Disclaimer: I do not own Stellvia. Geneon (used to) and Xebec do.

STELLVIA II: THE FINAL CRISIS

Chapter 6

Apprehension

It's been two weeks since Rinna, Rita, and Hudson went to go see Susie in the infirmary and just less than a month to go till the Sports Festival. There've been no more incidents of sabotage reported. The two men that the Stellvia II security has been looking for have yet to be found. Many believe they have long since made their escape off the foundation, but the search continues. As flight training classes have finally been able to get underway again, there's been a mad dash to catch up on all the missed practice. Needless to say both the students and the teachers are nearing exhaustion as there's been little time to rest and catch one's breath.

Despite the hectic schedules and such, Rinna has noticed one student seemingly "falling behind." Hudson Bale. Yes he's excelling in his classes and his piloting is still the best out of anyone, it's just, he seems depressed about something. And it all started two weeks ago after visiting Susie. It's now just after school has let out for the day and everyone is either going to club meetings or heading back to the dorms.

Rinna is walking down the hallway to her dorm room. She's carrying a book she checked out from the library when Rita comes up from behind her. "Hey Rinna-chan!" she calls out. "Oh. Hey Rita-chan." says Rinna weakly. "Oh come on! That sounded pathetic. Is something wrong?" asks Rita. "Well no…. not exactly…" responds Rinna weakly again. "I knew it! There is something wrong! What is it? Boy trouble?" says Rita with a smirk. "Well in a way yes." says Rinna as she looks off to the side. Rita is a little surprised at the answer. She was only kidding.

Rinna looks up and suddenly sees Hudson coming towards them. Again she notices his depressed look on his face. As they get closer Rinna looks away from him again. She finally looks back just as they are about to pass each other. "Um… Hey Hudson." she says. Hudson doesn't even respond; he just walks right on past without saying a word or even looking at them. Rinna watches him as he just keeps walking down the hall. Rita gets a little mad and turns back towards Hudson. "Hey you-!" Rinna quickly grabs Rita's shoulder and shakes her head "no" at her, interrupting Rita's shout.

They watch as he rounds the corner of the hallway. Rita looks at Rinna again and sees her looking back to where Hudson was with a concerned look. "I see. So that's the 'Boy Trouble' you're having." says Rita. Rinna nods her head yes. "So what kind of trouble is it? Can't figure out when or how you're going to confess your love to him?" says Rita a little sarcastically. "Rita-chan. You know that's completely wrong. You're LIGHT-YEARS off that mark. But seriously haven't you noticed something different about Hudson lately?" says Rinna. "Hmm not really." says Rita.

"Haven't you noticed how depressed and different he's been acting? I mean just now he didn't even respond to me when I said hello. Usually he would at least great me back." explains Rinna. "Now that you mention it that was rather odd." says Rita. "He also hasn't once talked back to a teacher." Rinna adds. "Now that IS odd. How long has he been like that?" asks Rita. "About two weeks now. I noticed it right after we visited Miss Hunter in the infirmary." says Rinna. "Do you think he fell for her and is just wondering how to break the news to you?" says Rita. "Rita-chan! Be serious here!" demands Rinna. "Ok! Sorry. Sorry. I was only trying to lighten the mood." responds Rita.

"So what do you think's causing it?" asks Rita. "I'm not completely sure actually. I have a suspicion but I'm not sure that's really it." says Rinna. "What is it?" asks Rita. "Would you mind asking me that another time? I don't want rumors to start spreading around in case it's not it." says Rinna calmly as she begins walking back to their dorm room. "Hey come on! It's me! I won't start any rumors!" retorts Rita. "It's BECAUSE it's you that I'm not telling you. Or do you not remember that rumor you started about how Ikuto-kun and Nurse Leeann were in a secret forbidden relationship?" says Rinna back. Rita recoils in surprise. "But how did you…?" asks Rita in surprise. "Logic. Pure logic." says Rinna back. As the girls both continue heading back to their dorm room, with Rita pleading to Rinna not to tell Ikuto or Nurse Leeann about her joke rumor, Rinna is back in deep thought. "I need to find out if that's what's making him depressed. Although I can't see why it would." she says to herself.

