Seeing the Sun

Chapter... Uh...

A/N: Okay, I may not be able to fulfill that "ten chapter" promise I made back around chapter 20, but I will finish this story. Unless, you know, I die. Then I won't be able to do much.

Or will I?

How had this started?

When had this world started to fall apart? When had the fire started to consume everything in Meg's life, leaving an unrecognizable but still somewhat beautiful flame in it's place? If the redhead was honest, she would say it was on the day she first met Jo, first looked into those ruby eyes and become frozen by the intensity of the older girl's gaze. That moment had changed Meg's life in the best possible way.

Now, standing in the midst of a storm of ashes and smoke, she begins to wonder when this began. Not for Jo- no, that had begun so long ago for her silver-haired lover, but for herself. When had the gentle flames become hostile? When had they started tearing away everything that she loved? When had the gentle flames died to make way for chaos?

If she was honest, she would say it started with that damn phone call.

On the night of the phone-call, Meg's sleep was full of nightmares she could not tell Jo about.

How was she supposed to tell Jo about these, anyways? How was she supposed to tell Jo that not only did she imagine the girl's sister, but that now that image was much more... twisted? What she saw in her sleep was not the friendly face of the little girl she had seen before. It was now the bloodied, dead face of Maria, looking at her with empty eyes.

There was a point in this dream, however, where Maria's eyes got a spark of life. Her damaged face would twist it's way into a still somehow beautiful smile, and she would mouth two words. A small, silent apology that ended with the sound of a phone ringing...

Meg's eyes open, revealing the pools of blue that make up her irises. She lazily looks over at the reason for her awakening, seeing the small screen on her phone blinking, lighting up Sei's name. Her eyes widen and she rushes to answer it, wondering why Sei would call her. As she opens it, she greets the older girl with a smile (though she knows Sei can't see it).

"Hey Sei," she says, tiredness evident in her voice.

"Sorry to wake you up, Meg, but we have a problem," states Sei. Meg can hear Amy's slightly panicked voice in the background, frantic typing included.

"What is it?" asks Meg, now fully-awake. If Sei was calling her and Amy was acting like that, something big had to be happening. She almost laughs when she thinks about how Jo must be acting like nothing's hap-

"Jo's gone."

The gentle fire has died.

It was a day of questions, panic and searching.

A surprisingly large amount of people wanted to help find Jo. 12 ex-prisoners were the first to join the search, one of them being the reason Jo herself had gone to prison. Then Takane joined, saying that any missing person- even if they were a criminal- had to be found. Many people were looking for the silver-haired mercenary, and not because they were paid to. Meg could see it in their eyes. They were looking out of respect for the girl.

Respect was something Jo got from everyone she met.

But the most surprising addition to their search party of misfits was Katsumi. Meg watches as he stands there, giving orders to his men to look around different parts of the city. Meg finds herself approaching him as he sends the last of his men off, and he meets her eyes as he turns around. Shocking Meg, he chuckles a bit.

"You know what she's planning too, don't you?"

Meg nods, looking away from the man's golden eyes. She knew why Jo was gone the second she heard her girlfriend was missing. She had gone to carry out her plan. Jo had been silent after telling her story to Meg, letting the redhead put the pieces together...

"I have to go on a meeting with a company to make sure nothing goes wrong... NTNW, I think."

Jo, telling her that she would be right back before going on that mission while Meg waited in the hotel in America.

And then...

"Wherever I go, I will destroy Neuro-Tech Nano Works."

When Jo had told her about the past. Neuro-Tech NanoWorks. She had realized later, and knew that Jo had been planning since America. Now she was probably putting that plan into action, and there was nothing they could do to stop it. She knew that.

"So then you know why we won't find Jo in Japan, right?" inquires Katsumi, raising a dark eyebrow. "Why all of my men will come back empty handed? Why I will finally be free of that god forsaken company that she hates so much?"

"How do you know about her plans?"

"I am very observant," states Katsumi, smirking. "When we were at the meeting, I could tell she was mad. More so than usual. And then weeks later, she's gone, and two of my best workers are busy! What else could explain it? It could not be a simple coincidence. And I have faith that she will succeed."

He is too confident. Meg can see why Jo doesn't like him. She herself is almost at her breaking point. Jo could have at least said goodbye. Meg should have known, when Jo started becoming more distant, that she was going to put her plan into motion.

"Meg, we found something in Jo's room," she hears Amy call.

"What is it?" yells Meg, running over. When she gets there, a teary-eyed Amy hands her a folded piece of paper.

Meg, Sei and Amy.

By now I'm on my way to America. You may have noticed that D'jango is missing. Well, let's just say I took him with me. This plan took a lot of time. I'm sorry, but I couldn't get any of you involved in this. Kannibal knows what I'm doing, so if he seems a bit depressed then it's okay.

I'm going to destroy NTNW.

Sei and Amy, Meg can tell you what they did in the past if you're so curious, but I'd appreciate if you didn't ask her. It's a hard story to tell, even for me. As sappy as this sounds, I only want to say one thing in case I end up dying without giving you guys a proper goodbye.

I love you. All of you.

Goodbye.

-Jo

A/N: Sorry if this chapter isn't that good. :P Hope you enjoyed it.

Reviews are Magic.