sigelphoenix

Title: Goodbyes
Characters: Sae and everybody else
Warmakers Adventure: 26
Word Count: ~1200
Summary: Sae sees off her teammates before the final battle.
Notes: Some of these conversations were roleplayed during the session, some were edited, and some were made up.

On the first of December, the Guardians separate. Half of them head to Tokyo to accomplish their tasks, while the other half go to Stonehenge to await the arrival of the Mother of All Dragons, the event that will trigger the final stage of the war.

They spent the past couple of days in Nariko's temple, awaiting her return from death as a god, bolstering the stricken Miya, collectively holding their breaths in anticipation of the devils' final move. It was a surreal time, and Sae was both angry at the delay and glad for the respite. When it ends, and it is time for them to leave, she is both relieved and sad.

Before she, Reika, and Gunnar depart for Stonehenge, Sae finds the others to say goodbye.

Well, perhaps not say goodbye. Kyoko, for instance, is a person whom she considers a comrade and friend, and yet she doesn't know what to say to the kirin. They aren't friends who hang out casually and chat. She doesn't understand how Kyoko thinks.

She doesn't want to understand how Rex thinks.

So she nods to the both of them, bound for the kirin compound, and hopes to see them again.

***

Miya surprises her by thanking her for everything she's done.

Sae blinks, then nods. She isn't sure what she's done for Miya; she cares about the other girl, but she knows she hasn't been good at doing things that friends do: offering words of support or a shoulder to cry on. But then again, she isn't surprised that Miya would recognize what Sae has given her, even if it's far less than what Miya has given in return. Miya isn't about demanding reciprocity from others. She did, after all, offer her friendship first, before Sae did or could offer her own.

Sae thanks her in return, and asks for a hug. She can still see the dark circles beneath Miya's eyes from long days of crying over Nariko, and in her arms the Protector feels thin and shaky from her days of self-starvation.

But beneath the soft, yielding cloth of Miya's robes, Sae can feel the hard scales of the dragon, and is confident to let the other girl go.

***

With Nariko, there isn't much to say. The language they share is a small one, though true.

"Good hunting."

***

Sae finds Ichiro just as he is about to depart. He holds his interplanar gate open, and through the portal Sae can see the achingly beautiful view of some lush environment.

She is struck by the tableau of Ichiro in the midst of a dramatically elaborate gesture, and holds back laughter. Of course, is all she thinks, of course.

She steps forward and presses a kiss to the forehead of her strange, exasperating little brother, wildly different from and yet oddly similar to herself. "Be careful," she tells him. "You and I both still have a lot to learn."

"Take care of yourself," he says, and vanishes.

***

Gunnar is at Stonehenge with them, but they will not be together in the final battle. He waits to face the dragon, while she and Reika will lead their forces against the army from Hell and hold it back from spilling over to Earth.

She isn't afraid for him, never has been. He will be fighting the most powerful dragon known, and yet Sae knows he will be able to defeat this enemy, because that's what he has decided to do. That's just the way Gunnar works.

Still, she wants to tell him. Not because she is afraid - that he will die, or that she will - but because she is unafraid of saying it.

"I think I'm in love with you. Don't die."

Gunnar looks down at her, the harsh lines of his helmet casting shadows over his gentle smile. "Come back to me safe."

"I promise."

***

They prepare their ambush, a series of spells that will allow the entire army to hide in magical, extradimensional spaces in order to avoid the devastating EMP the Mother of All Dragons will unleash. Sae isn't sure whether this will allow them to maintain all of their electronically-dependent communications and weaponry, but she tells herself it will, and acts accordingly. Be invincible, Ichiro told her, and your troops will be too. She doesn't agree with everything he told her about leadership - just as he predicted - but that much, she holds with.

As their troops climb the spelled ropes, Sae takes one last look around, waiting to be the last one up her rope. The landscape is eerily quiet, only the muted sounds of an army's efficient movements stirring the afternoon air. This battle has been centuries in coming, and more than just Earth holds its breath in anticipation.

There is a touch on her arm, and Sae looks back. Subaru has just given Reika a boost up the rope, and Khag waits at the top to help her sister inside. After Subaru, Sae will be the last one to enter their magical shelter.

She catches Subaru's hand before it leaves her arm. She doesn't know entirely how to talk to him - though he is the Protector of both twins, Reika knows how to communicate with him better, and Sae knows that he is closer to her sister than to herself. Still, he is family.

"Thank you, oniisan," she says softly. He starts at her use of the label; though she picked it up after Reika started calling him that, he hasn't heard Sae say it often. "Help us with one more battle, please."

Subaru nods solemnly. He doesn't take joy from combat the way she does, and he must be weary. "You and your sister are the most important things in this world to me."

"You ..." Sae bites her lip, not sure how to express her thoughts. "Make yourself important too."

***

Sae paces through the magical space, checking at the small window constantly to see if anything has changed on the ground. She reaches Khag, who is securing the barding on his tiger, and he looks up at her passage.

"All of our preparations are in place," he states obediently, as if answering an order for a status report; at the same time, his deep, calm voice smoothes over her expectant nerves. Just like a good lieutenant.

Sae nods. "Thank you."

"Are you ready? The troops look to you."

"But you'll take care of them." Sae will act the figurehead as necessary, but Khag is the one with the skill and practice it takes to direct and protect their army.

"Of course. So you can dedicate yourself to the hunt."

A grin springs to her lips as she looks up at her friend, the first friend she has made entirely on her own. "Let's be predators."

They clasp forearms, and the slap of armor against armor echoes around them.

***

Sae doesn't say anything to Reika. Not because she has no words, but because they don't need any.

In the last moments of waiting, they stand together, watching Stonehenge as the final portal begins to open. Sae reaches over to Reika, and holds her sister's hand until the dragon arrives.