Disclaimer: I don't own 9. If I did, I'd have to be Shane Acker. Or at least married to him.. -epiphany!- I should do that.. -creepy smirk- Too bad about Chuck.. And Carl… and Danny.. XD
AN: Thanks to Iolite_dancer, TaylorAnnM, and Kitteh Kat for reviewing last chappie! I love you guys in a not creepy way.. And I would also like to thank Maroon 5, Coldplay, The Killers and Fall Out Boy for letting me listen to them on my ipod while I typed. XD
7 felt strangely hollow inside now that the source of all this drama, all this trouble, the baby was gone. She became listless, aimlessly wandering around inside. She stopped going outside entirely, although no one knew the real reason; 9 could be out there. Everyone noticed the difference and knew she took the loss hard.
It was all 9's fault, really, he was the one to.. She couldn't bear to bring that to mind.
2 had said she needed to rest for at least another month; that once she did, she would be able to conceive again. But she didn't want to, not after what 9 did. She wouldn't let anyone get close to her except 2. She wouldn't let anyone touch her near her toggle, not even 2. She would break down in sobs even if he just requested it to check up on how she was healing.
That level of intimacy of opening herself was destroyed when she was.. When 9 did what he did. She wouldn't allow herself that intimacy with anyone ever again, not even 1. Not if she could help it.
She never went up into the watch-tower if she could help it. Whenever she did, the repressed memories would come back, searing and fresh as if it had just happened. She couldn't go up there, never again. She just couldn't.
Her relationship with 1 suffered greatly. She started to avoid him, even going so far as to evade talking to him or about him to others. He still loved her, and she him, but it was just too painful for her to endure any kind of affection right now.
"She can be repaired physically but never completely mentally. The scarring would run too deep." She heard 2 say to 1 on one of the few occasions she let herself close enough to him.
After a month or so. She was starting, ever-so-slightly, to go back to her regular lifestyle. She was no longer lethargic, although she never really talked much anymore.
She would go out into the Emptiness for almost days at a time, coming back silently at the first signs of dusk on the third or fourth day, and slipping noiselessly into her room. They were all starting to get worried about her well-being, especially 1 though he would never admit it.
She was always alone. She probably liked the silence, easier to cover her emotions and not let anyone see them, hiding away from everyone else.
She would cry, anguished choking sobs that wracked her entire frame. 2 knew because he would visit her, and try to help her. She would always be curled up on her bed, barely responding. 2 was the only one she talked to other than the twins, because she could finally (mostly) understand the strange almost-Morse code method of speaking they employed.
They didn't understand what had happened to her, they were too innocent and child-like, although they at least tried to cheer her up.
Everyone else just went about life as usual, albeit feeling as if an airless vacuum was lingering where 7 would be. It was worse than when she left, because this time she was still there, just unresponsive.
9 was nowhere to be found. It was as if he just evaporated, as if he were never there, though he left behind a trail of sorrow that would take years to fully disappear.
At this very moment, the twins were with 7. She didn't say anything as they scuttled in, only smile, but the smile was tinged with sadness. 4 went to her side, excited, optics flickering rapidly. (She was starting to get dizzy from the hurried bright clicking of her optics.) 4 was telling her everything that was going on outside her room. "*…And and 2 taught me and 3 how to play chess! I beat 8 at it, twice! Will.. Will your baby be able to play chess with me?*"
The older twin, 3, was calmer than his sister, and he understood, (well, mostly understood) what had happened to 7. He just glanced over from the doorway and flickered to her that she didn't comprehend what had happened.
"O-oh, no.. 4. I.. lost my baby.." She explained, slowly, biting her lip to stifle a choked sob, her voice cracking, drawing the female twin close to her. 4 looked up at her, putting a hand gingerly against her middle. "*Oh. Where did he go?*" She didn't understand, not really. She couldn't answer that, didn't have the heart to explain to the child-like twin.
4 scampered back to 3 as 2 entered.
"How are you feeling today, m'dear?"
She glanced over at him for just a split second. She didn't want to meet his gaze. He would see the pain in her optics. She was a warrior. Warriors didn't show hurt, didn't show weakness. "I'm fine." She lied. She wasn't fine. Even though a month went by, the pain was as real as if it had happened only the day before.
"And no sign of 9 yet. He ran. Good thing, too. Ever since--.." he paused, looking away for a moment, his face pained-looking. "Well.. 1 threatened to kill him, so it's no small wonder he vanished. Speaking of 1," he looked back at her, she was sitting hands in her lap. "Has he come to see you lately?"
She looked up at him, absently picking at the fabric of her wrist, and simply said- "I don't see him. He doesn't see me."
He sat on the edge of her bed.
"I've heard he wants to get up the courage to see you. He's upset over this too, you know. He was going to kill 9 just to protect you."
"If he wanted to protect me, how come he didn't stop what 9 did from happening? The one time I couldn't fend for myself, and he wasn't there!" She pressed her hands to her face; her next words were muffled. "Why couldn't I fight back? I-I feel so weak." She crumpled onto the bed, sobbing, her shoulders shaking every time she took in breath. "I can't do this.. I can't face 1 like this. I told him I could protect myself but I can't."
"Shh, no, you can take care of yourself, I know you can. But sometimes you can't be alone all the time." 2 put a hand on her back comfortingly.
"N-no, I..I can't. It was my fault this happened. I couldn't fight back. I was too weak."
"It's not your fault. It isn't. Shh." His voice was soothing.
"But.. But what about 1? Does- does he think this was my fault?" She murmured, softly, sounding almost like a child.
"How could he think that? He saw how 9 hurt you. You.. You should talk to him. He's been worried about you. He just wants to see you again. He wants to help you forget what happened, and move on, be happy. "
She stopped crying. "I-I know. But I just can't face him knowing that.. That the baby's gone." She closed her optics. "That was the only reason we stuck together. And now the reason's gone."
"He still loves you, no matter what the case." 2 insisted.
"Then how come he acts as if I don't exist. He never tries to see me. Nothing. And you saw how he acted when I first woke up after…" Her voice faltered. "It's as if he hates me."
"No, no, my dear girl. He just doesn't know how to express emotion well. Everything shows as anger or, or spite. But he still loves you. Let him back to you."
AN: Aaaand… This is like the second to last chapter of Breaking the News. Yay! XD 7's starting to recover. 2 is the all-knowing-all-seeing badass of the cathedral. Next chapter features fluff and quite possibly some pr0nz. XD
R&R please! XD
TFFLM