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Asuka ignored the urge to fire on Dusana for once, finally taking notice of the scene unfolding a hundred or so yards off, and cursed herself for not being able to do something. Silence grabbed it's board again and twisted vertically on the trapar wave with said board used as a shield, while the pilot kept an eye on Senturi. She was worried now, and the vital signals on her screen told her the reason to be.

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"Rain, s-stop it! Do you know how long we've been waiting for a chance to come and save you? I'm sorry....we got a little off track, trying to pay them back for the ship. I-If we would've got to you sooner, maybe you'd remember us...."

Kayako tried to force a smile, not really knowing why. It was just one one those many irrational things she did; smiling while one of her friends was at her throat trying to kill her or bring her back to the foundation she hated with a passion. But then again, the human race in general has always been an irrational, emotion-driven species, so maybe this time her actions weren't so very far off.

"If I can, I'll still kill every single one of those bastards.....Just because you're that kind of friend and you mean that much."

(((It didn't sound like Kayako without a decent helping of bloodlust...>__>)))

This time instead of trying to outrun the KLFs, Dai had the 505 charge forward to the closest KLF. Dai didn't care about their manuevers so they did not have the confusion effect that they intended. It made an attempt to first slash violently, and rapidly at the KLF without intentions of destroying it so that he may use the KLF as a type of shield. It was one of the only things he could do if he wanted to survive the onslaught of the next attack.

Eden shot like a missile away from the dogfight, leaving Kayako and everyone behind. Tears streamed down her eyes from the feeling of stress that was bearing down on her the whole time she was staring at Kayako. She couldn’t do it. She just couldn’t do it. For some reason, she just could not restrain that girl. Why couldn’t she? Ivan had given her a direct order, but she disobeyed. She actually disobeyed. Never in a million years could she have done that, and for two reasons. One) this is Ivan we’re talking about. He’s like a god-figure to her; the one that seemed to keep her safe and provide for her everything she could ever need. Two) it was just impossible.

Little did she know it was physically and mentally impossible for her to disobey any order given to her by Ivan. Back when she had first come back from her trip to Scub Coral library, he gave her an injection that made it so she obeyed everything he told her to do. It was also the reason she held Ivan at such a lofty position as she had.

Eden seemed to have been granted godly speed for the LFO was off and away from the group so fast like a flash of a silver and green bullet. Rain wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, just so long as it was far away, far away from those strange people and far away from Ivan. She couldn’t go back to Ivan for she knew what Ivan would do to her if she had came back empty-handed. She just couldn’t face him, not with what was nagging her mind at that moment.

The special light Rain held Ivan in had dimmed and was now out. She had finally seen what Ryouki had been telling her the entire time; Ivan was only using her for a tool. He never thought of her as someone special. He only saw her as something to use to get what he needed done.

Flying… fly… away… She had to escape it all, and that’s what she was doing: running away from it all. It was too stressful for her, to try and obey when something was telling her she just could not. She had to find an answer to it all, but where to look? She had no idea. Her best bet was to get away from it all, find some place nice and quiet to think.

After having flown for hours and the sun now having been asleep for a good amount of time, the realm of rest now called to Rain. Her head would bob up and down as she fought a battle to stay away. Her eyelids would close half way and sometimes they would fully shut, but to suddenly open again. Finally, the soldier of sleep began to win the battle, as well as the war. Rain’s lids shut, marking for her defeat. Her hands grew limp around the controls and Eden began to dip down towards the earth. Fully loosing control, Eden was free to fall. The earth gave way as the LFO crashed into a field of wild grasses. A long trail of destroyed earth was left in the wake of Eden’s collision. It finally came to a full stop some many yards away from the spot of the initial impact. Slumped up against the control board, the green jewel on Rain’s forehead began to shine a brilliant and bright green.

In the dream realm, Rain found herself in a garden. It was unlike any garden she had ever seen, even more beautiful than the one at the Foundation. There were so many colorful flowers and plants and things that captivated her sight. Looking down the stone path, she felt something tug at her, pulling her forward, calling to her. She took a step forward and then another. Her steps became more patterned and rhythmic as she made her way. Rain looked all around her as she walked on, staring at the many plants. Once in awhile, a butterfly or some other kind of flying bug would flutter past her. Ladybugs dotted leaves and bees hovered above flowers. She could hear birds chirping in the trees. Rain snaked her way down the path, turning at the turns she felt were the way to go. Faintly, as she moved on, she thought she heard the sound of running water. It kept growing louder and louder and eventually, she could see something sparkling and glittering over the top of a hedge. Hastening her steps, she jogged around the wall of hedge to find the way to the water. Turning a bend, she stopped. There was the origin of the sound, a fountain. Water spewed out of the top and out of several spouts in the side of the main column. Near it was a willow tree with branches hanging so low they swept onto the ground. In the curtain of branches and leaves, Rain saw a figure, and a familiar one at that. She watched the figure for a moment. It was looking at its hand and there seemed to be something moving on it. Rain took several steps closer and she could see that there was more than just one something, there were a couple somethings: birds. The little creatures hopped on the figure’s hand, seeming to be pecking at something. Rain began to walk slowly towards the person again, and as she got closer, the figure held up its hand, letting the birds fly off. Just as they flew off, the head turned and looked at her. A pair of distinctive green eyes stared back at her.

