A/N: "Finally, a new chapter!" huh? I know what you all are thinking, so don't try to hide it... ;)
I'm prepping my Chapter 40 outline right about now, but I haven't actually started writing it yet. It seems that I am falling a little bit behind with each new chapter. I'm glad I started out with a five-chapter buffer. It's down to a three-chapter buffer, so at least I still have some breathing room. School's going great, job's going great, so I'm in no danger of having to put this writing aside out of necessity. I've been playing the hell out of Left 4 Dead 2 and I've been meaning to ask you guys that if you play L4D2 or Alien Swarm, let me know. I only play expert campaign, and prefer expert realism on L4D2. If you are good enough to hang with that skill level, feel free to send a friend request through Steam. My screen name is "frothymug". Just as verification that it's me, I have the UN-Spacy kite as my icon. I could use a few more skilled players to play with.
Ah, yes... forgot to mention the MacF movie 1, "Itsuwari no Utahime" is available on BD/DVD. No English subtitles, though... still waiting for the fansubs to release a subbed version so we can understand everything that's going on. I've seen it without subs, and while it's a visually-pleasing movie, I felt slightly disappointed in the overall product. I won't ruin any details for any of you, but I'd still recommend it as a good watch. I just got tired of the non-stop bombardment of Alto, Sheryl, and Ranka. They didn't spend nearly enough time with the other characters, and that was probably the main reason I didn't like it. We'll see what they come up with in the 2nd movie. The mecha battles were quite sexy, though! :)
Back to the story, I feel that I should offer a slight head's-up... The next few chapters will generally be heavy on character development. That means there won't be tons of action, like before. However, it will lead up to some pretty nifty events within a few chapters. This character development was kind of necessary, both to add some more "realism" to the characters, and to fill in the timeline of my overall story. None of it will be useless filler material, though; I don't have the time or space for that crap. Pretty much everything will have meaning in a future event. -(10/17/10)
Cal's "Night of a Thousand Aches" finally came to an end when he was woken by his alarm. His head was still throbbing a bit from both the after-effects of the previous night's drinking and from falling off of the table in the mess hall. His mouth had the texture of desert sand and the overwhelming urge to drink some water enabled him to quickly get out of bed, instead of snoozing a bit.
Turning the bathroom light on, he grimaced in pain from the light suddenly assaulting his eyes; but it didn't take him long to turn on the faucet and lean down to drink directly from the spout. Once he felt satisfied with the amount of water he had taken in, he began to wash his face off in an attempt to wake himself up a bit more.
After finishing his business, he left the bathroom light on to fill the quarters with a bit of light. He usually woke up before Will did, so he was used to getting ready as quietly as possible. However, as he approached the bunks, he noticed that the top bunk was neatly made and nobody was sleeping in it. "Huh... I guess he spent the night with Nene," Cal told himself. Thinking nothing of it, he walked over to the front of the room to turn the lights on and started the coffeemaker that sat on the small table in their quarters.
Walking the halls in full uniform and his thermos full of coffee in his hand, Cal began to wonder why the ship seemed to be deserted. Only an occasional crew member would walk by him in the halls, but it was far less activity than he was used to seeing at this time of the morning. He made a mental note of the fact that he couldn't feel the ship's engines running, either. Rather than taking his usual route straight to the mess hall in search of a breakfast pastry, he decided to take the scenic route and pass through the observation deck first.
From an approaching perspective, the observation deck was generally dark; but it usually had a soft glow coming from the stars and planetary bodies outside of the ship, giving the room a calm ambiance. This time was no exception to the norm, and Cal casually approached the nearest window to see what was going on outside of the ship at that time.
He took a large sip of coffee just as he came into view of the ship's exterior. The beautiful skyline of Frontier City was flooding the observation deck with artificial light. The entire ocean bay was visible, displaying a panoramic view of most of the city. Off on the horizon, an orange glow began to creep into the pre-dawn sky. After taking a microsecond to confirm what his eyes were seeing, Cal nearly inhaled his coffee out of surprise. His natural reaction was to spit it out before it burned his esophagus.
"What the hell?" he said as he rushed up to the glass and put his hands up to lean against it to look outside. He quickly gritted his teeth and pounded on the glass before he reached down to grab his PDA. After punching a few keys on the touchscreen, he put it up to his ear and waited for his call to go through.
Once the call connected, a familiar voice answered, "Hey, Sleeping Beauty. Finally awake, huh?"
"Will, you asshole! Why didn't you wake me up?"
Cal listened to Will and Nene laughing on the other side of the connection. "I did try to wake you up, but you literally threatened to kill me if I didn't let you sleep!"
"Bullshit, I don't remember that! I oughta kick your ass for leaving me on the ship!"
