[A small author's note: Technically, Bright would probably be a captain at this point, but Cameron didn't know that. Remember: Because Bright worked on a spaceship (a.k.a. White Base) he would be a captain in the navy. It's kind of confusing because the translation of Mobile Suit Gundam uses both army (for the Earth Federation Army and Air Force) and navy terms (for the Earth Federation Space Force and Principality of Zeon). In Japanese, they use the same terms for both. For example, when Bright is a lieutenant, that means that he is lieutenant in the navy and a captain in the army. In the Japanese verison, that would make him a taii. However, he is promoted before Z Gundam, my guess that he was promoted for his actions during the One Year War. Therefore, he is a captain in the navy, and a colonel in the army, the Japanese term being taisa. I hope that this makes sense. ~ Lady Une-chan]
Chapter Nine
January 10, UC 0080
London, England, The United Kingdom of Great Britain, Earth
The Noah Residence
Dinner was fast approaching. Bright, Mirai, and Sayla had spent the last couple of hours playing various card games and listening to the Beatles. (Sayla had commented that she didn't understand why Bright was obessed with a band from when the world used the AD calendar. They were SO outdated, like by a couple hundred years.)
So Mirai decided to go into the kitchen and figure out what she should cook for dinner. While she was going through the refrigerator, the phone rang. Bright walked in from the living room and picked up the handset.
"Hello? Yes, this Captain Noah, sir." There was a pause. "Yes, I understand, sir," said Bright slowly, "Yes, I'll be there tomorrow. Good-bye, sir." And with that, he sat down the phone.
"Well, that was my headquarters. They want me to come back to work tomorrow," said Bright, sullenly.
"Why? All they make you do is write intelligence reports and junk," said Sayla, entering the kitchen.
"They acutally wanted me to come back from my leave yesterday, but I used one of my sick days today in order to..." Bright faded off, looking at Mirai, knowing that she already knew why. "In order to stay with Mirai," he finally finished.
"And they knew that, so they want to come back immediately. Did you tell them that she was injured and you were taking care of her?" Sayla asked, as if Mirai was not in the room.
"They don't care. They just want me back there."
"You used one of your sick days? I thought that you were still on leave," Mirai sunddenly entered the conversation.
"Acutally, I used two. One for the yesterday and one for today."
"You didn't have to, Bright. I'm sure that Sayla could take care of me, and I fine now," Mirai said, searching for something in the freezer.
"I don't get sick that often, Mirai, and I'm not planning on overstressing myself again. I don't think that I'll need those sick days," Bright sat down at the table and gazed at her, "Besides, I think that they worth it."
Mirai blushed and focused her attention on the food she was staring at. "What do you want for dinner? I was leaning towards raviolis, but we've had pasta for the last couple meals."
"Whatever you want is fine," said Bright, still gazing at Mirai contently.
"Sayla, I noticed that you didn't buy much meat," Mirai said to the blonde.
"If I remember correctly, you once told me that you didn't really like meat, so I didn't buy much, execpt deli meats so Bright can make those famous sandwiches of his." Sayla joined Bright at the table.
"Hey, don't make fun of my sandwiches. Do you know how to cook? I don't see you helping Mirai," retorted Bright.
Sayla blushed in embrassment. "Not every women knows how to cook! God, does all men think that's all women are good for? Housework and sex? Eh, Bright? Are women supposed to stay at home and cook and take care of the children?"
"Whoa, Sayla, I did not say that. It's just nice that Mirai knows how to cook, because I would burn down the house, and then where would we be? Calm down, Susan B. Anthony! Women have the right to vote and they are paid the same wages as men, okay?"
"Well, we didn't always have the right to vote and we weren't always paid the same as men," argued Sayla.
"So?" said Bright, "You should be grateful that you can vote. In fact, women have had the right to vote since the before we switched to the UC calendar. My God, Sayla. Get grip."
Sayla turned to Mirai, who was busy cooking, "What do you think of this?" she asked her.
