THANK YOU GUARDIAN OF LIGHT LIGHTUS FOR REVIEWING ON THE STORY!
enjoy and do review please.
DISCLAIMER: i do not own GBF. the plot and the original characters are mine
note: sei and china use japanese honorifics while arian people use english honorifics. just to emphasize that despite both places speak japanese, that there is a difference.
Last on 'When Innocence Dies':
"We should head to that city and ask around because I'm starting to think that this is one long dream."
"Then make that both of us. How did we even end up in space? And we don't even have colonies in space yet."
"No idea," Sei shrugged and pressed his feet on a pedal. "But at least we have a destination.
To colony 1 here we go!"
Chapter 2 - Colony 1
Four hours after they had set off, the sky suddenly darkened so they decided to rest the night to gather up their strength. Sei was thankful for that, seeing his body ached from all the moving and his feet started to feel numb. Not to mention that he was feeling drowsy again.
China was checking for hidden places when she pressed a button and a small niche opened and she was faced with a first aid kit.
Sei jumped when she banged her head on the metal… again. "Are you okay?"
She blinked back tears and ignored the headache forming. "Y-yes. But more importantly – I found a first aid kit!" She sat up and moved so she was by his injured side. The teen eyed her wearily, eyes heavy, "The bleeding stopped, China."
"We still need to disinfect and stitch it."
No way! Sei exclaimed in his head but the fatigue won and he slowly slumped down, eyes closing. China noticed and panicked, "Sei-kun!" Is he fainting? Did he lose more blood than I had thought? "Does anything hurt or feel numb?"
It took a moment for Sei to find the capability to utter that he can't feel his feet. Why was she asking it now? He felt it for a while so why now? Can't she just let it rest? It has been while since he didn't feel any pain. It was great so why ruin it?
He was so out of it that he didn't notice her alarmingly open the kit and fish out bandages, sewing kit and two towels. She folded one of them and placed it between his teeth.
Only when he tasted the dry cloth, his mind woken up enough to try and find the reason he was eating a rag. And why he was incapable of moving.
"I'm sorry, but there isn't anything for the pain, so bear with it." She used some of the bandages to bind his hands, chest and legs to the chair so he won't move. He was like a rag doll, letting her do as she pleased and China begrudgingly was grateful that didn't put up a fight.
She moved him slightly so she will have better access to the wound. She cut and removed the bloody cloths. Then she pressed both ends of the wound together, took a deep breath and inserted the needle.
"MMM!" Sei's shriek was muffled by the towel. His hands clenched to armrests and his body tried to move away but was stopped by the binds. A whimper escaped the cloth and China had to calm down the frightened teen and herself before she could continue sewing the wound.
The cut was long and ragged, so it took what felt like eons until she finished her work and washed off the blood. She regarded the stitches and they looked pretty even and strong. Sadly, there wasn't any disinfecting cream so the water would have to do.
Satisfied, she moved to his legs, taking off the sneakers and socks. The feet were red and slightly bloated so she massaged them to return the blood flow in them. When they seemed to return to their normal color she removed the bindings and let Sei sink into her arms.
"Shh… you did great, Sei…" She petted the damp hair and let him cry off the pain. The poor thing, she thought in pity and kissed his sweaty forehead. "I love you, Sei…"
They stayed like this until Sei fell asleep. She rested him back against the backrest and inspected his hands. Luckily, the armrests were worse off than the palms so she left them be and just redressed the stitched cut. She then lied on the floor and fell asleep, too fatigued to care about a pillow.
The next day found two irritated teenagers inside the Gundam. It has been a day since they last ate anything. Everything that had happened distracted them, but now that they were calmly strolling across the sand the hunger came with vengeance.
Not to mention that they both had injuries on top of the hunger.
"When will we get there?" China stared at the screen, willing it to show the city.
"Like the last time you asked minus five minutes," Sei grumbled. He woke up in pain and the cool air was giving him headaches, and that was before he brought up the pangs of pain in his growling stomach.
"Are you saying that I'm annoying?" China gritted her teeth, which made him look at her blankly.
"A little bit, yes." China flushed, taken back by the unusual bluntness and hung her head down.
"Sorry, I just needed something to distract me."
"It's okay, sorry for snapping at you." Sei held her hand and she smiled. "I love you."
"I love you too." They had confessed to each other long ago, but it still was reassuring to say those words. Then suddenly she had an idea to distract them from the boredom. "Hey, remember that day you confessed?"
