Hi again! Some happy moments are in this between couples and some scary ones too. I had fun with this chapter, so I hope you like it. I know I said that I wouldn't put up another until I got 28 reviews, but I wanted to put his up now. I'm on a writing streak. Well, enjoy!
Disclaimer: See first chapter.
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The sky was covered in a blanket of stars. It was a beautiful night, one that wasn't too cold or too warm. On the roof of the base, Bit and Leena sat, staring at the stars.
"It's beautiful, isn't it," said Leena in more of a statement than a question.
"Yeah," said Bit. "And it's even better since I'm here with you." Leena looked to Bit and smiled. He could really be romantic at times. Bit smiled to her and then kissed her. They broke their kiss and continued to stare at the stars. Leena shivered slightly as the wind blew. Bit smiled and brought her closer to him. She leaned into his chest and they just stayed there for a while, staring at the stars. 'Miharu was right. I am lucky to have Bit. He'll always be there when I need him,' thought Leena to herself. Leena closed her eyes and eventually fell asleep in Bit's arms. He smiled at this and carefully picked her up, making sure not to awaken her. He opened the door that led to the stairway and carefully carried her down it, then down the hall and to her room. He set her on her bed and pulled the covers over her.
"Goodnight Leena," he whispered. "I love you." And with that, he walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. He then went to his own room and went to sleep.
******
Naomi was in the garage area of the base, working on her zoid.
"What are you doing?" asked Brad. He walked in and over to where Naomi was. She was standing on a platform up near the head of her Gunsniper. He looked up at her. She stopped what she was doing and walked over to the edge of it and looked down.
"Working on my zoid," she answered.
"I know that, but why? It's not like it sustained any damage."
"I know, but it doesn't hurt to do a checkup every once in a while."
"I guess not."
"Hey Brad? Why did you want to participate in this war? I was sure you'd mention something about getting paid, but you didn't. I'd like to know why?"
"I'm not sure exactly."
"Could it be that you actually care about us?"
"I guess. Maybe."
"Amazing. You do have a heart."
"Ha, ha, very funny," he said sarcastically. Naomi smiled and was about to go back to work, but lost her footing. She stumbled, and since the platform had no railing, she fell off of it. Brad ran under her and caught her. "You should be more careful."
"Thanks."
"No problem." He set her down and Naomi just smiled.
"Maybe Miharu was right. Maybe I am lucky to have you around."
"What?"
"Nothing. It's just something that Miharu told me the other day."
"Speaking of the other day, who was that guy?"
"What guy?"
"The one who came during our class and was talking to Risai."
"Oh, him. His name is Colonel Garner. Miharu said to stay away from him. He wasn't actually talking to Risai."
"What was he doing?"
"That's not for me to say. I'm going to sleep now." And with that, she walked past him and out of the garage. Brad followed a while after. They reached their rooms and opened the doors, but not before saying goodnight. They closed the doors and went to sleep.
******
That same cold and eerie darkness was all around her as she continued to fall, letting it absorb her mind. She found a certain comfort in this. 'What a strange feeling,' she thought to herself. 'It feels like I'm fading away…like I'm…dying.' That had to be it. "I'm dying," she said aloud.
"But you promised," said another voice. Risai opened her eyes and glanced around.
"Leon?" she asked.
"Of course. Don't you remember? You promised me that you wouldn't die."
"But I…"
"A promise is a promise. You're stronger than this, I know it, so get up." Risai leaned upward; the sinking feeling began to leave her, as a light seemed to engulf the darkness, and her along with it. Once the light cleared, she found herself standing in a beautiful field, with flowers of all kinds as far as the eye could see.
"It's good to see you again," came Leon's voice. He walked up from behind her and was soon standing next to her.
"Why do you keep following me?" she asked, a little annoyed that he kept following her like this.
"I'm just making sure you're okay."
"I don't need you to worry about me. I can take care of myself."
"You sure?"
"Of course I am! Stop mocking me!" Now she was getting angry again.
"I wasn't mocking you."
"Yes you were! I don't need anyone! I can take care of myself! I don't need anyone and I definitely don't need you!"
"That's not true."
"Stop contradicting me! I don't need you! I hate you! Leave and never come back, get killed, it makes no difference to me! I could care less about what happens to you, so stop worrying about me!" It was silent for a while as Risai's words began to sink in.
"Fine, I'll go," said Leon in a disappointed tone. His image faded from the scene, and along with him, went the scenery itself. Risai was left standing in a barren place. The sky was dark, almost a grayish color. The ground was a mix of gray and brown. Nothing seemed to be in this area. The only things other than the hard ground beneath her were a few dead trees, their leaves completely gone. She decided to walk for a while, not knowing where she was going, but she almost wished she was back in the dark place, so that her mind wouldn't have to think like this. She walked for a while, not knowing where she was suppose to be going. She began to feel lonely as she walked by herself. She then came to a more opened area. It was just as barren as all the rest of it. Her eyes then landed on a form that lay on the ground. She recognized the figure instantly, since he was the only thing in the barren place with color. The dark and light blues of his battle outfit easily gave it away. She ran over and bent down near him.
