-----Gossamer Wings and Sweet Tasting Things-----


---A Trigun Fanfiction---

 


-----DISCLAIMER-----


Yasuhiro Nightow owns Trigun.
Lynda-chan owns a few OCs and
the rather redundant plot of GWSTT.
Sigh.



 


-----AUTHOR'S NOTES-----

Lynda: Sorry about the delay! Life has been rather... Strenuous. -_-;;

Kuroneko: Mya!

Lynda: GAHAHAHA!! I suprised a lot of people with that last chapter! >:D HEHEHEH!! I am SPONTANEOUS, SPONTANEOUS LYNDA-CHAN!! Hear me roar!

Kuroneko: MWORE!!!

Lynda: ME roar, not YOU!!!

 


-----*+*-----

 

The newly founded Angelic Headquarters of Augusta had seen better days. If you were to be so inclined, a simple path of following the rubble would lead down a twisting set of corridors to a long lost Command Room.
And, filing out of the decimated doorway was the strangest group of people the likes of Augusta would ever likely see again.

The Angelinas were the first to emerge, looking slightly confused, flustered and aggrivated.

'Listen, it's all very well and good to say you want to stop the war, but it's a war!' Geli whined, striding ahead irrately. 'It's not like you can just... Stop!'

'I don't see why not.' Black Jack replied haughtily as he pushed past the blue haired one of the sisters. The corridors themselves were narrow little affairs of cold metal floors and walls, and this mottley group of ten people were trying to move forward in knots rather than a more comfortable solution of single-file.
The resulting shoving and pushing was testing those with the curse of short-tempers.

'Have you EVER tried to organize thousands of war-crazed people who just happen to be totting weapons?!' Lina demanded when Geli jostled for her position.
The Manager of Hell stared back at her steadily.

'It doesn't matter!' Meryl interrupted as she and her Guardian Angel stepped through the rubble of the door. 'From what I've heard, the war isn't the part we need to worry about. We have to stop this... Knives, or whatever his name is, from activating any of his Arch Angels!'

'She has a point, Lina.' Ange pointed out. 'The war's only a formality. Y'know? So a guy could activate a big glowing sword and wouldn't be too out of place?'

'And we ain't letting that happen.' Wolfwood reminded instantly, lest somebody had forgotten. Back between the twisted hunks of metal that used to be the Control Room entrance, Alex and Rem picked their way delicately into the unscathed hallway.

'I think the most important thing is to stop Knives.' Rem noted as she cleared the mess and into freedom.

'But we don't even know where he is!' Vash returned unhappily. Panic was playing a delighted dance across his features, and it's domination caused the tall blonde to halt in the middle of the hallway. The rest of the group either crashed into his back, or followed suit ahead of him in a mildly confused trickle.

'We can't stop now, Vash.' Meryl said eventually, motioning with a hand down the corridor and into the general direction of Responsibility.

'I'm sorry.' Alex apologized suddenly, smiling weakly. 'I would've known where your brother is had I payed attention to the Plants in the first place... I was too busy watching your progress. Now they've blocked me out completely...'

'Is there anyway of finding out?' Ange asked hurriedly. She was waving her hands about in her skittish anxiety.

'I... Could ask one... But I'd have to be close.' the Arch Angel replied, eyes dilating slightly as his thoughts swept him abroad.

'Then let's go? Now?' Black Jack implored, looking as impatient as Ange. The pair of them had already sidled surreptitiously further down the hallway of their choice as if the tiny gap they were nurturing would push the others to fill it with their presence. Unfortunately, this wasn't happening. The congregation had unwittingly halted at a cross section in the corridors, and Lina was pacing between directions, casting her silver eyes down each in turn, then scowling.
She sighed out loud.

'I think you're getting ahead of yourselves.' she admitted coldly, settling instead to lean against the nearest wall and cross her arms. Wolfwood shook his head and removed what was left of his cigarette from his lips.

'The situation is pretty dire, I'd say we're doin' fine b-' he began, only to be cut off.

'I don't mean that.' Lina interrupted. 'Think about this rationally for a moment, would you? Point number one; we don't know where Millions Knives is. The message we got didn't happen to sport a return address, and we weren't all that worried about it at the time. Point number two; even if we did know, there are ten of us. What are we going to do?'

