"I see it, I see it!" Hanabi Haung, otherwise known as the moon Xiaojie, squealed, bouncing up and down on her toes excitedly and pointing to a large spacecraft touching down on the dock just in front of the small group of three. "You see it, Dìdi, you see it?"
"I see her, Jiě jie," came the calm, somewhat distracted reply. Hanabi's twin brother, Arien, sat on a railing, hurriedly sketching a seagull with a piece of bread in its mouth as it hopped across the sidewalk. Akiko rolled her eyes, half fondly, half exasperatedly.
"Ari, we have guests," she reminded him, holding a hand in front of her eyes to shield them both from the sun's glare and the dust kicked up by the spacecraft's engines. "Be polite. You can draw later."
"But 'Kiko, I-"
"Later, Jainyu." Akiko's tone brooked no argument. Jainyu sighed, but complied, casting one last longing glance at the seagull before tucking his sketchbook and stick of charcoal back in his satchel. Catching sight of a smear of charcoal on the teenage moon's cheek, Akiko sighed and pulled a handkerchief out of her purse.
"Honestly," she murmured, reaching over and rubbing his cheek with the soft white cloth, "you and Winston would both probably never bathe again if we girls weren't around to look after you. Will you ever learn?" Jainyu patiently put up with her fussing with the air of one who had been through this a thousand times.
"Winnie!" Hanabi suddenly exclaimed, having caught sight of the disheveled mop of blonde curls above the heads of most of the surrounding crowd. She dashed off through the throng of disembarking passengers, her small, lithe, dancer's body darting with effortless grace through the press of people. Akiko placed the handkerchief back in her purse with a fond smile. Jainyu stood up and offered her his arm with a wordless smile, and she took it, returning the grin.
They followed Hanabi's brightly clothed form through the crowd, just in time to see her leap up and hug the personification of Londinium around the neck.
"Winnie, you're here!" she squealed, laughing delightedly. He seemed a bit thrown off balance by the large weight that had just leapt up and attached itself to his neck, but he quickly recovered and laughed as well, wrapping the tiny moon in his arms and spinning her around. She giggled harder and kicked her heels up, enjoying every second of it.
"I am indeed," he announced gaily, setting Hanabi gently down. "And look who I brought with me." He gestured to the small teen behind him, holding Lizzie in the crook of one arm.
"Marty!" Hanabi seemed delighted to see her fellow moon among them. She made as if to give her a hug, but Colchester darted behind Winston before she could.
"I'd rather not, thanks," she said shortly, as Lizzie scampered up to her normal perch on Winston's shoulder.
"Aww, now be nice, Martha," Winston chuckled, ruffling her short blonde hair affectionately. "Sparkleworks here is just happy to see you."
"Yes, yes!" Hanabi latched onto Martha's arm and tugged on it insistently. "We have so much to show you! Don't we, Dìdi?" she said to her brother as he and Akiko caught up with them. His only response was to smile and nod, both in affirmation and in greeting to the newcomers.
"Ari! How have you been, kid?" Winston ruffled his hair as well. Jainyu grinned wider and playfully batted the much taller man's hand away.
"Like a lotus drifting on the current with the sun on its face," the moon replied, his smile and eyes taking on a distant, almost dreamy quality for a moment before he returned to reality.
"Well, that's just shiny," Martha muttered, giving Hanabi an annoyed glare. Suddenly, she pointed at a vague spot somewhere in the distance of the bustling city of Tojing. "Hey look, is that stall selling peacocks?"
"Peacocks?" Hanabi whipped her head around wildly in all directions, trying to see. "Where? Where?" While the small moon was momentarily distracted, Martha shot an imploring look at the others.
"Save me," she mouthed through clenched teeth. Taking pity on her, Jainyu stepped up and handed Martha a brochure he had retrieved from his satchel, while simultaneously patting his sister on the arm.
"Jiě jie, we should get going," he reminded her gently.
"YúchǔnMarty, the stall was selling parrots, not peacocks!" Hanabi giggled as she turned her attention back to the other two moons. She caught sight of the brochure Martha was holding and exclaimed, "Oh, yeah, we thought you'd like that! They're having a whole sector of the new shopping district dedicated to architecture and construction and stuff. We could stop by there while we're looking around, if you want." Martha's eyes narrowed in thought as she processed this.
