DISCLAIMER:
I do not own Sym-Bionic Titan. If I did, it wouldn't have been cancelled due to lack of merchandise.
This is going to be long as heck. Bear with it, please. We're starting to wrap it up here. Thanks to everyone who reviews and follows. Review! And enjoy .
The next few weeks were wonderful. Amy and Newton's musical competitions went wonderfully, the Wildcat Marching Band got first place in all of its competitions, and (much to Lance's disdain) excitement about the upcoming dance grew. They all grew closer and became even more accustomed to life on Earth. Octus said that the replies from their loved ones were due to arrive soon, and everyone waited in anticipation for news from Galaluna- and Arnos and Ryoch. One day on the way home from school, however, Lance pointed out something that troubled them all.
"Hey…. Guys?" They turned to him, curious at the troubled look on his face. "I know that Galaluna's advancing in the war and everything, but… don't you think that the Mutraddi attacks shouldn't have just stopped after Amy came?"
They all looked at her, and she just shrugged in confusion. "Don't ask me", she said in a bewildered tone. "I just got here."
Newton spoke up. "I have been wondering about that, too. I have analyzed this situation and found that we are due for an attack very soon. I think that what happened was that the Mutraddi recognized that there was a signal coming from Galaluna headed towards Earth, and as the King put a cloaking device around Amy's pod, they couldn't sense a life form and thought that the pod was sent to retrieve the princess. So, assuming the pod would come back with its precious cargo – the princess – they waited and prepared an ambush. Since nothing has returned, they will soon resume their ambush, but since Galaluna is fighting back, the attacks will not be so common."
Ilana cocked her head. "Well, I guess that makes sense…" And the robot's prediction soon came true. Within a few days, in the middle of Algebra II/ Trig, Octus and Lance pinged Amy and Ilana in the class. Both of them pretended to feel sick and blamed it on last night's dinner (they did live together, after all), and so the four of them met outside the school, and took off towards the direction that Octus determined the creature had landed. Lance turned on his Manus armor, Octus to his robotic self, Ilana activated Corus, and Amy activated…
"What do you call that armor, anyway?" Ilana wondered aloud when Amy transformed into the orange armor that they had first seen her in battling 1,076. The armor was a bright orange, but could change to a less obvious color if camouflage was needed. It seemed to flow, but still managed to be threatening to any opponent. It was in between the heights of Corus and Manus, and seemed like a blend between them.
"Well, it's a prototype the King made for me, but… I call it Tera. It… suits it (HAHA PUNNY, 'SUITS IT'…sorry, bad joke), I think." Lance nodded.
"Yeah, I can see Tera." With that, they sped off.
-o-o-o-
The four were poking around the landing site when Octus heard a noise behind them. Spinning around, he came face to face with a large…
What was this?
An odd creature with hundreds of legs, one eye, and large wings about… four feet tall? Sure, the Mutraddi were being pushed back by Galalunian soldiers, but were they really getting this depleted on resources that they had to send this little thing to try and destroy them? These were Lance's thoughts as he walked towards the small monster.
"Stop!" Octus commanded loudly as he pushed Lance back… just before a stream of acid shot in the Manus armor's direction and disintegrated the nearest tree.
"What the…?" Said Lance as he got out of the way of what Octus now identified as 2,375 in whatever alien dictionary he had in his database. So that was what the Mutraddi were thinking when they sent this.
"Peculiar", said Octus as he tried to examine it further.
"Well, let's get this over with", said Lance as he pulled out his sword, thinking this would be fairly easy.
He was wrong.
As the sword sliced through the air Octus said once again, "Stop!", but it was too late. Lance had cut the creature in half. He turned to the robot and asked, "What now?"
He soon found out. From the carcass of the slaughtered creature climbed out…two more. And no matter how much Lance split the things in half, they just kept multiplying. Octus finally got him to stop, and they pondered how to prevent this.
"Maybe… if we blast them?" asked Ilana, and Lance immediately sent out some missiles. The smooshed creatures continued to replicate. There were now about forty of them. The way they multiplied reminded Ilana of a story she had heard in history about some hero named Hercules and a monster called… was it a hydra? Anyway, every time Hercules cut off one of its heads, two more appeared. Unfortunately, she couldn't remember how Hercules had beaten them- the bell had rung at that point.
"Perhaps if we crush them…" pondered Octus, and as they all stepped on the monsters, they only increased to multiply. It was becoming extremely hard to keep them from wandering off into the forest and losing any of them. G3 would have a field day if they got their hands on any of these.
And suddenly… it wasn't a problem anymore. Because now there was only one creature… composed of all the others. All 70 or so creatures had morphed into one large one, and it now towered over them all. This whole time Amy had been watching silently, thinking about how they would go about destroying this creature. She remembered on Arnos there had been an infestation of these once in its capital city, Averanda, and the way the military had defeated them was eluding her.
She didn't have much longer to think, though. The monster was soon swinging at them, and knocked them all off their feet. Lance sped up towards its head and pulled out his sword again, but the creature just swatted him to the ground, along with Octus, and then Ilana. The thing was fast- Amy was the only one who could compete with its speed, but it quickly drained even her energy until they all were on the verge of collapse. Lance, Ilana, and Octus formed Titan to attack the creature to attack it while Amy provided a distraction, but after many blows, the trio was exhausted. The final blow disengaged their link, but before that happened Lance took most of the blow. When the all fell, he fell a little harder, and… he didn't get up.