'Try our best?' Vash hazarded, then shrunk under the glare he recieved.

'I think what she's trying to say,' Geli elaborated, 'is that he has an army of Demons on his side. Plus a couple of million vaults and couple hundred Arch Angels. If we try to stop him with just the ten of us, we'll be @#$%ing slaughtered.'

'We'll get an army.' Wolfwood retorted instantly. Lina winced.

'Where?' she asked simply.

'She's right, y'know.' Black Jack said, folding his arms and sighing in resignation. 'Don't expect Angels or Demons to help out. Heaven and Hell's armies are pretty damn riled. Me and Rem couldn't stop 'em when this whole thing was new... It'll be damn impossible to convince them to join now that they're battle crazed.'

'There's got to be something we can do!' Rem implored pitiously.
If there was an answer to her appeal, no one seemed ready to give it. Instead, the individuals of this gathering cast their gazes downward in hopelessness, silence landing heavily on their shoulders and adding heft.

That is, of course, until Lina suddenly cleared her throat.

'This is ridiculous. It's amazing any of you have survived this long.' she muttered. Then clapped her hands to gain their full attention. 'Fine. Listen closely, because I refuse to repeat myself. If you're going to stop a war, then you're going to have to do it properly.'

'You have an idea?' Meryl asked hurriedly, hope unknitting the frown from her brow.

'Ideas are for amateurs. I have a PLAN.' was the instantaneous response.

'Well, command us, o wise one.' Black Jack snapped, going so far as to prod the girl in the ribs. Lina slapped the hand away and huffed irritably. She took a deep breath.

'The first problem is finding out where Knives is. Alex says he can interrogate a Plant. Then I suggest you four break up into groups to make this effi-'

'You're going to break us up?' Milly blurted, eyes flickering between her companions then alighting, worriedly, on the blonde Angelina.

'It's only logical, we have a lot to get do-' Lina attempted, only to be stared down by a glowering, black-haired insurance worker.

'No.' Meryl retorted. Geli scowled.

'Come on, it's just going to be for a few hours-'

'I said no!' the shorter of the Insurance Girls repeated. She motioned with a hand to the close knot of four that she was a part of. 'Do you think we made it this far by splitting up?'

'She's right!' Milly confirmed hastily, her hands clasped together. 'We escaped Angels and Demons and Shadow men and Mr. Vash's brother because we were together. There's... I- I won't go anywhere with anyone but them!'

'You're being difficult.' Lina noted sourly.

'Oh, just let them. They've got a point.' Black Jack groaned from his place down the corridor.

'We'll be fine.' Vash attempted brightly, the silly grin plastered on his face meaning the clearly that he was as happy with this set-up as was physically possible. Then genuine confusion swept those cyan eyes. 'You're going to help us?'

'Of course!' Ange said brightly, grinning from ear to ear and giving him an affectionate wink.

'Like you could do this without us.' Geli muttered,. Then turned to her blonde sister, staring steadily at the yellow Angelina as if waiting for something. Sure enough, before long, Lina sighed out loud and frowned.

'Fine. And yes, we are helping. If we want to have even a snippet of hope of confronting Knives, then we need to organize ourselves. As I was saying, we need to know where this Plant is... So Alex, Rem and I will head up to the Main Office here in Augusta to find out. And try to manipulate front lines to clear us a way. Geli? You and Black Jack head over to the Silver Dunes and find the weapons bay. If we're going to have an army, we need it to be armed.'
The pair in mention shot each other a disgruntled glance. Then simultaneously shrugged.

'Gotcha.' Geli returned, giving the blonde a prompt thumbs up.

'As for you four, Ange will follow you.'

'Where are we going?' Wolfwood asked suspiciously.
A smile split the features of the third Angelina.

'To the detainment camps bordering Augusta. You want an army? Then I suggest you prepare yourself a speech to rally the thousands of humans we have confined there into a ready and willing military force.' she said simply, closing her eyes and waving a hand.

'You think that'll work?!' Vash asked hopefully, casting an anxious glance down the hallway and optimism beginning to seep it's way into his eyes.

'I'm sure there is nothing those people would want more than to stop this war.' Rem replied, smiling.