Cal could hear Will turn away from his phone to talk to Nene. "He's threatening me with physical violence again..." he said with a laugh. Nene's faint voice responded to Will, but Cal couldn't make out what she was saying. After laughing at what she said to him, Will turned back to his phone to relay the message. "She says you're a lousy drinker and you don't know how to handle your liquor. She says 'next time, use training wheels when drinking'."
Just as he was getting upset at their verbal jabs, Cal began to consider the possibility that he was so inebriated, that he just didn't remember anything that happened while he was trying to sleep. "Okay, goddammit... I'm going to let you two off the hook because I need a favor from Nene anyway. Where the hell are you guys?"
"We went to find some breakfast while we wait for the Folmo Mall to open." Will's voice became faint again on the line. "Here Nene, he wants to talk to you."
Nene's voice suddenly became clear as a bell. "What's up, Rip van Winkle?"
"You're really pushing it!" Cal said through his gritting teeth. After he took a deep breath to calm himself down, he continued talking to Nene. "I need you to do me a favor..."
…
Light from the street lamps on the highway temporarily flooded Ozma's car as it passed by each post. The faint sound of Fire Bomber music could be heard from the car's speakers while he placed a call on his cell phone. After waiting for an answer, a look of disappointment found its way onto his face and he looked at the phone for a moment before disconnecting the call with the push of a button. He set his phone down on the passenger chair and turned his stereo system back up again. Reaching down to the gearshift, Ozma downshifted and stomped on the gas pedal. Although not as effective as his VF-25S, the car still had the necessary power to throw his body back into the seat a bit. The tires briefly squealed before the car lurched forward from the sudden acceleration.
Ozma's replica Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v Evoluzione II couldn't have looked more beautiful while it sat in a parking space underneath the apartment building. He certainly did miss driving his car and being able to partake of its beauty, but there was another precious and beloved possession that he missed even more. He finished looking over the car before he set the alarm and walked away towards the elevators nearby.
From inside of the apartment, the lock could faintly be heard as it turned. Ozma carefully stepped inside the apartment, trying not to rustle the plastic wrapping around the bouquet of flowers he held in one hand. The other hand held a rectangular cardboard box by its handle. Surprisingly, the lights were not all off. There was a soft glow in each room in sight and the fragrance of potpourri and scented candles graced his sense of smell.
After gently closing the door and locking it behind him, Ozma picked up the box by its handle and took one step into the hallway before he noticed a handwritten note taped to the door frame leading to the living room.
"Deposit pineapple cake and bouquet in the dining room. Payment will be remitted immediately following the transaction. No exceptions allowed!" the sign said with an arrow pointing to Ozma's left.
Immediately, he realized why his phone calls were not being answered; he was already expected. Ozma smiled and exhaled after he found out that his surprise was already spoiled by expectation.
Cathy knew her man so well, in fact, that she could predict that he would come to her apartment, what time he would arrive, and what gifts he would bring to her. Working in the office of the Joint Chiefs did afford her access to information that was classified to all but the most important officers in the NUNS. She was quite skillful at using that information to get things done, and she had more than enough time to plan their rendezvous once she found out that the Quarter was returning to Aimo.
The dining table was set and a cake dish sat empty in the midst of the dishes and centerpieces. A decorative vase sat waiting for the flowers it seemed destined to carry. However, there was nobody in the room except Ozma. He immediately understood what needed to be done to get the ball rolling and quickly unpacked the contents of the rectangular box before placing the flowers into the vase.
Satisfied with his work, Ozma stood straight up and rubbed his hands together with anticipation while he looked around for a reaction. Almost with mechanical timing and precision, Cathy appeared in the doorway wearing a nightgown and standing in a seductive pose.
Ozma only smiled at these developments with excitement and began to chuckle with a slightly evil tone. "I should have known better than to try and surprise you."
Cathy approached him and answered his statement, "I'll do the surprising around here. Now, as promised, your payment for rendering your services..." At first, she gently embraced Ozma and began to kiss him. After a few seconds, she began to thoroughly enjoy the emotional exchange and started to pull him out of the dining room and into the hallway. Before they disappeared out of sight, she had already removed his jacket and tossed it on the floor, all while still keeping her lips locked with his.
…
Mother and father sat on their couch in silence as they watched their little boy sleep in his mother's lap. Eddie Berstein slept while holding onto a brand new VB-6 Koenig Monster toy that his mother brought with her upon her return home. The opened cardboard box still sat on the coffee table in front of them, along with the protective packaging that kept the toy from being damaged while it was in storage.
Kanaria made sure that she appreciated the very fact that she was able to see her family once more. Just as she gave her son a slight squeeze, her husband noticed that she was behaving a little out-of-the-ordinary.
"I know that look... something is bothering you. May I ask what?" he said to her.
"I'm just... I'm just glad that I got to see you both again, that's all."
