It had only about three weeks before that Nafalis had gotten her memories back and knew who she was, where she worked, and why she had been there. She had finished her job and now she had a new one she was working on. They hadn't seen her in a very long time. But Six had gone out for a walk on evening and stopped in his tracks as he saw her sitting on a bench by a lake, thinking apparently. He walked over.
"Nafalis?" he said. Nafalis looked up and smiled.
"Hi Six," she said. Six smiled and sat down with her. Nafalis and Six's friendship was a very odd one. They were, as Rex had once put it, frienemies. They were not at all enemies but they weren't friends either. Whenever one of the two messed up, was in a pickle, or just did something plain stupid the only would smile and find it very funny.
Like one time Nafalis had used the bracelet she wore as a laser without knowing how she had done it. She had flown backwards and gotten herself stuck in a pole of some kind. Six had smiled a broad smile and chuckled to himself. They had then gotten into an argument about whether it was funny or not. They also argued about whether ironicy was a real word. Nafalis won that argument of course without much effort.
"Where have you been?" Six asked. After she had left Rex had been worried along with everyone else. Six had been a little more worried because there were more like friends then enemies. And also he cared for the girl, he really did. I mean, her father was Van Kleiss, that couldn't be much fun now could it?
Nafalis shrugged. "Lots of places," she answered. Six raised an eyebrow at her. Nafalis smiled. She had missed how he raised the eyebrow at her in such a way it just made him look funny. But she didn't have the heart to tell him that.
"What kinds of places?" Six asked. Nafalis chuckled and shook her head. Six knew that meant she wouldn't, or couldn't, tell him. It was funny how much they didn't know each other but knew so much about one another. Why Six was unsure. Maybe they were like siblings. An older brother and his crazy little sister type of thing maybe.
"Sorry Six, that's classified," she told him. Six groaned. He knew she'd say that. He wasn't really sure if it was true or she was just saying it because it was all she could come up with. He was never sure, never sure at all.
"Of course it is," he said shaking his head. Nafalis laughed a little and threw her head back. Six smiled. She was the only one that could ever get him to smile, and she had even made him laugh once. Yeah, like an older brother and his crazy little sister.
"What? I'm serious, I can't tell you anything about my mission except for that I had fun with it! Stop laughing! I'm serious!" Six was laughing because of how ridiculous this all was. Nafalis shoved him a little and started laughing also. Six stopped and shook his head.
"You're nuts," he told her. Nafalis chuckled.
"Tell me something I dont know!" Six smiled. Suddenly Nafalis turned serious. And whenever that happened it normally meant she had something she remembered she wanted to say and/or ask. "Six, I have a new mission my boss is sending me on, it's out of this universe. I wanted to know if you'd help me. Will you come?" Six blinked and stared at her a moment. Six nodded.
"Yes, I'll come and help you," he told her. Nafalis gave a small smile.
"We leave at 6:30 sharp tomorrow morning. Oh, and you know that jet I crashed in that we fixed up?" Six nodded. "We need to take that back. So I'll see you at the base at 6:20, how does that sound?" Six nodded again. "Good,"-she stood up-"See you tomorrow, I have one thing to take care of before tomorrow." Six stood up and nodded. They shook hands and departed.
"Oh, and Six," she said turning around half-way. Six did the same. She swallowed. "I dont know when, or if, we'll be coming back. Do you understand what I am saying Six?" Six was perfectly still for a while, then he nodded. "All right." Nafalis turned around and left.
For the longest time Six just stood there with the wind blowing over him. Had he just made a horrible mistake in saying he'd help her? What did she mean 'if'? Millions of thoughts ran through his brain, but only some took on his full attention. Suddenly all thoughts silenced and one thought troubled him like no other he had ever thought before.
Will I ever see them again?
Would he see Rex again? Would he see White Knight again? And would he see Doctor Holiday again? Six sighed and looked down. He couldn't bare any of those three thoughts. He would just have to leave and see what came of it.
He turned around and went back to base. Praying for the best and hoping desperately that he would be able to come back and see them all again, and that they would forgive him for leaving them and not telling them why. And if they didn't, he wouldn't blame them.
...
Six woke up at 6:00 sharp and prepared for departure. He sharpened his swords, got some practice in, and sharpened them again. When he was done it was only 6:15. He sighed and walked into the main computer room. He stopped. Doctor Holiday stood there working on something. She told him she'd be up early but he hadn't really thought about it.
She looked over. "Good morning Six."
"Holiday," he said with a curt nod. She typed something and got to work. He leaned against the wall and looked at the time. 6:17. He had three minutes until Nafalis arrived. And he felt that for some reason they would be the longest three minutes of his life.
