Author's Note: Gomen nasai! Sorry this took me so long to put out! My computer's been acting like a real bit**, though.
Sigh... Anyway, please do not be discouraged people! After you read this, please don't think that I'll just leave it like that! Okay? Okay.
*Disclaimer*: Xenogears and all its characters belong to Squaresoft. This story is mine, though.
Chapter Five
The next day was as hectic as Margie had predicted.
She was woken up at the crack of dawn by none other than Sister Agnes. The nun knocked on her door loudly. "Margie, it's time to get up."
Margie groaned and opened her eyes blearily. When she saw that the morning was still grey and noticeably lacking sunlight, she growled and rolled over to lie on her stomach, closing her eyes again.
Ten minutes later the bloody knocking came again.
"Margie, get up if you plan on leaving today. Things need to be arranged."
So Margie did the only normal thing. She reached down blindly (her face still half buried in her pillow), picked up one of her discarded boots and chucked it at the door where it hit with a loud bang and surprising accuracy. She sighed when the knocking stopped.
Five minutes later, the door opened and a rude hand began shaking her shoulder. "Margie, wake up. There are things that need to be done. Now hurry up."
Margie ignored the order and continued sleeping blissfully. Or at least tried to. SOMEONE just wouldn't let her.
"Margie, get your lazy butt up! Now!"
The religious Great Mother of the Nisan Sect shook her head and swore something into her pillow that would've made even Jessie's eyebrows rise in surprise.
"If you don't get up right now, I'm gonna force you out of that bed!"
Something that could be passed as a snort came from Margie's pillow.
"Alright, you asked for it..."
Margie was having a nice dream. She was lying in a field full of wildflowers. The scents tickled her nose and she stretched like a cat in the warmth of the sunlight. It felt wonderful. Then she felt like she was being lifted. Floating in the air. She smiled and curled up in the gentle grip, sighing.
Then suddenly, an ocean hit her.
Margie shot up, wide awake, choking and sputtering. She blinked and tried to inhale, her body completely drenched in lukewarm water.
"I warned you, but you wouldn't listen."
She wiped her dripping hair out of her eyes and looked up to see Bart standing there, his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Curiously, he was also blushing.
She glared balefully when she realized that he'd carried her from her room into the bathroom, then dropped her into the semi-full bathtub.
"You... You... You great pile of dog sh-"
"Hey, that's not the type of language the Great Mother of Nisan should say," Bart protested, shushing her with a finger to her lips. Her eyes widened and she blushed when he did that, but he surmised it to be from anger. And after she shook herself out and stood up with murder in her eyes, he nodded to himself while he backed off. Yup, definitely anger. He then took off running with a seething Margie right behind him.
****************************************************
Elly sighed and snuggled in closer to a sleeping Fei. A smile lit up her features and for a moment she laid there in bed in perfect contentment. But that was rudely interrupted when she heard running footsteps and a shriek of rage coming from upstairs.
Fei immediately woke up and was on his feet in an instant, his reflexes as sharp as ever. "What was that?" he asked, looking around, his body tensed for battle.
"I don't know," Elly said, throwing off the covers and sliding her bare feet to the floor. "Maybe-"
"What are you doing?" Fei demanded.
She blinked. "Um, getting up to go see what's wrong...?"
His eyes narrowed. "No," he began slowly. "You're staying right there in bed and you're not gonna move till I say so. You're in no condition."
Elly's eyebrows had risen as he spoke and she shook her head by the time he finished. "Okay love, now I'm sure you've lost it." They heard the commotion right outside their door and suddenly their was the crash of china. "I'm gonna be getting up now."
With that said, she went over to the door and pulled it open as Fei protested behind her. "Wait Elly! You don't know what could be out there! Hold on dammit!"
Elly stared, transfixed, and Fei came to a ragged stop beside her when they saw what was in the common room.