This was not something he was used to hearing from the usually-confident Kanaria. Being emotionally in-tune with his wife afforded him a keen insight as to what she was really thinking. "I'm sure you don't really feel like talking about it right now, but I want to know what's troubling you. You can talk to me about it when you feel like it, alright?"
Kanaria smiled at her husband's concern for her worries. However, she wanted to just enjoy being able to hold her son and talk to her husband in person again. "I will... I will..." she said as she leaned over and put her head on his shoulder.
…
Back in the comfort of her home in Laplamiz, Klan slept on her side, while the blankets on her bed remained disheveled and twisted behind her on the bed. She wore a loose-fitting tank-top shirt and shorts, but wore nothing to restrain her long, blue hair from going wherever it pleased. The dawn light began to fill the room as the digital clock on the nightstand approached 6 AM.
With a sharp tone, the alarm clock began to sound its wake-up signal as it was programmed to do. The sudden noise caused Klan to grimace while she clumsily rolled to the side a bit and reached out to her nightstand to hit the snooze button. Just as she was about to drop her hand onto the clock, the alarm seemed to turn off on its own. Her hand hung in the air for a moment until she dropped it back onto the bed and enjoyed the peace and quiet once more.
Slowly coming out of her sleep, her mind began to wonder why the alarm had turned itself off. Still too tired to ponder the situation, she decided to keep snoozing for another minute before attempting to get up. Unfortunately, the question still hung in her mind and she finally tried to open her eyes to investigate the nature of this "haunted" alarm clock that seems to have developed a will of its own.
Her eyes fought with the sudden intake of light in order to focus on the object on her nightstand. However, she could plainly make out the silhouette of something else that wasn't supposed to be there. Only a couple of seconds and she thought she recognized what it was, but didn't initially believe her own eyes.
"Cal?" she exclaimed with a gasp and lifted her torso up from the bed.
Cal patiently sat on her alarm clock, while he waited for her to wake up. Finally recognized, he responded to her to confirm what she thought she was seeing. "Well, 'good morning' to you too!"
She reacted by reaching behind and trying to cover herself up with her blankets, but they were too messed up to serve their intended purpose. "What the hell are you doing here?" she exclaimed once more. She buried her face in her pillow and did her best to cover herself up from the embarrassment of being seen in her sleep garb.
Cal was a little shocked at her question, but then he realized that maybe it wasn't such a great idea to have been sitting there watching her sleep. To lessen the creepiness-factor, he tried to assuage her sense of embarrassment as quickly as possible. "Relax, you're not dressed indecently or anything... Nene let me in and told me it would be okay to wait in here for you to wake up."
"That's not what I meant! You're supposed to be somewhere in space!" she continued to whine. She fumbled with her blankets, trying to untwist them so they would do a better job of protecting her appearance from undeserving eyes.
"Oh..." Cal said with a slight laugh, "We were recalled home and got back in early this morning." He thought about what she said for a moment before speaking again. "Wait a minute, does that mean that you don't mind the fact that I snuck into your room and I've been watching you sleep for a little while?"
"Does it look like I mind?" She replied as she clutched her blanket even tighter over her shoulder to accentuate her answer.
"Well, you didn't seem to mind a couple of weeks ago... This is how you were the last time I saw you; sleeping in a bed on the medical frigate. What's the big deal?"
Klan realized that he did make a good point there. However, she knew better than to give him the benefit of the doubt. Upon hearing his statement, she tried to stare him down with a feigned look of anger. "Do you realize that sitting on my alarm clock was not a safe place to be when I'm sleeping? I could have seriously hurt you, not knowing that you were there!"
"Yeah, I know... lesson learned, right? At least I was fast enough to hit the snooze button before it was too late." Cal replied with a nervous laugh. He clumsily scratched the back of his head while continuing to chuckle.
With a seemingly-appropriate response, the alarm clock sounded once more because its snooze timer had run out. Cal quickly jumped off of the alarm, startled by the sudden noise. Before he turned away in embarrassment, he could see Klan beginning to laugh at his reaction. Hitting the snooze button once more to silence the alarm, he reached down to find the switch that turns the alarm off for good. "Let's see... which one...?" he mumbled to himself while he read the text printed on the side of the clock. Finding the switch, he grabbed it with his hand and began to tug at it. Instead of moving the switch, he jerked the entire clock forwards. A couple more tries still yielded the same results.
"Need some help there?" Klan said, trying not to laugh too much.
Cal sighed and stood back up to look at her while he responded. "No! I can take care of this on my own..." he chided. To solve his dilemma, he put his foot down into the groove carved for the switch and used the clock itself as leverage so it wouldn't move while he pulled the switch into the "off" position. The stubborn switch finally gave in and clicked into the desired position, but not before making Cal lose his grip and stumble to regain his balance. "Damn, that thing needs to be oiled or something..." he remarked.
"I don't have any problems with it, see?" Klan said while she reached over and began to effortlessly toggle the switch back and forth with one of her fingers.