"What are you doing up?" she asked not looking up from her work. Six felt sweat go down his left temple. He ignored it and hoped she wouldn't notice. He also had to think of something fast. But what? Out of everyone on this base he was the worst for coming up with lies. Rex was the best, Holiday was second best, White Knight came in third, and Six was the worst. Well, if he included Nafalis she would be number one because she was fantastic at it. But that didn't change the fact that Six was still the worst at lying.
"Sorry Holiday, classified," he said. She looked up at him, confused. Six resisted the urge to slap himself. I did not seriously just say that? he yelled at himself. Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! Idiot! he was yelling at himself over and over and over again, but on the outside he was as calm as ever.
"Um, ok," she said turned back to her work. Six slowly let out the breath he had been holding. He looked at the time again. 6:18. Only a minute had passed. Some more sweat trickled down Six's temple. He gritted his teeth without showing it, praying time would speed up somehow. The clock moved, 6:19.
"I never knew White Knight gave out secret missions," she said.
"He doesn't," Six told her. He again had to force himself not to hit himself. Holiday glanced at him. She blinked in confusion.
"Are you feeling ok Six?" she said walking over and setting down her pad. "'Cause you're sweating like crazy." Six mentally cursed himself and raised an eyebrow as Holiday ran her hand over his left temple. She hummed thoughtfully as she looked the sweat on her hand over. She gave him a serious look. "You're lying, aren't you?"
"No," he said. She glared at him.
"Yes you are Six, dont lie, it doesn't suit you," she said.
"Hey Holiday," Nafalis said walking in. Six and Holiday looked over. She was wearing a black suit, swords on her back, knife on her left hip, pistol on her right, and in her hand she held the keys to the jet. "All right Six, let's get a move on, they can only hold the portal open for thirty seconds and we have to take off right at 6:30. And this jet takes a while to warm up so that she'll fly after being shut down for so long." Six nodded.
"Right," he said following her to the jet. Holiday stood right where they had left her, confused as to what just happened. Where were they going, and why? She jogged over to the jet to catch up with them. Nafalis was already on the jet while Six was just boarding, but Holiday stepped in front of him with a glare.
"Where are you two going?" she demanded.
"I told you, it's classified," he said.
"You were serious?" He nodded. Holiday sighed. "Will you be coming back?"
"We dont know when, or if, we'll be coming back," Six told her.
"So, we may never see you again?" she asked him. Six nodded. Holiday hugged him tightly. Six flinched. Nafalis came out to tell him they had two minutes but then stopped when she saw them. She gave him a look, telling him to hug her back. Six glared at her but took her unspoken advice. Nafalis gave a sharp nod.
"We have two, make that one, minute and counting Six," she said going back into the jet. Holiday sighed and let go.
"Good luck," she said letting him pass. He nodded. "Oh, one second." Holiday ran off. Six stopped and looked over his shoulder. Holiday came back and handed him a necklace of some kind. He was confused but excepted it. "Good bye." Six nodded.
"Good bye," he said. He entered the jet. He turned to her. He gave a small wave and she waved back as the hatch shut.
"Let's go, buddy!" Nafalis shouted as he entered the cockpit. "Oh, just a little warning, it's very normal to get sick to your stomach on your first universal travel." Six nodded in understanding as the jet hovered over the ground.
He took out the necklace Holiday had given him. It was a locket. He opened it and blinked. Inside was a photo of Rex and Holiday. He smiled a little. Rex was holding the knife Six had given him for his birthday. Holiday was looking over at it, almost scared that he might accidentally hurt himself with it. Six smiled. He put it on and then hid it inside his suit.
"Come on boys, let's go," Nafalis muttered. The portal opened like a big black hole. Six blinked in surprise, he didn't think it'd look like that.
"And they're off," Holiday murmured as they headed towards the portal and then went through. Just two seconds after they went through the portal shut with a bright flash which Holiday looked away for. She sighed and prayed they would come back as she went back to work.
...
Six walked off of the jet. Nafalis had told him about getting sick, but Six had told himself he wouldn't throw up. Boy was he wrong. Whatever was in his stomach wasn't in there anymore after he exited the jet. Nafalis shook her head.
"Dont worry, everyone always does that on their first trip, on the second you just feel funny and you wish you would throw up, come on," she said as she helped him up. He followed her to a room with six teenagers and a man in a black cloak.
"There you are," he said. "And this must be agent Six. I'm Shane, nice to meet you." They shook hands and Shane told them their mission. I can't tell you it because it's classified. So very sorry. "…it will take a minimum of three weeks, and a max of a year or so. Dismissed."
"By the way Six, this place exists out of time, time back home isn't the same as the time here, so who knows how long it will be for them until we get back. Make sense?" Six nodded. "Good, come on, let's do this thing." Six followed her onto a transporter pad and sighed. The main word he was worried about was the 'if', not the 'when'.
