Chapter 13: Burns

A/N: -

(I don't consider 'damn' much of a curse word.)

I'll get rid of (^) that if it seems annoying, but last chapter I felt a warning was an absolute necessity. Also, Reaper4425, I know, right? Half the time with some of these stories I have to stop and wonder what the peck the author actually meant. But I do upload a chapter or two per day, whereas some upload less than once a month. I know my chapters are quite a bit shorter, but still. An upload a day is still pretty nice.

I sighed with relief upon remembering that the next recording was the next day. I dunno if I'll be able to do much, though.

So, I just sat down and looked at my burn, and the kid sat down next to me and looked at her burn as well. Oh, right. Conductor gave us burn ointment.

I pulled out a tube and popped off the cap, then motioned for the kid to reach out with her arm.

"No, your burn is more serious," She refused.

"Kid, I'm going to treat it anyway. A couple of seconds longer without burn ointment won't make the wound worse," I muttered, and she sighed, extended her arm, and pulled back her sleeve.

I put some of the ointment on my hand and began applying it to the wound. I could hear her hiss out in pain, and I sighed.

Why?

Of all the people that could've been hurt in that damned recording, why her? She's so delicate and elegant, why did it have to be her?! I don't care about myself, no, I'm fine with that. But her?

I shook my head and finished applying the ointment. She put her arm back in her sleeve and sighed.

"I'm going to have to stitch my sleeve, but I can't do it with one arm," She said sadly.

"Does your burn still hurt?" I asked.

"Not really," She muttered.

"I'm sorry," I said, and she gave me a look of extreme confusion.

"For what?" She asked.

"Not protecting you," I explained, "I could've and should've been there, up ahead, and deflected the egg bomb, but I became careless, and you got hurt because of it. So, I'm sorry for not defending you when I should've."

She didn't respond for a few seconds.

"I..." She stammered, "Mega."

I looked at her, and she looked at me.

"You don't need to be a wall for me, or be my shield," She said, "I've been on my own for quite a long time, I can handle myself and can take a few blows."

"Oh, I didn't mean-" I muttered, but she put her hand on my mouth, shutting me up.

"I don't mean that in a bad way. I appreciate what you do, I really do, but I don't want to lose you. You mean so much to me, no other person I've ever known has mattered to me anywhere near as much. I've already lost a lot. So, please watch yourself. If I lost you too..."

She began sniffling.

"I-I don't even know what I'd do. Maybe just end it all so I wouldn't have to go through the pain of losing someone again," She sobbed.

...

Did she just admit that she'd been thinking about or even contemplating suicide?

"Is... is that why you discarded that painting of you and me?" I asked, and she gave me a questioning look.

"You were in my gallery?" She asked, and I nodded. "Well... I guess... yes. If you really want to know, I'm just... scared that you'll either see me as a bad leader or friend, or get hurt, and you'll leave me."

I gently picked up her hat and rubbed her head, smiling warmly at her whilst doing so.

"I have to ask you something. How well do you think of yourself?" I asked, and she just looked down and shook her head.

"Nobody has ever cared for me, and everyone just saw me as good-for-nothing, annoying, and weak," She admitted. So, she'd begun seeing herself as such.

"Kid. You're the smartest, most talented, and most lovely person I've ever known. You have magical hats that can give you powers. And, you have a freaking spaceship that can travel through time! You're like a superhero!" I exclaimed, "Even more, the people love you. Did you not see how many people your fanclub has? It's in the millions! Don't doubt yourself. I'm not going to leave you. I'm going to stay with you, forever."

"Forever and ever?" She asked.

"Forever and ever. I'll be so happy to watch you grow up," I promised, and she looked up and smiled, then gave me a hug.

"Okay. You're right, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. All that matters is what you think," She said, and I frowned and shook my head.

"No, kid," I said, "The only person whose opinion you should care about is you." I tapped her on the nose lightly as I said that last word, which made her giggle.

I stood up.

Wait.

I have a third degree burn on my leg.

I fell to my knee and began cursing under my breath, fortunately the kid couldn't hear. I grabbed the tube of ointment and prepared to put the ointment on my wound, but hesitated.

This was going to hurt.

A lot.

I don't handle pain all that well unless I absolutely have to, like in a life-or-death situation.

"I can't do this," I grumbled, then the kid made a noise of annoyance and snatched the tube from my hands.

"Fine, you big baby! I'll do it myself," She hissed humorously, and I chuckled. She applied the ointment to my wound, which was below my knee but above my foot.

Surprisingly, the application of the ointment didn't really hurt. Must be because all my nerves are fried now. Great.

"Oh, yeah, third degree burns are often numb," I said, and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, would you like me to kiss it better?" She taunted, and I shook my head in a bewildered manner. Since when was the kid this taunting and snarky?

"Ha, don't make me laugh," I replied, then thought of something. "What do you think DJ Grooves has got planned for us tomorrow?" I asked, "I probably won't be able to participate, because of... you know what."

Her playful manner seemed to fade, but I could see she was still in a good mood. "I dunno, could be anything. I do know one thing, though," She muttered.

"What's that?" I asked.

"If it's one of those weird techno dance videos he was recording in the studio, I'm going to smack him in the face for thinking me stupid enough to do that," She grumbled.

"What about me?" I asked, and she turned to me and gave me a sassy smirk.

"Eh, wouldn't surprise me if you did it," She remarked. She just did it again.

"You'd better watch yourself, kid. It's a good thing we have burn ointment here, cause you're gonna need some after my turn is up," I warned.

"There's only one turn in this game: mine," She taunted.

"You'll see, kid. You'll see," I said.

The rest of the day wasn't anything spectacular, we just chilled on the spaceship. At the end of the day, we both went to bed.

I frowned.

It unsettled me that she'd be flying solo for this recording, and I don't know why.

At least it'd probably be something to last time, yeah?

Hopefully.