I hadn't been down to this area of town in a long time…not since we Sabers were given a job to safeguard this area. Across the street from where I stood, the lot where the convention center used to stand was buzzing with life, construction Boomers were hard at work, hoisting up steel beams and whatnot. How very fucking ironic – Boomers blew up the original one, and Boomers would be the ones to rebuild it. I shook my head in disbelief.

"May I ask why we've been standing here for the past half-hour?" Nene asked, shivering in her coat.

"Reminiscing," I replied dryly.

"We can do that without standing across the street from where it all went down."

"Haven't been down here since it happened. Figured I'd see what it looked like now."

"Me either…" she concurred, her voice almost a whisper.

We stood there quietly for the next few minutes, no words exchanged as our eyes stayed focused on the Boomers doing their work. I winced and put a hand to my stomach when a brief flash of pain made itself known, but I managed to keep it discreet enough that Nene didn't notice. A month since my near-fatal encounter with Madigan's Boomer, and Madigan herself. My wound was healing slowly, definitely slower than I would've liked, but as long as I walked slowly and didn't make any sudden moves, it didn't bother me.

"I should mention something, as long as we're here," she suddenly said, making sure to keep her voice low.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Sylia's decided to switch tactics. We're not gonna be focusing on Defense Minister Callahan's disappearance anymore."

"Why not?"

"It's been over twenty years since he vanished. It's sort of old news, I hate to say. But there IS something we can focus on uncovering that's a lot fresher in people's minds." She swallowed hard. "And much bigger than the disappearance of one man."

"The summit?" I offered with no hesitation.

She nodded. "If we can expose Quincy's plot to frame us – or kill us, depending on how you look at it – we could help put the nail in Genom's coffin. It's also a well-known fact that most of the world leaders supported phasing out Boomers. It would be obvious that Quincy wouldn't be happy if they decided to reach that decision, so…"

"He decided to just kill them? And pin it on us? Why not just bribe them to look the other way?" I was incredulous.

"It's possible that he tried to and they didn't fall for it. The other theory is that he figured he could just make things simple and take care of everything at once."

I frowned and scratched my chin in thought, my breath visible in puffs in front of me as I exhaled. "Who organized the summit to begin with?"

"It was a collective decision made by the UN. And supposedly it was decided to hold it in Tokyo because it's the birthplace of Boomers; it'd be appropriate to do it here, I guess." She looked at me and interrupted before I could add my opinion. "But most of this is just speculation. I need to find hard evidence that I can shove in the UN's face. It's gonna be real hard though."

"Why? I know we're not the only ones who wanna see Genom bury themselves."

"Priss, I know that! But it's not as simple as just…just shutting down Genom! It's just not possible! Genom makes a lot more than just Boomers. They make the majority of the world's cars, and their research team is making medical breakthroughs all the time, and…"

"I know all that!" I snapped, wincing when my stomach wound acted up. "I'm just wondering why that can't all be diverted to other, smaller companies!"

"That would require…a LOT of time and effort, and a LOT of people to put that in. I just…don't think that's possible. Genom's been around for a long time; it can't just be shut down. If it did, the world could very well experience another Great Depression. You know how many jobs would be eliminated, how much the price of cars and lots of other things would get jacked up? Besides, Sylia says we Knight Sabers are just the ones canceling out the bad they do. We can't cancel out the good as well. We can't shut down Genom…but if we can expose the truth behind the summit attack, then…then maybe they won't be able to do any bad anymore…"

I sighed and stuffed my hands into my coat pockets. "Wishful thinking, Nene. But…I guess that's not a bad thing to have. I'm no hacker, but…anything I can do to help dig up that dirt?"

"Yeah." She smiled. "Do nothing. Just focus on recovering. If something happens, we'll definitely need all the Sabers."

"Yume too?"

Her smile weakened, but she nodded anyway. "Yeah. Yumeko too. At least, I hope so. This is her fight too."

-----

"You've sure been actin' funny the past couple days," Xania pointed out as we left the school parking lot. It'd been several days since my lone celebration of Michiko's birthday, and with another certain anniversary coming up, my mind was all over the place. Kenneth had picked up on it during my tai chi lessons too; he'd been able to shove me over easily, whereas if I'd been focused, it should have been impossible.

"So what?" I asked. "I've had a lot on my mind."

"Like what?"

"Well, for starters, it was Michiko's birthday a few days ago…"

She sighed. "Shit. No wonder you were ditchin' school that day. Why didntcha tell me?"

"I didn't want anyone around me that day. Just…wanted to celebrate by myself."

"Rosho, you're so damn stubborn, I…grr," she growled.

"Speak for yourself. You haven't talked to me about your parents or anything like that, but then again, I promised not to ask," I retorted.

"That's different. This is your friend we're talkin' about! You coulda at least let me know what your plans were, or I wouldn't have sat outside for a good hour wonderin' where you were."

"Ok," I sighed, turning onto Irodia's street. "Next time I ditch, I'll at least let ya know."

"Next time you ditch, ya better let me ditch with ya," she corrected, laughing. That comment actually got a small laugh out of me as well.

"…All right, we'll see."

After arriving back at Irodia's place, we were quick to notice there was no one else home. Probably for the best…it was easier to get studying done without Irodia harping at me every fifteen minutes. Xania flopped down on the couch and pulled out her books while I went into the kitchen to grab a snack. When I went to open the fridge, I saw a note posted on it.

"That explains it," I said aloud, reading the note.

"Explains what?" Xania asked, digging in her backpack for a pencil.

"Irodia left a note saying she took Mikhaila to the dentist for a checkup."

"Dentists, hate 'em." She zipped her backpack shut. "Damn, I can't find anythin' to write with."

"I have some pencils in my desk if you need one," I offered, pointing in the direction of my room.

"Ok, thanks."

