The 5:30 to Washington (Goodbye)

[Leon Loire]

Notice: This will be, without a doubt, my final in-character post as Leon Loire. Granted, I haven't roleplayed with him in months, albeit briefly, and haven't truly used him for more than a year now, but I think it's time to finally put this boy to rest. For those of you who have known Leon and would like to have your character say goodbye, you're more than welcome to, as I'd be happy to have that nostalgia. It would be fitting to send the "Knight" in such a way. I think I'll also give this thread a first person feel, to give that final edge of personality. Thank you everyone for all the fun years of experience with me and Leon; I can never tell you what you've given me. But now it's time for him to say goodbye.

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+Saturday, August 16th, 6:47 p.m.+


You know, there have been so many times in my life where I thought death was waiting for me around the corner. I don't want to sound dramatic or overbearing here, but I'm completely serious; ask Karyuudo. She's had to carry me to a hospital covered in my blood... twice! I've been struck down by my first love with a dagger, reopened the wound and nearly bled to death, been attacked by an assassin, stabbed and slashed and beaten and shot, my life threatened, my friends threatened, my way of life changed forever, my very life shattered and rebuilt...

How in the hell am I still alive? Heh, kind of boggles the mind, doesn't it?

After all these years of passing through Sacramento, New York, and then San Francisco, it seems I've finally reached the point where my life is secure. Don't even ask me to tell you about those three years, because we'd be sitting here talking about that long after the flight lands in BWI! But after graduation, when I was in the cap and gown, and the diploma was right there in my hand... I realized that I was finally free. And I mean really free. Free from the pain, the torment, the suffering, the depression, the terror, the madness! The System's been terrible to me! I've had to deal with a great deal over the last four years, and then... when I saw that diploma, I didn't see a simple fold of paper. I saw my key. The way out. The way to make my own life, the one I've been using to get me through everything that has happened. It was mine at last!

Anyways, after graduation, I just floated in peace for about six months. See, just that winter I had been reunited with a friend of mine that I thought died, but it turns out that there was some long, confusing, and notably boring reason for how he avoided death and escaped notice by my own enemies. His name is Christoper Kingston - see? He's over there flirting with the two girls, yeah that's right! I see what you're doing Chris! He's nuts, let me tell ya - and he was my best friend in the younger years. Fast forward a bit, and he helped me get into this school in Washington D.C. called "George Washington University," a very prestigious place that will give me a great college education. Oh, you've heard of it? Yeah, it's literally three blocks away from the White House, Chris tells me it's amazing... oh, am I getting off track? Sorry, I guess I"m a little excited for it is all.

Well... that, and it's kind of hard to tell you about all this, you know? No no, it's fine, I think I've gotta get it off my chest, it's just... hard to leave your past behind. Especially your loved ones. But yeah, don't worry, I'll tell you the story. I'm a good man! They didn't call me a Knight back there for nothing, right?

Anyways, so after I got accepted into GWU, I just spent the last six months of my time in San Fran living the good life. Chris and I caught up on things, I did my best to hang out with my old friends, and I lived off of the government's money! Don't ask me about that, gets a little complicated. I spent time with my girlfriend until she took off for some reason, I spent time with Kira and Taiku at the bar when I could, played some games with Kyukaku when he was in the mood for it, had drinks with Kokaku, and tried my best to catch Dain Gavyns and Ran Ling Xiao when he wasn't busy teaching at Hircine High. I've had plenty of friends over the years, and I love them all, but those folks in particular were the ones I still saw all the time, since my friend Carlos seemed to leave for New York, and my old mentor Maverik has been busy with the baby he had with Tong Xian.

Those six months had to be some of the greatest months of my life. I know, I know - that sounds completely over the top, but I'm serious. To... have no fear anymore, and to have nothing but peace and serenity, that was something else. I was able to visit my parents' graves every so often, and I would leave them Scarlets by their tombstones, and I would talk to them and tell them how much I miss them and... yeah, I better stop talking about that now. Sorry, almost lost my breath there. I've been able to do the same with Jaina. She died just a short time before graduation, you see, and I was able to give her a proper burial. Chris and I had her taken back to Sacramento on a quiet, breezy Sunday, and she was buried by one of our favorite trees when we were young...

God, how I miss those days. I'm sure I'll feel the same way about these last six months in due time. I... yeah, there's no need to explaining it, is there? That feeling is universal. It's just... so hard to forget, and so hard to let go. But let's take a break from that, all right? I don't feel like crying a storm on you. You mind if I just tell you about today for now? You sure? Thanks, I appreciate that.

