Chapter 8: Arrival
Lexi struggled to walk into Headquarters, but Ace was supporting her. She had her arm wrapped around his shoulders as they entered the building, although she was leaning on him more than her crutch. Navigating between the suitcases strewn around the rooms was difficult, but the two of them were capable of avoiding them. Slam, Duck, Tech, and Rev had packed on their return, leaving Lexi and Ace to prepare. The four Loonatics ready to leave were sitting around watching television. The two bunnies continued to hobble down the halls, until they reached Lexi's room.
"I'll probably be good from here, Ace." Lexi removed her arm, and leaned against a wall.
"Ya sure? I've got time ta help if ya need it." Concern was evident on the bunny's face.
"It's fine. I can handle packing clothes for a week." Lexi assured him.
"If ya need any help at all, bunny, just call and I'll be dere." Ace left the room.
The drugs were finally starting to wear off Lexi, but she wasn't quite ready to get up and walk. She slumped against the wall, still tired. Slowly, she made her way towards the hammock, feeling that she needed to rest. Ace had only been out of the room for a minute when…
"Ace? I need some help." Lexi called him back into the room.
He sighed slightly, as he had just been about to pack all of his stuff. "What is it, bunny?"
"I'm really tired, and I'm going to take a nap. Would you mind helping me pack?" By this, Lexi really meant, 'would you pack for me?'
Ace immediately picked up on this, and, exasperated as he was, he knew the doe was still weak from the fight. "Sure, Lex."
"Just make sure the clothes match." She ordered. She rolled over in her hammock and fell asleep.
Ace began to rifle through her clothing drawers and her closets, pulling out various winter outfits. They were going to the mountains, after all, and it was definitely not warm there. Ace walked into her closet, and was surrounded by clothes. Lexi owned a ton, despite the fact that she almost always wore her uniform. "Nei, dis is gonna take a while." Ace groaned.
The mass of clothing slowly drove him nuts as he attempted to decide what top went with what pants, and then socks, shoes, jackets, everything else all had to match! Lexi's room became cluttered as Ace tossed clothing around the room. He still had no idea what matching clothes even looked like. Finally, he got fed up with the chaos and left the room for a minute, to gather his sanity back. Ater happened to be pacing up and down the hallway. "Everything all right, Ace?"
"Lexi wanted me ta pick her clodes out for her." Ace explained, practically gasping for air.
"Yeesh. She's really got you all wrapped around her finger, doesn't she? So what's the problem?" Ater laughed slightly at the disheveled bunny.
"Da matching! Da sheer number of combinations! It's drivin me mad, doc! How dese goils do it, I don't know!" Ace cried out.
"Well, first, you're asking the wrong person about matching." Ater pointed to his black clothing. "Second, try this. Just grab one of everything. If it doesn't hurt your eyes when put together, or remind you of the holidays, it's ok. Or, just grab a pair of jeans."
"Ya sure?" Ace looked hopeful now, as if he might actually be able to get through this.
"If it doesn't work and she gets mad, tell her she looks good in everything." Ace blushed at this comment, while Ater chuckled at his reaction.
Wha…! Even the new guy knows I like her! Does she know? I'm not that obvious…am I?
"Alright, doc, but if dis doesn't woik, I'm blamin you." Ace said slowly as he backed into the doorway.
"No! No, no, no, you do not do that! The purpose of her doin' this was to…never mind." Ater had seen the blank look on Ace's face, and gave up trying to convey his message. "Just, don't blame me for what happens when you say that…" Ater walked off back down the hallway as Ace stood there, confused. The suited anthro re-entered Lexi's room and began to clean up. He followed Ater's advice, and managed to gather some semblance of acceptable clothing. Most of the stuff was ready, including the snow gear, but a few things were left.
Lexi yawned as she finally started to wake back up. "Ace, you done yet?"
"Almost. Just a few more tings…" Lexi saw him in front of her dresser, searching through a very specific drawer.
"Chief, what are you doing in there?"
"Tryin ta pick out a swimsuit. You really have a ton of dem. We don't go swimming all dat often Lex." Ace faced the bunny lying in the hammock, and held up a pair of underwear. "Doesn't seem like it'd do all dat much for keepin water out, Lex, but it's your swimsuit."