'You're right.' Wolfwood conceeded to Lina, dark eyebrows peaking in muted surprise. 'You do have a plan.'

'We meet at the gates.' Lina continued, impervious. 'Then the real fight starts.'

 


-----*+*-----

 

Midvalley had never considered himself a stupid man. In fact, as opposed to this, he had always subconsciously categorized himself as the resourceful, competent and reliable type... But stupid?
It was his intelligence that had the musician linger towards the edges of the sandy clearing, flanking the dunes and keeping a wary eye on the scene at the center of the gap in desert, letting Legato Bluesummers claim the stage. For at the middle of the expanse of flat sand was, half buried, the sad remains of a SEEDS ship. It seemed completely intact, but it had sunken into the dusty landscape and would never escape the desert's strange hold. 
The saxophone weilding demon knew that his decision to linger at the hems of the area was the right choice when the SEEDS ship's boarding door slid up with a hiss, expelling steam as the freezing interior met the humidity of the desert outside.
Out of the white wisps of vapor, striding forward like an avenging angel came Millions Knives.
He looked a little worse for wear.

The usually tight, hot brand of a gaze he usually bestowed on everyting that could stare back was unfocused and vague. Lines and dark circles marred the space beneath said eyes and the man seemed to have been grimacing for quite some time. The expression looked ready to set permenantly.
He visibly cringed at the sunlight and his bright blue eyes, dulled, immediately squinted through the glare. When the heat hit the man in full, one could see his lips part to breathe easier do to the humidity.
Legato bowed low.

'Your orders?' the blue haired demon asked stoically. Knives' scrunched up gaze leveld on him and the Plant scowled. And in turn said nothing. Then Millions Knives promptly ignored the existence of the small gathering of Demons to take much decorum in raising a hand to the bridge of his nose and pinching the area. His brow furrowed further. He nurtured the silence to stifle even the humidity.
Midvalley found himself swallowing thickly in the intense ambience of the scene.

'If we head back to Augusta-' Zazi began in the void of speech, then shrunk under the glare he recieved from all else present. He, the musician mused, was just a child after all. It was intristic to the young to fill silences.
Midvalley himself liked to do the same, but at least he knew when Quiet was the wise song.

Legato hadn't moved an inch from his kneel before his Master. The sand had been swept into little grooves by the faint wind that shifted the area, and the SEEDS ship glinted like an arrow head in an excavation site, catching the sun and reflecting it back painfully. The heat rose from the effect in waves, and it was causing beads of sweat to gather and glide down the skin of most present.

Finally, letting out a shuddering breath, Millions Knives spoke.

'Gather the Plant moderators and have them circumference the ship.' he croaked, glaring at the bowed blue head of his Demon.
Something on the edge of vision tensed in Legato's counternance and the man slowly lifted his head.

'Then the key-?' he began.

'Is a lost cause.' Knives interrupted, and it was at that sentence that Midvalley noticed the intense anger that was brewing behind the Plant's eyes. Whatever strength of will that was keeping the enigmatic man from lashing out at all and sundry was cracking along with his disinterested facade.
The musician felt the sudden urge to be very far away.

'We'll have to finish this off without it.' the blonde Plant continued in a snarl, folding his arms and turning slightly to stare up at the slightly raised nose of the half-sunken ship. 'Take the moderators and surround the ship. Then connect the breakers and fall back an ile. I'll be activating the countdown shortly.'

'Will you need assistance, Master?' Legato asked eventually, straightening.

'No. And hurry up, we don't have long. No doubt the army will arrive soon.' Knives replied easily, then turned and walked back into the ship, one hand raising to rub at his temple. With a sand clogged whine, the door slid to a close after the Plant, the last of the cold steam quickly dissipating in the heat. Without the constant clanks and hisses of the interior of the vessle, the immediate murmurings could finally be heard.
Midvalley listened in some surprise to the one word, whispered over and over again by the Demons present.

'Army?'

 


-----*+*-----

 

'Weapons bay, weapons bay...' Black Jack muttered as he and the blue haired Angelina slid around the particularly long line of lockers. 'You lot have a weapons bay here... And you didn't tell me?' Their smooth cornering came to an equally fluid halt when the grained ground met a clearing and momentum pushed the pair to it. Nestled in the middle of this expansive space was a small desk with a laptop on it.

