Dark Memories *Thanksgiving Special!*

[Cyclone EXE]

Do navis sleep? Oh well. They do now. ^.^

~~~~~

Chapter Eighteen:

Cyclone let out a sigh as she watched Netto roll from the right side of his bed to the left in his restless sleep. It had been a day since the accident and Netto and Haruka had moved into the Turner household while their home was being rebuilt. Everything had turned out okay...Netto and his mother had been reunited shortly after the day's events sluggishly rolled to a close. "Everything had been okay...," Cyclone whispered to no one in particular. Her blue-green eyes flickered to Rockman's PET which was on the nightstand next to Netto's bed. She wondered if the blue navi was awake. Probably.

"Cyclone?" The female navi smiled to herself as Rockman appeared next to her inside of the PET. "Oh. You too?" She nodded, not surprised that he had come. After all...this was only the second night and she did not intend to sleep through a minute of it. She thought that it was rather sweet of Rockman to come keep her company during the long hours of the night.

"Why can't you sleep?" she inquired. Rockman looked at his Net Op and then back at the navi next to him. He sat on the ground next to Cyclone and answered tiredly.

"Netto's just...I dunno. I've never seen him like this." He gestured to the boy as he once again rolled over on the bed. He sighed and looked at Cyclone, his green eyes as tired as his voice. "You shouldn't stay up all night again."

"Maybe," she answered. They sat in silence after that, watching as Netto showed the restlessness that they felt inside.

*****

There was a damp feeling to the air, as though the world wanted to rain but couldn't bring itself to do so. The sounds were that of soft waves lapping onto the hard hull of wood and the smells were of salty wind and ocean spray. When she first opened her eyes and memory flooded back to her like the water from a storm surge, Katya's thoughts consisted of things like, 'Am I dead? Why am I not dead? If I'm not alive then I'm dead but if I'm dead then how can I be alive thinking things like 'why and I not dead' and crap like that!' and, more simply, 'What in the hell is going on!'

Also, as all of these things were whirling through her mind like smoke from a chimney, Katya said something that fitted her situation quite well, seeing as she had just been shocked with God knows how many volts of high energy electricity and now her body felt as though it had been trampled by a herd of rabid wildabeast. "Ow..."

Katya opened her brown eyes groggily and sat up gingerly, her whole body aching. She was shivering and rubbed her eyes, causing a sharp pain to rise in her forehead. "Grreaat...a headache," she moaned, the sentence slurred to the point where she hardly even recognised her own voice and wouldn't have known that it was Katya Turner talking if it hadn't been herself who said the words. She shivered in the warm air and cursed her horrible luck. A headache, a fever, and not being dead when that's what you expect. This was gonna be a long day...

*****

"Rockman...," Cyclone mumbled, half asleep. The blue navi started and looked at Cyclone questioningly. "She's not dead..."

*****

"Of all the rotton luck," Katya muttered, kicking at a barrel on the ship. Yesh...a ship. In the middle of the flipping ocean. The large endless massive monstrous titanic ocean with nothing but...but...ocean for miles around. The ocean! Katya kicked the barrel agian, which turned out not to be one of her smartest moves. A navi appeared behind her with a smile on his face.

"Get used to the scenery. It'll be all you're going to see for a long time," he said smugly.

"You lying...you set me up!" The navi's smile didn't waver.

"You wouldn't just come. We had to come up with something a bit more..."

"Retarded...gay...," Katya mumbled.

"...interesting."

"Oh, well, okay then. That just makes it all better now," Katya said sarcastically.

"That mouth of yours always-" The navi paused and Katya stared at him innocently.

"What then?"

"I don't have time for this."

"Ppth...you're a lying bastard."

"As you once were-"

"Still am!"

*****

"What are you-"

"I know where," Cyclone said groggily. Rockman shook his head, confused.

"I really don't think-"

"Rockman, I just remembered...that...well...Siphur...and the 'this isn't over...' and the...whole thing...and...and how come the blast didn't kill me too...cause I was fused with Katya and...the thing..." Rockman looked at Cyclone as though she was talking jibberish. "Just...ugh." Cyclone rubbed her eyes and impatiently waved her hand over the air in front of them. "Here, forget evrything I just said," she stated, focusing.

A map of the world appeared, hovering in the air in front of the two navis. Cyclone narrowed her eyes from behind her visor and scanned the whole map, eventually locking on and magnifing a portion of the Atlantic Ocean. "I don't understand," Rockman said slowly.

"Yeah...well...there's a lot to explain. And I'll tell you on the way. C'mon, let's get Netto up and moving first." Rockman, baffled and totally confused, followed Cyclone dubiously, wondering what int he world had just happened and why.

