Disclaimer: El Hazard is owned by AIC/Pioneer LDC. The author owns only the writing. Rock and Redemption Chapter 5: Floristica Down at the Lunch Box, Nanami was holding a private welcoming party for Hiashi. She pestered him for details about the trial and the results. Fujisawa earlier and in private told her, Makoto, and Ifurita what Hiashi's father did to him. Nanami, tactfully, avoided the subject. "So how did that dumb brother of mine act when you told him he was expelled?" "He got so pissed I thought that vein in his forehead would explode. 'Errr I'll have your head for this!'" Hiashi said doing an excellent impersonation of Jinnai. "Having his own private army has done wonders for his ego." Without a complete school uniform he was given an El-Hazard shirt to wear. It had several shades of red and blue with stars on the shoulders. It felt unusual to be wearing it. The shirt was baggy, hanging loosely over his taller frame. He wondered who it was made for as he tried it on. Still it was the best shirt out of the bunch. After wearing suits and ties for so long, it was almost second nature. More than once he tried to adjust a tie which was not there. "He's gotten worse, if you can believe that. Lousy kid." Fujisawa commented. "I still can't believe Afura tried to kill you. I never expected she would be capable of it." Makoto said. "Yeah, what's up with Afura? She hasn't even been in here for a week." Nanami said sadly, "Is something wrong with her?" "Don't know. Hopefully we'll find out at this library." Shayla-Shayla answered. "How far is it?" Hiashi asked. "If we take the air boats and leave first thing in the morning, we'll be there by noon." Miz answered. "So who all is going?" Nanami asked, "So I know how many to cook for. I know Hiashi and the priestesses are going. Who else?" "You couldn't keep me away." Fujisawa said. "I'm going too." was Makoto's response. "Any friend of Makoto is a friend of mine." finished Ifurita. "Wait, what about what Rune said? I thought you weren't allowed outside the castle." Shayla-Shayla asked. "We already found out. The damage of 10,000 years was recorded in my circuits. Makoto simply retrieved the file." "So what have you lost?" "My mass destruction powers were lost when I became an individual. I believe it was a fail-save mechanism. The centuries in the void have damaged my spring. It has forced my life support to draw power from more human sources, food and water. Also I do not last long in battle. My powers drain my spring very quickly. But rest assured I will do everything in my power to defend El-Hazard and my friends." Ifurita said. "Thanks everyone, this means a lot to me." Hiashi said. "Don't worry, pal. We'll beat this." Shayla-Shayla encouraged, slapping him on his still- tender back. Hiashi's eyes grew big from the stinging as he dropped his tea cup. Later Hiashi was being given a tour of the palace. Fuji thought it would brighten his dark mood and give him some feeling of attachment and hope he can soon call El-Hazard home. As they passed by Fatora's wing Hiashi heard her yell, "Riho, PROTECT! I said PROTECT you worthless animal!" "Come one, Riho. Protect Fatora." Alliele prompted. "What's going on in there?" Hiashi asked. "That's Princess Fatora's chambers. Her and her lover, Alliele, are trying to train her new armor cat. Doesn't sound like they're having much success." Fuji explained. Hiashi peaked around the doorway to watch. Riho was held by the scruff of his neck by Fatora. "Damn you, PROTECT! Don't you know anything?! You, what are you doing here? Oh, you're that new Earther. Perhaps you can help me with this stupid so-called armor cat?" she said half-handing, half-throwing Riho to Hiashi. "Maybe you should try being nice to him for a change. Animals usually respect kindness. See?" he started scratching Riho's head who responded appropriately. The cat relaxed visibly and began making itself comfortable. Hiashi smiled politely demonstrating his point. Fatora got mad. Riho never did that with her, never demonstrated that kind of friendliness to her. Now here was this stranger who got further than she did almost instantly. She was a princess, destined to rule. This is not allowable! That fact got her made enough to want to throw something. Not one to hold back, she did. Riho transformed, wrapped around Hiashi in time to protect him from the vase. Hiashi was stunned just as much by Riho's actions as by Fatora's. "Wha--what was that for?" "Get OUT of here!" Fatora shouted. Hiashi started to back out when Fatora demanded Riho get off him and come back. Riho looked back and forth between Hiashi and Fatora before finally sticking his tongue out at Fatora, looking away then finally tried pulling Hiashi out of the room. Fatora started swearing at the both of them. Alliele tried to calm her down. Then Fatora started yelling at her. Her tone sounded all too familiar to Hiashi. He started to turn around when Fuji yanked him back into the hall. "I don't think that was such a good idea. Fatora's been going through a rough time lately. She just got back from a long tour of the northern provinces. I see you got Riho. That's the third armor cat she lost since Ura." "I wonder how many more it will take. Well Riho, are you hungry?" "Hungry, hungry. 