A very wet and enraged Margie was chasing after Bart, screaming obscenities at him while he apparently ran for his own personal safety. As the pirate passed by their startled expressions, he shot them a grin that said everything was under control. Then he winced when Margie grabbed another of the plates that had been left on the table and pitched it in his general direction. It barely missed him by a few inches and broke on the wall as he dodged out of the way and continued running.
"What in the world..." Elly wondered out loud. But Fei only shook his head.
"Children," he muttered under his breath. "Don't worry about it, love. He probably just pushed her into the lake."
Elly nodded slowly as he pulled her back into their room and closed the door behind them.
******************************************************
Hours later, Margie was still making all the arrangements that needed to be done for her departure. She could not believe the pile of paperwork the Sisters had ready for her. Lists of refugees, plans for new homes, shops, restaurants and probably a school for the tons of kids that had seemed to pop up overnight. Orders for wood, cement and other building supplies needed to be made and houses needed to be assigned to the people Khar had brought in. More crops needed to be planted since they couldn't completely rely on trade with Aveh. Bledavik was in a tight situation of its own.
All these papers needed to be signed so the city could survive the time she'd be gone. Since Nisan was being rebuilt, things were more crazy than usual. Luckily, Elly helped her a lot. The people loved as much as they did Margie, if not more so (reincarnation of Sophia and all). She was priceless to the swamped Great Mother.
Since Elly and Fei had decided to go with her, Sister Agnes would be in charge while they were gone. Margie wrote up a list of things that needed to be done within the week. So many things... More than once, she almost decided not to go, but Sister Agnes reasurred her everything would be okay.
By four o'clock almost everything was done and Margie was just taking a breather from the work by relaxing in one of the comfy stuffed chairs in the common room of her house. All the mess from the fight that morning had been cleaned up earlier. Margie grinned as she remembered finally catching up to Bart and tackling him down in a move she knew he regretted teaching her now. They'd landed on the floor and she had sat on him while he laughed underneath. Then she had grabbed his braid and had threaten to hack it off if he didn't apologize to her. He hadn't believed her either, until she had pulled out the small knife she always carried with her ever since she'd been kidnapped so many months ago. He'd apologized, alright.
Margie dozed off while she sat there, a smile on her face and that's how Bart found her. He stopped in the doorway and just stared at her for a moment, her face serenely peaceful. He hadn't been able to see much of her this morning and as he gazed at her, he remembered the way she'd made him blush that morning. While he had been carrying her, she had nestled in closer in his arms and had murmured his name against his neck. He had been so shocked that he had dropped her in the bathtub after that. Not that he hadn't planned on doing that, because he had. It's just that her actions had made him falter in... surprise, yeah that was it. The damn girl was doing this to him too much.
Now, he looked at what he held in his hands and sighed. He had brought her a little something. A whole Chiffon Nisan. He knew she'd probably be tired after all the things that needed doing. A little sweetness was just what was recommended.
He walked into her house slowly (Margie always left her door wide open throughout the day) and debated on rousing her up or not. The choice was made for him when she stirred in her sleep and woke up. She opened her sapphire eyes slowly and blinked at him. They stared at each other for awhile before she finally spoke. "I had this dream that I lopped off your braid while you were sleeping."
He frowned and shook his head. "I better sleep with my eye open from now on," he muttered and she laughed. He sat down on the stuffed chair across from her and set the white box on the table between them.
"Ooh, what's this?" she asked, sitting up and looking at the box curiously.
"A peace offering. It can count as an apology, too."
She shook her head as she reached over to open the box. "Bart, you didn't need to do that. We've already settled- CHIFFON NISAN?!"
He grinned at her reaction and she looked up at him with wide eyes. "Where'd you get this? I thought since the bakery burned down, no one knew the recipe anymore."
"I asked around. I finally found the only person besides the late baker who knows how to make a delicious Chiffon Nisan cake. Yui."
"Yui? Of course it would be Yui. She can cook anything. Hold on, I'll be right back," she said before jumping up and running towards the kitchen. She came back with a couple of plates, forks and a knife.