~~~~~

And what happens next...is in Chapter Ninteen.
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[CrossFusionStarman]

Confusing and funny! Love it, Cyclone! Great job as usual!
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[Cyclone EXE]

Chapter Ninteen:

Katya winced as she slowly stood up on the slippery deck of the ship. The wind was picking up, and dark clouds were filtering over the moon, blotting out the silver-white light that shone down on the black waters of the ocean. Katya wondered what ocean it was. The waves were slapping over the side of the boat and the whole vessel tilted violently from side to side as it rocked in the restless sea. Katya thought that the ship had better be sturdy or someone was gonna be in a world of hurt. Maybe. If she got her PET back.

A slap of cold water in her face that burned her eyes with salt snapped Katya back to reality and her serious situation as the ship keeled, nearly tossing her over the edge. The girl caught a quick glance over the side of the vessel and could see nothing but boat and blackness. The ship was larger then she thought...which meant that the waves must be titanic as well to be able to reach up and over the rails. "So...eheheh...when did you say we were docking?"

*****

"You have got to be kidding me..." Netto paused. "But you've flown that thing in much worse situations!" Another pause. "My God Fuyuki, screw the brand new paint job and just get your ass over here!" Netto glared at the phone as his brother sighed on the other line.

"It's freaking three in the morning Netto...and what happened to your friend being...what's the word...oh, right. De-"

"I don't know, okay? Just...just do it!"

"Fine...fine. Whatever...but you owe me big time." Fuyuki hung up the phone and let out an annoyed sigh, plopping back on the couch of the place that he was renting out while on vacation. "This is gonna be a long day," he mumbled before pulling on his shoes and grabbing the keys to the airship and walking to where it was parked. Starman yawned from inside of his PET and rubbed his eyes.

"Fuyuki, it's only three in the mor-"

"Yeah. Yeah, Netto called," his Net Op mumbled. Starman whispered 'oh' and Fuyuki started up the machine.

*****

Netto grabbed Rockman and Cyclone's PET's and clipped them to his belt. The wind had begun to pick up outside and a black cloud was forming to the East. He pulled on his blue headband and slammed the door to the house behind him as a red airship appeared in the distance. "Finally, Netto said impatiently. "You'd think that the way he drives...he'd be here like...an hour ago..."

The airship landed in front of the house on the street, rather noisily, mind, and the doors opened. "Okay, now tell me why you had to get me up in freaking three in the morning to drive you somewhere over the middle of the freaking Atlantic where there is nothing but ocean for freaking miles around, and, that's not all, for there's a massive freaking storm building up over the freaking ocean!" Netto blinked and Fuyuki sighed. "Take out all the freakings."

"I'll explain on the way." Fuyuki muttered something that he couldn't make out, but Netto decided that he didn't really want to know and climbed into the ship to sit next to his brother.

"Hang on, cause this is gonna be one hell of a ride!"

"With you driving, it's always one hell of a ride," Starman remarked.

"Ditto," Rockman, Cyclone, and Netto mused.

"Sit back, relax and enjoy the ride," Fuyuki yelled, ignoring his brothers and Cyclone and taking off with a jolt. Netto nearly fell out of his seat and a few loose items smashed against the walls of the ship.

"Kill us why don't you!" Netto screamed.

Fuyuki laughed.

*****

Katya clutched the side of the rail as the boat once again heaved to the right. It was at least a twenty foot squall...

*****

"It's at least a twenty foot squall!" Fuyuki said, struggling to keep the ship in control aganst the relentless winds.

"Just get us close," Netto responded, peering out the rain-splattered window.

"Close is good," Cyclone commented. Netto squinted through the heavy rain and blinked when he saw a flash, a shimmer, a shine in the water.

"Think we can penetrate the Dimensional Area?" Fuyuki grinned.

"Hold onto your hats!" he laughed, and pushed the airship into a nose dive.

*****

There was a crash, and the whole boat dipped, debris flying in the drenched air, loose items falling as the whole ship tilted almost vertical. Katya slipped and grabbed for something, anything, her fingers closing around the solid railing not a moment too soon. She tasted salt and smoke and coughed, shivering violently.