Rinna tries to think of how she's going to ask Hudson about what's wrong all afternoon and into the evening, but nothing really comes to mind. So during her shower just before bedtime she comes to the conclusion that just asking him up front is best. He is a rather blunt person, so being blunt herself should be the best way to find out. He'd probably prefer it that way.

The next morning just before class starts Rinna approaches Hudson in the back of the class room. He's already sat down in his normal seat. Rinna at first is a little wary to approach him. As always he has a bit of a stern look to him he always does but that's not the reason she's hesitating. She finally walks up to him. "Um Hudson." she says. Again he doesn't respond. She puts her hand on his shoulder and he jerks in a little surprise. He looks up at Rinna. "Oh Rinna. Sorry I didn't see you there. Do you need something?" he asks like nothing has happened.

"Um… Is it ok if we can talk after class? There's something I'd like to ask you." she says with a slight smile. "Uh. I guess so. What about?" asks Hudson. "Um. It's about what happened when we went to see Miss Hunter in the infirmary the other week." explains Rinna. Hudson's face instantly changes. "I'm sorry. But I think I will be busy after class today after all. How about later?" he says while trying to smile. He gets up and starts walking away. Rinna reaches for him but stops. "….Alright…" she says weakly. She watches him take a seat in the far back corner of the room. "Damnit Rinna. You blew it. Next time try and be more blunt!" she says to herself.

For the rest of the morning Rinna follows behind Hudson at a partial distance waiting for a time to try and ask him again. But Hudson always seems to find a way to negate her chances. Lunch time finally rolls around and Rinna finally spots her chance to try and talk with him. Hudson is sitting all by himself at a table near the back while munching on a salad that came with a small steak. Rinna excuses herself from the group of girls as she gets her tray of food and heads over to Hudson's table.

Hudson looks up and sees her approach the table. "Um. Is anyone else sitting here?" she asks. "No. Go ahead" says Hudson. Rinna sits down and also begins to eat her food. It stays silent between the two for a few minutes. Rinna can't seem to work up the nerve to ask Hudson bluntly as she wanted. She finally just opens her mouth and says the first thing that comes to mind. "Man. Third period math had some really tough problems today didn't it?" she says suddenly. "NO YOU IDIOT!" she screams in her head.

"I guess. They weren't too hard though." says Hudson. Rinna was sure she heard some annoyance in his voice. "Uh yeah... heh heh heh." she mindlessly says with a forced giggle. "Quick you fool, just ask it!" she says in her head again. "Um… so… What do you think Mrs. Austin will have for us in English Literature class later?" she asks. Rinna mentally headdesks. She sees Hudson's eye twitch in annoyance.

"We're supposed to have that test on Hamlet's second act remember?" responds Hudson. "Oh... right." says Rinna. "You're losing him! Tell him NOW!" says Rinna in her head again. "Ok. So… For P.E. today aren't we supposed-" *SLAM!* Hudson slams his salad bowl on his tray in frustration. "Will you just get to your point already!?" he demands as he looks at her sternly. Rinna is visibly shaken by the slam and Hudson's harsh reaction.

"Yes. Sorry…" she says calmly. She takes a deep breath. "I've been a little worried about you lately. You've seemed down ever since we visited Miss Hunter in the infirmary. Is what Michel-" *SLAM* Rinna hears Hudson slam his bowl down again and get up. He picks up his tray and begins to walk away. "Hey wait a minute!" she says as she reaches for him. "Sorry. We've got flight training class next and I want to go check on my Bianca MK-II to make sure it's flight ready. So please don't bother me anymore." says Hudson calmly as he walks away. Rinna notices he hasn't even eaten half his food. She watches him dump his food in the nearest recycling can, put the tray up, and walk out the cafeteria. Rinna feels a little twinge of pain in her heart. For some reason seeing Hudson upset with her, hurts.

