To the Skies

Nev--I love the idea of Cid's mom being kind of a hardass. He's gotta get a start from somewhere. :D And I'm glad you like this so far. I've got a lot in store for little Cid Highwind! Thank you, as always, for kicking ass and taking names.

Firework--Wow, thank you. :) As I told Nev--I've got a lot in store for Cid, so I'm hoping I'll be able to keep your interest. Thank you for viewing! :)


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Hahahaha! (Crazy Alexander, from Hellsing. Note: He's not really called Crazy Alexander. That's just what I call him.)
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Cid came out the doorway to the school. Immediately, Fletcher grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him forward.

"C"mon. We need to get home."

Cid stumbled and regained his balance. "Wassamatter with you?"

"Shut up," his brother ordered and strode ahead of him down the dusty road.

Cid glared at his brother"s back and followed silently. He could feel loathing that burned in him like acid. He just wanted to grab Fletcher and beat his face in.

"Hurry up, Cid!"

Why was Fletcher in such a hurry to get back to the house? Usually he stayed forever, talking to his friends or playing baseball, leaving Cid walk home alone.

Cid quickened his pace and came to his brother"s side. "What"s goin" on, Fletcher?"

"Shut up!" Fletcher snapped. "Just come on."

Cid seethed but he walked silently beside his brother.

There was a strange sight when they came in view of the house.

They could see two long, black, shiny cars. A couple men were going in and out of the house with a few bags.

Fletcher stopped, grabbing Cid"s shoulder to still him. "Wait a minute."

A man came out just once more with a knapsack. He put it, with the others, in the trunk of one of the cars.

Cid recognized it. It was blue. And it was his. "That"s mine!" he yelped, pointing at it as the trunk lid was slammed down.

"Come on," Fletcher ordered him. They took off at a run.


They flew into the house.

Cid"s mother was sitting at the table with her forehead in her hands. Morgan, wearing her new dress and shiny shoes, sat at the head of the table. She was crying. The two men they had seen were standing before the table. One of them turned to look at them when they came in. He cocked his thumb and turned back to Cid"s mother.

"Is this them?"

When Laina Highwind lifted her face out of her hands, they saw that her eyes were red-rimmed with tears. She took a couple steadying breaths and nodded, staring at the table.

The two men started to walks towards them. Fletcher shoved Cid behind him. "What"s going on?"

Morgan looked up and, with a gasp and a fresh wave of sobs, she hopped off her chair and ran to Fletcher and Cid. "She"s sending us away!"

Fletcher stared at her for a moment and then, slowly, he looked at their mother. Morgan ducked behind Fletcher to Cid, wrapping her arms around his waist, crying. Cid looked around Fletcher"s elbow, too stunned to speak.

Sending us away"

"You"re sending us away?" Fletcher asked her, staring at her.

She wouldn"t look at him. She seemed to have locked eyes with the table, tears dripping onto the wood. "You"re going to Lineway."

"What"s Lineway?"

One of the men, a dark-haired man spoke up, "It"s a military academy. Usually it costs a hefty price to send kids there, especially three of you. Lucky for you, your old man worked there when he was fresh out of training and he made a few friends. Your mother managed to pull some strings and get you in."

"Lucky?" Fletcher repeated, baffled. "What"s lucky about it?" He jerked his gaze back to his mother. "Why are you sending us away?"

His mother closed her eyes, swallowed hard and looked at the locked basement door.

Cid heard his brother take a ferocious breath through his teeth. "Because of him?!" He shouted, pointing at the door. "We have to leave because of him?!"

The other man, with fair hair, who had pointed at them when they"d first entered, said, "It"s for your own protection. Your father has severe""

"No. No," Fletcher interrupted, waving his hand. "You"re telling me we have to leave because of that asshole?" He glared at his mother. "Why don"t you leave? Why don"t we all leave? He can be crazy in the basement by himself."

Cid"s mother surged up from her chair, slamming her fist down on the table. "You will not talk about him like that."

"I don"t care""

"He is your father!"

"He"s never acted like! Ever since he came back from the war he"s been""

"That"s not his fault. There"s nothing we can do about it."

