1527 Progressing Lives
What unfolded that day would go on to become one of Rui's most cherished memories. His mother welcomed him back without even the slightest hint of hesitation despite all he had done. The rest of the orphanage soon became alerted to his presence, erupting with joy.
"RUUUIII!" Alice leaped at him as she hugged him. "You're actually back!"
"Took you long enough," Farion grumbled.
"He probably saw some awesome Martial Art technique and forgot to come back home," Horatio laughed.
"He has always been fascinated with Martial Art," Mika admitted. "I still recall how he made us help him train on that frozen lake when he was a kid preparing to get into the academy. He didn't let us go back home even if there was a storm coming!"
The adults swarmed Rui one after the other as they lightened the air with humor, at Rui's expense, of course. Not that Rui minded, after all that he had put them through, he would be shameless if he didn't quietly take at least this much.
However, it wasn't just the adults who were cooed over him. The kids were excited to have their older brother.
Naturally, they had become unrecognizable in the many years that he had been apart.
"Finally back home, eh big brother?"
"We're going to have you train us in Martial Art once more!"
"You've grown so tall!" Rui marveled at the sharp contrast between the kids he was familiar with and the adolescents and young adults that he was beholding right now.
Yet among them, two of them in particular caught his eye.
"Max...Mana..." He murmured. "You've become Martial Squires!"
Then again, four years had passed just after they had affirmed their feelings for each other. Besides, he too knew that there were difficult hurdles that stood in the way of a relationship with each other.
"Yeah, but I would be much less at ease if not for the fact that I knew that you were protecting my family," Rui sighed. "Not to mention, telling them the truth."bender
Eventually, people broke out of their reverie of amazement and fascination, returning to their own devices. As much as Rui was loved, the day needed to move on, and many of them had responsibilities to tend to.
Over the many years, many of the young adults and caretakers had gotten married together and started families. Rui had noticed many small houses around in the vicinity when he arrived, putting two and two together.
"We got married seven years ago," Alice smiled as she pulled Farion in. "Ultimately, we decided to settle down very close to the Orphanage. That way it would be as though we never left the Orphanage while still having our own home!"
Rui smiled, hurting that he had missed that. He had known her his entire life and ultimately missed one of the most important days of her life.
"It worked out really well when we did it, and everybody from the Orphanage who got married did the same thing, and now we formed a small community," She laughed cheerily.
"That's quite amazing, it's like a big family stretched out over the entire area," Rui noted.
The orphanage was much larger than when he was born, thanks to the wealth that Rui and Julian had earned. However, it still had a limited capacity, so it was better for adults to move out but set up a home very nearby, especially if they had a family.
"And this is..." Rui's attention turned to a small girl who had arrived at Alice's side.
"This is our daughter, Ruina," Alice smiled. "I decided to name her after you, you see."
"Alice..." Rui's eyes widened as he felt himself growing emotional again. "...I don't know what to say."
"You know, I had been afraid for many years that you had forgotten about us and had moved on with your life after becoming an important Martial Artist. I thought that I was happy for you, and hoped you were happy." Alice smiled bittersweetly. "But now that you've come back...I'm so happy you haven't forgotten us."
"I'd never forget you, Alice. I've spent the past eight years thinking about all of you. No matter how many years, decades, or even centuries pass, I couldn't forget," Rui declared, not just to her, but also to himself.