Array 122 [Video]
[Be treated to another scene from a buildingtop. The snow clinging to the ground makes it sparkle, and from so high up -- at least a dizzying twenty stories -- the rearrangement of the Safezone is apparent.]There sure are a lot of new buildings... and they all seem to have a lot of care in their architecture. It's almost like the Scientists picked
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[Private//Unhackable]
[There's a soft bit of a smile, though faltering only for a split second.]
I spoke with your father just a little after he arrived...I know you didn't grow up with him, so...I'm glad you get a chance to see what that was like.
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[Private//Unhackable]
I... yeah. [A tiny smile. He seems nervous, flustered at the mention of his father. It's a reminder of a lot of pain, and some guilty hope.]
Maybe we can start over a little bit.
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[Private//Unhackable]
...I hope that you like having him around.
[The smile falters completely for a second or two, and he bites his lip, obviously holding something back.]
He seems like a nice person.
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[Private//Unhackable]
[Al pauses, nodding slowly.]
... I'm sorry, Negi. I know you really miss your dad, I wish there were something I could do.
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[Private//Unhackable]
[Negi sucks in a soft breath. He hadn't intended on letting that bit of jealousy out at all. But there's that smile again.]
...no, it's alright. I...I got to spend a bit of time with him. It's only fair. And I'm sure your mother is happy to see him, too, so it's like your family is whole again.
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[Private//Unhackable]
[Still. He hates it when Negi hurts.]
We're... our family is... it's not quite like yours, Negi. Dad left... on purpose. He had things he needed to do, but he never let us know.
Mom died while he was away. We sent him letters at every place we could think of, every place he'd visited... and he never came home. Not even for Mom's funeral.
He... never did get the letters, but we didn't know that at the time. He came home once when I was fifteen... and found out about mom. He didn't stay long, though... I never even really got to talk to him.
Ed never really forgave him for it. Any of it.
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[Private//Unhackable]
...my father left, too, I suppose, for his own reasons. Everyone thought that he was dead, but he can't be. And I'm not sure what he's doing, but...
[He shakes his head a tiny bit.]
What am I saying, you already know. You've read.
I don't...know if my father ever intended to come back. I'm not sure why our fathers both left us...but at least you had your mother for a short time. Sometimes I wonder what mine was like, if maybe she was like yours.
Have you forgiven your father for leaving, though?
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[Private//Unhackable]
[A sad little nod, sympathetic.]
I'm sure your mother was an amazing woman, Negi. She had to have been, if Nagi ended up with her. It has to be hard, not knowing for sure where you come from.
I... [He falters. This is an old hurt, almost a childish one.]Ed had known him, remembered him. The only memories I have of him were of pulling out his beard hairs, and... a couple of times, the four of us playing in the river near our house. I don't remember anything else, he studied a lot, he was in his library most of the time. We weren't allowed in there ( ... )
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Al...he...from what little bit I've talked with him, I'm sure that he cares about you.
It was the same way for my father and I. I wasn't sure what to do, but all I wanted to do was to make him proud. I think...I think I did a good job.
If I can do it, you can do it. Besides, this is another parallel between us, right?
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Lend me a bit of your courage, then.
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[A gentle touch of his index finger on the screen.]
Courage is the real magic, after all.
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...thank you.
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