Synopsis: past fic. What happened to some characters on Akilian just before the Ice Age.
Disclaimer: the animated show "Galactik Football" doesn't belong to me. I'm not making any money with this fic so please, don't sue me.
Before the ice age, chapter 4
Akilian hospital, one month after the explosion
Norata was holding his newborn son and thinking that at least, good things happened. The delivery had gone smoothly, Kira had completely recovered and they had now this dozing little thing that was their baby. For the first time since the explosion, he felt quite happy.
"I think he'll have your eyes" Kira said with a smile. "He looks just like you."
"We'll see." He got up awkwardly and put the baby back into his cot. He was not completely used to walk with an artificial limb yet but at least he had finally got used to that idea and he had gone back to work. Actually, he was spending even more time on the accountancy or in the greenhouses than before, and he hardly saw people at all. He wanted to prove that crippled or not, he could still support his family. The problem was, he hadn't noticed that his wife was quite puzzled about it. He hardly talked to her, said mostly things like "sit down and relax" or "Yeah, I'm okay…" She nearly had the feeling that he didn't really need her.
Someone knocked at the door. The recent parents expected to see Aarch, who had been told that he had a nephew now. Instead, it was Sven, who was guiding a stumbling Sandi. "Hello", the latter said. "We didn't enter the wrong room, did we?"
Norata and Kira forced themselves to laugh. It was the first time they saw the blind girl in a public place since the match and her humour was still really bad. However, she didn't seem remotely depressed. "We're here to congratulate you", she said happily while Sven helped her to sit down. "A baby is such good news!"
"How do you feel about…" Kira asked, embarrassed.
"The fact that from now on, I'll need help to buy shoes the right colour? Well, my tastes about shoes were already quite bad. Oh, and I had an answer from a school for blind people. I can go next month! They'll teach me to read and write in Braille and to find my way in streets with no help! Isn't it cool?"
Norata felt quite uneasy. There was something abnormal with Sandi's inalterable perkiness. How can you become physically handicap and still remain careless and optimistic? "How do you know about Rocket?" he asked to change the subject.
"Max told us," Sven explained. "And we don't know who told him. This is a beautiful baby."
"Thank you. Did Max tell you if he knows where Burns is?" Norata asked.
There was a long silence. The former midfielder had disappeared mysteriously a few days after the match and nobody knew where he was now, not even Max, who knew everything about everyone. Careless Sandi shook her head. "He's probably the smartest of us all", she said. "I'm sure he's okay."
"Maybe he's working on a project", Sven suggested.
"Well, talking about project, Sven wants to start a charity, something that will help people who lost their loved ones or their homes because of the explosion", Sandi added with a broad smile. "Isn't it great?"
Sven blushed slightly and protested. He was uneasy whenever people congratulated him, but Kira was already asking him questions. Sven tried to change the subject and asked questions about the newborn baby. And Norata tried to hide his feeling of uneasiness. Whenever he looked at Sandi's eyes, grey-blue-green a month earlier, now one shade lighter, he remembered that he had definitely lost a part of him, and he hated that idea. At one moment, she asked him if he was getting used to his artificial leg, and he said briskly that he didn't want to talk about it.
"I have to go and work," he added, getting up. "Say hello to everyone from me."
Kira bat her lip. She expected him to do anything but running away to work the day his son was born. "Can't your work wait?" she asked.
"I'm already behind schedule." He bent down cautiously, kissed his wife on the cheek and left the room, leaving a puzzled Kira.
Sven guessed what she was thinking and tried to explain things away. "Serious guy, he can't help it, you know. Or maybe he's so moved by the birth of his baby and doesn't want to show it."
"Well… thanks for caring."
There was a long silence, and then they started talking about the baby again. When the couple left, Kira couldn't help noticing how Sandi relied on Sven as he held her hand, and how they seemed to need each other. She wished Norata could trust her a little more. Just now, he seemed to see her as one of those delicate flowers that need protection and nothing else. But then she remembered she actually loved his protective side. Now he was just going through a difficult phase. She just had to wait if she wanted him to become the man she had married again…
Ooo0ooo0oo
Planet Akilian, two days later
Aarch and Adim were sitting in a corner, talking seriously. The lost of their Breath had been a terrible blow but they were starting recovering. However, they couldn't help talking about sport. "I bet the Lightnings will win the cup this year", Adim said. "Technically speaking, they're the best."
"I bet on the Shadows", Aarch answered. "They definitely have the most powerful Flux."
"A Flux is not everything."
"Oh, come on. Do you imagine a good team with no Flux at all?"
She laughed. "Sounds improbable, indeed. How's the nephew, by the way?"
