Disclaimer: I do not own Storm Hawks or any of its characters. I do, however, own my own character and plots.

Chapter 19

Poor Adam. He was only a kid... and his father was...

Rio said nothing. His expression was enough of a hint on how he was feeling. He had the most delirious, miserable look I had ever seen, and I expected him to collapse and break down. Perhaps he was too numb at the moment to do so.

Seth took a hold of his shoulders and steered him forward, while I stayed behind for a moment longer. I looked over to the racks and found that Luchas' coat still remained. Perhaps he was scared to come out. I wasn't going to open the door and check on him right then... my mood didn't call for it at all. One of the kids I helped take care of was going to die, and talking to a Cyclonian wasn't going to help that at all.

He did try to help, though.

I shook my head.

I caught up with Seth and Rio, and they had already arrived in the room Adam was taken to. The doctors set everything up, the last possible alternative they could do; they attached the child to life-support, tubes up and down his arms and body. It was tough to see him like that. It was like he was ensnared, trapped. Some of the doctors remained, staying by the door. Derik had arrived as well, so I knew that the other kids were tucked in bed. The doctors allowed Rio and myself in without any questions. Rio may as well have teleported to his son's side, because no one saw his movement. He knelt down and reached for the boy's face.

"Adam... speak to me, Adam..."

For a long while, Adam's rasp breathing was the only thing that could be heard. I slowly approached the side of the bed, and I fished out the Aquanosian bottle from my pocket. I handed it to Rio, and he took it from me. Uncorked, he raised it up under Adam's nose.

One sniff, and Adam started to rouse. I smiled gently and went to the other side of the bed. Adam's eyes fluttered weakly, and they opened a little. His gaze was drawn to his father immediately.

"Dad..."

"Adam," Rio exclaimed. His voice was weak. "My son..."

"Are we home, dad?"

Rio's expression shattered slightly. It took everything in his composure to keep a smile on his face. "No, not yet."

Adam's eyes misted over. "I miss... I miss Aquanos."

"You've been away from it for a long time."

"I thought I smelled the ocean... was I dreaming?"

His father lifted up the bottle. His hold on the object looked slack. "Just a little gift. Aquanos in a bottle."

Adam laughed weakly. "I don't think a Terra is that small, dad."

Rio laughed in return. Tears cascaded down his cheeks, but his son didn't see them. It was here that I knew his sight was starting to fade. His eyes wandered, but I wasn't sure if he saw what was really in front of him. He was able to recognize figures, but not see the details.

His eyes turned to me. I didn't know if I was prepared for it.

"Na... Nakoto... you're here?"

"I'm here," I repeated softly. "I'm here."

"Hi, Nakoto."

I smiled slightly. "Hey."

"It's... cold, Nakoto. And dark."

My gaze broke away, and I reached down for his hand. "Do you mind doing me a favour, Adam?"

"What's that?"

"Keep fighting. The night will be hard, but I know you can do it. Don't be afraid. I promise I'll take you up to the surface once you're better, okay?" My voice nearly cracked, so I had to pause and recuperate. "That'll do you some good. Fresh air, the warm sun... you haven't forgotten how those feel, have you?"

Adam didn't respond for a long moment, and I looked over at Rio. He was observing his son's face closely, with hope on his own visage. He squeezed the bottle in his hand.

"I... I'm starting to forget," Adam replied hoarsely.

I knelt down by the bed as well. "We'll refresh your memory. And after that, you know what? Your father and I will take you back to Aquanos. A little homecoming for you. You'll get to feel the water and salty breeze on your skin, and see all your old friends. I'll visit you when I can. Would you like that?"

A weak smile appeared on Adam's lips. It was the most beautiful thing to see on something so broken. "I would really like that."

"Then I will keep that promise. Don't you worry. All you have to do is hold on."

And for just a few moments... just a few... I actually believed he would listen to me.

His voice came hardly any louder than a breath. "Na...Nako...to...?"

"Yes? What else would you like me to do? I'll do anything..."

"Do... you miss your Home T...erra, Nakoto...?

My eyes widened, taken aback. His eyes were fixed on me, patiently awaiting my response. The breath passing through his gills rasped, hallow. My eyes flickered away, and I tried to speak, but nothing came out. My mouth opened and closed, but I couldn't utter a sound. I must have looked like a fool. I forcefully closed my gaping mouth, swallowed, then choked out a reply.