"This is so great, you being able to get this. I haven't eaten one of these cakes since forever," she told him as she sliced the cake up (and I wont describe it cause it'll just make you people hungry ^_^). She served him a big slice and took one for herself.
She took a careful forkful and then closed her eyes as she put it in her mouth. "Hmm," she sighed in pleasure, savoring the bite.
Bart blushed and forced himself to focus on his own plate. It was kinda hard.
Margie was only halfway through her slice when Dan came rushing in, out of breath.
"A fight! A fight, Margie!"
"Huh?"
"Maria and one of them girls that came with Ramsus are about to exchange blows in the square! Come on!"
Margie and Bart immediately got up and followed the kid outside. He led them through the sparse crowd of the streets and over to where a group of people were gathered in a circle. Dan slowed down and made his way into the circle by crawling under peoples legs. Margie and Bart didn't have such capabilities. But they could hear the argument.
"-and I don't know why you're saying that!" Maria's voice, loud and surprisingly angry.
"Because it's true! If you've got a problem with me little girl, make it clear right now!" Tolone's usually angry voice. But this time it had a different quality to it.
Margie pushed through the small crowd that was steadily growing. When she got in the middle, she saw the girls standing across from each other, glaring hatefully. Tolone's hands were on her hips and she was leaning forward menacingly. Maria's hands were clenched into fists and her face was flushed angrily. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Citan, Billy, Emeralda and Kelvena were also there. So were Prim and Midori, the older girl holding onto the younger one's hand. They both looked kinda scared.
"Hey, what's going on here?!" Margie finally demanded.
"The Shevat girl has a problem with us staying here," Tolone snapped, her eyes narrowing.
"I didn't say anything!" Maria flared.
"You didn't have to! It was so obvious from the looks you've been shooting us since we got here! You were doing it again right now!" Tolone retorted.
"Well, what did you want me to do, Solarian?!" Maria spat the last word out. "Welcome you with open arms?! Is that what you expected?!"
"Quiet, both of you!" Citan ordered in a tone that brooked no argument. "This is no way to be behaving!"
Maria frowned and lifted her chin up a bit, while Tolone crossed her arms and looked away crossly.
"Citan's right," Margie agreed. "We're not enemies anymore. I thought we had that settled?"
Maria looked at the ground. "I know," she whispered. "I know. But I can't forget what happened to my father..."
She looked up and gave Margie an apologetic glance before running off through the crowd.
"Come on, Tolone," Kelvena urged softly, pulling on her friends arm. "Let's go find the others."
Tolone nodded and began leaving, but not before sending one last glance over her shoulder in the direction Maria had gone to. Her eyes were tinged with... what? Sorrow? Regret? Margie couldn't tell.
The crowd began dispersing, except for the few that stayed behind. Margie sighed and shook her head sadly.
"It's what was expected, Marguerite," Citan reassured, patting her shoulder.
"I know, Citan. I was wondering when she'd finally let her feelings show. I knew she was hurting inside."
"Where Maria go to?" Emeralda asked, a little shaken from all the emotions she had just been witness to.
"Somewhere to vent her feelings at," Bart told her. Emeralda frowned a little at this, then nodded.
"Doctor Uzuki, you go after Tolone and Kelvena. Talk to them, please?" Margie pleaded. "I don't want them to feel bitter about this. In the meantime, I'll go after Maria. I'm sure she'll need to talk to someone. Bart, you go with him."
They both nodded slowly and left in the direction the girls had gone to.
"Billy, you take the kids back home, okay?"
"Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather me go with you?" Billy asked, concern in his aqua eyes as they shifted towards the lake where Maria had most likely gone to.
"No, Billy. You take the kids back."
"Alright. I hope she's okay, though."
"Don't worry about it. We'll take care of her. Come on, Em," Margie called as she began walking. Emeralda nodded and quickly followed her.
To be continued...
