Lunar Palace

Chapter 18: Kai

A-1 picked at his food, his mind someplace else. The dream, the girl. The woman who had pushed her down. And Linh Cinder-who was she?

Despite all this coming from a dream, A-1 knew he had known these people from somewhere. A different consciousness, a different being-and now, he had no idea who they were.

The petite, blond girl-with the short, choppy hair-she had looked to him with something he hadn't seen since.. well, since he remembered. Respect-not the fear soldiers showed him here, for being of higher ranking than them, but respect for himself and his actions. In that other world, what had he done to deserve that?

His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar figure scooting into the chair beside him. Upon turning to look, he realized it was the young doctor at the labs just days ago. The toothy grin, the almost crazed look in her eyes. He had shuddered then, and he shuddered now.

"Ah, I see you've met my daughter!"

The voice of the Leader quickly jolted A-1 his feet, and he stood, bowing his head respectfully at the prominent Lunar standing before him. His shocking green eyes were piercing against his skin, and they seemed to alight approvingly on A-1 before frowning at the doctor. "Jessy, B-7 told me you didn't finish your work assignment for today." His voice dripped with deeper meaning.

The doctor-Jessy-sighed and grabbed a loaf of bread from the nearest basket, smearing some butter over it. "I'm not done with preparation yet, Dad," she groaned, breaking off a large piece of the bread. "There's no way I'll find a new weapon by-"She stopped, silenced by her father's glare.

The Leader turned back to A-1 for the first time. "Very good work you've been doing, A-1," he complimented, clapping him on the back. "Very well indeed. I will be expecting more of the same expectations as you've been showing."

"T-thank you," A-1 spluttered. "Thanks for... um. Thanks."

The Leader nodded firmly, then stalked away.

A-1 sunk into his seat, rubbing his temples. What had just happened? He was never nervous. He was A-1, an important advisor to the king, and a trained special operative fighter on top of it all. So why had he just stuttered in front of the most powerful person on Luna?

He shook it off. It must have just been nerves, he consoled himself. Just nerves. Everyone had bad days-and he was just having one of those. Turning to Jessy, he raised one eyebrow questioningly. "New weapon?"

She stopped mid-chew, halfway through devouring a sandwich. "I'm a doctor for the rebel movement threatening to take over Luna," she grumbled, plopping the bread down on her napkin,"what do you expect me to do?"

He cracked a smile.

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Who knows if something will happen between them?!?

Okay, I know. But what do you think? Could something be happening? Or is it Kaider through and through(or Sekai, with the latest fandom news)?

Until the next chapter,

-J