Cody: *laughs* AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Calmer of the Storm: *grumbles* Geez Cody, I've never seen this side of you before…
Cody: *keeps laughing*
Calmer of the Storm: Shut up! It wasn't that funny.
Cody: It was hilarious!
Calmer of the Storm: Whatever…anyways…ya! So here's the next chapter, so-
Cody: *stops laughing, and glares* Ahem.
Calmer of the Storm:….? Oh…ya. Sorry.
Cody: That's better. On with the fic! *bursts out laughing*
Calmer of the Storm:……….
Hikari stiffened and stood wide-eyed. A figure came out of the bushes. It was her brother. She relaxed, and vented her anger at him.
"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU TRYING TO DO TO ME, TAICH?!?! YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!!!" she screamed.
He only smiled. "I wouldn't have hit you, I knew who you were. It was just for fun."
"FUN? YOU CALL ALMOST BLOWING THE BRAINS OUT OF YOUR LITTLE SISTER FUN?!"
"I need some for of amusement in my life. Besides, I wasn't planning on hitting you."
Hikari glared at her brother dangerously.
Taichi put the pistol back at his side, and looked at his younger sibling. His face became serious. "What do you want, or rather, what do they want?"
She softened up as she remembered the reason for her coming. She sighed. "Tai, you…you can't kill them." she said, getting strait to the point.
He looked rather amused by this, as if he were expecting it. "And why not?"
"Because…"
"That's not a very good reason Hikari, and you know it."
She hung her head. "Please, I know I betrayed you. I told you not to send me in the first place, but you did. I know what I did was completely against what you've ordered, but…it's just that they've been so good to me. They treated me as if I were one of their own, even though they didn't know who I was."
"And when they found out?"
"They were hesitant at first, but they've even agreed to talk to you. They said that if you came back with me, they'd be willing to negotiate something out…"
"They're using you, Hikari. They don't want to be destroyed. For all you know, they could have known the whole time. They could have taken this whole plan, and made it so that they'd gain your trust and get the information, then use you as their own weapon." he said, softening only slightly.
"No! They're not like that. Taichi, you have to get to know them, they're really nice people! If they wanted me dead after they got the information, they would have let-" she stopped mid sentence.
Hikari was wearing long sleeves, and had her hands covered, so that her brother wouldn't see the bandages. She didn't want him to know what she had done.
He became suspicious. "They would have let what?"
She looked away. "Nothing."
"Hikari, I'm not stupid. If you're talking about them 'saving your life' then that doesn't count. That whole thing was a set up, and you know it."
Her eyes filled with tears. "You don't know the half of it, Taichi!"
Tai was taken aback. His face softened as he watched his little sister. No matter his reputation, status, or anything else, she was his sister and he loved her dearly. After all, it was for the sake of his family that he had gotten into this whole mess.
"Please, just don't kill them…" she pleaded between sobs. She brought her hands up to her face, forgetting about the bandages.
Taichi sighed, slightly annoyed. Hew as about to say something, when he noticed the bandages. Immediately, he became alarmed. "Hikari, what happened to your hands?!"
She realized with horror that she had carelessly allowed them to be revealed.
"Th-they're nothing. These are just hands wraps."
Taichi didn't listen, and instead grabbed her arms. He pulled back her sleeves, and saw that they extended to her elbows.
"What did they do to you?" he asked. His voice was low and menacing.
She sniffled a little. "If you must know, it's not 'what did they do to you', it's 'what did you do to yourself'." She didn't go on, as she figured he was smart enough to figure it out on his own.
His expression became one of confusion and worry as he came to the realisation as to what she had done. "Why, Hikari? Why did you do this to yourself?"
She was surprised at the softness in his voice. Not since her parents had dies, had she heard such a tone. It seemed almost weird to hear her brother speak in this way.
More tears threatened to come, but she held them back.
"Because I saw what nice people they were. Even at home, no one treated me so well. They were so nice to me, and they trusted me completely. They gave me everything that I asked for, and asked for nothing in return. I couldn't stand there and watch them die at my own hands. I couldn't handle hearing their dying cries as they looked at me and asked me why I had done it. On the other hand, I couldn't watch my friends; I couldn't handle the thought of losing you."
