Chapter 7
Rick suddenly awakened in the middle of the night. a stabbing pain shot through his forehead like a nail, and made him squeeze his eyes.
He lifted onto the bed, then cautiously stepped out of the room to get a glass of water and his meds.
As soon as on the living room he spotted a snow-white arm dangling from the edge of the sofa. The arm was bare from the elbow down, and in the streetlight seeping through the blinds it had taken on a pale blue shade.
Lisa.
He came closer, almost holding his breath.
She was curled up on herself on the small couch. The covers had dropped to the floor, and Rick blushed at seeing her long legs exposed. She was wearing one of his Skull Squadron sweatshirts.
"-You sure you' re not going to be cold?
She had shaken her head shyly.
-I'm perfectly fine Rick. The heat in the room is very high..."
Rick grinned and bent down to pick up the blanket. A little awkwardly he tried to place it on her shoulder. He was almost afraid that if she had woken up... maybe she would get mad at him. Because he was watching her sleeping...
He thought back hazily on the previous night, and an indefinite feeling as of anger and helplessness once again mounted in him. But it was not just anger, a sort of numbing jealousy. He could not be jealous of her. After all, Lisa... Lisa was his senior officer. She was his friend, yes, he cared about her, but she was just a friend. Instinctively he ran his fingertips over her forehead. Her auburn hair parted at his touch. Her skin was warm, and silky. Startled by such intense feeling he retracted his hand and took a few steps back. His head still pulsed painfully.
He took his medication and walked back to bed. But sleep did not want to return.
He remembered on a loop the scene from the night before, at the Command Center. And then, the cab ride to his house. How she had cried, and told him about Alex Louan... and of... of Karl Riber.
Rick clenched his teeth and shoved his head under his pillow.
Lisa...
When he exited the main entrance of the Command Center, he wasn't sure why he did it: maybe to wait for Lisa or because he got tired of waiting her, or simply because he got tired of the trio's talking.
Of course, the furthest he expected was to witness that sort of fight between Captain Hayes and First Lieutenant Louan. Rick was extremely surprised by the confidence they seemed to share. He clenched his fists inside the pockets of his leather jacket. He was not treating her with the respect due to a Commander but just like... a woman. He lifted up his voice. Rick's eyes got wide when he saw that he was taking her hands, pulling her closer to him. Lisa's eyes... they were on fire. Her hair swirled in the icy air as she tried to get away from him. The hissing wind and the distance, did not let him hear what they were saying to each other, but he could see that Lisa was upset, even distraught. He knew her so well now. Louan on the contrary was tense, quite alarmed. Rick thought he looked almost desperate. That sight annoyed him supremely. Then he saw that she turned toward the entrance and realized that she had seen him: it even seemed that she had muttered his name.
Instinctively Louan had let go of Captain Hayes' hands and stared at him as well. At this time Rick felt like a strength pushing him down the stairs. Teetering, he pulled off the pillar and grabbing his cane started to walk down slowly.
His hair was whipped by the wind, and even the fur of his coat was constantly being lifted up.
Lisa and Louan had stood staring at him, but when suddenly he seemed to falter on his legs and Lisa rushed to him. She approached and held out her hands
-Be careful Captain Hunter.
She said in a whisper
-Are you all right?
Said Rick in reply.
He didn't salute her and ignored Louan: but he felt his eyes locked on his.
-Well...
her voice was a sigh
Rick refused her help and in a moment he was at the bottom of the staircase. Now he had his back to Lisa: he could feel her presence standing behind him.
-Is everything okay Lieutenant Louan?
He did not know why he had said that. He was not even on duty so he was not supposed to intrude on a private moment that did not concern him. However, he felt something irrational urging him on. It was a feeling he had experienced before. When ... when Lisa had been trapped inside the Sarah Base ... when, in the enemy ship she was clasped between the monstrous fingers of that Zentraedi. He... he felt he HAD to help her.
Rick tossed and turned in his bed unable to catch some sleep. He felt first warm, then bitter cold. So many memories came back to him, and even the more distant ones were vivid and clear. He thought of how Louan had lowered his head in resignation. His arms left along his sides. In that very moment it had looked lifeless to him. A rag doll.
On one side was him with Lisa. In a way he was sheltering her with his body. On the other side was Louan, alone.
He could see his eyes wandering from side to side and then it was as if he had just thrown in the towel. He snapped a salute and said only:
-I'm sorry Captain Hayes.