Amy flew quickly to her brother, but when he continued to be unable to move, her armor turned from her neon orange to a bright, blood red. She shook from fury, and when Octus re-engaged their link to try and revive the soldier with strength shared from him and Ilana, the corporal remained dangerously unconscious. The monster threw another blow at Titan, and stumbling, it fell to one knee.
Amy couldn't take it anymore. Her desperation and anger took over, and almost unconscious of her actions, her instincts took her to fly before Titan. Compared to the giant robot she was puny, but she slowly flew closer and closer to the "heart" area of titan. Her Tera armor mysteriously sent out a beam of light at Titan, and before any of them knew what was happening…
Amy was a part of Titan.
As her armor morphed with that of Lance, Ilana, and Octus, they all felt the shape of Titan shift into something new. Instead of two feet, it now had four… it was almost shaped as a dog, but with human characteristics as well. Instead of fur, it had almost scale-like plating surrounding its body, with its colors ranging from a deep blue-ish purple to yellow to a light blue to… orange. It's tail could curve like a scythe or straighten like a sword, and while it was extremely sharp, couldn't cut itself. Titan's senses were all enhanced, and they all felt a little mental switch to change to a human version of Titan, too, if they wanted to fly. The only difference between the new humanoid version of Titan and the old humanoid version of Titan was it was slightly taller, faster, stronger, and it had streaks of orange throughout its armor. But this new quadruped version of Titan, this almost wolf-like form with hidden arsenals under each 'scale'… was like nothing any of them had ever experienced. And the outside wasn't the only thing that had changed.
There was still a heart of the animal, and around that heart was the blue of the body, while mind looked over both, but Lance and Ilana were now joined by Amy, and they felt a new presence running through the robot…
Soul.
They all felt it, and even Amy seemed astonished at what had happened and what she was, even though she had initiated it. She was… the soul. It was like there was a new part of the Galalunian tradition.
Now, some could argue that the heart and the soul are both the same. Well, they're not. The heart is the center, and controls things that are deep and yet simple- morals, standards, and other important things necessary for survival. Things that are required to be a part of a functioning society. But the soul is completely different. The soul is, essentially, the thing that allows everything to run smoothly. It connects everything, but at the same time, everything depends on it. The soul deals with extremely deep matters, problems or situations that almost question the very essence of one's being. The position and goal of the soul determines one's path, how they'll achieve it, and answers the "why" of every person's being. The soul is that part that some never find, but makes the person who they are.
And no one could believe that they now had a 'soul' in Titan. Amy.
They didn't have much time to stand there dumbstruck, though. They soon saw a giant arm swinging at them. Apparently, the monster wasn't impressed by their transformation. They dodged it with amazing speed, and as Lance's consciousness automatically demanded firepower, missiles shot out from under their scaly armor. The creature grew as it multiplied, and suddenly Amy remembered how Arnos had dealt with these pests- the same way, Ilana later remembered, as Hercules had dealt with the hydra.
Ilana, Amy commanded her thoughts at the princess. Form an energy field around the creature and compress it, crushing it.
What? Lance thought in horror. You saw what happened when we crushed them! It just makes them bigger!
Amy let her plan flow through their thoughts, and she felt a mental "Oh" from them all. They took off and circled the creature as Ilana created the field. Compressing it and hearing the crunching sound, they waited until every one of them was completely squashed before Lance started his part. As he commanded a stream of fire out of the Titan's mouth towards the energy field, Ilana stopped crushing them and dissipated the field. The flames quickly engulfed the mass, much more effective than just the short, booming heat of explosives. The flames continued to shoot out as they continued their circle around the burning blob, and when they stopped they watched the remains crumble to the ground as ashes.
They all dug a small hole (they were kind of a wolf now, after all) to bury the ashes, and once they were done they disengaged the link. The four stood as humans panting in the clearing that had been created by the fight.
The original Titan Trio all looked at Amy. She had a thin sheen of sweat across her forehead, and had to sit down from exhaustion. She looked ready to pass out. She had obviously done the most during the fight, and it took a lot of energy to form the new Titan, as they had never done it before. None of them knew what to say.
"Amy…" Lance was especially speechless. His little sister looked up at him, and he saw the fatigue in her eyes.
She knew what he was thinking, and said firmly, "No, Lance. It's not anything special. You're the Body, Ilana is the Heart, Octus the Mind, and I am the Soul. Nothing more."
He shook his head and helped her up as they activated their armors- all except Amy. She didn't have the energy to fly home, so Lance carried her as she passed out in his cold, metallic hands. If his suit could show expressions, it would have been smiling at his little sister, pride covering every inch of his face.
-o-o-o-
Amy skipped school the next day, but not voluntarily- Lance insisted that no one wake her up since she was so exhausted. He stayed home to watch over her, and by the time she woke up, school was almost out anyway. She gave him a dirty look, but didn't have the energy to do much more than that. When she came back the next day, she was questioned profusely by all of her friends. Where had she been? What? She was sick? Was she feeling okay? Was she sure? Okay, well if she needed anything, she had to let them know. On the inside, Amy was chuckling. She claimed to have had a common cold, but that was hardly cause to worry compared to other things she had been through before- not that anyone knew about that. Of course, Andre was glued to her side almost all day long, making sure she didn't feel light-headed or warm or fatigued. She laughed constantly at his unnecessary worry. Lance tried to let it go.
