Chapter 1: Carbon Footstep

I don't really remember a lot of my childhood just the small snippets here and there… which actually isn't so bad. I like to believe I just remember the good times. Did you know my family was actually really poor in the beginning? We only had one car and my mama would use it to get to work at the old coal mines out in the countryside. Huh? Hahaha! No! I didn't mind, in fact it was actually really fun to walk to school everyday. My mom would always pick me up after she was done working at the old factories, so it was a precious time even if I didn't realize it than...

"Is that right?" Umi asked a smile on her face as her daughter continued to enthusiastically tell her about her day at school. Kanan was always so full of extra energy that Umi had often joked she was the exact replica of her wife at such a young age.

"Yeah!" A little bluenette tugged at her mother's hand, "And Dia didn't say anything," she finished her story. Kanan was in the middle of heading home after a very productive day of being a mischievous fourth grader.

They walked home on that summer day. Umi was sweating profoundly though she did her best to keep herself poise in public, but Kanan was still too young. She didn't care about her own image yet, which allowed her to indecently fan herself. Kanan tugged at her shirt, against her mom's constant nagging, and panted like a dog after spotting a stray canine on the side of the road.

Kanan enjoyed walking with her mom especially because sometimes if she was lucky enough they would buy ice cream. It was for this exact reason that Kanan was putting on a massive show for the day.

Walking along the pathway, Kanan anticipated the icy treat as they grew closer and closer to the parlor shop. Her acting getting more and more unlady like as she begged her mom with pleading eyes to catch her hint.

Seeing her daughters shameful display of overheating, Umi looked ahead to see the cone shaped logo. A small snort escaped her at the thought that her daughter loved to be overdramatic, "Hmm I wonder if Kanan cleaned her room like I asked?"

Kanan gasped at the realisation. Flashes of her dirty room threatening to hinder her quest, "I can clean it when we get home!" she begged, pulling her mother to budge, "Please! I can clean the living room too!" she hopped in place, whining as humanly possible.

Umi nodded, "Alright," and Kanan exploded with glee. Pulling her mother forward, they hurried to entered the ice cream shop.

Once inside the shop, they were hit by a gush of cold wind. Both enjoyed the icy breeze of the thousand dollar air conditioning before continuing their journey to the counter. Kanan was quick to let go of her mom's hand in order to place her sweaty palms on the window showcase. The young girl darted towards her favorite flavors as the shop owner laughed at the occasional customers. Umi greeted the owner before looking into her purse. She counted the change and found she only had enough to get Kanan her order.

Her shoulders dropped in disappointment. Umi had also been looking forward to the cold treat, but that's just how unfair life was for her. Failing to monitor the young girl, Umi looked up from her change bag to find Kanan had ordered an extra scope.

"Kanan," she warned as she approached the counter, "I thought I said only one scope."

"But it's on spedsol," Kanan shrinked as she pointed at the poster. Umi read the context carefully with a heavy heart. Kanan was right, but they couldn't even offered the days special.

"Only one scope," she looked at the owner, "I'm sorry about the confusion."

The shop owner dismissed the apology, instead insisting the extra scope was on the house. Having the ice cream cone in one hand, Kanan took a seat on their usual table. The duo took advantage of the shops air conditioning before they went back to the heat box that was their trailer home.

"Aren't you going to eat one?" Kanan innocently asked a question that Umi was already prepared to answer.

"I ate some at work," and Kanan was hurt, "Sorry, I promise to save you some next time."

"Ok," she was appeased easily with the promise. Instantly diving right into her own vanilla flavor ice cream with a chocolate scope. Umi chuckled as she helped wipe away the melted dessert from her cheeks.

The box television set was on and Umi would peek at the local news. They didn't have a tv at home and she rarely got to see any recent news on the local paper, so Umi had to take advantage of the electronics around her to be updated with the current events. The news anchors were talking about some technological breakthrough made by some science group. An interesting subject, Umi admitted, as she recalled how she once had been mesmerized with the engineering world. She could have listened for a good hour, but Kanan had let her ice cream drop on the table. As if thinking she could be sneaky, Kanan grabbed the cold scope and placed it back on her cone.

Umi rolled her eyes as she went to grab more napkins. The front desk always had spares and she was quick to return to her child with clean aid. Her eyes looking at the television screen to see if they had switched topics, but now there was an all too familiar face smiling at the camera.

Pausing her cleaning routine, Umi stared at the ginger behind the panel.

Seeing her mother distracted by something, Kanan peered over to see her mama on tv, "It's mama!" her eyes sparkled at the woman being displayed, "Why is mama in the big tv?" she looked to Umi who was trying her hardest to listen.

"Hold on Kanan," she tried as she focused closely, but Kanan was too overwhelming with questions that demanded Umi to answer. Umi merely ignored her enough to her hear phrases, but Kanan wouldn't quiet down. Not being satisfied with the broken sentences she was barely able to catch, she asked the shop owner to raise the volume. Obeying her request, the volume was raise and Umi was shocked at what she heard.