Despite this and his warning Rinna still wants to know why Hudson is feeling depressed. What's driving her to do so she doesn't quite understand herself, but seeing Hudson like this is hurting her as well. She decides to continue following Hudson, hoping for another chance to talk with him. Even during flight training she follows his Bianca MK-II, at a distance of course. All through the rest of the school day Rinna continues to follow Hudson around, trying to find a moment when she can talk with him. But once again he always seems to manage to find a way to thwart all her chances. But she knows there's one place he can't escape from her. His room. With no roommate around she knows he'll have no reason to ignore her or have any way out.

Finally school ends and Hudson heads back to his room, with Rinna tailing behind at a distance. As Hudson turns to head into his room Rinna quickly runs to catch up just as his door slides closed. She stands there for a second or two before ringing the doorbell. The door opens back up a couple seconds later with Hudson's scouring face looking down at her. This time Rinna is a little scared of his face. But before she can gather herself Hudson closes the door back and locks it. That pisses her off. Rinna begins banging on his door. "Hudson! Open this door! We need to talk!" she demands. "Just go away already. I want to be left alone." comes the response back. Rinna isn't going to give up now. She's come too far to give up. She continues to bang on his door. "Hudson! PLEASE OPEN THIS DOOR!" she keeps yelling repeatedly.

"I said GO AWAY!" Hudson yells back through the door. "No! I won't! I'm not leaving until I talk with you now OPEN THE DOOR!" yells Rinna back again *BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!* She keeps pounding away. "Hudson! PLEASE OPEN THIS DOOR!" she keeps demanding. A couple of girls walk by and see her pounding away. "An argument with her boyfriend perhaps? I wonder what they're arguing about. She seems awfully mad." the girls mummer back to each other as they walk on by. Rinna can hear them and feels a bit embarrassed, but her anger right now is overpowering any of her other feelings. She keeps pounding. "Hudson! Open this door right NOW!... Hudson!... HUDSON!" she finally shouts out loud so that everyone in the dorm area can hear her. Finally the door opens. "Damnit! Alright already! You're making a scene!" says a very irritated Hudson as he yanks her in.

Rinna looks and sees his room is poorly lit with only his bed lamp on. She can just make out his face as he takes a few steps away and turns around, and it is one of irritation. "Now what the hell do you want?" he demands. Rinna wants to try and do this calmly but he's already gotten her riled up. "I'm your friend and am worried about you! I've been trying all day to talk with you but you keep brushing me off! And then you go and shut the door on my face! Do you know how frustrating that is!?" Rinna yells at him.

"Well I'm sorry! Did you ever stop to think that I don't want to talk to anyone right now!?" yells Hudson back. "Of course I did! That's why I want to talk with you! Seeing you looking depressed all the time is affecting me too! Every time I see you I feel a pain inside myself! And don't think you can fool me! Everyone else may not have noticed it, but I have!" yells Rinna. She notices him get even more irritated. But she can't help but push further.

"It's really none of your concern!" yells Hudson. "Of course it is! I'm your friend remember!? When I see a friend in trouble or feeling depressed I want to know why so I can help them!" yells Rinna. "It's still none of your business how I feel! This is my own private matter that you have no business meddling in! So just stay out of it! Now ask what you want and get out! But if it's about what happened in the infirmary you can forget it and leave now!" Hudson yells back. Rinna isn't going to back down. "But why Hudson!? Why won't you tell me!?" she yells. Her anger and concern finally win out and she blurts out the question she's been wanting to ask all day. "Why don't you want to play Astroball with the Big Four!?" she yells. Rinna can clearly hear Hudson's teeth grind together as he grits his teeth in anger. She can clearly see it on his face now too.

