Disclaimer: I do not own Eureka seveN

After Effect

Ch. 2: Enrolling

That night after the LFO, I kissed Eureka good night and told her every thing would be alright…We were going to see how grandpa would do on fixing it; doubts are if it was unfixable, it would be killed, or turned into scrap metal.

I couldn't bear to see an LFO turned into wasteful pieces of metal. If that were to happen, that would break Eureka's heart. But Grandpa didn't like to waste a robot, so he would normally work at it, until it was in tip top shape again. So why am I so worried?

I turned over onto my side and stared at the wall. Brown; that was the only color there, no posters, no scratched paint, no white walls: It was just uncomfortable. After all Eureka and I had just moved in a week ago and all we really had in our rooms were a dresser and a bed. The kids had that and a few toys and pictures they drawn and put on the wall; most of them drawn by Link. I can't help but smile when I walk into their room they have pictures of me, Eureka, themselves, Grandpa, animals, Gekko State, and the Nirvash. It's just more decorative in there than it is in here.

In here, it's not me. It's stuffy; it's hard, cold, and no love. I wonder if Eureka feels the same way. There's not even a window in our rooms. The only window in this house is in our small little living room. It's a wonder how all five of us can live in it.

One day Eureka and I will get married and share a room and we'll give the other room to Maeter. She'll want her space by then.

Eureka and I guess you could say we're married…Well, maybe not? She's officially a Thurston and the Mother of legal Thurston children. But we never had a real wedding and I think it'll be official then, once we have a wedding.

I closed my eyes, but all I could see was that LFO and Eureka in pain. I could feel some thing when I touched that LFO. Some thing I knew about, but I'm not sure what.

Maybe I just felt the rust…I'm not sure, but for now, I'm just going to put it aside and say it was rust, just for the night. I needed to get some sleep.

The next day was as slow and as boring as the last one. Only today was a little different.

During breakfast, Grandpa kept on passing the kids, Eureka, and I a few thoughtful glances. We would all exchange glances, when Grandpa wasn't looking, but we didn't find out until after breakfast, well, at least Eureka and I did.

"I think we should enroll the kids in school." Grandpa protested to Eureka and me. The kids were at the house and Eureka and I stood on the railed floor above the LFO that was brutalized.

"Oh-no, Grandpa, you can't be serious!?" I yelled in annoyance.

Eureka remained silent, but she seemed to be surprised, but not appalled like I was.

"I am serious; those kids need education in order to take over the family business!" Grandpa yelled proudly.

Oh no. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. Grandpa did this to me when I was fourteen. And now he was trying to plan my kids' futures. I was surprised he wasn't sending me or Eureka to school too; hopefully he wouldn't go that far.

"Grandpa, please! Think this through a little bit!" I pleaded.

"Renton, I think it's a good idea." Eureka butted in calmly. He wings were folded back gracefully.

I looked at her, not mad, but a little irritated, by the situation. "Come on Eureka, we need to talk." I grabbed her wrist gently, and led her to the bottom floor that the LFO stood on. We were under the LFO's dangling fist and Grandpa was above on the other floor, trying to listen to our conversation.

"Look Eureka, I really don't school is the best thing to the kids or at least not right now." I protested calmly.

"Why not, the children do need their education and need to make friends?" Eureka corrected.

I sighed, she was right there, but I had my reasons.

"We were with the Gekko State, don't you think it would be a little hard to enroll our kids in school, when they have that record. Also they were involved with the second summer of love and that might make it a little harder to get them enrolled and make friends." I finally finished, friends had little to do with the problem, but the other two, I know made Eureka think.

She put on a thoughtful face. Her wings folded down in thought. She stared down at the floor and held her chin in her hand.

She finally looked up at me a little confused. I think I had kind convinced her that this might be a bad idea.

"But they really need it though," She added.

They did need it. Not to carry on the family business, but to survive in the real world. And I did want a little bit more alone time with Eureka. All day I don't get to spend much time with her, because of the kids. Also, it gave us some time to work on that LFO. Also, maybe since we saved the world and the fact the Gekko State helped us; it might actually make them look good.

"Well…okay, they do need some schooling, if it all comes out bad though, we will take action." I bargained.

"Fine," Eureka lightly smiled. She grabbed my hand and ran me back up to the second floor.

"Their going to school," Eureka stated bluntly.

