A/N: This is an edited re-post of the prologue, since I happened to look over it again and realized that a few things on the old one need to be fixed. Nothing too major was done, but a re-read probably wouldn't hurt. I think this version is much, much better than the old one and I hope ya'll think so too. :D

Take care,

~ SugarLandBabyGirl

Prologue:

Before It All Began

It was a serene mid-day afternoon in the middle of spring on the planet Zi. The abundant blossoms were in full bloom, perfuming the air with the scent of lavender and wild roses. Golden rays were brilliantly shining, casting variant hues of saffron light down upon a vast flowing green meadow. The dark emerald grassland swayed to and fro as a gentle spring breeze flowed though out the field, carrying the pleasant sound of joyous laughter, which came from two young children that were playing in the field, seemingly lost in their own carefree world.

One was a boy, who looked no older than seven, with his hauntingly bright bottle green eyes and slightly spiky blond hair. His bangs swayed across his forehead as he chased after his playmate, a young girl. The girl was only a year younger in age than her friend, but her body size made others think that she was a lot younger, for she had been born three months premature and no one thought that she would survive for more than a few day or a week at the most, but she had proved everyone wrong and surprised them a great deal with her natural born instinct to fight, to survive.

The sun danced across the flowing flaxen hair of the young girl as she ran from her pursuer, squealing in both shock and happiness when the older boy quickly caught up to her and scooped her petite body up in his arms and spun her around, laughing at the while. The young girls' bright baby blue eyes sparkling in pure childlike glee, as she was carefully spun around in her best friends arms. The young boy might have been a little rough and clumsy sometimes, as most boys are, but where the young girl was concerned he had always made sure to be extra careful. Although he had, had a few accidents before, he was always careful not to let those mishaps repeat themselves a second time.

"Let me down! I'm getting dizzy Tommy!" The young girl giggled when she started seeing six of her best friend's smiling goofily at her, as the world around them became nothing but a blur of vivid colors. "A-alright," The boy said in a breathless voice, but his bright smile didn't falter for even a second as he tried to slow down his spinning, only to stumble over his-own feet as a look of surprise crossed his face and a slight cry escaped from his lips when he hit the soft grass covered earth. The cry was more from the shock of the impact than pain, but the little girl was scared her friend had hurt himself and though she was still dizzy, she was worried that he had hurt himself. "Tommy are you alright? Are you hurt?" She asked in a worried tone, as her bright baby blue eyes dimmed.

The boy was breathing heavily, with his eyes closed tightly. He heard his best friend's worried voice calling out to him so he slowly opened his eyes. With a soft groan he answered, "No, I'm not hurt, just tired. Are you alright Lev? Did I hurt you?" Tommy asked, as he forced his body up off of the ground and into a sitting position. Only to notice that even in falling, he still kept her held tightly and protectively in his arms. She appeared to be all right as she smiled softly at him. "Yes, I'm alright Tommy. But are you sure you are alright?" The little girl asked again, as she removed herself off her best friend so he could breathe better, though she did not weight maybe half of what a usual six-year-old might.

"Yeah, I've never been better!" Tommy smiled reassuringly at his best friend, who was more like a baby sister to him than anything, so it was no surprise when he was protective of her and no one doubted that he would die for her, even at his young age. "Thomas, mother wants you home, now." A voice called out, as a seemingly older version of Thomas stepped into the meadow; Thomas' older brother, Karl. The two brothers could have almost been identical twins, except for several main personality differences. Such as where Thomas was always smiling, laughing and having fun, Karl was stern, calm and usually in his room studying ninety-five percent of the time. He was incredibly studious for an eleven year old.

From Thomas' point of view, his older brother was 'the-better-brother' as he was very smart, mature and always brought home the best grades, while Thomas never brought home any grades better than a C in most of his classes. In the instances where Thomas would become afraid, Karl never seemed to even bat an eyelash. In all truth, Thomas knew he was nothing compared to his brother, even though he tried to be better, but in all of his efforts, he could never compare to Karl, no matter how hard he tried. He considered himself nothing more than a microscopic shadow behind his elder brother.

"We're coming." Thomas muttered begrudgingly but loud enough for Karl to hear. He knew that he was probably in trouble again, which that meant that he would be grounded once again and then he wouldn't be able to see Levana for awhile. She was his only true friend. She was the only one who didn't think that he was a lesser to his brother. She liked him with his faults and she had even thought that his knowledge of computers and mechanics was the most amazing thing she had ever seen and though at first he was a little unsure of telling or showing her what he had been working on, he didn't regret it at all.

She didn't laugh or make fun of him, even when he told her of his life's ambition of making an A.I. and Artificial Intelligence organoid. Instead she had supported his idea wholly and she had even told him that one day he would actually accomplish his dream. He was so thankful to have her as his friend and he hoped that she knew just how much everything she did and said meant to him. "Thomas, I won't call you again!" At the sound of Karl's voice, Thomas flinched and slowly stood up; his cheerful mood shot down in a flash.