He stays silent. "Answer me damnit! Why won't you play Astroball!?" she yells. "You just had to go and meddle in my business." he says almost calmly. "Yes I did! I'm your friend and I'm concerned about you!" yells Rinna. "Friend? Some friend you are! You're the one who's been following me around everywhere I go all day like some lost little puppy, pestering me to talk about a subject I DON'T want to discuss. Yes I noticed you the entire time! Even after I told you to leave me alone you still continue to pester me. You've been nothing but an irritant all day and I'm SICK OF IT! You have NO business trying to stick your head where it doesn't belong!" yells Hudson. "But-" "BUT NOTHING! I am sick and tired of seeing you everywhere I go today! It's NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS YOU DAMNED LITTLE TWERP! I WANT TO BE LEFT ALONE, SO GET THE HELL OUT! NOW!" he yells his loudest yet interrupting Rinna.

THAT hurt. Rinna can clearly feel her heart break. The sickening feeling she feels in the pit of her stomach; the urge to vomit; his words filled with anger and detest directed towards her. If that's how he truly thinks about her then so be it. She finally gives up. She lowers her head and arms, casting shadows over her eyes. There's a short pause. "…..Fine then. If that's truly what you want…." she says softly. Hudson is suddenly startled. "IF THAT'S REALLY WHAT YOU WANT THEN I NEVER WANT TO SEE OR SPEAK TO YOU EVER AGAIN!" she shouts. She turns to run out of the door.

It's like she's moving in slow motion to Hudson. As she seems to slowly spin around, he sees a couple of tear droplets get slung out of her eyes. In an instant he realizes what's happened. His big mouth and fiery temper have gotten the better of him again. And this time it's about to cost him a friendship and possibly even a potential… "NO! I CAN'T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN!" That last thought in his head causes him to instinctively reach out and grab Rinna's arm. "Wait!" he manages to yelp out.

There's another short pause. "….Let me go Hudson. We have nothing more to say to each other." says Rinna calmly with her eyes still covered in shadow. "Please….I'm…sorry." says Hudson meekly. Rinna thinks she hears his voice crack a little but is still too upset to really notice. She turns around. "I SAID LET M-" she cuts off her own sentence when she sees something she wasn't expecting. Even though the room is poorly lit, and even though he has his head down covering his eyes in shadow now, she can see them. Tears… that are barely reflecting what little light there is.

"I hate it…" says Hudson softly. "Huh?" says Rinna a little confused as she looks up more towards his eyes as he brings his head up some. Hudson finally lets go of Rinna's arm and brings his left hand up to his face with tears still falling. "The truth is I hate Astroball. I hate absolutely everything about the game." he finally manages to get out. Rinna can tell it's painful for him, but she HAS to know why. "You… hate it? Why?" she asks carefully. "I can never forgive it for ruining the one good time in my life when I actually had friends." Hudson says.

Rinna takes a couple of tentative steps closer. "You know how I come from a family that allowed me to grow up more… privileged than others right?" he asks. Rinna nods her head. She knows exactly how it feels. Being the child of famous parents she was always given special treatment by the public and private sectors. Scholarships, being sent presents out the blue from strangers, getting special endorsements and all, it made her feel separated from other people.

"Well because of my intellect and sheer talent for piloting and mechanics and such, other kids my age alienated me. They were so jealous of me. I even skipped fourth grade because of my intellect which further isolated me. Then, just after I entered fifth grade, the school I was in created a simulator sports team club. You've heard of those, right?" asks Hudson. Rinna nods her head. It's a team of talented simulator pilots who use simulators to battle against appoints over the internet in sports such as racing, jousting, obstacle courses and the like. Schools have long since created simulator team clubs for students to join and battle other schools around the world.