"Well, it's nice that women can vote, but..." Mirai faded off, as she put the raviolis in the boiling water for them to cook.
"But what?" asked Sayla.
Mirai blushed again. "You see, when I was little and people asked me what wanted to be when I grew up, I always said that I wanted to be... well, you know... a bride."
Sayla crinkled her nose and Bright look perhaps a little uneasy.
"Come on, Sayla. Every Japanese girl's dream is to get married and have children. It's part of the Japanese culture. It's the way that I was raised. Of course, I was raised to believe that Cameron would someday be my husband... but oh well. I want to stay home and cook and take care of the children. I've had my adventure, and now I wanted to settle down. Unlike you, Sayla, who doesn't have a residence and runs around the world doing you want, I have plans for the future." Mirai slammed down the pan that she was going to heat the mariana sauce in, making the Brit and the Frenchie jump.
Sayla and Bright gave each other a strange glace. "So," he said, "What did you want to be when you grew up, Sayla?"
"A doctor," she anwsered, "And you? A soldier?"
"Nailed it on the head. I always wanted to be a commander in the army. I guess I got what I wanted," Bright said, with a laugh.
Sayla nodded. "And of course, one day you will get married and have children, right?"
Now it was Bright's turn to blush. "Yes," he stammered.
"I don't mean to change to the subject or anything," started Sayla, "But I am going to France tomorrow, and I'll need one of you to drive me to the airport."
"You are?" asked Mirai, piling the cooked pasta on the plates.
"Yes. I would have told you guys earlier but..."
"But it escaped you mind to tell us," filled in Bright, a little snobbishly.
Sayla smiled sheepishly.
"I'll take you to the airport," said Mirai, pouring the mariana sauce on raviolis. "I still have the rental car that Bright and I forgot to take back."
"We didn't forget, we just didn't have time," added Bright.
"Anyway, Bright can go to work in his car, and I can take you to the airport. I can also take the car back to the rental place, and then they drive me back home," Mirai told Sayla. Bright noticed that she refered to his house as "home".
"Sure, that'll work. Thanks, Mirai," said Sayla.
"It's the least I can do," said Mirai, setting down the steaming plates of pasta in front of Bright and Sayla, and then sat down at the table with her own plate.
"Why are you going to go to France?" asked Bright, as the group began their meal.
"There is another medical seminar that I must attend," answered Sayla, without interest.
Mirai noticed this lack of interest. "Aren't you exitced about it?" she asked.
"Not really. I mean, I still would like to be a doctor and all, but I don't know anymore if that's what I want to spend my life doing," Sayla said, wishing that the conversation had not come to this.
"Oh," was Mirai's reply, and decided to lay off. Sayla never talked about her past; she never thought about the future. She always tried to focus on the present, even though her Newtype abilites allowed to figure out what was going to happen next. Mirai, on the other hand, often thought (and worried) about the future. How could she not, with her name being Japanese for "future"?
They ate the rest of the meal in silence. Bright sensed some tension between the two women. At least Sayla offered to do the dishes again.
Wait a minute. That's means that she's playing matchmaker again. Why was she pushing so hard to get Mirai and him alone? She's going to France tomorrow, which means that they would be alone until...
Until what? Bright thought. Mirai doesn't want to go back to Side Six, so she's staying here, but what does that mean? That she's my roommate? It was then that it hit Bright. It was so simple, yet complicated...
Sayla shooed them out of the kitchen, and Bright headed for the couch, but Mirai grabbed his arm and pulled him over to the staircase.
"You'd didn't tell me that you had a study, but you and Cameron went up there to talk, so I want to go see it," she said.
"It's not really a study," said Bright, as they climbed the stairs, "It's really a guest room that my father turned into a library of sorts." As they reached the second landing he directed Mirai to the room across from the guest room that Mirai was supposed to staying in (of course, she was staying in Bright's room, and he was sleeping in the guest room). He flung open the door. "Ta da!"