*So people... What'd you think? Too much? Review and let me know!* ^_^(mokona)
Sigh... Anyway, please do not be discouraged people! After you read this, please don't think that I'll just leave it like that! Okay? Okay.
*Disclaimer*: Xenogears and all its characters belong to Squaresoft. This story is mine, though.
Chapter Five
The next day was as hectic as Margie had predicted.
She was woken up at the crack of dawn by none other than Sister Agnes. The nun knocked on her door loudly. "Margie, it's time to get up."
Margie groaned and opened her eyes blearily. When she saw that the morning was still grey and noticeably lacking sunlight, she growled and rolled over to lie on her stomach, closing her eyes again.
Ten minutes later the bloody knocking came again.
"Margie, get up if you plan on leaving today. Things need to be arranged."
So Margie did the only normal thing. She reached down blindly (her face still half buried in her pillow), picked up one of her discarded boots and chucked it at the door where it hit with a loud bang and surprising accuracy. She sighed when the knocking stopped.
Five minutes later, the door opened and a rude hand began shaking her shoulder. "Margie, wake up. There are things that need to be done. Now hurry up."
Margie ignored the order and continued sleeping blissfully. Or at least tried to. SOMEONE just wouldn't let her.
"Margie, get your lazy butt up! Now!"
The religious Great Mother of the Nisan Sect shook her head and swore something into her pillow that would've made even Jessie's eyebrows rise in surprise.
"If you don't get up right now, I'm gonna force you out of that bed!"
Something that could be passed as a snort came from Margie's pillow.
"Alright, you asked for it..."
Margie was having a nice dream. She was lying in a field full of wildflowers. The scents tickled her nose and she stretched like a cat in the warmth of the sunlight. It felt wonderful. Then she felt like she was being lifted. Floating in the air. She smiled and curled up in the gentle grip, sighing.
Then suddenly, an ocean hit her.
Margie shot up, wide awake, choking and sputtering. She blinked and tried to inhale, her body completely drenched in lukewarm water.
"I warned you, but you wouldn't listen."
She wiped her dripping hair out of her eyes and looked up to see Bart standing there, his arms crossed and a smirk on his face. Curiously, he was also blushing.
She glared balefully when she realized that he'd carried her from her room into the bathroom, then dropped her into the semi-full bathtub.
"You... You... You great pile of dog sh-"
"Hey, that's not the type of language the Great Mother of Nisan should say," Bart protested, shushing her with a finger to her lips. Her eyes widened and she blushed when he did that, but he surmised it to be from anger. And after she shook herself out and stood up with murder in her eyes, he nodded to himself while he backed off. Yup, definitely anger. He then took off running with a seething Margie right behind him.
****************************************************
Elly sighed and snuggled in closer to a sleeping Fei. A smile lit up her features and for a moment she laid there in bed in perfect contentment. But that was rudely interrupted when she heard running footsteps and a shriek of rage coming from upstairs.
Fei immediately woke up and was on his feet in an instant, his reflexes as sharp as ever. "What was that?" he asked, looking around, his body tensed for battle.
"I don't know," Elly said, throwing off the covers and sliding her bare feet to the floor. "Maybe-"
"What are you doing?" Fei demanded.
She blinked. "Um, getting up to go see what's wrong...?"
His eyes narrowed. "No," he began slowly. "You're staying right there in bed and you're not gonna move till I say so. You're in no condition."
Elly's eyebrows had risen as he spoke and she shook her head by the time he finished. "Okay love, now I'm sure you've lost it." They heard the commotion right outside their door and suddenly their was the crash of china. "I'm gonna be getting up now."
With that said, she went over to the door and pulled it open as Fei protested behind her. "Wait Elly! You don't know what could be out there! Hold on dammit!"
Elly stared, transfixed, and Fei came to a ragged stop beside her when they saw what was in the common room.
