insert name here

...even here, he's ridiculously romantic and sweet. Even here.

I wonder how he puts up with me, sometimes. I'm busy sitting here thinking about the bark pushing into my butt and the easiest way to throw him at someone.

He drops down easily enough, and I'm relieved by this reminder that he's far from incd apable even while he's physically thirteen. He's not as big and strong as his avatar, of course he's not, but he does all right.

I drop down next to him, and say a cautious, "Hello" to the creature.

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For some reason, I'm not even remotely surprised when Hiromu greets the creature that is sniffing (sort of, I'm not sure if it has a nose) around me. It's about as tall as I am, which isn't saying much. I'm pretty sure it's just a... Creature, probably not any more sentient than a dog. But it's sweet that he tries.

It turns towards him and moves closer, still making motions as if it's examining. I can't really see any distinctive eyes, either. I wonder how it's sensing us. Either way, it doesn't seem to see us as a threat, or as food. Which is good.

"I don't think it talks, cher."

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It reminds me of Nick, except it hasn't smacked me on the head for being rude yet or gotten us all lost.

Okay, maybe it doesn't remind me of Nick all that much.

"I think you're probably right," I agree. "Then I suppose we need to find a way back home."

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I look helplessly around, but from down here my vantage point is severely limited, and not just because I'm short. It's also just a very busy forest, I might even hazard towards calling it a jungle, what with all of these vines.

"To do that, we have to figure out where we are. Do you have your cellphone on you?"

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This is beginning to get a little bit absurd. I rush into the Forest as fast as I can when the Professor contacts me, but there's only so much I can do about closing the cracks that open in places other than Zawame, and this is the... Fourth? Fifth? Time that someone unrelated to anything has fallen through one into the Forest.

Something needs to change, I have to get more powerful and make the Forest stop doing this.

For now, I need to get this new person- no, people out of the Forest, preferably without them freaking out about me.

I step through the trees, nudge some questing buds away from my toes, and gesture at the Inves, which turns to me at first, then wanders off, as if it had forgotten what it was doing.

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[Whoops, I really should've tracked this post, I didn't see Kouta's comment at all, whooooops]

There's a glowing person. I shift into a defensive posture half in front of Emi, then with some embarrassment step to the side. He can protect himself. He's a teenager. Not an infant.

"Hello," I call cautiously. He's blond. Wearing armour, but it's not like ours. This doesn't cover his head, and he's got a -

A cape.

You'd have to be really goddamn stupid to wear a cape when you fight. That alone tells me that he doesn't rely just on physical abilities.

Really! A cape!

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[It's no problem! <3]

I don't take offense to Hiromu stepping in front of me. I know he means well, and it's not his fault I don't really come up to his shoulder. He has every reason in the world to be protective of me.

The stranger steps closer to his, his eyes scanning over us both. I notice his eyebrows furrow slightly when they focus on me, and I also notice that one of his eyes glows red. Because that doesn't make me uncomfortable at all.

I don't think this is anything related to Vaglass, though. Not with those plants literally growing at his feet.

"I'm sorry for my appearance." He says, sounding a little exasperated, but not, I don't think, with us. His voice has a strange echo to it, though we're hardly in any place likely to provide a natural echo.

This is just getting more and more strange, but I suppose since we fell through a hole underneath our bed, I shouldn't consider anything impossible.

"My name is Kazuraba Kouta." He says after a moment. "And if you are willing to trust me for a bit, I can take you out of this forest."

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...not liking the red glow. I'm really not.

But I can't see a number in his eye. That has to be something of a good sign. I suppose. He's not attacking us. Not doing anything except projecting good will as hard as he can, and the fact that he's doing that a little ineptly makes me think he's not doing it with any kind of supernatural power.

(I mean, yes. That could be a masterful trick. To seem a little annoyed with his own appearance, like he doesn't have full control. To make us let down our guard. But I don't think it is, and if I'm proven wrong later, well, we'll deal with whatever happens. Like we always do.)

"Sakurada Hiromu," I say, leaving Emi to introduce himself or not. "It's all right by me. Emi...?"

...I remember my manners, and add a hurried, "Thank you."

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He still looks plenty awkward as Hiromu introduces himself. It's kind of endearing in a way. I step forward, past Hiromu, in a show of good faith, and offer my hand. That's enough to prove to me that, whatever his appearance, this person is Japanese at his core, because he gives my hand that odd look that I almost always get when I offer a handshake instead of a bow at first meeting.

"My name is Kurosawa Emeric." I say. "And we would very much appreciate any help you can offer."

The man takes a step back from us, and I step back as well, and consider taking Hiromu's hand before second guessing that option.

He glances around, and then holds up a hand, fingers spread. I hear what sounds... Absolutely like a giant zipper opening, and... Well, when I turn my head, that is also exactly what I see.

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This Kouta turns, and makes a -

I blink, and find myself gripping Emi's hand. Not out of fear. It's only a giant zipper in the air, after all. But this is strange, and it's not like I mind people knowing I care about Emi.

