Astro Boy Day of the Living Dead

The Confession.

"I wandered through the junk until the twins and Zane found me, they took me to Hamegg, and he let me stay. I was with them two years before you came."

With that, Cora finished telling her story and leaned back on the cushion. All the time she spoke, she kept her eyes on the ground, in front, or to the sides; at no time did Cora make eye contact, and she still did not. Astro, for his part, did not try to force her; he kept his eyes on his boots, which he moved up and down, but always paying attention to his friend's story. Astro didn't know if he should talk to her. Remembering had upset Cora, and although she didn't cry, one could tell in her voice that the betrayal, the humiliation, and the abuse still hurt her. Things like that continued to amaze him; seeing how cruel humans could be, he knew from his own experience, but he had always believed that the abuse towards him was for being a robot. Now he saw that they were heartless among themselves. Astro could not understand how they could treat each other like that, how their hearts could harbor so much hatred. But what surprised him the most was that they were also capable of such pure and kindhearted acts, of achieving amazing things when they came together and worked. It was incredible that within them, there were so many-- layers. Even Hamegg had shown a kind side.

But he was getting off-topic; what he had to do was comfort her.

"Cora, I--" he looked up; she kept looking at the door, "I'm so sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Astro; you had nothing to do with it," she looked back at him. Her eyes were crystalline; she closed them and wiped her nose with the sleeve of her shirt, "besides, that happened a long time ago."

Astro scratched the back of his head, it was clear it still hurt her, but he wasn't sure what would be the most appropriate thing to say.

"You know what? Trixie and Yoko sound like fools," it would be better to try to cheer her up, "especially Yoko, for not knowing how to appreciate a friend as good as you."

He felt it sounded too cheesy, but he could not think of anything better to say.

"I'm serious, Cora, you are incredible: you survived two years on the Surface, you became the leader of Hamegg's children, his best collector, and you saved me from Stone. Those spoiled girls have nothing against you."

A smile began to form on her lips. Astro smiled, seeing that his words were having an effect.

"Besides, I've always liked your hair; since we met."

Now he could even notice that she was blushing; he smiled with a bit of mischief, remembering that she had done the same to him.

"I'm sure no one had that much style in that school of show-offs."

Cora laughed happily.

"You are right about that; they all wore that same ugly uniform--"

"Don't worry, I didn't like it either."

They both started laughing, and he was telling the truth. Astro was never a fan of the sweatshirt or the pants, perhaps because they were not really his clothes; he was grateful for now being able to wear his own, courtesy of Dr. Elefun: An awesome emerald green shirt with blue-fluorescent stripes on the edges of the arms and on the neck; combined with black pants.

Cora finished laughing, she knew very well Astro's intentions, and she had to admit that he had succeeded. Every time she remembered her years in Metro City, it hurt, but now that she told him, she felt... liberated. No one else knew her story. She never told Hamegg, Zane, Sludge, or Widget; because although she spent so much time with them, she didn't manage to have that confidence; but with Astro, she felt so natural and normal. Maybe it was because they both had similar stories or so she thought since Astro had never told her his story. She only knew that his dad was Dr. Tenma; it was funny how small the world was. She was happy to share her memories with someone she fully trusted. Now there was only one thing left to do...