So, about six hours ago, Chris and I started to wrap up the last little details we had to in order to get ready for the departure. I sold almost all of my possessions that were in my apartment, and I only kept a few important things - the amulet here on my neck, an ornate sword that I made a long time ago, a wonderful thing here, a great thing there, you know how it is - and so I packed what was left of mine into the trunk of my Mustang and drove out to this point on a hill nearby San Fransisco to look out at the city. It was just coming onto three o' clock in the afternoon, and I was wearing this same get up now - my nice black suit with the white shirt and blue tie and brown shoes and black belt, gotta love it eh? - and leaning against the driver's door of my car. Chris was in his gray suit with the red tie to match his crazy Irish hair of his, and we were just sitting there waiting. He didn't ask me why, because he knew, and I didn't want to leave, because I wanted to give them all a chance. I didn't have the courage in me to look them all up one by one that last week, because I just could not put myself through such a clustered goodbye. Way I saw it, if they wanted to say goodbye to me, then they would be able to come me together - one last time.

Was that selfish of me? God, I hope not. I did give them ample warning ahead of time. I sent them all emails, text messages, whatever to get their attention, so long as they came, I would greet them. Who'd I send them to? Oh, well, I sent messages to a lot of people, but they know who they are. I mean... I knew alot of people, you see, came to love and respect a lot of people. I can't even remember how many people I sent messages to. I just remember how many came.

So I waited there, with the afternoon breeze passing through my hair, and my glasses were over my eyes, and I glanced around and stared, and just waited...

What'd you say? What was I waiting for beyond my friends? Oh... you're looking for the personal reason, the metaphysical reason, right? Well... I've never been entirely philosophical, more ideological than anything, but if anything... I suppose I was waiting for my past. I wanted to see it, one last time. I wanted to see my past, to hold it, and embrace it, and recall some things that make me laugh, and some things that will make me cry when I arrive at at the hotel tonight, and just to remember the last twenty years I've lived, and the last five years I've experienced as a human being. But there was more than that, obviously, because if I just wanted to recall things, I could have done that sooner.

In the end, after all that, with all that has happened to me and to all those I've known and loved... the only thing left to do was to say... goodbye.

[Kokaku Musha]

Anger…

Anger was what kept Kokaku going on… The anger he had felt after being judged out of a tournament in a fight he was clearly winning. He didn’t even know why he had been given the lost signal… perhaps his choking move was too lethal for the judges to handle, perhaps they wanted to let a new guy get a shot at a higher level… Kokaku didn’t know, nor did he care. All he knew was that this meant he no longer had an excuse to fight Kazuki without having to clarify why he was fighting him. It didn’t matter… Kokaku would seek Kazuki out as soon as he knew Kazuki had fully recovered. He wouldn’t be taking his old friend down if he was injured from his fights in the tournament. Kokaku himself had recovered pretty quickly. The only damage that Nobu had done was giving Kokaku a stinging wrist, and that had only been due to Kokaku’s own block. And yet, Kokaku had been sent home a loser.

~”You and I both know you’re not a loser… That Nobu will get what’s coming for him sooner or later…”~
‘Nobu was a good fighter… he doesn’t judge the matches, he will not suffer my wrath… I may be filled with hate, that doesn’t mean I’ll give up justice…’

Kokaku’s mind hadn’t been at ease for months now and the tournament hadn’t really helped one bit. In fact, there had only been one thing that kept Kokaku from turning his back on everyone and picking random fights with thugs or misbehaving students… A short text message he had received from his old friend Leon Loire. Apparently Leon was leaving and even though Kokaku hadn’t heard from the man in ages, he had felt the need to let Kokaku know he was leaving, allowing Kokaku to bid him farewell. Perhaps it had been selfish of Leon… to not show up or care when Kokaku was having a hard time… than again, no one had shown up. Though Kokaku had always been there for everyone, it seemed too difficult for others to do the same for him.

