Another Fortunate Accident

Ch. 5 – A Walk in the Park


Sitting on one end of a bench in the empty park, Priss' thoughts swirled ferociously through her mind. Why come back to me now? It's been over a year… A YEAR since I've even thought about that night. What are you trying to tell me now?

Raising her head out of her supporting hands, Priss gazed through the serene surroundings. She didn't see the expertly manicured trees or the pristine trails around the crystal blue lake. She didn't hear the chirping of the winged creatures living in those trees or the splashing of fish in the lake. Around her was the wasteland of her past… crumbled buildings echoing with cries of hunger and pain. To her they were scenes covered over by the façade of the present. That façade had somehow been shattered though… shattered by her own hand. She wasn't living in the present anymore. The past had caught back up with her. More to the point, He had come back to her…Katsuro… in that dream. "Why now?"

She closed her eyes and let the past retake its hold over her. The distinct scent of fresh blood came to her first. With it came a voice… "priss…listen to me… "

"Just shut up and rest dammit! We'll get help…"

"Help from (cough) who Priss?…"

"… (through tear filled eyes) Just shut up for once!…"

Her fallen lover placed one hand behind Priss' neck and gently caressed her throat with his thumb "…one last request?…"

"Don't talk like that!"

"…(cough) song… our song…"

"…no, NO! Your giving up! You can't quit on me, not now damn you!"

"priss… please…" His body shuddered in her arms momentarily, eyes fluttered before steadying out. "please?"

Priss looked into his eyes and opened her soul to him, emotions pouring out through her voice, carrying him into the afterlife on wings of sound. As the song replayed itself for her, the mental links began to fall into place… that song… the song from the CD… the first CD Katsuro had 'given' her when they first met… the same CD that the ADP had destroyed during a boomer incident… getting shot accidentally by the ADP… going to the hospital…. meeting a recovering drug addict at the hospital… finding out the former addict was a musician … Maxon was his name … that was the start of As Sekiria. After a Sekiria show getting into a fight with some police… then nearly running over Sylia Stingray while trying to get away… Sylia had brought her into the Knight Sabers. Through the Knight Sabers she had met Linna… and now Linna had nearly died in her arms… silently fading away as the fresh blood flowed from her body… just like Katsuro.

The memories flowed over her again as Priss found she was still sitting on the bench with her face buried in her hands again. Fresh tears ran down her arms as the pain of loss enveloped her anew.

"Linna isn't dead though, is she?" a masculine voice spoke in her mind. To Priss, it was as if Katsuro was sitting on the opposite end of the bench, arguing with her once again.

Not because I didn't try.

"Aren't you being hard on yourself?"

Is their any other way to deal with it?

"I think you know of at least one"

What are you trying to tell me?

"You're here for a reason"

What reason?

"This place… it's the last place in your life that you knew someone loved you"

My fans love me.

"You know what I mean"

Do I?

"Do you always insult the dead this way?"

Only if I love them.

"My point exactly"

The voices quieted in her head as Priss stared at the ground. The leaves of the trees rustled softly in the evening breeze as Priss looked up into long shadows advancing across the lake towards her. A distant voice completed the transformation from past to present.

"Priss… Priss is that you?" Sylia's voice resonated from behind her… the same direction that her bike was parked. "'My, I never envisioned you as the kind to frequent such a quaint locale."

The only visible reaction Priss gave to Sylia's presence was to look up into the setting sun briefly before once again focusing on the crawling shapes cast by the dimming orange glow from the West.

"Mind if I join you?"

Priss continued to stare at the shadows, feigning indifference.

Sylia took Katsuro's place on the bench and looked Priss over. Considering the unkempt state she was normally in, Sylia was still alarmed by just how bad she looked. Sylia turned towards the lake and sighed inwardly at the thought of how hard this was going to be. "I just wanted to apologize for accusing you of intentionally hurting Linna. You did nothing to deserve that." A long pause settled between them.

"Is that it?" Priss asked flatly.

A flash of anger crossed Sylia's face the tone of her response. Settling down however, she answered calmly. "No, there was one other matter to discuss." She paused to organize her thoughts. "I'm not sure if you're up for it at the moment, but Linna could use some moral support."

"No."

"Priss…"

"Listen, she'd be better off if I stayed away from her," the singer cut Sylia off, continuing to look into the distant setting. "She wouldn't even be in this mess if it wasn't for me."

