(Okay, where the hell IS everyone?
I mean, seriously... it's like everyone anonymous fell off the face of the earth.
Anyways, this is le chapter au dramatique.
Say you love my Frenglish.
Everyone except Rylee(it's easier this way) © Nintendo
Rylee © Me)
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Days of the Phoenix
Chapter Ten- Reunion
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Rylee squirmed fitfully in her sleep, tossing and turning.
Her inner demons would not leave her alone...
Faint voices, some of which she couldn't even recognize, echoed in her mind, a dull throb of chaotic noise that grew to monumental proportions...
Rylee whimpered softly, about to scream at the voices, to tell them to shutup--
A cool hand began softly caressing her face.
The energetic voices in her head calmed down...
Though her eyes remained closed, Rylee finally woke up.
"Oh, don't even deny it-- you thought she was a goner, didn't you?"
"I did not. She's a Kasal-- a bullet wasn't going to stop her."
"You're in denial again..."
That second voice... she knew it...
"Ugh... whatever. The only thing you're good at is making my life miserable. You're a terrible brother."
The first voice laughed.
"Oh, you do know she's awake now, right...?"
Rylee tensed up slightly...
The hand on her face carefully moved to her hair, stroking it gently.
"Yeah, I know... when she's ready, she'll open her eyes."
The hand paused.
"Won't you, Rylee...?"
Her hazel eyes slid open slowly...
She was lying on a couch; the first thing she saw was a faded white ceiling. There was a calm quiet- a peace that she hadn't felt in so long...
The hand that was tousling her hair gently brushed away the stray strands of dark brown hair that fell into her hazel eyes. Rylee turned to see who was doing that--
She had only seen him twice before; that had been fourteen years ago, before he had been murdered in cold blood. Then, he had been thin, bloody-- broken...
But now, he was here, in perfect condition...
Rylee couldn't believe-- she hardly dared to believe--
"...Dad...?"
Behind a pair of oval-lensed glasses, Sidney Kasal's hazel eyes sparkled with life as he smiled at his daughter.
"Hey, Rylee..."
Rylee let out a sudden sob as she bolted upright.
"D-Dad..."
She leaned over, tightly hugging her father, tears streaming down her face.
"D-Dad... it's you, i-it's really you... I th-thought that I'd n-never get to see you ag-gain... D-Dad...!"
Sidney wrapped his arms around Rylee, rubbing her back soothingly as he quietly hushed his crying daughter.
"Shh... Rylee, it's okay..."
"I-I missed you... I only really saw you once, but... for fourteen years, I've missed you..."
Sidney smiled softly, stroking Rylee's long brown hair.
"Rylee, I've always been with you..."
Rylee pulled away from her father, looking up at him with inquisitive, teary hazel eyes.
Sidney carefully ran his fingers over the thin golden chains around Rylee's neck, eventually lifting the cross and locket up.
"Maybe I wasn't with you in person... but I've been by your side for these fourteen years. I wasn't going to leave you... not in times like these..."
"Never mind that you had to make up for eight lost years, Sidney..."
Rylee whipped her head around-- and did a double-take as she saw another person in the room.
"Th-there'stwo of you?!"
Sidney sighed.
"Greg, how many times to I have to ask you to not do that?"
Greg Kasal laughed, his hazel eyes reflecting his youthful enthusiasm as he tousled his niece's hair affectionately.
"Hey there, Rylee... I'm Greg, your uncle. It's nice to finally meet you."
"Y-yeah... s-same here-- ...wait..."
Rylee's eyes widened.
"I saw you that day! I remember-- I saw you, and three others... when you were hanged..."
"Oh, so you were there too? Well, too bad we couldn't have met under better circumstances, yeah?"
Greg's happy-go-lucky nature struck Rylee as... odd, at best.
"Ignore him," Sidney waved off Greg's comment, eliciting a laugh from the elder twin. "Nothing sticks to him."
"...well... that's not... entirely true. ...it stuck when I saw... that happen, Sidney."
Greg's smile melted away, replaced by a solemn, almost forlorn, expression.
"...you wouldn't remember that, though..."
