This is a work of fan fiction using characters and situations from the anime series Gurren Lagann, trademarked by Gainax Corporation.

For the most part, characters depicted in this work are characters created and owned by Kazuki Nakashima and Hiroyuki Imaishi. I do not claim any ownership over them or the world of Gurren Lagann. There are several original characters appearing of my own design, however.

The story I tell about the former members of the Gurren Brigade is my own invention, and is neither purported nor believed to be part of Gurren Lagann's story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official story line.

I am not profiting financially from the creation and publication of this story. And I am very grateful to Messrs. Nakashima and Imaishi for sharing their wonderful story with the rest of us. Thank you!

THIRTEEN

Future

Yoko bolted upright in her bunk as the first rays of sunlight crested the horizon and streamed into the cabin window. She could see the clouds had parted to reveal another breathtaking view of the sea. It certainly looked like it would be a beautiful fall day, perhaps the last one before the rains resumed and snow followed.

She slid out of bed while grabbing her robe off the back of her desk chair. As she stood up to tie her sash and shake the fog from her head, she noticed that Simon had left already. A small paper note lay on the arm of the sofa where he had spent the night.

Walking back to her desk, Yoko fumbled with her glasses a moment before unfolding and reading the note. As her eyes came into focus, they confirmed what she had already suspected from the elegantly scrolling script. "Nia," she breathed as she stared down at the signature, knowing that the note had been written by Simon's own hand regardless.

Yoko chuckled softly as she placed the note face-up on her desk. "Thank you for taking care of her, Simon," she said to the empty room around her, remembering that day years before in Kamina City beneath the statue of its namesake. "Just like you promised you would."

She began preparing her morning tea while her mind wandered to the strange yet wonderful events of the night before.

Yoko recalled having a great time getting caught up with Simon and getting to know Nia all over again. They had stopped to see her on their way out of Kamina City. The afternoon before, Simon had left Nia's ring on the small metal cross atop the slab of white alabaster he had worked with his own hands into her memorial. Simon said he would have done it even if Nia hadn't asked, as he thought it fitting that Kamina, Kittan and all their other friends should be able to see the ring too. Simon and Yoko had laughed for quite a long time, believing God Himself would grow weary of the racket from those buffoons' raucous celebration soon enough.

After Simon had struggled to explain to Yoko how in so doing Nia had kept some kind of promise to Kamina and the others, he took her hand in his saying she should just ask Kamina herself. And then...

"Thank *you* too, Kamina!" she giggled, scrunching her face up into a goofy grin like one of her girls might meeting her teenage crush. She began humming happily to herself as she placed the kettle on the stove and walked toward the cabin's small washroom.

"Repaid ten times," read the writing on the note, "with interest!"

Boota sniffed the air as Simon drew forth his staff with the hard rock drill at one end from the bin on the front of the crawler. He slung the staff over one shoulder as he reached in and pulled out the small white container of flower seeds.

"I guess this means you've just become a journeyman," he said loudly as he slammed the bin door shut and met eyes with L. T. "Congratulations," he said in a normal voice as he grasped the young man's shoulder firmly.

"I wanted to keep on drilling through the winter," L. T. replied forlornly. "I need the practice."

"You shall get plenty of that, Leaning Tree," his father assured him. "Now that we have a new government contract to blast out the Pass so we'll never be isolated again during the winter, that is."

"Oh, which reminds me," Simon said as he fished around in his pants pocket, then reached out his closed hand, "you'll need this." He gestured to his former apprentice to take what was inside. When L. T. opened his palm, he stared at their drilling rig's brass ignition key for a moment before his eyes went wide. "Simon, I - "

"Take good care of 'er, like any good journeyman would. I have other work I need to do now," he said with finality as he turned to the young man's father. "Nia and I are very glad to hear that your village will be the site of the new teleportation works, Tall Tree. You'll be able to reconnect with your long-lost kin on L'ayn'a Te'ni. It is only fitting, under the circumstances."

"You are a good man, Simon. Even though every man, woman and child owe their life to both you and Lady Nia for your bravery, the two of you continue to give us the gift of life."

"Which is why I needed these things," he replied, indicating his staff and the seeds.

"Hey Simon," L. T. yelled as he pulled out several metal stakes out of one of the side bins. "Are you leaving these?"

"Yes, L. T.," he chuckled. "We won't need them anymore."

"What do those letters mean anyway?"

Simon held up one of the stakes in front of him. "These Flowers Were Made For Nia," he said as he passed a finger over each letter. He stuck the stake into the ground and hoisted his rucksack upon his shoulder packed with the personal effects he had removed from the rig. Boota squeaked contentedly as he settled down under the rucksack's flap. With a nod to the two men, Simon set out into the wilderness to begin the training he knew awaited him.