He heard Lisa let go a small choked sound. However, she said nothing and did not stop him. Alex Louan soon vanished down the street.
Rick had glanced at her, her eyes were brimming with tears. Her cheeks were flushed and she was fighting to maintain her composure.
At that point he did not know what to say. He felt uncomfortable.
-You, you said you'd be over at 7 o'clock so I thought I'd stop by here at the Command Center well, uh... I...
Rick quickly ran a hand under the nape of his neck.
-But... the. Gggirls, ehr, your colleagues told me you went to the Headquarters so...
His words lingered suspended in the wind; she did not respond, did not move. Then she let go a muffled sob.
Rick still rolled a few times on the bed. On the other side of that cardboard wall it was her. She was asleep and wearing only a sweatshirt. He swallowed hard and squeezed his eyes shut, remembering the pure white skin of her legs lying on the couch.
Commander Hayes...
When her sobs finally ceased Rick had got her to take a seat on the couch. He had settled down on the armchair, and although his legs ached, he had not even taken off his boots.
He had arranged two cups of tea on a small tray.
Lisa's face and neck were mottled with crimson, as when she got angry on the Comm net. But now it was different. He had watched her cry so many times but this one was different.
He caught himself wondering how she could be at the same time so unyielding and so frail. So distant and so inviting. Rick was messing with his thoughts. At one point he exclaimed
-Hey Lisa!
She winced and instantly set the cup down on the table.
-How about a fantastic microwaved synthetic MacrossPizza? Max and I had a huge one yesterday, and there was quite a bit left over.
Lisa looked at him in amazement: he was in front of her with his bright, slightly cocky smile that she knew so well. His eyes were so playful and cheerful that a chuckle escaped from her lips.
Rick.
She brought a hand to her mouth and let go the end of that giggling.
-Yeah ... yeah! pizza is ok!
-Great! I am putting it in the incinerator right now!
She had nibbled on the pizza, which turned out not to be so bad, and very slowly she told him the whole story.
About how she had met Karl Riber in California, when he was a young corporal in the Defense Forces and she was just... a simple high school girl. About how, after the terrorist attack in which her mother had died, Supreme Admiral Hayes kept her locked in a gilded cage. How they had gotten secretly engaged. He had given her a ring.
At that moment Rick felt a twinge of uneasiness, straight on his breastbones.
He instinctively glanced at Commandant Hayes' thin hands, but no rings around her fingers.
She told him about her life before joining the military and how she and Serena Seymour, Karl and Alex Louan used to live those days before the Global War. They had so many dreams. But those dreams were doomed to be broken.
-I've told you about him before, haven't I? ...
Rick had nodded.
Everything was beautiful about her; he had no difficulties imagining her in a school uniform living out her lighthearted adolescence...As if he had already met her that way -maybe- in a dream.
-...is that why Alex wants to stay here. But I feel it's not right...
For a moment Rick had thought there was something between them, and that it might be a former lover of hers or whatever, then he chased that thought away.
But now he had realized. Both of them, she and Alex, though in their different ways, could not get rid of Riber's ghost.
Rick tossed and turned in bed again.
Just like me with Minmay
he caught himself thinking.
This thought stabbed him like a knife. Suddenly he realized that Lisa's heart was taken and this made him edgy, bothered. No, there was not only work in her life. A person who she could not forget was still taking up her memories and her present as well.
Rick huffed and pulled himself up on the bed. So so many things were running through his mind. Eager, expectation, longing for redemption. Riber had died like a hero in that ambush on Mars. A war hero.
Just like his sempai Roy ... While he ... he had been shot down thousands of times, the last of which he had destroyed a very expensive prototype and screwed up the whole Lightning III project.
He gripped his head in his hands, curling up in a fetal position.
Roy ... you should not have died ...
He clenched his jaw tightly
Roy...I wish I never came to Macross Island that day...*
Lisa suddenly widened her eyes. She felt something was unusual around her. She rubbed her eyelids a couple of times and ran her tongue over her dry lips. Of course, she wasn't at home, she wasn't in her bed... The blue light from the street lamps filtered through the blinds, faintly enlightening the room. It was the small living room at Rick's house. All the memories of the day before came to her mind, making her blush. She pulled the blanket up to the top of her head and sighed. Then she poked her head out again,peering around. There was no one around; Rick was probably asleep in his bed. She lifted herself up on the couch and ran a hand through her hair, repeatedly.
She remembered so well the resolute look on his face.
He had stared at her with those blue eyes so deep penetrating that made her melt.
