Leo's Memories

The Eighth Chapter in Hannah's Chronicles

Annie had fallen to the floor in tears. She knew that she was being taken away from everything. She was being flown away from Leo and her friends, yet she could do nothing about it. She remained on lying down, crying at will. She knew that Leo and her friends would do their best to save her, but she didn't know if they would or would not be successful. Annie was able to keep faith by singing, although her words were awfully upsetting. One thing was sure though; Annie didn't want to stop singing, and she didn't. She did her best to think that her friends would rescue her without anything going wrong, and she tried to forget about any possibility of failure. But the harder she tried to forget, the harder the thought came back to her, and the worse this whole thing seemed.

Hannah was up in front of Big Jet, practically shaking. She had this all planned out but she didn't know how well it would go over. She was actually beginning to regret this whole idea. She could only think that this might not work, and she's the one that ends up hurt. Very well she had known that Leo would retaliate, but she would never know how far he would go. Hannah thought about it for a long time. "What if this backfires and I'm the one that get's hurt?" Hannah asked herself. But then she remembered all the troubles that they had put her through and that seemed to cancel out her regrets. She proceeded flying southeast. Hannah continuously watched behind her to see if she could spot Rocket behind her anywhere.

Leo and the team had rushed to Rocket as quickly as their feet could take them. Leo didn't say a word, he just ran to Rocket and began the blast off routine. The team followed in his silence, trying not to bother him. They could tell that he was in no mood to be talking to anybody, besides his little kidnaped sister. Within no amount of minutes, the team was flying through the air. He worried that Hannah would get away with Annie, and do something drastic. He didn't know what Hannah was going to do, but he didn't like the fact that she had Annie whatsoever.

He looked in all directions to see Big Jet, but could not see it anywhere. He pressed one button, without saying anything, and Rocket's Look-and-listen scope came out. Leo paused in midair to see if he could hear Big Jet, Hannah, or Annie. From where Rocket was he was unable to hear anything. Leo flew more in the direction where he thought Big Jet had flown, and within no time he was able to hear Annie soft, mild, childish voice. Leo slammed another green button on Rocket and out came Rocket's backup booster. "Rocket!" Leo yelled, "Follow Annie's voice!" Leo actually took his hands off of the steering controls of Rocket, and sat while Rocket flew to Annie's voice. Rocket continued to fly, and Leo actually got up and out of his seat and walked to the back window. June and Quincy remained seated, watching Leo's every movement. Leo watched as his home town got smaller, and smaller, and father away. He took careful looks at his house, the Rocket Room, the tree in his backyard. He let his mind drift off into all of his faithful memories of all these things. He thought about the best, and worst, times he had with his friends. Leo also though about each and every mission they had been on. All the people and creatures they had helped, all the things they had done, they all seemed to be filled with joy. This case was not at all a happy one for Leo. But at the same time June, Quincy, Annie, and even Hannah were not totally enjoying the feel of this. He looked again at all of the things in his town that he loved and had spent so much time with.

One thing he was thinking about was Annie. He could remember her birthday parties, and all the good things they had done together. He wanted those to continue, and he wasn't about to let Hannah end those good times. Although he did understand that things don't always happen in the way you always want them to. Leo let one last thought fly free. He thought if June and Quincy had been right about Hannah, then he might not ever see these things and places again. But after much thinking, he decided it would be worth it if Annie was safe. Leo hung his head down, and put his hand to the wall. He was tearing up. But he didn't want to show that to June, who he had also kind of liked these past few years. He did begin to sniffle, which gave away to June and Quincy that he was almost in tears. June, without thinking, got up out of her seat and went over to Leo near the back of Rocket. She put her arms around him and comforted him in this horrible time. Quincy took the wheel of Rocket and watched out for Big Jet ahead, although it was hard to focus on Big Jet with Leo in this state. Leo tried his best to hold back his tears, although it got harder as time pasted. He enjoyed knowing that June was looking out for him, and Quincy was trying to look out for Annie. With his friends near by he knew that he could rescue Annie. He looked up at June who was watching him this whole time.

"Thank you, June," he coughed. He really appreciated how she was trying to help.

"What are friends for?" June asked sisterly, and smiled to herself. Leo now returned the hug. Once he let go, he walked over to Quincy who was steering Rocket.

"Thank you as well, Quincy," He said. "Thank you so much," He smiled at Quincy, who was wordless.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then caught something else in the corner of his eyes. "Guys! There's Big Jet!" He yelled pointing at a small blue dot that was quite a ways ahead of them.

"Top speed Rocket!" June exclaimed. "Go as fast as you can!" Rocket replied with some instrumental noises and he tried to speed up. Although it wasn't a totally noticeable speed increase, it did help them out.

Leo got anxious. "We're coming, Annie." He whispered to himself. "Don't you worry about a thing." He showed no emotion but concern on his face.

Back in Big Jet, Hannah had noticed Rocket coming up from behind her. She didn't speed up, as she couldn't proceed with her initial plan if she avoided the rest of the kids. She just continued flying in the same direction. She looked around and realized that she was almost at the ocean's edge. At a rough guess, she thought she might be close to the south-eastern tip of the country. Annie, in the locked room, had finally gotten up to her feet. Although she gazed out the window and never stopped singing. She had been looking at her home town, just as Leo had been. But when she saw a tiny red spec flying at them she was over-joyed! Her song got happier, and she seemed a little bit nervous. She could just barely make out Leo's image inside Rocket, He was still standing, and she could hardly see this. Her friends were coming to rescue her, although nobody knew exactly how they were going to do it.

-Part nine will be out shortly-