Cal didn't like being made fun of like that and smacked her hand with his. "Shut up... get that out of here!" he said, continuing to smack the backside of her hand until she moved it away from the clock.
Feeling a little more comfortable with the situation now that she's been able to get a couple of jabs in on him, Klan finally got up and sat on the edge of the bed next to the nightstand upon which Cal was standing. She rubbed her eyes and glanced back at Cal to find out why he became unusually silent, all of a sudden. He wore a certain starry-eyed look for no apparent reason.
"What?" she inquired.
Cal quickly rattled his head and snapped out of it. "Sorry, it's just that I've never seen you out of uniform. I didn't mean to stare..." he said with a nervous chuckle.
"Oh brother..." Klan replied while rolling her eyes. She quickly got up and walked into the adjacent bathroom. From around the corner, Cal could hear her talking to him. "Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but I have to get ready. I need to report for duty in a little while. If you want to stick around for a bit, you can wait for me in the living room. Out you go!" she declared.
A sense of mischief overcame Cal and he decided to push buttons to see what would happen. "I was just getting comfortable, too! Why can't I watch for just a little bit?"
There was no immediate answer from the bathroom and Cal could almost see Klan rolling her eyes before she finally answered. "You're already pissing me off, Cal. Get out before something bad happens to you."
Exactly the answer he was looking for. Just one more push... "Pfft, you don't scare me. You couldn't hurt me if you tried," he confidently stated as he folded his arms together in arrogance.
Immediately, the sound of something being forcibly placed onto the counter in the bathroom could be heard; the sound of footsteps began to thunder shortly thereafter. Klan burst into the bedroom, angrily stomping towards the nightstand upon which Cal was still standing. She had a very ominous look on her face; enough to make Cal unfold his arms in surprise.
"Oh crap...!" he said as he immediately jumped off of the nightstand and onto her bed, heading straight for the door on the other side. Klan lunged at him and narrowly missed grabbing him, but she wasn't going to give up there. Since Cal was already out of her immediate reach, she grabbed the pillow next to her and hurled it at him.
Cal was stuck trying to negotiate with the bundled up blanket in his way and just as he got to the top, he was pounded by the flying pillow. Fighting off the disorientation of being hit by a large object, no matter how soft it was, he began to pull himself free from underneath the heavy cushioning. Only a moment later, he was pinned underneath the pillow by the sudden application of an overwhelming force from on top of the pillow. "Agh!" he sputtered in discomfort.
Klan sat on her bed with one of her hands mashing the pillow down on top of Cal. She still had a very annoyed look on her face while she spoke to him, "Do not get out from underneath this pillow, do you understand? So help me, if I catch you looking, your life is over!" Although she was obviously irritated by Cal's prodding, she seemed to be willing to do him a bit of a favor... at a price.
"Alright! Alright! Geez...!" Cal replied while struggling to breathe under the pressure. It took a couple of seconds before that pressure was finally relieved and he could move once more.
"That's more like it," Klan said with a wry grin as she straightened up again. However, she heard his voice from underneath the pillow again.
"Still didn't hurt, though..." Cal remarked with a chuckle.
Fueled by her irritation from his words, she punched downwards onto the pillow under which Cal was lying. "Ow!" he exclaimed in reaction to being hit through the cushioning. "Was that really necessary?" he asked with a hint of anger in his voice.
Thoroughly satisfied with the outcome of the situation, Klan got up from the bed and walked towards the bathroom once again. "Of course it was. Now, quit whining; you'll be fine." She smirked to herself, before passing through the doorway and slamming the door shut behind her.
With no need to embellish his situation anymore, Cal lifted up part of the pillow to allow fresh air to hit his face. He took a deep breath as he reached towards his waist and pulled out his PDA. Just as he started tapping on the screen with the stylus, he started to laugh to himself under his breath. It was funny to him how he felt more "at home" when he had someone to banter with on an even level, even though it sometimes resulted in a less-than-savory outcome.
…
Sometime later, some of the founding members of the United Frontier Services Organization had gathered together in their meeting room for the day's planning session. They were already in the middle of a discussion about the location of their next benefit concert and how they were going to organize the many acts who wanted to perform there.
"...That's good, I like that!" Ranka said as she input the meeting's strongest points and ideas into her laptop computer. Brera sat in his chair wearing his usual quiet and unobtrusive demeanor while he calmly sipped from his cup of coffee. Sitting next to him was Sheryl, who was reading a freshly-printed sheet of paper from Ranka's printer.
After scanning over some of the list that was on the paper, Sheryl interrupted the brainstorming session. "Ranka, we're not going to have the time to get all of these acts onstage in one concert! You're going to need to do some trimming on this list."
Ranka stopped typing and looked up to answer Sheryl. "Time isn't an issue here. Remember, that we are doing this for the benefit of charitable causes. I say that the more we get in, the more we get back." She then looked down and continued working on the laptop.
