No one can swim in the same river water twice
"No one can swim in the same river water twice."
That's an old saying Hiro told me about.
Everything changes,
all things eventually pass,
and nothing remains stagnant.
Yes, like a river.
That is the nature of our world.
Lately, I often recall these words and the fact that no one can halt the flow,
in this world without Papa,
where we don't need to pilot the FRANXX anymore.
Say, "Aah."
Come on, Zero Two.
Open your mouth, please.
Excuse me.
Can't we increase the portions a little?
No can do. We only have food reserves for around one more year.
But the veggies are growing fine.
Yeah, yeah. We'll be able to harvest them in a couple of months.
Right, Kokoro?
We're so lucky that Kokoro knows so much about plants.
Oh, no. I don't really know anything about harvesting.
Right.
So we should maintain the status quo until we have a firm estimate for the harvest.
Tch.
Mitsuru, how's the energy system looking?
We still haven't serviced the unit that's been acting up lately.
Output's gone down.
Futoshi, how'd the water purification system look?
Its efficiency has dropped, too.
What's wrong?
Should we really keep using magma energy?
It originally belonged to the klaxosaurs, right?
Well, what else can we do?
How else are we gonna live?
It's used in food preservation and for treating wounds too, you know.
I know, but...
Sorry. I need to lie down.
You okay?
I'm fine.
How do you feel, Hiro?
About magma energy.
O-Oh...
Anyway, we've got to survive any way we can.
Let's figure out what we need for that.
Cheer up.
Ichigo?
I guess that's impossible right now, huh?
Given the state Zero Two is in...
I've said this before, but please let us know if we can help in any way.
We're all worried about you two.
Sorry, Ichigo.
Don't apologize, dummy.
Um, Code 015. We have a problem.
I heard.
You've been refusing to eat since yesterday?
Eating that stuff can only abate our condition for so long.
What we really need is maintenance.
I'll leave your food here.
Damn it!
I understand where you're coming from,
but I cannot make any decisions without Papa's approval.
But if this keeps up, we're all going to die eventually!
I suppose so.
Thanks.
If the farm works out and we won't have to worry about food,
we can start planning for the future.
I went and spoke to the new Nana.
I asked for power and purification system repairs, but...
No go?
Yeah.
Life in the outside world is hard, huh?
You run into obstacles everywhere.
This is like...
"No one can swim in the same river water twice."
It's a saying Hiro taught me in the past.
I recall it often these days.
Hopefully, Hiro and Zero Two will get better soon.
Yep.
Even more cuts?
Why?
Are you okay?
Don't push yourself.
Thanks for the concern, but I'm fine.
My fever's gone down, too.
Okay.
Sorry I'm late.
Dude, you look like a wreck.
Sit this one out, Hiro.
It's fine.
Hiro, you—
What's going on? An earthquake?
Look!
Is that a klaxosaur?
No, there's a VIRM soldier, too! They killed each other!
Kokoro?
Are you all right?
Y-Yes...
Are they gonna attack Earth again?
N-No way...
The klaxosaurs are flying off again.
Kokoro!
What's wrong, Kokoro?
Kokoro!
Let Nana know!
K-Kokoro...
Hurry!
Got it!
Kokoro!
The results are in.
Her urine sample revealed traces of human chorionic gonadotropin.
According to the database,
this is a hormone secreted during pregnancy.
"Pregnancy"?
What's that?
It is considered impossible for a pregnant woman to pilot the FRANXX.
Past records indicate abortion,
or removal of the fetus, as one of the treatments used.
Please let me know when you've decided what to do.
W-Wait...
Please wait!
What should I...
What should I do?!
Calm down, Kokoro!
Tell me! Tell me what to do!
Boys, please give us a moment.
What am I supposed to do?
Hiro, what am I supposed to do?
Mitsuru, you...
Don't.
I don't know.
What are we supposed to do? What's the right thing to do?
How am I supposed to know?
Zero Two?
Zero Two!
Where are you, Zero Two?!
Wait!
Zero Two!
Zero Two, have you regained...
Guys!
Come with me! Now!
Hey, come on. You've gotta be kidding me.
They were growing fine...
We gave them water and fertilizer just like the instructions said, too.
Is that...
Hachi!
Nana?!
Hey.
What is this place?
I have no idea, either.
I'm just following the doctor's orders.
What's this?
A database of adults?
All of the memories stored in their brains have been copied and archived.
"Cast your bodies aside, and take your minds to eternal paradise"?
Why didn't you just leave me be?
I don't serve a purpose anymore.
You should've just abandoned me.
What's that?
Could it be...
Naomi?!
What's the meaning of this?
Why are the children who were deemed unfit and disappeared from Garden here?
After the siege of Gran Crevasse,
I received an email from the doctor.
Apparently, it was programmed to be sent automatically after his death.
Take Nana to the location below
Aside from location data, it also contained a message from him.
It said to bring you here, and...
You two become the children's new adults
"You two become the children's new adults."
