I'm With You

Disclaimer: sigh This truly is the hardest part of writing fanfics...the disclaimer, I unfortunately do not own Zoids or any of the characters involved, please don't sue me!

Leena Toros stood rigidly still for one who always seemed to be chasing after something, or a certain blonde haired someone after he had stolen her cookies. But right now, she looked as if she were frozen to the spot. Leena's usually lively and energetic facade, remained stoic and unchanging, revealing nothing to anyone who happened to pass her by on the bridge she stood on. Her life was a mess and she knew it, nothing ever seemed to right for her ever since the day her mother died, so she became one of her fathers' Zoid pilots, taking up the position of the trigger happy Gunsniper pilot on the team. Tears silently fell down her face as she recalled the days earlier events.

Flashback

"Bit Cloud! Drop my cookies now!!!" The blonde pilot froze on the spot, hand still in the cookie jar he had found hidden, as he heard the all to familiar bellow of rage from Leena that always took place as she caught him in her 'secret stash'. A lone bead of sweat formed on his brow as he put the cookie jar down and hastily stuffed the cookie he snatched into his mouth.

"Weena...hi! I didn't hear you get back from getting the groceries, ummm...how long have you been here?" Bit Cloud pilot of Liger Zero asked nervously swallowing the last remnants of cookie that was in his mouth. An almost primal growl escaped the angered redheads throat as she lunged at her co-pilot, missing him by inches as he leapt nimbly out of the way.

"BIT! You jerk, get back here so I can clobber you properly!!" Again Leena lunged at Bit and successfully grabbed him by the shirt collar, wrenching his face mere centimetres from her own.

"N-now Leena, let's be reasonable about this...I only took one cookie! I swear! Please don't kill me!!" Bit pleaded with Leena, her eyes flashing fire within them. Another growl escaped the young woman as she slapped the other teen upside the head and stormed away, not letting the blonde guy see the tears of anguish and pain silently roll down her face as she stomped to her room, shoving past Jamie roughly as she went by.

Flopping down on her bed Leena shoved her face into the pillows she screamed at the top of her lungs and then submitting into silent sobs that wracked her entire body until sleep took hold of her.

Still flashback–Den area with the other pilots

Bit sighed and sat down on the couch that occupied part of the den at the base, thinking back to his earlier encounter with Leena. Something with the way Leena reacted seemed off, usually she would clobber him until he was a mess or gave up (whichever happened first), but today just wasn't right. Something was wrong with Leena and he knew it, sensing another presence in the room Bit looked up to see a worried Jamie standing in the doorway.

"Hey Jamie, what's up? Is something wrong?" Of course something was wrong, if Bit sensed something was wrong, obviously Jamie would.

"Well, actually, yes...did you notice Leena's odd behaviour today? When she stormed past me after catching you she was crying, or at least not trying to, but still she was crying none-the-less. I think she's depressed or something." Bit nodded silently as if to say he did understand, looking up and into the eyes of his fellow pilot.

"Yeah, you're right I think something is wrong with her...she didn't even give me a total beating when she caught me in her cookie stash." Jamie and Bit both sighed in unison, unknown to them that a certain someone they were talking about just caught the last of their conversation.

Leena outside the door-

"So they think that something's wrong with me huh? Well maybe I should just leave then and let them get on without me. I don't want to be a burden to them any longer, now do I? It's settled then, I'm leaving and not coming back, I know Bit doesn't feel the same way about me so what's the point to life either?" Leena thought bitterly to herself, envisioning her family and so called "friends'" faces when they found out she left and took her life soon after. With those final thoughts she fled to her room once more and scribbled separate little notes to her father and her teammates, telling them of what she planned to do that night.

Back in the den-

"You know what Bit? We should do something special for Leena, you know, to let her know we care about her. Some more than others...you have got to tell her how you feel you know." Jamie brightened up slightly, but became serious when he started to talk about the blondes feeling towards Leena. Bit sighed and ran an exasperated hand over his face.

"I know, I know...you're right I'll tell her, I'll do it right now!" Getting up Bit left the den and headed for the redheads room, a half hour too late, Leena had already left.

Leena-

Packing only a small backpack with a sharp knife and a few measly keepsakes, Leena silently made her way from her room and to the door leaving the base. Those fateful letters stacked neatly on her bedside table. Fleeing into the darkness a cloaked woman left everything behind, even the one she loved but could never tell.

