When Rei returned to consciousness, he didn't even have the strength to lift his eyelids. And they weren't the only part of him that felt heavier than usual; his legs and arms felt so leaden that for a brief, panic-filled instant he was certain that all of his limbs had been amputated and metal replacements attached.
Gradually, details began to seep back into his field of awareness. The scent of cleaning fluid lingered in the warm air, so strongly that he could taste it. His ears were full of muffled beeps, murmurs and footsteps that eventually became clear enough to categorise.
He wasn't wearing his own clothes. By this time awake enough to be on his guard, Rei carefully tried to feel what kind of material was surrounding him. It was crisp, fresh and slightly rough - but he discovered this at a price.
"Rei? Rei, are you awake? Oh my gosh, I have to get a nurse - but no, wait, I have to stay with you! Um, excuse me! Can somebody help me?"
Rei winced as every fretful cry pierced through his head. Realising his eyelids felt lighter now, he opened them tentatively - only to squeeze them shut as he was blinded by the daylight. He tried to raise a shaking arm to block it out, but was interrupted by a warm, slightly clammy hand pushing it back down while another hand covered his eyes.
"Easy, Rei." The voice was soft and slightly tight. "The doctor's just coming."
Mao? Rei tried to croak, but his unbearably sore throat rivalled his throbbing headache for attention, and he gave up. If Mao was there, he needn't be on guard. Now allowing himself to relax, he answered questions, moved various digits and recovered his grip on the world.
By the time Mao was allowed to return, Rei had remembered the battle with Boris and learned that Takao had yet to face Yuri. Even through the thick Russian accents, he knew that he was expected to make a full recovery if he took things easy for a while. Everything was as well as could be expected - but Rei had higher expectations than most.
Mao sat on the chair by his bed and smiled hesitantly. "Hiya, Rei," she said. "How... How are you feeling? Oh, wait - are you allowed to talk?"
Speaking turned out to be less painful than nodding. "I can talk," he said, his voice low and slightly rasping, "But not too much."
Mao grinned in relief. "Well, that's good. I'm so glad you're looking better than you did before! I haven't seen you that pale since you and Lei tried to smoke Grandfather's pipe!"
Rei smiled at the memory; encouraged by this small gesture, Mao continued to talk. It was more of a comfort than he'd been expecting, giving him a reason not to speak and something to focus on other than his own emotions. However, her gentle, soothing tones built up into pure excitement as she relayed anecdotes, opinions and gossip that she had heard. In fact, her manner became so animated that, for a split second, he considered the idea that she might be babbling.
"I'll just be happy when it's all over with. Won't it be nice to go home? I bet you can't wait to see everyone again, I know they can't wait to see you!"
He couldn't think of any way to respond to that. Mao's words, spoken with cheerful sincerity, had touched a thorny subject - one that Rei really didn't want to be reminded of right now. He stayed quiet, hoping that in her enthusiasm Mao wouldn't notice his discomfiture.
He should have known better. The stream of chatter ceased abruptly when he didn't reply, and she looked worriedly at him.
"Rei?"
"Yeah?" he asked, feigning ignorance.
"What's the matter?"
He made a noncommittal noise and averted his eyes from her questioning gaze. Instead he stared at the wall, which someone had chosen to paint in a singularly uninspiring shade of yellow. His plan was thwarted as Mao took advantage of the fact that she was sitting right next to him; she simply leaned forward until she was directly in his line of vision.
"What's up with you?" she inquired, her tone determined. "Aren't you looking forward to going home?" Rei shook his head, still very much aware of the pain and very much not in the mood for twenty questions.
"Nothing," he replied, the words scratching his throat like wire. "I'm tired, that's all."
Mao continued to watch him sceptically, obviously not buying a word of it. Rei sighed inwardly. He hated lying to his friend or keeping anything from her, but 'home' was a subject he didn't want to discuss, even with Mao; it was something he had to think about by himself.
"Look," he began, "I just don't want to talk about it right now, okay?"
For a second Mao looked as if she might persist - then seemed to think better of it. "Okay," she said with a brief smile. "I know you're not ready for long conversations just yet. We can talk about it later, when you're feeling a little better."
At that point they were interrupted by the arrival of a nurse, who wheeled in a hospital trolley with a portable television perched on top. It was, she explained in a mixture of broken English and elaborate hand gestures, so that they could watch the last match of the tournament, which would be starting shortly. Most patients didn't get such privileges, she confided with a conspiratorial wink. She left the trolley by the bedside, checked a couple of the machines Rei was hooked up to, and then left.
All questions were forgotten in the wake of this visit, swallowed by concern over the upcoming match. Mao switched the set on and hunted anxiously for the right channel, while Rei tried to pull himself upright before giving up and resting back on his pillows.
"Got it!" Mao exclaimed with relief. The picture was decent enough, if slightly fuzzy, and it was obvious from the tone of the commentators' voices that the match hadn't started yet. On the screen was an overhead image of the arena; the audience and competitors were tiny figures far below, but Rei could easily pick out his teammates. Why did he have to be stuck in here? It killed him that he couldn't be around to support Takao in what would undoubtedly be the toughest battle he'd ever faced! He clenched his fists in frustration.
"He'll be okay." Mao's hand rested comfortingly on his arm, her tone and her smile reassuring. Rei smiled tightly in return, mystified as always by how well she read him. He turned his attention back to the screen then, where the competitors were taking their places at the dish. Takao would have to be okay; everything depended on him now.
Hi, we're Akai and Dew, and you might know us from such fics as The Ties That Bind, Background Music, Tiger's Eye, and Sharing a Bed for Beginners...
We actually first started speaking about collaboration possibilities many, many months ago; in fact, it's the reason we first started speaking. It's been an appealing idea for quite a while now, and we're as surprised as anyone that it actually seems to be working this time! That's right, this time: this fic isn't the result of that original proposition, but more a whim for a one-shot about a pair of characters often overlooked or mis-characterised. So we began writing, and continued until we realised that we'd written a complete chapter.
This obviously isn't the best shape for a one-shot to be in, so we thought a better idea might be to resign ourselves to lengthy discussion on characters and concepts that interest us with a view to letting further chapters write themselves as smoothly as this one did. Life's a bitch, hey?
Anyway, feedback of all types is welcome, and please feel free to critique us! If you're not really a fan of reviewing at ff.net, why not visit www.redblade.org where the fic is also posted? Quite a few fics are posted there before ff.net, and sometimes even instead of, so it's worth a visit! Join in the discussion while you're there, it'd be great to see some new members! [/shameless plug]
Thanks for reading, see you next chapter!