Originally Published: 10-08-10
"No objections, right lady?"
I rolled over on my back. His parting words to me had haunted my dreams for the past few nights. I was staying as a guest in the Galactic Federation to rest for my next mission, I suppose.
This was really just an excuse. I wanted to be with the people I knew best. Since one of them was dead, Anthony was the only one I had left. He and I would talk occasionally, mostly of my past and Adam.
Adam.
Was it really so bad not to mourn his death?
The single tear I shed was when the doors closed. He had turned to me, the smallest and slightest smile on his face. "No objections, right lady?"
I lifted my hand to give him the first thumbs up I had ever given him. With quick second thoughts it thrust downward. He nodded and seemed to chuckle before turning again and walking to his doom. I pounded the glass, begging him to come back. He couldn't leave me. He just…couldn't.
But he did. The explosion sounded deep in my heart, not just in my ears. It was a sign of death, of victory, bittersweet victory, and the parting of ways that everyone must undergo. Yet, I had been calm then. I knew what I had to do. Like always, he had walked me through to the very end.
Now that he was gone and the adventure over, I was confused. What was there left for me? I couldn't join the Federation again, not after his passing and my mistakes. Here was no place for me.
Yet, could I really continue on my path of an independent bounty hunter? The metroids were dead, Ridley was dead, Mother Brain was dead… Everyone, really, was dead. Everyone except Madeline, Anthony, and myself. We lived on, if it can be called living.
I turned onto my side, facing the chair I placed Adam's helmet on. That helmet was the last thing I had to remind me of him. I exhaled a shuddering sigh, stood, and picked it up to hold. I sat on my bed and hugged it to my chest. "Thank you, Adam…" I whispered.
Once again, my thumb slowly tilted upward. I knew that no matter how many times I told him thank you, or gave him a sign of my final understanding, he would not come back. But, at least I knew that somehow, some way, he had gotten my sign.
The thought brought others to my head. What of my parents? Old Bird? Could they watch me as well? I hoped that they could. I wanted my parents to know that I had avenged them, and that their daughter had grown up just fine under the watchful eye of the Chozo.
I held his helmet tighter, wishing he was here to offer some sort of guidance. My thoughts were jumbled together, and not even I could make them out. To my dismay, a single tear slithered down my face. I had promised myself that I wouldn't mourn Adam, but losing a father twice, I suppose, granted me the permission to do so.
The rest of the night I spent cradling his helmet and going over memories. Occasionally I would cry, but it was never very hard or for very long. Eventually I fell asleep, because when I awoke it was with the helmet still very much clasped between my hands and I was on my side instead of sitting up.
The morning was early, but I decided to get dressed anyway. Picking a uniform over my Zero Suit, I glanced in the mirror briefly. I imagined that I could see myself as a young girl who thought that she knew everything.
"No objections, right lady?"
"Only that I wish you were here."