°°° Chart Your Own Course °°°

by Cri86

This time I put the emphasis on how an identical past can inspire different thoughts to different people. There's a parallel between BRIDGET's thought in the last chapter and EVE's own, echoed by the last line which mirrors BRIDGET's own feelings when she sees the dancing couple. Both of them are haunted by the Axiom, though for very different reasons - and the haunting itself is different, in that BRIDGET always finds herself looking wistfully at the ship, while EVE tries to push it (and the memories that it brings forth) out of her mind, but eventually fails, and finds comfort in the "now" - and in her belowed WALL-E.

°°°°° Chapter 3 °°°°°

EVE's thoughts rarely strayed from the present, and when she did think about her future, it was on fairly simple terms along the lines of "eternity" and "together". It wasn't as though she did not care about Earth or about their human and robots friends – in fact, she did. She cared a great deal. She just cared more about WALL-E.

Everything else was part of her life. But WALL-E was even more than that – he was her life, her overriding directive. For twenty years now her world had revolved around him. She didn't even want to think about how different things might have been if…

Don't go there, she sternly told herself as she soared even higher into the night sky. It was so much easier to keep flying and pretend to leave all the unpleasant memories behind, out of reach. WALL-E squealed with delight when she circled around a cloud once, twice – and then swooped away elegantly underbelly. Without loosening her grip on him, EVE performed a joyous back-flip and took a nose dive toward the ground.

::Eeeevah:: chirped WALL-E, nuzzling his eyes tenderly against her head. He wasn't afraid, even as the ground quickly came closer and closer. He knew that EVE would never let him fall. Cuddled up in her arms, WALL-E felt safe, whether they were dancing in the sky or helping the human settlers with their everyday life or being chased down by a squad of Steward.

She giggled – the most beautiful sound in the world for WALL-E – and spark kissed him, leaving him dazed for a moment or two. But it was a moment or two too much. When WALL-E snapped out of spark kiss trance, he realized that EVE's eyes had trailed elsewhere, and that her expression had changed as she watched the Axiom outline. It was as though her bright, lively eyes had clouded all of sudden.

She hadn't realized that they were this close to the starliner. For the most part, EVE tried to avoid the Axiom as much as possible. But now dancing with WALL-E had emptied her mind of just about everything else, and when she had looked up, the grounded ship had been towering over them – a black silhouette against an even blacker sky.

It was in times like these that EVE had the feeling they'd never get away from under the Axiom's shadow. Neither the humans, nor the other robots, nor her.

::Eeeevah?::

There was concern now in WALL-E's voice, and an unspoken question which she could read all too clearly in his eyes. Are you ok?

::Waaaalle…:: she began to answer, but then hesitated, not sure about what to answer. She couldn't honestly say that she was ok. Every time her eyes fell on the Axiom, for EVE it was a painful jolt back into the past. She only needed to glance fleetingly at the starliner to remember those agonizingly long hours she had spent clutching WALL-E's lifeless form, hoping… hoping, with all her heart and with the sheer strength of her despair, that it wouldn't be too late.

She hadn't been alone in the wait. The reject bots and the humans had crowded around her supportively, and even though he had been too busy steering the Axiom toward Earth to join them, she had often felt that Captain McCrea was watching her and WALL-E from the many holoscreens scattered through the Lido Deck.

But EVE had only half-realized that. She could perceive their presence, and yet it was as though an invisible wall separated her from the passengers and the humans. Please, please, WALL-E, don't be dead. Don't leave me alone, my love… I beg you… she had thought. In those moments, there hadn't been room for much else in her processor. And now the sight of the Axiom had brought it all back… the hope, the grief, the fear… fresh as if everything had taken place only minutes before.

She turned her stare away and lowered it to the ground. WALL-E flexed his neck so he could look her in the eyes.

::Eeeevah…:: he said softly, and then struggled to put together a word which reminded him of the blue robot he had met only a few days earlier. ::Uun-haap-…?::

She shook her head. Unhappy… no, it wasn't that. She was happy with WALL-E, happy to live in the present, happy with the way her life was going. If only she had been able to let go of the past…

::Memory:: she finally replied, reaching out to touch her head and glancing helplessly at WALL-E. I can't forget. For the first time, she wondered if he was also experiencing the same problem. Did that nightmarish ship still haunt him as it haunted her? Did he still think about the Axiom at all, or had he managed to leave all that behind? Was it gone and forgotten for him?

For long instants, WALL-E hesitated. Then he took both of EVE's hands in his own and squeezed them gently. There was so much he would have wanted to tell her. Eeeevah, it wasn't your fault… none of it. You saved me, you brought me back. He wanted to say, I wouldn't be here now, had it not been for your love.

::Di-rec-tive:: he said instead. He crossed his fingers with hers, humming along the tune of their favorite song from their tape. And we'll recall when time runs out…

that it only takes a moment…

EVE rubbed her head against his eyes gratefully. Focus on your directive, don't think about anything else… how sweet and wise her beloved WALL-E was. Holding him into her arms once more, she once more took off into the air.

Maybe she couldn't forget the past, but she could run from it. After all, up there among the stars, hardly anything else mattered other than WALL-E, herself, and their blissful dance.