The Angel's Rebirth: Us

The Angel's Rebirth  Us

"I'm going to teach those fuckers a lesson, and there's nothing you can say or do to stop me." Gia announces to her father. "I'll be doing the world a favor by getting rid of those posers."

"What makes you so sure that this isn't some trap?" Abraham pipes up warily. "Don't be so damn reckless, let me go with you."

"You're kidding me right?" Gia stares at him, in total awe of his audacity. "You're in no condition to go anywhere. Moreover, your magic reserves aren't as good as they used to be and you know that."

"Would you like a clothing pin to better hang up my dirty laundry?" Abraham whisper-shouts. "Keep your voice down! It's nothing a three week meditation session won't fix, you lot are all such worrywarts."

Maka whimpers at his bedside, as if to beg him to stay in bed. Gia smiles and reaches down to pet her furry companion. "Don't worry girl, Abraham's not going anywhere." she soothes her pet. She scoops up the small kitsune and rubs her belly, grinning when the feline responds with a purr.

Looking back up at her father, she smirks in triumph with Maka in her arms. "See, now you can't go. How can you disappoint this face?"

Abraham gives them both a flat expression and sighs in exasperation. "Fine, damnit! I'll stay here and await your return. Please tell me you at least have some kid of plan."

"All I can tell you is that I'm leaving when everyone in the dorms fall asleep." she says, sitting on the right side of his bed. "I don't want anyone to know I'm gone either, so that brings about a request I have for you. I want you to cover for me in case anyone from work gets suspicious. Can you do that?"

"Alright, I can do that much." the Black Magic user nods. "But you should know most of them won't take my word for it, and by most of them I mean..."

"Axel." they say in unison, both annoyed. When they realize what they've done, they burst out in a fit of laughter.

"I'll try to be back within two days. That's the length of time I usually spend on missions." Gia offers up. Satisfied with his daughter's answer, Abraham nods in approval of the plan.

"Alright, I should get back to the dorms. It's only a few hours until midnight." Gia says as she stands up from the bed. Maka trots to the door, awaiting her partner.

"Be careful out there," Abraham warns. Internally, he curses himself for putting his body in a vulnerable situation. Looking down at his bandaged body, he lets out an annoyed "tsk".

Giggling, she nods. "I will." Gia turns to leave but before she does she quickly returns to his bedside to hug him. "I love you father, I'll see you soon." she bid him farewell.

On the inside, Abraham's heart swelled with adoration. "I love you too, kiddo. Go kick ass."

As planned, Gia began packing her essentials as soon as she got home. She turned to the analog clock on her wall when she was done.

"11:45" it read.

Nodding to herself, she put on her mission gear and adjusted her appearance in the mirror. As the clock struck midnight, she opened her bedroom window. Motioning for Maka to follow her, she let her left leg hang out of the window of the seventh floor dorm ward. Before she could get her right one out, however, she is started by a loud rapping on her door.

Squealing, Gia fell ungracefully onto her bedroom floor. "C-coming!" she called out. Before closing her bedroom door, she motioned to her pet to stay and remain silent. The rapping on the door became louder and more frequent, as if the person on the other side was desperate to get in.

"I said I'm coming! Geez!" Gia called out. When she opened the door, her breath caught in her lungs.

"A-Alejandro?" she breathed out.

True enough, the tall blue-hared Etherious stood before her. Impassively, he stared down at her. "Hey." he greeted her. As he stared down at her, he took note of her appearance. "Why you still got on your gear? Heading out?"

"O-oh!" Gia squeaked. ''"Crap! If he figures me out, I'm done for!" ''Gia thought in a frenzy.

"Well? You just gonna stand there or answer me?" Alejandro said impatiently.

"I'm not going anywhere, honestly!" Gia lied. "See, I actually just got back from a mission that was two towns over! Yep, a reaaallly long train ride!"

"Huh, alright then." he sounded unconvinced. "Well I just came here to-"

Loudly, she let out an exaggerated yawn. "Boy am I exhasuted! And would you just look at the time, I should really be getting to bed right now if you don't mi-"

"Wait." he called out, holding the door open. "Didn't ya hear what I said earlier? I got somethin' to tell ya, now lemme in would ya?"

