Disclaimer: ROBOTECH® and its characters are a registered trademark of Harmony Gold U.S.A., Inc. This fic was written for entertainment purposes and no infringement is intended.
"Kyle's reasons"
Where is she?
Lynn-Kyle stormed out of the suite he had rented for Minmei and ran down the stairs towards the lobby. The front desk clerk raised his eyebrows in surprise as he heard the fury in the voice of the man in front of him.
"Where is Minmei?" Kyle shouted.
"Minmei?" he repeated as he wondered if he should answer with the truth. For a moment, he remembered the sweet smile the singer had given him when she asked him not to tell her manager-lover her whereabouts.
"Yes, Minmei. Where is she?"
"I believe she's in her room, sir."
Kyle had never been in the FBI but he could easily tell when someone lied to him. The clerk swallowed with difficulty as Kyle's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Don't make me repeat myself," Kyle advised him.
The clerk felt a drop of sweat slide along his sideburns as he thought that his life was too important to lose in the hands of that lunatic.
"Oh, I remember!" he lied, "I saw her walk out about an hour ago."
"Where did she go?"
"She didn't say but she asked for directions to the airfield."
No, she didn't…thought Kyle angrily.
"Directions to the airfield," repeated Kyle, "anything else?"
"She asked me to make reservations at Le Figaro."
Alarms went off in Kyle's head and he knew exactly what Minmei was doing. He turned from the front desk and walked hurriedly towards the exit. The clerk was relieved to see him leave.
What is wrong with her? Wondered Kyle as he walked towards Le Figaro. How could she possibly go with him to their special place after …?
FLASHBACK
Kyle swallowed his pride and walked towards Minmei. She was on her knees, crying in silence as Rick's Veritech left in pursuit of Khyron. Lisa Hayes was staring at Minmei in disbelief and Kyle could have sworn she was about to cry. Seeing Minmei and Rick kiss as the sun rose after operation "Star Saver" had not been a pleasant experience for him either..
"Minmei," he called softly.
"Leave me alone, Kyle!"
He felt blood rushing into his face as Lisa turned to look at him.
"Let's go, Minmei. It's not safe here."
"It's not safe anywhere!"
"We have to go," insisted Kyle.
"I'm not going anywhere until Rick returns," replied Minmei stubbornly.
"Kyle is right," intervened Lisa, "we need to get you out of here."
"Not until Rick comes back!"
Kyle watched Lisa take a deep breath before speaking. "Minmei, do you want Rick's effort to save you to be in vain? He risked his life to free you form Khyron, doesn't it mean anything to you?"
Minmei raised her face and nodded…and Kyle wished Rick didn't matter to her. Minmei stood and Lisa beckoned the Lynn's to follow her. They boarded the transporter and in silence, they rose to the skies.
An hour later, they landed in New Macross City. An official jeep was waiting for them to take them to the restaurant. As soon as the vehicle stopped, Minmei jumped out and walked inside to meet her relatives. They were hugging her when Kyle walked into the restaurant.
"I didn't think you were staying," she said coldly.
"I'll always be by your side, Minmei."
"How nice of you." She turned to the stairs without giving him a second look.
"Minmei we need to talk."
"I have nothing to say to you," she shouted before running up the stairs towards her room.
Kyle let a sigh escape from his lips and his parents looked at him full of concern.
"I'm just tired," he explained as he sat at a table.
"We know," said Aunt Lena pretending she believed him.
"Have a drink." Uncle Max offered him a beer.
"I don't drink," replied Kyle.
"Who are you trying to fool, Kyle?"
The man felt like a five year old caught lying and looked away trying to hide his embarrassment. Uncle Max placed the beer in front of his son and walked towards the kitchen. "I'll get you something to eat, son".
Aunt Lena followed her husband and Kyle appreciated his parents' tactfulness. He closed his eyes as the scene of Minmei's and that pilot's encounter replayed in his head. It was awful and it hurt deeply, not only his pride but also his heart. To his surprise, he felt a tear roll down his cheek.
"She's going to be my downfall," he whispered to himself.
.Minmei continued to ignore him for over a week and Kyle had had enough. He decided to take things into his hands. He stood before her door and fiddle with the lock. It didn't take him too long to unlock it and turned the knob. Minmei was reading a magazine when she saw the door open. Her look of surprise quickly turned into one of anger.