"A whole sector?" she asked slowly. The twins nodded in unison.
"We'll even go there first, if you want," Hanabi offered magnanimously, tugging on the younger girl's arm insistently. Colchester sighed and allowed herself to be dragged along with an air of resigned martyrdom on her face. She couldn't quite mask her excitement at the prospect of getting to see the new shopping district that was just opening that day, though. It was supposed to be one of the finest in the 'verse, and everyone in the Core, it seemed, was taking time off to go and see the sights.
"Be back at the hotel by seven, alright?" Akiko called after them, trying hard to hide her smile. "You know where we'll be," she told Jainyu, giving him a conspiratorial wink. "Stay out of trouble, and call us if you need anything." Jainyu nodded, gave her a quick hug, and followed his sister and Martha at a more sedate pace.
As the three young moons disappeared into the crowd, Akiko felt herself being enveloped in a giant bear hug from behind. "You didn't think I'd forgotten about you?" came Winston's teasing voice as he hugged her tightly.
"Heavens no," she returned good-humoredly, laughing as she turned around and gave him a proper hug, which he gladly returned. "I'm surprised you were able to contain yourself that long, though."
"I've been practicing." He winked a sparkling green eye impishly as he smiled down at her. "Besides, those three are just so entertaining, aren't they?"
"Oh, you." Akiko gave him a playful swat on the arm. "You're incorrigible, you know that? Poor Martha's suffering so, and all you do is giggle to yourself like a child."
"Hey!" he returned defensively. "I didn't makeher come, you know. She enjoys hanging out with Jiji and Ari, even if she might not say so."
"I know," Akiko smiled, reaching up to scratch Lizzie under her chin. "And how are you doing today, Lizzie? Has Winston exploded on you again recently?"
"Hey! I'll have you know that nothing's exploded in the past two weeks that hasn't been supposed to. What is this, Pick On Londinium Day?" Winston retorted as the little cat started purring contentedly and rubbing her head against Sihnon's hand.
"It is," Akiko nodded. "I've got commemorative mugs and hats already made. I'm sure they'll be a smashing hit with the crowd." Winston threw back his head and laughed, and the sound made Akiko smile wider.
"So," he said when he had sufficiently composed himself, "where are we going today, 'Kiko? I assume you have something planned, given your behavior with Jainyu?"
"I do." She presented a brochure of her own to him with a dramatic flourish. "And may I just say, you look quite stunning today. I'm actually impressed. Did Martha lock you in the bathroom again until you were presentable?"
"Har-day-har-har," he retorted, taking the brochure. "No, she didn't. I canoccasionally get dressed on my own, thank you very much. Why must you females always be so persnickety about dirt, anyway? It's not like it ever hurt anyone. And I feel like I'm gonna asphyxiate in this thing." Winston tugged uncomfortably at the tie around his neck, but Akiko slapped his hand away.
"Don't fiddle," she ordered him sternly, straightening his tie with practiced ease, as well as brushing the wrinkles out of his long-sleeved, cream colored shirt and burgundy vest. "And nonsense. You look very handsome." She stood up on tiptoe and brushed some of his shaggy blonde curls out of his eyes with a smile, giving one a playful tweak as she settled back on her feet. "Even if you desperately need a haircut."
"Oi, no more out of you today about my hair, clothes, grooming habits, or appearance in general, okay?" The large smile on his face offset his annoyed words. "You look nice, too, 'Kiko."
"Fēi cháng gǎn xiè," she replied, smoothing the skirt of the pale green satin dress she was wearing. "I'm so glad you approve." She winked. "But come on, look at the pamphlet already, Winnie. We don't have all afternoon." He complied, and as he read the advertisement printed in Mandarin on it, his face lit up like a supernova.
Akiko suddenly found herself swept into another huge hug, and her feet left the ground as Winston whirled her around in glee. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, Akiko, do you know how huge this is, this is awesome, oh my gosh, I can't believe you're actually doing this!" he babbled, interspersing his words with delighted giggles. He set her down, still keeping a hand on her shoulder as she wobbled unsteadily for a moment, still somewhat dizzy from the spinning.
