Here I come with Chapter 2. If you don't know the drill, check chap. 1 for disclaimer. On with the show.
Chapter 2: DMZ's secret.
Several days have passed since X and his friends met Star. She quickly became their friends though she still spent lunchtime with DMZ who'd always talk with her while lunching.
One day, they saw DMZ walking Star home.
"They seem really close." Axl said.
"You guys think they might be childhood friends or something?" Pallette asked.
"As far as I can tell, it's possible." Alia replied. "DMZ acts more friendly when Star's around."
"Maybe she's right..." X said out loud. "Maybe people just don't understand him."
The group looked at him. "So far, it's possible." Layer said.
"Well, we can't just walk up to them and ask them." Zero said.
X looked at him and grinned. "True. Star sees us as her friends." He said. "I don't want to lose her trust. Let's give them some time. When the time comes, she'll walk with us."
The others nodded and the conversation ended.
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A few days later, X, Zero and Axl were at their home doing their stuff: X was reading a book while Axl finished his homework while listening to some music. Zero was doing some katas. Suddenly, they heard a beeping sound.
"Someone's PET is beeping." Axl said.
PET meant Personal Exploration Terminal. It was a little device that worked like a cell phone with a monitor. Also, if connected to a computer terminal it could also be used to check on news, TV, and acess the city net. Every person in Hollow City had one and X and his friends were no exception.
"I think it's mine." X said. "I'll get it."
X picked his packback and pulled out a light blue PET. He pressed a button. "X here."
A familiar face appeared on the monitor. "X? It's me, Star." Star said.
"Hey, Star." X greeted her. "What's up?"
"Could you and the others meet me at the park in twenty minutes?" Star asked. "It's really important."
X was a bit surprised by that. "Is something wrong?" He asked.
"I can't explain it now. I'll be waiting." Star said hanging up.
"What is it, X?" Zero asked.
"It was Star. She wants us and the girls to meet her at the park in twenty minutes." X replied. "She said it was important."
"It must be to call us so suddenly." Axl said.
"I think so. Let's go." X said.
The trio left to pick the girls and meet their friend.
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In no time, they were at the park. "There she is!" Pallette said pointing to a bench. Star sat there.
"Guys... Thanks for coming." Star said as they approached her.
"What's wrong, Star?" Alia asked.
"Yeah. X said it was important." Layer said.
"It is..." Star took a deep breath. "It's about DMZ."
The six friends glanced at each other. "DMZ? What he has to do with it?" Zero asked.
"You guys are probably wondering why I hang out with him and why he acts more friendly when I'm around..." Star said looking at the sky. "It's because he needs help."
"What do you mean?" Axl replied.
"DMZ needs people that understand him." Star continued. "Someone that gives him a chance to show who he really is..."
Flashback.
"DMZ!" A female voice called. A small kid rolled over under his covers. "Come on now, the sooner you go ahead and do it, the sooner it will be over." The voice said.
"Doesn't matter, I don't care, I will just go stupid for the rest of my life." The kid said.
A female in her mid twenties walked up to the bed and uncovered the kid. It was a small boy with short blond hair and blue eyes around eight ears old.
"You don't want to make me upset do you?" The female said, as she placed a hand on the kid's head rubbing it.
"No... but it's boring!" The kid said.
"I did it, and you can too... Who knows, you might make some friends..." The female said.
Finaly the boy craddled out of bed. He walked into the dining area where another small boy was sitting. He was seven years old, had spikey redish orange hair and olive green eyes.
"Good morning, DMZ!" The boy said cheerfully.
"Meh... it would be alot better if we didn't have to go to school..." DMZ said.
"Well look who's here, have you ate yet, StarZ?" The female said.
"Not yet, Ma'am" StarZ replied.
"What do you two want to eat?" The female asked, smiling at the two.
"I don't care, whatever StarZ wants..." DMZ said.
"Well then, how about pancakes? Is that ok Melissa?" StarZ asked.
"Sure, but you two have to go to school, afterwards..." Melissa said pulling ingredients out of a cabinet.
Shortly after, StarZ, DMZ and Melissa were sitting at the table with plates full of pancakes.