Lexi didn't know whether to laugh her head off or be horrifically embarrassed. She tried to remain calm, but seemed to scoff at Ace's ignorance. "Ace. That's not a swimsuit."
Ace sat on the floor, not understanding. He stared at the object in his hand for a minute more, before comprehension dawned on him. His face turned beet-red, replacing the yellow of his suit. He slowly placed the item back into the drawer, and shut it. "I'm sorry." He was acting like a child having been scolded. At this point Lexi did burst out laughing. She fell out of her hammock, and kept laughing on the floor.
"What's so funny?" Ace was puzzled by her sudden change, from mortified to losing her mind laughing.
"Your face! The expression!" She said between breaths. She started to calm down.
"Tink my face was funny, huh? Dis oughta keep ya laughin' den!" Ace bolted over to the blonde bunny, and began tickling her.
"Ace, stop!" She wheezed. She kicked and flailed, and when she moved his fingers out of her stomach, he just grabbed her feet and started tickling those! Her face started to change colors, and she started gasping for air. Only then did Ace release her.
"Who's laughin' now?" Ace joked.
"You're evil, you know that? Torturing a recently injured rabbit. Not even proper." Lexi faked pain, and acted as if his tickling was going to be the end of her. She pretended to faint, her hand placed on her forehead dramatically as she fell onto the ground, her back lying against the floor.
"But all dat ticklin' drained me too." Ace mimicked Lexi, and fell on top of her, his back resting against her stomach.
"Get off me, ya big lump."
Kiss him. Part of Lexi wanted to, so very badly. He was sitting right there, this was the opportune moment.
He may not like me. That'd ruin everything…what would the team think? I want to, but…
Kiss him.
No.
Lexi's mind warred with itself, and it seemed to show on her face. "Are ya alright, Lex?" Lexi snapped back into reality.
"Yeah, chief, I'm fine."
Ace got off of her, and looked around at the still-messy room. "I probably oughta clean dis up."
"Let me check what you've got packed for me already. If it's anything like that 'swimsuit' I won't be wearing much all week." Ace reddened once more, and Lexi giggled.
Lexi began to sort through the pile Ace had stacked in the corner, while Ace sat back and watched. Occasionally, she would toss out an article of clothing, but for the most part, the pile stayed the same. Eventually, she stopped.
"Wow, Ace, I'm surprised. You actually managed to pick out some decent clothes for me." Deep in the recesses of her heart, Lexi was feeling warm and fuzzy. Her leader, and secret crush, had successfully managed to pick out clothes for her. He wasn't some kind of sick person that would have tried to take advantage of this opportunity to pack virtually nothing; he had chosen modest clothes, the kind she liked. Neither too revealing, nor too covering. She loved the hidden hope that one day, she might be able to wake up at his side, and he would lovingly and kindly be capable of taking care of her. In sickness, and in health, the vows said. And she would hold true to it, and hoped Ace would too. The slightest doubt over his ability crept into her heart, and she felt that it was necessary to voice this. "You didn't happen to get help, did you?"
Ace flinched, preparing for the onslaught. "Jest a little." He shied away from Lexi, backing towards the wall.
A look of aggravation took over Lexi's face. "And who helped with this? How much?" A slight amount of anger could be detected in her voice as well.
"Ater, he jest suggested some basic rules ta help out." Ace stopped cowering, and stood straight once more. "Jest talked about jeans and matchin' da clodes."
"And you still managed to mess up. Impressive, chief, but you did get help from someone who wears all black nearly all the time." Lexi said sarcastically.
Ace stood there unmoving, while Lexi angrily began to shove her clothes into a suitcase. "You ready, chief?"
Ace shook his head to bring himself back to reality. "I'll get on dat."
He walked out of the room and began to pack his own stuff. He had already planned on what he was bringing, and since it wasn't exactly difficult to choose, he finished quickly. At last he dragged his own suitcase out into the living room, where all the other Loonatics stood waiting, along with Ater. Each stood by their suitcase, some, like Lexi's, jammed full, while others had no bulge at all. Lexi was still tapping her foot angrily.
Ater pulled Ace aside for a moment. "Remember, training, meditation, no more injuries. And what'd you do to Lexi?"
