Welcome to the finale.

Finale

Kai

Three weeks I spent roaming the ship, en route to our next mission point, trying to keep busy. Three weeks I spent distancing myself from the ghostly Torch. Three weeks I spent trying to convince myself everything was okay. Three weeks I spent failing those very tasks…

On the last day of the third week, I found myself begging for attention from anyone. In the course of those three weeks, Aerrow had hugged me a total of four times. I never wanted to let go… The incident Finn had inadvertently caused created a domino effect. In return for the genetic mutation—alongside a very powerful advantage in battle—I'd been cast aside. Everyone was so scared to be near me—whether due to verbal rampages, or physical—I'd been reduced back to the on-board mechanic. I was only there to fix the rides… Nothing more…

That night I'd radioed Lora, and Torch was overly-eager, anxious to say hello. I told her how it's been since she left last. And, as usual, Lora made me another offer. She said it would be easy to separate me from the Storm Hawks with little intrusion.

I declined.

When she insisted, I turned off the radio, leaving Torch in the comm. room alone.

I sat in the middle of the helm in silence beside Stork. Although he'd tried to make conversation—surprisingly—I pretended that I didn't hear him. Stork understood… As a Merb, a solitary lifestyle was not uncommon. Although he could share in my pain, he couldn't offer a solution. Strangely enough, that fact seemed to pain him.

I hugged my knees to my chest, listening to Torch hum a song he'd picked up more than a week ago.

"Could you please find a new song to sing? I know those words inside and out now, thank you!"

Torch frowned. "I'm sorry, Kai… I…"

"No, I'm sorry."

"If I may make a suggestion…," Stork spoke up, flicking a few switches before sitting beside me. The one person that should be the most afraid… He took a very neutral approach.

I looked at him as he flicked his hair to the side, his ear twitching slightly. He kept his eyes on the helm windows. "Take by force what you cannot get naturally. Sometimes the best way isn't the only way…"

I looked down.

"Who is the most easily manipulated on this ship?" Without a moment to respond, he answered his own question. "Finn. Take what you do not have…"

Those words did not only help in this situation, but they became my life philosophy. Take by force what you do not have… "Finn isn't the best person to look to for advice."

"Advice?" Stork laughed with a distasteful disposition. "You're not listening, are you?"

"No, Stork… Not really…"

He laughed wryly, standing up. "If you forget, I'll gladly tell you again…"

I stood up as well, dragging Torch behind me as I left the helm. "Finn…"

"Yeah!" Finn called out, leaning out of the bathroom doorway.

I took a good look at him, wondering if this was really what I was willing to stoop to. It wasn't as if Finn would deny anything I asked of him. I knew what Finn thought about me… It was much more obvious than he tried to make it seem…

"Finn, I…"

"You all right, Kai?"

I shook my head. "I… need to talk to someone…"

"Someone? No…" He stepped out of the bathroom, pulling me along with him. Torch followed closely behind.

"Torch, go… find Aerrow. Tell him we need more supplies for next week, and if we don't stop now, Junko is going to eat the rest of what we have."

Torch knew that deceiving tone in my voice. He accepted it, but I knew he had trouble swallowing the situation. Torch knew the amount of emotional agony I was in, but my resort was a less than favorable one.

And definitely not the smartest.

Even knowing the consequences of my actions, I continued on with my poorly thought-out plan.

I was roughly shoved into Finn's room. He quickly shut the door behind us. Pressing himself up against the door like he'd done something horrible, he eyed me psychotically. "Talk."

I sat down on his bed and immediately broke down. It was the first time I'd shown weakness since the fishing boat incident. When I looked at Finn with tear-filled eyes, I could see him growing weak as well. As a man that cared deeply for me, I knew that if he saw me in pain, whatever I had to say… Finn would see it my way.

I just wanted someone to agree and nod, and hold me while I cried. If I went to Aerrow, he would debate everything. Finn wasn't as logical, and I knew he took facts by their face-value. If I said something was wrong he would agree.

