Chapter 17 – Revelations
"Hn,"
A gasp, and the girl opened her eyes. Her sight shrouded by the ominous shadow above, only the word 'fear' was written on her face.
"What's with that look, girl?" His commander, standing all high and mighty, asked.
Dear god, it was hilarious; that idiot of a girl was glaring at him – as if it would do anything.
"Hmm? Trying to be scary now, are we?" He went on, now bending down and grabbing her by the wrist, pulling her up forcefully. "Everybody else is either captured or killed."
The girl gritted her teeth, and clenched her fists hard as she glared on.
His commander snickered. "You really aren't afraid?" He then suddenly feigned a sorrowful voice, pushed her against the wall and pinned her wrists above her head at the same time. "But that doesn't matter. More importantly, I'm tired of this, and I need some entertainment for the night. My men need some entertainment for the night." With force, he grabbed onto the girl's chin, making her look directly into his eyes.
Poor girl, he thought; she was just a kid.
"You're quite attractive, aren't you?" He could hear his commander say, "Bet you miss your friends, hmm?"
She was just a kid. Kids shouldn't be treated this way, even if they were 'enemies'. But what could he do? He was only a low-ranking soldier, following orders…
"If you look at me nicely, I'll think about sparing those who are still rotting on the battlefield."
If he disobeyed in any way, well, it was quite obvious – he'd lose his job.
"That's it…"
He watched as the girl loosened up. She was giving in.
The commander laughed. "That's it…" He pulled onto her necklaces, breaking them, and let the beads fall and scatter all over the floor. "Just listen to me and you'll see them again…" He purred as he tugged onto her clothing. By now, she was completely exposed.
Sigh. This was pathetic to watch. She was just a kid.
"Come with me. Do everything as I say," His pants fell to the ground, and it was like his men behind him were invisible – it was almost as if he took pride in this. "… and each time you do it with me… I'll spare ten people."
Oh? Would you really? Stop bluffing, commander. Along with the rest of the men standing there, he watched. Watching was the only thing he could do, but unlike the others who were cheering and all, he found himself cringing. Funny, why wasn't he laughing at the kid? The stupid Pulsians deserved this, didn't they? He should feel rejoiced.
"… Stop… s-stop… please!"
The Pulsians took so many of Cocoon's lives, including his wife's.
"No… please stop—!"
And nearly his son's, too.
Her moans and screams were all that could be heard. Yes, as if it wasn't obvious enough that his commander was having fun, he made the mistake of looking at the violent scene. And, wow, just look at his filthy face – it was painted with a devilish grin, and then there were those shameless eyes that were glued onto the Pulsian's naked body.
It seemed like everyone else wanted to join in; they were just waiting for their commander to invite them.
Sigh. Would he join if he really did invite them? Would he screw the brains out of this girl, much like what the commander was doing right now? Would that make him feel better, would that act as some sort of revenge…?
"Resisting, are you?"
He watched on.
"Please stop…! I can't… I can't…" The girl panted heavily, painfully.
There was a brief pause. And then – "Bring them in. tie them down, make them watch me fuck her, and then deal with their pathetic lives." Oh shit. His commander was getting pissed off now.
She gasped. "No… please, no! I-I'll listen to you, so please… just don't… please don't hurt them!"
He smirked. Grasping her chin roughly, he forced her to look him in the eye. "But you got me angry. I don't want to play with you anymore…"
The girl looked scared, shitless. How did she still manage to talk? "I-I… I'll do anything… just please, don't hurt them…" Her voice came out weakly.
"Oh, desperate, aren't we? If you like this so much," The commander turned his head to his men, "I'll have all of my friends over there play with you. And if they tell me that you're actually a fun person, then you can come and talk to me again."
He had to give it to his commander; this was a sick but creative form of torture. Words alone could not describe the look on the girl's face as her eyes made contact with each and every one of those bastards'.
Finally, the commander released the kid, and without support, she immediately collapsed onto the ground. "No need to play nice, boys," He said as he pulled up his pants, "You've been working hard, so I'm giving you the order to party hard while you have the chance to."
