Chapter 9: Rekindling the Flame

(Eric's P.O.V.)

Sakido, who was standing across from me with an aggravated glare in her eye, looked back at me in an almost pleading way. The scientists had been having a field day with Sakido and myself after they got over their initial fear and shock; but while they only had been observing and taking notes of my fire magic, they were taking every tiny detail of Sakido and placing it on paper. From her magic, her species, her appearance, and even questioning her on her diet and other nonsense, they made sure to take care of it all. That wasn't the main annoyance she was dealing with, and with another cringe of pain from our mental link, I let the fireball in my hand extinguish; much to the disappointing protest of the scientist. One look in his direction was enough to silence the unsaid words he was about to say, and with that I was able to make my way towards Sakido.

Sakido pulled away from the scientists' hands and stepped to the side as she turned and faced the scientist as well; the harsh light from the work lights casting deep shadows that only added to her displeased expression. The scientist was a stout man, and in his hands was a tool meant for measuring military equipment, not the body parts of a demoness. As I crossed my arms and looked down at the man in front of me, he looked up in confusion, and from the corner of my eye I saw Jonathon look up from where he was working on the Humvee. I didn't pay him much attention however as I growled in my throat and asked, "What do you think you're doing with that tool, private?"

He wasn't technically a private, yet as he didn't have a title, I felt it was correct to give him the lowest rating there is to be had. Either way, my tone or the growl I had started with in the back of my throat caused the man to shy away a foot or so; his tool lowering as he tried to bring less attention to it. I looked over as Jonathon started to make his way towards us, but my attention was brought back to the man in front of me as he coughed, and asked more than said, "I am, was... er, measuring the wings length?"

I felt a sneer cross my lips as I looked at him, and I shook my head in distaste, "That sure isn't what it felt like..."

"If you wish, I can demonstrate how... uncomfortable that implement you have in your hand feels, median. I will use it just how you were." Sakido took a step forward as she glowered at the scientist. I stepped over and placed my body alongside her own, feeling the anger she had been building slowly dissipating. The scientist however, upon hearing her anger and seeing the many teeth in her muzzle, had lost quite a bit of color.

He opened his mouth to say something, but I preempted him by raising my hand –signaling for him to halt whatever it was he was going to say- and instead cleared my throat. His eyes shifted between Sakido and I, but in the end landed on me as I began to speak, "Now is when you apologize, put away your... tool, and then go do something else..."

His eyes flashed towards Sakido's, and I too looked over and up into her eyes to see a displeased glare in her eye. She glanced down at me momentarily, and in that brief instant, I saw the burning anger deep in those eyes. "I... I'm s-sorry that I hurt y-ou ma'me... I will just, er, be going now then..."

We both had looked towards him as he had began to speak, yet when he quickly turned and walked away at a brisk pace, Jonathon reached us and looked towards the retreating scientist. 'You should have let me choose the punishment for him... he would've gotten what he deserved instead of that slap on the hand you gave him.'

I frowned a bit as I watched the scientist disappear into one of the BTR's, and I sighed as I would've preferred to let Sakido handle that situation. I agree darlin... but if I had let you do that, then you could've hurt him... scientists and soldiers are built differently. Had you even zapped him with your electricity, you may have given him a heart attack. Poor bastard looked like he was gonna die when you spoke up.

"Care to explain why you sent one of my men running into a vehicle with his tail between his legs Eric?"

'Since when did humans have tails?'

I felt myself grin as I chuckled, and I looked towards Jonathon and said, "He was being careless... besides, I could've scared him worse." Looking over my shoulder at Sakido, I grinned even wider as I answered her question, No... it is a figure of speech. I felt myself chuckle again as the mood began to lighten, A beautiful, yet fearsome demoness... with such a cute question.

When she only answered me with silence, I looked over and saw her cheeks appeared to be colored, if extremely faintly, but I looked back forward and saw Jonathon looking between Sakido and I with a bemused expression. He nodded towards me once he was sure he had my attention before he said, "I know you two are used to using your gifts... but please keep it verbal around me and my men."

Walking up to Jonathon, I clapped a hand onto his shoulder firmly as I laughed, and I looked towards Sakido and winked as I said, "What is said between Sakido and I will always remain between us. Besides, you should know; you wouldn't be able to enforce that request... I still hold the higher rank, even if I went MIA."

He bristled, but didn't say anything else, and we made our way away from the makeshift testing area that had been hastily erected. I let go of Jonathon's shoulder as I asked, "On to business though, what are your orders? Any special assignments I am unaware of or any alterative tasks that command instructed you to carry out?"

Jonathon looked over at me, but he didn't say anything as his eyes looked me over. He seemed to be thinking something over, but it wasn't much of a wait as he let out a sigh, "Our main objective was to recover you, while simultaneously eliminating any rebels we come across. Now that our primary objective is complete, however, we should meet up with the second half of our convoy and return to the portal."