Octus came to school the next couple of days tired, too, and Kimmy kept fussing about him. "I just need to recharge my batteries", he kept telling her, an Earth saying that he had picked up that was oddly accurate for a robot such as himself. Nevertheless, Kimmy stayed by her boyfriend all day, making sure he was as fine as he said he was. Octus- er, Newton- felt an odd sensation at her concern, like nothing he had ever felt before. Like a little warm feeling in the pit of his holographic human's stomach.
He was in his room later that night after dinner, pondering these recent developments and charging, when Amy opened his door. "Can I come in?" she asked quietly.
"Yes, please do", Octus replied in his monotone that was actually becoming increasingly rare. Amy came in and sat down on the bed that had recently been added to the robot's room to make it look more "normal", with stylish brown-and-black sheets picked out especially by Kimmy. Octus continued to stand.
"Um...have the, uh…the messages…" Amy started, but Octus detected something behind just this question. Amy never stuttered.
"No, they haven't, you know I would notify you if they had. Now what did you really come here to ask me?" The robot asked, as straight-forward as ever.
The young girl seemed to be caught off-guard. "Well, that's just it, actually. That. You're not just a robot anymore… and I think you need someone to go over that with."
"No, I am not, and I am fine processing it on my own, but thank you for the offer", the robot said almost stiffly.
"Octus", Amy said gently. "Are you sure? Being a human is very confusing without being a robot, too. Humans aren't logical, and that's hard to process."
Octus sighed, transformed into Newton, and sat down on his bed next to Amy, who smiled slightly. "These emotions! They're so- so- they don't make any sense! What triggers them? I mean, I know from my research that when certain events are processed by the brain it-" Amy put a hand on Newton's knee, silencing him.
"That's just it", she explained. "You're overanalyzing it. There's science behind everything in the universe, but some things just don't make sense. You can categorize fear or aggression by adrenaline or happiness or sadness or love by other hormones, but you can't scientifically describe how you feel. You have to realize that. Sometimes it just makes more sense to hit that 'I believe' button instead of trying to reason everything out through science. Like gravity- you can't explain that through science, but-"
Here Octus interrupted her: "Actually, I have scientifically reasoned out gravity. It was quite simple, really."
Amy just shook her head and chuckled. "Well, all the same, do you understand what I'm saying? About how you should just accept some things?"
The robot cocked his head and said slowly, "I…I think so."
Amy smiled. "Good. And if it's still kind of confusing, just remember- you don't have to analyze everything. It's fine to let some things be as they are."
Octus nodded and as he became lost in thought, Amy showed herself the door. As the handle clicked quietly, his 'thoughts' became shifted towards Kimmy. This was getting so complicated. He was becoming more and more human, and that also meant that more and more room was being left for errors. Humans made errors, that was an accepted fact of life due to the fact that the human brain makes miscalculations. Octus shifted out of his Newton hologram.
But Octus could not make miscalculations.
-o-o-o-
The news was finally here.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU PING US?!" roared Ilana and Amy as they snatched the letters out of the robot's hand. He had gotten them in during second period, but had waited until after school when they got home to print them out for the two girls. Octus looked at them strangely. He didn't see why they were so excited.
Lance explained in a quiet voice, "They've got more to miss, more to have a chance of losing than we do. They have… family."
Hearing this, Amy looked up at her brother and gave him a smile. "We are family," she said, and resumed to tearing her envelope to shreds. Ilana already had hers open and the biggest grin was on her face.
"Let's see here… Galaluna's advancing greatly, we've got allies, hmmm…. Father's doing well… ooh, a picture of him and Galaluna and the troops! How nice… oh, they're prospering! Wonderful! Hobbes is doing great, so are the others!" Ilana finished her letter while Amy was still struggling with hers. Lance took it and, sliding his finger under the fold, opened it swiftly. He handed it back to Amy.
"Oh, Lance, I forgot- a letter arrived to you from Baron." The robot handed the moody teenager an envelope which he tucked away for later. Amy sat down on the couch and began to read her letter aloud.
"Okay, guys, this one is from Ryoch, from Kate, Tod, Kelly, Kristina, Brandon, and Brenda. Let's see here…" She read the letter aloud.
"Dearest Amy,
We're so happy you're okay! We thought we'd never hear from you again! Of course, we had hoped, but you must admit that the odds were against you- though you do have a way of going against all odds when you're determined.
We can't believe you actually found Lance! Tell him hi for us, along with your Princess Ilana and Octus-" Amy looked up at them and said with a smile, "Hi." She returned to her letter:
"And make sure that they know to take care of you. They're lucky to have you- you're a very popular item." Amy blushed and continued. "Anyway, we miss you a whole lot! It's hard to believe that it's been five six years already! We miss you so much, and think about you every day! We've got personal notes at the bottom, but we wish you luck and hope to see you as soon as you return! Oh, and also- Ryoch is now an official ally of Galaluna! From us all, love you! Anyway, here are the notes:
AMY IT'S KELLY HI! I can't believe it's been so long, and that you're still… frankly, alive. From the sound of your adventures, you've gotten even tougher than I remember you. I'm so happy you found Lance! I remember how you would almost fawn over him every day. I hope that you're making friends on Earth! Make sure they treat you right! Oh, and remember that boy, Black, that we knew in second grade? He's my boyfriend now!" Amy raised her eyebrows and continued: "He's really sweet, and he's handsome now! Well, I'm running out of room, but I wish you the best and you better come back soon! And bring your family!
