Sunrise came too soon, yet for Sunny Pixie, the prospect of Mike and Ayme finally admitting to each other those hidden feelings made the day ahead seem exciting. She could hardly keep her glee hidden from Ayme, who typically took it with great annoyance. Instead of following her downstairs for breakfast, Sunny Pixie remained upstairs, looking out of the window – much like every impatient child waiting for their friend to arrive would do – for Mike's imposing figure.
This sudden change in behaviour did not go unnoticed by Ayme (who welcomed it); even when it was four hours after sunrise, Mike had not yet appeared, and it was directly affecting Sunny Pixie, who was flying around like an annoying fly. Ayme had every mind to swot her – in fact, it had been something she had always wanted to do every day for the past two months – but something kept holding her back every time. She had a feeling she had unknowingly developed a strange fondness for Sunny Pixie, though her unappreciative feelings towards her must have masked this. Not that it bothered Ayme; as long as she didn't feel too attached to the annoying critter, she would be fine.
"Will you stop flying everywhere?" Ayme demanded grumpily as she tried to eat her lunch, though her eyes were being distracted as they kept following Sunny Pixie around the room. "What's wrong with you?"
Sunny Pixie shrugged as an initial way of replying, before adding, "Nothing."
"Well something's wrong," Ayme snapped, clearly unconvinced by Sunny Pixie's lie, though she was unable to discover the real reason behind the lie. "So go away." She was pleased to see Sunny Pixie disappearing as usual, and the room fell into silence once again as she continued to eat.
Sunny Pixie had gone into Ayme's bedroom to continue looking through the window for Mike. She didn't know what was holding him up, but she hoped he would appear sometime today like he said he would. She was worried whether he had turned back on his promise and gone chasing after another Neo Android; she shook this thought out of her head as quickly as it had come – Mike wanted to come clean with Ayme, he wouldn't go and hunt another Neo Android now … would he?
His brave deed to kill a Neo Android had partially been done to impress Ayme, and the talk about a solid rebellion was also just another way of impressing her. It was needless to say that it worked; Ayme had been impressed, though losing her temper at him had undoubtedly been a surprise to all four present at the scene, including Ayme herself. The balloon had burst, yes, but in the most unpleasant way – and it was this which had only made the glass in Mike's heart stab him further, and built up a new balloon in Ayme.
The next five hours whittled away, acknowledging Mike's continuing absence. Sunny Pixie was sighing more than she had ever done in her lifetime; it was unusual for the optimistic monster to be this downhearted, yet the promise that Mike had non-verbally made was fading fast. In fact, Sunny Pixie was beginning to feel that Mike had been untruthful – until she saw him and Commander Covington finally arrive.
Sunny Pixie bolted upright, her wide eyes glowing in both admiration and annoyance, just as a clear knocking came from the front door. The fairy immediately shot through the floor, and hovered as she saw Ayme passing to open the door.
"Oh, hi Mike!" she heard Ayme say. "What are you doing here? You normally don't come now." There was no answer; instead, what sounded like Mike stepping into the house followed.
"Hi Ayme, I need to talk to you." What Ayme said next Sunny Pixie didn't catch it; instead, she watched as Ayme lead Commander Covington and a winking Mike into the dining room. The fairy curiously followed them, settling on Commander Covington's shoulder as the two humans sat down.
"What's the matter Mike?" Ayme was looking directly into Mike's eyes, and there was no doubt that confusion and surprise was in her eyes. Mike was never this hesitant, ever.
"Ayme, I've thought about it, and, erm ... I'm not going to continue with the rebellion." This was clearly catching Ayme by surprise; she just kept looking at him, her eyes so solemn, so full of wonder, she was like a child crawling out of a box, having been filled with an expectancy of her own parents congratulating her on her feat, only to see and hear their anger as she received a sharp telling off.
"What do you mean? I thought it was your passion." Mike shook his head, and released a small sigh that Ayme didn't hear.
