I'm So Proud Of You (Metal Gear Solid)

[Lord Vesporeon]

I'm so proud of you​

Such a clean shot: Through the ribs, into the lung, and right out the back. Clean.

Just like I taught you

The pain is incredible, but there's only one emotion in my chest right now as I lay on the dirt. It's the one thing I've always felt in battle, from Stalingrad, to Torch, to Sicily, to Monte Cassino, to Overlord, to Saipan, to Iwo Jima, to Tselinoyarsk, to here, right now.

Joy

It's a terrible thing to feel, a terrible thing to be; but it is what it is,

And I am what I am

The thrill of battle, as intense as it is, is nothing compared to the understanding I have right now: I have made you into what you are today.

A wonderful man

You have surpassed me, proven that you are a strong soldier.

That's all I could've ever asked for

I hear the soft rustling of your walking and I can make you out, but only because you're wearing that black outfit. If you were wearing white like I am, I don't think I could see you,

Not right now, not like this

Because the flowers are in the way. A sea of white is drowning me right now.

It's a lovely place to become ashes

But only for me. The soft wind blows on me and I'm feeling something I've never felt. It's terrifying, I think, but I cherish it nonetheless.

Peace

The flowers will bloom soon, I know it, I can feel it. I hope I can see that happen, see them transform into what they were always meant to be. Just that one last thing.

Because I won't be able to see you continue, see you become what you were always meant to be, as much as that hurts

Peace, such a strange feeling, but a wonderful feeling. You are such a strange man, but a wonderful man.

Your own, now

Peace. It isn't Joy, it isn't Sorrow, it isn't Fury, it isn't Fear, it isn't Pain, and it isn't the End. It surpasses all of that, all of them.

Just like you have

Weakness is overtaking me, numbness too, but I am at peace. Your face finally comes into view and the microfilm is in my hand.

I'm sorry I took your eye, but I'll make it up to you, right now, by giving something back

My hand rises up, the microfilm within it.

"Take this, keep it safe..."

And you do it, just like you've done everything else I've ever wanted you to do.

Like a good son

You always know what I really want, what I really wanted, I should say, considering how close the end is.

Even when I say otherwise, you know deep down the truth

The microfilm is in your hands now, my peace is cemented; not elevated, not intensified, but hardened. Because peace cannot ascend, it can only solidify. And right now, I am certain that you will do it, get the microfilm back, help mend the divisions in the Philosophers.

They need to be, the world must be made whole again

"It's our..., only hope..."

The strength required to speak is staggering; very few things have ever been this difficult, in the physical aspect at least.

But I find the strength nonetheless, just like you do

You grab my gun and examine it. Your surprise is clear even to me in this hazy state.

Good, see. See the truth

"A patriot?"

Your eye shifts away from it and to me. From the Patriot, to a patriot.

"Why are you giving me this?"

Because, I've given everything to you, everything.

And now, I'm running out of things to give

But I had three things left as I laid on the ground, before you came up to me. The microfilm and my weapon are yours now.

Just like the Three Magi gave to Christ, I give to you

There's only one thing of mine that I have left to give you now,

My life

Placing my hand on your boot, I continue to find the strength to speak, somehow.

"Jack..."

I see your face tense up. I'm sorry I'm hurting you like this, but this is how it should be. You're becoming your own man now; and that, as a mother,

Hurts me more than anything else

But it's also what I want more more than anything else.

"Or should I say, Snake?"

Our time is coming to an end, but that doesn't make me sad.

The fact it could ever end means that it began, and I am eternally grateful, in this brief moment, for that

My end does not scare me, because I don't see it as 'my end', but rather your beginning. Because, looking at you now, I see what my end has accomplished, what it has made you into. I'm happy that I can say that-

"You're a wonderful man."

I want you to remain by my side till I bleed out, but I know that's not how this is going to play out.

I've waited for so long, but now I'm forced to rush things along

Because the world must be made whole again. And you have to live. And so you have to leave, as soon as possible.

Because the MiGs are coming

But I can't ask you to leave, not because I know you won't do so while I'm alive,

But because I don't have to strength to say it

So I have to find another way to see to this.

"Kill me. Kill me now!"

I may be at peace, but that doesn't mean I am without pain. Those words are saturated in it.

"Do it!"

My hand is falling from you.

Our last touch, our last embrace

It was too short, but then again,

So is life

The barrel of the Patriot stares down at me.

A patriot

Your face is so pained.

I'm sorry, but this is how it has to be

I cannot ease my own pain. I don't think I can ease yours, either, but as a mother, I must try.

"There's only room for one Boss, and one Snake..."

Neither of us is crying. I have no idea why we're holding it back, but it feels right.

Everything about us always felt right

I've finally accepted an awful fact. I won't get to see the flowers bloom.

Just like I won't get to see you bloom

Not because I don't have enough time, no the question was never about time.

It's because they are waiting, you are waiting, for me to die

This awful fact, I do not enjoy it, but I do not despair it; I am at peace with it. The end is coming.

All this thinking about flowers reminds of a poem

An old one, before I was even born,

In Flanders Fields, the poppies blow

From a Canadian, in a Great War,

Between the crosses, row on row,

Who lost a friend, who felt grief,

That mark our place; and in the sky

Who was motivated to try and find reasoning,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

And ended up dying in the course of it.

Scarce heard amid the guns below...

The soft wind is blowing.

We are the dead. Short days ago

The flowers are waving.

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

The leaves are rustling.

Loved and were loved, and now we lie,

The Sun is shining.

In Flanders Fields

The end is here.

I'm so proud of y-​