I could feel their eyeballs. All of them on me. If I had been human my hands would be shaking and breaking out in a cold sweat. I turned back toward Ariel, my eyes probably as big as saucers, and she gave me an encouraging wink. I turned back, and took a deep breath. Then, after a bit of an awkward silence, I finally began:
"I-I think I should tell you all about my past," I was already stumbling over my words. I peeked up to see everyone's expressions. Dani gave me a warm smile, while Gray sat close by her side. Lucy was listening intently as if I were someone really important, her expression made me feel even more nervous. Everyone else looked pretty natural, except Zero who still seemed a bit tense. I started again. "M-my mother," I paused trying to find the right way to put it, "I n-never really knew her. She d-died within a few days of my birth. I-it was some sort of complication she had had in childbirth. Then my father left when I was about 4 a-and I don't really remember much about him. So- it was just me and my big brother. Alex." Saying his name was the hardest part. When I did I couldn't help but see his smiling face in my mind. I was doing well, I just needed to keep going. "Alex," I gulped down the too-good memories, "basically r-raised me. He was like a brother and a m-mother to me. Then when I was 12, he got d-drafted and had to go into military service. He nev-" I felt a small tear trickle down my cheek, "he never came home." I held back the same sobs I cried the day Alex left. I didn't want them to think I was that weak. "Asuka..." I heard Sky whisper. In my mind all I could hear was Alex saying his famous line, "Be brave Asuka." Then Kasumi spoke up, "Do you know if he's dead?" She said the two words I couldn't stand to hear in the same sentence, he (in reference to Alex) and dead. I let it go the best I could. "N-no, not really. I might not ever know for sure." "Then don't give up!" Sora almost seemed to chirp, "You could still find him!" She was right. I didn't have to give up hope, even though it seemed so easy to. "Why don't you try morphing back now?" Ariel sort of nudged me from behind. "Uh, right." I gave a weak smile, my eyes not completely dry yet.
I stood up and thought about it. "Uh, do you guys mind if I try this in private first? I don't want to e-embarass myself if it doesn't work." Io chuckled, "Nah, go ahead and try for yourself, we'll be patient!" I walked to the edge of the woods where Io had taken me for a walk. I closed my eyes and focused all my thoughts on one word: human. With that I opened my eyes and saw something amazing. My human hand. Unfortunately, that was it. But it was a start in the right direction! And Io said herself that Seth was able to start morphing back a little at a time. I was headed the right way and I wasn't turning back!
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SHE DID IT! Aren't you all so proud of shy little Asuka! I am! YAY! It couldn't have been that easy for her to become human again though. But like she said, she's headed in the right direction!
"What if, I mean, maybe I should go ahead and tell everyone my story. T-that'll help my condition a lot right?" Asuka stuttered nervously, though I could tell in her eyes that she wanted to do this.
I smiled approvingly, "You should go for it. They'll listen. We all want to help you." With that, we headed back toward the group. I couldn't wait to hear the story, and maybe by telling it, Asuke would come out of her shell a bit. I mean, maybe she'd come to be a bit more outgoing and not as timid.
"Hey, guys," I got everyone's attention as I walked over to Kara to see how she was feeling. "Asuka's got something she wants to tell everyone. It's really important, so you all better pay attention and be quiet. LEt the girl get through this."
I took a seat next Lucy, Sky, and Zero. Asuka sat in front of me as the rest of the group crowded around us. Asuka gave me a nervous glance; I winked, signifying that she could do this and that we would all be here for her. Io glanced at me and I smiled. Asuka could do this.
The suspense was killing me. I hated waiting.
"I won't judge you, I swear. Sorry about the speech, I just want to help." Io's words were repeating in my mind. Why was I so adamant about not telling my story? Was it just because I didn't like to think about it? That's so weak of me since I think about it all the time. It doesn't seem like that's the problem. Maybe it is about time I come clean and tell at least a little something about my past. I mean, pretty much everyone else had so why not?
I took a deep breath. "Well?" Io encouraged me. Man, I'm older than a bunch of the others in our group but I act like such a baby. I opened my mouth, "I-" then I heard "Hey Io, Asuka! What's going on?" It was Ariel. I realized I had never answered her when she asked me how it went earlier. She must have been worried. Io turned to Ariel with a warm grin, "We're getting to the bottom of Asuka's problem." "Oh really?" Ariel also smirked. If I had been human I'd have been bright red from blushing. I didn't like all this attention. At that moment I had a revelation. "I'm shy." I whispered with a blank look on my face. Io cocked her head to the side, "Come again?" "T-that's why I haven't been able to tell my story," I said half-explaining it for my own benefit, "I'm shy, a-and don't like all the attention." "Even though you're shy, you can still tell us anything," Ariel said soothingly. Io smiled again, "Yeah, and they're are only the three of us here, you can tell everyone else when you think you're ready. But you should really tell at least us for your own good. Y'know, to become human again?" She was right. So I got ready to start again, "I-I'm not really sure where to start. My-"
"Io! Ariel! Where are you guys?" It was Kovu. And probably Seth. I glanced up sheepishly at Io who rolled her eyes. "We'll be right there!" She shook her head and looked back at me. "Continue?" My heart was pounding. It was just the three of us, I shouldn't be so nervous. I wasn't like this before Alex left. After he was gone I shut myself down to the world. I used to be so outgoing, but now I can barely manage a sentence when I talk. Just then another lightbulb went off in my mind. What if I...!
