Chapter 3: Dreams
She felt a tall form walk over to where she lay. As the person bent over, she recognized it to be Leon. He slowly came closer and closer, not saying anything but gently brushing his lips against hers. "Leon..." Priss said, but she got no response as he came close again for a deeper kiss. She relaxed into his embrace, not even thinking about the many questions she should be asking. Priss returned his kiss, and they lay entwined for what seemed to be the longest time. Leon lay down next to her, bringing her to lie on top of him with one of her legs either side. He opened his mouth slightly, slipping his tongue into her mouth. She massaged his tongue with her own, melting into his arms, and sliding her fingers through his dark, tousled hair. one of his hands, which had been resting on her hip, moved down, caressing her thigh, while the other moved up to gently squeeze her breast. She moaned into the kiss as he did this, and moved one of her hands down to rest between his legs. She pushed deeper into him with her mouth and slipped her hand over the waist of his pants and moved down, feeling his reaction against her thigh.
Priss woke up with a start, sitting straight up in her bed and then crying out at the wave of pain the action sent through her body. She fell back to the bed, panting, and gripped the side of the bed so hard her knuckles went white as pain roiled through her, beads of sweat appeared on her face and she would have screamed again if it weren't for the fact that even that caused her immeasurable pain. She tried to cling to consciousness but she fainted just as the other occupants of the house came running into the room to see what the problem was.
---
Priss opened her eyes to find Sylia's concerned face staring down at her. She felt sharp pangs of pain in her abdomen, even worse then they had been before. She gritted her teeth and whispered in a hoarse voice, "What happened?" Sylia dabbed at her forehead with a damp cloth as she replied, "I don't know. I was in the other room with Nigel when I heard you scream. I came in and found you laying deathly pale on the bed. I think you fainted." Priss struggled to ignore the pain and clear the fog from her mind. Slowly it came back to her, she had been having a dream when she sat up suddenly, causing her absolute agony. Then she had probably fainted. She relayed this to Sylia, "I woke up from a dream and sat up straight, the pain probably caused me to faint." Sylia nodded and continue to dab with the cloth, gently pushing Priss' raised head back to the pillow. "Get some more sleep, I'll have Henderson make you some lunch in a few hours." Priss wanted to get up and leave more than anything, she hated being mothered, but even talking had caused her pain. There was no way she could walk. She sighed and closed her eyes, it seemed like the only thing she was doing lately was sleeping. As she drifted down into slumber she tried to remember what it was she had been dreaming about, and why she had this overbearing urge not to tell anyone about it.
---
Priss woke with a start, sitting up a few inches before immediately falling back to the pillows at the pain. It had been the same damn dream. She could almost remember it, but it was so fuzzy it didn't have any real meaning. All she knew was that it was just her and Leon. She hoped this wasn't going to be a regular occurrence or she would be doing more damage to herself by jumping than the boomer had. Priss closed her eyes and sent her mind back, trying to remember what it was exactly she had dreamt about and why it made her jump like that. She was starting to remember it, but then she fell asleep again and relived it. She jumped again when she woke up a few seconds later, but not so much this time. She could remember it much more clearly now, but now that she did she wished she couldn't remember. She didn't want to start seeing Leon in her dreams again, it just couldn't be healthy and it certainly wasn't helpful.
Priss lifted her head off of the pillow a little, trying not to fall asleep and dream again. She saw Henderson walking towards her with a tray of food and suddenly remembered she hadn't eaten for about 30 hours or so. She was ravenous and barely held off long enough to thank Henderson before diving into the food like starved puppy.
