Battle Angel's Angel
Disclaimer: Who thinks I own Gunnm/Battle Angel Alita? *nobody raises hands* Who thinks Yukito owns them? *everybody claps* Told you so.
Spoilers: Tears of an Angel, one quote from Angel of Chaos.
Summary: My explanation about why Alita told Ido that something inside her wouldn't let her just end it all.
Author's Note: Yup, I haven't written a fanfic or prose for a loooooong time. Here I go!
When people talk, it's usually about the one that got away. Very rarely is it ever the one that was taken away.
There is only one real way to totally kill a cyborg: Destroy its brain. This could be accomplished in a matter of ways, not the least of which is a drop from someplace high above. Of course, there are far more ways to kill a human. Steel of the purest form is surprisingly fragile.
He was very daring for a human, giving all his life contained for his dream, even if it involved going out and snatching spinal columns from those still alive, knowing all the while his head could be severed by brutal cyborg metal. But he was very innocent for a human, too. Always looking to the sky or in his head, spending all his time working for his goal. He was untouchable. She wanted to touch him, to hold him tight.
Alita was no idiot. She was no machine, either. For one second, the young girl understood what it must feel like to gain everything and then have it all snatched away. By Tiphares. It was all Tiphares' fault. Hugo wanted to go up there so badly.
I swore to help him, she thought fiercely, but I never did. I couldn't help him get to Tiphares. It was all my fault. I didn't love him enough.
If only she had told him what she told him on the tubes to Tiphares earlier. He had agreed to come back to the Scrapyard and live his life with her. And then suddenly, she lost him. Alita frowned at the memory, and kicked angrily at a rock lying in her way. She was picking her way through the streets of the Scrapyard, going for yet another walk to clear her mind and possibly, though doubtfully, cheer her up. So far, it hadn't worked. She felt just as cold as she had when she watched Hugo disappear beneath the clouds while she held on to his no-longer-connected arm.
Actually, this whole thing was Ido's idea, but Alita never was one to argue with the kindly cyberphysician who had brought her up, and even though she didn't need to breathe, they had both agreed that the fresh air might do her some good.
Alita looked up. She was passing a through a narrow alleyway littered with various objects. Up ahead, Tiphares loomed ominously. She felt an unnatural hatred toward the floating city that had rejected both Ido and Hugo.
So what's the point? she speculated bitterly. Are you going to fall on us now? Wouldn't that just be the ultimate insult? You don't deserve to float. Then she sighed. Oh, what's the point? I don't even want to live anymore. I don't. I want to die. I…want…to DIE!
Alita stopped short as she felt the bottom of her boot collide with something. She glanced down and took another step. And then her heart stopped.
Lying there, on the ground, partially obscured by dust that had been blown over it, was something that was overwhelmingly familiar to the little cyborg. It was a hat. Hugo's hat.
"Hugo…"
Tears welled in her eyes as Alita knelt down and picked up the simple piece of cloth that Hugo had worn so many times to hold back his long, spiky hair since they had met. It was his. There was no question about it. The distinct shape of the hat, the knot Hugo had always tied it in…He had lost his hat when a Hunter Warrior attacked him, shredding his delicate human body. The attack was right outside the abandoned warehouse where Alita had first met Hugo, the warehouse where Hugo's brother had constructed a giant balloon to fly to Tiphares in, before he, too, was discovered by a Hunter Warrior.
Alita glanced warily at her surroundings. Yes, this was it. She was right outside the warehouse, holding Hugo's hat in her trembling hands.
And death disguises the angels it makes…in blue sky…
Wiping the fabric clean with her jacket, the young cyborg gently fitted it around her own head, letting the long cloth run down her back, just as Hugo did. It was almost like he was there again. She smiled bittersweetly through her tears.
That day, there was a revolution in the Scrapyard. She marched through the streets and crowds with a cloth hat on her head and some new understanding inside. On her way home, she gazed up at the Midair City.
It's not over yet. I can still live. I will still love.
And somewhere, above even Tiphares itself, a hatless, dark-haired boy must've smiled.