"Ok you two, it's time to leave..." Melissa said handing StarZ and DMZ their back packs and lunches.
"Ok..." DMZ said grabbing his bags, followed by StarZ.
"Oh, and if the day starts to get to long for you DMZ, just remember i will be here waiting for you..." Melissa said as she walked them to the door.
"I will!" DMZ said as he and StarZ ran to school. Soon they entered the school.
"DMZ, can i ask you a question?" StarZ said, pulling on DMZ's sleeve.
"Sure, what is it?" DMZ replied.
"Is Melissa your mom?" StarZ asked.
"No... why?" DMZ said looking at StarZ.
"Well she lives with you, and she takes care of you, I just thought..." StarZ said, but was interrupted by DMZ.
"You think too much..." DMZ said, and that was the end of that topic.
After school, the two split apart.
"See you tomorrow, DMZ!" StarZ said.
"Ok!" DMZ replied as he ran toward where Melissa lived.
"Melissa, I'm home!" He yelled as he walked in dropping his bag.
"DMZ, RUN!" Melissa yelled, as DMZ saw she was tied in a chair. But before he got a chance, someone had grabbed him.
"Where do you think you're going?" A man said.
"Please, leave him out of this!" Melissa yelled.
"Fine, but this strikes agaisnt you!" The man said slapping Melissa. At that point DMZ bit the man's thumb, running off and hiding in a closet.
"Ah damnit!" He yelled. The closet door slowly cracked open, DMZ had a safe view.
"Forget him!" Another man yelled.
"Fine, let's get this over with..." The first said.
DMZ looked around, long and hard. Finaly he saw Melissa, she was blind folded, and bound not being able to move.
"Now... where is the money, little missy?" One of the men said, as they rubbed their gun across Melissa's face.
"I... I'm not going to tell you!" Melissa yelled.
"TELL ME!" The man yelled grabbing Melissa by the jaw.
"Never..." Melissa said.
"Fine then..." The man said, taking a step back pointing the gun at Melissa. She took a deep breath. DMZ saw many flashes and heard many loud sounds. He couldn't see or hear.
"Let's get out of here!" One of the men said. And shortly after they were gone. DMZ crawled out of the closet, and slowly up to Melissa.
"Melissa?" He said. But there was no response.
"MELISSA!" He yelled. Still no response. He jumped up into her lap and shook her, but her body was stiff. He started crying. Melissa was gone.
End Flashback.
Silence fell over the seven teens. "Melissa was DMZ's guardian. She raised him after he lost his parents to the big war and after what happened... He was crushed." Star finally said. "He fell into a deep state of depression and spent some years in a correctional facility..."
"It didn't do me any good though." A voice said.
The group turned around. DMZ came from behind a tree and walked towards them. "After I left the facility, they tried to send me to a new foster home." He continued. "Didn't work. I always ended up back to the orphanage. Either way, life was a living hell to me."
DMZ sighed. "Every day was painful..." He said looking away. "I just wanted my life to end so I could be with Melissa again... Some of the rumors you guys heard are true: I attempted suicide, but I found that doing so was harder than it seemed..."
Everybody looked at him. "I'm not proud of this, and I know it'll gross you out, but…" DMZ rolled up his left sleeve and showed his arm to the seven teens.
The gang, except for Star, gasped. Scars criss-crossed DMZ's arm. Many were in straight lines while a few wavered a bit. All of these scars were the result of purposely-inflicted wounds.
"Oh, my God..." Layer gasped, swallowing hard.
"It's addicting in a way," DMZ explained as if he was discussing the weather, his eyes studying his arm. "Every time made me feel like some of the pain had bled away. I knew it wasn't healthy, but I couldn't help myself. I just wanted the pain to stop. I tried slitting my wrists a few times, but I couldn't get myself to do it. The body resists too much to the idea of purposely inflicting injury on itself. I also have some scars on my throat and chest."
Silence. It took some moments for the gang soak up what DMZ had just said.
Star glanced at them. Alia, Layer and Pallette all had tears streaming down their faces. X also had some tears on his eyes that he tried to blink away. Axl's face was a mixture of shock and sadness while Zero, although he didn't demonstrate, Star could tell he was rather shocked as well.
