Author's Note:
Hey, guys. It's me. Sorry for not posting. I, um, was having a hard time with fan fiction. Nothing bad happened, I'm just... quitting. If you're asking why, it's not because I stopped enjoying it. Believe me, I do enjoy this. I...
I've already explained it before. I don't think I can handle doing it again. I'm sorry.
Strangers: Become Lovers
Act III
BL4K3
FRIDAY
13:00
Going to her owner's house wasn't a safe idea.
There was a 60% chance he'd been told that his android had malfunctioned, turned into a deviant, a machine that had harmed humans, the humans it was supposed to serve.
But…
Ever since she'd… broken that… wall… She knew what she was doing differed greatly from her being safe, yet she did it anyway.
Being in her owner's mansion, her owner's house, her house…
There was a sense of security there, one she wasn't sure she felt anywhere else. And it confused her because she was a machine and she wasn't supposed to feel anything.
But…
After the stunt she'd pulled, she wasn't just a machine anymore, was she?
She didn't bother knocking on the door. She kicked open the door and rushed inside, Yang slung over her side, just in time for her fat- for Ghira to appear out from the living room.
She didn't need to analyze his pulse to know he was concerned.
"Blake?! What happened, I've got a-"
He stopped mid-sentence, looking at the kind of state she was.
A beat passed.
"P-please," she croaked, "help us."
Another beat passed.
Her eyes were blurry. And it took another beat for her to realize why.
This was the first time she'd ever cried in front of him, in front of any human, in front of anyone at all.
Had she ever even cried before?
She was too distraught to neither confirm nor deny.
Yet she didn't urge the tears to stop flowing, didn't feel the need to. Why should she, anyway? She was going to be classified as a broken, defective machine, and no one would hesitate to shoot her on sight, and why was she even here? Her owner would call the authori-
"Come inside, quickly."
Another beat passed.
He ushered her inside, even going so far as to check outside to see if anyone was there - if anyone had followed her - before closing the door, blocking the window with curtains.
Another beat passed.
He'd taken Yang away from her, the seventeen years old looked like a lightweight child in his arms with how little effort it took him to carry her and how small she looked in comparison to him.
"Did anyone spot you?" How much time had passed? What felt like beats to her might've been a couple of seconds or minutes or hours. Was- was Yang doing okay? She hadn't bothered to- to check, it was- she had no time- "Blake."
Da- Ghira was kneeling down on one knee and cupping her cheeks and wiping her tears away and it made her feel warm and she didn't understand why but then again she didn't understand a lot of things-
"Blake, sweetie, just listen to my voice, okay?" She heard but couldn't respond. Couldn't even manage a nod. "Try to breathe deeply, okay? Here." He grabbed her arm and put it on his chest. "Feel that? Yeah? That's my breathing. Notice how even my breathing is? I want you to copy it, alright?"
Could androids even breathe? Did they need to breathe? Or was it another function installed in them to make them appear more human.
She didn't know the answer.
But she tried following his advice - his order - anyway, and after an uncertain amount of time passed, she was… doing better.
Her ring wasn't a calm blue yet, no doubt. But at least it wasn't a destructive red anymore - or at least, she hoped so.
"I'd received a call not long ago, saying that the android I've employed attacked innocent civilians, unprovoked." Attack? No. They'd started it. Innocent? Hardly. Unprovoked?! What kind of lies were they spewing into her owner's head?! "Now, I am aware that that's not what happened, at least not completely. But I need you to tell me something; why did you do it?"
Why did she do it?
She'd been asking the same question since she first broke that barrier.
But when she opened her mouth, everything came spilling out - as if a part of her had known the answer all along and that part merely hid it from the rest of her.
"They were hurting her! They- they didn't even say a thing! She's- she's innocent, she's never done anything bad before! She's good! I know she is! She's helped me before! I can't just- I can't just l-let her-"
And suddenly she felt warm.
And at first, she wondered if it was Yang because only Yang had made her feel this way before… but no.
It was a different kind of warmth.
It wasn't better. It wasn't worse. It was just different.
And she soon learned that…
He was hugging her.
He, Ghira Belladonna, was hugging her.
He - the man who took her in and never really expected anything from her and was always kind and caring and never yelled at her and was always gentle - was embracing her… as if she wasn't a machine… as if she hadn't made the wrong choice… as if she deserved to be hugged, loved, cherished… as if she was his… his…
Her eyes blurred again as tears began to form in them. But unlike before, they weren't tears of sadness or anger or frustration…
"Dad…"
They were tears of relief.
Author's Note:
Originally, the scene would've included Ghira tending to Yang and explaining some exposition things.
But I thought this was better, because, well… while Blake might've not yet accepted a lot of things...
She can finally stop lying to herself and admit that Ghira is and will always be her dad.