you know what? i am just going to dump the story here and if anyone reads it, good. if not, whatever.
enjoy and do review please.
DISCLAIMER: i do not own GBF. the plot and the original characters are mine
Chapter 1 - Where are we?
This sucks, was the first thought Sei had when he regained consciousness. Everything hurt as if he was on fire. He felt his hand still clutching Cosmos which calmed him slightly. Only then he felt his shirt getting wet and sticky and he begun to worry.
Am I bleeding from the glass? He tried to open his eyes and suddenly a too bright light hit him and he shut them close, moaning in pain.
While the burning sensation ebbed away, his ears started functioning again and a familiar noise echoed in them. He groaned at the headache it brought, please be quiet…
Slowly he could make the words out of the voice, but please stop… I want to go to sleep.
"—ve to wake up! Oh, god, you're loosing too much blood. Please, wake up!" Something warm shook his shoulder and he grunted incoherently, his headache pounding painfully. Would it kill those voices to leave me alone? I'm tired and in pai-
A slap made his eyes snap open in shock and he saw China's red rimmed eyes glare at him with unshed tears. What… what happened? Why is she crying?
"China?" God, his throat hurt.
"Oh, thank god." No pun intended, he thought dryly, since he was not thankful for him.
"What happened?" He tried to get up, but was stopped by a hand on his chest.
"Don't move." China pushed him gently back to the ground, which was filled with sand for some reason. Weren't they at the shop? "I'm going to remove your shirt and use it as bandages, okay? You need patching up." Sei could only blush as he nodded, slightly amused by his ability to be embarrassed in this situation. China slowly removed the shirt, too conscious of his winching and pained breathes. He was too tired for a whimper.
By the time she had finally removed the shirt and had it torn to strips, he was feeling lightheaded. He couldn't even move his head to see the injury, but spikes of the stabbing pain didn't let him forget about it. China was muttering calming sentiments and he tried to concentrate on her voice, the noise not repulsing as before but rather angelic to his tired psych.
How beautiful, he thought helplessly. That earthquake wasn't so bad in the end… but why is there sand underneath me? I don't remember any sand bags near the shop.
"China?"
"Hmm?"
"Where are we?" The hands wrapping his stomach froze. "China?" Had he said something wrong?
"I-I don't know, Sei-kun. After the light disappeared we were here already and you were lying several meters away from me. You were bleeding for some while, but I think I know what cut you." She pointed to a bloodied sharp pointed object a centimeter away from his mid-section. "I tried to move it, but it's stuck deep in the sand and it's still too dangerous to move you."
"What… what is it?"
"I have no idea, but it's too smooth to be a rock and it feels like metal, although what is it doing here is beyond me."
Sei looked at the object curiously. It arched up from the sand and its tip glinted with the blood. But even covered with blood he could have sworn that it looked like a…
"Gundam?" He was delirious, he knew that for sure now. There is no way that a life-size Gundam would just conveniently lie under where they are. He really was a Gundamholic.
"Gundam?" China replied with a heavy tone of doubt in her voice.
"Wouldn't… hurt to try…" Sei sighed, winching at the pain, "We are kind of lost here."
"Okay." She rolled up her sleeves and started removing the sand from the object.
Sei slowly fell into a light slumber, feeling slightly guilty for making her do all the work. But he was exhausted and even the slightest movement kindled the pain so he would only be a hindrance.
The wound, it seems, wasn't life threatening, but he was not used to those kinds of injuries, so he didn't know how to handle the pain and so his reaction to it is much more drastic, hence his current predicament.
"Sei-kun?" China's voice wavered in fear mingled with excitement. The blunette forced his eyes open, slightly agitated since he couldn't sleep.
"I think that you were right?" It was more of a question than a statement.
"Huh?"
"I revealed a head of a Gundam. The thing that cut you was part of the V-wings.
But that's the thing – it looks exactly like your original build strike on the day Reiji first came."
"What?!" Now she had his full attention. But… "Build Strike?!"
"Yes."
Sei inhaled deeply and slowly exhaled before his eyes narrowed in determination. China knew this look and felt her body go rigid with relief. He'll know what to do. He was the expert on Gundam.