"I... I do."

Adam's eyes crinkled, and as he spoke, his eyes rolled away from me, looking up at the ceiling. What he said with his last, dying words would haunt me to my own dying day. They were so gentle, so quiet, so innocent... so naïve... they pierced through my scales and impaled my heart sevenfold. At that moment, I had nothing to say. I was stunned, numb.

"Then maybe... I'll take you there someday. Would you... like... that...?"

It was then that Adam passed on.

So the kid finally died.

Luchas finally came out and retrieved his labcoat after Nakoto departed. Maybe he knew that she had been waiting for a brief moment, and he wanted to wait her out. Repton guessed it was a good precaution, considering Nakoto was a Raptor. To Luchas, there was no telling what she would do. But Repton knew she would do nothing. When Luchas came out, Repton had a good look at him for the first time. He never thought a man could look so muddled, or miserable. Perhaps he blamed himself for getting caught so quickly. He was probably thinking of his next step, if any were available...

He knew where the boy was taken, because it took him very little time to search for the room everyone was in. He peeked through the open door, unnoticed by the doctors standing by. Rio and Nakoto were kneeling by the bed when they got there, but Nakoto slowly got to her feet, looking stupefied. The heart monitor descended into a single, droning note, and the child didn't move anymore. Rio leaned forward anxiously, and Nakoto snapped out of her trance.

"Adam!" she said urgently, and she pressed her hand to his chest. She leaned over him and searched his face. But, if Repton could hazard a guess... the kid's eyes looked past her, into the afterlife. Her own eyes said just as much, and she moved away. Rio uttered a traumatized cry, getting up to his feet only to fall down into the bed, gathering his son up in his arms. His sobs commenced, each shattering and painful to hear. Nakoto stiffly wandered to the corner, facing the wall, holding a hand at her mouth.

"What are you doing here, Luchas?"

The Cyclonian gave a start, and the doctors blocked his and Repton's view of the room. Each of them had cold looks on their faces. Luchas hesitated.

"I wanted to see... if the boy..."

"Adam's life was in your hands..."

"Now look what's happened."

"There was nothing more I could do," Luchas protested. "The heart couldn't take the stress, and the effect of the anesthetic did all it—"

Derik stepped forward out of nowhere, and his fist caught the elder man under the jaw. The sound of flesh meeting flesh was followed by a short, pain-filled grunt. Luchas stumbled, falling backwards onto the ground. His hand reached up to nurse his jaw, blocking some of Athene's Eye.

"You were supposed to redeem yourself!" Derik shouted. He was seen as such an out-going, friendly person when Luchas was welcomed as a friend before. Now, with Luchas' identity revealed, he showed an incredible amount of hate. It was hard to match the two faces together. "You've got a lot of guts, showing your face so early!"

"I'm sorry—"

"Oh, you're sorry? Well, I've got a mind to just f—"

Mid-curse, Nakoto appeared behind the white-coated men and gently pushed one aside with her right hand. The one she touched obliged, looking up at her with shock. She did the same with the other doctors, using her hand to split them, to make a path for herself. She managed to take a step ahead of them and looked down at Luchas. She looked like she was seeing him for the first time.

"Nakoto?" Derik voiced. Nakoto head inclined, signifying that she heard and acknowledged Derik's call, but she didn't take her eyes off of the Cyclonian she towered over. She took another step toward him, and he sidled backwards. His arm twitched. She considered this reaction, paused, then closed the gap between them completely and without pause. Luchas let out a small, pitiful sound of fear, flinching again. Repton watched —bewildered— as Nakoto grabbed the human's arms and drag him up to his feet.

"Nakoto, what are you doing?" Derik demanded. Nakoto took as step sideways and stationed herself at the Cyclonian's side. She turned her head to consider the wrathful youth.

"Stop it," she said. Her voice sounded very drained. "This is not the time."

"But he... he..."

"This is not the time," she repeated more forcefully. She then took a shaky breath and shook her head. "We've lost another one, and the one who needs all the support he can get right now is Rio." She glanced over to Luchas, who must have had the most stunned look on his face.

"And besides... maybe our Cyclonian doctor really did his best."

