GOOD EVENING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! MY NAME IS MARK- Oh wait, no I'm not!
Hi everyone, Fortresshunter here. YES! I am alive! And I want to apologize for the HUGE wait on C5 for Iron Blooded Revolutionary.
Now because I know that there wouldn't be much of a point in saying it, won't tell you why I've been away for so long. Stuff happens and chapters get pushed back their due time.
So why have I written this? Well because I WAS BORED! That, and the IBO community has gone DISTURBINGLY QUIET. There has not been a new story in like... what? FOREVER?! And I wanted to start building up the community while I was working on Iron Blooded Revolutionary.
So, enjoy a one-shot AU where Mika survived the war.
It was beautiful.
The world that they lived in all those years ago has all but disappeared now, and in its place was this beautiful world. A world where the blood that once blocked her vision was behind her now, and they were able to see and have things that they could not before.
Kudelia didn't know what else she could ask for. Mars was now developing into a economic and democratic planet, and children that were once poor, defenceless, and homeless were finding a place to take refuge.
But her future wasn't as complete as she thought it would be. There were still some pieces from it that she was missing. As she was walking down the dirt road, her mind was brought back to the days when some of her closest companions were by her side. Protecting her, supporting her. A few years have gone by, and a lot of those friends and family are now gone. They were no longer physically beside her.
...But, it was no reason for her to give up. It wouldn't be what all of her friends from Tekkadan would have wanted for her.
It wouldn't be what Fumitan would want for her.
So she was going to keep looking up instead of bowing her head. The wishes of this who had passed on fueled her desire to create a peaceful era. For her sake, and for the sake of her wonderful family.
"Akatsuki!"
Speaking of which, in her view now was a small house that was built next to a vast land of green plants. Outside of that house stood a grown up Atra, attending to some finished laundry.
Or at least she was until a bundle of white cloth ran into Kudelia. Immediately, she picked up the running white laundry, "There we go!" as she picked up the white cloth, it slowly fell off the person it was on, and the first thing she saw were two familiar and bright blue eyes.
Those pretty eyes stared back at her purple ones in confusion, before the child called her name.
"Kudelia?" asked the boy.
"Yeah, that's me." she replied cheerfully while giving Akatsuki a bigger smile.
"Welcome home, Kudelia!" the matured Atra called out to her, and she looked above the young man to see her close friend walking towards them, "You're home early this time, huh?"
"Yeah." after replying to Atra, Kudelia looked down to see Akatsuki's blank but adorable face, "So what about you, have you been a good boy, Akatsuki?" she asked, being a bit humours when asking.
He answered "yes", but Atra, wanting to tease her son, brought her head right behind his and spoke, "Please, a good boy wouldn't be playing with the laundry." she said, making sure to emphasis each word.
"I was good." since Atra revealed his "secret" Akatsuki dug his face into Kudelia's chest, in a vain attempt to hide from his mom.
The action made Kudelia feel a bit flustered and slightly uncomfortable, before she laughed it off and just let it happen.
"You're too soft on him sometimes, Kudelia." Atra whined, wanting her blond friend to be a bit less lenient when it comes to disciplining Akatsuki.
Though Atra did have a point, that conversation could be saved for another time, and so Kudelia decided to ignore it for now. What she was paying attention to were the small... or perhaps big hands that were grabbing her clothing.
"... Akatsuki's hands sure have gotten big." she said, staring not only at the child's hands, but the three items that hung around his wrist.
With no hesitation or debate, both Atra and Kudelia agreed to pass on their sentimental bracelets to the child in their care, and seeing how happy he was the only reason they needed to let him keep them.
"Yeah, just like Mikazuki's..." just like Kudelia, Atra stared lovingly at her son, and at the bracelets that were now in his possession.
...
"Oh, speaking of which," Kudelia removed her attention from the youngster, and looked up to Atra with a questioning stare, "where is he? I don't see him outside the house that much."
Despite the sudden change in mood, Atra was able to put on a smirk, "Hehehe, he wanted to see everyone again, and he brought Hiruma with him."
The news got a another chuckle out of Kudelia, and Akatsuki stared at them both confused.
Despite how young her daughter was, she was incredibly clingy to both her, Atra and her beloved husband. No matter the situation, none of them would leave her alone under any circumstances, lest they hear her sad and lonely cries. It could be tiring sometimes, at least for the two of them, but for the adult male of their family, he wouldn't let the girl out of his arms no matter what.
"Shall we go get them, then?" asked Kudelia, giving Atra the piece of clothing in her arms.
"Sure, I'll just go ask Cookie and Cracker to look after the house for a little bit." right after she finished speaking, she turned around, folded the cloth and put it in the bin, before walking into the house.
