A reason to continue (Lance and Rita)

Lance sat alone in the guild hall next to Lea who was staring at the ground. Today was a day were they thought about what to do next now that they had ended Van and his part of his uncles organization. They were not planning on continuing taking them out seeing as they hadn't done anything else bad or wrong since they took him down.

Lea could tell that something was wrong with Lance so she put her hand on his shoulder "I think you should spend some time doing what you want to do... Take a walk around town or go get lunch..." she said as Lance stood up and placed his hands in his pockets then put his hood up "Thats not a bad Idea Lea... Maybe it will get my mind off of things..." he muttered as he started his walk out of the guild hall and out the doors silently while getting weird looks from the other guild members because they noticed that Lance hadn't been acting his usual self lately as he had been a bit colder and more quiet this past week.

He walked out of the guild hall for a bit before sitting down on a bench quietly as he looked up at the sky to watch the clouds "Father..." he muttered as he closed his eyes as remembered the scene with his father falling off the tower.

Lance got up and walked down to a small hill were his dad was buried and his grave stone sat. The grave was just a stone with nothing written on it or anything. Lance closed his eyes and put his fist gently forward to lay it on the rock "Dad... I will avenge you... I will take down the organization..." he muttered with his eyes closed as he sat there with his fist on the stone crying.

Just as Rita made her way up the stairs to the guild some one else made his way out. Rita opened her mouth to say something and raised a hand to wave but paused mid-gesture when she saw how he was handling himself today. Lance looked well, different. Had something come up? Rita's gaze followed him as he walked off. Rita let out a quiet groan and made up her mind. She silently raced down the steps after him.Once she had caught up enough she observed Lance from a distance. All until he made his way over a hill just around the outskirts of Magnolia.


That's when Rita saw something she didn't expect. There Lance stood before a stone, his hand gently placed against the surface of the rock. That look on his face said it all, Rita did not need to see a plaque or a bouquet of flowers to know that this was a grave. Just then it all came back to her-what had happened at the top of that tower.'-It's all your fault you know...' she told herself as she backed away from the hillside, making sure to stay out of his sight. She didn't know how to approach him like this.


Rita made her way back into Magnolia, She looked down at her feet as she walked, a grim expression plastered on her face. The painful look that some one who had just swallowed a shard of glass would give. 'I-If only I hadn't gone.' She thought. Rita closed in on a building not far from the guild hall, the local gym.


The Fairy went through the doors not stopping to say anything to anyone in her wake. She turned to a punching bag dangling from the ceiling by it's chain. Unhesitatingly, Rita slipped on a pair of cherry red boxing gloves on over her hands. '-You're weak...' She swung a right hook followed by two left jabs. The bag swayed back and fourth from the force of her hits. Her punches kept on coming one after the other. The force of the hits only grew. 'I wouldn't have lost my sense back there and caused a scene...then maybe Axel could of gotten there to help Lance in time.' Her grimace only grew more painful as she thought about it. That blood was practically on her hands.



It hurt so much. Rita had lost her family too, One of many things Lance still didn't know, including her dad. Just like Lance she witnessed her dad,along with the rest of her household, meet his brutal end. Rita hadn't thought about it in such a long time. She had to endure that trauma for such a stupid and pointless cause. All because some one wanted something that some one else had.


Finishing up on  her final strikes, Rita steeped back from the bag. She peeled the gloves off of her now clammy palms and fetched a rag to towel the sweat from her neck. She let out a sigh, patching up her composure.

Lance took his hand off the stone and clemtched his fist "I have to get stronger or else they may hurt Rita or Lea... I can't let that happan!" He thought to himself as he made his way back up the hill and walked with sadness and a mix of anger in his eyes. He made his way through Magnolia quietly and soon reached the local gym.

He had not known Rita had followed him to the grave or that she was in the gym and when he entered he didn't see her and all he paid attention to was a punching bag. He didn't waste any time and he didn't put on gloves before starting to punch the bag as fast and as hard as he could "Damn you!" He said said after every punch he threw. His hands had blisters and they seem to be bleeding quite a lo... It hurt like hell but he didn't stop even though some blood was dripping down from his hand at that point.

He continued to punch with anger in his eyes and a scowl on his face. He started to gain a black aura around him and this time Lea wasn't here to calm him down.

Rita left the locker room, cleansed from a shower and changed into a fresh set of clothes. She reached out to push the doors open but stopped when she heard a familiar voice cursing. She turned, A faint gasp slipped out from her lips once her eyes caught sight of Lance. He was either in a very aggressive mood or just plain stupid to be smashing a punching bag with his bear fists like that. It had to of hurt, his hands were cut and raw, practically oozing with blood. Rita turned back to the door with a grimace. She felt a knot in her stomach and it only got tighter as she listened. She could not bare it.

