In which Lucas celebrates Yuugo's birthdays in the windmill, many kilometers away
!! TPN MANGA SPOILERS !!
[one-shot under cut]
--
"Mister Lucas, why do you have a candle placed next to one of the cupcakes we baked?" A young Oliver asked, looking up from where he was sitting with Zack and Paula eating cupcakes they helped some of the older children make.
Lucas looked back at them, as all the kids were now staring at him with questioning eyes. Oliver had been the first person to ever ask him that amongst the new arrivals and no one really knew the full reason besides the lady who had originally saved him many years ago. One of the eldest kids went over to hush Oliver but Lucas waved him away.
"It's fine Raphael. I might as well tell them now that they're finally calm and quiet for once." He said with a chuckle.
Raphael nodded before ushering the other kids in the windmill outside so they could enjoy their baked goods in the warm sunlight, giving Lucas privacy with the curious eleven-year-olds. As the door closed, Lucas turned to face the kids and relaxed somewhat.
"Back when I was about your age, I also had friends, just like you three right now." Lucas started, Oliver, Zack, and Paula all listening attentively.
"Well one day, I lost my friends. Though they are not with me now, I celebrate their birthday to remember them. Does that make sense?"
Oliver and Zack nodded but Paula still had a question.
"What do you mean by their birthday? You mentioned having friends, yet you used the singular form of the word birthday...? And you also do this in the springtime, what is that about?" She questioned.
Lucas hadn't even realized that. Oh god, how smart are these new plantation kids- they must've changed the curriculum-
"Oh, well, I was referencing only one person for this specific day... Today is their birthday and since they were such a good friend, I like to celebrate their birthday every year~ And the springtime reminds me of the time where I lost my friends, so I do this to remember them" Lucas responded, watching Paula nod in understanding yet still look at him with a sense of suspicion.
"That's really cool Mister Lucas! I hope that one day I'll be able to celebrate Oliver and Paula's birthdays at your age except hopefully with them by my side!" Zack exclaimed, earning a smile from all three in the room.
-
Later that night when all the kids were settled down and asleep, Lucas crept back to the main area where he had placed the cupcake and candle.
Taking out a box of matches from one of his pockets, Lucas struck the match against the igniter paper, creating a fire and causing the areas around the match light to glow with a mellow yellow color.
He brought the match over to the candle and lit it, before dropping the match in a nearby ashtray. He wasn't even sure why the windmill would have one but he was grateful for it nonetheless. Taking a seat in one of the higher chairs and faced the cupcake and candle.
"Yuugo, Happy 22nd birthday. I know I've said this multiple times in the past few years but I really hope you're alive and well. You know, we'd be in college right now according to all the books we read in the house. I wonder how that would've gone. Maybe if we lived normally in the human world, we'd still be with Dina and all the others.
Perhaps more kids have tried to escape and you're with them now in the bunker, helping them learn to survive and teaching them how not to make all the stupid mistakes we made at their age. As for me, I have plenty of children I'm teaching. Some of them even remind me of us at times. Three of the youngest remind me of how hopeful me, you and Dina were back then.
Eh, enough about me. We're getting old now. If you are alive, we're making history as two cattle kids surviving to adulthood. Maybe we'll get to reunite again someday. Hopefully, we will. I miss you so much. I hope you are staying safe."
Lucas doesn't even know why he still does this each year.
He knows the chances of Yuugo still being alive were slim. It was entirely possible he was eaten in the forest while escaping or he may have succumbed to the injuries he gained during the battle.
Perhaps he couldn't handle the survivor's guilt. He may have gone that route and the possibility of that terrified Lucas. He's seen it first hand too many times, some of the children even as young as 12. It was horrible, yet a completely valid factor.
It was stupid to partake in this annual tradition, but if anything had gotten Lucas through these 6 years, it was hope. So he kept doing this, no matter how impossible it gets as the year goes by
Lucas began to hum one of the birthday songs they would always sing at the bunker, and blew out the candle, leaving him sitting in the darkness. Staring at the cupcake and candle in the darkness, he almost laughs at the sad sight.
