Perfect Sacrifice (70 page)

"You're not leaving," stated Gordan, still insisting that the ex-commander could not flee from the base.  "You will remain here and allow us to protect you.  That was the promise I made, and I intend to keep it.  That is one thing that's common amongst all of us.  We never break a promise.  You need to put some faith in us.  You'll be safe here."

"If he comes to this base…if he finds me…" began Aaron.

"We'll handle it," stated Abby.  "We're knights after all.  Ray isn't the only one who can fight."  Aaron didn't say anything to either of them.  He only hung his head in either disappointment or shame.  Either way, he felt horrible.  What was he supposed to do?  It didn't seem like he had that much of a choice.  They weren't letting him leave.  Then again, did he really want to?  He'd be alone in the desert with nowhere to go and no proper way to defend himself against one of Ramirez's men.  He was a good pilot, there was no doubt about that, but against even one of the heavily armored Genos, a standard black one didn't stand a chance.

"It's settled," stated Gordan as he turned around, ready to walk out the door.  "Since you have nothing left to say, let's get some sleep.  It's late, and even I'm tired."

"But sir," began Aaron, causing Gordan to sigh deeply.

"If you still want to leave, I suppose we can't stop you, but I suggest you think this through," he told the boy.  "Ramirez will find you in the desert, and he
will
kill you.  If you stay here, at least we can help.  Besides…"  He turned to look at the two of them, his smiling expression going towards Abby.  "…You'd make Abby disappointed if you left."  Aaron stole a glance at the knight, catching just the slightest tint of red on her cheeks.  Her posture easily gave away the fact that she was embarrassed.  She was shifting her weight back and forth, staring at the floor.

General Gordan left the room, allowing Aaron to make up his own mind about what to do.  He was free to leave now.  He could take that Geno and flee the base, guaranteeing their safety.  Then again, wasn't Ramirez always after them?  What would his presence there really change?  Perhaps the general's efforts would be doubled, and in Ramirez's eyes, a traitor was even more of a target than a knight.  However, Ray would always be his main target.  She was like his rival after all.  Compared to her, everyone else was nothing in his eyes.

Aaron looked to Abby, who was silently staring at the floor.  She was still a little embarrassed apparently.  It was probably from what Gordan had said.  Would she actually care if he left them?  She had gone through a lot of trouble to try and keep him there, what with tackling him and all.  If she hadn't been a girl, he would have shoved her off, but it just wasn't his style.  There was no way he'd be responsible for hurting a girl like that.  He was no longer under Ramirez's rule, and he could think for himself.  He wasn't going to hurt people anymore, especially not a woman.

"Come on," he told her with a small smile as he began to walk towards the hanger door.  He noticed that her eyes followed him the whole time.

"You're not leaving?" she asked, sounding a little surprised at the sudden change in his attitude.  Instead of a smile, he wore a small smirk, as if he was sharing some private joke.  He looked a little more confident.  The question was why.

"Nope," he told her as he shoved his hands in his pockets.  "Besides…"  He glanced back at her and smirked impishly.  "I wouldn't want to disappoint you, now would I?"

* * * *

The members of the Solaris base all stood in the hanger.  Ray and Chris were standing by themselves and Leon and Dr. Solaris were getting into the only car they had left.  They were actually going to be going into Torran to run a few errands, including buying Leon a new car.  They also had a few things to pick up for Ray.  Normally she would run her own errands, but if the two of them had to go anyway, this would save her the trip.

"Now, are you sure the two of you don't mind staying here alone?" asked Dr. Solaris.

"Not at all," answered Ray as she placed a hand on Chris's shoulder, startling him a little since she had pressed rather hard.  "We'll be just fine, right Chris?"

"Right," he said, a small smile crossing his face.

"Alright then," said Leon as he got in the passenger's side.  "We probably won't be back until later on tonight, so you're on your own for meals."

"Not a problem," stated Ray.  "There's food.  We'll manage."