Please turn upright, Katya thought desparately as her wet fingers began to slip on the slick surface of the metal bars. She squeezed her eyes shut and the world obeyed, leveling out in a matter of seconds as the angry sea spouted its waves of defiance up around the hull. Katya coughed, spewing sea water that was stained red over the deck of the ship.

"How did you get here?" she heard Siphur say angrily.

"You again!" a familiar voice steamed. "I should've known..." Katya squinted through the darkness, but could only make out shapes.

"Go, I'll take care of this," another voice ordered sternly. His voice sounded much like a mixture of Netto and Rockman's, Katya thought. She was roused from her thoughts as she heard footsteps and felt someone kneel beside her, pulling her into a hug.

"You okay?" Katya didn't say anything in fear that she would burst into tears for reasons that she couldn't explain. A few seconds later, she was looking at Netto's familiar face as he handed her a PET. Katya's numb fingers fumbled with the divice for a moment before she remembered the curves and exact shape of her best friend. How could she forget, she thought, as Katya slid the PET onto her belt.

Netto touched her forehead, sending a violent chill running through Katya's body. She realized just how much of a fever she must have; Netto was ice cold. He pulled away quickly and frowned. "S...sorry," Katya managed to choke out. He shook his head.

"For what?" Katya couldn't find an answer to that and let him help her to her feet. At that moment, a crack of lightning burst from the sky with fantastic force, striking the mast of the ship. Fuyuki and Siphur, who were fighting near the helm, were thrown into the airship and Netto and Katya into the rail. Katya felt herself slipping from Netto's arms and she slid under the rail of the vessel.

"Netto," she squealed, grabbing for something, anything. She squeezed her eyes shut as she felt her hands slip from the last of the deck. Next thing she knew, Netto's hands had gripped her wrists and she had stopped, dangling between death and safety by a hairs width.

Netto's feet slipped a bit under him as he struggled to get a firm footing by placing the soles of his feet on rails that stuck vertically up from the deck of the ship. How Katya had managed to slip between them, she did not know. After he had gotten a firm footing, Netto tried to pull Katya up onto the deck, but to no avail. This time the elements were working against them, and the storm showed no signs of letting up.

The wood under the metal bars began to split.

"It's no good," Katya sniffed, her tears mixing with the rain. She could feel her wrists slipping from Netto's grasp, and she wasn't about to take him with her.

"No, no...no, I'll pull you up," Netto said, his voice more pleading then anything.

"It's too late for that," Katya whispered. "Just let it go. This is suicide...for both of us."

"I can't!" Netto screamed into the wind. "Don't...make me..."

"Just let it go! Trust me!" Katya sobbed, wrenching her hands from his grasp before she could change her mind. She grabbed her PET and threw it up at the figure that she had just broken away from, saw him catch it. She reached out and felt for the side of the ship; found it. A notch in the side...a window. She grabbed at the corners and held fast, determined to not let mother nature get the best of her...today.

~~~~~

Okay, more soon. I liked this chapter lotz.
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[Cyclone EXE]

Gah...I'm all caught up in schoolwork again...next chapter as soon as I have more time.
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[CrossFusionStarman]

Schoolwork sucks! Anyways, great chapter! And you put Fuyuki in it! *glomps* You do not know how aweswome you are, seriously!
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[Cyclone EXE]

Gonna stray from the story for a post and type a short story Thanksgiving Special...here we go...

~~~~~


~*~*~*Every Dark Corner Has a Shimmer of Light*~*~*~

Katya pulled open the heavy brown box and gazed inside of it wistfully. It was the day before Thanksgiving. This year, she had wished that the holiday wouldn't come, not because she hated it but because something dreadful was to happen on that very day. Usually Thanksgiving was the girl's favorite holiday. Light snow on the ground, the smells of turkey and mashed potatoes fresh from the pan, the laughter of friends and family as they accumulated in the halls of the home, banding together in this time of happiness and thanks.

Not this year though. This year would be different.

Katya took from the box her PET and slid it into its miniature black pack that was attached to her waist. She turned it on before sighing and closing the box again, sealing it with silver duct tape. "Sorry about the box thing. Dad got to ya before I had a chance to wake up."

"Ehh, no matter," the navi replied, her eyes filled with a mixture of sadness and joy for what was happening. Katya stood up and brushed off her knees, pushing the box toward the door with her foot. She looked around the empty room. There was nothing left but her desk which was too big to fit in the truck. Her bed had been disassembled, but the desk's pieces were too large and didn't break down into anything small enough to fit in the limited space.