'Tora no feed." he answered transforming back. "I'm sure she didn't mean to. It was probably her way of training." Fuji said as they walked down to the kitchen. Hiashi, however was unsure. Years ago he had a cat. Well not really had. More like took care of a stray outside his home. He fed it scraps and played with it until Father found out. "Boys shouldn't play with cats!" he yelled as he slapped his son around. Then he made Hiashi watch as he demonstrated his point by snapping the cat's neck. The memory was horrible, he relived it each time a cat looked at him with those big, playful eyes. He watched Riho eat hungrily in his quarters and began thinking. In his short time in El- Hazard, he had learned a few things about himself. He didn't like all of it. Some things needed to be changed. One thing stuck out in his mind. He gave Riho a good scratch on the head and said, "There's something I got to do. Stay here until I get back." Late that night, there was a knock at Shayla's door. It was Hiashi. " What are you still doing up?" Hiashi spent the last few hours wandering around the palace, trying to decide what to say to her. He hadn't realized the time until he saw Shayla. "I got a lot of rest today. I'm not very tired. Listen, I wanted to apologize for earlier." "Apologize? Apologize for what for crying out loud?" "For attacking you. I acted out of anger. And I'm sorry." "Hey, I threw a fireball at you. You had the right to be mad." "But I didn't have the right to take it out on you!" "Listen, I attacked you. You got mad and defended yourself. Why the hell are you apologizing to me? If anything, you should be demanding an apology from me." "I must keep my anger in control. I will not become my Father." She began to understand his concern, "You know what he did was wrong. You have to trust yourself and know when you're justified to be mad." "No. I must keep myself in check. Father's been hurting me for as long as I can remember. Unless I constantly watch myself, I will resort to the only tactics I've known: his." Shayla began to wonder how much she could help him. She was never one to bottle up her anger, choosing to express it whenever it came. That's why she was perfectly suited to the job of fire priestess. But she never hurt anyone who didn't truly deserve it. Even when she first saw the real Makoto at the hot springs and he accidently groped her, all she did was give him a good scare. On the other hand, maybe she was the perfect teacher. Putting her hand on his shoulder she said, "You have to learn to release your anger, but in a way so no one gets hurt. People know when I get mad, but I haven't burn down any buildings because of it. At least not too many." "How comforting." he said unconvinced. "Ahh don't be such a party pooper. Get in here." She said as she pulled him inside. She slammed the door and turned him towards it. "Now don't peek. Got it?" "Got it." Hiashi said, closing his eyes tight. He trusted Shayla for some reason, but he wasn't going to risk getting her mad. He heard some rummaging for a moment before Shayla said, "OK, let's go." He turned around to see Shayla dressed in her uniform activating her powers. The fire shield wings formed around her. "Go ahead." she coaxed. "But this is the same thing Afura said would get me executed." "Each priestess is given jurisdiction over her element. Right now, I'm making you a provisional member. That means you have to do what I say. Now get those wings up." Hiashi closed his eyes and began to visualize the wings. He didn't realize it at first, but a second later, he was floating under his own power. "Way to go Hiashi!" Shayla-Shayla said clapping, "Now I'm going to teach you a few things about elemental magic. Follow me!" as she flew out the window. She waited outside a moment until Hiashi shot out. "Need to work on speed control!" she coached. The first lesson lasted only an hour. Shayla-Shayla was dead on her feet by the time she called it a night. Hiashi had made outstanding progress, he seemed to have a special knack for flying. While far from an expert flier, he was no longer a novice. With a bit more practice, he would almost be as good as Shayla-Shayla. Hiashi said it had a lot to do with something called video games. They both laughed as Shayla leaned against Hiashi's shoulder as they returned to the castle. Hiashi was surprised that the workout didn't tire him as much as it should have. But he reasoned that flying involved the use of his powers and not muscles. So he was in a way free of one aspect of his condition. As long as his powers did the work for him, he could be active longer before getting tired. Below Makoto and Ifurita had been watching them. "He's full of surprises." Makoto said. "Not all of them pleasant it would seem." "How did he endure that kind of pain?" "You learn to accept it. Locking away the pain inside you, keeping it buried. You create all sorts of excuses to explain why it was happening. It was easier for me, being lost in the void. I went willingly and I knew that it would end. All I had to do was endure. Hiashi had to endure also, but he did not know for how long. That takes strength. Like me, he has been given a second life in El-Hazard. I will not let that life go to waste because of some stupid old law." Makoto took her hand and said, "I promise you, you will never be alone again." They closed the window both for their privacy and Hiashi's.