Munching on an apple I snatched out of the fridge, I did what Xania did and pulled out my textbooks. I opened up the history book and turned to the chapter on the Polar War, groaning. Wars, wars…was there ever a chapter in this book that didn't mention a war going on somewhere in the world? I took out a piece of paper and started to read, taking notes as I went along. Truth be told, I'd had this assignment for the past week, but now that there was a test on it tomorrow, I figured I should at least TRY to read it.

Half an hour and only five pages later, I decided I'd had enough of trying to read it. I slammed the book shut and moved on to my English book. Then, I looked up and realized Xania's stuff was exactly where she'd left it. She hadn't come back from my room.

"Xania, it doesn't take that long to find one pencil," I called, standing up. "What's keeping ya?"

When I got no answer, I raised an eyebrow; what was she doing? Surely she didn't fall asleep. I stood up and walked to my room, thinking I'd see her trashing my room trying to look for one pencil. But that wasn't what I saw. In fact, I wish I had seen that instead of what I did see.

Xania was indeed still in my room, but she was sitting at my desk, viewing something on the vidletter player. I felt my knees go weak, and the blood drain from my face. I grabbed onto the door frame. "Xania, what…are you…?" I stammered.

She turned around to look at me, her eyes wide. "Rosho, didn't know you knew Priss Asagiri from the Replicants." She smiled innocently. "A personal reply to a fan letter, how 'bout that?"

I fell on my butt right there. "What? A, a…" I laughed. "Ummm…yeeeeeah! I…I sent a f-fan letter to her a while ago. Never thought she'd send me a personal reply!"

"Too bad she's talkin' in Japanese. Can't understand a damn word she's sayin'. Can you, Rosho?"

"I…not really," I lied, my voice a full octave higher than normal. "Irodia is…teaching me Japanese, and she…thought I should write to her to get some practice."

"And these other people too?" She held up a handful of vidletters. "I found a bunch of these in the desk drawer. I dunno Japanese, but I didn't hear them say 'Rocío-san' or anything like that. One word they said a lot though was 'Yume' or 'Yumeko.' That a nickname?"

"Um…" I knew I was dead pale by now; how was I gonna get out of this? Now would've been a good time for those acting lessons to kick in. "Y…yeah. A nickname."

"One other question, Rosho. One of 'em has this couple talkin', and they're cryin', and I did hear them say 'Michiko' this, and 'Michiko' that. How do they know about your friend?"

"They're her parents," I mumbled.

"Huh?" She leaned closer. "Couldn't hear ya."

"They're her parents, Xania. That's how they know about her. That's why they were crying."

"But they're speakin' Japanese! Last time I checked, they didn't speak Japanese in Mexico." She sat on the carpet, where I had yet to pick myself up from. "What's goin' on, Rosho?"

I tried in vain to swallow the lump that had settled in my throat. Damn, this bore more than a few similarities to when Michiko had asked if I was a Knight Saber. This time though, I wasn't being asked if I was a Saber…but it was still hard. "It's…a long story, Xania. Thing is, though, I don't think you'd believe me even if I did tell you the truth. It's pretty out there."

"I've seen a lot o' pretty far-out things. Try me out."

I took a breath. "I'm not…Mexican. Heck, I've never spent more than a few days in Mexico in my life. Only reason I know enough Spanish to be able to talk with Sara is because I've done a lot of traveling. When you're young and travel with your mom, you're bound to pick up basic phrases in other languages.

"I wasn't born in Mexico. I don't even know if I have any Mexican blood in me, because I don't even know who my father is. And I don't care. I was the result of an attack on my mom, and despite that, she loves me with all her heart. She'd die for me…"

"So if your dad didn't beat you up…then who? Your mom all along?" she asked.

"No."

"Then who?"

"I'm getting to that," I snapped, swallowing deeply. "My…my name is not really Rocío Monterrey. That's just an alias I'm going by while I'm in the States. My real name is…is Yumeko Asagiri. I'm Priss Asagiri's daughter."

"Whoa…" she gasped. "I THOUGHT your eyes looked alike, but damn…that explains it. So…why are you here? Why arentcha in Japan?" She looked like she was still in shock, still trying to absorb what I was throwing at her. I didn't blame her though.

"I'm here for my own safety. I'm…on the run from Genom. They want to kill me. And the reason for that is…" I took another breath and leaned against the wall, sweeping my bangs out of my face. I could feel the palms of my hands starting to sweat. "I'm…I'm a Knight Saber! That's why they're after me! And that's why I have all of the scars that you've seen and asked about! I fight Boomers, and I don't even know how many times I've almost gotten myself killed. I didn't bother to keep count. But…it's a noble thing I do…and even more noble that my mom sent me here. She said she's gonna fight for the both of us…"

"S…SHE'S a Saber too?" Xania exclaimed, her eyes practically bugging out of her head. Her tail flipped back and forth almost rabidly. "You're fuckin' kidding me!"

"Bear with me here," I warned, my jaw clenched. "I'm not telling you this 'cause I want to."

"So she was a Saber even back in the '30's when—"

"Yes."

"Wow…"

"Just LISTEN, ok? I…" I could feel my voice choke up. "I haven't told anybody here. Besides you, only Irodia knows. I'd rather keep it that way."

"Ok…" she said softly, nodding. "I can keep a secret, believe it or not. But can I ask ya something else?"

"Sure."

"It's about your friend…is it true she's dead?"

"Y…yeah…she died to protect me. There was a Boomer that Genom sent out to study me and kill me. Michiko got in the way, and…he stabbed her…then shortly after, he stabbed me…"

A hand flew to her mouth. "Oh shit…y'mean those wounds you had when you first came here… I knew those were stab wounds, but…I thought your dad did it. But a Boomer did?"

"Yes. And do you remember the summit thing last year?"

"O' course. The papers and the news wouldn't stop talkin' about it."

"That's where…where I got shot in the leg, and cut across the stomach…"

"Fuck…" I could hear her voice get choked up. "I…wow, damn…I didn't think one person could go through all that. I'll admit I DID think it was a bit, um, outlandish, for lack of a better word, for your dad to have done all that. But Boomers…I can actually buy that."