Levana had seen the reaction that Thomas had when he first heard his elder brothers' call and it hurt her to see such sad emotions flash in his eyes and the sad frown that he always wore when his brother was sent after him, or even when he talked about his brother. She knew all about Thomas' feelings towards Karl and she had even tried to convince Thomas that Karl cared from him, but it had fell on deaf ears, so she had stopped, but that didn't mean that she didn't try to get to know Karl better and see for herself if he was as bad as Thomas had said and though she hadn't made much progress, she did know that despite Karl's usual impassive attitude he was really a nice guy. After all, he hadn't been angry at her when she had accidentally made his Black Lily plant fall out of its pot nearly killing it. Instead he had helped her clean it up and he had even given her one of his smaller plants when she told him why she had been in his room.

She still had the Black Lily plant at her house and just as she had promised, she was taking great care of the beautiful and rare flower. She never forgot to take care of no matter how many other things she had to do. The Black Lily was one of the most favored gifts she had ever received and she would protect it, as if it was a priceless jewel, and to her it was just if not more priceless than any stone would ever be. Because it showed her that Karl did care for people and it proved that he was a compassionate person underneath it all, even if he never showed it. One day she hoped that Tommy would see what she saw and the brothers would get along better.

Thomas decided that if he kept on disobeying his brother then he would be in more trouble. Levana jumped up from her sitting position and grabbed the crestfallen boy's hand with a bright smile and then began to run towards Karl, dragging a bemused Thomas behind her, while calling out to Karl and waving happily. "We're coming!" When the troublesome duo reached the always cool and collected Karl, Thomas' mood was still quiet and he refused to look at his brother, who he knew by instinct was probably sending him a frown of pure disappointment and dislike, as he always did. 'Why? Why can I never be good enough in your eyes? Every time I try, I always fail miserably. I'll never be good enough to be like you…'

"I'm sorry Karl, I fell down and Thomas was just making sure I was alright. That's why we're late and I'm sorry." Levana told Karl with a small guilty smile, hoping that Karl wouldn't be mad at Thomas because of her. Karl just watched the two with a cool gaze, knowing full well that Levana was trying to keep his pestering younger brother out of trouble, as she usually did when Thomas didn't immediately obey. Karl thought that Thomas should stop letting Levana take the blame for his mistakes, although he knew full well that the young girl did it without Thomas' consent or knowledge most of the time, but still she shouldn't and Thomas shouldn't let her.

"Very well, are you hurt or bleeding?" Karl asked his voice still remaining cool, like always, but Levana saw a slight glimpse of concern flash in his eyes when he saw that indeed, she was bleeding. It was a small cut upon her knee, but it was still a wound and until Karl had bent down and examined it, she hadn't even known that she had it. "Oh, I didn't even know that it was there." Levana spoke her thoughts aloud as Karl stood back up and started to speak, but Thomas beat him to it. "You're hurt? Is it bad? Can you walk back to our house?" Thomas asked frantically, like he always did when Levana was hurt, even if it was something as small as a scratch. "I'm okay Tommy, don't worry it's nothing. I mean it isn't even bleeding anymore." Levana smiled reassuringly making Thomas calm down by squeezing his hand in hers.

"O-okay, as long as you're sure." Thomas whispered as a ruby red blush consumed his pale cheeks; it was a blush of pure embarrassment as he had just made a complete fool out of himself in front of Karl, who had, as always kept his cool demeanor and worst of all he had made an idiot of himself in front of his best friend. He knew that Levana would understand him, but he hated looking like an idiot in front of Levana with Karl around, it hurt his male pride, but it also, in his mind caused him to look weak in front of his best friend and brother. "Come, the both of you. I will take you home after your injury is bandaged Levana." Karl spoke up, ending his younger brothers' thoughts and making Levana smile and thank him politely, before she pulled Thomas along behind her as they followed the older Schubaltz brother towards their home.

When the adolescent trio finally reached the Schubaltz home, they were greeted by a tall, slender woman with nearly the exact features of her two sons. The only difference was that she had lighter blonde hair than her sons and darker green eyes and like her oldest son, she did not have any facial markings, while Thomas had a similar red mark upon his face just has their father once had, only instead of having it under his left eye, their father had the exactly same mark on his right cheek.

"Thomas Richard Schubaltz! Would you mind explaining to me why you have such low grades on this report card young man?" Mrs. Schubaltz asked in a controlled tone, when Thomas entered the kitchen, where his mother was waiting. Levana watched sadly as Mrs. Schubaltz scolded her youngest son, although their mother was never mean to her children she was strict when it came to their school grades and least to say Thomas was not bringing in any good grades lately. The most 'cruel' thing that their mother would do is ground Thomas from seeing Levana for three days or so. Yet even that seemed like a lifetime to Thomas and Levana alike, but it was only because they didn't have any other friends besides each other.

Karl, taking the initiative to remove Levana from watching his younger brother get scolded again, decided that now was as good a time as any to bandage and disinfect her cut. He gently took her small and fragile-like hand into his own and led her away from the kitchen. Even though it was small, Karl knew that it could become a dangerous wound that could kill her easily. Karl knew that Levana was born premature and that her immune system was still fragile. Even at her age, she was still in danger of dying from even the smallest things, such as a small cut that was not properly disinfected.

