Operation Tact Throbbing Heart

Chaper 1: Strategy meeting soup for the teenage soul

Disclaimer: Galaxy Angels, Tact Mayers, Vanilla H, the Elle Ciel and related characters, machines and locations are property of Broccoli and are used without permission.

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Ranpha Franboise, beautiful blonde martial artist, member of the famed Moon Angels and pilot of the powerful Kungfu Fighter Emblem Frame was not, by any description, a quiet person. She always spoke her mind, and was almost never at a loss for words. However, even she couldn't help but be stunned by what she'd just heard. "W-what did you say?"

Vanilla H, the pale wisp of a girl who was the youngest yet somehow most mature of the team, mumbled in response. Ranpha couldn't make out what she said, but from the way her cheeks now matched her red eyes she could guess what the younger girl was trying to say.

"Is it about Tact?" she asked. When Vanilla hesitantly nodded, the Angel could barely keep her glee hidden. Granted, she was not impressed with Commander Tact Mayers when she first met him during the Eonia coup d'etat (and even less so after learning from his crew that he was an infamous skirt-chaser and slacker), but she had to admit the blue-haired dope had his good points. While he did tend to slack off and leave the day-to-day running of the Elle Ciel to Vice-Commander Lester Cooldaras, he was at heart a good guy. Virtually the entire crew were wary of him at first (and since most of them were women, they could be forgiven given his reputation), but he slowly won them over through his courage, kindness and sheer guts. And once in awhile, even Ranpha would think he wasn't that bad-looking either.

The fact that Vanilla, who Ranpha often thought was being far too introverted for her own good, thought the world of him was unexpected, though. It wasn't bad by any extent, but it took the other Angels by surprise to learn Vanilla had actually gone to Tact's room and asked if he'd like to go with her to the dance on the Fargo colony. Although all five Angels had asked him to go, he eventually decided to go with Vanilla. Ranpha did feel slightly insulted (after all, he'd chosen to take a waifish, silent young thing over a lively and shapely beauty like her), but then realised that Tact's choice hadn't been so much a decision about attractiveness (who among the Angels was as glamorous as her?) than it was about helping Vanilla develop as a person. Vanilla had always been the type to stick to herself, even though Ranpha knew deep inside she was a kind, caring girl. In one of his rare moments of seriousness, Tact pointed out that while the other Angels could get along with others easily enough, Vanilla didn't seem to be able to deal with people due to her having to keep firm control of her emotions. She'd asked him, so he suspected she was trying to learn to reach out to others. And someday, when there was no more fighting, this lack of experience in dealing with people might handicap her. Ranpha couldn't fault his reasoning, though she suspected his kindness and consideration to others had managed to worm through Vanilla's emotional barriers enough that she wanted to be around him.

Since Vanilla was the youngest of the group, the other Angels naturally kept a close eye on Tact's conduct during the dance. It also helped that they really didn't have anything better to do than keep an eye on their little 'sister'. Certainly, they had admirers of their own more than happy to ask them to dance, but Vanilla's well-being took priority. Plus, it'd make great gossip.

The evening started out well enough, Tact complimenting them all on their dresses and singling out Vanilla's as being particularly beautiful (not surprising, since he'd helped her go shopping for it). However, they were annoyed to see Vanilla alone for most of the evening, pestered by a number of officers asking her to dance. Ranpha and Forte were close to tracking down Tact and demanding to know what the big idea was, but luckily for him Mint pointed out that since he was commander of the Elle Ciel and Prince Shiva's main protector, he probably had to mingle with the bigwigs.

It was close to the end of the dance when Tact finally appeared again, having apparently spent most of the dance trying to find her. He quickly shooed away Vanilla's would-be suitors and asked her for the last dance of the evening. To the delight of the Angels, he'd taken her out and shown her how to place her hands, despite her half-hearted insistence she didn't know how to dance. While they weren't sure, they could've sworn her cheeks had turned a light pink.

