He found her standing in the middle of the battleground, surrounded by the ashes of the demons she felled. She was standing still, posture relaxed, and Gabriel wondered how she could ever look so at peace in spite of the demon blood splattered on her clothes and the menacing weapon held loosely in her good hand. Her other hand was injured, wrapped haphazardly with a piece of cloth torn from her shirt, but she ignored it the way she ignored all the other wounds and cuts all over her body.
She was a warrior through and through, and peace was a luxury paid for in blood and tears, bought for her friends first and herself last.
He watched as she closed her eyes as she lifted her head to face the sun. Slowly, her lips turned up in the smallest of smiles.
Gabriel forgot how to breathe.
He had always known she was beautiful, stunningly so especially in the dying sun. He watched as she bathed in its rays for a few more seconds that seemed to Gabriel like forever, and then she opened her eyes and the peace on her face was gone, replaced by the hard, fierce look she was famous for.
Still, Gabriel stood spellbound, mesmerized by the way her brown eyes turned into gold whenever they caught the light, and one glance was enough to cause palpitations in his poor, besotted heart. The light settled on her not quite like a halo, but a brilliant, blinding beam that threatened to set her on fire but never quite won, because she was the fire. She was the furious flame that razes everything standing to the ground (including him), turning all beautiful things to dust and ashes (like his heart), and leaves nothing but burnt earth (and broken hearts) behind.
But he had learned that from burnt earth, something new could rise again, and he realized that hers was the fire that cleanses as much as it destroys, and suddenly he realized that it was alright to fall in love with her, if it meant catching even the smallest of embers she always left behind in her wake.
Because growing up, all Gabriel had seen in his dreams were water, deep, dark waters, and it was always cold. It was cold in his sleep and cold even when he was awake, when his dreams were pushed back in his mind, but never quite forgotten. The cold terrified Gabriel just as much as the waters did, but whenever he was with Solenn, her fire was so strong, so fierce, so bright, that they pushed the cold away and turned the waters to harmless vapor.
"Gabriel?" Lukas' voice on his earpiece broke the spell. It was followed by a wave of static sound. "Gabriel, Solenn, you there? You copy?"
"Uh, yeah," he said. "Yes, I'm here."
"Finally! We've been trying to reach you since we heard the first sounds of battle, but the Link got busted when the demon waves hit. Mateo was furious. Expect that we will be having demon-proof communication devices by the end of the week. Anyway, you okay?"
"We're good. The ambush surprised us, but we recovered quickly."
"Anyone hurt?"
"Nothing life-threatening. The usual scratches and wounds."
Lukas clucked his tongue. "Meaning, you're all going to bleed all over my hospital's sheets again."
"Only the captain. She got the worst hit."
Lukas sighed. "Doesn't she always?"
"I heard that," Solenn's voice snapped over their communication link. "And because of your lovely attitude, Lukas, I'll make sure I'll drown all of your immaculate white sheets in blood."
"Always a pleasure to hear your lovely voice, babe," Lukas quipped. "Always a pleasure."
"Whatever. Die," Solenn said. "Is Mateo there?"
"Here, Cap," Mateo replied over the line.
"The Link doesn't work against the sound waves these demons emitted."
"I'm on it, Cap," Mateo promised, the fury in his voice barely controlled. Gabriel knew how much Mateo hated it when his gadgets failed. His latest was the Link, a small, barely detectable earpiece that allows them to communicate via the Net. It was handy for whenever they have missions, and it became a protocol to open it every time they went out. The Link was a fusion of a cellphone and a communications link. When it was opened, the Link would connect all of them to the command center and each other, but outside of missions it could function as a cellphone. Gabriel loved it, but it meant he couldn't have manly talks (the girls called them 'dude gossip') with the guys when the Link was on.
"I swear, those demons get more and more annoying," Mateo grumbled. "You'll all have new earpieces tomorrow."
"You want to transfer divisions, Mateo?" Solenn teased. She was addressing somebody else, but it sent huge eagles soaring in Gabriel's stomach. "I could use another Alpha in my squad."
