A/N: And I'm back with Chapter 7, just like I promised!
I'll be honest with you guys, I don't really have a lot to say in this Author's note; other than, "School is over in two weeks baby!" But yeah, that's all. Oh, and I think I used the word "Goodbye" way too much in this chapter o_O Maybe I'm being paranoid...
Anyway, I'll let you guys start reading...
Chapter 7: Goodbye Everyone!
1 week later...
"Ring-ring; Ring-ring; Ring-ring" Ahh! Who the hell!
"Ring-ri-" I smack the glowing part of my omni-tool with some annoyance.
An orange screen pops up and I'm greeted with an angry looking Lieutenant, named Zabaleta. "What do you want? I'm in the middle of sleep!"
He raises an eyebrow, "Perhaps you didn't realize the fact that we're leaving in 30 minutes?"
Already? I thought we we're leaving on Saturday? I look at the date on my omni-tool.
...
Oh shit...
My eyes get wide at the discovery, "Damn it!" I exclaim, "I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Well, hurry the hell up." He says, "You still need to say goodbye to all your friends and they won't wait here forever!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." I turn off our communication link and sluggishly get off my bed, then I move towards my closet.
A lot has happened in the past week... After Jane and I came back from the burial site, the streets we're crowded around Quiyona, and Brannigan. Turns out that while we were gone, they were telling everybody how I was the one that saved all of them. I honestly felt flattered and great that they told everyone. I was ready to take in all of the thank you's and sorry's that would've soon taken place... But instead, they dismissed their claims, because they couldn't believe that a piece of colony trash saved all their sorry asses. Bastards.
Fortunately, I didn't let it affect me much as I was already having a terrible day. So, life went on. There was a little celebration for how we ended up kicking the Batarians out of our homeworld. It was held by the Alliance actually, on their ship: The SSV Einstein. I can't believe I didn't realize it before; the ship is freaking HUGE! No wonder they need to use shuttles. I Don't know what the inside looks like, even though I've already been in there before. It was on bad circumstances, so I wasn't really paying attention to it. I'm looking forward to it though.
Speaking of which; Alliance radio's have been down because of us deactivating our Communication tower. That meant they would be here for a little while, so the crew from the ship has been helping the colony rebuild. They gave spare parts, food, water, and even medical supplies. It took awhile for everyone to come to terms with all the death that took place during the raid, Even me. But soon, we all pitched in on rebuilding everything, piece by piece. I won't be able to see it finish though because I decided to leave Mindoir. Too many bad memories I suppose...
Jane wasn't very happy with the idea, but she understood why. I also ended up telling Quiyona and the old guy, as well as Zabaleta of course. I created a friendship between the two officers, just like I did with the Corporal. The Staff Sergeant and I are mere acquaintances for now. I'm becoming a bit 'nicer' each day... But I'm still an asshole most of the time. I met Quiyona's mother, who seemed to believe her daughter about how I was the one that saved the colony. The Sergeant has a family of his own; a wife and two daughters. They believed us as well; I like all of them already!...
Anyway, Zabaleta agreed and let me stay on his ship until we reached some place called the Citadel. I've heard of it before, but I've never seen it in person. So, I'm kind of excited for that. The day I decided to leave Mindoir, I went to my old house. I wanted to spend my last night there. I began to tear up once I walked into Lunar's room. A wave of guilt rushed over my body and it felt like it was pointing a finger at me and smacked me in the face. I found the drawing she was doing when I left that morning to Jane's house. Heh, heh; now that I think about it, it's a little funny that I used to call this place "The Warehouse". I ended up putting the half finished drawing in my bag and sat at the kitchen table. It was then that I decided to complete it for her. I spent all night trying to get the detail, just right. But in the end I finished it. I went to sleep at around 3:00'o clock in the morning (Mindoir time).
Now, here we are...
I quickly put on a white shirt and some cargo pants. This became my usual dress-ware after Lunar passed. My last outfit was really dirty and was covered in... blood.
Her cold dead eyes staring at me in the face, piercing through my skull. Blood everywhere... God! I shake my head at the past memory. I have to leave the past behind and think about the future... But it's just so damn hard to forget...
I bite my lower lip and close the closet door. I guess it's time to say goodbye to this place... I move towards my bedroom door, taking one last look at my childhood room. I can't believe this is it... Exhaling a breath, I close the door and stride towards the living room. I'm not strong enough to go in their room's again. I pick up my bag from the living room floor, with all of my stuff already packed inside, I walk out of the house.
The sunlight almost blinds me because of how bright it is. Damn this hurts! My arm immediately goes over my eyebrows, protecting my eyes from further harm. The sun is really out at this time of day; I wonder what time it is? I open my omni-tool and check.
Hmm... I still have time.
I turn to the designated area and walk towards my destination. I have one last stop to make.