And, of course, as he sat down beside me, his first words defied and tore apart my elementary plan. "Why would you come to me?"

I leaned against his shoulder, continuing to quietly cry while I thought of a good enough excuse. "Aerrow wouldn't understand… The king of worry and the voice of reason would pick apart everything I said. I… don't want a lecture… I just want someone to listen…"

He laughed, speaking compassionately, "You're still in the wrong room, Kai…"

I sat upright, pushing him to the side. "Finn!"

"…All right, all right… What's bothering you?" Although still puzzled as to why I'd even come to him, he knew I wasn't going to change my mind. I suppose Finn was always seen as incompetent… Maybe Finn is in the same boat…? I questioned silently, thinking Finn might've just grown accustomed to the lack of attention he—rightfully—thought he deserved.

"I… Finn… Do you know how many times I've been hugged this month?"

Finn reached over, pulling a stray sucker off his desk. He peeled off the wrapper as he answered, "It's not like I stalk you and Aerrow." After a moment of silence, as Finn contemplated the strange taste of the lollipop, he spoke up once more, "… Four?"

I pushed Finn over once more.

"I was kidding!"

"You're right… sadly…"

His brilliant eyes took on a sad demeanor. "You're kidding…"

"I'm a physical person, Finn." I watched him closely with my words, and I knew what he was thinking. "My father was never much of a hugger, or anything… but everyone that I helped around Atmosia… I always got hugs, and kisses, and…"

"I get it, you're totally missing it."

I nodded.

He twirled the sucker between his thumb and forefinger, watching it closely.

"Ever since I became this freak monster thing… Everyone has been afraid to touch me. They don't realize it until they reach out… then they take it back … Are you listening?"

"I told you, you were in the wrong room!"

I leaned back against his bed, examining his ceiling. Four pencils were jammed into the metal above me. "… What the hell?"

He laughed, laying down with me. "Practice…"

"You shot those up there?"

"Without a crossbow…"

"Egomaniac…" I sniffed in, trying to clear my stuffy sinuses.

Finn rolled onto his side, looking at me with curious eyes. "Why… did you really come in here, Kai…?"

I sighed, keeping my eyes in the ceiling. "I guess I just needed to talk."

"Don't bullshit with me, Kai," he said frankly with a smile. "Just tell me what you want."

I rolled over to match his gaze, but sat up before I became mesmerized.

Finn sat up as well. I could feel his gaze stick to my skin, no matter where I looked. "Kai," he laughed. When I didn't respond, I could feel his gaze lower and trail around the room.

I sighed, looking down. I began to speak, turning to look at him as I spoke. However, Finn had other ideas. I didn't even have enough time to form an entire word before Finn kissed me, wrapping his hand around the side of my face.

At first, my eyes widened. I wanted nothing but to leave—to get out of a potentially dangerous situation. Whether I was worried about Aerrow, or worried about endangering Finn, I wasn't sure. I knew, however, that if I didn't get up and leave, someone was going to be in trouble.

But I closed my eyes… a part of me didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay. I had been ignored for so long, this change in my routine was overwhelming. I wasn't about to leave when I finally had what I wanted, regardless of who it's from.

But the instant Finn moved, wrapping his arms around me, I opened my eyes to reality.

"Aerrow is going to kill you."

ooo

I stepped out onto the dry land, wondering why exactly we'd returned to such a barren land.

"Bizarre," Finn spoke, watching me with a smile. I knew the instant I'd left his room that the consequences I originally thought were multiplied by ten in reality—Finn thought I was after him… I didn't have the heart to tell him how selfish I was, nor did I to confess to Aerrow. They were both blind, and I was a coward.

I landed with a thud into the sand.

"Bazaar, actually," Aerrow corrected his friend.

"Bizarre bazaar!" Torch laughed. "What are we getting here?"

"Kai needs more—"

"Kai needs more noms!" I giggled, interrupting Aerrow.

Aerrow laughed. "My, aren't we in a good mood today. Such a turn-around from your recent disposure…"

"You're welcome," Finn smiled, stepping out beyond the ship.

