A long lost peace - Maritsu POV

After hearing his answer, Gabriel looked into the eyes of Maritsu. Making sure or trying to make sure that the answer Maritsu had given wasn't just a whim, but that he gave the answer with no sign of second guessing himself.

Steadfast, with no sign of wavering.

After all, once Maritsu embarked on this road, it was very hard to turn back again. Almost impossible even.

As soon as he had become part of his "camp" he would experience the prosecution of the "little kings" in the army who wanted to keep the status quo.

It was not a simple path to take. It would come with a lot of obstacles, bends in the roads and even with threats to his life and once he chose this path, there was nothing Gabriel could do to let him turn back.

Not because he wouldn't want to leave Maritsu a way out, but because others wouldn't give him that.

Therefore, he had to make absolutely sure that Maritsu knew what he chose. So he asked again to make once again reaffirm his choice.

"Are you sure? We might lose our life doing this work, making you unable to fulfill the promise you made to your brother so many years ago. So, are you absolutely positive?"

He asked once again, looking deeply into Maritsu's eyes, from across the room, where he still stood in front of the window and where Maritsu was still sitting inside the chair he had sat down in at the start of this conversation.

"I am sure, there is no doubt in my mind," He heard Maritsu reply again in a steadfast and determined voice.

However, Maritsu hadn't finished his answer just yet and continued:, "I have this feeling deep down in my gut that even if I don't get justice for my brother, because I died while pursuing this goal, my brother wouldn't blame me."

"Not only wouldn't Jason not blame me, I have this feeling that would he be proud of me for trying to protect others like he should have been protected."

He stood up and walked towards where Gabriel was standing. Standing next to him in front of those enormous windows where they could still see those soldiers' train.

He looked at Gabriel and said.

"And as long as I don't die, I will get justice for my brother." "Helping with what you aspire. To create those laws, a sound legal system and an overall supervisory organization. Might just help me get justice for my brother sooner, or more comprehensive, than I would have been able to now, without the existence of those laws that we will help create."

Looking away from Gabriel, he turned his eyes towards the fields in front of him. Where the soldiers were still training.

Those soldiers were training with a very heavy intensity.

These soldiers were giving their all in every training so that the chance at survival on missions would be higher and if they couldn't come back alive, they could protect the people of the nations with their blood and sweat and tears or a combination of all of the above.

Never complaining and never backing down. They deserved the best protection in the world, and it weren't just the soldiers in the field risking their lives and sometimes paying the ultimate price. All the soldiers carried that burden.

Just like his brother had carried exactly the same burden a long time ago. His brother had deserved a better protection from the country he was working for and so did all the soldiers working, risking and sometimes even sacrificing their lives for this country.

Since that protection didn't exist yet, he would help create it.

Therefore, he put those thoughts into words, "I will help create a world with you where every soldier will get the protection he or she deserved and in the case it doesn't help my brother get the justice he deserves, then it will help them."

"So, that father's, mother's, daughter's and son's will never again have to lose a family member dear to them because the protection that should have been there for them wasn't in place."

"I don't see a greater goal than working for that achievement, or even dying trying to reach that achievement."

Speaking out his goal, he felt like a peace settled over him. A peace he hadn't felt since his brother has died.

Even being around his mother hadn't offered him any comfort after his brother died. It was just another weight to be carried around.

He loved his mother, but facing the loss of his brother had changed her. Losing his brother and the change of his mother sometimes overwhelmed him, and it made him unable to experience any feeling of peace.

After they had gotten news that his brother had died in the line of duty, his mother had suffered from depression. She might have been proud of his job and how he protected the people of their country, but a mother was never supposed to lose their son.

Sadness overwhelmed her, knowing her son would never return, and even having Maritsu by her side didn't ease her depression.

She would go into spirals of negative emotions she was unable to wrestle free from.

Normally, that might not have been a problem, and a person might recover from the negative emotions there were carrying, if just given time.

His mother, however, was a unique case. She had been sick while his brother had been in the army. Jason's paychecks could pay for his mother's hospital bills, and eventually she was cured.

They had needed those paychecks for her to be cured. She knew her son had joined the army to pay for her medical bills. Therefore, when confronted with her son's death, the guilt and remorse ate her alive.

If she hadn't gotten sick, and he never joined the army, because of them, he wouldn't have died?

How could she live with the guilt? Sometimes even seeing Maritsu was painful, because Jason didn't join the armed forces just for her, but also for his little kid brother.

However, she couldn't blame her son, Maritsu. He was way too young back then; it had never been his choice to make. Therefore, she could only blame herself.

However, deep down, she might have held a subconscious grudge against Maritsu as well, and she knew it was wrong, but emotions were difficult to control. So, she had even more self-blame to carry; after all, she blamed herself for having the thought that it was Maritsu's fault as well…

These negative emotions kept swirling around and inside her. Not giving her any respite or moment of peace.

She suffered from insomnia as well. Unable to eat, sleep and being depressed had a big impact on her.

Normally, time would be the best medicine to reconcile with oneself. Mind you, the pain of losing a loved one would never go away, but a person would learn to adapt and live with the loss and the aching pain it left behind.

However, his mother's body's foundation had suffered because of her sickness before, and it had never gotten back to what it was before sickness had tortured her…

Adding to that, the negative emotions, sleep deprivation and lack of nutrition she experienced all the time. It simply was too much for her body to bear, and she passed away while Maritsu was studying it Columburt.

After his mother had passed away, he had been sad, but there was also a moment where he thought. Finally, she will be able to rest in peace and meet with his brother, which she missed so dearly.

The torture of his mother's depression, however, made him unable to feel a moment of peace.

All Maritsu could do was cling to the promise he had made to his brother. Which was to get justice for his brother and bring the people who caused his demise to be brought to justice or take revenge.

If he hadn't established this goal, he might have stopped moving forward long ago.

Now, thanks to Gabriel and his punishment, he had left the idea of taking revenge on him. Justice, however, still had to be achieved.

During this conversation, Gabriel had offered him another goal. The old promise made to Jason still existed, and would always exist, until he achieved it. The goals, however, weren't in conflict with each other.

They even complemented each other pretty well.

Now, however, he had another promise to keep and reach. It added a weight to the weight he was already carrying, but it might just help him carry his new big brother's burden as well, even if only a little bit.

With Gabriel, he would also protect as many people as he could to never create another tragedy like Jason in any family ever again.

Preventing any other stories like Gabriel had to go through and experience with the General and his son.

When he spoke out that he accepted this path, and he would work with Gabriel from now on, a peace like he had never felt before settled over him.

A long-lost peace, he couldn't even remember to ever have felt. Showing him that the path he chose in front of him was the correct one for him and that he should stride forwards bravely, no matter the cost.