A Better Ending

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Chapter 3 - Judgement - Part Two
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[THIS IS STILL A WIP. There are still at least 3000 more words left to write and clean up]
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It was five in the morning. At least, that’s what the clock on the car’s dashboard said. 
  
   A lime-toned stegosaur rode on the passenger seat of a fairly modern van. She let out a tired yawn as she sunk her body deeper into the car seat. ‘I guess I shouldn’t have stayed up all night rewatching Gurren Lagann,’ she mused with a mixture of self-scolding and pride. ‘Ten hours well spent though.’
   Despite her drowsiness from awakening ten minutes earlier, the steg scanned the city vista with interest. As the building whizzed by, her mind projected a small running dino parkouring in pace with the van’s speed. It made her giggle to herself. 
   Stella knew it was juvenile to rely on a children’s trick to keep her boredom in check. She had never been one to follow 'standard' growing conventions though. In her eyes, it worked both to keep her entertained and awake. If it worked, it worked. Besides, the world already saw her as a cheerful weeb. It was an outlook that had been with her since elementary school. It was also an outlook she had no qualms in keeping. Short of an apocalyptic event taking society back to the Stone Age, she would stay a weeb until her dying days.
   A cheeky smile formed on Stella’s lips as she thought about what kind of funeral a weeb like her should have. There were plenty of themes she could pick. It had to be something she enjoyed, otherwise, what was the point? She first thought about Neon Genesis Evangelion. 'I mean, that can work,' she mused. NGE was the first anime she ever watched. An uncle had introduced her to it, and on seeing the first few episodes, it had been like love at first sight. From there, NGE served as her gateway to the world of mecha anime, which in turn served as her gateway to anime in general. She started with all the classics like the early Gundams, Macross, and Armored Trooper Votoms. From there, she moved to stuff like The Visions of Escaflowne, King of the Braves Gaogaigar, and Gunbuster. She then got into more contemporary stuff like the Big O and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann. Gurren Lagann and its celebration of mecha through the years—as well as its sheer galactic scope—made it her absolute favorite anime of all time. 
   So with TTGL being Stella's absolute fave, it only made sense that her funeral should be TTGL themed. She pondered for a bit how that would work out though. After about ten seconds of thinking, she decided that it was a topic best saved for somewhere other than a car ride. After all, she had years to plan it out. 'Besides, it's the music that sets the mood,' she told herself with a bit too much excitement. 'When I go, I'm going to have Libera Me from Hell playing on repeat for at least twenty-four hours. If they refuse, then I'm not going to my funeral.' 
   With her happy thoughts all but settled for the time being Stella closed her eyes for a few seconds. She had been using her eyes for hours after all, and it wasn't like she was going to fall asleep that easily.
   A few seconds of silence passed by; time in which Stella felt quite relaxed and quite at peace with the world...
  “Hey! ¡Despiertate!” the voice of the van’s driver, an orange ankylosaur, snapped Stella out from her trance-like state.
  “I-I’m awake!” Stella yelled reflexively. She blinked the haze out of her eyes and looked at her surroundings. Upon ascertaining that she was not in any danger, she snapped her sight towards her combined boss, business partner, and best friend. “Wha—wha’s happenin', Rosa?"
   Rosa let out an amiable chuckle in response to her friend's physical reaction. “Ah, ¡Disculpame! I was only making sure you didn’t fall asleep on me before we got started on our cardio!” she exclaimed. "We're two minutes away, so I don't want you sleeping on me!" the ankylosaur cheered as she turned the steering wheel left before accelerating.
   "But Rosa! I was really getting comfy!" 
   Rosa once again laughed. “Maybe you wouldn’t be such a dormilona if you hadn't stayed up so late watching anime."
   Stella crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks. “Oh come on. You know well that when I get into a show, I can’t just stop watching it!”
   Rosa let out a single laugh in response to Stella’s statement. “¡Que bichita todavia eres!” She said in her native Spanish before reaching out and rubbing the stego on the head, being careful not to ruffle her green hair too much. “I don’t have anything against you enjoying your anime. Just the anime getting in the way of your sleeping hours.” The orange dino's face turned stern as soon as she finished her words. "Can't have one of my employees tired at work. Oh, no, no, no, no, no! That’s when I gotta put my foot down!” Almost as if to augment her point, she hit the brakes a little harder than usual. As a result, the van came to a halt with a small jerk, causing Stella to lunge forward in her seat a bit.
   Stella, cheeks still puffed in annoyance, thought of something to say to Rosa. ‘You’re one to talk, what with how you obsess over your telenovelas!’ The sentence constituted in her brain, words taking shape at the tip of her tongue. She wanted to say it to Rosa too… 
   But the more thought Stella gave it, the more she decided against saying anything. In the end, she deflated her cheeks and only nodded in acknowledgment.
  "¡Perfecto!" Rosa cheered as she started to better park her van.
   'Yeah,' Stella thought as she tried to put their interaction in the back of her mind. Deep down, she knew Rosa was only looking out for her wellbeing. It had been that way for the last three years, ever since her own parents more or less washed their hands of her. In their own words, Stella turned out to be an *'anime-obsessed, mystic bull believing, socially stunted excuse for a daughter.'* and pretty much kicked her to the curb. And what had brought about such a hostile exile? Her dream of moving to Japan to become an anime voice actress while also taking up divination and fortune-telling. Sure, accomplishing either goal was a long shot... and she didn’t really have a plan to make any money in the meantime... but she was still determined to see that dream become real! 
  'Then again, I don't exactly have the best type of voice for an acting gig... nor do I really speak Japanese fluently despite watching thousands of hours of anime...'
  So her voice acting dreams needed work. She was still amazing at Tarot readings! From her own admittedly biased record-keeping, she had yet to make a wrong prediction.
  'Then again, I haven't exactly been able to practice my fortunetelling much in the last three years. Most people on the streets aren't exactly open to some stranger telling them about their futures. Not to mention...'
   Stella's stomach suddenly felt like she had swallowed a cup full of ice. Her thoughts rewound to that one awful night. The night she made a huge mistake. The night that, with hindsight in its full and terrible might, she committed the single biggest mistake of her life. The night she gave that fateful fortune reading and failed to prevent a terrible fate from coming into fruition...
   ...All because she failed to explain what one single card meant to the one person who needed it most...
   Stella’s heart sank as she remembered the moment in Pizza Moe’s like it was yesterday...

