"To you, 200 years from now,"
"How're you doing, Star? Or at least your name should be Star, I hope. The Goddesses told me that your new name will be Blossom Star, but even they aren't completely sure. The future's never constant, after all."
"Haha~, it'll be really awkward if your name turns out to be something completely different. In that case, I'm super sorry~! But it's not like I can change these recordings once I send them away, so I can only hope."
"Anyway~"
Eclipse paused for a moment, turning around to gaze at the distance. The cityscape didn't look as depressing as before now that the clouds were beginning to part. Streaks of late afternoon sunlight draped onto the jungle of concrete and metal and glass, letting the brutalist architecture to shine like pearls in the sand.
"I hope you're doing well. These recordings were meant to be shown to you once your {Story} is over, so you're probably doing pretty great! Destiny's been beaten back, you've become a Hero, and maybe you've even snagged a cute little girlfriend~!"
She snickered. "Hopefully she's a little smarter than you. You really need someone to keep you in check."
I laughed. "Shut up. It's not that bad." I said, as if I didn't just get myself reprimanded by creating a miniature sun.
"Whatever the case, I hope you're things are okay" She continued, her smile soft. "I hope you're safe. I hope you're loved. I hope you can look at the world and smile."
Her voice trembled slightly.
"I hope you can eat as much as you want now. I hope you can wake up and not tell me that everything hurts. I hope you can stand and walk and run. I hope-" She paused for a moment as she subtly wiped her eyes. "I hope, whoever and wherever and however you are, I hope you're happy."
"Because it hurt, you know?" She said, now unable to hold onto the smile she seemingly always had. "Every time I visited you, it hurt so much to know that you were in so much pain. And when you begged me to–" She sniffed, shoulders trembling. "I-I couldn't do it. I couldn't pull it. I didn't have–!"
"Eclipse…" I whispered, and I wanted to hold her and pull her into a hug, but I knew that my hands would only pass through her. This world was nothing but a facade. The Eclipse before me was separated by 200 years.
I tried anyway. I walked up to her and pulled her into a hug. Yet my hands only passed through her illusory form, and my heart clenched as Eclipse hid her face in her hands and sobbed.
…
Oh, I remembered now.
This rooftop. This cityscape.
This was the rooftop of the hospital I'd been confined in throughout most of my previous life. Stricken with an incurable immunodeficiency, forced to remain like a lab rat in my own sanitized room, forced to smell the scent of antiseptics through every hour, with the city just outside the window taunting me for my own weakness.
And it was in that hell that I gave up. I told Eclipse to stop my treatment. I couldn't take it. I couldn't take it anymore. I knew it was cruel to ask my friend to do that. But I was just so tired back then. I just didn't want to wake up anymore.
If I was meant to die anyway, then I wanted my death to at least be my choice. A last attempt at agency, however thin and worthless it was.
My eyes darkened as an empty laugh left my lips.
Haha, what an idiot.
"Don't blame yourself." Eclipse softly said.
"I'm not." I stubbornly said, even though I knew that she couldn't hear me.
And yet, with the way she smiled at me, soft and forgiving and loving, it almost felt like she could.
"A-Anyway, I feel a little jealous, you know~?" She said, her voice regaining some of its whimsy. "If you have a girlfriend, she's probably pampering you like crazy. I mean, who can resist kissing such a cutie-patooie?" She sighed fondly. "Aah, I wanted to kiss you too~! But I'll just make you even more sick if I ever tried."
I laughed wryly, my cheeks turning warm. Now that I was here, I could remember how frustrated Eclipse always was whenever she realized she couldn't kiss me. It was insanely embarrassing when I first heard her say that, but after a while, I guess I just got used to it—assumed that it was just a joke she just liked to say.
But now that we were here, with the way she gazed at me, I was beginning to realize that maybe it had never been a joke.
Eclipse took a deep breath, before she smiled brightly. "This will probably be the last recording I'm sending to you." She suddenly said. "Maybe I'll make more, but this feels like a good place to end it."
She reached her hand out, and I did my best to hold her illusory hand in mine. "Goodbye, Star." She whispered. "Goodbye, ████."
I closed my eyes. "Goodbye." I whispered back.
When I opened my eyes, she was gone, and I smiled softly at the fading cityscape as the dream abruptly ended.
.
.
.
Mou~, why did you stop the recording early, my dear Author!? I had more to say after that!
(AN: It was unnecessary. Blossom Star did not need that.)
Hmph! But now the recording's super short. It didn't even manage to fill an entire Chapter! Don't you need to pad out the–
(AN: You don't deserve that either.)
(AN: Your memories, your end, your sacrifice–)
(AN: I won't let them be tarnished. Whether by Star, or the Readers, or yourself.)
I…
I see.
I'm sorry.
(AN: I'm sorry too. This is my selfishness.)
No, no. It's-, it's okay, my dear Author~! I know my sense of humor has always been terrible, and my time with ████ certainly didn't make that any better~. I probably would've made this chapter waayy too dark if you decided to keep the ending of that recording intact.
Ah, anyway~
Sorry for being a little awkward, everyone~!
But I think it's enough about me.
It's been awesome being here with everyone, and I was super happy to see all the comments I got last time around~! It made me and my dear Author incredibly happy to hear everyone's thoughts about the journey of the girl I loved.
But the [Arima Kinen] is just around the corner. The Main Story's over, and we're now approaching the Ending Line.
It's been amazing, everyone, so let's push on a little more, okay~!
Let's go on one last rodeo until the end!