"Why?" Axl asked meekly. "Why didn't you try to get help or something?"
DMZ sighed. "It's kinda hard getting help when people's always shunning you around because of who you are..." He replied. "Ever since I was a kid, I was different from the rest and, after the incident, people just kept pushing me away even more. People fear what they don't understand, and they don't even bother to try."
"That's why Star got so angry about the rumors when we told her..." Alia said out of the blue. "She knew the truth all along."
Star nodded. "That's right. DMZ and I've been friends for a while so I knew who he really is." She said.
"So, how did the two of you meet?" Zero asked.
Star sighed. "Well, I gave you guys DMZ's story, so I guess I should give you mine..." She said. "You guys remember that I moved to this school because I had a few troubles at my old one, right?"
They nodded. "Well, I had a lot of trouble..." Star continued. "I was the kind of girl that was always picked on. I was different and no one wanted to accept that so they'd pick on me, making fun of me, teasing me, picking and hiding my stuff or putting nasty nicknames on me... I had no friends there so I'd just pretend that what they were doing didn't hurt me, but it did..."
Star let out a small sob as she tried to not cry. "I tried to hide it so they wouldn't see me hurt. I managed to do so for some time but one day I couldn't take it anymore... A guy annoyed me the whole day. I asked him to stop but he didn't hear me... Finally I snapped: I grabbed him by his neck and slammed him against a wall then I punched him across the face... I was so angry, so sick and tired of being treated as a piece of garbage I just couldn't control myself..." She wipped some tears away. "When I realised what I've done, I ran away... "
X and his friends were shocked. Who would've thought that the girl that was so kind and nice to them had gone through so much, yet she was able to smile and help the others?
"A few weeks before that incident, I met someone on game forum on the web." Star continued. "We chatted about all sort of stuff. Somehow, talking with him made life a bit easier for me. We'd chat everyday for hours."
"That person... It was DMZ, wasn't he?" Pallette asked.
Star nodded before looking at DMZ. "Yeah, it was him." She replied. "He was the first real friend I've ever had... When I told him what happened, he went to my place and he comforted me the whole afternoon..."
"Talking with Star made my life better in a way." DMZ said. "And helping her dealing with her problems made me forget about my own. Of course, she soon found out about them."
"It was my idea to move to this school. This way I'd be able to be close to DMZ and to help him like he did for me." Star said. "It wasn't easy in the begining though."
"I sorta grew colder after all this time people pushed me away and I ended up pushing them as well." DMZ said. "Star was the only person stubborn enough to break down the barriers I created."
"You guys must be wondering why I'm telling you all this." Star said. "Well, I just had a feeling you were different from most people. You stood up for me and DMZ that day and you didn't judge us by what we look or what people say about us..."
"Heh, she even convinced me to tell you my story." DMZ said. "She said it was time to learn how to trust again."
"Star... DMZ..." X said. "I can't say I understand how you two feel because I don't, but now that we know, it just breaks down another barrier."
"X's right." Zero said. "It might take sometime, but we can help you."
"If you two let us do so." Alia added.
"We can't fix what's in the past." Layer said.
"But we can fix the present." Axl said.
"Together." Pallette finished.
Star wipped some tears of joy in her eyes. "I knew I was right in trusting you guys... Thanks..." She smiled before glancing at DMZ. "DMZ?"
DMZ looked at her. His eyes also had some tears and he was smiling. It was a small smile, but it was a start. "I've forgotten how it feels good..." He whispered. "... Having someone really caring about you..."
Star smiled and hugged her friend. X and the others glanced at each other and also joined them. For several minutes, they remained that way.
Despite the past ordeals, a new friendship had blossomed. It would take some time to heal their wounds, but with their new friends, Star and DMZ would be okay.
A/N: DMZ and Star's relationship is based on a real experience. It's not easy being a teen and you're bound to get hurt in several ways during this phase. I made several friends while visiting game and anime forums and also here on and talking with them did make my life better and happier. So, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to all the friends I made on the net. I love you guys!