'I suppose you can @#$%ing call it that...' Geli replied. She cast a glance from left to right. 
Then cackled and jogged over to the stream lined computer. Pausing in front of the desk, she whistled, stretched languorously, then sat down primly with an amazingly smug look upon her features.

'What's this?' the Manager of Hell asked, leaning on the back of her chair and peering over the top of the blue messy mass of hair and down at the small flashing screen before them.

'Lina's laptop.' was the prompt reply. It was followed closely by a chuckle. 'I've always wanted a go, but Lina banned me from it when I bet her high score on Solitaire.'

Black Jack pulled what could only be a classified as a sardonic face at this, but he bit back any comments that might've been battling to free themselves. Instead, he huffed disinterestedly and decided to take a look around.

Despite having quite a predominant position in the overall scheme of things, the black clad man couldn't confess to ever having visited the Silver Dunes before. In all truth, he had first met the Angelinas in a rather heated meeting when Hell had suffered it's first plague of cherubs. And their faces thereafter that were always the ones behind the stack of paper work they were inevitably giving him. Thus, the three Angelina siblings weren't all that high on Black Jack's most favourite people list. Anyone who had the audacity to give him work was instantly categorized under the title of "enemy" and "nemesis of all that is sacred".
The Manager of Hell left Geli cackling to herself at the laptop and began walking.

The place itself, despite having a rather interesting composition, was quite boring. A single, large, crater-pocked moon hung low on the curvaceous horizon, and it's bright light sent millions of shimmerings reflecting off the mirror like grains under foot. The sands themselves failed to mass, bundle and billow across the landscape in great dunes like usual deserts did, but instead stretched into the distance flatly. Rather like a platinum vesion of the dusty Flats back on Gunsmoke.
But, and this was the point, there was really not all that much to look at beside from sand and sky.

Well, beside from Lina's desk, and the huge mass of metal behind it and the lockers. Speaking of which...

The Manager of Hell slipped his hands into his pockets and turned to the aforementioned metallic monstrocity that served as a rather industrial looking backdrop to a still chortling Geli. As he made his way closer for a better assessment and stopped before it, Black Jack noticed that this wall was in fact a machine, and this machine was marred with a great deal of scorch marks.
With a curious little huff, the lime-eyed man then reached back and prodded Geli in the back of the head.

'What?!' she snapped, flapping an aggrivated hand at the man.

'What's this?' was the reply.

'What's what?' Geli asked, then swivelled around to face the object of attention. She raised her eyebrows. 'Oh. That's the Quadro-Atomic-Neutralization-Dissilator. Remember? What we used to make Angels?'

'Why's it still here?' Black Jack asked with renewed interest. He circled the object like a very easy-going vulture, then jumped up and caught the rim of the top with a hand. He hauled himself up. Once there, he took a good look around the roof of the contrivance then turned and sat down on the edge, resting an elbow on one propped up knee and gaze back down at the blue haired Angelina.

'We used to put souls through it to give them the power they needed to be a Guardian Angel.' Geli replied, craning her neck back to meet his eyes. She then continued, 'And considering I'm head of Weapons and Equipment, I reprogrammed it to produce weapons.'

'Then this is what we're looking for?' was the next question.

'Well... Yeah. The trick is we'll have to move it from here to the Detainment Camps. I don't know how we're gonna do it, because it's so big... Not to mention the fact that the door I've connected Augusta to the Silver Dunes is too small.'

'I guess that would be a problem if it wasn't already falling apart.' the Manager of Hell retorted easily, using the heel of his swinging foot to ring a clang from the metal.

Half of the machine creaked, snapped, then fell off.
Silence ran rampant.

'YOU @#$%ING BROKE IT!!!'

'I didn't think it was that @#$%ed up! I barely @#$%ing touched it!!'

'I'LL @#$%ING KILL YOU, YOU @#$%ER!!'

'Easy, you little psychopath!' Black Jack snapped, glaring down at the suddenly standing Angelina but nevertheless refusing to brave the chance of being mauled should he jump down. From his safely altitudinous perch, he added, 'It looked broken to begin with, so don't blame me!' 
Geli scowled, but eventually folded her arms and relented.

