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“Hyde!” Moune yelled as she walked into their home. “Nozomu just told me that it’s nearly Professor Amachi’s birthday, and we haven’t even begun planning anything. I need your help!”
Hyde looked up from the book he was reading. “Well, if we are going to plan something, you must begin by gathering all the pertinent information and making lists of things that you will need for a celebration. Then you can take Agri and do the shopping.”
“You’re not going to come with me?” Moune asked in surprise. “Agri said that you could help me get the best deals.”
“I am not in the mood to plan a party today,” he said, turning back to his book. “Please go find someone else to celebrate with.”
“But it’s the Professor’s birthday!”
“Please plan the celebration without my help,” Hyde repeated, and Moune pouted. “You have someone from your own tribe who can help.”
“Agri is busy running interference with the professor. And you’re the one who is good at planning things, and we’re on a budget so we need you to make sure we’re getting good deals! Eri will just buy all the ice cream.”
“That is not my concern,” Hyde said. “Go along with her then, if you must. Unless you aren’t capable of controlling her.”
“Don’t you even care?” she asked angrily. “After everything that the Professor has done for us, can’t you even help the rest of us a little? This party is important! And I can work with Eri just fine, even though she is from the Skick tribe.”
Hyde put down his book and rose from his seat.
“You have no idea of the things I care about,” he said flatly. “Go ask your partner to help you. I do not have time for this. I have much more important things to do than worry about a party today.”
Moune realized three things at the same time. First, there was no way that she would get any more help out of Hyde at that moment. Second, she was still going to need help to plan that party. And most importantly, she also had to figure out what was wrong with Hyde and help him.
“Okay,” she said finally. “If that’s the way you’re going to be about it, Hyde. I’ll let you know when the party is.”
He ignored her, and she went off to find Eri and Agri, who could probably be trusted to do the shopping and make a cake on their own, while she went to talk to Nozomu in the hopes that he would be able to give her some advice in figuring out how to make Hyde feel better.
*
It didn’t take long to find Nozomu, and Moune took a seat next to him.
“Hi, Moune!” he said. “Do you need any help planning my dad’s party?”
She shook her head. “I think that Agri and Eri have it under control. If not, they’ll have me to answer to,” she assured him. “But right now, I’m more worried about Hyde.”
“Hyde?” Nozomu looked confused. “What’s wrong? Does it have something to do with why he isn’t taking control of organizing the party?”
Moune nodded. “He doesn’t want to be involved. He was really angry about it; it’s not like him.”
“Did you ask him what was bothering him?” Nozomu asked.
Moune thought about it. “No,” she said after a moment. “I was too busy trying to get him to help. We need everything to be perfect for the party, and he’s usually all about organizing these things! But there’s definitely something wrong.” She paused. “I was a little rude to him, that probably didn’t help.”
“I can help organize my dad’s party,” Nozomu said. “You just worry about fixing Hyde. I’m sure that I can get Gosei Knight to pick up things, and Alata will help.”
“Thank you, Nozomu,” Moune said gratefully. “And hopefully it won’t take me too long to figure out what was wrong.”
“Did he say anything that could be a hint?” Nozomu asked.
Moune paused, and went over the conversation in her head.
“He said…” she gasped as she figured out what it was. “He said I could ask someone from my own tribe to help. Do you think he’s lonely because there’s nobody else from Seaick around? Do you think he’s missing Magis?”
Nozomu nodded. “That would make the most sense,” he said slowly. “After all, the rest of you do have someone from your own tribe if needed. Maybe today is something special for Magis. Hyde might be feeling left out and alone.”
“I’ll go after him,” Moune said. “He shouldn’t be alone today. And I need to apologize.”
*
Finding Hyde turned out to be slightly more difficult than she thought, as he was no longer anywhere to be found in their home. She had gone to each of the other members of Goseiger, but nobody had seen him. In desperation, Moune decided to try different places that could mean something to Hyde, but nobody had seen him at the aquarium either.
But if Nozomu was right and Hyde was sad about Magis….there was probably only one place where Hyde could be.
When Moune made her way to the stretch of beach where Magis had been killed, she saw Hyde standing at the edge of the shore and staring out into the surf.
She made her way up behind him, and the two of them just stood there in silence. Moune wasn’t entirely sure that Hyde had even noticed that she was there.
“I’m sorry, Hyde,” she said. “I shouldn’t have accused you of not caring. We… I forget sometimes, that it’s just you from Seaick. Because you’re part of our family, and we care about you. I know it doesn’t replace Magis, and you are always telling me to think before I speak, but… I’m sorry.”
