This wasn't suppose to happen. This wasn't supposed to goddamn happen. Sky was just supposed to run his usual laps around the territory like Void had made him do everyday. He wasn't supposed to up and disappear, to not come back for the next three days. Three days Void had been pulling at his hair, going through the forest again and again practically screaming Sky's name. Patrol after patrol, nothing; absolutely nothing. It wasn't supposed to end up like this.
    It wasn't supposed to end up with Void standing in the meeting room, an arrow sticking out of the table as he held a note in his hand. He was trembling, the other leaders watching him worriedly as he stared at the words on the note.
    He was careful not to show any emotion around his recruits... But no recruits were in the room.
    He lowered his head. jamming his knuckles into the table, not making a sound. "Damn it..." He hissed.
    Remi took a slow step forward. "Lawrence?" He asked carefully.
    "What?!" Void snapped suddenly.
    Remi blinked, but didn't seem alarmed. "I just... Wanted to know how bad it is."
     That's when Void fucking lost it. Instead of screaming and cursing, throwing things or trying to stab the wall with his sword like everyone would expect; he did the exact opposite. He collapsed to his knees, dropping the note on to the floor as he shamefully covered his face with his hands. He was sobbing, trembling harshly as everyone else watched with wide eyes. No one had ever seen the commander break like this.
     For a while, the five others in the room remained silent; then the Star Division leader stepped forward. Amanda knelt beside him and reached out uncertainly. "Lawrence I..."
    "DONT FUCKING TOUCH ME!" The anger, the hurt, the fear and worry, they heard all the raw emotions as the commander screamed this, snapping his head up to finally reveal his tearstained face. And that's when Amanda caught the words of the note.
    She didn't catch all of it, but she managed to read more than enough.
"-have killed your apprentice..."
    Amanda looked at Void with a whole new emotion, tears beginning to well in her eyes too. Sky....he was so bright and kind, so cheery...he couldn't be dead! That wasn't possible....!
    "No, Lawrence, I-I'm so sorry!" She hugged him and held tight despite his efforts to shove her away.
    The other leaders got the message and reacted in shock and sadness; Remi covered his mouth with both hands.
    "Not the kid..." He murmured, his eyes wide.
    Commander Void refused to get up. He just sat there, crying and clutching the note on his hand tightly.
    Suddenly there was a knock on the door. "Commander? I know you're busy but-"
"Not now, recruit." Turner said sternly. But the recruit persisted.
    "Sir, I really think you wanna see this..."
    Turner furrowed his eyebrows, but before he can protest he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked behind him in surprise to see it was Commander Void, his face slightly red from crying, looking at the door. "What is it, recruit?" Commander Void said, his voice stiff to keep it from breaking.
    "Er... I really think you should see you yourself..."
    Void stared at the door for a moment, glanced at Amanda, then took a deep breath, scrubbing at his eyes and reached for the doorknob. Slowly, he turned the knob and opened the door.
    The recruit who'd knocked on the door could be recognized as one of Tom's recruits; Lieutenant Ty Ellis. He nodded to the right then turned and walked away. Void stepped into the corridor, then turned his head down the hall and froze at what he saw.
    Sky, hugging himself tightly and looking at Void with a mixed look of relief and fear. "C-Commander...." He was covered with bruises, and other signs of torture.
     Commander Void's eyes widened. "Sky..." He hesitated a second longer in shock before he lurched into motion. He ran forward, practically tackling the injured teen. "YOU'RE ALIVE!" He shouted in shocked relief. "HAHAHA YOU'RE ALIVE!"
     He suddenly held Sky at arm's length. "DON'T YOU EVER SCARE ME LIKE THAT AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME?" He shook his shoulders. "DO YOU HEAR ME?!" He looked at him with big eyes as it hit him that his apprentice, the boy he'd come to call family, truly wasn't dead. His eyes filled with tears and he squeezed them shut as he squished Sky into a hug again. "DO YOU HEAR ME?!" He shouted louder than before squeezing him tightly.
     "Y-Yeah...." Sky whispered, wide eyed at his commander's reaction. He thought he would yell at him, hit him upside the head, and then send him for punishment training.
    "Damn it kid..." Void growled. "BE MORE CAREFUL!"
    Here came the yelling. Sky looked down, too weak and tired to cut with a Sky remark. "I-I'm sorry..." He muttered weakly, closing his eyes.
    Void froze, his eyes getting big again. He held the boy back at arm's length again so he could look at him. "Kid... A-Are... Are you hurt...?"
    Sky weakly raised his head to reveal a black eye and a few cuts on his face. He smiled rather weakly. "T-Torture is a bitch, sir."