Flashback ends

At the base Bit knocked silently on Leena's door, calling her name when he received no answer from within, still hearing nothing Bit cautiously opened the door and peeked his head inside the darkened room.

"Leena, hey Leena, are you here? Can we talk?" Still no answer and Bit grew worried, going fully into the room he turned on the lights, preparing himself for an oncoming beating. But no beating came.

Noticing the room was vacant and some items missing, his mind reeled as he noticed a stack of letters on top of Leena's desk. Picking up the letter addressed to himself, he opened it with shaking hands and read it.

Bit,

As your reading this letter you must have discovered that I am gone, and no Bit I will not be returning. I know you do not feel the same way towards me as I feel for you, so here it is I'm telling you now because I'll never have the chance to tell you myself to your face. Bit since the first day you waltzed into our lives with your cocky, know-it-all attitude and egocentric ways I've loved you...been in love with you. But now I'll never know how you feel or even reciprocate the same feelings because I plan on ending my life tonight. My life isn't worth shit all and I have no reason to go on anymore. All I do is waste ammo in battles and bring down the team when we fight. So here it is, my final good-bye to you and the others. Please don't be angry with me, just remember all the fun times we had earlier on and all of our pointless arguments about you stealing my cookies and such or when you accidentally walked in on me in the bath and then I proceeded to chase you with the bathtub above my head, trying to murder you. Good times huh? Bit remember me as who I was, not who I am now. I love you!

Leena

Bit's vision blurred and his hands trembled violently as he read the letter from Leena, she loved him? A lone tear cascaded down the teens cheek as he fought the panic that rose in him at the thought of Leena out at night, contemplating death, he had to find her and fast! Grabbing the other letters Bit raced from Leena's room, forcing the urge to scream bloody murder as he passed Jamie on the way out, forcefully he shoved the letters into Jamie's hands and ignored the sounds of confusion coming forth from the younger boy.Breaking into a sprint Bit headed to the hanger where they kept their zoids and his jeep, leaping into the vehicle he hit the automatic door opener and turned the ignition, speeding into the night and to the one he loved.

Back to Leena

Standing on the bridge Leena swung her bag off of her shoulders and opened it, taking the switchblade she had concealed within it out. Tears once more slipped down her face as she went to drag the blade along her wrist, pausing momentarily as she remembered her father and the other pilots. She remembered how her father always managed to seem so juvenile when he happened across new zoids models or how Brad was always the solitary, quiet guy who usually only spoke when he was spoken to and how he always had a mug of coffee in his hands.

'Brad the voice of reason', Leena thought to herself cynically, 'I wonder how he would reason to this?' Shaking her head Leena pushed those thoughts out of her mind and continued reminiscing about the other pilots.

Jamie, dear sweet, naive Jamie, always seemed so innocent. Being the youngest member of a team can have that effect on a person, he was always nice, kind and polite to her...looking up to her (not so) secretly as being a big sister to him. And then there was her secret crush Bit Cloud, he was always cocky and had the air of an arrogant guy around himself. But deep down he was a shy guy, just being loud to keep the air of confidence he had built around himself so no one could crumble his walls. That's what she admired about him most, his confidence...he kept everyone going with it, even when things seemed bleak. But she wouldn't be able to see that any longer...not after tonight, she was never going back and yet she still wished she would. Momentarily Leena dropped the blade she was holding, startling herself back to reality and what she was about to do. Bending down she picked the blade up and once again held it to her wrist.

(Back to Bit)

Gunning the accelerator on the jeep Bit sped to the one place he could always find Leena at when she was upset, the park on the bridge, he found her there on her birthday once when she became upset when her father gave her a picture taken of her and her mother when she was ten years old on her birthday only a few months before her mother died of a rare disease. Bit and Leena just sat in silence on that bridge until she finally broke down and clung to Bit telling him about her mother dying when she was only ten, Bit remembered sitting there and holding the trembling girl in his arms. His only thoughts now was that he wouldn't be too late.