To their disappointment, however, following the dance and the destruction of Fargo by Eonia's forces, nothing seemed to have changed. Vanilla was still the controlled, quiet girl she always was and Tact was back to his normal goofy self. The only hint anything might have changed was when the Elle Ciel was heavily damaged during the final clash with Eonia and the Black Moon. Vanilla, showing uncharacteristic fear as the ship was covered in flames, fought her way through Eonia's fleet to restore the Elle Ciel through the use of her Repair Wave. Considering Vanilla's Harvester was the weakest Emblem Frame in terms of offensive capability, this was no small feat.

"Ranpha-san?" Vanilla's soft voice brought Ranpha out of her reviere.

"Ah, sorry, Vanilla," she said, laughing her inattention off. "So what did Tact do?"

Vanilla shook her head. "He didn't do anything. I just wanted to ask..." She trailed off.

Ranpha leaned forward, trying to catch what the younger girl said. "What?"

"Am I...pretty?" she asked again, unable to look her teammate in the eye. When silence met her words, Vanilla looked up to find Ranpha staring blankly at her. "Ranpha...san?"

Ranpha shook her head. "Why would you ask that? You're adorable!" She realised that was the wrong thing to say when Vanilla flinched, just a tiny bit.

"Adorable..." she sighed sadly. "Like a little sister?"

"Of course!" Ranpha said earnestly, trying to understand what she'd done. "You're like a little sister to all of us..." Suddenly, everything became clear. "Are you thinking about what Chitose said before?"

When Vanilla didn't reply, Ranpha knew she'd hit the nail on the head. Her mind flashed back to some weeks ago, shortly after the Elle Ciel had come under attack by Eonia remnant forces. After the coup d'etat was defeated and Prince Shiva ascended the throne as Empress Shiva of the Transbaal Empire, the Angels had returned to the White Moon. Vanilla, however, requested to remain aboard the Elle Ciel, officially to help defend it. Only a couple of months later, the Transbaal Empire received reports of Eonia remnant forces sighted in the Elle Ciel's area. Ranpha and a new recruit to the Angels named Karasuma Chitose, had been dispatched to rescue and escort the Elle Ciel to rendezvous with one of the Transbaal fleets.

During the journey, Chitose had mistaken Tact and Vanilla's relationship as one between an elder brother and his younger sister. Even when Vanilla finally managed to admit her feelings (to the dismay of the Anti-Commander Mayers Group) resulting in an impromptu party on the bridge, the new Angel still didn't seem to understand, even when Vanilla took Tact's arm in her's. Ranpha internally chuckled, remembering how she'd had to spell out, "They-are-a-couple! Co-up-le!" She also remembered how Vanilla had blushed up to her ears and fled the room when everyone started congratulating her.

"Um..." Vanilla was beginning to wonder if she hadn't come at a bad time, since Ranpha seemed to have something on her mind. But then again, she didn't have much choice but to come to her. She doubted the other Angels could help. Milfie, while undoubtably kind, did not seem the type who'd have many ideas about getting a guy to notice her and Vanilla was not very familiar with Chitose yet. Forte was even less likely to have any suggestions, while Mint, as far as Vanilla knew, was not very experienced on the relationship front either. Despite being the youngest of the Angels, she was no fool. She'd sacrificed her emotions, kept them under firm control, in order to master control of her nanomachines, so she knew she was woefully ill-equipped to handle the sudden storm of emotions she'd been feeling lately.

"Vanilla?" Now it was Vanilla's turn to be caught off-guard. Ranpha was grinning, her eyes flashing with delight. "Am I right?" she demanded of the younger girl. "It's because of what Chitose said, right?"

Vanilla nodded. "Tact-san..." she said in her soft voice, "doesn't treat me differently from before."

Ranpha looked puzzled. As far as she knew, Tact was nice and considerate (for the most part). She was certain that if something was wrong, she'd have heard about it by now. "What do you mean? Doesn't he take care of you?"

Vanilla nodded. "Tact-san is kind to me." She added, "He's kind to everyone."

"Oh, I get it!" Ranpha clapped her hands. "He doesn't treat you special, right?"