"Nuttin'! I jest told her dat I had your help wit da packin' rules, and she got mad."
Ater covered his face with his hand in shame. "Really? I told you not do that specifically, and you did it anyway."
"Ya didn't tell me dat she'd get mad!" Ace attempted to defend himself.
"Excuses. Pitiful ones, too. You still don't even get why she's mad, do you?" Ater shook his head, still shamed by Ace's actions.
"No clue, doc." Ace stood there, completely straight-faced.
"Oy. You rabbits just can't admit it, can you? Just make it up to her over this vacation. Don't screw up." Ater faced the entire group now, and began spoke loudly and clearly. "Get goin'. You guys have a place to be, remember?"
The rest of the Loonatics, who had been lolling around, burst into activity, and all began walking towards the hangar as if HQ was some kind of airport. Thankfully, Ater didn't check for tickets. They boarded a small spacecraft Tech had built. The craft was moderately sized, blue, and had an extendable walkway that all the Loonatics entered the craft on.
"If anything happens, I'd better be one of the first to know!" Ater shouted at the retreating team.
They waved good-bye, as Tech fired the engines and prepared the ship for liftoff. With a burst of flame, the ship hovered above the ground, and began its journey towards a wormhole, and, from there, the cabin Ace's family had owned.
The craft hovered a few feet above the ground, the heat of the engines melting the snow around it. It slowly descended, and the wheels touched the earth, landing the spacecraft. One by one, the Loonatics exited the craft carrying their luggage. Lexi stepped off the ramp, and was surrounded by a field of soft, white snow, gently drifting down from the heavens. Close-by was a wooden cabin, large for such a thing, with two stories and balconies jutting from the sides, but not excessively so. A few members of the group, the ones with many bags, returned on multiple trips to retrieve said bags. Once everyone had retrieved their belongings, Tech placed a tarp over the craft to keep it from being covered by the constantly falling snow.
The inside of the cabin was fairly dusty, having not been used in a while. A stone fire-place, the ashes of the previous fire still in it, was fixed to the wall of the living room, where a couch was. The cabin was similar to a hunting lodge, the decorations being animalistic and wooden or made of stone. Despite the fact that all the Loonatics were anthros, the stuffed moose heads and wolf pictures didn't agitate them at all. The cabin felt like home, despite the fact that it was nothing like HQ. The beds were normal beds, but the frames were made of carved, round, polished wood, of excellent craftsmanship. Paintings were hung throughout the cabin, some of Ace and his family, others of scenes in nature. Each bedroom had a sliding door to a balcony, with a solid wooden rail. The picturesque view of snow through the glass doors was beautiful. Outside on the porch was a hot tub, unique in that one could be in a hot tub in the snow.
The Loonatics took some time to explore the lodge, and chose their rooms. Unsurprisingly, Lexi chose the room closest to Ace's. Her muscles ached as she climbed the stairs, struggling to continue movement at all. The minute she dropped the suitcase upstairs, she flopped out on her bed. Night fell quickly, and all the Loonatics had accomplished so far was unpacking. They had arrived late, thanks to the bunnies' bickering. Rev was on dinner duty for the night
Ace had found time to walk through the cabin nostalgically, recounting all the memories of the place he had. His hands traced along the wooden walls, visions of his family returning to him. Laughter filled his ears, although it was an illusion of the memories, rather than that of reality.
"Are you alright, Ace?" Lexi peeked her head out of the doorway, care invading her voice. She had noticed his silence, the quiet being unusual outside of his meditation or sleep. And even when he slept, he snored a bit.
"Yeah…I'm fine, Lex, it's jest…it's been a while since I was here." Ace's voice was cracked and emotional, but Lexi accepted the answer, for now. She noted this to herself, and decided to ask him about this later.
"Alright…well, Rev's got dinner ready." She told him.
"Dis should be interestin', den." Ace followed Lexi down the steps, into the kitchen.
Greeting them was, astonishingly, a delicious meal placed on the plain table. They ate their dinner, conversing over how Ace acquired the house, how great it was, and what they planned to do over this vacation. The Loonatics, gathered around the table, acted like a regular family, ignoring all their differences and powers, the things that set them apart from each other and the rest of the world. Soon, they had finished eating, and prepared for bed. Night fell quickly on the mountains they were in, not to mention the fact that they were exhausted from the battle and previous week's training. One by one, they left to their rooms, and drifted off into peaceful slumber.