--- 3 days later
Priss was as quiet as she could be as she stepped out of her bed and snuck over to where her jacket and shoes were sitting. She picked up her belongings and headed for the doors, wincing with each quiet step. Remembering, she took a not she had written earlier and tossed it over to the bed where she had spent the last four days. Finally she was getting out, and she would leave no matter how painful it was. She was about ready to strangle Sylia after all that time of incessant wavering between doctoring and mothering. She was feeling better and didn't want to risk Sylia's good health. Who'd have thought Sylia would go all caring and maternal when someone was seriously injured. However nice she had been, if she called Priss 'Dear...' one more time blood would flow. She couldn't wait to get the old Sylia back, slightly crazy but better than this.
Priss had by now reached her bike and it looked like she was going to get out. She stroked its frame lovingly, she had been separated from it for four days and couldn't wait to be back in the saddle, so to speak. She put her helmet on and gingerly slid onto the seat, gripping the throttle and glowing at the feel of cold metal underneath her again. She had to get out fast as soon as she turned it on or Sylia would catch her and drag her back. She revved it up and sped away form the shop, gritting her teeth at the extreme pain the vibrations sent through her but loving every second. She roared across the highways and pushed her bike as fast as her aching ribs could stand. It was all too soon when she was pulling up by her trailer, regretfully getting off and heading towards the door, wondering what Kail was doing. As soon as she had spoken to him at the Silky Doll she had told him he could stay at her trailer while she was recuperating and they hadn't really said much else.
She leaned against the door for a few minutes before going in. Not only was she slightly anxious about talking to Kail, she had put off thinking about him for a long time, but she had to fight off a wave of painful dizziness. She was breathing heavily and the world was starting to swim before her eyes. Maybe she hadn't been ready to leave Sylia's after all, she thought as she leant against the door, trying to clear her vision and get her bearings. She tried to stand independently but found she couldn't, she was so dizzy she couldn't have said which way was up or down to save her life. She heard a thud and felt the ground against her skin, but it didn't feel like it was beneath her, more like off to the side. She struggled to get up but a new wave of dizziness and pain broke through her body and she saw the blackness edging in on her vision. The last thing she registered before she passed out completely was Kail picking her up and carrying her inside.
---
Priss felt a damp cloth being dabbed on her forehead and groaned. She was back with Sylia! It had all been a dream, getting out. She would have gone back to sleep and tried to dream her way out again if it weren't for the fact that she was starving. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Sylia's caring face shining down. She got a shock when she saw that it wasn't Sylia, but Kail sitting next to her. She blinked a few times and tried to orient herself, taking in her surroundings. She was lying in her own bed in her shabby trailer. Then she looked at Kail. She vaguely remembered feeling really dizzy when she got off of her bike and then collapsing. She also remembered being carried inside.
"Are you alright?" Kail asked, a worried frown on his face. "Yeah," Priss relied briefly, wriggling a little to see how sore she was, "but man am I hungry!" Without a word Kail stood up and made her a couple of horseradish sandwiches, handed them over and then cleaned up. "I found you outside lying on the ground," he said to her from the kitchen area, "you were really stupid to try and leave that shop. You could have really hurt yourself." Priss' eyes widened at how concerned he sounded. She didn't think he'd care about her so much, he had come looking for her, but still.
She lay in silence and ate her sandwiches while Kail went over to playing some handheld game console. Priss watched him and thought about what she was going to do. Since his foster parents had been killed he would have to stay with her. She had found his name on the long list of those killed by the boomer revolution, but now that she knew he was alive she couldn't leave him to fend for himself, as he had been for years. She had only seen him a few times and knew practically nothing about him but she still didn't want him to grow up the same way she had. She couldn't do that to him.
Maybe Linna would have some good advice on what she should do. She had no idea how to act towards him, for one thing, and she didn't know how she should approach him on any subject that should probably be talked about, no matter how much she didn't want to. She had finished eating and sat lay with her eyes closed, thinking about what she should do about everything.
---
### Leon sat and stared at the phone, trying to summon the willpower to pick it up and call. His hand moved slowly, inch by inch towards it. He pressed the digits one by one until there was only one left. A brief wave of determination surged through him and he pressed it, bringing it to his ear and listening to the distant ring.