A very wet and enraged Margie was chasing after Bart, screaming obscenities at him while he apparently ran for his own personal safety. As the pirate passed by their startled expressions, he shot them a grin that said everything was under control. Then he winced when Margie grabbed another of the plates that had been left on the table and pitched it in his general direction. It barely missed him by a few inches and broke on the wall as he dodged out of the way and continued running.
"What in the world..." Elly wondered out loud. But Fei only shook his head.
"Children," he muttered under his breath. "Don't worry about it, love. He probably just pushed her into the lake."
Elly nodded slowly as he pulled her back into their room and closed the door behind them.
******************************************************
Hours later, Margie was still making all the arrangements that needed to be done for her departure. She could not believe the pile of paperwork the Sisters had ready for her. Lists of refugees, plans for new homes, shops, restaurants and probably a school for the tons of kids that had seemed to pop up overnight. Orders for wood, cement and other building supplies needed to be made and houses needed to be assigned to the people Khar had brought in. More crops needed to be planted since they couldn't completely rely on trade with Aveh. Bledavik was in a tight situation of its own.
All these papers needed to be signed so the city could survive the time she'd be gone. Since Nisan was being rebuilt, things were more crazy than usual. Luckily, Elly helped her a lot. The people loved as much as they did Margie, if not more so (reincarnation of Sophia and all). She was priceless to the swamped Great Mother.
Since Elly and Fei had decided to go with her, Sister Agnes would be in charge while they were gone. Margie wrote up a list of things that needed to be done within the week. So many things... More than once, she almost decided not to go, but Sister Agnes reasurred her everything would be okay.
By four o'clock almost everything was done and Margie was just taking a breather from the work by relaxing in one of the comfy stuffed chairs in the common room of her house. All the mess from the fight that morning had been cleaned up earlier. Margie grinned as she remembered finally catching up to Bart and tackling him down in a move she knew he regretted teaching her now. They'd landed on the floor and she had sat on him while he laughed underneath. Then she had grabbed his braid and had threaten to hack it off if he didn't apologize to her. He hadn't believed her either, until she had pulled out the small knife she always carried with her ever since she'd been kidnapped so many months ago. He'd apologized, alright.
Margie dozed off while she sat there, a smile on her face and that's how Bart found her. He stopped in the doorway and just stared at her for a moment, her face serenely peaceful. He hadn't been able to see much of her this morning and as he gazed at her, he remembered the way she'd made him blush that morning. While he had been carrying her, she had nestled in closer in his arms and had murmured his name against his neck. He had been so shocked that he had dropped her in the bathtub after that. Not that he hadn't planned on doing that, because he had. It's just that her actions had made him falter in... surprise, yeah that was it. The damn girl was doing this to him too much.
Now, he looked at what he held in his hands and sighed. He had brought her a little something. A whole Chiffon Nisan. He knew she'd probably be tired after all the things that needed doing. A little sweetness was just what was recommended.
He walked into her house slowly (Margie always left her door wide open throughout the day) and debated on rousing her up or not. The choice was made for him when she stirred in her sleep and woke up. She opened her sapphire eyes slowly and blinked at him. They stared at each other for awhile before she finally spoke. "I had this dream that I lopped off your braid while you were sleeping."
He frowned and shook his head. "I better sleep with my eye open from now on," he muttered and she laughed. He sat down on the stuffed chair across from her and set the white box on the table between them.
"Ooh, what's this?" she asked, sitting up and looking at the box curiously.
"A peace offering. It can count as an apology, too."
She shook her head as she reached over to open the box. "Bart, you didn't need to do that. We've already settled- CHIFFON NISAN?!"
He grinned at her reaction and she looked up at him with wide eyes. "Where'd you get this? I thought since the bakery burned down, no one knew the recipe anymore."
"I asked around. I finally found the only person besides the late baker who knows how to make a delicious Chiffon Nisan cake. Yui."
"Yui? Of course it would be Yui. She can cook anything. Hold on, I'll be right back," she said before jumping up and running towards the kitchen. She came back with a couple of plates, forks and a knife.
