A/N: Hello fellow writers and readers,
Alright, this the next chapter. As always, please read and review. It gives me a little more inspiration to write if I knew if anyone like it or not. But anyway, please enjoy.
The Eternal Love of Guns and Roses
By Alice
Chapter III
[South Africa Region, Mineral Mining Site]
A few days has passed since Celestial Being had commenced their second day of war intervention, where they'd interfered with a mining operation. A red breaded man surveyed the results, shaking his head and appraising the leftover machines that had been about in the cragged mining hole.
"Jeez, those Celestial whatever can sure mess things up. This country's entire economy depends on mining these stones," he spurned, taking a closer look with his follower. "Countless nations and corporations are going to suffer because of this. For the sake of stopping wars, they don't seem to give a damn about the people." he stared down at the disaster with contempt. Those fuckers were starting to chafe him the wrong way, the way they gain publicity from their pathetic anti-war crap. Fuck them and their peace-loving bull shit.
What would he do if the world wasn't at war?
Simple…he'll just start a hell war himself. CB wasn't going to put an end to the thrilling high he receive from destruction on the battlefield.
"Commander!" his cohort yelled, clutching the walkie-talkie before handing him the communicator. "A call for you from PMC Trust."
He took it. "Ali Al-Saachez here." he answered, his gaze widen from what his employer unexpectedly declared. "Hey, what do you mean it's canceled? I'm already here!" he shouted, a flare of anger resonated in his chest. "We mercenaries live off conflicts. If this goes on, Moralia is gonna be ruined!" he continued, his tone reaching a ferocious higher pitch. His comrade watch as he suddenly went calm, realizing the losing a battle in arguing after the firm dismissal of the higher-ups. "Fine, I will return to base." he cut the line with a quick 'click'.
"What's wrong?" his subordinate asked.
Ali Al-Saachez, snickered before replying, "It appears that the AEU's big shots finally moved their fat asses."
'You can do this, Saji. Just be nice and smile.'
he thought, recited over in cranium. 'Do not panic.' He softly laughed. He was throwing himself in frenzy of worry over one person… A strange person. A strange person with a frightening effect of making him into a nervous wreck.
Swallowing one last anxious breath, smiling brightly as he could when he prepared to knock. Before he could connect his balled up fist to the door, it swung open. Setsuna came walking out with Lightning trailing after, both noticing Saji while coming to a stop. The two held neutral expression, but were surprised that he was standing in front of them, complete with a container of sautéed and simmered beef and vegetables.
"Hey, nice timing." he greeted, a humble smile forming. "I brought you some food. It's Chikuzen Daki. Sis made too much. I was wondering if you would like some?" He was doing it. He was actually doing it. He was actually able to speak to them without feeling like being choked from Setsuna's scrutiny.
"I would li-" Lightning was instantaneously cut off, Setsuna's hand had closed the door in Lightning's face, making sure to lock it before the light haired brunette decided go back out. He happen to noticed how Saji tensed when he rudely disregarded Lightning. However, somehow, he was still smiling as he tried to remain at ease.
"I'm going out right now." he bluntly replied, passing him in the same uncouth manner.
His smile somewhat faltered. "Oh, I see."
Setsuna stopped a few feet away. "That was quite a disaster, huh?"
Saji's happy expression quickly wavered more at Setsuna's question, before realization hit. "Oh, you mean the thing at the station. Yeah, it really was. I didn't expect Celestial Being to save us, though." He then silently thought, 'It was definitely surprise to me.', slightly clutched his warm container.
"Neither did I."
Setsuna's words came out so straight-forward and rough that it caused a unanticipated gasp from Saji as he watched the boy go into the elevator. Saji stood there, dumbfounded and grimaced from the overly causal statement. 'He's really an unfriendly fellow, isn't he?', the repressed sigh he had been holding had finally came out, when he begun to scuffle back to the his apartment. The friendly encounter was a failure…Maybe Setsuna was more of the wallflower type? The kind of person that doesn't like to show himself unless it was absolutely necessary? It would be expected, considering that he rarely spoke, and if so, uttered only short sentences.
"Excuse me,"
Saji looked up over shoulder, finding his neighbor's companion peeking out with a hint of a soft rosy hue on her face. He noticed how the tip of her tongue seem to skimmed her bottom lip while her blue eyes zeroed in on the plastic container of Chikuzen Daki. Her strange stare made him curiously wonder what was wrong.
"Saji Crossroad, right?"
"U-uh, yes" he stammered, "It's nice to see you again, Ms. Lightning."
"I was wondering… if you don't mind… could I have that?" she asked, pointing at the containers. Saji switched his vision from her and food, before bursting out a chuckle.
