Don't You Fret

(Editor's note: Setting is sometime before the General's attack, most likely a year ago-ish)

"Now, tell me again, why we're goin' t'see this play?" Alisin remarked casually, a playful nudge given to her husband.

"Because Rumy wanted to see the American version of this play-erm, musical," Rikk glanced sheepishly to the smaller girl on his other side, who meekly smiled back,"...and because you insisted on coming along."

"Oh, yeah, now I 'member." Alisin, briefly serious in her usually playful demeanor, grinned like a shark towards Rumy, "...I'm here to make sure she didn't defile my husband!"

"Alisin, I wouldn't dream of doing such a thing. I merely wanted to see this musical, and perhaps see how another country might portray the same things. It is...inspiration for my manga." Rumy felt a light blush stain over her face, but controlled it best she could. The image of 'defiling' Rikk was unnerving, especially coming from the rowdy woman.

The three headed inside, having bought their tickets ahead of time, and took their seats. Rikk, despite a vain effort to get the two girls to talk a little more and get along a little better, ended up between the two once again in seating, and feeling a tension there that was thicker than glacial ice. About as frigid, too.

The musical began shortly. It was Les Miserables, a touching story set in France. As Jean Valjean sang to Fantine, agreeing to take care of her daughter, Rumy was settling into the mood of the play at last. The first section of the performance had been filled with too much rigidity between herself and Alisin. Alisin had started to get into the plot a ways, vaguely interested in Fantine's illness and the kindness that Valjean was portraying, but began sulking when the woman died, and made up her mind not to enjoy the musical.

It wasn't long before Alisin's boredom overtook her, and she had passed out, strewn over her seat, and Rikk a bit as well. Rumy was finding small delights in the story, and Rikk was...well, Rikk was just glad that the two weren't fighting as badly. He'd hoped this occasion would double as an icebreaker..the two had been iffy towards one another since their violent fight. The temperary truce was welcomed.

The story took a violent turn. Eponine, a woman apparently in love with Marius, who was blind to it, had been fatally injured. Despite his love for Cosette, Marius went to her side, realizing for the first time how Eponine had felt for him.

Rumy was darn near teary eyed, and no longer pretending to take notes. Rikk was staring as Alisin began to snore softly, but was still paying attention to the duet, a sad goodbye between Eponine and Marius.

The rest of the performance(Not to be revealed here, too much has been revealed as it is!) passed, and Rumy's sketches of the fallen Eponine(who looked mysteriously like a manga version of Rumy) and a mourning Marius(who had assumed much of Rikk's features) were tucked into the sketchbook. Rikk escorted a drowsy Alisin out of the theater, as Rumy followed behind silently.

"...Rikk? What did you think...? Of the musical, I mean..." Rumy asked tentatively.

"It was sad. I think that the message was a good one, though," Rikk, smiling as Alisin grinned perhaps a bit more gently than usual from being half asleep, answered.

" The thingy was dull. I mean, it was kinda cool, nice music an' all, and I could get into it maybe...but they should make it a movie." Alisin commented, though no one had really asked her. That was okay, it was implied that she should answer, as well.

"...They *did* make it into a movie. A couple of movies, actually." Rikk chuckled, and dodged when his wife would swat him.

"Sure! Spoil my good ideas!" Alisin joked, though she laughed right alongside him.

Rumy, a few steps behind the couple, had laughed timidly and weakly at their antics, but slowed her pace. Her thoughts had drifted beyond the present, and her gaze shifted back to the theater. She halted her steps.

"...Sad..but good...." She muttered softly, before hurrying to catch back up with Rikk and Alisin, who had gotten ahead of her quite a ways.

(Editor's note: Fast forward to 11/22/02)

A long time had passed, since the three had seen that musical. It had almost completely blipped from Alisin's mind, whose main concern was staying alive-or, even dying, should that be the case. Her disease had taken a horrible turn for the worse, and she had done everything to prepare for death. She'd even tried to encourage it along, only to be cut off before she could actually control at which pace she could die.

Rikk wouldn't even remember it if you'd told him he'd seen it. With all that had happened to him, with his wife so close to death as she was, and the stress of small and large failures on his shoulders, he was falling apart. Death was looming over his head, laughing and pointing to his friends menacingly, claiming that they would all suffer because of Rikk's poor judgement.

