AN: It's been quite some time, probably over a year since an update, and finally, I'm posting something. I've been planning this fic for a long time and I'm really glad I finally got around to working on it. To sum it up, it's the life of Orga, Clotho and Shani after the war. This is just the introduction so it will be fairly short, and if it manages to grab enough attention I'll continue. So if you want more then please review and tell me what you think. Thank you for reading.

-MPK

What We Fought For

Prologue

Alive. Free. They were foreign words to him; two things he never thought he'd be. Here in the middle of the bloodiest war ever known to mankind, he would die. To come out alive would be to cheat death. Utterly impossible. This was his late ride before finally, he would rest. Forever. These facts plainly defined the rest of his life, and Orga Sabnak knew that well.

Sometimes the feeling of being trapped, not just in his life, but in the cold depths of space would wake him at night. The thought that- undoubtedly- this was where he was going to die made him sick to his stomach. To die in such a cold, godforsaken place...how empty it made him feel.

But he wasn't afraid. The only thing that scared him was not knowing when. When would it be time to go? Would he have time to think? Would it be so quick that he wouldn't even know he was going to die? Would it be tomorrow? The next day? The day after that? When? Musing over the morbid situation would quickly nauseate him. As difficult as it was, he would try his best not to think about it and fall back asleep again.

Most nights it was the same. Hours of sleeplessness wondering when. Tonight, however, it was something completely different that disrupted his sleep.

On the borderline of unconsciousness, a sudden sound reached his senses. Orga blinked his eyes open and sat up straight to find a indescribably distraught-looking red-headed girl standing in the door way. Her face was stained with tears, her hair was a mess and her skimpy clothing was heavily wrinkled. She must have been the girl whose life pod he had retrieved earlier…

Unmoving, she watched him with hallow eyes. He opened his mouth lamely and attempted to ask her what she wanted, but he couldn't even manage a sound. Finally, she moved, taking heavy steps towards him whilst never letting her eyes leave his face. He was frozen as he stared back, watching her climb onto his bed. She drew uncomfortably close and when they were mere inches apart, her arms wrapped around him.

He felt shock jolt through his body and in his astonishment, he could hardly hear two desperate words being murmured into his shoulder. "Protect me…"

All at once, old emotions returned to overwhelm him. It'd been quite a while since anyone had held him like this. The feeling of being so close to another person seemed to alter something deep within him and suddenly, he didn't want to die. Suddenly, everything mattered. He mattered. She mattered. Life Mattered. Tears flooded his eyes and he did nothing to stop them from falling.

"I'll protect you…" Orga whispered as he returned her embrace. "We'll be ok…"