The figure became more distinct once it stepped out from behind the veil of leaves. Rain stopped walking once she had reached the fountain, seeing as how the figure was now approaching her. There was something familiar about this person, this young boy of silver hair and green eyes. Yet, Rain could just not place it. “Who are you?” she asked as he stopped in front of her. She looked him in the eye as if she could find the answer there. “This one is who this one is,” he responded, obviously not being very clear. Rain was about to speak again, but he stopped her when he put his finger up to her forehead. “He sees you are lost. You were lost once before, but were then found. Now you are lost once again. He will help you find yourself.” He touched the tip of index finger to the stone on her head, which then began to glow. “Look into the waters of the fountain.” He pointed to the fountain, but kept his eyes on her. Hesitantly, Rain looked into the water. At first she saw only herself and the mysterious boy beside her, but after a moment of staring the water began to ripple and blur. The image of her and the boy changed to something much different. “You are in there,” he spoke. “He put you in there for safe keeping when you were pulled from yourself for a second time. Watch and you will regain yourself.”

Rain did as she was told and watched as the image changed from blurry into crystal clear. She bent down and leaned into to get a closer look. Before she knew it, the image changed to another, and then another. This cycle of image changing grew faster and faster until it was all a blur of changing colors and shapes. It enraptured her so and she stared blankly at it, her eyes wide open and unblinking. Everything began to come back to her. Her life before she was ever in the Foundation, her life in it, and even her life after when she escaped. She remembered events and people. She remembered her true family and the family she gained when she escaped the Foundation. Everything she had ever experienced came back. When all was said and done, she stood up and stumbled backwards, all of it still sinking in. The image of the garden began so swirl around as if her sight was drunken and intoxicated. She turned her head toward the left to see the boy, whom she now realized she knew. “…. Eden…” she said, then fainted backwards. The last thing she saw in that garden was Eden standing over her, saying, “Never forget he will stay with you all times.” And just as suddenly as she had found herself in that garden, she found herself surrounded by pitch black.

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Dusana noticed Eden shoot off like a lightening bolt, and she knew it was all over. She put the guns away and faced Silence. "It was fun while it lasted," she spoke to Asuka. "I would love to hang around, but now the reason for this mission left. I have a squadron I need to look out for. Maybe we'll see each other again." Giving a sort of "salute" to Asuka, Dusana turned the Solaris around and retreated.

The KLFs that remained from the initial attack stopped, then disengage. All getting their orders, they began to retreat. Soon, the battlefield was empty and all that was left was the carnage and destruction. Dusana and her squad had another battle ahead of them, but one less major.

As she flew away, she let her mind wander to the broadcast that occurred several days ago from the captain of the Super Izumo. "Hmm... I should check that out..." she thought.

As soon as Dusana and her squad departed, Asuka took off after Senturi, knowing what would happen if Kayako kept running around with that necklace on. When not in battle, the 'orderly' nature of the dark-red-haired girl came back, and she found herself looking out for everyone as usual.

It took awhile, but eventually she found Senturi hovering lost a little ways off, and convinced their leader to land momentarily while they treated her injuries. With the help of the sheer force of strength genetically-enhanced girls can accomplish, the two managed to break the golden necklace of Dewey's away from Kayako's neck, effectively stopping the red electricity. The trinket fell to the ground, untouched and unwanted. And it stayed that way, as no one ever wanted to see it again.

Asuka and Kayako never retreated back to the Ragnarok though. The purple-haired girl insisted they search for Rain and Eden before a UF squadron found her, and of course the one that from now on would be known as her lieutenant followed after, intent on finding their friend also.

"Quinn" Kayako said now "You're falling behind. You need to tail Asuka and me in case we find her and she's hurt. I'm not flying miles and miles back to you!"

After the retort from the pilot with obvious gender-issues, the search party continued on.

"I've got something. Asuka, stay back here, I'm gonna land now...."

Slowly, the black and violet LFO that almost seemed invisible at night flew downwards, the pilot watching ahead to the image of her friend. It was Rain alright, they're little skyfish-queen lost in thought as usual. Kayako just hoped she was herself again.

Senturi snapped off it's board and landed in the grass behind Eden, and a moment later the canopy opened and the purple-haired girl peeked out of the cockpit. It was still risky, but it was worth it to make sure of things.

"Rain? Are you okay?"

"Right!"

