Title: Espoir

Summary: As Earth enters it's final stage of existance, humanity attempts one last stance to save themselves. An experiement that had been studied since the beginning of Earth's destruction is put into action. Project Espoir 1 has begun...

Rating: PG-13+

Genre: Drama, Action, Post-Apocalyptic.

Chapter Sixteen

Revelation of Thought - Deux

Why did Dad leave?

You have no father.

But...

You used to but he's gone. A lousy coward, too scared to stay and face his problems head on.

...what?

He's a coward. He's too scared of the future to face it. Never, ever grow up to be like him. Promise?

Promise.

espoir

The recorded laugher of a staged audience filled the dark chambers of Kuris Takasa's room. The only light in the room came from the television and a bit from the slightly closed blinds.

Kuris cracked open his eyelids just in time to catch a snappy joke from the comedian on the television. He groaned and rolled over, wincing at his aching muscles.

It'd only been one day since the soldiers had returned from another 'successful' mission. The majority of the city's citizens had been saved and a enemy battleship had been destroyed for the first time since the war began.

It was a remarkable moment for mankind.

Kuris sat up in his bed and grit his teeth as he felt his sore muscles. The battle had taken it's tole on everyone. He'd been in bed ever since they'd gotten home and Kuris was assuming everyone else had done the same.

It was sunny outside. The birds were chirping and the clouds were rolling by.

Kuris checked the clock that sat on a stool next to his bed and shook his head. It was already a quarter after two, probably the latest he'd slept in for quite awhile.

Standing, Kuris made his way over to his window and pulled open the blinds. He looked out into the sunny day and watched as a few members of Centra personeel walked by. He looked up the street and finally caught sight of someone he'd been wanting to speak to.

He pushed open the window and leaned his body out, looking up the street towards the figure.

"Hey!" He shouted with a wave, "Kei!"

The girl looked up and smile as she caught sight of Kuris. She waved back to him and jogged over.

"Nice of you to wake up, sleepy head." Kei said as she made her way up to him.

Kuris smiled, "Funny." He stepped away from the window and opened the door to his apartment. He stepped out and crossed his arms.

Kei's eyes widened a bit as she saw his full dress. He wore nothing more than a pair of blue boxers. Still, the lack of clothing didn't seem to bother Kuris.

"Hey, you remember what I told you yesterday?"

Blinking, Kei thought a moment. She shrugged.

"I thought we had a date planned for last night."

The girl laughed and thought a moment, "Well, if you wanna call killing mysterious monsters for the sake of mankind a date then..."

"Not exactly my idea of a date." Kuris said with a smirk, "Well, since we were so rudely interuppted last night, how about tonight?"

Kei pondered the idea for a second then nodded, "I think I'm free."

"I thought you would be." He laughed, "How about around five. Sound good?"

"Sounds great. I'll see you then?"

"You bet."

Kei nodded then smiled sheepishly. She turned away from him and crossed her arms, "Well, now that that's settled. Perhaps you'd like to go put some clothes on. People are staring."

Kuris blinked before looking down and noticing his attire, or lack of it. His face grew red and he looked around to see various people on the streets looking at him and laughing. Cursing, Kuris jumped back into his apartment and the street burst into laughter. Kei held her stomach as he laughed before leaving.

espoir

The room was cold and business like. Light murmurs filled the air and everything smelt like cigar smoke.

Thus was what it was like to be present in a ECB meeting.

Raymond George leaned back in his seat, laying out his notebook in front of him in preparation to take notes. He sighed and rubbed his tired eyes.

He hadn't slept in what felt like days. Every since he'd stolen the Espoir information from Roman Evans' office, he'd been studying it non-stop. It would only be a little while longer before he could expose all of his findings and end Espoir for good.

Ray looked around the room at the other people in the room. They varied in age, athlough most were older than Raymond himself, and all wore stiff, uptight suites. Most of them had been forced to stay in Paris ever seen being inducted into the ECB.

The man to the right of Ray, a older Englihs scientist, was growing impatient. He sighed and crossed his arms, "Where is that Evans?"

A man from across the table chuckled, "You know him, always late."

"Nothing like old Prof. LeFluer." Stated another member. A few chuckled at the remark.

"You really thought he would be?" Asked the man across the table, "I don't think there is anyone like LeFluer."

The room broke into laughter but quieted when the door opened. All eyes turned to look upon the entering figure of Roman Evans. As usual, he wore an expensive suite and looked as if he was coming in for a photo shoot rather than a meeting.

