Work Text:
Just in time for Promare's 2nd Anniversary! Sorry that I've been deleting past Promare works that followed the canon ending of Promare. I just felt Promare would have been much better off if the Burnish kept their powers instead of getting them taken away. Non-Burnish and Burnish humans should learn to live together and coexist as one despite their differences. Getting rid of their powers just does a huge disservice to the prejudice and discrimination theme overall.
I also had personal issues, fandom-related and real life-related I had to deal with that prevented me from writing for a long time. I'm really sorry about that.
Two young men held each other tight in the vastness of space as turquoise flames gently surrounded their unclothed bodies. Their lips were firmly locked together. It felt just right, as if they were two halves of a heart finally being slotted together. They pleasantly sighed into each other's mouths as their burning souls intertwined with each other.
"Lio..."
"Galo..."
Lio quickly woke up with a start. He was sweating a bit and his body, mainly his chest felt like it was burning. He looked behind him and saw that Galo was spooning him from behind, still fast asleep. Sleeping besides them were Gueira and Meis, Lio's lieutenants and best friends. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths just in case his powers decided to flare up again. The Promare may have gone back to their home dimension after their urge to burn was completely satisfied, but the Burnish still possessed their powers. But it was much easier for the Burnish to control their powers since the Promare were not there anymore to tell them to burn as much as they wished, so it was a great relief.
It was now morning. He was sleeping outside like literally everyone else since all of the buildings in Promepolis were destroyed as a result of the Second Great World Blaze. Everyone in the city was currently rebuilding and the ones who were in critical condition were tended to instead.
It was very surreal to see his people living and working together with the non-Burnish now, albeit grudgingly after the decades of prejudice and discrimination they faced from the latter. But then again, the main oppressor of the Burnish was also secretly a Burnish himself and his newly-discovered soulmate was a non-Burnish. And not just any non-Burnish, an actual firefighter!
Lio thought back to that dream he just had of him and Galo being united as one burning soul. It reminded him of when Galo brought him back to life with the last remnants of Lio's burning soul and when they literally combined to save the world.
As Lio continued to ruminate on the subject matter, he felt Galo shift behind him and he looked back to see Galo was waking up.
"Mmh..." Galo stirred himself awake and opened his bright blue eyes to meet with Lio's magenta ones.
"Hey." Lio gently greeted him.
"You sleep well?" Galo asked with a yawn.
"I'm okay. I'm very used to sleeping on the cold hard ground." Lio admitted.
"Once we finish rebuilding, you and your buddies will be sleeping in a soft, comfy bed like the rest of us." Galo assured him. "No more having to sleep on the cold hard ground, I promise."
"I hope the rest of the Burnish have that luxury too. It's about time we are accepted into society as fellow human beings, if they are willing to accept us of course." Lio said quietly.
"Don't worry, they will soon. Kray is no longer the governor of this city and everything he has built is no more." Galo said. "And I promised you and I would have your back no matter what. I will fight for the rights of you and your people."
"Thank you." Lio smiled.
"No problem!" Galo said with a grin. "Anyways, I just had this weird dream of us together."
"You do?!" Lio asked, alarmed that he also a dream of him and Galo together. "What was it about?"
"We were in space, hugging each other tight, and kissing while being completely naked. And the Promare's flames were covering our bodies." Galo admitted.
"I had that same exact dream too!" Lio exclaimed.
"Really?! That's crazy!" Galo's eyes were wide open in disbelief. "How is that even possible?!"
"I think you bringing me back to life and us merging into Galo De Lion had something to do with it?" Lio suggested.
"I guess?" Galo replied. "But it still feels a part of you is still with me even though I gave it back to you to save your life."
"Funny enough, it also felt like you also gave a part of yourself to me when you saved my life." Lio said.
"I'm not sure what you mean." Galo cocked his head in confusion. "All I did was give your flames back to you. I'm not a Burnish, so I can't produce my own flames."