Kyle smiled at her stupidly. She looked so adorable in her bunny pajamas. She seemed young and innocent like she used to be before the war. He stepped inside her room and shut the door behind him.
"What are you doing here?" asked Minmei as she frowned.
"We need to talk."
"I don't want to talk to you. Not after the way you acted when they rescued us. You were so rude and ungrateful," she scolded him.
"What really bothered you, Minmei? That I accused your pilot of being reckless?"
"Yes."
Minmei's words stung his heart…but he asked for it.
"He was irresponsible, Minmei. He could have gotten you killed!"
"Stop it! And don't raise your voice," she ordered. "Rick would never do anything to hurt me. Rick loves me."
"And you love him," added Kyle. "I guess there's nothing I can do, right Minmei?"
They stared at each other in silence.
"Kyle…if you only understood that what Rick and I have is special."
"I thought that what we had was special, too, Minmei".
"Yes…but…"
"I guess I'll be leaving then, Minmei. You don't need me."
Minmei felt her heart skip a beat. Suddenly the idea of Kyle leaving her side terrified her. If he left, she would be alone. Days had passed already and Rick had made no effort to contact her.
"Goodbye."
Kyle walked towards the door and Minmei felt the urge to run after him. The carpet muffled her steps as she hurried towards him.
"Wait!" She pulled his sleeve. "Don't leave, Kyle."
"Why should I stay? You just said you loved another man."
"Yes but…" she hesitated.
"But what?" he asked full of hope.
"I love you too, Kyle."
He turned to look at her. "You can't love two men, Minmei."
"Oh, Kyle! I don't know what to say." She looked at him helplessly. "I have feelings for both of you. You two are so different…so…"
"That's not good enough, Minmei. You have to choose."
"I can't."
"Goodbye, Minmei." He opened her bedroom door and she rushed to close it.
"You can't go, Kyle, not like this."
"Minmei…" He gave her a long look. She looked so confused…and scared.
"Kyle, please…give me some time."
"Time? We've been at this game for over three years, Minmei."
"I know, Kyle but…"
"What?" He crossed his arms over his chest.
"How can I explain this?" She reached for his hands. "I…I…love you but when I see Rick I feel like I'm fifteen again. I feel full of hope and dreams…"
"And when you're with me?"
"Kyle…" She lowered her eyes to the floor.
"I need to know" he insisted.
"It's different. I feel…older…but that doesn't mean I don't like it. I see myself as a star and I know that you've helped me reach my dreams…"
"You're not making sense." He looked at her seriously.
"Please don't leave." She threw herself in his arms.
"Why should I stay?"
"Because…because I need to figure this out…and I need you to help me."
"No." Stay around until she figured out her feelings? What id she chose the pilot? "Let me go, Minmei."
"No."
It was funny how the tables had turned, thought Kyle. He was trying to pry her arms off him when he heard her sob. He knew the battle was lost. He couldn't stand to see her cry.
"Please don't go, Kyle."
"Minmei…"
"Let's try again. Just once more," she asked pleadingly.
"Until your pilot comes around, again?"
"Kyle, please…"
He wondered if he should believe her. Kyle felt Minmei's tears soaking his shirt and he caved in. His arms wrapped around her.
"Okay."
Minmei threw her arms around his neck and smiled through her tears.
"Don't play with fire, Minmei," he warned her.
Her response was to place her lips over his.
The maitre d' gave him a dirty look as he stepped inside but Kyle was too angry to even notice. His eyes scanned the room looking for her and secretly hoping he was wrong about her. He wasn't.
… so you go again
When the leading man appears
Always the same thing
Minmei was laughing at something the pilot had said and leaned forward to place her hand over his. Kyle felt his heart shatter into pieces. What a fool he had been to believe in her! He could only blame his enamored heart for his mistake. He took a step forwards.
"Sir! Sir! You cannot go inside without a dinner jacket!"
Kyle gave the maitre d' a death glare. "Get your hands off of me."
"Sir, we cannot let you in without a jacket," insisted the man.
"I'm not staying long," said Kyle shoving him away.
"Wait, sir, wait!"
It didn't take Minmei, Rick and the patrons to turn towards the entrance.
"Rick, promise me that no matter what happens, you won't intervene,"said Minmei.
The pilot looked at her.
"Promise me, Rick!" she insisted.
Rick nodded as Kyle approached them. "I've been looking all over for you, Minmei."