The younger man strolled through the room and took his seat at the head of the table. He laid his briefcase down on the table and sighed. The man looked up with a bright smile and nodded to everyone else in the room.

"Good day, everyone." He said in a optimistic tone. "Let's get things underway, shall we?"

The impatient man to Ray's right spoke up, "What is this meeting all about?"

Evans' smile didn't waver. "Just a progress report and a chance to discuss a few things."

"Why couldn't you have told us that prior to calling us in?" Questioned the man, "Some of us I'm sure would like some warning before a meeting."

"I'll take that into consideration." Evans said with his smile intact. His eyes stayed on the man for a moment before panning a bit to the left. Then, his cold gaze landed on Ray. It felt like twin daggers piercing straight through his chest. Roman stared at Ray for a moment before speaking, "Something troubling you, Mr. George?"

Ray blinked before shaking his head, "No, sir."

"You look like you just got out of bed."

"I had some trouble sleeping last night." Ray lied and chuckled, "Just simple insomnia."

Evans stared at him for a long moment before nodding, "Right. Well, get some sleep tonight."

"Yes, sir." Raymond said before exhaling.

The head of the ECB leaned back in his seat and cleared his voice. He peered around the room for a moment before speaking, "Well, to start things off, I would like to give you all the recent international polls regarding Espoir. The results came back and it seemed as though 64 of the total population beleive Espoir is having a positive effect on the war. However, that should go up about five points after Third Region destroyed that battleship."

The room grew into quiet murmuring before Evans silenced them. "Also, another poll says that about 71 beleive the soldiers are being treated well and that things are being carried out in a good manner."

A member of the group nodded, "So we still have the public's support."

Evans nodded, "We do. Now I would like to discuss the level of the project itself. It seems as though the project seems to be growing into it's more mature stages." He paused a moment, "Since the start of Espoir, there have been a total of seven and a half transformations. This shows that the soldiers seem to be meeting their limits. That also means that the Espoir armor is having a much stronger effect on the soldiers themselves. So, we will have more physical and mental checks on each individual soldier. I would also like their induction records checked over once more."

"Why should we check the induction records?" Questioned a scientist, "Those were taken before the project was even started."

"Although the chances are slim, there is a possibility that someone that wasn't capable of the project was inducted. That would mean either extreme mental damage or possibly death. We do not need that kind of bad publicity. If any mistakes are found then have them reported on the double."

Evans leaned back, "The last thing I would like to announce is that I will be beginning a short trip around the regions. I will be stopping at each region and spending time on the base. It should help raise moral to see the project's leader mingling with the soldiers. I will still be running all actions of the ECB although meetings will have to be transmitted to me." Evans nodded and crossed his arms, "Any questions?" The room was silent. Roman stood and cleared his throat, "Then this meeting is adjourned."

Ray leaned back and closed his notebook. He rubbed his eyes once more as Evans passed by him then stood to make his own exit. The project was hitting it's mature stages, he couldn't put off ending Espoir much longer.

espoir

For the first time in weeks, his room was bright.

Sean sat on his bed, peering down at his upturned palm. His eyes stared at the hand with complete concentration, as if he was trying to trace each line on the limb.

In reality, he was simply pondering the last few minutes of his old friend's life.

Bray Jackson had died the night before. He'd gone out the way he wanted, taking revenge for his dead family. The last few minutes of his life had seemed to be the calmest and most serene points Sean had ever seen in his friend.

It wasn't just the death of Bray that was on Sean's mind. It was the last words he'd spoken to him.

What was Sean's reason for being here? Bray had said that he knew what it was and said that he would figure it out in time.

Don't give up...

Those three simple words.

Bless you...

Had Sean somehow touched the seemingly cold, unreachable Bray Jackson? In some way, had he really helped his friend through times that he wouldn't have gotten through without him?

Or had Sean simply pointed him in the right direction?

Sean looked over to the corner of his room. The small book sat there, in the same place he'd thrown it a few days before. The small, simple book with a black cross printed over the front. That little, seemingly useless book.

The book that Sean had given up on.

Perhaps, on some level, Sean's own struggles and battles had helped Bray get past his own. Perhaps Sean had shown him a path that could lead him to happiness and life.

Could Sean, a man so wrapped up in his own problems, have some how aided Bray in finding the thing that Sean had seemed to have lost?

Leaning back on his bed, the man looked up at his cieling with helplessness planted on his bearded mug. He stared at the white plaster as if he hoped that somehow the answers to his questions would be written with the cracks on the cieling.

