Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Ronin Warriors Fan Fiction / Cowboy Bebop Fan Fiction / Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Tenchi Muyo Fan Fiction ❯ Urbania ❯ Serena's Anomolous Interstice ( Chapter 19 )

Patricia. Nadine. Patricia. Nadine. Patricia. Nadine. Patricia. Nadine.

Serena. Relena. Serena. Relena. Serena. Relena. Serena…Relena.

Submission. Degradation. Jealousy. Revenge. Battles. War. Lies. Wealth. Poverty. Hate. Injustice. Slaves. Soldiers. Master Wildfire. Ryo. Mistress Valentine. Cye. Love. Marriage. Survival. Love. Pregnancy. Supremacy. Death. Death. Death. Death.

This unorganized collage of ups and downs inflated every inch of Serena's consciousness.

There was a calm in the sense of calamity, obligation by way of indifference, and a general feeling of wiry angst that was at the same time thick and heavy. It was like a great black cloud, a dense one, filled with lead. Serena was forced into the fight, and if she won, so would Relena, her great cause, and her true freedom. If Serena lost, an entire country would be at the mercy of a mad woman, and her mad counterpart. If Serena won, her hands would bear a deep stain of crimson, the blood of innocent souls misled. It would be so much easier to just run the jeep right out in to the open water. Relena could handle this, Heero by her side. She was twice as strong as Serena, a strength she didn't choose to show on a regular basis, a strength attained by years of saving energy to endure physical and emotional suffering. Relena would be fine. Relena would be just fine. Grab.

Serena shrieked, snatching at the grip on her shoulder. A surprised Milliardo Peacecraft took a step back. Serena gasped deeply for her lost breath.

"Milliardo!"

"I didn't mean to startle you. I was awake all night, and I saw you rise. I brought you a cup of cold water."

Milliardo approached Serena with a mug outstretched in front of him. Serena trembled, looking at the mug. Something was wrong. With the mug? No, just with her. She didn't want the mug. She wasn't thirsty, she didn't want to be. This wasn't the time to be thirsty, she had a suicide to commit!

"Please, drink this water."

How about breathing it in instead?

"Serena, what are you doing out here, anyway?"

Do me a favor and bury me under the sand.

"Are you well?"

Make sure you bury me deep. I don't want to be able to see the light of day.

"I imagine that you're feeling tremendous stress. I cannot empathize, as this Day of Judgment doesn't ride upon my shoulders."

Deep, like a seed. Don't worry, the ocean will water me.

"Serena?"

Maybe I'll be a flower in my next life…

"Gaahh!" Serena cried, shaking cold water from her face, "why did you-"

"You were completely incoherent. I was speaking to you, but you didn't even flinch."

"I…"

"Focus."

Serena looked wistfully at the ocean. The incoming breeze braided itself in her dirty hair. Her eyes weren't right.

"What if I fail? I could be killed. An entire country will die, in a sense. It'll be torn to shreds."

"I haven't a clue why you worry so. You know that you will succeed."

"No, I don't know that for sure."

"Relena was right about you. As good as you are, and you know you are, you lack faith in yourself. I don't see why. Humble origins are often the makings of a great leader."

Serena turned very suddenly to face Milliardo. "Milliardo Peacecraft, who are you?"

Milliardo's face didn't change. His surprise had dissented from his eyes and lips. His face was mysterious and full of intrigue, sort of like Heero's, with the exception of Heero's frequent cold emptiness. Milliardo was a hard young man.

"I am Relena's brother."

"That's one of those kind of things you say when you first meet someone, and you only want them to know that about you. I asked who you are, not whose brother you are."

Milliardo looked out at the sea. His profile was a regal portrait of long-lost royalty, dignity blatant in every graceful curve of his face. He had an elegant face, indeed, more proper and refined than ruggedly handsome. With each wave of air, his platinum locks touched and brushed his face, and they moved as if on their own accord, their own rhythm, their own lives.

"I left my father's home when I was ten. I tried to take my baby sister Relena with me, but my father hid her, and forbade me to find her. I was taken in by a brothel, and spent the next years as the center of the girls' attention. They emphasized to me what an adorable treat a little boy was. I was fourteen when the madam lost her license, and I pretended to be entire brothel's Man, else they'd be sold."

Milliardo rested his lips for a moment, glancing out to sea. His hair followed his glance. Serena blinked hard, stroking her stomach a few times, gently.

"You knew by then, that there were no free women. They had to be prostitutes, or sold. You had to protect them."

