. She was quite literally a fragmented and altered version of the original's soul and ego. Thinking it through...
There was no way in hell she could ever run away. At the end of her journey, Kaede sacrificed her sense of self that she cherished so much just to bring everyone a happy ending. This was the happy ending that she sought after. To run away now just because of her own insecurities... Was unthinkable, impossible, unreasonable, unforgivable. These were her true thoughts, maybe she also had some invisible force compelling her to persevere.
Anyone can say that they won't give up fighting because of love for their family, friends, lover or some other social bond. But all Kaori can say was that [I am a magical girl] and [magical girls save everyone]. In other words, it was the unadulterated drive of a sore loser. Being defeated? Unforgivable.
Like a bright burning star in a sea of the void that is the vacuum of space, she burns bright and illuminates through her own life. Like the stars, she wouldn't ever get out of orbit until she reaches the end of her life. Gradually, the others trickled into the site like ants. Most of them arrived before the decided meeting time, while a couple of people arrived right as it was meeting time.
Myuu and her mother arrived right after Kaori did, which was when Myuu pushed Kaori's back. There was no need for them to even look at each other, Myuu could already tell what she was feeling.
The others had also arrived with dishes of their own, painting a panoply of colours over the dinning table, warm and fresh scrumptious scents waft around the room.
After taking a bite out of some food, conversation began to spread in all directions, with multiple groups discussing various topics. The chatter dissolved into an unintelligible cacophony. Kaori and Myuu sat near Kenzi and Garion. They were top students after all, even if there were only around 15 student.
"So... When's the wedding...?" (Garion)
Her eyelids were relax and her straight back lengthed hair was glossy as it fabulously reflected the light from ceiling. An uncharacteristic smug grin blooms from her face, her usual poker face replaced with excitement.
"PFF!!?" (Kaori)