5 Chapter 5 - The Present.

That girl he "saved" had been Ronnie. That first encounter is what sparked a large and unforgettable journey.

Higara looked up at the sky. He was thankful he had met Ronnie when he had. Otherwise he wouldn't have met Celestia, or Emerson, Ayumi, Maxwell, even Hideki and Kody. He smiled. He was thankful for all of that.

But his smile quickly faded, as he looked back down at the garden. That didn't change the fact that Ronnie had saved his life so many times thereafter. The first time was when Okina's husk appeared and tried to kill him. He wasn't able to do a thing, and Ronnie had to waste her energy to heal him. Then, when he had left to fight the real Okina, he died due to getting impaled, and then in a last ditch effort to take Okina down, he released all of his energy in a massive explosion. Ronnie had to give up one of her four lives, which she only had three at the time, in order to make sure he didn't die.

Afterwards, it was just time after time again that he fell farther and farther behind. Ronnie kept getting stronger, which made it even more impossible to pay her back for all of those times.

Thats when he had left for almost a year and a half. He didn't return until he had turned Seventeen, which was what he was now. He trained along with Hideki and Kody, so he could learn how to use dark magic and master control over his plasma current.

But even that wasn't enough to prevent Ronnie's death...

He sighed, and fell back against the ground. He stared up at the sky above him. He hated Ronnie's Mother, even though him and Celestia had killed her, along with Maxwell. The burning hatred and need for revenge didn't leave him.

Thats when he realized what he was doing wrong. He sat up, and sat with his legs crossed. This whole time... the only reason he ever fought was because he hated the person standing in front of him. Okina's husk, Okina herself, that one dude who threw him into a mountain, Ronnie's Mother, he hated them all, and wanted them dead.

Never had he once thought to fight for those he loved.

He put a hand on his forehead, and after a moment he ran it backwards through his hair, bleached white due to how much he had used his electric current. How could he have been so foolish? Was this why he was always in so much emotional grief? Because he wasn't grateful that he protected his friends and family? It was stupid. It was an absolute joke.

He sighed, and after a long moment, he made a decision.

He lowered his hand and got up. From this moment on, he wasn't going to fight because there were people in front of him he hated, but rather due to the fact there were people behind him that he wanted to protect, because he loved them.

He turned back towards the cabin, and began walking there.

That's why he was going to ask Celestia to marry him, on his eighteenth birthday.