"Let's go! I don't wanna waste any time!" Winston was practically dancing with excitement.
"Down boy!" Akiko giggled, but she allowed Winston to drape his arm over her shoulders and pull her close as they started off, even going to far as to reach up and take hold of his hand as they walked down the crowded streets of the city. "I knew you'd like it," she smirked up at him.
"Are you kidding?" he gushed, waving an arm to accentuate his words. "This is huge! Colossal! Enormous! Gargantuan! Humong-!"
"I get the picture, Winnie," she interrupted with a short laugh.
"Point is," Winston continued as if he hadn't heard her, "it's the Prosecutor, Akiko! The first ship created after the Exodus from Earth-That-Was! And it's on display here! I never thought your scientists would let it out of whatever vault they had it locked up in, but I'll finally, finallyget to see it!" He gave a little skip of pure joy, looking for all the worlds like a kid let loose in a giant candy store.
"Just don't blow it up, okay, Winnie?" Akiko teased him. "I don't know how I'd explain to my bosses how in the worlds my brother blew up a priceless historical artifact just by walking by it."
Winston placed a hand over his heart. "On his solemn word of honor, Winston Montgomery will not explode, detonate, implode, rupture, shatter, blow up, or otherwise obliterate a solitary thing today. Besides," he stroked Lizzie's head absently, "I don't hold with playing around with antiquated relics. The pocket watch Arthur gave me is still in prime condition, isn't it?" He patted his pocket where the ancient timepiece always resided. Akiko had to agree on that point.
"Be that as it may, seriously, don't touch anything. "
"You worry too much, 'Kiko," Winston returned breezily. "Everything'll be fine. We'll have a great time, go to the hotel tired but happy, and then you'll throw your hairbrush at me again in the morning because I tried to make breakfast and accidentally set the eggs on fire. The only thing that would make this better is if Jules and the others were here with us." He sighed, half contentedly, half longingly.
"First of all, I was tired, that was a shameful waste of good eggs, and the manager nearly threw us out because of the smoke. You ducked in time anyway, so I don't know what you're complaining about. Second, you know why Julius and the others can't be here today. He's going over military affairs with Joanna on Ariel about the war, remember?"
"Oh, yeah," Winston's face fell slightly. "I offered to go with Jules, you know, but he and Jo both said to go have fun with you. Said they could handle it on their own. As if anyone could get along without me." He winked at her to show he was kidding, but Akiko could catch the slight bit of melancholy in his tone easily.
"Well, they're right. And I'm glad you could come. It's no fun having a huge event like this if you can't show it off to someone." She grinned cheekily at him and he grinned back, his good mood restored. "I mean, Cherie and Reginald both have important government functions today, Guozhi's having a festival on his planet, and Xavier… well, he's kind of not talking to you after, um…"
"I blew his ship up, yeah, I remember," Winston finished with a sheepish grimace. "How was I to know the last time his neurocatalytic fuel cell had gotten properly repaired was a half-century ago? I was only trying to help boost his energy output so he got more oomph out of his engine. And no one was hurt!"
"And that's a small miracle in and of itself. But as much as I like Xavier for the most part, if it came down to inviting either him or you to this, I know who I'd choose." Akiko gave his hand an affectionate squeeze.
"I wish Jules could be here at least, though," Winston continued, after squeezing her hand in return and planting a quick, brotherly kiss on the top of her head. "He'd have fun. Or he would after we got him to loosen up a little. We should do something later, just the three of us. He's just so tense these days."
"It's the war," Akiko said sadly. "Why can't the outer planets just see that he's only trying to help them? Why must they do this to everyone?"
"Because they're weird, wasteful, wanton warmongers."
"Winston!"
"What?" he looked down at her, and she was surprised and distressed to see real anger smoldering deep in his eyes, though it was gone in an instant, replaced by shame.
"I'm sorry," he apologized sincerely. "That was uncharitable of me. I know they're only doing what they think is right, and I can respect that. But did they have to shoot Julius? Point blank to boot?" Ah. So that was what was bothering him, even after a year and a half. She didn't exactly blame him, though. The incident had been a traumatic experience for all of them.
