Episode Twenty-One: Revelations

Background color
Font
Font size
Line height

"When everything else seems hopeless, find someone or something to invest your love into, and hope will reappear."

-Celia Guzman

TEMPEST

My parents are furious. I've never seen them like this, and if I'm being completely honest, I'm glad they're furious. Finally, they are responding in the way you would expect parents to respond when confronted with this entire situation we've gotten ourselves in.

We sit in Emperor Oshiro's meeting room, which is actually the same room in which Yuri and I had our romantic dinner, and even though the rest of the diplomats on board the Mayflower—including the emperor—are seated, my mom is standing with her back arched like a cat and her palms pressed against the table.

"So you not only are essentially threatening our daughter, but you are now telling me that you're unconcerned about the Perfects' DNA being compromised with explosives?" she yells.

I cross my arms and stare Emperor Oshiro down.

He appears unmoved by her raised tone. "My son comes first. And I am unconcerned, because I already knew about the explosives."

My jaw drops.

"What?" Mom shrieks.

"Yes, I knew."

"And you still believed packing us onto a space ship would... what? Not be a big deal? Not be a stressful situation for any of the Perfects on board, and if it was, oh well?"

Emperor Oshiro blinks slowly, indignantly. Then he turns to me. "Tempest, please excuse yourself. The adults need to discuss this, and I wouldn't want you to become too stressed."

His tone mocks us, but I'm so angry at this point that I agree. Not because he told me too, of course, but because I can literally feel my blood boiling and I don't want that to cause any sort of spontaneous combustion.

As I stand, I push my chair out with my legs so forcefully that it falls back. Then I storm out. I slam the door behind me, and when I do, I realize someone is sitting there in the hallway, someone who I probably hit with the door when I swung it open. Yuri. He puts his finger up to his mouth to gesture me to be quiet.

I crouch down to whisper to him. "What are you doing? Are you spying?"

His suit jacket is on the floor beside him, and he's pushed his white shirt sleeves up since the party. His tie is draped around his neck, and the top button is undone. This is Yuri Oshiro: Relaxed Edition.

He smiles at my question. "Would it be immature if I was?" he whispers in reply.

I can't help but smile too. At least the person I'm being forced to love makes me smile. And is cute. And is one of my childhood crushes. Life could be much worse. Then I remember that it sort of already is, since I'm on a ship that could explode at any moment. I shake my head no. It's not immature for Yuri to want to know what's going on.

"Did you hear what we were talking about? What my parents found out about you and me and the rest of our generation?"

He sits back against the wall and shakes his head. "The doors are really thick. I only heard words here and there."

I take a deep breath. "We could spontaneously combust at any time. I know how ridiculous that sounds, believe me; but someone back on Earth already did. It was written into our DNA by Gunther Quail back before the war ended. My cousin told me. She has it in her DNA too. I trust her. She said some of us might not, but then some of us might have it even worse. Some of us could go nuclear."

"Shit," he says under his breath.

I'm so used to the put together, polished Yuri that his disheveled look and cursing makes me laugh.

"What?" he asks.

"Nothing, I'm just not used to seeing you so... I don't know... human?"

"What was I before?"

I bite my lip. I already know he likes me, what sense is there in not speaking my mind?

"Perfect," I reply. "A true example of people from our generation. You were always perfect to me."

He smiles and moves his hand to graze it over my cheek to the back of my neck. He pulls me in for a gentle kiss, and I completely release myself to it. This is what I'm here to do and this is what I want, even if not 100% right now. I do want to kiss Yuri.

His lips are soft and warm, and even though it's not as impassioned as my kisses with Neo, it's comforting. It's somehow knowing and supportive, like Yuri might possess the ability to know exactly what I need to feel better again. It feels like the start of something that could grow to be love, and not just exciting love, but compassionate, forever love.

Then my mom's piercing shriek breaks through the barrier of the door as she shouts, "Yuri could go nuclear?"