Love your unofficial sister and official best friend, ~Kelly~"
Amy stared at that one note for a long time, re-reading it, imagining Kelly's now mature voice reading it to her in her head. Lance noticed her turning around a friendship bracelet on her left wrist that she had worn since she got to Earth; she had since cleaned it of the dirt it had accumulated traveling from planet to planet, and in cleanliness he could see that it was a complex pattern of intertwining green and orange, an odd color combination pulled together by the complexity of the design. Since Amy loved orange, Kelly must have been the green. He remembered what his little sister said Kristina and Brandon gave her when she left, and noticed a newly befitted, beautiful silver-plated ring with four small diamonds on its surface. She must have just put it on after she landed, for fear of losing it in the war on Galaluna, because he couldn't remember it on her hand when she crash-landed. After a small nudge from him after many minutes, Amy came out of her reverie and continued the letter from Ryoch:
"OMG AMY I CAN'T BELIEVE IT'S YOU! It's Kristina! So much has changed since you left! Ryoch's president got overthrown, I learned to like reading, and… um…me and Brandon are kinda going out now. It's…good. It's nice. Anyway, school is hard! I wish I had you to help me! I hope we can see you again!
Many salutations, Kristina
Hey, Amy! Hope you haven't forgotten little ol' Brandon! Well, I'm not so little anymore…I'm almost seven foot… heh… it's getting kind of hard to hold hands with Kristina- she hasn't grown much. She's barely five foot. I hope Earth is treating you well, and we all really want to see you as soon as you get back in the neighborhood. Hope your friends are treating you right- they should, from what I can remember you're amazing.
Yours Kristina's truly, (She made me write that) No, Brandon, stop. Kristina! This pencil doesn't have an eraser! Then stop writing! -Brandon"
Amy laughed. They were as comical as ever. She continued, and the next one was from Brenda.
"Dear big sistur,
I miss you a lot! I was only a littel girl when I last saw yu, but Ive grone up a lot! Mommy says I need to wurk on my spelling and punktuashion, but I dont see whats rong with it. Anyway I miss you a lot and I hope to see yu soon! Oh and I like butterflys now!
Luv, Brenda
P.S. Mommy told me ur story and what yu did to get home. We had to rite a paper in english class about heros, and I piked yu. Yu r my hero big sis! Luv yu!"
Amy was crying now, tears streaming down the sides of her face to collect in small pools around the wrinkles she got when she smiled. Lance sat down next to her and nodded at the paper to tell her to keep reading. Wiping her eyes, Amy continued:
"Dearest daughter," Amy touched a necklace dangling from her neck- the one Kate and Tod had given her when she left.
"Yes, we still consider you our daughter. After all these years, we can't even begin to tell you as parents parental figures how proud we are of you. At such a young age, to accomplish so much! And you finally found Lance! He's a very lucky man to have you for a sister. We just want you to know how proud we are of you! We know you'll come back as soon as you can, and we count down the days until we can see you again. We love you so much, sweetie.
Too much love to put on paper, Your Parents, Kate & Tod."
Amy's eyes were tearful again as she read the P.S.:
"P.S.: Amy, this is Kate- by the way, I'm pregnant again!"
Amy's eyes widened. "But", she wondered aloud, "Boy or girl?" she turned back to the letter.
"P.P.S. We don't know yet. It'll be a surprise."
Amy started laughing again. They knew her too well. Enclosed in the letter was a picture of everyone… how they had grown… next was the letter from Galaluna.
"Dearest Amy,
I trust from your last letter that you have been prospering on Earth, and am glad that you have been able to fit in. I would like to thank you once again for helping to protect my daughter- who I actually have to write a letter to now. I hope you don't mind my being brief, but I know you don't and I know you know that it's much more important to me to write Ilana. Stay strong, and enclosed is our military situation. I understand you're busy but I can guess you also miss your duties, and as we need you right now I expect a report back ASAP." Amy took out of the envelope several forms with complex drawings, figures, and descriptions, and grinned broadly. She'd missed this. Finally, some actual brain work. Earth math was boring. She continued, hoping for more, but instead found only the closing:
"Sincerely, the King."
She stared at the letter, beginning to panic. "No, no, no!" she panted, and searched the envelope frantically for more. Finding nothing, she started staring straight ahead. "Jessica?" she whispered. What had happened to the search party she sent out to retriever her old friend from Mutrad? In her experience with the King, receiving no news about someone was most always bad news. Ilana took the letter from her hands while Lance put a hand on Amy's shoulder, trying to console her. The princess read the letter, and when she turned it over…
"Amy, look! It's double-sided!" The young girl's head snapped up and she started laughing at herself from relief.
"Well, that was stupid of me", she said as she took the letter from Ilana's hand and flipped it over. Gently she pried yet another small envelope from the tape on which it was stuck to, and when she opened it she smiled wide. Jessica had… grown. She was no longer the scrawny, shy brunette that she had last seen. Now she was tall and strong, with an outfit that she made look good, even by military standards. The girl was flashing an (ironic) peace sign, and was smiling at the camera while military personnel scurried in the background. She had dyed the tips of her hair blonde, and fitted to her side… a knife. Amy frowned. That wasn't like her. She read,
"Amy: Well, you kept your promise. I always knew you would. The rescue team you sent to Galaluna came back with me only two days after you left. That was disappointing, but when they told me you had gone to see your brother, I was stoked. You finally found him, Ames! Congrats! I'm, uh… A lot more outgoing now than I used to be. I actually fought your soldiers until I knew that you sent them- it took them a while to find me because I escaped the orphanage after you left and was wandering the streets rogue. Yeaaah….I've changed a lot. But according to your letter, you're as strong and beautiful and optimistic as ever. Go, Amy! Well, I've joined the Royal Guard-" Amy's eyebrows shot up and she continued reading: "And I actually have to go on a mission in about five minutes, so I should probably go. Come back soon! And… thanks. For saving me. I can't thank you enough.