"No, no, no. I didn't mean physically." Lio said. "I meant...you know? Spiritually, as in the soul."
Galo went silent for a moment and then spoke again. "...Oh. It must have been when I brought you back to life."
"It was." Lio nodded. "I felt your soul desperately reaching out for mine as you breathed my flames back into my body."
"All I thought about was saving your life, to be honest." Galo sheepishly admitted. "I didn't want to see you die just like that girl in the cave did. I swear I knew her before."
"Thyma." Lio said quietly. "All she wanted was a normal life. But ever since becoming a Burnish, Freeze Force and the Foresight Foundation took that away from her."
"I remember Thyma." Galo admitted in a sad voice. "She was the first person I ever rescued."
"You knew her?" Lio's eyes went wide at the revelation.
"Yeah. She was trapped inside a building set on fire by the Mad Burnish. You weren't there though when it happened." Galo said. "I rescued her from the building, but she awakened as a Burnish soon after. I was too concerned about her well-being that I didn't get away in time when she combusted."
Galo removed his already-damaged sleeve to show the burn scars on his left arm to Lio.
"I'm very sorry this happened to you." Lio said as he observed the scars on Galo's arm with a sense of guilt.
"It's fine, you don't have to apologize." Galo said. "I was too busy feeling sorry for Thyma at the time. She was trapped inside a burning building with no way out and then she painfully awakened as a Burnish before she was taken away by Mad Burnish and then Freeze Force. I don't blame her for what happened to my arm at all, she couldn't control her powers. She was just scared after everything that happened to her."
"I'm very glad to hear that." Lio said with a small smile as he gently touched the burn scars on Galo's arm. "It's not everyday I hear that a non-Burnish not unfairly blame a Burnish for anything."
"Thanks." Galo said. "But if only she could be saved somehow..."
"I take back what I said about you being responsible for the state Thyma was in." Lio admitted apologetically, keeping his hand on Galo's scarred left arm. "I'm really sorry I accused you of hurting her, now that I heard the whole story."
"It's alright. I have stuff to apologize for too." Galo admitted. "You were right, I was a complete idiot to think that Kray didn't hurt innocent people for a very long time. I was too stupid to see that he was a genuinely horrible person who cared for no one but himself all my life."
"It's not your fault. You were indoctrinated by Kray as a child. You didn't know any better." Lio assured him. "And he literally fooled the rest of your people as well, everyone except my people. I should have never called you an idiot because of that. I didn't know you well at the time. I'm sorry."
"You've got nothing to apologize for. If only I knew the truth sooner, Kray wouldn't have become governor and he wouldn't have hurt anyone else. Burnish or not." Galo said. "I really was an idiot for believing everything that came out of his mouth."
"You couldn't have known the truth until now." Lio comforted him. "It's not your fault. I'm just glad Kray failed to get rid of you when he sent you into Burning Rescue to get you killed. Besides, I have my fair share of things I'm actually guilty of."
"Like what?" Galo asked.
"Like when my men and I set the Foresight Foundation's buildings on fire to rebel against Kray's tyranny." Lio answered. "And even if we tried leaving escape routes for innocent people inside, there's no doubt that some of them might have still gotten hurt or even worse, killed by our flames. I take full responsibility for that. And there's the part when I almost burned Promepolis to the ground as revenge for Kray taking my people captive and continuing to experiment on them."
"Oh yeah..." Galo said. "I stopped you because I know you wouldn't forgive yourself if those innocent people got killed by your hand and I know that killing Kray wouldn't necessarily save your people."
"I'm really glad you reminded me that we Burnish don't kill without reason." Lio said. "I almost lost sight of who I was and why I fought against Kray. I fought to free my people, not to kill anyone."
"Glad to hear that." Galo nodded.
"And now that Kray has been taken into custody, my people can finally be free again." Lio said. "But the non-Burnish will still treat us like monsters."
"Not unless we tell them that you and your people saved the world." Galo said.
"And you think they would believe that?" Lio asked.
