Twilight Bastille Chapter 5: Evening Vigilance, a sailor moon fanfic

Sailormoon is not mine.

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Twilight Bastille: Chapter #5 – Evening Vigilance

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For Rei, days at Manzanar began to blur together into a mirage of sand and sweat. Her schedule was fixed, and she worked through her myriad tasks without conscious thought or direction. At first, she'd had seemingly limitless energy to expend, but lately her body was tiring of the routine, the drudgery. She ignored it.

Get up at dawn, which comes earlier and earlier as the summer months peak. Pull out the mop and cart. Clean the bathrooms until midmorning – Grandfather would want his work done. Push in chairs and scrub down walls with bleach and lye in the classrooms until late afternoon. If it's Thursday, collect your wages and Grandfather's. Go home. Sweep the floor; it's always gritty under your feet. Mend the new holes in your clothes.

She didn't want to think about the fact that she had far fewer clothes to patch up with Grandfather in the hospital.

And then Rei spent the rest of her evening at Grandfather's side.

Where, she couldn't fail to notice, the doctor spent his nights as well. Usually she arrived before he did, although on very rare occasions he found an earlier seat by Grandfather's cot. But they had nonetheless established a pattern.

They kept the night vigil together.

Rei was on her way over to the medical barracks now, losing herself in her thoughts as she walked over the rapidly cooling dirt paths. She knew what would happen tonight – it was the same thing that had happened almost every night for the last couple of weeks.

After she'd been sitting there for some time, Jacen would emerge from the lengthening shadows of the clinical room. He'd nod at her, greet her familiarly with the pet name he'd adopted without permission or explanation – " 'Evening, pigeon". He'd check Grandfather's vitals, adjust anything that needed modification, record in his bold, looped scrawl on a pad both his activities and the condition of his patient. Then proceed to fuss with a few details that Rei didn't exactly understand.

Always observant (you watch him far more than is entirely necessary), she'd learned to interpret his facial expressions – a slight twist of the mouth when there was no change in his patient, a relaxing of the lines in his forehead when Grandfather's condition was good, storm-dark smoke in his eyes when it wasn't so good.

Finally, he would drop gracefully, but tiredly into the seat next to her.

And then he would wait.

That was all he did in her presence, but Rei correctly estimated that the doctor had to be doing a lot more for the old man throughout the day, while she worked outside. The medical staff was small enough as it was. I wouldn't be surprised if the doctor sometimes bathes him, cleans him up.

Jacen was preserving something that Grandfather valued above all other things – his dignity. Even when bent so low as to clean up after other men, he had always cherished his pride. It seemed Jacen implicitly understood, despite being so different from her grandfather, with his blond mane and arrogant smiles.

How quickly things had changed in the brief span of time that she had known the mercurial doctor…the dry wind teased her senses and plucked at the convoluted web of her thoughts. Rei's mouth went cottony as she thought of how he'd looked at her in his room, in her hallway, at his doorstep… and how she'd instinctively responded to him, before she was able to check her reaction.

Even as they sat together these long nights, at first in tense, fearful silence, then making meaningless small talk, becoming comfortable with simple body language…that slender thread of fascination held. At first she'd been too concerned with her sleeping grandfather to even say her hellos and goodbyes to Jacen, but as days passed and little changed, Rei became helplessly aware of the man she shared her evenings with. She was responding to it, that easy sensuality he wore like a skin.

Don't kid yourself – you know no matter what he says or does, in the end, you're just a Jap girl in his eyes.

She'd give him her thanks today. Coolly and confidently.

Rei pushed open the door to Grandfather's room and moved quickly to the side of the bed, touching his face and hands, trying for herself to check for any change in pulse or temperature. Feeling nothing different, she sank into one of the chairs adjacent.

Her fingers tightened over the plastic sides of the chair, and she pressed her knees together.

After a moment, Rei began to speak.

"How was your day, Grandpa? Boring? At least the doctor is often here to keep you company, not these ridiculous nurses. I've been doing the same thing as always, you know – your job is terrible, I don't know why you're always in such a rush to get to it – " Rei laughed weakly, and continued to ramble on, sometimes in Japanese, sometimes in English, whichever sounded more appropriate to her at the moment.

"You get out of here soon, don't expect me to paint these ugly walls to make this place prettier for you, I've got things to do…"

…

Jacen leaned against the window outside, fingertips caressing the face of the girl behind the glass. Rei leaned over the old man, her voice animated, gesturing and smiling at her audience as though she expected him laugh back and respond.