"So what is that 'moon is made of honey' bit all about, then?" Simon heard L. T. call after him.

Simon laughed loudly and longly as he turned, holding up one finger over his lips before shouting his reply.

"That, young man, is a secret!"

They walked together in silence for a long while, listening to the crunching of the fallen leaves under his feet and the gentle wind coaxing the trees to drop more to the forest floor. Simon recalled how beautiful Nia found the forest canopies this time of year, resplendent in red, orange and yellow. He closed his eyes as a short prayer of thanks filtered through his mind. The scenery would help assuage the painful wounds the raw emotions they had both experienced the last several days had inflicted upon her.

The image of Nia in his mind's eye wore a hiking outfit and boots with her long pale hair tied back with a pink elastic band. He had taken note of her apparent desire to show herself to him suited for a given occasion or task at hand. His pulse raced as he recalled the nurse's uniform she had appeared to him wearing the night before he had been released from the infirmary. But even *that* kind of excitement did little to cheer him, knowing how hurt she still was inside.

Simon knew, after all, but he simply lacked the words with which to best articulate to her that he did. Nia had put up such a brave and stoic front just before they had parted at Heaven's Gate that he feared calling her out. It wasn't until she had come to him that first night that he truly understood how terribly her heart ached. He knew because he could feel her pain just as acutely and tangibly as she did. The Commissioning had forever bonded them together more than a mere husband and wife could ever possibly be. He wasn't worried he didn't know how to tell Nia just how much he empathized with her; he knew now he didn't need to.

The shadows grew longer while they walked as the sun descended toward the horizon. Simon recalled from their treasured moments of bygone years how at peace wandering the wilderness made Nia feel, so he hadn't said much the better part of the afternoon. For his part, he was just happy to accompany her, smiling contentedly every time he felt her gaze turn his way. Now and again Simon looked around to see where she was. Sometimes he saw her on his left side, other times on his right. Several times he noticed her staring off into the woods pensively, catching up with him again in a few hurried steps though he couldn't hear her footfalls.

Occasionally Simon would catch a glimpse of the image of the greenstone ring glinting in the sunlight. He had placed it on Nia's hand while he dreamed the night before they visited Yoko. He had used the ring to find her when she had been taken by Anti-Spiral. And, he now knew, she had used it to return to him. One day, a hundred years from now, he would place the genuine article on her real hand once more.

Simon addressed her at last, using his thoughts to speak to her without opening his mouth.

/Nia, how is it you haven't walked out ahead of me yet?/

/Silly. I may be able to sense your presence behind me, but I still cannot actually see you. Kamina had asked me to watch your back, just like he had asked Yoko to do for him. I can hardly do that if I am walking in front of you./

He chuckled aloud as he shook his head amusedly.

/It's a figure of speech, Nia. I'm surprised you still struggle with them given all the time you spent with Kamina./

/Well, it is much like when Kiyoh told me before then you were simply speaking in metaphor when you had proposed we exchange vows and live together. You said you wanted your eyes to become my eyes and my ears to become yours; I could hardly understand just what you really meant./

Simon snorted in reply.

/The point seems moot, as it appears we're doing just that./

/Yes, Simon, I understand *now*. Since I still am not the same person as you, perhaps we can live together again after all!/

/Good to know, love...because now...well, I...I don't think I could ever...again.../

He came to an abrupt halt as Nia's image appeared directly before him. He could see the emotion in her eyes as she cupped her hands to the sides of his face.

/Simon, I won't leave you again, ever. And I'll never have to. I am right here, just like I always have been./

He clutched at the hand she had placed over his heart.

/I know, Nia. I knew you never *really* left. But I did miss you terribly at times. That's why I didn't see our old friends all that much. Especially now that they nearly all have their own families, watching their...children...grow - /

His voice went silent as she drew her fingertips over his lips, considering him resolutely.

/I told you long ago, love - the Universe will never end because it is what we all fought so hard for. And we shall continue to do so, for that is our lot./

He felt a lump form in his throat as he looked into her misty eyes.

/And that makes me very happy, Simon. I cannot imagine anywhere else I would rather be than by your side until forever comes./

/But you're the Matron of Souls- /

/Yes, I am indeed! I am Nia, Matron of Souls to Come! I shall be a m-mommy! You shall be a...d-daddy.../

Her lip trembled as her voice trailed off.

/What became of our son fills me with sadness and sorrow as well, Simon. For eternity I shall ponder how much joy he would have brought to us both./

Her eyes were the size of saucers as she clasped her hands together bravely.

