A Voice in the Dark
By: Anime Angel ^0^
"NO JIM!" Melfina screamed, as the flames began to engulf the ground around her. She sank to the floor, all traces of hope gone. "It's my fault," she whispered, her eyes tearing over. "Jim..." A hand clasped down hard on her shoulder, and, whirling around, she realized it was Gene.
"But...but how...?"
"Come one, Mel. Don't give up one him now," Gene said, motioned to the bed of flames. Puzzled, she looked in the direction of his hand and faintly, silhouetted against the smoke, she could see the shadow of Aisha.
Before Melfina could say anything else, Gene was rushing into the fire after the Ctarl Ctarl.
"No not you too!" Mel cried. She was so scared...scared that she would lose the people she cared about most. Slowly, all around her, the flames began to spread. But still she sat, staring straight into the fiery inferno that held her friend's lives by a thread. She just prayed that that thread wouldn't snap.
*****
"Hang on there Jim," Gene said, following Aisha through the fire. The boy lay limply in his arms, covered in soot, but as far as Gene could tell he hadn't been burned...at least not too badly.
"This WAY!" Aisha yelled in front of him, pulling him to the side. Ahead of them, through the flames, he could barely make out the outline of the exit to the main hall. The outlaw took in a sharp breath of air as the two flew into the hall, but regretted it immediately; the once clear hall was now filled with smoke.
He was about to get out of there, when he realized someone was missing. "Wait a minute, where's Mel?!" he yelled back at Aisha, looking in all directions for the girl.
"She's over here! I got 'er Gene, get OUTTA HERE!" Gene waited for the Ctarl Ctarl to pick up Melfina's now unconscious body, before turning and running towards the exit, the flames licking at his heels.
*****
Melfina felt the tears roll down her cheeks. It seemed that crying had been all she had done for the past couple of weeks, but she couldn't stop either. Opening her eyes, she realized that she was alone.
"Gene?" she called out, confused. One minute she had been in smoke, the next...
Oh no, JIM! she thought. A feeling of dread began to wash over her. No, it can't be! She whirled around in a panic, but in every direction the darkness seemed to follow. No, I let him die... Hot wet tears continued to cloud her vision. I let them all die. I let them all down. Not caring where she was, or what had happened to her, Melfina collapsed on the ground, but the ground wasn't there. She felt herself falling, but not the falling she had experienced before. It was as if a gentle hand were cradling her, and guiding her down.
"Mel!!"
Melfina slowly sat up at the sound of the voice. Had she really heard it?
"Mel....please..."
"Gene?" Melfina brushed a strand of tear soaked hair out of her eyes. "Gene!" Her cries were growing more desperate. She was frightened; she was frightened for Gene, and for Jim, and for herself.
"Mel....don't leave us!" The voice echoed all around her, quietly at first, but then growing louder. She realized that it was not Gene's voice she was hearing, but much quieter. Like a boy's...
"Jim?!" Melfina was now crying harder, her body shaking with every sob. "Jim, I'm so sorry..." But the voice persisted, ignoring her apologies.
"Mel, we need you."
"No!" Melfina cried. They didn't need her, did they? She was the only one who could navigate and run the Outlaw Star, but was it more than just that?
"Mel, come on girl." It was Gene's voice this time, she was sure of it. Gentle and reassuring, but strong at the same time -- that was the outlaw all right. "Come on, snap out of it. We're gonna need someone to cook around here..."
Before Melfina could think any further of what he had said, a smile began to form beneath the tears. She remembered the last time that Gene had tried to cook. The smoke, the panicked outlaw...it all seemed so near. And slowly, as more memories flooded her mind, the darkness around her began to disappear.
*****
"Melfina!" Jim exclaimed. He hopped onto the bed next to the waking girl, his eyes bright. "Mel!" he repeated as her eyes fluttered.
"Hey there, Jim, settle down." Gene glared at his coughing younger partner for a moment, before returning his focus to Melfina.
"I'm fine, Aniki," Jim snapped. He noticed a soft smile slowly creeping over Melfina's face, and soon the bio-android's large eyes were completely open. She began to sit up, but Gene pushed her back onto the pillow.
"I think for now, Mel, it'd be best if you just rested for a little while."
"You're....you're all okay..." she whispered, the relief evident in her voice.
"Besides being a little black, we're just fine," Gene reassured her, sitting down on the bed also. He gave her a goofy, lopsided smile and ran a hand through his sooty once red hair.
