A/N: I am so, so sorry that this has taken me this long. I have been meaning to give you all (and myself) closure on this story. Funny enough, this chapter was 60% done 5 years ago and it has taken me this long to finish it. Because of the amount of time since I started the whole story and even this final chapters, a lot of ideas that I originally had morphed, some worked out better, some escaped me because I didn't write them at the time. I hope you are at least satisfied with the ending. Maybe at some point I will add some of the ideas that I had for this story and this chapter into the drabbles section as outtakes.

Last thing, At the end of the chapter, there is one scene where I paraphrased a bit (or it might just be almost similar dialogue) to the episode where this story's starting point takes place. I marked it with asterisks for easy identification.

You will hopefully hear from me soon! I have somethings planned for the next year that might liberate enough time for me to be able to write a lot more. Until then, enjoy!

Chapter 9 - Back to The Past

Just as predicted by the doctor, Lisa's recuperation was fast. Physically, her age and the amount of care she took of herself, helped her. Emotionally, it actually was a true testament to her strength of character and to the love that she shared with her husband that helped her start the healing process. That was not to say that she had fully recovered. None of them had. This incident would leave an emotional scar that would haunt them but for the first time in their relationship, they tackled the hurt full on, exposing their weaknesses to each other and allowing themselves to heal. Both of them felt extremely responsible for the loss of their child but instead of letting that fester, like they would have done before, they learned to work through it, one day at a time. It would be slow but they would help each other heal over time as they mourned the small life they had lost.

Over the days that she stayed in the hospital, they had many talks to begin the healing process and one of the things they agreed on was the fact that they needed to be more open with their feelings and to communicate more. A day after the accident, Rick and Lisa Hunter had a serious talk in which they bared their souls and tackled their self doubts. Lisa realized that she still had some lingering fears that were deeply rooted in her own self doubt. Years of loneliness caused by the estranged relationship with her dad, the death of Karl and the isolation she created for herself… She understood that in part she was projecting all that into Rick.

The fact that the young couple had landed in their lives had served to reopen the wounds that had not been healed properly and had allowed the festering fears to come out again. Lisa realized that in order to completely heal, she would have to open up and seek help, from her husband, friends and professionally too.

On the other hand, Rick had come to realize that he also had some fears and insecurities. Having to mature so fast since he was so young and having to fend for himself had made him more prone to relying only on his own and closing himself off in a shell. Instead of being open to discuss methods of handling situations, he always took more and more on his shoulders.

In fact one of the things that he had done was to talk to his pseudo-family and to admit that he needed to open up, as long as there were some limits. His friends understood that they had to help them and support them but treat them as the adults they were. It was harder to Roy and Claudia to admit but they realized that their friends had grown and needed to be away from their shadows.

The Admirals arrived home after a couple of days in the hospital. Lisa had been left there for observation of her injuries sustained in the accident as well as the miscarriage. She was ready to come home though and rest in her own house, so after assuring Jean that she would take it easy, she was released to go home. While in the hospital, Lisa did not have any contact with the young couple, even though she knew that Rick had been there to accompany her husband that first night. Of course, between of the secrecy of their presence and the actions that led to her being in the hospital, she was not surprised that they had not been there. To say that she was a bit apprehensive about coming back home was an understatement.

The Hunters had already had a session with the counselor, both as a couple and as individuals which did give her a bit of peace in confronting them. Rick and Lisa had to be vague in their explanations, keeping it to more like demons on their past, much more than a current problem but at least they had managed to talk about it.

Truthfully the visit of the younger couple had been a blessing in disguise. It had served for them to finally bury their past. They had not realized how much there was still buried within them until their presence had made it all come to light. That realization and the healing that Lisa had done through the therapy, had mellowed her towards the younger couple.

They had also been a change on the younger couple. Rick's attitude towards the elder woman had completely changed. He found himself admiring and respecting her. He realized that a lot of his change in attitude had come from finally understanding the enigmatic woman that Lisa Hayes was. In falling in love with the younger Lisa, he had grown fond of the elder and finally accepting his feelings for one, had revealed the lack of hostility towards the other one. In truth, if they all looked back objectively, they all had been getting along quite well before the attack that had eventually led to the latest incident.