"Hikari…" Tai sighed as he looked at his sister. He realized that she must really care for these people. But, that didn't erase or make up for what they had done. In his mind, Taichi debated as to what he would do. He finally decided that he would have nothing to lose if he went with her and talked. He would tell his men to stay hidden in the trees, and await his signal.
"Alright, I'll come with you."
She looked up, "Y-you will?"
He nodded, "Yes. And only because of you, not because of them."
A small smile pulled at her lips, and she hugged her brother. Hesitantly, as if it was something new to him, he hugged her back.
"You have to come alone, though. They'll shoot if anyone else comes. No exceptions." she told him.
"My men will stay hidden in the trees. They will be able to see me, if I need to give a signal. I don't care what you say, because I've already been more than nice. This is still a war."
Reluctantly, Hikari agreed to this. She also agreed to not telling the others about this.
Taichi signalled his men to stay hidden just on the inside of the ring of trees. "Let's go then."
He and Hikari headed off towards the underground base of the reformists.
~*~
Yamato and a very agitated Takeru awaited the outcome. They had heard the gunshot in the distance, and weren't sure what had happened. Takeru paced back and forth, worriedly glancing out the window of the post that they were in. Yamato stood, just starting at the line of trees. He assumed the worst, and waited to give the signal of attack to his men. They were already on stand-by.
"Takeru, calm down. What's done is done, we can't change that." he said, without looking back.
"But-"
"Takeru, you have to let go. Obviously they didn't-" he stopped mid-sentence, as he spotted two figures coming towards him.
Takeru noticed them as well. "It's her! It's Hikari!" he exclaimed excitedly.
Yamato waited a little until they were closer, and he waved his men off. On of them stepped out, to escort them in. He thought that it would be dangerous to have the meeting outside, in case they still had something planned.
~*~
Outside, Taichi and Hikari were greeted by the guard.
"If you would please hand me your weapons, you may enter." he said.
Taichi looked at him. "No."
The guard was taken aback by this. "Then we can't let you in. I'm sorry."
Hikari looked at her brother. "Please, just give it to him."
"No." he stated once more. "I promise that I will not touch the gun at my side. I'm assuming that there will be armed guards in there as well? If you expect me to go in unarmed, then you are a fool. If you can't trust me on my word, then I'm wasting my time here."
The guard was silent. It was evident that he was uneasy and didn't know what to do.
~*~
Seeing the situation from his post, Yamato decided to send someone out. He wasn't going to risk going out, just in case. He sent someone over to the guard, to tell him that it would be alright. He was reluctant to let the rebel leader in with the gun, but it would be better than them all being killed. Besides, there would be guards in the room. He assumed that Taichi's men were hidden all over the place, but that was expected.
The messenger "It's fine. Let him bring it." He wearily eyed the rebels, then hurriedly turned ad left.
Taichi looked back at the guard, who sighed reluctantly. "Follow me."
He led them through a series of corridors, which Hikari remembered only vaguely from her tour of the place with Takeru. Finally, they reached an immense, metal door. It was opened for them.
On the other side, Yamato was standing by the window. Takeru was beside him, trying to look serious, but couldn't help but smile at the sight of Hikari. He looked to his feet as he caught the eye of her older brother.
Hikari could only smile lightly to herself as this happened.
There was tension in the air as the two leaders locked eyes. Hikari became uneasy as she wasn't sure what the outcome of this meeting would be like.
Yamato just looked at the rebel leader. He was around his age, but looked a lot older. He bore the scars of many battles. His face was hard as rock, and emotionless. It wasn't hard to believe that someone such as him could be so ruthless. In a complete contrast to his rough features, was his hair. It was wild, and stuck out in all places.
There was also a remarkable resemblance between him and his sister. They both had the same chocolate brown hair, only Hikari's was tamer. They both had the same fine features, the difference being that she was more delicate. The biggest difference was in there eyes. Hers were a softer brown, with a tinge on ruby to them. His were brown, and almost black. They were cold and hard. The one similarity about them was the hurt that they carried in them. It was evident that there had been much pain in their past, and both siblings handled the pain differently.
