【GaloLio】The way home

※A side story that takes place in the timeline of "The Way Back", the story after the end of the main movie.

This was probably the first rainy Christmas that Leo Forthia had experienced since he could remember.

The dark rain clouds and occasional showers, full of water vapor in the air make the winter cold even more bone-chilling.Looking out of the window, the pedestrians on the road were all huddled under umbrellas and raincoats, moving like turtles.If it's just snowing, maybe the body feels better.

These days after the full release of Promea's power, the people of the Republic of Promepolis, no matter how dull they are, have noticed the abnormal climate from changes in weather, crop growth, etc., and man-made holidays cannot escape such abnormalities. .

The weather only made Leo's limited travel range more difficult.

Leo is still under the guardianship period decided by the Supreme Court, and as the legal guardian Gallo Timos—a firefighter with a constant busy job—when he is not at home, he will try to minimize unnecessary going out, but whenever Going out will be reported to Gallo in advance.

He currently has a high mobility emergency fire brigade exam to study for and enjoys spending time cleaning and organizing the living space he and Gallo share, so even if he's just cooped up in the apartment, there's plenty to keep busy.

But today is different.Before Gallo left early this morning, Leo had already mentioned to the other party that he would go to the supermarket to buy some daily necessities, so as to avoid the embarrassment that the store would be closed during the Christmas holiday.

However, when the boy put on thick clothes, took the huge umbrella that Gallot bought for him and opened the door, the freezing, humid and strong air that rushed towards him still deterred him.

Leo never thought he would be so afraid of the cold.

Surrounded by flames for many years in the past, the perception of temperature has long since faded into a vague memory-the effects of those freezing guns developed by the Fossett Group are mostly pain and immobility after the flames are suppressed, while Not cold.

This also made the first winter of losing Promea a big challenge for the boy—the feeling of coldness was infinitely magnified, the cold wind hit his eyes and pierced his skin, and his hands and feet were sluggish due to cold and stiff. It almost made him wonder if he was born with a body that is afraid of cold, otherwise how could he have such a strong reaction.

－—

Because I gave up the original purchase plan, I have more free time.

Leo turned on the heating in the apartment, cleaned the living room and the floor of the room, and tidied up the slightly messy sofa when he and Gallo huddled together to watch a movie and eat dinner the night before.

He wasn't completely alone during this time, either.Remy Puguna, the deputy captain of the Flame Fire Brigade, came here before the shift, and brought the reference books for the fire brigade exam that Leo had entrusted before, and brought some extra little surprises: Captain Ignis did not know where he came from. The small Christmas potted plants purchased wholesale, the candy gift packs prepared by Rukia and Ina, and the chicken pies made by the Varys family were all given to the firefighters.But the volume given to Gallo is the most impressive. It is said that everyone consciously included Leo's part.

Leo has always felt both grateful and guilty for the special care these people gave him to outsiders.Since visiting the headquarters of the Flames and Fire Brigade, he has maintained a steady relationship with members of the Fire Brigade, and he has encountered countless acts of kindness.Leo is grateful for these kindnesses from the bottom of his heart, but apart from verbal "thank you", he has no other forms of repayment at all.

Remy looked at the boy's complicated expression, chuckled lightly, raised his hand and patted him on the head: "A child should look like a child, don't think so much." The words revealed the unique joke of an adult , but the tone is very gentle, not annoying at all.

Leo could only return a shy smile that could not be concealed, and obediently accepted Gallo and his two gifts.

-

After sending Remy away, Leo put the heavy chicken pie on a plate, put it in the oven, estimated the weight, set the firepower and heating time.

When he first lived in Gallo's apartment, the teenager had the experience of being burned because of neglecting the high temperature of electrical appliances. This small accident made Gallo blame himself for a long time.

Leo could understand the concern of the other party, and since then he has paid special attention to it, and adjusted his past temperature-sensing habits little by little. Now he is proficient in using various electrical appliances including the oven.The lemon cake he tried to bake last week was very successful. Gallo also praised him as "very talented in cooking", which made the boy secretly proud for a while.