Sheryl frowned and dropped the paper onto the meeting table in front of her. "Ranka, you need to get your head out of the clouds and understand what I'm trying to tell you here. If you make your shows too long, you are required to fill it with more content than needed. Also, the fans will become jaded too quickly and will lose interest in future venues. If you want to get the most bang for your buck, you need to trim this list to a more manageable size, so you can stretch these acts much farther."
Nanase could sense that voices were becoming slightly raised and tried to calm the situation down before an argument broke out. "Ranka, you need to listen to Sheryl. She's got years of experience with this sort of thing and she's only trying to help you out!"
Ranka stopped typing again and leaned back in her chair to fold her arms in front of her. She closed her eyes to calm herself down a bit. Just as she opened her eyes and took a breath to respond, a paper airplane slowly glided across the table in front of her. It made a perfect landing on top of one of the books; silence interrupted the heated conversation while everyone stared at it.
Ranka reached over and grabbed the paper airplane. "Who's making paper airplanes during the meeting?" She then looked at it more closely and saw that it had a familiar construction to it. "No way!" she thought to herself as she and everyone reacted to a voice coming from the meeting room's door.
"Nice place you guys have here..." Alto said while leaning against the door frame. He was already working on another paper airplane in his hands while Luca stood next to him, intently staring at Nanase. Both pilots looked sharp in their uniforms; efforts were made to give a good presentation when being reunited with their closest friends after being gone for nearly three months.
The three women in the room, Ranka, Sheryl, and Nanase; all simultaneously cried out in excitement upon seeing Alto and Luca finally back home. Each one of them instantly latched onto the one who meant the most to them, while they all sputtered and swooned over the surprise visit. Alto and Luca briefly looked at each other and chuckled while they tried to stay standing upright.
"When did you guys get back?" Ranka asked with exuberance.
"Oh, very early this morning. Luca and I waited for a few hours before coming here to see you," Alto casually replied.
Sheryl approached Alto with a scolding tone, "You've been back for several hours and you never bothered to try and contact us?"
He reeled back a bit in defense, as he usually has to do when Sheryl is around. "Hey, we wanted to surprise all of you at the same time, is that okay?"
Suddenly, Sheryl's accusing demeanor dramatically changed back into a more cheery one. "Well, that's okay. We still loves ya anyways," she said while she hugged him again.
Brera finally advanced towards Alto, still calm as ever. "Since you're still alive, it must be that those Galaxy pilots have started to lose their edge." He stared at Alto with a blank expression, unwilling to reveal whether or not he was really being serious. He finally cracked a smirk and finished his statement, "...or maybe you've gotten just good enough to be able to survive in a bit of a scrape with them."
Alto smiled and shook hands with Brera. "Oh, I don't know, we got ourselves a few kills to brag about, right Luca?" he said as he turned to see why Luca was being so quiet.
He was unable to answer, due to the fact that he was currently engaged in a kiss with Nanase. Everyone began to chuckle under their breath while they looked for something else on which to focus their attention. Deciding that it would be best to leave Luca and Nanase alone, the rest of the gang sat down at the meeting table to talk about everything that's transpired since they were last together.
…
Finding a good vantage point to do some people-watching, Cal leaned against the railing of the elevated walkway upon which he was standing. He munched on a chunk of sweetened bread while he watched Zentraedi citizens go about their business in Laplamiz. Knowing that he was off-duty for the next few days, he still felt it necessary to spend his time reflecting upon his own thoughts, rather than finding something fun and relaxing to do. No matter how hard he tried to focus on something else, his mind kept wandering back to his visit with Klan...
A/N: I couldn't figure out a good way to write in a segue to this flashback moment
Cal now reclined on top of the pillow that was once covering him, using his PDA as an entertainment device while he waited for Klan to finish getting ready for her shift. He appeared to be playing some kind of game on it, using his stylus and fingers to enter his commands. Since she was almost done getting ready, she told him that it was okay to come out from under the pillow. However, she still remained hidden around the corner of the bathroom doorway, but kept the door open so she could hear whatever Cal was saying to her.
While he continued playing his game, he finally decided to ask a question that's been burning a hole in his skull for the last couple of days. "Klan?"
"Yeah...?" she answered from inside of the bathroom.
"How come you never bothered to contact me before your ship left the fleet a couple of days ago?" he asked.
She took a moment to answer. "I'm sorry about that, Cal. I just couldn't communicate with anyone outside of the ship."
"Why not? What happened?"
Another moment of silence passed before she answered his questions. "Remember when I told you that I can't really talk about the prototype Queadluun?" She waited for him to respond, but Cal remained silent. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but... Well, I wasn't authorized to be out there and I ended up 'borrowing' it to get to you guys."