...
Holiday sat down in a chair after a long days work almost five months since Six and Nafalis had left. Rex had practiced everyday when he heard. He told Holiday that if Six had talked to him before he had left he would have told him to do so. She sighed, at least he wasn't just moping around like she was most of the day.
...
Nafalis landed the jet in the woods that surrounded the 'anti-providence' base. She and Six walked out and shut it. Nafalis's hair was shorter then before and tied back in a small ponytail. She had a new set of swords and a new bracelet because her old one had blown up right on her wrist, so her right hand and wrist were mechanical now. She also had a new black suit because her old one was trashed after all they had been through.
Six's suit was still green of course but with all the ash, sword cuts, bullet holes, burn marks, whip lashes, food stains, blood stains, hoof prints, bird feathers, bite marks, but most of all the purple mark of alien blood you couldn't really tell what the color had been before they teamed up unless you had seen it before. His left arm was mechanical after it had been cut off and Nafalis had sewn the sleeve back on. He still wore the necklace Holiday had given him under his suit of course. He had never taken it off.
His hair was shaggy due to the fact that he hadn't cut it in ten months, and Nafalis's hair was shorter due to the fact that the same person tried to cut her neck off and missed by mere inches. The shortness drove her crazy as she had told Six the other day.
"Well, why dont we go home Six," she said. Six nodded.
"Deal," he said. They have become better friends after being stuck together for so long. They got along much better then they did before. But they still laughed when one of them messed up, was in a pickle that wouldn't kill them, or just did something stupid the other one would still smile and laugh at them.
They entered the base. Nafalis tapped him and whispered, "I'll go find Rex, you can say hi to the Doc." Six nodded. He had known she would say that due to what she had seen before they left. Nafalis quietly avoided Holiday seeing her and then took off at full speed to find her non-related brother. Six shook his head and walked over to Holiday.
"Doctor Holiday?" he said. Holiday's head shot up and she turned around. Six smiled a little. "We're back." Holiday's face lit up like the sun.
"Six!" she yelled dropping her papers and hugging him. Six hugged her back. "Where have you been? Wait, let me guess, classified, right?" Six nodded.
"Yeah, the only thing I can tell you is that we had a fun time kicking some evil butt," he said. Holiday looked his suit over.
"Does that include birds, horses, explosions, swords, guns, whips, food fights, and purple blood?" she said, kinda confused on the last part. Six nodded.
"Pretty much, the purple blood's from an alien by the way," he said.
"Oh," she said. "That's just gross." Six chuckled.
"You get used to it after ten months," he said.
"Ten? It's only been five," Holiday said.
"I know, but we were in a different time zone, at least that's what Nafalis told me," Six told her with a shrug. Holiday raised and eyebrow.
"Oh, so time went faster there then," Holiday said. Six nodded.
"Yeah, she said it might do that," he said.
"I see," she said nodding in understandmeant. "Well, at least you had fun, right?" Six nodded. "Rex has practiced everyday. He said that if you had talked to him before you left you would've told him too do that."
"I knew I forgot something," Six said sarcastically. Holiday laughed.
"It seems Nafalis got you a sense of humor along with a destroyed suit," she said. Six nodded.
"Kinda, yeah," he said. Holiday shook her head.
"I've missed you so much Six, we all have," Holiday said. Six smiled and chuckled a little. Holiday looked up at him.
"I've missed you too," he said. She smiled and chuckled a little to herself. Six didn't bother to ask why. "Everyday the thought of never seeing any of you came to my mind, and I hated it. I'm just beyond happy to be back. And believe me, sleeping in a cave while there's a blizzard outside makes it easy to think about bad things."
"Blizzard?" she said in shock. He nodded.
"Yeah, we had a lot of hard weather trying to stop Sernor or whatever his name was," he said.
"I thought it was classified," she said. Six stared at her. "Do you have to kill me now?"
"I might have to just in case, our boss never really said what to do if we accidentally told someone," he said. Holiday laughed. Six smiled.
"That wasn't very wise of him," Holiday said. Six shrugged.
"Shane isn't very bright," he said. Holiday shook her head and chuckled. "But he knows how to do his job, and that's what matters." Holiday nodded. "Kinda like Knight." Holiday snickered.
"He might kill you if he ever finds out you said that," she told him.
"Yeah, I know." Holiday chuckled and shook her head. Six smiled down at her. Nafalis had told him on the fly home that ten months really gets people thinking about what really matters in their life back home when it's all over. Six had done that. Rex was like a son to him, and Six knew he couldn't wait to see him again. White Knight was an old friend and a good one at that. And Holiday, well, he loved Holiday.
