Van was both happy and sad at the same time. He was happy because Fiona and their daughter were able to make amends, but he was unhappy that it couldn't be the same for him Fiona and him.
'Why can't that happen to us as well?' Van mentally pleaded. Everything was becoming nothing more than a mere dream, a fading dream that would soon be gone from his life forever if not already gone. He found it very hard to concentrate on anything lately because of that and it was starting to show in everything that he was doing.
"Van?" came Irvine's voice causing Van to turn around and look at Irvine with sad eyes. "Crougar wanted to see you. He said something about testing modifications to the blade liger," Irvine informed him before walking away since he knew Van would most likely want to be alone.
Van had no idea whether or not he felt up to doing something like this at the time. However, he knew that it was an order from Crougar so it was not in his place to disobey his commanding officer. He may hold a high rank but Crougar was still higher so he had to obey.
Fiona was now sitting down in the command center watching some tests being done for the improvements that they attempted to make to the blade liger. She had to see for herself Van's current abilities to be able to put her uneasiness behind her. 'Come on Van, prove him wrong,' she thought watching a screen intently. She did not want to have anything to do with Zack so she was proving to herself that he was wrong.
It did not take her very long to start to worry about what was happening. "Van, what is going on out there, I know you are more capable of piloting a zoid then that," she heard Crougar say through a communication to the blade liger.
As if to make things any worse, the data that she was currently looking at was not helping her already bad feeling as it was. The stats for the blade liger were far lower than they usually were whenever they did any tests on them. She was scared beyond anything she had ever been before. Van really was getting weaker.
'No!' Fiona's mind screamed at her. She couldn't stay there and watch, as Zack was proved right. She couldn't stay there and watch, as Van led himself down a path towards destruction. She got up from her seat and ran as quickly out of the room as she could so that her beliefs weren't hurt anymore.
Crougar could only watch as Fiona ran out of the room. 'What's wrong with her? Van just can't concentrate. So why is it that she seems to be taking it so badly?' Crougar asked himself but just shrugged and turned back to the screen.
Fiona ran and ran until she came to her room. She went inside and collapsed onto her knees. Her hands went straight to her face while she cried. Cried for all those that were hurt because of her. She just knew that the problem with Van was because of her. She did not want to go through with what Zack had planned for her but she did know what it was that she had to do. She would do it to protect Van, Kristi, and all of their friends. She would not allow them to be hurt.Van hopped out of the blade liger. He was frustrated by his lack of concentration these past few weeks but he knew that only Fiona could stop it. She didn't want anything to do with him though. He was cursed to loving someone that refused to love him back.
"What was up out there Van?" asked Irvine since he had been waiting for Van to get back so he could ask him about what he had seen. It disturbed him greatly to see the usually very skilled perform more like a beginner rather than like the person that beat the deathsaurer twice.
"It's nothing. I just could concentrate," said Van while he turning away and started walking towards his room. He needed some time alone and he wasn't up to talking to anyone unless it was Fiona.
'It has to be about Fiona,' Irvine told himself. He was suddenly pushed forward a little when someone accidentally ran into. He turned around and saw that it was Fiona. She appeared to be in a bit of a hurry. "You ok there Fiona?" he just had to ask.
"I am fine. I am just going out for a while," she said trying to get by Irvine but he just blocked off her path to keep her from getting by. "Will you please move Irvine because I am in kind of a hurry," Fiona pleaded more than she asked the question. She was hoping to get away before anyone had any time to ask questions about what she was up to.
Irvine looked at her kind of skeptically. She was hiding something from everyone, both physically and mentally. He was tempted to ask her about it but he knew that he wouldn't get a very clear response from her. Instead he just stepped out of the way letting her by hoping that she knew whatever it was that she was doing. She was almost away but he then spoke up. "Fiona, I think you really need to stop all of this and just talk to Van. You're actions are really hurting him," he spoke softly.
Fiona stopped and cringed a little when Irvine mentioned Van's name. She had a plan but she knew that it could very well hurt him if things turned out wrong. It was the only way that she could think of though.
She didn't respond to Irvine. All she merely did was walk away without once looking back at one of her best friends and someone that she looked up to like an older brother. She would have hesitated about going if she did so she just walked on.
Fiona drove for a long time until she came upon her destination. It was the one place that she didn't want to be and yet at the same time was forced to come to. It was the place that Zack was waiting for her.
Fiona got out of the car and saw that Zack was already standing there and waiting for her as if he knew that she would come on that second. She hated his guts. She saw him turn his head to look at her and smiled that disgusting smile of his. She felt utterly disgusted to just see that. She wanted him dead more than anything.
"I just knew that you would come back to me and accept my proposal. It was that you knew I was right and had no other choice but to accept," he said starting directly onto his feet since he was leaning against a wall before she had come.
He walked away expecting her to follow him. She remained still glaring at him with eyes that promised death if he tried anything. She was in no mood at that moment to have him try anything to him.
Zack stopped when he noticed that she wasn't doing anything. He turned around and saw the glare of pure hatred that she was giving him. "Now, now. There is no need to look at your future husband like that. Now come. Leave behind your past and come with me into a glorious future that I have planned for us zoidians," he said smirking but he noticed that she refused to move and continued to glare at him.
"No," Fiona said in a whisper that was almost impossible for anyone to hear. That was not what she had come to do. He had this obsession with her that has ruined her life since he first came into the picture. She was prepared to die if it meant that she might take him with her.
"Excuse me?" he asked but he had heard her but just barely. He was sure that she would easily have come to him after his little proposal, but now here she was refusing to do, as he had wanted her to do.
