Marooned

By Dixxy

Epilogue

(Karsh)

"Ha-ha! Dario, you dog!" I said loudly as I slapped my best friend on the back. Dario grinned back at me, a knowing look in his eyes. I sat down beside him, laughing to myself as I let the information sink in. "Congratulations, my friend. So, tell me- when did you find out the happy news?"

Dario cleared his throat. "It was just a few hours ago. You know that Riddel has not been feeling very well as of late, and when she went to see Doc to find out what was causing her sickness, he told her the excellent news," he said plainly. He sighed happily. "This is the happiest day of my life."

I raised an eyebrow. "What about your wedding?"

"That, too, but. . . oh Karsh, you have no idea how wonderful this feeling is!" Dario exclaimed, putting his hand over his heart. "In less than a year there will be a tiny person in this world who carries mine and Riddel's blood. Do you know how excited the two of us are over the prospect of this child?"
"I can only imagine, my friend," I said. "But I wish you both and your little one the best," I said. I winked. "I got an idea, Dario- how's about I take you out for a few drinks tonight in celebration? After all, once that baby's here you aren't going to have a lot of time to yourself."

Dario snorted. "Yes, I remember what my parents went through when Glenn was born. Screaming and crying and peeing. . . oh, those were the days, were they not?" he said. He laughed. "Time passes so quickly. Sometimes it feels as if it were only yesterday I spent most of my time brooding over all the attention he was getting. I hated him, you know. Father did not spend any time with me for the longest time after that, too busy taking care of Glenn to worry about me. Mother, too."

"But it all worked out in the end- Glenn practically worshipped the ground you walked on, Dario. Remember? As a kid he'd take that silly little wooden sword of his and pretend he was YOU. Not his father, not Radius, and not even the General- YOU. And chances are your kid will be EXACTLY like your brother in that aspect- that kid is going to adore you to pieces and he's going to be out there beating that wooden dummy, telling everyone he's YOU. And then I'll take the liberty to embarrass Glenn by reminding him he did the exact same thing as a kid," I pointed out with a slight chuckle. "But first you need to change smelly diapers and stay up all night putting the kid you just put to sleep back to sleep."

Dario grimaced. "But it will all be worth it."

"Ain't it the truth."

Dario sighed happily, resting his chin in his hand as he propped his elbow on the table. A dreamy look hung in his eyes as he pondered over something. Minutes passed before the heavy silence finally broke. "And to think that this event might have not happened if it weren't for the events with Serge."

"Yes," I said. "And I would have never met my dear, sweet Orlha."

"I was always under the impression that she was sweet on Doc," said Dario, looking confused.

"She was, but he's a bit more career oriented. He's involved with his nurse," I said. "But I have no arguments, because now I have Orlha and he doesn't! So there! Ha!" I leaned back into my chair. "Things can't get any better than this. I'm telling you, Dario, meeting Junior was the best thing that ever happened to any of us."

"After all this time you still insist apon calling him Junior? Why?" asked Dario.

"The name stuck," I said. I laughed. "I can't get over it. Norris is on our side now as the Acacia Dragoons official firearms expert, right? And Fargo is in charge of our very much improved navy, eh? And that means Marcy gets to spend more time with her father and her brother and her aunt, and every day she seems to be getting closer to them." I sat up. "And then you can't forget about Radius- he may not fight anymore, but he's one of the best strategic minds on our side. And I think it's only a matter of time before Guile takes that dumb mask off."

"Are you sure? Glenn seems to think that will happen the day Zoah takes his helmet off," said Dario. He shook his head, patting his Einlanzer, which hung at his side in its scabbard. "I am proud of him. I did not think I would ever weld an Einlanzer again, but yet, Glenn let me keep one without any outside suggestions."

"Eh, Leena might've bugged him into it," I said. "You know how those two are."

"Yes. It would be a shame for him to let a girl like her slip through his fingers," said Dario.

"Looking for some cousins for your kid, I see?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Dario gave me a shocked look. "No! Not at all! I was just saying that she seems to have only been a good thing for him. Karsh, you saw him grow up- he was very much a lonesome young man. Always so serious and focused on nothing but practicing with his silly little wooden sword, afraid of what others thought of him. He did not have very many friends growing up. I was always worried about him, yet ever since he met Leena, he has been improving. I had not seen him laugh like that since before that bastard Curtis kidnapped him when he was a child. You must know what I mean by that."

I nodded. "Yeah, it was a strange sound, but a pleasant one," I said. As I said those words, we heard the door to my room open and in waltzed the subject of our very important conversation. I chuckled, shaking my head at the ironic entrance. Glenn raised an eyebrow in confusion, silently asking for an explanation. "Well, well, well, speak of the devil! We were just talking about you, Glenn!"

Glenn nodded as he sat down at the table, a dreamy look in his eyes as he laid his head on his hands. He looked at Dario with a kind, almost childish smile. "I saw Riddel in the hallway and she told me the good news, Dario. Congratulations- I'm sure you're going to be a great father."

Dario couldn't help but beam. "Thank you, Brother."

