((ooc: I hope this is alright! Get to it whenever!))
The sunset is leaching the last of the colors from the surface world's comparative desert as Yoko sets out on a pensive, solitary walk. She won't go far, she promises Dayakka and Simon and the others--just past the edge of camp, a lap around the back of the Gunmen, etc. etc. She just wants to be alone for a little bit with her thoughts. The motion and crowd of Team Dai-Gurren is a comfort and a distraction during the day and even for most nights, but sometimes, as darkness falls, it's suffocating.
So she takes these walks sometimes, and what she thinks about isn't important--at least not now, because not two yards from her explodes a burst of multi-colored and somewhat psychedelic light, blinding her. Yoko curses verbally for the few seconds after her yelp of surprise, as her eyes readjust to the evening dimness. She's already half-drawn her massive gun, expecting the visual explosion to precede a bizarre enemy--but drops it when a familiar face appears before her.
Reject common sense to make the impossible possible. Anything can happen, so to speak. This is a dogma of Team Dai-Gurren, proven by the taking of General Thymilph's massive Gunman ship just a few days ago, spearheaded by Kamina. Usually that dogma applies to overcoming impossible enemies, but this is anything and it is happening. Now in front of Yoko stands--Rossiu?
"Rossiu! You startled me--shouldn't you know better?" She chides, patting her rifle pointedly. "I don't know how you did that, but--"
But something is off. As Yoko's eyes adjust she realizes that this Rossiu is different: taller, broader, longer-haired, more angular of face. It's as if he aged years in moments. She blinks at him before frowning thoughtfully. "What is this--did Leeron find some strange projection software on Dai-Gurren and use you as a guinea pig?" A pause. "What a jerk, trying to scare me!"
That, in Yoko's mind, is the most logical explanation--some feat of electricity and mechanics and graphics, plus Leeron's usual sense of mischief and play. Sticking Rossiu in front of a projector and augmenting it some way to make him look much older, that's right up his alley--isn't it?
[Rossiu isn't exactly sure what happened. One minute he was assisting the others in his department with a revolutionary new technology that would allow instantaneous transportation, the next he found himself here, eyes still adjusting to the darkness. Perhaps it worked, but he certainly hadn't set the coordinates out this far. How is he going to get back?
A voice startles him and Rossiu turns, eyes wide. It's the only shift in his expression and he settles quickly enough once he recognizes the voice.]
Yoko-- [But she's too fast, already speaking and he lets her talk, watching her patiently. She hasn't changed at all. In fact, she looks the same as she had when they had defeated Lordgenome. That's a bit odd; it's been seven years, surely she would look at least a bit older...?
Her words are enough to set off warning bells though. Why would she assume that Leeron did anything of the sort? Rossiu can't quite wrap his head around what she's saying.]
Slow down, please. Why do you think Leeron did anything? I was testing out a transportation device and ended up out here; there was no projector involved.
Her hands settle on her hips and she tilts her head, frowning. "Well, he has to have done something. Or else you've gone through a major growth spurt since I saw you an hour ago."
"Kamina City? What?" Yoko barely even knows what a city is. The notion that this is some annoying joke is quickly overtaken by one that suggests something strange is afoot. "And years? Hardly. Like I said--an hour ago. You were trying to get Darry and Gimmy to go take a bath. What kind of transport could possibly be on Dai-Gurren?"
[Well this doesn't sound good. He doesn't have as much contact with Darry and Gimmy these days, so obviously he wouldn't be trying to get them to take a bath. They're old enough to look after themselves anyway. The last time he would have done something like that would have been years ago...
This might explain why Yoko doesn't look any older, but Rossiu doesn't want to leap to conclusions.]
What... What was the most recent thing you all did? Are you fighting the beastmen?
"Of course," she replies, but now more earnestly than exasperatedly. "We just took Dai-Gurren. Kamina just..." Well--she's not going to get into that. "What could you possibly be doing?"
[Give him a moment, Yoko, he needs to work this out for himself.