Much love, Jessica"
Enclosed was a hair clip Jessica had made herself from metal scraps from Galaluna and beads from an old necklace she always wore that had broken beyond repair. Amy smiled- she had always been artistic. She pinned the clip in her hair to pull back her bangs, and turned to Lance. "Well, I suppose it's your turn to read your letter from Baron." Lance blushed, and Amy got the signal that the new relationship between the two of them was still too new and awkward and private for Lance to feel comfortable to read the letter aloud. "Or I could read my last one", she offered, and Lance quickly nodded.
Amy turned to the last letter- this one from Arnos, and said, "From my grandmother, Maya."
Or so she had thought.
Right before she had left, Maya had grown so old that Amy's assistance wasn't enough. She had to hire a young female nurse named Shaavi, a name traditional to the area in which she grew up. Shaavi was kind and efficient, and she and Amy became friends before the young girl had to leave. The letter enclosed was not Maya's writing… it was Shaavi's. It took Amy a while to read it, as she had to translate it from the native language of Arnos, but she was still fluent in reading the many scribbles of the language that made Lance's head spin just looking at it. She read:
"Amy,
I'm so glad you finally found your brother! I hope Earth is treating you well! I miss you, as well as Maya. I'll get to the point. Enclosed is Maya's letter to you. It was written a while ago, though, and she predicted everything that would happen- and I mean everything. Even the part about your princess and the robot. I think she was visited in a dream or had an epiphany, because the accuracy of her predictions are amazing. I admit, I read it out of curiosity one day, not knowing what it was."
Amy started to frown deeply. Something was not right here.
"Read Maya's letter before moving on in this one." Amy took out the other letter in the envelope Octus had printed out and read it. "My sweet Amy," she began.
"I always knew you would find your brother. You are a strong, determined-" Amy stopped for a second and squinted at the paper. "Well", she told the trio looking at her from where they had taken their seats, "there's no direct translation of that in English, but in this case it's meant as a complementing adjective somewhat equivalent to that of 'fierce'. Anyway-
"You are a strong determined, fierce young girl woman, and I hope you know how proud I am of you. You are my pride and joy as I never had children, and it warms my heart to see you accomplishing your dreams. I love you with all my heart, more than you can ever know. Kevin and Alexei miss you, and each confess their love for you." Amy raised her eyebrows and Octus detected (but didn't say aloud) that Lance's heart rate was spiking. Amy laughed as she read the next line. "Just kidding! But they do miss you a lot and wish you the best possible, and they both claim that meeting you has changed their lives- though I think that's a line that's said by anyone who has ever met you. Meeting you has made my life complete. I so proud of you and love you so much.
Your grandmother,
Maya"
Amy now returned to Shaavi's letter.
"Now that you've read that, I have to tell you something that you're not going to want to hear. Maya…died right after she got your letter."
The tearing in Amy's chest kept her from continuing, so Octus took the letter and using his translation programming, read:
"It really was uncanny- as if she was living just to hear word from you, as soon as I finished reading she just sighed and… went. I'm so sorry for your loss, but I hope I see you again. She really was quite old- she lived to the old age of 88 in your Earth years. She told me before we got the letter that if we ever heard back from you that her response was in a drawer in her desk. She said in her will that she wants you to speak at your funeral, and instructed it not to be held until you could return and attend. I hope you know how much she loved you… and still does.
Your sorrowful friend, Shaavi."
The tears streamed down for a great friend and too many memories lost.
-o-o-o-
No matter what they tried, they just couldn't console her.
Lance, naturally, was the most concerned about her. Being her big brother and knowing how hard it was to lose someone you loved so much that they were family, he wanted to make sure she was all right. But she wasn't, and in the end they all knew that. As if it wasn't bad enough that Maya was dead, she had died directly after Shaavi read the end of Amy's letter- all that left in the young General's mind was room to believe that if she hadn't sent the letter, Maya would still be living. Lance had never seen his sister cry so much in his life, nor had he seen so much pain behind eyes that were not his own. She retreated to her room, and even Lance didn't try to stop her. She carried a picture enclosed with the letters- the last remaining one outside of Octus's database of her and Maya.
That news obviously put a damper on the rest of the day, to say the least. Amy tried to apologize through her tears at ruining what was supposed to be happy news from home, but she couldn't choke out a couple of words through her sobs.
Lance's letter from Baron was nothing new. Well, it was new in the way that he filled in Lance on news from the war, but nothing major. Lance quickly wrote a response and apologized for his briefness. He remembered that Baron and Amy were friends, and shortly described what had happened, saying that if he didn't respond for a while after Baron's next letter than that was why. He sealed a picture of dull Sherman High and said, "at least you've got action". He gave it to Octus, who scanned it and sent it through a signal.
Octus also sent Ilana's response to her dad, which included a picture of the four smiling in front of high school- even Lance. Also included was a photo of just her, and the news of what happened to Amy to apologize for Ilana's melancholy tone in the letter.