"I did the best I could. They called me Lord Marquis in public, but Millie at home," Milliardo smiled gently, "they loved me as I loved them.

"The happiness did not last. One of my ladies, Lucretzia, opened the door for a stranger one night and was seized. I was informed and hunted the criminal down, only to discover it was a Hunter. By then, he'd already sold her to a dealer. I was furious. I went to the dealer, and was sent strait to the auction, where I was forced to bid on her, or lose her. I got her back for one hundred and thirty-five dollars."

"Were you in love with her?" Serena asked unexpectantly.

Milliardo's voice softened. "She was my best friend. I loved her, and still do."

Serena smiled. Milliardo lost his gentle smile, and said,

"When I returned with Lucretzia, my home had been totally ransacked, and my entire family, my ladies, were gone. A neighbor informed me that a band of Hunters descended upon my household the moment I turned my back. Lucretzia and I were devastated. It had taken days for me to find and return with Lucretzia, and she was not my only attractive young lady. I feared the worse. I never found the rest of my ladies."

"I'm so sorry, Milliardo." Serena mumbled, pale from grief.

"Lucretzia and I were instantly alone. We couldn't stay this way, or Hunters could come and steal her from me, so we wandered about until I met Ryo Sanada at The Arena, and he offered me a home, and a bed for Lucretzia. I stopped worrying so much, but true happiness waited for me when I arrived at Master Wildfire's community."

"What?"

"Relena. It was her, and I would have known her anywhere. She was mother's twin with father's eyes, like me. And then, I met Heero." Milliardo growled his name.

"Is Heero the reason you became a member of the resistance?"

"He's a factor. I gained wealth through my ladies because I had to dress the part of their Man, and they had to work the part of my…whores. I decided to put that money to the liberation of all women. Heero was the force that kept me motivated. Watching him treat my sister cruelly after her break was maddening. Her fire extinguished, she had nothing left, but herself, and soon, she discovered, me. But for both of our safety, she and I kept our relationship confidential. I promised her I would always be on her side, and I would see the day she was free from this madness."

Serena smiled. "You kept your promise well."

"I like to think so."

"So this is who you are."

"It is myself, best defined."

Serena laughed genially. She looked back out into the ocean. She melted back into melancholia. "But didn't you ever feel…hopeless?"

"Many times. I felt often that perhaps I should kill Relena, and end her suffering, as a favor to her. But, as my good friend Trieze put it, it would branch into two more deaths: my own, as I would not be able to live with what I've done to my own flesh and blood, and Lucretzia's, as she would not live without me."

"So if I died…"

"You would also be killing Ryo, Relena, myself, Lucretzia, Saki, Akane, Kasumi, Nabiki, every woman that believes in you, and your unborn child."

Serena gasped and her hand stopped stroking her wide stomach. Her child. She wasn't even thinking about her child. She had come within inches of ending her life with no regard to her unborn child. What was I thinking?

Milliardo turned and walked toward camp. "It's never over when you lose, Serena," He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her, "It's over when you quit."

Serena watched his backside as he proceeded to disappear among the realm of camp. Serena just stood looking after him, small hand on her stomach, a thoughtless gesture to soothe herself more than anything else. She looked again at the water waving at her in the distance, stepping on her feet. It would be lonely out there, just a dead body floating on the waves…and Serena was entirely too social for that. She smiled and patted her stomach resolutely.

"Don't worry kid, I've got it all under control." She paused. "I hope."

Ryo tossed and turned beside Serena. Serena peeked over her shoulder curiously. Ryo grasped his meager blankets, with near intent to rip them to shreds, and growled, shoving everything within reach away. Serena turned away from the tent flap to look at poor Ryo in his violent dream. She cautiously approached him. Ryo panted, bringing his fistfuls of coarse cloth to his neck, and gripping them to his throat. He cringed, rolling to his side, sweating and moaning quietly. Serena fell to his side on the bed, pulling him over to lay in her lap. She unfolded him out of himself and hugged him tight. Ryo shivered and continued his labored breathing, only hinting barely at relaxation. He tensed with bated breath, then seemed to hold his breath for a moment, and released it slowly. He trembled hard, beyond a tremble, a full shake. Serena felt the chill of Ryo's sweat as he stretched clawed hands to encircle Serena's warm figure. He held her tightly, grinding his face into her abdomen, vying hard for peace in the invisible world that trapped his mind.

Smoke! Shit! Fire! They set the whole damn thing on fire!

"Move it then, we can't stay!" Ryo could hear his smile.

What the fuck is so funny?

"Watch your mouth, boy! I'm your father!"

