Fahma, or: BC's True Identity
By: Speck
"Are you absolutely sure you have to do this? And now?"
"Yes… I'm sorry, but the Captain needs me. You know I wouldn't go if I didn't have to, but she's told the entire crew that this next mission is a big one. I have to help…"
"I'd never imagined one such as you joining up with a pirate crew… You were so reluctant about it at first, remember?"
Her smile… she would always smile like that, no matter what… so upset, but so humorous. "Neither did I… but you made it sound so appealing… and besides, you know how much I hated just sitting around while you would go out on big missions with them… I'm just upset that we need to leave you and the others behind this time…"
"I know… well, all right. They do need you after all… But please, be careful. You know how worried I am about her…"
The young woman in question took the speakers hand and placed it lightly over her stomach. "I promise… my job doesn't involve heavy contact or action, you know that… but still, I'll do my best to take it easy…"
The speaker smiled. "How easy you make it sound… very well. But promise me this will be the last raid… and promise me you'll spend the rest of time with me and our baby after it's born…"
The young woman smiled. "I promise… I love you, my ohma…"
"…And I love you, Ezra Vieil…"
Gasping, Ezra sat bolt upright in bed, a light sheet of sweat glittering out upon her brow. Minutes passed before her breathing calmed and her mind cleared. It was all a dream… no, a memory… the same memory that had played itself, night after night, in her mind. She gazed over to a table clock, its luminescent digits reading just a little after one in the morning. Several months had passed since she'd last laid eyes on the ohma of her baby, and she missed her dearly. The raid itself, mentioned those months ago, had taken a matter of moments, but last-minute attacks had blasted both the enemy ships and the pirates' own out into a remote section of space. Not only that, but the core powering the enemy ship, called Paksis, had exploded, its crystalline structure fusing both enemy and pirate ships together into a craft now dubbed the Nirvana. Not only that, but the three remaining men of the enemy ship had been taken on to help aid the crew on their venture back to their home planets of Mejale and Tarak. Ezra couldn't help but smile… men and women, supposedly enemies to the bitter end, were helping each other out… for their survival.
A pang of sadness latched its claws about her heart… they had been floating out in space for so many months… she wondered just how the baby's ohma was faring… does she miss me? She'll be wondering about the baby…
As if knowing that its mother was thinking about it, the baby within kicked and butted, causing Ezra to smile.
"I'm sorry, little one… your fahma worries, that's all…"
But it wasn't a simple worry. It was one that did the same thing every time the memory came back to haunt Ezra. It grew into anxiety, which grew into tears that silently spilled from Ezra's eyes to dot lightly at her nightgown. There was only one thing she could do.
Grunting, she pushed herself out of her bed, giving herself a moment to adjust to her weight, which still bothered her, and proceeded to pad about the ship. At this hour of the night, the ship's bays and halls were empty and quiet, and darkened. She passed by the men's sleeping quarters, giggling quietly at the raucous snoring that came from within. The engine bay's lights were still on, and for a moment, she thought that Parfet was still awake, busily monitoring the ever-active Paksis. Light, slow breathing confirmed that the engineer was indeed asleep, her head nodding, and every so often she muttered something about the engine room. Pyoro stood perched next to her, hooked into the Paksis, its monitors beeping and every so often fading into a pair of closed eyes. Ezra inched away slowly, so as not to wake either… the last thing she wanted was Pyoro chasing after her, demanding that her baby be named Pyoro-2.
Ezra found her feet leading her past Reg, where the lights were off, all for one. Gascogne was engaged in a heavy game of cards with Meia, both concentrating deeply on the task at hand. She smiled… Gascogne was a master when it came to poker, but Meia was quite a contender. Regardless, she continued on. It would be pointless trying to engage either in conversation.
It wasn't long before Ezra found herself walking to her favorite part of the ship, the bio-park. It was a strange addition to a battleship; a perfect likeness of a city park, with trees, a small lake, and benches with authentic streetlamps lighting a walkway. One such bench she claimed as her own, seating herself once again on the familiar wooden slats. This bench she would often come to when she needed to think, or wished to simply gaze at the stars… she knew her baby couldn't see anything from within its closed chamber, but regardless, she liked sharing the dark, starry expanses of space with her unborn. She let both of her hands stroke gently at her stomach, as she smiled…
"I was so tiny before… so thin and small… but you, you changed all that, didn't you? I don't think I've ever wanted to eat so much… but it doesn't matter. Everything I do is for you now… no one else but you…"
"Ezra?"
Starting, Ezra turned around and looked about. BC stood at the end of a walkway, just beneath a streetlamp, its light casting a halo over her bronze skin and silver-grey hair. The vice-captain approached Ezra, her eyebrows creased into a slight frown.
"I'd have thought you of all people would be sleeping now… what's the matter, is something wrong?"
"O-oh, no, vice-captain! I… I just had a dream, and it woke me, and I couldn't get back to sleep… so I thought I'd come out here and watch the stars until I felt sleepy enough to go back to bed…"
BC smiled. "Please, call me BC. You're a navigator… and our most valued one at that. You don't have to be so formal…"
Ezra blushed. "I-I'm sorry… BC."
"It's all right… now, about your dream… do you want to talk about it?"
"Well," Ezra began, then stopped. Her hands gripped lightly at her nightgown as tears suddenly broke forth, streaming down her cheeks. She sobbed quietly, as BC sat beside her on the bench and rubbed gently at her shoulder with a hand. The vice-captain smiled sympathetically.