"Welp...that's that," Katya said softly. She kicked the box down the stairs and grabbed her black bag that was sitting by the door leading from her house. She looked back inside at the empty rooms once more before trudging off to her friend's house.

*****

"Mom, do you think it'll snow?"

"Mm?"

"Mom, do you think-"

"Of course, dear." Haruka hummed to herself as she rolled out dough for cookies on the flour-covered counter. Netto was lying on the couch upside down and backwards, his legs up on the headrest and his head over the edge of the plump cushions. He sighed absentmindedly and fell off the couch at the ring of the doorbell.

"I've got it," he called to Haruka before standing up, gingerly rubbing his head. He walked to the door and opened it, grinning when Katya greeted him with a hug. "Hey," he said, closing the door behind them.

"Hi," Katya replied, throwing her bag on the couch and kicking off her muddy shoes.

"Hello Katya," Haruka said, pausing and wiping her hands on her apron long enough to give the girl a warm hug.

"Mm...cookies," Katya said, sniffing the air and licking her lips. Netto grabbed her bag and started upstairs. Katya grabbed a cookie that was sitting on a plate cooling and popped it into her mouth, running up after Netto. Haruka smiled and continued making the cookies, humming softly to herself with relaxed complacence.

*****

That night, Katya and Netto lay in a tent outside of Netto's house in the backyard. The stars could be seen through the checkered cloth top of the tent, and their breath swirled above them in the chilly air. A light flickered on. Sliding of a door. Footsteps. "Are you sure you're warm enough?" Haruka asked for the umpteenth time, peeking in on them once more before she went to bed herself.

"Fine, mom," Netto said with a yawn. Haruka nodded, though the concerned motherly look didn't vanish completely from her brown eyes.

"Okay. See you in the morning, both of you." She smiled and zipped up the tent before turning and walking back into the house. The kids heard the door to the home slide shut and saw the world once again darken around them. they lay in silence for a while, letting the stars slide into focus once more as their eyes adjusted to the darkness of night.

"I can't believe it," Katya whispered. Netto didn't look away from the sky. "I mean, I just got here again..."

"I know," Netto whispered. He sighed and turned onto his side to face Katya, brown eyes filled with sadness and silent triumph for reasons that Katya couldn't imagine. "But do you know what Mom told me?" Katya didn't say anything. "She said that there would be enough good to outdo the bad. That's how life works, don't you think?" Katya wondered why Netto was telling her this. It wasn't going to help. "She said that every dark corner has its own shimmer of light hidden inside." Katya sniffed. Netto was right. Haruka was right. But she didn't want to believe it.

"Night."

*****

Katya rolled over and yawned, opening her eyes and blinking. She sat up and looked around, shivering. Netto's space in the tent next to her was empty. Katya unzipped the flap of the tent and stepped outside into the crisp morning air. The sky was thick with gray clouds.

The girl pushed open the door the house and inhaled, a wave of memory flooding over her. the house smelled like Thanksgiving; cranberries, turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, all the smells mixing together in one beautiful aroma. Katya felt someone's arms around her waist and she was pulled from her reverie as quickly as Netto had snuck up behind her.

"Happy Thanksgiving," he said, tickling Katya's stomach. She pushed him away, smiling, and they tussled as Haruka set the table for three.

*****

The air outside of the Hikari home was sweet and cold as it whipped through Katya's brown hair. She gave Haruka one last hug, thanking her for the food that had warmed her stomach and made it rounder then usual. She turned to Netto and their eyes simultaneously filled with tears that Katya chose to blink away. They hugged and Netto let his tears flow onto Katya's coat. A sudden and wet drop hit Katya's forehead, and she and Netto looked up at the sky. It was snowing.

The snow accumulated around them as Katya got into the car beside her dad and he started the engine. "I'll never forget you, and Cyclone'll send e-mails so often it'll annoy you!" she promised. Netto could only nod. As Katya leaned out of the window, her eyes filled and then closed on the last of her Thanksgiving tears.

~~~~~

The end...
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[CrossFusionStarman]

Aw, that was sad and cute at the same time...you're really good at writing fluff scenes between Netto and Cyclone, you know? I loved this chapter. And as thanks for putting Fuyuki in this fic, I'm gonna give Cyclone and Rockman one huge chapter together in my Wind Waker fic!
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