Tomorrow Unseen

She pushes her face out of the moist dirt, her bright green eyes piercing thru the pools that turn into streams cutting swathes thru the mud on her face. Her dark auburn hair hangs down over her face, concealing the tears but not the blood at the corner of her mouth. She pushes herself up on a knee as she looks across at the bare and rather wide back of a man with his arms raised in triumph to a crowd of onlookers, some who cheer his name "DAX! DAX!" Others urge and plead for her to stand. As he celebrates he notices her on a knee with one fist and one boot on the ground and turns to face her. She wipes the tears on her face with the inside of the elbow of her tattered and dirty denim jacket, smearing the dirt.

He leans forward placing his large, dirty hands on his knees before speaking. "Aww, is da poe widdle baby cwyin?" He mocks her, flicking his tongue in and out grotesquely as his bald head glistens with sweat. She stands, wiping the blood from her mouth with her other hand. The crowd that was cheering for him becomes quiet almost instantly, creating a deafening silence momentarily before the crowd that pleaded for her to get up erupts into cheers. Her adversary looks around bewildered at what is happening. "Those aren't tears of shame or pain, hoss..." A man wearing a tattered cowboy hat and ratty leather vest with his large, muscular arms crossed says to him, smiling. "That's rage."

Dax smirks and rolls his eyes "Yeah, ok," he sneers as he turns to look at her. She circles him with her head lowered, her green eyes even more piercing framed against the dirt on her face. Her gaze pierces thru him as she stalks her prey. Something changes; The air gets thick. The crowd cheering and taunting turns into a dull noise. The circle they stand in becomes the only thing in focus as the crowd becomes a blur. Every grain of dirt, every thread of clothing, every drop of blood becomes crystal clear. She hears every beat of her heartbeat as it slows to a steady rhythm, setting the pace of the world around her. She sees Dax growl but she doesn't hear it. Only the beat of her heart. The rhythm. This is where she is happiest. This is her world and she commands it with precision.

Dax haphazardly charges forward, lunging his large arms out towards her. She easily sidesteps the clumsy charge, as he appears to be moving in slow motion to her. She pivots her hips as she launches a side kick, landing the powerful strike on his midsection. She recovers into a ready stance lightning quick before Dax falls to his knees. He crosses his arms over his midsection as he coughs violently. He begins to fall forward but shoves a large hand into the dirt, catching himself. He glances back and sees her standing there, waiting. This angers him and he forces himself to stand. He targets her face as he pivots and swings a big fist.

She ducks beneath the lumbering swing, watching it glide over her head. She launches forward crashing a knee again into his midsection, her face solemn; focused. He again drops to his knees holding himself in pain. He looks up at her and she can almost smell his pain and fear. She leans closer to him, caressing his face gently with her left hand as she coos him to calm down. She rubs her thumb over his chin, wiping blood away and gripping his jaw tightly. She lifts his head upward and slightly towards her as her right hand tightens into a fist, her face changing from concerned caretaker to steadfast resolve. Dax struggles to take in a full breath, his entire body glistens from flop sweat as his insides feel like mush. She crashes her right fist into his jaw with a powerful roundhouse punch. His face smashes into the dirt violently as his body is contorted, still on its knees. That is how he will stay as his body struggles to breathe during its unconscious state.

The world begins to clear up to her again. The noise of the crowd rises in her ears as her senses recover from the adrenaline dump. "V! V! V!" they chant as all at once the sounds, the smells, the details of the world outside this circle of combat crashes back into focus. She focuses on one large man in particular as he slowly walks towards her. He starts laughing as he gets closer and leans low, raising her small frame up on his shoulder like she were a child. He gives her a spin for show and then walks forward as the crowd parts for them. He grabs a large wad of paper from a man on a rusted metal podium, nods and turns back to the crowd with a triumphant yell as he raises V in the air again for the crowd, who cheers.

V jumps off his shoulder and runs a finger inside her mouth. She removes bloody, wadded up skin and slings it to the dirt. "You ok, kid?" The man asks as they walk thru the dirt street in between rows of buildings built from whatever scrap was available. "Fine. I bit my cheek," she replied flatly as she spit a stream of blood out. He grunted as he held out the wad of credits to her. She glances at it and nods. "How much?" she asked, wiping her chin on her sleeve. "Eleden hunnit," he replied. She nodded and he shoved the money into her jacket pocket. "Odds doubled when ya hit tha deck," he grunted. She nodded again. "Mah heartbeat doubled too," he added.

