Chapter 2 - A New Life for an Old Witch
July 2000 - Southern Osea
A couple was sitting out in an open grass field relaxing with one another in the open night sky, talking about things and the future that was to come to them. The man was laying down on the grass next to the woman who was propped up against the nearby tree in the clearing.
"James, honey. It's been close to five years since the war ended do we really have to keep the… you know what. We're already trying to keep the secret from Ariana," the young woman lightly asked her husband as she leaned against the tree watching her husband as he lay there and watched the night sky. The man let out a low sigh as he spun around and looked over at his loving wife of seven years and looked her straight in the eyes. He looked her for a second before lowering his head, "I know that like having them around, Martha. But we can't exactly give them back to the military. And we can't turn them in because once they figure out who I am, I'll be arrested within days. You know that."
The woman just let out a sigh as she looked at her husband and muttered, "I know James, believe me. I know."
James turned back around and stared back up at the sky. "Care to join me," he asked with a smug grin plastered onto his face. Martha just shook her in amusement at her husband's actions before she pushed herself up and moved over towards James. Who yanked her down to the ground in laughter as the two cuddled up next to one another.
But just as the two laid down the wind picked up suddenly as a strange cloud showed up from seemingly nowhere. James and Martha stood up and watched as something seeming fell from the storm cloud and plummeted to the ground. Close to a mile away a large of dirt and dust erupted into the air as a loud thud sounded out. Martha and James looked at each other in mutual understanding and ran towards whatever had fallen down.
When the two first got onto the scene the first thing they noticed was the large trail of dirt leading towards a decent sized crater the formed in the ground. When the two looked inside they were surprised to find a young teenage girl barely four years older than their own daughter Ariana. She was all bruised and banged up as if she had recently been in a huge fight recently not to mention that the white and blue sailor uniform that she had on was torn up and dirtied on the front. Then they noticed two odd-looking machines strapped onto her legs. The machines were shaped like the old tail sections of planes from the Second World War and it seemed like she was able to fly with them, but now the two were broken and dented and probably unable to fly any more. Though the thing that the two's eyes were drawn to though was the massive rifle, lying just a few precious inches from the girl's fingertips. Martha broke out of her trance first and ran down the side of the crater to the obviously injured girl.
When Martha reached the young girl she crouched down next to her and took a look over the young teenager, she noticed that she had cuts and bruises that decorated the poor girl's skin. Then Martha reached out and grabbed the young girl's shoulder. But her hand immediately shot back when the young girl cried out in pain, arching her back sharply. And giving Martha a clear look at her burned and bloody back.
"James, get down here and help me move her! She's hurt pretty bad!" she yelled at her husband, breaking him from his state of delusion and getting him to run down the side of the small crater towards the two of them.
James slid down the rest of the way towards them as Martha tried to get the teenage girl to roll off of her back and onto her stomach. The young girl finally rolled over as James slid into a kneeling position right next to the injured teenager and quickly took off his shirt, placing it right on top of her burnt and blood-soaked back. "Jesus Christ! What kind of thing did this to her? It sure as hell wasn't natural. Not to mention how she got here," James remarked he tried to desperately stop the girl's bleeding with his shirt.
"I don't know…" Martha admitted as she watched her cringe in pain as James applied pressure onto her back, "but we need to get her to the house and call Mr. Neuman."
"Yeah, alright."
James gently rolled the girl back over and leaned down and gently snaked his hands around the young girls back and legs and gently lifted her off the ground as Martha managed to pull off the odd-looking contraptions that were on her legs. After she managed the take the things off, James stood up carefully and walked up the side of the crater. Before turning around and sprinting his way towards their two-story house up on the hill there followed closely by Martha. Martha reached the screen door of the house first and threw it open and then opened the actual front door and waited for James to enter with the girl. When he did Martha turned around and as she did she noticed a small mop of dark brown hair and hazel eyes peeking out from between the spokes of the stairs.
"Ariana! Come down here I need your help, sweetheart!" she called out to the young girl who quickly got up and walked quickly down the rest of the stairs. And quickly rounded the corner and ran into the kitchen just as James was placing the mysterious teenager on the dining room table. Ariana stared almost confusedly and looked over the young teen and noticed that she was hurt, very badly hurt. She then realized what she had to and ran off to find the phone, calling out over her shoulder that she would be calling Mr. Neuman and trying to get the old retired doctor over to the farm-house. James and Martha worked frantically together to try and stop the girl's excessive bleeding and trying, desperately, to save her life. Nearly ten minutes later the two of them heard the sound of a car pulling up into the dirt and gravel driveway. Martha looked up to James for a quick second her eyes asking a question and pleading a bit. James just glanced at his wife for a moment before saying, "Go, I can hold this."
Martha just nodded in response and quickly turned around sprinting to the front door and threw it open very quickly and ran through the now open doorway. The screen door slammed shut behind, startling and catching the attention of an older man, who had just gotten out of his old red 1970s Roadrunner and had his medical bag in his hand. Neuman Perkins, was a retired doctor and ex-military surgeon in Osean military. Though before he retired he had his favorite assignment and had taken care of the mercenary pilots during the short Belkan war five years ago. He looked up at the young woman before him and his eyes trailed down to her bloody hands. His eyes widened as he saw her hands and then sprinted up the short stairs up towards the farm-house door.
"Where is she?" he barked out as he passed Martha and burst into the door. Martha following behind him as she quickly showed the way to the dining room table.
"My God…" he muttered as he looked at the young teenagers burned and lacerated and bloody back. Neuman stared in horror and began to flash back to his time during the Second World War, before Martha gently grabbed his shoulder, bringing the aging man back into reality.
