A/N: Hello, hello, dear readers. :D Nice to be typing again. XD lawl. Anywho, this ficcy, one-shot, dealio, takes place in an AU, meaning crap from RAT may or may not apply. Depends. Obviously, this is a wee bit farther ahead of Falling Up. So, a brief explanation from Swift is provided at the beginning for what's going on in her life. The characters are NOT all mine. "Concept of Ryan" and Xarach are © of ShootingStarz, Sarah is © of Boo, and Swift is © of me. You steal ANY of these and it is most likely that I will be the first to get to you and rip your brains from your skull, as I am a HONEST person and gained permission to use Starz and Boo's character by ASKING. So please, take the time to ASK before use. It will save you your brains. X3
This is based off of an RP my friends and I did (an RP I didn't join until, like, this part. XD), so I kept the dialogue and actions as close to the original as I could and attempted not to add or delete anything, merely amplifying the actions.
This may need editing, for I am merely an expert with mah characters, not Boo's or Starz's. XD I tried.
Please enjoy and remember to R&R! I'LL LOVE YOU FOREVER FOR R&RING!!!!!! XP
To Be Close To Home
"Sisterhood and brotherhood is a condition people have to work at." --Maya Angelou
Sadly, such was the case with our relationship, as was typical among the 'Ultimate' family. We were all broken, separated by strange whims of fate, twisted turns in the story our lives shared. Not only were we broken that way, but others as well, like that most of us were dead. No matter if you included the clones, like I did, as family or not, most of us were dead as a freaking doornail. It was mere luck that some of us remained.
In fact, I had only recently reconnected with big bro, Ryan. He had changed.
That was a major understatement.
He was different to the point that I didn't recognize him. And when I did, I was also brought into the light about Ryan's 'condition', rather painfully might I add.
Ryan was barely the start of my reconnection to the rest of the 'Ultimate' clan, it seemed, although more bonding occurred much later.
By the time I had met up with Sarah, I was wounded.
Affected by an experiment gone wrong, my body had transformed into something else, a carrier for a disease. Surge affected me in ways similar to that of Ryan's predicament, but Ryan had a separate entity inside of him. Surge was merely a mindless illness that ate while it changed me. Xarach wasn't eating Ryan, to my understanding.
My perception of Sarah was limited, at best. All I knew was that she was my older sister and that I did not possess many fond memories of her.
I did not seek her out the day that she apologized; it was by chance that sisters were reunited, oddly enough, under a white banner. She, no longer the tormentor, and I, no longer the tormented.
We'd all seen angels fall from blinding heights, known to arm ourselves, heard that the machine longed to kill us, but never had we be truly unified. And sadly, I was afraid that this was a sign that our time on the plane of existence was running dry.
It was raining.
The sky had become bleak gray over the past few days; the rain had not ceased for what seemed like an eternity. In fact, liquid diamonds currently poured from the empyrean with what appeared to be a vengeance. A different atmosphere for an apology, I would say.
"Hello, Swift?" I called tentatively, fearing her reaction to seeing me again. Looking around in search, I shuddered, droplets of precipitation flying from my quills and melding with their siblings just beginning to fall.
After a few moments of search, she never showed. Then again, this wasn't much of a planned meeting. Abruptly, I caught a glimpse of navy against the pallid edge of view. Focusing on it, I realized that it was Swift. As she approached, she stopped suddenly, blinking into the rain. Giving herself a quick shake, she continued her advance the same way she had before, never wavering, always steady, until she came to a stop a few feet from me.
"Sarah?" Swift appeared tense, unnerved even, by me.
Pleased by her appearance at last, I nodded nervously, feeling just as anxious. "Hey Swift! Remember me? Your sister? Who used to beat you up all the time…?" I trailed off, allowing my mind to catch up with my mouth.
"Yeah… I remember, sis… Though I would have preferred that you'd knocked me out so I didn't have to." She blinked again, expression solemn.
I was confused. Never in my life had I seen a look as that on Swift's face. I always recalled her either grinning or screaming in pain… I quickly shook my head to rid me of those images. The point was, out of all of us, she'd always been the one most ready to smile, the one with the most chance of living a remotely pleasant life. For some reason, this optimism seemed long dead. I prayed it wasn't my doing.
"I know, and I hate myself for it. I want to apologize for what I did… If you can forgive me, I'll understand if you don't." I looked away, expecting her to add to the resentment I held for myself with her own loathing.
"Don't hate yourself!" She did just the opposite, rushing up and wrapping her arms around me. "Don't! Really! I forgive you… After all, it's kinda your job as oldest, right?" A grimace replaced the grave expression.
"No! It isn't!" I returned the embrace somewhat awkwardly. "What I did was for no reason… Well…" I thought about it, not having to contemplate long at all before my second personality began clawing at the inside of my head. "Maybe one…"
"What reason?" Swift looked up at me, head tilted in curiosity, brown eyes calculating.
"An accident before I was finished…" I muttered a little reluctantly. Flaws in the Ultimate household weren't looked upon so proudly.
"Oh… understandable." She truly seemed satisfied with my answer, pressing no further and instead giving comfort. "After all, I wasn't even supposed to exist, so… Stuff happens." Her once sanguine nature really was dead. Even still, she appeared still as a child to me, though I had no idea what had torn the innocence from her heart.
"Yeah… But I hurt more people…" I tasted salt and abruptly realized that I was crying. I resisted the urge to wipe away the tears, knowing that I would truly give myself away if I did.
"Haven't all of us?" Swift laughed wryly at her own dark humor. I was immediately grateful for the rain, though I knew that Swift could probably sense it. "Hey, it's okay, Sarah. I still love you, no matter what. Family has to stick together in times like this." She heaved a heavy sigh and looked skyward, as if asking for answers, then jerked her head back down, wincing in anguish.
"W-what's wrong?" I questioned nervously, sensing her distress coming from her memories but not being able to discern the exact cause. I hugged her tighter still, attempting pathetically to shield her from the onslaught in her head, a phenomenon I was all too familiar with.
"…Stuff… Stupid, pathetic, idiotic stuff that's my fault… Nothing you can do…" Swift started shivering, barely perceptible.
"Don't worry about it… Swift." My voice cracked.
"Trying… It typically doesn't work… It'll pass…" Her grip on me strengthened to the point where she was clinging to me like I was the only thing to hold onto. I felt her shudder, shift from stable to volatile.
"I hope it does… For your sake." My own mind followed Swift's as insanity rippled through me. I shoved it down desperately.
"As do I…" She gave a strained laugh.
Abruptly, Xarach popped out of nowhere directly in front of us.
"Hello." He greeted us rather demonically.
Swift and I separated almost the instant he appeared, though Swift looked to be a little less caught off-guard as compared to me.
"ACK! What do you want?" I asked, utterly startled.
"Nothing. I'm bored." He replied, his facial expression a bit unamused by my surprise.
"Great…" I growled, not really wanting to know what that meant for me.
"This doesn't mean you're going to try to kill me again, does it?" Swift's simper practically mirrored his, which was a bit of a scary thought.
"No. If I was going to do that, you'd already be screaming in pain." Swift's direct approach of Xarach unnerved me, especially after her previous statement. "I quit."
"Wait… What?" I was stunned by this, almost to the point of complete disbelief. Clearly, Swift, Xar Xar, and I had some catching up to do…