She rolled her eyes and sighed heavily. "Don't do that. Don't. That fella was a monster. Takin' that hit was stupid, kid," he said angrily. She held up the wad of money "Not too stupid apparently." He stopped abruptly. V walked a few steps before stopping and looked back at him. "Look, I agreed to train ya. I agreed to show ya pit life. I even agreed to show ya how to make a little money in the pit. I did NOT agree to watch you getchur ass stomped or killed from being stupid. Period," he said, jutting a thick, scarred up finger at her. "I won't be party to it," he growled. She sighed and nodded as she walked up beside him and threw an arm as far around his big, solid frame as she could. She got them walking again and she looked up at him. "I love you too, San," she said.

He looked at her for a few steps and raised his head back up. "Well I did'n say alla that shit, now" he snorted. "Yeah, you didn't have to," she replied smiling. "We just needed this big payday to carry us another week and not cut into our stash. I shouldn't have taken that hit, I know. But I did and it worked," she said as they sauntered down the alley. "Besides, he hit like a girl," she said chuckling. He wrapped his arm around her head in a pretend headlock, "Yeah well we both know he don't. No more risks. Got it?" She holds his hand as he drops it on her shoulder. "Got it."

They stopped at G-G's café and had a full meal for the first time in a long while. They sat there after the meal and relaxed a bit, finishing their drinks. "Dessert?" G-G asked as she picked up the empty metal containers that passed as plates. V had both elbows on the table, propping up her head in her palms. She dropped her head, thudding it on the table. "I take that as a no from her," she chuckled. "What about you, shoog?" she asked, looking at San. He had both large arms on the back of the booth. "I would if I had room, G-G," he replied smiling. "Well that's a mission accomplished then, I suppose," she said. "I'll be right back with the check, hun" she said grinning as she looked back at San and added a little shake to her walk.

V looked up, watching San admire G-G as she walked away. She snickered and blew hair out of her face. "Well that was subtle," V said snickering. San grunted and leaned his head back against the duct taped booth cushion. "Just nail her already. Maybe we'll get a discount on food," V said dropping her head back on the table with a thud. San chuckled at her good natured ribbing without looking up. They paid the bill and thanked G-G for the service and the food.

Sitting inside their old shipping container converted to a cabin San pours himself a stiff drink and drops into his favorite chair with a grunt. V takes off her jacket, tossing it across the room and drops onto a patched up couch. They sit in silence, San sloshing his drink and the sink faucet dripping the only noise. V draped her arm over her eyes and sighed heavily. San twirled his dark, homemade hooch in his glass as he eyeballed V.

He sighed heavily as he looked deep into his drink before breaking the silence. "Remember about a month ago that fella we ran into up at Reno? The one that wanted my old battle hog?" V grunted yes without looking out from under her arm. San drained his glass and exhaled, "Well, he sent me a cable two week ago. He came out yeserday and, well... he made me an offer I couldn't refuse," he said draining his glass. V lifted her arm and peered out from under it at him. "What?" She said in disbelief. He peered into his empty glass and slowly nodded. "It was... a GREAT offer," he said with his voice cracking. V abruptly sat up, swinging her feet to the floor.

"You've had that hog since the war. Since before I was born," V said. "It was your favorite thing in the world!" she exclaimed. San looked up at her with tears in his eyes. V didn't know what to do. She'd never seen him cry in the ten years she knew him. Ever. "Not quite," he said, his voice cracking. V crawled off the couch and knelt in front of San, resting her hand on his knee as she peered up at him. "You had today's fight on clock already, so we was committed. But the ole Sand Man finally come thru. You don't have to fight no more kid," he said. He held out his big fist and smiled like she had never seen him smile before.

He loosened his grip and a golden locket dropped and bounced at the end of a dainty gold chain. V abruptly jumped up, raising her hands to her mouth as she took a step back. Her eyes wide with shock she looked from the locket to San. "Is... Is that...?" she squeaked out. He nodded with a big smile, "It sure is, kid. The one and only." She slowly stepped forward and knelt down again. Her hands trembled as she held them up on either side of the locket. She exhaled loudly as she carefully took it into her hand. She struggled with the clasp and finally opened the locket to see a picture of a beautiful young woman on one side and a baby girl on the other.

She sobbed as she stared at the pictures. She laid her head on San's lap and grabbed his hand, holding her lips to it in a long, appreciative kiss. "I... I don't know what to say," she sobbed. San stroked her hair out of her face and said quietly, "Say you'll start living again, kid."