"You know, I really will miss you guys." The elder Hunter said to the young couple as they sat for dinner that night. Up until now, the talk had been kept light and teasing, in light of everything that had happened.

Rick just rolled his eyes at his older counterpart, knowing how much of a sap he could be sometimes. In order to bring some of the levity back, he responded "Yeah, you will miss us, like the plague." His tone was half teasing, half sarcastic.

The younger Lisa and his older self laughed at this but the elder Lisa didn't laugh. She smiled at him but she understood his tone. She knew Rick's self-deprecating humor and she knew that while he was joking, there was also a bit of truth there. Her eyes softened at the young man that was so full of insecurities and hurt from the hardships of his past that he would much rather joke than to let everybody see how he really felt.

"He is absolutely right. You will be missed but we will cherish this time for what it was, a way of revisiting our past and to finally grow from it."

"You are so wise my love." Rick told his wife as he squeezed her hand gently, his eyes full of love.

The younger Rick turned to his girl and rolled his eyes good naturedly. He had gotten comfortable enough with the situation that he could now poke fun at it and how much of a soft-hearted romantic he really was. She just gives him a tender smile and they bask in the calmness that had been reached by their mutual understanding.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

While Lisa had been in the hospital, Rick had taken some family leave time but as much as Reinheart was trying to help them by taking on some of their responsibilities, the loss of two of the most influential Admirals was making itself felt and Rick had to return to his duties.

Rick walked into his darkened office, everything was the same as he had left it before tragedy had struck his family. His heart constricted at all that had changed from a couple of days ago when he had been there last. His aide had been walking behind him and almost collided with him, snapping him out of his reverie.

"I left everything the way you had left it sir, just like you prefer." She said nervously, misinterpreting his pause.

"I know Janine, all looks in order." He responded but he suddenly frowned when he reached his desk. He picked up a familiar looking white envelope that displayed a monogrammed M on the front. "Wait Janine." He called out before she could leave. "Do you know when this was left here?" he asked.

"I am not sure sir. As all the other ones, it must have been left there after I left for the day. I just noticed it yesterday morning when I came to look for a report that Colonel Fokker was requesting." She replied.

"Thanks Janine. You are dismissed." He told her quietly and she left with a salute. Rick opened the card slowly as if it was in a dream. This whole situation felt like a dream, a bad dream from which he was desperate to wake up.

'Success!' The card simply read. It was signed by the same ubiquitous M that he had come to expect with these notes. He put the note on his jacket pocket and impulsively decided to leave the office and go and talk to them. The rest of the things could go hang for a while longer. Even if the timing was all wrong, the news filled him with both sadness and elation.

Everywhere that he went, and everyone he met had something to say about about Lisa and their situation. Lisa was a strict taskmaster but she was well respected and well loved among the staff. The majority of the people did not know the full extent of what had happened to Lisa but that did not stop them from professing their concern towards her. He was warmed by their concern and he told everybody that he would relay their messages to her.

He finally made his way down to the lab. The tone there was more somber as some of them were aware of what had happened. Dr. Lang just approached him, his countenance somber. He didn't hug Rick, for what Rick was grateful, nor did he say anything. Still, Rick understood the message and nodded.

"Admiral, I'm sorry for your loss." Minerva said and it took all that Rick had to not break down again.

"Thanks Minerva." He said, his throat tight. "So how about you show me what's new?" Rick said, making an effort to change the subject.

"As I mentioned in my note, we have finally succeeded. Multiple times in fact. We have sent the homing beacon to the same place, same time and retrieved it with the same accuracy that we had expected. We have already moved on to phase 3 of the testing and have managed to send and retrieve living beings."

"You sent somebody into the unknown?"

"We had already made multiple tests before we sent an actual person." Minerva replied, puzzled at the young Admiral's alarm.

