Wedding Day
"[...] Marriage between God Eaters is rare, and there is a series of forms that must be submitted before the marriage becomes valid."
-NORN Database 'Wedding'
It had started with a request.
"Shouldn't you find a guy to do this?"
Ami leaned against the railing that overlooked the Den of the Far East Branch. The area itself was quiet, other than employees doing their daily duties. She knew it would be a matter of time before it would get busy with the various God Eaters going on missions. Sakuya stood beside her. There was a slight blush on her cheeks.
"I would." she started, "But it's tradition that the Unit Leader walks the bride down."
Ami appeared to be silent, thinking of her request.
She gave a slight shrug of the shoulders.
"It'll be weird, with both of us being girls. And that you're older than me. But I can't say no."
Sakuya gave a supportive squeeze on her shoulder while smiling brightly. "Thanks, Ami. You're a real life saver."
Ami couldn't help smiling back. Sakuya went through so much emotionally with Lindow's supposed death, his evolution to the Corrosive Hannibal, and finally getting him back. Now within few weeks she would be marrying the childhood friend. It made her happy. As a unit leader she was proud when her unit was at their best. And as a close friend to see that even among all the troubles of being a God Eater, happiness can still be found.
"I wanted to wear a dress to the ceremony though." she noted, "But I'll need to be in a suit to walk you down proper."
"I would see why, you've made quite the impact on Alistair."
Ami quickly turned her head towards Sakuya. Sakuya giggled at the look of surprise on her face. "It's okay if you admit it." she said, "Most of us should be thanking you for cooling him down."
"It isn't like that at all!" Ami whined, "Sakaki just has us doing these Resonance testing like once, twice a month. We're bound to be civil to one another eventually. With Alis' change to New-Type he's just doing two projects at the same time."
Sakuya picked up on the name change.
"Oh, Alis huh?"
Ami's face became red at it. "Alistair gets tiring to say when you say it lot. That's it. We're at most civil around each other."
Sakuya suppressed another chuckle. She was amused to see her usually collected leader act so much like her age. "I know. I know. It's nice to see you being the self you were when I first met you. You seemed so sad lately."
"I'm okay." Ami replied, "Just that I realize that there's nothing I can do about it. As one of the first New-Types here, it's expected."
Sakuya frowned at the sudden shift in tone Ami took. She was concerned that she already seemed so resigned, especially since she had a lot of time ahead of her. "Ami...you know you can talk to us if you need to. Our bond is more than just on the battlefield."
Ami straightened herself up. She turned to smile at her. "I know. But don't worry about it. I'll be fine. You have enough to worry about with your wedding and all."
Alistair sat at one of the cafeteria tables. He rubbed his temples in frustration. The mission he just came back from went on longer than he would have liked. He didn't even realize that someone had sat in front of him. He looked up and saw that it was Katsume who sat in front.
"I hope this seat wasn't taken." she said.
He waved it off. Katsume passed a canned drink to him. He looked at the pink labeling and winced.
"It's not that weird 'First Love Juice' is it?"
"No no." Katsume answered while laughing, "Just a sparkling water."
Alistair glared at the can for a moment before opening it and drinking it. Katsume watched as Alistair collected himself. He gave a nod of thanks to her. She folded her arms on the table.
"I heard that your unit had a rough mission."
"Yeah." he spoke, "One of them fell to an Aether's charms and got poisoned. Then another got poisoned trying to get the first out. But they'll be fine after a few hours."
Katsume heaved a sigh of relief. It wasn't too uncommon to have God Eaters fall to the human shaped Aragami. A moment of awkward silence passed between the two. She fiddled with her metal arm. Alistair immediately took notice.
"Something's wrong." he simply stated.
Katsume shook her head. "It's nothing like tha-"
Alistair straightened himself up. "Even after five years, you still don't trust me?"
Katsume shook her head. It wasn't that at all. Even if once upon a time they were romantically involved. She felt nothing but friendship for him now. She noticed that Alistair had a serious look on his face. "I never blamed you." she spoke softly, "I was just angry then."
Alistair put his hand on top of Katsume's flesh one.
"So what is this all about?"
"Regardless of your feelings for the New-Type, don't hurt her. If I find out you have, I will personally see it that you pay."
Alistair looked in shock at Katsume's sudden seriousness. It vaguely reminded him of their time together in missions. He withdrew his hand from hers. His face was soon replaced with confusion.