Because the room faced west, the setting sun's light casting an interesting look, turning everything a light shade of orange. Bright let the lady enter first, and then followed, shutting the door quietly behind him.
Bookshelves lined three walls of the room, all completely filled with all sorts of books. The four wall had the window let let in the sunset's orange glow. A desk was underneath the window, the back of the chair facing the window. Off to the side, by the door, there was a coffee table flanked by two leather easy chairs. Mirai walked over to one of the bookselves and noticed that the books were in alphabetical, by author.
"Those were my father's books," said Bright, sitting down in one of the easy chairs, "My mum's is on the east wall, and my books are on the south."
Mirai walked the perimeter of the room, glancing at the titles printed on the spines of the books. She saw that his mother had owned a lot of Jane Austen novels, and paused to take one off the bookshelf and flipped though the book, then slide Sense and Sensibility back into it's correct spot.
"You can borrow that, if you want," said Bright, watching Mirai's every move.
"Oh, that's okay. I've read that book quite a few times," she replied, walking over to the south wall. She scanned the books that Bright claimed to be his.
"All of the books on the top two shelves are from my childhood and the rest are books that I've acquired over the years," commented Bright.
"Hmm... Harry Potter," said Mirai as her eyes crossed over the seven book set, "The Lord of the Rings, too, ne?"
"The classics, of course," shrugged Bright.
Mirai continued to look at the collection of books. "The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy series is not in alphabetical order."
"I put my books in the order that I get them. It was my parents that put them in alphabetical order," Bright answered. Then he saw an unpleastant look cross Mirai's face, and she began to rub her injured side, as if to soothe away pain. "Are you okay?" he asked, concerned.
Mirai forced him a smile, "I'm fine."
"No you're not," Bright said, bluntly.
"I'm not a very good liar, ne?" she said as she walked over and sunk into the other easy chair.
"You haven't been taking the painkillers," he said, still serious.
"I didn't feel the need to," Mirai replied, still rubbing her side.
"You're in pain, Mirai. If you would have just would have taken--"
"It's not medicine, Bright, it's a type of drug," she argued.
"A legal prescription drug, which means that you are supposed to take it," Bright snapped back.
Mirai sighed. Not only did she not like taking pills, but she knew that painkillers could become addictive. She didn't think that she'd become addicted to them, but she wasn't taking any chances. "You know that anti-depressants are legal drugs," said Mirai, quietly.
"Yes, but what does--" started Bright, cut-off by Mirai.
"My mother died of an overdose of anti-depressants."
Bright's eyes widen in surprise. He had always wondered how Mrs. Yashima had passsed away, but he never had thought of this. He had always just assumed that she had died of heartbreak.
"She had been prescribed them right after my father died. She kept taking more and more pills everyday until one day she..." Mirai broke into tears.
"Died," Bright finished her sentence he reached over and took her hand in his. "I'm sorry, Mirai."
Suddenly, the door to the study flew up and Sayla ran in. "Is everyone okay? I heard crying," she exclaimed.
"It's okay, Sayla," said Bright, and Sayla got the message.
"If you need me, I'll be downstairs," said Sayla, as she exited the room.
Bright returned his attention to the sniffling Mirai, who had managed to stop crying. "Would you like to go for a walk?" he asked her.
"A walk would be nice," she answered. Bright helped her out of the chair and the two headed down the stairs.
"Let's go to the garden," said Bright, taking Mirai to back door that lead to the backyard. "It will be safer there," he added.
Mirai nodded and walked out into the peaceful garden. A light breeze blew and tousled her hair. The two began to stroll around, hand-in-hand.
"Thank you, Bright, for understanding and letting me stay with you," said Mirai, after a bit of silence.
"No need to thank me," repiled Bright.
Mirai yawned. "I guess I'm getting sleeply," she said with a giggle.
"Then let's sit down here," said Bright, as they passed by a bench, "There are some things that we need to talk about."
Mirai nodded and the two sat down.
