Sentimental Warmth | Anime Short Stories

Thank You | Gundam Ironblooded Orphans

Type: Adaptation of Canon Events- Dramatisation of event, Addition of Visual and Narrative elements (especially from Aston's point of view as he slipped into death)

Characters: Takaki and Aston

Inspirational source (also so that you guys know what elements i added) :

Skip to 5:06-6:30, and then 7:26-9:10

'Aston! Don't worry, I'll come and get you!' Takaki called as he scrambled up the mobile suit, struggling to hide the worry and panic in his voice.

He knew. From the way Aston had taken the blow for him, crushed under the mighty sword of their enemy Gundam. From the way his mobile suit had caved in under the impact, the sounds of warping metal ripping the air. Takaki knew. Yet he refused to acknowledge it, refused to even think about it.

The other pilots looked on, their eyes downcast. They too, knew the answer. But no one had the heart to stop their leader or tell him the futility of his efforts, for they were themselves lost in grief and denial.

Takaki climbed ferverishly, his tired muscles screaming in protest. The opening was so near, yet it felt like a thousand climbs away.
Aston, I'll be there soon. Wait for me. Wait for me!

Cold sweat trickled down his forehead, his stomach tightening with each step.

You'll be fine. Just hold on. We'll go home together. To Fuka. To the good old days. So...

'Ast-' Takaki stopped short as his outstretched hand wavered, reality shattering his bubble of denial.

Aston remained in his pilot seat, wedged between metal, a stray rod rammed through his chest so deeply that only its end showed. Shards of broken glass embedded his flesh, and his legs disappeared under the wreck. Takaki stared as blood continued to pour from Aston's wounds, his naked torso now a deep shade of red.

No...

'Ast-on!' Takaki choked on his words.

'So...glad...I came...in time...' Aston rasped.

Tears streamed down Takaki's face. 'Baka!' He made to climb into the rubble, but the small opening only allowed as much as his shoulders to pass through. He held Aston's hand in his.

'I wished... I had...never known...the both of you...'

Takaki froze, his eyes wide. They were friends, weren't they?

'Human Debris lived...by killing our emotions... But you guys ...taught me how to feel again....That's why...I'm being punished...'

'You are not Debris! You are human! We are all humans! And humans feel! So you're not wrong!' Takaki screamed. 'There's no such thing as Human Debris! They are merely names the adults gave us so that they can control and use us. To them, we were nothing but disposable soldiers. But we are not! We are human, just like them! And so we have the right to feel!'

'Demo...' Aston coughed, splattering a mouthful of blood on the scraps. The world around him exploded with a glaring flash, only to eclipse into a dark blend of silhouettes, colours and shapes.

'Aston! Please!'

Through his bleeding eyes, Aston saw Takaki cry and call for him, a hazy figure of yellow against the dim background. But his ears only rang with a deafening silence, no longer able to hear the sorrow in his comrade's cries. Aston managed a tiny smile, comfort and warmth spreading across his chest. To think... that someone would cry over his death... To think... that his existence meant something after all.