When he finished, I felt myself wince internally, and the brief uneasy feeling I felt was noticed by Sakido as well. The reason for my uneasy feeling, was I was VIP of this operation, and that wasn't something I was pleased with. Yes, I was happy, downright elated I was important enough to get a search team to come looking for me, but I wasn't happy with what that entailed; and more importantly what I would need to say.

"I have both good news, and bad news, which you want to hear first?" Jonathon looked over his shoulder over to me, a glint in his eyes as we both knew he wouldn't like the bad news; although only I knew what it was right now.

He turned back forward as he said, "Let's hear the good word first."

We stopped beside a BTR, and he began to tighten a few straps as I motioned towards Sakido, "We eliminated any and all Rebel personnel we came across, along with taking out the helo's they brought along with them. All weapons they had are stored away in underground locations at the towns they visited, and all munitions were used, buried along with the weapons, or carried with us. As far as I know, none of the local population gained use of these weapons... so if we are going to meet up with the other part of your convoy, I suggest we stop by some of these towns and collect these weapons, before the locals find them."

Jonathon stopped his actions, and he looked over at me with a curious expression as he asked, "How can you be sure that you killed them all?"

I shrugged my shoulders as I said, "I can't be sure, but with the amount of weapons they had, the amount of troops, and the available troop capacity of two Mi troop transports, I can assume that they were all killed. In the off chance that I am wrong, then there is probably half a dozen rebels left alive... but that would be a stretch. Even if there were a few left alive, I killed the leader here... confirmed death."

The memory of that gruesome kill... murder... was enough for me to lose any and all positive emotions in that single moment, and it wasn't lost on Jonathon; though he chose to ignore it for the time being. Yet as I stood there, fists clenched, I felt a comforting hand grab my shoulder, before a welcoming voice entered my mind.

'We all make mistakes that at times, we aren't proud of Eric. You chose to not continue that act after you became aware of your actions, and you regret it. You once told me that regretting the action makes you a better person...'

Hearing that was enough for me to smile, even if it was bittersweet, but it was enough for me as I looked over and said quietly, "Thank you, Sakido." She smiled at me as she nodded once, her eyes never leaving my own as I thought about what she told me. I felt myself smile some more as I she took her hand from my shoulder.

We both turned towards Jonathon as he said thoughtfully, "You have changed since coming here, Eric." He smiled a bit, though it was, expectedly, short-lived. I knew why before the question even left his lips, "What of the bad news now?"

My smile fell again, but I put on a firm look as I squared my shoulders, and I said, "I won't be leaving Fragaria." His surprise was expected, but I continued, "I miss Earth, but Fragaria is my new home now. I have too much here that I won't have back on Earth... I love Sakido, and I wouldn't ever leave her just to return to my old way of life."

The surprise disappeared, and was replaced by a stern expression, with a hint of anger that got even my beloved Sakido to step forward, as if anticipating something to happen. Jonathon stepped forward by one foot as he asked, "Eric, do you understand what you are saying? As a friend, I need to tell you, that is foolish choice. As a fellow soldier, I must inform you that you have a duty to your fellow men to serve your military."

He appeared angry, almost as if I had insulted him in some way. His posture showed it too, with how he even stood I knew he didn't want to go any further, yet beneath the stern glare in his eyes, the angry light behind that, I saw a worried concern. He was leaned a bit forward as well, waiting my answer, but before I could even say anything, Sakido chose to speak up instead. "Eric, what if we go back to Earth after meeting with Buwaro?"

Jonathon didn't even look towards Sakido as he said, "Because, the portal to Earth closes in a little over a week... permanently. There will be no coming back."

"Jonathon," I saw him tense up a bit, and I simply shook my head as I reached over and grabbed Sakido's hand, "I will accompany you to collecting those weapons, and even going back to the portal, but I have too much here to just return to Earth. Why do you think I volunteered for that mission in the first place?"

"Because you were best suited for the mission, and you were the only one capable of succeeding and coming out alive."

His answer was solid and almost entirely truthful, but even I hadn't expected to come out of that mission without scratches. Yet I had another answer to my own question. "That statement is only partially true." Letting go of Sakido's hand, as I knew she was still embarrassed of prolonged public affection, I continued, "At the time, I didn't have anything tying me down. No family which to care of, no relationships, and a few friends. Now though... Sakido and I need to stay together. We aren't just bound together because we care about each other. If I were to die, then she would too, and vise-versa." Gesturing towards the tree line past the vehicles, I said, "This is where I belong now..."

Jonathon looked away from me and to the distant unforeseen lands, and as he did, I saw his posture become deflated. It was a losing battle for him, and I knew it would hurt him... we were more than brothers in arms, but there were some friendships that were hard to forget.