"Admiral Hunter, you must understand, you two are some of the most important people in the force now and you were in the history of our recent battles. We would never be able to send you without making absolutely sure that nothing would happen to both of you." Dr Lang understood what had alarmed the young Admiral.

"I understand." Rick answered, nodding his understanding. "Well, I imagine it is all settled. We will prepare to send them back within the week?"

"Yes Sir." Minerva replied and Rick turned to leave, his head already full of thoughts and his heart heavy with the upheaval of the different emotions.

"Begging your pardon Admiral." Dr. Lang interrupted him before he could leave. "There is still the matter of the erasing of the memories."

"Erasing memories?"

"If I may clarify the situation?" Minerva interjected. "What Dr. Lang is trying to say is that the young you and the young Admiral Hayes cannot remember this interlude. There are too many things they have seen, too many changes in your relationship that have happened now that it might create a ripple effect in our history as we know it today."

Rick's head reeled with the realization of what they had said. If Lisa would have been here, she would have rolled her eyes at him and said how obvious it was but he had not thought about all the ramifications of returning would be. His stomach clenched and his heart sank at the implications of what they had said.

"How?"

"Well, we consulted with a neurologist and this is what we have come up with…"

"...And so it would use a protein that is in the brain that stores memories to access the memories of this time here and use it to 'erase' or really to make them 'dormant'." Rick was retelling the conversation to his wife and the younger couple.

"Wait a second! They will make us forget all of this? They can't just do that, now can they?" Rick asked alarmed.

"I didn't even think it would be possible to do." Lisa Hayes-Hunter mused.

"It's still our memories!"

Admiral Hunter was just observing the younger Lisa who was very quiet throughout the whole explanation. "What do you think Lizzie?"

"I think we should forget" The younger version of his wife said softly. The young pilot stopped his rant to look at her in stunned silence. Both Admiral Hunters nodded their understanding.

"No! I don't want to forget! Why should I let you go now that I've found you." The young man said, his chest heaving with emotion. Lizzie's eyes lowered, avoiding his gaze but his next words made her eyes snap to his face. "I don't want to lose you." Rick said in a fierce whisper.

"Rick," she said her face reflecting the same pain that Rick had in his. "I do not want to lose you either. You just don't understand that this is for the best." She said soothingly but as she tried to grip his arm he shook it off with a defiant expression in his face. With one last watery look, he rushed away, leaving all of them looking at his retreating figure.

"I'll go talk to him." Hunter said as he got up to follow the young pilot. Before he could though, his wife gently stopped him.

"I'll go." She said quietly and Rick looked at her in surprise. She knew Rick was perplexed by her desire to talk to his younger counterpart after all the turmoil the two had gone through. That is why she explained, "I think he needs to hear it from me. Lisa is too distraught right now to explain to him what she feels and I am the only one that can explain it now."

Rick looked at the young woman he had affectionately coined Lizzie. She seemed to be far away from them even though physically she was there. He could see her pain reflected in her body. She was hugging herself protectively and sat hunched over. His eyes softened as he regarded the woman that would one day become his wife. His heart constricted as he made his decision. He looked at his wife who was waiting patiently for his decision. Rick knew Lisa wanted to hurry up and talk to the younger man but he knew she would wait as long as possible to make sure he understood her point. That was one of the reasons why he loved his wife. His constricted heart now swelled with the love that he felt for his strong lady and he nodded to show her he had understood.

Lisa smiled gently at him and left for the house in order to search for Rick. Alone with the heartbroken young woman, Hunter softly approached her and hugged her gently. With no hesitation, her arms went around him and her hands fisted in his shirt as her body trembled in her grief. Rick cradled Lizzie to him. There was a tiny part of him that marveled at his feelings towards the young woman. There was no desire there, even though he knew she was his wife in the past. No, what he felt for this Lisa was another kind of love. In a way it was almost the same love he felt for Claudia or Miriya or even more, it came closer to what he felt for his own son. Smiling gently he accepted these feelings and he let himself comfort his would-be-wife in the way he had not done in the past.