"Neuman, are you alright?" she asked the man gently.
"Yes, yes I'm fine," he responding and surged forward to the table and quickly got to work opening up his medical bag grabbing all of his tools and bandages that he would need. After making sure that he had everything he needed, he turned back to Martha gently asking her to take herself and Ariana upstairs. Martha just nodded in response and walked over to Ariana and lightly moved her over towards the stairs and up to her room while James stayed down helping Neuman with whatever he needed to do on the girl.
Martha had been sitting down on the bed slowly stroking her daughter's long brown hair as she lay there sleeping peacefully, for the past twenty minutes after she had fallen asleep in her bed. When someone knocked lightly on the bedroom door. Martha snapped up to the doorway to find her husband standing there, and it seemed that he had been there for a little while. James smiled at the sight that he had been watching for the past few minutes, his beautiful and loving wife taking care of his equally beautiful, young daughter. Martha just smiled right back before she turned her head back to Ariana's sleeping form and slowly brushed her hand through her daughter's hair once more, as James pushed himself off of the doorframe and walked over towards his family. He sat down right next to Martha and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She vaguely noticed that he didn't blood coating his hands anymore.
"How long have you been standing there?" Martha whispered quietly to him, as though to not disturb Ariana.
"I would say, 'Long enough,' but that would a bit stereotypical of me wouldn't it," he said jokingly with a charming smile on his face, causing Martha to fall into a fit of giggles and laughter at that.
"Wow! James Nagase knows big words. Has the world come to its end? Are we at the end of our runs?" she shot back with light laughter yet quiet still.
"Hey! I do know things to!" he exclaimed quietly with a mock expression of hurt on his face, causing Martha to erupt in more quiet laughter.
"Oh I love seeing you laugh, honey," James said before leaning and giving Martha a quick kiss. Silencing her.
"So, how is she?" James asked.
Martha looked down at her soundly sleeping daughter and running her hands across Ariana's head, brushing a few strands of hair away for her face before answering, "She fine. Just tried from all the excitement tonight. Not to mention she's probably in shock from seeing all of that blood. I wouldn't be surprised in she didn't wake up early tomorrow, or in the middle of the night tonight."
James just sighed and stood up, "The Doc wants to see both of us downstairs. It's about the girl." Martha just nodded her head and slowly got up off of the bed and moved towards the door, but turned around and watch as James walked over to Ariana, leaned over and placed a light kiss on her forehead. Ariana stirred slightly and moved around slightly to be more comfy in the bed, clutching the teddy bear that she had ever since she was a baby. Martha smiled at the sight as James walked towards the door. The two shut the bedroom door and started to walk down the stairs.
Once the two reached the floor they turned around and headed to Nueman who had already collected his things and was standing nearby the door. Martha looked up and into the man's tired eyes, and she was suddenly reminded that the man had seen many, many horrors in his old age. And realized that this night had more than likely brought up bad memories for the man. She didn't ask whether or not he was alright after she still had her own demons that were with her from the Belkan War and that had been five years ago. Neuman, on the other hand, had been in multiple wars and watched many friends die right in front of his eyes.
"How is she?" she asked.
"I managed to stop the bleeding and bandaged up her more immediately life-threatening wounds. It was rough a few times but, but… but she'll pull through. The only question is when she will wake up. And that's entirely up to the young miss. If only-" Neuman was about to say something, but cut himself off and gained a faraway look in his eyes. As if he thought about lost friends and past times. And a silent tear fell from his eyes.
"Hey Doc, you alright?" James asked lightly as he stood next to his wife.
Neuman looked up in surprise for a moment, his face twisted in an internal debate with himself for a few seconds, and then he lowered his head back down a second later, in what seemed to be defeat. "Yeah, yeah. I'm alright just… just thinking of some old friends. You know the last time I had seen anyone messed up that badly was back in the war near forty years ago. It brought back some… unpleasant memories." he said quietly, "Well it is time for me to head back to the old house. Good night Martha, James."
Martha was about to open up the door to let their old friend out the door when she thought about how sad Neuman seemed and shut the door suddenly. "You know how late it is actually? It's almost midnight and you must be tired right now from working on helping the girl. So why don't you stay the night? I mean I can set up a bed for you for the night and you can leave in the morning. Right James?" she said as she sent a glare over towards him. Who quickly realized that if he didn't agree with her then the couch would be really warm tonight.
"Yeah, yeah, Neuman why don't you stay the night. We can have a drink and catch up on lost times." James answered quickly as he sweated a little.
"Well… well, I suppose I can stay for the night." Neuman shyly answered.
"Perfect! I'll set up the guest room up for you tonight, while you and James can stay down here and crack up a few beers for us." Martha said to Neuman as James walked over to the garage to grab the drinks. She turned around and started to head up the stairs when Neuman called her back.
"Thank you, my little bird," Neuman said lightly looking at her with grateful and glassy eyes.
Martha smiled a small simile. "Your welcome, Neuman."
The house was soon filled with the sound of laughter and good friends catching up of old times sounded throughout the night.
