Disclaimer: Anything you recognize does not belong to me.
A/N: I've decided to move my a/n's to the beginning of story. Thanks so much to my reviewers! I totally stole the idea for this whole fic from Star Wars. XD, even Sakura's home planet. Also, since I wrote this chapter in the span of like, months, the tone changes rather much.
Blindness
Chapter 2
After taking her jacket off the coat hanger, Sakura made sure to lock the door behind her. Living in a city of such a populated planet was so much different than her small village back on Toluene.
Toluene, a tremendously backwater planet was peaceful and quiet. Her family worked in drilling, or pressuring the water to come up to surface and package it to be sold. Being a desert planet almost devoid of water, her family, the Kinomoto's made quite a hefty fortune. Sakura allowed a little smile for her thoughts of home.
Without watching the road, she strode on ahead to the Academy, having memorized the route a long time ago.
"Ouch! Watch it!"
Sakura accidentally bumped into an elderly man, who fell on the ground, glaring at her.
"Ah, I'm sorry!" Sakura was quick to offer a hand in helping him up. He took her hand and stood up.
"Young people these days," The old man muttered and stalked off, wiping his hands on his gray pants.
Sakura could only shake her head. Vernis was so different from Toluene. Everyone was hostile and indifferent. One couldn't even see the sky anymore because of the tall skyscrapers. The flying motor vehicles flew over head, blocking what little sun that could have came through. Her thoughts drifted to wishing that the day she could leave this cold and distant place would come soon. To be able to fly everyday would be an absolute pleasure. And with these thoughts, Sakura pushed the doors to the academy and went inside.
"Sakura! Move it, we've got to get the Uris in five hours!" A voice somewhat disembodied came out of the spaceship Kero. Sakura took one last breath of Niue's air, and one last look at the peaceful ocean and ran back to the spaceship.
"Sorry Chiharu, I just love making deliveries here," Sakura smiled apologetically to her Captain.
"I know, I know, everyone loves this planet, and it's the hottest spot to go on a vacation. What's funny is that everyone comes here and buys souvenirs, and where do they come from? Mainland, and it's our job to fly 'em here!" Chiharu smiled, if not a little cynically.
In Sakura's mind Chiharu seemed too much in tune with reality. Sure she stopped to smell the flowers, but only to find the chemical breakdown. Either way it goes, Chiharu was an excellent captain and Sakura loved her to death.
"Did you know in the past that there was a legend that whoever was late is a 'rotten egg'? And the 'rotten egg' would of gotten a 'boot' and placed into the fire so the rottenness would go away –"
"Takashi, I'm warning you..." Chiharu's voice came from the cockpit.
Sakura settled herself down in the pilot seat and smiled. Takashi was the first mate, Chiharu and he were like ying and yang. Black and white, Takashi was full of, undoubtly, bullshit. They kept a perfect balance in life and Sakura would not have traded them for anything.
As she started the controls and began for take off, her thoughts drifted to half a year ago when she had just met them.
It was just after the coronation ceremony, when for the first time in a decade; the whole class passed and received their pilot's license. Meiling of course, gotten tops marks and went into training to become a fighter. The elite military force that flew around the universe saving people and killing bad guys, just what Meiling envisioned. Sakura however, lacked the marks to go into training and decided to do some odds and ends before she could accomplish what she started out to do.
She met with a scout from Avil, a company that specialized in deliveries across the galaxy. Not what Sakura had in mind to do for the rest of her life, but it was worth a shot.
And thus, she was enlisted an Avil Pilot, and was assigned to the ship Kero, and its habitants.
"What do you plan to do the rest of your life? Not flying goods around I hope," Chiharu's voice brought Sakura back from her thoughts.
Chiharu was sitting there, quietly in the co-pilot's seat, not that they were in need of one at all.
Sakura drew a deep breath and looked at the controls. The consol was full of them, checking the pressure, gravity, fuel, course and much more.
"Well?" Chiharu asked again.
"I, I don't know. This job is peaceful, and it has its rewards," Sakura answered focusing back on the starry imagery in front of her.
"It just seems, way to peaceful for you. Like the quiet before the tempest."
"Quiet? Peaceful? With you and around? Never! You two give me all the excitement I need,"
"I read your profile Sakura. As I do everyone of my crew members. Toluene, huh? Accused of treason and association with the dark lords, if I remember right. It certainly has been a while since a whole planet was condemned to such a fate," Chiharu said, somewhat accusingly and soft.
"The wrong shall be punished,"
"Sakura, I don't think Avil is going to last any longer. And I'm worried about you. Don't quote the government, you hate the government."
"Chiharu, I know. I know. This is going to be our last run together huh? That illegal goods things really messed everything up."
"I hate Vernis. Everyone is so distant there," Sakura continued.
"What do you plan on doing after this?" Sakura asked Chiharu back.
"Why you! I'll tell you my plans even if you don't. Takashi and I are getting married, and we'll probably open up our own transport company for the hell of it. Being a captain sure gets you places in the salary department!" Chiharu grinned.
Sakura had known of their engagement for quiet sometime now. There was no else out there that fitted perfectly like those two.
"I sure hope I'm invited to the wedding!" Sakura smiled. She always loved weddings. Tomoyo and her used to sneak out to the ceremonial palace just to see them.
"And you know that famous designer? Of the Daidouji fame, Tomoyo? I've managed, or rather, I suppose, Takashi managed to get her for us! Isn't that wonderful?" Chiharu, a couple years in Sakura's senior, still acted half her age. She was a giggling teenager all over again.
Tomoyo, of course, just the person that pops into Sakura's head when the word marriage is mentioned. Of course she was the most popular designer of them all. Sakura was a little bitter at the thought of seeing Tomoyo again. After all, it wasn't her fault for the falling apart.
"It's always like this Sakura, can you just focus on me of a minute? Or really if it's too much to ask for, can you focus on life?" Tomoyo screamed, her eyes already red from crying.
"Am I not? I am focusing on life, on reality, on things that happen! It's you, you Tomoyo, who fail to see everything and continue to live in the happy remains of your imaginary world!" Sakura bitterly returned, smoking the cigarette she had in her hand.
"Stop smoking! Just, just stop everything Sakura! Nothing you can do will ever change anything!" Tomoyo yelled, and took the cigarette out of Sakura's hand and took a drag before throwing it on the floor and putting it out.
"How can I stop? How can you bear to stand our people, our families in shame? How can you stand to be among these people, these people that decided our people weren't good enough and blew the whole planet away!" Sakura grabbed Tomoyo's shoulders and looked into her eyes.
"It's in the past, all in the past. Will you ever just leave it be? Ever?" Tomoyo looked hopefully back into Sakura's eyes, but her hope was crushed. "Never huh? Just always be the bitter you. Where is the sweet, loving and caring girl I once knew?"
Tomoyo freed herself from Sakura's grip and ran away crying. Leaving Sakura in a sense of emptiness.
Sakura had come a long way since that fight five years ago. Still, she'd rather not bring up those painful memories of laying around, being useless and full of self pity.
Shaking her to get rid of those dark lonely days, she pretended like those were just remnants of a bad nightmare that refused to go away.
"And you know what? You're going to be my bridemaid!" Chiharu finished her plans, her flowers, her dresses and her wedding in general with that comment. It also brought Sakura back into reality.
"What?" Was all really that Sakura could manage.
"Just like you to be so dense sweetie! You're going to be my bridesmaid! You'll get to meet Tomoyo, and trust me, you'll love her. The tastes she has, man, they're not out there, but actually pretty realistic!"
Just like Chiharu to talk about her wedding in that way. As Chiharu went on about costs and guests, Takashi popped his head in the cockpit.
"Darling, come now, don't bore Sakura with the details, I'm having to much fun, you must bore me!" Takashi winked at Sakura and dragged a rather complaining yet happy Chiharu with him.
Sakura sighed, and wondered, really wondered what she planned to do with her life after this run.