Those guys behaved like horny, obscene dogs. They pounced onto the kid like she was the last bitch alive in this galaxy, and then they tore at her. Seemed fun, he thought, maybe he ought to join.
"Corporal Katzroy,"
Oh wait, no. He couldn't. "Sir!" He answered to his commander with respect.
"Unfortunately for you, partying will have to wait."
He couldn't really hear him. The kid's screams were piercing through his ears.
"I need you to run an errand for me…"
Blah, blah, blah… something to do with reporting back to headquarters. Whatever. He was too focused at the sight before him to pay attention. Like, who wouldn't look at this? The girl was being held down by multiple men; this was a real-life torture scene taken directly from an R-rated movie. The soldier's filthy hands roamed all over her body… touching… abusing… penetrating—
"… and if you're that interested in the girl, corporal,"
He raised his head to look at his commander.
"… Then we can take her with us." His superior said with a whisper, not wanting to ruin such a 'surprise' for his men. "For… you know, 'military purposes'."
"Hn," He faked a chuckle. Right, now the superior was pushing this 'desire' on him.
The commander shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just saying. You seemed like you really wanted to have a taste of her. I saw the look in your eyes, corporal." His voice was blending in with the girl's screams; it was really hard to listen to his voice alone.
He smirked. Yeah, sure, just blame everything on the lower-ranks. 'Kidnap the girl because my men wants to have fun with her' – some bullshit like that. It was actually funny, to be honest; sometimes, his commander's dark humour amused him. Just sometimes, though.
"Military purposes, huh?"
This time was one of those times that didn't. In fact, he felt sick to the stomach after he heard such a suggestion. "Whatever you say, commander. I'm just a soldier who's working under you."
But even so, what could he have possibly done? Help the girl, right then and there? No way.
"Katzroy! So you're interested in this too, huh?" The soldier laughed. He just got out of the prisoners' cells, but was still in the process of buckling up his belt – it was easy to tell that he had fun. "I gotta tell you, that Pulsian whore was pretty damn good."
No expression. "Whore? Isn't she just a kid?"
"Well," He shrugged, "Whores, kids, dead bodies… all Pulsian women are the same to me." The soldier walked by him. "Regardless, it's your turn. Go in and have some fun. She sounds pretty cute when you go at her from the back."
The back, huh?
With that final 'advice', the soldier left the room proudly – almost too proudly for his own good.
Pft. 'The back', he said. As if he needed any advice. Today, he was here to torment that girl in every way possible. He was going to do it far more roughly, far more violently than any other soldier that had walked out of here. He was going to make that Pulsian pay, in place of those who took his wife away, for all the pain that he had to go through. All the anger and frustration he had stomached to this date, he was going to let it all out on that stupid whore.
The man slipped his ID card into the reader, opening the prisoner's chamber. It was kind of ironic – prisoners were kept in the same room with dead bodies; they were just separated by gates. That, and the lights were dim as hell. Not to mention the horrid stench of rotting bodies. The idea that 'there was no escape' screamed silently in the room. Who wouldn't go crazy in here?
He walked passed cell by cell; individual corpses were trapped behind each gate, and they were all women (figures). He thought that there would at least be some minor sanitizing done even in here; this was downright unbearable. Finally, he reached that one cell which contained a live human being.
…
Human being? … Right, Pulsians were human beings, and this girl was no exception.
…
But she definitely didn't look human anymore – she was nothing but a dead body right now. Look, she wasn't even moving. How did those men even get aroused by seeing such a disgusting form? This was repulsive to him. She was covered with bruises, cuts, blood, sweat, and cum. Why would anyone even want to touch this filthy person?
No way was he going to fuck her. She looked hideous.
"…"
Huh, how amusing. She was trying to speak.
The kid twitched.
He watched as she sat up, or at least, tried to. Why was she even trying, though? If he were a prisoner like her, he'd definitely play dead.
"… You…"
She was talking.
"… you count as well, right…?"
He raised a brow.
She tried to breathe evenly. "Each time… ten people… right?"
What? Had she gone mad? What the hell was she saying?
