AN: I got a new computer! Hooray for me! My old one broke and I couldn't get it to work. That said, my parents decided to, finally, spring for a new one. I guess the prospect of not having one with school work looming on the horizon, bothered my parents. Either way, I have a new computer that I'm still trying to figure out how to work. I mean, I have most of it figured out but it has the new Windows system on it and it's kinda different from the previous system. Actually, it runs in a way that's similar to the Mac systems. Not the biggest fans of the Mac Systems, myself. In the college I went to, all the computers in the Communication Arts department used Mac computers. I, usually, wound up helping my sister- A Communication Arts major- with her assignments using the Mac computers. Nine times out of ten, something would happen and the computers would crash and her class would lose their work. We'd have to go back in to do her assignments. Not exactly a fun thing! Anyway, anyone who's still out there reading this little misadventure, thank you very much! You're the best! Please keep reading and let me know what you think!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the characters I made up and their Real World alter egos. I don't own The Matrix, The Animatrix, or any of that cool stuff. I'm broke and in graduate school studying biology. All I own are my Pointe shoes.
Menial tasks done with a little help from Aisling, the medic-in-training found herself headings towards Rain's workplace. Aisling followed Pixie, walking with her friend and keeping a running narrative about the happenings both inside and outside of Zion. Pixie threw in a few of her own stories but they seemed to pale in comparison to anything Aisling said. Pixie guessed her gossip wasn't exactly as great as Aisling's and, besides, she wasn't one to spread the gossip that came off of her ship.
Zion was, in Pixie's opinion, a relatively large city though the size seemed to change every time she came home. Sometimes the last human city seemed to be as huge and as imposing as any big city on the levels of New York's Manhattan or Japan's Tokyo or any other large urban location one could think of. There were times, though, where Zion seemed tiny. A small, tight knit community where everyone looked out for everyone else.
Like any city- This fact had come as a surprise to Pixie when she first came to live in Zion. Now she wanted to smack herself for thinking such silly things. - Zion had places to eat and places to shop. There wasn't much in the way of Zionist currency but everyone somehow managed to get what they needed through trading and what currency was used. After all, those who worked for the fleet were paid something for taking on their dangerous job.
On the outskirts of what passed for Zion's shopping district was a small shop that specialized in the restoration and creation of cloths and fabrics. It was in that necessary field that Rain worked.
"Pix," Aisling said as she and her friend stood in front of the tiny shop, "I'm going to go and tell my brother and Ngaio the good news about dinner. I'll meet you later at your place, I guess."
Pixie gave her friend an odd look since she didn't understand what made Aisling so sure Rain was going to allow any of them over to eat. True, Pixie had her own open invitation to Rain's home but she wasn't sure if said open invitation included her rather colorful group of friends.
"I guess so. If Rain says that you guys can't come over, you guys are just going to have to put up with what passes for my cooking," Pixie answered with a laugh.
It was Aisling's turn to make a face at her friend. Pixie was good at a lot of things. She was one of the smartest people Aisling knew and could pick up anything thrown at her given enough time. There was just one teeny, tiny issue where Pixie was concerned. One small, itty, bitty skill that Pixie had never really been able to master.
Though it didn't exist on ships, there was some actual food- the kind you had to eat with utensils- available in Zion. Food that could be cooked and prepared in dishes that weren't exactly as fancy as anything available in the Matrix but sufficed to keep the underground population living.
Smart as she was, however, Pixie couldn't exactly master the entire art of cooking. It wasn't to say she was a lousy cook. It was just that there were others who were better than she was.
Others that included her foster mother, Rain.
"Alright," Pixie laughed, looking at Aisling's half horrified expression, half joking expression, "We'll find someplace to eat. Is that better?"
"Much!" the other female stated, "And now, my Pod Born buddy, I'll take my leave. Got to let my brother and my other Pod Born buddy know what our plans are."
Before she headed off in the opposite direction, Aisling added, "If you happen to run into Wheeler, let him know he can come too. Though I don't think you'd say 'no' to him coming even if I said you couldn't ask him"
The honey haired young woman disappeared into the milling crowd faster than Pixie could get any of her thoughts organized. Not that she could get her thoughts organized all that quickly when it came to that subject.