And yet, Leon had send him a message for a reason. He would want to be seen off by his friends… apparently, even after all this time, Leon still felt he and Kokaku were good friends. Kokaku had at first decided not to show up… just because no one had shown up when he was ready to leave… but even more because no doubt Kazuki would be there too… and Kokaku would not be able to hide his anger for the older man… that was no parting gift he wanted Leon to have. However, he felt the need to see his old friend, one last time, if he was truly leaving… That was the only reason why Kokaku was driving towards the outskirts of San Francisco right now. To see Leon off and hopefully be reminded of better days…

It was funny, everything seemed much darker for Kokaku when he was sober… the only reason why he was usually drinking a lot more nowadays… not so much as to get drunk, but enough to forget his worries… for a small period of time.

Making a final turn, Kokaku arrived at the designated spot, parking his car close to where Leon had said he’d wait. After a minute of walking, Kokaku noticed the knight standing there, his face kind of sad while he wore one of his most common suits. Kokaku hated this moment, greeting the other without knowing what kind of attitude to expect. As he stopped in front of Loire, his face was emotionless, but showed no anger whatsoever either. He just looked neutral.

“So Leon… I take it you don’t like San Francisco as much as you liked Varron city, eh?”

[Kazuki Akimoto]

~2:05pm~

"I still can't believe he's leaving too, y'know? But then, he was always the one destined for really great things."

"Heh, yeah, give him ten years, he'll probably be in the senate if he has his way."

"Damn right. Give him another ten, it'll be President Loire. That'd sure as hell be a sight to see!"

The pair of them shared a smile in silence at that, having known well in advance about this small gathering of sorts and been gradually approaching it with muted thoughts. Leon had, in recent months, begun to show up from time to time with a regular frequency. His visits usually trivial in reasoning, always a good thing, and it left them with opportunities to talk about similarly trivial matters. Far be it for Kazuki to say, but it was a far cry from the steely-eyed, noble-visioned young man he remembered from the good old days.

But then, that's exactly what they were. Good old days. They had grown a lot since then, and though their friendships had shared a few bumps in the road, even now the Asian had a twinge of sadness in knowing that after today, it would likely be a very long time before he ever saw Leon Loire again....

For now, though, he stood in front of his mirror, straightening his jacket tidily as he gave a rather cursory glance over his appearance. There wasn't all that much to do, in the long run. His hair sat normally, he was still relatively clean-shaven from the day before. The shirt, a faintly shimmering black from the silk, contrasted neatly with the graphite shade of his suit. Not bothering with a tie, never having had much of a liking for them, the top button hung unfastened, and he topped the outfit with similarly shined dress shoes. He looked every inch the wealthy man he was, but didn't care a bit. He wouldn't show up to see off a friend in sweats and a football jersey...

Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair as he turned from the mirror, walking up behind Kira and slipping his arms around her, pressing a light kiss to the nape of her neck. Glancing at her via the reflection in the mirror she was using, he gave a short smile.

"I'll be in the kitchen when you're ready, alright?"

After her nod, he gave another kiss to the same spot on her neck and walked out of the room, pacing into the kitchen and sitting at the counter with the days newspaper, flitting through the articles half-heartedly. He was killing time, no doubt about that, and barely paid attention to anything that passed in front of his eyes. Sighing heavily, he sat back and reached for the coffee machine, pulling the heated jug from it and filling a cup he'd been drinking from earlier. Sipping the strong brew slowly, he glanced up at the footsteps coming into the kitchen around ten minutes later.

"You all set?"

"Mmhm. We'll make good time, I think. Got about forty minutes left."

"Yeah, I know..."

Stepping over to him, Kira leaned onto his shoulder and curled an arm around, resting her head against his.

"I know...It's weird saying goodbye...But--"

"--Sometimes, it's for the best of reasons."

"Mmhm..."

Pecking the side of his head, she backed away and wandered through to the living room. Reiko was sprawled on a couch watching TV, sulking somewhat that she hadn't been invited along. Half the reason he was sitting in the kitchen at the moment. Better to avoid a touch of drama for the time being, though in all honesty he doubted that she'd cause any such thing.

Exhaling slowly, he sipped at his coffee again and glanced at his watch. 2:25pm. Just over half an hour until they were due to meet up.

'No point dragging out the wait...'

Pushing up off his stool, he padded through to the living rooms doorway, the sound of his footsteps catching Kiras attention as she looked over to him.

"Ready?"

"Sure."

Nodding, he gave a small smile to Reiko who returned the gesture before turning back to her program. As Kira got up and made her way to the door, he turned and walked through the hall, stopping to pick up his wallet, keys and phone before stopping again, grabbing a pair of sunglasses as an afterthought. The weather was good today, after all...

