Renton got out of the Nirvash when he was picked up by the Gekko and immediately began to tread off to his room.
"Renton!" Holland yelled.
Renton turned around slowly to find Holland already up in his face and punched him straight in his face. Holland continued to beat him up until Talho and the kids showed up in the hangar.
"Holland!" Talho yelled.
"What?!" Holland roared back.
"What are you doing to Renton?!" Talho yelled.
"Showing him what happens when he disobeys orders" Holland said punching Renton again.
Talho shoved Holland off of Renton who just laid there looking devoid of life.
"Pukey…" the kids said as they walked over to him and looked at him as he laid there.
"So, you're saying, you will beat him up for saving your life" Talho said slapping Holland straight over the face.
"He is a brat who is causing nothing but trouble, he is the reason Eureka is in the state that she is in" Holland yelled.
"He had no control over what happened to Eureka, in fact he saved her life, and again you beat him for that too" Talho yelled back.
Renton slowly got up off of the floor.
"Holland, I did what I needed to, to protect Eureka, so what I really what I want to know is… is… WHY DO YOU HATE ME FOR HELPING YOU?!" Renton yelled.
This infuriated Holland and he ran over to Renton picked him up and threw him across the hangar.
"Holland!" Talho yelled as she went up and grabbed him.
"What?!" Holland said back aggressively.
"Clean up the Nirvash and get your LFO back in order because our main mechanic is now unable to work" Talho ordered.
"Why should I, that's Renton's job?!" Holland yelled back.
"Because you've beaten him senseless" Talho yelled back.
"Do you have any idea how much you have hurt this kid, he admired you for most of his life and what do you do, you beat him up, he does anything, you beat him up, even Eureka, whom he adores so much ignores him because she takes so much after you, because of the way you treat him, so you do his work, while I take him to Mischa" Talho yelled.
Talho then grabbed a bucket and mop and threw them at Holland.
"Renton?" Talho said.
"I'm alright" Renton said getting up, but he knew something was wrong.
As Renton tried to take his first step he fell over, and then Talho looked at his leg, it was broken, but Renton ignored the pain.
"Renton, you need to stop" Talho said.
"No, there are things I need to do, Eureka needs my help and the Nirvash, I need to clean it up" Renton mumbled only to be interrupted by a bucket to the side of his head.
"Eureka doesn't need help from a brat like you!" Holland yelled.
Hearing this the kids ran out of the hangar.
"Holland, what the hell?!" Talho yelled back as she walked towards Holland, who threw the mop at Renton like a spear.
"What was that about Holland?" Talho yelled.
"He doesn't have the ability to protect Eureka, so he shouldn't be making statements like that, and now look, he's getting blood all over the floor" Holland yelled.
Talho turned around to find Renton bleeding out, the mop had stabbed him from an angle and it went through his side. Talho ran and picked up Renton and rushed him to the infirmary.
"Mischa!" Talho yelled.
"What is it Talho? OH MY GOD, GET HIM OVER HERE NOW!" Mischa yelled.
Eureka, who was lying on the bed across the room looked and saw the state that Renton was in and her eyes bulged.
"Renton…" Eureka said softly.
Talho heard Eureka, but ignored her.
"What happened to him, did one of the LFO's hit him, did he crash, I thought he went to save Holland?" Mischa asked.
"He did, and Holland beat him to this extent as a thank you" Talho said.
Eureka got up and walked slowly but surely over to see Renton.
"Renton…" Eureka said again.
"Go away Eureka, you're not helping right now, you need to understand he has put his life on the line for you time and time again and you continue to ignore him, until you get your priorities straight, you stay away from Renton" Talho said.
Eureka trudged back to her bed and laid there, sad and conflicted.
"Well that should do it" Mischa said.
Renton was covered with bandages and had his leg in a cast and he had a giant bandage over his side and had blood being pumped into him to keep him alive.
"How long do you think he will be out?" Talho asked.
"It's hard to say, he has been through the ringer, and he is very tired" Mischa said.
"Why?" Talho asked.
"He is a fourteen year old boy, he wasn't made to endure life or death situations on a daily basis" Mischa said.
"Or venture down into chemically dangerous mines" Talho shot at Eureka who gasped and nearly began to cry.
"What should we do?" Talho asked.
"What we can do, wait for Renton to regain consciousness, his body and mind need time to recover and sometimes the process can be strenuous on the person" Mischa said.