"How can I forget?" Sei's pale face colored slightly. "It was the most embarrassing day of my life.
Flashback:
"Class rep?" Said brunette turned to a bright red faced blunet.
"Yes?" She smiled. She loved how the blush made him look so adorable, though she would never tell him that.
"D-do you w-want to-to go for a w-walk with m-me?" Sei stammered, fiddling nervously with his fingers. China blushed and nodded. He brightened up and gently held her hand as they walked to the park.
When they arrived, they sat on one of the benches, still holding hands. China looked at the teen next to her; he had really grown since he had won his first world tournament. He was taller than her and his hair was cut shorter, causing him to appear older. His eyes were still bright with innocence but the blue darkened slightly to navy blue which she secretly liked.
Lately, every time he would look at her with a smile she would feel her heart swell with happiness and love. Sei really knew how to make her melt and he didn't even realize how much power he held over her.
While China was thinking all of that Sei was looking at their intertwined fingers, trying to gather up his courage. He then thought back to how she would always look at him like he was a treasure to her and he suddenly felt calmer.
He looked up with resolve burning in his eyes, making China blink in confusion.
"China?" Her eyes widened, he had never called her by her given name. "Can I call you that?"
"Of course!" She called, making Sei jump. "I've been telling you to call me that for ages, idiot."
"Hehe, sorry." Sei rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, all traces of nervousness dissipating. "You really know how to calm me down…"
"Hmm?"
"I-I just have something important to tell you and I was all nervous but you calmed me down, so thank you."
"No problem. Now, what is it?" She gazed into him with kind and loving eyes and he was drawn into them, forgetting how to speak.
"Sei?"
Well, actions speak more than words, no?
China was shocked into a silence when she felt his lips on the side of her mouth. Than after a moment she started chuckling and Sei backed as if stung, slightly hurt. He was about to say something when she shushed him.
"I love you too," She said and kissed him properly.
End flashback.
"I can see it!" China called after what seemed an eternity and pointed to a green blob in the distance.
"But it's still an hour away plus we'll need to walk the last kilometer if we don't want people to see Build Strike and attack in fear of an invasion." It will be rough on them both, on him especially since a night was not nearly enough to even start healing from the stitches. But the thought of finding food and water made his mood brighten so he didn't give too much thought to that.
"I'll support you so don't worry." Sei smiled at that. He really is lucky to have her in his life. He doesn't know what he would have done without her.
China noticed his soft expression and smiled back. But then he turned to look at something to his right and she noticed something odd – some of the blue hair was stained with gold. He caught her staring and tilted his head in question.
"Do I have something on my face?"
She raised her hand and brushed the colored strands, unnervingly glad that the color flaked away easily. "You just had some paint on your hair."
They passed the hour sharing jokes and stories from their childhoods since they didn't have anything else to talk about from the top of their aching heads.
When they were twenty minutes (human walk) away from the city they searched for a large enough dune, in which they can hide the Gundam. At the end they found a reasonable one and set to work. When the Gundam was buried deep enough, they exited the cockpit carefully, minding Sei's wounds and shut down the Gundam.
They released a branch and sand rolled down to cover the giant machine. Then they uncovered a piece of metal – the same one Sei had been cut from – and wrapped a bloodied bandage around it.
They studied the area so they would be able to remember the hiding place. Then they turned and trekked down to the city.
"We're finally here!" Sei leaned on a tree, panting while holding his injured side. Ten minutes from the city trees begun appearing and gave them a soothing protection from the daylight (they saw no sun, which strengthened their theory of being in a space colony).
"Are you okay?"
"Y-yes. We should go if we want to get food. And water since we just finished the last bottle," He pushed himself from the tree and they continued to the stone gate looming before them.
To their surprise, the gate was simply a wide gap in the wall, which they could see people making their way around. The teenagers' eyes gleamed in hope and they quickly entered the town.
It was a beautiful place – old fashioned buildings decorated with many flowers and trees were separated by stone streets. Sei and China drunk in the scenery, their eyes large with glee and curiosity.
"I've never seen you two before." They turned to an old man behind a trolley of trinkets. He pointed at China, "And you're wearing such strange clothes." Then he pointed at Sei, "And you're covered with bandages. Are you from the inner city?"
The two exchanged surprised looks – he spoke Japanese? – Then they smiled and shook their heads. The old man frowned and his pale brown eyes narrowed. "Where are you from, then?"
"Sir," China gulped, she didn't like the way this old man was looking at them – as if they were out to kill him. "We don't know how we got here, but we're from Japan. Tokyo, to be exact. Would you be kind and tell us where we are?"