Leena

Ever so slowly Leena drug the blade softly over her wrist, only drawing a thin trail of crimson blood, she didn't make the first cut into the fatal one. But she would soon, she knew she would, then why was she hesitating? In the far regions of her mind she was hesitant about ending her life, but otherwise she was determined to do it, she didn't want to live a life of pain any longer... she wanted to see her mother again and be held in her arms. As Leena once more raised the blade above her wrist and began to cut lights from a vehicle flooded onto her and a vehicle, a jeep to be exact, screeched to a complete halt. A figure jumped out of the jeep and yelled her name, in her daze she never recognized the voice.

"LEENA! DON'T DO IT!!" It was Bit running towards her at a speed that rivalled the Liger Zeros. Startled Leena looked up with a tear stained face.

"Bit?" Leena couldn't believe her eyes. There was the infamous Bit Cloud running to her with tears in his eyes. He was crying, but why? Was it because of her? She didn't know, all of a sudden she was enveloped into a crushing hug and having sweet kisses rained all over her face.

"You're alive...I wasn't too late." Was all that Bit was able to get out of his mouth over and over again as he kissed Leena repeatedly, tears still freely falling from his eyes. Pulling back slightly Bit looked into the young girls eyes and looked at her solemnly.

"Why Leena? Why all of this? Don't you know what you mean to me? And not to mention all of the others. Leena don't you know I love you?" Leena looked like a small child as Bit ranted on and on, suddenly a thought occurred to her.

'Bit loves me?' With tearful eyes Leena looked up into Bit's face and gave him a look that questioned him do-you-really-love-me? Her only answer was Bit tilting her chin upwards with his thumb and kissing her softly on the lips with a passion that rivalled any other emotion.

(A/N: Okay seeing as it's such a sweet and sappy scene here I've decided to skip ahead into the future a little... )

One Year Later.....

It was exactly a year after Leena tried to take her life and Bit confessed his feelings when he found her, and things between the couple couldn't be better, they were happy and in love nothing could go wrong and things could only get better for the two. And that's precisely what Bit was planning for that day as it was, he was planning on asking Leena to marry him, with the ring box in his pocket he thought back to earlier in the day when he asked Doc's permission to do so.

Earlier that day, Doc's office

Bit nervously walked up to Doc's office a small box in his front jeans pocket, he had something important to ask Doc and he prayed to God that he would approve. Hesitantly he knocked on the older mans office door, a warm 'come in' could be heard from the inside of the room. Slowly making his way into the room, Bit looked around noticing different types of Zoids models adorning the rooms shelves.

"Ah, hello Bit, what can I do for you?" Doc asked the Liger pilot cheerfully, almost a little too cheerfully for Bit's likings. Bit shifted nervously from foot to foot, carefully he reached into his pocket and pulled out the box that contained the ring.

" Well Doc, as you know Leena and I have been a couple for a year now and I love her more than you would think possible...so what I would like to ask you is...canIhaveyourpermissiontomarryyourdaughter?...I mean, do I have your permission to ask Leena to marry me?" Doc's face broke into the biggest of smiles, an even bigger one than that of one when he got himself a new model, laughing heartily he embraced Bit in a fatherly hug.

"Of course my boy, I couldn't have asked for a greater thing to happen today, you make my Leena happy and I want that for my daughter... so yes you may." Bit grinned his trademark grin and thanked the Doc profusely about his acceptance. Leaving the room he gave a sigh of relief.

'Today's the day...and tonight I'm gonna ask Leena to marry me.' With that thought Bit went off to prepare for that night.

That night...Bit and Leena

Bit had everything planned to the very last detail and was now walking along the same bridge with Leena where she tried to kill herself. Stopping at the very spot where he found Leena, Bit came to an abrupt halt, puzzling Leena to no end.

"Bit Cloud what...!?" Leena was cut off mid-sentence as Bit got down on one knee and pulled out the red heart shaped ring case. A sharp gasp escaped Leena lips as she realized what was happening.

"Leena...love, this is the very spot where you and I first confessed our feelings to each other a year ago, this is the place where I was given a second chance at showing you how much I love you. And here's the place I wanted to propose to you. Leena Toros...will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?" Tears formed in Leena's eyes and a sob escaped her throat as she launched herself into Bit's arms, kissing him passionately she gave him the answer he wanted, softly he slipped the ring upon her finger sealing their love for each other and telling what lay ahead for them in the future.

End