Chapter Text
“Takashi, I know it has only been a day but… When Adam learned you were alive, well, he was relived and scared. He never stopped smiling as he got a box and started putting items in. He said it was a gift to you when any of us asked. We added one other possession of his that he couldn’t let go of. Since he can't be here to give it to you I thought I would for him."
Iverson left Shiro with a box sitting on the nightstand, it was a medium sized box taped shut. The commander made sure the door was shut, keeping the sleeping paladins and busy garrison officers out of his room on the Atlus while he opened the gift. He was scared to open it, Sure Earth was saved and now would be the best time as he was sure he’d be busy soon after tomorrow but… This was Adam’s gift and Adam wasn’t here. A laugh escaped Shiro, a little bitter. "You kept to your word Adam. I was hoping you wouldn't."
He stared at the box for vargas until he sat down and sat the box beside him. The room was dark except for his arm which gave a faint blue glow. It was silent like the time he spent in the astral plane. He didn't hate it but he was still haunted in a sense. He died. But unlike the other sacrifices of war he came back and the box beside him reminded him of it even more.
He could wait longer to open the box, but he needed this. With shaking hands Shiro finally cut the tape and opened the box and he smiled. He pulled out some old modeles of ships, smiling as he rememberd how Adam would watch him talk excitedly of each ship and it’s story. He was always so patient… Next was a journal, maybe it was Adam’s thoughts? Or just some math Adam liked to do in his free time. Either way, that was one thing Shiro couldn’t look at, not now. Not when he kept thinking of the final battle that was coming sooner than not and wondering what Adam's final moments were like for him. He must have been trying to keep his head despite how terrified he really was.
Shiro put it in the nightstand's draw, not wanting to see it right now. Then he looked down in the box and saw a ring, more specifically, a wedding band.
God it was his wedding band, the one Adam had taken off when Shiro chose the mission. Shiro had lost his in space when he was taken, and here was Adam’s in one piece. The items were put back in the box except for the wedding band which stayed in Shiro’s human hand, and the journal which stayed hidden.
He really had taken it all for granted, and now it was a little too late, years late, to say sorry. Shiro wished he could say sorry, but it’s too late now.
But even so, the ring became warm in his hands, contrasting against the cold room. The wedding band was just like Adam was when the dorms got too cold, but it wasn’t like him either. Adam was human, this was not.
Eventually, Shiro faded into sleep. He was too tired to dream and didn't wake up until he had two hours to get ready for the memorial