"It was, until last night." His eyes stole a quick glance at Sunny Pixie, though she could have easily been mistaken for Commander Covington, which was what Ayme seemed to think.
"What did Commander Covington tell you?"
"No, he didn't do anything," Mike quickly corrected her. "This was entirely my decision, though I did talk it over with him slightly." Ayme leaned further forwards, her head tilted ever so slightly to the left, her eyes eyeing him in anticipation; she was undoubtedly awaiting the reason as to Mike's sudden change of mind. It had barely been 24 hours, and yet he was sat here, going back on his own words, and a decision he had been so passionate about, even if he hadn't shown it.
"Go on," she prompted him gently after a short pause.
"Ayme, I don't know how to say it to you, but ..." He lowered his head in his palms, his brain battling to admit it; behind him, Sunny Pixie was reading him again, and she could feel he was struggling, too afraid of the glass stabbing him even deeper if his confession went horribly wrong. It was now a game of 50/50, everything hung in between two words; yes and no. Just do it Mike...
"Mike?" Ayme stooped her head down, her eyes still turned on him. She was now looking directly at him, rather than from an angle.
"Ayme ..." He lifted his head out of his hands, and looked directly at her. Without even speaking, his fingers inched towards hers, and like a snake wrapping itself around its prey, he gently clasped one of her hands into his. This move threw Ayme off guard; initially, she looked stunned, her hand tightened, but it slowly loosened as she became more relaxed, a warm smile creeping on her face.
"Mike, are you saying you ..." she too faltered; what could she say? The two remained silent for some time, wondering what to say next. It was bizarre enough that Mike was suddenly holding onto her hand like it was the last action he would ever do, and she had a feeling someone else had persuaded Mike to do this ... her eyes swivelled to Sunny Pixie, who had an air of romance about her, like she knew before the situation had even happened.
It was hard to tell who was feeling more abash; they both had such red cheeks, they had been reduced to the point when they couldn't say anymore. Instead, a game of the eyes flitting away commenced, and Sunny Pixie began to wonder whether either of them could summon the courage or not; right now, it was looking as if that would be an impossible feat. She was tempted to flutter over and give them both the boost they needed, but then she didn't; she was going to leave this to them, she wasn't going to interfere – it was better if she didn't.
"Ayme..." Mike's second attempt also fell, and he resorted to avoiding her eyes again. Their embarrassment was undoubtedly fresh; even though Ayme was the more experienced of the duo, she still found it hard to bring herself to admit it. Memories of her ex were still fresh and painful, just like the glass shards in Mike's heart was painful. Her other arm slowly crept up the already locked hands, and she gently stroked and grasped the back of Mike's palm, warmly encaging his hand.
Mike looked up, and before him he could see not Ayme, but his guardian angel. She was so strong, yet so weak, even the guardian angel needed someone to look after her. He shifted his hand out of her grasp, and quickly recuperated by holding onto both her hands separately.
That way, nothing get's left out. I'm your guardian angel, you're my guardian angel, and our hands will always be protecting each other, he thought as he stared deeply into her eyes. There seemed to be a kind of silent, telepathic agreement as the two teenagers clasped each other's hands; they were like two shields back to back, forever protecting each other, and yet exposed to the enemy at the same time.
Come on … admit it, Sunny Pixie was furiously thinking just as Ayme attempted to bring the subject up again. "Mike, I ... it's been three years since we first knew each other …"
"Yeah," he dumbly agreed with her, unaware his grip was tightening. "Yeah, it has … you were single then, weren't you?"
"It had been two weeks since I broke up with Roy, yeah." There was a pained tone to Ayme's voice; the shards of the past still hadn't quite left her, and it was Mike's binding duty to help her pull out the last pieces.