"What you mean Rookie? There's nothing like that at all. We only tolerate each other. You know those tests with Sakaki will eventually make that happen."
Katsume didn't lessen the seriousness on her face.
"You may be deluding yourself and her, but I know. I've seen the subtle changes. I'm just warning you. I know how sudden you can change to being less than pleasant."
Alistair rubbed his temples.
"It isn't like that at all." He explained.
Then he stopped.
"Wait a minute." He spoke, "Why are you suddenly concerned for Rookie anyway? As far as I know, the two of you never talked on an informal level."
It was Katsume's turn to rub her temples. "It doesn't matter, just don't harm her." She warned.
Alistair began to smirk at Katsume's actions. Something was beginning to form in his mind. Katsume noticed his smirk and looked away.
"W-what?" she stammered
"I think I get it now." He said, "It wouldn't have anything to do with you both looking similar does it?"
"What? No." Katsume immediately denied. Her face turned red.
"Katsume, we've dated for a long while." He explained, "I know your body language pretty well. Rookie tends to have hints of them. She also looks a lot like you when she dyes her hair. So, you want to explain why?"
The wedding ceremony itself went off without any problems. Ami still felt the pride of walking Sakuya down the aisle. She was now in her room preparing for the reception. She took off her sniper uniform folding it carefully on the bed. Slowly she took off her glasses. She looked at the thin black frames. A thought went through her head to wear them during the reception. She ended up placing the frames on top of her uniform. Ami never had any vision problems, but the glasses were a way to improve on her leader image. She turned to look at the carefully laid out dress on her couch. She was on her way over there before she stopped.
"Looks like I'm due for a touch up soon." She mumbled.
Ami looked in the mirror. She noticed the slight hint of her natural light blue hair showing at the roots of her hair, contrasting her navy blue hair. She glanced at the time on her desk.
"Shoot."
She took the dress and put it over her head.
The elevator dinged signaling Ami was in the cafeteria. The normal design of the room was changed in favor of a more formal theme. Ami saw the entire personnel of the Far East Branch in attendance. She navigated through the crowds of people to reach where her unit was sitting at. Suddenly, she felt a hand grab hers.
"You clean up nicely." Said Alistair.
Ami was silent from his remark. She wasn't angry at him, since the statement didn't have its usual bite. She turned to face him, her light blue ankle length dress twirling with her. Alistair stared in amazement at how Ami looked. He had only seen her in pants, and maybe the occasional skirt. So to see her in a dress was rare for him. Ami used her free hand to place on her hip.
"You seem to never lose that wit." She remarked.
"Well yeah." He replied.
Ami noticed that Alistair never removed his hand from hers. He was staring at her far longer than she was used to. Her face became flush under the stare. To see him wearing a suit was a surprise to her as well.
"W-what?"
"Hey Rookie. Dance with me." Alistair requested.
Ami stared at him for a few moments, letting it sink in. "What!" she exclaimed. She looked for any hint that he was joking. But she found none. Her face became even redder. She stepped back from him.
"Come on Rookie. I want to get at least one dance in before you decide to hide out."
Ami emitted a sigh before stepping closer to him again. "I wasn't going to hide out, but okay."
The two joined hands while making their way to the dance floor. Various couples were already out on the floor.
"Don't step on my feet Rookie." Alistiair muttered.
Ami frowned at him, but placed her hand on his shoulder. The two began to move to the music. Ami looked back at the main table to see Sakuya and Lindow sitting there enjoying each other's company. She couldn't help the smile from coming out.
"They deserve one another." She commented.
Alistair looked at the couple as well. He heard the faint tone of sadness in her statement. Through the Resonances, he felt that Ami was infatuated with Lindow. He quickly quelled the feeling of frustration trying to emerge. He made them move a little away from them.
"You must be very happy Rookie." He commented, "Your unit had it rough. But it all managed to work out."
Ami nodded with a slight smile on her face. "Yeah, I am. They're my family. I don't think we would be complete without all of us here."
Alistair lowered his hand to around her waist. Ami squeaked at the sudden touch. He smirked at her being flustered before speaking again. "You've grown up Rookie. You certainly not the person I met when you first started."
"Praise? From you? The world must be ending." She sarcastically remarked.
"Shut up Rookie."
