A/N: Hi everyone! Here's an update once full of cheese, just in time for Christmas. I apologize for making you wait more than 2 months for this crappy follow-up T_T

If you really want to put the blame on someone, I suggest you dot it on my PSP along with Macross Ace Frontier! (And exams).

Anyway I once again want to thank all the readers, reviewers and fans who are spreading Macross Frontier Love. Keep on buying the goods XD

Merry Christmas and happy new year to everyone and special wishes for the SkullFaerie crew and all the AruSheri fans out there!

BETA-ED -3/1/11 (by steshin)

Even though she managed to come through the Vajra's attack unscathed despite her charging in recklessly, the same couldn't be said about her fellow Zentraedi pilot. Luckily Nene wasn't severely injured but she still needed to be attended to in order to be ready for their upcoming encounter with the Vajra's forces.

As Klan had expected, the hospital turned out to be too crowded for her taste and it only took her 5 minutes before she made her way to the rooftop, if there was one thing she hated above all, it was being mistaken for a child.

The still fuming warrior was mildly surprised to find a certain young man lying down on the floor. Neither his presence there nor his peculiar flying hand motion were unexpected as his passion for the sky had always been blatant to anyone who knew him.

However it was her first time seeing him with earphones on and intently listening to music.

"She's really impressive."

Alto froze upon hearing the childish voice. As a now full-fledged soldier he felt slightly ashamed at having been snuck up on so easily.

"Two days and you're already like this."

Seeing the quizzical look he gave her, Klan pointed to the disk case he was holding with a smirk plastered on her face.

"I never knew you were a fan of hers."

The young man sat up and removed his earphones before replying to her for the first time.

"Is it that unusual for me to listen to some music?"

"In your case, it is. You never showed interest in anything else than the sky before and here you are now, lost in thoughts while listening to her album, going as far as naming your own squadron-"

"Everyone's been listening to Sheryl's songs."

A smug grin erupted on her child-like face as she brought his attention to the needle mark she had spotted on his right forearm.

"I never thought you would score so quickly."

He had already gone through his fair share of embarrassment this morning but it didn't prevent him from blushing once again.

Once again Alto found himself on the wrong end of the teasing, a situation he knew all too well.

Knowing there was no point denying the obvious –not that he really wanted to anyway-, Alto got up and made his way towards the railing, yanking back his arm from the Meltran's grip in the process.

Much to his dismay, if her patting him vigorously on the back was an indication to be trusted, it looked like Klan was in a rather playful mood today.

"I'm proud of you, young man! Not even caring about your own welfare… That's really stupid but it certainly is romantic!"

He didn't dare to imagine what people would think if they spotted him being congratulated by a little girl for achieving a feat she shouldn't even be thinking of at her age.

Now he could understand Michel's reluctance to commit to a serious relationship with the young Meltran, no matter how gorgeous she looked in her Macronized form, dating her Miclonized self in public would be difficult.

"All that's left now is for you to propose."

"Yeah"

Somehow, his reply managed to put a stop to the teasing he was getting since Klan's appearance.

"Alto… I was joking."

"Why not? It's not like I'm going to be tied down for long…"

Alto instantly regretted saying this when he saw the Meltran turning her face from him. It wasn't right to burden her with his worries when she already had her own share of problems.

"Why are you here?"

He could only hope changing the subject would be enough to resume their talk.

"Nene's getting treated here, I dropped by to visit her."

It was his turn to avert his gaze now.

"…How is she?"

"Don't worry she's fine."

Hearing this prompted the young man to sigh in relief. So much happened these past days that he was already bracing himself for another bad piece of news.

"She'll be back in no time!"

"I wouldn't bet on that with those incompetents…"

Being so negative wasn't something he particularly enjoyed but he had to let some of his frustration out. Knowing he had Klan's full attention, the pilot went on with his rant.

"Sheryl-san, your medical record is inaccurate; I'm afraid you will have to undergo a full check-up once again… What kind of crap is that? She already stayed here when we came back from Galia IV! What were they doing back then?"

Klan knew it was probably useless to try and reason with the fuming young man next to her but she couldn't leave him in this state. It wasn't right for him to have such resentment towards Frontier's medical staff.

"Maybe someone tampered with her record."

"Who would do that? She's a singer, not some-"

"Grace O'Connor?"

Granted the Meltran was far more insightful than he had been, but it still seemed be a ludicrous claim. Sure, she had been quick to forsake the galactic fairy as soon as she found Ranka however he couldn't see how she could conclude that this woman had anything to do with Sheryl's predicament.

"Sheryl's former manager? What kind of nonsense-"

"Her name turned up during my research on the V-type infection. She even published a thesis on that matter."

Sheryl's speech about her life being nothing more than a lie flashed through his mind. What he had initially written off as an attempt to justify her running away may have been the harsh truth after all.

All the rage Alto had instantly died down and was replaced with a feeling of utter uselessness upon hearing this. He had conducted a few researches of his own on the matter and yet he never found anything beyond basic information on his lover's illness.

Only then did he realize that the songstress had probably been a carrier from the start, whether she had been aware of it or not. The only sure thing though –if Klan was right- was the fact that Grace deliberately hid the truth on her condition for who knows what reason.

"You're telling me she knew all along for Sheryl and that she managed to tour around the galaxy without anybody recognizing her?"

"I can only guess she had influential accomplices…"

"That's insane…"

Until now the young pilot had never thought about anything else than waging war with the Vajras in memory of his predecessor, the late Lieutenant Henry Gilliam.

When he met the currently missing songstress of hope and actually learnt about her tragic past, he thought he had found a valid reason and thus joined the battle against their ruthless aggressors in order to protect her, encouraged by Sheryl's words to guide fate with his own hands.