Speaking of Gallo—

Leo looked at the time. If the work was over and the traffic time was added, the young man would usually have arrived home by this time.

Leo thought to himself that maybe he encountered an emergency duty again.The entire city is still in the recovery period, and the security forces dealing with crimes are extremely busy. The fire brigade, whose main responsibility is to put out fires and save lives, will not relax because of holidays. Overtime work is just the norm in the abnormal reality.

——Besides, Christmas itself does not have any special meaning to Leo, and what occupies his mind are more sentimental and bitter memories.

The days when people celebrate the birthday of the Holy Spirit and family reunions in the world have nothing to do with the "burning people" who are expelled and squeezed by society, as if cursed.The exhaustion and fear of long-term exile are enough to make most Burners forget that the festival even exists.

However, those young people among the Burning Ones always look forward to this day very much.Little children will mark the days on the old calendars day by day, secretly wishing to receive a gift from Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.

So Leo discussed with Kanro and Mace to allocate a Christmas-only part of the insignificant expenses of "Crazy Burner".Kanro went to the small jungle in the wild to find a tree of the right size, and specially chose to bring it back in a trailer during the day, while Leo and Mace pretended to be ordinary people, and bought some candies and small trees in the shinyly decorated shop in a low-key manner. To decorate, wrap in red and green cellophane.

On Christmas Eve, they had the Children of the Burners form a circle around the decorated tree.Leo stood next to a plant that was only slightly taller than him, and slowly raised his hands, letting the purple flame bend into a thin rope and climb up the branches and leaves of the tree, and finally drew a pattern of stars on the top of the tree. shape, the flame intensity is released to the strongest.

A young man like a flame magician watched with relief as the fire light illuminated the children's eyes full of emotion and joy.

Burners are also human.Even if you are forced to live under the ruins, looking at the shining decorations in the city and streets, you will have expectations and longing.

Who hasn't longed for those rays of light, those bright and warm existences.

The boy slowly closed his eyes, and softly sang to the children a song from distant memories.A female Burner who was familiar with the tune came to his side and sang softly.

The soft chant seemed to melt into the flames.

People who have never been blessed send faint "Happy Holidays" to each other.

-

The beeping sound of the oven interrupted Leo's thoughts. Almost at the same time, a louder and familiar sound of a motorcycle came from outside, and the boy jumped up and ran to the window sill.

The blue-haired young man downstairs in a thick raincoat obviously noticed his figure, and waved at him with his face up as if he didn't care about the raindrops.

The young man pursed his lips, happy that the other party came back safely, but felt a tightness in his chest. He quickly put on his coat to meet the powerful footsteps of "dong dong dong" going upstairs.

As soon as the door was opened, Gallo Timos was greeted with a bright and cheerful smile. His strong body blocked most of the cold air outside: "I'm back." The young man rubbed his nose, probably because he was too cold outside. Powerful, there seems to be a bit of sniffing sound.Even the mohawk hairstyle, which has always been high-spirited, could not resist the gravity brought by the rain, and it slumped slightly.

Looking at that face, Leo felt a lot of warmth in his heart, but also a trace of loss.The current self can no longer conjure flames from his fingertips to keep him warm—nor can he use that flame to draw blue-purple stars for the children.

Gallo carefully placed the items in his hands on the ground, then took off his raincoat and threw it outside the door, then bent down and hugged the boy's body: "Leo is so warm." The voice fell gently on the boy's Next to his ear, scattered water drops fell on his neck.

"Because I'm different from someone who drives a car in the wind and rain. I've been staying inside." The boy replied, with an indistinct tremor in his voice.His cheek was pressed against the young man's chest, and he wrapped his arms around the young man's arm.

-

After peeling off the outermost tightly wrapped waterproof layer, it was a gift box tied with a ribbon; taking off the lid, the item Gallo brought back finally revealed its original appearance - a small and delicate fruit cake.The creamy white and light yellow cake body is decorated with a cream coating and petal-shaped yellow-green fruits on the top. The light-colored flesh is moist and contains some black seeds.

