Hello! From here on, this story will get darker (well, I at least tried to be fun with the first chaps...) and if you don't like tragedy, you probably won't like the ending of this story (or chap) I dare you to listen Akiko Shikata's Luna Piena or Sorriso while reading this. I bet that you can't hold your tears.
Everything had started very smoothly when we had arrived to Raggs. We hadn't met any opposing soldiers yet and the sky was very clear. Kanon-chan had disappeared at some point but Ayanami-sama said to me that she was just making sure that there were no assassins nearby. I had been ordered to test the weapons from faults and everything. In other words, I was locked into a room with no windows. I worked for over six hours to make sure that everything was alright. When I was finally ready (and covered in dust) I collected my tools and opened the door. Just when I was going to step out of the room, I almost bumped into Hyuuga.
"We need signal smoke!" Hyuuga said as he panted. "There's going to be a blizzard soon and Kanon is still out there!"
I ran back to the storeroom and took the signal guns. I handed them to Hyuuga who almost stormed out as soon as he got them. I followed him to the exit door where he shot three red signals at once. He looked around with a worried expression in his face.
"She should be coming back soon", I said. "The storm still hasn't come this far."
"I'm more worried about that smoke there", Hyuuga mumbled. "It looks like something is being burned…"
I looked at the direction where Hyuuga watched and saw a huge pillar of smoke. I really hoped that Kanon-chan was alright. She usually never got even a scratch when she was being attacked but fire seemed to be a completely different thing for her. She got burned very easily since her skin was so white. I glanced at the smoke one last time before going inside with Hyuuga. I could just hope that Kanon was alright.
"Is Kanon still not back?" Ayanami-sama asked.
"Nope, Aya-tan", Hyuuga said. "But I think that she'll be here soon. I already shot the signal smokes."
"Hopefully so", Ayanami-sama mumbled while looking out from the window. He also seemed to be very worried but that was just understandable. They were siblings after all. Suddenly I heard yelling and when I listened more closely, I realized that Kanon-chan was calling my name.
"COME HERE AT ONCE, YUKIKAZE!" I heard her desperate cry. I ran to see what was wrong and I saw her carrying two children who were burned very badly. Kanon-chan had some burns on her face and arms too. I took one child on my arms while Kanon-chan carried the other. That was when I realized that the children were awfully familiar to me. I looked at the child I was carrying and almost got my heart stopped. The child was Fuuka. I looked at Kanon-chan and saw that she was carrying Yukito.
I knelt down and put Fuuka on the ground. Kanon-chan also put Yukito on the ground and started giving people orders. I tried to shake them both awake. They were breathing so little…
"Wake up, you two!" I exclaimed. I needed to keep them awake until the paramedics would arrive… "You'll be fine soon! Just stay awake for a bit!"
Fuuka didn't react at all. She's just asleep… Right? I turned to Yukito and tried to shake him awake.
"Wake up, Yuki!" I begged. He moved his head a little and looked at me. He smiled and opened his mouth.
"I…I'm sorry, brother", he whispered. "The church was on fire… The pillar… It fell on us…"
"It's alright", I whispered. I helped Yukito a bit so that he could sit. He was shaking and I saw that he was in pain. I put my overcoat on him. How weird… I couldn't even remember taking it off… "Don't worry, Yuki… The medical team will be here soon… You both will be alright…" I touched Fuuka's wrist to make sure that her heart was beating alright. I realized that it wasn't beating. My eyes widened from the shock.
"No way…" I whispered. She couldn't be dead. I desperately tried to find Fuuka's pulse with no results. Something warm fell to my cheeks and soon I felt Yukito's cold hand on my cheek.
"You've never cried in front of us…" he whispered. His eyes started closing themselves and he was breathing slower.
"NO! Don't sleep!" I yelled. Yuki smiled a bit and then his hand dropped. I tried to shake him awake… He was not dead… Right?