Hudson continues. "Knowing who they had my school asked me to join. I eagerly agreed. I really did want to show off my talents. The school gathered six more talented students for the team, made me team captain, and we entered the wonderful world of simulator sports. We quickly became very good. Under my leadership and tutelage the others on the team, despite being two years older than I, quickly gained experience and developed their own talents. As they got to know me, and I them, we seven quickly became great friends. For the first time in my life I actually had friends close to my age that I could talk to just about anything with. We became a very good team and were winning a lot of our matches. Racing, jousting, and just about everything else." Hudson explains.

"Then one day our school recommended we should try Astroball simulation games. The Astroball games were meant to be played by older students in middle and highschool, but we were so good the SSA (Simulator Sports Assoc.) decided to let us in. And this is where our team REALLY shinned. Given all our different talents and my superb piloting and captain skills, we won our first match 8-0. And it didn't stop there. We kept winning one game after another. It was so much fun. I loved it. I of course was the one who scored the most goals in all the games, but each person on the team got their fair share. We got so good, we were beating championship ranked highschool teams. And teams from schools who were much larger than our school was. We never lost a game. And then… that's where it all went wrong." Hudson lowers his head.

"We were good. Too good. After eight months of going undefeated, the accusations of cheating, hacking, and modding our hardware and software, started to roll in from schools that we had beaten. We had several visits from the SSA to inspect our machines and watch us play to make sure we weren't cheating in anyway. After half a dozen visits they concluded that no cheating was going on. This didn't stop the accusations however. Those schools that had made the accusations refused to play us from then on. They firmly believed we were cheating and spread rumors about it. Pretty soon we were losing opponents left and right. Eventually no one wanted to play us anymore. Not just in Astroball but in all the other sports. The school had no choice but to close the club and disband the team. And what's worse, the other team members who I had thought where my friends, blamed ME for ruining their chances of ever becoming great pilots because of my selfish wants. One even accused me of somehow hacking the system to make it easier to play and didn't tell them." explains Hudson.

Rinna can't help but cover her mouth a little with her fingers in shock. "How cruel." she says to herself. "I was so depressed about what happened that I refused to go to school for an entire year. I had to repeat fifth grade. From then on anything to do with Astroball I refused to take part in. I blamed it for losing the only friends I ever had." says Hudson more. Rinna feels a solitary tear fall from her eye. She feels a little guilty now, pressuring Hudson to talk to her when she really knew nothing about him and about a subject that is really painful for him.

"But that's not all. I never wanted to be hurt by 'friends' ever again. If having friends was so painful and full of betrayal then I never wanted any anymore. So I began shunning everyone away from me besides my family. I wanted to do things all on my own, all by myself. And if anyone got in my way or bothered me in my progress I'd let them have it. I was smart and talented enough to not need any friends. And it worked for a long time. But then I came to the Stellvia II where no one really knew me, and before I knew it people had added me to their group of friends. Ikuto, Joseph, Dianna, Joanne, even you and Rita all considered me your friend. Being drug out to play pool with the guys, getting to talk with girls who weren't turned or scared off by my temper, I was shocked and happy at the same time. I couldn't believe my good fortune." explains Hudson some more.

"Then I'm told I was chosen to be a part of the Astroball team with the Big Four. And suddenly I found myself facing my past. I thought… I kept thinking that…." Hudson mumbles. "You thought that if you started playing Astroball again you'd lose your friends again." Rinna completes. Hudson looks up at Rinna. "Yes… That's it exactly. I'm so scared of losing you guys. And when I get scared I get defensive and put on a tough exterior. I start pushing people away and want to be left alone to deal with it all by myself without interference from anyone." says Hudson.

Hudson leans against the wall and drops to his knees with more tears streaming from his eyes. "Damn I'm such a fool! I was so blind! My arrogance and delving back into my old habits nearly cost me the very thing I didn't want to lose. I took all my frustration and fright out on you Rinna and I nearly lost you as a friend. I'm just… so scared. I'm so scared to lose you guys. I don't want to lose friends again!" he yells out mostly to himself as he begins to tremble while desperately trying to wipe tears away.

