Things gone by [Open]

[greennotgold]

Fletcher should have known that it couldn't last. They'd actually been happy, relaxed, and enjoying themselves for once; of course it had come to an end. Everything had come crashing down around them. He should have predicted it. And Fletcher had spend the entire fight cowering, hiding, and clinging to his brother.

And now he was back on the ship again. He could have gone back to the science labs and picked up his plantsuit research again, or over to Hydroponics to do some work there, but right now he just felt lost. Again. As usual. He was ten years old; what could he do when a crisis like that came up?

Instead of doing something productive, Fletcher had run off to the Sensoriums. Right now, he was lying on his back in the garden at Belshio's house. Resting on his chest was a copy of the hologram picture Edward had taken back on shore leave: Fletcher and Russel standing in front of the line of statues that the two older brothers had transmuted. He wasn't looking at that right now, though; he was staring up at the bright blue simulated sky, watching the clouds float by.

Comments

[fulltinyalchemy.livejournal.com]

"Yo," greeted Ed as he walked into the Sensoriums. "Thought I might find you here."

He wore some of his clothing from the battle, still all tattered, his short sleeved flower-print shirt and shorts and because of it, you could tell that he was missing his arm quite easily.

Sitting down, he sighed. "What's up?"

[greennotgold]

When he heard Ed's voice, Fletcher turned his head to look at him. He didn't really know how to answer, so he just looked back up at the sky and stayed quiet for a moment.

Finally, he asked, "Edward, where'd your arm go?"

[fulltinyalchemy.livejournal.com]

"Ohm got it." replied Ed. "Winry hasn't seen the damage yet so um, I'm escaping her brutal wrath for the moment. I did bring back a trophy though."

And he reached into the sack he was carrying and pulled out a miniature version of the big composite statue. "Saved it before I was pulled off the battlefield. The big one I had to animate into a weapon."

[greennotgold]

Finally, he pushed himself up so he was sitting and looked over. When he saw what Edward was holding, his breath hitched into a hiccup-like sound. "O-oh."

He didn't know what else to say, really. Ed was just being so casual about everything that had happened, even the injuries he'd sustained. How was Fletcher supposed to react?

[fulltinyalchemy.livejournal.com]

"Here, take it." said Ed, handing it over to Fletcher. "It's the least we can do, considering everything."

Any psychologist worth his salt knew that Ed was compartmentalizing. Considering the horrors he had seen over the last few weeks leading up to his awakening on the ship and the attack and the bloodshed, it was taking all of his composure not to just flip the metaphorical switch and wig out as it were.

"Your brother safe?" inquired Ed as he laid down and rested his good arm under his head as a pillow.

[governorkang]

Of course, Fletcher would imagine up a garden. Kang shook his head, smiling, and carefully sat down near the boy. His left arm was in a sling, and the wing on that same side was bound to his shoulder, immobile. Looking down, he propped his good arm on his knee, "...hey, kid. Glad to see that you didn't get hurt during that mess."

[greennotgold]

When Fletcher heard someone approaching, he sat up and looked over, and his blank face immediately took on a look of worry. "Kang? What happened to you?!"

[governorkang]

"Ohm. I'll be fine, though; just a couple of broken limbs and a dislocated shoulder," Kang snorted, glancing at the cast on his arm. "I've dealt with worse before."

[greennotgold]

Fletcher fidgeted, clenching the fabric at the bottom of his shirt nervously to try to keep calm. "O-okay... Just-- just as long as you're okay..."

First Edward, and now Kang. And Fletcher, meanwhile, had spent the whole battle hiding. He couldn't help feeling guilty and more than a mite useless.

[notsaintkaiser.livejournal.com]

Vivio needed to get her mind off of what happened. It felt horrible to know that not only did her family get beaten like they did, but they also failed to stop the Ohm. Maybe if she hadn't gotten hurt (which she still couldn't fully remember), she could have made a difference.

Still weak from the attack, Vivio pushed her wheelchair into the Sensorium, only to find it to be occupied with...

"...Fletcher-kun?"

[greennotgold]

Somehow, Fletcher wasn't really feeling much better after his conversations with Edward and Kang. He still just felt... numb. He was still lying there, looking up at the sky, picking at grass with one hand.

It just figured people would keep coming in here. He looked over, and when he saw Vivio, he just stared for a second. But then his eyes narrowed. "Vivio...? What happened to you?"