"Ten of my friends… you'll let them go, right?"
Friends… the Pulsians? Ten of them? Where the hell could the PSICOM find so many? Dead bodies, yeah, maybe, but live ones?
Bullshit. The commander was so full of shit. Just to keep this girl, he lied about—
"Please…" She begged as she crawled her way to him, "… you promised that you'd let them go…"
Bull fucking shit.
The girl was at his foot. Her nails were probably digging into the leather of his boots – she sure was using a lot of strength just to beg. Why wouldn't she just give up? He remained still, standing there, speechless. What should he say? 'No kid, you've been doing this for nothing. You don't have any friends left – people are just fucking you because you're the only source of entertainment around here.' – was one of the possibilities that he came up with, but instead:
"Yeah," His voice projected in a way that was against his will. He spoke softly, "You've saved many of them."
A long, sombre pause. And then she smiled.
"…" Oh lord. This unsightly human being was smiling, and he could only stand there to watch.
"Th-thank you…"
The man clenched his fists. Why the fuck was she thanking someone like him? He was an enemy to her, wasn't he?
That weak voice sounded again. "Aren't… aren't you going to do anything…?"
His breath became heavy. Yeah, wasn't he here to screw her? What was he doing, standing around, wasting time?
"The man before you… he said the better I do it, the more people would be freed. That's true, right?"
Ha-ha. That was hilarious. This Pulsian and her naivety…
"So I-I'll try—"
… this Pulsian…
"—to satisfy you…"
… was human.
"No."
She was just a child.
"Eh…?"
He shook his head. There was no way he could look the girl in the eye. "Get some rest."
"But…"
"I'm here to give you permission to rest, and nothing else." Because you won't be getting any once the next man comes in. "So just do as I say. You can't possibly save more of your friends in your current state. The soldiers won't be satisfied."
"… I…"
"Trust me," He said. "I'll still let the same number of people go if you rest. How's that?"
Her eyes brightened up. She was, in no doubt, confused and suspicious. After all, this man was the first to give her such a kind offer. Did he have any motives behind him? This was too good to be true. "Y-you're… not lying, right?"
He shook his head. "There are no benefits for me to lie, kid."
"Oh, Corporal Katzroy. Here for the girl again?"
He chuckled at his commander. It was safer to behave more clumsily around him, as he didn't want his superior of all people to find out. "Sir!" He stood straight. "Just… y'know, it's been rough today, so I'm kinda craving for it…"
"Heh," The commander snickered. "You're lucky your wife is dead, corporal. You can screw as much as you like, without a worry in the world."
His teeth clenched on their own accord. Of course, he still faked a smile to cover up any sort of irate expression. "Yeah."
"Well then," A sinister grin spread across his cheeks as he left the room, "Have fun. Make her scream." He finished.
The door closed behind him.
…
Wow. When was the last time he wanted to shoot something this badly? He shook away the thought (bear with it, bear with it) and inserted his ID card into the reader, opening the prisoner chamber's door. As usual, he made his way passed the corpses' cells, and to the only one that contained a live human being.
Like always, the girl had that thin, torn piece of blanket covering her naked form. She was lying down, shivering – whether from the cold or fear, he didn't want to know – while facing the wall.
He sighed. Why was he here again? Why was he even doing this…? It wasn't like he owed her or anything… "Hey, kid."
A familiar voice. She sat up and spun around. "Sazh!" The girl was delighted. She would run up to the man if she had the strength, but quite obviously, she didn't. So she stayed on the ground, holding that sad excuse of a 'blanket' in place.
He walked over to her and knelt down. Man, had she gotten skinny since the capture. He was surprised that she still had the strength to fuck. Like, they didn't even feed her properly. One or two meals a week, some water once in a while, and that was all she got. "How are you feeling today?"
The girl smiled. "Not so good before, but better now, after seeing you."
It made him feel so damn guilty. He wasn't a good guy, why was she acting so friendly? Why was he acting so friendly towards her?
Stupid kid.