"Shut up, Finn," I laughed, throwing sand at him playfully.

Aerrow shook his head, pulling Piper out of the ship. Junko followed closely behind, along with Stork and Radarr. This was one of the only times I'd ever seen the entire team together—beyond the four walls of our beloved Condor, that is.

"So, I thought we might split off into groups. Finn, Junko, if you two could get more ammunition supplies…"

"Gotcha," Finn saluted his leader.

"And if you and Stork could get supplies for the ship," he looked toward Piper. "Food, mechanical items, you name it. You've got a list."

"Sure do!" she smiled.

"Kai and I will go crystal rummaging, if no one minds."

Radarr jeered, growling and grumbling to himself.

"Pick a group, buddy…," he laughed.

Radarr eagerly climbed up onto Piper's shoulder.

"If you don't mind, I'm quite a bit interested in the ship… Maybe I could learn a bit more about it?" Torch questioned our Crystal expert.

Piper nodded. "Absolutely. Stork is the best person for that."

"We… haven't been properly introduced. My name is Torch."

"I remember you, you're that annoying thing flying around my ship. Remind me again why he's still here? He looks potentially dangerous…"

Aerrow smiled, shielding his eyes from the sun. "He's perfectly safe, right Piper?"

"Depends on your view of safe…," I laughed. "He can affect your sanity. He asks way too many questions. Can you handle it, Merb?"

He rolled his eyes. "Don't think I won't get you back for this, freak."

I saluted our helmsman, taking Aerrow's arm as he led me off to seemingly nowhere.

Aerrow began to hum a quiet tune, leading us to the nearby tents. However, though my giddy exterior, he felt I was holding back. "What's on your mind?"

"… A question I rather not ask…"

His hand eagerly searched for mine. This was a rare chance for him—I wasn't argumentative, and he wanted every second to last. "Ask, Kai… It's not good to hold things in."

"…What are the chances of running into Dark Ace here?"

He smiled. "First time I've heard you call him that. Must be a good sign…"

"I'm serious, Aerrow… I don't want to run into him. He's caused enough trauma."

"Then why do you insist on meeting him? So contradictory…"

"See, this is why I didn't talk to you about it…," I muttered, mainly to myself.

He shook his head. "Can we not do this today?" he asked. "You're finally in a good mood. I want to enjoy this."

I began laughing in an uncontrollable fit—so uncontrollable, in fact, that I had to sit down. Aerrow loomed over me, a bright smile on his face. "I rather not ask; I'm just happy you're laughing. Here…" Aerrow knelt down, his hands angled out behind him. "Piggy-back. You can't walk like this."

I bit my lip, trying desperately to stop laughing. I knew I didn't have an excuse, though. Aerrow was kindly trying to make the best of an awkward situation and I needed to go along with it.

I climbed onto his back and we continued toward the tents. Aer kept the mood light with a small tune, and only then did I notice his ability to sing.

I followed along, singing the lyrics when he paused to remember. We laughed and made fools of ourselves, but there was a silver lining—a potentially dangerous situation had been patched, and everything was okay.

For now…

He let me off once we'd made it to the first tent, and I began to scour the grounds, examining every little detail.

I picked up crystals of all sizes and shapes, but none seemed interesting enough. Aerrow was more interested in the tent directly behind me. "Hey Aer," I called, holding an odd crystal in my hand. "What's this?"

He turned around, a rather suspicious look on his face. "Um…"

"If you don't know what you're doing, keep your clam-y human hands off of my merchandise!" the merchant shouted at me, ripping the crystal from my hands. Aerrow was by my side in a split second.

"What do you think you're doing?" Aerrow retorted, wrapping an arm around me.

"That freak should keep her hands to herself!"

"…Freak…?" I growled, clenching my teeth.

"Do you know who you're dealing with?"

"You're that Storm Hawk kid, yeah. Now tell your mutant girlfriend to keep her hands off of something when she has no idea what she's dealing with!"

