Reaching Salvation: Post-Acer Part 1

"Yes, y-you will, N-Nathan!" Kira argued, raising her voice. She really didn't want to be stuck in a fight between them. "I-I d-d-don't w-wanna h-have t-to try and h-heal h-him again...s-so j-just stop..." she finished quietly, biting her lip.

---

"Not sure, maybe eating. Maybe hiding, since Nate's been here twice today. Maybe they thought he was coming back. That's what I thought..." Heidi admitted, rubbing the back of her head.

"Start acting your fucking ages." Nathan responded. "You're an adult now, man up and stop hiding behind the pathetic excuses that you've built up. You've been using your defeat as a childish excuse for the past five years."

"I may have wounded you, but your own bitterness and self hatred are what made you what you are." He dropped his hands and stepped back.

Kira tugged at her jacket, the vines receding a bit. She really had really hoped that they could just forget the past and get along again.

"...Have you forgotten how you left us? I spent a week in a fucking coma becuase of what you did. I can't walk straight anymore because of what you did. I can't use my Flow anymore, because of what you did. I can't walk two steps without being hit by that burning again, no matter what I do. Because of what you did. On the rare occasion that I can fall asleep, I wake up an hour later screaming and looking down at the scars of what you did, and I see that for every scar you left on me, there's another two that I thought I got in that illusion world, but the pain is still real. Because. Of. What. You. Did."

Luke took a deep breath, eyes filled with hatred and pain. "So don't tell me that it's my fucking fault what I am. You have no fucking idea. You spent an easy week and a half at the Acer Tournament, blessed by your fucking Flow, waltzing through the challenges. No matter what you did, while a select few thought they hated you, it was only ever me and Kira that realised just what you were. You just had to play the fucking martyr and you swept that Erika girl off her feet, too. She barely knew you. Then Shima took you under his wing like you were his own fucking son. Then you got to lead your own force, who followed you like you were their fucking dad or something. So don't act like you have any idea, Nathan. You don't. You've an easy fucking life, thinking you were motivated by revenge. You think that excuses you?"

"Well before you were motivated by 'revenge', you were still a fat fucking dick! You still jerked Kira around and acted like you were the only one that mattered. And then what? Revenge? For what! You knew Shima for maybe ten days, optimistically, before he died! And you think you've suffered? You think that's bad? You don't know shit, Nathan. You're the mopey little bitch with a chip on your shoulder, more than I ever have been. Don't try sell your crap to me. I don't care if you fooled the village, I don't care if you fooled Tom, I care that you've fooled Kira, but you're not fucking fooling me."

----------

"Nate was here? What was he doing?" Tom asked curiously.

Nathan let his hair hang over his eyes and then looked up.

"...Are you finished?"

"Oho! He funny!" Luke cried mockingly, not even bothering to grace the question with an answer.

"Pissing me off, that's what he was doing," Heidi grumbled, before turning a little more serious. "He was talking about making up for his mistakes or some shit like that. He found his old teammate, the quiet one with plants, and 'e said he was lookin' for Luke. Asked us if we'd heard of 'im."

---

Kira backed away a little, not even sure if Luke was the same person she'd thought. What ever had happened to him, he was scaring her now. She kind of wished the ground would swallow her up.

"Huh, wonder if that's true. It'd be a pleasant surprise. Definitely a surprise though," Tom replied. Truth be told, he found it hard to grasp memories of the past five years, especially of Nathan.

"Maybe I haven't had it as hard as you, but do you have to live with regret?" Nathan inquired. "Do you have to close your eyes and see the faces of everyone you've killed, hear their voices screaming?"

"Yes, I was wrong. I was a child, a power hungry child who didn't and care about anyone else. I hurt Kira, I hurt you, I hurt Tom I've killed countless people along with the Big Five and I don't want forgiveness from anyone." He moved around the vines, giving Kira a look to say he wasn't going to try anything.

"All I want is for you to give me a chance to try and earn forgiveness." He stated. "I'm trying, Luke. I've changed and I want everyone to see that."

"You said you weren't looking for forgiveness from anyone directly before saying that all you wanted was for me to give you a chance to try and earn forgiveness," Luke noted. "The answer to your first question is yes, I do, same to the second. The answer to your last statement is no. I've spent five years suffering so much I can't even recognise reality any more, and you want me to forgive you in a day? Unrealistic. You say you're trying, I say keep trying. Don't try selling me the regretful killer. Regret means nothing, especially coming from someone who's a consummate liar. You lied to me in that illusion world, I won't make the same mistake again. Nice speech, but I'm too far gone. You convinced Erika and Kira of your innocence with a few small sentences."

"I'm not so gullible."

"Yeah, I'm betting it's a bunch of bullshit," Heidi sighed. "Though it would be nice to not 'hafta worry about Nate coming 'nd blowing us all up."

---

Kira bit her lip, watching Nathan nervously. She didn't exactly trust him and Luke together, but it would be for the better if things between them were fixed.

That first week of the Acer tournament, back when they were all still friends, had probably been the happiest week of her life after the Storm. Was it really so selfish and foolish to want it back...?

"Give me a chance to keep trying then?" Nathan asked. "Let me heal you?"

"No dice. I don't trust you further I could throw you, remember?" Luke replied coolly, falling into the undergrowth once his support was taken away. He had lost his grip on his sword once he was grabbed.

Within seconds Nathan had hefted Luke back to his feet. "Trust in the fact that I'm not going to hurt Kira? And doing anything to you whilst she's there will do exactly that.

Kira squeaked, moving quickly towards Luke. "A-A-Are y-you o-o-o-ok-k-kay...?" she stammered, scared that her friend was sick or hurt or something.

"Course you're not going to hurt her, she's back in with you! She's already trusting you again!" Luke replied bitterly, shaking himself free and beginning to limp off.

-------

Tom shrugged.

"That it would."

Kira wanted to go after Luke, she really did, but her legs didn't seem to want to agree with her. She just stood there, a mixture of shock and fear on her face, plants sprouting at her feet and curling around her. She wanted to go back home to her forest, as childish as that sounded.

Erika ran to the village gate, and noticed a very large figure talking to Heidi. "Is that...?"

"...Tom?" Simon whispered, the bread he had gotten from the kitchen immediately falling out of his grip.

"Hey, Erika!" Heidi grinned, waving at her old teammate. "Look who th' cat dragged in!"

Erika couldn't help an exaspereated smile land on her face. "Well, guess we've got a lot of vistors today-"

"TOM!" Simon yelled as he started to run towards the others as fast as her could without tripping. Stupid awkward legs!

"Oh, hello to you too," Tom laughed, catching Simon as the boy tripped. "Hey, Simon, how've you been?"

"Pretty good, I'm getting better at controlling my Flow, but..." Simon wrapped his arms around Tom's waist, able to do so now. "I missed you..."

"Missed you too. Missed the whole place," Tom replied, returning the hug.

Erika smiled at the scene, feeling a tad awkward. Tom had been much closer to Heidi and Simon than she was, so she decided to let them have their reunion in peace before she butted in with the big question if Tom was planning to stay here.

"So are you gonna stay here with us, or keep wand'ring around?" Heidi asked, smiling slightly at Simon's reaction.