"Sure thing, you're welcome to it if that's what you want." he laughed. Lightning nearly felt a yelp of joy, stepping out in her upbeat strides, taking the tasty food with a demure grin. Saji listened her hum after opening it up and taking a sample. He chuckled. This oddball of a girl was actually proving to be quite adorable. At least when it came to food.
"Thank you for the food." she said politely, leading herself back in the doorway.
As he watch her back away, he got an idea. It was a unorthodox idea, considering Louise's first meeting with the strange couple, but it might work. 'Maybe she won't mind with one of them around.'
"Ms. Lighting!" he called.
She stopped. "Yes?"
"Well, you see," he started, his body suddenly going through fit of fidgets. "You won't…happen to be busy today, would you?" Something flashed over her expression, a suspicious aura vastly become apparent around her, changing her buoyant smile to a mistrusting stare. A shiver of anxiety coursed through the now even- more nervous Saji.
"No," she spoke, almost looming despite her smaller stature. "Why?"
"I was just wondering if you would like to go out with me…and Louise, of course! You don't have to if you don't…want to…I can understand that you don't want to be around people that you don't know. You're new to Earth and everything-"the young man rambled on, while the girl blinked owlishly at him. She hadn't expected him to invite her anywhere, her heart was already leaping from the idea of another exploration of Tokyo. It was a small window of opportunity, surely, but Setsuna's order reprimanded in her head, telling her not to go. Lightning could already hear his stoic yet stern voice reminding her not to, secretly warning her of the consequences.…But she already disobeyed him. One more insubordination on her part won't hurt, as long as she still plays the role of silly tourist girl of the space colonies, right? Setsuna's cover wouldn't really be blown, would it?
"I'll do it." She replied hastily.
"Huh?" Saji asked, not expecting her to reply.
"I go out with you."
Saji blushed slightly, "Like I said, Louise coming with us. So I hope you don't mind."
"Just wait here." she said, throwing a deadpan expression as she made her way back inside, putting away the Chikuzen Daki in fridge and passing the couch to her bags. She nearly fell to her knees while she dug through the small side pocket, pulling out a tiny blue wallet, big enough to fit in her jacket pocket. She stuffed it in pocket on her side, rushing back out the door to pull Saji's startled form to the elevator. She was going to see more of the city today.
"Ms. Lightning! We have to wait for Louise first!"
"You sure this was a good idea?" Louise asked, voice skeptical.
"Of course I'm sure," Saji affirmed. "This a good way for her to see the city, isn't? We said we'd help her get accustom, didn't we?"
Louise Halevy folded her arms, examining the girl across from her with curiosity. The blonde shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, I guess. But is bringing her to the library a good idea? I mean this place is pretty boring to me. If she was coming, why didn't we just go somewhere fun like the movies or the theme park?"
"Louise, you're just saying that because you don't want to do the book report." He grinned, skimming through the row of books for their teacher's assigned one. It wouldn't take long for them to do it. 'If you seen the movie then you know what to write.' he inwardly chuckled. Saji wasn't the type to cheat, but the movie did give him an idea on what was going in the book. Honestly, who could understand the book on the first go around?
"Aww, why did we have to get a boring assignment like this…?" she huffed, frowning childishly. Her eyes wandered to Lightning. She found that the little strange girl was keeping herself entertained with few book that she random books that she was pilling beside her. From what Louise could see, she was sure that the brunette was reading a children's book. She silently quirked a eyebrow, "At least, she's enjoying herself. But she is still pretty weird, isn't she?"
"I thought we established that she was weird." Saji smiled, brushing a finger against the lined up spines. "But she is a little more easy to talk to." 'Easier than Setsuna', he thought.
"True, she doesn't make me feel like I'm under surveillance, unlike her boyfriend." she casually said, leaning against the side wall of the bookshelf.
"How do you know that they're together like that?"
"C'mon Saji, they're living together!" she said, incredulously
"It doesn't mean that together in that sort of relationship…doesn't?" the boy questioned.
The blonde frowned. "Jeez, Saji, you can be so hopeless sometimes. I sometimes wonder how we started to date."
As Saji was trying to refrain from throwing a startled look her way when she happen to glance down at the shelve near her left. There was a old, slightly withered looking red book. On the spine read in gold cursive was "Romeo and Juliet". Louise smirked sly, picking it up with her fingertips. She waved it in front her when Saji had caught eye of it. "Looking for something Saji?" she teased.
"Oh, thanks Louise." Saji nodded as he reach for it. Louise had other plans, pulling away quickly. "C'mon Louise, stop playing games." he said, pleading. She playfully stuck her tongue out, swaying the object in his face.