He smiled back. Then, he noticed the wounds again; even with the lack of light, it was easy to see. "The big guy that came in before me," He said, gesturing at the entrance behind him, "Has he been hitting you again?"
The girl tried to wrap that torn fabric tighter around herself. But it was useless; no matter how hard she tried to cover, the holes of that blanket revealed both fresh and old scars and bruises. "I'm… I'm okay."
Liar. "Looks painful to me."
She shook her head. "I'm fine, really. I mean, I'm already used to it. He isn't the only one who hits me."
Why, of course. The commander wasn't the only violent, alpha-male type of guy on this ship.
"But it's okay. Just knowing that I'm saving my friends – anything would be worth it."
The muscles at his jaws flexed. Did she really still believe in that bullshit? … But… come to think of it, that 'belief' was probably the only source of hope she was clinging onto in this twisted world. And perhaps that source of hope was the only thing that was keeping her on the edge of sanity. "Risking your life like this…" He said aloud by accident.
She looked at the man curiously.
"… You're a stupid kid."
Time after time, he found himself coming back to this particular prisoner's cell, for no particular reason at all. He decided that, perhaps, he was losing his mind.
"Ne, Sazh," She said one day during his usual visits.
Arms crossed, he was standing and leaning against a wall. "What is it?"
She stared at him silently. And then, "Why are you so nice to me?"
A moment of silence. He chuckled. "What do you mean?"
She swallowed. "I mean, you're… different from the other people. You're not here to, y'know. You're just here to talk – like a friend."
He scratched the back of his head. 'Friend', huh? That was a weird way of putting it. And, wow, was this a difficult question, because he'd been wondering the same thing for a while now – just that he had never used the will to think it through, to figure it out. "Hm, beats me."
The girl pouted. "… There has to be a reason for everything."
He laughed. "Well, kid, let's just say that I'm a nice guy, alright?"
She wasn't satisfied with the answer, but she laughed anyway.
"Or…" The man suddenly cut in; even he wasn't so sure why he did, "… I guess it's because you remind me of my kid."
A grin spread across her cheeks, from ear to ear. "You have a daughter?"
"A son," He corrected.
"Oh," She said. "Then he's pretty lucky to have a father like you. Is he the same age as me or something?"
The man shook his head, chuckling again. "Nah… he's five."
"… W-what… then how does he remind you of me…?"
Shrugging his shoulders, he laughed at the girl's confusion. "It's the fact that you're both kids, I guess…"
… And the fact that you both try so hard to achieve something that doesn't exist anymore.
"Kid," He whispered as he shook her in her sleep. The poor girl was curled up in a ball, sitting at the corner of the cell. Coming here at this time was strictly prohibited, that was why he had to keep quiet.
"…" She wasn't sleeping. When his hand came in contact with her shoulder, she started to shake, unstoppably in fear.
What a development; the girl couldn't even respond properly anymore. That, and she looked dangerously slender compared to when she was first captured. It was a given, of course – considering the amount of food she intakes – one or two meals a week, and some water occasionally… and then there were all those tortures that happened during the most abrupt of times. Often, a group of three would come in and do it all at once – rarely did the soldiers come in alone. Apparently, he heard, the 'more people, the more intense'. To put it in a more cruel yet precise explanation, this girl probably had at least five 'customers' to pleasure per day.
"I…"
She suddenly spoke up. The man wanted to hold her up, but it looked like she would fall apart if anyone touched her. So he pulled his hand away and stayed still.
"I… I can't do this anymore…"
"…"
She clenched her fists, "Sazh… I want to die."
From his angle, he couldn't see, but he was very sure that the girl was crying. Endless streams of tears were probably running down her cheeks.
"It hurts so much… every time…" She held onto her stomach, pressing onto it as if she wanted to prevent blood from running out of a wound. "I can't help them anymore, I really can't…"
Losing her purpose in life. About time, wasn't it? But it wasn't like that purpose was 'real' to begin with; he should've told her, so that she wouldn't dwell in her dumb, hope-driven fantasy. "Die is a powerful word." He stated randomly.
"I'd rather die than to do this again!" She suddenly cried, too weak to make it sound angry. "I don't want to help them anymore, don't you understand!"
