Blood and Cherries

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Author's Note: I do NOT own Xenosaga, or any of its characters. I wish I owned Albedo, Gaignun and Jr. Fun times, fun times.

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Chapter 1: Found

It had all been like a great dream. His hand on her head, their eyes meeting, his beautiful voice. Truly this white haired man was an angel. And he was to her.

Number 67, or a Kirschwasser, was one of the 99 made before the 100-Series Prototype MOMO. She was always referred to by her number, never by a name of any sort that anyone could have given her. And then, he came. She had been sitting quietly outside of her father's, Joachim Mizrahri's, lab. It was ruined, destroyed, decimated by the Gnosis attack. All of the realians had attacked the humans – it had been a grisly battle. Only her and her 98 sisters remained in a dazed state of consciousness. Their father was dead. Their sister, MOMO, was gone. Their "mother", Juli Mizrahi, gone. They only had each other and the lifeless corpses around them.

Many of the Kirschwassers tried to revive the dead citizens. It was a feeble attempt. Even she tried, on many, and nothing worked. She was alone now, but not far from her sisters, crying silently to herself. Tears dripped from her eyes onto the stone hard ground below. She remembered it…she remembered it all.

Hiding in the shadows as she heard the gunshots being fired everywhere by the soldier U.R.T.V.'s, and then a different set of shots and she cries of the U.R.T.V.'s as they fell. Only on remained, one with black hair and piercing emerald eyes.

"Rubedo!" he shouted, his voice filled with alarm. Number 67 wanted to go out, to talk to him…to help him…

"Rubedo, where are you!" he shouted, hurrying off into the darkness. Number 67 stood up.

"No…wait…come back…!" she called, but quietly. She took a few steps out of the shadows, but he was gone. She sank onto the ground, crying in the darkness.

And now, she was crying again. Her tears dripped onto her hands and her skirt, but she didn't care. All that she loved, besides her other sisters, were gone. She just wanted to escape it all. Escape all of the pain.

And then, she felt it. A pulse streaming across the desolate wasteland of bodies. Someone was alive. Not like her, though – this person had to have been a human or something. She closed her eyes and listened to this pulse, this heartbeat. The heartbeat was erratic, not at all like a human's. The pulse was the person walking – the person had to have been imbued with tremendous power – and it spanned across a great distance, growing ever stronger as the person drew closer.

Suddenly, one of her sister's gasped. Number 67 looked up and spotted Number 29 looking up in shock and surprise. Behind her, Number 83 was shaking in fear.

The pulse stopped, but the heartbeat continued to beat, even faster now.

"Who are you little ones?" a soft voice asked. Number 67 turned around slowly and looked up. That's when she saw him. He was young, too young to be considered the god he would be later. His hair was a stark silver-white and he held piercing violet eyes. His skin was dark, like hers, but he was taller than her. Her eyes wandered down slowly. He wore a U.R.T.V. uniform, like all of the others wreaking havoc.

He stepped forward towards her, but 67 was frozen in place. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move. She could only watch him draw closer until he was inches from her. He knelt down on the ground beside her and looked at her.

"Are you…Mizrahi's daughter?" he asked, looking at her sternly.

67 only shook her head. "We are his daughters…before the prototype was built." He seemed to be concentrated only on the realian in front of him, his gaze never wavering.

Finally, his eyes widened, as though he had come to a realization. "So…you were abandoned? Left behind?" Number 67 dropped her head slowly. She had never thought of it that way…and with his words, fresh thoughts opened up in her mind. Were we really left behind…?

Tears began to fall again. The white haired boy watched her, a surprised look on his face. 67 put a hand over her mouth in order to stifle the terrible sobbing that would soon come forth. The boy continued to gaze at her, but she hid her face from him. Suddenly, a cold hand touched her chin and lifted her face until she was eye-to-eye with the boy. His violet eyes, like purple fire, were watching her intently, with a gentleness and understanding hidden in their depths. 67's eyes brimmed over with more tears, and he stood, taking her into his arms. He put his hands on her head and allowed her to cry into his shirt.

67 could not stop herself from crying, which was one of the oddest things to feel. Realians like herself should not cry - they should feel nothing. Is this…how the prototype MOMO feels? Is this what Daddy wanted us to feel…? She closed her eyes and remembered her father…

"When you awaken, my beautiful child, you shall become a true person. You can only do this by doing a great many good deeds, and then…you shall be human. You will become my Sakura…!"

A hand on her head alerted her back to reality. She looked up and saw him, the white haired boy, leaning over her. "You don't have home any longer, do you?" he asked her. She shook her head.

"Then come with me," he told her, stepping back and holding out his hand. "I…I'm alone too. Let's go together, and form a new life for ourselves. You, me, and your sisters." 67 looked at his hand and suddenly saw something red on his palm.

667

She stared at it, then him. He caught her gaze and looked down at his own palm. "Yes. I'm a U.R.T.V…my number is number 667."

67 slowly stood. "I'm number…67 of our number." Number 667 looked shocked at this, but then he grinned, an odd grin at first that grew to look malicious. She stepped back lightly.

"So…that's why I feel so connected to you. We hold similar numbers, similar fates, eh?" he drawled, his voice taking on a very different tone to it. She took a step back, but he grabbed her arm. "No, don't." She looked at him, and saw a conflict of emotions all over his face. "Don't go. I'm sorry…" he whispered. She reached up and put a hand on his head this time, much to his surprise and amusement. "Comforting me now?" he asked with a smile.

She could only smile back.

"So…you'll come? You'll come with me?" he asked. She could only smile in response as he took her hand. "Who knows?" he asked. "Maybe…maybe your fate and mine ARE intertwined," he told her. She could on wish he was right.