Somehow he didn't just fling himself through space, he flung himself through time. But if he's here, then what about the younger version of himself? Is he still here as well? What if he changes the future--
He can talk to Lordgenome. He can find out what Lordgenome's words mean and then... then maybe they can better prepare for the threat that's coming. Of course he doesn't know how he's going to get back to his own time with the limited technology they have here, but surely he can figure something out with Leeron's help, right?]
...I believe I understand what's going on. I know this sounds far-fetched, but Yoko, I'm from the future.
Her first reaction is to think that ugh, he's seriously fucking with her now. But Rossiu doesn't usually kid around like that; he's a pretty earnest guy. And those broad shoulders had felt pretty real--not projected--when she'd prodded him. Rossiu's explanation would make sense, if not for the fact that it's totally ridiculous.
But because this is Rossiu, because he's her friend and because she's willing to give most people the benefit of doubt, she blinks at him rather than dismissing him. "Explain, please."
[But he squares his shoulders and he focuses on her, trying to find a way to make it make sense.]
Seven years from now humans live on the surface. We defeated the leader of the beastmen, Lordgenome, and we took the surface for ourselves. We named the capitol city Kamina City. Technology has advanced a lot in the past seven years, and because of this, we've been working on a device that will allow people to warp from one place to another. It hadn't been working previously, but during the tests today, something must have worked this time though, that's why I'm here. It warped me, but it also sent me back in time.
I know it doesn't make sense and I'm sorry I can't explain it better.
She's almost willing to believe this on his depiction of the future alone--defeated Beastmen, humans on the surface, a capitol named after Kamina. Also authoritative is Rossiu's apparent earnestness, and, well, his age. How old is he now...?
"Alright... but... there's no way for you to get back now, is there?"
"But if you're stuck here--" No, Yoko won't go that far, not until such a fate is assured. "Well, I just hope Leeron can figure something out."
It's just that that isn't quite the priority at the moment. Leeron needs to devote all his ingenuity to fighting Gunmen.
"Rossiu, you don't think, with the time travel..." It has to be obvious what she's thinking, so soon after the man's death--but almost immediately as she looks up at him bright-eyed, she's dismissing the idea and the light is leaving. "No, I guess not, huh? Changing the future and all."
[He doesn't get what she's trying to say at first, but the bright-eyed expression says everything that needs to be said.]
...I don't know. I don't know if it's possible to go further back in time. It... might be, but I won't know for certain until we can rebuild the machine that brought me here.
[Bringing Kamina back would be incredible; they certainly could have used his help, but he doesn't want to promise anything when he has no idea if it's even possible.]
"Yeah, you're right." It makes perfect sense, of course... but Yoko can't quite quell the hope.
"But... even if we can't... the future you're coming from--it's worth it, isn't it? Not just him. The whole war, everyone who's been hurt... It's worth it in the end. Right?"
She really doesn't know what she'll do if the answer isn't "yes."
[He smiles at that. The expression is a bit awkward, but it's obvious that he's trying.]
Humans can live freely on the surface and the technology has boomed in the past seven years. Everything has gotten better and everyone's lives are much better living on the surface. It's definitely worth it.
[He doesn't mention Lordgenome's words; now isn't the time to bring them up.]
It's kind of funny--seeing adult Rossiu smile is just like seeing teenager Rossiu do it. They both smile so tentatively, as if they're not used to it, almost like it's a taboo. It's almost adorable, really.
Yoko shines a smile herself. "Good. I guess we should go find Leeron, then."
In seven years when Rossiu's going off his rocker and sacrificing Simon for the sake of PR, then Yoko will have reason to be distrustful. But for now there's no precedent for her to be suspicious, when the Rossiu she knows is a loyal member of Team Gurren and she has little cause to suspect his future version is anything other.
"They're not going to believe me unless I come walking in with you," she says. "Unless you feel like finding a disguise and keeping your identity a secret from everybody but me and Leeron, it's probably better to do it this way."
[Waking up in the desert is not a pleasant experience. There's sand everywhere and Kamina is fairly sure he's swallowed more of it than any one human should ever consume. Hopefully that's not actually dangerous; the last thing he wants is to end up dead after breaking out of the afterlife.
