Summary: 'Angel' was the perfect nickname for Kaname Chidori. Sousuke knew so. Because she saved him first. Now it was his turn. Slightly OOC and off canon-verse. Oneshot. Enjoy!

A/N: This is my first FMP! fanfiction. It explores a "what if" scenario that delves a little deeper into Sousuke. I like to think of it as an explanation as to why he is the trigger-happy kid that he is. Enjoy!

Angel

By: slstmaraudersjple

He is 10 years old when he first sees her.

It is entirely by accident – he has just finished an assignment and is on his way back to the temporary base when he stumbles across her in the clearing that separates the desert path from the forest.

He knows right away that she is a foreigner – although her clothes are in neutral colors that allow her to blend, her body language speaks volumes and tells him that she is unfamiliar with the area. Her clothes are too clean, missing the sweat and dirt and desert/forest smell that the natives are accustomed to.

She's crouched against a tree in plain sight, her hands covering her face. She's sobbing quietly. At the sound of approaching footsteps, she slowly lifts her head.

It is not her hair – although it is bright blue – that captivates him, but her eyes.

They're a warm shade of brown shining with emotions.

He can tell that she's probably his age.

The practical, logical side of him tells himself to kill her – there cannot be any witnesses, what if she is a spy, what if she's setting a trap – but the other side of him, the soft one that he barely sees or hears anymore, the one that still holds onto whatever innocence he has left, tells him to stop.

Before he knows it, he's in front of her. "Esme shoma chist? Kojai hastidad? (What is your name? Where are you from?)" He asks gruffly, crouching so that he can get a good look at her face.

"Mayotte shimai mashita. (I'm lost.)" She murmurs. "Kudasai, tetsudatte kuremasuka? (Please, can you help me?)"

He doesn't understand what she's saying. So he simply shakes his head.

She tries again. "I'm lost. I don't know where I am. Can you help me?"

Finally, she says hesitantly, "…gom shodeham (…lost.)"

He's somewhat relieved that she can at least speak his language, even if she's limited to phrases and incomplete sentences and her grasp of it is rather bad. But it's enough to tell him what he needs to know.

He's still deciding what to do with her when he hears sounds rustling.

"Kaname!" A male voice calls.

A trio of males dressed similarly to the girl emerge from the opposite end of the clearing.

The male in front, a man in his thirties, sees them and his eyes widen. "Kaname!" He shouts, heading over.

Kashim reacts instinctively, grabbing the girl and pulling her in front of him, ignoring her startled gasp, as he pulls out the knife he has hidden in his sleeve and holds it in front of her.

The implied threat is clear.

The man immediately stops, 3 feet from them. He raises his hands up in a gesture of surrender and takes a step back.

"Otou-san!" The girl – Kaname – shouts, tears forming in her eyes as she struggles helplessly against his hold.

"Please," The man says in Farsi. "She's my daughter. She means everything to me. You can go. You have my word that my men won't follow you. Please just let her go. She's innocent."

And even before he hears the man say those words, he knows they're true. The girl is too soft. She's too fragile. She would never survive if left alone in these conditions.

He makes up his mind, and before he knows it, he's pulling the girl back, further across the clearing. "She goes with me. You stay here. When I feel I am safe, I will let her go. If you or your men follow, she's dead."

The man nods, not moving from where he stands, ordering his men to stop.

He doesn't know if the girl understands, but judging from how she reacted earlier, he doesn't think so. So he gestures instead, pressing one finger to his lips and dragging the blade of his knife across her throat, leaving behind a faint line of pink. She nods silently in understanding.

He loosens his grip on her just the slightest bit so he can pull her into the forest, behind the barrier of trees and bushes and plant life.

It takes him a moment to realize that she's speaking again, her voice soft, "You can't be older than me. You're just a boy yourself."

He releases her and takes a step back, waving his arm with his knife, gesturing for her to go.

"Arigato gozaimasu. Thank you." She murmurs quietly, turning around to press a kiss to his temple.

Shell-shocked, he watches as she takes a step back, turns around, and takes a step forward. Then she stops and turns around again.

"I know you're a good person. Please be safe," She says softly, and then she turns around and disappears through the wall of fauna.

For some reason, even though he doesn't understand a single word she said except for "…lost," her words never leave his head.

At night, when all he wants is to desperately escape the harsh reality he finds himself in, he dreams of her. He doesn't know what an angel is because he's never seen one, but he's pretty sure that it would have blue hair and lively brown eyes, and a sweet face.

Dreams of a soft, feather-light kiss get him through some of the darkest times of his life, and he resolves to learn all the languages he can so that he can find out what the girl – Kaname – said to him that day.

It isn't until he meets up with Kalinin and learns English that he finally understands some of what that mysterious girl said.

"I'm lost. I don't know where I am. Can you help me?"

"Thank you."

"I know you're a good person. Please be safe."

He learns Japanese shortly before joining Mithril.

And finally, finally, he can understand everything she said to him, nearly 7 years ago.

"Mayotte shimai mashita. (I'm lost.)" She murmurs in Japanese. "Kudasai, tetsudatte kuremasuka? (Please, can you help me?)"

She tries again in English. "I'm lost. I don't know where I am. Can you help me?"

Finally, she says hesitantly, in Farsi "…gom shodeham (…lost.)"

"Arigato gozaimasu. Thank you." She murmurs quietly in both Japanese and English, turning around to press a kiss to his temple.

"I know you're a good person. Please be safe," She says softly in English, and then she turns around and disappears through the wall of fauna.

"Your new mission." Kalinin says, passing him a folder.

He looks at the top paper, scanning the objective. It sounds relatively simple – it's a bodyguard/protection mission. The charge's nickname is 'Angel'.

Frowning imperceptibly, he turns the page over to read the file on his new charge and freezes.

It's her.

His blue-haired, brown-eyed angel.

And finally, finally, he knows her name.

Kaname Chidori.

He closes the file without reading the rest. He will read it later, but he knows he will not change his mind.

She saved him back then.

Now it is his turn to save her.

And he can not, will not, fail.

Fin.