It was only Akatsuki and her now, and when she looked back at the boy, he still saw that blank and confused look of his, causing her to giggle, before she stared at the direction that they would be going towards.
It was time to see the man she loved again.
Other than the breeze that flew by him, it was a quiet and peaceful dawn. Something he didn't think he would experience yet again.
But, here he is.
Alive, sitting in a wheelchair with a child in his prosthetic arm while he was staring with his one good eye at the one tomb with a Mobile Suit behind it
It was strange, he was came here knowing he would feel some sort of sadness or emptiness again. And yet, he was smiling. He was happy to see the names of his family, and he was happy to see the machine he used to carve the path to this destination.
Mikazuki never learned of why Gjallarhorn left him and Barbatos behind after that battle, but because of that choice, he survived.
Perhaps it was out of respect or mercy, but that seemed unlikely considering they used multiple dainsleif to attempt to finish him and Akihiro off. Maybe they were lazy? Then again, they were intricate with how they proceeded to fight in the war, and it wouldn't make sense for them to just call it a day after they broke down Barbatos.
Well, whatever the reason was, it was the only thing that he was grateful to them for. Because if they had killed him off, he wouldn't have been able to have the things he had now.
"Uwah..." And one of those things was in his arms right now.
A young, small child was half asleep in his arms right now. Like him, her hair was jet black, but the strange thing to him was that her hair had a similar look to Kudelia's. Her arms twitches a couple of times and every now and then her eyes would open which would let him see Hiruma's beautiful purple eyes. The same eyes that belonged to his blonde wife.
Another thing he was thankful for was the fact that he could come back here whenever he wanted to. He was able to reminiscence about the good old days, and despite that lonely feeling he would get every time he came back here, he was glad that he could see the names of all of his fallen comrades.
But of course, the thing that caught anyone's eye was the machine standing behind the stone slab.
His former Mobile Suit. The one he would pilot in his younger days. The one that earned him the name of "Tekkadan's Devil". And the machine that allowed him to create this world for him and his family.
In it's damaged state, the remaining Tekkadan members couldn't salvage it completely. But that was fine, the war was going to be the last day he was going to use Barbatos. So instead of making complete repairs, they repainted it and replaced some of the areas with old parts from the previous forms. The horns were similar to Lupus Rex, but the blue armour piece that was from the first Lupus was put on. The arms are from Lupus, they kept the Tekkadan symbols on the red shoulder pads and the arms were equipped with the same golden claws from Rex.
The Major difference was the lack of a cockpit. In its place was a half blue and white armour piece and imbedded to the top of the blue piece of armour was a red Tekkadan symbol.
He appreciated the treatment that his comrades gave Barbatos. This made the Gundam look great, and it felt like a great final form for it, even though he would not be using it in battle. He was just glad that it was repaired for the sake of reminding them of the days when they were all together.
When the family was complete.
...
...
...
"Oof!" while he was entranced by the sight, someone pushed themselves into his chest and gripped his grey tank top. He looked down and he smiled a bit more. It was his son, Akatsuki, burying his face into his chest while putting on a big smile.
He put his arm around Akatsuki while making sure he was still keeping a hand on Hiruma's head. And he wasn't the only one who held Akatsuki, because said girl, despite her age, felt her brother next to her, and with her little fingers, held Akatsuki's hand, which made both Mika and his son smile at her.
"Mikazuki!" he heard Kudelia call his name, and his head turned to so see both of the women he was married to.
Kudelia walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck while placing her head next to him. The eyepatch got in the way of her seeing his eyes, but she was still able to catch a glimpse of his cobalt blue iris. She blushed and smiled softly.
Atra crouched next to him in order to give im a quick peck on the cheeks, while her hand reached out to hold his prosthetic one. Because of the lack of warmth that she felt when gripping the metal hand, she felt somewhat sad. But looking at the faces of Mika, Akatsuki, Hiruma and Kudelia helped to keep the feeling from taking over her, and instead it caused her to have the same emotions and expression Kudelia had.
And Mika, the smile he had was one of the biggest he ever showed anyone. It was a strange thing to see, because back when Tekkadan was all together, the most they all got out of him was his signature poker face, which they did not mind at all considering it was Mika, and he didn't need to show his emotions physically to express them. But now, now it was visible, and to both wives, it made him look much more handsome than he did all those years ago.
Mika looked back at the tomb and Barbatos, causing everyone else, excluding Himura, to do the same.
...
"It's still hard for me to think that I'm living in a world without them..." the previous mood shifted when Mika let his thoughts out while converting his smile to a small frown, and while it did affect everyone a bit, Atra and Kudelia wouldn't let things stay like that.