"Alright, Saji," she smugly grinned, lightly placing a manicured finger to the center of her lips. "Only if you give me kiss! You can choose whether its on the lips or the cheek if you want!"
"Huh?!" he blushed like red velvet. He staggered away from her, trying to hide the evident blush on his face. "We can't do that….not in a public like this!"
"Aww, Saji, you're mean." she pouted.
A loud shushing sound caught their attention when the elderly Liberian woman stood noticeably in front of the two. She threw them a reprimanding gaze before heading off to restock the shelves. It was moment that they both were silent, taken slightly back by the almost comical moment. Louise was the first to snicker, than Saji soon followed until they both were giggling as quietly as possible.
For bystanders, that happen to be watching, thought it was cute. Lightning, however, thought it was weird. She was watching them over a fashion magazine. That privileged young girlfriend of Crossroad's. She didn't quite understand what was funny about the situation, about getting in trouble with someone, she didn't get why they were laughing.
'Was that being normal?'
she silently wondered. She turned away, picking the lint off her jacket. She suddenly felt sick. A painful qualm strangely hit her stomach, brunette becoming strangely queasy.
The girl gotten up to weave through book shelves, finding the woman's restroom at the edge of the library. The bathroom smelled terrible and was dimly lit, but wasn't what Lighting's mind was on. She hurried to the faucet, turning the cold tap on. Her hands cupped the pouring water, quickly splashing the water in her face to relax her. Lightning didn't notice how her breathing slightly picked up. It was odd. She hadn't felt this way in a long time. The brunette wasn't sure that she was a good sign.
"Hey, Lightning." Louise's cautious voice echoed behind her.
Lightning carefully took a breath, looked over shoulder to Louise's slightly worried face. "Is something the matter, Miss Louise?"
"Well, yeah. You bolted pretty fast back there. We weren't sure if you were okay here."
"I'm fine," she sighed. "I just got a little sick on the stomach….maybe tired too." She ran her damp finger through her hair, giving one last tired glance to the mirror above the faucet. Her reflection reminded her of one time at the Institute, for a fraction of a second, then the similarity was gone. "Or thinking too much of someone."
The blonde blinked. 'Thinking too much of someone…' a newfound idea came in her mind. 'Did something happen between that Setsuna guy and Light. Maybe they had a fight. Saji said he was ruder than usual. That it! It has to be it!' A wave of sympathy came to her. Lightning must had a dispute with Setsuna, that would explain the way she ran out so quick. The moment with Saji must of trigger thoughts of Setsuna for her. 'The poor thing…'
"Lightning, are you talking about Setsuna?" Louise asked.
Lightning scoffed, slightly offended. "I could careless about Setsuna at the moment." her eyes turned away, narrowing at a small corner of the white tiled floor. She didn't want to talk about Setsuna. She wanted to get away from him, avoiding the thought of him.
'It is it!'
she inwardly rejoiced. This was like a dream come to true. She always wanted to play cupid, helping two people become one cute couple. Maybe that prudish stick in the mud Setsuna would lighten up if he realized his feeling for her. Yeah, maybe Louise Halevy would be the fairy god mother of Lightning 'whatever-her-last-name is's' story.
"Oh Lightning," the girl practically trotting towards her, confusing the brunette by offering an open-armed hug. "I know you're having a moment with Setsuna now, but its really only temporary. You'll get past this argument."
"What?" Lightning asked, confused.
"Don't worry," the privilege female spoke, determined. "I'm going to help you and Setsuna. As girl, I'll teach you everything that you need to know, okay?" Louise wasted no time dragging the confused soldier back to Saji. 'What the hell?'
"Um, Miss Lightning, are you sure that you can eat that much?"
Lightning opened one eye, pulling the fork out of her mouth. "Yep." she simply answered, digging into a another forkful of pasta. The tomato sauce was slightly spiced with red and green peppers with tangy after taste.
"I thought you said she was sick ?" Saji whispered.
"She said that, not me. Besides, I'm not doctor so I couldn't tell. By the way she eating, she look fine to me…" She causally lied, sipping good naturedly her soft drink next to him. She felt slightly clever for find out Lightning's supposed secret and being the one to figure it out. In her mind, she was already fixing the two of them up.
Saji shrugged, giving up hope of understanding either females as he continuing to watching with interest the massive amount of spaghetti growing smaller as it went into his neighbor's mouth.
The young man lean back in his seat, watching the day turn to a orangey red colored late afternoon. He was already rubbing down his sore knuckles. Writing the seven page report on Romeo and Juliet was tiresome, into the first three pages he was ready to call it quits. The evening was coming in quick now. Party goingers were already popping up on the street fully dressed in style. His gaze drew to the girls. After the library the two of them seem to have gotten an understanding of each other…he thinks, anyway. But the day was ending now and it was time to get them both home.
