For Lisa the next three days was like being in a dream. She spent the days working with Takuya finding materials for his cultural center. Not the whole time was spent at the research terminals and Takuya and Lisa took time to talk about their experiences since they had seen another and to get to know each other again.

Takuya listened to Lisa as she told Takuya the truth about what happened at Mars Base, and he silently thanked Lisa's pilot for ignoring her orders and saving her life that day. She also explained that Rick saved her military career as well as he didn't report her counter order to leave her there and went in to rescue her. Many of Lisa's stories included the fighter pilot in some way and Takuya thought of the old stories of the red string of fate that tied two people together. The string may stretch or tangle but never break and that the it meant that the two were destined to be together. Takuya had always felt that his string of fate was tied to the woman before him and their survival from Dolza's attack meant that they were meant to be and felt that Karl Riber and now Rick Hunter were just the tangles in Lisa's string.

During the day the two were circumspect in their behavior but after hours and off base was a different matter. Lisa, who had forgotten what it felt like to be loved, relished in the care that Takuya showered on her. He was attentive to her, respected her position and her treated her like a woman. While they hadn't gone very far physically they did share some quiet moments alone, holding hands, kissing and some light caresses. Takuya wasn't ready to push Lisa into more physically. He wanted her and their shared kisses wanted him to push for more, but he wanted her to come to him on her own without the emotional baggage that she carried for Hunter. He knew if that day came that Lisa would truly be his as she wasn't the type to give herself to someone else if she wasn't 100% committed to that person.

Everyone on base noticed the change in Lisa, she was happier than she had been in a long time and in fact dreaded Rick's return and the emotional roller coaster that he put her through. She admitted to herself that her emotional state was self inflicted because she could never admit to her feelings for the pilot. With Takuya though, she felt a freedom she hadn't felt in a long time, since Riber had passed away. She didn't know if it was because of their shared past or the fact that he never knew her as the "Ice Queen". The week passed quickly and on Friday early afternoon, Takuya left the base knowing that he accomplished what he wanted to achieve on this trip, enough material to work with to open his cultural center and the woman that he had always dreamed of. Lisa waved good bye to him at the base entrance and promised to be ready for him on Saturday at 6pm. As she was walking back to the base, she heard her name being paged. As she picked up the nearest phone, the command center on the other side, let her know that she was needed on the bridge immediately.

Lisa ran to the bridge, wondering what had happened. As she approached the bridge there was an increase in activity of officers coming in and out of the bridge. Lisa ran into the bridge and was saluted by those on deck.

Vanessa apprised her of the situation. "The escort squad to Monument City was on it's return flight home when they were attacked by rebel Zentraedi, they are currently holding their position but need support. We've sent the Admiral Gloval is on his way and Sammie was relieved of duty as she wasn't feeling well, we've been waiting for Commander Richards, but he hasn't arrived yet."

Lisa fearing the worst, went to her station and picked up her headset and opened communications to the Skull Leader, "Skull Leader, this is Delta One, please come in."

Rick was relieved to hear Lisa's voice over the Tacnet and make visual communication with her. Lisa smiled at him, happy to see that he was ok. "Well hotshot, heard you got yourself into a tight situation," she said lightly to try and and alleviate the tense situation. "So, what's the situation, Capt. Hunter?"

Rick quickly explained that while on their return flight back after the install, they were ambushed by a two scout ships, two dozen pods and three Quadrano power suits. Miriya had tried to negotiate with them but met with resistance and the two females Zentraedi called her a traitor and disgrace to her race. That had pissed Miriya off and a dog fight had started and many of the pods were disabled before both sides retreated. The power suits and the scout ships were still out there and the Skull didn't want to risk engaging as they didn't feel that they had enough firepower to defeat the scout ships. The squad had been discussing tactics when Lisa had contacted them.

Lisa gave the call to have another squadron go out and support the Skull Squadron. It would take a little over two hours for the additional support to reach the Skull's location. While Lisa tried to work a way out of situation by studying the landscape of the area that Rick's team was in. In the meantime, Rick reported out every ½ an hour on the situation and described the bleak situation that they were seeing. The rebel Zentraedi, unwilling to give up and surrender had started to leave their disabled pods and head to the scout ships. Rick described the weakened physical conditions of the Zentraedi and how the team could not fire on the unarmed Zentraedis. While they waited for the support, the scout ships rose up and started advancing on the team. The team tried to reach out and negotiate a surrender with the scout ships and were contacted by the Zentraedi on the ships. Rick patched their communication to the bridge where Lisa also tried to negotiate a peaceful surrender. She took note of their desperate situation from the gaunt conditions of the Zentraedi on the ship. Their supplies had obviously run out a while ago and Lisa didn't want to know how they had been surviving. She gleaned from their boasting that they had targeted the supply shipment but was misinformed on the timing of the shipment. Instead of waiting to strike another day, they decided to make a last stance against the fabled Skull Squadron and come back victorious or go out in a blaze of glory.