That didn't stop Ami from laughing. Her armlet wearing hand brushed against Alistair's hand around her waist. She stilled at the spark of emotions. Her eyes widened at the rush of emotions flowing into her. Alistair quickly took note of what was going on.
He had seen it enough to know what was going on.
"Rookie! Rookie!" he shouted.
"You're telling me that she went to face that Hannibal? By herself!"
"That's right Alistair." Tsubaki said.
"And her unit's en route?"
"That's correct."
"Dammit!" he shouted.
His fist hit the wall pillar. What was she thinking? Was she wanting to die or something? He started to go to the elevator that went outside the branch.
"I'm going after her Hibari."
"But Larten, the First Unit is only allowed on this mission."
"I don't care!" he shouted, "They aren't going to make it in time!"
"And you leaving after them will change it?" Tsubaki asked.
Alistair stopped her words. He noticed that Tsubaki had a different expression on her face. Something that it was very rare to see.
She was worried.
"I understand your concern Larten." She said, using his Code Name, "But this should only befall on the First Unit. He is their teammate."
"To hell with that! You know as well as I do that Ami's too compassionate to kill a team member. Don't you see that she actually likes him. She'd rather die than do something like that."
His God Arc was ready. A rough grab from Tsubaki stopped him however. She glared at him.
"Have faith Larten." she spoke, "There's a reason this fell on the hands of Ami."
"But she's a child!"
He noticed that Tsubaki chuckled lightly. How could she be chuckling at a time like this?
"You'd be surprised how much you fail to notice, Larten."
The words lingered in his head as he waited at the den for her return. It was hours before the elevator that lead to the exit opened. His mind couldn't fully digest the scene in front of him. The medical crew sped past him. Twice. Both times had someone in their gurneys. His eyes widened at the second patient. His feet followed after the medical crew. His eyes stayed on the patient. An abrupt pull stopped him from making further progress however.
"What are you doing Alistair?" asked Sakuya.
It took him moments to realize just what he was doing. He turned to her unit. He noticed the shocked looks on their faces. How worried he was over seeing her body.
"What happened to her Tachibana!"
She was surprised at his sudden shouting. But she looked away.
They all did.
Slowly, Ami became aware of her surroundings. As her vision became clearer she noticed a group surrounding her, while Alistair was holding her from falling on the floor. She saw the look of concern on his face. On everyone's face. Slowly she got up from him.
"Are you okay Rookie?" he asked her.
For a long moment she was silent. Then her eyes widened. Ami stumbled back from the group. Alistair started to walk towards her, his hand outstretched. Ami had a look of horror on her face. The thought of touching his hand sped her breathing up.
"No! Don't touch me!"
Ami could feel everyone's eyes on her. Voices were booming in her head. She covered her ears to block the sounds. But it seemed to only make them louder.
"Stay away from me!" she yelled.
Ami bolted out of the room. Alistair was about to chase after her before a hand stopped him. When he turned, he realized it was Sakaki that held him back. The usually enthusiastic professor had a downcast expression.
"It...might be best to give her space right now." he suggested.
Alistair turned around fully to face him. "What the hell do you mean!" His fist balled up tightly. Sakaki knew something. For quite a while with his phrasing.
"I had hoped to stop her before it got to this stage. But she hid it well."
"Talk Sakaki. You're testing my patience."
The director let out a small breath before speaking. "There's still a bit more testing on the Resonance and its effects. But I've noticed that the Resonance leaves a side effect on the psyche. Almost like an imprint. The intensity of the memory being portrayed during the Resonance affects how strong the imprint will be. Minor ones will leave almost immediately after the Resonance ends. More intense imprints tend to stay longer. Repeated imprints can collapse that psyche."
Alistair stared at Sakaki as he explained. His mind hurt trying to understand what he was saying. Katsume sighed while rubbing her forehead.
"What Director Sakaki is saying." she began, "Is that Ami's having a mental breakdown because she feels as if she's losing her sense of self under the feelings of the Resonances she's been having."
Alistair became red for a moment before taking off his suit jacket. "Why didn't you say it like that in the first place? Damn science babble. Hibari, help me find Rookie!"
The operator let out a startled gasp before nodding. Katsume watched as Alistair rolled up his sleeves. She looked down at her hands. She seemed to be struggling with a choice. Katsume nodded to herself before clenching her hands.
"I'm going too." she said.
