Bleh.
ONE MAN
THE ONE AND ONLY CHAPTER
Promise me you'll never leave.
I will. When I have to I won't have a choice, will I?
But until then, will you stay on?
I will. I'll never leave you. I can't, anyway.
Will you promise me, then? That you'll stay on, and leave only after me, and never forget me?
I promise... I promise...
He had smiled that day. It was just one hour or so, but it was probably one of the happiest times of his short, short life. It had to be.
His mother had been on the way, praying to a Lord who suddenly existed, wondering if that Lord listened to Coordinators too, singing his little sibling to sleep to spare the child the confusion, the pain, the agony, the hatred... holding her head high and strong. And yet she trembled, her heart turned to stone.
He breathes, she had reassured herself, he lives. He will survive. He will not leave us so soon.
And if he did, he would die a martyr's death. She would see to that.
He hadn't asked for her, as if he knew it was futile. It all was.
When I have to, I won't have a choice, will I?
Till then, she held his hand.
Would you like me to read to you?
No, I'm not recovering anyway.
Don't be ridiculous.
Just hold my hand. Stay.
You will recover-and fast.
Just to get killed again? No, thanks. I feel fine here.
Maybe I could play you a song? There's a CD player here, or the piano-I could-
No, really. I don't want to. Just stay. Don't let me go.
Alright.
He- knew that he was dying, that he was in the last moments of his life, that he would have to leave. Soon.
When I have to, I won't have a choice, will I?
She wondered what it was like- dying, the moments before that transience. His… departure... had seemed so peaceful, she was almost tempted. That was what a winter sleep was, falling into a dream, never awakening- was it really so romantic, as she made it out to be?
The young one was just two. Would he remember he had an elder brother? He had asked her that once that day. She had no answer. But she hoped he...
He did, but vaguely. Nothing special- that was that. Her wish was… wrong… but what did it matter now? He had his own life to go through.
She held him close that day, closer than ever before, as if she could force his soul, his life, whatever it was that differentiated alive from dead, in his body, cradling his bandaged head, his tired shoulders, bruised and bloody in bandages, in her arms, as gently as she could. They had embraced, for the first and last time. She still held him close, injured, exhausted, today, now, in her heart...
Remember that day you sang that old song, behind me, at the base?
Oh, that- it's a ballad from the AD period, you know.
Did you mean it? Was that what you wanted to say?
You got the hint? That's good, I can go in peace.
Why didn't you tell me?
I did. Why didn't you tell me?
You knew it anyway. I came up to you the days after that… say something…
I was scared. I'm not a Natural, I'm a Coordinator. So are you. And we all expect to have these things put into us beforehand like our gene arrangement, but we don't-I guess that's why it's stranger for our kind.. But I'm human too, you know… I'm only human...
We all are, regardless of our kind.
After he was gone, she had tried it. She wanted to see what it was like. The process, and the end result-that old temptation proved too great. Too great. And she almost did it.
She tried blowing up herself like he had, in a custom model. It had burned up. Only the cockpit remained. It was painful, but she let it go on. She could have stopped, saved herself, but she went on.
She could see his face, on the VR channel- that fire in the eyes, the determined features, the spirit of sheer adrenal immortality, the irony of the fierce and gentle. It was him, come to take her away.
In another form, but just as beautiful.
She had smiled eyes smoky. He had come for her.
They were going to be together… forever…
You see something there?
Where?
There. Follow my finger. It's that light there. Could you tell him, to wait? Just a little bit... Just a little longer...
What are you talking about?
She arrived, just in time. She held his hand tight, let her stay on, fussed over him, cried with and spoke softly to him. She let herself be his mother- one last time.
She stayed on, in a corner, linked to him by a finger.
Linking pinkies. A promise. Leave only after me, never forget me. Stay.
He fell into his winter sleep, soon after that. The pulse faded away. They held his hands, escorted him to the divine light that he had indicated with his finger.
He, or she, or it, had waited for him. She thanked the light silently.
You've been a great help, dear, she told her. A trembling smile, head unmoved, eyes… watchful.
What the hell do you think you're doing, woman!
Are you finally here?
Great, now you've gone insane.
I knew you'd come for me. I knew it.
Hello? Wake up! You're crashing, bitch.
Don't ever leave me again.
--FreedomValentine--
Yayness, I finished it! I started at.. like.. eight last night? I'm in JC, you know. I'ts a tough life- PW just makes it worse. Oh well.
Anyway, I'm still working on the old ones, but PW is currently destroying my brain cells, so you've gots to cut me some slack. Please?? But I'm trying to finish.The title of the story is also the ballad that somebody sang to somebody. If you want to try it, it's called One Man, by Kim Jong Kook, the mosquito man. I also had to listen to Flavor of Life Ballad Version and another song after getting the intial image in my head for this story while doing Memory Chapter 4: Hoshi mi no Senritsu no Kanata. Beautiful pieces, those things.