The Zentraedi's cut communications and both scout ships set their targets on the Veritech fighters. Rick and his team had no choice but to fire back on the scout ships and the Quadrano power suits. Max and Miriya took on the two Quadranos and was successful in defeating them, but unable to prevent their explosion in the air. Miriya said a little prayer for her Zentraedi sisters and turned her fighter back to the two scout ships that were firing on the squad. While the squad maneuvered and attacked the scout ships, they received the additional air support and were able to send the two scout ships after crashing to the ground. As the ships neared the ground, they could see some of the remaining Zentraedi jumping out of the burning ships, hoping to escape the wreckage but the sudden explosion of the scout ships quickly ended the lives of those Zentraedi that tried to flee as the burning wreckage fell and killed those who escaped. The squads and the bridge were horrified by the loss of Zentraedi life that night and the squads remained in the air until a cleanup crew could come and dispose of the bodies and contain the radiation from the ships.

It was past midnight when Rick finally reached the base. The team had opted to push on to New Macross instead of returning to Monument City for the night. Rick had hoped that Lisa would have been waiting for him as she had before after previous difficult patrols, and was disappointed not to see her waiting for him at the hangar when he came in. His disappointment showed and Miriya gave him a hug before her and Max left for the night. Rick reached his quarters and entered the room. It felt cold and sterile after his three day absence and Rick sighed as he heard his door shut with a thud. He walked over to the sink to get a glass of water before heading to bed and noticed a still warm glass container wrapped in a blue cloth on the table. A note was attached that simply said, "I'm sorry, you did what you could, - Lisa" Rick opened the container and inhaled the aroma of the chicken and rice dish that was prepared. He picked up a clean fork and and ate the food, savoring the fact that while Lisa hadn't been there at the end of the night, she had made the effort to provide some comfort at the end of a long and difficult night. Rick finished and left the dish in his sink while he got ready for bed. He thought back to the the night and the unnecessary deaths of the Zentraedi rebels. Unable to rest, Rick left his quarters and headed to the one place he needed to be. He found himself in front of Lisa's quarters and before he lost courage, he knocked on the door to her quarters. He knocked a little louder when his initial knocks didn't get a response and finally he heard Lisa approach the door and ask, "Who is it?"

"Lisa, its me, Rick."

Opening the door, wearing a short thin cotton robe tied over her pajama shorts and tank top, Lisa looked at Rick sleepily and asked, "What is it? Is there another emergency, I didn't get a call."

"Can I come in Lisa?" asked Rick in a whisper. Lisa nodded and opened the door wider to let him in. It was a surprise to her that Rick had showed up at her quarters. They settled on the couch and Lisa waited for Rick to start. She had been upset over the latest rebel attack and had talked to Claudia afterward and felt that Rick probably needed that same type of support. Lisa couldn't help but feel his pain as he described what the team had gone through that couldn't be picked up by the cameras for the bridge. She reached out her hand to him and felt him tighten his grip on her as he recounted the events and questioned the futility of the Zentraedi endeavor. It was past two am when Rick stopped talking and just seemed to stare into the space in front of him. Lisa still holding on to his hand and half falling asleep decided for that night to forget about everything else in the world. She knew what Rick was feeling and knew he needed the emotional and physical comfort of another human being that night. She got up and led Rick into her bedroom. Lisa led him to her bed and pushed him into a sitting position on the bed. This seemed to have woken him up a bit and he looked around at Lisa and her bedroom a bit confused about how he got there and what he was doing there.

Lisa smiled a bit at his confusion and said, "It's not what you think Hunter, I think we both need some rest and I don't think you should be alone tonight. Let's just leave it at that ok?"

Rick just nodded his head in agreement turned his head and looked away as Lisa removed her robe and climbed past him into the bed. She pulled the top sheet over herself covering her body and then motioned to Rick to lay on top of the sheet. He whispered to her, "Are you sure this is ok?" Lisa just waved him forward onto the bed, already closing her eyes. Rick paused before laying down and looked at Lisa. Her eyes had already fluttered closed and her breathing evened out as she fell asleep. Rick watched Lisa sleep for a few minutes before feeling the tug of his own eyelids closing over his eyes. He removed his workout pants and extra shirt he wore and lay on the bed in his undershirt and boxers and pulled the light coverlet over himself and turned to face Lisa while she slept. It wasn't long before Rick was sound asleep with the demons of the night, chased away by the woman next to him.