October 2000 - Southern Osea
Yoshika opened her eyes slowly. And was greeted by the searing dawn light that had flashed through the open window, blinding her for a few seconds. The young teenager pushed herself up off of the bed that she had been lying on top of and moved over towards the open. However, she quickly regretted it as her back suddenly seemed as if it had been lit on fire. She groaned in pain as began to finally notice the bandages that had been wrapped around her chest and onto her back underneath the clothes that she had been dressed in. She took a look at what she was wearing. She wearing a light-yellow shirt that had no sleeves on it and only two straps holding up on her shoulders and an odd pair of what seemed to be a man's pants but the odd thing about them was the fact that they were seemingly cut short and hung just above her knees. Then she looked around at the room that she had been sleeping in. It was a simple room, a bed and a desk with a small bathroom and it's blue painted walls. Yoshika got off the bed slowly as to not aggravate her wounds further and limped her way towards the window. She let out a small gasp at the sight before her. The room that she was in gave her an almost perfect view of a large green field before her that had large trees dotting the field slightly before growing larger in number and merging into a large forest. Hills warped the land, rolling up and down across the horizon. And with the rising sun off in the background, turning sky the light shades of purple and blue but was completely overtaken by the bright golden light of the sun peeking out above the horizon. Though the most intriguing thing was that the trees were turning shades of yellow, red, brown and yet bits of green shown out. A clear sign that fall had arrived.
Yoshika's attention soon shifted towards a mirror that she had noticed sitting off in the corner of the room. She glanced in the mirror and was surprised by what she saw. Yoshika looked as if she was twelve years old and fifteen like she knew she was. The sound of the bedroom door opening up behind her shook her out of her thoughts. A young girl that seemed to be a good amount of years younger than Yoshika was standing in the doorway. She stared at Yoshika for a few agonizing seconds before turning around and bolting down the hallway. Calling out to her mother and father, yelling 'She's awake! She's awake!' Yoshika just quirked up an eyebrow and turned back to her reflection in the mirror.
How is this possible? How can I be twelve, when I was fifteen just a few… minutes… ago? How long have I been out? Where am I anyway? Am I in Britannia or am I in Gallia? And if I am not in either one then where the heck am I? she thought as she stared absentmindedly at the mirror. Not even noticing that the young girl had come back with her parents alongside. When she finally did turn around she was slightly surprised to see the unknown family and realized that she did not hear them come into her room, So she did the most natural thing in this situation
"Ah, you're awake, sweetie. How are you feeling," the woman, that was supposedly the young girl's mother, asked gently as if to not startle Yoshika anymore than she was. Yoshika looked at the woman with a questioning look in her eyes as she debated whether or not to trust her. The woman seemed to have noticed this and turned her head towards the tall man that she had been standing with. Yoshika managed to catch snippets of their little conversation. "James… she's scared… take Ariana and… talk with her… worry… be fine."
The man seemed conflicted for leaving the woman behind in the same bedroom as Yoshika but seemed to realize that this was not a fight that he would win easily or even at all. He let a low sigh and muttered something under his breath, which the woman apparently overheard and broke out into a small smile as the man placed his hand on the young girl's shoulder and turned her around and the two walked out of the open door closing it behind them. The woman walked over to the bed and sat down, quickly gesturing for Yoshika to come and sit down beside her. She looked at the woman as she walked around to sit down on the bed. Once she had gotten a closer look at the woman, she was surprised to notice the many similarities between the woman and herself. The same dark hair, brown color eyes and when the skin tone between the two. There was an awkward silence between the two for a few seconds before the woman took the initiative and asked first.
"What's your name? Mine name's Martha, Martha Nagase."
"Mine's, Yoshika," She replied almost timidly to Martha. Martha smiled back at Yoshika as she began to open up to Martha. Slowly, but still, it was progress.
"How long have I been…" Yoshika started but trailed off.
"'Asleep?' About three months give or take a couple of days."
Yoshika's eyes widened at that fact before she calmed down a bit and started to fire off questions at Martha, "Three months! Where am I? Britannia? Gallia? How has the war been going? Are we still losing? Have you let my squadron know where I am? How is-"
"Woah, Woah! Easy now," Martha interrupted the young girl, "I barely heard half of the thing you just asked me. So ask me again… just slower this time, okay?"
Yoshika nodded her head before turning back towards Martha. Taking a deep breath before she asked again, "Where am I? Britannia or Gallia?"
Martha looked confused, "You… you're in my home… in Southern Osea. And I have never heard of those two places before."
Now it was Yoshika's turn to be confused, she had never of Osea and could not believe that Martha had never heard of Britannia OR Gallia. After all both of them were under siege and controlled recently and both liberated earlier that year, so there was no way that Martha had not heard of either one. Seeing as how the entire world was caught up in the war and usually tuned into what was happening. Unless… I'm not in my world… but that is a crazy idea. But it also explains A LOT of what's going on right now, Yoshika thought up quickly but decided to ask a few more questions before she jumped to conclusions. "I haven't heard of Osea what is it?" she decided to ask Martha, much to the woman surprise.
"Osea… Osea is one of the major countries in Strangereal."
And that tipped it for Yoshika. Once she heard the name 'Strangereal,' she knew that she wasn't home after all she lived on Earth. And that gave rise to another question how in the world did she get here. "How did I get here?" she asked quietly looking outside the window once again with a small longing expression and noticed a bunch of clouds moving in towards the house. Martha watched Yoshika with keen eyes as she looked out the window for a moment before noticing that she had a look of longing on her face. She must have figured out smart girl, Martha realized with a start and she turned her head towards the floor and taking a deep breath that drew Yoshika's attention away from the window and back to her.
"Yoshika, you… you showed up after a weird… storm, I guess, showed up. Both me and my husband, James, were lying down on a hill when this huge thunderstorm showed up out of nowhere, and we saw you fall out of it. You hit the ground near us, but we stayed for a second and watched the storm just kind of dissipate just as suddenly as it showed up. After it was gone we ran straight towards you and we were surprised by what we saw. We saw you strapped into these weird machines that were strapped to your legs. We stored those in the hangar that we have after we fixed you up. I still can't get the image you, a twelve-year-old little girl that hurt out my mind. Ariana, my daughter, she's five years younger than you are," Martha told her almost solemnly. Yoshika heard everything that the woman said though one thing stuck out in her mind was that Martha said that she was twelve when she knew that she was fifteen.