"Will Tommy be grounded again?" Levana asked Karl sadly, knowing that she would be by herself again until he was ungrounded. "Probably," Karl told the young girl delicately but truthfully, as he lead her into his bedroom and then into his bathroom, where he dropped her hand only to gently pick her up and set her on his black marble counter, much to the little girls surprise. Karl then went digging through his medicine cabinet looking for the proper supplies to doctor an injury. When he found everything that he needed, he returned to Levana's side and opened the antiseptic bottle and poured the foul smelling liquid onto a cotton pad, before speaking in a calm tone. "This will sting some Levana."

"O-okay," Levana trembled at the elder boy's words. She knew that Karl never lied to her and he had doctored an injury of hers before, but then she had been fortunate enough for the injury to not need to be disinfected, unlike now. Karl watched with cool arctic green eyes, as despite her fear, Levana didn't close her eyes in panic, instead she kept her frightened bright baby blue eyes on Karl's face the whole time, even as he pressed the antiseptic covered cotton pad to her open, but dried cut. Tears leaked from her eyes and she lightly bit her bottom lip, but she didn't flinch or cry out when the antiseptic bubbled, disinfecting her cut thoroughly.

Karl watched her reactions closely with a cool gaze through thick dusty lashes, but there was softness there also, something that hardly anyone ever saw, except occasionally his mother and Levana. Even Thomas never saw a glimpse of this softer side of his older brother. Levana sniffed a couple of times before she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand as Karl placed a bandage on her knee. When he was finished he picked up his medical supplies and placed them back in his cabinet, before turning back to Levana.

She still had a few tears falling from her eyes and when she went to wipe the remaining salty drops away a soft thumb beat her to it. Karl gently brushed her tears away, before turning on his faucet and running cool water on a washcloth. He wrung it out and then lightly began to run the cool cloth over her blotchy face, successfully washing away the smudges of dirt and grass stains that had collected themselves on the young girls face while she was out playing with his younger brother.

"Thank you, Karl." Levana sniffed with a bright smile, before she unexpectedly reached out and hugged the older boy around the neck. The older boys' eyes widened in surprise for a minute before he hesitantly returned the hug while whispering a quiet, "You're welcome." While Levana was hugging him, Karl gently lifted the little girl off his counter top with a single arm, walked over to his hamper and dropped the wet and dirty cloth into it before he moved Levana into a more comfortable position and held onto her with both arms. When Karl and Levana entered the living room Mrs. Schubaltz smiled when she saw her eldest son showing a side of him that she even had trouble finding. He was so much like his father. It was sad that neither of her sons could really remember their father, who had died from an incurable illness six months after Thomas was born.

"Thomas has been sent to bathe before going to bed. Will you please take Levana home Karl?" Mrs. Schubaltz asked her son with a soft motherly smile when she saw the little blonde haired girl yawn widely before her eyes started to close from exhaustion. "Yes ma'am." Karl nodded, speaking quietly before he walked over to the front door, where his mother opened it and told the little girl goodbye. To which, the tired girl smiled and muttered a sleepy goodbye in return. It did not take very long to reach Levana's home; maybe five minutes at the most but Levana had already fallen asleep, her head nestled comfortably in Karl's neck. The home in which Levana was being raised was smaller than the Schubaltz home, but not by much.

Levana's mother was friends with his mother and his father had also been friends with Levana's, but Levana's father had went into the military before she was born and was killed three months before Levana was to be born, ultimately making her mother so upset that she gave birth three months early. Levana's mother had never been the same since. She did love Levana and took very good care of her, but sometimes when Mrs. Henley, Levana's mother, was over at his house he overheard his and Levana's mothers talking and some of the things that came from Levana's mother's mouth made him worried about Levana's safety. It must have alarmed his mother as well, because he had heard her offer to take Levana in a couple of times, but Levana's mother refused every time.

Knocking on the Henley's door, Karl waited patiently a few moments before the door slowly creaked open and a sickly slender woman of with dull obsidian hair and dreary baby blue eyes appeared. She smiled slightly at Karl and quietly thanked him, as she pulled her daughter into her arms. She offered Karl something to drink for his help, but he politely refused saying that he was needed at back home. Just as Karl turned to leave a soft voice whispered "bye-bye" and when Karl turned back around he saw Levana sending him a cute but lopsided sleepy smile. Her bright baby blue eyes were just barely visible as her eyes were only slightly cracked open, hinting at sleep. Karl just raised his hand in silent recognition before turning back around and heading home.

Had he known that moment would be the last time he would see her in over a decade, he would have done something, anything to keep her where she rightly belonged. Not just for his little brother or his mother, who loved the little girl as much as she loved her own children, but also for himself. He would miss the bright little burst of sunshine as much as his little brother, though his sadness wouldn't be as easy to perceive as Thomas'. Her absence from their lives cast a dark shadow over the sun.