The little girl stood on the dock, holding a loaf of bread and throwing the crumbs to the seagulls. The birds swooped down in droves, catching the pieces she threw in the air and, if she was patient, coming up to her and eating out of her hands. They were untroubled creatures, beings of the air. The birds, Eve thought solemnly, are free.
But what was freedom, really, when it came to humans?
Eve remembered very little of her early life. She knew, as an abstract fact, that she had been created by a Dr. Tearju Lunatique, a woman who had, at the time, had extremely questionable ideas about happiness and world peace. She knew also that she had been stolen-not kidnapped, stolen,- from the doctor's laboratory by the gangster Torneo Rudeman, a cruel man who planned to use her as a weapon. She knew all of this, yet it had not happened to her. Not really. The Eve that she was now had been born only after her first encounter with Sven Vollfield.
They had fed birds then, too. And ate ice cream. For Eve, Sven was a father, a mother, and an older brother. He was her idol, and she loved him with the kind of love that defied logic and rendered language useless. She knew that Sven returned these feelings.
For the first few months after her rescue-it was a rescue, for at that point she was most certainly human-she had spent her time learning everything there was to know about the universe. She learned from scientific textbooks why the sky was blue, and why the grass was green, and how a gun worked. And from novels she took away knowledge much more precious, knowledge of love, and friendship, and anger, and vengeance. She even experienced a good deal of the latter knowledge; and with every knew emotion she discovered, she grew more and more human. She learnt love and gratitude from Sven; vengeance, anger, mercy, and redemption she learned from Train. Her experiences with Leon and Layla had taught her about suffering, and loss. And her experiences in EDEN had taught her that she had a group of friends around her, who were willing to risk their lives if she was ever in danger.
So why was she so scared?
Because now EDEN was destroyed. Creed Diskenth was out of commission; Train's heart was finally at peace. She was no longer simply trying to keep herself and her friends alive; she was simply expected to live the life of a Sweeper, with Sven and Train at her side. And that made her afraid, for now she had time to ask herself; "Who am I?" "What am I planning to do with my life?". Sven had said once that she could not ride around sweeping with him and Train forever; and although he had later apologized for saying this, the truth of the matter was that he was right. Sven would not be alive forever; neither would Train. And after they both died, what would happen to her? She doubted that she would ever be able to function as a regular member of society, no matter what Sven said; she was too...different. Could she stand being a Sweeper without her friends, living the life of a true nomad? And then, of course, her mind strayed to the inevitable question; what would happen when she died?
The sad truth of the matter was, after absorbing every abstract fact it could find, Eve's mind had strayed to that worst of subjects; philosophy. What was her purpose on this Earth? Was there life after death? What if Sven got sick and died tomorrow, instead of several decades into the future? It wasn't unheard of. What if...
A voice broke in, suddenly, on her thoughts. It was pure and sweet-sounding, but she had to strain to hear it:
"Sing a song, unto the world..."
Eve got quickly to her feet and looked in the direction of the music.
"Rising high, the clouds unfurl..."
She began to walk, her pace quickening with each step, towards the sound.
"Fan the planes, into the past... Here, now, our lives, will last..
We never know, the times, of pain. Fall down, fall down, like the rain. My life... Won't be claimed."
Eve stopped.
Standing above her, on the roof-top of a local banking building, was one of the strangest-looking women Eve had ever seen. She was a young-looking woman, with short brown hair, and large yellow eyes. What was strange were her clothes; she was wearing a tightly bound old-style kimono, decorated with ornately drawn flowers and... cats? There was something hauntingly familiar about this apparel, but Eve could not place it. The woman stopped singing and turned to regard Eve. Then her face broke into a wide smile.
"Hi there!" she shouted, and with a surprisingly agile movement, she jumped from the rooftop to land directly beside Eve. "What do you think?"
Eve studied the woman, her face impassive. "What do I think about what?"
"My singing, silly." the woman laughed. "I've been practicing that song for a while now."
"It... is very beautiful." Eve said. She was beginning to feel uneasy. Why had she come here?
"Aw, you're just saying that." the woman in the kimono said beaming happily. Reaching into a fold in her kimono, she pulled out two large bottles of milk. "Want some?"
Eve hesitated, then nodded and grabbed one of the bottles. She had not realized how thirsty she had gotten. She half-emptied the glass without pausing for air, and then quickly wiped the remains off of her upper lip. The woman in the kimono laughed with delight. "You sure are thirsty." she said. Turning away from Eve, she added "Isn't the moon beautiful tonight?"
Eve nodded, still staring intensely at the older woman. "Who are you?" she finally asked. "Have we met before?"
The woman cocked her head to one side. "I don't think so..." she said, completely disregarding the first question. "And I should remember if we did. I never forget a face."
"Hmmm..." Eve turned to examine the moon, and it was only then that she realized that she had wandered away from the portion of the city she was familiar with. She began to try to remember how she had gotten to the bank building, when the woman said "The dock is only a few blocks to the right. You didn't wander far." Eve gave a violent start and wheeled to face the woman, who was looking at her with an amused expression on her face. "You are a psychic." Eve stated.
The woman laughed again. "Anyone could tell what you were thinking, just by the expression on your face.".
"But..." Eve said slowly, "How did you know I came from the docks?"
The woman was silent for a moment, and then she said "Well, maybe I am psychic.". Eve regarded her and then suddenly launched herself at the woman, grabbing her hand. "If you are, then pleases... please.... Tell me my future. I... I want to know."
The woman stared at Eve for a moment. "There's nothing particularly interesting, nothing even concrete. You shall experience joy and sorrow. You shall lose old friends, and you shall make new ones. You shall fall in love, and you will have your heart broken. You will be betrayed by someone who you call a friend, and you shall owe your life to someone you call an enemy. And then, like all living things, you will die."
Eve flinched. The woman noticed. "Death frightens you?" Eve nodded wordlessly. The woman said nothing, and for a while the two of them just sat on the rooftop, looking at the moon. Finally, the woman broke the silence. "Eve..." she began. "I hear someone calling you." Eve listened; sure enough, she could Sven voice resounding through the city. "EVE.....EVE, WHERE ARE YOU!" followed by Train's cry of "Princess!" Eve turned to the woman. "My friends." she said. "I have to go. Thank you for the mil-", "Eve" the woman interrupted. "There are some things more powerful than fear and death, some things that are eternal, and that will be around centuries after this planet has gotten itself blown up."
"What are these things?" Eve asked. "EVE!" the cry resonated through the air. The woman smiled and said "You should probably figure that out for yourself."
Eve stared at the woman, and nodded. Then she turned around and, jumping gracefully off the rooftop, her hair spreading behind her like a parachute, she drifted towards the sound of Sven's voice.
________________________________________________________________________
"Hey Princess..." Train asked, when the three of them were safely lodged in the town's only five-star hotel*. "Pass me some of that milk, will you?" Eve stared at him, his face full of curiosity, and amusement and... affection? Eve gently passed him the bottle.
Train looked at Eve's face and then said "Well, lookee here! Is that a smile I see? Hey Sven, I think the little princess here might just be turning human."
"I think..." said Eve "...That you may be right."
(A/N: More chapters may be posted. Please R&R. Though you don't have to. I mean, me putting up a new chapter does not depend on you R&Ring. Assuming that anyone even wants a new chapter. But I think you might. Is that egotistical? Am I screwing up the A/N?
Yeah, please R&R)