"So," started Bright, "I really don't know how to put this, but how exactly you'd you define our realtionship?"
Mirai looked up at the sky and realized that the sun had finally set and the stars had come out. "Well, we are definitely more than friends."
"But does that make us boyfriend and girlfriend? Or what?"
"We are more than just boyfriend and girlfriend, but I don't think that there is a word to that I'd use to exactly define our relationship," Mirai answered, still staring up at the stars.
"So, you..." trailed off Bright.
"So I what?" asked Mirai, turing to face him.
"So, you return my affections?"
"Bright, when I said that I loved you, I truly meant it. I wasn't just saying it to make you feel better. I pushed you away from the bullet to save your life."
"And caused yourself great pain," Bright added. "You didn't have to risk your life for mine."
"Of course, I did. I love you, Bright," Mirai said bluntly.
"I would have rather taken the bullet than have you be shot to prove your love," stated Bright.
"I wasn't trying to prove my love, I just did it because I love you," Mirai told him.
"Look, Mirai, I've been in love with you since... well, ever since we were in Jaburo and I found out that you and had a fiancé. Then we went to Side Six and Cameron magically appeared. It was at the monment that I realized that I was in love with you and that I was jealous. I didn't want to lose you to another man. But I didn't know what you thought of me, and I decided to kept my feelings quiet," Bright confessed.
Mirai stared meaningful into his eyes. "I knew that you cared about me, the way that you were always there for me. I'm sorry that I couldn't..." she trailed off, and the two leaned in and this time made lip contact. A few moments later, they pulled away, blushing.
"Sorry if that wasn't a very good kiss," said Bright with a nervious chuckle, "but I've never kissed someone before."
"It was perfect," Mirai muttered, and they leaned in again, but this time she pulled away suddenly. "There is something else we need to talk about."
Bright looked confused. "Okay," he said slowly.
"You remember that time when you broke the rules by having a private conversation with me during battle, and then you let go on a break," started Mirai, who began to stare at the sky again.
"Yes," Bright replied, still confused.
"Well, I never told you what I did during that break."
"You were gone for all of what? Two minutes? I assumed that you walked around to calm yourself down and then returned to the helm," said Bright, alarmed.
"Well, I went and found Slugger and we kissed," confessed Mirai, turning back to look at Bright once more.
Bright looked at Mirai with surprise. "You what?"
"Slugger and I kissed," Mirai repeated.
"Why didn't you tell me eariler?" Bright asked, still shocked.
"I didn't want to tell you. I'd hurt your feelings."
"Mirai, you're hurt my feelings by not telling me. When I asked you a month ago if you were all right, you lied to me. Why didn't you tell me then?"
"It's just-- well, I knew that you had feelings for me and I thought it would be cruel of me to talk to you about something stupid I did. I don't even know way I did it. I thought it would be cruel of me to discuss me kissing another man when you were in love me!" A few tears trailed down Mirai's cheeks.
Bright raised his finger and wiped a tear off her face. "Did you think I would stop loving you?"
"No, I just didn't what to break your heart on accident."
Bright suddenly realized that Mirai was right. Had she told him about it when he asked, his heat would break and he might lose hope of ever being together with her.
"I completely understand now, Mirai," he replied, and the couple locked lips again, this time kissing a little more passionately.
After they broke away, Mirai began to rub her forehead. "I'm sorry, Bright, but I'm starting to get a headache. I probably should go to bed now."
A worried expression crossed Bright's face as he helped her off the bench. "Yeah, perhaps you can sleep this headache off."
They walked hand-in-hand again, back inside the house and up the stairs to the master bedroom. Mirai promptly lied down on the bed.
"Hey, at least take off your shoes," said Bright, sitting down on the edge of the bed.
Mirai kicked off her shoes, and turned over, pressing her forehead into the pillow. "I'm sorry, Bright, but sometimes these headaches sneak up on me."
"You probably wouldn't have a headache if you would have taken those painkillers," Bright commented. He leaned over and began to massage her head.