Cal paused his game and put the PDA down in his lap. "You stole the prototype? What were you thinking?" he said with a slightly accusatory tone.
"I can't explain it, but I felt... compelled to be out there. It was as if I knew that something bad was happening and I had to be there to help you guys."
Cal raised his eyebrow in disbelief. "So, you put your career at risk, based on a hunch? That's not like you, Klan."
Suddenly, she felt like she needed to go on the defensive. "Well, I was right, wasn't I? You wouldn't be here talking to me if I hadn't done what I did. You can show a little more gratitude, you know..."
Cal laughed, hearing her defensive response. "No, I'm not trying to be ungrateful. I just want to know why you chose to take such a reckless risk, knowing what would happen when you got back..." He stopped speaking for a moment as he thought about what he had just said. "Wait, that means that you couldn't contact me because you were in trouble, weren't you?" The lack of an answer from Klan confirmed his suspicion. "I guess I shouldn't have gotten upset about all that, then..." he mumbled to himself.
Although his comment was not intended for her ears, she managed to catch enough words to get the gist of it. She stopped what she was doing and poked her head out of the bathroom. "Wait, what? Did you just say that you were upset because I didn't try and contact you?"
Cal didn't expect to have to answer that question because he didn't mean for her to hear what he said. "Huh? No- I mean... yeah, kinda," he said with a sigh. There was no point in trying to recover or he'd just dig himself in a little deeper.
"That's not like you, Cal," Klan said, mocking his earlier statement.
"It's just that you disappeared so quickly, and I never got the chance to say... 'thanks'," Cal dejectedly said. He seemed to struggle to say that last word.
Rather than respond, Klan finished up in the bathroom and exited as she turned off the light inside. She quietly walked over to the side of the bed near Cal and knelt down at the side of the bed. She rested her arm on the bed near the pillow upon which he was lying.
"I know you're excited to see me again. As am I to see you, but... I need you to understand that in my new position, I'm going to be very busy. It's not the same as before, when our work kept us close together... both in proximity and in what we do for a living." Cal remained silent as he listened to her words. She shifted her posture and rested the other arm on the bed, crossing them both and placing her chin on top. "I know you're going to be off-duty for a few days, but try not to depend on me to keep you entertained. I can't make any promises, but I'll try to let you know if and when I'll have some free time, okay?"
Cal put away his PDA and slid off of the pillow and onto the bed near where Klan was leaning on it. "Your career should always come first, Klan. I'm happy for your new rank and position and I'm glad that you've got such an awesome opportunity to make a difference by being a test pilot. Now you know why I love what I do, huh?"
Klan smiled, but the subject of rank caused her gaze to drift towards Cal's new insignia on his uniform. She quickly gasped with a bit of excitement. "You got promoted?"
"Oh... yeah! Cool, huh?" he said as he turned his torso to show off his new uniform decoration.
"See? You earned that promotion all on your own! Congratulations!"
Cal shook his head and smiled before responding. "No, not all on my own. I had a little help along the way..."
"Oh, don't get all modest... That's not the Cal I am used to seeing. Normally, your head would be so inflated, you'd be practically floating!" she remarked with a wry grin on her face.
"Well, sometimes you run into people who have the power to cause a little bit of a change within you, even when they're not really trying to. Sometimes it's a good change, sometimes it's not," Cal said looking straight at her with a smile.
"Well, do you like the change in you?"
Cal looked upwards, as if he was pondering the question. "I don't know, I haven't decided yet!"
Klan smiled at his answer. "Yeah, that's more like the kind of answer you'd give." She glanced over to the clock on the nightstand and realized that time was starting to run out for her. "Alright, I'm ready to go. Come on..." she said as she got up and walked to the door. She watched Cal descend from the bed and onto the floor, making sure that he could get down on his own.
Cal waited by the front door while Klan rummaged around in her refrigerator for something to eat on her way to the base. She emerged from the other side of the counter, inspecting the muffin she now held in her hand. Once she approached Cal, she knelt down and offered the muffin to him. "Want some?" she said as she pinched off a small piece and gave it to him.
"Muffin? My favorite! How did you know?" Cal playfully asked, taking the giant morsel from her hand. Klan knew that's what he ate for breakfast each morning, from when she'd see him in the Quarter's mess hall in the mornings.
Outside of the front door, the two pilots knew it was time to bid their goodbyes. Klan turned and looked down to Cal. "Do you know how to get out of Laplamiz?" she asked out of concern.
"I think I can find my way..." Cal casually said. He stared at her for a moment, just like he had done before in her bedroom. "You look real good in that uniform," he said, referring to her bright, white NUNS uniform. "I look forward to hearing your stories about test piloting in the near future." He stood at attention to salute her in a sign of respect to both the rank and the person holding that rank.