He took a photo in his pocket. "Cute kid, isn't he? They called him Rocket, like his grandfather, and Aarch, like his oncle."
"Nice intention."
"Indeed." He put the photo back into his pocket and became serious again. "Now what do you want to do?"
She expected him to talk about their relationship and smiled. "I have something to do tonight but if you want to go out tomorrow night…"
"I'm talking about our futures. How are we going to find our Fluxes back?"
She frowned, surprised. "Aarch, all the doctors I saw said we have little chance to find them back one day. I can live without it."
He shrugged, disappointed. "So everyone is giving up, then. Max gives up and writes what he calls novels, Sven gives up and starts a charity, Norata gives up and raises his son…"
"How can you blame them on that?" she asked, puzzled. "There's nothing wrong with being altruistic, or family-oriented, or whatever."
"You've got a point", he said. "But I can't imagine myself giving up football."
"Pity, because you'll have to, anyway. Do we meet tomorrow night?"
He wanted to say yes but he felt so disappointed by her not agreeing with him that he shook his head. "No. Goodbye."
And he left hurriedly.
Ooo0ooo0oo
Artegor's home, one day later
"So they all want to give up?" Artegor asked.
Aarch nodded. "Of course we can't blame them. Norata and Sandi are both physically handicapped now, Sven is just the helpful type, Max thinks he's a writer, Burns… well, we'll know where he is only when he wants us to, and Adim…"
"Let me guess. She wants to control your life and you're fed up with it?"
He laughed. "As usual. We have a control-control relationship. No, I'm just disappointed because she's giving up, too. She doesn't seem to regret her lost Flux… I don't get it."
"We can have it back, you know?"
The blue-eyed striker frowned. "What do you mean, exactly?"
"Well, Max lent me his books. It appears that you can't have most Fluxes if you were not born on the matching planet, but there are exceptions. You can develop the Smogg if you really want to, for example, even if you were not born on the Shadows planet."
Aarch frowned. "Are you sure of it?"
"It's written down in black and white."
Norata's brother thought about. This looked unexpected. But he had some qualms leaving his devastated planet and his crippled brother to have new adventures. Why forsaking everyone?
"We could try the Smogg in a few years", he suggested.
"No, don't wait. If you do, your girlfriend will find a way to make you stay here in one way or another, or maybe you'll get too old to play GF again."
"But my brother needs me…"
"He told everyone that it was his last season anyway, and his sweet little wife will take good care of him. Why hesitating? Why wasting your talent now?"
Aarch didn't know what to say. His brother had always been here for him when he needed him, after all. But leaving all the problems and the worries and starting another life was so tempting…
"Let me think about", he asked.
"Don't think about too long. I leave in two weeks, with or without you."
"You already decided?"
Artegor nodded. He had no family and no significant other on Akilian, nothing was holding him back. He wanted to leave. But he didn't really feel like leaving alone. Going with somebody would be much better, especially if this somebody was… a friend.
"Let me think about", his friend said. "I don't want to take bad decisions."
Ooo0ooo0oo
Max's home, two days later
The bald former defender was typing on his computer when someone knocked at his door. It was Artegor, carrying books. "Hello, I'm giving them back to you", he said. "Thanks, that was illuminating."
"You're wel… wait, what do you mean by illuminating?"
"I've got to go now. Goodbye!"
Max nodded and went to put his books back in place. He was intuitive enough to know that there was something strange about Artegor today, so he decided to drive to his home. Then he thought about. Artegor would probably not go back home directly, but he was quite tired of writing for today and wanted to do something else for a change. He had bought some baby clothes as a birth present a few days before and still had to give them to Norata and his wife. This seemed to be the right occasion.
Kira was sitting in a chair, lulling the baby, when he entered. She looked tired. "Hello", she said. "I'm afraid Norata is quite busy just now. Could you wait, please?"
"He can't be too busy for accepting something for his kid. I always thought he's too serious."
"That's adorable but you'll have to wait!"
She stopped, frightened by her own briskness. "I'm sorry", she said. "Don't take it badly, I'm just a bit upset. The baby has fever, you know, and I feel so worried…"
Max nodded. "You know, I have a friend who knows a psychic who adopted a baby recently. The baby had unexplained fever for some time, and then it disappeared. Maybe it's just the climate or something like that."
"Maybe."
"You know, it's amazing how you look like the actress who played Isabella in Goodbye Forever."
She leaned forward. "It was me. Did you like the play?"
"Of course I liked it! You were just incredible. This is a cute baby. Do you…"
Max never finished his sentence as shouts were heard through the partition wall. Aarch and Norata were obviously arguing. Max walked to the end of the room and listened intently, at Kira's great dismay. "You know, I'm not sure they would appreciate us listening to them", she said hesitantly.