That had taken some doing, of course. He had managed to round up a group of people who weren't interested in staying dead and together they had... well, they had done something that involved a lot of shouting and heroic speeches and they had busted their way out through the ceiling. Who knew the afterlife had a ceiling anyway? It had looked like the sky, but somehow Kamina knew that his destiny was to go upward, regardless of what lay above him. He had been right, but that didn't change how odd the entire thing was.
Oh well, he's got some people to see and places to go now that he's alive again. Kamina pulls himself upright, dusting off his pants and frowning when that just gets more sand on them. He shrugs it off and glances around, noticing the sword stuck in the ground with his cape tied to it. Is this where he was buried? Huh. He pulls the cape off and swings it around his shoulders, tying it in place before grabbing the sword and securing that at his back.
Then he does what absolutely any sane man does, he tilts his head upward and he shouts.]
Team Gurren, or what's left of it, is camped a couple of miles from Kamina's burial site, apt as always to gravitate towards that hill whenever they're passing by. Near, but not quite within the distance of a rock's throw (unless you're throwing a rock with a Gunman).
Yoko is actually on her way back from a solo visit to the site, undertaken because maybe she's a little more sentimental about the blue-haired hero than she'd like to admit. And, well, there are some things about Kamina that she can't share even with Simon. Ten times over. She feels like she's visited that idiot's grave ten times too many, trying and failing to find the right words--to find words that Kamina would have unearthed without even trying.
The logical thing to think when she hears that unmistakable roar is that her brain, in the act of missing him, is making shit up to screw with her. Well, consider Yoko screwed with, because it takes only a split second of deliberation before she's turned on her heel and is running at top-speed back to that hill.
"KAMINA?!"
He'll do what he wants, death isn't going to stop him!!
[Kamina waits until the sound of his voice has vanished before moving. He could sit here and wait for them to show up, but if they were too far away and didn't hear him...
He glances around, trying to locate anything that might give him a direction where to go-- oh. Those look like gunmen over there, don't they? He figures that's as good of a direction as any to head toward, and even if it's not Simon and the others, he can at least steal a gunmen and try to figure out where they are from there. That should be easy enough--
But his thoughts are interrupted by a shout and he finally notices Yoko running towards him. Kamina grins, sauntering over to her almost as though he hasn't got a care in the world. His steps are a little faster than they need to be though; it's good to be back.]
Yoko! [He drags out the final o in her name a little bit, almost teasingly.] How have you been holding up, huh?
Unbelievable. Kamina. Right here in front of her, like nothing's happened, like he's been perfectly fine this whole time.
Is this real? Did she fall asleep cleaning her rifle or something? Is she majorly dehydrated and hallucinating?
Yoko reaches out a hand to touch him and freezes when her fingers touch solid, warm skin. Real. He's real. The only person she's ever had vaguely romantic feelings for, the insuppressible hero, the founder of Team Gurren, the constant source of said team's hope for the future. Kamina the irreplaceable, the inimitable, the impossible and the invincible. Right in front of her. She could fling herself into his arms, cry hideous wracking sobs into his chest, lift up on her tiptoes and collect that ten times over he'd once promised her, if she wanted to.
Instead Yoko swings to clock him upside the head, embarrassingly teary-eyed. "Idiot!" she cries. "How am I holding up? You left us, you good-for-nothing--you died!"
Unbe-friggin-lievable. And yet--not. Of course Kamina would be the one to refuse to kick back and relax in the world-beyond. Of course he'd be the one to break every possible rule, simply because he decided the rules were breakable.
Yoko glares up at him, totally lacking remorse. "Yes I did. I had to make sure you wouldn't get any of those stupid self-sacrificing last-ditch-charge urges again." Of course she knows that without Kamina's sacrifice, they wouldn't have Dai-Gurren--they'd likely not even have their lives--but still. She gives her eyes an industrious rub to chase away those pesky tears before she looks up at him again, at that ridiculous pained expression of his. Yes--it really is him--the same Kamina she knows and loves.
