#ruptureshipping

"So you brought him back, too?" Yuma and Astral looked at each other. After months of pondering, Yuma had asked Astral to use the Numeron Code to save everyone, including those who they fought so hard to defeat (not before making sure that they would never be a threat anymore, of course).

The astral being agreed after a long discussion, and that was why Don Thousand, reverted to his unique looking Astral form, was standing right there with them. They had imagined that Eliphas would've raised some objections, but the most surprising response came from Ena.

"Come on, don't be like that..." sheepishly said Yuma. "We know he did horrible things and made us all suffer, but we took all his powers. He's helpless, now!" He pointed at Don Thousand. He was just standing there, having the most intense staring contest with Ena. He knew that those were all poor excuses, but he was fairly sure that keeping him around Vector with no possibility to make the redhead shut up was a fair punishment. "Yuma, I don't think they are listening to you." whispered Astral. He was right, and the boy didn't know what to do to break the silence. He was standing between the person that tried to obtain the absolute power of the Numeron Code and a furious Ena. (For some reason, Yuma was way more afraid of the latter.)

Yuma never thought Ena could ever become that bitter at someone. She looked ready to punch Don Thousand in the face, and Yuma was sure that if he still had his powers, the situation wouldn't have changed much.

"Ena."

Yuma gasped. Don Thousand had took a couple of steps towards the woman, and had stopped when she flinched. "Did we tell him what her name is...?" he asked to Astral, who was just as confused as he was. "We didn't. I'm positive of that.” “Does that mean they know each other already...? But when-” “I have no idea. Let's see what happens.” “Are you sure about it? I have the feeling that one of them might get hurt...” “Yes.” answered Astral. “I hope it is him.” Yuma groaned at his friend. That wasn't a nice thing to say, but he couldn't reply. He was secretly wishing for that, too.

“I'm surprised to see you here.” said Ena after a long minute. “Believe it or not, I had understood that.” lazily answered the other. Yuma and Astral couldn't help but nod slightly.

“And yet, you don't seem to have any kind word to say to your saviours.” “Sounds like my presence isn't well-accepted. You just wanted to get rid of me once and for all like you already did once?” slowly said Don Thousand “My apologies, but I fear you'll have to be the one to leave, this time, Ena.” Ena was stunned. She crossed her arms for a brief moment, as to give herself strength. It looked like she wanted to reply, but she just turned her back on them, and started walking away.

Yuma looked from Ena to Don Thousand a couple of times, still worried about hell breaking loose.

“What the...?!” Astral gazed at Don Thousand: he just put a hand on his hip and sighed. “Still a coward like the others, huh...”

“Just what is going on here?!” asked an exasperated Yuma. The situation wasn't quite clear to him, but he knew for certain that Ena wasn't 'a coward'. What on Earth had happened between those two?! “That's what I'd like to know, too.” said a voice behind the human's back, who screamed and jumped aside in surprise. Eliphas had been standing there for quite a while, but no one seemed to have noticed him.

“I don't owe you pathetic lot any explanation. Do I?” Don smiled coldly. “Actually, I think you do.” replied the will of the Astral World. “They did bring you back in spite of everything, after all.” “I did that just because I lost to Yuma, and he asked me to.” calmly explained Astral. Yuma wasn't sure he wanted to be dragged into that argument, especially because Don was now glaring at him. Even though he was now a normal Astralian and Yuma had already beaten him once, the boy couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. “Ah, yes, I did, but- It just- yeah...” he sputtered. “Moreover, your presence here is distressing Ena.” said Eliphas, ignoring the human's attempts at talking. “I've never seen her being that bothered.” “You two seem to go way back.” continued Astral. “But something happened between you two. Why did you accuse her like that?” Yuma was curious to know the answers to those questions, and simply started to stare at Don Thousand, together with the others.

