Epilogue

Souda could not have been more excited - or terrified - to leave Hope's Peak.

He knew he would return in a matter of weeks, maybe even sooner if the visit went sour, but, as he reached the edge of the city and stepped off the bus, his motion sickness wasn't the only factor upsetting his stomach. He walked through the streets of Tokyo's fringes, keeping his head down and steps quick, until he rounded the familiar corner to his old home. As he neared the front door, he almost reprimanded himself for not calling before he remembered that his family didn't even own a landline.

Souda stood on his front step, swallowed, and rapped on the splintered wood. No one answered, and he listened for any noise that would signify the presence of another person: kids yelling a few streets over, someone's feet scuffling on the sidewalk behind him, clattering and swearing in the garage.

The mechanic nodded to himself, took in a deep breath through his nose, and turned to the makeshift bike shop on the side of the house. He looked through the small window in the door and saw his father bent over a cascade of screwdrivers on the shop floor. Souda knocked, and his dad turned, wiping his brow. His eyes grew wide when he saw his son, but, after one blink, his expression returned to neutrality.

Souda opened the door.

"Hi, Dad," he said.

"Hey, kid," his dad grunted, turning back to the mess on the floor. "I see you're still in the same phase as last year."

Souda worried a strand of hair between two fingers and said, "I like it this way."

"'Long as you're payin' for it with your own money, I don't care." Each tool in its original place, his dad went to work on a tricycle.

Souda was expecting his dad to make some kind of conversation: how his year went, why he hadn't been home in so long, even an "I missed you." He should've known better. He cleared his throat and asked, "Need any help?"

"Not with this one." His father waved at a green bike against the wall. "That one needs some work, though. Broken chain, flat tires."

"Got it." Souda delved into the work and had the bike fixed in a matter of minutes. He started tinkering with a few pieces of scrap and found a motor from a dusty toy car he used to play with.

"You gonna stay long?" his dad asked, wiping the tricycle clean with a rag.

"Maybe a week or so," Souda said. "'Less you want me to stay longer."

"Whatever you want. Summer's our busiest time."

"So you do want me to stay," Souda clarified under his breath. "I might be in an' out a lot 'cause I've got friends in the city, but I'll be around as much as I can."

"How many more years are you in school?" his father asked. "Two?"

"Yeah." Souda picked up the remote for the old toy car and drove his makeshift model rocket around the shop floor. "Dunno what I'm doin' after that. Maybe technical school or some public university."

"Don't waste your time," his dad said. "Or money. You're already good enough."

The side of Souda's mouth quirked at the rare compliment. "I think I wanna do something with engineering, though. Y'need school for that."

"Can't pay for it." His father's gaze followed the toy around the room, and he crossed his arms. "You want years of debt, go ahead."

"I'll be fine," Souda muttered. He drove the rocket back to its place under the cabinets and set the remote down. "What've you been doin' all this time?"

His father gestured to the shop as a whole.

"Don't you get lonely?" Souda asked.

His dad laughed once in response. "Neighborhood kids are comin' in all the time. I've got more bikes in the back to work on."

Souda looked past the curtain to the back half of the garage - the messier half, hidden from the public for damn good reason - and saw only two other bikes. "Let's work on 'em, then," he said.

By dinnertime, Souda had cleaned the shop in addition to fixing the bicycles, and his dad gestured him over to the door that led to the house. "I've been eatin' from cans," he said, "so I don't wanna her any complainin' about anything I cook."

Souda wiped his hands with a rag. "No worries."

His dad entered the house and left the door open for Souda to follow. He sighed, set the rag down, and looked back to the rocket. "It's a start," he muttered, stepping into the living room and shutting the door behind him.

...

Sonia flew down the street on her motorcycle, feeling the wind flit up her wrists, into her sleeves, out through her collar. With each interval of speed, Tanaka's arms closed tighter around her waist and Sonia's grin grew behind her helmet. The two had decided to travel through all of Novoselic in a week so Tanaka could see the local fauna, but it was difficult for them to make progress when Tanaka insisted on pulling over every time they passed an animal on the street.

As the motorcycle approached a pile of antlers and fur on the roadside, Tanaka tapped at Sonia's shoulder, and she slowed to pull up to the fallen animal. A limousine holding Sonia's parents, bodyguards, and various supplies followed, and Sonia's father stepped from the vehicle, waving his daughter over. She stepped off the motorcycle and toward her father as Tanaka knelt next to the animal and started mumbling to himself.

"Yes, Father?" she asked, flipping the visor of her helmet up.

"Is it really necessary for Mister Tanaka to pray for every piece of roadkill that we see?" King Nevermind asked, lowering his voice. "We're losing quite a bit of time, and we do have our duties at home to attend to when we return."

"Mister Tanaka doesn't like that term," Sonia said with a frown. "And if it is important to him, I think it is worth a few minutes of our time."

"Very well," the king sighed. "How are you two faring? Do you need to stop to eat anything?"

"I feel well. I will ask Mister Tanaka in a moment." Sonia turned back to see Tanaka standing, eyes closed, and approached him quietly. "Mister Tanaka?" she said.

"Yes, princess?" he asked, turning to her.

"Should we stop for lunch or continue on?"

"Whatever you wish." Tanaka looked back to the animal, mouth tightening. "I have lost my appetite."

Sonia nodded and gestured to her father, who sighed once more and stepped into the car. The couple returned to the motorcycle and climbed on.

"We should be coming up to a national park soon," Sonia said, smiling as Tanaka's hands met at the front of her waist. "We can set up there for the afternoon, and you have permission to explore for as long as you like."

"Excellent," Tanaka said, flipping down his visor. He hesitated and flipped it up again. "I am eternally grateful to you and your family for this opportunity. You all have the blessing of the Tanaka kingdom."

"I am sure that our country will flourish, then," Sonia said. She squeezed Tanaka's hand, set her visor in place, and sped off.

...

Author's Note: Thank you so much for reading! If you'd like, pop over to this fic's page on Archive of Our Own, where my author's note is even more sentimental and excessively long.