I put Aerrow's hand into a death grip. "You think I don't know what I'm dealing with…?"

"Kai, don't. He doesn't understand. It's not grounds for anything violent… Calm down."

"Yeah, freak. Calm down!" the sleazy merchant chuckled.

My eye twitched. I didn't even have to think—I knew the instant his face changed from confident to fearful that I was going to lose control. "You honestly think I don't know what I'm dealing with?" I ripped the crystal back from his hands, crushing it in my own. The crystal was gone—it vanished, not even dust was left behind.

"You wanna know why you should never burn bridges despite the need to cross them?"

The man began to stutter, backing up.

I climbed over the table, meeting him face-to-face. Aerrow called out after me, his words meaningless beneath my rampage. He climbed over the table after me in an attempt to stop me—however, he knew if he touched me in the least, he could be severely hurt.

How can you stop someone when you can't physically stop them, and your words bear no meaning?

You can't.

"I am a walking time bomb, and you pressed the wrong button, you stupid Raptor. Do you understand the severity of your situation? DO YOU?"

His slithery tongue escaped his mouth for a mere millisecond and I grasped onto it, threatening to rip it from his jaws. "I want to walk into a store knowing I will be served with a smile. I deserve that much."

The man tried to speak, but his words were greatly hindered and entirely intelligible.

I released his tongue, pushing my way past Aerrow to examine his inventory. "I want these."

"…Miss…"

"I want them. All of them."

"Kai, you can't do that," Aerrow advised.

"Shut up, Storm Boy!" I shouted. "I deserve something out of this!"

He gripped my arm, disregarding the dangers. "You can't do this, Kai."

"WHY? You can't stop me."

"I can and I will."

The merchant laughed nervously. A glare sent his way shut him up in a moment's time.

Aerrow looked away, thinking. He was desperate for an excuse, anything that would get me to listen. "You can't do this…"

"Why the hell not?"

"Because I love you, Kai… I can't stand to see you ruin your life of a comment from someone that means nothing."

I blinked. "No, you don't. You can't love me. I'm just a freak."

The merchant laughed again. I threatened to charge toward him and the Raptor fainted. I sent the unconscious man a wry laugh.

"You don't understand… I loved you before… I've always loved you, Kai…"

I wouldn't accept his answer. It couldn't be true! I was a monster. I was raiding an innocent man's shop—he was guilty of nothing more than ignorance and I threatened to murder him and steal everything that made him worth something.

It was wrong, and I couldn't stop myself.

"You couldn't love me! I… I'm a horrible person… Do you not see what I've done? I've hurt an innocent man, I've killed Talons mercilessly and laughed… I… I betrayed your trust! I… Finn…"

His brows tugged together angrily.

"I went to Finn instead of you… and we…" My knees buckled under me and I collapsed to the ground. My face buried in my hands. "You can't love me… Not after everything that I've done…"

"You… what?" he demanded. "Finn…"

I looked up, my eyes trailing over the unconscious Raptor before looking for Aerrow. He was gone, jumping back over the tables before I could even call out his name. I struggled to stand. I felt the point was moot to run after him—the man ran faster in a heightened state of anger than I could ever hope to.

I stumbled over to the mining carts, rummaging through the crystals. I found a particularly transparent crystal, noting a roaring fire in the center. It felt my energy, and the orange flames gravitated towards the edge, greeting me. I looked around his hut, finding a guide chart. Every crystal he had with him was listed just beyond the carts, and explanations for each.

"You little shit… You have no idea what you're doing, either…" I gripped onto the crystal, looking around.

I decided it was better to try and run after him than let the Storm Hawk go down for murdering his own comrade. The least I could do is get there and stop him after a broken bone or two…

I stuffed the crystal into my satchel and ran at top speed, hurdling over the tables as Aerrow had. I made it to Finn's burial site in record time. Aerrow had Finn pinned to the ground, his blade at his neck.

Out of breath, I doubled over in my tracks and screamed, "AERROW!"

The boy didn't even bother to look. Taking his eyes off his target could be fatal for either one of them.