---

In a single movement. Rita appeared before Lance mid-swing and caught his fist in her palm. She quietly panted while beads of sweat rolled down the sides of her face. Taking a deep breath to steady her breathing, She closed her fingers over his bloody hand. Her eyes narrowed as she met his gaze. Rita wrapped his fists in a thin cloth bandage that she had gotten a hold of "B-Before you say anything I' m not doing this to help you, M-Moron..." she muttered in a stubborn tone as her eyes descended to the floor. She let out a quiet groan as she ran a spare sweaty palm up the side of her face. The shadow mage regained her cold expression and her sights were back on Lance. "Do you really think fighting some one blindly on hatred will get you anywhere?" She whispered, clenching his fist tightly in her hand hand. She grew still and the air between them became silent for a moment, as if she was waiting for something. The pause was broken when Rita pulled a pair of boxing gloves on over his bandaged fists.

Rita let go of Lance and whirled around to catch the punching bag that had been sent swaying wildly against his force. She managed to slow it back down so it only swayed ever so slightly from its chain. The Fairy turned back to Lance with a smirk. "Focus a little more this time, It isn't that hard to hit something without causing a big fuss." Rita said returning some spite into her voice. She backed up and gave Lance a clear target, The punching bag before him.

Lance stared down at Rita when she touched his palms and his aura dissipated as he calmed his breathing "You know its not healthy to not bloody stuff right?" he said with a grimace as she told him that she wasn't doing it to help him. While she put on the bandages Lance kept quiet but stared down at the ground and smiled a bit as he thanks Rita in his mind.

He stood up and listened to her speak and give him a clear shot of the punching bag. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before punching hard and swiftly but calmly as he kept punching for a few more minuets before stopping.

He put his hands behind his head and motioned for Rita to come sit next to him on a bench. If she did come he would stay quiet for a couple of seconds before smiling at her "Thanks for calming me down Rita... what you saw just then... it was nothing..." he muttered as he remembered Rita looking down at the ground with a grimace "Rita? You dont blame yourself for my dad dying still do you?" he asked with actual concern in his eyes.

Rita rolled her eyes at his first comment. Of course you could live healthy without spilling blood, including your own. On the current topic, Lance did better hitting the bag on his second attempt. He finished up rather quickly, making sure not to do anything stupid this time. Rita was glad that she was able to stop him- only so Lea didn't have to heal a pointless injury later of course. She was waved over by Lance. The wizard followed but opposed the idea of sitting down. She didn't intend staying here much longer. That in mind, she remained standing.

"Ghh..." She groaned unpleasantly between gritted teeth. She refused to look at Lance as she responded, fearing to reveal the pain in her eyes.

"Why shouldn't I?" She said sounding regretful "I mistook you and Axel as the enemy back there- and if that had not of happened things would of been different!" She exclaimed, carrying a bitterns into her tone.

Lance listened to Rita's reasoning as to why she blamed herself with a sort of scowl. He had tried to be soft with her but he was getting a bit tired of her blaming herself for what had happened to his dad "Cut the crap!" he said as he looked down at the floor with pain in his eyes while he cried and had clenched fists. He stood up still with clenched fists and looked at Rita with tears streaming from his eyes "If I hadnt hesitated to attack Van none of this shit would have happaned! My Dad would still be alive and he would help me fight off the rest of the Organization!" He yelled as he turned around to exit "But no its not like that... I am weak.. I have to do this alone.." he muttered as he walked out the doors and ran until he was alone on a hill.

He looked up at the sky and felt a chill go up his spine as he heard a voice behind him "That was some show you put on back there Lance!" The man said as he took off his hood "My name is Clash... me and Rita have already met..." he said with a evil grin. Lance looked at Clash with a angry scowl "What the hell do you want..." he growled as Clash put up his hands and laughed "No need to get hostile with me! All I want to do is make you an offer... You join the Organization and be free from all the fighting!" he said as he extended his hand towards Lance. Lance slid one foot backwards and got ready to attack "Why the hell would I do that?..." he growled again and made Clash just smirk evilly "You have no Family, Everyone is mad at you... Just face it... your an outcast like us... with no one to love you..." he said with a evil grin as he let out a laugh and Lance let out a loud yell as he tried to tackle Clash but went right through him. Clash laughed again "Holograms are really nice dont you think?" he said with a chuckle as he continued "Anyway I take it you turn down my offer... fine... but just know that our plans are already put in place... meet me in Joya when the time is right Lance..." he said as he dissipated.

