By Sh33p, CultofSh33p@aol.com
Hats off to this fic. It tops most fics I've read....including most of the ones I posted here. Tim Seltzer, seltzer@seltzerbooks.com
Sh33p Disclaimer: I don't own Zoids.
A sunny morning on the side of a hill where a plain little domed house next to a pleasant oak tree. A sunny, warm morning accented by not one, but - strangely and possibly unbelievably enough - two very special reunions. The first, most important reunion of them was the reunion between Fiona Alysse Lenette-Fleiheit and her great, great, great, great, great, great, great, grandson, Bit Cloud. This was because Fiona had been the one relative, however distant they were in terms of actual genetics given that the woman was his living ancestor, that Bit had ever truly gotten along with. Sure, he and Larry had caused a good bit of chaos but that was different, with Fiona it felt like Bit had a friend who simply doubled as actual family, a mentor of some sort.
Fiona was also the only person who believed him when he said he heard strange things around Zoids as a kid, mainly since she claimed to have quite a few odd powers herself. That made this first reunion special to both of them, but the second reunion was a good deal stranger as Fiona eased out of the hug and glanced up at the enormous Zoid standing on the side of the hill she called a front yard.
"Nice to see you again, Zeke!" She called out with a pleasant wave. The Zoid rumbled what seemed like strangely non-Ligeresque sound in response, pawing at the side of its face in a way before leaning down and actually nuzzling - yes, nuzzling the tip of its nose against Fionas upper body in general. And the woman seemed as if the Zoid was little more than a lap dog that was too big to share a seat with anymore, wrapping her old arms around its nose as best she could and laughing briefly in surprise when it lifted her up by accident.
"Zeke?" Bit asked surprisedly when the Zoid set her back to her feet. "Oh, thats right... Zeke, didnt you tell him?" Fiona asked scoldingly. The Zoid backed up a step and lowered its head. "Now what would Van think of that, hm?" She asked. The Zoid rumbled something that Bit comprehended as an apology and then settled down onto its stomach. "Good boy," Fiona exclaimed, patting the Liger on the nose and glancing at Bit. "Is that so?" She asked, which the Zero nodded lightly to in response. "Well, well just have to fix that, now wont we?"
Bit blinked several times.
"What in the hell are you two talking about?" He asked dryly.
"Ah, Bit... You've been ignoring it, havent you?" Fiona asked disappointedly. "... It wasnt real, it was just my imagination damn it," Bit grumbled. "Then why is it you hear old Zeke here in you're sleep?" Fiona asked knowingly. "Let alone the fact you actually talk to him... Feel shades of his pain, feel his emotions..."
"... How the heck did you know that?" Bit asked. "Only the Doc, Brad, Jamie and Leena know that... Leon probably does too but..."
"But what? I know these things Bit, I've been through them before too, you know," Fiona stated. "But everyone always said that was just you being eccentric," Bit countered. "And I believe them," he added dryly. "Thats the flaw with people nowadays, they dont listen to the Zoids like they used to," she replied whistfully. "You just need to stop believing what they're telling you. Come on, lets go for a walk," she ordered, turning away to head for the small orchard she kept behind her home. Bit stared after her dumbfoundedly.
"But I came to make sure you didn't need to go to a hospital..."
Bit let out a yelp and flew forward at the feeling of Liger giving him what it considered to be a mere nudge, but what Bit found as the equivelent of getting launched out from a catapult, sending the young man flying forward to land in front of Fiona in a complete mess of limbs, with at least his right arm placed in a location his anatomy had never meant for it.
Fiona on the other hand was completely unphased, simply striding along past the youth as he sprang back up furiously, glaring at the Zoid that had seemingly 'woken up' a few minutes earlier. "What was that for?!"
