Austin

Disclaimer: I own neither Zoids Shinseiki / Zero, nor the song "Austin" by Blake Sheldon. Hasbro, Tomy, Viz, Pioneer, MBS, and Cartoon Network own Zoids, and I don't know who wrote "Austin," but they'd have the rights to that. I'm not getting any money from this, so I can't get into trouble.

Author's Note: Okay, I, for one, am not particularly comfortable writing songfics. This is not meant to put down anyone who enjoys writing them, just that they're not exactly my favorite type of fanfic. Granted, I have written some before (I have a Sailor Cosmos one I need to upload), but those were more using the song lyrics to bring out the emotions of the story, not so much as using the song AS the story, like this, and traditional songfics do. I don't know, I guess it makes me feel like I'm not really writing a story... Anywho, I was listening to KMPS a few weeks ago, and this song came on, and the first thing that popped into my head was Bit and Rinon... I'm not exactly a B/R fan, but ya gotta admit that they care for each other... same as Satoshi and Kasumi (although S and K are younger, and it's hinted at a lot more).

Okay, so here's how it works. Plain text is story, "(insert text here)" is talking (duh), and ~(insert text here)~ is thinking. /(insert text here)/ is song lyrics, and /"(insert text here)"/ is talking within song lyrics. {(insert word)} means that I've changed the word from the original song. Those words'll be numbered, and I'll mark at the bottom what the original word was.

~~~~~

/She left without leaving a number

Said she needed to clear her mind/

Rinon sighed. She had to leave. She loved battling, of course, and she hated to leave her father, and the team. And she expecially hated leaving Bit. And that's what disturbed her. She didn't think she loved him, but she couldn't think straight around him. She just needed to get away from him, and think about things.

/He figured she'd gone back to Austin

'Cause she talked about it all the time/

Bit didn't know why Rinon left, but he figured it was his fault. Doc Torosu said that they used to live down south, near Austin. He'd been through Austin once, to go to a seminar at the Zoids Academy, and Rinon and Jiemi always chatted about how much fun they'd had there as children, before they both joined up with the Blitz team.

/It was almost a year, before she called him up/

Rinon dialed the Blitz base, and crossed her fingers. ~I hope that Bit answers. Sheesh, I don't even know if he's still WITH the team.~ No one answered the phone, so she punched the old number for Bit's voice mail extension.

/Three rings, and an answering machine

Is what she got:

If you're calling 'bout the {truck(1)} I sold it

If this is Tuesday night I'm {battling(2)}

If you've got something to sell, you're wasting your time, I'm not buying

If it's anybody else, wait for the tone, you know what to do

And P.S. if this is {Rinon(3)}, I still love you/

Bit's voice came through the phone clearly, and Rinon was completey astonished at what he had said.

/The telephone fell to the counter

She heard but she couldn't believe

What kind of man, would hang on that long

What kind of love that might be/

~He loves me? He LOVES me!? And he STILL loves me? That means he loved me before? Why didn't he say anything? Why did he... why did he let me leave?~

Rinon sighed. She didn't want him to know she called him. She wasn't sure if she wanted him to know she loved him. But still...

/She waited three days, then she tried again

She didn't know what she'd say

But she heard three rings and then:

If it's Friday night I'm at the {Zoids(4)} game

And first thing Saturday, if it don't rain

I'm headed out to the lake, and I'll be gone, all weekend long

But I'll call you back when I get home, on Sunday afternoon

And P.S. if this is {Rinon(3)}, I still love you/

Rinon was startled again. ~Is this at the end of every one of his voice mail messages?~

/This time she left her number

But not another word/

"(555) 276-4737"

/And she waited by the phone

On Sunday evening

And this, is what he heard:

If you're calling 'bout my heart it's still yours

I shoulda listen to it a little more

Then it wouldn't've taken me so long to know where I belong

And by the way, {Bit(5)}, this is no machine you're talking to

Can't you tell, this is {Rinon(3)}, and I still love you/

"Rinon?"

"Bit."

"You left because of me, didn't you?"

"It wasn't you, it was... I just needed to figure out what was really in my heart. I do love you, I guess I always did."

"So did I. I just... I guess I didn't know how to show it. Will you come back?"

"I... Not right now, but soon. Give my love to dad and Jiemi and Brad and everyone, and... and have a ring waiting for me, when I get there. I love you, Bit."

"Same here, Rinon."

FIN

~~~~~

1. car

2. bowling

3. Austin

4. ball

5. boy

Oh, and the number, it's completely made up. I got it from "CSniper," as in Cancer Sniper, her zoid.