She waited, and they just stood there in silence for a while, and Moune was beginning to worry that she had messed things up beyond repair when Hyde turned to look at her.
“Magis’s birthday would have been tomorrow,” he said shortly. “I don’t know if his family even know that he’s dead.”
“Surely Master Head would have told them,” Moune said. She couldn’t imagine what that would be like—parents waiting for their child to finally make it back home, only to discover that they had been gone for over a year.
“I don’t know,” Hyde said slowly. “And I just can’t help but wonder…”
“Wonder what?”
“There was no header for him.”
It took Moune a minute to figure out what he was saying.
“You think that Master Head knew that one of us would die,” she said softly.
“I am saying that it is a possibility. Or were there alternate configurations for Gosei Great? If he had survived would another header have shown up? Or would he have had to stop being a Goseiger?”
“I don’t know,” Moune said. “But I think it would have all worked out. And I don’t think Master Head would have let him come if he knew what would happen.”
“You are probably right,” Hyde admitted. “I just… couldn’t stop thinking about it.”
“Maybe we’ll find the header that would have been his at some point,” Moune said. “There are still many things out there that we haven’t found.”
Hyde didn’t look entirely convinced, and she could tell that she wasn’t doing a good enough job cheering him up. She didn’t think that a cheer routine was appropriate for this time and place. What had Nozomu said?
“Would you like to tell me about Magis?” she asked.
Hyde smiled at her. “I think I’d like that,” he agreed.
*
“Magis and I were friends since we were children,” Hyde said. “He was older than me, and was everything that a member of the Seaick tribe should be. He was calm and level-headed in the face of danger, and had studied hard to gain wisdom. He wanted to join the council when we were done with our training. He had worked so hard to hone all of his elemental powers; he was even more dedicated to his training than I was. He was…everything I wanted to be.”
“He sounds like he would have been a good friend to us all,” Moune said, although she wasn’t sure if that was the most helpful thing in this situation.”
But it seemed as though that might have been the correct thing to say.
“He would have been,” Hyde acknowledged. “I am not sure how quickly he would have been able to acclimate to working with the Landick and Skick tribes. As I said, he was the more traditional of the two of us, but he would have surely seen the rationale in cooperating. He might not have been the first to accept it, but he would have done everything in his power to make us into a team.”
“He would be very proud of you, then,” Moune said, as she reached out and wrapped Hyde in a hug. “And I’m sure that his family will be very grateful to you for keeping his memory alive down here.”
“Perhaps,” Hyde said. He had tightened his arms around her, and the two of them stayed that way for a while.
“And maybe,” Moune said as an idea struck her. “The next time that we speak with Master Head, we can ask him to pass on messages to Magis’s family!”
Hyde let go of her and thought about it for a while. “That could be an adequate solution,” he said. “Hopefully we will be able to contact Master Head again soon, and he will pass along our message.”
“And maybe the time after that we’ll hear back from them!” Moune clapped her hands together in excitement.
“That…would be nice,” Hyde agreed. He turned back to the ocean, and Moune waited for a while, but she was starting to get a little cold.
“Do you want to come to the party?” she asked. “I’m sure that with your help, we could make it into a joint party! That way we can celebrate Magis and thank the professor for all that he’s done for us, and let him have a good birthday.”
“That could be an acceptable compromise,” Hyde allowed. He looked like he was going to say something, but instead just began walking off the beach. Most of the trip was spent in silence, but when they finally got back to the Professor’s house, Hyde paused before they went in.
“Moune,” he said haltingly. “I was rude to you earlier, and I apologize. I should not have taken my bad mood out on you.”
“It’s okay,” Moune told him. “Like Alata and Eri keep saying, it’ll all work out, right?”
Hyde smiled, the first real smile that Moune had seen from him all day.
*
The other Goseigers and Nozomu had immediately embraced the idea of a joint party both celebrating Professor Amachi’s birthday and honoring Magis’s. They had all apologized to Hyde for not even thinking to ask when Magis’s birthday had been, and the acknowledgement from his teammates had helped a lot.
With all of them working together (even Gosei Knight, who Nozomu had somehow convinced to help) the party had come together. Moune had gotten Hyde back in time that they were able to find bargains in shopping and Eri had come through with a cake. Agri had managed to distract Professor Amachi enough that it was a surprise, and the professor was most enthusiastic with his thanks, to the point that it was hard to avoid his hugs.
And when the party was interrupted by a message from Master Head, bringing thanks from Magis’s family for how the Goseigers were honoring him, well, in Moune’s opinion, that made everything worth it. It brought some peace to both Hyde and Magis’s family, and helping do that was what the Goseigers did best.