    "Oh god..." Void let out a sad sort of laugh. "How bad? Does it still hurt?"
    "L-Like a bunch of knives stabbing /everywhere/." Sky said, his eye twitching as he kept his smile on his face. Then his knees started to collapse underneath him.
    "Hey hey hey!" Void caught him with trained reflexes. "Kid... Damn it, you should have gone to the Infirmary the second you got back!"
    Sky hugged him tightly. "I-I'm sorry... I w-was so scared, I-I didn't know what to do..." He sniffed. "I'm so s-sorry, I messed up... God, I'm so sorry..."
    Void blinked, hesitating as he went over his words in his head. "...Hey." He spoke sternly, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Kid, I want you to listen to me now, okay?"
    Sky nodded, taking a shuddering breath as a few tears ran down his cheeks. "Y-Y-Yeah, C-CV...."
    "This is NOT your fault." Void said, taking the boy who'd been expecting a lecture by surprise. "Not only did you handle injury with bravery and persistence and did what you thought was best when you came to tell me you were safe; but you also managed to escape captivity before you could be killed or used as ransom. I can only imagine what it must have been like trapped in a place like that, all by yourself, not knowing whether you would ever see the sun again... Actually, I do know what that's like, but not until I was a lot older than you are. You did brilliantly, kid." Void gave him one of his awkward, incredibly rare smiles. "I am so proud of you."
    Sky's eyes widen, and his eyes filled with tears of shock and pride. "S-Sir....I-I-I don't know w-what to sa-say...."
    "Just say you won't fight Doctor Rent this time." Void looked back towards the meeting room as Sky scowled. "Remi!" He barked. "Could you come here, please?"
    Remi opened the door and entered the hallway, and his eyes widen as soon as he saw Sky.
    "I'll explain later, just take care of him." Void growled.
    Remi recovered from his shock and raised an eyebrow like his usual snarky self. "Will he bite me again?"
    Sky sighed. "No, I-I..." His voice trailed off as he let out a moan of pain, squeezing his eyes shut and placing his weight on the Commander.
    Void bit his lip worriedly, supporting Sky's weight easily.
    "Kid, you alright?" He asked quickly. "And don't lie this time, you obviously need help."
     Sky took a moment to respond. "No..." He finally admitted.
    "Get him to the Infirmary, Laws." Remi said. "I left my medical supplies with one of the nurses." Void nodded, before picking Sky up bridal style. He noticed with a flinch just how lighter the male seemed even after three days.
    It wasn't far until he made it there, Sky clinging to him tightly all the while. "It's gonna be okay." Void told him. "You're safe now... You're home."
    Rent met them in the Infirmary, where the nurses helped the slightly reluctant Sky onto one of the medbeds. He turned to Void solemnly. "I can take this from here, Commander. I highly advise you try to get some rest." Void opened his mouth to protest, but Rent stopped him before he could start. "Doctor's orders."
    Void closed his eyes and sighed, before watching as Sky was rolled away. Sky lifted his head slightly, his bright brown eyes connecting with his mentor's. He forced a weak smile, and Void smile softly back before Sky disappeared around a corner.
    Void went to his room in a ghost-like way. Drifting between the conscious and unconscious worlds. After all, no man should relax when his son cannot.
   He made it back to his room and sat down at his desk. With a deep breath, he picked up a ball point pen and started writing down in his log.
   'Today, Sky finally made it back. He escaped from the squids, and arrived only a few minutes after I got a note from the squids saying he had killed him.' He began writing. 'He will be with the doctor all night, I believe. I really hope the kid turns out alright... I don't know what I'd do without his constant frustrations....' Void closed his log and stood up.
    He sat at the edge of his bed and sighed heavily, staring up at the ceiling.
    "Kid, you better be ready to train again soon..." He murmured, then he laid down and tried to fall asleep.
    But he couldn't. His mind kept going back to how close he was to loosing Sky.
    He breathed a heavy sigh and covered his face with his hands.
    He remembered how he had broken down when he thought the young teen was dead....
    Void took a deep breath, forcing himself not to cry. He didn't want to think about what it would be like without the boy around to pester him.
    Even though it seemed like he didn't like the kid and he did nothing but annoy him, he was dependent on the kid's sly remarks, his cocky jokes and smirks.
    Void smiled crookedly. He had been the same way when he was Sky'd age.
    He could only imagine how much he annoyed his mentor.
    Lawrence Void decided he really was very fond of the boy. He was glad he'd chosen Sky as his apprentice. He was sure to grow up to be a great Commander one day...
   
Maybe he had fallen asleep. Or maybe he had just closed his eyes and laid there for hours. But suddenly he was opening his eyes as he heard knocking on his door.