How am I supposed to do that?
Hey, Nana!
I'm so glad you're back!
Help...
Help us!
This is just conjecture,
but decades of extracting magma energy
may have depleted the soil itself of life.
What the heck are you saying?
Like, that means...
So even the planet itself has rejected us?
Ichigo?!
Ichigo!
How's Ichigo?
They say it was overwork.
She's such a fool, worrying about everyone but herself.
She's really such a fool.
Hiro!
Goro?
You heard about the field, right? I really want to figure something out!
If we all work together, we can surely make it productive again.
Don't you agree?
Found her...
Zero Two...
Not again!
H-Hey!
You'll catch a cold.
Let's go back inside, Zero Two.
Come on.
Come with me, Zero Two.
Are you sure you'll be okay by yourself?
I want to keep watch over her myself.
Fine.
What was that?
Tell me...
Huh?
Didn't she finish it?
"And so, she turned into a bird
and took to the skies, leaving the prince all alone."
You knew?
You knew that we'd have to part like them someday?
So you left the last page to me?
Why?
That's just cruel!
No...
Don't tell me...
Are you up there?!
Hachi!
Zoom in on that part!
Mistilteinn?
I see.
I've heard that Mistilteinn contains soil from before this planet became a desert.
Then if we start making fields there and gradually expand them...
We'll stand a chance.
I'll go let everyone know!
Code 016.
For real?!
Yeah. He said we stand a chance.
Hell yeah!
Let's head to Mistilteinn already!
Hiro.
You're late, Hiro!
I need to talk to you about something.
Huh?
You're going to space?
To meet Zero Two?
What are you talking about? Zero Two's in her room.
Her mind is in Strelitzia.
And she's fighting in space even as we speak.
Hang on. My brain can't keep up.
How are you gonna get to space, anyway?
There's a way.
A way the klaxosaurs left us.
I found it while looking for cultivable land.
It's a klaxosaur ship, but for some strange reason,
I could access its internal systems.
Decide whether you want to fight or accept your ruin.
I can take this ship to space?
Probably.
But this course...
Mars orbit?!
Isn't that stupidly far away?
Yeah.
W-Will you be able to come back?
I don't know.
You'll be up against those monsters, y'know!
That's right.
We're saying that you could lose your life.
I know.
I know it's reckless.
But if I don't act now, I'll never be able to forgive myself.
So I'm going to go.
I just wanted to let you guys know.
Bye.
H-Hey...
Hold it!
Why?
We need to work together again and start from scratch.
Why'd you have to do this now?!
I can't leave Zero Two alone.
We made a promise.
Even if we were torn apart,
we'd go to get the other, no matter how far.
Zero Two kept up her end of the promise.
So I can't just sit here and do nothing.
Absolutely not!
I feel bad about letting you all down.
But I want you to understand.
What do you mean, you feel bad?
What do you mean, you want us to understand?
Have you ever spared a thought for how the people close to you feel?
You've always been like this.
You run off, make your own decisions, and never stop to think about us.
Papa and the adults are gone,
but forget freedom, we've got our hands tied on every single thing.
Have you stopped to think about how worried we are about all of this?
When someone collapses, all we can do is watch.
And yet we're trying our damned hardest to live on!
But here you are, running off to die.
What are we supposed to understand about you?
There are people doing all they can to support you because they want you to live.
And you're trampling their feelings as you leave!
What the hell do you want us to understand about you?!
Even so, I have to go.
If Zero Two won't smile for me, I might as well be dead.
Hey, Goro! Knock it off!
Do you think we'll ever find something like that?
Something that means the world to us, that we'd choose over anything else, like him.
That differs from person to person.
Thanks, Goro.
For what?
That was never about how everyone felt.
It was all about me.
I'm the one scared of the world that I chose myself.
That's me.
Yeah?
Same here.
But...
No one can swim in the same river water twice,
so all we can do is find our own true path in life.
We'll keep looking for it until we find it.
Our lives have only just begun, you know?
Hey.
Where are you guys going?
We're taking you to Zero Two.
But we're not just doing it for you, you hear me?
If we don't kick those guys' asses, no farm can help us.
And letting them kill us or waiting here to die isn't our style.
Exactly. Our lives have only just begun.
There you have it.
Take care of things while we're gone.
Sure.
Let us join you.
Nines.
Don't get the wrong idea, though.
We were created to fight, so we just want to fulfill our purpose.
And outer space doesn't sound too bad as a resting place.
We don't plan on dying.
We'll come back, make more fields,
and live on, come what may...
No matter how pathetic it may make us look.
Hiro...
You've made your decision. I won't fight it anymore.
Now we're even.
This is the path we've chosen in order to live.
You don't get to fight it, either.
Okay!
Everything changes,
all things eventually pass, and nothing remains stagnant.
Yes, like a river.
But if that nature of our world scares you out of appreciating what you have now,
you'll never grasp any kind of future for yourself.
That's why we reached out.
Episode 22
Stargazers