"I'm not making this up, Xania."

"I never said you were." She took off her shades and wiped them off on her shirt. "I…just can't imagine any sane girl wanting to do that kind of shit. Fighting Boomers? Like hell!"

"I was offered a job with them a year and a half ago. Been with them ever since."

"I'd ask if the three gals on the other vidletters are the other Sabers too, but…but I won't. The redhead gal looks a lot like Irodia though."

"That's Nene. They're cousins. She, the Saber leader, and Irodia all agreed to have me live here for a while, until everything dies down."

"When's it gonna die down though?"

I shook my head solemnly. "I have no idea… I wish I knew."

She shook her head, mumbling to herself. I just sighed and looked at her. She was taking this better than Michiko did, at least on the outside. Whatever was going on on the inside, I had no clue. When she hid her emotions, she hid them well. When they showed up, however…it was hard to miss.

I stood up. "We should get back to studying. I don't wanna talk about this anymore."

"Why not? I'm willin' to listen," she protested, jumping to her feet as she followed me back out to the living room.

"I know you are. I'm just wondering if you're not getting some kind of sexual thrill from all this."

She laughed. "Sexual thrill? Rosho, I get no pleasure from hearin' about other people's pain unless those other people happen to be my exes. 'Sides, it's not every day you realized a bud of yours is an ex-Knight Saber."

"I'm NOT an ex-Knight Saber," I fired. "I'm just on a leave of sorts."

"Ok, ok." She cracked open one of her books while I went back to the homework I'd abandoned a few minutes earlier. I found it hard to concentrate though, not because of what I'd just divulged, but because I could feel a pair of eyes staring at me when they should have been directed elsewhere.

"What?" I demanded.

"Just tryin' to picture you fightin' Boomers," she said wistfully, propping an elbow up on the table. She leaned her head against her hand. "Problem with that?"

"Picture it all you want, but at least stop staring at me." I raised an eyebrow. "How can you picture me fighting Boomers anyway? You've never seen a combat model."

"That's why I said TRYIN' to. Sure, I've never seen 'em in person, but I've seen pictures."

"And pictures are all you need," I quipped, unconsciously nibbling on the end of my pencil. Xania just smirked.

"They help." She chuckled. "What's with you and all the sexual undertones, hmm? Hard-up?"

"Yeah right. You're the nympho, not me, that's why I'm alluding to that."

"Never seen a nympho go four months without sex though, have ya?"

I stared, almost dropping my pencil. "Four months? But you and Greg…"

"I TOLD you. We broke up. We're still friends, but that doesn't mean we're sleepin' together anymore. The last time I got any was that day we went to that one place to buy your gun."

"You mean with Juan?"

"Yeah."

"I thought…you would've snagged another guy by now," I mused quietly.

"No one's caught my eye. And 'sides…" She shrugged. "A break now and then isn't so bad. If your whole life revolves around sex and you're not getting any, what point is there to living? I'm not sayin' my life revolves around it. I enjoy sex, a lot. But there's other stuff 'sides that. That's why I respect your wanting to wait for the right guy to come along, although I give ya shit about it."

"You do?"

She nodded. "No point in losing your virginity just for the sake o' losin' it. If it's with the wrong guy it's not gonna be the special event it's supposed to be. But if you're with the right guy…it doesn't matter if you're 15 or 45, it's gonna be special. Magical. All the romance novels in the world ain't gonna prepare you for the real thing."

"I don't read romance novels," I pointed out, grimacing.

"My point still stands. Even if I told you about MY first time, it wouldn't help prepare you for YOURS, 'cause everyone's first is different."

"You're acting like I'd go around and ask everybody. I wouldn't." HOW did the conversation take this turn, anyway?

She laughed. "Even I wouldn't do that! But y'know what? Before my first, sure, I wondered what it would be like. I even figured that I wasn't missin' anything, 'cause you hear about all these teens who get preggers and everythin'. But damn, once I learned first-hand what it was like, I didn't know how I lived without that feeling." She shook her head and turned serious again, trying to bring herself out of la-la land. "I KNOW you must be curious too."

"…Sorta," I admitted. "But that thing with Rob kinda…killed my curiosity." I fidgeted and looked down at my hands in my lap.

"I know you ain't gonna run away to a nunnery when school's done. I don't wantcha to die a virgin, but hell, even though I try to hook ya up with certain guys, I wouldn't wantcha to rush into anything."

I finally managed a smile. "Thanks, Xania. You know, you really are mature, when you want to be."

"It's fun to brag about who your latest lay was, but if you haven't started on that road yet, I don't want ya to get onto it full throttle." Her smile faded somewhat. "I'm gonna be nineteen next month, Rosho. I…feel old."

"I'm seventeen, and I feel old too. You know about me already, so…do you want to talk about it?"

"No," she said firmly, color draining from her face. Shaking her head, she added, "I…don't wanna get into that. Maybe later, when…I'm ready."

"Why do you still call me Rosho? You know that's not my name."

"'Cause if I started callin' ya Yumeko, you KNOW I'd slip up and call you that in public by mistake sometime. Easier on me AND you if I just keep callin' ya Rosho." She managed a weak smirk.

"Well…makes sense," I agreed, nodding. I scooted over next to her and gave her a big hug. "Xania, thanks for…for listening to me, and believing me."

She hugged me back, tossing off her shades as her eyes started to get a bit misty. "Woulda been one hell of a grain of salt to take it with, right?"

"Yeah…"

Xania surprised me with what she did next. I felt her give me a small peck on the cheek as she offered her support to me. I didn't even jump, though; in fact, I even relaxed somewhat. Michiko had occasionally given me friendly pecks on the cheek. I reached down and stroked Xania's limp tail, and felt her body relax as an audible sigh escaped from her.