[notsaintkaiser.livejournal.com]

Vivio looked down, noticing Fletcher's glancing briefly. She let out a sigh as she spoke.

"I... I was fighting the Ohm with everyone. One of them... got me." she said, clutching her slung up arm. It still stung where the Shrike got her.

[greennotgold]

He sat up again -- maybe he should just stay sitting up, he figured -- and finally, for the first time since he'd returned to the ship, burst into tears.

"I'm-- I'm sorry..."

[starlightace]

"How are you feeling, Fletcher?"

Nanoha's voice is gentle, and she smiles at him despite the bruises visible on her neck and face, the arm she has in a sling, and the mild limp in her step that she can't quite conceal. She's worried for the children on the ship.

[greennotgold]

By now, Fletcher's just sitting up, looking up at the trees, when Nanoha walks in. He looks over at her, and when he sees that she, too, is injured, he pulls his legs up under his chin.

"I'm-- I'm okay. I didn't get hurt." Because that's totally the only possible answer to that question.

[starlightace]

She walks over to him, trying to hide her tender leg. "That isn't what I asked, you know," Nanoha tilts her head to the side.

[greennotgold]

He looks up, arms wrapped around his legs, and tries hard to control himself. He doesn't want to start crying again like he did with Vivio. "But I'm-- I'm fine, really. Honest... I'm sorry. I'm just-- feeling sorry for myself."

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"What's that thing?"

He hadn't meant to intrude, but he found the Sensoriums fascinating and when he'd heard the hum of one of them working, he couldn't help but peek inside.

Hiccup was pointing at the hologram picture, looking fascinated by that, too.

This was another one of the injured, on crutches because one leg was missing--replaced by a very crude prosthetic--and the other had been injured. Though his ordeal on the planet had been far from full of heroics.

[greennotgold]

Had everyone but Fletcher been hurt in that battle? Another wave of guilt washed over him when the strange man walked into the scene.

He looked down at the picture. "It's... it's called a hologram, I think. It's like a photograph in three dimensions." His voice was quiet; he would have been inaudible if there were any other sounds in here, besides the chirping of birds overhead.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

"Wooow."

If he was a man, then he was a very young man. He didn't look like he was all that much older than Fletcher, to be honest. Then again, he was rather small for his size.

The boy hobbled over, eventually trying to sit near Fletcher--and mostly falling to the ground instead. Putting the crutches aside, he just sat there and looked at it.

"It's kind of like this room isn't it, where it sticks out and tricks the eye into thinking it's actually solid and there. Only without also tricking you even more by actually being solid."

Oh, he is interested.

"My name is, uh, Hiccup, by the way. What's yours?"

[greennotgold]

Man, boy, whatever. Someone who actually contributed in that battle was more of a man than Fletcher would ever be.

"Ah, are you--" But it looked like he was okay, he didn't seem any more hurt than before.

"I'm... I'm Fletcher," he said, looking back down at the picture. "I think it's the same kind of thing, yeah... I don't understand the technology at all."

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

Nanashi had wandered into the sensoriums, hoping that it was unoccupied so that she could have a good day's sleep on her own bed. She could really use it after all the blood she had gone through on the battlefield. Still, her one major injury was covered by her new dress, which allowed her to appear uninjured, and as regal as ever.

However, when she entered to find a rather dejected-looking little boy, Nanashi's motherly instinct kicked in. She walked across the field, shielding her eyes to the fake sun- she didn't think she would ever get used to that giant burning ball- and took a seat next to Fletcher. "What is the matter, little one?"

[greennotgold]

Fletcher had been in the Sensorium for quite a while now, and people kept coming in. Maybe he should leave and let other people have the room for a while... but he just didn't want to leave. He hadn't seen this place in so long.

He looked up at the woman who'd come in, then looked away. "I'm okay," he said. He was feeling slightly better after talking to everyone else, but he still wanted to be alone.

[sanguineroyal.livejournal.com]

Nanashi gently touched the boy's head, "A mother always knows when something is wrong with a child."

While Nanashi hadn't been an actual mother, never having her own child, she had taken care of so many orphans she considered herself a mother still.

"Would you like to talk about it little one?"

[greennotgold]

"You're a mother?" That was a sort of person he wasn't used to. He knew Vivio's mothers, but before coming here, well, it had just been him and Russel. No parents.

"I... I'm feeling a little better," he admitted. "I was just... a little sad, that's all."