"Zeke really isnt a patient one anymore, I think that leeched out of him a long time ago," Fiona stated, pausing and turning over her shoulder to glance at the annoyed young man behind her. "You coming?" She asked. In response, the Liger started to slowly pad forward, stopping at Fionas annoyed look. "No Zeke, you'll crumple my orchard now," she stated. "Why do you keep calling him Zeke? And why is it you seem so well if you had a dang seizure two days ago?" Bit asked annoyedly.
"You'd know that if you opened your mind. I'll tell you when we get to the orchard, now are you going to be a good grandson or are you going to act like David or Tanya and sit around asking me questions all day without getting anything done?" Fiona asked with the faintest tinge of a smile. "Get anything done?" Bit asked sardonically. "Help an old lady out," Fiona ordered.
The two went from there, leaving the Liger Zero to settle down and make itself at home like an oversized house cat on a porch, though this one just happened to take up the entire scale of the front section of the hill that Fionas house resided on. Rounding the reasonably small structure, the pair wound up smack dab in the middle of an orchard of sorts, though it was a little unconventional. Normally, orchards were filled with oranges or even apples, things like that, but the orchard that Fiona Alysse Linette-Fleiheit kept was something of a bittersweet reminder of a man who had lived over two hundred years earlier.
Papaya plants grew in this orchard, and this year they were just about perfect for the picking. Bits mouth unconciously watered at the sight of them but Fiona idly smacked his hand away before he could try and swipe one. "They aren't ready yet," she said with a hint of a stern tone to her voice. "Which means I'm off the hook," Bit grinned. "Id send you a few if youd stop switching addresses so often," Fiona sighed.
"Oh, I've got a permanent one now," Bit stated. "But that can wait until weve settled a few things," he promptly added, at which his oldest relative let out a sigh. "The seizure was caused by something which I'm sure you wouldve if you were less blocked off to the possibilities of your heritage," Fiona explained dryly. "If youre going into another 'ancient Zoidian' rant - dont," Bit muttered. "Bit, Bit, Bit... Its part of who you are, regardless of whether you want to admit it. Just accept it and move on."
"How do I access it then?" Bit scoffed. "The same way you did when you were a frightened little boy with a phobia towards Zoids in general," Fiona explained. "... I forgot how," Bit muttered.
Fiona merely shrugged and placed a hand onto the youths shoulder, giving a familiar, encouraging squeeze and a few pats before speaking again as they walked onward. "Do you know how you can feel Zekes emotions? Echoes of his pain and see shades of his personality in your dreams?" Fiona asked, knowing what Bit was going through by heart rather than having ever heard it from Bit himself.
"Yeah..."
"You do that not with your mind, but your heart. Open up and listen closely."
Bit gave a nod and concentrated. He didn't have a clue what he was doing other than how he could sometimes coax the Liger around with his emotions, but apparently -
About damn time.
- it was good enough. Bit let out a yelp and glanced around in shock at the voice he had registered as coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time, something intangible and yet all too real at the same time. The voice held an obvious mechanical ring to it, and it was deep, like a lion or a tiger - or both at once. At the same time as that, it was also human, and it was also his own.
"I take it you heard it then?" Fiona asked with a humorful little smile at the sight of her distant grandsons shocked expression. He looked as though someone had just exploded out of the toilet right in front of him before he could flush it. "That... Was the Liger?"
Zeke, please. I don't mind the whole 'Liger Zero' thing but come on, man...
"Eeeee... This is a bit much..."
"Don't be too hard on him Zeke, he hasn't exactly been influenced very well, you know," Fiona warned sternly.
Alright. At least now he'll actually listen to me.
There wasnt another sound from that strange voice, and Bit simply stared at Fiona with a mortified look of shock still on his face. "H-ho-how the hell?" He asked with a stutter. "It takes some getting used to, I know. Van would've probably had the same reaction if he had to deal with Zeke being fused into the Liger the first time he met it too," Fiona replied with a shrug. "Come on inside and we can talk some more."