'Why does he seem adamant for your stay in Fragaria?'

Not removing my gaze from Jonathon as I lowered my arm, I crossed my arms over my chest as I said, "This will just need to be the first mission you don't complete Jonathon. And this one won't be your fault."

We are like brothers. We have already saved each other's likes multiple times. You don't come close to dying, or risking your own hide, without becoming family. I felt myself smirk very faintly as I thought of something else. And so far, his mission record is exceptional... all assignments complete without any blemish. This will be the first one...

Jonathon looked back towards me, and he frowned, before he shook his head and said, "I want you to think about it... and at the end of the mission, then I want your input." He shook his head, and then said, "Saddle up... we are moving in five."

He turned and walked away, and when he disappeared around the front of the BTR, I looked over and saw Sakido giving me a remorseful look. She shook her head, but didn't say anything as she stepped forward and pulled me into a firm hug. I chuckled as I remembered the time when this would've caused a much different scenario, but I hugged her back as I felt the turmoil in my chest constricting my heart. Yet as I held Sakido, I buried my face in her cloak and thought, I love you, my dear Sakido...

'And I you, Eric...'

...

The night passed by quickly, and luckily without another attack of which Jonathon had described to me in further detail once we were underway. Yet the majority of the night had been spent catching up with each other, reminiscing about the old days when we were still being trained in the field, and even trading stories. Sakido, while quiet most of the time and content to listen in, had even surprised us with a few of her own stories. She obviously censored some of the more harmful experiences to keep the stories safe for Jonathon's ears, but I still saw the sadness in her eyes when she thought of Hell.

Now however, as the early morning light began to stain the sky with bright yellows and reds, the birds beginning their morning songs, and much of the wild fauna beginning to blossom from the sun rays that managed to strike them, I saw an interesting sight; Jonathon pulling a journal out of his combat vest. He was mainly facing away from us, but I could still make out the leather appearing a little rough around the edges, with a pencil featuring more of a stick with charcoal at the end.

It appeared local made...

Yet as he began to write, I averted my gaze to at least give him that sense of privacy, though I made sure to file that knowledge away for later to ask him about it. But as I looked away, my eyes were almost magnetically drawn to Sakido's sleeping form. She had fallen asleep an hour or so ago, but it was in the most peculiar position I had ever seen; even from how other soldiers had fallen asleep. She had her head propped up with an arm, one leg stretched out, with the other bent in a way so that she could support her elbow. She was leaning partially on the turret, but it was -bless whatever god was watching over us- locked down tight and secured so that it wouldn't fire. I knew from experience how loud it was for one of those things to shoot, but with Sakido's sensitive hearing and close proximity, it would be worse than a bad wakeup call.

Smiling as I looked away from my sleeping love, I turned back to Jonathon and saw him watching with a curious expression. Once I was looking towards him, he motioned for me to approach, yet as the BTR was moving at a considerable speed, I chose to do so at a crouching pace, whilst also avoiding the few branches overhead. I won't say it wasn't a bit disconcerting as the BTR would occasionally hit a rough patch of dirt or a small hole, but it did bring back a few memories.

Dropping myself beside Jonathon, I kicked one leg over the edge and buried my heel into a handle, while propping my other leg on another one. Looking over to Jonathon, I saw him smile as he asked, "You and the demon? How did that come to be?"

For the first time in a while, a person other than Sakido was the cause of my cheeks flaring in heat, and I chuckled as those memories became the forefront of my mind. Placing my elbows on my knees as I looked forward, I did feel a bit embarrassed by some of the things I did back then; yet back then I had learned of a whole lot of new realities. One of those embarrassments was quite literally, a foolish man's wish to die; giving Sakido -a demon- a kiss full on her lips, and then taunting her. Yet that was also probably the beginning of our romantic relationship building, albeit a bit rocky.

"Where do I begin?" I shook my head as I continued to smile towards the ground, "I can start with how I resurrected her from the grave. Our first true kiss, or even when we began to truly feel for each other..." depending on what he wanted to know, there were so many different answers I could give.

"Wait... resurrected?"

My smile widened some more, so that is where I start from...

Looking over at Jonathon, I gave him a cheeky grin as I nodded, and then said, "Yeah, straight from the grave." My answer created a show of emotions to play across his face; curiosity, surprise, fear, but most of all, astonishment. "As you are well aware of, angels and demons are quite literally, a part of reality in this world. I'm not sure if our angels and demons exist or not, but this world has magical guardians, along with gods... from what I have gathered."

"Eric, stop for a second! Are you saying that the Gods of this world exist... as in more than one?" He eyes had since widened, and I couldn't quite place what the emotion was, but my simple nod was enough for him to ask loudly, "How is that even possible!?"

