Hand in Hand, Heart to Heart

By Squall's Scar

Disclaimer: Angel Sanctuary is the greatest story every told! But, I don't own it, since the all-mighty and powerful Kaori Yuuki wrote it. (grovels at mangaka's feet)

Author's Note: This takes place during Katan's attack in the train station. What if Setsuna saved Sara and destroyed Katan? Alternate universe. This means Sara lives.

Rating: G

Chapter 1

I killed a man. No, Alexiel, who is inside me, killed a man. Not just a man, Katou, from my class. She used my body to attack her own brother, Rosiel but he escaped, leaving behind the corpse of a human being. But the blood stained my hand. Now, Kira was in jail because he took the guilt for me. I couldn't let him do this. The guilt was mine alone to bear. Even though he betrayed me by awakening Alexiel inside me, he was not the one who killed Katou. It was me.

So here I was standing next to Sara on our way back to Tokyo. She had vowed to protect me with her white wings. I turned to look at her. She stood by my side, holding my hand. We looked at each other, ready to take the first step down the train station together. She squeezed my hand, in comfort. I released a long held breath and stepped forward. I felt like a child, repeating to myself, "one step, and then the other." That line was all I could say to keep from taking Sara in my arms and crying like a baby. With a palpitating heart, I walked down the hall, hand-in-hand with the woman I have wanted ever since I can remember.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a man stepped out in front of us. I froze, realizing I had seen him somewhere before. But my mind went blank. He attacked us. My first instinct was to protect Sara. Without thinking, I pushed her out of the way. Then, I dodged his attack, watching it miss me and hit the wall. I ran up to him to stop him. But, he threw another ball of light at me. It hit the ground in front of me, almost killing me. Sara called out to me. But, I ran at him again, while he was distracted. I tackled him, and the ball of light hit the top of a pillar. It crumbled from the attack and broke into pieces falling on top of the man. He was crushed under the stone, and I doubted that he survived that. Sara ran up behind me and reminded me that the ring had protected us both. I turned to look at her. Suddenly, the pile of rocks thundered and an angel rose from the rubble. Shocked at the sight of the angel, I went numb. Slowly my mind registered that Sara was standing in front of me trying to protect me. But my body reacted much more quickly, pushing her out of the way and taking the hit meant for me.

I didn't know if I was dead or not. The air was warm and my body felt as if it was suspended. But the effect was brief. My eyes opened to see that Sara was holding me and crying. There was a crowd around us. For some reason, I was very tired. Whispering a prayer of thanks to some God who might hear it and accept a sinner's thanks, I reached my hand up to touch her face.

I tried to speak, "Sara, what's wrong? Where are you hurt?"

Trying to sit up to inspect her, I pushed myself onto my hands. Immediately, Sara stopped me by throwing her arms around me.

Her angelic face cried, "Setsuna, you're alive! Are you alright?"

Putting the back of her palm to my forehead, she cried, "Oh, no! You've got a fever!"

I fell into her lap, fainting from the exhaustion.

When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Sara's face. Why was her body so light and frail? Had she been dieting?

I smiled, "You're a sight for sore eyes."

Crystalline tears streamed down her face. She held me tightly. My heart only told me one thing, to hold her tightly too. It was then that I realized I was wearing a hospital gown.

She whispered into my chest, "I was so worried!"

Breathing her scent in, I comforted her, "Don't cry, Sara."

Wiping her tears, she asked, "Setsuna, how are you feeling?"

Trying to feel my body, I replied, "I'm fine, Sara. What about you?"

She ignored my question, "When you were hit, a light came from you. It killed that man with wings. What…was it?"

I tried to remember what happened, but my memory was fogged. I couldn't remember much of anything that happened.

I could only answer, "I don't know…I can't remember…where are we?"

She sniffled, "We're in Tokyo…do you remember me?"

Again, I smiled, "Yes, I remember you. But…"

I shook my head to clear it, "…why are we here?"

Watching her knit her lovely eyebrows together in confusion, I grinned. She was very beautiful and kind. It was no wonder I had such a hard time trying to stop myself from loving her.

"We're here because you're hurt. Luckily, I only lost some of my memory, too, but you were hurt pretty bad…"

"Sara, what do you remember?"

Please don't tell me she forgot all about me! I couldn't bear it!

She giggled at my concerned expression, "I remember everything about you, Setsuna. What I don't remember is what happened after that night in the hotel. I remember there was something dangerous you had to do here in Tokyo, so I told you I would protect you. Instead, you protected me again from that…that man. The doctor says it's emotional trauma and that my memory will slowly come back. But, I'm more worried about you. He said that you were in a more serious situation since you…"

A doctor walked in, interrupting us.

He greeted, "I'm Dr. Takawashi. Well, I'm glad to see you're finally awake. When you were brought in, you had a high fever, and were in a coma."

Knitting my eyebrows together, I repeated, "A coma?"

I was supposed to be dead? I turned to Sara. She nodded her head, confirming his words.

Dr. Takawashi laughed, "Yes, when your friend, here, brought you in, you were unconscious. There wasn't a scratch on your body, and you wouldn't wake up."

I gave a confused look, "No scratches?"

Suddenly my head filled with images of Mother yelling at Father.

"I don't think he's my son! He never gets any scratches or bruises on him! It's like he's protected by the Devil!"

I shook my head.

The doctor continued, "Yes, she said that someone attacked you, but there were no bruises on you. She on the other hand came in with some pretty nasty cuts and bruises. I don't know how she carried you all the way over here in her condition. You have a very tough girl here, Mr. Mudou. But anyway, since we found nothing wrong with you physically, you should go ahead and check out after the final tests."

After testing, I headed back to my room. With a deep breath, I changed into my own clothes. Sara helped my walk, since I was feeling woozy from sleeping.

I wondered aloud, "Why do I feel so weak? How long did I sleep?"

Sara muttered, "A month…"

"A month!"

Sara gave mea tired look, "Yes. I was so worried that you would never wake up. The doctors told me that I should be prepared for that. But I wouldn't accept it. You're too strong to give in to such a simple fever, right?"

I rewarded her belief in me with a warm smile.

Sara announced, "I also got a job."

My head turned to face her, not able to hide the anger. She looked back at me with confusion in her eyes.

I started, "Why were you working, while I was sleeping? More importantly, WHERE were you working?"

While my mind filled with dirty images of filthy jobs, Sara only laughed.

I lost control of my anger, "WHAT? Why are you laughing?"

Jealousy took over every vein in my body. Sara stopped smiling when she looked back at me. It was as if she feared nothing as she said her next words.

© Squall's Scar