"Of course they would!" Galo said. "It was you and your people's flames that saved everyone! Everyone saw it!"
"But 30 years of prejudice is not easy to overcome." Lio said. "Even if everyone knew we were the ones who saved the world, they would still be afraid of us because of what happened during the Great World Blaze. And not to mention I almost destroyed Promepolis in a fit of rage and endangered innocent people as a result."
"That's a good point." Galo admitted. "So what will you do after we finish rebuilding the city?"
"I don't know, to be quite honest." Lio said. "I have to make amends for what I did as the leader of Mad Burnish. And I can't leave my people behind either, I want to continue protecting them."
"Well, then we'll have to wait until we're done rebuilding and we'll see what we will do next." Galo said.
"Yes. We need all the manpower we can get to clean up and rebuild anew." Lio nodded. "We can think about what we'll do after later."
"So do you want to get started right now?" Galo asked.
"Not yet, we need to wait until Gueira and Meis wake up." Lio answered. "And don't wake them up just yet. They need all the rest and recovery they can get after being sapped of their energy from Kray's Promatech engine."
"Sure, let's wait until they wake up." Galo said as he continued spooning Lio's body.
They stayed lying there for a few seconds before one of them spoke again.
"You know, it's funny." Lio remarked.
"Huh?" Galo cocked his head in confusion.
"I never imagined we would end up like this after seeing how our very first meeting went." Lio said with an amused smirk.
"Oh yeah. We were enemies the very first time we met." Galo said.
"Exactly." Lio replied. "I thought we would never understand each other given that I'm a firestarter and you're a firefighter."
"Same thing." Galo said. "When I first saw you, I thought we were gonna be mortal enemies for life and I would spend the rest of my life continuing to serve Kray. Only things didn't go as I thought. It turns out you were the good guy all along and he was the actual bad guy."
"I thought the same as well. I thought you were going to be my lifelong arch-nemesis given how clearly enthusiastic you were about extinguishing the flames of my people." Lio said. "I also thought you were you were another one of those idiots who think of all the Burnish as monsters. But seeing how you sincerely apologized about your insensitive comment about Burnish eating, that you wanted to help save Thyma, and that you didn't know at all about Kray experimenting on innocent Burnish, it really changed my perspective of you. You may be still an idiot, but you're not one of those idiots I absolutely can't stand."
"And I thought you were one of those Burnish terrorists who gave innocent Burnish a bad name like Pops said back at the pizzeria." Galo replied. "I thought you starting fires for no good reason and don't care about the lives of innocent people. But after seeing you and your people in that cave, I found out you were just fighting against Kray because he was capturing your people to be used as human fuel for his engine. He even arrested innocent Burnish like that pizza guy who did nothing wrong, all he was doing was making pizza!"
"So now that we see each other's side of the story, it makes perfect sense why we'd get along in the end." Lio said. "We both want to save and rescue everyone we care about. Even if we both have opposing views on fire, we're actually more similar than we think."
"Yeah, we're like different sides of the same coin." Galo remarked.
"Exactly." Lio nodded. "We perfectly complement each other and that is what allowed us to save the world and everyone living in it."
"Do you think that's why that guy under the frozen lake chose us to stop Kray?" Galo asked.
"Well, unless you believe in fate. It was a total coincidence that we arrived in the nick of time for him to lend us the Deus Ex Machina." Lio said. "An expert mecha pilot and a powerful Burnish suddenly falling into the scientist's secret hideout where he kept a super-weapon for them to use against Kray. It all sounds very contrived if you ask me, almost like we were both destined to save the world."
"Yeah, I know." Galo commented. "Crazy right? I never thought we could go from enemies to allies chosen to save the world!"
"Me neither, but here we are now." Lio said.
"Yeah, and we're gonna stay allies for the rest of our lives." Galo promised.
"Yes, we sure are." Lio agreed.
The two shared a moment of silence before they heard Gueira and Meis wake up beside them.
Gueira sat up before yawning loudly and stretching his arms. Meis simply sat up, yawned softly, and rubbed his eyes.
