At last, both sides stood in a frontier, and with one final scream, rekindling the ashes became a reality.
"I came to bring you back!" Was the statement Chiaki heard, and she was overcome with emotion as she watched her friends stand across the gap between the headquarters and the bridge.
"It's the white-haired pirates together." Noted Parth, crossing his arms next to the rest of the agents. "It's admirable... They've gotten through an entire army and even took down those priceless agents." Naeve claimed, fixing her blonde hair and grinning. "A bunch of reckless idiots daring to come to our doorstep," Alejandro mentioned, raising his chin.
"Yes, it's quite admirable indeed. However, let's give them some space." Explained Elian. "They won't have any real soon. Let's observe."
Chiaki remained worried, but her face slipped down her cheeks as she watched Timothy's solemn face exchanging eyes with hers.
She closed her eyes, shaking them, but finally decided to step closer to the edge, seeing their bodies in full.
Timothy remained calm, breathed in and out, and smiled. "Oi! Chiaki! I'm glad! I thought you left without even saying hello!" He called while waving at her with his arms.
"Everyone..." She silently claimed.
Timothy began thinking. "So, how should I do this? Somebody lowered this end of the bridge, so I can't really get passed." Ayuka and the others looked at him. "It's impossible to jump that far." She added. "Hmm..." He looked behind him and then back forward. "Well, worth a try." He shrugged his shoulders and pointed his palms toward the ground, the rest of them moving to the side.
He flicked orange flames that gradually began to charge up as Chiaki's eyes began to shake and her irritation escalated.
She kept quiet for a moment before closing her eyes and expressing anxiety. She instantly shouted in a serious tone as she heard the flames grow louder. "Wait!!"
As if Chiaki was furious, Timothy didn't make another move and gazed at her from below in confusion. He heard echoes of her voice still spreading through the gap and decreased the power of his flames.
Chiaki slowly opened her eyes, becoming more sweatier and stressed, finally opening them fully. "I've told you already! I'm not coming back, not anymore. Go back! You still have the chance to leave without getting hurt! I don't want to see your or your friends' faces anymore!"
She argued with irritation and anger. "Why did you come!? I've listened to your wishes in the past! So, why won't you listen to mines as well!?" While everyone could hear the frustration in her voice, Timothy couldn't ignore the delayed echo of fear and stress in her voice.
"So, why? Why did you come to rescue me? I want this to happen. I never asked or wanted your help, to begin with, but you're still here denying my wishes and the inevitability of what will happen. I never wished for 'SUCH' a thing! Answer me! When did I tell you to save me!?"
Timothy's flames slowly dissipated from around his hands. He straightened, looking up at Chiaki, seeing her breath with exhaustion and anger.
She took a deep breath, "I only want to..." Finally, she gathered enough energy and yelled out. "I only want to die!!!" The series of repeating words spread out several times, like a loop of a never-ending echo.
Timothy's friends looked at her with stunned faces, surprised to hear what's been going through her mind.
The repetitive play of Chiaki's words through Timothy's mind only grew tenser and harder to put an end to as his eyes grew wider.
Never in his life had he spent with Chiaki did she ever express herself as a person who could act on instinct. She was always a calm, trustworthy, and cheerful girl who hoped to travel further with her friends.
Yet this time, she was a very different kind of person. She served as a reminder to him that people who are as serene as her conceal their fear, hate, and grief behind joyful faces.
"What do you mean, Yasuda? They came here to save you and risk their lives. Didn't they?" Elian wondered, composed and keeping his arms crossed behind his back.
Chiaki interrupted Elian from speaking. "That's something they did on their own..." She added while Elian shut his eyes and stayed silent. "Like a broken bottle indeed..."
Timothy's face turned serious, somewhat infuriated by her statement. "You want to die?"
"That's right," Chiaki replied with assurance, exposing the depressing truth behind how she intended to live out the remainder of her days.
Although the wind was calm, it had a wild and forceful gust that caused Timothy's and other people's garments and hair to dance or sway.
"Say, chief Elian. Shouldn't we hurry up and kill those dopey kids? It'd be a happy end for either side. End of story." Added Naeve, irritated and disturbed by her lack of patience. "Agent Naeve, remain calm and steady. A captain who came this far and risked his life to rescue his crewmember, only to have his efforts to save her rejected at the very end, deserves to have a long-awaited conversation." Elian stepped next to Chiaki and looked down at them.
"Chiaki!!!" Timothy's voice resounded throughout the giant gap. He pressed his hand on his hips. "Wishing to die, trying to act like you don't care. That's not who you are, Chiaki."