Of course, of course he understood. "Then run away," He simply said.
The girl looked up. The wet trails of tears gleamed under the dim lights of the prisoners' chamber. "Run…?"
He nodded. "Away from here."
"Where can I possibly go…?"
"Away from the army."
She shook her head, confused. "How…?"
With confidence, the corporal smiled and said, "Leave it to me. I can help you."
The girl was still unconvinced. "I don't understand…"
"What about?"
She swallowed. "I'm an enemy…"
"And?"
"… a-and… my people have hurt and killed so many of yours…"
He was still smiling. "Likewise, many of mine have hurt and killed yours. And amongst those people, Vanille, you're one of them."
She blinked. An overwhelming feeling of joy and relief washed over her. It was nice to hear that name again – she was getting tired of names like 'slut' or 'bitch'. She sighed. "Sazh… I'm not worth your trouble… doing this might make you lose everything – and what about your son? What would he do without a father?"
This time, he shook his head. He moved a hand up to the girl's head. Patting her gently, he answered, "… It is because I'm a father. And as a father, I can't bear to see a kid go through this stuff with my knowing. It's just not right."
For whatever reason, they were now in a restaurant. Lightning had insisted to leave, but Vanille insisted that they should 'spend some time with Sazh because he is a good friend'.
Lightning frowned. 'Sazh',the man was called. Why the hell was she 'good friends' with him? He was with the fucking PSICOM! And why the hell was he affiliated with Vanille, anyway? Just what exactly were this man's motives?
"I'll go line up to order, okay? You two can talk amongst yourselves!" Vanille said happily as she walked off. Her carefreeness successfully prevented her from remembering that her strawberry-blonde girlfriend usually had a natural hostility towards strangers – especially if those strangers were male…
Meanwhile, the middle-aged PSICOM soldier eyed the woman sitting across the table with his own suspicions. It wasn't like a simple 'This is she, and this is he' introduction done by a third person would make everything okay – no – especially if that third person was the clumsy, airheaded Vanille. This was a cruel reality they were living in – nothing and nobody could just trust each other because somebody says it is fine to do so.
The woman decided to make a move; she folded her arms and crossed her leg, sitting even more casually now to… perhaps, provoke the man into saying something.
To which the man definitely would have already done so, if it weren't for the strawberry-blonde icy-cold stare. He had to continuously look elsewhere when he caught those azure eyes; it was like looking at them for too long would have his soul sucked away. But then, a part of him was intrigued by those orbs, and he couldn't help it but to look again and again – which resulted in the same outcome time after time.
Impatient and ultimately feeling uneasy, Lightning was the one to speak up. "Why did you save her?"
He would answer right away, but the question sounded more like a command, so he did not really know how to respond.
She rested her elbows on the table, and then clenched her fingers together. "What do you want from her?"
He shifted his gaze to the woman once more. "You think I saved her because… because of hidden motives?"
Lightning's brows narrowed. "I wouldn't know," She leaned closer to him. "But you're PSICOM, old man. Do you expect me to believe you?"
She had a point, the man admitted, but right now, he needed her to understand, and he needed to understand her. "Listen, nee-chan, you heard the girl; I went through the trouble of getting her out of the PSICOM's bloody prison. You don't have to act like I'm going to drag her back in there."
"Hn." A breath of amusement. "Could you not have been planning this from the start? Everyone wants recognition and reward – perhaps you secretly freed her to earn her trust; meanwhile, have the PSICOM freak out over the escape of a prisoner, and that's when you would come in to capture her again using that 'trust'. Typical but logical." The woman said almost cockily. "If I were your superior, I would be very, very proud of your work. Hell, I'd even promote you a few ranks for doing something so heroic for the army."
What an arrogant woman she was, Sazh decided in his head. "You don't trust me, huh?"
"Haven't I made it clear enough?"
He shook his head. Despite her daunting persona, this woman's mind had yet to mature fully. "Wipe that grin off your face, nee-chan." He said, "Vanille had to look at something like that every day when she was still a prisoner."
