Villain Retirement

"So… how is Megawoman?"

"..."

"..."

"...Oh," Aerith chuckled; slightly surprised by Paige's question. But after a few seconds, it felt as if a large weight was taken off her shoulders as she let out a long and very deep breath,

"Honestly… I have no idea."

"Hm, that's normal," Paige nodded, "Everything happened so fast, you haven't really had time to process it all. I mean, like literally, it happened so fast. I kinda missed it all since I used the toilet. I even almost tripped when the entire planet suddenly went into hyperspeed or something. We—"

"...Thank you, Paige," Aerith sighed and chuckled as Paige started mumbling, "I saw how hard you worked back there when all the trial charade was happening."

"What do you mean? I was useless," Paige also chuckled as she stood closer to Aerith, "But at least I got to know more about your people with all the research I did. I'm… I guess I'm sort of like a themarian expert now?"

"You might be."

"Are you going to be the queen of your people now?"

"..." Aerith was slightly taken aback by the sudden change in Paige's tone. But after a few breaths, she shook her head and looked at her people,

"No, there is someone more suited than me in that crowd," Aerith then pointed at an old woman that stood out from the rest of the crowd.

"...Isn't that Princess Tifa?" Paige could not help but blink a couple of times as she quickly recognized Princess Tifa from the crowd. And if she was right, the people near her were her children,

"I… thought you were only bringing people from the new generation?"

"She's always been someone who pushed for progress. Who do you think has been helping me in the castle?" Aerith chuckled, "Who better to lead an indoctrinated group of people than someone who has been hammered by the very same dated belief, and yet came out still unmolded by it?"

"Are… are you sure?" Paige started to stutter, "Then… are you not staying here?"

"I—"

"Please stay here," Paige did not let Aerith say a single word as she suddenly stood in front of her; covering her view of her people as she looked her straight in the eyes.

"..."

"Take care of your people and be a mother to your son, at least while I am still alive."

"I… already intend to do that," Aerith could not help but squint her eyes, "What are you saying, Paige?"

"I'm going to die 40 or 50 years from now, or maybe even earlier," Paige breathed out, "I know I am being completely selfish, and I know that I can't control what he wants… but I want Riley to stop thinking of you even for just a moment."

"Paige…" Aerith could really only look away from Paige's intense gaze, "Riley and I are never—"

"You and Riley will live for eternity, Aerith. Things can and will develop," Paige shook her head, "All I'm asking is that in a single blink of that eternity…

…let me borrow Riley Ross."

"..."

"..."

And suddenly, everything else was drowned as Aerith could only hear the sound of her heart beating. It didn't last long, however, as the voices of her people once again pierced through the skies.

"I…" An awkward smile then crawled on Aerith's face as she scratched her chin, "I don't really know how to respond to that, Paige. I don't know why everyone thinks there's something between me and him, but there's not—there's never going to be. I'm… more like a babysitter."

"..."

"...Pft," Paige then suddenly burst out in laughter as she waved her hand, "I'm only kidding, Megawoman. I just wanted to divert your thoughts into something else since you might be overwhelmed by all of this."

"Well…" Aerith let out a deep breath as she looked at her people, "...I think you just added some unnecessary things to my mind. But thank you, Paige… really."

"No. Thank you," Paige shook her head as a pair of wings emerged from her back, "I don't really know where we're going from here, but if you want to talk, we're all here for you… okay?"

"..." Aerith could really only smile from Paige's words, "I—"

"And whatever anyone else says here…" And before Aerith could say anything, Paige suddenly embraced her,

"...You did a good job."

"..." Aerith immediately closed her eyes; her tears, trailing down her cheeks as she returned Paige's embrace.

A second.

A minute.

Aerith didn't really know how long they stayed like this, but it didn't really matter—she needed this. And even as Paige flew away, the relief her embrace offered stayed with her.

And as she looked at her people again, her eyes couldn't be any clearer as she finally saw what she should be doing at this moment.

And with a big breath, Aerith let out a thundering roar.

"Gary!"

"!!!"

"Your mother is calling for you, Prince Gary."

"...Huh?"

Gary, who has been talking with Princess Esme ever since he saw her, could really only take in a large gulp as he saw all the people around them looking at him.

"Gary!"

And with Aerith's voice once again reverberating throughout New Theran, Gary quickly turned to look at his mother, who was waving at him from a cliff far away. Gary was slightly stunned at first, but after a few seconds, he quickly rushed and leaped to where she was.

"You… called for me, mo—woah," Gary almost gasped as he finally realized how many themarians were actually surrounding him earlier… and now almost all of their eyes were looking at him.

"Everyone!" Aerith once again raised her voice as she placed her hand on Gary's shoulder, "This is my son, Gary!"

"..." Gary's eyes quickly turned wide as he heard Aerith's voice. Aerith had already announced once that he was her son back on Earth, but this was the first time… this was perhaps the very first time that he truly felt like he was her son.

"As all of you may know, Gary is half themarian," Aerith then sucked in a deep breath as she looked at Gary, "But I want all of you to know that I love him with all of my heart."

"...Mother," Gary could not help but look up as he tried to stop the tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes.

"I gave birth to him in the Unknown, with a human from a planet called Earth," Aerith continued to address the people, "You will meet people out there that are very different from us, more fragile, ephemeral. But I know that you will learn to love them as I did…

…and I hope all of you find happiness as I did."

***

"...Did you really mean what you said, mother?"

"Of course."

Aerith and Gary were now away from the eyes of the crowd, casually seated on the ground; with Aerith subconsciously picking the blades of grass around her as she glanced at Gary from time to time.

"I… thought you'd be more focused on me not wanting the throne," Aerith awkwardly chuckled as she looked at Princess Tifa, who replaced Aerith on the cliff as she addressed the people of New Theran.

"I never cared about that, mother," Gary sucked in a deep breath as he shook his head, "I guess I just wanted your attention, to know that I am good enough for you."

"You are," Aerith looked at Gary, "You've always been. I'm… the one who hasn't been good enough. I'm your mother and yet I was barely there for you."

"..." Gary returned his mother's gaze, "Then if I am truly good enough for you…

…when are you going to get rid of Riley?"