"We'll see you later then!" called Dr. Solaris as he started the car and drove off into the desert towards Torran.

As soon as the car was out of sight, Ray turned to Chris with a smile on her face.  If they were going to be home alone, they had to make the most of it.  The Solaris base was huge.  It would be impossible to run out of activities.

"Well Chris," she began.  "Since we're home alone, do you want me to teach you how to rollerblade?"  Chris just smiled brightly before nodding.

"Sure," he said ecstatically.

"Great!" she told him as she went over to her Geno.  "Just let me get my skates, and we can get started.  And don't worry.  It's not as hard as it may look."  Ray walked back over with her backpack and pulled out two pairs of her special skates.  She loved the way they worked.  It would be such a hassle to have to change into a pair of rollerblades every time she wanted to go skating.  This was so much easier, not to mention that the pair of skates had gotten her out of quite a few jams.  If it weren't for those wheels, she would have probably gotten killed at an early age.

"How do these work?" asked Chris as Ray handed him the two sets of four wheels.

"I'm glad you asked that," she said as she began explaining. 
This is going to be so much fun.

* * * *

Dr. Solaris and Leon were both silent as they drove along through the desert.  There really wasn't much for them to talk about.  Nothing overly exciting had happened in the past three days.  However, Dr. Solaris couldn't help but notice that Leon seemed somewhat happier than he usually was.  He had also noticed that Ray was a little different.  It was as if a burden had been lifted from her.  She looked relieved, as if the world had suddenly taken itself off of her shoulders.  He just didn't know what had brought about the change in the two.  Other than that, things were normal.  There were times where the two were at each other's throat, and then other times they seemed more than civil.  They acted almost like a…

Dr. Solaris smiled as his last thought finished running through his head.  Maybe that was the reason.  He had noticed that the change started the day after Ray came back from the hospital.  Leon had taken her somewhere that night, but not once had he questioned either of them.  Now he was starting to get a little curious.  However, he wasn't completely clueless about what had happened.  It was easy to tell that they had probably stepped their relation up a notch.  He hoped that's what it was, anyway.

"Leon," he began, drawing his son's attention.  "Just where did you take Ray three days ago?"

"What?" Leon questioned, seeming just a little reluctant to answer the question.

"I asked where you took her," Dr. Solaris repeated.

"…I took her to that cliff above the forest," he responded in a rather soft voice.  He watched as his father's eyes filled with remembrance at what that place meant to their family.

"The one lily would take us to, right?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.  Leon nodded once before returning his attention to the desert outside of their car.  "And what did you do there?"  Dr. Solaris watched as a soft blush came over his son's face, something that wasn't normally seen.

"We watched the sun set, that's all," he told his father, but Dr. Solaris wasn't about to be fooled.  His son didn't give him enough credit.

"I know what's going on between you and Ray," he stated with a small smirk, watching as the red glow on Leon's face became a bit more severe.  Perhaps he wouldn't be so embarrassed if he had actually been around more women.  This was definitely a first for him though.

"There's nothing…" began Leon, only to get cut off by his father.

"There's no point in hiding it any longer," Dr. Solaris told him, his attention now back on the road and away from his nervous son.  "You weren't doing a very good job at hiding it anyway.  Anyone with half a brain could tell, and the same goes for Ray."  He paused long enough to steal a glance at his son, noticing how his blush had gone down a bit.

"Is it really…that obvious?" he asked his father.  After all, he had assumed he was doing a good job at hiding it.  Then again, it's not like he had ever felt this way before.  As embarrassing as it was to admit, Ray was the first girl he had ever actually been around long enough to care about.  Not just care about though.  He had been around her long enough to fall in love.  Things had never been quite this confusing in his life before.

"Yes, it is," stated Dr. Solaris, but the humor quickly drained from his face.  "Leon, I'm only going to say this once, so listen up.  Even though I'm your father, if you do
anything
that ends up hurting her, you will be punished for it.  She's been through enough hardships, and I'm sure that she's probably never had time for a relationship.  I won't stand for you making her life anymore melancholic than it already has been."