Hello he heard a familiar voice say. There was a long pause as the person on the other end waited for a reply. Leon sucked in a deep breath and answered in an unsure voice.
It's me.
Hi
I just wanted to make sure, you know, you were okay and everything.
Yeah, I'm fine
Good. That's good. You... you know how sorry I am.
I know
I called to tell you something. I'm leaving. leaving Tokyo. Being transferred and all that, you know. Have to go where the job takes me, right?
Have fun.
*Click*
Leon sighed and listened to the flat, monotonous tone before finally putting the phone down and leaving. ###
Leon thought back to that day, the day he had left. And now he felt as if he was about to reinact it. But not to the same results. He steadied himself and walked through the door, headed for a certain trailer.
---
Priss heard the receiver click as she put the phone down. What to do now. She looked down at her bandaged torso and decided to take them off and have a look, she felt like an Egyptian mummy. She grasped the edge and pulled, wincing at the pressure and then gritting her teeth and letting out a low growl as the adhesive ripped off of her skin. Her skin was left red and blotchy but otherwise it didn't look to bad. The swelling from her ribs had gone down a lot and the various bumps were smaller. The huge bruises were beginning to fade a little as well. She gingerly ran her fingers over her abused ribs. Her fingers froze when she felt the rough patch of dead skin, the circular scars, depressed in the middle and rough around the edges. There were four of them in a circle, on the right side of her ribcage. God they had hurt. She'd walked out of an alley looking for someone and some stupid AD Police officer had shot her, thinking she was a boomer. Stupid bastard. She'd been rushed to the hospital and given the greatest care in repayment for being shot. How generous they had been. Pricks.
She pulled her hand away and let her shirt drop back down. She didn't have the energy to replace the bandages, she would do it in the morning. Her mind wandered back to that day she'd been shot by the ADP officer. He'd apologised to her so much, he was still apologising. She had forgiven him, of course, but it still didn't feel complete. Stupid Leon. That's what made him leave. Stupid.
She felt a tall form walk over to where she lay. As the person bent over, she recognized it to be Leon. He slowly came closer and closer, not saying anything but gently brushing his lips against hers. "Leon..." Priss said, but she got no response as he came close again for a deeper kiss. She relaxed into his embrace, not even thinking about the many questions she should be asking. Priss returned his kiss, and they lay entwined for what seemed to be the longest time. Leon lay down next to her, bringing her to lie on top of him with one of her legs either side. He opened his mouth slightly, slipping his tongue into her mouth. She massaged his tongue with her own, melting into his arms, and sliding her fingers through his dark, tousled hair. one of his hands, which had been resting on her hip, moved down, caressing her thigh, while the other moved up to gently squeeze her breast. She moaned into the kiss as he did this, and moved one of her hands down to rest between his legs. She pushed deeper into him with her mouth and slipped her hand over the waist of his pants and moved down, feeling his reaction against her thigh.
Priss woke up with a start, sitting straight up in her bed and then crying out at the wave of pain the action sent through her body. She fell back to the bed, panting, and gripped the side of the bed so hard her knuckles went white as pain roiled through her, beads of sweat appeared on her face and she would have screamed again if it weren't for the fact that even that caused her immeasurable pain. She tried to cling to consciousness but she fainted just as the other occupants of the house came running into the room to see what the problem was.
---
Priss opened her eyes to find Sylia's concerned face staring down at her. She felt sharp pangs of pain in her abdomen, even worse then they had been before. She gritted her teeth and whispered in a hoarse voice, "What happened?" Sylia dabbed at her forehead with a damp cloth as she replied, "I don't know. I was in the other room with Nigel when I heard you scream. I came in and found you laying deathly pale on the bed. I think you fainted." Priss struggled to ignore the pain and clear the fog from her mind. Slowly it came back to her, she had been having a dream when she sat up suddenly, causing her absolute agony. Then she had probably fainted. She relayed this to Sylia, "I woke up from a dream and sat up straight, the pain probably caused me to faint." Sylia nodded and continue to dab with the cloth, gently pushing Priss' raised head back to the pillow. "Get some more sleep, I'll have Henderson make you some lunch in a few hours." Priss wanted to get up and leave more than anything, she hated being mothered, but even talking had caused her pain. There was no way she could walk. She sighed and closed her eyes, it seemed like the only thing she was doing lately was sleeping. As she drifted down into slumber she tried to remember what it was she had been dreaming about, and why she had this overbearing urge not to tell anyone about it.