"Wait a minute. You said I was twelve?" Yoshika asked Martha with a look on her face that said she was clearly confused by what she had said.
"Yes, I did why?" Martha replied with a question
"Because, I'm fifteen, not twelve."
Martha was bewildered by that because Neuman had come back several days later and found out that Yoshika was biologically twelve years old. Two completely different doctors had come in also saying the same thing. Yoshika was in a twelve-year-old body. She even explained to her gently of course and she took it well seeing as how Yoshika could not deny the proof that Martha had laid out. She was in another world with no idea where she was and no friends with her to help her through this and she was in her twelve-year-old body once again and she had no idea how to even get back to her world again. As the gravity of her situation finally started to land and take a hold of her, her shoulders started to shake a little bit and a small sob left her lips which did not go unnoticed to Martha.
That fact that she's not from here or even supposed to BE here in this place it must be crushing her, she's been ripped away from everything that she knows and loves. Her friends, her family, heck even her home. If I was her position… I would have just broken down probably and not even do anything, forget even trying to talk.I would've shut down by now, she thought quietly. Martha grasped Yoshika's small form and brought her close to herself and started to comfort her just as if she were comforting Ariana. Martha ran her hand through Yoshika's hair whispering comforting things to the poor girl as she clung to Martha crying silent cries that rose up higher and higher in pitch until Yoshika was wailing inside the small bedroom. The stayed like that until Yoshika finally fell asleep hours later from exhaustion. Martha carefully maneuvered herself out of Yoshika's arms and turned around gently placing Yoshika onto the bed. Although she did not immediately leave the sleeping girl and sat there for a few moments. She looked at Yoshika's sleeping form and reached over brushing a small loose stray of her hair that fallen covering one of Yoshika's closed eyes. Yoshika let a low snore as she laid there, bringing a small smile to Martha's face. She would never admit it to Yoshika until she was older, she grown attached to the girl in the months that she had been taking care of her up in that room. Yoshika shifted to a more comfortable position as she slept and letting out a small sigh of content once she had settled and making Martha's smile a little bigger, as she was amused by Yoshika's little antics. She pushed herself off the bed and walked out of the door and headed downstairs to talk with James and Ariana about something. Something concerning Yoshika and what to do with her.
Yoshika woke up again a few hours later. She sat on the balls of her feet as she looked back out the window of the room that she had been apparently occupying for the past three months now. She sighed quietly as she gazed outside at the open field that had captivated her earlier that morning, now seemed to have a gloomy atmosphere settle over it as the clouds that she had seen earlier had rolled in and blocked out the sunlight. Yoshika looked around the She walked over towards the door of the room and opened it up walked out into the hallway. Yoshika looked down both ways, unsure on which way to go before she heard a small yet large bout of laughter coming from downstairs. Walking slowly down the hallway using the wall as support she made her way to the stairs. After Yoshika managed to reach the bottom of the stairs she followed the string of voices towards the kitchen. As she came close to the door she flattened herself back against the wall as she peeked her head around the corner. She was a little surprised to see both Martha and her husband talking with another man about a great deal younger than the two but they all looked to be good friends, the surprising thing about him though was the fact that the man was in a wheelchair. Although Martha's husband seemed to be a little bit wary of the man in the wheelchair, he even seemed to have a curious aura of regret in his eyes as he looked at him. Yoshika looked closer at the man, he would have been a tall man if he would have been able to stand up and had a kind of dark brown hair.
But Martha had noticed Yoshika peaking around the corner, "Excuse me, James. PJ. But I have to use the ladies room. I'll be back in just a little bit." She got up from the table and started to make her way over towards Yoshika. Who, in seeing Martha walking towards her, had gone up against the wall again to hide herself until Martha reached her. As soon as said person came around the corner she discretely guided Yoshika farther down the hallway and kneeled down in front of the younger girl. "How are feeling, Yoshika?" Martha asked the girl.
"Better," Yoshika replied quietly, "Though I could be better, you know… with all things considered." She looked off to the side slightly with sad eyes, a small frown forming on her face.
Martha just let out a low sigh at her and looked at Yoshika, her face slightly scrunched up in thought. She seemed to be debating something in her and after a couple of seconds one of the sides of the debate won out over the other. Martha opened her out came one question that surprised Yoshika and would change the course of her destiny forever more. From this one moment and Yoshika answer the histories of not only the world of Strangereal but Yoshika's homeworld of Earth would be forever marked in stone.
"How would you like to stay… and live here, in this house, with me and family?" she asked. Yoshika's head shot towards Martha, eyes wide and her mouth open in shock at Martha's inquiry. After all, she had not even been awake for days, months even. So Martha had no idea who or what she was like as a person. Yet, she… she offered something that no other person in their right minds EVER would do. She offered Yoshika a place inside her home. She offered her a place to stay, but not only that she offered Yoshika a place inside her family, her FAMILY. That in itself spoke bounds to Yoshika.
Martha who noticed Yoshika's stunned silence started talking again, "I know that it will not be the same as back home. I mean with your family and friends not here, but we can-Ughh." She was cut off by Yoshika throwing her small frame against Martha's and clung to her tightly. Tears started streaming down the young girl's face as she cried once again. But they were not tears of sadness that she was crying mere hours earlier but they were instead tears of joy and happiness. The two stayed like that for a few seconds and as Yoshika was crying she whispered out "Thank you. Thank you," to Martha who had just wrapped her arms around her. Martha sat there for a moment thinking of what to say before whispering two words to Yoshika, "You're welcome."
