Samaritan
written by YEN
10/29/99
final edit (02/05/2000)
 

Yui stared at the man lying lifelessly on the floor in front of her. I didn't mean to kill him... Bowing her head, she blinked and wiped tears away. Tears because of the flash bomb or... She closed her eyes tightly. I had no choice... He would have killed me if I hadn't defended myself.

Lifting her head, she reached for her compiece when she noticed blood dripping from his arm to the floor. She blinked again, watching as the blood welled then dripped in a steady rivulet to the floor. The poison had also kept his blood from clotting and closing the wound.

...Bleeding... She realized. ...If he's bleeding, that means... She quickly kneeled and bent over him, pressing fingers against his throat. His pulse beat weakly but steadily. He's alive! ... still alive... She stared at him, relief and duty battling for supremacy in her.

...He'll die soon... She continued staring at him, then retrieved the antidote from her sword. Holding the vial in her mouth, she lifted him up to a sitting position and braced his upper torso against herself. His head lolled back and rested against her breasts. She blushed, then shook her head mentally. ...Now is not the time, Yui... She reprimanded herself, quickly opening the vial and pouring the antidote into his mouth. She tilted his head up and massaged his throat, making sure that it was swallowed.

Then, she lowered him back gently to the floor, noticing the ugly lump at the back of his head. She glanced at the nearby generator stand. His head must have hit the edge when he fell...

She looked back at him again. ...What am I doing?! They'll still kill him when I bring him in... She closed her eyes again. He'd be better off dead from the poison than from torture...

...What am I going to do?
 

He woke up with a splitting headache. Grimacing from the pain, he lifted his head and carefully felt the source of the throbbing ache. He winced again when he felt the swollen and tender flesh. ...What happened...?

"You are awake..."

He immediately sat up, then laid back again, dizzy from the sudden movement. ...That voice... "...You changed your mind?"

"...About letting you die? Yes."

He closed his eyes, his throat felt so dry. "How long will I have to live?"

"... That depends on you..."

He opened his eyes again and blinked. The room was altogether too bright and his vision a bit blurry. He reached up a hand to rub his eyes. "...Where's my glasses?!" He demanded, twisting his body and ended up falling to the floor. He landed on his knees and arms hard, but ignored the pain and cried out, "You can torture me all you want! Just please, give me back my glasses!"

He felt cool hands on his shoulders and shrugged them off savagely. "Give them back!" He got up and turned. The woman who had defeated him was staring at him with a helpless expression on her face. He grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Where are they?!"

A sharp pain forced his head back, then another. Surprised, he released her and backed away.

"You will get them back, I promise," she said calmly, rubbing her hand. Her golden eyes looked at him seriously then gentled. "Right now, you need to rest. You are suffering from the aftereffects of the poison and antidote. Not to mention a big bump on your head, several lacerations, and loss of blood."

He remained still, staring at her, and she smiled. "Just get some sleep. You'll feel so much better in the morning..."
 
 

Dead... they were all dead... Numb, he fell to his knees, staring blindly at the lifeless bodies of his family... Why...? Why didn't I die with them?!

All right, people, clear this mess up. We have a lot of bodies to dispose off.

Sir, what about the boy?

What boy?

The only one who survived the plague.

Really... Hmm, he might have antibodies to the virus. Better send him to the lab.

He sat there, ignoring the workers around him. They look strange, scary, dressed up in big plastic suits with huge transparent masks on. They ignored him also as they began putting all the dead people in again large plastic bags. As they lifted Seiran's shrouded body, something shiny fell to the ground.

He stood up slowly and went over to pick it up. It was his brother's glasses.

Flames suddenly burst from the kitchen.

That's it! Everyone, clear out!

He screamed, "What are you doing?!"

He felt a hand on his shoulder and glanced back to see one of the workers in a plastic suit.

C'mon, boy, we have to go. They're burning everything to make sure the place is clean.

No! They're destroying my home!

That can't be helped. C'mon, we have to go now!
 

Yui stood in front of the shield generator and closed her eyes, trying to recall where the spy's glasses had flown off to. ... He attacked, I threw the flare ball, it lit as I charged him, and he fell back as I slashed at him...

She opened her eyes and headed for the only dark area in the chamber, the shadow cast by the control module located at the side of the generator. ... Nothing...

She frowned. ... Where is it? She sighed softly. What if someone else had picked it up? It was already several hours since she had challenged, defeated and rescued the saboteur, not to mention cleaned his blood from the area. ... Why am I even doing this...? She wondered. All this trouble for an enemy...

"Yui?"

She gasped in surprise and whirled around. Azuire was looking at her curiously. "Uncle..."