Klan laughed a bit at the fact that he was saluting her, but she returned a salute back to him for the same reasons. "I won't hold anything back from you, as long as its declassified. You look good with that new rank insignia; you deserved it and I'm proud that you earned it on your own." Klan still insisted on giving him all of the credit for his accomplishment, despite his insistence on giving her some of it.
Both pilots lowered their arms and began to walk away from each other in opposite directions. However, Klan wanted to say one more thing before they parted ways. "Oh... Cal!" she said. He stopped and turned around, ready to cling to her every word. "Thanks for coming to see me. It really means a lot to me that you thought to come by so soon after returning home."
Cal nodded as he responded, "It was the first thing I wanted to do..."
They smiled at each other one more time before finally leaving each other's line of sight...
A/N: Okay, this is the end of the flashback scene. Sorry for my lack of creativity ;)
Back on the walkway, Cal found himself staring at the hunk of sweet bread that had come from the muffin that Klan was eating for her breakfast. He had to acknowledge that she was considerate enough to choose something that she knew he'd like to eat and offering him some of her own breakfast, even though to her, it was just a tiny fragment of the muffin.
Just as he took another bite, his PDA began to vibrate on his hip from an incoming call. He quickly picked it up and answered, not bothering to finish his bite before speaking. "Hevvo?" he said with a muffled voice.
"Uhhh... hello?" a female voice responded with confusion.
Cal hurriedly chewed his bite and swallowed before speaking again. "Sorry... Hi!" he said with a chuckle. He quickly recognized the voice as Jen's.
"Eating, huh? Well, I just found out that you got promoted! When the hell were you planning on telling me?" she asked with feigned anger in her voice.
"I've been busy! I just got promoted yesterday anyway... I was gonna tell you when I got the chance, so just chill out, okay?" he said with a friendly laugh.
"Not good enough!" Jen responded, "You're going to have lunch with me today. Stephen- I mean, Commander Ortiz is gonna be with me and we wanted to treat you to a meal to congratulate you."
Cal thought about her offer for a moment. He knew it would be kind of awkward to sit at a table with the two of them together in front of him, considering his past with Jen. He could see it now... the first officer of his mothership, staring him down out of jealousy because he'd been with Jen a few months prior.
Cal's apprehension to give an answer prompted Jen to try and talk him into it a bit. "Cal, don't worry about it being weird or anything. Trust me, Stephen is mature enough to not sit there and make a big deal about our past."
He rolled his eyes at her attempt to persuade him into agreeing. "I guess... Fine, yeah I'll-" Cal stopped himself mid-sentence in reaction to the phone's chime alerting him to another incoming call. "Ah, shit. I got another call, hang on a sec..." he said to Jen as he pressed the touchscreen on his PDA to switch the call over. "Hello?"
"Cal! Thank God you answered!" Will's voice hollered on the other side of the line. He seemed to be frantic about something as he continued, "Dude, I am in deep shit! Nene wants me to come with her to her parents' house."
Cal couldn't help but find this development to be hilarious. "Ha ha ha! Sucks to be you, dude!"
"I don't want to go! What do I do?" Will whined.
"Just say you don't want to go. It's not that hard to say!"
"You try saying 'no' to someone who's almost six times taller than you!"
Cal thought for a moment about all of the times he defied Klan, especially when she was in her Meltran form. Even though he was able to do it, he usually got caught in her line of fire when she got upset with him. He then remembered the fresh memory of her storming out of the bathroom in a bee-line towards him when he started to get under her skin. Suddenly, he felt a bit of a shiver course down his spine. "I guess I can see how that might be difficult, but seriously... you gotta man up if you're gonna be with a Meltran like that."
"You're one to talk..." Will responded, referencing Cal's interest in being with Klan. He calmed down a little bit before continuing, "Look, I need you to do me a huge favor... I need you to come with us so I don't feel so out of place there."
Cal was adamant about his answer, "What- No! Are you freaking crazy?" Meeting Klan's mother was about the last thing on his priority list at that time.
"Nene was the one who insisted that you come... both as a favor to me and so you can meet Klan's mother and stepfather. Come on, man... you're supposed to be my wingman; both in and out of combat! I need you to cover me," Will pleaded.
Cal forcibly exhaled in reaction to Will's reasoning. "Fine, alright! I'll go." He could hear Will sighing in relief on the other side of the line. "Is Nene right there with you?"
"Of course she is, why?"
"Put your phone on speaker so she can hear me."
Will fumbled with his phone for a moment before he spoke into it again. Cal could tell the difference in pitch now that the phone was on speaker. "Okay, it's on speakerphone."
"Nene, understand that I'm doing this as a huge favor to you both. However, if Klan's mother is anything like Klan, she's probably going to want to destroy me within five minutes of meeting me. You remember how Klan and I didn't get along at first? That's probably what's going to happen if I meet her mother," Cal confidently stated. A moment of silence followed his words.