Inside, in the kitchen where he had retreated, Rick looked up when he heard somebody approaching. The scathing retort that was taking shape died in his lips as he realized who it was. He watched in stunned silence as Lisa Hunter bypassed him on her way to the stove where she placed the tea kettle. None of them talked to each other as she went about preparing tea for both of them. The only sounds that were heard was the sound of the water running as she filled the tea kettle and Rick's raspy breaths as he struggled to control his breathing.

When Lisa finally placed the tea kettle on the stove, she leaned on the counter, facing him. The same eyebrow that she raised whenever she was challenging him went up and she folded her arms. A challenging pose. He knew that pose. He knew she was challenging him to say something about her presence. When he did not say anything, Lisa decided to break the ice.

"I drew the short straw." She said in mock seriousness. She mentally crossed her fingers as she waited for his reaction.

Rick looked at her for a couple of seconds before he snorted softly as said, "Did you now?," as a small smile broke thru his sad countenance.

"Yes I did." She replied with a long suffering sigh. The twinkle that had been present in her eye, the one that had indicated to Rick that she was joking, got brighter.

A few minutes passed like that in companionable silence. When the tea kettle rang, none of them were startled, in fact they just felt soothed by the truce they had just called between themselves.

Lisa approached the young man in the table, his tea made just the way he liked it. She placed the cup in front of him as she sat down next to him.

Rick murmured his thanks which she acknowledged with a nod as she blew the steam from her own cup.

Taking a deep breath Lisa looked directly at Rick. "Rick I can imagine how you are feeling bright now. You are probably feeling betrayed by Lisa and you might think that she is trading you for our duty. It might feel like she's giving up on you now but we can't just put ourselves before others."

"I know! It's just... couldn't we just remember and try to get a bit of happiness earlier?" Rick said softly.

Lisa looked down so her eyes wouldn't reveal her pain. Oh how she had wished back in those days, and even more after Alaska Base, when she had been head over heels in love with Rick, that he would have seen her as a romantic interest and not just a friend.

"You don't understand! I love her!" Rick burst out suddenly startling her with his vehemence. Lisa looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise. "I do, I… I love Lisa." he sighed deeply as she looked at him in wide eyed silence. "You must have known, deep down that he loved you before he even told you. You are a smart woman and the only reason why you stuck around so long is because you knew that as long as he loved you, there was still hope. If not, you would have given up on him, on us, a long time ago."

Now Lisa was really shocked. She had not realized how intuitive Rick had been at that age. Back in those days, Lisa had been too distracted by analyzing her own budding feelings to realize how much Rick had matured. After they both had travelled to their time, she had not really paid a lot of attention to the younger version of her husband because she saw him as a threat, a way of reminding her husband of his past and of the carefree life. But she should have known that Rick was not flighty at all.

"I'm sorry Rick." Lisa apologized. Rick looked at her in puzzled surprise. "I have not been fair to you. I had you pegged as somebody totally different, as if you were not the same man that I fell in love with and married. I was as blind to you as I used to be back then. And when my past self actually opened up to you, I just closed myself even more."

Rick sighed at the woman in front of him. For the first time he could see the Lisa he had known until now, the Lisa that had been hurt deeply, the Lisa that had been broken until she had let herself heal. It was shocking for him to see how much Lisa had changed over time because until now, they had seemed like two different entities. But seeing Lisa Hunter act like Lisa Hayes, he finally could see them both for what they were, the past and the future, where she had finally blossomed into the woman that she was always supposed to be. He realized that his Lisa was now closer to her future version than her past. Be it because of him or the support that she had here, he was delighted and heartbroken at the evidence that lay in front of him.

"Lisa," he said, addressing her by her name for the time he had been here. Up until now, he had mostly addressed her as Admiral or talked to her in a roundabout way. "Don't be so hard on yourself. I did not make it easy for you to see me in any other way. I purposely antagonized you like I used to do when I first met you. Maybe I was not ready to accept how my future turned out but the more I met your past self, the more I understood her, the more uncertain I became. And instead of letting you and my future self in, I rebelled even more against it because I knew that this was not going to last. That this little sliver of happiness is not for me, not yet, and that made me resent you both even more. That was why I disobeyed and baited you both that night and I am so, so sorry that you both were affected by my stupid actions." Lisa opened her mouth to speak but he interrupted her, "No, I imagine what you are gonna to say, that it was not my fault. But it was! You would not have fought with him if it were not because of it and you would not have gone to that mission and you would still have your baby…" His voice cracked at this and he broke down in sobs.