She didn't answer him; she'd fallen asleep. He cracked a half-smile and kissed the top of her head. "Good night, Mirai. I love you..
Bright went back outside and sat down on the bench again. The wind began to pick up, running through his hair. He assumed that it would probably rain soon.
"I know what you are going to do tomorrow," said voice. Bright looked up and saw Sayla standing in front of him. Her hair barely seemed bothered by the wind.
Bright smiled. "Ah. Behold the power of Newtypes."
"Because I'm going to be gone before then, so I'm saying 'congratulations' now," Sayla said as she sat on the other side of the bench, "And I would like the chicken."
"I'll have to remember that."
"I knew that this would happen," commented Sayla.
"Duh. You are part Newtype," Bright replied.
"It wasn't my Newtype abilities that gave me this vital informantion. I closely observed you two once you guys met."
"Because you knew it the end that it would lead to this," said Bright.
"No, I did not know until this morning."
"Well, then you knew subconsciously!" he exclaimed.
"Look, Bright. It kind of got obvious when you put all of your trust in Mirai and none of the rest of the crew. It was obvious when she was the only one that you didn't get in a fight with or argue with. And it was obvious that she was falling in love with you when she took care of you when you were sick. And she didn't want to be in charge then; she wanted to be by your side--"
"She only did it because I asked her to. I asked her to be in charge. She told me that 'a ship without a commander does seem ludicrous, but I'm just not up to the task, Bright.' And then I told her to 'do it for me.' She didn't always understand that she is in charge of her life. And being in charge of more people then herself almost seemed like a new concept to her. Her whole life had been planned for her. Mirai really couldn't make any life changing decisions. But then she told Cameron had she didn't want to get married to him--"
"Now when you mean being in charge of people you mean--"
"I mean that one bad move and they all could be killed. It was like she was God and fate was in her hands."
"She, in fact Bright, able to take care of people. She's taken care of you--"
"Only because I was ill--"
"Will you let me finish?" Sayla rolled her eyes. "And she's helped Frau take care of Kikka, Lets, and Kats. She's going to make an excellent mother, if that's what you are worried about."
Bright blushed. "No, that's not what I am worried about," he stammered. "Hey, does that mean--"
"Well, I don't know for certain, I would assume so. Both of you said that you wanted children," Sayla cut in.
"I was just trying to say that Mirai often would just do whatever I said. If I had told her that I loved her right after Slugger died, she would have clung to he only because I said that I loved her," Bright explained.
"And you were, and still are, her closest friend."
"But anway, she wouldn't have really loved me. So I decided to wait, and let her work put her feelings--"
"And she was able to realize, on her own, that she really loved you," Sayla finished quickly. "And I don't agree with you that Mirai is not able to be in charge of people--"
"I don't think you understand what I am--"
"Yes, I do!"
"No, you don't!"
"Do to!"
"Do not!"
"Do--"
"Oh, come off it, Sayla. I'm sick of fighting with you. I should be grateful that you were able to fall out of that tree and help save Mirai's life," said Bright, honestly.
"Well, thank you for not telling anyone my secret," replied Sayla.
"You're welcome, Artesia," Bright said, using Sayla's real name.
"I think that the only reason that we haven't killed each other is because of Mirai," noted Sayla.
"What do you mean?" asked Bright.
"Mirai and I and fairly close friends, Bright, so wouldn't do anything to hurt you, and you wouldn't do anything to hurt me."
"Oh, I wouldn't hurt you anyway. I wouldn't stoop that low, and I certainly wouldn't think you would."
Sayla gave him a crafty smile.
"You were being sarcastic, about killing each other, weren't you?"
"Of course," said Sayla, getting off the bench. "I'm going to go to bed now. Au revoir!"
"Good night," Bright called as the blonde went back inside. Then he suddenly realized something; he had nothing to worry about. Sayla had already told him what the future held.
Please read and review!!! Chapter Ten in coming soon!!! ~Lady Une-chan
