A/N: Yay! This is my first Jak fic . . . so please no flames! This fic has some spoilers from Jak II and Jak III. Pairings are as follows: TornxKeira and a little JakxAshelin. I don't know if it'll eventually end up as JakxKeira but oh well . . . Set after JakIII.
Disclaimer: I do not any of the characters from Jak2 nor Jak3. They belong to Naughty Dog.
Redemption
Chapter 1- How?
Keira scowled in disgust at the two figures dancing in front of her. Jak and Ashelin. They were in the Naughty Ottsel, celebrating the defeat of Cyber Erol and the Dark Makers. Everyone except her seemed to be having fun. Daxter and Tess sat by the bar kissing each other, Sig and her father were drinking and telling stories, Pecker was talking to some lady bird he had encountered earlier, and Onin was drinking to her heart's content. It looked like the party held two years ago, except . . . .
Except she was with him . . .
'How?' Keira thought. How could it have happened? Why was Ashelin in Jak's arms? Didn't Jak love her? And what about Torn? It was all wrong! Ashelin and Jak didn't belong together. Jak belonged to . . . her.
Keira glared as the two kissed. They were kissing! In front of her. She couldn't take it anymore. Seeing them kiss was too much for her to bear. She couldn't stand being in the same room with them any longer. She walked away, sure that nobody would miss her.
Torn sat in the shadows watching Jak and Ashelin's every move. It disgusted him. Jak was his friend right? If he was, then why did he take Ashelin from him? And her? Didn't she have the decency to say no to Jak? Didn't she realize how much he loved her?
He looked up to see Keira marching off. Wondering what was wrong with her, he looked back at the couple to see them kissing. He shook his head and left.
Keira closed her eyes and let the tears fall. She wanted nothing but to die. How could this have happened?
"Hey," A gruff voice said from behind her.
"Leave me alone," Keira snapped, letting her bangs fall over her eyes so he wouldn't see her tears. She didn't let Jak see them did she? So why should she let him?
Torn sat beside her, gazing at the moon above them. He could hear her sniffling, but he tried to ignore it ad listened to the lapping of the ocean instead.
Keira hated him. It was all his fault. If he hadn't introduced Jak and Ashelin, none of this would've happened. Nor would she have found Jak and Daxter. But wasn't that better than seeing Jak with another?
"I'm sorry," Torn's quiet voice interrupted he thoughts. Keira looked up at him, confused.
"Sorry?"
"This is all my fault. If I hadn't asked Jak to help Ashelin then maybe you and Jak would still be together. And Ashelin would still be mine."
"It's too late for apologies now, don't you think?" Keira spat. She couldn't help it. She was too angry. She heard Torn sigh, and looked up to see him staring at her. "What!" she demanded. She didn't want to be rude but she couldn't help herself.
"He was stupid to let you go, you know? You're actually quite beautiful."
Keira shook her head and laughed. "Yeah, but she's more beautiful. She's gorgeous, she's rich . . . and she has a beautiful body, all curvy and unlike my skinny and petite figure. She's everything a man would ever dream of! You should know." the tears from Keira's eyes started to fall again. She hastily wiped them away and looked away from him.
Torn didn't know what to say. Instead he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. "It's okay to cry."
Keira laughed and pulled Torn's arm out of her shoulder. "You do know I hate the woman you love right?"
"I know. If it matters, I hate Jak too," Torn said trying to make Keira laugh again. He was surprised to see her crying.
"How could he do this? I loved him my whole life and I thought he felt the same way for me !" I've known him since we were kids, and I was sure it would be us together. I was right there! Didn't he see that ! I gave him all my life, my love, my soul! I sold myself just so I could find him and . . . and . . ." Keira's silent tears turned in to sobs. "How could he do this to me?"
Torn patted her arm and let him cry in his arms. "It's okay . . ."
"No it is not okay! My life is falling apart can't you see !" Keira pushed him away. "You know . . . sometimes I just wish I'd never come here. Everything has been wrong ever since we came."
Torn said nothing.
Keira smiled at him. "I'm sorry. No matter how hard I try, I just can't bring myself to stop hating you Torn. Or Ashelin for that matter." Keira stood up and started walking away.
"Where are you going?" Torn asked.
Keira shrugged. "Who knows? Don't worry, nobody is going to miss me" With that said, Keira jumped in to her zoomer and flew off.