-Lisa you all right? D' you want us to leave?
He had said it.
-Do you want us to leave ... together ...?
Lisa's heart was pounding. Despite the argument with Alex, despite the pain she was feeling. Lisa looked into his eyes and felt the joy invading her heart again like all the times he had rescued her. On the Sarah Base, that time on Britai's ship, and then in the burning Alaska Base.
Rick was always there for her. In his cranky and moody, clumsy and tender way. For a moment she thought he would have confronted Alex but he didn't. And Alex-he had simply walked away, defeated, disillusioned. How could she have hurt him like that? She had not acted with any lucidity. She tightly clutched the blanket in her hands... She thought with dismay that it was happening more and more often. She was no longer the Lisa Hayes she used to be. But how could she have? She had been through a long war. She had seen friends and fellow comrades die and eventually her beloved father.
Dr. Newmann had told her this, over and over again. Yet... Lisa was so furious with herself.
Tomorrow I'll call him and apologize. I will ask him to talk, civily, as high officers and good friends.
Lisa laid back in the couch breathing the scent of Rick in his sweater. That scent that gave her butterflies in her stomach.
She remembered the first time she had met him, on tacnet, the day of the attack. He had called her an old lady, and she? She had surprised herself by thinking how handsome he looked. And that she had never seen such blue eyes... as the clear skies shining over the Alaska mountains.
She... she remembered all of a sudden a talk with her father. When she was only 10, 11 years old, they were temporary living in Tokyo.
They had gone to visit a temple in the city, all three of them, Lisa, her mother and the Admiral.
As is custom, everyone scribbled a prayer on a small card and affixed it with a ribbon along the Torii'*s board.
-So what you asked for Lisa-chan!?
Had said her father happily.
She had grimaced and crossed her arms.
-I can't tell!
Her parents had burst out laughing
-Come on! We want to know!
She had been puzzled for a while but finally pulled them both close to her small little face and whispered:
-I asked to find the real love!
Her mother had cupped her mouth with her hands and had let out a giggle.
-But honey, you're still young to have a boyfriend!
Donald Hayes had lifted her into his arms and caught her on piggyback.
As they wandered along the river, under a porch dripping with white and blue wisteria , her father had told her to be quite. When she would find love she just will know it.
-You know what they say here in Japan? Koi no Yokan*... mind you Lisa, it's not love at first sight, it's not the arrow of cupid. It means "premonition of love." It is the feeling two people have when they meet for the first time. "When they know then that they will inevitably end up falling in love.*"
Lisa had hugged her father, blushing and closing her eyes in delight. Her mother had caressed her hair.
-The Japaneses are so romantic in matter of love...
Lisa had never forgotten those three words. Koi no Yokan. It was such a beautiful memory. For years she had been telling herself that those were the words that had destined her to Riber...but now she no longer felt that way. What she was feeling for Rick seemed incredibly stronger, powerful enough to wash over her like a wave... Drowning her, bringing her back to surface. She felt that he was like a magnet for her soul. All these things she could not quite explain. She closed her eyes, and soon fell asleep holding tightly the edges of his sweater.
-Morning... are you up yet?
Lisa suddenly turned completely red. She was already dressed in her uniform and had tied her thick hair in a braid: upon seeing Rick, dressed only in a crumpled shirt and jogging pants she blushed even more.
She stared at his muscular arms where bluish veins pulsed on the skin's surface. He still bore bruises on his hands and wrists, and scars that seemed slow to heal.
He appeared still half asleep
-Yes Rick. I have to run to the base. I mean, I should stop home first, and then change and... I have picked up the blankets and the pillow if you want I can put them back in the closet what do you think...?
she said all in one go without even breathing.
Then she suddenly hushed. He looked at her as if she had just recited a poem he hardly understood.
-Hey, sorry Lisa, how about some coffee? I might unbelievably wake up.
Lisa burst into an amused giggle.
-Oh pardon me Rick! As usual I flooded your brain with non-stop informations.
Rick ran a hand through his hair and walked over her
-As usual Captain...
He said in a mischievous voice.
He stared into her eyes a little too long.
And she instinctively took a step back. There was something about her presence in his house that was starting to excite him.
He walked away toward the stove
-The coffee is ready... yet...
she murmured, still feeling embarrassed.
He turned with an earnest and grateful open smile.
-Oh Lisa, you're a lifesaver, you know that?
-Well you tell me all the time, I will have to start believing it!
-Come, sit down with me for a moment.