A whole new bout of tears was brought from Yoshika and as Martha glanced out the window saw something that she would say for many, many years to come. She saw a single, yet a bright ray of golden sunshine peak out through the dark clouds and shine on the fields after that moment.
August 2008 - Southern Osea
A young woman walked out the doors of the ODF recruitment office and turned to head back to her 'parents' house. She sighed as she walked through the parking lot, almost dreading the conversation that she would have with the family who had taken care of her for the past eight years. James and Martha Nagase took in Yoshika when she woke up in this strange world and gave her a new life to live, as Kei Nagase their 'daughter.' After a few years had passed by, Yoshika had even asked Martha to start calling her 'Kei' all the time now, much to her surprise. When she asked Yoshika whether or not she liked her name she told her, "Well, of course, I like my name. I mean it's my only connection to my past, but it's well past time for me to let go of it… after all, it is time for me to stop dwelling on what's past and live life in the present." When Kei had told Martha that, she realized that this was not just a cover for Yoshika, but this was, in fact, a new, fresh start for the young girl. Though over time James, himself who was initially wary of her after both her arrival and quick folding into their family, began to look at Kei as if she was his own flesh and blood daughter, much like Ariana. Who had just recently turned fifteen, and had come to look up to Kei as an older sister. At first, Kei was a little apprehensive of portraying the part of a Nagase for the first year, but she later grew into the role and actually began to see James and Martha as her parents and even came to love Ariana as her little sister.
Kei smiled lightly at the thought of her younger sister who had almost immediately warmed up to her, excited at the thought of her finally having an older sister in the house. The two quickly grew to like one another as they played around and get trouble and bonded as only sisters could when Kei went through her high school years.
She walked over towards her car an old 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner the same one that Neuman had given to Kei two years after she arrived on her birthday, which had luckily correlated across the worlds that she now called home. Kei had appreciated the gift and went out and gotten the car repainted a coarse navy blue with white racing stripes down the body of the car across the top. With Nueman's approval of course and him saying that "The old girl needs a fresh start… and a new paint job." Kei had taken up responsibility for the car and keeping the thing maintained, and it was all thanks to James and Neuman teaching her how to work on both airplanes and cars, respectfully. Needless to say that she had picked up on her old friend's love for tuning up her machines… and her love for speed since being in a couple of races with her car's V8 three-hundred and thirty-five horsepower engine. And won quite a few of them.
She drove slowly through town as she looked around. Glancing at all of the shops and stores that had been open for the past years. The candy store that Kei and Ariana always hung out with each other and the arcade that she hung with her best friends. Then as she was driving down the road she heard one of her favorite songs. She quickly turned up the radio and started to sing along to it.
"Oh. Once upon a midnight dreary
I woke with something in my head
I couldn't escape the memory
Of a phone call and of what you said."
"Like a game show contestant with a parting gift
I could not believe my eyes
When I saw through the voice of a trusted friend
Who needs to humor me and tell me lies
Yeah, humor me and tell me lies."
"And I'll lie too and say I don't mind
And as we seek so shall we find
And when you're feeling open I'll still be here
But not without a certain degree of fear
Of what will be of me and you
I can still see things hopefully."
"But you!
Why you want to give me a run-around?!
Is it a sure-fire way to speed things up?!
When all it does is slow me down"
"And shake me and my confidence
About a great many things
But I've been there I can see it cower
Like a nervous magician waiting in the wings"
"Of a bad play where the heroes are right
And nobody thinks or expects too much
And Hollywood's calling for the movie rights
Singing, hey babe let's keep in touch!
Hey baby let's keep in touch!"
"But I want more than a touch I want you to reach me
And show me all the things no one else can see
So what you feel becomes mine as well
And soon if we're lucky we'd be unable to tell
What's yours and mine, the fishing's fine
And it doesn't have to rhyme, so don't you feed me a line"
"But you!
Why you wanna give me a run-around?!
Is it a sure-fire way to speed things up?!
When all it does is slow me down"
"Tra la la la la bombardier this is the pilot speaking
And I've got some news for you
It seems my ship still stands no matter what you drop
And there ain't a whole lot that you can do"
"Oh sure the banner may be torn and the wind's gotten colder
Perhaps I've grown a little cynical
But I know no matter what the waitress brings
I shall drink it and always be full
Yeah, I will drink it and always be full"
"Oh I like coffee, and I like tea
I'd like to be able to enter a final plea
I still got this dream that you just can't shake
I love you to the point you can no longer take"
"Well all right okay
So be that way, I hope and pray
That there's something left to say"
"For you, now!
Why you wanna give me a run-around?!
Is it a sure-fire way to speed things up?!
When all it does is slow me down"
"Oh, yeah, now!
Why you wanna give me a run-around?!
Is it a sure-fire way to speed things up?!
When all it does is slow me down."
Kei turned down a dirt road is the song ended and drove down it for a little while longer and soon her house showed up on the same hill that it had been for years now. She pulled up into the driveway, shutting off the engine and got out of her car and walked into her family's large two-story farm-house. She stopped at the door for a moment to collect both her thoughts and her nerves before she opened up the door and walked in. The screen door slammed behind her as she called out to, "Hey Mom! Dad! Ari! I'm back, guys!"
Then she heard a thundering of footsteps as the shadowy form of a teenager appeared at the top of the stairwell. "Kei!" Ariana shouted as she flew down the stairs and jumped into Kei, who threw her arms around Ariana and into a tight hug.
"How was work?" Ariana asked quickly and looked at Kei with big adoring eyes.