She never noticed him watching her from the outside.

Jacen's world had narrowed to this small room, and he lost focus of all things outside. In a few short weeks, he found his existence revolving around those of a girl with knowing eyes and her grandfather. He spent as much of his time as possible in this patient's room, only barely stopping to smile roguishly at the giggling secretary up front, to insouciantly wink at the few nurses gossiping and smoking outside.

His thoughts were always here.

Despite having specialized in neurology, his year with the military had taught him a great deal about practicing more general medicine, and that was all he had expected to deal with at Manzanar. Jacen was glad of his residency experience now, his particular fascination for the human brain. Those crucial seconds, minutes, and hours just after the elderly man's accident had not been easy for him to navigate. Even now, careful with Rei's grandfather to the smallest detail, Jacen often performed the mundane tasks that the nurses usually handled.

He refocused on the girl behind the window. Rei almost always arrived here earlier than he did, and he usually found her speaking to her grandfather like this.

If anything wakes him up, it will be his granddaughter's voice.

After Jacen did his last cursory check of his patient for the day, he always found himself sitting beside her through the long hours of the dark. Technically, there was no need for him to stay; there was no real obligation for him to spend so much time with the elderly man during the day, either. He could always bid goodnight, smile, and leave.

He never did.

Loudly kicking the door open to give Rei fair warning, Jacen breezed into the room, clearing from his face any sign of his thoughts.

" 'Evening."

He bent over the old man, quickly checking his vitals.

"Good evening, Doctor."

Her low, lilting words made his blood heat.

Jacen kept his distance from her, crossing the room to grab his pad. He bent over a small side table, writing down his patient's current numbers with quick, rough strokes.

He felt the light pressure of a hand upon his shoulder. Without thinking, he took it and pulled playfully, a habit he had with old girlfriends.

Rei felt herself being jerked closer and her eyes darted to their linked hands. Her white fingers looked so small against his. What does he think he's doing? If it had been one of the guards outside, her mind dimly registered, she would have thrown off his grip in an instant. How is this different? Think, for God's sake!

Rei couldn't think. She didn't want to wrench her hand from his like a prudish child, but…

She coughed politely.

"I – I just wanted to thank you for doing so much for my Grandfather, Doctor," Rei stressed the last word.

She saw Jacen's back stiffen with sudden awareness. Slowly, he turned to her, their hands still loosely conjoined. Rei stared up at his face, looking for some kind of recognition in his expression. Something flitted across his eyes, and looking down upon her as if for the first time, he gave Rei his usual mischievous smirk. Jacen tugged her a bit closer, and she could feel his breath teasingly stir her lashes.

"Don't mention it, pigeon," he said.

He dropped her hand, and Rei backed away, uncertain, before she turned and walked with quick steps to her seat. Jacen dropped into the chair beside her.

Rei paused a moment, trying to think of something simple, a non-loaded question. She didn't want to give him anything he could return with some flirtatious comment or joke, or worse, something that might upset him. Dr. Amos was a man of masks and disguises; there were skeletons in his closet that seemed too close to the door.

"Where are you from?" she finally asked. With her customary aplomb, Rei ignored how strange that question probably sounded, coming completely out of left field.

Surprised by the sound of her voice where he had expected an awkward silence, Jacen took a moment to reply. "New York – Manhattan, really. And you?"

"Originally Tokyo," she answered. "Grandfather and I moved to a ranch in the San Fernando Valley some years ago."

"I see," he nodded, though he actually didn't. What reason was there for a young girl, who would be unable to find any employment, and her grandfather, who was too old to work also, to come here? Most immigrants were young families, able to support their elders…

"Have you got any other family?" Jacen asked, observing as her mouth pressed into a thin slash.

"No," Rei answered calmly, too calmly.

There was a brief silence. Jacen leaned back in his chair, the plastic legs creaking slightly with his weight.

"Well, then, I've got plenty of stories about my own to keep you, if you care to hear. My Uncle Terrence lives in the valley too, actually. Preacher. Funny guy…" He pulled out a cigarette, casually lit it as he spoke.

Jacen was lying. His Uncle Terrence was an oil baron in Texas, whose head was probably interchangeable with his ass, for all his business acumen. That was all right; Jacen never talked to him, nor anyone else in his family, so the little white lie wasn't a problem.

