I see a flash of orange hair and wings as Amata leaps forward, grabbing Yunoha's hand just in time. His feet just barely touch the ground as the small girl he is holding hangs on.

I grab Amata's ankles, pulling him back so he doesn't fall.

"Don't let go, Yunoha!" he says.

"I'm scared!" she cries.

"Don't look down. I'm gonna pull you up." He strains to pull her up, the poor child's feet dangling into the abyss below us. Sweat beads on Amata's forehead.

"AH!" Yunoha's hand slips and she just barely manages to take hold of Amata's hand again. Her doll, Tama, falls out of her grasp and down into the pit. She's hanging on by just her fingers.

"TAMA!" Yunoha cries out. "No!"

Using all of his strength, he yanks her up, screaming in the process. As soon as she is within reach, she throws her arms around Amata and hugs him, crying.

"It's okay," he says soothingly. "I got you. You're safe now." He holds her close, allowing her to have him for comfort. It reminds me of how I said those words to him. We went through the same thing, and now he's comforting someone else, just as I did for him. Images of the events in the hospital flood my mind and I can't help but have a tear slide down my cheek. I quickly wipe it away before anyone notices.

"Tama was special!" Yunoha cries. "Jin patched her up before he died!"

"I know. I know. But there's nothing we could've done. We'll get you another doll. Be glad you're alive." Amata strokes her hair. "I got you."

A few guards made it to safety nearby, and it's not long before they pick up their guns and begin to shoot at us.

Amata stands up, pulling out of the hug with Yunoha. "Move! Now! Back to the city!"

Yunoha disappears with her invisibility within an instant. Andy jumps into a hole he forms, Zessica and Cayenne following behind him. Amata scoops me up and takes off into the air.

"We're all separated!" I say.

"We'll rendezvous in the city. Hopefully," Amata says with a hint of uncertainty in his voice. He swoops and dodges gunshots as I hold onto him for dear life.

Suddenly, Amata screams in pain and his grip on me loosens. I feel myself begin to fall and I grab desperately at the air. I manage to grab his leg and hang as he tumbles out of control.

"WHAT HAPPENED?!" I shout up at him.

And then I see the blood running down his leg. A gunshot wound has appeared on his thigh. That must've been why he cried out.

"Damn it!" he says through gritted teeth. "Gah! Mikono! Grab my hand!" He reaches down to try and hoist me back up, but...

A burning sensation ripples through my left shoulder. Out of the corner of my eye, I can make out the red blood seeping out of the bullet hole. It tears through the front, through the muscle, towards the back. My throat closes around a strangled cry of pain. The horrid warmth of the wound spreads to my fingertips.

"AAAH!" I cry.

"Mikono! No!" Amata tries reaching farther down, still flying in midair. "Grab my hand!"

I can't grab his hand with my free arm, since I've just been shot. I only have the hand I'm using to hold onto his leg. My heart beats at a fast rate as I begin to panic.

Mustering up all the courage I have, I swing my bad arm up and grab Amata's hand, screaming in the process. He hoists me up and holds me close in his arms, my feet resting on top of his as I bury my face in his chest.

"We'll find somewhere to hide," he says, his voice cracking. "I think we lost those guards for now."

We reach the edge of the city, which is in total chaos. Men are everywhere, unsure of what to do as the destruction of Ianthe is televised all around. The energy strands seem to have disappeared, and Mykage's giant mass in the sky has come to a standstill, possibly waiting dormant for the right moment.

"I'm taking us down to that building over there," he gestures to a seemingly dilapidated apartment building. "I don't think anyone will bother us in there." He clenches his jaw, either fighting the pain or fighting the urge to break down into another panic attack.

My own jaw clenches. The pain exploding in my shoulder is almost unbearable. How bad was it when Amata was first shot that night on the roof? How much pain was he in back then? Was it nearly as bad as this?

We near the roof, and I feel Amata give out. I fall out of his arms and roll onto the hard surface, finally coming to a stop face-down on the floor.

"AGH!" I let out a shriek of pain. My shoulder made harsh contact with the floor of the roof and I feel the burning flaring up. I force myself to sit up, using my good arm. I look over at Amata, who is lying on his back, his wings gone now.

"Amata!" I call out hoarsely. Willing all the strength inside me, I stand up, clutching my shoulder with my other hand and I make my way to him.

He sits up slowly, holding his leg and biting back a scream. "Mikono!" he says my name through clenched teeth. I watch in horror as he tries to stand up, only to put weight on his leg, let out an ear-piercing screech, and collapse.

"Amata!" I run to his side and try to sling him over my good shoulder, allowing him to support himself completely on me. His eyelids droop and I can see he's about to pass out from the intense pain. "I'll get you inside. Just hang on."

"Mikono..." I feel his body go limp and I'm forced to drag his dead weight across the roof. I reach for the doorknob with my bad side. The shooting pain runs down my arm and I fight back tears, but I continue anyway. I swing open the door and begin my descent down the flight of stairs leading to the top floor of the building. Everything is dusty and gross. This place must not have been used in quite a while.

I rush to the nearest apartment I can find. Again, using my bad side and fighting the excruciating pain, I try to turn the doorknob, but it's locked.

"I'm sorry, Amata," I apologize to the boy slumped over my shoulder and back before kicking the door in with as much strength as I can possibly muster. He groans, and I make my way into the apartment.

It appears that whoever lived here last left all their belongings and moved out in a hurry. Or something happened to them. But what?

"Hang on, Baby. We're gonna get you fixed up." I lay him down on a couch nearby. He grunts.

