GALAXY EXPRESS 999: ON THE WAY BACK HOME By Swarlock

Tetsuro watched the 777 locomotive take off in a different direction with Maetel. He read the note she left him which fell to the floor. She wrote: I'm off on a new journey to help another boy find his future.

Those weren't exactly the words he remembered them as tears fell from his eyes after he read it. But Tetsuro Hoshino knew he would never see her again. At least not in this lifetime.

He came all the way to Andromeda to get a free machine body so that he could live forever. By the end of it he realized that there was a price for it. Seeing all the ones whose lives were ruined in one way or another. Briar who risked his life to save the train after finding an unstable electronic mushroom, The Black Knight who fell apart in his search to find a friend, Shadow who had to contend with seeing her true body in an ice casket knowing she could never take back what she lost.

All these examples and many others made Tetsuro appreciate his limited life more.

The Three Nine switched magentic tracks as it went up from The Bat Planet. It was going to be an even longer trip to Earth but Tetsurio didn't mind. All he could see ahead was his own destiny calling.

And that was all that mattered.