Lisa hesitated for a few seconds. Then she thought only -what the hell!- and took a seat in the small chair at Rick's tiny table.
He had two cute bags under his eyes. Just like a sleepy child
-So, you slept well?
-How about you, Lisa? How did you sleep?
He stared at her intently and she lowered her gaze to her cup
-Yes ... I, yes ...
-You scared me yesterday, you know?
She lifted her eyelashes in dismay.
-But not the way you scare me when you chew me up on the Comm or in your office for some shit I've done.
-I... I don't know... how...
He passed a hand on the back of his head, over again. He looked at her hopeful that she did figured it out anyhow...
And she did.
-it's okay Rick... just a little crisis. After all you know... I'm a human being too, even if it's hard to believe.
He placed a warm hand on hers. Lisa's was cold and trembling.
-If you need ... anything... I'm here.
-Oh Rick it is not necessary I...
-Oh stop it!
he cut her
-I'm serious. If you want to talk. Or go shoot guns in the arcade or an amusement park... well, l'm in!
Lisa widened her eyes in disbelief.
-Going to shoot guns at the amusement park?
They burst out laughing at the same time. Rick squinted his eyes and almost rolled his coffee cup, and Lisa stared at him for a long time, smiling. She was happy.
-See you soon then
Rick was fully resting with one arm on the doorframe. His bare feet on the first step of the doorway.
The day boded miserable weather, and a number of wind gusts made them shiver.
-Go indoors Rick, you going to catch a chill.
Lisa's fur hat swayed with the wind, shaping a cloud around her porcelain-white face.
-With all these drugs in my system, I am immune to a regular cold.
Lisa nodded and smiled slightly
-Well...
-See Lisa...
They said simultaneously.
-You first.
-No, you.
-Ok I...I'll go... I... I was wondering if you'd like to... I mean if you'd like to come over here once in a while, if your job allows... and we could watch a movie, or maybe go for a drive... downtown..
All of a sudden Rick had gone off and his monologue got stalled.
But Lisa had widened her eyes; they were lustrous and filled with anticipation.
-Of course Rick, you don't have to ask me, I'd be happy to join you, spend some time together, I mean, now that you're in recovery you must be bored and...
And then suddenly she fell silent as well. As if words had a weight
She looked at him shyly
-Then I wait for you. Text me ... I'm always 'round here all the time anyway hehe...
He ventured a smile and leaned toward her.
A stronger gust of wind stirred Lisa's hat, causing it to flutter on her head.
She fixed it with a graceful movement.
-Then... see you soon, Rick
He leaned down once more, closer. He ran a hand over her fur, smoothing it where it was rippling. Their faces were so near that their noses almost touched. He looked at her and it seemed that after that night, everything had irreparably changed.
Both of them just simply stopped breathing. Despite the surrounding cold, she felt all the warmth of his body. Their lips brushed slightly against each other. Lisa's were soft and warm, while Rick's were dry and chapped.
Then they stood still in that innatuaral pose, for do not know how many long seconds.
When he closed the door behind his back he sighed noisily and then a crooked smile lit up his features. Perhaps, something had cleared in his head. He passed a hand behind his neck and vanished into the bedroom.
-I' m here Vanessa!
Lisa stepped like lightning into the control room, immediately wearing headphones and turning on her devices
-I'm awfully late!
Vanessa glanced at her, smiling.
-Just half a minute Captain Hayes.
Lisa reciprocated the smile. She felt euphoric, and Vanessa stared at her in confusion.
-Any pressing notifications? What's up with the Alpha squadron? By the way, did you replace the Destroids on the A4 inlet? They had been giving problems.
-Yes, it's all right Captain. We have them retired. It's a pity that Dr. Lang is leaving right today, because he could have checked them out...
Lisa froze for a moment.
-Today? He left today?
After the delirious night before, she had completely forgotten that the scientific team would board that morning.
She placed a hand to her forehead
-I truly am a bitch...
Vanessa looked at her puzzled
-What you say Captain Hayes...?
-Uh... nothing...
Lisa vowed to call him once he arrived on Apollo.
-Ah there is something else, Captain.
A letter was handed over for you. It has the RDF mark on it. I'm sorry I know you had banned paper but this letter... I just don't know, from where it comes
Lisa turned around, making a few locks of her hair swirl in the air.
-What? A letter? Where is that?
Vanessa pointed with her head right there on the desk.
Incredibly, she didn't see it. It was a blue and sand paper envelope, not much bigger than an ordinary communication dispatch.