Shaking her head and sporting a rather spectacular blush, Pixie pushed opened the door and wandered into the tiny shop. Bolts of rough fabric rested in dull colored piles along the shelves carved out of the rock walls while the raw material that was used to make thread- Pixie wasn't exactly sure what it was since she had never had the occasion to see any sheep, cotton plants, or anything else of the like- waited to be spun in containers on the metallic counters.
The store wasn't exactly busy but it wasn't exactly empty either. There were a few people patronizing the shop, buying fabric to make into clothing or whatever else they needed.
Pixie's slipping into the store didn't exactly go unnoticed as the grizzled looking man- Well, he was more mountain than man and, if Pixie remembered correctly, he called himself Bear.- who owned the shop spotted her and called, "Rain's in the back, if that's who you're looking for kid."
With a smile of thanks, as a paying customer decided that Bear needed to help her, the young woman made her way through to the back of the shop. There she found Rain running thread through a machine that wove the strands into cloth. Pixie's foster mother seemed so intent on her task that Pixie wasn't sure she wanted to bother her. Instead, Pixie decided to sit down and watch Rain for a handful of moments.
"And you said what I do is hard," Pixie pointed out after watching Rain work for a time.
Though the comment sounded a bit odd coming from someone who was training to be a medic, Pixie truly meant it. Rain's hands worked faster than her eyes could, readily, discern. Not only were her hands fast but they seemed to be deft as well. There were no bumps or strangely threaded bits in whatever Rain was working on.
Her work interrupted, Rain looked over her shoulder. The once serious expression she'd been wearing faded as she saw who was the source of the most welcome interruption. Rain was starting to get some form of hypnosis from watching the machine she worked with. At least that's what she figured anyway.
"When did you get in? How long have you been sitting there watching me?" she asked, looking at the now laughing Pixie.
"I got in just a while ago and I haven't been watching you all that long. I only just got down here to see you. Thanks for cleaning up my place, by the way," Pixie commented.
"It's not a problem, Pix," Rain assured her, "Takes my mind off of things when I'm not working or with Eli. I worry about you and Torrent being out there, you know."
Pixie gave Rain a sheepish sort of grin. She felt bad making Sprite worry but she really couldn't see herself doing any other job. As stressful as her job was, Pixie wouldn't change jobs for the world. There was something exciting about what she did though she could do without the whole being chased by Agents thing.
"Sorry?" Pixie, lamely, offered, knowing she could say little else to pacify Rain's fear for her and Torrent.
"Not your fault. I'm just glad you're back safe and sound. Have any great adventures while you were out there?" Rain asked, settling herself back in front of the machine she'd been working with.
As Pixie watched her foster mother's hands working, the young woman told Rain everything that had transpired in her life since they'd last had the opportunity to talk. Pixie knew it wasn't going to be the last time she was forced to recount what had happened- Especially where the Agent and Eurisko's freeing were concerned- but she told the tale anyway. Later, if she wound up at Rain's home, she knew she'd have to tell an edited version of the story since Rain might not want Eli hearing about some of what happened.
By the time Pixie had finished telling her little tale, Rain had stopped working again. She was looking at Pixie with a concerned expression on her face. Though she wasn't really Pixie's mother- she'd adopted the fifteen year old version of the girl before her- Rain still felt as if Pixie was her daughter. Of all the children she'd adopted, Pixie was the one she'd been closest to, thus far. Rain couldn't say why but that was how she felt.
"You're alright now, though?" she wanted to know, looking Pixie in her brandy brown eyes, "After all of that I mean."
"I'm not sure I'm alright but I'm doing okay I guess. I'm glad to be home, though. Maybe some downtime with my friends will really help things," Pixie answered, averting her eyes to stare at the wall of the small shop.
It wasn't that she was hiding something from Rain that caused Pixie to avert her eyes. It was more like the fact that she felt extremely uncomfortable when faced with someone else's gaze. Uncomfortable enough that she, usually, found herself looking away in order to be slightly comfortable in whatever situation Pixie found herself in.
Rain gave Pixie a gentle smile and pointed out, "Some home cooking could help the situation out some. At least that's what my mom in the Matrix use to say when I came home after having a bad day at school. How about you come over later? I'm sure Eli would be glad to see you. It would get him out of poor Torrent's hair for a while."
With a small sigh, Pixie requested, "I ran into Aisling earlier…would it be alright if she, Adoh, and Ngaio came over too."
The older female laughed- a knowing sound more than a mocking sound- and answered, "They can come, of course. If you run into Wheeler out there, he's more than welcome to come too. I always like that guy. He was always the most respectful of all your friends."