    He sat up quickly, used to waking up alert. He sighed and walked to the door. "Problem?" He asked as he pulled it open rather tiredly.
    It was a recruit. "Your apprentice is allowed visitors, sir. Doctor Remi said you may want to know that."
    "Yes... Thank you, Warrant, go on your way now." Void watched her go in solemn silence, then as soon as she was out of sight, he broke into a run towards the Infirmary.
    His heart was pounding as he skidded into the infirmary, the head nurse looking up and smiling gently at him. "Room 206."
    "Thank you, Medic." The Commander said, then he quickly made his way to Sky's room. But when he made it there, he only groaned. Sky was standing there, tossing a tennis ball against a wall boredly and catching it again.
    "You should be resting." Void said.
    "But that's boring." Sky groaned.
    "Well that's just too bad." Void crossed his arms. "You need to take care of yourself so you can heal faster and we can continue training."
    "I just got kidnapped and tortured by the squids for three days, and you want me to train?" Sky whined teasingly, groaning.
    "Yes I do." Void replied seriously.
    Sky whined, tossing his tennis ball at Commander Void before laying back down again.
    "There." Void sat down on the end of the bed and looked at him. "How you feeling?"
    Sky shrugged. "Better. I'm not in consent pain anymore." He muttered.
    "That's good..." Void sighed. "God, you really had me worried there kid."
    Sky tilted his head.
    Void stared at him, then looked away. "The squids had informed me you were dead only minutes before I found out you'd escaped."
    "Oh? How'd you take it?" Sky asked curiously.
    Void got silent and cleared his throat. "I...um...."
    Sky rolled his eyes. "You don't have to tell me... Unless..."
    "What?"
    "Why don't you want to tell me?"
   "..." Void shook his head. "I broke down, okay? Cried, cursing at my friends, everything." He admitted, not looking at Sky. "I haven't done that in a long time... I haven't had anyone to care about. Iguess....what I'm trying to say it...." He sighed. "You're like a son to me, Sky. Blood, maybe not, but by heart I believe we are." He allowed himself to smile thinly.
    Sky stared at him with big brown eyes, then finally nodded. "Yeah." He said. "I think so too."
     Void smiled slightly, turning his head and allowing himself to look at Sky. He chuckled lightly. "Don't let it go to your head kid.
    "No, no, I'm not." Sky said. "It's just that's the first time you ever said that to me."
    Void blinked lightly. "Really? Hm."
    Sky just smiled.
    "You better get to sleep, kid." Void said as he stood. "You're gonna need to rest and get better pretty damn fast."
    Sky nodded. "I know, CV..."
    Void smiled lightly, before there was a sudden flash. Void's head snapped around to see Amanda standing in the doorway, holding a camera in her hand with a grin.
    "Don't you dare." He said. Before he could begin a lecture on his reputation for recruits, she replied, placing her camera in her bag. "Oh no, Lawrence, I wouldn't dream of it." She said. "I'll just put it in the archives for safe keeping..."
    Void glared at her, while she just smirked. "Anyways, you two can just do your thing." Amanda said, then she snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah, and Remi told me to inform you Sky should be allowed up by Saturday."
    "Thank you, Mandy." Void said, ignoring the groan coming from the teen that was still in his arms.
    "Sir?" Sky grunted painfully. "Can't breath."
    "Wh- OH." Void quickly released Sky with wide eyes.
    Sky caught his breath quickly. "It's so good to be home..." He said. "I never wanna see another squid again."
    Void smirked. "Trust me kid, I have a feeling you're gonna see more."
    Void patted his head before standing to leave.
    "Hang on." Sky stood up, wincing a little as he did. "I just wanna say... I um... When I was escaping, I hit this moment where I thought I couldn't go any further but I... I thought about you shouting at me to keep moving. And I did what you told me to. Just take one more step. One more step. One more step. But I wouldn't have been able to do it if I didn't imagine you urging me on, and I guess... I just wanted to say thanks."
    Void looked at him silently for a few moments, then he smiled. He hugged Sky once more, saying; "Thank you for listening to me for once."
    Sky smiled, leaning his chin against his shoulder. "I always listen." He said. "I just don't agree with any of it."
    Void rolled his eyes and gently hit his apprentice upside the head in more of an affectionate way than normal. "Of course."
    Sky just laughed a little; and Void remembered how terrible it would have been if he never got to hear that laugh again. He shook away the thought, and instead said "I've got to go do... Commander shit." He shrugged. "You have to get some rest."
    "Is that an order, sir?"
    "Yes."
    Sky sighed, then saluted. "Thanks, Commander."
   Void just ruffled Sky's hair up before turning and leaving with a contented smile.