"Some kind of portal," I say, not quite a question. "Where will it take us, Kouta?"

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I notice the older one take the younger's hand, wonder briefly if they're brothers, decide that's almost certainly not the case, and decide just then that it's not any of my business what their friendship or relationship is like. Am I really one to talk about anything, anymore? Besides, there's something about the younger of the two. An old sort of energy.

"My home." I answer with what I hope is an encouraging smile. "Zawame City, to be more specific. Do you know of it?"

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I tilt my head at that, because I most certainly do. There's a certain type of information that comes to us courtesy of the EMC... "Yes. There were significant troubles here not so long ago, involving -"

I take a look around, and nod. "Ah. I should have realised. Plants of this kind, I think?"

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The younger one meets my eyes, and again I am struck by that old energy, as if he is much older than he would appear at first glance. For the first time, I consider too deeply the implications of my transformation. In ten years, will I still look like this? Precisely like this?

Micchi leaving me behind?

I look at the other, Hiromu, and nod, admittedly a bit sheepish. "Yes, we have had some troubles. But we are in a state of recovery now, and once there I can assist you in any way, to contact your own people."

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He's giving Emi odd looks, but I don't sense any harm from him. The two of us probably give off all kinds of strange vibes to someone with whatever power it is that Kouta has.

The grannies in the street think we give off enough strange vibes as it is, and they don't have any strange powers.

"Thank you." I give him a short bow, because he's being decent to us, and I really do appreciate it. "We're not exactly newcomers to trouble. Maybe we can help, too."

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"I'm sure the people heading reconstruction would appreciate that." I say kindly, knowing that Takatora would accept any help offered at this point.

"If it would make you feel better, I'll go first." I say, stepping past them towards the Crack. I can see the Professor's lab on the other side, though I don't see the Professor himself at first, until I step through.

Ah, that's why. He's entertaining, at least that's how I refer to it when he's spending time with the man (the Professor has told me he's a physical manifestation of a person's residual personality, and not quite human, but he's still a man as far as I'm concerned) I've come to know as Jin-san.

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I haven't been reactivated for long. Just a few days, I think (time gets a bit funny when you don't need to sleep). But I've been out of the computer long enough to have met Kazuraba and learn a little bit about what's happened since I and the Busters took down Enter. The Professor and Kazuraba have been nothing but kind to me, in their own ways, and I'm grateful that they both treat me like an actual person.

It's a little startling each time Kazuraba comes into the lab via the Cracks, a great zipper opening up and him stepping through. There's a few seconds where, if I'm looking that way, I can see Kazuraba as he appears in the forest, shining in silver and white and radiating an otherworldly brilliance. It doesn't last more than a moment once he steps through, and then he's black haired and street clothed and kind human warmth.

I'm engaged with the Professor this time, discussing the finer points of the mobile marker system he developed for me, and so I miss those few moments. When I do manage to look up Kazuraba is already inside. I open my mouth to greet him, but I can't manage a sound once I see the people he's brought with him.

Sakurada Hiromu. And a young man who's face I would know anywhere, even if it has aged a few years since it was a body sleeping in stasis beside my own.

I wasn't prepared for this yet. I don't know how to react. And so I just sit there, perched on the edge of a table, and stare.

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Kouta goes first, and apart from the change in what he's wearing and his hair, he doesn't seem to suffer any ill effects from it.

So I step through after him, then stop short.

I look at Emi.

I look back at -

"Jin-san," I manage eventually. I'm hot and cold all over. Surprise, shock, happiness, worry, all topped off with a large helping of completely bewildered.

The last time I saw him like this, he was explaining how he was going to die, and then the last time I saw him in suit, he was... disappearing. I know he died. How is he back? Is this a backup? Another avatar wearing Jin-san's physical descriptors?

...I'm next to him, suddenly, and I think I want to hug him, but then I turn back again to take an anxious look at Emi.

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I let Hiromu follow... Kouta through the funny portal. I don't mind bringing up the rear, and I can pretend like I'm watching our six instead of just being last in line.

The other side of the portal is a not very well lit lab, and that is enough to get me every bit as anxious as Kouta's glowing red eye, though in the other direction. At least it's less of an engineering lab, at first glance, and more bio-medical.

There's another man, no, two men, in the lab. One sitting in a chair behind several monitors, and he looks up and nods a greeting at Kouta, pushing the long lock of white-streaked hair behind his ear as he glances over Hiromu and myself.

The other man...

The other...

I'm crossing the lab at nearly a run, past Hiromu who is very still, past a very bewildered Kouta, and past the strange man who raises an eyebrow at me. I stand in front of him, staring up at his face, making sure... Though I was certainly sure from the moment I saw him.

"You... You jerk." And just like that, I'm crying against his knee.

Damn puberty.

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Hiromu moves toward me first, but I have a hard time focusing on him with Emeric standing right there, staring at me as I stare at him.