He immediately pulls away and presses his ear back against the door. I crawl around him and press my ear to the door too, and even though we're facing each other, I can't look at him. I need to focus on auditory stimuli. I can barely hear what's going on, so I close my eyes completely and just focus on the voices beyond the door.

Emperor Oshiro's voice is barely more than a mumble from out here, but I can still hear him say, "We knew before he left. That was why it was so important for him to be happy, that is why it is still so important. That is why I insisted on your daughter coming."

"You are insane," my dad shouts. "Why wouldn't you just suppress it like they are doing in Petra?"

There's a long pause, then the emperor says, "It doesn't work with those who have the nuclear reactors in their DNA. So if I could isolate him, provide him an environment that I could control completely, then I could control him myself. That is why we are going to Janus. With the uprisings on Earth, I couldn't risk Yuri living through a war like the one we endured. Could you imagine?"

"So now we could all die so that your son can have an isolated, worry-free existence?" my mom asks.

I feel my heart beating faster, and I can only imagine what Yuri is feeling. I open my eyes and reach my hand out to hold his on the floor. His gaze is focused on the door, but his dark brown eyes finally shift to look at me. The whites of his eyes are shaded pink.

"I could kill us all," he whispers to me.

I don't know what else to do, so I lean forward and kiss him. This time, I need to be the comforting one, but I'm not sure how. It's a hard-lipped, desperate kiss, and when it's over, I lean my forehead on his. "You aren't going to explode. I won't let you."

"You don't have to be forced into this with me just because of my DNA. I can't do that to you."

I shake my head, our foreheads still pressed together, and kiss him once again. "I am here for you. You gave me the choice, and I chose you before I knew any of this."

His breathing starts to pick up, heavy and labored. I move away and grab his shoulders.

"Look at me, Yuri."

He opens his eyes and as he does, tears release, rolling down his cheeks.

"Let's get you to your room. You don't need to hear any more of this." I look around to see if any of the help staff is around, and of course, because this whole situation isn't complicated enough, the only other person in the hall is Neo, emerging from the large dining hall with a broom and a pile of trash from the party.

"Neo," I call down the hall. He looks up and immediately straightens his posture.

"Is that Yuri?"

I nod. "I need your help getting him to his room."

Neo drops the broom and rushes toward us. Without a second thought, his leans down to drape Yuri's arm around his shoulders, and helps to lift him onto his feet. "Let's go," he whispers.

He helps Yuri down the hall and to the left, where a padlocked door waits. He inputs a code, which unlocks the door. "Can you...?"

"Yeah," I say, holding open the door for him and Yuri to pass through, and then I follow behind.

This hallway is somehow much more opulent, with golden touches throughout and marbled flooring. We come to a door on the right, which Neo gestures with his head for me to open.

This room is not much different from mine, except that the bathroom has a large soaking tub in it and the bed is king sized instead of twin. Neo helps rest Yuri onto the bed, and Yuri mumbles a thank you.

"Anything you need," Neo replies, even though that isn't his job anymore.

Yuri lies back on the bed, and I walk Neo out. When we get to the door, Neo continues into the hall, and it looks like he is expecting me to be there when he turns slightly. But I stay in the doorway.

"Are you coming?" Neo asks.

I shake my head. "I'm going to stay with him until he feels better," I reply.

Neo's jaw clenches, but he bows. The emperor already spoke to him about his new arrangement. Neo has to know that I am with Yuri and Yuri alone now.

"Goodnight, Ms. Becker," he says and quickly turns to leave.

I can't dwell on the pain that subtle snub gives me. It is what it is now. I have to focus on Yuri.

I close the door and lie down on the bed beside him and wrap my arm over his waist. We fall asleep like this, and even though we are fighting against our fears and our DNA, a small spark of love starts to burn in my chest. I didn't ask for this life, but I might actually like it.

You are reading the story above: TeenFic.Net