Day 2 Morning

[Belle]

The night stretched onward, cold and oppressively dark. Belle had only gone camping a few times in her life, but even then, her family had had flashlights and lamps. Even at its darkest, the night had held no mystery. What possessed people, she had wondered, to leave the comforts of civilization behind and subject themselves to what amounted to nothing more than a night spent on uncomfortable rocks?

But here, far away from everything, far away, perhaps, even from reality, she thought she finally understood. There were no man-made lights out here, no fires, nothing to wash out the vault of stars that arched overhead. A dim, ghostly light filtered down across the lonely landscape, providing just enough illumination to color the blades of grass as the three trekked onward.

Eventually, the robot kid decided that they had gone far enough, and called a halt. Belle did not say anything, but she was relieved. Her head was pounding, it felt swollen and stuffy. It was hard to focus. The two had been reassuring, but considering one was a robot and the other a cartoon character that was no doubt used to having pianos fall on his head, she questioned their medical expertise.

With no tent, they had to make do. One of the nearby trees served as a source of thick, heavy branches. Belle kind of felt bad about it, but given the way things on the island seemed to be going, the trees were probably not long for this world anyway. The thicker branches the other two broke into pieces, piling them together in a loose circle of stones. The thinner ones they attempted to string together around another buried in the earth. Belle eventually had to sacrifice one of her shoe laces to keep the branches tied together. The end result wasn't going to keep snow out, and probably wouldn't survive a stiff breeze, but it was enough to keep out the errant chilly whisper that passed across the grasslands.

Belle lay inside, watching as the Mouse and Roboboy attempted to get a fire going.

On Coruscant, the night was louder than the day, filled with sirens and irritated horns. On Earth, even the quietest night was broken by the passing of a plane overhead. That night, when the other two eventually stopped talking, all that rushed in to fill the void was the sigh of her breathing and thump of her beating heart.

In all the chaos and confusion, there was at least that certainty: they were still alive. Bruised and bloodied, but alive.

And she intended to keep it that way.

~+~+~+~

Rain pounded down around her, dripping through the leafs overhead as she huddled within the bush. Her clothes were soaked, clinging to her body as a cold, biting wind whistled. She tucked her knees to her chest, hugging them, rain mixing with the stale tears on her cheeks.

She cried, but no one answered. Were they looking for her? Probably not. They'd never find her, anyway. She'd ran and ran, and now even she had no idea where she was. No one was coming to save her.

But then someone did. "Don't be afraid," a voice said, calm and strong. A hand reached through a hole in the bushes. She took it.

"I'll protect you."

~+~+~+~

Belle woke with a start. Her eyes fluttered, scrunching tight as she was nearly blinded. Early morning sunlight stabbed through the holes in the hovel, landing across her eyes. She held up a hand, shifted position, and groaned as soreness rippled up through her back. The other two had joined her sometime during the night, and she bumped against them as she craned her neck to peer outside.

Mumbling to herself, she rose to hands and knees and shimmied out of the 'teepee.'

Mickey and Roboboy must have eventually succeeded. A few embers could still be seen in the black pile of ashes. One glowed next to the singed remains of what seemed to have been a magazine page.

Poor Mickey. She wondered how many he had left. Oh well. At least he still has his shield, she thought, turning her eyes back to the hovel. They still seemed to be asleep. Good. They didn't need to watch this.

To protect. Maybe it was arrogant of her to think that she could. Armored Mickey seemed more than capable of taking care of itself. But then, so had Lily.

That day, something had been lit inside of her. The embers had simmered, long years waiting for the right moment to catch.

The pile of ashes continued to smoke as Belle raised her hands and squared her stance. With Lady Yuki's critical remarks still fresh in her memory, she began her morning routine.