"Oh you poor, poor…" Lisa cooed at him, settling one of her hands in his cheek, a cheek that was slowly hardening into the sharp jawline of his mature self. Her eyes softened at the pain that was plainly written in his face. "I know you blame yourself but it is not your fault. Now let me speak." She said in a stern voice when she saw his mouth move in an aborted attempt to speak. "You blame yourself but even though you influenced the situation, the problems were already there. Yes, Rick and I have a very happy marriage. Yes, we are happy with our jobs and our situations but there were resentments and hurts that we never really faced and that had been left to fester for too long. Regardless, if you both would have come here, I think that this whole situation would have come back to haunt us and who knows what that outcome would have been." Lisa said, casting her eyes downwards as she thought about her biggest fear. That she could have, in her pain and insecurity, driven her family apart, just like her father had done with her and her mother.

"We would still have worked through it, just like we are doing now." A new voice interjected and the duo in the kitchen turned to see the newcomers. Her husband was looking at her with a fire in his eyes that clued her in to the fact that he must have overheard at least the last part of her confession. It was not something that he had not heard in the span of the last few days as they had started their therapy but it was a good reassurance to hear him say that with that warm, loving glint in his eyes that made her believe that everything WOULD be fine, as long as they worked for it, together. She gave her husband a look full of adoration to echo his.

In the meantime, the other occupant in the kitchen had turned around to look for his mate, his other half. He saw her hesitantly hovering behind his older self, regarding the two like a frail doe. But as soon as she realized he was looking at her, she gave him a tremulous smile that was full of understanding and he couldn't help the swell of emotion that swept through him. He would have spent his day just looking at her if it had not been for the interruption of Admiral Hunter's voice.

"Since that is settled… Why don't you two take this time to say… whatever you need to say." He trailed off uncertainly at the hurt in everybody's faces. They all knew that he meant to say goodbyes in reality, but had softened the blow at the last minute.

"That sounds like a good idea." Lisa said, knowing that both the younger couple and her husband and her needed the emotional strength to deal with the events that would come tomorrow. There was no need to delay the inevitable and to postpone it would turn out to be more painful in the long run. "Let's set up everything with Dr. Lang and his team. After we do all that, we should go to Roy and Claudia's. They have a spare bedroom where we can spend the night."

"No, you don't need to…" "You really don't have to do that…" The younger couple said but they were stopped by Lisa. "You do, and we will at least give you that." She finished as she laid her hand gently in younger Rick's shoulders. He looked at her gentle gaze and he understood the silent message, 'Talk to her' Lisa Hunter eyes' seemed to say. 'Tell her what she means to you.'

Rick acknowledged her message with a nod.

Shortly after, the Hunters left, leaving the younger couple on their own. One last night of closeness, one last night of tears, one last night to try to heal a hurt that left them entwined in each other's arms, lulled by each other's heartbeats.

The next morning came too fast. The Hunters came back to help them get ready for their departure. They needed to try to look as similar to the day they had arrived to this future. Knowing this, the Hunters had preserved their clothing from that fateful day. Both women were now in the Hunter's bedroom, where the Admiral presented to her younger companion the clothes she had not seen since that day.

Lisa grabbed the clothing almost reverently. Lisa Hayes raised her eyes to the older woman and could see the compassion and understanding there. She almost wanted to run out of the room, grab Rick's hand and disappear but she knew that was an impossible dream. The changes on the timeline created by their absence would be too big.

Lisa was a First Officer, not to brag but some of her decisions had already influenced the story of the SDF-1 and based on what she had been told by their future selves, there was still a lot left for her to do. Rick on the other hand was already a rising star. Although only one pilot, his absence would create a vacuum that would be hard to fill. It wasn't like they were irreplaceable, nobody was, but the course of history might be changed drastically. She couldn't be that selfish, not for something that could impact so many lives.