Lisa flipped it back and forth through her fingers. Apart from the stamp of the Defense Forces, it bore no inscription.
She gave Vanessa an eloquent look and she immediately resumed her activities. Then with trembling hands she opened up it
-Vanessa!
Shouted Lisa in an alarmed voice
-?!
-What time is the shuttle leaving for Apollo?!
-I... I'm not sure...
-Check it, for Christ's sake! Check immediately at the Air Base!
The seconds weighed like stones
-Yes thank you. All right, yes, over out.
Vanessa turned three-quarters in her chair as she removed her headset
-It has just taken off from the New Macross Air base!
Lisa snapped to her feet and for a moment she just looked bewildered. She glanced toward the huge window overlooking Lake Gloval and then turned completely around and ran for the exit. She tore her coat off the hanger.
-I'll be back in a few minutes!
she yelled
Lisa ran toward the for the outer elevators that led to the bridge of the old SDF1 stateroom.
It was completely see-through, and she looked anxiously at the sky searching for a fire sign confirming the departure.
It was just not possible.
She swallowed bitter tears as she scanned the cloudy sky.
When she reached the 30th floor, got to the balcony where so often, she Rick and Claudia had been staring out to the sea*
she leaned over the balustrade as she gazed toward the Air Base.
That's when she saw it. A trail of fire quickly fading into the air. The shuttle with the Defense Forces banner was so close that she could make out its colors.
Lisa bit her lips, until it hurt.
She stared again at the shuttle as it disappeared into the clouds.
A tear slipped from one eye and fell onto the paper envelope she was clutching in her hands
-Alex...
Lisa Hayes rushed into one of the store near the ropeway station.
-We're just closing...
murmured a voice from down the hall.
-Oh I -I'm sorry.
Lisa pulled off her fur-lined hat.
-I couldn't leave the Command Center till now...
The clerk smiled awkwardly.
-Oh, of course Captain Hayes. Take your time. Please.
-I just need to pick up few things...
In the end, all the bags she had been loading onto her arms almost made her lose her balance. She climbed into the cabin heading to the military district.
In her groceries were some vegetables that appeared to be decent, potatoes, tomato sauce, some fresh pasta, a huge out-of-size watermelon, and cookies, chips, a case of petit cola, and bottles of water.
Lisa fantasized faintly about what she was going to cook. She wondered if it was rash of her to bring all that stuff. But hadn't she done this countless times before? As she turned up the driveway leading to house number 251 she heard cheerful voices coming from Rick's house. It was Max and Miriya saying goodbye to him in a burst of laughter.
Lisa flushed hard and hid behind a load-bearing wall. All of a sudden she did not want to be spotted there. She was ashamed of the shopping bags. And in short, Miriya had a strange way of reading right inside her mind. And at that moment there, it was a total chaos.
It was only when they were up in the car and Max turned on the engines that she approached and knocked on Rick's door.
-What, did you forget some sharp knives stuck in my food?!
Rick threw the door wide open as he shouted cheerfully at his friends.
-Lisa! I mean, Captain Hayes...
-I'm sorry Rick... sorry for the timing and also sorry that... I couldn't really come earlier so... I just saw that you had guests.
Rick smiled as he nodded his head.
-Yeah, the guys just stopped by to bring me some supplies. If I keep eating Macross Pizza I might get worms or salmonella you know... Max is so caring...
Lisa nodded a bit confused
So he already got some food...
-Well, I...
She cast a glance at her huge bags.
-I thought I should bring you something, too... sorry, I had to call ahead.
Rick ran a hand behind his head.
-Are you kidding, I hope? My stomach is bottomless...you should know. Also...
Then he cast her a long glance; her nose was red, as were her cheeks. She was probably freezing.
-Why don't we just come inside, instead? Lisa, you look like a hunk of ice...
She winced because she knew that pilots called her "Ice Queen", and Rick too immediately regretted saying those words.
He helped her with the groceries and grabbed her coat and hat.
-I'll put these in the bedroom okay?
Lisa had come into Rick's room many times when he was on the mission on the Factory Satellite, but then she hadn't ventured no more... She wanted to peek a little this time, but she held back. She sat down on the sofa, instead, pulling at the edges of her skirt.
-It's a shame the Sterlings have left!
Shouted Rick from the hallway.
-We could have had dinner together...
Rick's mood was high, and Lisa was pleased. However, a shadow had not left her throughout the day. She had worked hard for 12 hours to the point of exhaustion, to forget... but failed.
