Song Of Hope: This is in honor of 9/11. God bless the soul of the nameless heroes. This isn't meant to be offense to anyone who might've actually been there when it happened, but this is how I would've felt if I had actually been there and seen something like that.

Ai walked into the B-Pit with a not so happy look on her face. At the time, Madoka was the only one in there.

"Oh, hey Ai. What's up? You don't look so happy." She sighed.

"It's just the day it is."

"Today's just the 11th."

"It's 9/11. As in the worst day in American History." Madoka looked confused.

"Yeah, but what's that got to do with us? We're Japanese. It has almost nothing to do with us." She couldn't hold it in anymore. She just started crying.

"It has everything to do with us, or at least me." Just then, Kyoya walked in.

"Madoka, is Leone done being repaired yet?" Then he noticed Ai crying. "Ai, what's wrong?" She stopped crying and wiped her eyes.

"Oh, it's nothing, not really." Kyoya looked very skeptical at that. Madoka took that chance to slip out without them noticing.

"This seems like one of those times when they need to be alone to open up to each other."

"Ai, you're lying. For one, you don't cry for no apparent reason, and second, I can tell when you're lying. Just tell me." She looked away from him and towards the ground.

"There's nothing to tell." Her eyes betrayed her as more silent tears fell down her face.

"There's got to be something. You can tell me." He grabbed her arm. "Look, I hate seeing you in a state like this. This is no way that a person like you should be acting. You're strong, tough, brave, courageous, and put others before yourself. Now you need to help yourself. I know you don't want to worry me, but it's something you can't just keep to yourself." She started full on crying again and fell into his arms.

"But I'm not like that. I'm not as strong as you think I am, not as brave, or courageous. I couldn't do anything at all. Nothing!" Kyoya's eyes soften as she poured her heart out, which is a rare thing for him. He pulled her up so he could look her in the eyes as he wiped her tears away.

"Yes you are. Never think you aren't. But what I want to know is where all this is coming from. Why now?"

"It's 9/11. Do you remember what happened that day, 11 years ago?" He thought about that.

"That was the day the terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, and a few other American buildings important to them."

"Yeah, and the passengers on Flight 93 that took down a plane in Pennsylvania to keep it from hitting the White House."

"Why is it making you cry so much though? It's not like you were there." She got very mad at that.

"BAKA! I was there! I saw it happen! I was only five! Five years old, and already seeing the worst moment in my life!" She took in a deep breath, and then slowly let it out.

"Papa had some business in America and needed to investigate some claims of illegal activity in a place called HD Academy. Turns out everything they were doing, while ethically wrong, was perfectly legal. He had taken us with him because he didn't want some of our earliest memories being of him traveling so much, so every time he had a trip, he took us with. Since we had nothing to do and our plane wasn't leaving until the next day, we started walking around New York City. We were having a great time.

"Then, I saw a plane in the sky. I pointed it out, because I hadn't seen a plane over the city all day. Mama made a comment about how it was closer to the ground than it should've been, and then it hit the World Trade Center. My mother, horrified at what had just happened, tried to cover our eyes, but we had already seen it. Koi and I started running towards it, and our parents were screaming at us to get back and quit going towards that. As we were running, and our parents were chasing after us, the second plane hit. We stopped in our places. Papa started saying 'Oh god, oh god, it can't be, it just can't be.' Mama just tried to cover our eyes again, but it didn't work.

"We ran towards it again, with our parents still yelling. We got close enough that we could see the eyes of the people running out, and hear the screams of the people jumping off of the floors above where the planes had hit. I felt like I had to do something, anything. I ran even faster towards the building, thinking I might be able to help, but a firefighter grabbed me and held me so I couldn't go in there. He said 'that's no place for a little girl. You're too small to help anyone. Go find your mother and stay with her.' After he said that, Mama, Papa, and Koi had all gotten there. He handed me over to Mama and told her to get away from here. As she took us away, the first tower collapsed, and then the second one fell after. It was absolutely horrible.

"I learned later on that the firefighter who had stopped me from going in had died along with thousands of others, trying to save people. He died as an unsung hero. We went to his funeral, and my parents personally thanked his wife and son, god, his kid was so little, only two, and told them about how if he hadn't been there, I might've died." She started crying again. "I could barely face his wife and kid, Zeo, his name was, even as young as I was, I understood enough to know that his kid would have to grow up without a father, the brave man who saved my life." She collapsed on Kyoya again. He stroked the back of her head.

"It's not your fault. He went in to save others, like you tried to do. But he was right; you were too little to do anything. I can't imagine how you felt when it happened, but now I can understand why you try to help people so much. But you're still the same person, and although what happened to you was horrible, it made you who you are." He lifted her chin up to look her in the eye. "And that's what I love about you." She smiled and wiped away the tear.

"Thanks Kyoya. I'm glad you made me talk about it."

"Keeping something like that bottled up forever is not good for you. And I care about you too much. It would've destroyed you from the inside."

"Well, it's still painful to think about, but it's hurts less now." They endearingly kissed each other. "Thank you Kyoya."

Song Of Hope: This story will not affect the plot of Ai Minasan at all. This is just a story dedicated to this day.