[Kamina grins, clapping a hand to Yoko's shoulder. It isn't the same sort of smack he'd give Simon, it's gentler.]
I did what I had to do to help secure our victory. I'm not gonna lie, it hurt and the whole thing was pretty awful, but it worked, didn't it? Besides, if you seriously think you guys are getting rid of me that easily, you've got another thing coming!
Yoko huffs out her last bit of righteous fury and doesn't move the hand from her shoulder. Her arms, crossed at her front, shift hesitantly before she decides that life is too short--far too short--to be shy or avoidant, and in that moment she takes a small step forward to hug him. (Sans sobbing, thankfully.) "Good. Don't think we'd let you leave again, either."
[He doesn't hesitate either, moving that hand on her shoulder to wrap around her back in a hug. He's grinning still, but the expression is a bit softer.]
Yeah. I know.
[He's sure Simon is torn up about this too, but for the moment he just wants to comfort Yoko. Simon will be okay; he's much stronger than he thinks he is, after all.]
"I know." The whole warm-strong-armed-embrace thing is a cliché far abused, but there's a reason for that, isn't there? Even though she's not anyone who needs protecting, it's nice to have him here.
If his thoughts are on Simon, hers aren't far behind. Still, selfishly--as she has always been, a little, when it comes to Kamina--she hangs on for an extra few moments before releasing the world's favorite blue-haired wonder.
Yoko's smile fades just a little bit. "Everyone took it hard," she shrugs. "But for the most part, we remembered that you were fighting for something--we were fighting for something--and that we couldn't give up until we won. Otherwise, what would be the point, of... of your death--" she almost feels like saying those words aloud are a jinx--"or of others'? So mostly... we've pulled through. The one person really in trouble was Simon."
At this she pauses to look up at him. "You're--you were his whole world--you know that? He needed that clock in the face to get moving, but you weren't there to give it to him. He just sat in his room for days carving creepy little statues of you with his drill. Wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep. Once even when we were fighting Gunmen, Lagann went totally haywire and dove off a cliff. But then he found Nia."
You have to move forward. Everyone had known that this would be Kamina's philosophy on the matter. There was no question. He'd want them to go on. Hearing him say so, in the flesh, plain and clear, makes all the hours of pain and doubt seem just a little more justified.
"Nia is Lordgenome's daughter. The Beastman princess, so to speak." She debates pausing for effect here, but decides to continue before Kamina charges straight into camp to murder this girl. "But she was cast out, apparently, and now she's part of Team Gurren... she has a different way of seeing the world. And I think she helped Simon see it differently, too." Now she does pause, contemplating those two for a moment. "That's part of it, at least, what pulled him out of that slump. I think another part is that he's got someone to protect now. And someone who'll believe in him no matter what--with total blind faith."
[Well it's a good thing she continued there because yes, Kamina would have charged back to camp to interrogate her at the very least.
Hearing that Simon has found someone to pull him out of his depression makes Kamina smile though.]
That's good to hear! It sounds sort of like the relationship we have, actually. Simon always trusts and believes in me, no matter what and in turn, he's someone I can look after and protect and support - it's great that he's found someone like that while I was... away.
"Sure you're not gonna get jealous that he's paying attention to somebody else?" Yoko teases, despite being sure that Simon will be ecstatic to see Kamina and just as awestruck by him as he always has been. "It's not quite a parallel... I'm pretty sure you never had a crush on Simon."
"When Lagann dove off that cliff, Simon went with it... he found her in a strange box in the valley that his little spiral key could open. And, well... she was pretty helpless, we couldn't just leave her. We didn't know she was Lordgenome's daughter until she stood up to one of his Generals."
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Post-skip Rossiu & Pre-skip Yoko: Meeting
The sunset is leaching the last of the colors from the surface world's comparative desert as Yoko sets out on a pensive, solitary walk. She won't go far, she promises Dayakka and Simon and the others--just past the edge of camp, a lap around the back of the Gunmen, etc. etc. She just wants to be alone for a little bit with her thoughts. The motion and crowd of Team Dai-Gurren is a comfort and a distraction during the day and even for most nights, but sometimes, as darkness falls, it's suffocating.
