Girl Talk. No Boys Allowed! [closed]

It was a quiet weekend afternoon. Warm sunlight streamed into the team RAWR dorm room, bathing it's sole occupant in light. The male members of RAWR were out doing...whatever it was they were doing. Leaving Chiu to some welcomed peace and quiet.

She wasn't completely alone though. A half empty bottle of whisky sat on the desk next to her. She wasn't drunk. Not yet, but she was close. Sighing softly to herself she sipped from her glass and smiled as the amber liquid left a smokey trail down her throat.

Standing from her seat at the sound of quiet knocking, Chiu made her way towards the door. She wasn't expecting visitors. She never was. It was probably one of the boy's friends. Dealt with easily enough.

Throwing open the door she was startled to find a familiar head of orange hair.
"Oh! Hello Alani."

"No, no. I have nothing planned today. Come in." Stepping out the doorway Chiu waited for Alani to enter before shutting the door. She was not very experience at hosting company, but she knew enough of social etiquette to know two things were expected of her. Refreshments and a place to sit. Sitting was acomplished easily enough. Pulling out a couple desk chairs, Chiu offered one to Alani.

Refreshments on the other hand...That could be a problem. Chiu was not a snacking kind of girl, and the only thing to drink she had was the bottle of whisky. Somehow Chiu suspected Alani did not share the same taste for liquor she had. Her teammates might have something stashed away, but knew better than to go digging around without asking.

Expectations, however, must be met and so they would be. "Drink?" She offered, gesturing towards the bottle on her desk.

Selecting an unused glass Chiu dropped in a pair of ice cubes before pouring Alani a measure of amber liquid. Considering Alani for a moment, Chiu decided to go against her better judgement and dropped in another cube before offering it to her.

"If you don't drink often just sip." She suggested before taking the chair opposite. "So...what brings you here?" She asked, just before the scene the other day played back through here mind. The revealed secrets and promise to talk. "Oh, right."

Alani's face as she tasted the liquor brought a slight grin to Chiu's face. "Slowly." She warned. "Whisky is like fire. Warm and comforting, but too much with burn you."

Setting her own glass down, Chiu crossed her legs. Wringing her hand nervously. "Look, about the other day...You...I shouldn't have told you that. This isn't your burden to bear, it's mine, I can handle it."

"Not right?" Chiu scoffed. "Let me tell you what isn't right. The greatest fighter I have ever seen, who killed three Ursa barehanded before falling, died and his useless sister didn't."

Hands clenched and her voice cracking Chiu struggled to stay in control. "Why do you even care? You should hate me. You're supposed to hate me. After what I did to you. Just ask your boyfriend. He tell you how much you should hate me. And he'll be right"

"But I could have killed you. If that round had hit your artery or something else vital..." She left the implication unsaid. She couldn't say it. It was bad enough just to think it.

"But what if all I have is the past?" She whispered. "When I try to envision my future I don't see kids, or a wedding, or even graduation. All I see is blackness. The void. And every night I feel creeping closer."

Looking Alani in the eye she asked. "If I don't have future what am I without a past?"

Chiu wasn't entirely sure she believed Alani. She had long been taught that life was ruled by fate. That everything happened as it was meant to happen and would always happen regardless of man's desire. Life was preordained. A mandate from heaven.

What Alani offered was chaos. How could life continue if one could just choose to be or do something else?

Choice.

Was that it? Was the truth somewhere in between order and chaos?

Was it possible Ce's death had not been a simple matter of destiny, but the product of choice? Had he seen the path before him that fateful day? On one side life at the cost of his sister. On the other death in order to save her. Perhaps he had chosen, and in doing so, sealed his fate.

No. She finally decided. Ce was no fool, he would have made the smart choice. The right choice. Which he clearly did not do. He died because he was supposed to. As would she because she was supposed. Regardless of what Alani said.

But then this to was fate. Being here with Alani, as well as the events that led to it, was set in stone. Was it fate that she was hearing these things? Thinking these things? Was the idea of choice a part of her destiny?

Destiny or choice. One was simple and familiar, but surely lead her to the grave. The other was as open and inviting as the sky, but as foreign to her as wings.

Would she choose, could she choose, and risk everything she was for a fragment of hope? Or would she stay the course? All the way to the bitter end?

"I don't know." She whispered.

Alani's hand was warm. A sensation Chiu hadn't realized she missed. Looking up towards Alani, Chiu struggled to find the words she wanted to say. "I..." She paused. Breath in. Breath out. "Thank you."

Friends...Chiu didn't have friends. Just the one. And maybe that was enough.

She was about answer that the whisky wasn't too strong when she caught the flush to Alani's cheeks. Caution would be best. "We should get you something to eat." She said, taking Alani by the arm. Chiu would make sure nothing happened to the orange haired girl, she swore it, here in the school or out in the field. Chiu would be there looking out for her, because that's what friends did.

And that's what they were...Friends.

"I may have under estimated it's potency a bit. Chiu said as she led Alani toward the door. "And there are enough alcoholic degenerates around here already. You don't need to be one of them.

Chiu wasn't sure what she should do. On the one hand she didn't want to insult her new friend by looking down on her, even though she knew the first drink was always the hardest. But on the other she wanted to look out for her new friend, even if it wasn't needed.

No. That is the same thing she yelled at Marc for doing. Treating Alani like she was some little girl who didn't even realize she needed help. People called Chiu a lot of things. None of them were nice. Most of them were true. But there was one thing no one could ever call her. Hypocrite.

Sighing she looked into Alani's eyes. "Okay, if you're sure." She said. "You are a lot stronger than any of us give you credit for. Don't let me forget that."