"Come on… Wake up, Yuki", I pleaded. "The medical team will be here soon… They'll save you…" I tried to shake him awake but it was all in vain. Kanon-chan put her hand on my shoulder and I felt something warm flowing on my cheeks.
"Come on… Wake up already…" I whispered and hugged Yuki. I was shaking and few sobs escaped from my mouth. "What am I going to tell to father?"
I felt someone's hands wrap around my shoulders. When that someone started whispering calming things to my ears, I realized that it was Kanon-chan who was trying to calm me down.
"It's alright", she whispered. "Please calm down. It will be alright soon. I promise."
I tried to breathe normally but every time I tried to take a breath, the lump in my throat would prevent me from doing that.
"We should go inside", Hyuuga mumbled and grabbed my arm. I stood up obediently and followed him. I felt like being in a never-ending dream. I sat down on a chair and looked around. Everything was so hazy. I couldn't see anything very well even though I was wearing my glasses. I took them off and tried to clean them. I didn't see any change when I put them back. Everything had gone so grey. I didn't understand anything anymore. I just saw people moving around. I couldn't even tell who was who. They all were just some soldiers I didn't know.
"What's wrong?"
I looked at the direction of the voice I had heard. I saw a young child with purple and braided hair and an eye patch. He looked at me with a sad and questioning expression.
"You look like you've lost your soul", the child said. "What has happened?"
I couldn't answer. I just couldn't bring myself to tell anyone about Yuki and Fuuka. When I was opening my mouth, Kanon-chan appeared from somewhere.
"Don't force him to answer, Kuroyuri-chan", Kanon-chan. She turned to me and started talking. "Come with me, Yuki. I need to show this to you even though big brother and Hyuuga said that it's forbidden to do."
Kanon-chan took my hand and started walking away with me. She took me out of the aircraft and led me to a lonely yard of a church that was badly burned. So here Yuki and Fuuka had hid… Kanon-chan led me to a graveyard which was full of corpses of children I didn't know. Suddenly I felt very nauseous while looking at the children.
"What happened here?" I asked. "Why are there so many children dead?"
"I don't know", Kanon-chan whispered. "But we need to bury them." Kanon-chan threw a spade at me and took one herself. She started digging the frozen ground without saying anything.
"What about Yukito and Fuuka?" I asked suddenly.
"We have to bury them here", Kanon-chan whispered. "We don't know when we can take them to your family so we have to bury them here…"
I just nodded because I didn't have anything in my mind. I also started digging the ground near us.
"What should we write to the gravestone?" Kanon-chan asked suddenly. "They deserve something but I don't know what there should be written…"
"'Here lay the victims of this mindless war'", I said. I honestly didn't understand what possessed me to say that and when I heard a dry chuckle, I just had to look at Kanon-chan.
"That would be good", Kanon-chan said. "After this war, we'll need to show this place to everyone so that they understand what is wrong with this country. The people who started this stupid war should be the ones to die."
"Maybe", I said and looked at the sky. I smiled even though I felt something warm on my cheeks again. I knew that this pain wouldn't go away easily but I could at least act in front of everyone. I just needed to let everything out now. Suddenly I felt thin arms hugging me from behind.
"It's nothing to be ashamed of", Kanon-chan whispered. "Everyone gets hurt at some point. Just let it all out. I'll stay here with you."
I smiled and sat down on the snow. Kanon-chan sat behind me and leaned her back on mine. She started singing a soft lullaby in a language that was completely foreign to me. She also used her magic to play instruments with her singing. I slowly started relaxing and soon I realized that a choked sob had escaped my mouth. I still tried to smile but soon I had to hide my face because of embarrassment. I was silently praying for Yukito and Fuuka while Kanon-chan sang. Maybe God would hear me now?
"Fly into the sky", I whispered. Kanon-chan stopped singing and leaned on my back.
"I'm sure that they'll be alright", she said. "God would never hurt children like them."
Ideas? Opinions? Suggestions for the last chapters? Requests? (They can take over 3 months to be complete.) Anything? Feel free to review (And I really hope that you do so since I want to know what people think about this.) :)