Finn glanced toward me for only a moment, an apologetic smile sent in my direction.

"When… you said you loved me…," I laughed. "I never thought you meant this much."

"You're pretty blind," he growled.

As Finn tried to stand up and peel Aerrow's blade from his neck, Aerrow shoved him back down, a loud groan erupting from the Sharp Shooter.

I sighed. "Aerrow, could you at least let me explain?"

"I don't need to know details. You were with Finn. Whatever happened is between you two. However, the bastard is going to pay for his actions…"

"Oh come on, dude, it was only a kiss!" Finn whined. "It's not like I haven't kissed her before!"

I fell back. Finn had basically sealed in his fate—there wasn't much I could do to protect him now.

Aerrow began shouting at Finn, louder than anyone anticipated. He'd attracted quite an audience, and Finn, the help of his comrades.

"What'd Finn do now?" Piper asked.

"I was ambushed, I swear," I laughed, though it was quite inappropriate.

Stork sat down on a nearby chair. "He's pretty much doomed. Not much we can do, now…"

Junko tried to stifle back a laugh. "Finn's in serious trouble, isn't he?"

"He's finally done it," Piper sighed. "Are you going to stop Aerrow?" she asked me.

I shrugged. "I'm… not really sure if I should… I know this was all partially my fault… but I came clean…"

"It was still your fault!" she interjected. "You still played a part in this! You owe Finn that much."

"How did I go from owing Aerrow to owing Finn?" I stood up, contemplating my options. Finn was already bleeding bad enough—a broken nose, a few broken fingers, at the very least… I wanted to wait a moment longer, I wanted to see what else Aerrow would do, but I didn't have that kind of time. He was inches from death.

I gripped Aerrow's shoulder, my eyes closed. I apologized as I sent a surge of power through his veins, knocking the Storm Hawk out. He fell back silently, his blade shutting down. Finn was beyond grateful.

"Kai… I'm so sorry… I didn't think he'd take it this far…"

I looked away, trying not to cry.

I never knew that I would base my decision on this very incident… I never imagined I would have to. I knew what I had to do, now. "Don't apologize to me, Blondie." I stepped back, dragging Stork with me. "Remember when you said you'd explain if I forgot?" I asked amidst my tears. "You owe me…"

ooo

Once everyone had piled back onto the Condor, Stork took off. We were alone in the helm, and I had a chance to get my thoughts out, unbiased and uncontested.

"If you're going to do it," he sighed, "you might as well do it while Aerrow is still down for the count. Less painful."

I looked down. "How do you think the others will take it."

He smiled mischievously. "To be honest, Piper was never your biggest fan."

"Heh… Story of my life…"

He shook his head. "I suggest you don't tell anyone. Just go…"

"I have to tell Torch… Will you tell everyone else once I'm gone?"

"Hell no," he laughed, flicking a few more switches above his head.

I laughed. "That's just like you, Stork… It really is. You've been the most mature about this."

"I'm the least bias… Do you think it bothers me that you're leaving?"

"You didn't like it when I came on-board. I'm sure you're ecstatic."

"Not entirely. I'm not emotionally involved with you. I don't hate you, and I don't love you. You leave and it will have absolutely no impact on me."

I flashed a crooked smile, standing on my toes to kiss his cheek. "Thanks for everything…"

As I began to turn around, I noticed an odd expression upon his face as he reached for his cheek—a smile. I'd never seen one from the Merb, never a meaningful one…

I stepped out of the helm, and Torch wasn't too far behind me. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

"You got everything you need? You're coming with me."

"I can't leave them!" he whined. "They're… my family…"

"I'm all you need, Torch. If I leave, you die."

His demeanor changed—rather than want, his priority became need. "I… understand."

I nodded. "Let's go."

"Right… Kai…"

I grabbed my bag and dusted off my old Switchblade, saying hello for once in a very long time. "It's been a while, old friend… Looks like we'll be having a lot more time together…" I pulled Lora's address from my pocket and sighed.

"See you around, Storm Boy…"