The next morning, considered the second day of their one week vacation, Ace rose at the crack of dawn. The blinds of his window were left open, allowing the light to pass through, waking him. Sunlight was the first alarm clock known to intelligent society, and it served Ace's purpose here. He yawned for a moment, still drowsy, but slid out of the bed, changed into his cold weather clothing, and got ready for a walk. The others were still asleep, and Ace tiptoed through the cabin to let them rest. Out of all of them, Lexi needed it the most, and with those ears and being right across from Ace, sneaking out quietly was not the easiest. However, he managed to get down the stairs, and slipped on some black snow boots. He passed through the door to the lodge, and surveyed the scene before him. Nearby, the craft that brought them there sat under a tarp, but if not for the absurd pile of snow framing the ship, it would have been nearly impossible to find. The tarp Tech had placed on it would protect it from the snow, but just seeing the thing was difficult. In the distance was a forest growing up the side of the mountain. Evergreen trees covered the edge, but snow fell even on the trees. The trees closest to the cabin were covered in snow, but farther down the mountain, less snow fell and the woods were green. He began to walk towards the forest, leaving tracks in the snow, and making a clear path. Normally, he would never go out into an environment like this, where someone could easily become lost, but this place was a part of his childhood. He knew it the same way he knew Headquarters and Acmetropolis; it was simply a part of who he was. He trudged off into the woods, awed by the beauty of the falling snow and surrounded by the forest, and its silence.
Hours later, though not too long, the other Loonatics began to wake up. One by one, they paraded out into the kitchen, each focused on breakfast. The dining room was strategically placed right next to a gigantic window, to see the beautiful field of snow outside. Today's morning meal was cereal. It wasn't anything special, since nobody really knew what they could make. Ace returned soon after everyone sat down. Ace was the only one not still in his pajamas, but the group didn't seem to mind. He shook off the snow as he walked into the cabin, and took off his boots. Out in this snow, boots were one of the only practical types of footwear. At first, everyone had been quietly munching away on cereal, even Duck not saying anything. However, when Ace walked in, the conversation began.
"So, chief, what are we doing today?" Lexi began.
"Nothing. Because there's nothing to do here. We could just pave all of this over, and make some money off a ski resort!" Duck's eyes glittered at the prospect of making money quickly and easily.
Ace looked agitated. "Duck, dis place has been in my family for years. We're not buildin' any'ting. And, dat would defeat da point of bein' around nature."
"There's plenty to do around here. I just finished the perfect invention for a snowball fight." A mischievous grin crossed Tech's face.
"So there you go, Duck. Snowball fight. Then we could go skiing, and there's a hot tub out back..." Lexi glanced at Ace for a moment at the last part, but Ace was the only one who didn't see it. The rest of the group just turned away and smirked.
"Not-to-mention-snowboarding,-hiking,-tubing,-cooking,-watching-TV,-reading,-cave-exploring,-or-we-could-just-stay-inside." Rev added.
"fuisdhispowbiblsopsdnbdi!" Slam shouted.
"Slam, I don' know who's going ta build an igloo when we got a poifectly good house right here." Ace laughed.
Slam was slightly embarrassed by the silly suggestion. "Oh."
"So, what exactly do we want ta start wit?" Ace asked.
Lexi stuttered for a moment, and suddenly acted really shy. "Guys, I…I can't really do much today."
Everyone stared at her blankly, not comprehending what she meant. Ace was the first to understand.
He gasped for a second. "I'm sorry, Lex! I fo'got you were still recoverin'!" Ace apologized. He turned to the team. "Not much outside for today, den, guys."
"We can still go. It's only Lexi that's too injured to do anything." Duck pointed out rudely.
"I'm not jest goin' ta leave her here alone. Injoid people need help. I'll stay back if everyone else wants ta go." Ace volunteered.
Lexi was glaring at Duck in the background, and threw a metal spoon at him, striking him square on the head.
"Ow!" He said in pain, rubbing the spot on his head where the spoon hit.