"Yeah...you'd better thank me! My beautiful fur...IT'S SINGED!" Aisha whined, her nose wrinkling. "Such a delicate creature shouldn't have to go through something such as that. MREOOW!" she wailed, brushing her fur.
"I thought...I thought that..." Melfina lowered her head. Could she really tell them? Would they understand how she felt?
"Yeah, I know." Melfina looked up at Jim, his eyes were soft and understanding....as if he knew what she was talking about. But how?
Gene gave the boy a puzzled look, but then shook it off.
"Look, I'm gonna go...um...wash up. So, just don't get too excited Jim," Gene said, sensing that his younger partner knew something he didn't. With that he went off to go take a shower, dragging the somewhat blackened Aisha out of the room with him. Suzuka followed close behind.
"What do you mean?" Melfina looked deep into his blue eyes, searching for an answer. How could he know what she felt? All of her feelings, she had kept them in for so long. So how could he know?
Jim lowered his head, obviously deep in thought. When he raised it again, his eyes were sadder, almost sorry.
"I....I don't know. I just..." he paused, thinking again. "That night Mel, the night before you left... I remember having a dream. You were there, talking to me. Only, you were so sad. In that dream Mel, you were telling me that you felt like you were hurting us...like all you were good for was navigating the ship. You said that you needed to leave us alone, that you wanted us to be safe." He looked up into her deep eyes. "That we didn't need you for anything else." Sadness filled his voice. "Only it wasn't a dream, was it Mel?"
"Jim...you....you heard it all?" She recalled that night, all the feelings she had confessed to the sleeping boy. She felt suddenly embarrassed, and warmth began to creep over her cheeks. "I...I was just babbling Jim. I didn't know what I was talking about--"
"Mel, we need you," he interrupted. His voice was the same, the same as it had been when she was alone... "I don't care what anyone says. You can't listen to others, Melfina. We need you; all of us need you. Hell, I don't think I could keep Gene in line by myself." He smiled. "You're like family."
"But, it's because of me that you two are always getting into so much trouble. Wouldn't your lives be a lot easier if I weren't here...a lot more worry free?"
"Look, Melfina. Gene wouldn't be able to stand it if you were gone for good. I mean, you should have seen him when he first realized you had gone. He didn't know what to do!" Jim grinned at her. "It was the first time he woke up before ten o' clock in the morning." He paused, but when she didn't respond, he continued. "Not to mention Aisha was throwing a fit. And Suzuka...I've never seen her pollish that sword so much."
"And you?"
"I was worried Mel. I thought, well, maybe you had left because of me."
This time it was Melfina's turn to smile -- and it was genuine this time. Slowly, like Aisha had done so many times before, she reached over and ruffled his hair.
"So, how was Gene's cooking while I was gone?" she said, a playful look in her eyes. She sat up and waited for his answer.
"Oh man. I don't think this place has ever come so close to going up in flames." Jim laughed, and then hopped off onto the floor. "Well, you rest Mel. I gotta go take a shower before Gene uses up all the hot water." With one last smile, he left Melfina alone to rest, and think.
She recalled what he had said, that they all needed her, and a feeling of belonging crept over her. Melfina carefully laid back down, her head sinking into the soft pillow. Staring at the ceiling, memories began to flash before her again. They were memories of the past, before she had lost Hilda and met Gene. Her life had been so empty then, emptier even than when she had been trapped and alone with that man. And now... Now I feel so much better. The heavy burden that had been haunting her was gone. All of the feelings that had been following her, they were now set free. But most of all, Melfina felt more at ease. For the first time in a long time, she felt as if she truly belonged among the outlaws, and Gene.
Just as she was about to close her eyes, she heard a loud crash come from the next room.
"GENE GET OUT OF HERE YOU SICKO!"
Puzzled, Melfina got out of bed and made her way to the door. There, standing dripping wet and in an a towel, was Aisha, yelling at a whimpering Gene on the ground before her. He two, had a towel wrapped around his waist.
"I WAS TAKING A SHOWER GENE! YOU PERVERT!" With that said, the Ctarl Ctarl slammed the bathroom door.
"FINE!" Gene called after. "Next time LOCK THE DOOR!"
Melfina laughed as he turned to face her, his face red with embarrassment.
"Uh...hi Mel...."
Melfina smiled. "So Gene...having bad luck with the women?"
"No...NO IT WAS NOTHING LIKE THAT! I just sorta walked in on her..."
Melfina could only continue to smile. She was home all right.
*M'kay! I guess it's finally done now. Um....was it okay? I got some great reviews on it! So it musta been not that bad... Thanks to all of those who reviewed it! I will be writing more...just on a different story. ^ ^