And He Had Already Accepted It

Chapter 3

(A/N): I'm probably going to post the last two chapters throughout the next week, space it out a little bit; so stay tuned for that! Hope you enjoy this chapter!!

Kai squeezed his eyes shut as he prepared for the hard impact of the ground beneath him, but was surprised when he felt himself floating slowly downwards. He looked up and saw Zane, still holding his wrist, seeming to float downwards. He looked lost in thought, and Kai could see his cold breath as he exhaled.

Kai looked down and saw why they were descending so slowly. Rocket boosters? Why did such a refined noble have rocket boosters on hand? Kai supposed it didn't really matter, since at least he wasn't going to become a human pancake.

As they approached the ground, Kai heard a sputtering noise, and Zane murmured the words "uh oh". He saw black fumes rising from the boosters, and looked up to see Zane in mild distress. Suddenly, Kai felt himself pick up speed, Zane right behind him, and luckily they were only a few yards from the ground as they fell. As Kai hit the ground, he heard Zane land somewhere close to him, but much softer than Kai had landed.

Kai picked himself up quickly, wanting to see if Zane was okay. He spotted Zane a few feet away, unharmed and shaking off the smoke from his boots. He sped over to the psychic, and shook away more of the surrounding smoke with his hands. As they cleared away the smoke, Kai noticed that it was starting to rain, a light drizzle helping to clear away the smoke.

"I apologize. I am out of gasoline for my boosters," Zane said calmly.

"Out of gas? But-" Kai looked up at the clouds from where they came. "No! Oh god, no! I've got to get you back up there!" He hurried over to the mountains base to see if they could climb back up to the arena. However, even at the base the mountain it was too steep to climb up there without any equipment.

"Aaaggghh!" Kai screeched as he became more frustrated. What could they do to get Zane back up there? It was impossible! "Why did you do that?!" He screamed. "Now we can't get back up there!"

"But they were going to hurt you!" Zane said, his voice quivering slightly.

"Who cares? There's tons of other guards just like me!" Kai shouted back. He went back to looking for a way up the mountain.

Meanwhile, Zane was silent, thinking to himself. He had always been aware of his entire life, and exactly how everything would happen. But because Kai had jumped the track of fate, everything from that moment on was wrong. Zane couldn't see, he couldn't feel, he was... frozen.

Kai turned back towards Zane, and noticed the ice crystals forming, already trapping him up to his knees.

"Oh, shit," Kai whispered to himself, and sprinted back over to help Zane. "Hey, hey, are you okay? Can you hear me?" Kai tried to get Zane's attention, to no avail. He went around to the back of Zane, wrapping his arms around Zane's waist and pulling him from the ice. With a few loud cracks, he was pulled free. Kai repositioned his arms so he could pick up Zane bridal style, and in response Zane wrapped his arms around Kai's neck.

"We've gotta get you out of this rain," Kai softly said, looking around for any type of shelter. There was a forest a couple hundred feet away, and so he headed off towards it, carrying the noble in his arms.

After navigating his way through the trees for some time, Kai spotted a small cave just big enough for them to rest in. He ducked inside it, carefully setting Zane down on the cold stone.
"Thank you," Zane said, shaking his arms to get rid of access rain water. He then grabbed the left side of his exterior face plate and popped it off his body. Kai, who had not been paying much attention, whipped his head towards Zane in shock.

"What the hell?!" Kai screeched, not used to someone ripping off their face in front of him.

"Oh, I hope you do not mind," Zane said simply. "Because I had leaned towards your body, meaning to my left, all the water flowed to the left side of my face plate. I just have to wipe off the extra water."

Kai stood in shock for a few seconds, before connecting the dots. "Wait, you're a robot?" He asked, still extremely confused.

"Yes?" Zane replied, as though it had been obvious. "I know my exterior shell makes me appear more human, but I thought it was fairly easy to tell I am not organic?"

"No, not at all actually," Kai said hesitantly, though that did explain why Zane's eyes were so bright. He thought back to when he and the droid were up close, and he could see the icy eyes in his mind, an ice that to him seemed more warm and welcoming rather than cold and distant. He felt himself grow warm on just the thought.

"Oh my gosh!" Zane exclaimed as the cave lit up before him. Kai looked down at his feet and saw that he had accidentally lit some stray sticks on fire.

"Oh, sorry about that," Kai apologized sheepishly. "It's just my power, you know."

Zane nodded. "Like me with my ice."

"At least we can keep warm now, though," Kai said, gathering up the burning sticks to create a small fire pit for the two.

After Kai finished creating the fire pit, silence quickly fell over the two, and they both watched the rain start to pour down upon the evergreen trees. Kai kept glancing at the robot near him, who was still wiping off various body parts from the water.

"I wanted to say thank you again," Zane said, cutting through the silence in the cave.

Kai scoffed. "For what? I haven't saved you or anything. We're still down here in the wilderness."

Zane chuckled to himself. "You already did," he mumbled.

"What?"

"I said you already saved me."

Kai let out a frustrated sigh. "Yeah, sure, whatever..." he grumbled.

"You know, I've never been that close to someone before," Zane thought aloud.

"Psh, really? But that was the equivalent of like, a hug," Kai replied with some disbelief.

Zane shook his head. "You forget I am a noble. Our polite mannerisms sometimes make us... cold." His face became downcast. "My family is very loving, but we have always been somewhat distant."

"Oh, I'm sorry, uh," Kai didn't know exactly how to respond. "I can't even really imagine that. My sister and I have always been really close."

"Hm, I see," Zane responded half-heartedly.

Noticing Zane's hurt expression, Kai tried to shift the subject. "So, uh, I guess you've never been in such a stressful situation as that though, huh? I mean, you could've died!"

Zane shook his head. "I know I would not have been killed. I foresaw just a simple injury, and the rebels would be captured after attacking me. But now..." he trailed off.

"But now fate has changed," Kai finished for him.

Zane nodded in response. "I thought I knew everything about the timeline, but now I am as in the dark as you are."

"I'm sorry," Kai said. "I really messed this all up, and now you're stuck down here with me of all people." He slid his back down the wall of the cave, slumping into a sitting position on the ground.

"No," Zane countered. "What confuses me the most is that I do not mind it at all. I've never felt this way before, where I do not know what comes next, but I know everything will be okay."

Kai lifted his head. "I know how you feel," he said quietly. "I don't know why, but being here with you just feels...nice, I guess. It's different. You're different."

Zane just smiled in returning, looking thoughtfully down at the fire. Kai just watched him, lost in the icy eyes of the noble slowly melting as he drifted off to sleep.