So she takes these walks sometimes, and what she thinks about isn't important--at least not now, because not two yards from her explodes a burst of multi-colored and somewhat psychedelic light, blinding her. Yoko curses verbally for the few seconds after her yelp of surprise, as her eyes readjust to the evening dimness. She's already half-drawn her massive gun, expecting the visual explosion to precede a bizarre enemy--but drops it when a familiar face appears before her.
Reject common sense to make the impossible possible. Anything can happen, so to speak. This is a dogma of Team Dai-Gurren, proven by the taking of General Thymilph's massive Gunman ship just a few days ago, spearheaded by Kamina. Usually that dogma applies to overcoming impossible enemies, but this is anything and it is happening. Now in front of Yoko stands--Rossiu?
"Rossiu! You startled me--shouldn't you know better?" She chides, patting her rifle pointedly. "I don't know how you did that, but--"
But something is off. As Yoko's eyes adjust she realizes that this Rossiu is different: taller, broader, longer-haired, more angular of face. It's as if he aged years in moments. She blinks at him before frowning thoughtfully. "What is this--did Leeron find some strange projection software on Dai-Gurren and use you as a guinea pig?" A pause. "What a jerk, trying to scare me!"
That, in Yoko's mind, is the most logical explanation--some feat of electricity and mechanics and graphics, plus Leeron's usual sense of mischief and play. Sticking Rossiu in front of a projector and augmenting it some way to make him look much older, that's right up his alley--isn't it?
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A voice startles him and Rossiu turns, eyes wide. It's the only shift in his expression and he settles quickly enough once he recognizes the voice.]
Yoko-- [But she's too fast, already speaking and he lets her talk, watching her patiently. She hasn't changed at all. In fact, she looks the same as she had when they had defeated Lordgenome. That's a bit odd; it's been seven years, surely she would look at least a bit older...?
Her words are enough to set off warning bells though. Why would she assume that Leeron did anything of the sort? Rossiu can't quite wrap his head around what she's saying.]
Slow down, please. Why do you think Leeron did anything? I was testing out a transportation device and ended up out here; there was no projector involved.
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I haven't seen you in years, Yoko. The rest of us have been working in Kamina City, but you decided to leave. Don't you remember?
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This might explain why Yoko doesn't look any older, but Rossiu doesn't want to leap to conclusions.]
What... What was the most recent thing you all did? Are you fighting the beastmen?
[Please let him be wrong.]
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[Give him a moment, Yoko, he needs to work this out for himself.
Somehow he didn't just fling himself through space, he flung himself through time. But if he's here, then what about the younger version of himself? Is he still here as well? What if he changes the future--
He can talk to Lordgenome. He can find out what Lordgenome's words mean and then... then maybe they can better prepare for the threat that's coming. Of course he doesn't know how he's going to get back to his own time with the limited technology they have here, but surely he can figure something out with Leeron's help, right?]
...I believe I understand what's going on. I know this sounds far-fetched, but Yoko, I'm from the future.
[Yeah sure, Rossiu, like anyone will buy that.]
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But because this is Rossiu, because he's her friend and because she's willing to give most people the benefit of doubt, she blinks at him rather than dismissing him. "Explain, please."
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[But he squares his shoulders and he focuses on her, trying to find a way to make it make sense.]
Seven years from now humans live on the surface. We defeated the leader of the beastmen, Lordgenome, and we took the surface for ourselves. We named the capitol city Kamina City. Technology has advanced a lot in the past seven years, and because of this, we've been working on a device that will allow people to warp from one place to another. It hadn't been working previously, but during the tests today, something must have worked this time though, that's why I'm here. It warped me, but it also sent me back in time.
I know it doesn't make sense and I'm sorry I can't explain it better.
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"Alright... but... there's no way for you to get back now, is there?"
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[He shifts a bit, folding his arms across his chest and glancing to the side.]