The confusion on the surrounding doctor's faces was thick, and they stared at Nakoto as if she was the intruder. They were voiceless as well; that was probably what Nakoto intended. She gestured down the hall.

"Now, you can stay, or you can leave. This is a solemn time, and if you don't have any further purpose here, you have it elsewhere. Someone else can make better use of you. Go on... I'll stay here with Rio for a while, and when we're gone, please attend to Adam."

The doctors looked at each other, then glanced back into the smaller room. The Aquanosian man's sobs were muffled, and he may have been trying to cover them up, but he was failing at it. Derik bowed his head, sighed in frustration, then nodded his head. He muttered reluctantly.

"Nakoto's right... there's nothing else we can do."

And so, one by one, each white-clothed personnel left down the hallway, either to the left or the right. Derik and Seth were last, and the first of the two decided to stay a little longer to glare at Luchas heatedly. Seth reached for his shoulder and tugged him along, and soon Derik abandoned his former decision. The two of them disappeared, too.

Luchas started shuffling away as well.

"Oh no, doctor."

Luchas yelped in fright when Nakoto touched him. She caught him with her right hand, curling her Claws around his forearm. Whether it hurt was a mystery, because Luchas' stiffness was hard to decipher as pain. He turned slowly toward Nakoto, whose eyes were icy.

"You stay here," she said. She nodded to the door. "I want you to watch, to listen."

She didn't need any effort in steering him. They stepped into the room and side-stepped along the farthest wall. When they stopped, Nakoto let Luchas go and leaned against the wall herself. Why she stayed as well was beyond Repton... it looked like being there hurt her. Some of the muscles in her neck were tighter than usual, and her mouth was stressed into a solid, short line. She sighed deeply through her nose and held her head high, watching Rio mourn.

For a long, long while, Nakoto said nothing, and Luchas —clueless on what to do— could do nothing but do as she did. Rio's crying was starting to quieten, to wane; he was getting spent. At the back of Repton's head, the tune from Nakoto's lullaby started up again, soft. He remembered some of the words and now realized that the lullaby was a lament. The origins of the song came from a story of tragedy. It seemed fitting that it started bugging his mind now, when the child died.

Repton could not say that he cared about the kid's death. He knew nothing of the kid, and even if he did, he doubted he would be so heartbroken. Death was just a natural way of life. Everyone died eventually... sure, it was a pity to die so young, but the death of a child is technically no different from the death of an adult. It was a life lost. And without reasoning like that, Repton still could not feel for the child. Then, there was the father to consider. Repton felt no empathy for him; he didn't imagine how it was to be in his position. He was a man mourning his son. That was all there was to it.

Perhaps that was what made Repton heartless. It was just in his personality to remain unaffected.

He found himself more concerned with Nakoto. He knew this hurt her, and he wanted it to stop. He wanted her to step out of the room and forget everything. Sadness didn't suit her.

He cursed. To HELL with Nakoto!

"Do you have any children, Luchas?"

It was just a whisper, and it still made Luchas flinch as if he heard a blow-horn. "Ch-Children?"

"Sure. A family, back on Cyclonia."

Luchas shifted from one foot to the other. He dithered before he replied.

"Ye-Yes... I do. A daughter."

"Do you love her?"

"M-... More than anything."

Nakoto gave a good shove from the wall with her shoulder and pushed herself upright. She let out another short exhale from the nose, then she turned to Luchas. There was no look of resentment on her face, so her next words came out very sincere.

"Well," she said. "I just hope you don't ever lose your kid, like this man has."

Repton could see that Luchas' chin dipped at that. Maybe that sentence hit home. Nakoto stayed in front of him, waiting and watching as the words sunk in, then she turned her back on him. She considered the Aquanosian for a moment longer before taking a slow, quiet step toward his hunched figure. With gradual progress, she made it to the man's side and leaned down. She pressed a hand to his back.

"Rio..."

"He's my son!" Rio howled, but it wasn't loud anymore. His voice was crackled and hoarse. "My boy!"

Nakoto nodded. "I know."

"And he's gone... he's gone..."

"I'm sorry."

"He's gone..."

"...Rio, you have to come with me."

Rio's head whipped back and he turned it in her direction. "What? No! I can't... I can't leave my son...!"

"There is nothing more we can do now," she said softly. Her hands sought his shoulders and clasped onto them. "The doctors will tend to him. They'll free him of all these cords. They've done their duty."

