Chasing You Through Time

Burdens of the Afterlife: Part 1

We spent the day flying, where the only thing to watch was Alexei on the verge of puking every hour. I don't know how, with a face that pale, he managed to hold it in. When night was closing we landed in a small clearing in Belarus. The door opened, welcoming the cold evening air into the plane. After I pushed it open, Alexei squeezed past me to dash to the nearest bush. Hmph, he's gonna be needing this. Grabbing a water bottle, I followed after him, but Anna caught my attention for a moment.

"I have a camo tarp to cover the plane, and some blankets in the plane. Hope you boys are prepared, it's gonna get cold tonight." It was much colder here than Italy. Though it wasn't wet, a thick frost covered the land.

"I'll be with you to help with the tarp in a moment." I said, walking off to Alexei. By the time I made it over, his gagging had stopped, but he was still bent over in expectancy of more puke. I knocked his head with the water bottle. "You good?"

Alexei sighed, and relaxed. "Yeah," He grabbed the water from me. "Thanks." His eyes skimmed over mine, then took a double take. "What's that look for?"

"Hmm?" I'd lost myself for a moment. Whenever I looked at him, I couldn't help but feel regret for taking him with me. If anything happened to him, I'd only have myself to blame. My concern must have shown on my face.

"Is something wrong, Emiya."

The first excuse I thought up flew from my tongue. "I was just thinking that it's going to get cold tonight, and worried about staying warm."

"Well," Alexei squeezed open and shut his hand, picturing his words. "You can do that thing where you make cloth and stuff, right?"

"Hm, yeah, Kid. Now come back to the plane, and get some food." I pushed him along before he could ask anymore questions.

It was quick work putting on the tarp, and eating. Anna was tired, Alexei cold, and I for one was in no mood to begin conversation. When the night was thick in the sky, we all retreated back into the plane. It didn't take long for Anna to curl up in a seat and fall asleep. I threw two thick blankets to Alexei, who was shivering worse than a chihuahua. "Stop shaking so much, Kid. You're making me colder just looking at you." I rubbed his thickly wrapped up arms, in a pursuit to get some heat through the fabric.

"Sorry." His shoulders sank down in relaxation.

"Come on, let's get some sleep." I grabbed the last blanket, and pushed him down on the seats. Taking my place next to him on the edge of the plane seats, I spread the blanket on me, and formed an extra as well. Alexei was snuggly fit between me and the seat backs. He looked up and gave me a soft smile to say 'thanks for the warmth'. Then, resting his forehead against my chest, he fell asleep.

I didn't fall asleep as quickly as the other two. Honestly, I felt kind of restless. Being cooped up in a plane all day just made my muscles yearn for movement. But I didn't want to get up, for Alexei's sake anyways. So I layed there awake, my mind wandering into thought. My eyes went to the boy against me.

Was it a good idea to bring him along? Of course it wasn't! For life times, I'd trained myself to be cold, drawing my emotions away from my work. It was the only way I could even remotely deal with my disaster of an afterlife. But for some reason, it wasn't working now. I blame Cu, that incident I had with him softened me up a bit, and now I can't work properly! Though it was easy to blame Cu for my problems, I knew it wasn't just him. It was me, too. From the moment I met Alexei, I could tell he needed help, he needed someone. Then, he decided I was that someone. I couldn't turn him down, and leave him alone. That went against who I was, a hero of justice. Chuckling darkly to myself, the sour thought flowed through my mind. Damn me! But, regardless of popular belief, I did have a conscience, and I sure as hell didn't want Alexei's death on it...