"Why the happy-go-lucky look on your face, Glenn? This isn't the 'My sister-in-law is pregnant and I'm going to be an uncle' type look- this is different. What's on your mind?" I asked with a mischievous grin. My younger friend shied away into his chair, his cheeks bright red. I chuckled- I hadn't gotten him to blush like that in YEARS and suddenly the idea of a beet red Glenn was all-too-tempting. "C'mon, shrimpy! Dario is your older brother and I'm kind of like an older brother to you, aren't I? We grew up together! Tell us what happened- c'mon, I need something good and juicy."

Glenn shrugged. "No, that's all right. Let Dario brag about his child-to-be."

"Nonsense," said Dario. "You have got that look in your eye that tells me that you know something that I do no know, and in this case it is not a bad thing such as that frog you decided would make a good pet when you were eight." I snickered at the mention of the event- I'd never heard Dario scream like a girl before that day. Luckily for me, Dario was too interested in Glenn to notice what I had done. "Talk. Let us share our joy."

"No- you two were obviously talking about the baby and I intruded."

"Glenn? Unless you want Leena to find out about Arthur, you'd better talk," I threatened.

Glenn's eyes widened at the mention of the pile of stuffing and fake fur that had once been a teddy bear. He stood up, gasping at me in shock. "Karsh! You wouldn't DARE tell Leena about Arthur!" he said. He laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. "Um, you wouldn't, right?" This time he didn't sound quite so confident.

"Wanna try me?" I said.

"Karsh, stop it," said Dario. He turned to his younger brother. "Please, Glenn- talk to us."

Glenn sighed happily as he sat back down. "All right. I'm getting married."

Dario and I had the exact same reaction- we got to our feet and said, "You're WHAT?"

Glenn sat up. "Well, I took Leena to this nice overlook I know about. We brought a picnic lunch and had a nice long conversation about nothing in particular. Then, just as the sun was starting to set, I took her in my arms and told her I loved her. She said she loved me, too, and I bent down on one knee, produced an engagement ring, and asked her the big question," he said. "Leena broke down and cried right there. At first I thought I'd upset her, but then she just kept saying 'yes' over and over again and the two of us just stayed there, crying tears of joy for several hours. I just now brought her back home a few hours ago."

I laughed, standing up and slapping my hand on Glenn's back. He lurched forward, the wind nearly knocked out of his. "Well, well, well, this is a fine day for all of us! Er, well, at least you two. Dario and Riddel are having a baby, Glenn is going to be getting married, and all is right in the world." I looked at Glenn, shaking my head. "To think it seems like only yesterday you were following Dario and I around Termina like a whiny brat of a shadow, and now you're all grown up." My eyes watering, I quickly put Glenn in a bear hug and started bawling my eyes out. "WAHHHH! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE ALL GROWN UP ALREADY! WAHHHHH!"

"Karsh, get a hold of yourself!" Dario said, trying to pry me off of his younger brother. Glenn was helping in the effort, but that's to my melodramatic action, the three of us soon found ourselves in a pile of tangled limbs on the floor, all of us bickering and squirming to get out. Screaming, yelling, and kicking then proceeded to fill the next several minutes.

By the time we were all out of the pile, we were a bit of a mess. I, for one, found my hair a tangled mess, some of it in my mouth (I naturally spat it out). Dario's bright green cape had been pulled off his shoulders and parts of his armor had fallen off. Glenn, having been at the very center of the pile, was in the worst condition. His mother's hair ribbons hung loosely around his next, his elbow shield was no where to be seen, and he was missing a boot. As the three of us looked each other and ourselves over, we all burst out laughing at how ridiculous the bunch of us looked.

As the three of us were lying on the floor, guffawing to the point of a near loss of breath, I smiled, and not just because of the ridiculous place we found ourselves in. It reminded me of something very important- Dario and Glenn are the best friends I'll ever have. Dario and I have been friends since before I can remember and once his brother was born and old enough to play with the "big boys", the three of us were more like brothers than friends- even me. And even as the three of us had matured into adults, it was good to see that the three of us could still act like children and not care one way or the other, even with Dario an expectant father and Glenn engaged to marry. Nothing could ever change the bond between the three of us.

I was the first to regain my composure. "Heh. . . it's a good thing to know that even as we all grow up and enter new stages in our lives, there's still a part in each of us that's youthful and childlike, ya know?" I said. Glenn and Dario each nodded, the older of the two still chuckling. I grinned. "C'mon, Glenn- I'm brining Dario out for a drink. Let's go."

Glenn raised an eyebrow. "Wha?"

"You think for one darn second you're going to go and get yourself engaged and I'm NOT going to bring you drinking then you, young man, must be out of your mind. Dario? What do you say to that? Should we bring the lad out for a few drinks before the night gets too old? Or should we find Leena and have a nice, long conversation about a certain teddy bear?"

It was obvious what the youngest in our group of three was going to decide on. "Drinking! Drinking! I'll go drinking!" Glenn said, darting past the two of us to get to the door. Dario shot me a harsh look and I stared back at him innocently. "What? I was just having a little fun with him?"

"No, no, no, Karsh, it was not that," said Dario.

"Then what was it?"

"Remember when we were twenty? Our SPECIAL plan for him if he ever got engaged?"

"Oh yeah! I forgot about that. Shall we?"