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The embers didn’t leave him in some grand, flashy battle or in any perfectly timed way.
No, it was a day just like any other.
It was a relatively quiet, starry evening. Class 3-A was a mere few months out from graduation, and to be honest it was a miracle the power had lasted Izuku even that long. He’d been intentional about how he’d used it, knowing good and well that All Might had possessed One for All for decades and still only preserved the embers for a few months after the transfer. So Izuku’s time at U.A. after the war happened to mirror his earliest days there: he mostly relied on his physical strength, unwilling to take on the risk of using his quirk without a good reason.
Until that day.
Maybe some part of him knew it was coming.
It was always coming, of course. It lingered in the back of his mind like a moth hovering to the flame, persistent to a fault. But in the days leading up to it, Izuku had felt a muted yearning in his heart…a melancholy he couldn’t quite explain. He’d begun to sense a bittersweet ache that typically accompanies the cold encroach of winter, not the blooming of spring.
But with it, somehow, had come peace. He was not anxious. No, he simply felt the emotions as they came, and let them run their course accordingly. There was no reason left to worry.
Izuku had woken up that morning awash with calm. Every move felt intentioned, purposeful and sure. For once, there was no thought behind every choice, just certainty. The moth no longer hovered. No, it had found its place to rest amongst the flame. It was ready to be consumed, to become one with its fate at last.
So when Izuku moved through his classes for the day and his training in the afternoon, mind quiet and steady, he felt at peace. His body was ready for something, and while he didn’t know what it was, he didn’t question it. His over-analytical, ever-questioning nature was hushed by something greater than himself. He was content to simply exist, and let his instincts take the lead.
At around 11pm, when the final warm wisps of dusk had descended beneath the horizon, Izuku found himself admiring the reflection of the moon amidst the sea from the soft, sandy shore of Takoba beach. He didn’t quite remember when or how he’d arrived here, but he was happy it was where he’d ended up.
The place the hero’s journey began. Of course it should be the place it finds its end.
It felt right. Without realizing it, his body and mind had been showing him all day that it was time. After everything he’d been through with One for All, he knew the best way to say goodbye was on his own terms. It was a power meant to save, after all, and it shouldn’t be lost amidst bloodshed and violence. No, it needed to be honored with the peaceful ending it deserved.
Izuku hadn’t heard the voices of the previous wielders since he relinquished them in the war. The vestiges were gone, of course, along with the quirk itself. But in that moment, when Izuku stood on the precipice of an ending he’d thought he would experience alone, their voices found him, held him, and carried the weight with him.
A pep talk from his own subconscious? Perhaps. A memory, recalled in a time of need? It’s possible.
But, if the embers of a quirk could be preserved, could not the embers of the vestiges remain, too? Just waiting, holding on for the moment in which they were needed?
That’s the explanation Izuku prefers to believe in.
You’ve done good, Ninth wielder, the First’s voice hummed through Izuku’s mind. Thank you for completing our purpose. We will be with you in heart, always.
Izuku threw a smash to the water, reversing the current as the voice faded into the growing dark.
Remember, Ninth, the Second echoed. That which you cannot do alone may still be within reach, if you trust in those alongside you. Do not forget the might of the many.
Shoot style blew a cloud of sand across the quiet shore.
Time is on your side, Ninth, came the call of the Third. Your strength of will has always been deeper than any given power. Your story is not done yet.
A flick of air force cleared the view across the beach once more.
Ninth. You have carried a great burden and yet, you live to tell the tale. The words of the Fourth filled every corner of Izuku’s mind. Take advantage of what we could not. Live, young wielder. Live free, for us all.
The boy leapt across the coast, the stars bright and clear from a higher vantage point.
Remember the words I’ve always told you, kiddo, consoled the Fifth, his smile evident in his tone. Keep tabs on your heart, and you’ll find great power and peace. It’s always been your greatest gift. We’ll miss ya, kiddo.
As bittersweet tears sprung from the young hero’s eyes, he threw a heavy punch to the sky, clearing whatever evening fog had rolled in.
Don’t hide from your path, the Sixth instructed gently. You have so much to offer the world, Ninth. Do not let your experiences become burdens. Use them as you’ve always done: to help others.
Izuku planted his feet with force, looking up to the glistening moon shining down on him.
We…I could never thank you enough, Izuku, came the whispered voice of the Seventh. Nana Shimura, the last of the vestiges to remain with him in the fight. Never doubt that you are the greatest hero.
A tight clench of his fist was enough, now.
The voice of Toshinori Yagi’s vestige, the vestige of All Might, the Eighth wielder, had never come through One for All. But in that moment, it didn’t need to. Izuku knew what the man would say.
Young Midoriya, he would declare. You, too, have become a hero. You are our hero. You are One for All’s true hero.
The golden aura of his greatest role model burned bright behind Izuku’s eyelids as he took a final deep breath in, warm tears cresting gently over the curves of his freckled cheeks. As the small grains of sand shifted beneath his feet, Izuku paced gently to the tide.
With a single step into the water, Izuku opened his eyes, looked to the sky, and gently unfurled his fist as he whispered for a final time, “thank you, always, One for All…I will make you proud.”
A single shimmer of green light, encased in a faint wisp of delicate flame, floated off into the ether at last.
With the soft sounds of breaking waves in the distance and the gentle illumination of the moon above, the embers of One for All were finally put to rest.
Izuku’s lips curled upward ever slightly as the peace consumed him. The moth and the flame had burned out as one, and all that was left was the memory of what once was.
A memory he intended to do justice for the rest of his life, however he could.
The boy stayed there a long while, letting formless thoughts and tender emotions course through him at their own pace. He had time, after all, a whole lifetime ahead to make good on his promise.
And when the early hours began to alight the world once more, Izuku witnessed every color of the rainbow pass its way across the sky. It was a new day in a new world for Izuku, and he was going to cherish it, no matter what it held.