"This is???"

"A cake with the flavor of 'kiwi fruit'. The clerk said that only the varieties imported from Southeast Asia have this color."

"It's the first time I've seen it."

"I asked Deputy Captain Remy, and he said that Promepolis didn't have this kind of fruit before. But last month, the ban was lifted, and the strict import and export controls were relaxed...and some so-and-so taxes Anyway, there are more types of agricultural products on the market now." Gallo seemed not very clear about trade and tariffs, and he was a little bumpy in his words, and finally added the most plain and simple sentence, "Anyway, it's—poor Some people can afford it too.”

"So that's the case." Leo couldn't help smiling when he saw Gallobi's strokes.

The young man nodded vigorously: "It's the first time I know this too. It looks cute, right? It's very similar to Leo's hair and eyelashes."

The boy's face turned red quickly.Although it is not the first time that he has been directly or indirectly praised by the young man, and the two have always had intimate interactions, those casual words still make him shy from time to time.

He was hesitating what to say, but Gallo had already stretched out his hand and pulled him into the sofa, and said seriously: "Actually... It's the first time I have Christmas like this." The young man's eyes were fixed on his The eyes, the expression that expresses the voice of the heart.

Leo sat up subconsciously and listened carefully.

"In the past few years, I sometimes went to the orphanage where I was adopted to give gifts to the children; sometimes I went to the nearby shopping malls to act as Santa Claus... In this way, even if there is no family, at least I can stay in the lively crowd Here, I don’t feel lonely.” There was still a smile on his face, but a trace of loneliness flashed in his eyes.

The young man blinked, raised his hands and gently touched the outline of the young man's cheek: "Isn't Christmas different this year?" There was inquiry and anticipation in the bright purple eyes.

"Of course it's different. On the way to drive the locomotive today, in my mind, I just want to come back to see Leo soon." The young man laughed, and his blue eyes lit up instantly, "It's better to say that this year because of Li I had a great time with Ou!" He stretched out a hand to wrap around Leo's waist.

"Hoo... each other, each other," the boy replied in a low voice, leaning his head lightly on the young man, "it's so wonderful... it's almost full of chest."

"Oh—!" Gallo cheered, raising his hand to rub the fluffy hair leaning against his neck, "Hold me again, and we'll cut the cake."

"Hmm? Don't forget the chicken pie and sweets from everyone."

Despite saying this, the two of them did not leave the sofa for a long time, nor did they speak.Until the young man leaned down, his lips touched the young man's forehead lightly.

"You will be free to move around Christmas next year. We can try other ways to spend the holidays then."

"others???"

"We can dress up as Santa Claus, decorate the Christmas tree and give gifts to the children in the orphanage, they will be very happy! And invite your fellow burners, and let everyone from the fire brigade bring their families, at the headquarters Throw a big party!"

"That's really... people looking forward to it." Leo closed his eyes, thinking about the scenes described by the young man - such a beautiful but distant ideal -

"We have a lot of things we can do together in the future, and we will discover more new things together." Gallo's tone was firm, and he stretched out his other hand to wrap Leo's hand.The boy's eyelashes trembled slightly.

The body temperature of the young man is higher than that of ordinary people. Coupled with his physique, the whole person is like a mobile heater with a sense of presence.Surrounded by such a temperature, it seems that the deep-rooted cold is no longer daunting. Being able to face it with eyes wide open, together with the unknown and difficulties that will be encountered in life in the future, is also full of motivation to overcome.

Gallo Timus?? You are an incredible man.Thinking of this, the young man finally couldn't help but smile slightly.

"?? Merry Christmas, Gallo."

"Merry Christmas, Leo!"

--Thank you.

The company from now on is the warmest blessing.

-Fin-

postscript:

The whole article of "Homecoming" is based on Galo's point of view. Taking advantage of Christmas, I try to express some feelings from Lio's point of view.

Merry Christmas.