Moving On

Chapter 10

Signum had no idea how long she'd been walking but fortunately, the guns she ran into had never fired at her. That was creepily fortunate though she didn't take chances and destroyed any she came across. Every time she thought she'd found the exit she was lead into another hall and another and another, sometimes into dead ends, until she figured she was going around in circles. She decided to mark a path on the floor with Laevatein so that she would know if she'd passed the place before and backtrack. On Vita and Touya's side they were hiding behind a wall to avoid getting shot. It seems that her assumption that their armour being able to withstand the gun shots were proven wrong when her hat was shot off her head. She obviously got back at the machine gun for it. When the Nakajima sisters arrived at their position they managed to put up enough of a distraction for Touya and Vita to pass. The two split up to cover more ground. Signum, who was walking at a leisurely pace, suddenly broke into a run when she felt a presence nearby, fearing Vaughn might have woken up and found out that she'd escaped. She stopped immediately when she came face to face with the person she was running from.

"Shimatta." she breathed out.

"Where do you think you're going? I know this place like the back of my hand and you think you can outrun me? I chose this place because it was like a maze, one way in, one way out. It'll take you hours to find the exit." he said grimly. He had a badly bruised cheek because Signum had socked him in the face.

"Too bad I rigged the sensors on the guns so they don't fire on you because right now, I feel like gunning you down." he was furious.

She figured she'd put one and one together and she got her conclusion. He had no intention of killing her because she was the prize, two, he was aiming to kill only her friends, especially her fiancé. She decided to stall and buy herself some time to escape but he was right, she was standing on unfamiliar ground and with AMF surrounding her, guns all over the place, she was at a disadvantage. She could take him on but if he pulled out a gun and fired recklessly, she could not erect a barrier to block the shots. She could not take that to chance.

"Why, afraid all of a sudden? I rather like that, fear." he told her, regaining his confidence to get nearer.

She decided not to wait and decided to bolt. She ran down the halls at a reckless pace, slashing at pillars to make them tumble and fall, chopping up any gun that came into sight. Vaughn was furious and chased after her, encountering obstacles she'd obviously created to slow him down. Oh, she was everything but stupid, he realized with increased fury. Signum wanted to stop and catch her breath but after considering the odds she decided otherwise and kept running at a certain pace so as not to die out too soon. Touya hurried down the halls, focusing on a single goal, get Signum and get out! He became more and more frantic when he realized he was running in circles but he kept his hopes up when he heard some clanging. He headed toward the source of the sound and saw a trail of destruction down the hall and followed it but was cautious when Knight warned him that he was being followed. He ran faster and then he saw her, hacking at a pillar. He grabbed her arm and twisted her in his arms making her face him.

"Touya." she exclaimed in shock.

He would have pulled her into a kiss there and then but now wasn't the time to do such things, even if he wanted to. He turned around and saw Vaughn standing at the end of the hall, furious. He was about to react but stopped when he heard gunshots. Vaughn was standing between the gun and its target and therefore got shot. He stared at his chest, bewildered but quickly pulled out a remote and pressed the button and then dropped dead. Touya panicked, grabbing Signum's wrist, he dragged her off toward the exit. He passed by Vita, Agito with her, and dragged her along.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!" she yelled.

"Getting us out of here, unless you want to get blown up!" he yelled back.

"I thought I was the only one who can blow things up! Well, not if you include the three aces and…." Agito shouted but Vita cut her short.

"Just shut up!"

Everyone else had gotten out earlier on Vita's orders. Vita had stayed behind to look for Touya and Signum. The three were close to the exit when the building behind them blew up. Those waiting outside and in the court room were horrified. When the blast cleared out, Shamal, Zafira, Fate, Nanoha and a few others began digging frantically for the three. Shamal was in tears as she called out to them, moving pieces of debris out of the way. After digging for several minutes they heard a voice and started tunneling faster and faster. It was Touya. He stuck his hand out to specify his position. They removed a few more heavy pieces and finally uncovered them. Touya was kneeling protectively over an unconscious Vita and Signum. Agito was trying to help but didn't know what to do. Shamal immediately tended to the injured knights while Fate called in medical back up. Touya had held up as long as he could to make sure the other two got out alright and he finally gave into fatigue and fell to the floor. The last thing he heard was Shamal's voice and the wailing of sirens.

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Vita woke with a start when she heard the automatic door slide open and breathed a sigh of relief when it was Hayate that walked in. The brunette was terrified and worried when the explosion went off while they were still in the building. She'd waited for hours until Shamal permitted her to even see Vita.

"How are you doing? Shamal said your injuries weren't too bad." sitting down next to the bed.

"I feel fine, that's for sure. Though I don't think I can feel my legs." the redhead replied grimly.

"Oh, Shamal said your legs got crushed slightly by some rock but it's not broken and so it'll heal pretty quick." trying to smile. Vita knew she was worried about Signum and Touya.

"That's a relief. Shamal won't let you see the other two huh?" to which the brunette nodded solemnly. "Their injuries are probably worse than mine. How is Agito, she alright?"

"Yes, that's what she told me. Agito is fine. Touya's spine almost broke trying to protect you both and strained his arms badly. His knees might have some problems too but Shamal said that it would be ok. Signum got hit in the head pretty badly, her body wounded in several places and her wrist has some pretty bad lacerations, possibly from her binds. Her feet were pretty bad too because she was barefoot, cuts and bruises all over." Vita was dumbstruck.

"Why on earth was she barefoot?"

"I don't know but I'm sure she's got a good reason for that because I doubt she's that silly to want to simply take off her shoes for no reason."

The two let out a heavy sigh as they went over the events that happened during the day, the trial procession and the rescue mission and they had more than enough people who volunteered to go in on the action. The conversation eventually strayed to Signum and Touya's wedding. It was quite an animated conversation from there on.

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This story is almost at an end but I promise the new story will hopefully be out by the end of the year... its not that i don't want to finish it now but rather i lack the time, what with major exams and all... i'm sorry guys, i wud like to post the new story earlier but with my exams coming up i want to slow down and focus on studies for the time being. I thank those of u who have supported me. I can only hope that the new story will be better, more interesting with a slightly more intricate plot. u can consider it a rewrite of Finding Love since that one was not that good but under different circumstances. u'll meet some new characters and see some old characters coming back to reprise their old roles but noted that they might have a different background from the last story and their personalities might be slightly different. ^^ i intend to finish posting this story before the end of the week so no worries. ^^ this story was actually a lot longer but since i'm doing a better rewrite, i cut it short. i hope this story is still enjoyable. ^^