No matter, it was already getting late. He slid out of the chair and put away the candle and plate. There was a tiny door near the kitchen, just small enough to possibly fit a milk bottle. Lucas decides to just put the cupcake outside that door, to let it get eaten naturally... hopefully unlike what could've happened to Yuugo.
Closing that little door, Lucas put away everything, including the still smoking candle. He crept out of the room, unaware of the three small children who were watching him in hiding.
--- [huge timeskip to the human world, Oliver and Zack are 22, Paula is 21]
Today they had two cupcakes with two candles resting in front of one combined gravestone, the graves under them empty. Oliver, Zack, and Paula had a gravestone made for both Yuugo and Lucas once they were situated in the human world and they would visit it occasionally especially with how close it was to their apartments.
Over time they visited less frequently because they had all had moved to live near Emma half of the time and here the other half of the time but they had always made it a priority to be able to visit the gravestone at this time of the year.
Everyone else had already come to pay respects earlier, some of the Goldy Pond and Bunker kids staying behind for a bit before eventually leaving Oliver, Zack, and Paula alone to have their moment.
Ray and Pepe had baked the cupcakes this year and gave them to Paula before leaving with the Goldy Pond kids. Gillian had taken up the hobby of candlemaking with Anna so those two made the candles they were using today. It was a change to their normal tradition but they found that this made it more meaningful in a way.
It was all set up and Oliver, Zack, and Paula were just kinda standing there awkwardly. Zack started speaking, breaking the silence that had fallen among them.
"Well, this isn't really a birthday celebration huh-" he said with a halfhearted chuckle. "Maybe that's ok though. At least we're doing something, just like you would do every year around the time the Goldy Pond battle happened for you and your friends Lucas."
Oliver was the next to speak, all of his formal speeches used up at the earlier visiting.
"Yeah. We miss you Lucas. You too Yuugo, just.... not as much." He joked, already imagining the face Yuugo would've made at him had he still been alive.
"But seriously, I hope whatever awaits you after death has been nice for both of you and that maybe you've reunited with everyone you've lost in your lives. I don't really know how death works but hopefully, you're happy and together."
Paula went next, sitting on the ground near the gravestone. Oliver and Zack followed suit.
"Lucas, we're just about as old as you were during our first year at Goldy Pond when we saw you do your little cupcake ritual for Yuugo," Paula started, the three of them beginning to remember that day.
"However, it was a birthday, not a death day like we have to do now. I remember Zack saying how he wished to live as long as you and celebrate our birthdays together. That's been happening and this year we finally reached that age, thanks to the sacrifices made by you and Mister Yuugo."
"Everyone has grown up well. We all miss you guys." Zack said, the three of them falling into silence just like before.
Oliver was the first to lean into the candles, with Zack and Paula following suit and blowing the candles together.
--
Notes:
no beta reader we die like men
i wrote this at 2am yesterday, slapped on a half-assed ending, and never decided to reread before posting. Oh boy. Good luck ig
Sandy is super underrated like.. He was the only dude allowed to help with Emma’s makeover, and he was super nice with it. Giving Emma a hairpin to help hide her ear to help her insecurities? Godtier, thank you Sandy.
Then there’s the simple fact of how supportive he is! Like seriously, the whistle to show how impressed he is with Emma’s shot is unnecessary but super wholesome.
He also just radiates positive energy, and his status as a medic probably reflects that a whole ton. Look at this face and tell me he isn’t that friendly stranger that asks if you’re okay if they saw you fall off your bike? You can’t.
In summary since this is such a small post? Sandy’s great and I love him and he’s absolutely my favorite GP kid.
Dead guy that the demon ate likely isn’t Yuugo or Lucas.
Lucas doesn’t have that arm, Yuugo wears a glove on that arm. It couldn’t have been before he got back to the bunker (as it was 15/16 years ago) since the writing is still on the walls. Plus the pen cap was found at Goldy Pond originally, but it still couldn’t be Lucas because of the arm. I have no idea who it could be, but for me it’s certainly not these two.
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