All of You

Memorial

Leon

The church was filled with mourning families, friends and colleagues. Everyone paid their last respect to the late president. I gave my eulogy first followed by Amara. The rest of the service continued, but I wasn't paying much attention to it. Slowly, people started filing out of the church. The wake was over, but I didn't move. After a while, only Amara and I were left. We sat in silence until she spoke up.

"I'm sorry, Leon."

I turned to face her. She looked solemn and tired. I placed my hand on hers and gave her a little smile. "Don't be."

"I didn't kill Richards."

"I know. I heard from Chris earlier. He's dead, so that's that. The mission is done."

She nodded. She apologised to me again, this time looking directly into my eyes.

"Why are you saying sorry again? What's wrong, baby girl?"

She started tearing, so I pulled her close to me. She placed her head on my shoulder as I draped my arm around her.

"Remember when I used to knock on your front door at 4 a.m. in the morning? You still took me in every time and calmed me down after my nightmares. I never told you what all of those were about, but you still put up with me. I'm sorry I never told you anything."

"You don't have to be sorry about that," I said, stroking her hair. "You didn't know what was happening. You were confused. But... I heard Richards showed you your past. Are you okay?"

She shook her head immediately. "No. I'm not proud of myself, Leon. I was behind every attack and I killed them all."

"That wasn't you."

"I was smiling with blood all over me," she said, taking in a deep breath. "I'm a product of war, Leon. I was weaponised. My whole life, I was living a lie. My past, robbed and altered."

"Hey," I said, gently making her face me. "You were used by him. You did nothing wrong. If anything, it was my fault for not being there for you. I was worried all the time, but I didn't do anything to keep you safe. I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I wish I can just take away your pain and suffering."

She kept quiet for a moment. "I'll never be the same person I was. I'm... nothing."

"No," I immediately countered. "You're not nothing. You're the best damn person I've ever met, the strongest person. You're everything to me, Amara."

"Leon..."

"Okay, how about this. We'll take it easy. I know how hard it is for you to take everything in at one go. I know you need to process it and think things through. Whenever and whatever you want to share with me, I'll always be here to listen. I promise."

"Thank you. That means a lot to me," she spoke, giving me a side hug. I gave her a chaste peck on her forehead and rested my cheek on her head. We stayed quiet for a moment. She then continued with a slight chuckle, "I'm in so much trouble with Hunnigan, aren't I?"

"You should've heard how much she was yelling at me," I said, laughing. I was glad that she was moving on.

"Sorry I went dark for six months without informing you guys. I made you so worried," she said. "I really wanted to call you, I did. But I couldn't."

"What matters is that you're here now."

She nodded. "Glad to be back. Really."

"So what are your plans for the next few days?" I asked, and she sat up straight.

"You mean aside from getting an earful from Hunnigan?" she jested. "Let's see... I probably want to sleep in bed all day, but then I'll get dragged out by Hunnigan and get lectured. Then I'll have to write up my report, and then I'll get scolded some more."

"You sound in need of a vacation."

"Trust me, we all do."

Seeing that she was much happier now, I decided to keep her mood that way. I teased her, "So, Chris told me something about you and his Lieutenant."

She chuckled shyly. "What did he say?"

"Oh, nothing, except for the fact that his Lieutenant was all heart eyes when it came to you. And then he said something about you and him making out in front of him twice."

"We did not!" she denied immediately.

"Oh, I'm sorry, let me quote Chris," I joked, putting on my best Chris Redfield impression. "They finally kissed just before they separated, and when they met up again, they kissed and completely ignored me."

She laughed, slapping my arm. "My Captain doesn't sound like that."

"Could've been worse. So, tell me his name."

"Chris didn't say? Oh well... um, his name is Piers."

"Piers what?" I asked, my brotherly instincts immediately kicking in.

"Piers Nivans."

"Is he a nice guy?"

"Very."

"Did he do anything to you?"

"Oh my God, Leon. You're not going to tell me that I can't see him right?" Amara asked, but I didn't answer. Instead, I shrugged and she grabbed my arm. "Come on, Leon. He's a very good man. He's done so much for me."

"You like him?"

"...I do."

Finally, I couldn't take it. I burst out in a fit of laughter and she pouted, slapping my arm again. I pinched her cheek. "Okay, okay, I'm done interrogating. If you two like each other and he respects you, I'm fine with that."

"Really?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Yeah. One more question, are you going to see him anytime soon?"

"Maybe. I still have work to settle. Aside from my report, I need to figure things out with Chris about my position in the BSAA. Just a whole ton of paperwork to do. Besides, Piers needs to rest up. He's not hurt too badly. but he needs a break."

I nodded. "Okay. But if you two go out on a date, you have to tell me where you're going, what time he's sending you home-"

"I got it, mom," she said sarcastically before laughing.

I then stood up from my seat. "Alright then. Since that's settled, let's get going."

"Where are we going?" she asked, standing up as well.

"To the bar."

"What? Leon, it's two in the afternoon, and I just came back at dawn yesterday."

"I know. But we're going to have a drink. And a toast to Adam."

She paused, recalling the conversation we had before she left for the BSAA. She nodded slowly. "Yeah, okay. I'm buying. It's the least I could do."

I stuck out my arm for her and she took it. "Let's get going. Don't be worried, okay?"

"Worried? About what?" Amara asked as we walked out of the church.

"About everything else. We'll take a break today."

She eyed me suspiciously. "Okay... but I know you have something else on your mind. What is it?"

I cocked my head, laughing as I was about to tease her again. "Don't worry too much about your little boyfriend."

"Oh hell. I'm going to hear this all day, aren't I? Jeez, Leon..." she laughed, shaking her head. 

We walked out of the church, feeling the warmth of the afternoon sun. She suddenly stopped in her tracks. Before I could ask her what was wrong, she enveloped me in another tight hug. She didn't need to say it, but I knew how much she was going through. I returned the embrace. I pulled her hand and we continued our journey to the bar. I knew what I was doing wasn't much, but I hoped it would be one step closer to helping Amara get back on her feet.