"You know, I've never really said this, but … I liked you. Yeah … even when I first saw you." He was holding on even harder, as if afraid that Ayme would suddenly withdraw her hands. He was right to assume this – she had made a small flitting movement which would have otherwise succeeded. "I don't mean like as in, you know, friends … I mean, in … erm … you know …"
"Yeah … same …" The last word came out even quieter than the first. Before that moment, both teenagers had been focused on their hands; now though, their eyes rolled upwards even faster than their lifting heads, but when their heads caught up with their eyes, it was undeniable they were making direct eye contact.
"Well … I guess …" What happened next didn't need words to follow up; the two monsters watched as their partners leaned in close to each other, standing up as they did so; naturally, their grasp shifted from each other's hands and around each other's necks. They embraced each other, and at last, their lips locked.
It was a golden moment; in the foreground were the two lovers, relieved of their chains at last, as they continued to share that first kiss which had, for so long, been postponed all because of uncertainty coming from the other person; in the background, Sunny Pixie and Commander Covington were hi-fiving. They soon turned their attention back to the kissing couple; at last, the two guardian angels, together like they truly should be.
It felt like forever when they kept kissing, and eventually they stopped, partially to draw breath, and partially to look directly into each other's eyes, as if to confirm whether they really had just kissed. The confirming glints in their eyes told the other yes they had and, with an air of freedom, they kissed again, relishing the feelings they had been longing to convey, yet unrightfully held back for fear of rejection. If only they had admitted to each other sooner …
When they next broke apart again, Mike spoke first. "You should be kinder to Sunny Pixie. She came to visit me yesterday when you were asleep; she was the one responsible for telling me to come to you." A look of amazement was on Ayme's face; never had she imagined it would be her surviving monster who would draw them together …
She felt the pixie land on her shoulder and, for the first time, she didn't bother waving her away; on the contrary, she wanted her to stay just as a question came to her mind. "How did Sunny Pixie know –"
"I could always read your thoughts and feelings," Sunny Pixie explained quickly, her voice full of pride and self-satisfaction. "But I never realised I could read Mike's until you talked to him yesterday. I saw you wanted to admit you loved each other, so I thought I'd go and talk to him." Mike beamed at her, nodding with every word she spoke.
"Believe me Ayme, I think you'll really come to like her." He paused. "We owe a lot to her." This time, Ayme turned to look at Sunny Pixie, a warm glint in her eye; Mike was right, no matter how much she hated her monster beforehand, those feelings were all gone.
"Mike … what about the rebellion? I know you said you didn't want to do it, but now that we're, you know, boyfriend and girlfriend, I don't mind if you go ahead, I really don't. It's all for a good cause, isn't it?" Ayme turned her attention back to Mike as she spoke. "If you have to die fighting for freedom, then go ahead –" She yelped as Mike suddenly pulled her closer to him in such a jerky manner she almost sunk to her knees as she lost her balance.
"We don't need the rebellion Ayme," he told her, speaking directly and softly into her ear. "All I need is you; we can be together, forever, just you and me and Sunny Pixie and Commander Covington every day. The Neo Androids can shatter this world, yes, but they can never break our world, and they never will." He loosened his grip on her, and she leaned back while maintaining firm eye contact. "It's just you and me from now on."
"What about your family?"
"Do they matter? As long as I spend enough time with you, and with them …" The smile that was already present just widened, and Ayme let a small giggle escape between her lips. "We can be together every day; you wanted to escape, this is our escape."
"Of course it is Mike." Ayme spoke as she rested her head against his chest. It was needless to say this was their rebellion too; no one would know, especially the Neo Androids – and anything the Neo Androids didn't know was equal to a rebellion. After all, why do it physically and risk being killed when you could do it privately and safely?
As the last rays of the sinking sun illuminated the pink sky, the dazzling orange-red rays broke through the window, and bathed the young couple in a magnificent glow. The shadows that were thrown upon the wall were friendly shadows, also sinking away from the world for the next twelve hours; yet for Mike and Ayme, twelve blissful hours would be shorter than the rest of the world would view it. The Neo Androids had clearly drawn what was and what wasn't meant to be; and there were some things that lines and barriers could never hold back.
~*~