Just then Renton's eyes shot open, he started hyperventilating and got up quickly, but was shot back because of all the pain he was in from all of the injuries Holland inflicted on him.
"Renton!" Talho yelled trying to calm him down.
Renton's breathing calmed down, as he slowly became aware of his surroundings.
"What happened to me? Why am I covered in bruises, cuts and blood?" Renton asked in a frightened voice.
"Holland happened, and the worst part is you just went and saved his sorry ass, and this is how he thanks you" Talho said clearly frustrated.
"How's Eureka? Is she awake?" Renton asked frantically.
"She's fine, but right now you really need to sleep and regain your strength, you have been through a lot, don't worry about the Nirvash, Holland is taking care of it" Talho assured Renton.
Hearing this Renton's eyes bulged. He immediately got up and tried to get off the bed.
"Renton, what are you doing?!" Mischa asked.
"I can't let Holland do anything with the Nirvash, Eureka entrusted the Nirvash to me, it's my job to take care of it" Renton said as he fell to the floor.
Everyone was shocked to see Renton's determination, they had never seen this side of him before. Eureka who was lying on the other medical bed was in tears, she had no idea that Renton felt the way he did, and the fact that he was trying so hard in the state he was in, proved even more so, how much he loved her, but all she could do was sit there and cry silently.
"Renton, stop, you are in no condition to do anything right now" Talho ordered.
"This is all I can do, why can't you guys understand this?!" Renton yelled.
"Because you will die!" Talho yelled.
"No, never, I won't… die" Renton said as he lost consciousness.
Talho and Mischa picked Renton up and placed him on the bed.
"You see now Eureka, that is how much he loves you, so do you understand how much he has gone through for you. Think about that" Talho said as she walked out of the infirmary.
Eureka only could whimper an incomprehensible response.
Several days passed as the two of them rested in the infirmary. Mischa wrote reports on both of their conditions. Eureka woke up in the middle of the night, one night. She walked over to Renton to the best of her ability and sat there and thought to herself, for a long time. She reflected on what she had done in the time that Renton was on the Gekko. She wished she had done things and wished she didn't do other things. After she was done her reflecting on herself she went back to her bed and slept for a while longer.
Almost a week later, Renton finally woke up.
"Uuuuugh…" Renton moaned as he got up slowly.
"Good afternoon Renton" Mischa said.
"Mischa? How long have I been out?" Renton asked.
"More than a week, some of us wondered if you would ever wake up" Mischa added.
"I didn't think I would be out for that long…" Renton replied.
"Well on the bright side, the wound on your chest has closed up nicely, you can now move around freely, but I can't say the same about your leg, it'll be a few more days until you can walk" Mischa said.
"Ok" Renton sighed.
"Call this a dumb question if you want, but how was your sleep?" Mischa asked.
"It was long from what you have told me, but I saw a lot of things in my head, I cannot remember everything I saw, but I had some weird dreams, but forget about me, how is Eureka?" Renton said frantically.
Mischa got out of his line of sight and showed him that the bed was empty. Renton immediately was shocked.
"What happened to Eureka?!" Renton asked frantically.
"Nothing she's fine, she is up and moving, in fact she has been coming to see you everyday, she has changed significantly" Mischa said.
"How so?" Renton asked.
"She has become much more conscious of her actions and has become a much better person. Look, we can talk more about this later, but right now we need to get you something to eat, you haven't eaten anything for days" Mischa said.
At that very moment Renton finally felt his stomach growl at him, so he concurred with Mischa, he did need something to eat. Mischa helped Renton onto crutches and soon enough Renton hobbled over to the door, but it opened before he got there. There stood a girl, she was slightly shorter than Renton, she had teal hair, she was slightly pale, but looked very gentle, and wore a blue and white dress with blue buttons from top to bottom on the front of her dress, it was Eureka.
"Hey Eureka" Renton said smiling.
"Renton!" Eureka yelled as she ran up and hugged him.
Renton could only stand there, he couldn't hug her back because he needed to keep his hands on his crutches to make sure he didn't fall.
"How long have you been up?" Eureka asked.
"Only a few minutes, how have things been on your end?" Renton asked.
"They've been alright, but they are better now, now that you're finally awake" Eureka said hugging him again.