With a sigh, she grabbed the clothing and went over to change. After she came out of the bathroom, she sat down to mimic the old hairstyle that she had used before she had landed in this future. Her hands fumbled as she started to coil her hair in the familiar style that her mother had taught her. She jumped in surprise when she felt another pair of hands brushing her hair. Over the mirror, she saw Lisa Hunter's concentrated face as she tackled the long forgotten hairstyle. The feel of somebody else's hands on her hair comforted her in a way that she had not been comforted since her mother had passed away. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine herself as a young girl being comforted by her mother's gentle hands.

After they we all done, both of the women walked out to the living room. The younger Rick was pacing like a caged tiger and the older Rick held little Roy but his eyes revealed that he was lost in his own thoughts. They both came to attention though when the women came near them. When Rick saw Lisa, the old Lisa, the one that was his CO and not his lover, his chest tightened and he wanted to cry. The only reason why he held on to his tears is because he realized how close to crying she was and he knew he needed to be strong for her. Silently, he offered his hand to hers. Her hand fit perfectly in his and as he laced his fingers with hers, memories of the last few months flittered through. How could he let go of her now, when he had finally realized that he loved her? Unbidden, the words that the Admiral had spoken to him on the first days that he had been here, 'You don't know what you are missing.' made so much sense now. Because he had not known her then, not the woman behind the stern soldier, but now he did he had been invited in to see the beautiful soul she was and he knew how special she was to him. And now that he knew, it was hard to let her go.

She really was all that he had ever wanted. She was a warm home, a loving companion and a devoted lover.

His desperation must have shown in his face because Admiral Hunter approached him and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You can do this." he said. "It will be tough but it needs to be done. I know how it feels to face the fear of losing the best thing to ever happen to you," The elder Hunter continued, as he laced his own fingers through his wife's in a similar fashion as Rick's. They both knew that he was referring to the time when he almost lost his wife recently. His wife's eyes showed her understanding and love. "But there is no other way."

The young couple looked at each other and a nod of understanding was echoed between the two of them. They steeled their spines and their eyes and regarded their superior officers with resolution. They were still heartbroken, they would still fear what was to come but they were soldiers and they knew that sometimes they had to do what was right, regardless of how they felt. The older pair understood their unspoken message and they smiled in approval.

"I know this is not going to make it better but don't see this as the end… just think of it as the beginning." the Admiral told his younger counterpart.

With those words, they made their journey back to the base, their tone somber. Just like on the first day, when they had first come in, they were silent. Back then, they had been too shocked to speak, huddled on separate sides of the car. This time, their gazes were still on the view outside but their minds were firmly on each other's presence as their hands lay intertwined between them.

They arrived the the base into a side door that had been cleared from any onlookers to avoid any questions. Claudia was there to receive them, and with a smile and a kiss, little Roy said goodbye to them and went with his auntie Claudia to the daycare as his parents escorted the others to Lang's lab.

As the young couple said their goodbyes, Admiral Hayes-Hunter could see the barely repressed look of sadness on their eyes even if they were trying to put on a brave smile. She was not sad to see them go, after all, she was too pragmatic about reality to even entertain the idea of them staying. In reality her sadness was an echo of that of the younger soldiers. She knew how much they were hurting and it pained her to see their pale faces and haunted eyes. In a moment of solidarity and understanding, Admiral Hayes-Hunter hooked her arm through the young Rick's arm and led him to the lab as the other Admiral swung an arm companionably around Lizzie's shoulders, giving her a shoulder hug. The four of them reached Lang's lab with no incidents since both Admirals had made sure that there was nobody in that area under the threat of suspension during this specific time.