"I don't think that's her opinion."

"How do you know!" Priss fired back, turning towards her sharply dressed counterpart.

"I can't say for sure, but from what she told Nene…"

"Nene saw her at the hospital?" Her anger evaporated as reality replaced speculation in her mind.

"Yes, she's regained consciousness now. She doesn't remember what happened though…"

"She doesn't remember… remember what I did?"

"No, and for that matter Nene still doesn't know."

Priss wasn't listening to Sylia anymore, she was lost in thought once again. Should I tell her what happened? How can I tell her?

Sylia could tell Priss was shaken up again. Good, now let's see if the hook works… "Her prognosis look good physically from what Nene could tell, but…" Sylia paused for the effect, successfully getting her attention once again.

"What?"

"She had a specific request," she said, looking directly into Priss' eyes. "She asked that you come visit her." Priss' face contorted wildly with the turmoil caused by the request. "You need to go see her Priss… if not for her sake then for yours."

"I… I can't."

"Priss, I know how hard it can be…" Sylia tried to support her emotionally wrecked Knight, before Priss once again shot down her attempt.

"No you don't! You don't have any idea… any idea what its like to hold someone you care about, someone that's been hurt because of you…." Priss looked down, losing herself in recent memories "…and because of that mistake, just watch them die." She looked up into the encroaching darkness, waiting for it to catch up with her.

"Priss, Linna's not…" Sylia started before the meaning of the words caught up to her. Sylia looked around at the unnatural surroundings, recalling what the area had become shortly after the quake. She remembered that the park they sat in was built as a symbol of the reconstruction efforts. Sylia put the pieces together as she spoke her thoughts out loud. "That someone died here, before the park was built."

Priss didn't as much as blink, her mind lost in the conflict between the past and present.

Sylia was dumbstruck with her discovery. She knew a little of Priss' past, but nothing that would have told her of this sort of pain. Mentally reviewing events of the past 24 hours, many of the questions seemed to point here for the answer. This park… the last place she expected the tracker in Priss' bike to lead her. I really miscalculated this time. Looking over at the reformed gang member, Sylia could see it wasn't helping matters for Priss to just sit and decay like this. She had to get up… get on with what mattered now. Shifting her tactics slightly, Sylia tried to break through the shell once more.

"Priss, what was is in the past is gone. You can't change it. Linna needs you now, in the present."

Sylia's words rolled off of Priss' mind nearly unnoticed. Another question came to her instead. "Why don't you go?"

"What?"

"I said, 'Why don't you go see her?' If she needs so much help, then why don't you go see her yourself."

"I never said…"

"You said 'from what she told Nene'. That tells me you haven't gone to see her either. Are you just being hypocritical or are you trying to get me to do your 'dirty work' for you again."

"So you consider seeing Linna at the hospital 'dirty work'!"

They stared at each other for a few tense moments before Sylia looked down in thought. Well, I knew it wouldn't be easy. "Priss, I have my reasons for not going to the hospital."

"Like what?"

Sylia realized she wasn't going to be able to get past the truth this time. Fooling Nene was one thing… trying to fool Priss wasn't going to work… not if she wanted her to go see Linna, or a chance to keep her in the group. Sylia stood up from the bench and crossed into the shadows, recalling events of her own past. "I tried to tell you that I know what its like… what its like to have someone you choose as a teammate get hurt because of your own mistakes."

Priss looked up at Sylia in surprise.

"The hospital Linna's at now was where they went after their 'accidents'."

"Sylia, I…" Priss began in an oddly apologetic tone.

"What? You're surprised that I have a similarly colorful past as yourself?" Sylia interrupted bitingly before falling back into the dark memories of her past. "My mistakes were bad enough. Letting them get harmed in the first place isn't what still hurts though. I let myself get so self absorbed in guilt that I wound up making the situation ten times worse for them as it was already."

"How? What does the hospital have to do with it?"

"After they were admitted, I never visited them. I took responsibility for their 'injuries', so I paid all the medical expenses and also for travel costs out of Tokyo, but…."

"You've never talked to them since, have you?"

"No, and I don't want to see that happen to you and Linna." Sylia stepped forwards out of the shadows and in front of Priss, giving a concerned look into her eyes. That was a mistake.

"Why do you care so much about what happens between me and Linna?" Priss rose off the bench while raising her voice in protest.