Lightning narrowed her brows. Was this man ordering her?
"To be honest, I don't trust you either." Face unnaturally straight, he went on. "I can also say that you're acting kindly to gain her trust. Likewise, I can say that you are using her so that you can gain whatever it is that you want."
Hearing that, the strawberry-blonde broke into a sinister laugh. "Using her?" She paused, "Old man, you've got it all wrong."
"Really, now? How so?" He leaned onto the back of his seat and crossed his arms. "You let an enemy live with you, knowing that she is one; you don't question her background any further than what she tells you. Everything goes against the common sense of a soldier – no, sorry – not just a soldier, but also against the common sense of a human being. Seems a bit fishy to me, does it not, nee-chan?"
As the man's posture became lax, her laughter died down to a mere smile. "You're right. Soldier or not, I do agree that I am behaving rather… illogically." Her eyes rolled to the side. She stared out of the window, into the streets momentarily. "… I would suspect myself, too."
He smirked. It looked like he was winning this argument—
"But everything is out of place," Confidence brimming in her eyes, she looked back at the man, "Only because I love her."
"…"
Lightning continued, "I let her live at my apartment because I don't want her to leave me, I didn't question her any further because I respect her, and first and foremost, I am not using her for anything."
He was speechless.
"Whether you believe it or not, I love her unconditionally, and would do anything to prevent the PSICOM from taking her away from me." She lowered her voice, "So don't you dare try anything funny, because I will kill you."
A bead of sweat ran down the side of his head. This woman was serious. There was no hesitation in her speech, no funny patterns in her voice. Just confidence. She had to be telling the truth. Well, the other possibility could be that she was an exceptionally brilliant, excellent, professional liar – which, he highly doubted. "Okay…" He said softly, giving in to the former possibility. Love can do wonders, after all. "I believe you."
Lightning kept still. "I would like to hear your side of the story, now." And if you tell me that you're in love with her I will fucking murder you, a voice in her head screamed.
Sazh shook his head, as if unable to respond properly. "I apologize, but simply telling you will not be effective enough; you wouldn't believe me. But just think of it this way, if I really wanted to capture her, I would have gunned you down in the first place, and then dragged her away. I wouldn't waste time here to reason with you."
"Cut the crap," She barked, "I don't have time for bullshit."
"Indeed, you don't." The man dared to say, despite that dangerous look on the woman's face. "I assume that you already know the PSICOM is coming?"
A muscle in her jaw flexed.
"Don't be alarmed; I can't read minds – I merely guessed that you'd know. Your gunblade gave everything away, nee-chan. Only the most skilled soldiers of the Guardian Corps are allowed to use that prototype weapon. Not even the best in the PSICOM can come close to it." He explained calmly. "Anyway, I'll get to the point. You were told, under our knowledge, that the PSICOM is coming next week, correct?"
Lightning's eyes bored into his as she waited for him to continue.
"Well, the truth is, a few of them have already been sent down here."
"Scouts?" She immediately questioned. Her voice got significantly softer.
He nodded. "It was pure luck that I got picked as one of them. So I decided to use this luck to look for Vanille, to warn her that the PSICOM—"
"No, don't do that," She cut in abruptly, "I don't want her to know about them." Lightning went on, "How many were sent down? What are their characteristics? What parts of Bodhum would they most likely be patrolling?" Question after question; she didn't give him a chance to finish. "To think that I'd actually have more time to prepare…" She was getting anxious – enemies in her territory, and she didn't know who they were; how in the world could she protect the girl now?
"Nee-chan, calm down." Sazh said. He looked at Vanille, who was still lining up to order food. "You need to calm down if you want to protect her…"
Her hands balled into fists. "Don't tell me what to do."
"Just hear me out, okay?" He ignored her agitated tone. "Unlike myself, they're not wearing casual uniforms like this," The man gestured at his green jacket. "They could be in ordinary civilian clothing, completely camouflaged into the people around us. I would tell you how they look like, but the thing is, I don't know who they are."
She sulked. "That doesn't help at all."
"More so the reason you should be cautious."
"I never said that I wouldn't be, old man."