"Hey Io!" I popped my head up with energy. "Yeah?" she was a bit puzzled by my enthusiasm. "What if, I mean, maybe I should go ahead and tell everyone my story. T-that'll help my condition a lot right?" Ariel smiled approvingly, "You should go for it. They'll listen. We all want to help you." With that, we headed back toward the group while I tried to formulate exactly what I was going to say. What had I just gotten myself into? A shy kid's nightmare, that's what!
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I figured I'd better wait til my next post since this one was pretty long anyways! Plus, you never know what kind of interruptions may await our heroes! (Sorry, narrator from Pokemon syndrome kicked in!)
~Io~
I walked over to where Asuka was standing still an animal. I knew she was hiding something. Seth was still with Kovu, it was easy to see that they had become attached to each other.
If Kovu hangs around Seth much more, I thought, He'll have smoke swirling around his feet too!
"Hey, Asuka, can you come here?" I asked calmly.
"Coming!" I heard in response. We walked down a path for a couple minutes untill the others were out of earshot.
"If you plan on fixing your problem, you may want to get that story off your chest," I said.
"W-What story? What are you talking about?"
"I KNOW your keeping something from us. I just wanted you to know, you can tell me anything. I won't tell anybody. Please, I don't want to see you like this. If you tell me, it may help your condition," I said, not really persuading her, but implying that she needed to spill it if she wanted to get better.
"U-um, uh..." she thought for a long while.
"You'd probably rather tell Ariel or another one of your closer friends, but know that I'm here for you, every little bit helps. I've lived for years, for cebturies, I delt with this before. I helped Seth through his as best as I could. The more he told me the better he got. Gradually, he could morph trivial things such as a leg or a tail. Talking helps, a lot, so whether it's me, Ariel, or all of us, we are here for you. We won't judge you. I may seem like that kind of person, the type to judge, but like I said, centuries of expierence really helps. You learn that everybody has an explaination. I won't judge you, I swear," I sounded like a mom, "Sorry about the speech, I just want to help."
She sat there staring at me with an unreadable expression on her face.
~Seth~
I exhaled all of the smoke from my lungs. My habit of smoking was getting worse.
"Kovu, don't you EVER smoke!" I said to my friend. I had grown somewhat protective of him since I met him three weeks ago.
"How come you do?" he asked.
"I have my reasons, mainly to keep away the annoying little mongooses that I tend to run into. But it seems I have failed!" I told him jokingly, prefering to keep the real reasons hiden, even Io didn't know. I thought of Azera. I thought of all those creatures whose lives I'd taken. I'd do whatever it took to surpress the evil that dwelled inside me. I would not take another life just for pleaser.
"Where's Asuka and Io?" Kasumi said walking over. "Hey, that doesn't smell like normal cigarette smoke. What is it?"
"Oh, you know, mongoose repelent," I said and smiled at Kovu.
"Okay... Please tell me that's a joke."
"Yeah, it is," Kovu and I said together.
"Kay, but where are the other two?" she asked.
"I don't really know, but the'll be back soon. Give them time," I said.
I watched as the others helped Sora clean out the Kara's wound. Poor Kovu was crying his little eyes out. He was turning red from embarrassment, but he couldn't calm himself down.
Sora found some pincers and started to try and get the bullet out. Kara screamed in pain. "Sorry," Sora said, "But, this has to be done. David, hold her down so she doesn't keep moving."
David did as he was asked and held her still while Sora dug until she had the bullet in her hand with a little "ha." She threw it on the ground as she grabbed the gauze and bandaged her up. "There, all done."
I smiled. It was nice to know that there was someone who could do that when the time came. "I think we should grab whatever we can find from that van. Who knows when it will come in handy," I said as I got up. "Come on, Zero, you can help me." I wasn't just going to let him sit there and sulk. Maybe doing something would get his mind off of what had just happened.
I climbed back into the truck and started rummaging around in the drawers and threw everything that looked useful in my bag. Zero threw stuff he had found in it as well before we went back out to join the others.
I turned to Asuka, who had come back to the group. "WEll, how did it go?" I asked.