"Don't worry," said Leon softly.  "I don't plan on it."  He seemed serious enough as he said this, so Dr. Solaris decided to drop the subject.  Leon's claim was good enough for him.  "Hey dad?" he began, earning him his father's attention yet again.  There was a smirk present on his face.  "Did you know…that the reason Ray wears her hair like that is because of a scar?"

"What?" he questioned softly.  He hadn't known that.  No one probably did.  That began to make him wonder why Leon even mentioned it.  Did Ray want him telling this to people?

"Also…that day on the cliff," he continued.  "…She cried."  Now there was something he hadn't been expecting to hear.  Dr. Solaris was indeed shocked at this.  The ace knight never cried, and if she actually did, no one had ever been present at the time.  She refused to cry in front of anyone, even after the death of her parents, of her beloved brother.  The fact that Leon had been there, that she had cried in front of him was truly incredible.  Perhaps the two pilots were closer than he originally thought.

Leon just smiled a little as he leaned back in his chair, thinking.  Maybe now his father understood that he meant what he had said.  He would never hurt Ray.  He'd rather die.  She was important to him now, and he wasn't going to be the cause of her misery.  He'd never be the result of her tears.  He wanted to be the one who caught them.

"So I hope you know," he told his father.  "I meant what I said.  She trusts me, and I don't plan on ever giving her a reason not to." 
I lover her, after all.

* * * *

In his dark office, Ramirez sat behind his desk, rolling a pen with his fingers.  He had nothing better to do with his time right now.  He was angry enough as it is, and he didn't need to be around failures that only emphasized his irritation.  He began to wish that Aaron was once again under his control, but he quickly squashed the thought when he remembered what he had been told.  Aaron was still alive.

Ramirez slammed the pen down on his desk as he realized that things hadn't been going his way lately.  Leon and Ray were both still alive, along with his ex-commander.  Not only that, but he had yet to kill off anymore of the GRC knights.  It's not like he didn't know where their base was, but even if he did try to storm it, his army would be wiped out.  As much as he hated to admit it, the GRC was much more powerful than he was.  There was no way he'd stand a chance against their entire force, no matter how good he was.  He needed a bigger army.  That was where Ray came in.

"General," called a voice from his doorway, drawing his attention.  "We've found it."

"Are you sure?" he asked, his voice lacking all emotion.  Only in his eyes was there even a speck of excitement.

"Yes, positive," the man answered.  "It definitely belongs to them."

"Good," he said with a cold smirk.  "Remember what I said.  You can kill them all, but leave the ace knight alive.  I want her brought here."

"Yes sir," the man responded before leaving Ramirez alone with his thoughts.  There was a smirk present on his cold face, a smirk that said only one thing. 
I win.

* * * *

Ray and Chris were sitting on the couch watching television, just waiting for Dr. Solaris and Leon to come back.  It was already nine o'clock at night, the sun now gone from the sky.  It was getting really late for traveling the desert.  It wasn't safe out there, even in a Geno, after it got dark.  There were tons of desert gangs that were just waiting for someone who was stupid enough to venture out into the night.

Ray yawned a little, getting bored of the movie.  She was tired after her and Chris's somewhat active day.  They spent a lot of time just rollerblading, and then she was showing him how to use a sword.  They spent a little time just circling the base in their Genos as well after Ray ran out of activities.  They eventually ended up retiring to the living room where two games of chess were played with Ray being the victor.  Now the two of them were simply watching a movie, awaiting the return of the good doctor and Leon.

Ray stood up and stretched her arms, walking over to the window.  She looked out into the desert, her eyes scanning over the moonlit sands.  It's not like she had anything better to do, so she was going to watch and wait for the two missing base members to come back.  She was too tired to really pay attention to the movie anyway.