/But I am happy the souls of those little children shall be trusted to our care for before they go to mommies and daddies in this life. Is that not wonderful?/

He closed his eyes and sighed as he rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

/Yes, Nia, it will indeed be wonderful, so long as we're caring for them together. I believe I'd be quite happy with a large family, er...however that's supposed to work, that is./

/But I still intend to make you lunches like I made you before. I may need your hands, but I shall guide your every step./

Simon pursed his lips to kiss Nia on the cheek like he'd done often over the last few days. He could feel that it had the intended effect on her, although he smiled seeing her cheeks turn deep pink just the same.

He resumed his trek, considered the image of his dear wife on one side and his furry companion on the other as he walked along. Simon fancied himself the luckiest man ever - in this life and in the one to come.

/Nia, I'll never grow weary of telling you how much I love you./

/You declare your love for me with every breath you draw, Simon. And when you draw your very last I shall be with you, ready for our Next Phase to begin anew./

And so, after binding his Destiny to that of the only woman he had ever loved, the man with whom Destiny reconciled set off to protect the world and the rest of the Universe forevermore with her at his side.

Our story ends here, but for Simon the Digger, it merely marks the passing of another day in an eternity of tomorrows.

FIN

Author's Notes

Friends, it's been a great ride. I want to thank each and every one of you for reading, especially those of you who favorited, followed and reviewed this work. I'm very grateful you took your precious time to read and enjoy my work, and do hope to hear from you about it and our other shared interests in the future.

One of the greater inspirations for this story is "The Moon is Made of Honey", a wonderful work by Annwyd, which you can Google easily enough (or visit her profile in this forum and click the link on her profile). Be advised it is not safe for work, and should be read by mature adults only as it describes, albeit tastefully and touchingly, the physical nature of Simon and Nia's relationship. It is also exquisitely well executed and, I believe, key to understanding the nature of the love Simon and Nia feel for one another. This work made the closing moments of Gurren Lagann take on a much greater significance and meaning.

Very special thanks to MGNemesi, whose "From here onto eternity" work was used with permission on this story's cover page. Look her up using her handle on deviantArt where you'll find the aforementioned work and several other excellent TTGL fanarts.

I also want to take a moment to thank Ken, Starburstia, RandomNumbers523156 and Evilshroom for their unflagging support. Ken was a prereader on my earlier piece "Gift of the Magi". He helped me really take stock in the comments offered by the others, which really got me thinking about the older story's premise and execution. Ken and Starburstia even went so far as to provide very valuable feedback for the draft versions of this story. I'm very pleased with it and I hope you are too - I wouldn't have been (and you may well have never read it!) were not for these folks! I thank them muchly. So you should all of you who read this.

Many of the folks who had read and reviewed "Gift" also read and reviewed this work. I'm so glad to see you back and thank you again for your support. The aforementioned RandomNumbers523156 deserves a lot of credit, along with The Great Butler, archsage328 and formerlyarandomreviewer. I was also glad to meet Chewie Cookies, HVK, thehaxthatisrico and all the other folks who came looking for this story.

Some of you, especially RandomNumbers523156, guessed correctly that certain fan theories regarding Simon and Nia played a central role in the development of this work. The Giant in the Playground forum, Zerochan, Animesuki and TV Tropes each featured discussions which would become grist for the mill. Feel free to PM me if you'd like to exchange email addresses, as then I can email you a link where to find and read them. Some fascinating stuff out there.

In the interest of full disclosure, the last several episodes of Gurren Lagann had me on the edge of my seat. I found myself alternately squeaking "dear God, no!" and yelling "HELL YEAH!" while sobbing like a schoolgirl the whole time. I'm a male 41 year old married railway engineering professional with a young son and have nary a shred of pride left. Any story evoking that many tears (manly or otherwise) simply cannot leave me unchanged nor unchallenged.

I watched the series together with a younger colleague while the two of us lived in neighboring hotel rooms for months on a remote job site away from our friends and families. And after watching the last ten minutes of the final episode several times over, I knew what needed to be done. A couple days later I hit upon the idea for "Gift", and dropped everything I was doing to work on it day and night until completion. A hole had been ripped in my heart, and writing this helped it to mend. "Gift" served as the best way to deal with the wounds Gurren Lagann had left, enabling me to get on to the business of tendering this work.

I'd promised to you all I would update weekly on Thursday afternoons/evenings, and I'm so glad I did just that. Thanks again for your support and encouragement! For those of you who enjoyed and appreciate this work, no thanks necessary but sharing your thoughts and impressions would certainly be appreciated. For those of you who did not, nothing you can say will change my mind about what I did and how I did it. 'Cause that's how *I* roll.

JUST WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM?

Hail and farewell until whence we are again well met, my friends.

MJE