He nodded. "Yes. Well, I think I'd better leave now. Say hello to everyone from me. Your baby is adorable and you're an amazing actress and everything. Goodbye!" And he left hurriedly. Listening to the argument was so tempting that he preferred to run away not to be intrusive.
Kira sat down and tried not to listen to anything. Suddenly she missed the stage so much! For the first time, she wondered if getting married had been such a great idea. Norata never congratulated her on anything, he just spent all his time working and took her for granted…
But he loved her, didn't he? He was just awkward about showing it, like a lot of men. She walked slowly to the new child's room and put the sleeping baby back into his cot. Then she went back, just in time to see her brother-by-law leaving hurriedly and a very upset Norata staring at him. "What's the matter?" she asked. "What did your brother…"
"From now on, I have no brother. That man decided to leave Akilian and his family to satisfy his selfish goals. I don't know him."
"He'll come back," she said comfortingly. "Sooner or later, he'll realise his mistake."
"Whether he comes back or not, I don't want to hear of him again. Ever. Do you think we can still change our son's middle name?"
"I don't know", she whispered. She was not sure that she totally approved her husband's reaction, but avoiding conflict was a priority for her. "Is there something I can do?" she asked.
"No. thanks, I have to work now."
"You know what?" she said suddenly. "You look tensed. Come upstairs, I'll massage your back."
"I'm not tensed so now let me work!"
She nodded and left hurriedly. He was already regretting his burst of anger. It was just that he was so upset and he only wanted to be alone for a moment. He had probably hurt her and would apologize later, after working. Well, she knew he did all that working for her, didn't she? She was an angel, she would forgive him. He needed her so much.
She went back into the baby's room and tried hard not to cry. How could he talk to her like that? Didn't he realise that she loved him?
And did he love her? He still looked cold sometimes. More often than sometimes. Max and Sven, who were only good friends, could demonstrate more kindness to her in a few minutes than him in a month. But Norata loved her, after all. He wanted to give up his career to raise their child with her…
He was so family-oriented. Maybe he wanted nothing but a good mother for his children all along… No, that would be too horrible!
But it sort of made sense. He might have noticed her kind and caring personality and thought she would become a kind and caring mother and… no, she hated that idea. But she remembered something she was told by a friend when she was younger. You idealise people so much, you never see their flaws and when you can see them at last, you're disappointed. It was true. Had she been blind about Norata all along?
Well, they were married after all, and leaving this poor man when they just had a baby together wasn't the right thing to do. She still missed the theatre, though, and how she felt loved whenever the public applauded. He probably wouldn't mind if she took up her old passion.
"You know", she said to him one hour later, "there are often auditions for amateur plays at this time of the year. Would you mind if I tried to go on the stage again?"
He frowned, thinking she was getting crazy. She was still tired from the birth of their baby so how could she want to do something as straining as going on the stage? "It would be a bad idea" he said.
"Why?"
"I think you know why."
"I'll wait until Rocket's fever is gone, you know."
"You won't do that and that's all there is to it."
Kira shook her head, ran to her room and started crying. He didn't love her. Otherwise he would know how important these auditions were for her. Why had she been foolish enough to marry him? And why would she stay with him? He was a rock, he didn't need her. She just wanted to feel loved but it seemed impossible with someone like him. She had to leave.
Ooo0ooo0oo
Akilian spaceport, days later
Norata watched the spaceship leaving with a growing feeling of bitterness. So Kira was forsaking him, too. She was more interested in her selfish ambitions than in helping her own family. To think he believed once that she was the generous type! How could things get even worse?
Galactic Football had caused so much harm. It had made him lose his leg, his brother and his wife, blinded Sandi, probably killed Burns… He wished he had never heard of that sport. "Never play football", he whispered to his dozing baby. "Never become like the man who pretended to be my brother…"
He walked back to his vehicle and noticed a red-haired woman who was standing alone, arms crossed. She nodded at him. "I hope it won't hurt you", she said calmly, "but your brother's a jerk."
"Which brother?"
Adim laughed briefly. "We'll get over it", she said. "Believe me."
"What are you going to do now?"
"Sensible things."
He nodded approvingly. At least there were still people who went about things the right way. None of them could think of anything to say so they both went back to their homes. Norata checked that the baby seat was attached correctly and drove home, thinking of how he would have to raise his kid alone. Fragile as she was, Kira was not going to survive alone for long, but that was not his business any more. He'd better not think of her. He had to be strong for his baby. At least he still had a family…
To be continued…