Rita looked up surprised when she heard Lance say something. She wasn't sure if he had said it to reassure her or because she had upset him "C-Cut the crap?" She echoed quietly. "H-Hey, I-" She muttered but was cut off and flinched when she heard his shouting. He headed for the door and she she swept to catch his hand as he left, but missed. The doors slammed themselves shut. He was already long gone. All she could do was stare into nothing, surprised by the course that things had taken. Everyone else in the gym had started to stare. Lance had done a really great job causing a scene. She sighed, agitated. What did he intend to do, running off like that? Now was a bad time to stand here and think about it.

"Tch-."

She followed him out the doors. As soon as she was outside she ran trying to catch up, nearly tripping over her feet a few times in the process. She had found him beside another hill. From a distance she saw him with some one else. He lowered his hood and a light went off in her head. His face rang a bell...Only then did she remember:

"I will take my leave once you answer this question..." He had said upon standing "What do you feel about this boy?" Clash asked as he approached the window, looking back at her "Goodbye Rita Stebern, we will meet again soon but in more... drastic circumstances, but until then think about that question." he mentioned, Exiting through the window. Just then, Rita recalled something else...

She reached down into her left boot and pulled out a card, branded with a symbol. Rita felt that this parchment and the emblem on it had some significance, so she kept it safe all this time. The Fairy stared down at the strange marking, observantly. Rita's eyes drifted back to where Lance and Clash were. Only now...It was just Lance. Rita had almost forgotten- She still had to catch up with Lance before he tried anything stupid again. She quickly folded the card and slid it back into her boot, running in his direction.

"H-Hey wait up, you jerk!" Rita called after Lance, catching up beside him. She paused, holding her knees as she caught her breath. "Don't run off like that." She said, out of air. She stared for a minute. Rita decided to pretend that she hadn't seen Lance with Clash, She preferred not to get too involved in that topic at the moment. That in mind: Rita decided to try and do away with their current issue "Hey, Listen a-about what happened back there." She mumbled. Rita cleared her throat before she said anything else. "I-...I'm sorry okay." She said quietly and almost unaudible. Rita really just wanted things to calm back down. "-Lets just stop being kids, Alright?" She added hesitantly. "We should just go back to the guild or something, today has been quite the train wreck." she commented.

Lance heard Rita's voice and turned to her "Didn't I tell you to-" he was cut off from his words. Rita had started talking about what happened at the gym and even though he could barely hear her apology he understood it just fine. He smiled as he extended his hand and ran it through Rita's hear as he looked down at her with a warm smile "I am sorry to..." he said with a slight chuckle "and I will only forgive you on one condition: You stop blaming yourself for what happened to my Dad." Lance said noticing that his hand was still on her head and took it off with a blush. Now that he was blushing he sort of turned his face away from Rita "I Dont like seeing you sad..." he said quietly and shyly as he took a deep breath and straightened up "Lets head back to the guild..." he said with a quick sigh as he made sure to walk beside her as they made their way back to the guild hall.

On their way back Lance had something he needed to say to her "Rita, thank you for helping me there today... I really do appreciate it..." he told her with a warm smile as he clenched his fist "I want to ask if you will stick with me while I go and fight the Organization and be my anchor that keeps me sane." he said with determination in his eyes as he stopped in front of the doors to the guild to await Rita's response before giving her a quick hug and slightly kissed her on the top of the forehead before pulling away and staring at her for a second before turning away "sorry if I wasted your time today..." he muttered before walking in and heading back over to Lea.

Rita noticed that Lance had elected to put his hand on her head. She rose an eyebrow at him as he hesitantly drew back and geared his head away from Rita. She brushed that detail away and rounded back to his first statement. She gave a stubborn look and crossed her arms as she looked up at him. "Only if you stop blaming yourself too- If anything it was their fault." Rita muttered between pursed lips.

The air between the two went silent as they headed back to the guildhall. Rita opened her mouth as if to speak but Lance said something first. Asking her something very important as they approached the door.

"A-Anchor?" Rita echoed quietly, turning to him. Was Rita really the only one who was able to make sense out of lance when he got that way?  Before she was able to give him an answer she was hugged and quickly pecked on the forehead.

Rita was tempted to swing a punch or something at Lance after had suddenly hugged her and he laid a kiss on her like that, even if it was just a peck on her head. She cringed and gritted her teeth as color began to swell to her face. Rita balled up a fist and reeled her arm back in place, reading a punch for Lance. Only something stopped her from snapping the hit, This time it didn't feel right to show off her aggressive self at a time like this. She abandoned the idea and lowered her fist.  

Lance quickly turned and readied to leave with Lea, before he could go Rita spoke:
"-Eh, Lance. About y-your question." Rita called and paused before she continued "I-I will do it. I'll try my best t-to help you out." she insisted as her gaze avoided Lance.

A long tiered sigh passed her lips. "T-That's all. I'll see you later then."She finished shortly as she turned around and pushed the double doors open, steeping inside the guild hall and allowed them to swing shut behind her.

-Exit-