"Mikono?" He looks up at me, clutching the area around the wound in his leg. "What're you doing?"

I rush into the bathroom, looking around for anything useful. I pull open every drawer, causing dust to fly everywhere, and manage to find a pair of tweezers and some old rags.

I need something else.

I walk into a bedroom, and immediately, I am hit with a rancid smell and horrid sight.

The bedroom most likely belonged to a man and woman. On one side of the bed is a night table with an old watch, briefcase, and alarm clock on it, while the night table on the other side has a makeup bag, a picture frame, and another alarm clock. A crib lies in the corner of the room.

But the most noticeable things are the skeletons. I pinch my nose and gag. Between the smell and the scene before me, my stomach churns. One skeleton is on the bed, while the other is on the floor with a hole in the skull and a gun nearby. What's even more depressing is the fact that inside the pelvis of the skeleton on the bed, is a small, baby-sized heap of bones.

Fighting the urge to vomit, I open the drawer to the woman's night table and find a sewing kit. I take it and rush out back to the living room where Amata is.

"Why are you holding your nose like that?" Amata questions as I return.

I shake my head and put my hand down. "Don't worry about it right now," I say as I rip the Altean disguise clothes off of me. Amata does the same. It's a bit of a struggle with his injured leg, so I help to get the clothes off of him and toss them aside on the floor.

I sit down on the floor next to the couch, placing the sewing kit, rags, and tweezers before me. Inside the kit is some spools of thread, a pair of scissors, and needles. Taking the scissors, I put them to my shoulder and carefully cut away the fabric in that area.

"Y-you found all that in here?" Amata asks, wincing in pain.

I nod as I continue to cut. "I just wanna get my shoulder fine enough to work on your leg." Once I've cut off a big section from the Element suit's shoulder, I grab the tweezers.

This is gonna hurt.

I take a deep breath and prepare myself. I allow the tweezers to sink into the bullet wound. The burning sensation intensifies and I bite back a shriek. Pushing it in deeper, I finally touch the bullet. I have to wiggle the tool around to get a good grip on the bullet, and a whimper escapes my mouth.

I can tell Amata hates seeing me hurt. He clenches his fists and says, "Damn it," under his breath.

Using all my willpower, I yank the bullet out of my shoulder, releasing a yelp. I place it on the floor and tie a rag around my arm to cover the shoulder wound.

"I'll sew it up later. Let me take care of you, first," I say. "Let me see your leg."

Amata adjusts himself, allowing me access to his wound. I use the scissors to cut away the fabric on his thigh. The adrenaline courses through me, and my shoulder almost goes numb, the pain receding just enough for me to take care of Amata.

"Okay. I'm gonna pull the bullet out now."

He nods, gulping. "Just do it fast."

The tips of the tweezers enter the hole, and already Amata flinches and squeezes his eyes shut. I force myself to keep going. Farther I make the prongs of the tweezers go until they touch the hard foreign object in his leg. I wiggle them around a tiny bit to get a good grip, but I can't yank it out. The tweezers keep slipping and the bullet is wedged in there too well. Amata keeps whimpering every time I try to pull it.

"Come on," I say. "Come on you stupid thing!" I try again and again, but it's no use, and I'm just hurting Amata even more. "No! Damn it! The opening isn't big enough!"

I look down at the items I found. My eyes fall upon the scissors and I get an idea.

No. That'll hurt him. That'll hurt him even more. I can't do that.

"Mikono, whatever you're thinking, just do it," he says. "Just go for it."

My eyes squeeze shut for a moment as I breathe, readying myself. "This is going to hurt a lot. Here." I take off one of my gloves and hand it to him. "Stick this in your mouth. It'll give you something to bite down on."

Amata's mouth opens and I stick the glove between his teeth.

"Are you ready?"

He nods, preparing himself for the worst.

I take the scissors in my shaky hand and begin to cut carefully into the skin around the wound. Amata immediately tenses, and I can hear his muffled screaming.

"I'm sorry!" I cry. "Just hang in there!" The scissors snip little by little, and I have to grab a rag to soak up the blood flowing out. I can see from the corner of my eye Amata has his eyelids squeezed shut and his cries of pain grow louder, heard through the glove that his teeth have sunken into. "I'm so sorry! I'm trying my best!"

His clenched fists shake and I have to hold his leg still so I can work. I cut a little more, only to have a gush of red escape. I try to dab it with a rag.

I cut just a little more, trying to create a big enough opening. But I notice that the room has suddenly gone quiet. The screaming has stopped. I look up to see that Amata's head has swiveled on his neck and the glove has fallen out of his mouth. His entire body has gone limp.

"No! No no no! Amata! Wake up!" I drop the bloody scissors on the floor and shake him. "Come on! Stay with me!"

It's no use. I grab the tweezers and work as fast as I possibly can. The tips of the tweezers grab the bullet, and I yank it out with all of my might. It pops out and goes flying onto the ground.

I need to flush out the wound, so it doesn't get infected.

I rush to the bathroom and search all around for alcohol, or even some soap I can use with water. Nothing. I find a small container and fill it with hot water before rushing back out. With a shaky hand, I carefully pour it over his wound, washing away what I can. When I'm done I take a rag and dry it.

"Amata, talk to me! Please! Stay with me, Baby!" But he's passed out and there's no response. "Damn it." Taking a deep breath, I take a needle from the sewing kit and thread it. I struggle at first from my unsteady hands, but I manage. And with all the determination I have, I begin to sew Amata's wound shut.