What Comes After

We all sat around for about an hour before the spaceship returned to our vicinity. Fudo stuck his head out of the window as he slowly landed the flying disc and as soon as the door opened, he walked out.

"You survived?! That's amazing! Sorry, we didn't come sooner... you were right, about that Dani girl. She went ballistic and punched me in the face when I told her that you were up on The Scorched Isle still. I take it that you're all ready to come down to Earth, right?" Fudo asked us.

"I think we are. Ready, guys?" I asked everybody. Carl was the first one on but was toppled over by Dani when she ran out of the ship, and tackled me with a hug.

I fell back onto the ground, and just as I woke up staring up at her face, I opened my eyes again and relived that memory.

"Oh, yeah, she threatened me and told me to bring her to come to see you. I forgot that part." Fudo said, rubbing a bruise on his arm.

"You're still you, right?! Do you have your memories?! You're still Sky, right?!" Dani asked me a ton of questions, and I broke out into laughter.

"I'm still Sky... we need to talk about how you were trying to kill me-" Dani cut me off with a hug that almost suffocated me.

"Just shut up... for ten seconds..." She whispered. I lightly nodded and stayed as quiet as possible.

"And you!" Dani got up off of me and pointed at Illya.

"What?" Illya asked.

Dani cocked a punch back and Illya closed her eyes and tilted her head to the side. I was ready for Illya to be in midair from a punch that came from Dani... but Dani only punched her in the arm lightly.

"You caused me a lot of trouble, so I expect you to work hard to repay your debt!" Dani declared. Even I was surprised by that.

"You... don't want to kill me...?" Illya asked Dani in a confused tone.

"I Corrupted in order to kill you, but if Sky's here and you aren't dead, then it must be for a good reason. After all, I only wanted Sky back, I don't care about you." Dani told Illya.

"Fine, I'll work hard. Thanks, for not breaking my jaw." Illya said, slightly bowing her head.

Dani held up her fist and nodded slightly, "As long as you know I can do it." She told Illya.

Dani latched herself to my arm and pulled me onto the spaceship. Everybody else followed behind and Fudo limped on while getting into the cockpit.

"Glad to see such a happy reunion... but I think I'm even happier Dani isn't violent anymore," Fudo said in an exasperated voice.

Dani, still latching to my arm, looked over to Faith next. Faith was on one side of me and Dani was on the other.

"So, you're really Sky's kid? You definitely have his facial features... how old are you?" Dani asked Faith.

"Uh, you're completely different than what I remember. Are you sure this is the same girl?" Faith asked everybody.

I rested my head up against my headrest and laughed slightly. Dani seemed embarrassed, but Illya was happy to explain to Faith.

"You know it firsthand, Faith. When your System is Corrupt, you do erratic things and aren't truly a reflection of your real personality. Dani was corrupted by Sky's Flaw, which means that she mimicked his personality in order to have his power. She's not actually like that. She's also probably happy her friend is back to normal." Illya said.

"Boyfriend. My boyfriend is back to normal." Dani reiterated for Illya, slightly pouting.

"Right, let's not get too specific," Illya said, looking away.

I feel like this atmosphere is... annoying.

"Anyway, Miss Dani, I'm eleven, technically. I've been active for eleven years." Faith explained. I didn't know what that meant, but Dani seemed to be happy with that explanation.

"Say, Faith, you said you were active while we were on the beach, right? Did you wake up with Sky, or after him?" Dani asked her again.

"I woke up as soon as he corrupted his System. That's how Mom was able to grab my data and put me into a body." Faith explained again.

"Put you into a body? Were you not a person?" Dani asked again.

"No, I was an A.I., I was never a person. Mom put me into a Strand Body, which is just like your body but is fully developed by strands, and I've been growing alongside it for eleven active years now. Since before I woke up with Sky after he corrupted his System." Faith happily explained.

"Wow! So you're like... a time traveler?" Dani asked again. She was definitely back to normal, with those ditzy questions.

"As much of a time traveler as Dad is. We were inactive for certain years and then reactivated after a while. Dad's body is only fourteen years old, and mine is only eleven. I was active while he was asleep, and I came back later on." Faith said again.

"What's this chain for?" Dani asked me.

"It's for Illya. She's not allowed to leave it unless I say so." I told her.

"Hmph, a fitting punishment. Won't people be scared of you if you walk around with somebody in a chain?" Dani asked me.

"Good point. I'll have to get rid of it before we get down there." I said, dispersing the strands and freeing Illya. She was free when running from the Isle, but she willingly came back, which speaks volumes about her attitude. She really was defeated...

"We're coming up on Earth. I hear you wanted to get to Earth ever since you woke up, Sky. How do you feel? Is it exciting?" Fudo asked me.

"We'll see when I get there. I assume it will be different..." I muttered.

Fudo landed the ship and got out of the cockpit.

"You go first, Sky." He said. He opened the door and led me out with his hands.

The twilight sky blinded me at first, and the sound of a rustling city came to a close as everybody stopped to look at me.

--TO BE CONTINUED--