Saber Marionette Fan Fiction ❯ The One They Left Behind ❯ Chapter 1

He stared up at the sky silently as Faust and the others moved around him. Lime, Cherry, and Bloodberry once again risked sacrificing their lives for the live of others....for a planet that was little more than a legend on Terra 2; the place their "ancestors" came from, a place called Earth. Hess wanted to destroy the Earth for whatever reason, Otaru didn't know, nor did he particularly care. He only wanted for them to come back. But he knew, somewhere in his heart he knew, this time they wouldn't come back. It wasn't like before when they went to the Mesopotamia to save Loerlei. Then somehow he just knew they would be back. The dreams came and in them he could see all three of them dressed in odd clothes and they would tell him "We're coming home. We promised we'd always be together." No, this time was different.

It didn't have to be this way, he thought. They didn't have to go this time. It had been 300 years since anyone from Terra 2 had heard from the Earth. It could be gone. Or the people on it might already be dead, he had been told when the Mesopotamia left the Earth that it was already in bad shape. They could be sacrificing themselves for nothing! But even if it meant the lives of everyone on earth, he wanted them back.

He thought of how selfish that was, but he had done a good job of being selfish lately. Otaru looked down at his legs and wondered if that was the only price he would pay for his part in this. He had gone to save them from Hess and his legs were badly hurt in the process. They would heal easily enough, but just now he couldn't stand and the bleeding wouldn't stop. "Hardly seems a fitting punishment," he thought to himself as he stared back at the place in the sky where he last saw them. No, not hardly a fitting punishment. "Damnit!! I should've gone! Let me die, take me if someone has to die. But don't take them!" he shouted to the sky. No not them. They were innocent and selfless. They knew nothing of greed or hatred. This world had been so much better for having them in it. Not like him.....he had done something unforgiveable, in his eyes he might as well have killed them himself

After all he had all but pushed them into the arms of Hess. They asked him to choose one of them to live with forever. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't choose one over the other. He didn't want to hurt them. They had lives in Xi'an and people who depended on them. He didn't want to take them from people who needed them. They were happy there without him, he had seen it. It was better that he leave them all there where they could be happy. He could never make them happy like that. Those were his reasons for leaving Xi'an. For leaving Lime, Cherry & Bloodberry without even saying good-bye. He knows now they weren't reasons, they were excuses that he hid behind. It sounded so noble to say he was doing it for them, but he wasn't he was doing it for himself. He was the one that he didn't want to hurt. He was the person who needed them the most. They were his heart and soul. But they had been happy without him, he had seen it. That had scared him.....and broken his heart. It scared him and he ran. Only Lime, innocent Lime, didn't understand and thought he left her because she was a marionette and went with Hess because he promised to make her human. And if she was human Otaru would come back to her.

"Lime....I'm sorry," Otaru whispered as tears filled his eyes. She had always been his favorite. Sweet and innocent, full of life....that was Lime and he had loved that about her. She was such a child, but that was why she was so special. He would have chosen her to come with him but he had told her too late, as she headed off to fight Hess for the last time. If only he had told her these things sooner, this wouldn't be happenning now. If only he hadn't been so selfish, the two of them would be back in Japoness now. If only he hadn't been so blind, Lime would always need him and always love him. If only he had done one of a hundred other things Lime would be alive now.

Just then an explosion lit up the sky. He just buried his head in his arms and cried uncontrollably. He knew what that explosion meant. They had succeeded. They had stopped Hess and saved the Earth. But they would never come home again.

The End? I'll never tell but if you want to find out you should watch Saber Marionette J to X and find out ;)