"You're the second person today who's brought up Wheeler," Pixie laughed, "Why is that?"
She found it curious that first Aisling and now Rain had mentioned her bring Wheeler over with her today. Yes, she considered Wheeler to be her closest friend and she had been awful eager to see him in the flesh for the first time in quite some time but Pixie didn't understand what the big deal was.
Wasn't that normal for friends to miss each other and want to hang out together after not seeing each other for a long time?
"I can't tell you why Aisling brought him up but I can tell you that I brought him up because I know the two of you are buddies. Besides, it wouldn't be fair if I invited all of your friends over without inviting him over as well," Rain pointed out.
Pixie nodded her understanding of Rain's logic- After all, it wasn't fair to invite all of her friends and leave Wheeler out- and commented, "I wish I understood Aisling's logic, then. Actually, maybe I don't want to understand what Aisling's thinking. It could be a little on the scary side."
Rain laughed again and said, "I'd better get back to work here before Bear start's accusing me of slacking off. You come by with those friends of yours later and, please, make sure to find Wheeler."
"I'll try, Rain, I really will. I've been eager to see him anyway," Pixie stated.
"Good!" Rain countered, going back to staring at the machine before her, "Now get going and try to relax. You're safe so long as you're within the walls here. Nothing bad is going to happen to you here."
Waving to Rain and giving Bear another smile of thanks- this time for allowing her to take Rain away from her work for a time- Pixie found herself back out on the streets of Zion. No sooner had she stepped out of the shop, though, than she found herself being run down by someone with an armload of packages and a busy look on their face.
Said packages were placed on the ground, though, as Pixie found herself being pulled back to a standing position before she even had a chance to register the fact she'd hit the rocky ground.
"You should watch where you're going. You alright?" the individual stated, as she gathered her packages back in her arms.
"Maybe you shouldn't be in such a hurry to get somewhere, Chian. Not all of us are as tall as you are," Pixie retorted with a smile.
Chian- the individual who'd knocked Pixie over and an individual who considered Pixie her little sister most of the time- did a double take. Recognition seeped in as the face of the shorter, younger individual clicked in her mind. She'd been in such a rush to get back to her own home that she failed to recognize the fact she'd knocked over her friend.
"When did you get back?" Chian asked, curiously.
She knew Pixie's return to Zion had to have been a recent one. Usually she knew when her friend's ship was set to come in. Like Pixie, Chian knew someone in Zion control. Generally, she checked to find out if her friends were in the city but, today, it had slipped her mind. She had a few other things to think about that day, none of them having to do with any friends she had on ships other than the Logos.
"Today," Pixie replied with a sigh, "Sorry about bunking into you. Did I break anything of yours?"
Chian shook her head, both indicating that Pixie hadn't broken anything and in mild annoyance. She'd knocked Pixie over and not the other way around yet Pixie was apologizing to her. It didn't make any sense at all to Chian.
"I should be apologizing to you. I'm the one that wasn't paying attention to where I was going," Chian told Pixie, in a matter of fact sort of voice.
Thinking for a moment, she added, "Let me make it up to you by buying you something to solid to eat. I don't know about you but shopping always makes me hungry."
Not wanting to be impolite and turn Chian down- since she'd have to explain to Chian that she was going to go look for Wheeler and that would open a whole other can of worms Pixie really didn't want to have to deal with- Pixie, wearing a smile, answered, "That sounds fair, even though I haven't been shopping. I just came down here to see Rain. Still, I wouldn't mind eating something I, actually, have to chew."
"That's the spirit!" Chian stated, heading in the general direction of the large mess hall that served as a cafeteria for only members of Zion's fleet.
Pixie trotted behind her Chian, trying to keep up with Chian's running commentary about what she'd been doing since she and Pixie last spoke. It was a running theme with her friends, Pixie figured. Most of them were big talkers. She was the quiet one but that was a role Pixie was more than happy to play. She'd always like listening better than talking.
"So, what's new?" Chian asked, as she and Pixie sat down in the officer's mess hall with trays of actual solid food in front of them.
For a brief second, Pixie wondered if Chian knew something she did not. There had to be a reason why Chian had ended her running commentary so abruptly. With a shrug, she decided that she was just being paranoid. Maybe Chian had just stopped because she and Pixie were seated now. Maybe she'd been waiting for them to be sitting down before Pixie started her own tale of what she'd been up to.
