A/N: Yeah, I know, it doesn't focus on any of the main characters.  Sad, sad, sad fic.  Very sad. 

"Wings"

I am so high

I can hear heaven

I am so high

I can hear heaven

No heaven, no heaven don't hear me

            I can hear their laughter.  It's cold, metallic.  Yet, it seems so far away.  Why?  They're right there, right under me.  They aren't yards from my position, but right under my feet.  They're getting farther, too...How can that be?  It's as if the earth is falling away.  That's impossible.  It has to be.  So how does it go?

            I'm so high now.  Those vile monsters look small and insignificant.  If only I could just reach out to crush them.  I would do it without remorse, as they had murdered my friends, my family, my love.  It would be the ultimate ecstasy and even the thought arouses that dream.   But I am too high.  And that sick jolly melts away to a happier sound.  I can't seem to recognize it though.  Describing it would be impossible.  Silly, it sounds holy to me...

"Help.  Help...!"  I try to cry out.  Dammit!  It sounds so feeble.  Pathetic.  I don't think anyone can hear me.  Is anyone there?  I suppose not.  I'm alone again and flying high.

There I am.  Down on the ground at the androids' feet.  At their mercy.  Much to my surprise, they don't obliterate my disheveled body.  They just watch in their demented amusement, watching me die.  This isn't right.  This isn't fair!  Where's the hero that will save us?  Where is he after all?

And they say that a hero can save us

I'm not gonna stand here and wait

            "Krista, no.  I won't let you go!" My mother stood blocking my path in the doorway.  She ignored the frail tresses of light gray that fell in her eyes as she gave me a determined gaze.

            I shook my head.  "You can't stop me, Mom.  Not this time."

            "You'll get yourself killed!  And for what?  For what purpose?"  she demanded of me.  The question was fair, I had to admit.   

            "I won't do this anymore.  All we do is hide away time after time in the hope of remaining alive.  This isn't living!  You always told me a hero would save us, but I'm not going to stand here and wait for that anymore!  I won't." 

I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles

Watch as they all fly away

            The male android dares to nudge my side with the toe of his shoe.  "She's dead.  Let's just go."  the female says suddenly.  Her voice holds nothing but boredom. 

            "She's alive, but she'll die soon.  I want to be here to see it."  He smiled to her.  The bastard smiled to his horrible twin. 

            I wonder if their clothes are becoming wet.  These hot tears won't stop.  There doesn't seem to be a thing in the world I can do to make this right.  I...I can't look anymore.  I won't see them desecrate my last moments...This is all so confusing. 

            I turn my head away to avoid the sight.  The sky is blue and only a few pieces of cotton hang in the air around me.  On my back, the sun is shining...I can feel the heat, it's embracing warmth.  And I see...birds.  They're flying so close to me.  Piercing golden eyes and dark feathers gleaming in the light.  Eagles.  That's what they are, eagles. 

            Not being able to stop my ashen hand, I reach out.  All I want is to touch one...ride on its wings...But they scatter.  And I watch as they all fly away.

Someone told me love will all save us

But how can that be, look what love gave us

A world full of killing, and blood-spilling

That world never came

            Mother shook her head at me.  "Don't try to be that hero.  You can't possibly take on the task.  You'll die!"  Her voice was so urgent, so pain filled.  It made me want to cry, seeing her that way.

            Still, I ignored her plea.  "Someone told me once, that love will save us.  But how can that be?  Look what it gave us!  This death, this blood-shed!  This isn't a world I want to be living in."  If only I could make her understand...

            "Don't you understand that you'll die?!  Don't you care?!"  she screamed at me, her voice holding worry and anger. 

            A ghostly smile appeared on my lips, a half-smile I think. "I'd rather die, Mum, than live in a world like this."

And they say that a hero can save us

I'm not gonna stand here and wait

I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles

Watch as they all fly away

            I think I'm falling now.  My back is toward the ground and my eyes see only wings covering the sun's rays.  My mouth is ever parted as though I wish I could say something, but the words were silent.  I reach out again, my fingertips look like they can almost reach...but I'm falling so fast.

            And suddenly, I am at their feet again, looking at the guy's scuffed sneakers.  Pain.   Oh Kami-sama, the pain.  It's unbearable.  Everything is immobile, and I feel so hot.  A thousand suns feel like they've implanted themselves underneath my skin, burning me alive.  The ground my head rests upon is cool, though.  It's damp. 

            I shift my murky sight to the dusty ground.  The moisture is dark and thick.  It doesn't remotely resemble salt water...then what is it? 

            "How cute," a searing pain shoots through my skull and neck as my head jerks upward.  "She's alive after all."

            "I told you."  Before my head again falls, I can see that smirk.  That smirk I saw through the window just before he sent some kind of energy beam into my mother's back.  A sudden bout of nausea washes over me.

            I shriek helplessly as he kicks me in the ribs.  My body rolls in that same thick liquid, and I am on my back again.  "The e-eagles..."  a faint whisper escapes my lips.  The eagles...they circled above us as if waiting for me.  I knew, I knew they would.   

Now that the world isn't ending

It's love that I'm sending to you

It isn't the love of a hero

And that's why I fear it won't do

            "MOTHER!"  my voice is so shrill and loud that it rings about the room in a haunting echo.  "MOTHER!"

            But my screams did her no justice as her eyes grew dull, and she fell limp onto the floor.  I ran to her as quickly as I could, only shock registering.  I fell to my knees and scooped up her limp form.  Holding her in my arms I could see the color leaving her cheeks and my tears cascading down her face.  "Mother...I'm sorry," I whispered to that lifeless form.  "I love you."

            I cried those words over and over and over until I couldn't say them anymore.  And all around me I could hear screams and explosions.  The terror hung in the air so thick I could barely move.  Still, none of it seemed to matter.  Because, the world wasn't ending now, I was just sending my love...but it wasn't right.  It wasn't right at all.  I wanted to be her hero, the one to save her and everyone I loved.  To avenge my lost love and my lost brother.  I fear that this love wasn't good enough since it had only come from a coward.  A coward who had hid away while death was being brought about.

There was nothing I could have done then because the next screams I heard...were my own.      

And they say that a hero can save us

I'm not gonna stand here and wait

I'll hold onto the wings of the eagles

Watch as they all fly away

            "Seventeen, look.  She's gone crazy," the girl muses.  Her voice was afar again.  I'm tired, and it feels like there's a weight on my chest that grows heavier each time I exhale.  Seventeen, his face is becoming too blurry to make out any long.  I should stop trying then, I don't want to see it anyway.  Why am I so tired? 

            "Mo-Moth..." I can't finish.  The words won't come.  There really isn't anything I can do.  So I look toward the sky again.  I can see them.  The eagles.  They are there still.  Again, that sense of detachment washes over me and I'm lifted toward the heavens.  I like it this way...there's is no pain, no fear...just the warmth of the sun.

            One more time.  I reach out, needing to feel the silk of their feathers.  And I watch as they all fly away.   Save for one.  And I finally held on to the wings of the eagle...

And they're watching us

(Watching Us)

As they all fly away

A/N:  Oi, that turned out to be a disappointment.  That's what I get for not writing in so long. *shakes head*  And yes, I do know that eagles are generally solitary animals.