STRIKE WITCHES: HEROS' RETURN: EILA AND SANYA

Chapter Two

A few hours later, Eila woke up with a groan. At first she panicked as she felt weight on her, but relaxed when she saw it was only Sanya. Then she was faced with a problem: how to get up without waking her. She gently eased her way out from under Sanya, being careful with each step. Eila was soon out from under her friend. Then she walked out to see what the time was.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" Eila nearly jumped out of her skin.

"How do you keep doing that?" she asked Drake, clutching her chest.

"I'm quiet. Now, what are you doing up? It's ten in the morning, you should be resting for your patrol tonight," Drake replied.

"I wanted to know the time," Eila said.

"Well now you have it. Go back to bed," he replied, turning to leave. Eila narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. Her stomach grumbled. Heading to the kitchen and grabbing a cinnamon roll, she headed back to her room. There she ate the roll in peace, listening to the soft breath of her sleeping roommate. Her hunger sated, she gently joined Sanya and curled up behind her, putting a protective arm around the Orussian girl. It was there she fell back to sleep.

Sanya woke up, feeling a little more refreshed and rested. "So warm," she mumbled, nestling back further into Eila's sleeping form. Only Eila wasn't asleep, for she had awoken half an hour ago and could not fall back to sleep. She pretended to sleep, so Sanya wouldn't know she was awake. Sanya's head was snugly resting in the crook of her neck, and Eila's hand was on her middle, just above her waist.

"Good morning, Eila." Eila jumped a bit, surprised that Sanya knew she was awake. "Good morning Sanya. At least I think it's morning," Eila said, smirking.

"I'm hungry," Sanya said groggily.

"Would you like me to get you something?" Eila asked. Sanya nodded. Eila got up once more, and headed to the kitchen. This time Lynette Bishop was on cooking duty. "What's for breakfast Lynne?" Eila asked.

"You mean 'what's for tea'. It's mid afternoon," Lynne said, setting up the tea carts. Eila grabbed a few sandwiches and sconces and brought them back to her room. She and Sanya ate them in relative silence, Sanya not being much of a talker, and Eila being too shy to talk. Suddenly, the siren went off. Neuroi, Eila thought, quickly getting dressed into a new uniform. She and Sanya raced towards the hangar, where many other witches were already taking off. As they jumped into their strikers, their radios crackled to life.

"Radar shows there are several Neuroi inbound directly from Iwo Jima, about ten of them. One is a large-type, the others are fighter sized. Engage and destroy the enemy!" Drake's voice said, cutting through the static.

"Roger!"

Eila flew beside Sanya, keeping a constant eye out to make sure the Orussian witch did not fall asleep in flight. She herself though had a difficult time keeping her eyes open. The temptation to just close her eyes and relax was great. But she persevered, determined to protect herself and Sanya. "I'm fine, Eila," Sanya said, as if reading her mind. Eila nodded, but still fortified herself against her own exhaustion. Within a few minutes, the Neuroi were in sight. "Engage!" Group Captain Minna said, swooping in at the large Neuroi. It was a usual manta ray shape, guarded by several smaller Neuroi, shaped similarly to fighter planes.

Sanya shot off a volley of rockets that impacted against the large Neuroi's hide. It squealed in pain and fury, and shot several beams in her direction. "Oh no you don't!" Eila yelled, yanking Sanya out of the way. She then retaliated with a volley of her own. The bullets ripped through the crystal hide of the alien, but no core was beneath. The wound shortly healed itself, as if it never happened. "Focus on the fighters first!" Minna said. Eila trained her gun on the closest fighter and fired. It exploded in a shower of white fragments, not even having time to fire back. Rockets rushed past Eila and destroyed another.

Eila saw out of the corner of her eye that Miyafuji was with her wingman Emily Holt and they had another fighter well in hand. So did Lynne and Perrine. The Karlsland trio had one for each of them, and Lucchini and Shirley had another. The other was taken care of by Commander Grandone's squadron. Soon only the large Neuroi was left. Enraged by the loss of its smaller brethren, the Neuroi fired off all its beams, making all the witches scatter and fall back. It then focused all its beams and shot them at Sanya. Before Eila could even move, and just before the beams could hit Sanya, a giant shield was generated in front of her. Before her was Miyafuji, who had come to their rescue. "How dare you try to shoot MY SANYA!" Eila shouted, diving towards the Neuroi, gun blazing. The skin of the beast was torn open and the core exposed, and Eila destroyed it without mercy. She tore through the Neuroi as it disintegrated, still firing at what remained.

"Juutilainen! Stand down, the enemy has been destroyed!" came the sharp bark of Drake's voice through Eila's earpiece. Reluctantly she did as she was told, the fragments of the Neuroi falling around her as she returned protectively to Sanya's side. "Great shot Eila!" Miyafuji said, in her usual happy-go-lucky attitude.

"Thanks. But don't thank just me, it was Sanya too," Eila replied.

"It's okay Eila," Sanya said quietly. Miyafuji thanked her anyway. With the Neuroi threat eliminated, they returned to base. Drake, as usual, was waiting for them in the hangar. "Congratulations on another mission well done! If we keep all our missions as successful as this, we'll have the Neuroi driven out in no time," he said. As everyone was getting out of their strikers and returning to their schedules, Drake pulled Eila and Sanya aside.

"You two have been quite busy lately, I commend you on your service. I would like to offer something to you, if you are interested," he said.

"Depends on what it is," Eila replied cautiously. Drake laughed.

"I have arranged to have a talent show of sorts to take place in the assembly hall in about a month. To raise morale and give everyone a chance to relax and have fun. I hear you can sing Sanya. Is that true?" Sanya nodded. "Well, I'd certainly like to see the both of you perform something, and it would be a shame if you could not. The grand piano and any other instruments you need are at your disposal, at any time. I hope to see you then," Drake said, before walking over to join Miyafuji and her group. "Uh..." Eila said, as he walked away.