Keira's POV:
Where am I supposed to go now? I looked around me. It was such a mess. But thankfully the war was over.
I saw the Freedom League guards cleaning up the last of the Metal Heads and the KG bots.
"Miss, it's dangerous out here. It's better if you head on home ma'am. We'll escort you." I looked up to see a Freedom League soldier holding out his hand to help me.
I smiled. Two years before, they would have rudely pushed me away. They wouldn't have bothered helping me. "It's okay," I told him. "I can handle myself." I smiled and continued on with my journey. To where exactly? I didn't know. What I knew though was that I wanted to go home. But I was home wasn't I?
Grief engulfed me as I tried to imagine Sandover Village. How I wished I could go back there. To feel the beneath my feet again, to feel the warm ocean, and hear the peaceful lapping of the ocean. I wanted to go back. Life was so wonderful back then. It was only me, Jak, and Daxter.
I laughed as I remembered the promise we made. Best friends forever. The three of us. But now, we were slowly drifting apart. Jak didn't pay attention to me anymore . . . even Daxter stopped paying attention to me.
Nobody cared for me anymore. Not my best friends, not my dad since all he seemed to care about were Jak's destiny and all those Precursor craps. Not one gave a single damn about me. I was all alone. I was all alone . . . just like when I first came. No friends . . . no nothing.
I slumped down on the ground and cried. The tears were from frustration and . . . loneliness? Was I that lonely? Yes. I could never fit in with them all. They were adventurers . . . I . . . what was I? I was a mechanic . . . what use was I? I hugged my knees to my chest as the rain started to pour down on me.
I sobbed for . . . how long? Until I lost my energy probably. But the tears were still there. As was the rain. I leaned against the alley wall hoping somebody would save me . . .
Torn's POV :
I walked back to the Naughty Ottsel an hour after that talk with Keira. It surprised me to know that she hated me. I wouldn't blame her. I'd hate me too if I was her.
Judging by the loud music inside, I guessed that the party was still on. I went inside to see that most of them, (surprisingly not Daxter) were drunk. Sig's face was so red, he looked like a tomato. Tess was talking to Onin. Weird. Just earlier this morning she was a human and now . . . she looked like furball over there. The green thing was looking around. Probably searching for his daughter.
Jak and Daxter were talking and laughing along with Ashelin and . . . is that Jinx? Yeah it's him . . . and . . . who's the weirdo in the rubber mask? And the big guy? Oh. They're probably from the Wasteland. Seem and Kleiver was it? Probably. Where was Keira? Hmm . . . she probably went home.
"Has anyone seen Keira?" I heard gramps asked. Should I tell him I saw her earlier? Nah. It's none of my business. Nobody seemed to be listening to him. Wow. These people were so ignorant. Didn't Keira matter to them? Or were they just deaf? I sighed.
I went over to the green sage and sat down beside him. He glanced around worriedly before looking up at me.
"Ahh Torn. Have you seen Keira? She's been gone an awful long time."
"She probably went home," I said. Hey, it was a possibility. She did say she was going anywhere but here.
"No. I have the keys to the house."
I thought for a minute. "Maybe she has an extra key."
"No," Samos told me.
Oh. So much for that theory.
"I hope she comes back soon. At least call on her communicator. It's raining outside. Where could she be?"
I looked out the window and saw that it was indeed raining. "I'll go look for her"
"Oh, thank you Torn." Samos smiled gratefully.
I nodded. As I was heading outside, I saw Onin looking at me. Did she know something? Oh well.
Where was she ! I cursed silently as the rain fell on me. She couldn't be stupid enough to go wondering in the rain could she? I searched the city for about half an hour when I finally saw her zoomer. I looked around. No Keira. I saw a bunch of Freedom League fighters cleaning in the corner. I went over to them and asked if they had seen Keira.
"She has green hair? You know . . . she's about average height, and she's wearing a white top and green suspenders?"
"Oh her. Yes I did see her a while back. The little miss declined when I offered to help her. Walked away. That was probably an hour later."
"Did you see where she went?"
"No sir."
I thanked the soldier and decided I had to search for her by foot. You never know, she might be hiding around in the alleys.
Another half an hour passed before I came across another alley way. Hell why not? I've searched every alley I passed didn't I? Might as well search this one too.
I was about to give up when I saw Keira's keys lying in the ground. I rounded up the corner to see another alley. I decided to look there and found her.