'Yeah, Vash blew it up when we first got him in.' she muttered, scratching at her hairline. 'I completely forgot... Oh, @#$%... What are we supposed to do for weapons now?'

There was another long silence.

'How long did Lina say until we rendezvous?' Geli asked in a feeble voice, wincing prematurely at the thought of her sister's wrath. Taking this momentary display of weakness as a sign of safety, Black Jack slid off the Quadro-Atomic-Neutralization-Dissilator and landed lightly on the silver sands in front of the blue Angel Trainer.

'I don't know, but it'll be @#$%ing embarrassing if Vash can raise an army before we can find some weapons. Our pride is at stake, girl.' he muttered, frowning intensely at his own thoughts. No doubt an inanely arrogant Vash the Stampede was laughing his head off in the Manager of Hell's mind's eye.

'But where are we going to scrounge up so many weapons with the Quadro-Atomic-Neutralization-Dissilator broken?!' Geli demanded, clutching her head and gritting her teeth.

'How the hell should I know?! I don't have any. You took all my guns when I first got here!'

'Like we'd let you carry around that great bloody gatling gun! And stop whining! EVERYONE gets their @#$%ing weapons checked at the door!'

'Hah! Considering what @#$%ing Gunsmoke's like, you must be swimming in checked guns! It's a wond-...' Black Jack began, then trailed off. After a pause, the sentence silently re-ran itself through the heads of both present. Then again.
The Manager of Hell stared long and hard at Geli.
The second Angelina stared back.

Then, in unison, the pair turned their eyes to the long, long line of lockers that stretched into the distance.

 


-----*+*-----

 

It didn't take much convincing. Alex had always been fond of his siblings and he never attempted to hide this geniune affection. They were naive and unassuming and irrevocably osmotic. It was such a shame that these beautiful children had been offered something sweet by a man who was nothing but bitterness. But, and in this Alex was certain, both the Plants and Knives could be saved.

The Plant at Augusta was particularly delighted to see him. She had been rather preoccupied with the rest of her sisters and the excitment that was rousing each and every one of them, but she had allowed herself to be momentarily distracted. Alex had politely queried about the reason for her bubbly enthusiasm.
And hadn't much liked the answer.

But, despite his better judgement, Alex had not elaborated to his sister the sudden surge of dread he shared with her. It confused the Plant, and she failed to understand how Eden could be bad. Instead, Alex had done something unspeakable.
He lied.

'How's it coming along?' Rem asked gently, carefully kneeling down beside her Guardian Angel and trying to be as unobtrusive as possible. Her endearingly bumbling attempts at it brought a bright and instantaneous smile to Alex's face. He paused to finish up the conversation with the Plant before turning to her.

'Well, I know where Knives is... But she only told me because I assured her that I wanted to "help". Which, of course, we're not going to do.' he muttered, agonizing over this little fact. Rem patted him on the hand then asked,

'Help what?'

'Knives is going to link and overload the Plant moderators. The failed Arch Angels can't use their power on their own, you see. They simply... Store it. So he's going to forcefully tap it using the technology SEEDS implemented to systemize their output. Then he'll expel it into the stratosphere, thus forcing a cataclysm. Their power may be used to sustain energy in ships and climate modulators, but raw, it's still the power of Angels of Death...'

'B-But... Knives wouldn't do that to them! I know he's mad at humans, but he's always been a very caring brother to the Plants...' Rem stuttered, her amber eyes wide. Desperation paraded clearly across her face but betrayal hemmed the expression, awaiting for the time when even the woman's diamond trust was shattered. It was painful to look at.

'I... Don't think Vash, Knives the Plants and I will be hurt if the linkage is balanced properly, but considering that there is at least one Plant in every city, it will be a rather selective and thorough apocalypse. They're creating Eden.' Alex replied carefully, inclining his face slightly and staring out of the corner of his eye at the reflections on the Plant Bulb he was sitting before. Distracted, the Plant Angel within had retreated to the power breakers that dominated the stem of the machine.
She was awaiting the signal with skittish excitement.

There was a metallic click as the door to the room was opened. 