  *“I wanted to ask, what did you think of your fortune?”*
  *“Uh… I kinda forgot”*
  *“You got the Judgement, right?”*
   *“Doesn’t Ring a bell.”*
   *“O-oh. Well… uh… How would you like another?”*
  *“Eh… I got time to kill. Sure.”*
  *“Alright. Take one.”*
  *“Oh my… Inverted Empress. You need to be wary about future negligence, Anon.”*
  *“What the fuck does that mean?”*
  *“Uh… er… Gottago,naturecalls,seeyouattheshow!”*

As the conversation played out in her memory, Stella had to ask herself why. Why had she rushed out from that situation despite Anon asking for clarification? Had it been her shyness overpowering her desire to help out Anon? Her lack of social skills in the face of such an important development in Anon’s life? Or some misguided belief that Anon had to face his destiny alone despite needing help in walking the right path?
   Stella didn't want to know the answers anymore. The answers wouldn't change the event that transpired that night, nor the aftermath. 
   Friendships died. People’s lives abruptly changed. Joy turned to sorrow, and the world moved on regardless of who cried about it. 
   Stella—for as naive and childish as some may have called her for it—desperately wanted to believe that there was some other timeline in which everything turned out alright. 
   A timeline where she got her stuff together and made something of herself. 
   A timeline where all her friends stuck by with each other and helped each other grow to ever-higher heights. 
   A timeline where Anon and Fang stayed and had a happy life together...
  “Hey. ¡Bicha!” Rosa’s voice suddenly snapped Stalla back to reality. “We’re here! And look, we made it before sunrise! That'll give us plenty of time to do our cardio and—” Rosa paused in her tracks, her expression losing some of its cheer. “Are you okay? You look sad. REALLY sad.” the orange dino leaned closer to her friend’s face. “Are you teary-eyed?”
   Stella blinked a few times before running the back of her hand past her eyes. Sure enough, as she withdrew her hand, she noticed a few droplets of water glistening.
   Stella took a deep breath and buried her previous thoughts. “Oh, this! I, uh… I was just remembering this… super ultra-emotional scene in an anime. Yeah!” She once more put on a broad smile and widened her eyes. “It… it was this, uh, v-visual novel adaptation! Yeah. Two former lovers, torn apart by bad decisions and their own inability to let love reach their hearts, finally realize what they mean to each other and race back towards each other’s arms as the music swells and the sakura leaves fall and it’s super, ultra heartwarming and it’s just…” Stella brought the fingertips of her right hand up to her lips and, pinching all her digits together, kissed them, and dramatically tossed the metaphorical kiss away from her face. “So cathartic and perfect that it still brings tears to my eyes!”
   With a deadpan look on her face, Rosa raised an eyebrow. Stella, in turn, only kept a toothy smile on her lips. A few droplets of sweat formed on her brow as she struggled to keep smiling despite her mood being in no such disposition.  
   Two seconds later, Rosa also put on a warm smile on her lips. “¡Hey! Mientras te haga feliz, ¡yo soy feliz!” she cheered, turning away from her friend and undoing her seatbelt. 
   Stella let out a sigh. ‘Sorry for the lie, Rosa, but I don’t think remembering the past would be a good way to start your morning," She thought, all the while doing her best to keep the forced smile on her lips. "You have enough to worry as is with the business and stuff.’ She looked down at the spot on the back of her hand where the now dry tears had been. ‘Besides, I'm being overly sentimental about the past. Not like being sentimental's going to change anything about it...’
   A part of Stella wished it could do. 

   She really, really wished for it...