"Ummm..." Nene initially mumbled. All of a sudden, both of them could be heard whispering to each other, but Cal couldn't make out what they were saying. Finally, Nene answered. "Don't worry, Cal... My mom is the sweetest Meltran you'll ever meet. You will get along with her just fine! We'll come and pick you up in a couple of minutes, okay? See you then!" she said.
"Wait, Nene-" Cal tried to get a response in, but the connection cut off before he could get a full sentence out. He exhaled in frustration, "Oh crap... what am I getting into now?"
Suddenly, he remembered that he had left Jen holding on the other line. He quickly pressed the connect button on his PDA and put the phone back to his ear. "Jen?" he frantically asked.
"Yeah, I'm still here. Is everything alright?"
Cal took a deep breath to calm down and proceeded to decline Jen's offer. "I'm sorry, Jen, but Will just called me and he needs me to get him out of a real bad jam. I'm gonna have to take a rain check on yours and Commander Ortiz's offer. Can I call you later to see if we can reschedule?"
"Sure, hon. I hope everything works out okay!"
Cal sighed again as he answered, "Yeah, I do too..." he trailed off before he bid her goodbye and disconnected the call. Cal put his hands forward and leaned against the railing again as he tried to collect his thoughts. "This can't turn out good... not a chance..." he mumbled to himself.
…
With good cause, the meeting attendees at the UFSO offices decided to postpone their business activities for the time being. Spending time to catch up with each other, Alto and Luca generally dominated the conversation as they shared what they could about their struggles in space. They took care to leave out the details that were deemed as "classified", in order to follow the instructions given to them by their commanding officer. There was still plenty of material to safely cover, though.
"Yeah, we heard you two singing out there while we were fighting the Galaxy fleet," Alto casually stated to Ranka and Sheryl. The two of them were glad to find out that they were able to influence the result of the battle. However, they were more fixated on the figurine that Alto was creating in his hands. His newfound expertise in origami was yielding some strikingly good-looking paper versions of the VF-25 he flew while in combat. "I had no idea that you guys had the ability to communicate so well with the Vajra. They really saved our asses out there."
Both ladies were a little sheepish, upon hearing Alto's compliments. However, there was one inaccuracy in his statement and Sheryl was quick to correct him. "Sorry, Alto, but I don't know how to communicate with them. I can only transmit and receive emotions. Ranka is the one who can communicate with them. She is, after all, the Little Queen."
Alto turned to Ranka and rubbed the top of her head. "Oh? Well, that's some ability you have. You might be able to turn that into something great, if you really applied it. You could become some sort of ambassador to the Vajra on behalf of our colony- no, Humanity and Zentraedi as a whole."
She grew more blushed with each word of encouragement from Alto. "I don't know... It just all seems surreal, right? What good can I do?" she said in an attempt to downplay her potential.
Nanase, who had finally calmed down after the initial frenzy of seeing her dear Luca, decided to add to the conversation. "Your dream of becoming a singer has come true. If you did that, you'd have to give up your dreams, Ranka!"
Luca kind of disagreed with his significant other, however. "I don't know Nanase... Maybe she can realize an even greater dream. It just depends on her point of view."
Those insightful words caused everyone in the room to ponder the possibilities. However, Alto continued to work on his origami figurines, determined to award both Ranka and Sheryl with identical pieces of his handiwork.
Just as Ranka began to consider what had just been discussed, a loud knock came from the cracked-open door. Immediately, it swung open and a man and woman wearing dark suits and sunglasses stood in the doorway. "Pardon our intrusion, but we represent the office of the President. Sheryl Nome and Ranka Mei Lee, your presence is requested in a closed-door meeting this afternoon and we have come to escort you there."
Brera instantly shifted into in between the agents and the rest of the individuals in the room. "What's the meaning of this?" he quietly demanded in a protective way.
Before they could confront him personally, Ranka called out from behind. "Brera, you don't have to be so overprotective. They're just doing their jobs!" she scolded.
Brera adjusted his posture into a more relaxed one before turning around to talk to Ranka. "I just want to make sure that no harm comes to you."
One of the agents looked down at Brera and spoke to him. "Ah, you're Brera Sterne. Your presence has been requested as well, so you will be going with Miss Ranka and Miss Sheryl."
Brera looked back at the agent in surprise, but things seemed to work out in his favor. He was just fine with this situation, as long as he was able to escort his dear little sister to wherever it was that they needed to go.
Again, one of the agents spoke, "You can bring your friends with you on the ride, but they will not be allowed to go inside of the meeting, I'm sorry." Seeing that nobody objected, they turned to their sides to allow room to pass by. "If you don't mind, we have a limousine waiting for you outside."
With understandable apprehension, everyone gathered their things up to leave the building and attend this mysterious meeting. However, it wasn't too far from what they had experienced before in the past and they could probably guess as to the nature of the meeting, considering everything that had happened in the last few days.