---
Priss woke with a start, sitting up a few inches before immediately falling back to the pillows at the pain. It had been the same damn dream. She could almost remember it, but it was so fuzzy it didn't have any real meaning. All she knew was that it was just her and Leon. She hoped this wasn't going to be a regular occurrence or she would be doing more damage to herself by jumping than the boomer had. Priss closed her eyes and sent her mind back, trying to remember what it was exactly she had dreamt about and why it made her jump like that. She was starting to remember it, but then she fell asleep again and relived it. She jumped again when she woke up a few seconds later, but not so much this time. She could remember it much more clearly now, but now that she did she wished she couldn't remember. She didn't want to start seeing Leon in her dreams again, it just couldn't be healthy and it certainly wasn't helpful.
Priss lifted her head off of the pillow a little, trying not to fall asleep and dream again. She saw Henderson walking towards her with a tray of food and suddenly remembered she hadn't eaten for about 30 hours or so. She was ravenous and barely held off long enough to thank Henderson before diving into the food like starved puppy.
--- 3 days later
Priss was as quiet as she could be as she stepped out of her bed and snuck over to where her jacket and shoes were sitting. She picked up her belongings and headed for the doors, wincing with each quiet step. Remembering, she took a not she had written earlier and tossed it over to the bed where she had spent the last four days. Finally she was getting out, and she would leave no matter how painful it was. She was about ready to strangle Sylia after all that time of incessant wavering between doctoring and mothering. She was feeling better and didn't want to risk Sylia's good health. Who'd have thought Sylia would go all caring and maternal when someone was seriously injured. However nice she had been, if she called Priss 'Dear...' one more time blood would flow. She couldn't wait to get the old Sylia back, slightly crazy but better than this.
Priss had by now reached her bike and it looked like she was going to get out. She stroked its frame lovingly, she had been separated from it for four days and couldn't wait to be back in the saddle, so to speak. She put her helmet on and gingerly slid onto the seat, gripping the throttle and glowing at the feel of cold metal underneath her again. She had to get out fast as soon as she turned it on or Sylia would catch her and drag her back. She revved it up and sped away form the shop, gritting her teeth at the extreme pain the vibrations sent through her but loving every second. She roared across the highways and pushed her bike as fast as her aching ribs could stand. It was all too soon when she was pulling up by her trailer, regretfully getting off and heading towards the door, wondering what Kail was doing. As soon as she had spoken to him at the Silky Doll she had told him he could stay at her trailer while she was recuperating and they hadn't really said much else.
She leaned against the door for a few minutes before going in. Not only was she slightly anxious about talking to Kail, she had put off thinking about him for a long time, but she had to fight off a wave of painful dizziness. She was breathing heavily and the world was starting to swim before her eyes. Maybe she hadn't been ready to leave Sylia's after all, she thought as she leant against the door, trying to clear her vision and get her bearings. She tried to stand independently but found she couldn't, she was so dizzy she couldn't have said which way was up or down to save her life. She heard a thud and felt the ground against her skin, but it didn't feel like it was beneath her, more like off to the side. She struggled to get up but a new wave of dizziness and pain broke through her body and she saw the blackness edging in on her vision. The last thing she registered before she passed out completely was Kail picking her up and carrying her inside.