"Eh, it was alright. Mr. Damon asked me to fix up the Jackson's truck. And I fixed up their old Chevy… that and I got to fly Nueman's brother's old P-40 after I fixed it up."
"WHAT?! You got to fly Sirena?!" Ariana exclaimed with wide, amazed eyes.
"Yep," Kei answered casually and let go of Ariana who quickly spun around Kei and jumped onto her back. Slightly knocking the wind out of Kei as she wasn't ready for Ariana's sudden assault, and hunched forward as Ariana wrapped her arms around Kei's neck tightly as to not fall off, but not tight enough to completely choke her older sister.
Kei chuckled at Ariana's antics and turned her slightly to look at her, "What are you four years old?" Ariana nodded her head in response to Kei's question and her amusement. As she walked forward and into the kitchen where she spied Martha working in the kitchen working on making tonight's dinner.
"Hey, Mom," Kei said to her as she came around the corner and walked in through the door. Martha stopped cooking for a few seconds and turned towards Kei. She took in the sight of the two sisters with a smile on her face, after all, Ariana had just loved Kei to death ever since she had come into their lives. Kei set Ariana down onto the ground and turned back to Martha.
"Where's dad at? I need to talk with the two of you about something," Kei asked.
"Um, I think he's out in the hangar working on a few of the planes. He could probably use some help out there if you girls want to help him. I'm sure that he would appreciate the help. Oh, and let him know that I'm cooking his favorite tonight," Martha said to the two with a smile.
"Okay, Mom," the two sisters said at the same time before turning around and bolting out the back door and headed towards the family hangar. "Hey, Kei," Ariana called out getting her attention, Kei looked at her younger sister a questioning look on Kei's face.
"Race you!" Ariana challenged her sister before bolting off towards the hangar. Kei caught on a second later and sprinted after her younger sister, a smile lighting up her face the whole time.
"Ha, I beat you Kei!" Ariana shouted to her older sister as she reached the door to the hangar, at the same time as Kei did. Kei looked over at the younger sibling in mock surprise. "What do you mean you won? I clearly touched the door before you did," Kei calmly proclaimed, her sarcasm neatly hidden in her voice. To the outside observer, Kei was clearly setting a trap for the younger sibling, who fell right into it.
"Hey! No, you didn't! I was first you need to get your eyes checked! Beside's…" Ariana yelled animatedly at her older sister. Kei just smiled at her sibling's antics before opening the door.
"Alright, alright. You made your point, crazy. Now, are you going to go in or do I have to force you to," Kei shot to her sister, who wisely decided not to take the bait this time around and walked into the hangar. Who Kei quickly followed inside, closing the door behind her. The hanger wasn't big by any standards and was cluttered with the thousands of airplane parts and tools that you could barely see the concrete floor through them. There were not that many planes inside of the place, just the two old crop duster biplanes that the family had for the fields and an old Osean TBF Avenger that Martha's grandfather had flown in the Second World War, but there were two massive planes near the back of the hangar that were each covered those two Kei had only seen uncovered three times in all of her years of living there. The two sisters glanced around the hangar searching for their father, before Ariana got tired of looking for him and called out, "Dad! Where are you?!"
The two heard a loud bang and clatter of tools hitting the ground off near the old Avenger, followed a string of curses as James shuffled around the plane towards the two. As his face popped around the corner it was clear to the sisters that James had been working on the plane for several hours since he had grease and oil stains decorating both his face and his clothes. He looked he had banged his head on either the fuselage of the plane or on the bottom of his work bench seeing as how he was rubbing the back of his head. He looked the two sisters, who were barely containing their laughter, seeing this James gave the sisters a glare. Which set the two off into bouts of laughter, as their father just glared even harder. But even then he still had a small smile of amusement on his face. "So, did your mother send you twin devils out here to come and help me finish up work on the old plane," he asked after the two girls settled down a little bit.
"Yeah, that and she told to let you know that she's cooking your favorite tonight," Ari told him with a knowing smirk on her face. Which was clearly noticed and quickly mirrored by Kei. James' reaction was almost instantaneous, his face seemingly lit up as his hazel eyes brightened and his mouth broke out into an enormous grin.
"Grilled chicken breasts with pineapple?"
Kei answered this time, "Yep, that's it."
"God, I love that woman," he commented off handed, much to the girls amusement as they giggled at him. James realized that he had said that out loud and turned red, causing the girls to start laughing at him even more.
"If you girls are done laughing at your old man. Can you help me, now?"
"Sure, Dad," the two answered in unison.
James smiled and moved back towards the old, rusting plane. With Kei and Ariana following close behind. "So… how was work, Kei?" James asked the eldest.
"It was good, and nothing crazy happened for once…" Kei answered, "and I got fly Sirena."
"WHAT?!" Kei just laughed.
The three of them came in a half-an-hour later, all dirty and eager for dinner. Only to be turned away by Martha saying that she, "… will not feed people that will stink up the room and mess up my perfectly clean chairs. Go and take some damn showers!"
Needless to say, none of the three wanted to face the wrath of Martha and quickly sprinted to the showers. After that little fiasco, dinner went off without a hitch and Kei was currently washing up the dishes with Ariana. "Oh! Kei, didn't you have something to tell us when you got home?" Martha asked from where she was sitting at the table slowly nursing her drink, along with James. Catching both his attention and Ariana's.
"Yeah, I remember that! So what do you have to tell us Kei?" the latter inquired.
Ah, shit, Iforgot about that, Kei thought berating herself a tiny bit for forgetting. I don't even have an idea on how I am going to tell them."Ummm… can it wait until after Ari and I finish up with the dishes? We can talk about it in the living room then," Kei requested from her family, while internally pleading for her sister to not push the issue. Because, knowing Ariana, she would. So when she agreed to wait with Martha and James, Kei breath in a sigh of relief. At least that gives me a couple of minutes to try and figure out something, Kei mused as she turned her attention back to the dishes.