"Hush!" Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Sakido stir a bit, though she remained asleep after she repositioned herself closer to the turret. Letting out a relieved sigh, I turned and glared at Jonathon, before I continued, "Yes, there are three gods... Gaia, the mother of angels, Syndel, Father of demons, and Death, The person that brings those that dies either to Heaven or Hell. I don't know much about them, but I have met a few Guardians during my time here in Fragaria."

"These Guardians, they are like demigods from Greek mythology?"

"I wouldn't say from Greek myths... but that is as close as I can guess." I shrugged my shoulder as I reached a hand up and scratched at my chin. "We are getting off subject though... you wanted to know how Sakido and I came to become a couple, correct?" At his nod, I smiled as I said, "Well, as you can see, Sakido is a demon. This had obviously, created some complications when we first met. But after a bit of time, we came to learn we are soul partners... as in she shares half my soul." Raising a hand to halt Jonathon's question, I quickly added, "Death apparently thought that in order to save Sakido's life, that the next closest person to her would share their soul with her. That entails a lot of important things too. If she feels pain, I feel it. If I feel angry or happy, she feels it. If either of us would happen to die..."

I let that hang in the air, and I saw Jonathon pale a bit, but he shook his head as he asked, "What of your other gifts...? Like the telepathy you two seem to have acquired."

"Telepathy," I felt myself smile a bit as I never considered calling it that, but as I rolled the word over my tongue again once more, I shook my head and continued, "that is a two way road my friend. It is mainly something we use without even thinking about it, but let's say I don't want her to know what I'm thinking, then I have to focus more into keeping that my own secret. We can also share memories, see from each other's eyes with enough focus, and I have learned it works as a loop factor as well... though I won't tell you what I mean by that." I chuckled a bit as my cheeks flared with more heat; Sakido would kill me if I told anyone of our private time together.

"That would be useful in combat operations..." Jonathon mused out loud, not knowing how right he was.

"It has proved itself useful. When we were captured by the rebels, it is the one thing that saved us... we would've died without it that time." I felt my voice trail off, the air around us suddenly feeling much colder than it was, but as I looked towards the sky; the colors looking so much sharper. "Sakido and I became a couple over time. It was a short period of time, yes, but it was time that we spent every moment with each other. We helped each other when it was required, we talked, and we became closer to one another. Over time, we began to feel more than friendship for each other. I felt a bit uneasy about her being a demon, but over time, I found I no longer cared what she was, but who she is."

Cliché as hell, but it was the right thing to say, with it being the most accurate. Jonathon didn't say anything as the BTR continued to drive along the uneven path, but as it did, I was content remembering Sakido's first real kiss with me. It wasn't shared at Riverside, it wasn't after Riverside... it was much earlier than that. It was the beginning of her love, and my love, becoming solid facts that we both couldn't ignore. It was amazing how treating another's injuries let you build affection for another.

A.N.: Alright everyone! I apologize for the late update, but I have a legitimate excuse this time! My family and I moved out of our prior home of seven years to a new location on Jan. 4th. That wasn't the problem however. No, we had been packing everything for 2 weeks prior to the move date, and as is, I had been taking a break from writing before those 2 weeks had started. This story will not be going on Hiatus or being discontinued ever, and as such, that has only ever happened to a single story out of all the ones I have written. Other than that, I hope this chapter was to all of your liking.

That above... I thought this chapter was posted a few weeks ago! Anyways, so everyone knows, I am uncertain as to what my situation is like as of for the next month, as I may be moving back home to my family back in Illinois, or I may be staying out where I am right now in California (for those not native to United States of North America, that is a 2 thousand mile move). I will try to continue to write, but the motivation I had a few years ago has waxed as of late, and my previous speed of writing has greatly diminished. I apologize for that, and there isn't anything I can do to fix that; I tried to fix it where I would post every month, even though I said every other week, but that just isn't feasible for me anymore. My skill with writing has drastically improved over the years, and my goal when I first started writing was to write a book and publish it, earning my actual money for doing what I love... but motivation is a very large role in my writing ability... when I have little or none, I can stare at a blank document for thirty minutes, thinking of what I want to write, but just not doing it (I have done that before.). So as of now, please, if you leave a review asking for me to update quicker or to post another chapter, leave an idea or even a song you would feel is inspirational. I have hours worth of music on my computer that I type along with, but I have listened to every song dozens of times over, and while I like them, it doesn't provide the same appeal anymore.

Music I like... well, I liked listening to that Lego music 'Everything is Awesome', all the way up to music like AC/DC Thunderstruck. I like everything EXCEPT rap. The only exception is if it is good rap, none of that crap where every other word is a cuss word... sorry, but with rap, I need to be blunt.