It's ok, I thought as we sat there and held each other for what seemed like an eternity. We were friends; it was ok to hold each other like this. I could've even fallen asleep like that if I hadn't been wide awake. I have one friend here I can trust, one person to help me. I hope she'll let me help her too, as best I can…

-----

"Priss? Would you like any coffee?"

"No, no thanks, Sylia," I said tiredly, running a hand through my bangs. I leaned back on the couch and let out a small grunt. Today was the anniversary of the summit attack; I didn't need any calendar to tell me that. I'd been counting it down ever since the month had started. The day Nene and I had gone to the site of destruction-turned-construction had been the anniversary of when the job of safeguarding the convention center had started, and now…here was the REAL anniversary.

Sitting on the other couch and chairs were Linna, Mackie, and Nene, who accepted Sylia's offer of coffee as she stifled a yawn. Looking around, it was apparent none of us had gotten any real sleep last night. Little wonder why.

"Doesn't feel like it's been a year," Nene mumbled, numbly holding her coffee in between her hands, her eyes glazed over. "I just…the memories are still right there. Everything else that's gone on since then seems irrelevant."

"I think it's safe to say we all feel the same," Linna agreed solemnly. "Except for that last part. Lots of relevant things have happened…"

"I mean in the sheer scope of it." The redhead wiped tears from her eyes and set down her coffee. "All those people…and…Yumeko…"

"Yume's fine now," I said, trying to smile, and not succeeding. "Hell, we're all still standing, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but we couldn't stop it! My sensors should have picked up on them!"

"Nene, they were built so that your sensors couldn't detect them," Sylia reminded her, sitting down next to her. "You know that."

"I know, I know…" she choked.

"You took a couple shots for me and for Yume," I interjected. "The old Nene wouldn't have done that. You oughta be lucky the worst you got was a ruptured spleen and punctured lung."

"Those Boomers were a lot stronger than any of us could have imagined," Linna said, taking her headband off, letting her hair hang in her face. "It's easy for us to see in hindsight what we could have done differently. Even so, it won't change what happened. We just have…to make the best of it."

"What about that Boomer that ambushed Priss?" Nene asked, making me wince with the memory.

"What ABOUT it?" I repeated bitterly, putting my hand over the still-tender wound when it started throbbing lightly. "Next time it shows up, I'll just have my Motoslave kick its ass."

"It's only appeared once," Sylia said. "That's not enough time to gather much information on it. Until we know what it's capable of, I suggest no rash moves." She eyed me with that glint in her eyes that told me NOT to dare disobey her.

"All right, not like I can get back into my suit yet anyway."

"It was a serious wound which will take some time to heal—"

"I KNOW!" I yelled. "You act like I've never been laid up before!"

"You do have a history of ignoring sound advice though," Mackie quipped.

"You shut up!"

"Stop yelling!" Nene begged, jumping to her feet. "Please! It'll only aggravate your injury anyway, Priss. And Mackie…" She turned to look at him. "Just don't say anything. I know you're the one who had to sit by and watch while we all got our butts handed to us, but…hey, YOU played a part in saving us, too. We wouldn't have been able to get to the hospital without you."

"Wouldn't have needed to if you and Yumeko hadn't gotten so badly hurt though," he said quietly.

"That's not our fault…"

"I know…"

"Like Priss said, we all survived," Linna interrupted, a small smile playing on her lips. "More or less intact, anyway. Over a hundred people did die, but…WE survived. And besides, you and Sylia are trying to expose the truth behind the summit, right, Nene?"

The redhead immediately perked up, spinning on her heels to face Linna with a big grin. "Yeah. Things are actually coming along pretty well, too."

"So what have you two found?" I asked as Nene sat down.

Sylia cleared her throat. "You may recall that I recovered one of the Boomer's heads from the rubble, the one that possessed the Black Box." We all nodded in remembrance. "You also recall that it had transmitters in its eyes that transferred whatever it saw back to its place of origin, i.e. Genom Tower. After further examination of said transmitters, it turns out it not only acted as a feed, but a recorder as well."

"So it still has that footage stored in there?" She nodded.

"There is no audio, only visual. The feed begins before the Boomers descended on the convention center, and ends when it enacted the particle beam satellite. It holds plenty of evidence that we were not the ones behind the attack."

Linna bit her lip. "But there's more to that than what you're telling us, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes. It does show footage of Yumeko's faceplate being broken. If we were to turn in the footage to the proper authorities, it would probably be preferred to have it be undoctored, not tampered with."

"It wouldn't be enough to just blur Yumeko's face," Nene added. "Any good hacker could undo the blurring and see her face. And we can't just use the first part of the footage, because we need to show that the Boomers were the ones to enact the satellite, not us. The footage DOES show us running away when it became apparent what was going to happen."

"Soooo…just cut out the part where her faceplate was broken," I said, shrugging.

"It would be obvious something was left out. However…" She turned to look at Sylia. "We might be able to do that. We'd just have to do some editing to make it all look smooth and not like something was VERY obviously left out."

Sylia nodded reluctantly. "We'll see what we can do."

"What else is there?" Linna asked. "Do we need more hard evidence?"

"Yes. The footage itself won't be enough. We need actual witnesses."

I exhaled and mumbled, "The world leaders who managed to survive…"

"Exactly. Assuming we'll be able to get in touch with them, of course."

"And assuming they haven't been paid off," Mackie sighed.

"Money does do a lot of talking," Sylia admitted. "Money can help unseal certain individuals' lips though, too, no matter how much they may have already been paid to keep those lips sealed."

"What makes you so sure they'd want to help us clear our name?" I asked, skeptical. "Most of them probably wouldn't give a shit what happens to us."

"Before the summit, perhaps not. But since we did save their lives – most of them, in any case – that could have changed. That's not to say they won't need coercing, of course. However, the mere fact they were debating the Boomer situation at all is enough to say that they've had enough of Genom." She brushed off her skirt. "Once we have enough solid evidence, we'll take it to the UN, and let them take it from there."