The Admirals, their heads resting on each others' and their arms intertwined, watched in silence as the young ones were prepped for the procedure. One last sad look behind them towards the older couple and Lisa Hayes and Rick Hunter were put under and sent back to the exact moment when they had left. And even after they had left, the Admirals stayed there, holding on to each other, their arms an oasis of peace in the middle of the madness that had become their life and they knew that there would not be any more challenges that they would not face, together.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick and Lisa stood uncertainly next to each other in awkward silence. They were still half hidden behind the Petit Cola machine where they had just bought a drink after being trapped for hours when the ship transformed and they had gotten caught up on it. Their melancholy seemed to stem from the fact that they had just witnessed the people they loved, in Rick's case, and the guy that had brought so many conflicting emotions, different spectrum of emotions for both of them, entering a hotel together looking more like a couple than the cousins that they were. And although this caused them to have quite a mix of emotions, that incident just seemed like the icing on the cake to the events that had transpired in this day.

This had shaped to be the most bizarre day of their life. From the disappointment of the movie, which they had run out after that kiss had evoked so many feelings on them, to the botched attempt at finding a safe place to hide during the transformation of the ship, to the fact that they were reduced to the status of mere civilians, helplessly waiting for news of what was happening outside of the hidden hole they had landed on. Rick and Lisa were both soldiers, who took their duty seriously, and missing the action had made them antsy and anxious.

But the most bizarre thing of all, had not been all of that, it had not even been what they had seen after they finally escaped their forced imprisonment. The real bizarre thing had been the deep connection that the two of them felt for each other after the time they had spent alone. Even though they had not started to willingly, the time they had spent together shone as one of the most meaningful to each other in a long time. Rick could not stop looking at his CO with the new eyes gained by a deeper understanding of her personality. Even though he had always wondered about her, especially after incidents like Sara Base and being POW's in the Zentraedi ship, the quiet moments they had gone through had lifted the veil over the ice queen persona and had allowed him a peek at the lonely woman underneath that.

Even Lisa, who had toyed with the idea and promptly discarded it, that she had more than a passing interest on Rick Hunter of all people finally had to face the fact that there was more to the boneheaded pilot than she had originally thought. In a moment of unexplained weakness, she had let down her shields and she had allowed Hunter a glimpse of the insecure woman, the lonely soldier and he had responded with kindness and understanding. More kindness than she would have ever given him credit for. She didn't know how but those moments as they both huddled together, an isolated island separating them from everything and everybody had allowed their masks to fall and they had gotten a glimpse into their souls. It almost seemed like they knew each other from a different time, a different dimension.

But as comfortable as they had been with each other in their little bubble, reality had hit them like a splash of cold water. Where there had been a warm rapport before, now there stood a chasm that seemed to divide them. Rick didn't know why he felt like he was drowning, like he couldn't get enough air. He thought it was because of the scene he had just witnessed between Minmay and her cousin but if he was really honest with himself, it wasn't really that. He had already mourned that relationship after seeing the realistic kiss in the movie so it seemed like this was something else. Something deeper, more ingrained into him, something that reached his very soul.

*"Well, it'll be best if I leave now." Rick said reluctantly. For some reason the thought of leaving, of going back to his lonely barrack's room was making his heart sink, while the thought of separating himself from her made the loneliness feel more oppressive. "I better report before they think I've deserted my post." He said apologetically.

"Rick" Lisa called out, she said, holding to his wrist. The sight of him leaving her affected her more than she ever thought possible. She didn't know if it was the prospect of the loneliness that permeated her life or if she was loath to break the tentative relationship they had forged. "Do you have to leave so soon? You won't be in trouble if they knew you were with another officer." She said bringing in a logically. "Aside from that... I would like for you to stay. Could you stay? Just a little while longer?" Lisa said softly, something fragile, something tentative glowed in her eyes.

"I also like that idea." Rick replied with a smile, a smile that deepened when it was reciprocated by her.*

During the years they worked together and as their relationship turned into friendship, the young couple would feel that there was something more for them, something deeper between them. But as soon as that feeling would come, they would forget, just like waking up from a fleeting dream. During the years they would credit that instance, that situation where they were locked together and the feelings that they felt right after, to one of the sparks that started their eventual relationship.

-The End-