"...I can imagine what it was like."
Sidney's hazel eyes flickered with anger as memories of that bitter day resurfaced in his mind.
"Dad...? Is something wrong?"
The troubled look in his hazel eyes vanished as Sidney refocused his attention onto his daughter.
"No-- everything's fine, Rylee. ...is there anything you want to know?"
"Ask him what the meaning of life is!"
"Greg, I will throw something heavy at you, and you will lose consciousness."
Greg chuckled as Rylee wondered briefly...
"...actually, there is something that's been puzzling me..."
"Yes?"
"...where are we, exactly?"
Sidney glanced around the room.
"Hm... well, I'm fairly certain that we're in my living room..."
"Well, okay-- maybe I should have been more specific. Where?" Rylee repeated. "I mean, obviously, we're in a house-- but you both died... so, am I hallucinating? Or am I--"
"Oh! I know where we are!" Greg's eyes suddenly lit up. "Can I tell her? Pleeeeeeease, Sidney?"
"No."
"C'mooon, killjoy..."
"Absolutely not!"
"Greg, where am I?"
Greg grinned.
"No, Greg, don't--"
"You're in Heaven, Rylee!"
Rylee froze.
"...I'mdead?!"
"Damnit, Greg! Stop traumatizing my daughter!"
Greg laughed, fleeing the room, avoiding Sidney's intense glare.
"...Dad...?"
Sidney's stern expression softened as he noticed the worried look on Rylee's face.
"Am I... dead...?"
Sidney slowly pulled his daughter close, hugging her loosely.
"No, Rylee-- you're not dead. Not by a long shot."
Rylee was confused.
"W-what? But, then... why am I here? I thought that only dead people would end up here--!"
"Rylee, Rylee-- calm down, okay? Don't get worked up..."
Sidney pulled away, brushing Rylee's hair out of her worried, pale face.
"You died for... less than a minute. So, until you wake up in the real world... you're staying here. Okay...?"
Rylee nodded softly, her hazel eyes fixated on her father.
"Okay... okay. I understand. ...but... Dad? I have another question..."
"Yes, Rylee?"
She fidgeted nervously.
"...have I done the right thing? The protesting, the- the bombs, and defying the system-- was it the right thing, or... or was I wrong about it all?"
Sidney let out a soft sigh.
"Rylee, you have been true to your convictions-- and as long as you do that, then yes-- you're doing the right thing," he began. "Oh, thereare a few things you've done that were questionable-- your little one-night stand comes to mind..."
Rylee squirmed, blushing furiously with embarrassment. Sidney chuckled softly, placing a hand on his daughter's shoulder.
"...but despite those few things... I couldn't be more proud of you, Rylee."
Rylee looked up at her smiling father...
A grin began to play at her lips.
"Thanks, Dad-- ah...!"
The room around her began to fade...
"What, what's wrong, Rylee?" Sidney asked, his voice sounding slightly worried-- and distant.
"The-the room... it's fading away...!"
"...because you're waking up..." her father replied, a sad smile creeping onto his face. "It's time for you to go back..."
Rylee couldn't help it; she threw herself towards her father, tears falling down her face as she wrapped Sidney into a tight hug.
"I don't want to go," she sobbed. "Not now... not when I've finally seen you again..."
"I know you don't, Rylee, but you have to," Sidney whispered calmly, returning his daughter's hug. "But I'll always be with you... okay?"
The brunette woman nodded slowly.
"And, will you do two things for me when you wake up...?"
"Of course, Dad... what are they?"
"Please... go ahead and smack Victor upside the head. Tell him I said he needs to clean up his language..."
Rylee allowed a small chuckle to escape her lips.
"Sure, Dad. What else...?"
Sidney smiled softly.
"...take care of my granddaughter, would you?"
Rylee shot her head up, her eyes wide.
"W-what? Y-you mean-- I'm--?!"
"Take care of her, will you? And of yourself..."
"Dad--!"
Everything around Rylee abruptly faded to black.
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(End chapter ten.
I wrote this story for this chapter. I love it very very much. -heart-
Please review!)