"That was really good." Lightning hummed.
"I don't get that you can eat that much food and don't look to getting a single pound on you." Louise enviously whined.
"Well, since she's done, we should get home now. Kinue is probably wondering where I am no-" Saji stopped at mid-sentence, looking and standing with the large crowd at a large plasma on top of their heads. Louise stood by his side, gripping his arm in comfort with worry of the headlines.
"Moralia Entering a State of Emergency"
Two newscasters soon discussed the issues of the what brought about this unforeseen event. But the word that brought everyone's attentions was the what they feared and worried most: Gundam.
They allowed a few scenes of the battlefield to be shown from the save distance of the news crew, a few rounds fired from linear rifles, Lightning was sure. The intervention had really begun now.
"Are they having a war?"
"So it seems."
"Are the Gundams there?"
More question began to buzz like flies amount the endless horde forming. They were all concerned, some even angry that the 'peace fighting' terrorist had shown up again. This was going to bring a storm of antagonized people in the next few days. How Lightning hated idiots like them.
"Why" Saji asked bitterly, his brown eyes glaring at the screen.
"Eh?" Louise questioned.
"This isn't right, Louise. Celestial Being saved our lives, but now they're starting a war. What they are doing will not change the world. It's just breeding hatred. They're only bringing more chaos to the world."
'So, this Saji way of thinking. He's thinking the same thing way as these people,'
she thought, noticing the infuriated faces of the mass. "Idiots…" she blunt stated, standing and placing the amount of the bill on the table. She proceed to walking away from them.
"Hey, Lightning! C'mon Saji," she abruptly pulled at his arm, causing the boy to stumble after her. "Wait up already! We're going home with you, remember?!"
When she walk through the door way, Lightning was already landing on the couch, tired from the scolding that Louise gave her. She interestingly learned a lot that day, finding that her neighbor and his pushy girlfriend was indeed a strange couple, but then she was considered a strange girl, based on the opinions of the members of Celestial Being.
She lays on her back, listening to the silence deafen her ears, leaving a festering ill reaction.
'This is too much like my room.'
Her mind started to play tricks on her, turning the beige colored wallpaper to pasty white. The four sides closing in as four wall that extended further than the front door to the balcony. She could see the overly white mechanical door further down. Her whole world had morphed…she was back in the place she dreaded- no not dreaded- she hated the most. The atmosphere strangely went cold, causing her to curl in a fetal position for warmth. She carefully went inside her bag, digging for the decorated charm cell phone and dialed.
She wasn't expecting Lichty's face to pop on the screen like it did. He seem surprise that she had called, as much as she was surprised he answered.
"Litchy…? Where's Chris?" Lightning asked. She need a distraction from her mind's tricks.
"Oh, Chris, Feldt, and Miss Sumeragi are staying with Wang Liu Mei at her estate. They basically monitoring the mission there. Why? Did you need something?" The older man asked, worried.
"No. I…guess I was bored. I thought I could get information on what's happening in Moralia."
"So far, Setsuna did something that was really…" Lichty strangely trailed off, making Lighting curious. "You know what, never mind. Its not really important. Anything else that you need to know, Light?"
"No. That's all that I was concerned about."
Lightning was nearly ready to hang up, before Lichty stopped her. "Uh, Lightning, if there is anything that you have a problem with you can always talk to me about it. I may not be insightful to something like clothes, but if their a something I can help with, I'll try."
"Thanks." she didn't bother with the politeness of goodbyes. In certain ways, Lichty and Saji seem somewhat similar to each other. Lightning cringed slightly, silently taking that comment back. Those two were not similar. And part of her was glad. Now she was really tired and thus she closed her weary eyes.
But she was back in her white room. Everything returning to the cold and empty air that she remembered. Lightning felt smaller, like she reverted back to the age of six. She could almost see herself that age now. She should be afraid, but she wasn't. It was all too familiar for her to be afraid. The world seem to went backwards and she was in the same hell hole.
"Lightning…"
Her heart skipped a heavy beat.
"Lightning…"
Her chest clenched, a sensation close to what she'd felt in the library. Her mind was suddenly swimming in guilt that she hadn't felt in eight years.
"Lightning…."
Then she could see him, the voice that was calling out to her. The boy that she'd hoped would remain in memory. He had a sweet and boyish smile, making a piece of her heart flutter in pain. The boy was much older than her six years old self, one or two years older. His hair was black, soft like silk back from when she once touched it. His gray eyes reached his kind smile.
And his voice spoke in a slightly scratchy tone. "Hi, what's your name pretty girl?"