"This is so great, you being able to get this. I haven't eaten one of these cakes since forever," she told him as she sliced the cake up (and I wont describe it cause it'll just make you people hungry ^_^). She served him a big slice and took one for herself.
She took a careful forkful and then closed her eyes as she put it in her mouth. "Hmm," she sighed in pleasure, savoring the bite.
Bart blushed and forced himself to focus on his own plate. It was kinda hard.
Margie was only halfway through her slice when Dan came rushing in, out of breath.
"A fight! A fight, Margie!"
"Huh?"
"Maria and one of them girls that came with Ramsus are about to exchange blows in the square! Come on!"
Margie and Bart immediately got up and followed the kid outside. He led them through the sparse crowd of the streets and over to where a group of people were gathered in a circle. Dan slowed down and made his way into the circle by crawling under peoples legs. Margie and Bart didn't have such capabilities. But they could hear the argument.
"-and I don't know why you're saying that!" Maria's voice, loud and surprisingly angry.
"Because it's true! If you've got a problem with me little girl, make it clear right now!" Tolone's usually angry voice. But this time it had a different quality to it.
Margie pushed through the small crowd that was steadily growing. When she got in the middle, she saw the girls standing across from each other, glaring hatefully. Tolone's hands were on her hips and she was leaning forward menacingly. Maria's hands were clenched into fists and her face was flushed angrily. The tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Citan, Billy, Emeralda and Kelvena were also there. So were Prim and Midori, the older girl holding onto the younger one's hand. They both looked kinda scared.
"Hey, what's going on here?!" Margie finally demanded.
"The Shevat girl has a problem with us staying here," Tolone snapped, her eyes narrowing.
"I didn't say anything!" Maria flared.
"You didn't have to! It was so obvious from the looks you've been shooting us since we got here! You were doing it again right now!" Tolone retorted.
"Well, what did you want me to do, Solarian?!" Maria spat the last word out. "Welcome you with open arms?! Is that what you expected?!"
"Quiet, both of you!" Citan ordered in a tone that brooked no argument. "This is no way to be behaving!"
Maria frowned and lifted her chin up a bit, while Tolone crossed her arms and looked away crossly.
"Citan's right," Margie agreed. "We're not enemies anymore. I thought we had that settled?"
Maria looked at the ground. "I know," she whispered. "I know. But I can't forget what happened to my father..."
She looked up and gave Margie an apologetic glance before running off through the crowd.
"Come on, Tolone," Kelvena urged softly, pulling on her friends arm. "Let's go find the others."
Tolone nodded and began leaving, but not before sending one last glance over her shoulder in the direction Maria had gone to. Her eyes were tinged with... what? Sorrow? Regret? Margie couldn't tell.
The crowd began dispersing, except for the few that stayed behind. Margie sighed and shook her head sadly.
"It's what was expected, Marguerite," Citan reassured, patting her shoulder.
"I know, Citan. I was wondering when she'd finally let her feelings show. I knew she was hurting inside."
"Where Maria go to?" Emeralda asked, a little shaken from all the emotions she had just been witness to.
"Somewhere to vent her feelings at," Bart told her. Emeralda frowned a little at this, then nodded.
"Doctor Uzuki, you go after Tolone and Kelvena. Talk to them, please?" Margie pleaded. "I don't want them to feel bitter about this. In the meantime, I'll go after Maria. I'm sure she'll need to talk to someone. Bart, you go with him."
They both nodded slowly and left in the direction the girls had gone to.
"Billy, you take the kids back home, okay?"
"Are you sure? Wouldn't you rather me go with you?" Billy asked, concern in his aqua eyes as they shifted towards the lake where Maria had most likely gone to.
"No, Billy. You take the kids back."
"Alright. I hope she's okay, though."
"Don't worry about it. We'll take care of her. Come on, Em," Margie called as she began walking. Emeralda nodded and quickly followed her.
To be continued...
*So people... What'd you think? Too much? Review and let me know!* ^_^(mokona)