"Priss, all I…"

"All you really want is for me to put on your hardsuit again, isn't it?"

"Priss, this is a public place…" Sylia cautioned, looking around but finding the park still eerily clear of people. Perhaps Priss' mood stretched further than just around the park bench they were near.

Priss glared into Sylia's face hard enough to cause the other woman to look away obviously not restrained with formalities any more. She pressed Sylia for an answer. "Go ahead, tell me I'm wrong."

Sylia stared at the ground, frustrated with the fact she was backed into a corner with only one way out. "Fine. I won't lie about it Priss. I do want you back with the team. But that doesn't change the fact I'm still worried about what happens between you and Linna."

"Is it really any of your business?"

"If it affects the ability of the Knight Sabers to function, then it is my business," Sylia retorted, losing the formalities as well.

Now it was Priss' turn to be backed into a corner. "Fine. Then the answer is no."

"What?"

"I've put up with your crap for a while now, but it's not worth it anymore. I'm done with your crusade."

"Priss, you can't just…"

"The hell I can't!" Priss turned her back on Sylia and started walking out of the park, towards her bike.

"Damn," she cursed to herself under her breath. I've lost this battle, but not the war…not yet anyway. "Priss, you're forgetting one thing."

The leather-clad singer stopped for a second, and then turned her head back glaring at the Knight Saber's leader.

"I'm not the one asking you to go to the hospital, Linna is."

"So?"

"Priss, Linna wants you to come see her. You can't tell me that doesn't matter to you."

"Do I really care what Linna wants?"

"Why don't you try asking that question to a mirror!" Sylia yelled back, frustration finally getting the better of her.

Priss turned around to face Sylia. She snarled her reply with fists clenched, tensing up as if preparing to strike. "Just leave me the hell alone! When I decide I need any more of your 'advice', I'll come beat it out of you myself!"

Sylia didn't back off an inch. "I'm glad to see the fire hasn't left the warrior's soul just yet."

"Damn you Sylia!" Priss cursed out as she turned and stomped back to her bike. As she crossed through the park down the pristine pathway, her anger faded with the sobering reality of the situation. An image of Linna lying in a hospital bed materialized in her mind. I can't go to see Linna! What the hell would I say? Sorry, but I tried to put a hole through your gut… She threw her helmet on and jumped onto the red machine, banging her fist onto the console in frustration.

"How about 'I'm glad you're OK'"

"Leave me alone!" Priss said to the masculine voice in her mind, holding her helmet and shaking her head back and forth.

"Sorry, I can't do that"

"Get out of my head!"

"You know that won't do any good…that's not where I am, now is it?"

Priss' arms fell beside her in resignation as she threw her head back and stared at the darkening sky overhead. She slowly lifted one hand to her chest and clenched her shirt…directly over her heart.

If I start listening to you now,…

"She's in room 221 at Kanto Memorial…in case you were wondering."

Sylia again. "You don't take hints very well, do you?"

"Priss, no matter what you decide about my 'crusade' as you call it, don't let your guilt get in the way of doing what you know is right in your heart."

Priss responded by turning over the bike's starter and revving the engine.

"Linna doesn't have many friends in Tokyo. She needs you right now." Sylia yelled out over the roar of the red machine.

Priss looked over at Sylia and closed her visor.

"Visiting hours start at 9 tomorrow morning, although I bet if you visited Nene, she could work something out before then…" Sylia's words were lost in the screech of rubber as the bike shot off onto the road and out of sight.

Priss accelerated quickly, gunning for the highway. She tried to let the noise from the rushing winds drown out the conflicting voices of Sylia, Katsuro, and her conscious. After a few miles, the voices calmed down enough for her usual distraction to take over. A familiar song played itself into the front of her thoughts. Those lyrics spoke to her… they spoke of passion, forgiveness, and blind love. The music flowed from her heart and drove her subconscious reactions to the twisting turns of the fleeting road. Time dissolved into the turns as a resolve began to take shape in the form of an apologetic admission. She still felt responsible for Linna's accident, but she needed to tell her why.

Without fully realizing she had stopped, Priss found herself looking up at Nene's apartment building. "You still won't leave me alone, will you?" she asked her subconscious companion. No response was forthcoming this time though; she already knew the answer. "I guess I must've listened to you after all…" she said to herself, placing one hand over her steadily beating heart.

To be continued