One (A SPM AU BASED ON LN2)

The City: Part 1

The two of us went out into the city. One said that there were no more big buildings to go through like the Lab or the Factory, which made me very glad, even though I could tell that it had clearly made him nervous. He seemed to be almost afraid of being out in the open. But I was fine with being outside.

I knew we were near my tribe now, which comforted me. I was almost home. I was almost to safety.

I'd be seeing my dad soon. And maybe he'd be happy to see me. Maybe he'd hug me and tell me everything I'd want to hear. And maybe when I showed him my powers he'd look at me with pride in his eyes.

But... what if he didn't?

I hadn't really thought of it before, but what if he didn't look at me the way I wanted him to? What if he didn't want to see me? Then what would I do?

"Are you ready to be home?" One asked me as we walked outside and through the dark alleyways of the silent city, One doing his very best to stay in the shadows and out of the moonlight.

"Yeah... I think I really am," I admitted, still asking myself 'what if' questions in my head. "Although... it feels weird."

"Really? How so?" He questioned, cocking his head to the side as we snuck around in the dark..

I paused, still walking while I thought it over. I honestly wasn't sure how to answer. I didn't want to explain my fears of not being welcomed back to him, because I already knew what he'd say. He'd tell me that he was sure my father missed me just as much as I missed him and that everything would work out. I knew that he'd say that because One had a generally optimistic mindset, thinking the best of the situations given to him. He didn't complain about the hand he was dealt, but instead found ways to make the best of it.

"I guess... it feels less like I'm going home... and more like I'm leaving it," I admitted, talking before thinking.

"Really?" He asked, tilting his head at me. I think I could sense something in his tone. It was like a repressed joy. Something about what I had said made him happy, but he was hiding it.

I could see why he was hiding his joy. What I said gave him hope. Hope that I'd possibly choose to stay with him instead. He took what I had said to mean that I felt like I was at home when I was with him, and that made him happy. But he hid his happiness because he knew  it was selfish of him to feel happy because of that. It was selfish of him to want that, when he knew how much I wanted to go back to my father, and he knew it. 

And... the small part of me that wanted to stay with him was selfish too, because he risked his life countell times to help get me home. We couldn't just throw that away. He worked so hard to get us here so I could see my dad again. 

"Yeah..." I trailed off, before shaking my head and changing the topic. "But enough about that. Where will you go when I'm gone?" I asked him, hoping that he wouldn't point out the subject change and just go along with the conversation, which luckily he did.

He just shook his head, lightly laughing to himself. "Well, my home isn't one place. It's the whole world. I think first I'll find a way to save that girl. The one from the factory. Then, I'll save all the bullies at that lab. After that, I'll return to the woods and free all the caged and captured animals." He shrugged.

"Still planning on bringing the sun back?" I asked, frowing slightly as he didn't mention it. Perhaps it slipped his mind, as he seemed to have quite a long list of things to do before that.

"Yes." He quickly replied. "Always."

I paused, taking a look at his wrist, then back into his mind.

A one, according to the tribe, is capable of great power. They'd have the potential to destroy everything, kill everyone.