Bleh... I'm running kinda late on this one, but since the next chapter is, in the words of my beta, "really short and kinda boring", I figured I might as well post both parts this morning. So, here's the other side of the argument.

I only own my OC/As.

Chapter 4.7 – Running From Daath
Part 25

Sync's POV

I took a deep breath. My jaw hurt where she had punched me... Definitely hadn't seen that one coming... Kairi never really came across as the kind of person to punch someone when she got angry. Of course, she also never came across as the type to disrespect others' privacy. I frowned, watching her back as she stopped walking away, probably trying to calm down.

"What do you want from me? An apology?" I asked quietly, barely recovering my voice from where it had disappeared after Kairi's punch. Then, more confident in my words, I added, "You're not getting one. I meant every word I said."

Kairi sighed. "Sync, tell me something," she started, pausing. I frowned. This probably wouldn't end well. "If another replica... say, Luke or Ion?" I blinked. How did she know that Ion was a replica too? "If you were about to kill yourself and they were begging you not to do it, what would you say?" she asked.

I stared at her. Where had that come from?

Then I frowned and shifted to stand up. "Let me guess," Kairi began again. "'I'm not interested in the naïve babbling of a replica who has people that need him.'" I looked up at her in surprise, before I stopped and actually thought about it. "Am I right?"

I looked up at her again, realizing with a sickening feeling in my gut that yes, she really was correct. She turned around to look at me, the frozen look in her eyes conveying how little she wanted to be having this conversation. She was running out of steam, but her words...

"How...?" I trailed off. It was as if she had read my mind before I even had a chance to think the words.

Kairi's neutral expression turned into a scowl. "You may not have people that need you, Sync, but I'll let you know something," she said. I blinked. That look in her eye... She still hadn't given up on me? Even as tired as she was of this conversation? "If you can drop your lack-of-self-worth attitude, there'll be at least one person who wants you. Stop and think about that, why don't you?" I just stared. No, she had to be lying. There was no way... "And if that doesn't change your mind, then fine. I'll have nothing more to do with you," she added simply.

Then she turned and headed for the door, ignoring what I'm sure must have been a dumbstruck look on my face.

I looked down toward the floor. She... actually wanted me around? But... Why?

Thud-clink!

I blinked and looked up as I realized what had just landed on the floor between me and Kairi, just in time to see the blonde woman step out the door without a word.

I stared at the door for what had to have been at least three minutes, then finally sank to the floor in shock. My mask...

I reached forward and picked it up, looking it over for any cracks or nicks, though I knew there wouldn't be any. This wasn't like my first mask. This one was sturdy enough to take a few hits.

I slipped it back into place, then frowned and pulled my legs up to my chest. She had to have been lying. Mohs was very blunt when he said I was a worthless replica and threw me into the volcano. And Van made it very clear that the only reason he had saved me was because he thought I might be useful.

So why was it that Kairi seemed so dead-set on insisting that it wasn't true?

"'I'm not interested in the naïve babbling of a replica who has people that need him.' Am I right?"

How had she known?

I could just see it, in my mind's eye. That naïve fool, Ion, standing only a few feet away from me, holding out his hand.

'You and I are the same,' the illusion says.

I scowled. 'We are NOT the same! You were the only one who could actually serve as a replacement. A replica that can't act as a replacement is just a piece of trash.'

"Call yourself a piece of trash again, I dare you."

And then she had punched me when I said it again. She really believed that, didn't she? But why should I care? She'll agree with the others sooner or later. I'm worthless. Mohs said it, one of the original Ion's Fon Master Guardians said it... okay, she screamed it at me before trying to kill me, which she would have done if Van hadn't interfered... And I overheard Van say it once. He didn't know I was there, but I heard it.

They all agree that I'm worthless? Why doesn't she?

"You're a living being, aren't you? That makes you priceless, not worthless. You can't put a price on someone's life, after all, even if they are a replica."

Was that true? Could it be true?

Suddenly, the room felt unbearably hot, and I took a deep breath before standing and walking over to the door. Maybe a little fresh air would help me clear my head.

I wandered up onto the deck on autopilot. I'd been on enough Katsbert Ferries that it wasn't a problem to avoid getting lost, and meanwhile, my mind could continue to stumble over everything Kairi had said. Man, I must not have really been listening until she punched me, because now that I was thinking about it, everything she said held this sense of conviction behind it. She truly believed in every word she was saying.

But then, so had Van and Mohs.

So, where did that leave me?

If I wanted to go by vote, Kairi's opinions would be losing to Mohs and Van. But, the way she had spoken about it... As if she were disgusted at the very thought of someone being a piece of trash.

What the hell was I supposed to think...?

"If you're looking for Kairi, she headed down to the mess hall."

My head shot up and a familiar redhead fell into my field of vision. Actually, if he hadn't spoken, I might have walked right into him without even realizing that Asch was there. I sighed and shook my head.

