Disclaimer: Don't own them, happy now?
Author's note: THIS IS NOT YAOI!!!! Got it people?!
This is simply a fic between Seiya and Jabu's rather bad friendship... And for
all the other people that have flamed me for the other fic... *sticks tongue
out* You don't like it, don't read it and don't review it! That is unless you
have constructive criticism! So don't waste your time 'cause those stupid
opinions aren't gonna lead anywhere but my friend wanting to write a couple of
hate mails to you guys, so spare yourselves!
***
Time for Redemption
By Lilas
The boy sighed as he walked down the streets, his thoughts consuming his mind as his feet took him wherever they wanted to. Why always him? Why couldn't the Lady pay any attention to him? Couldn't she see how much he loved her, how much he was infatuated with her? It wasn't fair she always turned to Seiya; it wasn't fair he always got to rescue her! He already had two women after him, couldn't he leave the Lady to someone else… Like him?
It just wasn't fair. Everyone always made fun of him, always teased him… Suicide had crossed his mind several times, but maybe one day he'd be able to prove his worth to the world… So why end it now if things could get better? As a Saint, he'd learn never to give up hope, never to surrender to the dark side of his mind… Unfortunately, that always meant that suffering followed him everywhere… Maybe not as much physically, but emotionally was another issue… He didn't know whom to turn to anymore. The other bronze Saints thought of him as a fool, an idiot that couldn't do anything but either annoy others or bow down to the Lady.
Everything had been fine before Seiya had shown up again during the Galaxian Wars… Everyone had respected him before; everyone had cheered him on when he fought before Seiya had shown up… It didn't matter they were brothers, he hated him as much as he hated Hades, or Abel or any other of the Gods… Sometimes he wished he could be like Seiya, wished he could fly up to the stars and shine as bright as them… But he knew that would only remain a dream… A fantasy he would labor in his mind.
He stopped and let the cold invade his senses as the snow fell in torrents. He looked up and realized he was standing in front of his house… Why? Why had his legs taken him here? Maybe he should tell Seiya what was on his mind, why he was so mean to him… He knew it hurt the Pegasus Saint to have someone so close to him hate him so, but he enjoyed seeing his pained face… For some odd reason he could not comprehend, he enjoyed seeing the man suffer under his eyes.
He sighed and continued on, deciding that maybe on the way back he'd stop to torture him a bit about the fight he had just had with Ikki and the others. He walked some blocks up and stopped in front of the orphanage Miho was in. He knew Miho, Seiya had introduced her to everyone, along with the little munchkins. She seemed nice, maybe she wouldn't throw him out, and maybe she'd listen to his problems…
He shrugged his shoulder and decided to see if she could at least offer him a cup of coffee to drive out the cold when he heard cheering and screams. He looked up and saw, inside the orphanage, Seiya surrounded by kids. He froze in mid-step and stared at him, not able to believe his misfortune. He was about to turn around when the door opened and the Pegasus Saint stepped out with only his red tank top and jeans on. Was he crazy?
"Hey, Jabu! Wait up! Where you goin'?" he screamed as he raced to where the other boy stood frozen in track.
"Hello Seiya. I was just going home…" he replied casually, wanting as badly as possible to leave before he punched his brother's face.
"Oh, come on! It's freezing out here. Why don't you join us in our little celebration?" he asked, hope enveloping his voice.
"I wouldn't want to intrude," he answered, walking away.
He was stopped by a hand grabbing his arm and turning him around to face the scruffy brown haired boy in front of him. He gasped when he saw how angry Seiya was and fell on the ground as the boy's fist made contact with his face, his lip bleeding.
"I'm sorry, but I've been wanting to do that for along time Jabu," he spoke coldly, his voice menacing and his eyes flickering between blood red and hazel brown.
Suddenly the floor under Jabu's feet opened up and he felt himself falling towards an endless pit of darkness… As he fell, he saw all those he killed, all those he tortured and all the time he hurt his friends, his brothers because of his stubbornness and selfishness… And finally, he saw all the times he hurt Seiya by rubbing something in, like he did after he came back from Hades and kept on mentioning the scar…
Then he bolted up, sweating from the dream he'd just had. He felt a pair of arms ease him back down and a cool cloth being placed on his forehead. He closed his eyes and allowed its coolness invade his burning skin and soothe the pain he felt in his chest as he thought back on the dream.
"You feeling better?" a very familiar voice asked from beside him.
He bolted up again and found himself starring into deep brown eyes, worry etched into them as the boy starred at him. Jabu found his breath caught in his throat and tears making their way to his eyes as he thought back to his dream and the many thoughts that had crossed his head. He started to look around, wondering where he was and slowly realized it was Seiya's bedroom at his house. He looked back to the boy in front of him, confusion engraved in his features.
"I guess you wanna know what the heck you're doing here, right?" he asked snickering as a he grabbed a chair and stuffed a thermometer in Jabu's mouth. "Well, you stumbled on my house yesterday and you fainted right after I opened the door. You had quite a temperature too, but I brought it down a bit. What were you doing out there anyway?" he asked, concern making its way to his voice as he took the thermometer out of his mouth, checked it and put it back down.
"I… I don't remember…" he replied, suddenly finding his bed sheets very interesting.
Seiya frowned and slowly got up of the chair, disappearing behind a door. Clinking noised could be heard from what Jabu assumed was the kitchen and a short time after, Seiya emerged with a tray containing two steaming cups of what he could guess was herbal tea and a couple of cookies. Seiya sat down and offered one of the cups to him, which he took without hesitation, smiling as he realized a unicorn was painted on it.
"Jabu?" the boy asked after a moment of silence. He didn't wait for a reply, knowing the Saint was listening to him, "Why do you hate me so much?"
Jabu almost gagged on his drink and snapped his head to look at the boy next to him… For some odd reason, he didn't look all that great and powerful… He looked like a little boy longing for a friendship he seemed to have been fighting for a long time. Jabu gulped the tea that was in his mouth and felt it go down his throat, warming it, then he sighed and looked down.
"I guess…" he started after the silence had stretched too long, "because you get all the attention I used to get and I'm jealous…" he answered, thinking hard on the reason, not wanting to lie to the boy next to him.
"But, I don't want all that attention…" Seiya replied softly, never taking his eyes off his tea.
"I know you don't… It's obvious to see that from your face. But you don't decide whether you want it or not, you just get it," he answered feeling older than he really was.
"Then why do you hate me? I didn't steal anything, I just got it…"
"I…" he stopped, unsure of what to say to the boy's remark. "I guess you're right…. It's just that…"
"You love Saori-san?" he whispered, more as a statement than a question.
"Yes… I do…" Jabu replied softly, a small smile spreading on his features.
"I'm sorry, Jabu," he replied, his head bent down to look at his cup.
"Don't be… Maybe I'll see if Miho wants to get with me…"he answered jokingly.
"If you do, you better watch out for the kids… They're worst than every Gold Saint combined," he answered, a smile forming on his face as he looked up to gaze at Jabu's blue eyes.
"Thanks for the warning."
A silence came over both of them as they examined their thoughts and the findings they had made. They knew things would be different from now on, they knew things would go for the better now, but much work was still needed to build a friendship that had not existed before.
"So…" Seiya spoke out cheeringly. "More tea?"