The next morning, all of the Hero Unit members had gathered in the Headmaster’s office. “Thank you everyone for coming. I’d like to thank you all for your hard work yesterday, because of Negi and his brilliant plan Chao Lingshen was able to be defeated and we were able to keep the existence of magic and the magical community a secret. Unfortunately Chao was unable to be apprehended after the fight but I highly doubt she will give us any more trouble. It has been arranged so that it will appear as though she transferred out of the school and moved to another country and I’d like you all to perpetuate that story should you be asked.”
Everyone in the room nodded. Most of them didn’t honestly care as long as the situation was under control and none of them were facing being turned into ermines. Not a one of them would actually say that though.
After that the Headmaster dismissed everyone except Natalie, Edward, and Negi. He turned his attention to Natalie. “Now that things have settled down, I was wondering what you and Mr. Elric will be doing next.”
“Excuse me sir?” Natalie asked confused. As far as she knew they were supposed to be staying here to tutor the girls in exchange for Edward’s stone of translation.
“Well, I was curious if you’d be staying with us or if you’d be moving on in your travels.”
“But Headmaster, I thought…”
He chuckled a bit. “I think your services during the festival are more than equal payment for the ring.”
“But what about all of the other things you were so kind to provide for us? I still feel like we’re indebted to you.”
The Headmaster shook his head. “No, all I did was repay a similar kindness bestowed upon me by Edward’s father many years ago.”
Natalie looked at Edward. He had no idea what the Headmaster was talking about and indicated so. Natalie then looked back to the Headmaster. “Well then, I’m not sure. We haven’t really talked about it given that we thought we’d have to stay here awhile longer but…”
“Natalie?” Edward said, putting his hand on her shoulder. He knew this was difficult for her, wanting to stay but knowing that if they stayed too long they’d start to really interfere in their world more than they already had.
“You’re welcome to stay,” Negi said. “I would welcome Edward’s and your help. That and I’d miss you both if you were gone.”
Natalie smiled. “Thanks Negi, that means a lot to me, to us,” she said as she looked to Edward. “I’m just not sure it’s a good idea to stay too long.”
“We’ve imposed on you guys long enough, plus if we hang out here we risk interfering in your world. I don’t know about Natalie, but I don’t what that,” Edward said. He’d remembered enough times where he’d butted his nose into the everyday lives of people and managed to turn them upside down. Natalie simply nodded, agreeing with him.
“But…” Negi started, but the Headmaster stopped him.
“Where will you go then?”
Natalie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Like I said, we really hadn’t had a chance to think about it, all things considered.”
“Well where would you like to go?” the Headmaster asked curiously.
“There are a few places I’d like to visit, just not sure which one to head to now. I don’t exactly have a specific goal anymore like when we got here so it’s not as easy to pick.” That wasn’t entirely true though, there was one place she wanted to go and see if the story she knew was right or not but she wasn’t sure she should go there, not with Edward anyway. If they did go there it would be very possible to have more than one Edward in one world at the same time and she wasn’t sure what would happen. She knew from Sailor Moon though that if a past self and a future self were in the same space at the same time, it put the one that didn’t belong there in danger of vanishing. That situation would be slightly different but Natalie didn’t want to put her Edward at risk like that.
The Headmaster couldn’t help but to chuckle. “Ah yes, that can make things more difficult. Why not give it another day of thought?”
Edward put his hand on Natalie’s shoulder. “Maybe that’s a good idea Natalie.”
Natalie sighed heavily but she knew they were both right. She couldn’t forget what had happened the last time she’d chosen a world and gone there half cocked and without thinking it though all of the way. Edward had almost been killed by Sebastian. Why did every choice seem to put Edward in danger? Even here, they could have been hurt during the battle yesterday. She was putting them both in danger. Why hadn’t she thought about this before? Suddenly Natalie felt like her legs were going to give out on her and she fell to her knees, her head down.
“Natalie!” yelled Negi and Edward in unison as they both went to her, each one putting their hand on her back. They could both hear the faint sounds of crying.
“What’s wrong Natalie?” Negi asked.
She pulled away from both of them then got up and ran out of the Headmaster’s office. Negi and Edward both looked at the Headmaster who just sighed.