Rumy remembered, and still had the sketches from that day tucked beneath her bed, amongst many others. She hadn't had the chance to go see them in a while, due to her training in the simulation that she'd been doing. Rikk had finally either figured out or was told how she felt, and his behavior was a tad different. He acted more tense around her, perhaps as though he was afraid of hurting her worse than not knowing how she'd felt. She could have slapped him for that. He knew that Rumy would never interfere with his relationship with Alisin, would sooner further it, if it made Rikk happy.

Only, Rikk wasn't happy lately. His wife was fading before his eyes, his friends were dying, if not literally than internally, and war was tearing apart everyone's minds. It was boggling the change in everyone. Even Tim Mitts had been more serious as of late, which said a lot for the effects of war.

The General, their enemy of supreme tactical ability and ruthlessness, had made a delicious offer. Apparently, she would give them the cure- if they would "come and get it". Rumy sensed the trap, as did everyone else. It was obvious. It may as well have been announced aloud that it was a strategy to contain the skiffies and to bait them towards their doom. However, Rikk was desperate enough to save his wife, and highly doubted that they would be able to have another oppurtunity to get the cure for Worthington's Syndrome.

So, they went down. After a fight between Rikk and Rumy, about a fatal plan that, despite being ingenius, would endanger her life, that is. Rumy proved that her plan would work, when the General fell into the trap of trying to finish Rumy off with one blow-and found herself punching right into the vial of blood Rumy had taken from Alisin. Both Rumy and the General were now infected. The general, enraged at being bested tactically by someone with less experience in war than she, flung Rumy from her.

Rumy fell for what seemed an eternity. She'd had time to merely wonder if she'd survive the fall, see the lack of any way to save herself, and try to right herself. Maybe, if she could land on her feet and go into a roll, she could still save her life...distribute the impact through a sloping movement. Just as her feet were barely beneath her, Rumy hit the ground from the height. The roll plan didn't work, not as well as she'd hoped.

The impact actually shattered one leg, which took more weight than the other, and though the roll cushioned the fall, Rumy's insides were hit too hard. She was internally bleeding, and immobilized. She cursed, which fell out of character for her, and struggled to continue moving, despite her pain.

...Unfortunately, Rikk had been nearby. He'd seen the fall, and immediately knew something was wrong- a dread feeling in his gut that Rumy was hurt. He'd known from the beginning that Rumy was destined to get hurt in her little plan, and it had eaten at him the entire time. Fear overwhelmed him, at the thought of losing yet another friend, someone so like a little sister to him. He hurried over to the fallen Rumy. "Rumy!! Oh, dear God, what did you do..!? Why did you go through with this??" Rikk cried, scooping Rumy into an upright position, kneeling beside her.

"...R-Rikk...?" Rumy began, her eyes dulled from the pain. She wondered, distantly, if this was some sort of hallucination. No...his arms really were around her, for the moment.

"Yes, it's me," Rikk tried to keep himself from losing control,"...Rumy, are you...are you okay?" He dreaded the answer.

"...I..." Rumy suddenly flashed back to a more innocent time, a time when the worst they had to deal with were vampires and the FIB. A time when they could just go to the theater and watch musicals, and have a common thread to understand one another. Maybe it was the incredible amount of pain...or being beyond pain...but she got an idea, and hoped that Rikk would get it-that he wouldn't be dense, this one time.

"D-don't...you fret...m'sier...R-Rikk..." She began singing, weakly smiling, and sensing Rikk tense at the memory, "...I don't feel any p-pain...A little fall of rain...c-can hardly...hurt me now...You're here..that's all I need to kn-know...and you will keep me safe...and you will keep me c-close...and rain...will make the flowers grow..."
Rikk could have cried. Rumy was comparing the situation to the Eponine and Marius...Eponine, dying from a fatal wound, and Marius...the thick-headed dumbbell who didn't even notice she cared until shortly before she died. He held her, indeed, a little more close, to humor what may be her last moments. The two sang together, however softly, to comfort Rumy.

Rikk then stood...and steeled himself to his new battle. Not just a battle to save time, and to save all realities...nor just a battle to save his wife. Now, it was a battle to give Rumy's sacrifice meaning, to give her peaceful expression justice.

It was time to win.