So Amy retreated to her room to work on the military position on Galaluna, trying and failing to keep her tears from staining the paper.
-o-o-o-
Try as he did, Lance couldn't keep a sleep-deprived and wrecked Amy from going to school. He had brought her dinner last night, though she hadn't eaten at all, and insisted that she at least try to go to sleep before midnight. She had tried. It hadn't worked. If she was able to even drift away, she would just dream about Maya. Amy missed her so much it hurt. But no matter what he tried, Lance couldn't keep her from school. She insisted that she absolutely, positively needed to go to school that day. She had missed marching band practice yesterday from 3-5, and today was Wednesday- one of the busiest days of the week. So in the end, she gathered everything she needed for school, soccer, and marching band, piled in the back seat with Lance, and went off to school with her military work in her backpack.
That day was truly terrible.
She couldn't concentrate at all in Trig, which wasn't too bad since the math was easy. She worked on her military paperwork all throughout history since she had already read a week in advance, but soccer was tough. Since she got virtually no sleep the night before, she found herself lacking in the energy it took to play any position except goalie- and even then she had to lean against the goal post for support. Her teammates took notice and asked her what was wrong, but Amy would just turn away and fight back tears, which made them even more worried. Ilana took them all aside (or at least those who hadn't already heard the rumors) and explained that Amy had just lost her grandmother with whom she was very close to. Realizing that technically, since she and Lance and Amy were all under the story of being related, that Maya would've been her and Lance's grandmother, too, so she added that Maya lived in China to explain Amy's particular connection since she had transferred from there. She pinged Lance and told him to be aware that if anyone said "sorry for your loss" that they would be referring to Maya.
But before soccer, before history, and even before trig there was a different problem. Andre. Amy would typically see him in the morning when she would drop off her clarinet at the band room, and this morning he immediately became worried- along with the rest of her band and orchestra friends- when he saw her face. She found herself engulfed in a crowd, all wanting to know if she was okay or why she looked so tired and why her eyes were red and what happened? Hard as she tried, she just couldn't take it anymore and ran away. Andre caught up to her and asked her what was wrong. She choked back tears and gave him an abridged version that her grandmother had died and she really didn't want to talk about it, and the next time she shuffled away from him he let her go with a worried look on her face. The rest of the day he watched her from a distance to make sure she was okay, sensing that she needed space but still worried. Lance noticed this and he felt his distaste with Andre liking Amy soften a little. Well, Lance thought, I can't say that he doesn't care about her, or know when she needs support. Maybe he's not so bad after all.
During fourth period String Ensemble Mr. Gerome saw Amy had difficulty reading the music and asked what was wrong. Amy said that she was tired, it was nothing. When he teased her lightly about not getting enough sleep, she replied in an extremely rare sharp tone: "Well, sorry if I'm having trouble sleeping because my grandmother just died." They all stared at her and murmured their condolences. Mr. Gerome just sat there awkwardly and feeling bad until he continued rehearsal, and when in the middle of it Amy's eyes started to water her co-chair Mike gave her a soothing hug that quickly turned into a dogpile of violinists concerned about their friend. That only made her eyes water more.
During lunch Lance had trouble fighting off all the people that wanted to talk to Amy about her grandmother, even though she told them all she just wanted to be left alone. Ilana's words did nothing to repel them, and if Newton formed a force field in the cafeteria it would have been a dead giveaway that he was a robot. Kimmy put a remorseful hand on Amy's shoulder while she ate her sandwich, trying to console her. It did little, and the crowd was getting bigger- Andre sat watching the growing mass from the other side of the cafeteria, wondering if he should do something. His reason for finally doing so was seeing Amy shake trying to hold back the tears. As he helped Lance repel the curious onlookers, he was amazed at how much Amy had loved her grandmother. Lance looked over at the senior boy with something that was almost gratitude, but the trumpetist couldn't be sure as all his attention was diverted to the mass.
After that was chemistry, which was fairly uneventful, and then came Wind Ensemble- word had definitely gotten around by that time of what had happened, and all the whispers just made it harder. It had been a long day and she still had things to do after school- she wouldn't be able to take much more. Gerome let Andre sit next to Amy so she was wedged between him and Miranda so they could make sure she was all right, but the recent events in Amy's life caused the class to be so distracted that he cancelled practice and retreated to his office to input grades, inviting Amy along for peace and a break from all her concerned friends. It was nice to know that they cared, but all the questions and the talk was becoming too much, so she took his offer. She followed him into his disorganized office strewn with papers, tools for fixing broken instruments, broken instruments themselves, and random pictures his students had drawn. She was followed by Newton, Andre, and Miranda.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Asked Miranda quietly, and Amy just shook her head. "Okay then", said the small junior, and switched the topic to the upcoming dance.
"I'm going with Ethan", she said happily, and Amy smiled, grateful for the change of subject. "I just asked him yesterday and he said yes. It'll be fun!"
"I'm glad", said Amy with a tired grin. Newton offered his input on the subject:
"Kimmy asked me a while ago. She keeps on fussing about dresses. I don't get it, it's just a dance."
Mr. G overheard this and rolled his eyes at the tubist. "Dude, come one. I'm a fat old man and I understand the importance of dresses to women."
They laughed, and as the conversation continued, Andre asked rather awkwardly, "So, Amy, uh… are you asking anyone to the dance?"