The moment, not much more than a few seconds, hangs between us, and then he's rushing toward me. He gazes up at me, and I watch as his face crumbles, tears well up in his eyes - his real eyes - and then he's crying against my knee.

"Emeric." I whisper, knowing that, if I was able, I'd probably be crying too.

I slide off the table and crouch down to his level, like I used to do all those years ago in the Subdimension. Not as far as I had to when we were first transported - it's been a few years, and he's obviously grown - but far enough, and I keep my posture unpatronizing. I'm not interacting with a child, or a young teen, I'm interacting with my partner, my equal.

I study his face, taking note of the changes a few years (plus thirteen) have brought on. We got a lot of things right when we were updating his avatar back then, but not everything, and the differences, though minor, are startling.

"Emi." I wrap him up in a hug I wish I could feel properly, beyond the relay of data about his shape and mass and body temperature. It's detailed, but it's not the same. "I'm so sorry."

I'm not even sure what I'm apologizing for, but I look up past Emeric's shoulder at Hiromu, and give him a look that I hope he understands without me having to use words to explain.

Life must be difficult for them now. Not that it was ever easy, but I can only imagine what it must be like with you, or your love, revering back to such a young age.

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Jin-san moves down to Emi's level, and takes him in his arms. I'm still gaping at them both like an idiot, but I shake it off, and settle a hand on Emi's shoulder.

I wish I could do more, but right now he needs to hold - and yell at - Jin-san.

Jin-san's giving me a look. One of those hangdog apologetic-please-don't-hate-me expressions, like yes I did steal the last ten cans of Enetron but we needed them, okayyyy?

"What - what happened?" I ask at last, looking from Jin-san to Kouta to the other scientist in the room. Emi's shaking under my hand, and I go down on one knee to get an arm around him, under where Jin-san's hugging him.

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I hate this, I should be stronger than this. My age should have nothing to do with it, but here it is. Here he is, and I can hardly believe it, but he's got a shape in my arms.

Is this what I felt like to Hiromu, all of those times? No wonder he loves hugging me, now that I feel warm and real.

"You left me." I growl weakly against his shoulder, once he's crouching down to my level. I remember how he pretended to be offended that my Avatar was taller than his. Not the case anymore... "You left me like this..."

Hiromu's arm snakes around my waist, and with both of them holding me, I don't even know how to feel. Overwhelmed, mostly. Undeserving, most certainly.

I'm sure there's plenty to explain, but right now I just want to hold onto him and make sure he doesn't disappear on me again.

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"I had to." I tell Emi softly, as gently as I can manage. "There was no need for you to make the same sacrifice I did. And this way..." This way you get back the years that were taken from you, is what I want to say. But I know it's not that simple. Not that black and white. Yeah, he gets those years back, but his mind is already far ahead of his body now.

And Hiromu is older now too, I can see it around his eyes, in his posture and the way he carries himself, a sureness that wasn't there before. It's not like he could stop aging at will, wait for Emeric to catch up with him.

It can't be easy, probably won't ever be easy. But at least this way they have each other. Hiromu didn't have to mourn Emeric, and Emeric didn't have to say goodbye.

My thoughts drift briefly to Kuroki, and I shake them off quickly. No sense dwelling on that in this moment.

I pull back a bit from the hug, but just far enough so that I can address Hiromu and his question without my words being muffled by Emeric's hair or cheek or shoulder.

"A fragment of my data was left over in EMC's backup files. Deeply encrypted and buried after Enter was finally shut down. Professor Ryouma," I gesture at the man sitting quietly with his sundry monitors and tools, wondering what he might be thinking about all this, to say nothing of what's going through Kazuraba's mind. "Found me there, managed to communicate with me, and rebuilt the Avatar Program and Marker System from the information I provided him with while I was still just data in a machine.

"So I..." I falter a bit, because I don't know exactly how to explain, or how to convey how I feel about the whole thing. I'm still trying to sort it out for myself as it is. "I'm Jin, or a part of Jin, but I'm not Jin."

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...well, this is complicated.

So he's Jin. Thinks he is, at least. Even if he's not the Jin that we... lost. He still has the same memories, up to a point.

Emi's so upset.

He's got his dad back, but not quite.

"It's good to see you, anyway," I say awkwardly. "Ryuu-san, Yoko-chan, and the commander will be glad to see you as well."

From:

I'm not even really listening to his explanation. I should be, of course I should be. The professional, grown up thing to do would be to compose myself and pull back and listen to his report and offer suggestions or... Something.

I can't. I missed him so much... I'm so angry at him. I've felt so alone.

Hiromu's good, Hiromu's great, the best thing that has ever happened to me, and more than I deserve out of life. But he's not my partner, my friend, practically my father. Who let himself die so we could save the world.

Who wouldn't let me die with him.

I slam a fist into his chest again, and I know it doesn't hurt him, he probably doesn't even really feel it, so I do it once more. "You jerk." It comes out as a whine, and it's so pathetic and I hate myself so much. "You unbelievable jerk."

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