Ace turned to see what had happened, but Lexi and Duck smiled in an unconvincingly innocent manner. Ace excused the cover-up, having not seen what happened. As soon as Ace turned away, Duck shook his fist at Lexi.
"Thanks, chief." She ignored Duck, and was grateful that Ace would volunteer to stay behind on the first real day of vacation. Technically, they only had six days left. She didn't want them wasted, but Ace was willing to sacrifice it to help her. "I'm not going to be that big of a pain." Lexi tried to stand up and show them she was alright, but her legs gave way beneath her, and she crumbled. Ace caught her as she fell.
"What's going on?" Lexi asked. "I wasn't this bad in the hospital."
"This is the 28th century, Lexi. You were given a pill that would let you recover more quickly, but you wouldn't exactly be the most stable. Soreness, weakness, these were side effects of the pill. It's a trade-off. Sadly, no science is perfect, and we had to give up your strength to get you up faster." Tech sighed, and explained what had happened. In his eyes, science would always be perfect, though others might not see it that way.
"Mode'n ma'vels." Ace whistled. He had known about this, since he told the doctors to give it to her.
"Then how was I fine yesterday?"
"Rapid recovery, followed by a slower, but still accelerated rate. When the rate slows down, you crash at the same time. Just what it does." Tech shrugged.
Lexi stood up, with Ace's help. "If one of you offers me a wheelchair, I'll blast you off the side of this mountain." She threatened. Duck gulped, having planned to do exactly that.
"You've still got ta meditate. Why don't ya do dat, Lex?" Ace suggested.
She considered the idea as he lead her up the stairs. "Alright. Clear my mind. I'll try it."
"No distractions." Ace promised.
They arrived at Lexi's room, and Lexi sat on her bed. "Call me if ya need anyt'ing." Lexi nodded her head as he left the room. She shut her eyes and began to clear her mind. Ace returned down the stairs and to the table, where the other Loonatics still were.
"Make up your minds?" Ace asked.
"Well-we-just-decided-to-go-check-out-the-slopes-and-get-ready-for-later-in-the-week. Pick-out-skiis-and-stuff." Rev informed him.
"Well, let's leave. We don't have time to waste now." Duck ushered them all off the table, and into their rooms to get ready to go. Soon, everyone had put on puffy jackets and left, except Ace and Lexi.
After they had departed, Ace plodded up to his room, and decided to follow Lexi's example and meditate. Meditation wasn't always about clearing your mind; sometimes, Ace used it as a time to focus in on one topic. It was a method of cutting off the outside world. For the moment, he chose Ater as the topic. Where he came from, what he was doing, who Vena was, why Ater knew her, these topics all flew through his mind. However, he didn't have the answer to any of these, and that was an unnerving fact. He recalled the battle with Vena, but when he reached the part in the mental movie in which Lexi was beaten, he began to become distracted. Ace seethed with anger at the memory, but the very thought of Lexi soon calmed him down. She became the new focus of his meditations. When at last he noticed that he was practically drooling at the thought of her, he snapped himself back, clearing his mind of all thought this time. It was like this that the hours flew by, and soon Ace stopped meditating. He hadn't heard from Lexi for a while, so he went to check on her. She lay sleeping across the bed, her ears tossed across the pillow. One of her arms fell off the side of the bed. Ace stood in the doorway and chuckled, and noted that he would have to assist her with the meditating. Ace returned to his room in order to waste time, and sat on his bed and listened to classical music. It soothed him. Soon the others returned. Overall, the day ended up being slow and rather useless, except to help Lexi recover. At dinner that night, they planned out what they would do for the rest of the week, adjusting the schedule based off of Lexi's predicted strength. They joked, and laughed, and acted like the happy family they were. Here, there was no tension, no stress, no threat that at any moment the planet could be attacked; they were safe. This spirit of relaxation did more for them than any medical professional could have. The moon rose quickly, and star-shine signaled that the day was passed. At Slam's yawn, the group accepted that it was time for bed.
Sorry it took so long. I had a hard time writing this part. I had a few major ideas, but the vacation's a week long, so I had to save all the events. Writer's block. I;m not sure about the title of this story, so I would appreciate any suggestions.