She looked at him in surprise. "No, I wasn't really planning on it. Maybe I'll ask Mike as friends. Lance wanted me to go with him so he wouldn't have to find a date but I wouldn't let him." She smiled at the memory. She didn't notice when Andre cringed at her mention of taking Mike and as a friend. Amy turned to him: "So, what about you? Has anyone asked you yet?"
He shifted rather awkwardly. Miranda answered for him. "Yeah, didn't I hear that two different girls asked you and you said no to both of them?" They all looked at him curiously.
"Ah, well… yeah…"
"Why?" asked Amy, curious. Newton thought he saw Andre blush.
"Well, I've been waiting for someone else to ask me…"
"A girl you like?" Miranda asked, and at this question Amy felt a very odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. Like a little knot gnawing at her.
"Well, ah…yeah."
"Oooh, who?" Miranda kept up the barrage of questions, and Andre started blushing furiously.
"I'm not telling you guys that!"
They laughed.
-o-o-o-
Soccer wasn't so bad. In fact, it was almost good. The whole team showed their support for Amy by giving her a great big hug, and they convinced the coach (who also thought it a good idea) to let her just take a nap for the duration of the practice from 3-5. Amy insisted on playing, but she stumbled several times and in the end was forced by her teammates to sit down. She tried to stay awake and follow the practice, but the sun was so warm and the grass so soft that she soon lost consciousness. Amy dreamed lightly of Maya, but for the most part it was a restful nap and Ilana woke her up fifteen minutes before practice ended so Amy could hop over to marching band practice.
Marching band wasn't easy by any standards. Four hours of marching was exhausting on the two hours of sleep she had under her belt, and Amy kept on stumbling and playing the wrong notes. She would sleep during the breaks, and for the first time ever everyone in band was quiet so she could get some rest. It was really uncanny, and she was touched by their concern. She got a whole lot of hugs from all of her friends who heard what happened. Gerome let them out an hour early, but since Amy didn't have her license (something she resolved to change soon) she was stuck at school for another hour, so she just sat outside the band room and started working on her military work. She was almost halfway through it, and developed a good rhythm. Andre walked by, whistling, to find only Amy left. His car was having problems again, and his friend was coming to give him a charge, but he was a half hour away. Andre sat down next to her.
"What'cha doin'?"
She looked up after several seconds and blinked. "What?"
Andre laughed and ruffled her hair, looking over at her military tactics. "Whoah," he said before she could stow them away. "What's that? I don't think they teach any math classes that sophisticated on campus."
"They don't", said Amy. "This is extracurricular."
Andre just shook his head in disbelief. Amy laid back and stared at the dark sky, full of stars. It was warm with a slight breeze, and as she had forgotten her jacket and the school was locked up, she was forced to stay outside. She pulled out the picture of her and Maya and shivered at a cool breeze. Andre shrugged out of his jacket and offered it to her with a light blush that she didn't notice, and she took it after he insisted and thanked him. She continued to stare at the picture in the dim light.
He lay down next to her. "That your grandmother?" he asked. She nodded sadly. "She taught me a whole lot. She would always tease me about the two boys I was friends with on Ar- in China. She said I 'loved them'."
He looked at her, uncomfortable by her last sentence. "How old were you?"
Amy shrugged. "Like eleven or so."
Andre laughed. "And what did you tell her?"
"That love was irrational."
Andre stared up at the stars with her, silenced. After a while, he said softly, "but you loved her."
She nodded sadly. "Was she on your mom's side or your dad's side?" he asked her.
She cringed. "She was actually just a friend that I met when I was alone in China, but I loved her like a grandma and she told me to call her 'grandma', so…I did."
"But", said Andre, "Isn't that kind of confusing to your other grandmothers?"
"Not really", she said in a small voice.
"How not?"
"Well," she explained, "Mr. Lunis, our dad, ran away when he was little so we don't even know where his mom is, much less have contact with her."
"And how about your mom's side?"
When Andre got no answer, he looked over to see Amy's silhouette shaking silently in the dark, the stars reflected like tiny sparkles in the tears streaming down her face. "Hey", he asked in alarm, "what's wrong?"
She couldn't answer. The day had been too much, and to ask about her mom… she covered her face. He sat up and took her hands away. "Amy?" he whispered, getting more and more worried. He had never seen her cry. She always seemed so strong and optimistic. Like nothing could ever break her.
But no one was like that. He realized that as he pulled her head onto his lap and wiped away her tears, trying to comfort her. Perhaps he was being bold, but he didn't care. He just wanted her to stop being sad. That weird burning feeling in his chest started to ache.
"My mom's d-d-…dead. She died a long time ago, and I never even knew her. I don't even know how she died, and neither does Lance or…Mr. Lunis, our dad." Andre felt like hitting himself over the hammer. She had just lost her grandmother and now he was bringing up her dead mom.
Great.
"I'm sorry", he murmured. And, after a moment's reflection: "Why do you call your dad by his last name?"
Amy realized she had dug herself into a hole by referring to Octus' 'dad' hologram by his formal name. She took a shot: "Well… I'm adopted. So are Lance and Ilana. Lance and I are actually siblings, but Ilana is adopted from a different family. Newton is Mr. Lunis' biological son, so it kind of explains why we're all so different with appearances."
Andre just looked at her. So her mom had died, her grandmother was dead, and her only real family was adopted.
"So you don't even have any real family?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth he wished he could take them back. He was so stupid! She was crying again, and she sat up. He awkwardly put an arm around her shoulders, and before he knew it she was hugging him so hard he could hardly breathe. She was strong. His body shook with her sobs, and he hesitantly put his arms around her and hugged her back.