He rolled his eyes. This woman was behaving somewhat like a child as she was responding with stubborn jabs and whatnot. "Just… my point is, I don't know what the Sanctum is thinking, but Bodhum is going to turn into another Palumpolum soon. That so-called 'quarantine operation' wasn't because of some disease; it was because Vanille was spotted there, and the PSICOM didn't want Cocoon civilians to know that a Pulsian was roaming freely in their world. With that being said, you have to leave as soon as possible. Book tickets or something, just—"
Lightning sat straight. "It's already been done. I've booked tickets to get out of here, and we're leaving first thing tomorrow morning."
Once again, the man smirked and re-crossed his arms. "Hn, impressive, nee-chan." He glanced over to the redhead again, who was still halfway through the line.
"I don't want your praise. I want you to tell me who you are," She went back on topic; it was still, after all, unclear to her who this man was. He could be a real scout. "And why would you help an enemy?"
"I already said, you wouldn't believe me if I simply told you the reason."
She frowned. "So you're telling me to just believe that you're a good guy who has fallen from the heavens, and saved Vanille for no reason at all? Tell me you're trying to be funny."
Sazh sulked. Yeah, he probably shouldn't blame her for being so overly-cautious, but he honestly did not know how to explain his reason. "She…" But he had to give it a shot, right? "… She's just a kid…"
A brow arched upwards. Lightning didn't catch him properly. "I beg your pardon?"
… Alright, fine. If she really wanted to know, if she really wanted to get these traumatizing scenes implanted, drilled, and engraved into her brain, then so be it. "The kid thinks that she's doing everything for her friends."
Huh?
"She thinks that each time she sleeps with them, a few of her friends would be released." He let out a disappointed chuckle, "Ridiculous, isn't it?"
"They told me that they'd spare ten of my friends each time I let them…" Yes… it was ridiculous. She thought so too when Vanille told her that.
"I thought about telling her the truth, but if I did, she would lose it for sure. The thought of saving her friends was the only thing that kept her mind stable when she was locked up. If she lost grip of sanity, then the soldiers would have killed her."
Lightning suddenly felt weak and useless. "… S-she… still believes that she was doing it to save her friends to this date…"
"Yes, she does." Sazh said, "I… don't know what would happen if she found out about the truth."
Lightning closed her eyes. Vivid images of Vanille getting abused came back to haunt her; she could not imagine what the real thing would be like. Cries, screams, and painful pleas… how much more had the girl gone through?
"That's why I saved her, nee-chan." He caught the woman's attention. "I couldn't stand it anymore; to lie to her, and tell her each time that she's doing a great job… that she's saving her friends…" He paused. The man was clearly ashamed of admitting this. "You can call me selfish, but if I saw her like that any longer, I think I would have gone insane." The more he thought about it, the guiltier he felt. "I actually thought about ending her life, y'know?"
She looked up.
"… To end her suffering and all." Sazh shrugged his shoulders, "But how could I do it? She was always so happy when she saw me. She would always greet me with that smile… so how could I just kill her? How could I bring myself to kill a kid?"
The woman was still as a statue.
Getting no reaction from her, he sighed. "Not very believable, huh? I told you—"
"No," Lightning suddenly cut him off. "It's believable, just a tad bit absurd."
It was his turn to be stunned.
Her lips arched into a small smile as she stood up. Then again, she falling in love with that cheery redhead was absurd as well, so there really was nothing wrong with absurdity. "You saved her, and I thank you."
What? "Wait, nee-chan," Sazh sat straight, "That's it? I only told you that much, and you believe me? There isn't even proof that I'm telling the truth—"
"As long as I believe it, I don't need proof, old man." She interrupted. And then she felt silent for a moment before speaking up again, "I… I thought that I knew everything that has happened to her, but compared to you, I only knew a fraction of it…" Stupid Vanille; she was going to scold her later for not being honest—
He breathed out. "The kid just doesn't want you to worry." Sazh looked over to the line-up once more. "She probably thinks that the less you know, the better it'd be for you."
Yeah, no doubt. Vanille was always thinking for others, no matter what.