"Japan?! As in Earth?!" He exclaimed. People stopped and stared at them, some even murmured to each other.
"Ah… yes?" Sei flushed at the attention. "You mean we're not on earth anymore?"
"Of course not! You're in Arian of Colony 1!" The old man glared at them. "We rarely get any visitors, so I don't trust you. Who are you two really? And no lies about being from earth."
Arian?! The place Reiji said he came from?! Could it be? "W-we are telling you the truth! We were at home when this light appeared and then we found ourselves here."
"Do you really expect me to believe such fairy tales? I'm going to call the guards and you will pay for trying to spy on us." The old man started shouting for someone to come.
The duo exchanged panicked looks; they should run away. And fast. They turned on their heels and fled, ignoring the yells and curses thrown at them.
How did it end up like this? They stopped to breathe at a corner of an alley ten minutes later. Sei was heaving and coughing. China was holding her pounding head but still glanced at him worryingly.
We are hungry and dehydrated, she thought. Sei is still injured and the running could have torn up the stitches. The only option we have is to see if Reiji is indeed here and try to get someplace safe.
"I'm going to ask about Reiji, okay?" She saw the blunet nod weakly. "Just get some rest, I'll be right back." She walked back to the street and took off.
The houses in this area looked more like the buildings on earth and if she didn't know better she would have thought that they were back in Japan.
After rounding a house she saw two kids playing with two familiar white robots and she froze in shock – those were mocks. The ones they had fought in the fake A Baoa Qu two and a half years ago.
She approached them and smiled reassuringly when they looked at her innocently. She crouched by them and pointed at the mocks.
"Where did you get those?" She forced herself to seem calm and friendly even though she wanted to shake them for answers, to make them bring her to Reiji. She was tired, starved, light-headed, and just got chased away by a mad old man. Even for her, it was too much. She just wanted to lie down and sleep it away.
Fortunately the kids didn't notice her inner turmoil and simply pointed to the plaza. China followed their fingers to the center of the area, where a stand packed with blue boxes could be seen. Two very familiar people were giving away the toys.
President Mashita and the woman who held onto him when he disappeared.
She thanked the kids and hurried to the stand and stopped just before the two. The purple haired man looked up and smiled, "Do you wish a m—" He took a good look at her and blanched, his finger shaking as he pointed it at her. "Y-y-y-y-y-you!"
"You know me." Honestly? She was surprised.
"You're that kids' friend! I-I-I thought that I left you on earth!"
The brunette sighed for the umpteenth time that day. She really didn't have time for that. "I am, but I don't have time for explanations. Can you please tell me if Reiji lives here? Sei needs help."
"That boy is here as well?!" Mashita looked like he was about to faint, which really angered her since she heard from Sei about his antics to kick them out of the tournament.
Before she snapped at him, the blonde woman interrupted. "As I understand, he is several hours ride from here, at the palace—"
Several hours ride?! Sei won't make it!
"—But I can arrange a friend to get you to there, as an apology for all the trouble we gave you."
"Thank you so much, um…"
"Baker."
"Baker-san!" China bowed to her. Finally something was going their way. "I'm going to bring Sei." She turned and walked away hastily.
It was hard to say that Sei was happy to see the man who gave them so much grief but the traveling cloaks they gave them for blending in and the lift they got to the palace's grounds was a blessing indeed. Mashita and Baker didn't have much food but they did give them a loaf of bread and a cup of milk each.
To tell the truth, he was too hungry and tired to hold grudges so he simply nibbled at the bread until they fell asleep.
They slept the whole way and felt slightly refreshed when they climbed down from the cart. They thanked the driver and neared the main gates.
"China?"
"Hmm?"
"I don't feel so good," Sei wasn't holding his injury this time, but rather his stomach. His face was crossed between pained and nauseous. China but her lip in frustration, they are almost there and now this.
"We're almost there, so hold on." She knocked on the wooden doors.
A slot opened and bored eyes peered out. "State your business."
"U-uh… we would like to speak with Reiji?"
The reply was a raised eyebrow. "To the prince?" They nodded and jumped when he started laughing. "That's a good one. What you kiddies want to speak to the prince about?"
"We are his friends." China flushed in embarrassment and anger. "If you tell him that Iori Sei and Kousaka China are here to see him, I'm sure he'll ask to see us."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," He waved them off. "Just go back to your mommy."
