A/N: Alright, I said it on my Facebook page, so I'll say it here too.

Yes, this is another project. Trust me; I tried ignoring it. The urge won't go away. But at least my muse is wanting SOMETHING done.

That said. "Glass" will jump POVs, word length, and years with each chapter. While it's not a prequel per say, it does focus on Melody and her two best friends Tabitha and Sven. Their friendship was numbed in the main timeline. As expected, a lot has happened, and Tabi and Sven were minimized. So I guess you can consider this a spin-off.

Enjoy.

Chapter 01 - Silence

Although her cloak was weighted and damp, Hamato Melody couldn't remove it. Outside, bitter winds cut through the thick snow and the cyborg smiled into them. What irony. The only relief she got from her heightened internal temperature disagreed with the metal that replaced half her flesh.

'The Damn Mechanic still has no real name for this metal,' Mel thought, glancing at her near-mirror-like hands. 'We only know it is not from Earth.'

"Figures I wouldn't be the only one," someone commented.

Melody raised her head, glancing behind. Her hood blocked her view; however, Sven's footfalls were unmistakable. They crunched through the tall snow then stopped beside her.

"No flowers?" he asked.

"No," Melody answered. "Giving flowers to a corpse is pointless. Besides, she is not buried here."

Sven snorted before pink and yellow flashes drew Mel's gaze to a bouquet of Hibiscus flowers. They had been arranged with the skill of a five-year-old, but that didn't matter. What mattered was how tenderly Sven placed the flowers at the smooth plaque where Melody kneeled.

"These were Tabi's favorite," said Sven, squatted.

"She would put them in her hair," Melody added in a dead voice. "Pretend she was a nature model, a nymph."

Sven made an odd noise. "I almost forgot that dream."

"Because you were sore that your attention went ignored."

"I wasn't sore," Sven spat. Regardless of the hoods, Mel knew he scowled. "I just thought she was stupid to think that millions of drooling fools would make her feel any less neglected."

Melody frowned as Sven sighed. Or was that the wind? He just so happened to squat on the side that no longer had an ear.

"Do you ever feel heavy, Mel?"

Leaning backwards, Melody stared at Sven's red hood. "Is that a joke?" she asked—not teasing but serious.

"I—I don't mean your metal," added Sven. "I mean looking at this. Her."

Melody glanced up. Tabitha's monument loomed high above, hands outstretched, and it created a dark contrast against the white-gray sky.

"Every time," Mel whispered. "Especially today."

"Good. It always feels better when you know you aren't the only one."

"When have you ever been the only one, Sven?"

Sven sent the redhead a smirk then fell onto his ass. "Guess we have been together for a while."

"Five years."

"Really? That's all?"

Melody understood what her friend had meant. Those short years felt more like a life-time. Maybe that was because in those years, they conquered so much as a trio. They were the ones others turned to for help. Now? That trio was gone. One had new responsibilities with her clan, another struggled to reclaim himself, and the last…

The last was immortalized in iron and soil.

"It still feels weird," Sven grumbled. "It's so—"

"Quiet," Melody finished.

Despite the city's hum, the wind's howl, and a distant ad for EPF recruitment, the park felt dead. It held Tabitha's image, not her soul, and Mel blinked her dry eye, gaze falling to the frosted bouquet.

"Things will never be the same, Sven," she said. "I'm sorry."

Sven's round eyes met his friend, his features worn and chapped. "You can't be. If it weren't for you, Tabi would've died as a PD. And I'd probably be a vegetable in some boxing ring."

"I didn't protect her."

"Neither did I." Sven gave an acidic smile. It drained his face of what little color it had then weakened as the carrot-top sniffled into his metal hand. "Tabi's gone. Eventually, that'll feel normal. Right?"

Melody had no answer. She wished she did, but the last few months had distracted her rather than healed her. Thinking about Tabitha still left her sick, so, really, she could only pray. Perhaps the next time Tabi's birthday came, the silence won't seem so unnatural.

A/N: Gah. They hurt my heart sometimes...

Anyways. I'm not short on ideas, but if there's anything you ever wanted to know about Melody and her friends or even Tabi and Sven in general, leave a review to let me know. I may answer your curiosity. :D