"Hey. It's me. Condor just dropped me off outside the city. I'll drop a ping now, if you could pick me up."
Another hologram opened, this one a wall between the Headmaster and his subordinates. The red glow of Lazula's ping reflected upon his glasses. "Change of plans," he declared. "You'll still board the Marlins as soon as possible. We'll make for Lazula's location, and retrieve her immediately."
The elevator ride was quick. Not quick enough, by the tapping of the Headmaster's cane on the floor. Lilly whispered to Caspian to ask if he was okay. But the doors had opened and everyone began to shuffle out before he could come up with an answer.
"Headmaster."
Headmaster Skye turned to face Caspian. A few other eyes turned his way, but continued out of the doors of Skye hall, and toward the airship pad.
"You don't need me for this mission. I'm leaving."
"That's fine. You're dismissed."
But Caspian had already turned away, and taken three steps toward his dorm.
Lazula sat against the rusted chain link fence, and heard the whisper of bare branches on the cold night breeze. They hung like crooked spiderwebs above her, rattling and silhouetted against a violet sky lit by the moon, the stars, and the distant city.
Twin streaks of light cut through it.
She hardly noticed them at first. But in the span of a minute they were brighter than the moon, halted, and descending to the top of the hill. Lazula made her way to the gap in the fence. Probably where some teenagers broke into the long-abandoned radio tower to drink, party, and spray the walls with their amateur artistry. By the time she cleared the fence, the door to the nearest Marlin slid open and Lilly ran across the concrete to meet her.
She wrapped Lazula in her arms. Her warmth, the softness of her hair against Lazula's chin, wasn't unwelcome. But so sudden, so different from being confined with Condor twenty miles from land, all Lazula could do was stand stiff until her hands found Lilly's back. The faunus pulled away early, brushing a lock of hair away from her embarrassed face.
"I'm sorry. That was a bit much. I'm just so glad–"
Lazula's arms followed Lilly as she pulled away. Uncertain at first, she guided Lilly back, rested cheek on her head, and held her close. The faunus's embrace was unexpected. But now she'd been within it, she knew she needed it for just a little bit longer. A few minutes would be nice. Or a couple of hours. But she knew now she only had seconds, so she'd savor them.
Now, Lilly whispered into Lazula's chest. "I'm just so glad you're alright. I was terrified."
"Thank you, Lilly." She let her arms fall away from Lilly's back, and swallowed the apprehension toward her next words. "Mrs. Chino. Is she safe?"
Lilly's smile and nod were her sigh of relief, the letting-go of a breath she only now knew she held. "She's okay, being cared for by Frontline."
"Aegis and Impetus?"
"They were right where you left them." She nodded toward the ship. "I brought them with us, just in case."
Lazula looked at her hands on Lilly's arm and waist, Lilly's hand that caressed her own sheepish smile, and realized she still held her close. She let her go. Before she had another chance to thank her, her father was upon the two with labored breathing. More filled in behind him.
"Are you alright? Did he hurt you? Do anything to you?"
"No," Lazula dismissed. With a shake of her head she found her mind absent, looking back on all the strangeness of the last hour. "He just… talked. He talked to me, then dropped me here."
Headmaster Skye looked about as confused as Lazula expected. His eyes gave her a quick once-over, and found she must have been telling the truth. "I… see. What did he talk about?"
"Why he's doing what he's doing," Lazula recounted. "He sees me as some kind of equal, I guess. He went on about how 'mankind is stunting its own evolution,' and how Frontline is partially to blame. He monologued on and on, so that when I do end up fighting him I have something to fight for." She looked over a shoulder, to the twin shimmers of neon and moonlight upon the ocean. "I don't know. That's how I understood it."
The Headmaster leaned in, his voice hushed. "How much did he tell you?"
The wall of Holotape and flashing lights surrounding FPMC meant nobody could get in, and nobody, aside from a dozen officers and Python in a full-body bind, could get out. A staunch hard-light "WARNING" and hiss of static met Moka's fists, and her pleas met deaf ears. Until eventually, one kindly officer who had been watching the tournament before dispatch allowed her a brief visit. She accompanied Moka up to her mother's temporary room, but waited outside.
Mrs. Chino sat in a chair by the window, watching the last of the emergency ships rise almost even with herself before departing. She turned upon seeing her daughter's reflection, and only had time for a step toward her before Moka caught her in her arms. They were silent, entwined, almost for a full minute. Then pulled away.
"Mom! You're okay," Moka affirmed, as if to convince herself it wasn't some delusion born from cruel naivety. "You didn't get hurt, right? You're fine?"
"Yes. Thank Caspian again for me when you get the chance," Mrs. Chino answered. "Lazula too."
Moka began to answer, but bit her lip, and attempted again before settling for silence.
"She was the first to come for me," Mrs. Chino explained. "She risked her life to keep me safe. I only hope she didn't give it. Have you heard from her?"
"No. No, I haven't."
Mrs. Chino let a sigh out the window. "I hope she's okay."
Moka's gaze fell to the ground, and she shuffled where she stood. "Did you watch our match?"
"I did. I was taken before I could finish watching it live, but I've seen the recording." She looked at Moka, grey tail swishing slowly behind her in the few seconds it took for her daughter to look back. A smile spread across her face. "You have no idea how proud I am."