It didn't take long for me to reach their burial site; being a thief has a way of making you a bit quick and stealthy.
A frown forms on my face as I crouch down to her grave. "Hey Lunar, it's me again. The colony still thinks of me as a piece of shit, after everything I did last week! Can you believe it?" I say it in such a way that I feel like I'm waiting for an answer. When one doesn't come, I lower my head. "I'm leaving Mindoir, so I won't be able to visit you both for awhile." I slowly say. "I'm going to a place called The Citadel! We've never been there before, but I'm very excited to be going, even though I don't know what I'll do yet." A smile creeps on my lips. "I went by the house yesterday and I found this!" I take out the drawing from my bag. "Do you like it? It wasn't done yet, so I finished it for you." I gently place the drawing on her grave and face my mom's. "I also found this," I take out a holo that had the pictures of my mother, Lunar, and myself. "Though if you don't mind, I'd like to keep this one." I stuff it back into the bag and get up.
Well, this is it... "I'll be back though, one day... But in the meantime, Take of Lunar for me, will ya mom?"
...
Shit! My eyes are starting to get watery. I better go. With nothing left to say, I sprint towards the edge of the colony. Time to go say bye to everyone else!
*Huff, Huff, Huff*
Fuck! How long have I been running! I take a quick gander at the clock.
...
FUCK!
I only have 5 minutes! C'mon! How far is thi-?
Oh! There it is! Okay, I'm almost there, just don't stop!
I pick up the pace a little and reach the loading bay in around 2 minutes... I think. Everyone still appears to be here; I'm glad they waited for me.
My feet come to a halt and my body bends down with my hands pressed against my knee's. "I feel like my lungs are on fire!" I yell for everyone to hear. My head shakily goes up. "Sorry I took so long."
Zabaleta glares at me, "Where the hell have you been?"
I take one last breath before I stand correctly, "I wanted to pay a last minute visit to my sister, thank you." I inform sternly. "Besides, I have enough time to say goodbye."
He sigh's in frustration, "Very well then, just hurry up." He turns and walks back to the ship.
I look in front of me and see that the first one up is Sergeant Brannigan. I jog slowly over to my old friend and plant myself in a position in front of him. He extends his arm and offers a handshake. I smile and duplicate it, firmly grasping his hand and giving it a shake. I can't help but chuckle a little, because this is how we first met; except I didn't shake his hand last time...
"Well kid, it look's like this is it huh?" He asks.
"Indeed," I reply with another smile, "Take care of the colony while I'm gone okay?"
"Will do," he says with a small laugh. He briefly eyes a different direction before facing me, "Just be careful out there kid. This galaxy is far more worse than what you've seen here. The Batarian raid proves that."
I pat his shoulder, "Don't worry, I'll be fine."
His wife then comes out from behind him, "Michael, I suggest you listen to him; the Galaxy isn't something you can just brush off. It's something you have to really be careful with," Is it really that bad? There's gotta be some places in this big-ass Galaxy that has a good society... On second thought, I better take the advice.
I give them a reassuring nod, "I'll take it into consideration. Thanks for the warning."
"We'll see you again someday kid," He finalizes. "Good luck."
Thanks Brannigan, I appreciate that. Giving them another nod, I walk over to the next person.
Wow. I didn't think saying bye to him would be so tough. But I guess I should know that by now, Goodbye's are never easy.
Alright, the next person is... Quiyona. She faces me and tilts her head.
"Hello, 'sir'." She greets. Oh yeah, she's been addressing me as 'Sir' ever since the whole raid ended; It's kind of getting annoying...
"You don't always have to call me that you know?" I annoyingly say. "Just Michael is fine!"
"Why, does is it bother you?" She's using a sweet and innocent voice... This can't be good.
"Yes," I hesitatingly reply.
Wait for it...
"Good!" She snickers, forming a rather devious smile. "If it annoy's you, then I'll do it for the rest of your life!"
There it is! "Well then it's good thing I'm leaving. That way, you can't call me that in person." I send her devious smile back at her.
"Saying it through vid-chat's are good enough for me!" We start laughing together now. I think she's the one I became close friends with the most. I guess I have a habit of being good friends with girls... The laughter dies down and she continues to speak. "You won't be alone at the Citadel for too long. In a few years, I'll be heading there myself to join C-Sec."
What...? Really...?
"That's great!" I reply, "When will you be going?"
She looks around before responding, "As soon as we get this colony back to normal, I'll be leaving the force and heading to the Citadel to start a life of my own." She pauses, "Maybe I'll meet a guy."
A grin forms on my face, "Well... Good luck with that last part. But other than that, I look forward to seeing you again."
"Same here 'Sir'." Argh! Must she keep agitating me with that? Before I leave, she grabs my arm and my head jerks back to where she is. "By the way, make sure to give a good fair-well to Jane. She cares about you a lot." She lets go of my arm and gives me a slight shove to get me moving.