"Oh, uhm sure!" Gia complied, letting him into her dorm. Internally, she was a nervous wreck. ''"This is just torture at this point!" ''Gia thought to herself, her heart about to burst out her chest. "If he knows he should just say it! I don't know how long I can keep up this charade..."

The two stood awkwardly in the hallway of her dorm, just staring at each other.

"Well? Say something already!" Gia insisted, becoming impatient.

"I'm getting to it, geez!" Alejandro retorted, huffing in annoyance. Composing himself, he began to speak. "I just wanted to talk to ya about the past week. Ya seem off, and you feel like it too. Somebody say something to ya?"

"Oh, well you see-" Gia started to lie but stopped herself. Would it really matter now if she told him the truth? Her heart swelled. If she kept in this secret any longer she felt as if she'd explode right this very second!

"It's just...remember when I said I found some criminals the other day?" Gia began, going to sit on her futon. "The ones I lost, if you're having trouble remembering, they said they were from Running Lion."

"What?!" Alejandro boomed, rushing toward her place on the futon. "Why didn't ya speak up or say anything to me? This is some pretty big shit! Blanco's gotta know so we can-"

"No!" Gia shouted suddenly. Realizing what she'd done, she quickly composed herself. "I mean uhm, no thank you. They just turned out to be some stupid posers, no big deal really!"

Staring down at her, Alejandro's expression turned stormy. He made a low growling noise in the back of his throat, sounding displeased.

"What's your damage?" Gia asked playfully.

"You." he responded slowly. "You're my damage."

"W-what...what are you saying, idiot!" Gia said, embarrassed.

With a solemn expression on his face, he sat down next to her on the futon. "Look, I care about ya a lot. We've been through some pretty similar events, with your circumstances being far worse than mine. Still, don't keep it all inside. It only gets worse that way. If you're hurt or somebody's hurting ya, just lemme know and I'll take care of it."

Sighing, Gia rested her face in her hands. "I don't mean to be rude or anything, but you shouldn't worry so much about me. You've got bigger fish to fry with your brother. Trust me, my emotional baggage is my burden to bear."

"Don't gimme that shit, Gia." Alejandro snapped angrily, catching Gia off-guard. He rarely ever said her real name. Usually, he referred to her in nicknames. "What you taught me led me to the road of redemption. What were those words ya said to me? You don't gotta make yourself up to be a cold-blooded monster as they say you are? Then why the hell don't ya follow your own advice?!"

Realizing he'd been ranting, Alejandro takes in a calming breath. "I'm sorry I screamed at ya, I just got caught up in the moment. What I'm trying to say is: I know it's hard, but we all gotta move on." Alejandro choked out, proof of his internal conflict shining through his stony-faced mask.

Gia stares at him in surprised, shocked at how much raw emotion he'd been showing her in just a few minutes of conversation. "It's more complicated than anyone could ever imagine," she confesses, her gaze softening. "I-I'd never imagine that I'd be my own worst enemy."

Alejandro gasps quietly when he sees sudden tears pooling in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. "Shit! D-don't cry! Hey I didn't mean to get all up in your business like that!" he sputtered profusely.

"It's not you, I'm sorry." she sniffled, wiping her face. "I don't know what came over m-"

Her sentence hung in the air as she is suddenly pulled into a firm, and surprisingly comforting hug. Alejandro's embrace, she noted, felt familiar to one she's felt before. Here, she felt shielded from the criticisms the world had to offer about her.

"Don't apologize, tiny tot." he assures her. "Even the strongest of us break down once in awhile, so you go on ahead and cry all you'd like. I won't tell anybody, swear it." Pulling back, he wiped the continuous stream of tears of her face and tousled her chestnut hair.

"Alejandro..." Gia murmured, embarrassed that someone saw her in such a vulnerable state.

"Heh, ya look like a cherub. Your cheeks are so red." he couldn't help but tease her. Hell, all this sap would give him a heartache!

"Of course you choose now to pick on me," Gia rolled her eyes and slapped his shoulder. "We were having a moment!"

"I know," he smiled, his white teeth gleaming in the dark. "That don't mean it's over."

With that, he leaned in and closed the distance between them with a kiss.