Nafalis had always made fun of him because he never showed it. She called him Mr. No-feelings. Of course she told him afterwards that he did have feelings and he was just trying to hide them because he wanted control, she also told him she was the same why, and that when she didn't try as hard all the time life was a lot better. At this moment, he agreed with her.
"Holiday?" he said. Holiday looked up at him.
"Hmm?" she said. Six bent down and kissed her on the lips. Holiday froze for a moment and stared before relaxing a bit and closing her eyes. Many times Six had had the chance to do this, but he had never taken it. Holiday had almost kissed him once when he nearly died after helping her cure her little sister Beverly, but she never had. And a few other times he knew he had had a chance, but at this moment he couldn't pin-point them.
Six broke the kiss off and looked at her. Holiday smiled. She moved her arms and took his sunglasses off. She gasped. Across his left eye was a scar. He blinked and winced so slightly she almost missed it.
"Wh-what happened?" she asked.
"Wolves, wolves happened," he told her. She moved her hand over the scar. He closed his eyes. The scar went from the tip of his eye brow down across his eyelid, and it curved down around the bottom of his eye.
"I'm sorry to hear that," she said. Six smiled a little.
"Not as bad as that weird lady who, nevermind," he said opening his eyes.
"Who did what?" she asked. Six sighed. He answered by raising his left arm and taking the glove off. Holiday gasped. She pulled the sleeve down to reveal his mechanical arm. "Oh Six, I am so sorry."
"It's not your fault, besides, it doesn't hurt anyway," he said flexing his fingers. Holiday pulled the sleeve back down and put the glove back on. She looked him with sorry eyes.
"I can feel sorry for you anyway," she said. Six nodded saying that yes, she could. Holiday sighed. Six had gone back into his shell and emotionlessness. Holiday sighed, she was starting to like this new joking, talking Six. And now he was gone. Of course she liked the old Six too, but this new Six was different in a way she liked. Would the old Six ever kiss her, or just the new one that talked and joked around?
Six kissed her again and Holiday embraced the moment. He had answered her question without her even having to ask it. Holiday rapped her arms around his neck and brought herself closer to him. Six rapped his own arms around her and pulled her closer as well. His left arm was a little rougher then his right, but Holiday didn't care one bit.
Nafalis ran down the hall trying to find Rex. She had been looking for about six minutes and hadn't found anything. She paused. She turned around and went to the training room. And sure as the the Earth is round, there he was. He was drinking some water and taking a break. Nafalis's jaw dropped. He wore a new orange jacket just like his old one, his hair was buzz-cut, his goggles were hanging around his neck, and he was a little taller.
"Rex?" she said. Rex nearly choked on his water. He set it down and looked over.
"Nafalis?" he said they looked each other over.
"Is that you?" they said together. They smiled. They ran up and hugged each other.
"Where have you been?" Rex asked.
"On a top secret mission with Six," she told him. Rex stared.
"Then, where's Six?" he said excitedly.
"Saying hi to the Doc," she told him. Rex gave a broad smile. "Come on bro!" she shouted and they ran down the hall.
"Race ya!" Rex shouted.
. "Hey! No fair!" Nafalis shouted catching up with him. Six and Holiday heard them and broke apart in confusion.
"Aha! I win!" Rex said as he ran into the room. "Oof," he muttered as he run into Six. "Sorry 'bout,"-he paused as he saw who it was-"that." Six smiled.
"Hey Rex," he said. Rex got a broad smile.
"Six!" he screamed and hugged him. "You're back!" Six chuckled and hugged him back.
"Of course I'm back, I had to make sure you stayed out of trouble," Six told him. Rex laughed and backed up. He looked at Nafalis. Nafalis was leaning up against the wall and chuckled. "What's so funny?" Nafalis let one of his swords drop out of her sleeve.
"I'm sorry bro, I couldn't help myself," she said.
"Yeah well, you're going to need the Doc's help in a second."
"Oh fudge." Nafalis screamed as Six chased her for his sword. Rex and Holiday laughed their heads off as Nafalis outran him. After the longest time Six finally caught her. "All right, you got me. No, no, no! AH! Stop it! Stop, stop!" Rex and Holiday ran over to where they were.
Nafalis was in a headlock and Six had just dropped her. Nafalis's hair was all messed up and she glared at him. Six crossed his arms in triumph. Nafalis rubbed her hair back into place and glared at him.
"I hate you," she said.
"Uh-huh, sure," he said. Nafalis rolled her eyes and looked at Rex. Rex shrugged.
"Race ya to the practice room!" she yelled and ran.
"You are so on!" Rex yelled running after her. Six chuckled and smiled at Holiday. She smiled back as he said:
"It's good to be back."