The decision brought out a reaction from the group. Tsubaki touched her on the shoulder. "Katsume, how can you wield your God Arc if you lost an arm?"
Katsume gave a small smile. She placed her metal arm over her heart. "I still get regular injections Tsubaki. Not as much to be ever put back on active duty, but enough for this." Her gray eyes went over to a girl. "Licca, my Arc is still in good shape right?"
"Of course." Licca said with a smile, "Have you have little faith in my skills?"
Katsume shook her head. "Then that's all I need. I haven't forgotten my training. I won't let my sister down again."
Everyone was silent. Soon she went after Alistair.
She wandered into the temple. Her light blue dress was stained in a muddy color. She dragged her God Arc through the snow as she kept walking. Behind her every step was the decomposing bodies of Aragami. Her eyes scaled the half destroyed building. She took a step forward before a screech stopped. Three Cocoon Maidens stopped her progress into the building. She prepared herself, aiming the Trovatore II blade at them.
'Who steps are these? Are they my own?'
She dodged to the left from their attacks. Then rolling to the right. A sharp pain hits her left side. She lets out a hiss as the laser hits her. Quickly deploying her Hamlet+ she blocked the other incoming lasers. She feels it in her.
The time is right.
She changes the God Arc to its gun form. The Tosca blue hue gleams against the moonlight. A ghost of a smile appears on her face as she shoots her bullets. She watching in mild glee as the maidens fell to the ground at her shots. Slowly, the God Arc formed back into its blade form. She walked up to the defeated Aragami.
She could feel it.
Her God Arc was hungry.
After letting the weapon devour her foes, she watched as the unusable parts decompose into a muddy mess. She watch as it added on to the stains of her dress. A sensible part of her mind nagged to check her inventory like usual.
That wasn't her agenda today.
She dragged her Arc up the ramp to the temple. Her back hit the wall as she slid down to the floor. She stabbed her weapon to the ground for support. She began to chuckle. The chuckle increased to a laugh. Her lowered her head as the laughing increased. The voices had lowered a little, but not enough for her. Her laughter was broken into sobs. Her body and mind felt like it could break at any moment.
An image goes through her head.
Herself and two other girls. Whoever this memory belonged to, the three of them played in this place a lot.
It was so much more put together then.
'I'm so sleepy...'
Alistair and Katsume arrived in the snowy plains. They looked around but didn't see any noticeable trace of Ami.
"This was the place Hibari detected Ami's movement." Katsume noted.
"This area is smaller than the others." Alistair noted, "But we'll cover more ground if we split up. Rookie couldn't have gotten far. At this hour, it should only be Cocoon Maidens and maybe a few Orgetails. Should be easy to dispatch, but still, stay on your toes Venus."
Katsume froze mid-step at the sound of her code name. She looked at Alistair. "It's been a very long time since I heard that name."
Alistair responding by only shrugging. "Well you haven't been on any missions since the accident. Anyway we should get started. Rookie isn't particularly suited to be out here for long."
With a nod, the two took separate paths. Alistair took the right path. He noted how quiet the area was. He didn't like how silent it was.
"Rookie!" he called out.
No response. He continued walking until he felt an odd texture under his feet. Alistair realized that it was the remains of a defeated Aragami. His eyes followed the trail of defeated Aragami to the temple. His feet soon followed. The closer he got to the temple, the more rushed his steps were.
"Ami!"
He heard the shuffling a weapon behind him. When he turned around, he noticed it was Ami. She looked completely exhausted. His red eyes widened taking in the sight. He had only seen her like that once before.
After Lindow had allegedly died.
Weakly she stood up while gripping her God Arc. She pointed the blade at him. "Go away." she muttered.
Alistair paused mid-step.
"What are you doing Rookie?"
"Stay away." she said.
He took the moment to look closer at her. Her dress was dirtied from defeating Aragami while her hair was frazzled. Ami seemed so far off from the girl he had seen around the branch. She didn't even hold her weapon as strongly as she usually did.
"I can't take it anymore." she whispered, "I can't take the voices anymore."
He stepped forward. Alistair showed no fear at having a weapon pointed at him. He kept his stare on her. "What's wrong with you Rookie? I thought you were stronger than this?"
"I'm not!" Ami shouted.
She leaned back against the wall. "I'm not." she repeated, "I'm just like the other New-Types. Why do I have to suffer like this? I just want it to stop...please..."