Chiaki remained uneasy. "Tim, I'm not who you believe I am either, so there! A lone person whose family got torn apart because of the wicked acts of the secret agency they worked for can only atone for the world by completely erasing all traces of their existence. Tim, you had a family too, but they perished, and you never saw them again. I'm nothing more than a dishonest liar who fled behind you. But the one time I attempt to change for the better, you waltz in here and say you want to save me. Just leave me alone and forget about me!"
Timothy maintained his posture and didn't change it. He took a step forward and shifted his weight to one side, allowing his clothes and hair to wave.
"So? You lied. We all lie, don't we? Besides, do you even listen to what you're saying? Your intentions are clearly nothing in comparison to your family. You want to fix what happened in the past and be a different person that if you keep living, could change the future of this 'Yasuda' family everyone's constantly talking about."
She observed him in silence.
"You don't deserve to die just because your family acted based on their mind and not the heart. If you despise the acts your family did in the past," He pointed his finger up at her, "Then why do you think *YOU'RE* the one whose death will fix the future?! Why should you seek death sooner when you can change the course of Yasuda's future?!
"Tell me, Chiaki. Is it because your memories are haunted by your family's criminal acts? Or is it because your mind's lost in a typhoon of belief, and you blame yourself for what your family did? Neither, Chiaki! Do you hear me?! Neither! You don't see the world as we do! You're hoping to die and think the world without you would become a better place when it will never change, not even when you disappear! There are billions of people out, spread throughout the entire world, and you think your death will fix everything?! Don't be ridiculous!"
He took a deep breath and lowered his finger. "Do you think you can change our mind by blaming yourself and wishing to die? I'm afraid that's impossible. You know, Chiaki. We already came this far, so whether you like it or not, we're gonna save you. Then, once we do and you realize that your death is not a cure for the world, you can find the real freedom and find what you're looking for."
Timothy punched his palm. "And unless you don't realize and you still want to die... well then." He raised his view. "You can die after we save you," Timothy explained.
Chiaki's eyes shook in speechless thoughts. Her sweat continuously ran down her face as her bewilderment expanded, looking at each and every one of them.
"I'll request this of you, Chiaki. Whether you wanna live or die, I don't care about whatever you say! But you'll say that kind of thing while you're by our side!" Timothy exclaimed, causing Chiaki to flinch for an instant.
"I'm not gonna let you say that, Chiaki! You opened *MY* eyes when I was in trouble back at Harventona Park! But this time, it's my turn to open *YOUR* eyes!" Kou shouted, followed by Yumiko's soft voice. "We're not doing this just for you, but for everyone on the crew!"
"That's right, Chiaki! We all want you back, and even if you don't want to stay with us after we save you, then you'll be free to leave!" Exclaimed Ayuka, smiling and expressing care.
Chiaki's voice stuttered, and in speechless thoughts, she couldn't hold back the tears that slowly started escaping from beneath the surface of her eyes.
Timothy maintained his arms crossed as Ayuka, Kou, Ralphie, Yumiko, and Kyora moved forward simultaneously.
Their expressions were calm, assured, serious.
And before long, everyone lined up on either side of Timothy, who stood in the middle of them, making sure for everyone to be in Chiaki's view.
Chiaki's hair was blown behind her as the wind swirled across the region, causing her tears to continue flowing even though it had grown colder.
Her eyes began to constrict and the tears began to flow as she saw all of the people—no, her friends—who had come to save her.
Those tears were gently blown away by the wind as though they were ethereal particles scattered around like ash that would rekindle.
They all raised their faces and smiled brightly, showing how much the people she had been traveling with truly cared about her.
She had never had that feeling before in her life. A warm, loving, caring, and understanding sense of having found her true "family."
And the people that matter most in the world to her.
Chiaki's eyes shaded in darkness as she stepped forward. "You don't understand a single thing! My faith will bare its teeth into you the more I want to be by your side! I still have a huge enemy I can't shake off no matter how far I travel on the sea! Because my enemy is the world and its darkness! I've gotten you involved in foolish messes like this, without helping you or doing anything in return! Even if this keeps up forever, even as easy-going as you all are..." She clenched her hands.
"Someday, you'll see me as a burden! It's obvious that someday you'll betray me and throw me away for what you've learned! That's what scares me the most! That's why I didn't want you to come and save me! If it's a life, I'll someday lose my path! I want to die right here and now!"
While Naeve laughed while Timothy kept a calm expression on his face as he watched Chiaki. "Obviously, no one would be so naive as to assume you're not a burden after traveling with you!" Naeve asserted, using strong language.