A few minutes later though when everything was done and put away Kei was panicking. She had no idea on who she was going to break the news to them. Crap! I don't have anything! Ughh… it looks like I am just to have to wing it, and hope for the best! Kei thought. She walked out of the kitchen and moved over to the living room. Martha had been standing up next to the couch that Ariana was sitting on and James had decided to sit down on one of the chairs in the room. And with their attention turned squarely onto Kei.
Said person shifted a little under the gazes, and took a deep breath to calm down and collect herself.
"Look, there's no easy for me to say this so I'll just say it…" Kei admitted. The trio looked at her with confused and questioning looks.
"I signed up in the Air Defense Force... and I'm going to Heierlark Air Force Base for training in about two weeks," Kei said calmly to the two adults knowing that they would probably not take the news well seeing as how their pasts with the military were. Martha's jaw dropped open slightly and she moved to sit herself down on the couch, while Ariana's eyes widened slightly, and James' closed in amusement as a small smirk sprouted for his lips. Then seconds later the mother-father pair burst out into giggles and laughter, respectfully, much to their daughters' confusion on what so funny. After they had calmed down, Martha decided to explain themselves, "That's great sweetheart, we always figured that you would have gone to the military life, seeing as how you're life was before you came here. And what we were back then in the war, it almost expected of you. So we aren't mad at you or surprised, sweetie."
James conceded in his wife statement with a nod his head. Kei let out a smile at that, the thought that her new family didn't oppose her decision to sign up into the military. After all, since that night all those years ago, Kei began to realize that the military life was in her blood now. In the year that she had been there with the 501st, she had grown to like and even love her life in the military. Kei thought all the way back to that fateful day when Mio came to her front door that day. Kei had come to realize that she was a certainly a naive kid given the fact that the world was in the middle of a war, a war that had been costing hundreds of people's lives every week. Kei shook herself from her thoughts as the other three watched her as if they were waiting for an answer to a question or something.
"Uhh, sis. You okay there? You kinda spaced out there," Ariana told her.
"Huh, oh. Yeah, yeah, I'm alright. Just got lost in thought. What's up?" she responded.
"That's alright, sweetie. We were just wondering how long it would be until you shipped out," their mother inquired for Kei.
"Umm, in about two weeks."
"Really, that long. When I signed up for the war it only took me two or three days to be shipped out," James remarked offhandedly from his chair.
"Well, that tends to happen when you guys have a war going on," Kei retorted much enjoyment and laughter of the others. After that laughter died away, Martha and Ariana turned to each other and started to make some schemes of what to do with Kei during her last two weeks there. Much to James' horror, and moved his hand down towards the pocket where he had kept his wallet. Silent tears falling down his face as mourned the loss of his money. Kei just leaned up against the doorframe and watched her family with a growing smile on her face. Man, I love you guys, Kei thought fondly.
The next two weeks were filled with fun and laughter, but it all came to an end when they all headed to the nearest military base for Kei to leave. She left her family with tearful eyes and hugs before she turned around and boarded the transport. Heading off towards her new life as a fresh nugget in the ODF.
August 2008 - Heierlark AFB
Kei woke up with a jolt when the wheels of the C-130 Hercules transport plane bounced on the pavement of the runway. She glanced around the bay of the plane and saw that several others were already awake while most of the other nugget pilots were just starting to stir from their sleep. She looked around the plane and noticed that there were two new pilots that she recognized, talking with another one that she did not know. Kei brow scrunched up a bit in confusion though as she walked over towards them, "Helen? Alex? Is that you two?"
The three looked over to Kei, and she instantly recognized as the Marcum twins. The sister duo looked over at Kei as she made her way over to them. Helen and Alex were nearly identical with one another, from their dirty blonde hair to their nearly forest green eye color, though the difference between the two were their differences in personalities. While both of them were outgoing and very proactive people, Helen was more of a leader than Alex was and Helen was more headstrong than her sister always throwing herself into fights headfirst while Alex liked to go with the flow. Also, the sisters had different tastes in music, Alex liked the older 40s and 50s rock and roll, heck she even liked to jive as she listened to it. Helen on the other hand liked to listen to some 90s alternative and all.
The three of them had met each other in middle school and had instantly become close friends with one another. Helen, the leader, her sister, the loyal second, and Kei, the brains of the outfit. They were the terrible trio all throughout high school and got good grades even to the torment and surprise of the teachers and the students at the school. They were thick as thieves, they were. Until the twins parents moved over to a different town to live in just barely a year after they all got out of school. The friends had stayed in contact with each other for about a year before they all lost touch with one another. Now, we're back together with each other. Just like old times, Kei thought fondly with a smile as she made her way to them.
"Kei?! Is that you?" Helen asked as she ran towards her old friend and wrapped her in a tight hug. One which Kei eagerly returned. When the three had apart from each other they had all written letters to one another, but it was mostly Kei and Alex were always the ones to send letter between one another. However, after a few years, the friends had slowly drifted apart from one another and Kei had not heard anything from in the past two years. The two pulled themselves apart from one another and started talking about what the two had missed over the years very animatedly for a couple of minutes. Until the loud sound of Alex clearing her throat brought the two's attention back to Alex standing next to the guy. Kei and Helen broke apart and looked at Alex a little sheepishly for a moment. After a brief exchange of greetings between the pair, Kei turned towards the guy that the sisters had been talking to earlier. She thrust out her hand toward him, "Hi there, my name's Kei Nagase."