Sei coughed a bit, but the look didn't waver. "We need to remove the sand from the midsection. There should be an indent to open it and if what I watched is any good you should find a seat for the operator. The water bottles will hopefully be in the compartment above it—"
"Sei," China hated to interrupt him, but he was ranting now. "We're in a desert. Right now it's still cool somehow but there is no way that there is water in there. It should all be vaporized."
"China." A warmer than usual hand rested on hers and she looked up to see unfocused eyes bright with the heat, and then it hit her – they have two options; do nothing and die from dehydration or try and find water even if it's in the unlikeliest places.
She nodded and walked over to where she guessed the mid-section would be judging by the location of the head. She then started digging, all while talking loudly to Sei to keep him from falling asleep.
By the time she uncovered the shining metal surface, she was sweating and lightheaded from the heat. She took a long moment to regain her breath before she started looking for the dent.
Nothing… nothing… she almost chanted in her head frantically. Nothing… nothi- found it! She exclaimed internally when her hand went under a curve of the metal. Cold wind hit her flushed face as the panels slid open, revealing the operator cockpit. She climbed into it and scanned the space above the seat for any containers but couldn't feel anything. She slumped down and sniffled as she let herself wallow in despair.
We will die here.
"China?" The faint voice of Sei snapped her out of her stupor.
What am I doing? Sei is depending on me! She frowned in determination and reached out once more and hit a cold button, and a small fridge opened before her. She saw a row of sealed bottles and cups and for some reason she was relieved that the Gundam was lying down. But nonetheless she grabbed a random cup and climbed back outside.
"Sei-kun! I found it!" She called triumphantly as she jumped from Gundam and crouched by the teen. She waited for a response but when he stayed completely still, her eyes widened.
"Sei-kun!" She fumbled for a heartbeat, noticing the sweaty and hot skin, and found a slightly erratic but strong one. "Sei-kun, please wake up, I have water. I found them where you told me they are." She raised his head slightly and placed the straw in his mouth.
Please! She prayed, please drink or you'll die.
Slowly the mouth closed over the tip and water moved into the boy's mouth as he sucked from it. Hazed eyes cracked open and looked up to her with such gratitude you would think she was an angel that came to save him. It was so endearing that she had to smile at that, even though her grip on the cup tightened. She is not leaving him alone ever again.
"Sei-kun? Do you know how to work a Gundam?" The teen looked at her again and hesitated for a moment before nodding uncertainly. "Good. I'm going to move you to the operator seat so bear with me, okay? This is perhaps our only chance to survive."
Sei's body stiffened in a way that told her that he was not happy about it at all, but he nodded.
China knew now that she will have nightmares for many nights to come. Sei's weak cries of agony as they slowly raised him on his feet ripped her heart out and made her knees week. She didn't want to hurt him yet as his face was buried in her shoulder to muffle the screams she felt that all she is causing him lately is pain. After he was finally steady on his feet she let him rest for a long while, the heavy panting and tears cutting into her heart further.
"I'm so sorry, Sei-kun."
"I-it's okay… I'm fine…" He was not fine, but they didn't have a choice.
"Okay…" She held him, signaling him to move. But as he did his first step, his legs collapsed and he fell, dragging her down with him. They were sprawled on the sand; Sei was crying and heaving, his face green and China was holding him.
"Sei-kun…"
"I-I'm sorry, but I don't feel so good…" He then retched what little was in his stomach.
We need to hurry, China thought in alarm. Sei can't handle much more.
She circled his arm around her shoulders and placed her free hand over his healthy side and slowly pulled him up. Sei noticed her struggling and shakily moved onto his feet.
"Good." But it was a painfully long walk to the open hatch and an even worse climb into the compartment.
When she finally had him lying in the chair, though uncomfortably seeing that it was horizontal (since the Gundam was lying down). He was bleeding through the cloth and slipping into unconsciousness. Fortunately, the cold air and the water seemed to revive him and his skin seemed cooler. They avoided a near-death situation and China knew that they were still in danger so after she redressed the wound, she settled by the back wall and let Sei rummage through his memories of Gundam marathons.