"Anyway," The man stood up. "I actually ditched my post to come here. If I don't report back soon, they're going to start wondering."
Lightning didn't expect herself to say this, but she did it anyway. "Leaving so soon? You haven't even talked with her properly yet."
He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Nah…" Sazh smiled, "… I can't. I still can't look at her directly without feeling guilty." He instantly felt the air get heavy, and then he realized that he said something very misleading— "Oh, don't be mistaken, nee-chan! I didn't do anything to her back then – I'm a married man, and I have a kid!"
"Uh-huh," Lightning wasn't suspecting anything at all; this man was way too stubbornly-honest to do such a thing, anyway.
"Good, you understand." He wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Then I'll be going now. Do take care of her… and yourself—oh!" Sazh cut himself off, "I forgot to mention, the guys sent down here would most likely be patrolling around the least populated areas in town. They think that as an alien, Vanille would be hiding around deserted places. I guess that the concept of 'making friends' never reached their conclusions. So just stay in crowded areas to be safe."
The woman smirked, "I don't need you to tell me that." It was her very subtle way of giving thanks.
He returned her smirk with a nod, and casually saluted her before finally leaving the restaurant.
Right after that, Lightning speed-walked over to the redhead and tapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Vanille," She called quietly beside her ear.
"Hm? Onee-san? What are you…" She glanced over at their table, which was now taken over by a group of high school kids, "… where's Sazh?"
"He got a call and had to leave immediately. Seemed urgent."
"What… but I didn't even…"
The soldier took her by the hand, cutting her off. "He said he'll look for you again. Let's go home now."
"H-home…? But I'm next in line, and… and what about the doctor's?"
"We need to pack. I just remembered that I booked train tickets for tomorrow morning."
Vanille wasn't surprised by the suddenness; she was more shocked that Lightning was able to say all of this with a straight face. "T-t-tomorrow morning! Onee-san, since when…!"
"I did everything last night when you were asleep."
"Why!"
"I'm really looking forward to it."
"Y-you… ugh! What about work?"
"I called in as well. My lieutenant is more than happy to let me go on vacation."
She shook her head, clearly lost. "This is happening too quickly, I don't know what to say…!"
Lightning chuckled. "Then don't say anything. Let's just go home and pack, okay?"
She didn't know how to argue with the randomness. "Onee-san, were you always such a last minute person?" Vanille asked as she was dragged out into the street. "You always plan ahead and organize everything you do! How can you mess up this time? Has the fever fried up most of your brain cells?"
Chuckling again, a shrug was followed right after. "Vanille, if my brain cells were fried up, I wouldn't be acting so quickly and cautiously right now." And she meant that literally – not that the girl would know, however.
"F-fine! But can we at least walk slower? You're still sick, and I already told you I don't want you to faint out here. Oh, we shouldn't even be walking in such crowded areas! Let's go somewhere else?"
"No, no, I'll listen to you and walk slower. Let's just take this route…" The soldier sighed. She pulled the girl closer. Indeed, it wouldn't hurt to walk slower; doing that would be more subtle than speed-walking, after all. "But I want you to stay close to me, and don't let go of my hand."
Vanille smiled. "Stop treating me like a little kid."
"I could say the same for you," She countered. "I was feeling fine since this morning. Don't know why you have to be so protective over me."
The girl giggled. "Am I?" It was then she realized that their conversation was going around in loops. She tightened her grip on Lightning's hand as she looked at her. "Well, that's because you're behaving like a little kid."
Lightning rolled her eyes, "Please."
And Vanille responded with another giggle.
LOL HI. Please don't be mad! I do feel bad for disappearing for four months, but it's not likely going to happen again… maybe. Oh, and I actually had plans to finish this fic before 13-2's release date, but that's probably not going to happen thanks to ALL THE GAMES THAT ARE COMING OUT.
Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter. There wasn't much fluff (at all), but that only means that there will be A LOT next chapter :)
Thanks for all the reviews despite my disappearance by the way, guys! I really, really, REALLY appreciate it! See you sooner than four months this time, haha… D: