Love Child

fadingshadesofpurple

Disclaimer: I do not own anything! It's all copyright Naughty Dog/SCEA

I want to thank all those who have read and reviewed so far! Yes, I think a story like this is long overdue on this site, and many others! So that is part of the reason why I'm writing it. (The other part is for pure enjoyment, both for myself and any fans.)

Now...

Chapter 2. Ill-fated couple

She felt so ill to her stomach, she could hardly stand. A doubled over figure was what she became when she tried, and when she moved at all, even a slight walk, the floor spun dangerously up to meet her and the cieling danced away from her. Her hands felt clammy, her arms and legs sweaty, and a terrible heat surged through her entire body, draining her of conciousness, and leaving her with nothing but a state of delirium.

On the first day of this, she stayed in bed, staring up at the high ceiling in her room, until a restless sleep claimed her. In sleep, images twirled through her mind, thoughtless objects and people, conversations that droned on, raising and lowering themselves in volume. She saw her father, the city, the countless KG officers she worked with or ordered around, and then, so suddenly, and only in a dream: him.

She heard him call her name, so gently and low in that gruff tone of his. Then she felt his gentle touch, his gentle caress along her back and shoulders and sides, as he pulled her into a warm embrace. Everything was so dreamlike and surreal; he was there, laying next to her, and yet he wasn't. She could feel him, even as he faded in her mind like so many other images before hand. She awoke, now chilled to the bone, and shivering as if on a cold winter's day. Her stomach lurched, and she barely made it to the bathroom before she retched.

The rest of that evening was spent either in bed dreaming restless nightmares, or by the toilet, where she struggled in vain to keep everything in her stomach from coming up.

By the middle of the second day, her Commanding Officer had reported to her father, the Baron, that she wasn't showing up for her daily patrols. That had gotten her father's attention, and he came to see her late that night. They're conversation was as dreamlike as her encounters with Torn; she barely remembered the conversation in her state of delirium afterwards.

By the morning of the third day, a doctor came to see her. He examined her closely, decreed it was little more than the flu, and stated that she should be better within two days of time.

By the fourth day, her delirious dreams had ended, and so had her sweats and chills, and she began to sleep more restfully.

On the fifth, she could stand without the floor spinning up to greet her, and walk about without doubling over in pain. She paced the whole length of her room several times, still found that she could break out into a cold, clammy sweat easily, and that not all of her strength had returned.

By the sixth day, she felt well enough to report for duty, and strong enough to complete her daily rounds and patrols. When those under her command in the patrol units she had command of questioned her palor and the fact that she had lost so much weight, she simply replied with more fierce orders.

Weakness was a thing she didn't like to show around those in the guard, especially, those in the guard who were male.

There was one exception to this, however.

And that "exception" was about to make his appearance in her life yet again, only she didn't know this quite yet, and wouldn't know it until the seventh night of her rather long illness-filled week.

She found him sitting alone, in a darkened booth in the back corner of a seedy pub known as the Hip Hog. A popular joint for both KG and civilians alike. He sat facing the rest of the bar, eyeing each citizen as if they were an enemy. But his attention reverted to her the moment she sauntered up to him. "Hey," he said with a sly grin.

"Do you have off?"she said, sliding into the booth across from him.

"Yeah, but just for this evening."

"Me too."

He eyed her closely, and caught the palor in her skin and the how much thinner she appeared to be. "You alright, Ash? You don't look good.."

"I've been sick for the past week with the flu, but I feel better now," she said, and his concerned gaze laxened.

"Fancy I'd see you here."

"You and I aren't all that different from each other, you know?"

"I know."

A silence. How she loved that silence that fell between each sentence they spoke to one another, but this one seemed forced, longer than usual, and there was something in his expression, a certain...aloofness..for lack of better word, that shined there.

She ignored and reached across the table for his resting hand, only to have him pull away, which annoyed her greatly.

"What's the matter?" she snapped. "We've gotten so much closer in the past..."

"I know.."he murmured.

"..and know you're pulling away from even the slightest touch?"

"I know!" he snapped angrily. Then he quieted down. "Look. I-"

"You know I've been waiting for weeks just to have the chance to have at least one word with you..."

"Ash.."

"...A conversation, anything!"

"Ash..."

"Even half of what we shared that evening..."

"Ashelin.."

"And when we finally get to meet, after days of missing each other, or only catching a glimpse of one another, you-"

"They're moving me," he cut her off fiercely, before turning away.

"I...What!"

"They're switching my command post.."

"To where?" she asked suspiciously.

"The Drill Platform."

After those words, there was a resolute silence. The Drill Platform echoed through her mind. Out of all of the Baron's territories, that was the farthest away, and the hardest to defend. Located at the very top of the mountains that bordered the city to the north, the KG on patrol there had not only to deal with fiercer Metalheads, but tough winter storms and blizzards as well.

"What? He can't-"

"He can, and he is."

"When are you leaving?"

"Tomorow."

"But, but I might never see you again!"

Silence again, only this one was not so enjoyable. She glanced at him as he turned back to her, the pain of that realization showing clearly in his cold, blue eyes, while the rest of his face showed nothing but coldness. "Exactly," he said, his voice devoid of emotion.

"I can talk to my father about this..."

"And what good would that do! Go ahead, tell him that you want me to stay here because of your feelings for me, and watch his reaction. He'll laugh at you at best, and then remind you that this war is more important than anything else! And judging from the look on your face, you know it too!"

"You're right. I do. And I can see you're anger about it as well."

Another silence. His calm and cool returned, and a sly grin came to his otherwise expressionless features. He stood up suddenly without warning, and grinned down at her. "We are nothing in his eyes, you know Ash. Just pawns in a bigger game created by him. And pawns, aren't allowed to have side stories to their lives." Then he walked off, slowly, as if he had nothing to lose.

She stood up and called after him. "That's not true, and you know it!"

"If you think that, than you're naive," he called back to her quietly, before walking out the door.

The shock of that statement kept her from running after him in desperation from the start, so she stood their like the fool that she felt she was, while others around her glanced up at her in confusion. Then a new emotion, anger, burned within her, and she flew through the sliding doors of the Hip Hog, out into the open air of the port. Looking around frantically, she called his name, but only the cries of the gulls in the port answered her.

He was gone.

And she was alone.

"Damn it!" she muttered to herself, startling an old man as he walked passed her. "Damn you, Torn! Good riddance to you then!" She cried out in anger, tears forming themselves in her eyes.

"And goodbye..."