Chapter Seven:

Petit Soldat

Petit soldat
Pret au combat
Rase frais le matin
Petit soldat c'est ton coeur qui bat
Soldat, soldat...
Aux, aux armes, je t'aime bien
Aux, aux larmes citoyen

Petit soldat
Trois jours deja
Tu y crois, t'y crois pas
C'est la vie qui bat en toi la
Qui voudrait pas etre la

Aux, aux armes, je t'aime bien
Aux, aux larmes citoyens

-Vanessa Paradis "Soldat"

…

Little soldier
Ready for combat
Freshly shaved in the morning
Little soldier, it is your heart which beats
Soldier, soldier...
With, with the weapons, I like you
With, with the tears… of the citizens

Little soldier
Three days already
You believe in it, you do not believe in it
It is the life which beats in you
Who would not like to be

With, with the weapons, I like you
With, with the tears… of the citizens…

"L-Leeloo," Korben found himself struggling to breathe. "Leeloo, no, no," he put his hand to his forehead and backed up as Zorg glared at him like an angry canine from behind his now messy black hair.

"Yes, Leeloo yes!" Leeloo said as she too glared at Korben. She felt rather… bad doing so but she was also upset that Korben had hurt the one she felt so strongly for.

"Leeloo," it was Lily-Ray. "Are you sure you know what you are saying?" Korben's beautiful wife asked as she approached the weapons designer and the fiery-haired woman.

"Leeloo sure," she said with a suddenly random smile.

"Mr. Zorg," Lily-Ray walked up to the man in black and examined him, boots to hair. He was lovely, very sophisticated looking while at the same point seeming rugged and strong. Zorg didn't answer her. Instead he stiffened up uncomfortably as the rather petite woman scrutinized him.

"I would like to ask you a question," Lily-Ray said as she touched the edge of his coat. Korben watched angrily.

"Y-yes, what is it?" He said, trying as hard as he could to hide his strong accent.

"What do you think of our Little Leeloo?" She said as if Leeloo were truly her daughter. Zorg felt his throat close on him for a moment as he opened his mouth.

"I uh…" He looked at Leeloo who was smiling hopefully at him. She began to plot out in her head what she hoped he would say.

I love her dearly. She is the mate of my soul and the dear of my heart… I wish to never let her go…

"I… She…" Lily-Ray smiled when Zorg's pale cheeks turned a light crimson.

"I see," she said. Zorg sighed… relieved he didn't have to answer.

"Leeloo no see, Leeloo no see," Leeloo said… she wanted him to say it.

"What are you doing?" Korben asked his wife who was fixing Zorg's less-than-sophisticated-now hair.

"I'm giving them a chance… you should too," Lily-Ray, the pacifist, said.

"Lily-Ray…" Korben moaned. "He's evil… evil… He tried to shoot Leeloo!" Zorg was suddenly hit with the memory.

"No!" He pulled a small handgun out of his pocket. "I would never do such a thing! Never!" He roared in a very un-Zorg-like manner.

"Hey!" Korben reached towards his waist and pulled out his gun.

"Stop!" Lily-Ray cried as both men fired. Leeloo saw a flash of light and heard Korben shout.

"Korben!" Lily-Ray screamed as the light from Korben's laser-blaster faded. She looked over and saw her husband on his knees holding a pouring wound on his upper right shoulder. She ran over to him and pulled off her jacket before wrapping it around his arm.

"Zorg? Zorg? Zorg?" Leeloo cried as she spun around to see Zorg who had sparks flying from his right shoulder. "Zorg!" She cried as she ran to him, completely disregarding Korben who she knew and loved so much.

"Leeloo, I'm alright," Zorg said as he held his arm in place. The broken steel was threatening to tear his whole arm off.

"No Zorg, no Zorg," Leeloo began to sob as she ripped off his entire sleeve and tied his arm in place much like Lily-Ray was doing to Korben.

"What the hell is going on in here?" It was the doctor.

"He started it!" Zorg cried pointing at Korben.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

"How are you feeling, Honey?" Lily-Ray asked her husband as the group munched on some food the doctor had brought. They were all sitting in a circle on the floor: Zorg, Leeloo, Korben, and Lily-Ray.

"I'm fine… no thanks to you," Korben looked first at his wife and then at Zorg who was crunching on a piece of plain toast.

"Korben," Lily-Ray warned.