"Let's not talk of the war right now," Akiko said firmly, seeing that it was putting a damper on what should have been a carefree day. "Tell me about some of the things you're working on right now."
Winston needed no more encouragement. He immediately launched into an enthusiastic and detailed explanation of his latest project, most of which went right over Akiko's head. She didn't mind, though. She liked hearing him talk. It was refreshing, really, the way he just said whatever was on his mind, how he was so earnest and honest with everyone, no matter who they might be. She could just always be herself around him, and not worry about saying the wrong thing or losing control of herself. He never took it personally, anyway.
She leaned closer into his side contentedly as they walked briskly down the bustling streets of Tojing, Winston still rhapsodizing effusively about some new computer design or some such. A group of teenage girls caught sight of the pair, and dissolved into giggles and/or dreamy smiles upon seeing them. Her only response was to smile slightly and squeeze Winston's hand a little tighter.
Akiko supposed they must look like an odd couple, she small, dainty, and looking like she just stepped out of a Companion House, and he abnormally tall and lanky, with those peculiar contrasting eyes, unruly pale hair, and overall behavior and appearance all but outright shouting "I am not from this planet!" But Akiko could have cared less what those girls, or anyone else might think. Winston was her brother, her best friend in the entire 'verse, and she loved him too much to get embarrassed over a little thing like people mistaking them for an actual couple or something. It wasn't the first time that had happened, either. It just went to show how close-minded some people could be, she supposed.
As the duo passed a stall selling fried calamari, Lizzie jumped off her customary perch on Winston's shoulder and bounded off through the crowd toward it, drawn by the tantalizing smell.
"Is it alright if she does that?" Akiko asked, just a tad worriedly. "She could get lost."
"Nah, it's fine," Winston assured her. "She always finds me again. Or I find her. We have that mystical, unexplained connection between man and animal. Or planet and animal, as the case may be." He winked down at her, and she giggled at his exaggeratedly solemn expression.
"Or you just have a tracking chip planted in her, and you have the locator on you."
"That too." He nodded sagely. "Can't hurt to be doubly prepared. You remember that time she got lost in New Paris for a whole week? I thought I'd never find her that time."
"She just has the heart of an adventurer, like someone else I know." Akiko nudged Winston playfully with her shoulder.
"Heh, that she does," Winston smiled fondly. "Oh!" He seemed to suddenly remember something. "Hey, 'Kiko, remember that…?" Akiko didn't hear the rest of his sentence. She stopped in her tracks, one hand instinctively pressing against her stomach. What was going on? Why did she suddenly feel like she had just been punched in the gut?
"'Kiko?" Winston's worried voice cut through the sudden inexplicable pain from her midsection and made her look up at him. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Akiko didn't answer. Her eyes were riveted to the small stream of red that had started to trickle from his nose.
"Akiko! C'mon, girl, you're starting to scare me; what's wrong?" He wiped his nose distractedly, then froze in shock upon seeing the smears of blood on his fingers.
The next thing Akiko knew, she was on her knees, her forehead touching the sidewalk as she doubled over. Her mind absently wondered what was going on, her dress was going to get dirty, get up, Akiko, get up, get upwhat do you think you're doing? Then the pain slammed into her with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer, and a scream was ripped from her throat before she even knew it had left. She was dimly aware of tears streaming down her cheeks and off her nose, smearing her makeup considerably, but she was past caring about that at the moment. It felt like someone was trying to cut her in half, trying to rip her apart, had stuck a sword inside her and was slicing her open.
Her arms were clutched tightly to her abdomen, where wet, sticky warmth seeped through her dress. Almost afraid to look, she carefully opened one eye to peek beneath her, and whimpered faintly when she saw the red soaking through the green fabric covering her belly, coating her arms and dripping onto the pavement.
The pain was so all encompassing that it almost blocked out every other thought she had, but one persistent one finally wormed its way through the blinding haze of agony clouding her mind: Where was Winston? That thought spurred her aching, trembling body into action. She lifted her head slightly, no mean feat since it suddenly seemed to weigh a few hundred pounds, and looked around her.
