Unlikely Heroes

Chapter 31

A few weeks later Rufioh's leg was healed and he could walk better. He still had a limp, but he could move his leg again. He mostly stayed in the tent full of cots, writing in the journal he had received almost two years ago. Karkat would come in and talk to him, along with Simon. They still weren't able to get the soldiers back to their stations. Rufioh didn't mind his dad being there, he was actually glad to know he was alright.

One day Karkat came in with a particularly odd question. He walked into the tent and sat beside Rufioh. "Hey kid. What's up?"

"Where's your mom?" Karkat randomly asked.

Rufioh was a bit shocked by the question. "Um, in America? With the rest of my family. Well my dad is here."

"No. I mean your MOM." Karkat stressed mom this time.

"In...America...?" Rufioh was now confused.

"No! Your mom that had you!"

"My birth mother?" Rufioh asked, not wanting to answer this question.

"Yeah, where she is?" Karkat asked, he had asked Simon a question and realized that Rufioh wasn't related to his mother. Rufioh didn't know that Karkat had even talked to Simon.

"Uh...gone." Rufioh shrugged, trying to leave it open ended.

"gone where?" Karkat continued asking.

"Just gone..." Rufioh looked at his lap.

"Where?? Did she die?" Karkat was surprisingly comfortable when asking about dead relatives. He didn't mind saying anyone was dead, unless it was to someone else who knew that person.

"I-i think she's dead? She probably is." Rufioh shrugged. "Why?"

"Simon said you had different mother. He not say what happened." Karkat sat on his hands and looked at Rufioh.

Rufioh sighed and looked back up. "When I was born she's was pretty okay. It wasn't till I was four that she started to be bad. I didn't know at first. When I was eight, and my brother was born, she was really upset that he was paralyzed. My dad basically had to take care of tavros by himself. I still didn't see what was wrong with her... I kept siding with her and they nearly broke up and she nearly took me. I would get mad at my dad, because he was trying to protect me. I thought he was just being mean. When I refused to go with him for something and got in the car with my mom,...we...uh crashed... I l-lived, but she went to the hospital. I never saw her again and my dad's...been k-kind rough on me... He's always resented me for going. He always has been hard on me for that...making sure I never forget..." He looked over at Karkat, who was frowning now.

"That's not nice! You don't know she was bad! How she mean? What she do?" Karkat asked, leaning on Rufioh now.

"She kept refusing to let me see my dad and j-just didn't want anyone to take me away from her... She would always yell at my dad for something, which would make me upset. I never felt safe there..." Rufioh looked back down at his lap.

"I'm sorry..." Karkat muttered.

"Don't be, kid. It's my own damn fault." Rufioh looked over at Karkat and ruffled his hair. He smiled at Karkat, which kind of threw him.

"I don't know it! Why do you smile?" Karkat never smiled. He had a bad life, so he saw no reason to.

"What do you mean?" Rufioh's smile faded.

"You are hurt! Your mom is dead! Your dad hate you! You smile, why...?" Karkat shook his head, frowning more.

"Well, uh...I don't want to bring people down. I want everyone to see the good side of things and be happy. If I'm happy, then...then maybe I can make others happy too."

Karkat stared at Rufioh for a bit, thinking about what he said. "...you're like captain America..."

Rufioh smiled slightly. "...I'm really not..." He sighed and looked at Karkat, hugging him close. "But, thanks..."

The next month, an American photographer came into the base. She had been taking pictures of people barely clutching to life, or wounded soldiers. She even went into ghettos, early on, and got pictures. She was taking pictures of as many of the base's soldiers as she could. By then, the seven other soldiers from the other base had been sent back to their base. The photographer also took pictures of Karkat and Gamzee, who were the only kids there.

Rufioh walked over to her and asked to see some of the pictures. "I've actually helped some of the Jewish people." He stated.

"Really? That's cool! I was told that I wasn't aloud to help in anyway. I just got access to take pictures, nothing more." The photographer, whose name was January, said. She pulled out the pictures from her bag and showed them to Rufioh. All of them were from a while ago, considering they took a long time to develop.

"W-wait! I know him!" Rufioh pointed to a picture of a teenager, in a ghetto, sitting on a blanket and handing out food. He was dirty and looked like he was freezing, but Rufioh still knew him.

"You do? I got a lot of pictures of him." January pulled out several more pictures. "What's his name?"

Rufioh smiled as he saw all of the pictures. "Kankri vantas..." He said quietly.

"That's a nice name. I think I've heard that name before, too." January shrugged.

"Can I have one of the pictures of him? Please?" Rufioh asked, smiling at January.

"Uh, sure." She handed Rufioh a picture of Kankri. She wondered why he wanted it, but didn't ask.

"Thanks!!" Rufioh said, suddenly running off. He went to go find Karkat, who was walking with Gamzee. "Karkat! Karkat!!"

"Yeah?" Karkat turned around, confused by Rufioh's smile.

"Come here!" Rufioh was practically bouncing when Karkat walked over, without Gamzee. "Don't show anyone this, because I don't want anyone taking it from you." He pulled out the picture of Kankri and handed it to Karkat. "It's Kankri..."

Karkat's eyes widened as he gently took the picture. He stared at it for a long time, before tearing up and jumping onto Rufioh. He hugged him tightly. "Thank you!!! Thank you!! Thank you!!" He repeated, hugging Rufioh close.

"It's no problem, kid..." Rufioh hugged him back. He smiled, he knew that Karkat would keep it safe.

"Thank you..." Karkat said quietly, hopping off of Rufioh and smiling softly. Rufioh loved to see his smile. After that Karkat ran back to Gamzee. He said something and Gamzee groaned. Karkat chuckled and pushed Gamzee. Rufioh smiled at them.