Aww. Asherah thought, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of George, Domon, Argo and Sai Saici standing together as they watched Chibodee in his first match. The boys were tense and silent for the most part, with the exception of comments in a low voice to each other at a particularly good or poor attack from either side. Asherah was proud to note that the good attacks belonged solely to Chibodee, while his opponent, caught off guard at the beginning of the match by Chibodee's increased speed, hadn't recovered yet.
She moved on. A small distance down from the boys were the girls- along with Raymond, who didn't look at all unhappy to be in their company. Rain, Cecil, Nastasha and Marie- Louise surrounded Chibodee's girls, who, in direct contrast to the males, were actively cheering, laughing, jumping around excitedly, and in general acting like giddy schoolgirls.
Asherah had advised Chibodee to lie low and conserve the new strength training had given him. Besides catching the enemy off guard- as had happened to this unfortunate- it would help in lessening his importance as a target.
A frown wrinkled her face at the turn her thoughts had taken. There had been an assassination of a Gundam fighter last night, which only served to heighten the already dangerous tensions among the colony nations. Neo- Bulgaria was now supremely ticked off and hunting almost obsessively for the killer.
Asherah bet she knew who it was.
Chibodee laid out the other Gundam with a magnificent blow to the chin. Standing in the crowd, watching the purple- haired man's crew storm the field to squash him in a four- way group- hug, Asherah felt thoroughly alone. She turned her gaze to the other members of the Shuffle Alliance.
Domon and Argo were smiling in satisfaction, while George nodded his head in approval and Sai Saici composed an impromptu victory dance. Asherah noticed Rain fighting her way through the crowd to stand by Domon's side, Nastasha, Cecil, and Marie- Louise following in her wake. Raymond went off, no doubt to attend to his duties as George's butler.
The hair on the back of Asherah's neck rose. He's here. She'd learned a long time ago how to determine where threats were, and noticed a handsome young man with brown hair on the other side of the stadium.
She wasn't even conscious of slipping rapidly through the crowd. Asherah let herself operate on autopilot for the moment, gathering her wits for the difficult fight ahead. If this crowd thought Gundam fighting was impressive…
The Gundam fights were limited by rules. Bound by no such constraints, or the interest in fair play they represented, all- out matches between two agents tended to be something to see. Such a fight could cause almost as much destruction as a Gundam match, between the agents and the weapons they used. Asherah had once come across a man with a particular fondness for his bazooka, and another with an affection for flamethrowers… but that was a different time. She and Jonas both favored old- fashioned knives and guns.
It didn't take her very long at all to make her way over to him. She snuck up behind him. The other Neo- Americans were giving her enough noise to cover her footsteps… Asherah whipped an arm around his neck. Jonas' swift reactions prevented her from getting a killing grip, but she managed to hold him long enough to remove them both from the stadium.
Jonas gripped her arm and flipped her over his shoulder. Asherah landed solidly on her feet and looked him in the eye. "Were you going to kill him, Jonas?" she quietly asked her ex- husband.
He smiled. Smiled! "You know the answer to that better than anyone, Asherah."
She ached to remember how she used to love hearing him say her name, and the difference in the way he said it then and now. "I suppose I can't help but ask." she admitted.
"Why?" Was that emotion in his voice? Regret in those bright green eyes?
"You know the answer to that better than anyone, Jonas."
"I would have a year ago."
"Have I changed so much?"
"Have I?" he challenged.
Her voice was as heavy as her heart. "You have. You aren't fighting for freedom, Jonas, as you think you are; what you're doing will only lead to death."
If her voice was heavy, his was harsh. "You're wrong."
"Am I?"
"You were then, and you are now. This is the only way to free not only our people, but others suffering under an indifferent, inefficient government."
"You're wrong!" she shouted, launching herself at him. She knew what he was going to do, and the bullet didn't even graze her. One of Asherah's knives provided cover while the other pierced his thigh.
Jonas didn't react, save to aim his gun again. This time, Asherah wasn't so lucky; her knife hit the ground and his bullet tore into her shoulder. In the time it took her to whip out her own, he'd fired again, this time hitting and breaking a rib.
Dammit! Broken ribs were extremely painful, and though her training ensured that she could fight with them, it would slow her down. She was just lucky she'd gotten that knife in his thigh; even if he wasn't as handicapped as she, his wound would give her a little breathing room.
In sync now, they both fired again. Asherah performed one of her specialties, a twist that threw off the enemy's aim, and the advantage was again hers as her own bullet skipped off Jonas' hand, cutting him deeply enough to expose bone. He switched his gun to his other hand and she unsheathed another knife.
He shot and she threw; his shot grazed her ear and her knife buried itself in the forearm he'd raised to shield his forehead. Jonas pulled the knives out of his arm and thigh and threw them at her. Asherah dodged easily.
Her ex- husband rose to his feet. "Just like old times."
Asherah shook her white head. "No."
He studied her. "Perhaps not." he conceded. "Back then it was for training, not for real."
He disappeared.
Asherah stamped her foot. "Jonas! Damn you, where'd you go? This isn't over!" But he was nowhere around to hear her words; it was he who had taught her her trademark vanishing trick, after all.
Asherah sat down to put a tourniquet on her wounds and have a good cry.
Sucked, I know. I'm tired. Next chapter, some Allenby and I don't know what else. Rain, probably. Who wants Rain? Who wants Allenby? Who wants cookies? People who want cookies need to review. People who get cookies are: Golden Girl 2002, Ryan, and, of course, LivEvil.