Keira's POV:
I heard footsteps coming closer. I looked up and saw Torn. What was he doing here? Did he decide to look for me? I looked away from him and buried my face in my knees.
"Hey," I heard him say.
I didn't answer him. Make him leave. I prayed silently. I want to be alone.
"Keira?" I felt his hand on my shoulder and jerked it away.
"What?"
"What are you doing here?" I felt him kneel beside me. I didn't say anything. I finally looked up to see him looking at me with . . . was it pity?
Rage started to build up inside me. "Don't feel sorry for me." I angrily spat at him.
"No . . . I . . . can I help you then?"
I closed my eyes an sighed.
"It's raining. You might catch a cold," he said.
"What do you care?" I finally opened my eyes to see him standing offering his hand to help me.
"But I do care. I want to help you." I saw his eyebrows cross together to form a frown.
"I don't need your help. I don't need anybody's health." What was this guy's problem? Didn't he understand a word I said?
I heard him sigh. I didn't care if I was annoying him. He suddenly lifted me up in his arms an started carrying me like I was his bride.
"Let me go." I said trying to break free from him.
"Shut up." I had no choice. I let him carry me to his hovercraft. "I know what you're feeling Keira, I want to save you."
I smiled. Torn wasn't such a bad guy after all.
Torn's POV:
What motivated me to help her? Maybe it was the way she looked. Helpless and alone. I felt sorry for her. I did understand the way she felt. She was in love with Jak . . . and the jej crushed her.
Hate for the hero started to build up in me. What did the gut think he was? Some kind of God?
I looked down at Keira beside me. She was sleeping. I had to admit . . . she was indeed pretty. Not Ashelin pretty but . . . her own unique pretty.
We arrived back at the Naughty Ottsel a little later. I didn't want to wake Keira and let her suffer in seeing Jak and Ashelin again, nor did I want to leave her out here in the rain. I sighed and nudged her awake. "Hey Keir . . . wake up."
Keira groggily opened her eyes and looked around. "Huh? Where are we?"
"The Naughty Ottsel." I saw her close her eyes. She looked at me and I saw pain cross her eyes. Stupid. I knew I should have left her sleeping.
"Listen. You stay here if you want. I'll go inside and ask you father for your keys, then I'll bring you home." I offered.
She smiled. "Thanks."
"No probs." I exited the hovercraft and entered the Naughty Ottsel. I looked around for the green sage and found him by the bar. I went over and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Torn. Did you find her?"
"Yeah. She's outside. I came to ask for the keys to the house. She says she wants to go home." I told him. Onin was looking at me weirdly again. What was her problem?
Samos nodded and handed me the keys. "Thank you for doing this Torn."
I nodded once again and started to head outside when Daxter called me. "Hey Torn! Come join us!" the rat gestured toward their group which consisted of Jak, Ashelin, Tess, Jinx, Seem, Kleiver, and the furball himself.
"Maybe later. I'm taking someone home." I saw Ashelin raise an eyebrow at my news. Was she jealous? Good.
"Who?" Daxter asked winking as if I knew what he was talking about.
"Keira." Jak almost spilled his drink when he heard that. I saw anger cross his face for a while before he smiled.
"Are you two going out?" he asked rather rudely.
I shook my head. What was he jealous for? I waved goodbye before heading out the door.
Keira's POV:
I saw Torn coming out a while later, and smiled in relief. He waved at me before entering the hovercraft and turning on the engine.
"Got the keys," he said handing me the keys to my house.
I nodded. I wanted to ask him what was going on at the Naughty Ottsel but I felt I knew the answer already.
We reached my house a few minutes later. I started to get out of the hovercraft, but I turned back and in instinct, gave Torn a hug. "Thanks," I told him. Yes. I was indeed thankful. "You saved me when I thought nobody would."
I could tell he was surprised by the hug because he stiffened. I immediately pulled back from him and apologized.
"It's okay," he smiled at me. Weird. I've never seen him smile before. He looked different.
"Do you . . . um . . . want to stay for a while?" I blurted out suddenly. Man. What was wrong with me?
Surprisingly he said yes. "I'd rather stay here than go back there." he laughed.
I smiled. I knew I'd found a friend.
END
A/N: Done chapter! Please read and review! I need at least 5 reviews before I update thee second chapter, and they can't be from the sam people okay? Thnks!