Here and now, faced head-on with the one she had so tremendously failed, Symboli Rudolf found herself wanting nothing more than to run. To run and run and run, even if these legs of hers were no longer the machine they once were.
Mr C.B.'s smile had never looked so cold, though her tone was jovial, it carried none of the warmth she recalled from years of yore. She stood before her with her guard put forth—a clear stance she had taken, denoting her as the enemy.
Rudolf couldn't fault her for it.
It would only be right.
Rudolf opened her mouth, and then closed it. What…could she even say? She had rehearsed her part countless times during her journey here, and yet she now found herself at a loss. Just what words could she use to truly try and mend the fault she had created years ago? Were there even words capable of doing something so monumental?
Still, she forced herself to try.
"How…have you been?" She began, cautiously hoping that she'd at least get a response, knowing full well that it was C.B.'s full right to ignore her completely.
C.B. smiled, cold and sharp. "I've been fine." She said, clearly meaning that she'd been better ever since they separated. "And you? You're looking pretty awful these days, huh?"
Rudolf returned a self-depracating smile. "I cannot deny that." She whispered.
C.B. paused, before she tilted her head, her eyes scrutinizing. "That so?" She said, her tone sounding both uninterested yet threatening at the same time. "Got into trouble with somebody, Emperor?"
Rudolf chuckled wearily. "Does myself count?"
And that was the crux of it, really. At the end of the day, everything that had gone wrong was because of her. She was the nexus of the conflict that had driven their past glory to ruin, leaving nothing but remnants of that wondrous dream they had once lived through.
Mr C.B.'s faded glory, Katsuragi Ace's vanishment from Central, the jagged path Sirius Symboli's career had taken, the coldness through which Mejiro Ramonu now led the Mejiro Family–
It all traced back to her, in the end.
Because she was too stubborn to back down when she should've. Because she was too prideful to try and consider the thoughts of those she once called her closest friends. Because she cared far too much about glory, about the voices of the people—prioritized them over the feelings of her comrades.
Because though Japan named her their Emperor, back then she was no better than an unruly tyrant.
Finally, C.B. clicked her tongue. "Stop with all the sap." She said, scowling deeply. "Makes me feel sick."
Rudolf lowered her head. "I know. I'm sorry–"
"Yeah, I'm stepping in here." Blossom Star suddenly said, and Rudolf blinked as she realized that Star had been there this entire time. There was an easy smile on her lips, though her eyes were sharp as she glanced at her and C.B. "I didn't quite sign up as a marriage counsellor, but even I know this isn't getting anywhere."
C.B. snorted. "Marriage counsellor? Seriously-?"
"Mr. C.B." She began, saying her name instead of simply calling her 'senpai'. "I cannot speak for what you experienced, nor could I ever truly understand the reason that drove you apart." She narrowed her eyes. "But the way you speak of her with such disdain, refusing to even acknowledge her attempts at reconnecting,"
Her blue eyes shone with eerie intensity. "In my eyes, that makes you no different from the tyrant you describe Rudolf as."
Rudolf's eyes widened, before a burning fury overtook her every thought. "Blossom Star, you dare-!?"
"And you, Symboli Rudolf." She continued, taking a step towards her. And though Star made no obvious attempt to, her presence felt so overwhelming that even Rudolf found herself unconsciously stepping back. "Regretting your past is no sin. Recognizing your faults is the first step to mending the scars of the past."
"But there is a difference between understanding and wallowing in regret." Her eyes stared forth, the blue glow eerie and unblinking. "And to continue to drown yourself in despair without even trying is no better than signing yourself up for failure."
Blossom Star smiled. "I would know. I had nearly ended my own life for the same reason, after all."
…
"Oi, that's real unfair, Star." C.B. eventually said, her smile pained.
Star shrugged. "It had to be said." She winked. "You're both still alive; there's no better time than now to try again." And after saying so, Star stepped back, and the weight hanging in the air finally ceased. Rudolf barely restrained the urge to gasp as she gulped, feeling her heart pounding against her ribcage.
Rudolf's ears drooped as her chest burnt with shame. Somehow, in the heat of the moment, she'd forgotten just what Blossom Star had gone through. Though she was younger than them both, she had faced things that neither of them had ever even thought of. And it surely must've been aggravating to see them dance around one another, dragging out this liminality due to fearing what might come in the future.
"Mm, Little Star isn't wrong, you know?" Maruzensky then added, her voice soft as she gently patted her shoulder. "Who knows if you two will meet again anytime soon. Maybe you won't at all." She smiled kindly. "It's better to take the chance while you still can, before it slips from your fingers again."
Rudolf took a shuddering breath, and then nodded. "...I know." She managed to say, and gritting her teeth, she finally forced herself to look C.B. in the eyes for the first time since they met.
Eyes of magenta finally met bright cyans for the first time in years, and for a moment, Rudolf found herself lost in them. Those eyes, bright like the morning skies, as free as the ocean's waves—a brightness that belied a strength that gave birth to a legend.
"I'm sorry." She finally managed to say, her words no longer hidden behind fanciful language.
C.B. remained silent, listening.
She clenched her fists as she looked down. "I was-, scared." She admitted. "Scared of what would happen if I stopped. I didn't mean-, I didn't want to-, I-" She grit her teeth. "I was too arrogant to realize that it was all of you who made me an Emperor, and I dared to throw you away after all that." She gripped her hair, unconsciously trying to tear them off. "I was so stupid. Why couldn't I just realize it, back them? If I just listened, everything would've been fine!"
"Rudolf."
"We could've still raced together!" She shouted, tugging harder at her hair. Her head hurt, but right now, the pain was more than welcome. "You, me, Ace, Ramonu—we could've all still been running! I wouldn't have hurt myself! Sirius wouldn't have tried to run overseas because of-, me-!"
"Rudo."
"I'm sorry!" She screamed, tears building in her eyes. Her thoughts were growing faint from the pain. "I'm sorry! It's-, I'm-!"
Suddenly, something soft gently pried her hands away from her head. Then, a hand slowly reached down to her chin, and lifted her head up. And she finally saw C.B. standing in front of her, finally standing right in front of one another. "Rudo." She whispered, her own expression pinched with pain as she wiped away the tears in Rudolf's eyes. "I'm sorry. I…shouldn't have run away."
Her eyes widened. "No, it's not your-!"
Before she could finish, C.B. smiled tiredly as she placed her finger over mouth. She then turned to Star and Maruzensky, who'd graciously stepped away from the two some time back. "You're right. I…need to stop running away too." She sighed softly. "Mind if we get some alone time?"
"Of course~" Maruzensky said as she took Star's hand. "We can go and sightsee a little!"
Star nodded. "Stay safe, you two." She managed to say before Maruzensky quite literally yanked her away.
Now, with only the two of them remaining, C.B. managed a weak smile. "Why don't we go on a jog, Rudo? Just like old times?"
Rudolf's eyes shook at the offer, before she quickly wiped her eyes and smiled. "I-, yes. I would love that."
And so, after years of silence, the millions of words that'd gone unsaid between them slowly began being said.
…
A few meters away, sitting on a bench facing towards the ocean,
"I am never doing this again." Blossom Star whispered, her smile weary as she pinched her eyes.
Maruzensky giggled. "Well, you're quite talented at this, Little Star." She winked. "Maybe you should try becoming a counselor after you're done racing. I'm sure you'll do quite well."
Star stared at her for a good few seconds before she grinned. "No."
"Aww~"
.
.
.
AN: For those curious, look up how Rudolf is like in Mejiro Ramonu's career. The sheer amount of wet-dog energy she has there is what inspired this whole thing in the first place.