Rinna can't stand it anymore. She runs over to Hudson, drops to her knees and takes one of his hands into hers. "But you're not going to lose us Hudson! No matter what happens, whether you play Astroball or not, you're not going to lose us! No matter how good you are, no matter how better you are at something than us we will always remain friends! Because that's what TRUE friends are. We're there for each other no matter what. Just like now, I'm here for you." says Rinna with a little force behind her words.

"But you were about to leave me a moment ago. How do I know you won't leave me later if I do or say something stupid again?" Hudson asks with more tears running down his face. Rinna can no longer hold back her tears. A couple of them fall as she takes a couple of steps forward on her knees, takes Hudson's head and places it onto her chest and gives it a hug. Hudson is a little shocked at her actions.

Rinna gives a slight smile. "I will admit that was stupid of me to react that way. I guess MY arrogance got in the way also. I should've known better that you really didn't mean it. But please know. Rest assured, I've learned my lesson. I will NEVER try and leave you again Hudson. Our friendship is too important to me to leave. I will always be here to try and help you get past your traumatic past. So please. You can always count on me if you need a friend's shoulder to cry on. And I know you can trust everyone else. They consider you a very close friend too. They'll try everything they can to help also." says Rinna calmly while rubbing his head.

Hudson can't hold back the rush tears anymore. He finally begins bawling in Rinna's arms. All the years of pint-up frustration, loneliness, disappointment, and bitterness come rushing out all at once. Rinna just holds him while rubbing his head with a small comforting smile on her face.

Just outside Hudson's door a satisfied Rita is leaning up against the wall next to the door with her hands on the back of her head. She had rushed here as fast as she could when she had overheard some girls talking about they had seen Rinna beating on the door of some guy's room. A couple of tears have run down her face. "That a girl Rinna-chan." she says to herself. She pushes herself off the wall and begins walking away knowing she can leave the rest of Hudson's "recovery" to Rinna. "You were right Rinna-chan. It would have been bad if some kind of rumor started about him." she adds as she throws the thought of starting one away.

After a few more minutes Hudson finally calms down and stops crying. He sits up while still wiping some tears from his eyes. "Are you feeling better now?" asks Rinna. "Yeah." says Hudson as he nods his head. "I do have a favor to ask though." he adds. "Hmm? What is it?" asks Rinna. "Would you mind not telling anyone about my crying fit I had? I do have a reputation and personality to keep up." he says with a comical smile. Rinna giggles. "Don't worry your secret is safe with me." says Rinna also with a smile.

A few minutes later, after Hudson managed to straighten himself out and wash his face, both he and Rinna are sitting at his table again where they had worked on the employee files not too long ago. "Thank you Rinna. I'll never be able to pay you back for what you've done for me today. You've… opened my eyes to what true friendship really is." says Hudson. Rinna blushes a little. "Oh no, it really wasn't much." she says a little embarrassed. "No I mean it. You've really helped me today. I really can't put into words what you've done for me. I am truly thankful. Now maybe I can finally put my terrible past behind me. I hope" says Hudson. Rinna blushes a little more but remembers something.

"You know… Maybe you shouldn't forget about your past." she says. "What do you mean?" asks Hudson. "Well… my father once told me that sadness is the salt that makes life sweeter." says Rinna. Hudson looks at Rinna with a little confusion. Rinna giggles a bit. "What he told me it means is that all things sweet have a little salt in them to help bring out the sweetness. In other words it means that without the sadness in life you wouldn't be able to enjoy the sweeter times in your life." she says with a smile. Hudson can't help but shake his head and smile too. "Heh. I guess that is true. Your father sure says some interesting things. Always saying wise things, but never wise himself." says Hudson. "Pfft Ha ha ha ha ha! That's so true! My father can be pretty clueless and absentminded sometimes." agrees Rinna.