"What is it?" Sanya asked. Eila shook her head. "It's nothing."

The truth was, Eila believed she could not sing. Or at least, no where near as well as Sanya. Over the next few weeks, Eila and Sanya spent the nights on patrol, and most of the day sleeping. In the late afternoon into the evening just before their patrol, they would head to the assembly hall to practice. Sanya would sing and play the piano, whereas Eila would try out various instruments. So far she was having little luck.

"Why don't you sing with me?" Sanya asked one day.

"I can't sing," Eila said. Sanya laughed softly. "Of course you can! Anyone can sing."

"But not as well as you. I'd just make us both sound bad," Eila said.

"That's not true," Sanya pressed.

"Is so!"

'Is not!" Eila sighed. This was getting her nowhere. Sanya was already looking slightly flustered, so Eila gave up. "I'll try," she said, willing to do anything to make Sanya happy. The snow white girl smiled, melting Eila's heart. Together they began to sing. To Eila's surprise and joy, they sounded quite good. Very good, in fact. Eila was confident that they could win the show and the reward to come.

Time went by. Eila and Sanya spent almost all their time together, be it on the night patrol, sleeping, preparing for the talent show, or just relaxing. Eila was happy the way it was, and wished it could stay like this forever, just her and her Sanya. But her heart wanted more. In the few weeks remaining before the talent show, Eila tried to get closer to Sanya, but could not find the courage to move past friendship. Then, one day, things took a turn for the worst.

"Sanya-chan, Eila-san!" Miyafuji called out, running across the assembly hall to where Eila and Sanya were sitting by the grand piano.

"Yoshika!" Sanya said, waving and smiling. Eila simply waved back. "What are you four doing here?" she asked, referring to Miyafuji, Lynne, Emily, and Perrine.

"Yoshika thought it would be a good idea to see what you were up to, and help out if we could," Emily said brightly.

"We're fine, thank you," Eila said sourly. She really wanted this to be her and Sanya's thing, and their's alone. However, Sanya was more than happy for the additional company. Miyafuji's group joined in, and soon they had a mini-choir going. Miyafuji and Emily seemed to be competing to see who could sing the highest and loudest, to the point where everyone else had stopped and were half-expecting to hear glass shatter. Any glass in range remained intact however, and the contest ended in laughter, rasping in Emily and Miyafuji's cases.

After they finished singing, they started to gossip. Sanya didn't have much to say, but listened intently to what Miyafuji, Emily, and Lynne had to say. Perrine considered herself above such engagements, and Eila's patience was wearing thin.

It was at the point where Miyafuji was whispering, "Did you hear about-" that Eila patience finally snapped.

"Would you all just SHUT UP!" she shouted, standing up. Everyone stopped and looked at her in shock, Sanya included. "I've had just about enough of you four! Sanya and I are supposed to be preparing for the talent show, not to mention we have our patrol tonight, and here you are messing that up!" Eila continued.

"Hey relax, we're just having a bit of fun. No harm in that, right?" Emily said casually. Eila turned on her. "WRONG! Sanya and I need to focus, and all you are doing is distracting us. GET OUT!" she screeched, pointing to the door.

"Eila-" Miyafuji began.

"No! Don't 'Eila' me Miyafuji. This was your plan from the beginning, to take away time from me and Sanya! Well I won't have it!" Eila said, rounding on the Fuso girl.

"Eila, you're being rather rude," Perrine said crossly.

"Don't start with me four-eyes! Well, what about you? Do you have any smart-ass comments to make?" Eila said, directing her question at Lynne. Lynne quailed under the girl's furious gaze, and shook her head. She then fled the room.

"Lynne, wait!" Miyafuji called, running after her. Emily and Perrine followed suit. Now it was just Sanya and Eila again. Eila sighed and turned to her friend, only to see an emotion rarely seen on the Orussian girl's face. Anger.

"What on earth was that about Eila!?" Sanya asked, her faced flushed with frustration. Eila took a step back. "They were bothering us! Distracting us from what we need to do," she replied. Sanya shook her head vehemently. "No, they were being good friends, and you scared them off! Why?"

"Because we need to focus on our talent, and our night patrols!"

"How does harmless singing and gossip take away time from that?"

"It just does!"

"That's not good enough!" Sanya shouted. Eila had never heard Sanya shout before. It scared her. "Why do you insist on keeping me away from the other witches? Why do you isolate me? I know you care for me and we are friends, but that's no excuse! It's like you want me all to yourself!" Sanya said, her face now bright red with anger.

"It's not that, I just... I just..." Eila stammered.

"Just what Eila?" Sanya demanded.

"It's because I love you!"

"Well you're not acting like it! If you loved me you'd put my happiness before yours. You're so selfish!"

"If you opened your eyes and knew how I really felt, you'd think differently! You're so stupid!" Eila shouted back. She then regretted the words as soon as she had said them. But the damage was already done. Around those emerald eyes, crystal tears began to well up. "Sanya I'm so sorry-" Eila said, trying to hold her friend, but Sanya pushed her away angrily. Tears now pouring down her face, Sanya fled the hall, bumping into Drake as she left. Drake strode calmly down the aisles until he came up to Eila. "I heard shouting. Care to explain?" he said gently. Eila shook her head.

"I see. Well, if you need to talk, I'm here. Or you can talk to Emily if you like," Drake said. Eila shook her head again. Sensing he was not wanted, he left her to cry in peace.

That night, Sanya went on her patrol alone. By the time Eila reached the hangar, Sanya was long gone. Sighing sadly, Eila returned to her room, and with difficulty, fell into troubled sleep.