"But I'm sure they wouldn't mind, after all, everyone's happiness was an unspoken priority among us all, wasn't it?" said Atra, reassuring her husband by wrapping her arms around him and Akatsuki to the best of her ability, which got the following to quirk his eyebrow at her.
"She's right, and it's hard to count the many times when you've prioritized us over yourself in recent years." Kudelia moved her head forward to allow herself to be seen by the disabled man, and when he turned his head, he could see the loving, caring, and flushed face of the hers.
With their arguments and their faces, it was hard for him not to smile at them again. He didn't resist it any longer and he allowed that weird, tingling feeling in his gut to take over, and the smile he showed before came back.
He felt the weight on his lap that was Akatsuki shift a little and he looked down to see his son looking up at him, a confused and yet cute face present. It was because he looked adorable that Mika's arm moved from Himura's for a second to pat and ruffle Akatsuki's hair, which got him a smile and some pleasant giggles from the boy.
He got so distracted by his family and the tomb that he didn't really notice that the sun was starting to disappear, leaving behind a beautifully coloured sky.
"Huh, guess we should go home?" he asked everyone.
Both Kudelia and Atra were surprised by the change of topics, but soon realized that they were oblivious to how much time had passed. Himura had all but fallen asleep now, and Akatsuki was starting to look somewhat tired.
Both of them laughed at the sleepy Akatsuki and the sleeping Hiruma and laughed at themselves for their obliviousness. Kudelia removed herself from Mika and grabbed the handles on his wheelchair. Atra had picked up the sleepy Akatsuki and cradled him in her arms, and slowly, they left.
Looking back at the area they were just at, he realized how pretty the sunset was, and how the glow illuminated his Gundam and the tombstone.
It was quite nostalgic. How the sun would either fall or rise, and he would get to see it when he was on guard patrol, or when he woke up early and wanted to go outside for some fresh air.
Nostalgia was yet another reason he was glad to be alive. Dead people can't do anything, and they definitely couldn't remember anything. It would've sucked if their was no afterlife, and thus, we may as well have not existed at all. And yet, he's still alive, and even if it made him sad, he was glad that he still had his memories of Orga, Shino, Akihiro, Biscuit, and everyone else in Tekkadan.
But now the obvious question for him remains, and it was something he would normally ask Orga.
'What should I do now...?' he asked himself internally, not expecting an answer, but it was still something he thought that he needed to ask.
His main reason for existing wasn't needed in this world, and now he's uncertain of what his reason for being around is. Of course he's glad that he has all the things he does have, but... without a reason to have survived, what was the point of him even being here?
All of a sudden, he heard a snort come from his waist, and he looked down to see Hiruma stirring from her sleep, her small button nose twitching adorably.
... Oh.
He then looked back and stared at Atra patting the now sleeping Akatsuki's back, and while he was sleeping, Akatsuki was letting drool fall from his mouth and onto her shoulder. It didn't seem to bother her at all though.
And finally, he looked behind him to see Kudelia looking forward, before seeing that he was staring at him and looked straight into his eyes while giving another soft smile.
... Yeah, that's right.
His reason to be alive didn't change or disappear. He just thought of the wrong reason as to why he needed to be here.
He was here for them.
He was here for their sake.
...
...
...
I guess I won't need to ask for directions anymore, will I, Orga?
Gonna be honest, I came SO close to crying after making and editing this!
This was something I wanted to write up for not posting on any of my active fanfics for a while, but I never anticipated that I would get so emotional... *sniff* SHUT UP!
DID YOU JUST CALL ME WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK?!
Shitty Sonic forces reference asid, I bet some of you are wondering who Himura is and/or WHY she's there. Well for one, thought it would make sense for a second child to be present. Second, Hiruma is "daytime" in japanese (or not, blame google translate), and I felt like it was a REALLY appropriate name for a second child for Mika.
So I hope you enjoyed, and as a little bit of encouragement to those reading-
PLEASE DO NOT BE AFRAID TO POST AN IBO FANFIC. I know a few people who are afraid of posting chapters or content because of the fear that they lack quality (myself included) but IT'S FANFICTION. JUST DO WHAT YOU FUCKING WANT. I want to see this community grow as much as possible because, regardless of the flaws, I LOVE Gundam IBO, and I hope to see the fanfic community develop, as well as the writers who bother with it.
So be sure to gather the courage to post an IBO story idea that you had in mind, and now if you'll excuse me, gotta go back to IRON BLOODED REVOLUTIONARY!
Mission Status: Complete (100%)
Returning to base for next objective...