"Morning." Gueira greeted them.
"Good morning." Lio greeted his lieutenants. "How are you feeling?"
"Feeling a lot better now that we've rested." Meis replied. "We really needed that after being strapped into a machine and drained almost of all of our energy."
"How about you, Boss?" Gueira asked. "Are you feeling any better after resting?"
"Much better." Lio replied. "My energy is back in full capacity. I should be okay now."
"So now that everyone's up, we can continue looking after your people and rebuilding the city." Galo announced.
"Yeah." Lio nodded. "I'm going to see if the other Burnish are okay."
"Good idea, let's go." Galo nodded.
The four of them went to the makeshift medical bay where all of the Burnish were still recuperating from the same exact machine that nearly drained Lio, Gueira, and Meis of their flames. Lio insisted on going just in case any non-Burnish decided to hurt the patients.
Many of the Burnish were still asleep since the effects of the Promatech engine took a heavy toll on them and they needed all the rest they could get for their bodies to fully recover. There were a handful of them who were awake, but still fatigued but their eyes immediately lit up when they saw their saviors come their way.
"Boss..." Multiple Burnish said in unison when they saw Lio, Gueira, and Meis.
"Is everyone alright?" Lio asked. "No one hurt?"
"We're okay, Boss." One of the recovering Burnish answered. "The people tending to us were surprisingly nice. They made sure no one tried to hurt us or anything."
"That's great to hear." Lio said. "Is there anything you need in order to get better?"
"We just need to rest, eat, drink plenty of fluids, and also draw energy from fire." Another Burnish answered. "Regular fire will still do, that's why they put up candles and torches near us."
"That's...surprisingly thoughtful of them." Lio said.
"It's nice to see there are people out there who don't hate us just for who we are." Another Burnish said. "I thought literally all of them were like that towards us until those firefighters helped you save us."
"I thought the exact same thing as well until a certain someone came and changed my view on these people." Lio glanced meaningfully at Galo.
"So um...Boss?" A Burnish who was a little girl asked, pointing directly at Galo. "Isn't he the one who kissed you?"
Gueira and Meis stared awkwardly at each other as Galo and Lio struggled to come up with an answer. Every other Burnish was silent as they waited for their leader to answer.
"...Yes." Lio hesitantly answered. "It was to save my life."
"So is he your true love just like the stories mommy and daddy read to me?" The little girl asked. "I heard that only true love's kiss can break the bad guy's evil spell."
Awkward silence followed before Lio answered her. "...I guess?"
"So does that mean you will be together forever?" The little girl asked.
"I would definitely stay with him for the rest of my life after finding my soulmate!" Galo clapped Lio on the shoulder. "I don't know why, but it feels like we share the exact same burning soul now."
"I think you might be right." Lio replied as he closed his eyes and focused on the energy stored in his heart. "I feel it too."
"How did it happen?" The girl asked curiously.
"I think it's when I kissed him back to life with his own flames." Galo said. "I lit my first fire back there. I was pouring all of my heart and soul into that kiss."
"And as a result, you ignited my heart and soul with your burning firefighter's soul." Lio deduced.
Every other Burnish in the area murmured in agreement.
"Sooo...does that mean you're married?" The little girl asked.
"More or less." Lio replied. "Burnish marriage rites require both to share each other's energies through a kiss so they may be connected forever, in both heart and soul."
"But I can't wait for us to have an old-fashioned wedding party once we finish cleaning up!" Galo said excitedly. "We'll be sure to invite you all once you've all recovered!"
"It will be an honor to attend Boss' wedding!" A middle-aged woman said from her bed.
"Of course, we'll come!" An elderly man said.
"Once we feel better, of course." A man in his thirties added.
"Thank you." Lio said. "I'm sorry but we have to go now. It is very nice to see everyone in good health and I hope you all get better soon."
"We will!"
"Thanks, Boss!"
The quartet left the medical bay and went to meet up with the other members of Burning Rescue.