"How do we know THEY weren't paid off too?" Linna queried.

"We don't," she admitted blandly. "However, we need to at least make an effort to do this. If not, the Knight Sabers may not be around for much longer."

"There's not much time, Sylia," I said, standing up. "The Olympic trials are in two months, and Yume's gonna want—"

"I know she'll want to go. But we're not doing this on her timetable. It's on ours." Her face softened as she stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. "WE don't have that much time, either, though. We'll need to get started ASAP. Fargo and his associates have already started to make arrangements. Let's just pray that they won't fall through."

"Thanks, Sylia," I said, turning my head away. I didn't want anybody seeing the tears in my eyes, although they'd seen me cry before. It was still embarrassing.

"This isn't just for Yumeko. It's for all of us: the Knight Sabers, Tokyo…the world. But…this will be a very dangerous mission we're about to start on. It wouldn't take much for Genom to get wind of it, so we need to tread very carefully."

"We need to at least try," I asserted.

"I hope you're all prepared," Sylia declared, turning to face the others. "We leave in one week. Bear in mind we may never come back—"

"We know," Linna interrupted, getting to her feet, along with Nene and Mackie. "Every mission, there's a chance we won't come back. Nothing different about this one."

"Right," Nene agreed.

"We're with ya, Sis," Mackie said.

"Am I getting left out?" I inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Or am I free to come?"

"Priss, you're welcome to come. No suit, though." Sylia smirked.

I returned the smirk. "Fair enough. As long as I get the chance to hand Madigan her ass on a silver platter."

Nene and Linna laughed, sharing the same sentiment.

-----

Rain.

All around me, rain came pouring down, making pitter-patter noises as the drops struck the ground. I stood there, the noise hypnotizing me; it was peaceful, steady, the sound not broken even by thunder. Even if I couldn't hear it, I could still feel it in my heart, and I knew there was no way to stop that feeling.

It was raining, and yet I wasn't wet at all. I looked down at my body and saw that it was clad in my hardsuit. That explained it. But how on earth did I have my hardsuit on? I didn't remember changing into my innerwear or anything…

Lightning flashed, illuminating my surroundings. Suddenly, I knew why I was wearing my suit; all around me were large pieces of concrete, broken, broken as if something had blown it up.

It started to rain harder.

"W…what's going on?" I asked to no one in particular, looking around, confused. "How'd I get here?"

I heard a shushing noise.

"You know how," a voice echoed. "This is your nightmare."

"Where am I?" I demanded, my knees starting to shake. I'd never seen anything like this before, and yet, it seemed strangely nostalgic, familiar in a sickening sort of way.

"This was supposed to be your burial ground, Yumeko," the voice said deeply. "You should know where you are."

I felt a chill go down my spine. "I…I know that voice. You're…no. No. You're dead! You died twice!"

Two large, dark, muscular arms wrapped themselves tightly around me from behind, making me yelp in surprise. "Once here, and one like me died at the Tower. But I, myself, did not die twice. You, however…" I could almost feel it smirk as it leaned in to whisper in my ear. "You've died several times over. Your spirit is dead. Your soul…your livelihood…"

"It's not!" I yelled, struggling to get out of its grip. "I'm as alive as I ever was!"

"No matter how much you run from Genom…you know they've already gotten you. You run because you don't want to be killed, but truth is, you're already dead."

"Let me go!"

"Never. I've been clutching on to you for a year now. What makes you believe you can get away from me now?"

"STOP IT!" I screamed, jerking my body every which way, to no avail. Where was everybody else! If I was here in my suit, surely they couldn't be far behind!

"I've seeped into every pore, every crevice…your mind may not remember every detail of this night, but you damn well know your body does."

As if on cue, I felt a heavy weight slam into my left thigh. I screamed with the sensation of the inside of it suddenly lighting afire. I squeezed my eyes shut, and screamed again, trying to block it out. No…this had already happened! It wasn't happening again! This wasn't real!

"NO! LET GO!"

"Let yourself go," I heard a feminine voice say. I jerked my head in the direction of that sound, and there stood a blue-hardsuited figure. I felt my heart leap in joy. Finally…!

"Mom! Please! Kill this son of a bitch! Help me!" I begged.

"No."

"…What?" I felt my heart drop just as suddenly as it had leapt. What did she mean 'no'? She was my mom!

"You got yourself caught, Yume. Get yourself out."

"Mom, Mom, please, this isn't funny!"

"Sylia told you not to jump in unless we called for you," a green-hardsuited figure stated, shaking her head in disapproval. "You made your bed, Yumeko. Now you get to lay in it."

I let out a hoarse yell as a new wave of pain made its way across my stomach, literally. I moaned as I felt a hot burst of blood emerge from the new wound under my stomach armor. No…no no…what's going on… Why aren't they helping me? I thought desperately. Help me! I can't get away from this bastard on my own!

"Some friends you have there," the Boomer said, sneering.

"These are the consequences of not listening to me," I heard Sylia's voice say, a grey hardsuit stepping up between Mom and Linna. "It was a mistake to let you fight with us, Yumeko. The arrogance of youth refuses to relinquish its hold…"

"But I AM a kid!" I protested, the energy draining from my body. "I wasn't…supposed to grow up this fast!"

"You gave up your childhood willingly, dear." I shivered with the way she had said that last word. "You can't be a Saber and still expect to get away with your childish wiles."

I'm seventeen! What do you WANT from me? I thought, bewildered. In the time they were spending lecturing me, they could've killed this son of a bitch who still held me tight in its clutches. At the same time, while they stood there and glared at me – which I could easily assume judging from their body language – I saw a figure walk by them, walk straight up to me. It was a face I'd never forget.

"Boh," I moaned. "What do you want?"

He smirked. "I personally desire nothing. Nothing except, perhaps, the look of anguish on your face as it is now. It is a priceless look."

"Why aren't they doing anything?" I mumbled weakly to myself, seeing the Sabers just standing there, as if they hadn't seen him walk right by them. "They must see you."