“Ah, you guys care so much for little Ena, do you, Eliphas?” Don laughed. “Why wouldn't we?” asked Astral. “Ena is a precious friend of us.” “Of course she is.” Yuma noticed how angry Don Thousand suddenly sounded. “The sweet Ena, always helping and caring for others. How could anyone hate her?” “So you do know her.” calmly stated Eliphas. “Your deductive abilities are amazing!” scoffed him Thousand. “It's almost like we didn't waste our time discussing this for the last five minutes! I'm impressed!” “Don't you mock me-” Yuma interrupted him. “Is it possible that, before the banishment, you and Ena were-” “- acquaintances.” “... I was about to say 'lovers', to be honest... Seeing how you reached out for her and-” “ 'Lovers'?” Astral and Eliphas were puzzled. They probably didn't even know what that meant. “Well, a lover is...” “Spare your time, Tsukumo Yuma. As you can see, Astral beings can't comprehend the meaning of that word.” “You look awfully aware of its definition, though...” murmured Yuma. “That's none of your business.” snarled Don, who clearly got hit where it hurts. “I think you can manage to make him spill the beans.” Astral floated behind his friend. “Go on!” Why me, though?! But both Astral and Eliphas seemed really eager to know more to bother about Yuma's safety. He sighed and went back to press Don Thousand. “It sounds like you two were really close” he used his thumb to point behind his back, into the direction where Ena had gone. “And you seem to be pretty angry at her, now.” Don Thousand covered his face with a hand, annoyed by Yuma's words, but the boy didn't stop. “I guess she doesn't want you here because you tried to take over three worlds at once, but you straight out attacked and insulted her right away. What's up with that?” “You don't care about it. Trust me.” the Astral being blurted out. “Look, I wouldn't be here talking about this with Evil incarnate if we all didn't care about Ena.” explained Yuma. He was getting pretty tired of that situation. “These two guys here won't give me a break unless either you or Ena tell us everything.” “Well, then why don't you just go and ask her?” hissed Don, who was clearly trying -and failing badly- to conceal his anger. “Why don't you just speak and make this less awkward for everyone?” moaned the human.

Don Thousand shook his head and fell silent. Yuma looked at Astral and raised his hand with a quick gesture. He wasn't going to make the other speak anytime soon, but Astral and Eliphas had started to look at him with pleading eyes. He rolled his eyes, and decided to give it one last try. “Did it happen before the exile? You had a fight?” No response. “Or maybe, it's all because you got banished?” suggested Eliphas. “She should be angry at you!” shouted Don. Apparently he had finally lost his cool. Yuma didn't expect that, and stepped back. “But of course she is not. You were all scared of the power of Chaos. You ignorant fleas... Unable to even think, let alone feel anything!” Eliphas and the others frowned, but they let him talk. (No way they were going to waste Yuma's hard work like that!) “And she's just like the others. She let it happen. She hated Chaos, just like anyone else did.” a sad smile appeared on his face. “She didn't even try to help me.” “I didn't let her.” said Eliphas calmly. “Any resistance was to be crushed, and all the betrayers to be exiled.” “Well then why didn't Ena end up in the Barian world?” snarled Don Thousand. “If she had cared, she would have-” “You're such an egoist!” exclaimed Yuma “She thought she could be of help from here.” explained Astral. “Ah, of course.” Don laughed again. “She could have helped me by staying safe in her home world. How could I not figure that out.” “You weren't the only one who needed her.” Astral sat mid-air, floating, with his arms crossed. “She had figured out that, by staying here, her voice could have reached everyone's heart. She could have then helped both the people who were getting sick because of the lack of Chaos, and maybe even those who got exiled. It was the best choice. For everyone.”

The other three men were staring at him with an astonished look. “She told me.” was the simple explanation Astral gave them. “And she did give her support to many. She did whatever was in her power to ease their pain.” “Yeah, whatever. She may tell herself that, but she was just as happy as anyone else that Chaos was gone.” “That's not true for sure.” Don Thousand glared at Yuma. “Pardon?” “Ena knew.” the boy said with a firm voice. “She knew that Chaos isn't as bad as these guys thought!” Eliphas kept on frowning. He remembered all the secret speeches Ena held about that topic. Keeping her at bay was an hard job... “Oh yeah, and how would you-” Don Thousand tried to contradict him, but Yuma continued. “If she didn't believe that, you, the Barians, maybe even the Astral beings wouldn't be here. She knew that I- that Chaos could save everyone.” It seemed like Don Thousand didn't know how to reply to that. Yuma took advantage of that, and said the last thing he had to. “Ena told me that Chaos contains the desire to protect your loved ones.”

Don Thousand's eyes widened. “I have no reason to believe in what you say.” he said, after taking a moment to recollect his thoughts. “It's not like I care about that anymore. Not after everything that happened...”