He smiled benignly at her. "Someone told me she saw you heading this way."

"Uh..."

"I was worried when you abandoned your position in the barricade so abruptly." He frowned. "Ishmael and Caleb kept on inquiring where you went."

She blushed when he continued, "Those two are very serious about you."

"Um..."

"But I rather you don't choose either of them." He winced. "They give me headaches."

She finally managed to say something, "Don't worry, Uncle, I'm not interested in any of them."

"Oh good," he beamed, "By the way, look what I found." He held out his palms, and she almost cried out in relief when she saw the pair of glasses.

"Too bad it's broken." His hands separated and so did the glasses. "The Chu chu would have paid a pretty penny for a rare antique like this."

"..."

"See where the frame parted. It's a very clean cut. The grain of the metal was hardly disturbed, but even that, it will never be the same again." He glanced at her. "Do you have any idea who this belongs to?"

Yui swallowed, hoping fervently that he didn't noticed her discomfort. "Yes..."

"Oh," he interrupted, handing over the glasses to her. "I'm sure he'll want it back."

She stared at him as he chatted on. "Hmm... he'll need a replacement for them... Why don't you offer him Gaspar's glasses? Your grandfather never used them anyway. Such a waste he never did..." ? "Little one, why the blank look? Don't you remember? The glasses you used to play with when you were a child... Or did you misplaced them?" He lifted an eyebrow questioningly.

"N-no," she stammered, "I remember where they are."

"Good." He smiled again. "Makes me feel good knowing that I raised you up to be a responsible person."

She nodded meekly. "Yes, Uncle, thank you. I better go now-"

"Hmm... Of course, Yui. You young people are so busy these days. Go now." He shooed her off warmly. "But remember, there is a Solarian Invasion Fleet on our doorstep. Don't forget your duty."

She swallowed hard again. "I won't, Uncle."

She turned to leave then frozed when he asked, "By the way, why did you come here anyway?" She tensed. "Oh, never mind, no doubt you were concerned that Solaris might have send someone to sabotage the generators." Yui almost fainted. "Wise thought, child. If I were the fleet commander, I would do the very same thing. There is no way Solaris could invade Shevat with the barrier shields present."

...Confess to him... Yui turned back to him. "Uncle-"

"However, no need for concern since there is obviously no Solarian spy. If there was, we would be in serious jeopardy at this moment."

She repeated, "Uncle-"

"If there had been a spy, then he must have lost nerve or someone prevented him from accomplishing his directive." Azuire chuckled. "That someone would also have to be a Good Samaritan."

"Unc... huh?"

He smiled indulgently at her. "Don't tell me you have forgotten the "Parable of the Good Samaritan." She continued looking at him blankly. "I used to tell the story to you to get you to go to sleep, but then, I did tell you many bedtime stories." There was a reminiscent look in his eyes.

"Jesus replied, "A man fell victim to robbers as he went down from Jerusalem to Jerico. They stripped and beat him and went off leaving him half-dead. A priest happened to be going down that road, but when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. Likewise a Levite came to the place, and when he saw him, he passed by on the opposite side. But a Samaritan traveler who came upon him was moved with compassion at the sight. He approached the victim, poured oil and wine over his wounds and bandaged them. Then he lifted him up on his own animal, took him to an inn and cared for him.""

Yui smiled, nostalgic, when he finished, "I remember..." She tilted her head to the side, looking back at him fondly. "You loved to read from that old thick book, which you called The Bible."

"Uh hmm... I prefer to read from it, because it was so effective in getting you to fall asleep."

"... Oh, I see," Yui said slowly, "but in this case, the Good Samaritan would also be the robber..."

"True, but the lesson of the story is that the Samaritan showed him kindness; even though, he had no reason to be merciful."
 
 

Author's note/babble:

The "Parable of the Good Samaritan" was taken from Luke 10: 30-34. The Bible I followed is The New American Bible: The New Catholic Translation. ^^ Please tell me if I got anything wrong.

Eh... Azuire is quite a chatterbox, isn't he? (sweatdrop) What do you think? Does he or doesn't he know about you know who? ^^ At this point of the story, even I don't know.

This is the first time I have actually used a reference from the Bible, or any material for that matter. ^^ While writing this, the parallels between the stories suddenly occurred to me, and it isn't only the Samaritan part either. There is a deeper meaning to it all. Can you see it?

Oh, ^^ and if you read Significance, that part of the Epilogue fits rather nicely in this fic. Actually, I had thought to name this chapter Significance, but decided not to, since I already have a Xenogears fanfic called Significance.
 

Yen^^
alex@gsilink.com

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Worlds Collide