*~ I Don't Love You, I Can't Love You ~*
*~ Chapter 51 ~*
*~ Your Father Is Proud Of You ~*
Marley teleported behind Masaya and attempted to grab hold of the boy's arms to halt him but the boy stepped back and struck Marley's stomach with his elbow. Marley groaned as he stumbled back clutching his belly and Masaya continued to advance on Kish and Ichigo.
Uma tried to step in and just push the boy with all her strength but it only threw him off his balance. Not enough to throw him off of his feet and he turned his eyes to glare at her. He shoved her rather roughly back in to Marley knocking them both over and on top of each other.
Before Masaya turned back fully Ichigo threw herself at him and tried to pry the knife out of his hands.
"Just let go of the weapon!" Ichigo muttered as they struggled.
"Ichigo, stop getting in the way!" Masaya growled and used his shoulder to barge in to her and make her lose her grip. It worked and she let go, he then side stepped and shoved her to the others too. She fell in front of them and snapped her head back to watch as Masaya and Kisshu finally locked blades.
"He's going to get himself killed, the idiot!" Ichigo moaned in frustration as she looked a the tiny dagger compared to Kisshu's great sais. She then scrambled to her feet pulling Uma up at the same time, "Come on! Let's keep trying! Uma, you get everyone out of the garden. Pudding! Tart! You too and them you keep them away from here! Tell them to go home or at least away from all this fighting."
"Right! Okay!" Uma nodded and ran directly to Rei and Marie to get them to spread the word just as quickly and the crowd began to run in the direction of the house to get out of the garden all the while watching the fight as they went.
Some guy had the cheek to film the battle on his mobile phone and Keira decided to step in there and snapped the phone in half. The boy looked enraged, "The fuck, man?"
"This isn't entertainment!" Keira snapped angrily all the while guiding this rude kid to the kitchen door so he could exit the garden, "It's dangerous!" She shoved him roughly in to the rest of the leaving crowd and he went with them reluctantly.
"It's Marley, right?" Ichigo asked as the purple-haired alien stood up, rubbing his stomach. He nodded, she smiled, "We need to stop them before they kill each other. Oh, and about the whole knocking me out thing? Don't worry about it. You looked like you really felt bad for doing that so I forgive you."
"I really didn't mean to..." he sighed and smiled in return, "Thank you."
"Right," she nodded and turned to the boys who were violently squabbling over her, "For christ's sake!" She ran at them and jumped on Masaya's back pushing him down and before Kisshu could strike, Marley intervened, halting Kisshu's sais by crossing blades with his own scythe that he rarely used, "Both of you stop it now! This is ridiculous!"
"Ichigo -" Kisshu began but Marley stopped him.
"There's really no need to fight, Kisshu-sama."
"Please," Ichigo asked him softly. Kisshu sighed and then held his sais up and they watched as they disappeared.
"No!" Masaya roared and pushed himself up off the ground throwing Ichigo to the side yet again, "Move!" he screamed at Marley and raised the knife high.
"MARLEY!" Uma screamed and she watched as the blade came crashing down, cutting through flesh and impaling the victim. Uma gasped and held her hands over her mouth. Ichigo was horrified too.
The girls, Kisshu, Keira and Marley watched as Masaya and Ren sank to ground; impaled through the heart with the other's blade.
"Father?" Marley didn't seem to understand what he was seeing.
"Daddy?" everyone's eyes except Marley's flew up to see Nyx staring horrified down at her bleeding father. She flew down and crashed down beside him, "Daddy! No! Please, don't go father!"
Uma was already in tears, she knew how it felt to lose a parent, of course. She watched Marley turned around, forgetting about his scythe and letting it fall to the ground as he too sank to the ground beside his father. Uma slowly advanced and crouched beside Marley to be there for him.
They moved Ren in to a more comfortable position, completely ignoring Masaya as he groaned and moaned behind them.
"Why did you do that?" he asked his father who was smiling at him for once.
"Because you are my boy," the man croaked back in reply, "You think I would just stand back and watch my own son die? No. I would never do that."
"But...now you're dying," Marley pointed out in a breathless panic. He just didn't know what to do. "How am I supposed to save you now?"
The man closed his eyes and smiled a lop-sided kind of smile and sighed, "Don't you worry about me. I will soon be with your mother again and we will always look down on you. Keep you safe on your journeys."
"Daddy, please," the little alien girl begged with her eyes streaming.
The Elder opened his eyes again to look at his daughter and his smile faded because of the heartbroken look they shared. With the last of his strengths he brought his hand up to cup her cheek and she could feel from the trembles how weak he was becoming.
"You must be my brave little girl, Nyxie!" the Elder told her and then he smiled warmly at her to show he was not afraid of death, "I love you and I always will."
"I love you too, father!" she cried and buried her face in to his shoulder as she cried for him.
"You too Marley," Ren croaked.
"What?" Marley asked through his haze of darkness.
Ren tried to move his hand again but was too weak now. Marley realised however and held his hand, "I love you too, son, and I always will...I always have."
Marley just stared at his father for a few moments with his eyes wide. He then squeezed them shut and nodded, hanging his head low now as tears began to spring free from his eyes.
In the background Masaya wasn't vocal now, but his breathing was laboured and heavy.
That was when Ren's eyes saw Uma and he gasped.
"Little one..." the was a moment where they just stared at each other. Ren in shock and Uma completely petrified. At last, Ren said, "I heard earlier that your name was Uma. I apologise for what I did back then...you were so young and I did not know you were there...they knew, your parents...they knew what I was," he sighed. His words were getting further and further apart now.
"They knew you were an alien?" Uma whispered in question.
He smiled and shut his eyes sleepily. He gave a slight nod with his head, "I came...to gather information...about Earth. I was meant to be unseen...and unheard of...it was my duty...to...but I regret it...I beg for you forgiveness...but I do not blame you...if you cannot grant it."
There was a pause until Uma nodded slowly and then whispered, "Okay. I...I forgive you."
He sighed with a smile and said almost without a voice, "I wish...I could believe you, little one. It is alright...I'm just glad...you've come so far...and appear so well." With that Ren closed his eyes again and this time he did not open them again. He sighed once more and with a ragged, strained breath he whispered, "I love you, Nyx. I love you, Marley. Be strong my children...Your father is proud of you."
Marley's eyes shot up then in surprise and desperation as the last breath left his father's lips.
"No...no!" he cried and his voice caught in his throat, "Why would you say that now? Why would do that?" he sobbed as he held his father's hand to his face and cried in to the skin, "That's not fair, father. Why?"
All Uma could do was wrap her arm around his shoulder and hold him while he cried. She shared a pained and saddened expression with both Ichigo and Keira who were comforting little Nyx while she cried as well.
Remember to Read & Review! I believe there is one chapter left! Thank you so much for reading - even more so for reviewing - and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! ^_^ One chapter left!
Lv Lv Hazzard ^_^ x x