After a minute or two, Sei smiled faintly and pulled out of a hole a plain blank board. He then placed a hand on it and China saw light blue particles rise from his hand and lines of the same color slithered over the board, forming a keyboard under his hand.
She blinked at it. Plavsky Particles?
Then two things happened – first, the hatchet closed and then, several screens popped around them, showing the outside world. China stared in awe at them, seeing the dunes and the blue sky even though she was inside. Sei smiled at her enthusiasm and touched a battery icon on one of the screens. It beeped and a simple sentence appeared.
'Solar energy charge start. Twenty minutes left.'
"Thank goodness," Sei shoulders drooped. China chuckled at his position (it was pretty ridiculous). He looked at her and smiled in relief. She was finally smiling.
All he had done lately was to make her sad, but he finally did something right. He grinned and pushed a random button and an emergency oxygen mask fell on his face, making China bark out a laugh and hold her sides as she gulped in air while laughing uncontrollably. Then, she started hiccuping and Sei stared at her with wide eyes before he, too, started laughing. She turned red and pouted at him, but combined with the hiccuping had sent him into another fit of breathy chuckles, not noticing the small smile and the happiness dancing in her eyes.
"Here some water," She gave him the bottle after they had calmed down. He thanked her and drank it greedily. The adrenaline slowly ebbed away, hitting Sei with pain full force, but he held it in, not showing it since he didn't want the moment to be over.
When he finally managed to breath through the panic, the screen lit up again. This time it said 'Charge complete. Start the Gundam.' He panicked for a moment since he didn't notice how the time flew by, but then he beat down the panic and took controlled breaths. China is relying on his piloting skills.
"Okay, here goes nothing." Sei buckled himself and motioned to China to hold onto him. Then he grasped a lever in front of him and pushed it all the way forward. Wheezing motors roared to life and the duo's hearts skipped a beat when they rose up as the Gundam sat up.
When the room was perfectly vertical, Sei concentrated on the keyboard before pushing random buttons. They watched in fascination as the sand rolled away from the rising knees, then they held their breath as Sei pushed another level. They slowly rose above ground as the Gundam stood up until they were several feet above ground, and only then they let themselves exhale in relief.
Sei's eyes sparkled as his hands clenched around the lever. We're actually inside a Gundam, he thought excitedly and accidentally pushed the lever too far and they crashed face-first on the sand. China cried in surprise and pain as her head bumped the front wall, but he could only gasp in agony as the breath was knocked out of him by the straps as they dug into his injured side.
"S-Sei-kun?" She asked as she held her head, silently whimpering when she felt a bump and blood.
"I-I'm fine." He breathed and blinked back the tears before he pulled back the lever and pushed another.
It took several more minutes and more failed attempts until they were finally standing up correctly. The two shared a brief hand squeeze to celebrate before Sei begun moving them onward and soon they were running across the sand. Sei shouted in glee with a big smile on his face. China, on the other hand, was worried.
"Sei-kun?"
"Hmm?"
"Do you know where to go?" His hand yanked the lever too hard, making the Gundam stumble. Thankfully, Sei realized his mistake and righted them so they won't fall again.
China sighed at that. He didn't know.
"Hehehe…" Sei rubbed his nape, flustered. He touched the front screen and swiped it to the right. A map appeared and he spoke out loud to the space, "What is the closest city to us? Place and time, please."
A red dot flashed not far from them and it read 'Colony 1, 240 km, 10 hours'
"Colony 1? Are we in space?" Sei looked at the desert around him. "I thought that there are no deserts in colonies."
China was doubtful, but this was not the time for arguments and it sounded pretty plausible. "But when you think about it, it is much cooler than an average desert, and especially for this time of day."
"We should head to that city and ask around because I'm starting to think that this is one long dream."
"Then make that both of us. How did we even end up in space? And we don't even have colonies in space yet."
"No idea," He shrugged and pressed his feet on a pedal. "But at least we have a destination.
To colony 1 here we go!"