Finally, Sean sat up and walked over to the small book. He knelt down and picked it up. It felt warm in his hands, as if it was desiring for Sean to pick it up and once again bask in it's knowledge.

He took the book and sat himself down on his bed once more. He cracked open the book and looked through the pages that seemed so foreign now.

He paused in his readings for only a moment and looked up. A smirk appeared under his beard and he nodded slowly.

"Thank you, Bray." He said with a smile, "Thanks a lot."

espoir

She'd been asking for it.

Ever since she'd first accepted those feelings. Ever since she'd fallen for the emotions. She'd just been asking to be shot down and have her heart broken.

Now, it was happening.

Audrey sat on her couch, looking down at the ground in displeasure. She'd received a call about a half an hour ago from Kei. She was going out on a date with Kuris tonight and wanted to know if she would help her get ready.

She'd said yes. How could she say no to Kei?

Ever since the first time she'd laid eyes on the older girl, she'd loved her. Ever since the first minute she'd heard her voice. The first time she saw her smile. The first time she'd heard her laugh.

She'd always loved her. She'd loved her before she was born.

However, just like every time she fell in love, she met the same fate.

Heart broken, trampled over, kicked, and thrown in the gutter.

It had happened many times before. It'd happened the first time she thought she was in love and the last time. Was all Audrey lived for was rejection and hate?

Memories flew back into Audrey's mind.

She was only fifteen years old. A young, scared girl with newfound knowledge of who she loved. It was a fourteen year old girl. A nice, sweet little girl who she'd met during a school assembly. She became quick friends with the girl but it all went to hell the night she told her about the strange, confusing feelings she had for her.

Only a few months later, she'd come out to her parents. Her father was furous. He'd shouted, called her foul names and declared that she was no longer his daughter. He was ashamed of her, said he'd wished she'd never been born. Her mother cried but when Audrey tried to come and confort her, she pulled away. It was as if she disgusted them. As if she was some nasty, terrible little thing that they'd never known before.

That was the last night she would ever see her parents and yet it would only follow with more and more rejections.

Now, it was all happening again.

She couldn't say she didn't expect it though. Audrey had always known that Kei loved Kuris. She'd known the time Kuris went missing and she'd stayed with Kei for comfort. Even though she knew Kei would never feel that way about her, she didn't leave her side.

Now Kei was asking her to help her to go out on a date with someone else.

A rap on the door interuppted Audrey's thoughts. With a deep breath, she stood and opened the door. The beauty on the other side nearly blinded her.

Kei wore a short, blue dress with matching heeled shoes. She smiled at the shorter girl as she entered and Audrey nearly fainted.

The older girl laughed, "What do you think?"

"Beautiful." Audrey said nearly inaudibly.

Kei winked to her and went to sit down. She put down a large bag and cleared her throat, "We got less than an hour before Kuris is supposed to pick me up so let's get right to work."

Audrey went to sit next to her, "Whatever you say."

The things Kei was able to get ahold of was remarkable. She'd made some special requests and was able to get make-up, hair supplies, and even the dress and heels she wore now.

They began to straightening Kei's hair. It took a lot longer than expected and they had to jump straight into doing her make. Audrey nearly broke down as she helped the girl she loved with her things, it was a bittersweet event.

Kei was sitting on a wooden stool with Audrey standing. She held a stick of lip gloss in her hand and she gently swished it over the girl's lips. The thoughts that ran through her head were irresistible.

She couldn't stop herself when she knelt down to eye level with the older girl and leaned in closer. Kei's eyes grew wider as Audrey locked the girl into a light yet long kiss. She pulled away as she felt Kei grow uncomfortable and stood up.

Audrey smiled gently to the girl, "I'm sorry."

Kei looked confused, looking up at Audrey. She cleared her throat, "No... I didn't..." She thought a moment, "I knew you were like that but I never... thought you were that serious."

The blonde girl shrugged, "Now you know."

"I'm sorry, Audrey." Kei said, looking at the ground, "I really am."

"It's fine. You have no reason to apologize." Audrey had to be strong and not allow her emotions to flow. "I'm used to it. Now, let's re-do that lip gloss."

Kei smiled weakly at the younger girl before sitting back down. The rest of the hour went on extremly slowly and uncomfortably. Not many words were spoken for the rest of the evening.

espoir

The walk down the darkening streets of Centra-Tokyo was never more nerve-racking.

Kuris found himself sweating up a storm as he listened to his footsteps echo down the street. He wore a light peach colored shirt, the top two buttons left undone, and a pair of white dress pants. A small batch of white lillies were in his right hand.