Just as Eureka let go of Renton, another figure walked into the room. It was Holland. Renton saw Holland and immediately looked around for a way to get away, but there was only one way out. Suddenly Renton fell onto his back and began to try to get away from Holland, his movements were unbelievable, but he was stopped by someone grabbing his leg.
"No, not again, what did I do, I've been out for over a week, what did I do this time?!" Renton yelled expecting to be hit.
Instead of being hit a hand appeared in his face.
"Get up" Holland said picking Renton up back onto his feet and put his up against his bed.
"Look Renton, what I did to you was unfair and I shouldn't have done it, you didn't deserve to be hit, if anything I was, you saved my life and I severely beat you up for it, in fact I nearly killed you, so I don't expect you to forgive me, but I just want to say I'm sorry" Holland said.
Renton was really surprised, he had never seen this side of Holland before, and didn't know what to say.
"It's going to take a while Holland, but I can't hate anyone forever, besides I don't like to dwell on the past, so we're cool" Renton said.
"Thanks Renton, man, you're more mature than when I was your age" Holland said walking out of the infirmary.
"Well, I wasn't expecting that" Renton said.
"Yeah, I woke up a few days ago, Talho filled me in on all that happened and I yelled at him for the longest time as well as everyone else on the Gekko, even the kids, you should have seen it" Eureka said.
"Well, you can tell me all about it when we get some food because I'm starving" Renton said.
"Yeah, me too, let's go" Eureka said taking what she could of Renton's arm.
Eventually Renton and Eureka made it to the cafeteria.
"Man, walking with these things is a lot harder than it looks" Renton said.
"Well, on the bright side, it only takes minimal getting used to" Eureka said trying to make light of the situation.
Renton could only laugh, but his laugh was heard by everyone in the cafeteria. They all got up and out of their seats and went and saw him. They gave him somewhat of a hero's welcome, it was as if he was gone for a year, but Renton was happy to feel like he was needed somewhere and he felt that he belonged. As he ate, he was riddled with questions and everyone wanted to see how he was doing, it was fun for everyone there.
About an hour later, Renton and Eureka finished eating so they got up, said bye to everyone and went for a walk.
"Well that was fun" Eureka said happily.
"Yeah, did you hear what Stoner called me. He called me the prodigal son, it's weird, but I don't mind" Renton laughed.
"Yeah, that is pretty funny" Eureka giggled.
As the two of them walked for a while longer at one point Eureka stopped walking.
"Eureka? Are you ok?" Renton asked.
"Yes, but… Renton, can we go to my room I need to talk to you" Eureka said.
"Yeah, sure" Renton said warmly.
Renton was confused and at most flustered he never thought he would see the day that Eureka would invite him to her room.
Finally they arrived at Eureka's room and they sat down.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" Renton asked.
"I'm sorry" Eureka said.
"Huh?" Renton said in confusion.
"I'm sorry for letting all of these terrible things happen to you because of me, I had no idea how you felt and all I did was cause problems, you tried to help me and I pushed you away, it was wrong of me to do that, and I'm so, so, sorry" Eureka said as she began to cry.
"Eureka, you have nothing to apologize for" Renton said trying to comfort Eureka.
"Yes I do, I nearly got you killed twice" Eureka said crying more.
"Eureka, everything that happened in the past few months I did of my own accord, you cannot, and I repeat cannot have you take responsibility for my choice" Renton said.
'B-B-But, what happened in the mine, all of these fights with the army, everything that happens with Holland, all of it happened to you because of me" Eureka said.
"Like I said Eureka, I made a choice on the day I met you, do you know what that decision I made was" Renton said looking her in the eye.
"W-What?" Eureka said still crying.
"That I would protect you with my life, you are everything to me, Eureka, and don't ever forget that" Renton said looking Eureka straight in the eyes.
Eureka began to cry even more, but these were tears of happiness.
"Renton…" Eureka said.
"So from now on Eureka, don't blame yourself for what happens, please, you are not to blame for my problems" Renton said softly.
"But, Renton, I… I" Eureka said.
"No, you are not responsible, besides, we are a team, anything that comes at us, we will get through together, ok?" Renton said.
"Renton!" Eureka said as she jumped on him and gave him a huge hug.
"I love you!" Eureka yelled into his chest.
"I love you too, Eureka" Renton said back.
The two kissed and they decided to stay in Eureka's bed for a while, and just take a nap, because they had all been through a lot, but whatever else comes at them, they will face, together.
The End