Alex's letter had broken her heart. His words rumbled in her head, over again.
"Dear Lisa...or I should say Captain Hayes? ...but I prefer to call you by the name I met you by, all those years ago, when the world was still a beautiful place and we were so young and had so many dreams. By the time you are reading this letter I will be on my way to the Factory Satellite with Dr. Lang. After yesterday it no longer makes sense for me to stay on Earth. You were right, you can't repeat the past. And the past is all that still binds us. You were the one who made me realize that. Please take care of your future, never give up on your dreams, that's what I will try to do myself. Be happy with Captain Hunter, if that's what you want. Don't waste your time. Everything can change in a moment, you know better.
I am giving you one of the things I care most in the world. Me and Karl one of the first days at the Military Academy. I barely knew him but I already knew he would become my best friend. I was right. Please keep this picture, along with my love for you.
I will be on Apollo if and when ever you decide to come up there, up to the moon. And I'll always be your friend, remember that.
So long,
Alex."
Lisa had placed the photo and the letter at the bottom of a drawer, under a pile of papers. It was too painful to watch Karl's face, so young, so incredibly happy and proud. Yes, she remembered exactly how much she had loved him. Tears rolled down her cheeks with no sound.
-Lisa... Lisa! What's the matter? Why you crying?
Rick had quietly returned to the living room and had found her: motionless, with her hands in her lap and her eyes glossy with tears.
-Lisa.
He sat down next to her and istinctively took her hand. It was soft and cold.
She barely looked at him. Rick was genuinely scared
-Alex...
-?
-Alex is gone! he left this morning along with Dr. Lang's team...
Lisa tugged her hand from Rick's and tried to wipe her face with her palms.
-He didn't even say goodbye to me, you see...? And all because of me, because of my bad temper, oh how could I have treated him like that?
She hid her head in her hands.
Rick stared at her, unable to speak but something akin to relief had taken hold of him. It was as if he felt happy about Louan's prompt departure.
-So he's gone...
he only said.
She sniffed up her nose and nodded.
-Rick forgive me...I've been involving you in this cheap drama for three days! You must think I am such a stupid ditz!
Rick smiled.
-You? A drama? Then what should you say after I put you through all my obsessive and dilemming love issues with Minmay?
Lisa gasped.
Hearing that name again snapped her back to reality.
-Yeah...
she smoothed her hair and skirt and tried to assume an authoritative look
-With the difference that I am not in love with Alex Louan!
At that moment the air just seemed to stop. Time became static. That sentence meant everything and anything, and Rick sensed it. He could not quite understand why, but a sense of euphoria overcame him.
Lisa did not love Louan. Inside, he selfishly exulted.
He stroked her cheek.
-Maybe this is going to sound strange, but I think it's for the best.
Lisa stared at him in amazement.
-What do you mean?
Rick could not tell ... chaos was still inside his head. He caressed her tear-damp hair and her neck. At his touch her skin filled with goose bumps.
His blue eyes shone like those of a wildcat in the night. Lisa stared at them, mesmerized.
If he had bent just a millimeter their lips would have brushed again like in the morning.
-This time you won't say you're sorry will you?
Rick burst into a giggle
-I won't, and you?
He leaned closer and cupped her cheek with one hand.
-You sure?
she laughed on his warm breath
he muttered something unintelligible as their lips locked and their bodies melted in a tender embrace.
Rick hugged her softly, stroked her hair and her back. That was all he had been thinking of all day, and there it was: had been so easy.
He felt as on top of such a high mountain.
Lisa was in his arms and he could feel the taste of her lips again. It had been so easy. Without really getting to know why... he was just... feeling happy.
To be continued.
notes:
1) In the DYRL light novel by Sukehiro Tomita, Hikaru says these precise words
2)A Torii is a large, gate-like are often In front of the entrance to Shinto shrines
3) As Admiral Hayes says its a Japanese sentence which means 'the premonition of love'.
4) As seen in episode 19 Bursting Point
Hello Everyone!
here I am with my 7th chapter of TLTY. I wanted to thank all the readers who repeatedly asked me to keep going with this story, you have given me great encouragement.
Sometimes writing is difficult, but sometimes, it can be a therapy. The story is coming to its natural end and if my health assists me I will work hard to complete it. hehe! :))
I just wanted to thank from the bottom of my heart Misa Ichijyo, Blackleaf, Anita, Ime Adena, Sempai and all the other readers for your support.
Thank you again and see you soon
Mao