They had only been asleep for a few hours, when Rick awoke. He turned his head and was comforted that Lisa was still asleep next to him, the top sheet kicked away. The air had become a bit chilly in the morning and Lisa had turned her body towards Rick's heat. Rick was tempted to pull her into his embrace, but knew if he did she would wake up. He took the top sheet and covered her and then fell back asleep on his own. It wasn't for another couple of hours that Rick woke up to the smell of bacon and eggs. He stretched and wondered if last night was a dream or if he really spent the night with Lisa. Looking around he found his clothes where he had left them next to her bed and pulled them on before going out to the living quarters. He could see her in the small kitchenette scrambling eggs, Rick walked in quietly behind her and put his arms around her waist and pulled her in for a quick squeeze. "Thank you Lisa," he said whispering in her ear.

Lisa who had woken up about half an hour before Rick, was in the kitchenette mentally berating herself for last night's actions. She had slipped quietly from the bedroom she didn't want to be in the bed when Rick woke up as that would have made the situation even weirder. Deep in her thoughts as she whisked the eggs, she didn't notice Rick come up behind her to give her a hug.

The action startled her and she set the bowl of eggs down on the counter with a small thump. Rick continued to hold her and rested his head on her shoulder turning his head into her neck. She could feel his breath on her neck and she shivered a bit from his closeness. While she wanted nothing more to give in to his embrace, she knew that she could not do that to Takuya and that last night had already been a huge mistake. Lisa turned in Rick's arms, rested her hands on his shoulders and lightly pushed him back until he released his hands from her waist. Lisa could see the confused expression on Rick's face and sighed. She felt bad about what she was about to do and said to him, "Like I said last night Hunter, it's not what you think. Please don't misunderstand what happened last night, we were both emotionally and physically exhausted from yesterday's events. I don't want anything to ruin our friendship, do you understand?"

Rick's heart fell a little bit at her words. He could see the concern and fear in Lisa's green eyes as she waited for his reaction. He decided not to push it at that time and alleviate her fears. "I just wanted to say thank you for last night, you're always there to listen to me. I don't know what I would do without you." Lisa tried to make light of the situation and joked, "You'd go hungry without me, is what would happen.. Let me finish making these eggs and we can have some breakfast. I have some things to take care of today and need to start my day."

Rick went to the bathroom to freshen up while Lisa finished making breakfast. He wasn't sure what to do. Maybe all the gossip was wrong, maybe Lisa didn't care for him in that way. He had just come to the realization himself that he was in love with her, but maybe he was reading all her signals wrong. Frustrated with the constant emotional swing he'd been on lately, he decided to act as if nothing was out of the ordinary and try and reestablish the equilibrium they had before last week.

Lisa had just set out two plates and two steaming cups of coffee on the kitchen counter when Rick came out. He sipped the dark brew gratefully, needing the pick me up after the last couple of days. Lisa smiled as he enjoyed his cup of coffee and watched as he started in on the eggs, bacon and fruit she had put on his plate. She watched the pilot as he ate, trying to assess her feelings for him and alternatively thinking about her date that night. She knew she had to make a decision soon and so far odds were in the favor of her childhood friend. Lisa's attention to Rick was drawn back when he asked her if he had missed anything in Macross the last couple of days. There was not much news, except that the military housing had been completed and that personnel would be moved off the ship the next few weeks. Lisa pulled up a map on her tablet of the layout and showed Rick where his house would be. He was pleased to see that it was near a park and off the main thoroughfare. He asked where her house was located and was pleased to see that Lisa's house was in a cul-de-sac less than ½ a mile away from his place and noticed her backyard while fenced in backed into a wooded area that was being cultivated. Claudia and the Trio were nearby, all within walking distance of one another, while Max and Miriya were down the street from Rick's new home.

They had a nice breakfast together and Lisa was happy that things between Rick and her seem to be back to normal. Rick helped Lisa clean up and thanked her for the breakfast. He asked if they were still on tomorrow and Lisa was a bit surprised that he still wanted to hang out with her. She confirmed that they were still on for the next day and Rick left her quarters thinking of what he needed to prepare for the next day. Lisa cleaned the rest of her quarters and went out to purchase supplies for the week before returning home around 3pm to get ready for her date.

Author's note: Thank you all for reading so far, I appreciate the kind words and encouragement. Not too good with battle scenes so I hope you will forgive me.