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Title: Homecoming

Author: NinthFeather

Beta:SybilRowan
Rating: T

Characters: Allelujah Haptism, Setsuna F. Seiei, Sumergai Lee Noriega

Pairings: mentions of AllelujahMarie
Summary: Allelujah had lost four years in A-Law prison, and returned to a world he didn't recognize.

WARNINGS: Angst. Spoilers for season one and early season two (If you don't know who Marie Parfacy is, don't read this). Mentions of canonical character death. Mention of violence involving minors. Vague references to past torture.

Disclaimer: Unless having a plushie replica of Exia counts, I do not own.
A/N – I just wanted to address the fact that Alle spent the timeskip imprisoned by a rather morally bankrupt global military police force. I'm kind of thinking there might be some psychological damage there that canon breezed past. By the way, I did make up the particular snippet of Setsuna's backstory shared herein, but I think it's fairly possible given what canon tells us about his time with the KPSA.

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The shock of seeing Marie and the betrayal he'd felt when she hadn't recognized him had already passed, quickly eclipsed by the the adrenaline of battle and the elation of freedom and sunlight.

But now, even the confusion of seeing Lockon-who-wasn't-Lockon had melted away, leaving only numb exhaustion behind.

So…Lockon was still dead, but there was another Lockon now. Setsuna had become a man, albeit still a rather small one. Tieria had somehow lost the unapproachable aura that had once been his defining quality. Feldt wore her hair up, now, and her face had lost its roundness. Ms. Sumeragi had gained weight and a few wrinkles at the edges of her eyes. And Allelujah…Allelujah had lost four years in A-Law prison, and returned to a world he didn't recognize.

Everyone was staring at him, now. He felt the weight of their eyes, taking in his newfound thinness, the fading bruises scattered across his skin, the dark circles beneath his eyes. He could see the concern in their expressions, could almost hear them asking him to tell them that he was all right.

He wanted to be able to say that he was, and to return everything to how it had been all that time ago. But everything was different and he wasn't okay and he needed to get out of here, now.

"I…is there somewhere I can sleep?" he asked, trying to keep his voice strong and even. It sounded weak and trembling even to his ears, though.

"We have quarters prepared for you," Ms. Sumeragi said. "Setsuna, why don't you show him where they are?"

Setsuna nodded, and walked past Allelujah. "This way," he said.

Setsuna's voice, at least, was the same, soft, low, and reassuringly familiar. But the person it was coming from was broad-shouldered and strangely peaceful, completely unlike the tiny, troubled warrior of Allelujah's memory.

At least Ptolemaios II wasn't much different from the original. The exact pattern of the hallways was probably somewhat different, but their maze-like qualities were just the same. Unending passages of metal and plastic…somehow, they'd come to mean something like "home" to him.

Finally, Setsuna came to a stop in front of a door that looked just like all of the others. Allelujah stood behind him, anxious, and watched him input a series of numbers in the keypad.

"What's the code?" he asked.

"The numbers that would correspond to the letters in your name on a cell phone keypad," Setsuna said. "Feldt programmed it. All this time, she was sure they'd find you, alive."

Allelujah heard what he didn't say. "But you weren't?"

"I hoped you had died after the battle ended," Setsuna said, his voice a little softer than usual, as the door of the room slid open.

He walked in, then turned toward Allelujah, expectant.

"What?" Allelujah asked, reeling. Setsuna could be strange and cold, sure, but this was beyond his usual limits. "Why?"

"I thought you had fallen into the hands of an enemy that would not treat prisoners well," Setsuna said. "And I was right, wasn't I?"

Allelujah's throat dried instantly, and he closed his eyes before any sign of wetness became visible. He didn't want to talk about it, or even think about it. Not the months of absolute silence or the "enhanced interrogations" that occurred at unpredictable intervals…he just wanted to forget it all.

"I was captured, once, in Krugis," Setsuna said, and Allelujah paid attention because Setsuna never talked about himself. After months of living and fighting with the boy—man, now—Allelujah didn't even know for certain how old he was.

This was worth opening his eyes for, so he did, ignoring the warm moisture gathering at their corners.

Setsuna's eyes were downcast, his shoulders tensed and his hands fisted against his thighs. It was as if he were fighting against something—and he probably was, fighting a war within his mind that was the same as and yet so very different from the one between Allelujah and Hallelujah.

"I had a capsule I was supposed to swallow if that happened," he continued. "But they took it from me before I could, and locked me in a tiny room, alone. When they came back, they had knives. And the looks on their faces…"

Allelujah swallowed and tried to keep the horror off of his face.

"Nothing happened," Setsuna said quickly. "The rest of the KPSA showed up before they could do anything. But I saw what they would've done to me in their eyes. During Fallen Angels, I was worried that you might be treated that way."

"There are treaties—" Allelujah started weakly.

"You are what they would consider an international terrorist," Setsuna said. "The rules protecting prisoners responsible for such acts are often bent."

"I—"

"Come in, and you can talk about it, if you want to," Setsuna said, and Allelujah realized he was still standing outside the room. "But if you don't want to, it's fine."

He stepped inside.

Here—not just this room, but this ship, with these people on it—was a place where he could pour out four years' worth of loneliness and fear, or keep all of it inside, or pretend none of it had happened. He could spend time alone, or with another person, or with many others. He could fight, if he still had the strength too, or simply stay somewhere safe, if he couldn't. He could pursue justice, or peace, or Marie. Here he was free to do whatever he wanted, except leave without being missed.

"Welcome back," Setsuna said. He smiled, his lips barely curved and very thin, but nonetheless turned up slightly at the corners. Allelujah had never seen him smile before.

This wasn't the same Celestial Being he'd left. Not everyone he'd known was still here, and some of the people here were completely unknown to him. Those who did remain had grown and changed, living through four years of experiences that Allelujah had completely missed. They weren't the same people. But they still wanted him here. That much hadn't changed.

It wasn't the same home, but it was still home.

"It's good to be back," Allelujah said, and smiled back at Setsuna through his tears.

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