Pixie tried not to sigh or look annoyed as she told Chian the same story she'd told Aisling and Rain. Everything from what she'd done to a police officer turning into an Agent to how she'd helped free and rebuild Eurisko to, blushing a bit as she brought it up, the secret conversation she and Wheeler had. Just to get Chian up to speed, she added the strange fact that both Aisling and Rain had asked her if she'd be bringing Wheeler around later, despite the fact she knew she was in for a ribbing now that she mentioned that small fact.
"As smart as you are, Pix, that's as blind as you are," Chian blurted, around a very pleased sounding chuckle.
Pixie had no idea what Chian was talking about. She wasn't entirely sure what she wasn't seeing, since the blind comment had to relate to something she wasn't seeing in some situation.
"What are you talking about?" Pixie asked, her tone managing to fit just how confused she looked at the moment.
"You don't see it," the older female mumbled, speaking more to herself than to Pixie though her tone was loud enough such that Pixie heard her too, "I can't believe you don't see it!"
"Don't see what?" Pixie questioned, her tone still showing just how confused she really was.
"He's got it bad for you, Pix," Chain informed her, "And you're the only one who doesn't see it. Come on, I see it and I'm just hearing about what he's done from you."
"He being Wheeler?" Pixie asked, "You must be kidding; he and I are just friends. That's all we are. Just friends! Maybe best friends but that's about it."
Chain laughed and mumbled something about kids, even though she was just a few years older than Pixie. Apparently, Pixie, for all her smarts, was the only one who wasn't seeing what was going on. She was stuck on the fact she and Wheeler were platonic friends. That fact was all well and good- She was glad Pixie had a good friend like Wheeler. - but it seemed obvious to Chian that something else was brewing.
The older female figured that it was best Pixie know what was going on before a rather disconcerting surprise was sprung on her. She knew Pixie was more comfortable with facts than surprises. It was high time she saw the facts of the situation.
At least the facts as Chian saw them.
"No, Hawk. Of course, I mean Wheeler. He's nearly said it himself. That's what he meant when he said he'd be out you. He's so far gone, it's not funny," Chain told Pixie.
"You're crazy, Chian, stark raving out of your mind. Maybe you're just projecting how you feel for Sparks on someone else," Pixie said, panic creeping into her voice.
Though she was not a child, by any means, she had no inkling about love. Love, to her, was just a word that was associated with the release of certain neurotransmitters in the brain. Those were the facts about love.
Of course, Pixie understood that there were feelings that brought on the release of said neurotransmitters. There in lay the problem. She wasn't sure how to tell if someone harbored such strong feelings about her. There weren't uploads to tell her about such things. There was nothing here to tell her what the signs of someone liking her were. Nothing except the observant friend sitting across from her.
"Let's just leave Sparks and I out of this for now," Chian said, not allowing Pixie to deter her from the topic at hand, "I'm having dinner with him tonight. I'm not crazy, Pix. It's all right in front of your face. I'm amazed you've missed it for this long"
"What am I missing?" Pixie asked.
"I've seen the way he looks at you, the way he can make you comfortable in any situation. He got you to dance that night at the Temple Gathering and I saw how uncomfortable you looked when you first got out there. There's just something between you two that I can't place. Even I know he's head over heels for you," Chian answered.
Pixie squirmed, suddenly uncomfortable under her friend's gaze. This whole topic was making her uncomfortable. The nature of her relationship with Wheeler had never been defined like her relationships with her other male friends. She and Mouse, just like she and Adoh, were just friends. Hawk was an enemy of sorts and the older males she worked with on the ship were her superiors.
"I don't know," Pixie commented, shrugging, "I mean, I just figured we were really good friends at that was how really good friends were supposed to act."
Chain gave her a knowing smile. She'd noticed a certain someone standing around the officer's mess hall, looking around the crowd as if trying to locate someone. Chian couldn't have asked for better timing. It was almost as if she'd planned something to happen.
"Sometimes, Pix, you have to let go of the logic and look at what's standing right in front of you. Speaking of, you and I are going to have to continue this conversation later. I think there's someone here looking for you," she commented, getting up and leaving Pixie at the metallic table all by her lonesome.
(AN: Sorry about the lack of lyrics this time! The piece is instrumental and from Howard Shore's score to Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.)