~2:53pm~

The almost-new Porsche rolled along the road quietly, the powerful engine purring away as he turned through the near-empty roads. Keeping an eye to the side of the road for the particular spot chosen by Leon, he only took a few minutes to eventually locate it. Not surprising, considering it was a rather large space and something of a known look-out point, and judging by the handful of people there only, he was sure they'd arrived earlier than normal. Glancing at his watch confirmed it, nearly ten minutes early, and knowing their particular circle, it wasn't a habitual thing to arrive early for anything. Punctual was one word, to be more precise, they tended to be punctual to a fault. Smiling, regardless, he pulled the car over to the side, keeping it out of the way for anyone else who deigned to make an appearance, and killed the engine. Glancing over, he could see Leon, and a little away from Leon, he saw someone else.

"Kokaku's here early too."

"Yeah? We must've been behind him on the way up here at some point."

"I don't know, I can't see his car, maybe he parked somewhere else and walked down...."

"Hm, maybe..."

Shrugging inwardly, he pushed the door open and stepped out of the vehicle, raising a hand lightly in acknowledgement to the others as the pair of them walked over. Behind his glasses, his eyes watched Kokaku carefully. The last time the pair had spoken in any capacity had been some months before, when he'd been in the hospital. Out of anger at the younger man, he'd rather stoically refused to contact him. By all means, he was aware that this wasn't a concluded matter, but he was at least counting on Kokaku showing some decorum for the time being. Their bad blood right now would have to be put on hold, lest a rather unrequired drama break out.

Giving a nod towards Kokaku, he turned to Leon, reaching up and slipping the glasses off and into his pocket. Smiling, he spoke quietly to the younger man as he slipped his hands into his jacket pockets.

"You get extra points for the place, I'll give you that much."

The short quip aside, he spoke again, a little more serious in his tone, but still with a fair degree of geniality, "So, what's the plan when you get to D.C?"

[Kira Karyuudo, Hikari]

What were you supposed to say to a friend you'd pulled out of a bloody fountain - not once, but twice - when he was finally able to pick himself up and make a new life for himself? Good luck sounded pretty corny. After all, it wasn't entirely luck that got them this far...and yet, Kira supposed, there was a fair bit of luck involved. Still, she didn't want to use those words. Take care seemed ironic, as well.

The girl wrung her hands nervously, the pale, smooth skin offset by her dark pants. Covering her torso was a camisole and a sky-blue button up. It was ironic, and nostalgic, that she was dressed eerily similar to how she used to in Varron, but perhaps it would bring comfort for that type of familiarity...though the changes to her attire since then had changed. Instead of the soft, long pants she wore, it used to be jeans; instead of the worn, blue button up, it was now a layered set of shirts, the button up being a silk fabric instead of cotton.

Kira gazed out the side window, occasionally sighing softly as the memories paraded through her mind - as they had been marching on a constant basis since Leon told them of his imminent departure - and the blocks sped away. She'd been on automatic the whole day, and most of the previous evening. It would be hard to let a friend like Leon go. As it was she was already dreading it.

As soon as the car stopped, Kira unbuckled her seatbelt and slid out of the door, the words she'd just spoken completely fading from her mind as they walked towards Leon and Kokaku. Kira gave Ko a warning look, as if to say 'no trouble today, please', before she walked straight up to Leon. The petite girl threw her arms around him and gave one hell of a squeeze. She had, of course, admitted to him that she had been receiving 'lessons' from Kazuki, and he'd jumped in a couple times to help out.

Still, the hug, while right...didn't seem to be enough. So she leaned up and brushed her lips lightly against his; the contact lasted no more than a few sparse seconds. In friendship and sorrow, nothing more...though there was a time when it could have been more, if she had only known for sure. Maybe then he wouldn't be leaving. Or, if he was, she knew she'd be going with if things had turned out differently. Maverik had smothered her in attention and affection that she wasn't ready for, but Leon had been afraid to show more than friendship...for various reasons. It was funny how life went...but, here they were. She blushed lightly, but smiled nonetheless and backed up a couple steps, putting herself between both Kokaku and Kazuki, space between her and the two of them comfortable enough so they each held their own 'bubble' of space.

She didn't say anything at the moment, but rather let Leon address both Ko and Kazuki. If she was lucky, she might get a few moments at the end to speak with him alone, but what she had to say would be suitable for all ears, regardless, so she wouldn't be crushed if she didn't get a moment.