Her vision was bleary with tears and swam in and out of focus - I'm going to pass out soonshe thought numbly – but she was able to see the motionless and silent form of her brother planet on the ground next to her. It looked like he had collapsed face first to the ground, as if he were a puppet whose strings had been cut. His glasses were crooked, but for some inexplicable reason had stayed on his face. His head was turned toward her, and his eyes were closed, his face peaceful, as if he were only sleeping. But the blood pooling under and around his head and streaming from his nose told a different story. There was another puddle of scarlet rapidly spreading under his chest.
With herculean effort, Akiko pushed herself up to rest on one forearm while keeping the other arm wrapped around her middle. Steadying herself for a moment, she then unwrapped her other arm from around her stomach and reached out a trembling hand to touch Winston's deathly pale cheek.
"W-Winnie?" she whispered hoarsely, hoping, praying that he would answer, that those absurd, beautiful eyes of his would open and he'd say it would all be alright, everything would go back to the way it was, that this was all a bad dream. He didn't answer, though. His skin was cold to the touch, and her hand left smears of blood on his cheek. For one awful, horrific second, she thought he was dead, but when she desperately fumbled for a pulse, he had one, though it was so faint and slow it was almost non-existent.
Relief made her even weaker than she already was. She slumped to the ground and curled up on her side, only half able to bite back another scream of pain as her midsection vehemently protested the movement. She took hold of Winston's unresponsive hand, interlaced her fingers with his, and pressed it feebly, even as blackness crept around the edges of her vision, more for her own comfort than anything else.
What had happened to her? To him? What was going on? Had there been a natural disaster? An accident of some kind? Was anyone else hurt? Hanabi, Jainyu, Martha, were they okay? Why was this happening?
Tears continued to trickle down her cheeks as these questions and others whirled around in her dazed mind like a dog chasing its own tail. The pain was unbearable, and felt like it was driving her insane. She wished she would just pass out already.
Suddenly, a worried meow reached her ears, and she laboriously opened her eyes to see Lizzie looking down at her with what she swore was a worried expression. The little cat meowed again, nuzzling Akiko's face once before turning her attention to Winston, pawing at his arm insistently, trying to get him to wake up.
That was the last thing Akiko saw before blackness claimed her vision and swept her away on a tide of merciful painlessness at last. Her grip on Winston's hand went limp and her breathing and heartbeat slowed to match his.
At select spots across Sihnon, the industrial cities of Dalyuan, Osan, Paiju, Gumwon, Nansuing, and Quanming were torn apart by a series of explosions.
On Londinium, Colombia burned. The Parliament building collapsed.
People bled. Cried. Screamed. Prayed. Died.
On a bustling side street on Sihnon, two planets lay side by side, dead to the worlds, clinging to each other even in the midst of turbulent oblivion. Blood - their people's blood - continued to pour from their wounds, mingling until they lay together in a pool of blended crimson.
Chinese Translations
Dìdi – little brother
Jiě jie – big sister
Yúchǔn – silly
Fēi cháng gǎn xiè – Thank you very much
This fic is part of the ever-expanding Hetalia/Firefly 'verse created by myself and PwnedByPineapple.
I will just say right now that this is… pretty much 95% head-canon right here. The vast majority of the Unification War is one huge blank, so there's a lot of leeway for fan-theories about exactly what happened during that time.
And don't worry; more parts to this fic shall be forthcoming. We can't just leave Sihnon and Londinium like this, now can we? There's also the Alliance to check up on, and the aftershocks of this incident, both on the Core planets and the war in general. America and China will probably show up at some point, too.
Disclaimers (hoo boy, we're gonna be awhile…)
Winston Montgomery (Londinium), Akiko Sakai (Sihnon), Hanabi Haung (Xiaojie), Jainyu Pham (Arien), Martha Tyndale (Colchester), Joanna Barton (Ariel), Reginald Helou (Osiris), Cherie de Vries (Bernadette), Guozhi Vause (Liann Jiun), and Xavier Myers (Bellerophon) belong to me, X-I-L2048. Julius Chou (The Alliance) belongs to myself and PwnedByPineapple. Everything else belongs to Joss and Himaruya. Many thanks also goes to my captain, PwnedByPineapple, for motivating me.