"No... Just... trying to sort things out," I mumbled. Asch raised an eyebrow.

"Need a hand with that sorting?" he asked. I shrugged and looked around for a moment before walking over to the pile of crates and sitting down. I pulled my knees to my chest almost instinctively. "I realize this is probably a bad time to mention this, but... Kairi said you're coming with us for another week or so whether you like it or not," Asch added quickly.

I frowned. "Why?" I wondered. He sighed.

"She said that she's still worried that your Energy Core is going to destabilize," he said. I blinked. Kairi had said something about Energy Cores before, but...

"What the hell is an Energy Core?" I asked. Asch chuckled.

"Um, well... There are two building blocks of life, fonons and Energies. And, like fonslots allow fonons in and out of your body, your Energy Core does the same, except that your spirit is also tied to your body by your Energy Core. Destabilize someone's Energy Core, and you could kill them," he explained.

I blinked as Kairi's words from earlier came back to my mind.

"You're lucky it hasn't destabilized again. Actually, you're lucky that Asch reminded me that I needed to check it when he did. Another hour and you would have died."

"So? Who would care if I died?" my own scathing words followed. I lowered my head and clenched my fists.

"Asch... What would you have done if Kairi hadn't been able to stabilize my Energy Core and I had died?" I asked. 'Nothing, probably,' that pessimistic part of my mind guessed.

Asch was silent for a long while. "Honestly? I don't know," he replied. Then he took a deep breath. "But Kairi would have mourned. Even I can tell you that."

I looked up at him in surprise. Kairi would mourn my death? That thought pulled a strange feeling into my chest, but then it vanished just as quickly. No, not anymore, I'll bet.

"I was starting to actually like you a bit. Though any respect I had for you has now fallen through the floor..."

If I died now, would she still mourn?

That strange feeling came back, poking and prodding at me.

"Any particular reason why you wanted to know?" Asch wondered. I sighed.

"Kairi... Ugh..." I trailed off. Asch chuckled, and my head shot up as I stared at him in shock.

"Let me guess... She just took all of your beliefs, picked them apart, and dumped them back into your lap, and now you're trying to figure out which way is up," he joked. I started to shake my head, then stopped and thought about it.

"Well... Yeah," I admitted, much as I didn't want to. Then I smirked. "She's done it to you before?" I guessed. Asch cringed.

"I deserved it, with the way I was treating her. Still, it was the last thing I expected out of her. She's usually so... Well, I'd say quiet, but that's not entirely true either. Really, it's more that she's willing to respect your beliefs most of the time. And then you piss her off..." he trailed off. I nodded.

"Yup, sounds about right," I agreed. Asch chuckled and pushed away from the railing he had been leaning against.

"I'm going to take a page out of Kairi's book and go update my journal. Lorelei knows I haven't touched that thing in weeks... And then I'm going to head down to the mess hall and see if I can get Kairi up here for a little sparring match," he said, obviously thinking out loud. Then he turned to look at me. "I'm sure she won't mind if you want to join in," he added before walking off.

I waited for a few moments before pulling my mask back off and staring at it. It suddenly felt foreign in my hands, and placing it back over my face only made matters worse.

"Besides, even if you look exactly like your original, you'll never be him. You are your own person, and I don't care... The only person you'll ever be in my eyes is Sync. ...it all depends on you."

I scowled at her words, then let my irritation fade away as I realized something.

Kairi was right, in more than one way.

I slipped off of the crates and wandered back toward the door that led into the ferry. If there was one thing that Cantabile had managed to pound into my head over the last few weeks, it was that apologies and 'thank you's should be given where needed. And in this case, I think an apology was in order.

Though, that was if I could work up the courage to actually go down to the mess hall and, you know, apologize.

I took a deep breath and started down the steps that would lead me to where Kairi was supposed to be at the moment. Whether or not she'd actually be there was another story altogether, but for now, I just wanted to get there.

I opened the door to the mess hall and spotted her immediately. She was sitting at the bar with her sketchbook open in front of her, drawing what appeared to be a bowl of apples. Well, she was shading them in. I could see a bowl of apples sitting on the counter past the bar where she was sitting, and after taking a peek at her drawing, I blinked at how well she had captured the image of the apples sitting there.

"Can I help you?" Kairi asked coldly, not turning around. I frowned. All of a sudden, the only thing I wanted to do was say 'never mind' and run off.

Instead, I reached up and pulled my mask off again, holding it in my hands for a moment before placing on the counter next to her.

She paused in her drawing for a moment before turning to look at me. Her expression was unreadable, but I still couldn't speak. My voice had abandoned me.

I turned away, unable to hold her searching gaze any longer, and headed back toward our cabin. Maybe forsaking the mask would be enough for her to understand. Maybe.

And if not, I could always make it up to her later.