"Was it something about your baby?"
"Sort of," Ezra gasped between broken sobs. "It… it was mostly about her ohma… I promised her after the raid was over that I would go home and take care of the baby with her… that was over seven months ago… I miss her so much…"
BC, never given much to shows of emotion, simply sat back on the bench, crossing her arms behind her head as she gazed at the stars. "So, you planned on leaving us after that last raid?"
Ezra bowed her head. "Yes… as much as I love it here… and as much as I love the captain for taking me aboard…"
"…You just want to go back home, and live a happy life…"
"…Yes…"
"I can't blame you. Granted, I don't think I could ever deal with children, but if I were in the same position as you, I'd feel the same way…"
"I-I'm sorry, BC… at first I wanted to continue working for this crew, but…"
BC laid her hand along the back of Ezra's neck and squeezed lightly. "There's no need to apologize… what you feel now is instinct; the need to be with the one you love right now. That's normal… and when we get back to Mejale, you can do just that. Promise me something, though…"
"Y-yes?"
"Be sure to come back and visit us with your baby and the ohma after we get back home. We'll want to see you as a whole family, you know…"
Ezra smiled. "The baby should be born soon… you'll all be able to see her then…"
"You didn't hear me, Ezra. I said, 'We'll want to see you as a whole family'… we'll be able to see her, yes, but we want to see the family that is created after her birth."
She wasn't sure what happened next; all Ezra knew was that a sudden tidal wave of emotion crashed over the shores of her mind. Smiling, tears spilling down upon her nightgown, Ezra leaned over and hugged BC close, crying into her shoulder.
"A-all right… I promise you that…"
BC, upon this sudden contact, stiffened then relaxed, letting a hand come up to stroke at Ezra's hair. A small smile of regret graced her lips.
'I certainly hope you can get home to Mejale, Ezra… especially for the sake of your family… I fear I've been doing the wrong things…'
"BC…"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for talking with me. I've been lonely lately… there's no one on the ship I can really confide in, except for you and the Captain. Everyone else is just… I don't know… not the kind you can really talk to about these things…"
"What about Dita? I've seen you and her stealing off to the bio-park ever now and then to talk…"
"Usually she's the one who comes to me to talk," Ezra sighed. "I guess she thinks I know a lot about love…"
"I would think you do," BC leaned back once again to gaze at the stars. "You out of all the members on board are about the only one who has a solid relationship outside of pirating… Jura and Barnette are partners, yes, but they're so giddy about it… you're the only one who has a serious partnership… so it's no wonder she comes to you for advice all the time…"
Ezra blushed. "I guess that's right… you know, it's strange…"
"What is?"
"Well… I'm sorry if I'm keeping you up…"
"Don't worry about it, Ezra… I don't mind… it seems you've had a lot on your mind lately that's needed expression… I'm listening…"
"Thanks… well, I was just thinking… for the longest time, we were raised to think that men were our enemies… now all of a sudden we know that this is all because of the Earthling's plans for using us as spare parts… but even before we knew that, it didn't stop Dita from going after Hibiki, or Parfet from becoming friends with Duero… even Bart's starting to turn around… even still, there's so much to be learned about love…"
"That's true… it's as if, even though time has passed, instincts still run strong for the other sex we've been separated from for three generations…"
"So…" Ezra looked up, a guilty look on her face, "does that make me wrong for loving my partner?"
BC smiled. "No. Love is love. It doesn't matter who you fall in love with, or what your sex is… what matters the most is how you feel about the other person. That's all that should matter…"
"…You're right. I just think too much, I guess…"
"I don't think so," BC replied. "You think just enough. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go and check the radar for any enemy craft… I'm sorry, Ezra…"
"That's all right… I'm just glad you listened to me for so long. I guess I should be getting back to bed… I'm starting to tire out."
"You do that," BC said, helping her up from the bench. "And don't worry about reporting tomorrow morning. I'll handle your station until you wake up. Have a good sleep now…"
Ezra smiled, and clasped BC's hand. "Before I go… I know Bart is a silly, strange man, but give him a chance. I think he's really starting to turn towards you, you know…"
BC blushed. "I… he's just trying to make me go easier on him. It won't work."
"I know… but just think about it. Good night, BC."
As soon as Ezra was out of earshot, BC turned, and stroked the gem that acted as the clasp for her neckband. A man's voice emanated from her lips.
"I have, Ezra… and I can't. Because…"
Another pair of ears, even as old and wizened as they were, heard the voice from somewhere above. The hearer smiled. 'So… it is as I thought…'
"Because… I'm a bastard."
A/N: Yes, this is awkward… see, I started out intending this to be an Ezra-centric one-shot, but now I'm beginning to think it'll be an Ezra/BC thing… but I'm not really sure. All I know is I really hope I haven't confused anybody entirely with this… comments/suggestions/critiques accepted, pointless bashing rejected. If you didn't like it and have a creatively helpful answer, I'll ask why and look for your input. If you just come to say I suck, I have to wonder about your agenda. That is all. Sayonara…
EDIT: I had to re-assess these chapters and any upcoming ones due to the fact I just viewed the rest of Vandread: Second Stage. I want to keep it as accurate as possible… I know I should'a waited for the last eps. To come out before I uploaded these chapters… -_-**