"Leon," she said. She reached out to shake him. "Hey, wake up." She kept shaking him, but he didn't wake up. She pulled her hand away, but then tried again. "Come on, wake up." He still didn't move. She pulled her hand back once again. She decided to try once more. There was more concern in her voice now. "Please wake up. Open your eyes. Come on." She then shook him harder. "Wake up!" He still didn't move. Risai pulled her hand away. She began to get worried. She bent down further and got under one of his arms and began to lift him up. His arm was now around her shoulders. She placed her arm around his waist to hold him up and her other on his chest to support him. When she had finally stood up, she moved her hand from his chest and then looked at it, shocked at what she found. It was a red and sticky substance that couldn't be mistaken by her. It was blood. She then looked to him and found a bullet wound in his chest. It was near his heart. She had a look of fear and sorrow on her face. She set him back down. She checked for a pulse by his neck, but found nothing. She pulled her hand away and then stood up, staring at him. She was angry at first, but soon fell to her knees and broke down in tears.
"Leon…" she said quietly. "I wasn't serious. I didn't mean it. I never wanted you to die, I don't hate you; I never did." She looked to him. He was untouched, almost the same way he had been a few minutes ago, but she just had to say that she hated him. She just had to drive him away. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to…to…" She broke down even more. "Why do people keep getting killed because of me, why? All you ever did was be nice to me. You were right too. Am I really that transparent? Leon, I'm sorry. Please come back. I don't want to be alone. Please don't die, you can't die on me!" She then got kind of mad at him.
"What gives you the right to die on me? I promised that I wouldn't die and then you go and do it! Why?! You jerk! Why'd you have to die?" She just kept crying. She then heard footsteps behind her. She turned and came face to face with a gun. The person fired it, and Risai blacked out.
******
Risai sat up in her bed quickly. She was breathing hard and a cold sweat covered her face. She sat there for a while, trying to regain her composure, but it wasn't working. She eventually calmed down. She got out of her bed and left her room, knowing that the last thing she wanted to do was go back to bed.
'It was just a dream,' she thought to herself. She walked down the halls, not going anywhere in particular. She then looked at her wristwatch. It was 4 in the morning. 'Only two hours till everyone wakes up.' She then looked to her bracelet; its small, purple gem gleaming in the dim lighting of the hallway. She then looked to the five smaller gems. Two were on one side of the purple gem and three were on the other. The two were gray and so was one of the three on the other side. The ones that weren't gray were a gold one and a red one. It pained her to see this, but at the same time she was relieved.
'I hope you're all right Taban. I know you're alive and I can feel it. Just stay safe for now.' She kept walking down the halls and arrived at the rooms that belonged to the Blitz team. She was happy that they had decided to join this war, since she felt a certain comfort when they were all around.
'It feels good to have friends.' She kept walking and stopped at Leon's room.
'I know it was just a dream, but…' She placed her hand on the handle. 'I still need to see for myself.' She opened the door slowly and quietly. She found him fast asleep in his bed. Risai smiled to herself and closed the door. She gave a sigh of relief, but then seemed confused.
'Why do I care so much? He's done nothing except doubt me and my thoughts, so why am I worrying?' She thought a while and came up with a reasonable answer, for her anyway. 'I must just feel guilty or something. I don't want to be responsible for another death.' She thought a little more on the fact. 'And I guess I really don't want to see him die.' She decided to sidetrack herself with a different question. 'What am I gonna do for another 2 hours? I don't want to go back to that…place. It's too painful, but I have nothing to do.' She decided to go back to her room. What she was going to do, she didn't know, but she wasn't going back to sleep.
******
Taban lay awake in his prison cell, not wanting to sleep. He looked at the bracelet on his wrist, his golden gem shining in the pale moonlight. He then glanced at the other gems. Three were gray and two weren't. He smiled. "It's good to know that they're alright. I hope it stays that way. I can't wait to get out of here. If I know Risai and Miharu, they've probably already thought about breaking me out, but they don't know where this place is. Darn." He didn't have anything to do, since he wasn't in the mood to sleep. "That girl sure seems to know a lot about us, but how? The only agents left are the three of us. Toran doesn't count since he's in jail. This really sucks. Who is she?" There were many possibilities. "Maybe she used to work for the ZBC…but how would she know about agents? The current time ZBC members don't even know much about that. All they know about this is how to perform the process. Maybe she worked with Toran and this is just a plot for revenge." Nothing was making sense.
"All this thinking is hurting my head. I'm going to sleep." And with that, he closed his eyes and fell asleep, still having none of his questions answered.
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I have but one word for you…REVIEW! Pleasssssse. I'm begging here. I love getting reviews and this time, I'm serious about the 28 thing. I hope you like this, cause I'm having fun with this fic. Pleas! Okay, I'm done begging. Either review or email me. That's always fun too^.^
Audi^.^