I may be able to recreate the device with Leeron's help, but I'm not certain about that at the moment.
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"Alright, but... you coming back like this--you don't remember that, do you? Couldn't that change your future? Er--our future?"
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[Not that he knows, he's never done anything with time travel before.]
I remember what happened here so I should be able to keep things on track to ensure a very similar future.
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It's just that that isn't quite the priority at the moment. Leeron needs to devote all his ingenuity to fighting Gunmen.
"Rossiu, you don't think, with the time travel..." It has to be obvious what she's thinking, so soon after the man's death--but almost immediately as she looks up at him bright-eyed, she's dismissing the idea and the light is leaving. "No, I guess not, huh? Changing the future and all."
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...I don't know. I don't know if it's possible to go further back in time. It... might be, but I won't know for certain until we can rebuild the machine that brought me here.
[Bringing Kamina back would be incredible; they certainly could have used his help, but he doesn't want to promise anything when he has no idea if it's even possible.]
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"But... even if we can't... the future you're coming from--it's worth it, isn't it? Not just him. The whole war, everyone who's been hurt... It's worth it in the end. Right?"
She really doesn't know what she'll do if the answer isn't "yes."
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[He smiles at that. The expression is a bit awkward, but it's obvious that he's trying.]
Humans can live freely on the surface and the technology has boomed in the past seven years. Everything has gotten better and everyone's lives are much better living on the surface. It's definitely worth it.
[He doesn't mention Lordgenome's words; now isn't the time to bring them up.]
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Yoko shines a smile herself. "Good. I guess we should go find Leeron, then."
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[He's very pleased that Yoko believes him. He was a bit worried she wouldn't trust him about this. Maybe he's just being paranoid about all this.]
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"They're not going to believe me unless I come walking in with you," she says. "Unless you feel like finding a disguise and keeping your identity a secret from everybody but me and Leeron, it's probably better to do it this way."
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[Alright then, he'll just have to hope for the best. This is going to be a disaster, isn't it...]
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Post-death Kamina & Yoko: Guess Who's Back
That had taken some doing, of course. He had managed to round up a group of people who weren't interested in staying dead and together they had... well, they had done something that involved a lot of shouting and heroic speeches and they had busted their way out through the ceiling. Who knew the afterlife had a ceiling anyway? It had looked like the sky, but somehow Kamina knew that his destiny was to go upward, regardless of what lay above him. He had been right, but that didn't change how odd the entire thing was.
Oh well, he's got some people to see and places to go now that he's alive again. Kamina pulls himself upright, dusting off his pants and frowning when that just gets more sand on them. He shrugs it off and glances around, noticing the sword stuck in the ground with his cape tied to it. Is this where he was buried? Huh. He pulls the cape off and swings it around his shoulders, tying it in place before grabbing the sword and securing that at his back.
Then he does what absolutely any sane man does, he tilts his head upward and he shouts.]
SIMON!! YOKO!! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS?
oh my god Kamina, you can't just UNDO DEATH . <3
Yoko is actually on her way back from a solo visit to the site, undertaken because maybe she's a little more sentimental about the blue-haired hero than she'd like to admit. And, well, there are some things about Kamina that she can't share even with Simon. Ten times over. She feels like she's visited that idiot's grave ten times too many, trying and failing to find the right words--to find words that Kamina would have unearthed without even trying.
The logical thing to think when she hears that unmistakable roar is that her brain, in the act of missing him, is making shit up to screw with her. Well, consider Yoko screwed with, because it takes only a split second of deliberation before she's turned on her heel and is running at top-speed back to that hill.
"KAMINA?!"
He'll do what he wants, death isn't going to stop him!!
He glances around, trying to locate anything that might give him a direction where to go-- oh. Those look like gunmen over there, don't they? He figures that's as good of a direction as any to head toward, and even if it's not Simon and the others, he can at least steal a gunmen and try to figure out where they are from there. That should be easy enough--
But his thoughts are interrupted by a shout and he finally notices Yoko running towards him. Kamina grins, sauntering over to her almost as though he hasn't got a care in the world. His steps are a little faster than they need to be though; it's good to be back.]