"No, thanks, I'm good in Beta," Mateo replied with a small laugh. His voice crackled in the static. "Besides, if I were an Alpha, who else would make cool gadgets for you?"
"Point. Stay right where you are and make me more cool weapons."
"Anyway," Lukas interrupted, "come back to the Citadel now, because Samson's been asking for you since forever and he's just about three screams away from busting a carotid. Solomon's just about ready to set someone on fire, too."
Solenn immediately appeared on Gabriel's side, causing him to jolt a bit. Thankfully, she didn't notice it, busy scowling at nothing and everything in general. "Worrywarts. You would think that those two didn't trust me at all."
"Yeah, right," Solomon's voice popped into the Link. "Because you didn't level an entire training ground when I came back a day late during my last mission. That was just an accident, yeah?"
"Shut up, Sol," Solenn snapped. "I'll pound you to pieces when I get back, you better believe it. Joana, you looped in? Is there a nearby puésto we can use? Because my geomap is busted and my arm is a bit broken and I really don't want to fly all those miles back to the Citadel."
"I'm here," Joana replied. "Wait, I'm scanning the perimeter." For a moment, the only sound the team heard was of her fingers flying over the panels of her system, before she made a sound of victory. "Two miles southwest of where you are, there's a puésto that popped up. It will bring you straight to the outskirts of Cielos, but you have to hurry up. From its movements, it looks like it will be gone within the hour. I already sent the coordinates to your HPs."
Joana was barely done with her sentence when Gabriel heard a small beep. He shook his wrist to activate the holographic control panel (which they had taken to calling HP, short for Holographic Phone) and noted the puésto's location. With another shake of his wrist, the hologram disappeared. Really, when was he going to get used to these super awesome Guardian gadgetry?
"Copy. Thanks, Jo." Solenn hefted her weapon to the latch at her back and looked at Gabriel for the first time since they completely destroyed all the demons at the site. "You did good."
Gabriel had to clear his throat so it wouldn't come out as a squeak. "Thanks. You did, too."
"Don't I, always?" Solenn smirked and nodded at their sky surfers. "Now let's go get to that puésto and go home."
Home.
Once upon a time, home to Gabriel was a small orphanage at the back of a church in the middle of the busiest city in the Philippines, run by a priest and a nun, with a handful of little hellions that seemed like a hundred when they stampeded up and down the halls.
But now, home was a glass city with floating streets studded with brilliant gems and jewels, with flying automobiles and moving walkways. Home was a two-storey house on the outskirts of the city, surrounded by vast private land with a majestic view of the mountains and the sea. Home was shared with six warriors—friends—and a middle-aged man who functioned as their father and commander and babysitter and punisher and executioner all at once.
Solenn was standing by Buhawi, when Gabriel shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now was not the time to reminisce. She was waiting for him, and for a moment Gabriel was surprised that she had not yet thrown a tantrum — a rare feat considering her legendary temper and impatience. "Within the week, Die'Erde."
Or not.
Gabriel moved to hoist the Memorare over his shoulder and walked over to his own sky surfer (he'd yet to give it a name). "Coming!"
"Finally," Solenn huffed with a roll of her eyes. "Let's go home, Gabriel." She started the engine and revved away into the sunset before Gabriel even reached his own ride.
Solenn once said that she loved chasing the sun, loved going after it and bathing in its rays whenever she caught them, but as Gabriel started his own sky surfer and sped after the captain, he felt like he was the one chasing the sun.
Andhe wouldn't have it any other way.
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Dear readers,
"Champions" has been nominated in the Filipino Readers' Choice Awards! Help me please push our Champions to the top, so that we could empower more people into becoming true heroes?
Here's where you can vote: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2308869/Filipino-Readers-Choice-Awards-2015-Online-Ballot
One email serves as one ballot, so for those who have tons of email addresses, I would super appreciate your love! <3
God bless you all, my Champions!