And so the day passed by as Bit and Fiona spoke, and they spoke of a good many things, catching up on events that had passed by over the course of the past two years, from Bits new niece and nephew, how David had begun to truthfully forge ahead as one of the best archaeologists on the continent, how Larry had finally grown up and taken over the farm, how Tanya had survived college to become a psychologist and how Talia had decided to move into a career in politics after having tried the stay-at-home mom option and finding it not her liking by a long shot.
They even talked about Bits parents, though that part of the lengthy conversation was cut short due to Bits insistence on speaking of someone else. Invariably though, the conversation between them - both now sitting on the porch - lead to something else, namely the future. And that meant...
"So Bit, anyone special in your life I should know about now?" Fiona asked with a bit of a smirk. "Not really," Bit shrugged. "Really now?" Fiona asked, quirking up a brow. "Really," Bit answered with another shrug. "Oh come on Bit, youre a handsome young man and a Zoid warrior to boot... There's gotta be someone," Fiona chided, just as the Liger rumbled something out.
"Oh, so there is one, hm?"
"She's too young and she's a murderous psychopath," Bit stated bluntly, obviously putting in a reference to one Leena Tauros. Fiona chuckled lazily before craning her head back in her seat and crossing her arms over her lap. "Yes, that isnt your type, eh?"
"I'm honestly happy to be single. All I have to live for is the chase, the chance to be the best..."
"Van was like that too, you know... Always rushing off for a battle, always training or fighting..."
"Sounds like I'd've gotten along great with him," Bit commented with a smirk. Fiona only whistfully shook her head. "Oh you might... Except during those dark days when the Death Stinger was loose..."
"Yeah, you told me about that," Bit replied dryly. "Yeah... He was especially hard on himself just before and during those days. Him and Irvine both. Thomas too," she said as an after thought. "Heh... Wasn't there something between you and him?" Bit asked, shifting the subject a bit. "From his eyes, yes. Thomas was smitten with me up until the day he died, to the extent that he overcame even personal contempt for Van, even going so far as to buy us this house when he finally hit it big and created a mass producable version of the Beke unit," Fiona explained. "Didn't he do something else?"
Fiona only smiled at the comment. "Yes. When Van died, Thomas footed the bill for the funeral and helped me look after Van and his son, Dan," she stated. "Nice guy," Bit admitted before taking a sip of his orange juice. "Yeah. Shame he never settled down with anyone though, would've made a girl feel like a queen I'd bet."
"Why didn't you fall for him then?"
"My heart belonged to someone else from day one. It still does," Fiona claimed, standing up straight and dusting off the seat of her dress. "But enough about that, you came here to see me about my seizure, didn't you?" She asked. Bit gave a nod and sprang up himself, chugging down the rest of his juice and setting it down before expectantly awaiting an answer. Fiona merely leaned sideways onto the rail and frowned before straightening again. "Come on Bit," she ordered, heading for the door inside with the youngest adult Cloud in tow.
"Dark times are ahead Bit. I'm certain that the next time I have a seizure, you'll see what I see as well. Maybe not with the same clarity but you'll see it," Fiona stated, heading for the stairs that lead to the second floor of the meagerly furnished house, only to stop there and lean forward, feeling around almost blindly on the seventh steps front before giving it a solid nudge and twist with her hand.
"What do you mean?" Bit asked, unable to see what his living ancestor was going for. "I'm perfectly healthy still, Bit, the seizure was mentally induced. The product of a nightmare, I guess you could say, and that nightmare is going to become a reality soon."
Bit stared dumbfounded.
"Which is why I'm sure that Van would have wanted anyone Zeke picked as his successor to have this," she exclaimed, finally drawing her hand out of the compartment under the step and standing straight, revealing what looked like a gun holster attachable to a belt with a strange looking bladed weapon placed inside.