The Plant Bulb was a very small one. It had apparently been salvaged from a ship that had rationed it's power out in sectors, so the Plant itself was compact enough to fit in a large room. This one used to be one of Augustas control rooms, but after the Merging, Heaven had set up office.
There was a large table in the center of the room and papers and maps covered it's entirety, made all that messier when Rem had attempted to create some order and failed. And making their way to this table was Lina.

'I'm not sure if it'll work, but I intercepted an order and tweaked it slightly. Most Angel battalions are heading for December. Hopefully Knives isn't there.' she said simply, scowling. Alex straightened by his crouch in front of the bulb and Rem followed suit.

'No, I just asked. He's well away from there.' the Arch Angel supplied, smiling brightly and hoping it was contagious. It was a habit of Rem's that had rubbed off on him... The third Angelina was clearly an unhappy entity, and Alex attempted almost subconsciously to get her to smile. Unfortunately, he wasn't doing very well.

'Good.' Lina said primly, turning away promptly. 'Do you know where he is?'

'I'll find a map and chart it...' Rem offered, carefully stepping away from the pair and heading to the swathes of paper on the giant table. The former Angel of Death watched her momentarily, then turned his attention back to the blonde Angelina.

'Not as such...' he returned to her. 'It's hard to describe... Plants don't actually have space. I couldn't get co-ordinates beause we don't have them. It's more of... Volume. I know that Knives is situated between here and a small town about twenty iles away, because the Plants he has collected are loudest to the Plants in those towns. Doing some basic maths tells me that he's somewhere about ten iles from here, forty from Dankin town and-'

'Slow down!' Rem called from her maps. 'Forty from Dankin and ten...'

'Even I know that's in the middle of the desert.' Lina noted sarcastically, sneering at him. Alex smiled brightly at her again.

'You're right. There's a crashed SEEDS ship there. Apparently one of the smaller science centers, but it's big enough to host three Plants on it's own.' he said calmly. The expression dropped and he frowned. 'But we have to hurry. Knives is starting the overload soon.'
Lina's eyes narrowed at this and her scowled freshened. With an irritated little sneer, she spun to the Manager of Heaven who was industriously scribbling notes and running a giant ruler over her maps.

'Hurry it UP, Saverem! We haven't got all day!' she snapped, then strode over to the table to glare at the slow pace of the proceedings. Rem shot Alex an agonized and rather pleadful glance before she hastily dropped her eyes to the maps again. Her Guardian Angel stepped into action.

'So how have things been, Lina? It's been so long, something interesting must've happened.' he attempted, stepping up beside her. 
He was grateful, really. Alex was genuinely interested in the three sisters, because there was a time in his strange life when they were all he had. Ange seemed to be frozen forever in an emotional stasis, unable to be angry or uncheerful for more than a few minutes and unable to change from who she was. Geli had picked up some interesting swear words off of someone, but her temper was fundementally the same; it'd simply learnt a new language.
But Lina... Something had shifted. She no longer used a stream of long words, and she no longer spoke so properly that it was near painful to listen to. She got angry, and she was incredibly unhappy.
Something had developed.

'Just Peachy. What do you think?' Lina snapped, folding her arms and glaring ahead. She seemed incredibly angry about just standing there.
With a sudden flash of insight, Alex wondered whether the fact of the matter was that she was irritated with his presence.

'You've changed.' he voiced aloud.

'Really, how so?' was the drawled and sarcastic response.

'Well, for one... You were never sarcastic. And you're temper has certainly flared up.' the Arch Angel noted brightly as if he were giving her glowing compliments.

'Well, I'm sorry if I don't meet your standards. I wasn't like this until this whole ridiculous mess started anyway.' Lina snarled in a warning voice. She wanted the conversation to end desperately, and the desire for it was writ in every tense line of her frame. She was ready to either snap or explode.
But Alex was not stupid. And he knew better than anyone that there was a difference between what people want, and what they need.

'I like it.' he replied softly. 'You've grown up.'

A deep frosty silence met him. Over on the other side of the table, Rem was trying desperately to keep her head down and her ears closed.
Stubbornly, Alex continued.

'You were always the shy one, weren't you?' he asked, then laughed kindly and rested a hand on the girl's shoulder. 
Sure enough, Lina, the third of the Angelina sisters and ex-Body of Organization broke. She spun around and slapped the Angel's hand away, her face flushed in such a dangerous cocktail of emotions that she seemed ready to detonate. Her eyes were wide and teeth were bared.