He took one deep breath as he stood outside the door then rapped on it three times. The wait only took a few seconds although it felt like hours.

Slowly, the door opened to reveal something that nearly caused Kuris' eyes to water.

Kei smiled brightly, displaying a long line of white teeth. She giggled lightly as Kuris fumbled with his words before simply shoving the flowers into her hands.

After thanking Kuris for the flowers and putting them inside, the two of them were off down the street.

"So, where are we heading?" Kei asked with hands behind her back.

Kuris grinned, "That's for me to know..."

The male led the way down the street. They came upon a large, abandoned apartment complex and made their way inside. Kuris led Kei to the top of the building and opened the door out onto the roof. Kei inhaled deeply at the sight in front of them.

There was a small table set up with two chairs and a large candle in the center. Kuris aided Kei in sitting down then took his own seat. The view from the top of the complex was a perfect shot of the rest of Tokyo. Lights flashed in the distance, showing the lives being lived in the rest of the city.

Kei had trouble speaking, "I-it's beautiful..."

Kuris chuckled as a man appeared from a room to the left. He walked in with two plates and laid them down in front of Kuris and Kei. It was a equisite dish of Japanese food.

The girl shook her head, "How did you...?"

"I got some help." Kuris said with a grin, "Captain Nottap and a few of the others helped out."

The two of them ate slowly as another man appeared. This man withdrew a small violin and played a beautiful song for the two soldiers.

Kuris took a bite of his food, "I told you this would be a good night."

"It is." Kei said with a bright smile, "I love it."

"It's not over yet."

As soon as their meals were finished and dessert had been devoured, Kuris withdrew something from under the table. It was a small box with simple wrapping paper. Kei tore through the paper and opened the box that was inside.

What she saw, made tears appear in her eyes. "Kuris..." She removed the small, framed picture. In it showed four people. A large man in the center with two little girls and a small boy. "It's my family portrait we took when I was younger... I thought it was lost in the evacuation."

"Nottap called in a few favors." Kuris said with a light smile.

"Kuris..." Kei put down the picture as tears appeared in her eyes, "Thank you so much."

The boy nodded to her and stood. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck. They shared a long kiss there, before the lights of the entire city of Tokyo. It was only their second.

espoir

The rest of the night went by too quickly. Kuris and Kei took a long walk through Centra and they learned a lot about eachother. Kuris learned about Kei's family, her past, and just about anything else. It was an enlightening moment. It'd been a very long time since they could spend extended time together.

Eventually, it got late and Kuris walked Kei home. They got to the door and Kuris smiled lightly down at the girl. He was about to say goodnight when Kei planted a kiss right on his lips.

Kei felt the door press against her back as Kuris kissed back. She reached behind her for the knob and turned it hard. The door flew open and the two of them walked in, still locked in a passionate kiss.

Kei finally broke the kiss and gazed into Kuris' soft eyes. She smiled and tossed her things down on the couch before leading Kuris into the bedroom.

Another passionate kiss occured before the two of them fell down onto the bed. Kei's hands worked dilegently, unbottoning Kuris' shirt and pulling it down. She felt his toned chest as he attempted to remove Kei's tight dress. His hands groped her thigh, sending chills to run down her spine.

Kei let out a soft moan as Kuris kissed her neck gently, attempting to undo Kei's straps.

She opened her eyes and looked at the man she had fallen in love with. The man she wanted to spend every minute with. The man she wanted to take care of her and love.

Then, familiar words filled her mind.

You desire the companionship of another so badly?

The words of The Judges echoed in her mind like a loud speaker.

You spend more time thinking about him then you do anything else. Of love? Of making love?

Her eyes widened as she became more aware of Kuris' touch. She tightened her grip around his neck and grit her teeth.

You only want love. You don't care about anyone else. You're selfish.

She pushed away from Kuris and rolled off the bed. She backed up against the wall and stared at Kuris in horror.

"Get out!" She shouted. Kuris looked up at her in confusion. His bare chest looked pale in the darkness. "Go! Leave me alone!"

"What's wrong?" Kuris asked quietly, stepping off the bed.

"Leave!" Kei shouted, tears steaming down her cheeks, "I don't need it! I'm not selfish!"

"I never-"

"Go!" Kei slid down to a sitting position, tears flowing freely from her eyes, "Please."

Kuris stared at her for only a moment before he turned around and left her. She cried as she heard the door slame behind him and she heard the voice once more.

You're selfish.

espoir

...second star to the right, straight on til moring...

-Peter Pan

To Be Continued