“Oh! Now I get it! You are just afraid of being rejected by Ena!” cheerfully yapped Yuma. He had finally found the issue, and was proud of himself. “That's what you thought happened once, and now you know that you are wrong, and that is the reason you are being such a-” He stopped, mouth wide open, because he noticed Don Thousand's icy glare. He peeped a quick “Never mind.” and ceased talking.

“But if that's how it is” continued Astral “Why don't you two just talk it out?” “That would be so simple.” said Eliphas.

“Are you crazy?!” Don growled “I tried to submit you all. There's no way she would even-” “I don't understand your point.” Astral tilted his head. “You offended her on a wrong basis. You have to apologize.” Yuma shook his head at Don Thousand: they both knew they couldn't explain the situation to Astral and Eliphas. The astral being glared at him once again, and the human boy turned away after raising his hands as if he was surrendering. “I'm just saying you should do that.” Yuma muttered.

-

“And the reason you followed me here is...?” “Those three forced me to.” “You have sunk a little low, haven't you? Having people boss you around like this...”

The seaside was deserted, and the only sound audible came from the waves slowly crashed on the sand. Don Thousand had found Ena sitting on what looked like a crushed wall covered in flower sprouts. “Didn't this place had lots of fully bloomed vines, once?” he decided to ignore her words and tried to change the subject. “A couple of people tried to destroy the whole place.” she replied in complete dead-pan. “You may have heard of some of them.” “This bitterness is unbecoming of you.” “What's your business here? I thought you had asked me to leave.”

He leaned on the wall, right beside her. “Tsukumo Yuma told me.” Ena was resting her head in her hands, and glanced at him. She hadn't look at him once before he said that phrase. “About what?”

“ 'Chaos contains the desire to protect your loved ones'.” he quoted. “I'm glad your remembered my lessons.” “And what's my retribution?” she quietly asked. “After seeing my people suffer for thousands years, seeing my world slowly crumble into ruins and almost getting killed, you come here just to insult me.” She straighten up and looked deep into his eyes. “I think I deserve something more.”

“I couldn't know. I thought you had-” “You thought I had abandoned you.” she finished his phrase. He didn't reply. That's exactly what he was going to say, anyway.

“Meanwhile, I was stupid enough to believe in you. All the way. You decided to play God, and to obtain the power of the Numeron Code.” “So that the past and the future could be mine...” murmured the man to himself. “Yet, I hoped that someday, somehow, you'd come to your senses... and use your time to find a way to come back here with us.” She was dangling her legs off the edge, as if she was having a simple small talk with him. “And look at me now.” She indicated herself with a smooth gesture. “I'm pathetic.”

“Ena, I'm s-” Don was cut short by a familiar voice coming from behind them. “You're not pathetic at all, Ena- WOAH!” Yuma, Astral and Eliphas where hiding behind some rubble. The human boy had stood up to shout words of encouragement to Ena and, soon after that, he got grabbed by the other two who tried to conceal their presence once again. “... You morons know that we saw you, right?” calmly said Don. He was actually grateful for their stupidity: he was about to apologize to Ena. That Yuma's high-pitched scream had made him come to his senses, and he could now pretend nothing of that even happened. Or so he thought, because Ena didn't waste any time, and asked him to finish that sentence. “What sentence?” “You know the one.” she urged him as she grabbed his arm. “I want you to say it. Now.” “I have no idea of what you're talking about.” he freed himself and clutched her shoulders. “You're a loony.”

So Don was waiting for Ena to do something, anything. To speak up, to knock some sense into everybody.  He still completely trusted her, by that time.

And she actually did try to do that, but she had to stop soon. Nobody would listen to her (and some few other Astral Beings who agreed with her), and she feared she, too, could've been banished because suspected to be harbouring chaos, and somehow avoided to be exiled. Even though that could've meant meeting him again and start a new life, Ena couldn't hide her growing fear to herself anymore. The repression against any kind of rebellion was even getting harsher and harsher with time (hint hint, Eliphas), and she was also needed there. She didn't want to abandon her children, especially in this time of crisis. They had no one else that was that close to them, after all. 

Maybe Don needed her by his side, too. But he was powerful and able to look after himself. What about those children?

So she made an agonizing decision, and stayed in the Astral World, who slowly started dying out. 

Don Thousand imagined that, and his anger towards the Astral World and towards Ena herself slowly grew. They just didn't care enough. They didn't even understood a thing about their precious "Rank Up". They were just scared by the great power and infinite potential Chaos held.