Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 Fanfic Series

Bubblegum Crisis Post 2040 Files

Part 2: Hunters

Chapter 17: Defeat

by P. Kristen Enos (bgcpost2040@aol.com)

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A Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 English Dub Version Fanfic. All rights belong to AIC, ADV Films and the other creative powers that be. I just want credit for writing the story. Contains spoilers! Rated PG13. Yuri warning! Nothing in here should be a shock if you've watched the episodes and paid attention. All I'm doing is filling in the gaps with my own interpretation of events! Special thanks to egret for betaing!

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Drained and depressed, Linna remained stretched out on the futon in the privacy of her old bedroom. The clear moon was the only source of light which came in through her open window. She hadn't even bothered to take off her kimono when she collapsed on the mattress.

The laughter and lively conversation on the other side of the farmhouse carried clearly through the night. She knew it was from the weekly party her parents threw to entertain relatives and neighbors. The noise made it easy for her to quietly slip into the house through a side door so she could retreat to her old bedroom in relative peace and quiet. By the time she originally should have come home, everyone would have been too drunk to wait up for her.

A soft tapping came from the other side of her door. Linna definitely didn't have to be a genius to know who it was.

"Come in," she called out, not bothering to move from her position on the futon.

The panel slid open to reveal the silhouette of her mother, also dressed in a kimono due to the festivities. "I thought I saw your shoes out there," Nomi Yamazaki commented, the concern in her voice barely disguised. "You're back early. Why didn't you come join the party?"

"I just wasn't in the mood for company, Mom. And I knew I would bring the festivities down, especially since I'm sure you and Dad told everyone where I was tonight. I wanted to spare you the embarrassment for at least one more evening."

The older woman let out a soft sigh before entering the room and closing the panel behind her. She came over and knelt down on the edge of the futon, at which her daughter turned over and rested her head on her lap. "So, I take it that the date didn't go well?"

"I realized three hours had passed and I hadn't uttered one complete sentence. I thought to myself, 'Do I honestly want to spend the rest of my life like this if I can't handle three hours?'" her daughter explained with an exasperated sigh. "And just when I was five minutes away from strangling him with my kimono sash, he blurts out that he believes in having big families and we'd have to start right away because I was so old!... So here I am. I won't be surprised if a cleaning bill is delivered because of the sake I dumped on him. I'll take care of it when it arrives."

"Oh dear. Well, I'll find some way to explain it to your father in the morning."

"I'm sorry, Mom. I honestly tried this time!"

"I know you tried, dear. I knew this was different because you didn't... protest as much as you normally did when we set you up on arranged dates."

"I just feel like such a failure right now. I can't do anything right! I guess Dad's right after all!"

"Hush! Don't talk like that!" Nomi said firmly as she stroked her daughter's short hair. "There's a lot more to this, isn't there? The last time I talked to you, you were so excited about moving back to Tokyo. Did something happen?"

Linna was quiet for several seconds and then said, "You remember that conversation we had a few years ago, when you tried to set me up with Masaki? When I told you I had found the thing that I wanted in Tokyo, which was why I left home in the first place?"

"...Yes?..."

"Well, it's no longer there. In fact, it's been gone for a couple of years now, and I think it's finally sunk in. And I don't know what to do with myself anymore because of it."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Nomi said gently. "But you'll find something else. You're young. There are still many things out there for you, especially in a town like Tokyo."

"It sure doesn't feel like it," Linna mumbled as she kept her eyes close and enjoyed her mother's soothing touch.

"I don't mean to sound like I'm prying, but are you sure there's nothing else that's happened? You seem more... hurt for someone who is dealing with the reality of a loss that's years old."

Linna's eyes flew open as she instinctively stiffened at the words. Then she smiled sadly and realized trying to hide things from her mother was just something that couldn't be done.

"I... I met someone a couple of months ago," she admitted. "Someone I really, really liked. And it didn't work out. I guess it still hurts even though I can't figure out why. After all, we only saw each other a couple of times, before... this person dumped me for family obligations."

"Oh. So do you think... this person felt the same way about you?"

Linna bit her lip and tried to fight back the tears that started to swell up even though she had sworn to herself she wouldn't cry again. "I don't know anymore, Mom. I had met another person a couple of years ago that I thought felt the same way, but it turned out that wasn't the case. So I can't feel like I can trust my own judgment anymore when it comes to things like this. But this time, it just felt... right for some reason. I've never felt this with anyone else before."

"Well, speaking as an outsider who wasn't there, it sounds to me as if you fell in love."

"HUNH?!" Linna bolted upright to stare nose to nose at her mother in the moonlit darkness. "That can't be possible! We only got together three times. Four counting when I was dumped! That's not enough time for love to happen, is it?"

Nomi smiled gently at her and said, "I'm hardly an expert on such matters, but I have heard that love shouldn't be explainable."

Linna let out a groan and collapsed back on to her mother's lap. "It hurts too much to talk about this."

"Alright then let me ask you this: do you think this disappointment should be your cue to give up everything you fought for and come back here and live a life that isn't one you created?"

"I told you, Mom. The reason why I originally went to Tokyo is gone. There's really nothing there for me anymore. Other than a handful of friends... Who have very full lives without me."

"This person you met a couple of months ago. And the person you met before. Were they... meetings you planned on?"

"No. Both times were extremely unexpected, to say the least."

"If you did not have another reason for being in Tokyo, would they have been worth the move there?

"... Yes."

Nomi smiled gently and caressed her daughter's cheek. "Then I think you should only consider coming back here if you honestly feel like you won't have another chance to meet someone else like those two... people. And since you seem to have those types of meetings only in Tokyo, I'd say you're too young to give up so soon... If you should really give up on such things at all."

Linna was quiet as she let her mother's words sink. Instead of saying anything, she closed her eyes and nestled herself deeper into her mother's lap.

-- End Chapter 17 -