Huh? I mean, I know? I mean, right, sorry, pops.

"Move your ass, son! We've got to get moving!"

I can hear your feet! The running is so loud!

"Shit! Pump it, Ryo!"

I'm in! Door's shut! Pops?

"Whoo!" Loyal Six whooped. "Open the sun roof! Let the last thing they see before they die be who we are!"

Open it, hurry! Pop's five, no six fingers and the L. My fluttering, intertwined fingers: a wildfire. Loyal Six and Master Wildfire. That's some deep shit. Mother fucking gangster royalty, godammit.

"You said it, Son!" Hand. "Care for a puff?" KA-BOOM!

That was one helluva explosion, pops. I'm proud…Mmm, good reefer.

"You'll do your old man proud, too, Ryo."

What a smile. Is that why you have a loyal six?

"I suppose," he started, "but don't quote me on that. Probably an issue of who's good enough."

Who's good enough for what?

"To dock my ship in her harbor." Smile.

Ha-ha, good one.

Ryo opened his eyes with a shudder and a stiff squeeze of whatever he was holding. This warm, soft thing sure smelled like…

"Serena…" Ryo muttered hoarsely.

"Shh. You were having a nightmare."

Ryo breathed normally, and though about the scattered, jigsaw-pieced images that danced in his mind. A sweet portrait of him and his father was the picture on the box. Both of them holding A.K.-47s, that is.

"I had a dream…my father…mother wasn't…I mean…I…"

Serena smoothed his hair back and peered into his face. He was quite flushed, and his brows were matted flat, limping with the motion of his waving blinks. "You're okay Ryo. I'm here."

Serena felt a small radius of flesh near her navel turn up in Ryo's smile. "The last time I passed out, you caught me from hitting the ground."

Serena smiled. "Yeah,"

"Those were the days."

Abashment came to Serena slowly, as Ryo's statement sunk in. Before Serena could reprimand him, she unwrapped himself and sat up in bed, hunching over like a broken sapling. He tossed his great hair back and sat straight. "Those were the days. I all I had to worry about was people trying to kill me, not people killing me. Then, I could protect and be protected, eat without being eaten, you know." He looked at her. He smiled, touching her face. She allowed her mouth her feelings. "I guess not. I tell you, you girls under your mistress are one hell of a lot luckier than I or any other man ever was."

Confusion baffled Serena's features. Ryo's smile dimmed slightly. "You were brought up to know how to survive without being owned. And so long as you were within those bounds, they wouldn't take you. Your mistress could refuse to do her duty as a prostitute, and she would be left as she was, typically. If you had completed your training, you would have had the same privilege, and lived a reasonably happy life."

"But," Serena countered, "we have to live with the dishonor of selling our bodies."

"And your bodies live in peace."

Serena shook her head. "It's not all gravy."

"Nothing is. But your life would have a more similar consistency."

Serena took a breath, but no word furthered her argument. Ryo spoke again:

"We Men, constantly sought out for something or another, had to fight to exist. If you wondered where I often took off to with Heero and his crew, we were fighting with other communities."

"Like the ones dedicated to killing you?"

"Sometimes. These would be the downs of being powerful. The more powerful you are, the more haters there are. My father, man, I don't know how he did it."

Serena took Ryo's form into her arms. Ryo laid his head on her shoulder and stroked their oncoming parental responsibility. Serena's mind wandered to Saki and what she was doing. She smiled to herself, having slept with the Northern Brigade Leader's son, pregnant with his child. Though she'd not known Saki very well, she'd been told stories of Saki's greatness, the third hooker taken into the cause. Saki was a legend, too, and older one. Serena would have regarded Saki as a sister, despite her age. Now she was pregnant by her almost-sister's son, a perversion to sisterhood everywhere! Serena bit a bigger smile back. She tried to catch up on Ryo's babble.

"…just because I'm Master Wildfire, they think I'm sort of superhuman King of Tokyo. I feel like a P.O.W., but I've been able to fight in the war. They let me out from time to time-" Ryo cut himself off. Serena rubbed his back and looked into his face. Ryo was smiling. Tears were lining his lips with salty indignation. Serena held him tighter.

"It's almost over. For you, my love, and our child, I won't lose."

"AMBUSH!" Relena screamed from nowhere, the song of bullets searing the air. Serena perked and stiffened. A bullet tore through the tent flaps like and invited guest and grazed Serena's cheek. Serena remained perfectly still, furious as blood rode down her right cheek. The flipped flaps revealed, silhouetted against the waning day, Patricia aiming perfectly at Serena through chaos.