A seven-year-old Ayame yawned as she crawled out of bed. She was still sleepy, even though it was obviously morning. She had the strange feeling that she had forgotten something, but she was too tired to try and remember what it was. She went into the kitchen get breakfast, but for some reason, the lights had been off. That was strange, because Samus was always an early riser. She reached up as far as her small arms would allow and turned the lights back on.
"Surprise!" shouted a menagerie of familiar voices. She jumped at the sudden shouts and looked to see Samus, Mr. Higgs, her best friend Connor, and several of Samus's old friends who Ayame saw as family. She saw the medium-sized cake on the kitchen table, with eight candles in it. The words "Happy Birthday, Ayame!" were written in blue icing over the white. It took a minute for her to process what was happening, but when she finally understood, her face broke out into a huge smile. She immediately ran and jumped into Samus's arms, grinning gratefully
"Happy birthday," Samus said warmly as she hugged the girl. When they let each other go, Samus helped Ayame up onto the chair closest to the birthday cake.
Ayame blew out the candles, and everyone got a slice of the cake. When it came time to open presents, she was even more excited. She immediately went for Mr. Higgs's gift first, deciding to save Samus's for last. She tore through all of the gifts; Mr. Higgs gave her a toy robot, knowing her love of technological stuff. Connor and his parents gave her a doll with three different outfits. She got plenty of gifts from everyone at the party, and it was soon time for Samus's present.
"Here you go, Ayame," she said with a motherly smile, holding a colorfully wrapped box for her adopted daughter. "I hope you like what I got you."
Ayame gave her mother a toothy grin and said, "Of course I will!" She then tore the wrapping paper off the box in a furious rush. She then took the lid off of the box… and a huge stream of flames exploded from within, followed by mad laughter.
Out of the box came a huge, purple-scaled dragon with evil yellow-orange eyes. It said, "Happy birthday, girl!" as it proceeded to incinerate everybody, sparing only Ayame, who screamed in terror as she watched the people closest to her be killed off in an instant.
-o-
Ayame shot up from the bed she was in, panting, eyes wide, heart pounding, her brow drenched in cold sweat. She looked around and saw that she was apparently in a hospital room. She lied back down, her hand on her forehead.
It was only a dream… it was only a dream… She repeated this mantra several times before she heard the door open. She sat up and saw Connor walking in. When her childhood friend saw that she was awake, his face broke out into a big, relieved smile.
"You're awake!" he said as he rushed over to Ayame's side. "When my squad was sent to locate survivors where your first mission was, I thought you could've been hurt. And then we found you out cold in a clearing. You had everybody worried there for a while. Some of us didn't think you'd make it. Your injuries were pretty bad."
"I'm sorry," Ayame muttered. Just then, something clicked in her mind. "Wait. Where's Samus?"
Connor's smile almost immediately vanished. He hung his head. "I… I'm sorry, Ayame. Nobody could find her. She was most likely… killed."
Ayame stared at her friend, then laid her head back down on her pillow, placing her arm over her watering eyes. "She's not dead. At least… not yet." Connor gave Ayame a confused look. "I saw her be taken away. She traded herself to save me." She was now letting out choked sobs. "It's all my fault! She gave herself up because I was too weak to protect myself! I'm pathetic!"
"Ayame," Connor said sorrowfully. He reached to place a hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away. Suddenly feeling dejected, he said, "Don't cry, Ayame. It wasn't your fault. You're not weak."
"It was my fault! I am weak! I'm a pathetic, worthless creature that doesn't even deserve to exist!"
"Are you whining?" said a man's voice from the door. Both teens looked to see Anthony Higgs with his rare "I'm completely serious" expression. He had his arms crossed as he leaned against the door. "Ayame, you can't call yourself weak just because you messed up on your first mission."
"But…" Ayame muttered as tears continued streaking down her cheeks. "Samus… She's… she's gone. The pirates took her."
"All the more reason to stoop moping and start getting you shit together." Ayame looked up at Anthony in surprise at his language. "Samus didn't raise you to be an emotional wreck. She taught you everything she could. You can shoot. You can fight. You're even better with computers than Samus herself is. Right now, what you need to do is put those skills to the real test."
"What do you mean?" Ayame asked.
Anthony turned and took a step away. "Wait for me at the condo when you're released from the hospital. They should let you go in a few days. I'll see you then." With that, he left.
Connor was the first to speak. "What did he mean by 'the real test'?"
"I don't know," Ayame admitted. After several silent moments, she faced her friend again and said, "Do you know what happened to the Gorast nomads?"
"A few were killed, but not many," Connor replied. "Most of them suffered from several injuries, but they were otherwise unharmed. There was one that seemed more worried about you than himself."
Ayame looked up at the ceiling. "That was probably Garnak. I guess he's officially on my short list of friends."
Connor was silent for several more seconds. He seemed lost in thought. Finally, he said, "Ayame, there's something that I need to talk to you about." She gave him a slightly surprised look. "You see… Ayame… I-" There was a beeping sound at his belt. He checked the standard issue beeper-like device and sighed. "I'm sorry. I have to go. My CO wasn't too thrilled about me skipping out on training to check up on you, so I have to make it up cleaning dishes for the next two weeks." He stood up and headed for the door. "Be sure to ring me up when they let you out of here. It'd be nice to talk to you without you being injured." At that, he left Ayame alone.
She sighed as she sat there. All she could do now was wait to be released.
-o-
Two day later…
Ayame stretched as she stepped outside the hospital doors, taking in the fresh air. She looked up at the sky. Somewhere out there, Samus was being held prisoner by the Space Pirates… or she was already dead. Ayame shook her head. No. She couldn't think like that. Samus was resourceful and strong. She could handle anything that fate threw her way. It took more than a few pirates to put down the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy.
She immediately made her way to her and Samus's condo, where Higgs had said to wait for him. It didn't take too long to get there. Just about an hour's walk. When she got the actual condo, she automatically went for the holo-phone to call Connor and let him know that she was finally free of that prison of doctors and needles.
When the screen came up, she put in his number and waited. She didn't wait long for an answer. Connor's mother appeared on the holographic screen. She smiled when she saw Ayame.
"What a surprise!" she said happily. "We weren't expecting a call from you, Ayame! We heard that you were in the hospital! Are you all right?"
Ayame nodded with a small smile. "I'm fine now. Is Connor there? He told me to call him when I got out."
"Oh, he's staying at the Federation building with his teammates. But I'll be sure to call him and let him know that you're okay." Ayame nodded, feeling a little embarrassed. Of course he wasn't home. He was in the military now.
"Okay. Thank you. Goodbye, Mrs. Mercer." Connor's mother gave a warm farewell before Ayame ended the call. She sat down in the nearest chair and waited. Anthony should arrive soon.
-o-
Time: 12:32 AM, standard
-o-
Ayame awoke to the sound of knocking at her door. She got up, rubbing her eyes tiredly, and moved to open the door. The visitor was none other than Anthony Higgs.
"Come on, Ayame," he said as he took a hold of her arm. "Let's go."
"Wait!" Ayame said, the sudden surprise waking her up. "Where are we going?"
Anthony turned to face her with a serious look. "I'm taking you to where you can get your inheritance."
-o-
Hmm. This chapter seems a little short to me for some reason. Oh well, whatever. I'll update again very soon. Not same-day soon, but still.