"Van Fleiheits handleblade," Fiona explained simply, unbuttoning the top of the holster and drawing the centuries-old weapon from its sheath for the first time. It looked like a sword that had been bent out of shape in the loose pattern of a Z, a sharpened point at the blades tip, the blade itself also still sharp after over two hundred years and the small protrusion from the handle still perfectly formed. "The same weapon that snapped the swords of five Imperial captains."
"Why would I need that though? I've got the Liger..."
The names Zeke.
"Zeke," Bit corrected himself sardonically. "Because he wont always be there for you Bit. Besides, it's about time I handed this off to somebody," Fiona said with a wry smile. "You'll find it very useful in a pinch someday Bit, and that someday is going to be sooner than you think and sooner than I hope."
Bit gave a mere nod before taking the weapon and the holster in hand, staring at it for several seconds and shrugged, somehow cramming it into his jackets front right lower pocket and then stepping back. "I guess I should be going then... The guys probably need me pretty bad by now," Bit said with a hint of a thoughtful tone.
"Alright. Call me sometime, alright? You make an old woman worried, ya know," Fiona ordered sternly, walking the young man to the door and seeing him out with a half hug and a kiss on the cheek, giving a fond wave to the youth as he made his way off of the porch. Bit hesitated though, waiting for Fiona to go back inside before glancing off into the early evening light.
All in all, it had been a good day. A day that passed by a bit too quickly, but a good day nonetheless. Scratching the back of his blonde haired head for a few seconds, the youngest of the Cloud siblings began to move forward again, spotting that Zeke was waiting for him at the foot of the hill, and then spotting a sizable figure standing in front of it.
Bit Cloud greeted his father for the first time in two years with an iced over glare, halting only long enough to make eye contact. The older of the two winced lightly under his youngest sons penetrating gaze and stepped aside without a word, watching Bit walk towards the Liger.
"I was wrong," Richard stated finally, once Bit had made it to the Zoids head, just as the cockpit flipped open. Bit paused though, he didn't get inside. Instead, he turned around and expectantly glanced at his father with a look bordering on a mixture of outright contempt and bone chilling neutrality. "I always was... You... You've grown into a fine young man, Bit. I-"
"Go fuck yourself, Pops. You aren't a part of me anymore, none of you are but Granny Fiona. Have a nice life," Bit ordered, climbing into the cockpit of the Liger at the mortified expression on Richard Clouds usually stern face, not even giving the older of the two the chance to see his own face for any longer than it took the cockpit to finish sliding shut. The Zoid stood with a rumble of gears and stabilizers, briefly seeming to pause and regard the large man who had just been so brutally chopped down by the son he had never thought would amount to anything, and the son who had wound up becoming an international celebrity just to spite him.
"Come on Zeke, lets go home," Bit ordered, not a hint of satisfaction or disappointment in his voice, just cold neutrality.
The Liger Zero Jaeger slowly turned to take the long way so that it could go around the farm and the town it sat next to, and then the boosters shot to life with a blast of heated air that threw Richard off of his feet even from the distance he stood away from the two. In a vengeful blue streak, the Liger took off into the early night...
And wasnt seen again.
Authors Note: Well, so ends our look into the homelife of one Bit Cloud. Back to business as usual with the next chapter, save for the fact it, and probably the few afterward, won't really feature much of a showing from Bit.
And no this is not a B/L. Zeke was merely trying to annoy Bit a little.
EndlessAdventure: Dang :P Here I was hoping it'd be a surprise. Guess the age thing gave it away.
ZeonReborn: I think that answered questions 1 and 3, eh? Fiona HAS told the family but unfortunately, no one believes her despite the fact that she can back up her claims. Blame historical ignorance and a few other factors(it does sound rather FANTASTIC to hear such a thing, plus shes around 245 years old, you kinda figure people lose it around then if they live that long...). As for Arihmanes... I'm not through with him yet. Heh heh...
Thats all for now, Sh33p out! Enjoy, leave a review and see ya next
time!
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