"Yeah. What he said may be true, but…. I keep wondering if I'll ever be able to get past this 'mound of salt' from my past. What if people start accusing me of cheating and hacking the Astroball game again if I start playing and winning again? I don't know if I can take all that again." says Hudson as he lowers his head a little with a somber look. "Hmm? How would they be able to accuse you of cheating the game? This isn't simulated Astroball. It's real Astroball. There's no way to cheat it through hacking or modding." says Rinna.

Hudson jerks his head up. "What?" he says with shock. "What do you mean 'What?' You're not playing Astroball on simulators, you're playing it in real life this time. It's not possible to cheat through hacking or modding." describes Rinna. Hudson stays silent for a moment with his mouth slightly agape. *SLAM!* Hudson slams his hands on the table and jumps from his chair. "OF COURSE! WHY DIDN'T I REALISE IT SOONER!?" he shouts in disbelief. "You mean you hadn't realized that until now!? You've been fretting over something that wasn't even necessary!" says Rinna back in a little shock.

"So sue me! I haven't actually had the best experiences with the sport in my past." retorts Hudson. "Oh geez…" Rinna says as she brings her hand to her forehead. Then a thought pops into her head and she gives a smirk. "But you know. You can use this Astroball Tournament to your advantage!" she says. "Hmm? What do you mean?" asks Hudson. "This is the perfect chance to clear your reputation! Since it's not possible to cheat the game through hacking or modding, you can finally prove to all those naysayers from those schools and your former teammates, that it was your talent for piloting that won you all those games and not cheating!" explains Rinna with excitement.

Rinna watches as Hudson's face immediately lights up. "OF COURSE! That's brilliant! I'll show them! I'LL SHOW ALL OF THEM! I'll once and for all prove to them that their accusations were wrong! Rinna I could kiss you right now!" says Hudson with a lot of enthusiasm. "Ah huh!?" Rinna blurs out as she jerks back in surprise. "MMMNNNNN YEAHHHH!" Hudson shouts as his fist pumps the air. "Now I'm all fired up to play in the Astroball Tournament! I can't WAIT for tomorrow's customization class! I'm going to customize and improve my Bianca MK-II to get it to its peak performance level! No one will be able to stop me in Astroball!" shouts Hudson with the most enthusiasm yet.

"That's the spirit Hudson! Do you best!" says Rinna as she gives a fist pump of her own. Rinna can't help but give a big smile when she sees the fire and passion in Hudson's eyes. So much raw enthusiastic emotion pouring out of them. She hasn't seen this side of him before. It's like she's looking at a side of Hudson that's rarely been seen before. And she likes it.

Meanwhile, a normal 40 day journey away, onboard the Ultima II, in one of its science labs, a monitor taking various different readings from deep space, sees one of its bar graphs start to ever so slowly tick upward.

End of Chapter 6

To be continued in Chapter 7: Try out, Get in.

Author note: I'M BAAAAACK! After a long 3 year hiatus on this story I have finally returned to it, and with a passion! Life and the nemesis of every writer out there, the dreaded "Writer's Block," forced me to put this story on the back burner for a while. After rewatching the Stellvia Anime a couple of times I FINALLY figured out how to continue the story. The down side is I was forced to advance the relationship between the two main characters faster than I initially wanted. I was wanting to hold off on the argument until a couple of chapters later to stretch out the angst a bit, but no matter what I tried to type out, it just didn't work. So I resolved it for the most part here. I'm sorry if it seems rushed for anyone else but that's just how it goes sometimes. I'll finally be releasing some more chapters for this story in the coming months so please look forward to them!

Story note: Wow. After nearly losing each other to anger, Rinna and Hudson's relationship ends up growing much stronger and deeper. Rinna has learned about some of Hudson's traumatic past and is willing and wanting to help him get through it and heal. Hudson's fear and hatred of Astroball seems to be passing with her help. Where will their relationship go next? Only the future knows. But what is that strange reading the Ultima II is getting? Look out for future chapters to find out! See you all next chapter!