She looked at her cousin. He seemed calm, cool and collected but Minmei knew he was angry. Miss Macross heard him talk about a press conference and reach to make her rise from her seat but she refused to get up. Kyle gave her a surprised look.
"I…I don't want to go, Kyle."
"You've got to be kidding me. Do you have any idea of all I had to go through to get those reporters to come over to the hotel? We have to go, Minmei."
"No!" she yelled as he pulled her arm. "Let me go! You're hurting me!"
"Kyle…"
Kyle turned and gave the pilot a dirty look. "You know? For someone who seems to care deeply for Minmei you sure don't care about ruining her career?"
"Keep him out of this, Kyle," said Minmei in his defense. "He has nothing to do with…"
"I bet he doesn't," he said sarcastically.
Kyle saw Minmei reach for her glass of wine and drink it one gulp.
"I'm too tipsy to speak to the reporters. You'll need to cancel it."
Kyle wasn't too sure, what angered him the most: it was either the fact that Minmei spoke to him as if he was her employee or the fact that she was with the pilot? He took a glass of water in his hand and threw it in her face. She gasped in surprise and so did the patrons in the restaurant. Rick stood and prepared to fight with Kyle. The pacifist gave him a condescending look.
"She's much to busy to settle down, Hunter, I think you should know that by now. Minmei needs someone to take care of her and you have too many things in your plate, don't you? Go back to your base and get into your death machine or something."
Kyle held Minmei possessively by the arm and tugged her away from the table. Speechless, Rick saw them walk away.
"Don't worry about the bill, Hunter. We'll pay for it from our expense account," yelled Kyle before exiting the restaurant.
The concert had been a disaster. Minmei had refused to sing and the crowd had left disappointed. Kyle had spent more than an hour apologizing to the reporters and the manager before he could finally go look for Minmei.
He found her behind the concert hall, sitting on the ground hugging her knees. She looked like a lost child and Kyle felt his resolve melting away. What was it about Minmei that made him want to protect her no matter what she did? She was a spoiled child always had been but she was also caring, sweet and…
"No," he shook his head. He had to stop thinking about her qualities or he would never her side.
"It's your fault," she said as soon as she heard his footsteps behind her.
Kyle sighed. "Isn't it always?" he asked sarcastically.
"You've pulled me away from everything I've ever loved," she accused him.
"Really? Then you'll be happy to hear that from now on you can go back to them. I'm leaving."
Minmei was expecting that response from him. "Have a nice trip, Kyle."
"But before I leave I want you to know that you're a selfish brat! You only do what you want to do and you have no regards for other people's feelings. Did you ever stop to think what the audience felt when you refused to sing to them? They're your fans and you let them down…like you let me down."
She shrugged her shoulder. "Sorry."
"You don't mean it so don't say it, Minmei. You lied to me…again."
Minmei knew he was right and kept silent.
"Goodbye Minmei. You're free to do as you please. Go chase your pilot if that makes you happy."
"I don't need your permission, Kyle."
"All I ever wanted was to make you happy, Minmei."
Kyle was looking at her back, hoping she would turn around but it didn't happen. He held a sigh and threw his jacket over his shoulder.
"I guess you just can't see what's right in front of your eyes, Minmei and I can't force you to see it…see me."
"Kyle…"
"I can't do this anymore, Minmei."
She felt him place a kiss on her head.
"Goodbye."
She closed her eyes when he said those last words. He's bluffing! He just wants me to turn around and stop him, she thought.
The wind blew and she shivered. "Kyle, may I have your jacket?"
He didn't answer and Minmei turned around to see no one. Her heart pounded frantically in her chest when she realized she was alone.
"Kyle!" She called but he was gone.
Minmei buried her face in her hands and started crying.
He could hear her sobbing as he walked away but his steps didn't falter. He couldn't go back. He knew he couldn't take it anymore. His heart was breaking into pieces every time she went away.
Maybe you're too close to see…
I can't go on saying the same thing
can't you see?
We've got everything,
do you even know you know?
Every time you go away
You take a piece of me with you…
THE END
AN: Hello! How are? Here's another one-shot product of me listening to some 80's music…it was such a nice decade despite all the neon, don't you think?
Song: Every time you go away ©Paul Young (for all of you too young to remember).
Dialogue marked with an came from the Robotech Books © Jack McKinney. I tried to paraphrase but just in case, it is not mine and not mine was intended.
Thank you for reading and please review…I feed off them…