Jet and Jade | Black and White 1

Chapter 20: Jade

When I came to, I was still on my bed. My entire body was aching.

But where was Jet?

I painfully looked around the room, yet she was nowhere to be seen.

I frowned.

I was so tired, but I had to find her. What if she was in trouble?

The last time I had fallen unconscious, I woke up to find Jet on a rampage. I'd looked out of the window to find the streets a sea of red. We had been on an infiltration mission on Earth at the time. Obviously, it didn't work out very well.

So where was she right now?

I swallowed hard as I tried to move but couldn't. It hurt too much. I took a deep breath, slowly getting up.

I hissed in pain as I finally sat up in the golden-covered bed.

I couldn't feel Jet's presence like I normally would be able to. Which meant... she wasn't on Uranus. Either that, or our link had grown weak.

I wanted to go and look for her, but I struggled even getting up. I knew I couldn't walk properly.

Even if I found Jet, I would just be a useless hindrance to her. Not that I would find her.

Maybe I should just stay.

I bit my lip, unable to decide whether to go or not.

I sighed.

What would Jet want me to do?

Wait, no. I couldn't decide based on that. No matter what, she'd want me to stay behind. Even if she was in danger.

Jet was more than capable of taking care of herself, even if she often neglected her needs for mine.

She doesn't need you, a voice taunted in the back of my mind. But you need her.

An uneasy feeling crept up me.

I would die if she didn't come back.

She doesn't want you, the voice said. You're useless.

No.

The voice was lying. Jet had trained me. I was strong.

Jet trained you. If it weren't for her, you would be useless.

It was right.

I owed my life to Jet. I would have died years ago if it weren't for her. She saved me every time. On Mars where we would have frozen to death when we were three, she brought us to Uranus. On Uranus where we hadn't been able to live properly, Jet built our house alone using her powers and somehow with mine. When the Qwen tried to kill me with a sword on their twenty-third attack when we were twelve, Jet blocked the strike. When I was attacked by darkness and coldness just a while ago, she came and healed me. I couldn't even name the many times she saved me.

She had protected me the whole time, ever since we were born. She had protected me for fifteen years. This was my turn to protect her. I should be willing to lose my life for her.

But I wasn't. I didn't want to die. I couldn't. I was selfish. So goddamn selfish. I knew I was a jerk without loyalty, but I was weak. I couldn't do this. Jet always said that the world outside of our planet was dangerous. Too dangerous. I was so afraid.

I couldn't... I just couldn't!

I was an idiot and I knew that, but I couldn't go.

Besides, what if Jet came back and found me not there and started to panic?

Didn't she want me to be safe? By staying here, it would be better, right?

She would never want me to leave Uranus, right?

Deep down, I knew I was just making petty excuses, but I let myself believe my lies and drifted back to sleep.