From the Skies to the Heavens
Fifteenth Prompt: Detention
Word Count (for drabble only): 489 words
There Ema sat in the Detention Center, waiting for Prosecutor Sahdmadhi to show up so they could interrogate the arrested man.
She remembered him now. Datz Are'bal. He'd been a witness on the case she took in Khura'in. Back then, he'd escaped from prison. Only to land himself in another, it seemed. This time in America. How and why he was here, Ema didn't know. She assumed that would come up in the interrogation somewhere, though.
Khura'inese rebels in Los Angeles. Just like Prosecutor Sahdmadhi had said there would be. He hadn't been the one to arrest the man, and the charges against him were unrelated to what the monk prosecutor would have liked, but they'd still agreed to allow the questioning to take place.
Assuming the man showed up, that is.
Ema leaned back in her seat, opening a bag of Snackoos to munch on. Had he gone in without her? Part of the terms were that he had an American officer with him during the questioning. Not that it would make any difference if the two started speaking Khura'inese with each other. The last time this particular rebel had escaped Prosecutor Sahdmadhi's clutches, he'd ordered the bailiffs around in their native tongue. Harsh as it sounded, she could only imagine he was giving them the same orders any prosecutor would in a situation like that. If she imagined otherwise, she would have to believe he was a part of a system that relied on secret police and sanctioned murder.
But she didn't believe that. How could she? Prosecutor Sahdmadhi might be... intensely passionate about his religion and work, but he was always kind to her. Kind to everyone he worked with and talked to outside of court. The way he smiled at her, the way he complimented her and made her light up inside. How could he be the same man who would condemn a pregnant woman to death?
It wasn't like Ema knew everything about the situation in Khura'in. But from what she'd seen, things were ugly on every side. And that side of Prosecutor Sahdmadhi wasn't something she ever wanted to see again. She didn't want to believe such a handsome and kind man was seeking to uphold tyranny. Because from her time in Khura'in, that was how it looked to her.
So she was glad when the hours ticked by and the monk/prosecutor never showed up. She was glad when the arresting officer said the deal was closed and went on with the interrogation for Are'bal's crimes in America.
And when she saw Sahdmadhi later? He insisted the interrogation happened, but that the US refused to extradite. He insisted she go along with that story, should anyone ask.
No one ever did. But later, she understood why he'd asked. She understood everything.
A/N's: This one is based off a lingering question I had about part of the civil case in Turnabout Revolution. If the US police had a Khura'inese rebel in custody and Nahyuta was there expressly to track down such people, why did they never turn Datz over to him? Was Nahyuta even there during these events? We know Ema was, and that Nahyuta was there in Turnabout Storyteller, but that doesn't necessarily mean he didn't return to Khura'in before she did.
So I decided to create my own answer to this question, similar to what Nahyuta did in Rite of Turnabout when he realized his unknown witness was Datz. He does send the guards after him, but he waits for Phoenix to out Datz even though he noticed before Phoenix did, giving Datz ample time to escape. Here, he says he's going to interrogate Datz and have him repatriated, but he never actually does either.
Obviously, there's no canon basis for this, and there was a lot of reading between the lines required. But I'm happy with my explanation, and I hope this drabble is enough of an apology for not writing any Skyemadhi lately. I've been busy with other fics, and no good ideas for them have come to me or caught my eye.
Thanks for reading, don't forget to review, and I'll see you on the far side!