"They see me. They know it's too late to do anything, that's all."

"Too late for what? They…could shoot you right now…"

"You heard them, Yumeko. It is your mess. You need to learn to get yourself out." He reached out and caressed my cheek with one hand. I jerked my head away in response.

"Don't…don't touch me," I spat.

Boh merely smirked again, his grey eyes taking on a glowing shade of red as a chuckle escaped his throat. I squeezed my eyes shut and screamed.

"NO! Just LEAVE ME ALONE!"

"Rocío…"

"Go to HELL!"

"Wake up, Rocío!"

"No! Please, I don't…!"

"It's alright. You're dreaming."

"Dreaming…no…"

I was startled awake by the feel of a pair of callused hands on my shoulders. Shooting up in bed, I was ready to deck whoever it was that had touched me, but my fist froze in mid-air when I saw a familiar, friendly face, the owner of those hands. "T…Tyler," I stammered.

"It's ok," he assured me, patting me on the shoulder. "It was a nightmare."

I shook my head, biting my lip. "No…it…it was more than that. It was hell."

"Whatever it was, it can't hurt you now. All right?" Tyler tried to offer a reassuring smile, which only sickened me more. How would HE know?

"It's too late for that," I hissed, tossing back the covers. "I've already been hurt. The hurt is never going to stop."

"The mouth is the valve through which pressure on the heart is relieved," he said gently. "In other words, just talk, let everything out. You'll feel better, I promise."

"Talking's never done any good! Don't you think I've tried that?" I jumped out of bed and ran past Tyler, out of my room, and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut. I tore off my sweat-drenched nightshirt and panties, then stepped into the shower and turned on the cold water. I shrieked when it first hit my skin, but at the same time, it was soothing, a nice contrast to the heat of my nightmare. Hugging myself, I lowered my head so that the water drenched my hair. It clung to my forehead, the back of my neck, my ears. The cold eased the urge to rip my hair out of my scalp.

I was going crazy! I knew I was! Today was the sixteenth of March…and there was no running from that fact. Even if I avoided looking at the newspaper or the TV or a calendar, I knew it was the sixteenth. I never wanted to see this day again, never mind that it was no longer the year 2055. The weather wouldn't be the exact same as it was that day; the surroundings were different too. My responsibilities for the day changed as well. But damn, it was still March sixteenth no matter how I looked at it.

I curled up on the tile floor of the shower stall, the cold water continuing to pelt my body. I closed my eyes, pulled my legs up to my chest, and just shivered. I'll just stay here all day, I thought. Won't go anywhere, won't go to school, won't DO anything. I'll be safe right here. Nothing can happen in here.

"C'mon, Rocío! Get outta there!" I heard Mikhaila yell, banging on the door. "I need to take a shower too!"

You'll live. One day without a shower won't kill you or your hair.

"You're acting like a spoiled child, Rocío. Time to come out," Tyler urged.

"I AM a child!" I yelled, still curled up on the floor, teeth chattering. That's all I'm ever gonna be. Just some fucking spoiled brat who wants some respect yet also wants the freedom of childhood. There's no way to get both, is there… Why the hell not?

I felt a familiar ache creep its way down my leg, focusing in its usual spot above my knee. I sat up and rubbed it, knowing it wouldn't do any good. The scar, normally a pinkish-red, had now taken on a purplish hue from the cold, as had the scars on my stomach. The shade wasn't as bright as it was on my hardsuit, but it still reminded me of it all the same. I frowned in disgust as I recalled the first time I saw my suit after the summit attack, after the other Sabers had come back from a battle and Mom had gotten hurt. Crusted blood, a hole in the leg armor I could have stuck my hand through, the lingering stench of burnt circuitry…

Sure, my armor had been fixed up since then, and so had my body, for the most part. But my psyche would never be the same. I'd known that ever since that fateful job had started, even before the Boomers stormed the place. And although I couldn't remember very much from that night…what I DID remember was more than enough to convince me I didn't need to remember any more. If I did, I was probably liable to go insane. I couldn't remember Mom holding me in my 'dying' moments…couldn't remember the beam satellite being enacted…and hell, I couldn't remember anything that happened after the second Boomer had strangled me to unconsciousness. There were still flashes from beforehand that I couldn't conjure up, either. Well, at least I remembered the important parts, I guess, I thought sarcastically, turning off the water as I stood up.

"That's it! I'm gonna knock this door down, Rocí—" I flung the door open, my body wrapped in a towel, surprising Mikhaila, who had her foot in the air, ready to kick the door down. "Oh! Er, uh, you finally got done, huh?" she stammered, quickly regaining her composure. "Hope you didn't hog all the hot water."

"Don't worry. I only used cold."

She shuddered as she made her way past me and shut the door. I turned to head to my room when Tyler stopped me. "Locking yourself in the bathroom isn't exactly the healthiest way to handle these sort of things," he tried to remind me.

"That wasn't it," I said flatly. "Needed the cooldown. I need to get dressed. 'Scuse me." He stepped aside, a confused look on his face as I went into my room and shut the door, making sure to lock it before dropping the towel and getting dressed. I knew I couldn't stay here all day, contrary to my thoughts only minutes earlier. If I did, Irodia would probably try to drag me to a shrink to pay lip service. If I went to school…well, that was out of the question anyway. If I did though, I'd likely have a blackout, and that was not something I wanted to subject myself, or anyone else, to again. I had to go somewhere where I could be alone.

Once I was dressed and my hair was tied back in a ponytail, I grabbed my bottle of hydromorphone, filling up the dropper and depositing the liquid on my tongue. After swallowing it, I shoved the bottle into my jacket pocket, put on said jacket, then grabbed a spare blanket from underneath my bed. I dumped out my backpack so I could shove the blanket into it, and once that was done, I put it on my back , went out the door, and before long, the house and the street were behind me as I sped off on my motorcycle.