He didn't know her well enough to ask anything truly personal, but he sure as hell wasn't going to revert back to small talk, so Jacen relied upon what he did well: entertain. He didn't even have to think about these little stories; he'd used them so many times to amuse various acquaintances at parties that they came naturally. As he spoke, he watched the change in her. Rei's taut posture relaxed, her lips parting gently, eyes widening with interest. So very different from the girl I thought I knew. The more time I spend with her, the more I realize what an enigma she really is.

An hour later, Rei's laughter sounded again, soft and husky. "I don't believe you, Doctor. Nobody would do that to a girl, not even someone kin to you," her words were teasingly acidic, bereft of the anxiety he always heard in her voice.

Jacen took a long drag off the last inch of his smoke. "Believe it," he shrugged. He could see her eyelids drooping, her struggle to contain her yawns as the night stretched on. Odd. It's not all that late.

There was a brief pause.

"I didn't know that you smoked," her voice had taken on a slumberous, dreamy tone. For the last fifteen minutes or so, her replies to his questions and stories had become more nonsensical, less guarded. He wasn't surprised; Rei looked exhausted, dark smudges bruising under her eyes.

As a matter of fact, he barely smoked, not liking the smell of it clinging to him, but when he was tired it made him feel alert. Curls of ash spiraled toward the ceiling as the corner of his lip twisted up slightly.

"There's a lot you don't know about me, pigeon." He closed his eyes for a moment, enjoying the languorous mood, the slow rise of smoke to the windows.

When he looked at her again, her eyes were shut. She opened her mouth for a prodigious yawn, showing off rows of tiny, pearl-like teeth, then belatedly covered it with her fist. As she drifted into half-sleep, her fist drooped behind her head.

Jacen watched her dozing off for a moment, eyes veiled, before he tossed his stubbed-out cigarette in the glass ashtray. Rei wouldn't appreciate him carrying her back, though he could certainly do it. Her barracks were far, but she didn't look like she weighed much more than a child. Jacen knelt by her chair.

"Rei," he breathed. She stirred, lashes lifting slightly. "Come on, I'll take you back to your barracks. Not safe for a girly like you to walk back alone, hm?"

She nodded sleepily and let him double an arm around her waist. Jacen briefly wondered how tired she had to be, to let him do this without a murmur of complaint. Why? What's she doing all day? Shrugging, he pulled her up easily, one hand on her hip to support her movement. Her head tipped to his shoulder, and he felt her steady breathing warm against his shirt. They began to slowly walk out the door, leisurely, Rei walking as though in a dream. At first, she barely managed to keep her eyes open, her head upright, but as they continued, the warm night air cast its spell. As Rei began to stumble, Jacen gave up and simply swung her into his arms. She protested with a few sleepy mumbles, but they gradually subsided. I figured. She weighs little. Almost too little.

He strode across the moonlit dirt pathway. Across the camp's center, a group of guards laughed and shoved at each other, too drunk for the early hour. Instinctively, Jacen placed a hand over Rei's ear, keeping her head close to his shoulder. He felt her stir slightly beneath his hand, but her eyes remained closed, trustingly.

The guards turned at his approach and instantly quieted, most of them not wanting to comment, not with the doctor's cool, unwavering stare challenging them. One, however, had imbibed a bit more than his fellows.

"Looks like a cold fish to me, Doc," he slurred. "I…I like a Jap bitch with a little spirit…you know?"

"Can't say I've ever had to force a woman," Jacen responded lightly. "Sounds like you have, though."

The guard's face turned blotchy red, and he took a menacing step forward that ended up being more of a keeling lurch. His fellows held him back, and Jacen easily sidestepped him. They reached her barracks without seeing another soul.

Jacen shoved open the door and walked through the gap in the curtains. He dumped her onto the bed with little ceremony, bending quickly to pull off her slippers. He remembered past girlfriends letting out their elaborate hairstyles when they slept, and thought that all those pins probably hurt to boot, so he pulled at Rei's simple bun with rough hands until the cool silk loosened and slipped invitingly through his fingers.

As he turned to leave, Rei murmured dreamily, "Your stories are funny, Doctor."

Jacen smiled faintly, his back still to her. "Thanks."

"So…next time…tell me the truth about your family…mm? I'd like to know…about them."

He turned to face her, startled, but her eyes had closed already and she was fast asleep. The tiniest of dream-smiles curved her lips, and Jacen walked out into the dark quickly, not wanting to kiss her and break the spell.

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