"Pirate scum, take a look at our flag!" Naeve moved to the side and pointed to the waving flag atop the structure. "That stamp. It symbolizes the harmony of more than 100 United Nations located all throughout the Vast Expanse. The world exists, and pirates like you will eventually vanish! Do you realize how little there is of you compared to the world? Do you realize the scope of the group pursuing this girl?"
Timothy closed his eyes, opening them again. "I understand Chiaki's enemy very well..." He moved his palm to the side, opened it, and constructed a flame that flared brightly. "...I'll happily make that flag... burst into flames."
The orange flames exploded into white, grew in size, and then quickly flared out into a blue blaze.
He took a step back and raised his arm behind his back, setting out inferno-like flames. He moved forward, waving his arm in front of him, and then let forth a massive fireball that morphed into the shape of a bird and melted right through the center of the flag of the world government.
After it struck the flag, a relentless fire wave forced itself into a circle in the sky. Even if the sun was already brightening the scene, its flames brightened it more.
Soldiers surrounding the headquarters, foremost agents, and Chiaki herself got caught up in shock and dread they had not expected to experience.
Chiaki's eyes widened as her sweating increased. "They didn't..." She whispered as Timothy lowered his hand and looked at the burning flag that would soon be reduced to ash. "She suffered in the past because of the war between pirates and the world government. Then so are we." Timothy claimed in anger.
"Are you out of your mind, pirates?! Don't you dare think you'll have the power to survive with the world being your enemy!" Naeve screamed in frustration and shock.
"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE'RE ASKING FOR!!!"
As he explained the underlying motivations behind their objectives, Timothy's calm demeanor suddenly erupted into a rage and an echo of the cry. The birds got scared off, and the wind in the vicinity blew harder than before.
"Chiaki! I still haven't heard it from your mouth! What is it that you want?! What is it you're searching for?! Tell that to us right now and everyone here! Chiaki! Say it loud and clear!"
Chiaki's eyes began to shake rapidly. She was straining to hold back the biggest ocean of tears that were building around her eyelids.
"Don't listen to your instincts. Instead... Say it with your heart!"
Indignantly, Timothy strode forward and shouted into the air, sending waves of sound in all directions.
"Say you want to live!!!"
She noticed her friend's calling out her name one after another, still hearing the echoes of Timothy's and their voices ringing around her head.
She was a frozen person, thinking of the past and the present, causing her body to go numb and her thoughts singing with heart, "To live..." A tear slipped down her right cheek, "I thought wishing for it was forbidden..." She felt like a hollowed body that ached to receive a new life, "No one ever allowed me that..." Hearing a voice within her heart. "Someday, without any doubt, a friend who will protect you will appear. Run away and find that living heart, and once you find that heart, treasure it with your own."
A sudden wind picked up, swirling dust particles and leaves lying around her on the ground.
She gazed at the swirl.
The particles appeared to form a figure. She stared hard as her friends' image seemed to emerge. She remembered the promise they had made to her that she would find her true friends.
Chiaki slowed her breathing down. She had heard what she needed to. She blocked the weeping she could hear all around her. She could feel their kind and welcoming eyes upon her.
She would be back with them soon.
The wind died down just as suddenly.
Chiaki could feel her vision blurring.
Blackness appeared to be taking over.
Her vision seemed to recede into a slowly reducing circle with darkness all around it.
The wind burst into life once again.
The dust particles and leaves rose in an encore and showed Chiaki the vision she wanted to die with, the love of her friends.
But that final vision reopened, and the soaked tears obstructed her view, hearing someone's voice, "Believe in Timothy," causing her to shake with fear.
"If I'm allowed to declare my wish..." The rain particles rained down on the ground, bursting into a small pop upon hitting the ground. "Then I..." Her soft, weak, and dissipated voice serenaded through the beyond of a new life. "Want to live!!!" Her thoughts echoed.
Her face was saturated from the shining tears, covering the rest of the gaping belief and hope, till the missing ash, at last, flared into an inferno.
"Take me out to the sea with you!!!"
And so it came to pass that her voice resounded across the area and echoed past Timothy's and others' ears like a raging river and the sensation of a resurrected spirit.
Timothy's mouth opened into a wide grin, revealing his bright white teeth as the flames erupted around him and appeared to be dancing in the breeze.
The flame of friendship was the one that would burn brightly till the very end and do whatever it takes to save a dear friend.
Then the road to a new life proceeded with Yumiko preparing her blades, Kyora pounding her palm, Ralphie tapping his foot lightly on the ground, Ayuka stretching her limbs, and Kou grinning widely.
Timothy cracked his knuckles and smiled. "It's time, Chiaki. It's time to share the sea with you! Let's go!"
To be continued...