Ignis, the captain of Burning Rescue observed Galo, Lio, Gueira, and Meis through his black sunglasses.
"Is everyone here and well-accounted for?" Ignis asked.
"Yes, Captain." Everyone said in unison.
"Good. Then let's get back to work." Ignis ordered.
"Yes, Captain!"
Galo, Lio, Gueira, and Meis cleared the rubble like everyone did as they talked amongst themselves.
"So what are your plans for the wedding?" Galo asked.
"I don't know." Lio replied. "I've never gotten married before."
"Well, weddings do need bouquets, decorations, fancy food, a big cake, transportation, a location, and a theme." Galo informed him. "What kinda stuff do you like?"
"Hm, I'm into British culture. Location can be anywhere as long as all of the Burnish in the medical bay are there. I want to arrive with my friends to the wedding as well." Lio said. "How about you?"
"I love Japanese culture. I prefer it to be here in Promepolis since this is our home. I think a party bus will do perfectly for all of us so we can all arrive at the same time and in style." Galo suggested. "But we'll need a wedding planner to help us finish things once we're through with rebuilding the city."
"So looks like we're putting our wedding plans on hold. But at least we've got some nice ideas." Lio said. "British culture, Japanese culture, Promepolis, and a party bus."
"Yep!" Galo nodded as they continued working. "But we have to focus on cleaning up, rebuilding, and helping people recover first."
"Right." Lio replied.
They spent the rest of the day cleaning up until it was time to rest for the night.
Galo hugged Lio from behind as they laid on the cold, hard ground to sleep. They both sighed pleasantly as they basked in each other's warmth and company.
"You know, I'm really glad I met you." Lio said.
"Same here, I wouldn't have seen through Kray's deceit if it wasn't for you." Galo admitted. "I dedicated my entire life to him. But it turns out he never cared for me at all. You're the one who I should've dedicated my entire life to."
"I am very flattered that you think so." Lio said. "If only fate was kind enough for us to meet much earlier."
"I agree." Galo nodded in agreement.
A few seconds passed before Galo spoke again.
"So, you looking forward to the new beginning you and your people are gonna have together?" Galo asked.
"I'm still worried that my people and I are still going to be discriminated against just because we can control fire." Lio admitted.
"Don't worry! From now on, my team and I will be by you and your people's side every step of the way!" Galo promised.
Lio snorted. "It's really ironic how a group of firefighters are the ones most adamant to defend us Burnish against the rest of the world."
"Yeah, but I'm sure there are people out there who don't hate you and your people after we explain the whole story to them." Galo said optimistically. "They'll understand once we show everyone how Kray and his team treated you and your people over the past few decades."
"Yeah, I hope so." Lio said.
"I wonder who will be the new governor for this city though. We can't get the city running again without a new governor." Galo mused.
As if answering his question, a very familiar, gigantic holographic form of a certain deceased scientist appeared over the ruins of Promepolis.
"Greetings, citizens of Promepolis!" Deus Prometh announced. "It is I, Deus Prometh. I am truly sorry to have awakened you at this hour. But as the true founder of all of the inventions the former governor stole, I declare myself as the new and true governor of this city."
"Professor Prometh is still alive?" One citizen asked.
"But how?" Another citizen asked.
Galo, Lio, Gueira, and Meis got up and gathered with the members of Burning Rescue as they watched Deus Prometh continue to speak.
"I plan to atone for the pain and suffering the Burnish has endured as a result of my inventions." Prometh announced. "Please give me a chance to make amends and reparations to show my utmost sincerity."
"Looks like there's our new governor." Ignis remarked.
"I will aid you with my inventions to rebuild Promepolis anew. And after that, I will govern over Promepolis and punish those who have doomed this world and it's people. I will also generously reward those who bravely fought against them." Prometh continued. "Thank you for your time and have a good night. Deus out."
The gigantic holographic from of Deus Prometh blipped out of existence as everyone in the ruins of Promepolis started muttering amongst themselves after Deus Prometh's sudden reappearance.