Crap! I don't think I'm prepared to say goodbye to Jane yet. Her figure comes into view ahead of me... But it looks like I've run out of time.
She's the last one... I take a position in front of her. She's got one arm across her body holding her other arm. Then she's got both of her legs crossed as well. Damn, this is gonna be difficult...
None of us say anything, we just stare at each other. I don't think I have the ability to speak right now. Before I could register what was going to happen, she pulls me into a hug, placing one hand on my back and the other behind my head. Both my hands unconsciously claim the positions of her waist. I can feel her warm breath on my shoulder as well as the smoothness of her hair brushing across my forehead. If we keep this up, there's no way I'll be able to let go of her, I don't want to... But I must, so I think I should begin.
"I'll be back soon Jane, so don't worry" I reassure her.
"I know you're lying Michael," she giggles, "But thanks for trying."
Damn it...! "Sorry, I don't like to see you sad... It hurts me too..."
As much as I don't want to, I pull away from the hug only to get mesmerized by her eyes again. Her beautiful emerald eyes... I love them... I...
This feeling again... Ever since I met up with Jane that day, before the raid. Every time I got close to her, this wonderful sensation would come up. It's so amazing that it's too hard to describe, or rather, I can't find the right word for it...
"I appreciate that Michael," She says, "I'm just really gonna miss you..." She looks in a different direction briefly, before facing me again. "You had always been there for me... Whenever something bad happened, you would show up there to help in any way you can. When my dad somehow got me pissed, you show up, always there to comfort me." Well, I did owe her a debt, but I guess it became more than that... Hmm, more... "Sure, you had your moments to infuriate the crap out of me, but you had your reason's for it."
I smile, "Well, sorry for making you mad all those times. Besides, you've been helping me and... Lunar... for a long time, and I still haven't returned that favor."
"You saved my life Michael, twice." She crosses her arms, "You've done more than enough." I should say the same to you, "Oh! And there's one other thing..."
She cups her mouth and whispers in my ears, "Did you know that because you saved everyone during the raid, my friends actually like you now?" Really? That's interesting. I guess they also believed Jane when she told them... "Heh heh, some of them even admire you." she pulls back and begins to talk normally. That is also interesting... I think. "But I told them you were already taken..."
Good, that means-
Wait...
Huh?
I rub the back of my neck, "What do you mean by that?"
Her face becomes the color of a tomato as she begins to play with her hair. "Well, there's something I've been meaning to tell you for quite awhile now..." Okay, now she looks incredibly nervous... "I don't know if you'll find this weird or not, because we've been best friends for a long time and I'm not sure how you'll react to this."
I come closer to her and give a warm smile, "Just say it..."
Her eyes nictate before responding, "Michael... I... I L-"
"Michael, come on! We're leaving, hurry up!"
Fuck you Pierce! You interrupting piece of shit!
"Give me like ten seconds!" I yell back, "I won't be long!" He dismisses me with a wave of his hand, while I turn to my greatest friend. "Sorry about that, you were saying?"
She bites her lower lip and shakes her head. "Nevermind, it's nothing important," Well that's a lie, she looks disappointed... "I just wanted to say... Good luck."
Hmm. "Are you sure that's all you wanted to tell me?" She gives a hesitant nod. I guess I shouldn't push her than... "Alright then. Thank you for everything Jane." I invade her personal space and kiss her cheek, like she did with me during the raid. "Goodbye..."
With this, I move up the ramp and onto the ship. It begins to hover off the ground while I stay in the loading bay, giving one last look behind me. My eyes meet hers... I'm gonna miss her the most... The doors close soon after. Brandon (Pierce) taps my shoulder and says, "C'mon, I'll show you around." He beckons me with his hand to follow him to the elevator. Well, I guess it's time to Say Hello to The Galaxy!
A/N: Aaaand this is where the story kicks off! I would've gotten this one out sooner, but I was debating whether or not I should add more to this chapter. In the end, I decided to put what I already had, into chapter 8. Yes, I've already started it... Just wait a little bit longer, and I'll have it out in no time!
Warning: In the coming chapters, Michael will begin to get a bit more soft, but his attitude will not change entirely! For example, He'll still be impatient and sometimes cold...-er. So don't worry about that. I just wanted to establish the effect that Lunar's death will have on him, but also how it won't. I mean, an attitude just doesn't change after a few days; especially if you've had the same attitude for YEARS!
Anyway, time for recommendations! If you like an anime called Sekirei; then check "The Hopes of Ascension" by CrimsonBlade11. My second recommendation, if you haven't already read it... Is
"Mass Effect: The Hunt" by CallsignReaper01. I know I've recommended it before, but believe me when I say: It's starting to get really F****** good!
*Ahem* Disregard my text scream please...
Well, until next time, Laterz!