"You heard me correctly. I am not going to go with you to marry you. I would rather die than to do something like that and betray the ones that I care for the most," Fiona growled out remaining still. She had never known that she would be capable of doing something like this. It was usually Van that did the fighting to protect her but now she was going to fight to protect him.
Zack only smirked which caused a confused look to come over Fiona's face. "Aren't you forgetting how I said I could kill all of you friends and loved ones?" he asked emphasizing the word loved to show his disgust that she loved someone that wasn't him.
The confused look left Fiona's face and was replaced by a stern one. A hand reached behind her back for something that she had placed for just this occasion. Her hand came out to reveal a gun. "If you are dead then nothing can happen to them. Good thing you decided to wait here so that I knew you would come," she said emotionlessly. It wasn't in her nature to do something so drastic. She was always so kind but she would make sacrifices for the ones that she loved.
When he had first seen the gun, Zack was scared. At that type of range it would be kind of hard to miss. He noticed something that caused him to smirk. He stood up straight and walked towards Fiona. "Go ahead and shoot if you can," he said standing a foot or two away from the gun.
There was shaking in Fiona's hand, which made it hard to keep the gun straight. She was sure that he must have noticed that which gave him his confidence. She cursed her good nature now. It just wouldn't allow her to kill someone easily.
"You just can't do it can you?" asked Zack grabbing the gun before she had a chance to do anything and pulled it so now he had the control over it rather than her. He now had her in his arms and she was struggling to get free. "Now, now Fiona. Just calm down and enjoy everything that I can give you," he whispered in her ear.
"Fiona was appalled with being in his arms. Her response to his sentence was that she turned her head and spit into his face. "Go to hell," she growled out struggling even harder to get free from his grip.
Zack's hand reached up to his face and wiped the spit from it. His anger had been building up with how much she was resisting him despite what he did to get her to come to him. He brought his hand up and slapped Fiona hard across the face sending her flying into a wall of the alley that they were in. He didn't mean to do that but he was getting too angry.
Fiona was hurt but she refused to give up in her attempt to get rid of him. She wiped away the blood that was falling down her lip. She stood up and charged at him with her full fury. She grabbed the gun but he wouldn't let go. There was a struggle but his strength was prevailing. In a last ditch attempt, Fiona bit his arm, much to her disgust, but it did cause him to yell in pain and drop the gun.
They both watched as the gun fell from both of their hands and onto the floor. Neither of them were prepared for what happened next. The gun fell and hit the floor but it caused it to go off. There was a sound of pain and then a body hit the floor.Van walked slowly to his room. Night had fallen long ago and he felt he needed some sleep to help get his mind off of Fiona. He hoped that it would get his mind off of her for at least a little while. He knew that it wouldn't really do him much good in the morning but at least during the night he could get away from his thoughts through his dreams.
He had a strange feeling inside of him for a long time now and he just couldn't get it off of his mind. Irvine had told him about Fiona's strange behavior earlier in the day and that started it but it only seemed to get worse throughout the day when he started to get a strange feeling in his stomach as if something had happened. He wasn't sure if it was good or bad but he hoped that Fiona was all right.
He could hear rain falling hard upon the roof of the base. He hoped that Fiona was already back and safe within the confines of the base. Even if he hadn't seen her, he had to have hope that she was all right despite the feeling that he was getting.
He stopped when he saw someone in front of him. Van looked at the person and saw that it was Fiona. Her hair was disheveled and dripping from the rain but for some reason Van could tell that it was also from sweat. "Fiona?" he asked cautiously because he could tell that there was something very wrong with her.
Fiona looked up when she heard her name being called. Her eyes seemed blank, like they held no life within them anymore. She looked at Van and into his emotion filled eyes. "Van?" she replied quietly with pain filling her voice. She took a step out of the shadows that had been covering her and she heard Van gasp. She could feel her consciousness fading and soon she fell forward and onto the floor as the pain overtook her.
Van gasped and rushed forward and took her in his arms. He turned her over so she was on her back and looked upon a wound in the middle of her stomach. It appeared to be a bullet wound and that worried Van. He now knew what it was that he was feeling all throughout the day. "Fiona, Fiona, wake up," he pleaded. He had no wish to lose her. "Hang on, I will get you some help," said Van picking her up and rushing to get help.Zack walked into his base with an angered look on his face. Things had not gone at all like he wanted them to go. Fiona had been shot when the gun went off and he couldn't even get to her. He looked down at his hand to see the numerous burnt areas all around it he scowled when he remembered what happened.
He had tried to pick her up to take her with him when she was shot but before he could even touch her, it was like an invisible shield was placed up around her that she controlled even when she was unconscious.
Fiona was unlike anyone that he had ever met before, some of the things that she was able to do were unlike anything he had ever seen. That was what drew him to her and that was made him so insistent on taking her for himself.
"I see you must have failed yet again," came the voice of Fiona's mother. He turned around and stared at her with his angry eyes. "She had better not have been harmed in any way," she spoke with a dangerous tone in her voice that made her sound like Fiona did earlier that day.
"She was but it was an accident and she would not allow me to touch her even when she was unconscious. Just remember though that she no longer belongs to you and soon I will be the only one that she needs to worry about," he said angrily before storming past her.
"You cannot win if you only motivation is your rage. It will only make you sloppy," she said but he didn't even bother to respond. "Just remember that she is not to be harmed again. She had better not die because of earlier," she said walking in the opposite direction. She may not like the way her daughter currently lived her life amongst the humans but she did love her and always would.