I don't own Gundam or anything related to it, characters, the ship, whatever. If I did I would not be publishing this story here.
"It's a dove!" said Christina. "See?"
"Why did you get me a dove?" asked Feldt.
"Oh come on," she smiled, "Don't you know what today is?"
"Of course I do. It's my birthday. But why a dove?"
Christina smiled, "Because she's beautiful."
Feldt thought it was as well. She had never seen a bird up close in her life, and now here was one. She was surprised at how soft the bird was. And how small it was. When she experimentally put her hand in its burnished cage, it perched itself on her finger and cooed softly.
Feldt gazed at her bird, just the tiniest smile in her usually tired eyes, and said, "I wonder if I will be able to take her into space . . . ."
"Well, why wouldn't you?" Christina asked. She had not done her research.
***
Their vacation time on earth drew to a close, and they were called back to the ship, the Ptolemaios. Somewhere up in the sky, though where exactly was a secret, the Ptolemaios rested on the edge of the earth's sphere of influence and deep space. Feldt was happiest when she was on the there; that was her home, it was her work. But while she felt fine there, her bird suffered. It wasn't eating. She wondered if it was homesick and lonely, but she was at a loss for how to heal her precious bird. And as the days went on, it became sicker and sick. She had no idea of what to do. Only three days after she returned to space she thought it was going to die.
And when she went to check on it later that night:
"Setsuna?" she said, surprised.
He looked up. He was holding the weak bird in one hand and an eye dropper in the other.
"It can't eat up here, you know, not in zero gravity" he said quietly. He put the eye dropper down the bird's beak and explained. "Birds need gravity to swallow; and currently we don't have any. It's starving up here."
"So should I just . . ." she didn't quite know what to say. The two of them rarely spoke to each other even though they were close in age. They were the only two teens in the world of adults they were navigating, and they both set off alone on their own path. There was no leaning on one another. Only awkwardness.
"You'll have to get rid of it," he said. "It's also a health hazard."
"We have the haros come in here and sweep up any bacteria or feces from the air," she snapped.
"No need to be defensive," he said.
They were quiet as the bird slowly began to flicker to life.
"You don't mean to kill her, do you?"
"I'd rather I not," said Setsuna, "Would you like to?"
"You're terrible!"
He shrugged.
"Please don't kill her," she begged.
"So do you want to just let it go in a space station?"
"I'll go to earth," she explained. "I'll release her there. I'd rather release her in the wild than have you or starvation kill her."
Setsuna looked at the bird. "If we were to release her into the wild, I'd rather go now."
"You? I thought it would be nice to go with Christina."
"She's working. I'm not." He held the bird against his chest, "Look, I'm sorry your bird is hurting, but if you let it go, it'll get better. Freedom does that for animals, I think."
They were quiet for a few moments, each wondering what to say next.
Finally Feldt spoke, softly, "I'll have Miss Sumeragi get us tickets to earth."
Setsuna nodded and went back to the bird; he could not remember ever seeing one closer than this.
***
On earth they found a field just a bit beyond the noise of the city. It was in a park where people came with their children to feed the pigeons bits of old bread; it was a place where people their age usually came to hold hands. There was a sizeable distance between the two of them. Feldt took the dove from its cage. It stayed with her for half a minute, looking up at the warm sky before fluttering to the ground.
"Come on," Setsuna said to the bird. "Not everyone gets the chance to go as they please."
"Maybe she doesn't care about flying," Feldt suggested.
Setsuna shook his head, "Everyone cares about flying."
Feldt sat down on the nearby bench to watch the bird. Setsuna, possibly as a statement, stood by the bench with arms crossed.
Feldt saw this and laughed, "You're acting like a body guard."
He snorted.
"Thank you for helping me," said Feldt.
Setsuna shrugged.
"I was really worried about her."
Setsuna remain silent.
"Setsuna, I--"
And she paused because in that moment the dove looked up, spread it wings and flew away where the other birds were-- in the sky, just out of reach of people. Completely white, it stood out among the flock of grey pigeons it joined. Feldt stood up to better watch what was no longer her bird.
"Setsuna," said Feldt, "Do you really believe that freedom makes animals feel better?"
"Well it does for humans, doesn't it? Hey, why are you smiling?"
"I'm not smiling. I just let my bird go. Why are you smiling?"
"You think I have reason to smile? You're wrong."
They stood at length from each other. Awkwardly.