"No", she managed to choke out once she was done sobbing and pulled out of the hug. "That's not true. Lance is my biological brother, and I love him with all my heart. Ilana is like a true sister to me, and I can't imagine life without Newton. And besides that, I consider a lot of my friends like family. I may not have a whole lot of biological family, but I've got people who love me and care about me, like Mike and Miranda and the soccer girls and you." Andre was glad she couldn't see him blush in the dark, and Amy felt her heart beat irregularly for no reason when she realized what she had said in the last sentence. What was she feeling? This was totally foreign to her.
"And you know what?" she asked, her voice more steady now. "That's okay. That I don't have biological family besides Lance. Because family is defined by love, not genes. And it's even okay that grandma and mom died. Because…I loved them, and they loved me. And I can't ask for more than that." Amy lay back down as the sudden revelation hit her, that it really was okay that they had died. Because they had loved, and that was all that anyone wanted to accomplish in life- to love. Andre laid down next to her again, marveling at her optimism and astounded at her take on life. She was incredible.
The lay in silence until Lance came for Amy. In the parking lot he saw the two of them laying together and his hands tensed on the steering wheel. He honked, loud and long, and enjoyed watching Andre jump. Amy didn't, of course- she had military training. Andre's friend pulled into the parking lot, too, and he got up along with Amy to restart his car. She handed him back his jacket, and Lance narrowed his eyes- Andre had done that move. Really. She said good-bye and thanks, and climbed into Lance's car with all her stuff. As he turned the heat up, he asked, "What was that?"
"We were just talking about stuff," Amy said, clicking in her seatbelt.
"What kind of stuff?" He inquired suspiciously.
"I don't see why it matters," she answered, surprised by his tone.
"Well, I don't like you hanging out with him."
Amy wasn't getting the point. "I don't see the big deal- you hang out with Ilana all the time." She didn't realize that this was a terrible comparison as he liked Ilana, and taht made Lance think that Amy liked Andre, even though he knew she didn't- yet. He looked over at her, and jumped with rage at the drying trail where the tears had slid down minutes before.
"HE MADE YOU CRY!" he roared, and Amy locked the car when he tried to get out to go beat up Andre.
"Lance, Maya just died. I'm very prone to tears right now. And, anyway, he actually helped me a lot. I realize that it's fine that Maya's dead now, and even…even Mom, too." Lance stopped shaking and just looked her. She explained: "because we loved her, and she loved us, and there's nothing to regret."
He calmed down and drove home, admittedly jealous and a little resentful that Ilana's prediction that Andre would help Amy was already coming true, and that a senior boy she had known for only a month could help his little sister when he couldn't. He tried to let it go, and in the end was just happy that Amy wasn't so sad anymore. She explained to him what she told Andre about them all being adopted, and the family went over the new, more sensical story when they got home. Octus went in to the school database and changed "biological" to "adopted", and they all dreaded the fuss the school would have when word got out.
Amy slept soundly.
-o-o-o-
But he hadn't forgotten her tears from the previous night.
After school the next day, when no one was around, Lance found Andre in an empty hall just closing his locker. Quickly closing the space between them with three long strides, Lance noticed with dissatisfaction that they were the same height- Lance was usually taller than most boys at the school. Either way, Andre just looked at him and said, "Hey, Lance, what's u-" Lance interrupted him.
"If you ever make Amy cry again, I swear I'll beat you up so bad that you'll be in the hospital for a week. Understand?"
"She wouldn't let you. You wouldn't hurt her by betraying her like that."
Lance seethed, knowing Andre was right and starting to hate him again. But his next words actually made him almost…like him a little.
"But if it was up to me, I'd let you. Heck, I wouldn't do it in the first place if I could stop it. I don't want to see her hurting, but when I do, feel free to beat me up. Put me in the hospital for two weeks- anyone who makes her cry deserves it. But last night… I think it helped her. You're her brother, so you would know better, but from what I can gather her grandmother dying isn't so hard on her now."
Lance just blinked. Andre waved and left to go to his car, hoping it would start.
-o-o-o-
Amy finished her homework and looked out at the stars. Someday she would return to them and give Maya the proper sending-away that she deserved. Maybe she'd tell her about Andre.
A friend lost, a lesson gained.
Important things from this chapter: Amy's linkage with Titan, Octus becoming more human, Andre doesn't have a date to the dance, Jessica in the Royal Guard, Maya's death, the 'adoption' story (super important), Lance's starting to accept Andre, and AMY AND ANDRE! Teehee :3
…..Nineteen pages in word. Six times the length of my typical English essay. Ten more hours. Please review. I think all this work is worth it. Sorry for the long wait! I've still got one more day of testing on Monday, but I did way better than I expected for my Alg. II/Trig test, especially on logarithms, which are really hard! English STAR tests are always stupid…we know how to read documents, and we know what metaphors are, really… it's 3:30 AM right now. Please review, I worked really hard on this! I'm actually starting to wrap it up, we should be done around chapter 20. Thanks to all of you who review and give me ideas! This story is for you! Also credit to my math teacher, Kearsley, for teaching our class the 'I believe' button whenever we ask 'why'. Don't ever ask 'why' in Alg. II/ Trig. You won't like the answer. Also I made all measurements standard to the US for ease of writing, and refer to the Galalunians' language as 'English' instead of 'Galalunian' so people won't get confused. So, yeah. Have a good day all