1000 Words...1000 Goodbyes
He flew. That was the only way he could describe the sensation that he was feeling. Everything was dark around him as he left the plane of the living, only hearing the wails of his brother and proceeding scream of his lover. Their pain reached his soaring soul but they would be able to return it nor hinder its ascent to wherever the unknown trail would take it. All that Riyel knew as he managed to grasp pictures and images of what he was passing by, memories and the future seeming to inform the man of what his decision had done and who would be affected accordingly.
He had seen something similar as he had entered that Final Battle...but this was more focused. More true. The man knew that much as he continued to see these copious pieces of information flick in and out of the confines of his being. It was still the memories of his childhood that he seemed to be less than pleased with, his once more blue eyes glistening as he observed his past self traversing the halls of Winhill Garden all by his lonesome, examining students as they walked in front him while he worked. The images blurred once more as he sat in the back of a classroom, his eyes watching a red haired girl in the front with a steely gaze while a blonde goofball to his right asked him a question.
Riyel could only smile, if a soul could smile, as the memories moved on, swirling around him so that his eyes could appreciate the nostalgia before him. Once upon a time, he would have looked back at his SeeD academy years with a sense of loathing. Then again, once upon a time he had no friends. It was funny how time could change someone so drastically and so effectively. Those were the years that set him apart but would draw him together with those he was destined to stand aside until he had reached this plane. This realm beyond death. But Riyel knew the lesson that came from those memories already, even as others came of his time in Fisherman's Horizon with his family. With Lloyd. With Koyuki. With Nona. With everyone.
The man still wasn't mad that he had died. Nor was he sad. Even though he put away his wants, he was still given things like his family and friends, as well as love. Things he had never dreamed he would ever grasp. Even as he watched the events of his death, he felt as if the universe were commending him for his performance through life, even with those slip ups that he had and the murder he had committed within the past two years. The blonde truly didn't know if he should have been thankful or wary of such a sensation. But perhaps it truly was a reward, his eyes looking and seeing things he thought he would never see in death.
The sounds of crying as he gazed into a hospital room, a silver haired woman with piercing red eyes holding onto a blonde bundle in her arms, the child calming down as it grasped onto that one individual it knew it would be safe with. "A boy..." a voice unfamiliar to him sounded out, Riyel's eyes merely watching as the woman's eyes fluttered over the infant's sky blue ones.
It was one of the few things he could have asked for, as he heard the boy's name being said once more. "Again, Kalen." A young, bruised blonde boy around nine shot forward after being thrown backward, shooting towards a long haired man who's piercing eyes seemed to examine the boy's movements before promptly counterattacking, sending the boy rolling after a few mere moments while a small, black haired girl shot forward in retaliation as the boy was pushed back. He's in good hands...
The thought fluttered away as he observed what would become of his son, the pictures flickering as the little scenes presented themselves. Seeing the boy with friends laughing, a sight that made Riyel smile once more, his mother and he bickering and talking rapidly, fighting with a silver haired boy while a younger girl of similar hair color watched confused, sleeping in the field next to an easily identified man while a girl drew on his face with a mischievous smile on hers. The boy sitting in a tree, watching as other children played with their fathers and another of him walking through a wheat field with a wolf by his side, an odd looking boy to his right, both with fair sized yellow birds in tow as they came upon a city. The son sitting in front of a memorial of sorts in the rain, his weapons by his side as he slept with his back to the stone while rain struck his body.
Many things were shown to Riyel, but only images. Evidence of his son's life but not anything near to the full story...Riyel knew in his heart that there would be time to see such things later. The Ringer would look in on his son, that much was certain even though he couldn't be there for him. But Kalen was in good hands. His mother would make sure of that. Riyel looked up as a light seemed to encompass him, knowing that the trip had come to a conclusion.
It was quiet.
Wind was blowing in his ears as he opened his eyes once more. A field of grass, a lake sitting quietly, a forest looming beyond that. Was this real? The wind certainly felt real. But as he looked himself over, he could see that he was not as tall as he was before...and younger. What was going on?
"You're here."
Family...
Turning slowly, his eyes encompassed the woman standing in front of a house behind him, his eyes identifying a woman, while not as old as he once knew her, sitting in a rocking chair with a drink by her on a small table. Grandmother... But he knew she wasn't the one who spoke. Before him, a beautiful woman stood with her hands on her hips, a smile reaching across her face as her eyes seemed to capture his much younger face. The pictures....
"Mama?"
His voice was easily younger but the look on his face wasn't in shock from that. The woman he had never seen but held close to his heart stood in front of him with that smile on her face. Numerous emotions covered the boy's heart...but if he was thing young forever...
"Riyel. Don't worry...He'll recognize his dad when his time to appear here comes..." his mother's voice seemed to hold a smile of its own, as if she could read his thoughts, "You did fantastic, Riyel. I never expected anything less from you." Riyel's eyes merely looked up at his mother with an odd look of wonder on his face. "One day, your dad and brother will be here...and one day Koyuki will be here too...and my grandson. There's so much room as it is. But now...you're home." Her smile merely grew at the thought of more family coming to be in this...heaven...this paradise.
"I..." The boy merely ran forward and encompassed the woman in a hug, his head placed against her stomach as he shook with tears. How he had longed for such a meeting. How he had wished he could have had his mother with him. How he wished he could have had her advice...just as much as his father's. But here they were, in death to truly see eachother once more. Raia held her boy in her arms, surprised at the sudden emotional burst from the boy she had come to know as restrained. But that surprise gave way to a sad smile as she held him, the two just kneeling in the field as the lady on the porch came from her resting spot and smiled, kneeling. "I'd better get one to, Little Man." his grandmother's voice had hardly changed, as the boy enveloped her in the hug as well, the three not moving from that position as the emotions were shared between the three of them.
And quietly, Riyel let go, his eyes still wet as the two women stood with smiles on their faces, both reaching out with a hand.
"Are you ready?"
The boy almost looked like he hesitated. Was this truth? Or a lie? He didn't know..and didn't care to find out. His hands reached out to grab theirs as the three of them walked away towards the house, his head not turning to look back once.
I'm home.
Riyel Vicaria was finally home.