"With all due respect—"
"What's going on?" The eyes closed in annoyance and then they were replaced with hair as the guard looked behind him.
"Just some kids claiming that they know the prince."
"Oh?" The door opened to reveal a tall, strong-built man in his early thirties. His handsome angular face was framed with dark brown hair and stubble. Dark green eyes studied them under furrowed brows. "Who are you two?"
"Iori Sei and Kousaka China, sir."
"I see. Wait a moment," The man turned and yelled, "Inform the prince that he has guests."
"But sir-"
"Now!" Grumbles followed by footsteps echoed from behind the door and the man snorted. "He never learns." He then turned to them and beckoned them to come inside. While they entered he smiled, "It has been a while since visitors came last. I'm sure the prince would be happy to see you."
"Thank you." They stared at awe at the scenery opened before them; the way to the castle was decorated with six blocks of yellow and purple followed by a row of red, lavender and yellow flowerbeds and small circular ponds. Smalls rectangles of trees and long lines of arches framed the flowerbeds. All of this led to stairs going up to a beautiful stone palace the spread to its sides, making it seems more like a series of dome turrets and arches than a castle. The scene seemed to come out of a fairy tale.
"It's beautiful."
"I know," The man laughed. "By the way, I'm Gabriel but call me Gabe."
"Nice to meet you, Gabriel-san," They said in unison. Then they noticed their blunder and blushed. Gabriel laughed again.
"I like you two, but no need for formalities. Sit here," He showed them to a bench. Sei and China sat on it and sighed in relief.
Soon their journey would come to an end and they would be able to rest their weary bodies.
Then Sei bent over and brought up the bread and milk from before. China immediately held the deathly pale-faced teen and kept the hair away as he brought up more bile. Gabriel grabbed a bottle of water and a towel.
"Is he sick?" He asked, concern heavy in his voice, the first one since they landed here.
China shook her head. "We had a long journey and haven't eaten anything in two days. I guess the bread today didn't agree with him."
"I see… he should drink."
"Thank you." She brushed a sweaty bang aside. She then neared her face to Sei's, "How do you feel?"
"I'm fine…" But he wasn't. Sei didn't tell her, but the running then the bumping in the cart had ripped his stitches and now he could feel the pain spike up while his blood soaked into the bandages which the cloak thankfully hid. He didn't want to worry China so he didn't mention it. He'll just wait until they settle for the night to take care of it.
"Sir!" The same guard from before had returned with a shocked expression on his face. "I have informed lady Aila and she asked me to bring them in right away."
"Aila-san is here?" China asked joyfully. Sei smiled faintly. "Remember when she disappeared right after Reiji? I think she used the Arista I gave her to join him."
Gabriel looked at them in confusion but didn't ask them as he led them through the spacious place to the enormous palace.
"Welcome to Arian Palace," Gabriel said with the utmost respect in his voice.
"It's good to be here," China replied earnestly. Sei simply nodded, too wound up now to reply.
They climbed the stairs and entered the front doors. They passed through dark red walled corridors adorned with illustrated tapestries and shining ornaments until they stood in front of another set of doors.
Sei was really beginning to hate doors.
Gabriel pushed the doors open and twin cries of happiness echoed in Sei's tired head.
"Sei! Is that really you!?" "China!"
"Reiji-kun! Aila-san!" China smiled as if a heavy load was lifted off her shoulders. "Sei, we're finally safe!"
"…"
"Sei?" Reiji neared the slightly swaying unresponsive teen. Sei looked up at him, smiled in utmost relief and collapsed onto the floor.
"Sei!" China caught him before he face-planted on the floor. She felt a wet substance and quickly removed the cloak to discover the bloodied bandages. There was more blood than before. There was blood on her hands and Sei was turning paler by the second. Everything stilled around her as she called his name again and again, the last threads of common sense fraying away.
This cannot be… they should have been safe. Sei shouldn't be dying. Not now. Not ever!
Then everything moved again but it was all too blurry for her brain to register anything out of Sei. She barely heard Reiji bark orders and crouch by her, she just didn't care.
But when he tried to pry her beloved from her, she reacted.
"No! Don't take him!" She screamed, curling around the unconscious blunet and snarling as if she was a beast. The lack of water and food plus the hysteria had made her delirious and fueled by despair she could only see the people around them as menacing shadows trying to take Sei away into their mangled hands.
A prick in her neck made her jump and look up in alarm. But it was too late. She felt her eyes grow heavier and she finally collapsed on the floor as darkness claimed her.
