Disclaimer: I don't own UDDUP or make any profits from posting this. ;(
Notes: I go mostly from the fan translations of UDDUP, although I refuse to believe Sierra goes by "Elan" – I have translated this into "Ellen." Why she needs a thousand names, WHO KNOWS.
Acclimation
Part 2
By Leila Winters
Ellen (or Sierra) and Kilo could never mend things between them. The cuts were too deep.
And if Ellen wanted Haruka to have a normal life, Haruka wanted the same for Ellen.
She'd dedicated her life to protecting her, but Haruka knew she wouldn't need her protection forever.
It seemed like such good timing when Alpha was injured in the field. It was serious enough to call for a few weeks of bedrest. It was convenient, really, to deposit him at their safe house as it wouldn't require extra caretakers and it was already part of E.N.
Jack Garvey wasn't one to sit around and do nothing.
Haruka couldn't say exactly when it started. Sometime between his trying to prepare a meal against bedrest orders and expressing guilt that he let his team down, Ellen and Jack became an item.
Haruka was really happy for them.
She felt it would make things easier for Ellen when she left.
Igawa and Senji were the best big brothers she could ask for. Not too serious, but protective all the same.
They were also hopeless in the romance category. Neither would ever approach a woman to ask them out and if any woman ever expressed interest, it generally went over their heads. Just hopeless.
So it wasn't as if she could take any relationship advice from them seriously.
Igawa was always teasing her about how she was growing up. Ironic, since he always stayed the same.
Senji was always happy to drive her places and take her shopping, although it became troublesome when he insisted on seeing her to and from school safely and rumors went around that her boyfriend was Yakuza. When she told people he was her uncle, it didn't help.
It was a mess. Harmless. But still a mess they laughed about at the end of the day.
She got her driver's license at 18.
Igawa swore teaching her gave him grey hair but he was the first one to congratulate her.
He cried at her graduation ceremony, too.
Senji, that idiot, got his bullhorn confiscated.
Her eye was inexplicably drawn to the back of the crowd. At its very edge, she saw him standing there. She felt more than saw he had a hint of a smile on his face.
Then he was gone.
She smiled to herself.
She went to university.
She made friends, stayed up late studying, became proficient at knitting, joined a wayfinding and orienteering club, and was on track to graduate early.
She even went on dates.
They didn't seem to be bad young men, and the dates went fine. She didn't want to be clueless when it came to actual relationships and she knew Mamoru would never accept it if she didn't try. But when it came time to grow closer, she found herself so disappointed at the lack of spark when the young men would press their lips against hers, hopeful.
There should be more.
She would end it there, gently. It was only fair. Besides, how would she explain the wig?
Life went on.
It was a warm spring evening. She had met friends for dinner. It had been such a good day.
It was about to get better.
She took a path that led to a dark, deserted intersection.
Like an unholy apparition, he appeared before her. He looked…mostly the same. A little older now that he was well into his 30s. The smile on his face was less cruel and intense than his smiles of the past, the lines around his eyes more relaxed.
"I've come to sweep you away," he said, as if he hadn't kept away from her for seven years, avoiding prolonged face-to-face contact.
Her face lit up with happiness. "Do I get a say in the matter?"
He looked at her quite soberly, expression devoid of any coyness. "You always have a say."
"I don't graduate university for another few weeks."
He shrugged as she took his arm. "I thought maybe we would see how things go."
He had a house nearby.
Modest yard with a privacy fence. One car garage attached to the house. Flowers lining the front.
She moved in right away.
He already had a bedroom set up for her—supplied with essentials and a few basic outfits.
That first night, Haruka chattered away excitedly, filling him in on the adventures she had gone on on class trips and restaurants she wanted to take him to experience. He sat in an armchair with a cup of tea in his hands and listened with a relaxed, bemused expression.
When it got late, he suggested they retire to bed. He left her at her bedroom door with a simple goodnight and continued to his room.
She awoke to the smell of coffee wafting through the house.
She watched Mamoru finish preparing breakfast with swift, confident movements. She missed the reassuring strength of that back so much. She tried not to smile too much as she caught him spooning sugar into his coffee before coming to the table.
They ate like it was any other day. As Haruka was cleaning up after their meal, Mamoru announced he was stepping outside. He spent the next several hours swinging his sword, executing each kata with precision from memory. She finished some homework she had in her bag at the dining room table, the sound of Mamoru's sword slicing air a muted backdrop.
He came back in, damp from sweat and silently made a beeline to the washroom. Once refreshed, he spent the rest of the day listening to Haruka talk about her life, her studies, and some of the missions the Elements Network involved her in.
Technology had come a long way in seven years. It could transfer more data faster than ever before. The images his glasses could transmit were a little more detailed and defined than before. No colors, but shapes had texture and form.
She had really grown up.
He knew she had, but it still took getting used to the idea that this young woman in front of him was that same loud brat thrust upon him all those years ago. She had experienced so much life, he was getting tired hearing about it all. She could command a unit on the field without batting an eye and knit a sweater at the same time. She no longer wore her hardships on her sleeve, instead she had all her hopes.
They moved her things in, Ellen scowling all the while. Jack Garvey smirked through it all but stayed out of it. Haruka reassured her if things didn't work out, she could move back.
They went on walks. They watched movies on the couch together. Shared meals. Went on a mini trip where Senji drove and they fell asleep leaning against one another in the back seat.
They were still figuring things out and slowly getting used to being around one another physically again. There was no rush.
The night before her graduation from university, they had just finished watching Zatoichi, the story of the blind swordsman, laughing at the silly dancing, expressing surprise at some of the details they got right, things felt good. He had put an arm around her shoulders as credits rolled, turned to her and placed a warm kiss to her forehead.
"Is that all?" she asked in such a small voice, it sounded like it came from someone else.
"What more is there?" Simple.
He took his glasses off and put them on the side table.
"I'm not entirely innocent, you know." He could hear her holding back from rolling her eyes. "I dated other men."
"You barely tried."
She sounded a little defeated. "I tried."
He unerringly found one of her hands and took it in his own. "Tell me, what did you learn?"
She was looking at him curiously. "They're just boys compared to you." When he didn't say anything, she continued, "I know I like to be kissed gently."
The corner of his mouth curled up slightly. With slow, lazy movements, he gathered her close. She was so pliant in his arms, her heart rate jumping, her breath halting and sweet from the juice she'd been drinking. "Is that so?" he murmured, a razor's edge from her parted lips.
It was a slow, warm, gentle kiss that took its time finishing.
From then on, he kissed her goodnight.