“The weight of infinite possibility and infinite consequence is a heavy burden for anyone to shoulder, especially for an eighteen year old girl. I think that weight might have finally caught up to her.” The Headmaster stood up. “I think both of you boys should go after her. You both understand how overwhelming it can feel when you realize the true nature of the burdens you bare.”
Negi looked at Edward, they had patched things between them but he didn’t think it was his place right now to go after Natalie. He was her friend, but Edward was everything to her and his words would have far more meaning to her than anything Negi could say to her. “No,” he said softly. “You go after her Edward; she needs you now more than anyone else.”
Edward put his hand on Negi’s shoulder and smiled, “Thanks Negi, for everything.” He then turned the Headmaster, “And thank you too.”
“You’re welcome, now get going before she gets too far away and you have more trouble finding her,” Negi replied.
Edward nodded and bolted out the door after her. The Headmaster couldn’t help but to chuckle. “I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again for some time.” Negi nodded, he’d gotten the same feeling from Edward’s good-bye.
It had taken about ten minutes but he’d finally caught up to her at the World Tree. It had been a guess but he’d thought she might go there. When he came up behind her she was just standing there looking up into the sky through the branches of the tree. He slipped his arms around her waist and held her close. “What’s wrong?” he asked softly.
Natalie jumped a little when he’d done that but she wasn’t completely surprised. She put her hands to her face and was crying into them. “I don’t know Ed, I just don’t. I started thinking about where we’d go and what had already happened and the danger of this power I have hit me and… and… it felt like my heart was going to break right there in the Headmaster’s office. It felt like when I thought you were going to die. It hurt Ed, oh god it hurt.”
He tried to turn her around so he could look at her, “Natalie look at me.”
“No.”
“Natalie, damn it, look at me!” he said forcing her to turn around. Her eyes went wide when they met his. “Listen to me; I know the burden you’re carrying alright? Always afraid to hurt someone or to lose someone you care about, worrying that your choices aren’t going to help, only make things worse. You can’t worry about it so much, you just have to follow your instincts, do what you think is right. Isn’t that what you told me? Fight for what you believe in.”
Natalie just looked at him, the tears still running down her cheeks. “But when I think of everything that’s happened or I think of the places I’d want to go to all I can think about is how it has or might hurt you Ed. Right now, you’re all I’ve got…”
“And right now Natalie, you’re all I have too. I don’t want to see you get hurt anymore than you want to see me get hurt. You need to stop over thinking these things and remember no matter what, stuff is going to happen OK? We’ll deal with it when it does. We can’t worry about what might be, just what’s in front of us right now.” Gently, he wiped the tears from her cheeks even though they kept streaming.
She grabbed his shirt and buried her face in his chest. “I know but…”
“No buts,” he said holding her tighter.
After a few minutes she finally regained herself and had stopped crying. “I’m sorry Ed,” she said softly.
He smiled warmly at her. “Don’t be. I’ll be the first one to admit that I’ve lost it when it comes to realizing the weight of the life I’ve chosen. Now we just have to figure out what to do and where to go next. Maybe somewhere we can just blend in for awhile.”
Natalie nodded. “I have an idea where I’d like to go next but I’m not sure we’ll be able to blend in.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well I’m not sure if we can see Hollows or not.”
“Hollows?”
“Spirits or souls that have lost their humanity I guess is the best way I can put it. They consume other souls to survive and in some cases grow stronger. We could be in a lot of trouble if we can’t see them.” Natalie had decided on this one seeing as she thought her other idea was still too dangerous even after what Edward had said to her. At this point, this world seemed like a better place to go.
“Then why do you want to go there?”
“Because there are people there I’d like to meet and there might be a few things to learn there.”
Edward grinned at her. “Then let’s go. If we don’t like it there or things go wrong we can just leave again right?”
Natalie took a deep breath and nodded. “You’re right. So then it’s settled.”
Edward nodded. “Yup, we’ll just head back to the apartment to get our things and then we’ll leave. I know you don’t really want to stay here that extra night.”
“No I don’t. I do like it here and we’ve had a lot of fun but I don’t want to cause any more trouble for them.”
“Alright so then gets get going.”
With that they headed back to the apartment and then they were off, a new adventure waiting for them.
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