"So you"re sending us away?! What, so you can take care of him?! You can"t really think we"re going to leave you here with that crazy""

Laina Highwind strode up to her oldest son and slapped him on the unbruised side of his face. She leaned in close. "Unless you"ve been in a war, you cannot understand what it can do to you. I will not tolerate you talking about your father that way."

Fletcher had tears in his eyes but he glared at his mother. "You can"t do this"you can"t send us away like this. You can"t handle him on your own."

"I"ll be fine."

She"s really doing this. She"s sending us away"

"Mom"," Cid whispered, curling his fingers into Fletcher"s shirtsleeve.

She glanced down at him and her lip trembled. She turned away.

"Mom," Fletcher said. He reached out and grabbed her arm. "Don"t do this. We can help you."

"I"ll get Fletcher up every morning," Cid threw in, grabbing his brother"s arm now and coming to his side. "I promise. I"ll wear shoes from now on. Whatever you want."

Sniffling, Morgan crept into view. "I"ll eat all my breakfast. I"ll clean up and learn to read better and everything."

"I"ll stop played Gun Tag," Cid promised her. He could feel tears in his eyes. "I won"t track dirt in anymore. I won"t go out to the plains."

His mother smiled at him and she knelt down in front of him. She hugged Cid and Morgan together.

She"s changed her mind! She"s going to let us stay!

But when she pulled away, tears were streaming down her face and she was shaking her head. "I can"t let you stay here. I don"t want him to hurt you. I want you to remember your father for what he was."

"We do," Cid told her, his voice trembling. "We"ll help you."

She lifted a hand and wiped a tear from Morgan"s face. "You can"t help him." She kissed each of them and got up. She looked at Fletcher. She wrapped her arms around him. He stayed still, arms at his side, staring over her shoulder. She kissed his cheek and pulled away.

When she did, he looked at her, shaking his head. "Don"t do this"," he begged her, softly.

"It"s time to go," said the dark-haired man, checking his watch. "I"m sorry," he murmured, not unkindly. "We need to have them there to meet the headmaster by tomorrow morning."

Their mother"s lip trembled again. She touched Fletcher"s face and turned away.

"Mom!" Fletcher stared forward, but the dark-haired man grabbed him. "Mom, don"t!" He struggled wildly, but the dark-haired man wrestled him out the door.

Morgan tried to run to her mother also"and the fair-haired man grabbed her up in his arms. She screamed and sobbed, pounding the man"s back as he carried her out the door.

Cid stood silently in the doorway for several moments, watching his mother"s shoulders shake, hearing her quiet sobs. He felt dazed, as if someone had hit him with a baseball bat. "Mom"," he whispered.

"Come on, son," said a voice. He looked up. The fair-haired man was back and extending a hand to him.

He felt a sob threaten to overwhelm him. He bit his lip, hard, and screwed his eyes shut. He tried as hard as he could to keep it in, to keep still, to be strong. When he looked up, his vision was blurred with tears. "Mom"," he whispered again, voice broken by the lump in his throat.

She didn"t look at him.

It was like a door being slammed in his face. He looked at the floor and then up at the man.

He took his hand.

The blond man led him to one of the two cars. Morgan was already buckled in, sobbing.

"Your brother is in the car ahead of us," the fair-haired man told him, setting him in the soft seat and buckling his seat belt.

"Did you hurt him?" Cid murmured, still feeling dazed.

The man paused. "No. We figured it"d be safer for him and us if he rode with my partner. You"ll see him when we get to Lineway."

"If you hurt him, I"ll kill you." Cid was still staring at his lap, feeling detached, but he saw the man"s hands pause.

"We won"t hurt him, son."

The man pulled away and the door slammed. Somewhere in the background, Cid heard engines start. He lifted his head and looked out the window. He could see his mother inside, head on her hands at the dining table.

The car started to move.

Cid turned, craning his neck as the car moved down the road. He watched until he couldn"t see the house anymore. He watched until the great, emerald plains disappeared. He watched until his eyes stung with tears again.

He turned in his seat. Morgan was still crying quietly to his right. He put an arm around her and she leaned against his shoulder.

He couldn"t look at her. He stared out the window at quickly passing fields. He wiped his eyes.

I"ll never cry again.

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