Yoko! [He drags out the final o in her name a little bit, almost teasingly.] How have you been holding up, huh?
of course not. pfff.
Is this real? Did she fall asleep cleaning her rifle or something? Is she majorly dehydrated and hallucinating?
Yoko reaches out a hand to touch him and freezes when her fingers touch solid, warm skin. Real. He's real. The only person she's ever had vaguely romantic feelings for, the insuppressible hero, the founder of Team Gurren, the constant source of said team's hope for the future. Kamina the irreplaceable, the inimitable, the impossible and the invincible. Right in front of her. She could fling herself into his arms, cry hideous wracking sobs into his chest, lift up on her tiptoes and collect that ten times over he'd once promised her, if she wanted to.
Instead Yoko swings to clock him upside the head, embarrassingly teary-eyed. "Idiot!" she cries. "How am I holding up? You left us, you good-for-nothing--you died!"
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I know! The afterlife isn't all it's cracked up to be and I figured you guys would miss me, so I came back!
[Like it was that easy. ...Actually, it kind of was.]
You didn't have to punch me!
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Yoko glares up at him, totally lacking remorse. "Yes I did. I had to make sure you wouldn't get any of those stupid self-sacrificing last-ditch-charge urges again." Of course she knows that without Kamina's sacrifice, they wouldn't have Dai-Gurren--they'd likely not even have their lives--but still. She gives her eyes an industrious rub to chase away those pesky tears before she looks up at him again, at that ridiculous pained expression of his. Yes--it really is him--the same Kamina she knows and loves.
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I did what I had to do to help secure our victory. I'm not gonna lie, it hurt and the whole thing was pretty awful, but it worked, didn't it? Besides, if you seriously think you guys are getting rid of me that easily, you've got another thing coming!
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Don't think I'd let you leave again.
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Yeah. I know.
[He's sure Simon is torn up about this too, but for the moment he just wants to comfort Yoko. Simon will be okay; he's much stronger than he thinks he is, after all.]
I'm not gonna leave again. I promise.
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If his thoughts are on Simon, hers aren't far behind. Still, selfishly--as she has always been, a little, when it comes to Kamina--she hangs on for an extra few moments before releasing the world's favorite blue-haired wonder.
"Back to camp?"
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[Kamina lets go, still grinning.]
Have you guys been alright? You guys weren't too sad without me, were you?
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At this she pauses to look up at him. "You're--you were his whole world--you know that? He needed that clock in the face to get moving, but you weren't there to give it to him. He just sat in his room for days carving creepy little statues of you with his drill. Wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep. Once even when we were fighting Gunmen, Lagann went totally haywire and dove off a cliff. But then he found Nia."
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I know he's capable of more. He needs to believe in himself. I know it's hard to lose someone you care about... but you have to move forward.
[He pauses then, something occurring to him.]
Who's Nia?
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"Nia is Lordgenome's daughter. The Beastman princess, so to speak." She debates pausing for effect here, but decides to continue before Kamina charges straight into camp to murder this girl. "But she was cast out, apparently, and now she's part of Team Gurren... she has a different way of seeing the world. And I think she helped Simon see it differently, too." Now she does pause, contemplating those two for a moment. "That's part of it, at least, what pulled him out of that slump. I think another part is that he's got someone to protect now. And someone who'll believe in him no matter what--with total blind faith."
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Hearing that Simon has found someone to pull him out of his depression makes Kamina smile though.]
That's good to hear! It sounds sort of like the relationship we have, actually. Simon always trusts and believes in me, no matter what and in turn, he's someone I can look after and protect and support - it's great that he's found someone like that while I was... away.
[Saying that he was dead is kind of awkward.]
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[Kamina laughs, the sound loud and boisterous as usual.]
I guess I should've suspected that! More power to him, then! I hope this Nia girl is worth his time!
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Apparently Kamina's resurrection is taking place pre-beach filler episode...
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[Though that does raise a question...]
How did a beastmen princess get involved with us?
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