Isa stood alone in his room later that night. He looked at his
bow, and turned his back to it. "Some help I was," he thought bitterly
to himself. "I couldn't even save her. She was my mate. We were supposed
to be together for longer than one night." A knock on the door brought
him out of his thought. "It's open."
Stevie walked into the room, and looked at her half brother. "Still
upset," she said simply. She lowered her head as Isa sighed at her. "I
know you loved her..."
"You don't know as much as you think Sayoka," he said sharply.
"Fine then. Tell me," she said folding her arms.
He looked at her and grunted. "Can't you just leave me alone?" he asked.
"You didn't leave me."
Isa looked at her with wide eyes. He then turned his back to her, and looked out of the window.
"I know that she was your mate, as well as your partner. But you couldn't have save her, and helped Sherrie and Cosse."
"Maybe I should've tried to save her instead."
"And then I'd have to hold four funerals instead of one. You know that I'm right."
He looked at his hands as he fought tears. "There had to have been something that I could have done," he whispered. Isa started as he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"There wasn't. You could do all the "what if's" and "if only's" you want, but the fact still remains that she's gone."
"And you don't think that I know that?" he asked.
Stevie looked into his eyes, and sighed. "I know that you do. And that's eating away at you. But, as harsh as this may sound, get over it. You're not the only one hurt by this." She looked at him and her eyes slightly narrowed. "So, stop acting like a child, and do what you have to... Ramies."
Isa watched her as she walked out of the room. He then turned to the window, and saw a small rock fall from above him.
"Bra," Isa whispered.
She quickly turned around, and looked at him. "Isa," she said lowly.
"What are you doing up here?" he asked as he sat next to her.
"Just thinking," she said throwing another stone. "What about you?" she asked.
He picked up a screw, and tossed it over the side. "I saw a stone falling, and I doubt that Dulcia's resorting to using meteor showers to kill us."
"Gomen. I didn't mean to scare you."
Isa looked at her, and lowered his eyes. "What happened up there?" he asked.
Bra shook her head. "I can't even tell you everything that happened. I don't know it myself."
"It's okay Bra." Isa looked out across the stars and sighed. "Death is a part of battle. It happens all of the time."
"Yeah, I guess." Bra lowered her head, and sighed. "It's still not easy."
"No. It never is."
Bra wiped her eyes as she turned to Isa. "But Trunks and Goten
keep saying that it'll get easier for me. The killing and the
death..."
"Only if you want it to."
"I don't." Bra felt her eyes well up with tears as she shook her
head. "I killed that guy today.... and those people. And I
enjoyed it. I didn't know what to expect anything when it came to....
to that. But the last thing that I wanted to do was actually
like it."
"It's in the Saiya-jin blood. The thrill of the fight, and the blood lust. It's just as bad as the Shitarian blood line."
"But...."
"It just shows that you are a fighter at heart." Isa looked at
Bra. "If you didn't kill that squad, or Isamu, you would be dead
today. You did what you had to."
She nodded slightly. "Lia said something about a battle conduct... and tried to give me that man's swords."
"Yeah. In the Shitarian culture, when you kill someone in battle with their own weapon, you inherit that weapon."
"What if you don't want it?"
"It's said that the one you killed will haunt you until you die."
He looked at her, and shrugged. "I don't know if it's true or not. I
really didn't want to find out."
"Well, I don't want them." Bra stood, and looked at Isa. "Thank you for talking with me.... Niichan." She smirked as he looked at her strangely. "I can tell that you're not full blooded Shitarian. You look like Stevie a little, so, I drew my own conclusions."
"You're welcome Bra."
"So, you think that you're rid of me?" Isamu asked.
Bra quickly turned around and looked at him. She took a deep breath and clenched her fists. "What do you want?" she asked.
"You're a warrior. A true warrior, you know that?" he asked. Isamu walked around her in a slow circle. "It's not every day that someone kills the second Lt. of the Shitarian Warrior clan."
"You would've killed me..."
"That goes with out saying. But I was your first kill. At least the first one you actually thought about."
She looked at him as he stopped in front of her. "What do you want?" she asked again. Her voice was beginning to tremble, and Isamu was sensing that.
"I want you to know the ways of the true warrior." He reached out to touch her, and she knocked his hand away. "I can't hurt you here. Not if you don't want me to."
"I want you to go away, and leave me alone."
"Take my swords, and I will."
"No."
"Why?"
"It's not right. It'll be like I have a trophy of your death...."
"And that's what it is.... if you let it." He smiled as he
made his circle again. "They can help you be a better fighter... not that
you need help. But what you need is guidance. They'll help guide
you."
"But I don't want them."
"Are you sorry you killed me?" he asked.
"What?"
"Are you sorry that you killed me?" he repeated. "I'm not.
You and I have nothing in common, and to tell you the truth, if
everything was different, we couldn't even be friends. But we're
bonded together, you and I. And I can help you through the
swords, but only if you take them." Isamu put his arms around her,
and pulled her back to him. "And I can help you with other
things... if you'll allow it," he whispered into her ear.
Bra's body stiffened as she felt Isamu brush his lips against
her neck. She soon relaxed in his arms as he kissed her neck. "I
can't," she whispered. "You're a.... a...."
"A ghost? A dream? Whatever you want to call it, I'm still
here. You haven't told me that you didn't want this." He slowly
moved his hands to the front of her lace nightshirt. "And you know
that you do. Deep back here in your mind, you do want
this."
"This isn't right..." She tried to fight him off mentally,
but she was slowly beginning to lose ground. Her head fell back as he
kissed her collarbone. "We can't..."
He stepped in front of her and kissed her deeply. "We can," he whispered as he slowly started to lift her nightshirt.
Bra looked up into his face, and saw the exact expression he
wore when she killed him. The dark area they were in faded into
a bright blue sky, and she felt a warm liquid running down her arms.
Bra looked down at her hands, and saw that they were
covered in his blood..... and screamed.
Sherrie sat with Cosse in the regeneration tank room. She looked at her brother, and sighed. "You have to practice more Connor. If you would've died, I think that I would've snapped."
Cosse opened his eyes, and looked at his twin. "It's nice to know that you care." He looked and sighed. "Seren, can you get me something to eat?" he asked.
She laughed. "Sure thing. After you get some rest though."
"Oh, okay," he pouted. "But I'm hungry you know."
"When aren't you hungry?"