Alistair grabbed Ami's hand and brought her into his chest. Ami heard her God Arc clattering to the ground before hearing Alistair's heartbeat. She weakly tried to get away from his hold.
"Let me go. I don't want to see anymore!"
"Shut up Rookie, do you feel it?"
Ami's eyes widened. She didn't feel a Resonance starting. She looked up to meet Alistair's face. His cheeks were a slight shade of red.
"Look Ro-Ami, I'll stay by your side. You don't have to hide your pain. At least, not from me."
"A-Alis?" she stammered.
"You talk too much."
Katsume let out a small sigh. She didn't see Ami on the path she took. The panic within her swelled just a bit with each minute she didn't see her sister. Her gray eyes looked ahead at the large temple that was at the top of the plains.
'She might have gone there.'
Katsume quickened her pace to the temple. She got up the ramp and heard the muffled sobs. Worry rose in her as she walked into the barren building. Her eyes swept the room and it was there she saw Alistair holding Ami. The worry quelled away to relief to see that the New-Type was alright. With Alistair's protective embrace, she knew that Ami was going to be alright.
"How is she?" she asked.
Alistair seemed genuinely surprised at Katsume's voice. He glanced at her for a moment before looking back down at Ami.
"I think she'll be fine. I guess it was all too much for her and she fell asleep."
Katsume gave a quick nod before opening up her communication device. A few rings before someone had picked up.
"It's Venus, Hibari. Larten and I found Ami. Can you send transport with a retrieval team?"
There was a slight gasp from the other line.
"Is Ami-?"
"No no," Katsume quickly said, "it's nothing bad. Just that Ami's passed out and neither of us can pick up her God Arc."
"I see...we'll send them over soon."
"Thanks Hibari."
When Katsume hung up, she saw that Alistair had picked up Ami. She noticed the look in his eyes worried over her. She chucked to herself at the scene. Alistair took notice and his face became flushed.
"You must think I'm scum for feeling like this."
Katsume shook her head. "Oh the opposite. I had read in her files that she lived with nomads before being found by Fenrir. Just don't hurt her."
Alistair nodded as he heard a helicopter coming. He shifted Ami around to make sure he had a firm hold on her. He started to walk out of the temple with Katsume following not too far behind him.
Ami woke up to a ceiling. She focused on the ceiling as she was becoming more aware where she was. Slowly she got up from the bed.
"Easy now." said Katsume.
Ami realized then that she was in her room. She was about to leave the bed, but Katsume's firm hold on her shoulders stopped her.
"They said you'll be exhausted for a while, even after you regain consciousness. So we shouldn't rush you."
Ami slowly laid back down on the bed. She scanned the room, only to find that a certain person wasn't there. Memories of what happened before she lost consciousness played in her mind. Her eyes lowered in shame of her behavior.
"I need to go apologize to Lindow and Sakuya. I must have ruined their wedding with that."
"They understand." Katsume assured her, "If anything, we need to apologize to you. We pushed you too hard during the Resonance experiments. Director Sakaki just wanted to know more to help future New-Types."
"It's fine." Ami said while shaking her head, "I agreed to it. I should have said something when it was bothering me."
It was a long period of silence between the two. Both realizing it was the first time the two were talking on an informal level.
"So...where's Alis?"
"Oh! You mean Alistair? He's assuring everyone you're okay." Katsume answered, "He was worried about you. I think he likes you."
Ami straightened herself up so quickly after she said that. Her cheeks became red out of embarrassment. "No no no. He doesn't like me. Not in that way."
"It's not every day Alistair says he'll stay by your side and mean it. Trust me."
The two were silent again. Suddenly, Katsume lowered her head into her hands. She laughed lightly to herself. Ami was confused by her actions.
"I can't but feel partly responsible for all this happening to you. If I had known about you sooner. Maybe I could have prolonged this. There's something I've wanted to tell you since after you woke up during the Hannibal incident. So many times I could have told you. I was scared. I let you down so many times. At times I felt like I didn't have the right to tell you this."
Ami's hand touched Katsume's metal arm. Katsume looked up to see Ami's smiling face.
"Don't feel like that. You've been helpful with Sakaki and you did help find me. So you have every right to tell me what it is."
Katsume slowly nodded.
"Alright. I'll tell you everything."
Nothing to say about this really. *obligatory prompt about Resonance being too much*