Vanilla blinked. "Is he supposed to?"

A dead silence followed. "Uh...Vanilla..." Ranpha said, allowing the sweatdrop she could feel on the back of her head drip down. "Has Tact ever done anything like share a soda with you, or feed you during meals or anything like that?"

In response, the younger girl shook her head. Ranpha's eyes glinted dangerously. "What is he doing..." she growled. "He's supposed to be your boyfriend! He should be treating you like a princess!"

Vanilla suddenly looked uncomfortable. "A...please don't blame him..."

Ranpha paused in mid-rant and sighed as she shook her head. Vanilla was kind, but sometimes she was far too willing put the needs of others over her own. "Vanilla, you've always been really supportive of Tact, right?" she said kindly. When Vanilla nodded, "Don't you think it's unfair that you do so much for him, but he doesn't do anything for you?"

"That's wrong!" Vanilla clenched her fists, her hands clasped to her chest. "Tact-san...he does a lot! He's worried about us, he's always making sure we're alright, he...he..."

Ranpha's grin made the girl realise she'd walked into a trap. The blonde walked around her, circling her like a bird of prey. "So...he's that great, huh?" She stopped walking, and tilted her head as if studying her. "Hey, Vanilla?"

"Yes?"

"How do you feel about Tact?"

"Eh?"

Ranpha tilted her head and held up a finger right in front of the younger girl's nose. "I mean, what do you feel when you're with him?"

Vanilla considered the question. "My chest starts to throb and my heart beats faster," she said at last. "But it doesn't hurt." She paused as if searching for the right words. "I feel like I want to stay beside him."

Ranpha clasped her hands together. "Waaaai! That's so romantic! You're such a cute girl, Vanilla!" In response, Vanilla shrank back, not unlike the rabbits she so loved. She could feel her cheeks grow warm, but fought the blush down. "Maybe..." she heard Ranpha say.

"Maybe...?" Vanilla leaned forward ever so slightly, her attention piqued.

"Maybe it's the way you look..." Crossing her arms, the hot-headed and vivacious pilot nodded to herself.

Vanilla put her hands to her cheeks. She'd heard that some people found her almost unhealthily pale compared to the other Angels, but...

"Oh, not your looks!" Ranpha exclaimed, waving her hands to reassure her. "I meant your outfit."

The light green-haired 13 year old looked down at her usual outfit. She never saw anything wrong with it herself, but then again, she admitted she was never interested in fashion. "What's wrong?"

Ranpha grinned. "You look good in it, but that's not the problem. Tact's used to seeing you in it all the time, so it doesn't do anything to him anymore." She paused. "Remember the dress you wore at Fargo?" Vanilla nodded and she continued. "Remember how Tact couldn't keep his eyes off you?" When Vanilla nodded again (a little too eagerly, Ranpha noted), she added, "So what we have to do is make you look even better so his heart'll go pitter-pat pitter-pat."

"P-pitter-pat?" Suddenly, Vanilla wasn't so sure coming to Ranpha for advice was such a good idea.

Ranpha's eyes now gleamed dangerously. "When we're done, he won't be able to keep his hands off you!" When Vanilla blushed all the way up to her ears, the seventeen year old laughed nervously. "I mean...he'll really notice you."

As Vanilla tried in vain to quell the blush, Ranpha began digging through her closet for things that would fit the younger girl. "Ah-ha!" she crowed as she pulled something black and white out. "This should do it!"

Looking puzzled, Vanilla studied the garment. "This is...?"

Ranpha grinned. "One thing about men," she said sagely as she held out the maid costume, "is that they can't resist a cute maid!"

Now Vanilla was beginning to wonder if she shouldn't have gone to Forte for help.

---to be continued---

Author's notes: I've been trying to finish my long delayed Digimon fic Dark Wing, but somehow I still haven't recovered my fire. However, after reading Tsutomo Teruko's highly amusing As Luck Would Have It, I feel inspired enough to write about one of my favourite parts of the Galaxy Angels games.