Kayako didn't know who she was talking about, but just the same she ducked back inside Senturi's cockpit quickly. Grabbing it's board, the black and violet LFO jumped up and took off on a trapar wave after Eden, both mech and pilot happy to have their friend back. Senturi and Eden weren't made as part of the same squad, but they were still like brother and sister. They both came from the scub coral, after all.

"Eureka and Renton..." Kayako said over the commlink, glancing at the moon. "Eureka is the name of the coralian girl who's dna they used to make me and Anemone. And Renton....that must be the name of her partner. The scubs told me about it...Eureka was a messenger, and she was supposed to choose someone to be at her side. It looks like they stopped Dewey's plan, too..... I hope they end up happy, those two deserve it."

Today was one of those days where Kayako didn't feel like her grouchy self. It didn't happen often, but every so often, you'd see the girl smile.

"So Rainy, who's this guy? Is he your boyfriend?"

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Somewhere, not too far away, the boy in question stood on top the broken KLF, just waiting for something to happen. The good news was, Rain was finally free from that b*****d Ivan's grasp. That made Ryouki happy, even if he wasn't the one to do it.

The bad news, of course....was that now he was stranded out there in the dark, and that ship that had gone after Eden was far away now....

"GAH!"

That was the only reaction the boy had for the flying-tackle attack from above that nothing could prepare him for. Never did Ryouki picture that coming. And if he had, there was a very high chance that he wouldn't have believed himself. Nonetheless, after the initial impact wore off, the black-haired boy sat up and smiled at the somewhat still obnoxiously-cute girl.

"No 'sorry's from you, Rain! It's not your fault, I shoulda realized they had some way of controlling you, I shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm just happy that Ivan jerk is gone, and hopefully dead at some point, because if I see him he's meat!"

When he noticed the two LFOs hovering above along with Eden, his memory suddenly clicked. So this was the group that had broken Rain out before. It all made sense now!

"So....you sure pick some rough friends. You going aboard that black ship now?"

---

Kayako watched with interest from inside Senturi, snickering a bit at the cuteness factor. This boy though, he was weird.....She couldn't recall where she'd seen him before, but she was sure she had.

"Heeeeey, Rainy!" she called through the speaker "Is your boyfriend coming back to Ragnarok with us? I want dinner already!"

Together, with some 'boyfriend' cracks and maybe a little song, the three mechs and their pilots took off back to the black and red flying metal death trap they called home. Quinn had done a good job of tailing the trio, so it didn't take but a few moments before the bay doors opened and Senturi, Silence, and Eden all docked inside.

Hours before, Reiku had found Dai and taken him to the newly deemed 'sick bay' for treatment, meaning he'd knocked on Nic's door and begged her to come out. All that remained of the lone pilot's struggle were a few drops of blood on the hangar floor. Someone really needed to clean that place.

Asuka headed to her room right from the get-go, tired from dealing with these people and their emotions all day, plus her duel with the Major Dusana. That woman could fight, no doubt about that. And if the redhead could find something to sleep on since Quinn had vacated her room of a bed, she would fall asleep instantly.

Predictably, the first thing Rain did was grab Ryouki and her guitar and drag him out of Eden, wanting to see that ship since she hadn't been around to watch it be built. Ryouki though, he was more in shock of something else....

The poor boy, he wasn't prepared for when the pilot of the black and violet LFO emerged. He was really shortsighted sometimes, as he hadn't made the connection between the 'typeDESTINY' his sister had escaped in and the 'typeDESTINY' that had broken Rain out. When Kayako jumped down and greeted him, poor Ryou almost died of shock. Even though she was older now, and her hair had been changed, plus that odd circle of red in her eyes, he could tell that face and expression anywhere......that was his little sister he'd been searching for all this time.

"I....uh...Kayako?!"

"Hm? Oh, right, you're military...guess you already know me. Damn! I like introducing myself...."

"Yeah..."

"Aaaaanyways! Rainy, there's an empty room down the hall from mine, you can have it. And I suppose he'll be staying with you~So we're good! If I can find Kanashisa, we can get dinner started! And of course you have to meet our new members...OH! And you will not believe what a MOPE Gray has been! Lemme tell ya, he...."

The girls talked, Kayako dug people out of their hiding places to meet Ryou and Rain, and sooner or later there were bowls of ramen and cake set out for their late dinner and desert. Though he had every opportunity, Ryouki kept his mouth shut. Obviously, his sister had no idea who he was, so he thought he'd wait a little while before he tried to talk to her about it. For now, he had Rain, and that was enough.

Everyone got to sleep before it was too late, and the sun rose on the next day with them still sleeping. Well....everyone except Dominic. Kayako hadn't been too terribly happy that Quinn had let him have a job without her promission, and so the stowaway was forever cursed to clean the ship after the festivities....

(((Hehe, and there we have it! ^____^ Next day! FUN TIME!!)))