Honoka wasn't talking, but the head of the group of five was leading the conversation, "That's right," she smiled at the report, "Project Loop will begin at the summer of next year, so please look forward to our discoveries."

…

"How could you not tell me?" Umi was furious. She paced the small shed like home up and down as Honoka sat on the wooden chair near the out of place dining table. Their trailer home shaking a bit at the bluenette's rough stomping.

"I was going to tell you," Honoka tried to appease her wife's fury, "But they didn't know if it was official and they didn't want anyone leaking any information until they made an official statement."

"I'm your wife!" Umi slaughtered the ginger's reasoning with the ultimate answer, "You can lie to all your friends, but not me. I'm the one person you have to tell everything to, aren't I?"

"Yes!" Honoka could see the hurt masking as anger, "I was wrong, I'm sorry!" the ginger stayed seated even though all she wanted to do was hug Umi, "But I… I don't have any excuses, you're right," she learned long ago not to touch the other when she was mad.

Umi crossed her arms as Honoka stayed put on her seat. Sighing from the lack of everything, Umi asked, "So are you going to tell me now?" she would have to be painfully blunt with Honoka if she wanted to learn more.

Honoka had arrived home late into the night. Kanan was already asleep and ready for school the next day, but Umi had waited for her. The ginger wasn't sure if it was a bad thing until Umi had asked her to take a seat. First came the accusation, which were then followed by guilty arguments, some reasoning, and finally a show of mercy. Which in this case was Umi letting Honoka explain herself before destroying her into oblivion.

Sensing the bluenettes curiosity Honoka would have normally teased Umi, but this wasn't the time to act cute. Honoka swallowed hard as she explained what Project Loop was all about. The program would select a team of five individuals to send into space. Their mission was to orbit around the earth while growing a garden to see if life was possible in space. To be honest, Honoka hadn't paid too much attention in the debriefing which definitely showed in her explanation.

"Honoka," Umi sighed as she held her head. There was a limit to how mad Umi could get before giving herself an unnecessary headache, "You can't mess around with the government, not like this."

"It's not what you think," Honoka stood up, her hands fishing around her pockets, "I paid attention where it counts," she pulled out the check, "Go ahead," she pushed it towards Umi, "Take a peak."

Unamused by the paper, Umi took the sheet and opened the envelope to find a check filled with four zeros, "What's this for?" her eyes widening as she looked at the numbers again.

"That's just the recrutement check!" Honoka was happy to see Umi so shocked. Anything was better then her wraith, "I get one similar to this every month just for attending the training," her chest puffing out with pride at having achieved the impossible.

"Wait what?" Umi looked at the ginger who snatched the check away. Placing the important paper down on the table, Honoka turned to Umi with a grin.

"We can leave all of this behind us," Honoka motioned towards their home, their poverty. Seeing Umi easing up, Honoka grabbed her hands forcing the bluenette to dance to the imaginary music of richness, "We can buy a house! We can buy a tv! We can buy an extra car," she preached, but Umi wasn't amused, "We can buy Kanan new clothes, her books," they paused in mid dance, "We can definitely save enough for her college!"

"Are you serious?" Umi couldn't believe their luck or in this case the government.

"As long as I stay in the program," Honoka assured her, "We can be living like royalty until the project is complete."

Umi nodded, her mind racing at the sudden income, "How many of these checks are we getting?"

Honoka thought for a minute, "Training is for an year," she grinned, "and the space trip is only six month, so we're talking about sixteen checks."

"Sixteen…" Umi was now in shock, "Thats alot," all her anger and betrayal gone with the mention of the ginger's new pay, "But you going into space," Umi didn't like knowing her wife would be anywhere she couldn't reach, "I don't like it."

"Umi its only for six months," Honoka beckoned, "I promise this will be my only space voyage," she gave Umi a small peak on the lips, "we'll be rich," another kiss, "So why don't we just enjoy it?" and another sweet peak landed. No matter how enticing the ginger made the whole idea sound, Umi didn't like her new occupation.

"I mean the whole money deal sounds amazing," Umi let Honoka continue her small attack on her lips, "But can you quit?"

Honoka's lips went on pause as she looked at Umi in confusion, "You want me to give up sixteen months of forty thousand dollars?" Umi nodded and Honoka scrunched up her brow, "Why would I do that?"

"Because I don't like the idea of some strange nerd sending you off into space," Umi begged, her insults grounding her from even more fouler words, "Can you just accept this check and call it a small victory? For me?"

"Umi it's because of you that I accepted," Honoka facial expressions soften, her arms snaking around the bluenette's waist, "I want to give you the life I promised you when we got married," she pushed the loose strands of blue hair behind her ear, "I want to give Kanan a life she could be proud of, instead of this. Do you get it? This is why I have to say yes."

Umi stayed silent. Honoka looked so desperate for her approval that she felt she had to accept, "I understand, but promise me one thing," and Honoka eagerly agreed, "Promise me that if something doesn't seem right, you will pull out of this project, ok?"

"Ok," Honoka kissed Umi passionately. Enjoying the affection, Umi wrapped her arms around Honoka's neck.

A/N:

Hello everyone I hope you can enjoy this short series!