'Why are you LIKE this?!' she shouted, raising a fist and visibly fighting the urge to swing it. The brown haired Winger stood calmly and waited, with a smile, for whatever retribution would come.

'Like what?' he asked gently. Irately, the blonde Angelina gesticulated sharply to nothing in particular.

'Why do you care?! Why the HELL should you care what I'm like?!'

'Because I've always cared.'

'WELL YOU SHOULDN'T!!' Lina screamed, then finally thumped a fist down on his chest. Alex took the blow and refused to move away.

'Why not? Lina, you and your sisters have always been my frie-'

'Because we took you away from Rem!! And- And I banned you from things you'd rather do!! And I clipped your- I cut- I- Your wi- I-' The blonde Angelina shuddered and choked on the sentence, then punched him again, a hatred filled snarl finding it's way from between his teeth as she lowered her face away fom view. When she was content that things were as under control as they could be, she growled, ' I hacked off your wings. WHY DON'T YOU HATE ME?!'

Silent, Alex cast a look up to Rem. She returned the look, ruler and pencil poised unmoving in the air as the Manager of Heaven obviously endeavored not to move nor breath in the moment. She looked shocked and sympathetic.
The first Arch Angel of existence took a deep breath.
Then smiled.

'I don't hate you, Lina, really.' he said simply, reaching forward. There was another snarl, and the girl moved to slap his hand away again. Alex caught her wrist. Lina tugged weakly on it for a few moments, but something caused her to give up. Her other hand dropped lifelessly by her side and her shoulders slumped.
After a pause, the Angel reached forward with his other hand again and raised her face.
And something Alex had known all along proved itself, plain and simple. 

The Angelina sisters were children.

Lina's nostrils were flared and slightly red, while her lower lip had been snagged between her teeth to stop the trembling that had moved on to the girl's chin. Tears streaked her red and blotchy cheeks.
Quickly swallowing the surprise he was ashamed of having, the brown haired Winger gathered himself.

'You're allowed to make mistakes.' Alex said softly, ducking down slightly to be eye level with the sob choked girl. 'You'd never interacted with people before you met me; how were you supposed to know?' There was a small pause. 'You always tried to take on the problems alone, to let up on Geli and Ange. But this time we're all tackling it together. Just like the old times, the four of us, ok?' he continued in query, giving her a hopeful and warm smile.
Lina coughed slightly, entire face scrunching up as her platinum eyes welled up further, lip so harshly bit down on that blood began to join the abundant tears.

And Angelina the third suddenly let out a piteous wail and threw herself at the Angel in front of her, arms flung around his torso and instantly contricting into a suffocating embrace, squeezing. She blubbered loudly and violently like a child, burbling incoherent sentences as she drove and rubbed her face into the white shirt Alex had donned. Glancing up, the Winger found the warm gaze of his Guard upon him. Rem smiled lovingly at the scene and breathed out in relief. She then rolled up a map from the table and stood.

'All done.' she said brightly, unable to keep the content grin from her face.
From somewhere within the loop of arms and swathes of white cottin, Lina cried loudly, a tiny "sorry" being liberated from the extreme sobs.
Alex hugged her tightly and laughed softly, not unkindly.

'Not bad for a first mistake.' he noted gently to the world in general, chuckling. A fresh bout of wailing met him.

 


-----*+*-----

 

-----AUTHOR'S NOTES-----

Lynda: **shakes head** Good grief, another chapter that was supposed to contain more than it did. Vash and co's escapade happens NEXT chapter, then. -_-;; Sigh. Ahwell, at least I got to bridge some stuff. Heh. Only a few more chappies people!! Only a few more!!

Kuroneko: =^o_o^= Mya?

Lynda: Yup. Although I'm not sure how fast they'll come. Like this one, which took weeks upon weeks to be produced, I'll be starting some pretty heavy things in the real world, and I'll be trying to find my feet. I'll try my bestest to get the rest of the chapters out quickly, though. -_-; Gomen!!
Hmmm... Yersh. I best be off then, ne? NE?!
Hokay. -_-;;