-----

I was stoned, yes, but I didn't like to think of it that way. I just thought of my hydromorphone for what it was: a painkiller, for my physical pain as well as my mental pain. It helped me get away, if only for a little while. There were a few times where I was tempted to take more than one dropperful, but I knew that would land me in the hospital, and that wasn't something I wanted to do. People would probably wonder how I got it, where I got it, why I was using it…and I didn't want to go through all that. I didn't want to get Bert in trouble, either, although him having the drugs probably WAS illegal…

Maybe driving while being slightly stoned wasn't the best idea. But, I DID still have my wits about me; those weren't numbed. My thoughts, however, and my head…they were pleasantly numb. My memories weren't, though. After I picked up Xania and we went driving to school, I wasn't exactly reminiscing about the summit; I wasn't purposefully recalling any particular moment from that night. And yet, there they were in my head, just sitting there, refusing to crawl into a hole and die. It didn't seem like I was recalling myself in that fight; it felt like…like I was watching the footage that Quincy had shown me. It was like an out-of-body experience, like none of that shit could have happened to me. No way, wasn't me. A twin, maybe? Twins could feel each other's pain, after all.

But do twins have the exact same damn scars? That sealed it for me. It really was me that had almost been killed that night. Part of me still didn't want to believe it, despite all of the irrefutable evidence in front of me, ON me, IN me. Denying it probably would've been futile, but confronting it? How exactly was I gonna go about doing THAT? Moreover, did I WANT to?

Hell no.

"Earth to Rosho!" Xania shouted in my ear when we stopped at a traffic light a block from the school.

"What?" I asked bluntly. I'd been hearing her voice the whole way…but hearing and listening were two different things. I couldn't recall a thing she said.

"You're really spacin' out today, girl. What's up?"

"Me," I said cheekily. Normally, I probably would've smiled, but at the moment, I felt like I didn't have the strength to move those facial muscles.

"Seriously, c'mon. You're so quiet."

The light turned green, and I sped down the street towards the school. "Maybe I just don't have anything to say," I said.

"You always have somethin' to say! And I wanna hear it!"

"Nothing to say today. I don't want to say anything."

"That's it, somethin' MUST be up. What is it? I can listen."

"I'm taking you to school…and then I'm leaving. I can't be there today," I said, turning into the student parking lot.

"You're ditchin'? C'mon, lemme ditch with you! I can't go to class without ya there!"

"You did before I came here. You did when I got suspended. You can do it again." I heard my own voice, but I couldn't even remember moving my lips to say what I'd said. "I can't be around anybody today, Xania. I'll…go nuts. I gotta be alone…"

"What's so special about today?"

I screeched the bike to a halt in front of the student entrance. "You know damn well what's special about today. I hope I don't have to refresh your memory."

"I don't…think you do," she said hesitantly as she climbed off my bike, actually looking somewhat timid as she looked at me. "Rosho, you could just stay home today. Don't need to run off anywhere."

"Irodia's house…is NOT my home. And I'm not running away from anywhere. Just gonna go somewhere quiet so I can think."

"Yeah, right," she sighed.

After I said a quick bye, I pulled out of the parking lot and headed down the street again, towards a spot that I had come to find very peaceful lately, a nice place to just be alone with my thoughts. For at least the third time in the past two weeks, I found myself heading towards the local park. I could hide out there all day long, just listening to the birds and the laughter of toddlers on the jungle gym and maybe even the sound of my own sanity slowly being ripped apart.

But hell, that was what the hydromorphone was for, to drown out at least the latter. Or at least that's what I was hoping.

Once arriving at the park, I parked near the usual spot and climbed up one of the many hills, and once I came to a small cluster of trees, I set down my backpack, took out the blanket, and spread it out on the grass in the shade of the biggest one. After smoothing it out, I took a moment to look up into the sky, holding up a hand to shield my eyes from the sun. The sky was a bright shade of blue, and I would've thought it to be perfect if it wasn't for the fact that today was the day it was. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed several jagged-looking whitish-grey clouds in the distance.

Jagged like knives, I thought, unconsciously putting a hand to my stomach.

Without consciously thinking about it, I started half-mumbling, half-singing a verse to a song that I had heard long ago. Where from, I don't know, and I didn't know who sang it either. But I guess the lines were appropriate…

"I'm all out of faith…this is how I feel. I'm cold and I am shamed, lying naked on the floor. Illusion never changed into something real, I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn. You're a little late…I'm already torn…"

I laid down on my back on the blanket, peering up into the sky through the branches of the tree. I just wanted to lay there all day, just like that, just doing nothing. I wanted to be lazy…not have to worry about anything… I wanted to allow myself to just zone out. I wanted to be able to go to sleep and not wake up in a damn hospital bed with an IV in my hand and a feeding tube up my nose.

"Day Seven was supposed to be lucky," I murmured sleepily to myself, closing my eyes. "Shoulda been a lucky day…"

I'd drawn a joker that night instead of getting a royal straight flush. I'd had a feeling…and no one else had caught up on it until it was too late.

-----

Random voices flew through my head. They were all from that night…but when exactly had they been said? I didn't know…

"RUN!"

"You stay out of this!"

"Leave her alone!"

"Your blood. It and your eyes are the same shade of red."

"If I can still breathe, I can still fight…and I intend to."

I knew I'd said that last one…I recognized my own voice, albeit contorted in pain. I remembered saying it…but when I'd said it, I couldn't remember offhand.

"Would you stop being so damn stubborn?"

Nene had said that…but hearing the word 'damn' coming from her mouth was actually quite humorous; she'd never been the type to curse, even when really upset. Little wonder I teased her about it even after she'd slapped me upon spitting that remark.

"Please get up…"

"You'll be dead in a few minutes anyway…"

I couldn't move…I didn't want to die, but I literally had been unable to run from death approaching me. I had a gaping hole in my leg, my stomach had been cut open, my ribs were crushed…I was lucky to have still even been aware of my surroundings.