---
Priss felt a damp cloth being dabbed on her forehead and groaned. She was back with Sylia! It had all been a dream, getting out. She would have gone back to sleep and tried to dream her way out again if it weren't for the fact that she was starving. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Sylia's caring face shining down. She got a shock when she saw that it wasn't Sylia, but Kail sitting next to her. She blinked a few times and tried to orient herself, taking in her surroundings. She was lying in her own bed in her shabby trailer. Then she looked at Kail. She vaguely remembered feeling really dizzy when she got off of her bike and then collapsing. She also remembered being carried inside.
"Are you alright?" Kail asked, a worried frown on his face. "Yeah," Priss relied briefly, wriggling a little to see how sore she was, "but man am I hungry!" Without a word Kail stood up and made her a couple of horseradish sandwiches, handed them over and then cleaned up. "I found you outside lying on the ground," he said to her from the kitchen area, "you were really stupid to try and leave that shop. You could have really hurt yourself." Priss' eyes widened at how concerned he sounded. She didn't think he'd care about her so much, he had come looking for her, but still.
She lay in silence and ate her sandwiches while Kail went over to playing some handheld game console. Priss watched him and thought about what she was going to do. Since his foster parents had been killed he would have to stay with her. She had found his name on the long list of those killed by the boomer revolution, but now that she knew he was alive she couldn't leave him to fend for himself, as he had been for years. She had only seen him a few times and knew practically nothing about him but she still didn't want him to grow up the same way she had. She couldn't do that to him.
Maybe Linna would have some good advice on what she should do. She had no idea how to act towards him, for one thing, and she didn't know how she should approach him on any subject that should probably be talked about, no matter how much she didn't want to. She had finished eating and sat lay with her eyes closed, thinking about what she should do about everything.
---
### Leon sat and stared at the phone, trying to summon the willpower to pick it up and call. His hand moved slowly, inch by inch towards it. He pressed the digits one by one until there was only one left. A brief wave of determination surged through him and he pressed it, bringing it to his ear and listening to the distant ring.
Hello he heard a familiar voice say. There was a long pause as the person on the other end waited for a reply. Leon sucked in a deep breath and answered in an unsure voice.
It's me.
Hi
I just wanted to make sure, you know, you were okay and everything.
Yeah, I'm fine
Good. That's good. You... you know how sorry I am.
I know
I called to tell you something. I'm leaving. leaving Tokyo. Being transferred and all that, you know. Have to go where the job takes me, right?
Have fun.
*Click*
Leon sighed and listened to the flat, monotonous tone before finally putting the phone down and leaving. ###
Leon thought back to that day, the day he had left. And now he felt as if he was about to reinact it. But not to the same results. He steadied himself and walked through the door, headed for a certain trailer.
---
Priss heard the receiver click as she put the phone down. What to do now. She looked down at her bandaged torso and decided to take them off and have a look, she felt like an Egyptian mummy. She grasped the edge and pulled, wincing at the pressure and then gritting her teeth and letting out a low growl as the adhesive ripped off of her skin. Her skin was left red and blotchy but otherwise it didn't look to bad. The swelling from her ribs had gone down a lot and the various bumps were smaller. The huge bruises were beginning to fade a little as well. She gingerly ran her fingers over her abused ribs. Her fingers froze when she felt the rough patch of dead skin, the circular scars, depressed in the middle and rough around the edges. There were four of them in a circle, on the right side of her ribcage. God they had hurt. She'd walked out of an alley looking for someone and some stupid AD Police officer had shot her, thinking she was a boomer. Stupid bastard. She'd been rushed to the hospital and given the greatest care in repayment for being shot. How generous they had been. Pricks.
She pulled her hand away and let her shirt drop back down. She didn't have the energy to replace the bandages, she would do it in the morning. Her mind wandered back to that day she'd been shot by the ADP officer. He'd apologised to her so much, he was still apologising. She had forgiven him, of course, but it still didn't feel complete. Stupid Leon. That's what made him leave. Stupid.