"But..."

"We will see him again. Don't worry."

Rio turned his head back to look at his son for a long moment. Nakoto kept her hands on his shoulders until she straightened and walked away. She stopped by the door, looking back at him, waiting. Rio straightened a little as well, but he leaned forward, took Adam's face in his hands, then pressed his forehead to his. He kissed his son's face, tears still flowing. He reached up and covered the child's eyes, closing them. It took him much effort to let go of the boy and step away. Even after doing that, he was at a loss of what to do next. He turned around, saw Nakoto at the door, then drug his feet. He made it past Nakoto, who watched him. She smiled softly.

"We'll pay tribute to him tonight."

Rio nodded his head numbly, and he stepped out of the room. Nakoto's eyes turned to Luchas, and her smile disappeared.

"You'll take care of him, won't you?" She gestured to Adam. "We'll leave him in your hands for now."

Luchas nodded and stuttered, "O-Of course."

Nakoto nodded as well, and she too left the room. The Cyclonian stayed where he was for a moment longer, then collapsed against the wall with a heavy sigh. Did he expect Nakoto to lash out at him at any second? He has a certain deep fear for Nakoto that Repton didn't understand. He worked with Nakoto before when she was child, so shouldn't he know everything about her? About what she would do next?

"What in blazes is going on?" Luchas muttered. "She should've killed me... Master Cyclonis, what should I do?"

A hand reached out from behind Repton and touched the surface of the Eye. Repton stiffened; how was she able to sneak up on him like that?

"Stay in position. They've lost trust in you, but perhaps you can gain it back."

Somehow, Cyclonis' voice was transferred to Luchas upon touching the Stone. Maybe this was how they communicated with each other. Luchas had to report back once in a while after all, to ask for further instructions or advice. He just had to be alone at the time.

He replied, "How?"

"Make them believe you're a changed man, of course. Don't you think those are the most valuable assets in a character? Those who've made up for their past transgressions?" Cyclonis chuckled. "Beta seems to believe you really do have good intentions. You should stick to her. The other doctors will follow."

"To B-Beta?" The panic sent his whispered voice into a tremor. "But..."

"But what? She tried to kill you before, and you survived. What's stopping you?"

"She was just a child back then and I almost died. Now that she's fully grown..."

"You don't have a choice, so you might as well throw down that pitiful fear," Cyclonis droned. "Do as I say, or be denounced as a coward. Or worse... someone else will pay for your incompetence."

Luchas said nothing for a long moment, until he yielded. He straightened up from the wall.

"Yes, Master Cyclonis."

The Child Empress smirked and took her hand away. Repton stood up and faced her.

"How long have you been here?" he demanded. Cyclonis shrugged.

"Stepped in a couple of minutes ago. What, are you surprised you didn't catch my scent? Perhaps you were too focussed. Beta seems to grab all your attention, huh?"

She didn't bother waiting for a reply from him, which he was glad for. Her eyes went to her desk, where Repton left the file wide-open. Repton inwardly swore to himself and his carelessness.

"So I see you've found the archives on Oasium," Cyclonis mused. "I suppose I didn't hide them quite well enough." She turned back to him and smiled. "Did you enjoy them as much as I did?"

"I'll tell you once I've finished," he responded. Cyclonis' brows raised.

"I feel as if that you didn't. Do you feel sorry for them, Repton?"

"No."

"Do you feel sorry for Beta, then?"

His stomach clenched. "No."

"Good. Just double-checking." She turned her back on him and headed out of the study. "Keep up the good work."

He watched the ruler of Cyclonia leave the room, and as she distanced herself, there was something he wanted to say aloud. He wanted to shout it, but his tongue wouldn't allow it. He struggled with this fight until Cyclonis was gone, and the opportunity closed.

"Why the hell am I here?" he demanded himself instead. "What does Cyclonis expect from me watching over Nakoto?"

End of Chapter

A/N: Oh, whoops. I forgot to write a little note here at the bottom. Not that anyone really reads them XD

Since I have LOTS of work to do, I will more than likely procrastinate on that and write some chapters. I hope that I didn't jinx myself there... because I'm so freaking lazy right now, I don't know if I'll get anything done ._.

Hope you liked the chapter, and I hope to hear from you soon!

~Vixen