I'm Okey

Part Two

Edited Monday, February 5, 2018
~Previously~
"I'll let you rest then." He stood to leave. "Carlos." I grabbed his wrist before be walked away. "Yes?" He raised a brow at me. "Why did you help me? Why are you helping me? I know we've had this conversation like it was a broken record, but..." I glanced away from him. "I'm a man with nothing to live for... I lost everything. My family, my friends, my team, my home... all of it is gone. Taken away to never be returned. Yet," I looked up at him. "You have a family, your pack, to protect, and you're risking their safety for a man who has no reason for living." I frowned, let his wrist go. "Atoshi..." his eyes held sorrow as he stared down at me. "When we found you at that riverside, for most the first instinct would have been to leave you there... but for me, it wasn't. I saw a broken man who was alone with barely any life left in him... but when you awoke from unconsciousness, your first reaction was to fight and survive. My father taught me to help those in need of aid and guidance, no matter who or what they were." He sat back down. "It doesn't matter your past, Atoshi, you're a broken man in need of mending... and if you allow it, I wish to help you mend what had broken you." He stated calmly. "Why? I don't deserve it. My past... It's too dark, too stained with blood... You don't understand the things I've done. An order was an order, we followed them or faced death." I sighed and ran my hand through my raven hair. "I can't live with all of these sins. It's all too much for me, Carlos, I can't fight and survive anymore." I stated, feeling the emotions overwhelming me.

Fading Memories
Atoshi Minito
"I can't stand it anymore. I just... You wouldn't understand." I muttered, avoiding looking at him. "Then help me understand. Tell me what it is that you can't move on from. Tell me what it is that is haunting you. What is about your past that's tearing you apart?" He pleaded. "I can't. No one should know of the sins I've committed." I frowned. "Atoshi, trust me. Everyone deserves a second chance." He stated calmly. "I don't. I don't deserve life. That man, from the river that I shot..." I paused. "He was my teammate, my friend. He was given an order, a cruel one, to exterminate the team." I explained. "Exterminate? Why?" He looked confused. "The UNU doesn't exactly give retirement options for people in the special ops forces. We either die on a mission or were exterminated. This isn't the first time this has happened to my team..." I looked away. "What do you mean?" He frowned. "Ten years ago, I was a signed to a team to be the Eliminator. When I was given the order... I had to exterminate the rest of the team. I was only on the team for three months when I was finally given the order..." I stated shamefully. "I didn't even hesitate or think twice about it." I sighed. "After that I was a signed the Captian a new team with some of my old friends. There were six of us at first. My childhood friend who I grew up with, Stephen King; and five others that I trained with, Pete Fillmore, Milady Raphael, Harvey Homes, and Kin Renegade." I paused. "Everyone of us had a past. We all knew each other's secrets. We were all basically family, but each of us knew that one of us was the Eliminator. The person who would one day take us all out in less than forty-eight hours or die trying." I continued, "None of the others had been on a team, besides myself, that required the order for the Eliminator, and no one knew that I had been one... that was my only secret that could never be shared with anyone." I sighed. "So, why was the order given that day?" Carlos questioned. "Three months before the order was given, we lost a teammate on a mission that had gone sour. It wasn't the first time that we experienced this, but it took the worse toll on us all, mostly myself." I explained. "Who was it who was killed?" He asked. "Stephen." I frowned. "Stephen and I knew each other before the UNU took us in and trained us to be soldiers. We were neighbors before a civil war took place in our hometown. We were best friends, sometimes more, but we were family nevertheless." I paused and signed heavily. "Everything changed over the years. We became distant, but dependent on each other, and the day we were separated for the first time, neither of us were willing to let emotions and feelings get in our way of following orders. But the day we were together again as a team... it changed that." I looked over at Carlos. "That's why the order was given. As a soldier, as a member of the UNU special ops, there is no room for emotional attachments. Orders must be followed no matter the circumstances. We weren't considered people anymore. We were weapons of war." I explained sharply. "But now you're free from that." Carlos stated calmly. "No... it haunts me every day and every night. I don't have anything to live for now, and my past will never leave me alone in peace." I sighed. "That's not true, Atoshi. Now, you can live for yourself. You don't have to worry about following orders anymore. Yes, you have a dark and scarring past, but if you let me, I can help you move on from that." He smiled sadly at me. "Why?" I frowned at him. "Every broken soul needs guidance and mending." He stated calmly. "So, will you let me help you?" He questioned. "I..." I hesitated. "I'll try." I sighed heavily. "I can't promise anything." I stated. "You don't have to promise me anything. Just don't give up without giving yourself a second chance." He smiled calmly. "Alright." I nodded.