"I guess I have to thank you for coming, Taichi." Yamato started.
"Don't. It's only because of my sister that I'm here. You're very lucky I have a soft spot for her. If I didn't, you'd all be dead." the rebel responded.
Yamato was about to reply with a sarcastic response, but figured it best not to, as he figured it would be best not to light his short fuse.
"Um, well, I guess you should have a seat. My men will do nothing unless you make the first move."
Taichi just looked at him, but sat down. Hikari took the place at his side. Yamato took one across from Tai, and Takeru took the other across from Hikari, of course.
"So, I've been informed that you've sent your sister here as a spy to give you information on us, so that you may attack us and wipe us out completely." Yamato stated.
Taichi looked at his sister. It was a glare, just a look, but she still shrank underneath his glare. "That is correct." he responded finally.
"I must admit, you had us going. No one suspected her at all. If she hadn't of…done what she did, you would have had us all." Yamato continued.
Taichi listened, but didn't respond.
"I'm assuming that you'd rather not lose any of your men, then to fight. I'd much rather to come to some agreement than to spill blood over this whole thing. I don't want any more lives lost over something that doesn't even affect us directly. To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure the cause of this whole thing."
"Then you obviously haven't been studying your history." Taichi said curtly.
The blonde looked at him.
"The war was started not by us rebels, but by you. We were a happy people, though we have always been rebels. It was fine, because we had negotiated with the reformists, and we had come to some terms of agreement. You would leave us alone, and we would leave you alone.
"However, you sent in some spies one day, and decided that we were getting too numerous and too powerful. You had to be the ruling party in this area, so you began to pick us off. One by one at first, but then it got bigger. It caused mass confusion in our neighbourhoods, as a person would leave for work in the morning, and then never return. We began to ask questions, and you didn't like it. Our scientists had been working on some very powerful weapons, and you saw that as a threat. We were willing to share tem with you, but you refused. The reformists had to be superior to everyone and everything. No one was allowed to stand as equals with you.
"So finally, we decided that we'd had enough of this. We didn't like being pushed around and bullied, so we fought back. There's more detail to it, but that's the jist of it."
Yamato sat there, taking it in. He wasn't sure if he could believe it. He knew that some of it was true, but Taichi's opinion could be biased and tainted. After all, there are always two sides to the same story.
"I've been told that you weren't born into the ranks of the rebels." Yamato said.
"That is also correct. I was born far away from here, in a different country. We travelled, as my parents weren't people that liked to settle in one place. When I was around three years old, we found ourselves in this part. My parents were kind people, and would never pass up an opportunity to help someone. They saw the situation here, and decided to try and help. They were only two people, but they had impacted people before, and they were convinced that they could do it again.
"They stayed with the rebels, getting to know them better. When I was four, Hikari was born. The two of us grew up there. Our parents went to meetings, and negotiated with the leaders of both groups. These went on for years.
"One day, my parents had the two of us out; I'm not sure for what reason anymore. All I know is that out of the blue, two reformists came out. My parents were confused, as they had had many chats with them in meetings and such. They held out guns, and pointed them at us. My mother told us to run, so we did. They paid no mind to us. Hikari and I hid behind some bushes, and we watched as the two men shot our parents."
Everyone was silent.
"I vowed that I would take revenge. My parent didn't deserve to die. My family didn't deserve to be torn apart. Not just mine, but others. I was tired of the tyranny of the reformists. I swore that I would do something. So, I took the position as leader. I found out that everyone else wanted to get revenge, so I constructed an army of elite men. They have served me well, and I am close to completing my task."
Yamato and Takeru exchanged glances. They weren't sure as to what he had meant by his last statement.
Calmer of the Storm: Ack! I'm really sorry for leaving it here! Really! This time it's not just for sheer enjoyment of torturing the readers, but it's a case of serious writer's block! Ahhhhh! *calms self down* Okay…if you have any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated. I'll post the next chappie as soon as I get through this!!! I promise!!!