The Quest
By Bashfulglowfly
Chapter One: Freeze
Ami moaned.
Her head hurt.
"Miss! Miss! Can you hear me?! Move your hand if you understand me!" The voice echoed through her skull, making it hurt even more.
"Leave me alone. My head hurts."
"Oh. You're Japanese." The voice softened. "Do you understand me now?"
"Yes." Ami tried to move but gasped then whimpered at the pain. Her eyes flew open and she found herself staring…at wreckage.
Her mind stumbled. Was I in a fight? I couldn't have been in a fight. It's been three years since an Enemy came. How did I get here?
Then it came back to her.
She was in Europe.
For some reason, she decided that she needed to take a vacation and she decided that she wanted to go to Europe.
She was in Switzerland. On a bus…that had apparently crashed.
Slowly she turned her head and looked toward the voice. It was a young man but she couldn't see him clearly in the gloom, snow and wreckage.
"Hello." His voice sent a shiver down her spine.
Ami smiled shakily. "Hello." She tried to sit up but yelped with pain.
"DON'T MOVE!" The man's voice was urgent. "You're pinned. Can you feel your arms and legs? Do you feel like anything is terribly wrong?"
Ami took deep shuddering breaths: in through the nose and out through the mouth. Then she concentrated on herself. "I can move my hands and feet but I can't move my legs. I think my left arm is broken but I can't tell if it's bleeding or not. And my right arm is pinned."
"Okay. Not good but okay. You are on the side of the bus that is against the ground, so everything has piled up on your side."
"What about you? Are you okay? Can you move?"
"Both of my arms are free and I can move my feet but my legs are pinned as well."
"What happened?"
"I don't know. I was asleep then the next thing I knew we were like this."
"What about the other passengers?"
"You are the first person to speak."
Ami craned her head the best she could. She could see a couple of people. It was obvious that they were dead. She couldn't tell about anyone else but it didn't look good. "We were both in the back of the bus."
"Yeah. That's probably why we're both still alive." The man sighed. "By the way, I'm Zander Findlay."
"Mizuno Ami." She managed to gasp out.
Zander's tone was worried. "What's wrong."
"Just a sudden pain." She managed to smile even if he couldn't see it. "I'll be okay."
"Hold on. I'm going to try and free myself then I'll get you out of there. We can't stay the way we are."
Ami listened as she heard him grunt as metal and fabric protested against being moved. She felt the bus shudder beneath her back. "Stop!"
Zander stilled. "What?"
"I felt the bus move."
"Shit!" He held still for a moment. "What about now?"
"No, I don't feel anything."
"Good."
She heard him begin to move again. This time using more caution. She yawned.
"AMI! DON'T YOU DARE FALL ASLEEP!"
Ami jerked awake. "Sorry."
"You can't fall asleep. I know you're cold and you're hurting but you can't fall asleep. No matter what your body is telling you."
"I know." She hesitated. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, darling. It's normal but you have to stay awake for me."
"Are you a doctor?"
"No, but my father is. I'm a Search and Rescue Volunteer though."
"That can be difficult."
"Yeah, especially when idiots don't go hiking properly prepared." He grunted as he moved something that sounded large. "What about you?"
"I'm going to be a doctor like my mother."
"That good." He gave a last grunt and something fell behind Ami with a crash. She heard rustling noises then a face came into sight. A face that was eerily familiar yet not. The green eyes were the same but the face seemed more masculine. She couldn't see his hair because a knit cap covered it. He smiled down at her. "Hi." He said softly as his gloved fingers brushed against her cheek.
"Hi."
"You lost that cute hat you were wearing." Zander looked around. "I don't see it but…" He tugged a hat out of the wreckage. It was pink…and had bloodstains on it. He looked at it for a moment, then looked at her.
"Put it on me." Ami said softly.
Zander smiled sadly and slipped it on her head, carefully trying not to move her too much. Then he sat back and assessed the wreckage that trapped her. Taking a deep breath he looked her in the eye. "It's going to take a bit to free you. But I'm going check on the other passengers first."
Ami nodded. Zander brushed her cheek one last time and disappeared into the gloom. Ami concentrated on taking deep breaths and reciting the Periodic Table.
Shortly, Zander returned. His face was grim. "We're the only survivors."
Ami close her eyes and felt tears trickled down her face.
Zander brushed them away. "I didn't mean to make you cry, love."
Ami opened her eyes at the endearment but he didn't seem to notice that he'd made it. Zander was looking at the wreckage that pinned her. Carefully he began to move pieces away from her. Slowly the pressure of the wreckage began to ease. "So, why did you come to Switzerland, Ami?"
"I don't know. I just got this whim to take a vacation." She said.
Zander grinned at her bewildered tone. "I take it you aren't given to whims." Ami shook her head. "I needed a break from studying myself. So I thought I'd spend a long weekend skiing. Didn't exactly work out though."
Ami gasped as he freed her left arm. "Don't move!" Zander carefully examined it. "It is broken. Not too badly. If we get out of here quickly, I don't think you'll have to have surgery." He rummaged through the wreckage and found four straight pieces of metal of varying lengths and made a splint. Ami bit her lip to keep from crying out as he tied torn strips of fabric around it. "That's my girl!" Zander brushed his lips against hers.
Ami was shocked at the feeling it gave her. Warmth spread throughout her body and she yearned for another of his kisses. He was one of the Enemy and all I can think of is having him hold me? I'm either insane or dying.
Zander continued to move the wreckage away from her body. Then he froze. His head jerked up and he seemed to be listening.
"What is it?" asked Ami.
"Sirens." He said. "I hear sirens!" He smiled down at her.
"Do you think you can get out? I'll wait."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
Zander leaned down and kissed her again. "I'll be back and we'll get you out of here."
Ami watched as he once again disappeared. She fought until she heard him coming back, talking with other people. She smiled as she was swallowed by the darkness.
888888
The light stung her eyes but she blinked rapidly and realized that they were not as bright as she thought. She looked down at her left arm and saw that it was encased in a blue fiberglass cast.
"I thought that you would like the blue color the best." Said a soft voice.
Ami looked over. It was Zander. She searched his face. She didn't know what she was looking for but she just knew that she had to look. "Thank you."
He smiled and straightened in the reclining chair next to her bed. She glanced down and saw that his right leg was encased in a soft cast. "What happened?"
Zander glanced down at the black boot covering his leg to his knee. "I told the doctors that I was okay. They told me to shut up. They took x-rays and discovered a hairline fracture. So, I'll have to wear this for a few weeks." He leaned over until their faces were just a few inches apart. "Don't you scare me like that again, my water nymph."
Her eyes searched his. "It is you."
"Yeah. I didn't know about either of us until after the crash but I remembered." Green eyes searched blue. "I'm sorry I didn't come back to you like I promised."
Ami felt the tears run down her cheeks as she remembered him making that promise. Zander carefully wiped them away. "I'll never, ever leave you again."
"How can I trust you? You were one of Beryl's Generals." The tears rolled faster down her cheeks and she began to cry. She felt as if her heart was going to burst. She clenched her fist and felt something cut into her palm. Opening her hand, she saw it was her Crystal. It flared into her eyes.
"Ami! Ami!" Zander's worried voice brought her back to herself.
She looked at the man that she had been waiting all her life for. Still holding her Crystal, she brushed his cheek with her fingers. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I wasn't going to believe you or trust you." She smiled "I love you, Zoicite. And I will never leave you either!"
Author's Note: Zander means "Defender of Humankind" and Findlay means "Fair Hero".