The guy looked at her outstretched palm for a quick second before taking it. "The name's Alvin. But everybody just calls me Chopper," he said. After that Kei had a feeling that the four of them where going to be close friends with each other in the many years to come.
September 2010 - Sand Island
The transport plane bumped up and down the pavement as came in for a landing on the runway. Shaking all of the rookie pilots awake in the hold of the huge, lumbering C-17 Globemaster. All but a certain quartet that was all sitting together there in the hold, Kei, Helen, Chopper, and Alex. The small quartet of friends had stayed up talking amongst themselves about their first assignment and future training all throughout the long flight. During their two years at Heierlarck, the four friends had quickly figured out that while Helen was the better pilot of the four, seeing as how she could fly circles around the others, Kei was the better shot, able to pull off shots that even the most experienced pilots could not do. Although, that did not necessarily mean that Kei was not a bad pilot, no. In fact, she was one of the top five pilots in the class, with Helen in the top spot and Alex trailing in the fourth spot. Chopper had surprisingly taken the third position, given the fact that although the man tended to run his mouth off towards superiors he actually was a pretty decent pilot.
The four stopped talking with each other when they felt the massive transport roll to a stop, and quickly gather up their things before the plane's massive ramp lowered down. The four followed the ten other cadets out of the back of the plane. As they made their way outside, they were greeted by the bright shine of the tropical sun that they had not gotten in the two years at Heierlarck. Kei had to close her eyes as she walked out due to the searing light from the sun.
Then Kei noticed two men came walking to the group of nuggets. The two looked completely different from one another, while the man walking behind the other one was fairly skinny compared to the other one who seemed to be more of a beached whale rather than a person. The stopped right in front of the group the Mr. 'Beached Whale' seemed to take a breath for a second before talking. "Alright, you nuggets! I am Colonel Perrault, and your new base commander! Now then, follow Captain Hamilton here, to your quarters and drop off your crap, before you come and meet with me in the briefing room. I will hand your first assignments out there. Dismissed!" he barked out at them before turning around and walked back over towards the main building. The newly named Hamilton just let a sigh as he watched the whale walk, well more like waddled, away and turned his attention back to the new pilots.
"Sorry about that," he apologized to them, "he is usually more bark then he is bite, and you'll get used to it after a while. But as he said earlier, I am Captain Hamilton. The Joint Base Commander here. Anyways let's get you guys to your rooms." Hamilton turned around and led them through the hallways of the base towards their quarters. Stopping periodically so that other pilots could into their rooms before we stopped again. "Nagase, Kei. Marcum, Helen. You ladies are staying here get your stuff stowed away and meet up with the others in the briefing room in ten minutes. Also, you may want to get dressed in flight suits, you all have a hop today."
The two women nodded in response before turning around and making their way through the door. The room itself wasn't much, there was a pair of bunk beds tucked up against with a desk and a couch across the room. But there was a window that gave way to a pretty nice view of the runway and out towards to the ocean. The two looked at each other before a smile broke out on Kei's face. "I call top!" she called out as she shot towards the bed, seconds before Helen did.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Helen yelled at Kei as she climbed up onto the bunk. Kei just laughed it off and turned her attention to her two bags. She opened up the larger of the two bags first, inside of it were some personal belongings, stuff for her hygiene, also a couple changes of clothes and two sets of her flight suit. Kei pulled one of them out and laid it out on her bed before turning her attention to the second duffel bag. She placed her hand onto the bag and opened up slightly, giving her just enough room to pull out her disassembled .338 Magnum AWM rifle. Kei looked over the rifle for a moment before she opened the bag just a little bit farther, reaching in a pulled back the back mat that covered up a second rifle.
"What you looking at there, Kei?" Helen asked as she popped her head up above the stairs. Startling her as she jumped a little bit and frantically shut the bag. She leveled a glare at her friend as Kei quickly tried to come up with a cover story before answering.
"I was… just looking at my rifle," she said before she moved towards the edge bed, gesturing her hand towards the AWM as she moved. Helen looked at the gun for a second before turning back towards her friend. "Isn't that the rifle that you won the National Sharpshooter Competition with?"
"Yeah," Kei answered as she pulled on her flight suit, "and I've won it four years in a row by the way. Also, you may want to get yourself dressed we have to meet up with the Colonel."
Helen's eyes widened for a split second before she turned around, and ran around frantically, trying to get her own flight suit on. Kei laughed at her best friend's antics for a few seconds.
TBC = Chapter 3 - One Really, Really Bad Day
A/N: Alrighty Yoshika is now Kei Nagase! And I'm sorry about not posting lately, I have been busy around the house and have had a small case on writer's block on certain parts in this chapter. Also for her confusion on the shorts, you guys have to remember that shorts were not around Yoshika's time.
Anyway three things. First- I will be referring Yoshika as Kei from here throughout the rest of the story, but she will still respond to her real name. Second- The Circum-Pacific War will be stretched out over a period of two years instead of a few months like in the actual game. I'll explain why later. Third- To explain why Yoshika is suddenly twelve years-old instead of fifteen is that when she passed through the portal she decreased in age by about three years is to help develop the plot a little more. Also thinking about writing a little side-story about the 501st after Yoshika's 'death' centered around Lynne and Sanya.
Plus, if any of you can name the song that I have playing then props to you! Or what Martha and James are hiding then leave a review in the comments.
And please review for Christs' sake! I am writing this story SOLO with NO Beta readers! So is it a little too much to ask for a review every once in awhile! I mean I am writing this for you guys, and I know that you all are reading this I check the stats almost daily!
Whew, now that the rant is over, this is DesertWriter01 out!