"Hey, you're the one who came burstin' in here and tryin' to beat me to Kingcome," Zorg shot back.

"Mr. Zorg," Lily-Ray moaned.

"Please," everyone looked over when Katrina spoke for the first time. "No more… just get along, okay? Just stop…" She said as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"Katrina, what's wrong?" Zorg dropped his toast onto the little plate and walked over to his secretary who was sitting at his desk.

"Nothing… I'm just worried about Laura," the blue-haired secretary sobbed. It wasn't completely a lie… she was indeed worried about Laura… but what truly pushed her to tears was what Leeloo had said. Leeloo love Zorg… But Katrina loved him too.

"I'm sure she'll be alright. Alessa is a very good doctor," Zorg said referring to the woman who had brought them the food.

"Since when are you on a first name basis with her? Why do all the women go for you!" Katrina suddenly blurted before covering her mouth. Zorg just looked oddly at her.

"I beg your pardon?" He said with wide eyes and a confused twist to his lips.

"Nothing… I was just… I'm sorry… I'm just worried," the blue-haired secretary said.

"It's alright, Katrina," he said softly as he walked up to her and put his left hand on her shoulder, allowing the sling Leeloo had created to hold his mechanical arm in place.

"You're a fucking player," Korben shot at Zorg who was trying to comfort his secretary.

"Korben, dear, please," Lily-Ray said as Korben stood shakily up, still a bit shocked from the bullet that had sliced just past his arm.

"You bastard, you don't give a damn about Leeloo at all, do you?" He snarled and Zorg turned to snarl back at him.

"No, please, stop it!" Katrina cried.

"No more!" Lily-Ray grabbed her husband's shoulder and tried to comfort him. She had never in her life seen him act this vicious. He was usually so calm and sentimental… she wondered what it was exactly that Korben had so dearly against Mr. Zorg… could it be just because he shot Leeloo when he was in that trance of Mr. Shadow's? She didn't think that normally Korben would get angry with a person if it wasn't their fault… so odd.

"What makes you think that Mr. Dallas?" Zorg said with as much respect as he could salvage for this barbarian.

"Because, you just care about how much attention you get from the girls. Well you know why you get it? It's only because you've got money. They don't really want you, they only care about your damn fortune!" Korben roared. He was sure that had to be it…

"Korben, honey, please, let's stop this before it gets out of hand," Lily-ray said nervously as she silently slipped the gun out of Korben's holster and glanced at Leeloo. Leeloo's eyes shined and Lily-Ray knew she understood.

"No, Zorg, no fights. No Korben, no," the orange-haired beauty said as she slid behind Zorg and caressed his back. She slowly reached towards his waist and pulled the gun away.

"Leeloo, why is he so mean to me?" Zorg demanded sounding like a child tattling on his older sibling. This got a snort from Korben.

"Leeloo, he's being mean to me," Korben mocked in a silly voice. Lily-Ray smacked her forehead. "You need Leeloo to protect you, you skinny bastard." Zorg snarled.

"No, I'm tryna' keep you from actin' like a freakin' sociopath," he mocked right back. "And if Leeloo's the only one who can do it then she'll do it, right Leeloo? nod nod Good," Zorg said with his usual conversational quickness. He never seemed to stumble on a word and said everything nice and clearly. A very good merchant.

"I am not the sociopath in this room," Korben pointed at the weapons designer. "You are the one who blasted Leeloo to bits." Zorg clenched his teeth and took a deep breath. He would not be the weak one in this battle. He would not.

"Stop!" Leeloo screamed. Both Korben and Zorg turned to look at her. "No more! Make Leeloo sad, make Leeloo sad. No bad things of Zorg, no bad things of Korben," she said with tears in her eyes as she looked from each of the men back to Lily-Ray and Katrina.

"Leeloo," Zorg muttered with sentiments suddenly rushing into his chest. She just looked so heroic standing in the centre of the battlefield… holding her strong arms out to the soldiers… not afraid to get caught in the crossfire.

"No more hurt Zorg," she told Korben. "No more hurt Korben," she told Zorg. Zorg looked down and suddenly felt very ashamed for shouting at Korben. Korben looked down and suddenly felt very ashamed for shouting at Zorg. "No battle Father Sergeant," she told Korben who looked at her in confusion. Lily-Ray understood. Korben was her father.

"No battle Little Soldier," she said to Zorg as she fixed his hair. "No battle little soldier."