If all else fails, you can't go wrong meeting in the place it all began. Or at least that's what Big Al said. While everyone else dispersed and have now hidden in plain sight, only their legion would be meeting with Opera Tonio and his crew.
Meiko knew Big Al's and Tonio's friendship went far back, when both were foolish young men seeking glory in a war that was way over their heads. That friendship may have had seasons in which they spoke regularly or not for years at a time, but it never truly died. Especially since their kids were married and the two men now shared a granddaughter.
Funny how the world works sometimes.
It was as Meiko was bundling inside her fluffy coat that Hio popped his head in and told her, "We'll be meeting with Tonio and his crew pretty soon. Their craft is in range, so it's just a matter of their landing and getting offboard."
"With how long they've been trapped in there, they must be dying to stretch their legs." Meiko tapped her wrists to make sure her knives were in place. Although she knew she didn't need them, they were still strapped all the same. If they weren't there, Meiko wouldn't have felt safe.
Before Hio could leave, Meiko called his name. Finding words easier now, she looked Hio in the eyes as she said, "I'm sorry . . . for how I acted before we took off. I didn't trust you were really looking out for me. Turns out, there's a lot about being a teammate I don't understand yet, so while I'm learning, please call me out whenever I screw up."
In response, Hio shrugged, showed her one of his easy smiles, and replied, "I don't blame you for not trusting any of us right away. The point is you learned from your mistake and want to do better. Since you apologized, I won't hold it against you."
Unable to stop herself, Meiko blurted out, "You and Rinto forgive a little too easily."
Now Hio's smile fell. "We forgive because we're family. However, there is no forgiveness for those who hurt our family. Genuine ignorance is overlooked, but deliberately hurting any one of us . . ."
Hio didn't finish. He probably couldn't bring himself to. Meiko didn't blame him. Although she wasn't entirely sure, Meiko suspected Hio and Rei were good friends. Or they were before Rei's betrayal.
Although Rei didn't hurt Meiko by backstabbing the team and turning everyone in, he did hurt Big Al, Rinto, and Hio. Meiko may have still been learning to love the new men in her life as the family she never had, something she knew would not happen overnight, she still cared enough about them to hate to see them upset by this loss. It was what fueled her hatred for the golden-eyed man.
"Anyone who hurts you hurts me too," Meiko vowed, her eyes still locked with Hio's. "I have your back, just as I know you have mine."
Nodding was Hio's only response, his eye contact with Meiko not breaking.
"We should go," he finally said. "It's time to meet the others."
What have I gotten myself into?
With her teammate Hio by her side, Meiko stalked out of the hovercraft and laid eyes on the shack. They were meeting in a shack in the woods. This was how most horror dramas started.
"That . . . looks very cozy," Hio tried, but it was clear even he didn't believe what he was saying. The shack didn't look as if anyone had used it in the past decade or two. Maybe three. The boards were falling off the walls, most of the windows were cracked or gone altogether, and the porch steps had collapsed long ago.
Cozy my armpit. Meiko simply muttered, "At least everyone else isn't going to be locked away like us as we plan our next move. It doesn't even appear there's enough room for us to so much as stand in that shack, and that's not including Tonio's crew."
"Speaking of which," Hio began looking up at the sky, "they should be here any minute now."
"Which means there's no time to dawdle, you two," Big Al said as he walked up to them, Rinto and Luki on his heels. "Come on, we should be ready to welcome them. After everything they've been through, it might be nice to see some smiling faces."
"'After everything they've been through'?" Meiko snorted. "What about everything we've been thro—"
"Not now, Sakine. All of us have been through some bad stuff lately; give them a chance to unwind, then we can debate over who had it worse. Understand?"
Returning Big Al's grin, Meiko stated, "Understood, sir."
"Good, now let's move."
Meiko and Hio joined in alongside Big Al, Rinto, and Luki. Eyes on the pinket, Meiko studied their newest addition. He caught her looking, but Meiko didn't turn away. Luki smiled at her. It was a little too natural for Meiko to smile back.
"I have a feeling things are about to get very interesting," he told her, his hands shoved into his coat pockets to keep them from the biting winter air.
This was when Meiko heard something in the sky. She looked up to see a hovercraft preparing to land a few hundred feet out before its crew would walk the rest of the way here, with Meiko's group meeting them halfway. These people came from the Equinox Continent, and Meiko could not forget a single detail she heard from the news that morning.
Nodding, Meiko agreed with Luki. "Very interesting indeed."