"Good, I'm glad you two came to your senses or Renton any way." Grandpa snuffed.

I ignored that last comment and Eureka looked over at me and gave me a warm smile. I loved that smile. It's what kept me going every day.

A few days later, we got the kids what they needed for school and luckily got them enrolled with out any hassle.

The morning it was time for school, all of the kids were up and tired. Waking up at 7:00am wasn't too bad, but for them it was just a tad bit early.

"Mama, I don't wanna go to school." Linck whined.

"Oh, but it will be fun!" Eureka tried to add some enthusiasm into her voice and into her child. She put his small back pack on his back and looked at him with a smile.

Maeter and Maurice were excited, they really wanted to meet kids their age and make friends, most kids wouldn't look forward to their first day of school, or at least I don't know any that looked forward to it.

Obviously, Linck didn't look forward to it at all. He didn't think any one would like him, which was an understandable feeling, I remember feeling like that.

I walked the kids to school, Eureka couldn't really take them to school, too much commotion and she wasn't too confident with her looks yet. Just because I found her beautiful, doesn't mean the whole world won't find her as a freak of nature.

The Kids talked on there way to school, I just walked with them smiling. Linck still sounded a little discouraged, but his older brother and sister seemed happy as could be.

We got to the school and went into the office. The first thing the office worker does was, was look up and accuse Renton Thurston of only enrolling three kids, not four. Unfortunately, she thought I was their sibling.

"I am Renton Thurston." I said sternly. The office lady looked surprised and shook her head in shame.

"They're adopted!" I whined. The office lady nodded, looking a little bit better, but still looked like she needed time to think.

She handed the children their room numbers and I let them off with one piece of advice: "Have fun" I was thinking about telling them 'Don't die!' but I decided not to

Walking home felt lonely, no one to talk to, a few blocks to walk, nothing but thoughts. I looked up at the sky to see a few birds fly by. I thought about Gekko State. I missed every body.

Then I realized I need to get out there and lift before it got too cold. I heard that lifting in the winter or cold weather wasn't the best idea. If you wore heavy clothing it slowed you down and it could crash you, but if you're not warm, then you get sick; really just best to stay away from the waves and boards for a few months.

But today, I planned to spend time with Eureka, work on the LFO tomorrow and if I could, squeeze in some lifting in that day.

It was different now, when on the Gekko, I had to squeeze in time to see her. She might be feeling sick on day or I might be busy the next; so my time with her could be random. But now, I could plan things. For the most part, things wouldn't be as random anymore…I kind of like that.

I walked up to the small little house and placed my hand on the door knob. The piece of copper colored metal was cold to my hand as I opened the door. I walked in and closed the door behind me. The room was quiet; it had been a while since I had heard silence this deadly.

I looked over at the sofa and Eureka was sitting there almost expectantly. She peered over her shoulder at me and then quickly turned her attention back towards the little television at the front of the room. I couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking. Doubts are it was about that empty piece or if the kids would be okay in school.

I walked over to her and sat down next to her. The first thing she did was lay her head on my shoulder. I couldn't tell what was exactly wrong with her, but I knew she was in deep thought.

She was quiet for another few minutes, until she spoke, "Renton, have you felt that some thing is missing?" She had asked innocently.

I knew what she was talking about. I knew this feeling for about nine days and I didn't like it. This feeling was all too familiar; I hated knowing so much or so little about it.

"Yeah," I answered in a sigh. "So you're feeling it too? I thought you would." I told her, her eyes just stared dully to the front of the room. She nodded against my shoulder. She grabbed her left arm; insecurity. I hated to see her like this.

"We're just home sick, don't worry about it." I reassured. I tried to pass a smile, but I could taste it becoming cheesier and cheesier by the minute.

She shifted a little and let go of her arm. That was when I decided that it was time to drop the sad story and make her smile.

I grabbed her hand of insecurity and got up and pulled her up. She looked a little worried, but I just smiled. "Come on; let's go for a walk or some thing. You know, it'll be cold soon and I know I sure don't want to walk in the cold." I tried to put on a smile for her to keep her smiling, even though, I knew, that both of our smiles were fake…

Hey guys! Sorry it's been a while. Give me a break, my last fanfiction was always ill-updated and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.

Hey, just to let you know, I have a Eureka SeveN site. If you want to read the un-cut version of this, go to my homepage on my profile. R&R.