I wish I hadn't been, though. I remembered bawling at that knowledge…

Why the hell had I wanted to remember what went on after I woke up in the hospital? Why couldn't I have stayed amnesic, oblivious to the suffering I'd gone through just a few days before? I was cursed with the memories I had…and thankful that I was only cursed with a handful of them and not the whole barrel of 'em. If I'd recovered all my memories, God knows what I'd do then…

My eyes snapped open, and I found myself curled up in the fetal position, hugging myself tight. I couldn't remember moving into this position; had I fallen asleep? I sat up and ran my hand through my hair, looking around, and when I looked to my left, I saw that I had company in the form of a bubbly brunette. She sat there patiently, her arms wrapped around her legs.

"What? Sara?" I stammered.

She turned to look at me. "You're awake now!" she exclaimed, smiling widely. "I've been here for a while, but you looked so peaceful laying there sleeping, so I figured I'd just wait."

"W…what time is it?"

She looked at her watch. "12:30."

"What? Shit, I was asleep longer than I thought! And…and aren't you supposed to be at school?"

"Aren't you?" she retorted, giggling.

"How'd you know I was here, anyway? I didn't tell anybody where I was going."

"Xania said you left on your own after you dropped her off. She said you've been taking a liking to the park lately, so she told me that's probably where you'd be at. And it turns out she was right. Here you are."

"She didn't come with you?"

"No. She said today was a special day for you, and that maybe I could relate to it and you better than she can."

"No argument there," I sighed.

Sara stretched out her legs in front of her, and I took a moment to get a look at them. Sure, they were artificial, but the skin that covered them looked genuine, and if I hadn't witnessed her car accident, I would never have known that these legs were fake. I'd thought that cybernetic replacements would've been obvious, but in Sara's case, the casual observer would've been oblivious.

She flashed another smile. "So, let me help you, Rocío. Ayúdame a ayudarte."

I looked away and sighed. "Sara…no puedes ayudarme. No puedo ser ayudado…" I had a feeling I'd said it wrong, but if Sara noticed, she didn't show it.

"What makes you think that?" she asked. "Of course you can be helped. Pero no puedes tener ayúdo hasta preguntas para lo."

"I don't need help. I'd just rather be alone."

"Being alone isn't going to help anybody, least of all yourself," she said. "I was really bummed out when I found out I wasn't going to have my legs anymore; you were the one that told me I'd lost them. But heck, once I knew that I could get new ones, I couldn't wait to get them on so I could be up and walking again! I can walk alright now, I guess." She bent one of her knees for emphasis. "I still have trouble going up hills and stuff though. And of course you just HAD to be on the top of one. I wore myself out getting up here."

"Good practice though, right?" I managed to joke. She laughed.

"Supongo que sí. But what about you?"

"Four months of therapy before I could even shed the leg brace. More than long enough," I said bluntly. "But still…the doctors did give me the option to just get a cybernetic one instead. I said no. The last thing I'd do is make myself part-Boomer…" I immediately realized what I said and put my hand over my mouth. "Shit, sorry…I didn't…"

"That's ok," she said. "You didn't mean it. I don't think of myself as part-Boomer though. I was given the choice to either get a pair of new legs, or just spend my life in a wheelchair feeling sorry for myself. I knew I still wanted to get around, explore the world. I wasn't gonna let a bed become my world! I still have a lot to do!"

"I felt the same way," I agreed. "I didn't…want to spend my life as some cripple. And I knew my leg wasn't going to automatically go back to the way it was before; I'd have to work to get back to that point. And…I think I'm almost there."

"Do you still go to the gym every day?"

"Yeah."

"I really hope you can get better in time for the Olympic trials, Rocío. I'm rooting for you." She looked down at her legs, smiling wistfully. "You know…you helped me to get better too."

"I…I did?"

She nodded. "Yeah. You're the type to not let anything get in your way, not your dad's abuse, not Rob trying to bed you, not anything!"

Thanks for reminding me, I groaned in my head. Oh, if only she knew all the frustration I endured at the beginning of my therapy! It almost sickened me to see her so damn optimistic about everything, but at the same time…it was actually kind of inspiring.

"Rocío?"

"Yeah?"

"Gracias."

"¿Para qué?"

"Para ayudando a mi vida…"

"What else would I have done, huh?" I assured her. "I wasn't gonna just sit there and wait for the ambulance. Had to do something."

"And I really, really appreciate it. I guess fate made me and Juliana ask you to come shopping with us, huh? If we hadn't…"

"No such thing as fate," I said cheekily. "At least to me. I guess I was just in the right place at the right time."

She nodded, eyes shining. "Yeah."

We both stood up, and as she helped me fold up my blanket, she asked, "Since it's lunch time, do you wanna go get something to eat?"

"I'm…not really hungry," I admitted.

"I'll pay if that's a problem," she joked. "You can choose the locale too. Where to?"

"Anyplace Italian."

"Ok! But you're not driving."

"I'm not, huh?" I asked, playing along. "Who is, then? Your car was totaled."

"I didn't say I was driving. Greg is."

"Greg?"

"Yeah. How else do you think I got to the park? That'd be one long walk!"

"Where is he now?"

"In the parking lot next to your bike. I made him wait." She giggled. "On second thought…we can make HIM pay!"

"I guess that can be payback for him sneaking that kiss on me," I said, smirking as I shoved the blanket into my backpack.

While I jogged down the hill, Sara was taking one wobbly step at a time, but eventually she just decided to make like an eight-year-old and roll down the hill instead. After I helped her up, we made our way back to the parking lot where, sure enough, Greg was waiting, a smile on his face.

This March sixteenth hadn't started out that well, to be sure. The rest of this day, however, I felt sure would more than make up for that. Going out to lunch or shopping at the mall with friends instead of going out to fight Boomers…now THIS was what I was supposed to be doing in my free time.

For the first time in a long time, I felt free.