"So our people will be taken care by the government from now on?" Gueira asked.
"Seems like it." Meis answered. "Looks like we don't have to run anymore."
"But we still committed a number of crimes we have to answer for." Lio reminded them. "We will need to answer them in court in the future."
"We'll get a good defense attorney for you three." Ignis told them. "And we'll support you with our testimonies to ensure you don't rot in jail with Kray and his employees."
"I'm worried about my sister though..." Aina admitted. "I wonder if she'll be sentenced to life with Kray and the others."
"She did help stop Kray from going into space and leaving the rest of us to die, so we'll help her too." Lucia said.
"Vinny Vinny!" Vinny cheered.
"I don't think we can ever forgive Dr. Ardebit and her role in the inhumane experiments against the Burnish, but as long as she sees the error of her ways and tries to make up for them, we'll help her." Lio said as Gueira and Meis begrudgingly nodded in response.
"Thanks everyone." Aina smiled a bit. "I'm not sure if I can ever forgive her either, but she's my sister and I'm not going to just do nothing."
"That's what friends are for." Remi said.
"Yeah, we got each other's backs no matter what." Varys chimed in.
"Let's go back to sleep, everyone." Ignis said. "We have another big day tomorrow."
"Yes, Captain." Everyone said in unison.
Galo and Lio returned to their sleeping positions as they thought about their futures together.
"So we got two trials, an awards ceremony, and a wedding right after we finish rebuilding." Galo said. "What do you think about all of that?"
"It's really hard to take in." Lio admitted. "My people and I were branded criminals on the run from the government, now we're renowned heroes about to get special treatment by the government. What about you?"
"My life's almost the same since I've been getting government privileges ever since Kray killed my family and used me to gain publicity. The difference is that I'm not Kray's "favorite" anymore. I'm now Prometh's favorite and I'm perfectly okay with that. At least I know who my family's killer is and my family can finally rest in peace once he's put to justice." Galo replied.
"I'm guessing you're going to continue working as a firefighter in Burning Rescue even though Kray got you in just so he could have you killed?" Lio asked.
"Yep! Burning Rescue may have given me a hard time but the only place I feel at home is with them. And I still aim to be the best firefighter in the world just like my grandfather was!" Galo declared.
Lio snorted. "You really are an idiot."
"Yeah, I'm the Universe's Number One Firefighting Idiot!" Galo grinned.
A sudden warmth bloomed in Lio's chest and it made him lean up to kiss Galo on the mouth.
Galo was taken by surprise at first, but he then closed his eyes and succumbed to the kiss back.
They shut out the world around them as they firmly locked lips like in their shared dreams. They felt that same energy flowing through their veins like when Galo resuscitated Lio as Lio breathed his flames into Galo and Galo breathed Lio's flames back into him. Lio's energy core pulsated in sync with Galo's heart as they stayed locked in place.
Gueira and Meis were nearby and obviously witnessed their intimate moment, but they respectfully chose to stay quiet and pretend to sleep so they wouldn't interrupt the couple.
Galo and Lio then broke their connection and looked each other in the eyes.
"Wow." Galo remarked. "That was..."
"Yeah." Lio replied awkwardly. "I've never felt like that before when I had to lend my flames to my comrades."
"Not even with your two friends?" Galo asked.
"No." Lio shook his head. "I admit that Gueira, Meis, and I do have a close bond, but I've never actually felt complete until I did it with you."
"That's ironic given that I'm a firefighter who isn't even a Burnish." Galo chuckled.
"But nevertheless, I'm glad I had the opportunity to finally feel complete with someone. And that someone is you." Lio gently caressed Galo's face. "Thank you."
"Anytime." Galo said as they both laid back down into their sleeping positions.
"Good night, Galo." Lio said.
"Good night to you too, Lio." Galo said as he hugged Lio from behind.
With hope in their burning hearts, they drifted off to sleep as they looked towards the bright future.