"But… why?" Moka questioned. "I tried so hard, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't even close. I'm sorry." her gaze fell again to the floor, and her tail dropped behind her. "Sometimes I wish you had someone else to rely on, besides me."
"Moka." Her mother's voice was intense. Not stern, but full of something warm and resolute. "Never once have I wanted anyone in my corner but you."
"Why?" Moka pleaded. An uneasy giggle bubbled beneath her next handful of words. "I'm… kind of a screwup."
"I don't think I could disagree more, sweetheart."
"No matter how hard I try, it's still not enough. I can't win anything for you, I can't keep a job, and I've only been at Sentinel a year and a half but I almost flunked out already. I still might!"
"You just went toe-to-toe with the strongest huntress in the League, Moka. Not that I want to see her hurt, but you smacked her around pretty good. I see how hard you've been working. How hard you fought to stand in that ring with Lazula, and how hard you've fought to keep your place at the most prestigious huntsman academy in the world." She smiled again, and reached out to touch the arm that wiped away a tear. "That doesn't sound like a screwup to me."
Moka worked her fingers through her scarf, worked her scarf up her cheek to wipe away another tear. She couldn't choke out a response.
"And you're out here, putting your life on the line to save the city. I don't know– maybe save the world! Remember when you were little, and all your teachers told you you couldn't be a superhero when you grew up? I think you're proving them wrong."
"But I… I keep messing up," Moka whimpered. "I keep messing up, and I've done nothing to help you."
"You've done so much more than you realize," Mrs. Chino insisted. "Besides, you're young. I still don't have everything figured out. I definitely didn't when I was your age. Just live. Learn. And please, keep being you."
They embraced again. Silently, aside from Moka's sniffles and biting back tears. A call to her Holoband interrupted the moment, and her face twisted like the smell of rot drifted through the room.
"Who is it?" Mrs. Chino asked.
"Lazula."
"Oh, good. Will you answer?"
Moka looked at the picture floating above her wrist. Waited, deciding, until the last ring. She tapped at her wrist, and raised it.
"Hello?"
"Hey. It's me. Are you free to talk about something?"
"Can it wait?" Moka returned. And pointedly, "Talking to my mom right now."
"Sure," Lazula agreed. Before Moka could hang up, she added, "Let me know when you're free. I want to talk soon."
Lazula laid in bed, mulling over the day and feeling all of the bruises it would leave when Moka's message arrived. She considered leaving it for the next day– it was already late, after all, and she'd done more in one day than anyone else could fit into a month. But as she closed her eyes she couldn't think about the morning. Only Moka, and her mother, and how, for the last several hours, she was a villain on par with the one she spoke to earlier. She rolled over onto her side, and flicked open her Holoband.
Moka agreed to meet her in her dorm cluster, a private place, in ten minutes. She seemed a bit better than where Lazula had left her. But it wasn't any surprise that Moka hardly greeted her on her way in, didn't make eye contact, and wrought the end of her scarf with tense fingers. Lazula worked through how to start their conversation, and Moka stared out the window. But before she was ready, the faunus looked to her with glassy, red, expectant eyes.
"Uh. Hi. Thanks for coming," Lazula stumbled. "So, I did win the tournament earlier." Her left arm bent in front of her, as if Aegis protected her from Moka's confused stare. "But I didn't do it for the money. I want to give it to you. And your mom."
Moka couldn't decide on an expression. Confusion, surprise, joy. Back to confusion. Her tail lashed once, twice. "I… I couldn't possibly–"
"Fifty thousand isn't that much to me. Please, take it. I can give you more, if you need."
"Lazula, I appreciate it. I really do." Another flick of the tail. "But I came to Sentinel to help my mom, and I haven't done enough yet. I can't just get by on handouts!"
"I'm going to be frank. Refusing my help now would be kind of dumb. And stubborn. And this is coming from me," Lazula insisted. She rubbed the side of her jaw, where the faunus's hook left her head spinning. "That fight was not fair. And for what it's worth, you did really well. You fought harder than anyone I've ever seen. You need this, you deserve this, so much more than I do."
Lazula hoped whatever floodgates remained to hold the rest of Moka's tears would be strong enough. She never knew what to do around someone when they cried. And this time, it was almost entirely her fault. She prepared herself for the deluge.
"You…" Moka finally choked out. She stood, and lunged at Lazula with a hug that forced the air from her lungs. "You saved my mom's life!"
"Oh. Okay," Lazula strained. She was upright but forced to her back foot, struggling for breath against the arms that bound her. After a second or two she freed a hand to pat Moka's back twice. She finally got the hint, and let Lazula breathe. When she could speak again, she warned her; "By the way, don't tell anyone about this."
"Huh? Why not?"
"I don't want it to come across as some PR stunt. I gave you the money because of how hard you fought. I don't want to minimize that."
"But…" Moka laughed nervously. "People really don't like you. I've seen and heard them say some pretty nasty things."
Lazula shrugged. "That's up to them."
Two floors up, across and down the hall, Caspian pulled his covers up to his chin and let a breath into them. He too sat with the day's wound's, and felt his heartbeat through his head, his thigh, a shoulder.
At least it was beating.
His body sunk into the plush of his mattress, sunk down and wanted to become one. But his eyes stayed open. Empty, despite all that swirled and unsettled beneath them. He took in enough of the grey ceiling.
He turned to his side, and tried to leave the day behind.