Nevertheless he had decided to stay on Frontier to protect it even though Ranka left to go to the Vajras. He may have been unable to protect Galaxy's fleet –Sheryl's homeland- but he certainly would not fail to protect her new home, no matter what conspiracy and ulterior motives their higher-ups could have.

"You seem to know a lot. What about the Quarter leaving? What about Ranka?"

"I'm sure they had their own reasons to leave."

"A reason good enough to abandon the fleet…"

Klan couldn't help but notice how his knuckles were turning white as he tightened his grip on the railing while talking. Glancing at his face she was surprised to see the resolve in his eyes considering the inner turmoil flashing through them a moment ago.

"Grace, the Quarter, Ranka… They better not get in our way."

The Meltran knew well what was going through the young pilot's mind; the tone used further confirming his intentions. There would be no distinction between their alien foes and their former allies. He would show no mercy to anyone threatening Frontier and the former galactic fairy's wellbeing.

"That's why I stayed: to prevent you and Luca from doing stupid things."

This statement earned her an enquiring look.

"Men tend to act dumber when it comes down to women. I'm just making sure you don't kill yourselves in vain."

It was actually scary to see how right she was. Michel immediately charged to his death when he saw his childhood friend in danger; Ozma had no qualm about leaving the fleet as he thought it was the best way to protect the two women in his life; Luca didn't hesitate to use his friend and a dying woman to ensure the safety of the comatose girl he had a crush on; And last but not least, he was actually willing to kill the girl he had initially vowed to protect along with his former companions in arms if it could give a certain pink-haired songstress a chance to live several more days.

Their lengthy talk was interrupted by a vibrating cellphone. Come to think of it, Klan never heard Alto's ring tone since he always kept his phone on silent mode. However she was sure that whatever it may have been in the past, his actual one was related to Sheryl in one way or another.

"I'm sorry but I have to go. The Queen's calling. See you later."

He didn't even wait for her reply before hastily making his way back inside and a smile formed on the Meltran's childlike face upon seeing how eager the now grown man was to reunite with his fairy.

"What a waste of time!"

Although the couple had just left the hospital a moment ago, Alto was already having a hard time resisting the urge to laugh at Sheryl's outburst. In fact he was actually quite relieved to see her perking up instead of one more display of sadness such as what he had been witnessing for the past few days.

"How did it go?"

The songstress abruptly stopped in her tracks and spun around to answer her lover's question, her gorgeous hair whipping around as she did so.

"They even messed up my blood type! Can you believe that? I had nothing but praise for Frontier since I arrived here but I think I will have to revise my judgment!"

It was rather amusing to see how her reaction mirrored his before he had a talk with Klan.

However now that the Meltran had given him some insight on who may have been responsible for such a glaring error, Alto couldn't help but sympathize with the medical staff that had to handle the young woman.

"Well, I guess they were just overwhelmed-"

"You're actually siding with them?"

Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut after all.

Letting go of the hand she had been holding until now, Sheryl turned around in a huff and resumed her walking, leaving behind her kabuki-hime in the process.

"And here I thought you were on my side!"

"I was just joking. Of course I'm on your side."

Sheryl calmed down upon hearing this and slowed down, thus giving Alto the opportunity to take hold of her hand once again.

"For a moment I even expected them to tell me all that V-type infection diagnostic was another mistake on their behalf."

Even though she had said it in a rather light tone, Alto knew how self-conscious about her illness she was. Not wanting to upset her once again, the young man settled for a simple yet meaningful squeeze. He felt rather proud of himself for doing things right for once as she rewarded him with a sweet smile and returned his comforting gesture with one of her own.

Taking advantage of this momentary break, Alto asked something that had been on his mind since they had left the hospital.

"What's with that paper plane?"

"I was starting to think you were too blinded by my dazzling beauty to notice."

Once again the songstress let go of his hand and with a grin plastered on her face, she gestured proudly to the inanimate object her companion was eyeing quizzically.

"Today, my dear hime, is the day I will prove you that you're not the only one who can fold paper planes!"

It was a frivolous challenge: he wasn't the only who could and he perfectly knew that already, his late mother being the one who taught him how to make a decent plane… Even Ranka knew how to make one since he showed her how to do it before she defected to the Vajra's.

More importantly, just one look at the crumple sheet of paper she was holding was enough for the expert he was to know her so called plane wouldn't be able to fly unless she had a secret trick up her sleeve. He highly doubted she had sufficient knowledge to integrate some miniature jet engine in a simple paper plane, if it was even possible, but still there was some remote possibility a miracle could happen, she was Sheryl Nome after all and that's what made her so special in everyone's eyes, even more so in his.

"Speechless?"

The pilot's eyes shifted back to his lover's eyes, trying to decipher the secret meaning of the challenge she had issued him. Maybe he was just paranoid especially after the talk he had with Klan. As far as he could tell there was nothing more than a playful glint in the blue eyes he had been staring at for several seconds now, not that he had anything to say against that since it made her look even more enthralling than usual.

Yes, he was completely mesmerized by the woman before him and he would have gladly stayed like this for the remainder of the day if it wasn't for her sudden change in expression.

"Hello? Sheryl Nome to Mr. Goldfish! Are you going to gape like that for long? Want me to perform a CPR?"

The wheels in Alto's mind began to work once again and his brain sent back several signals, first of all, close his open mouth. He needed to refocus on the topic at hand but it proved to be harder than expected as he had absolutely no idea what they were talking about before she sneakily hypnotized his poor self.

Sheryl raised an eyebrow upon seeing his eyes shifting nervously. Alto never ceased to surprise her indeed. Never before had she thought he would be bold enough to completely space out while talking to her. Did he even listen to what she said?

Seeing how the presently comical-hime wasn't going to revert back to his former legendary self without her much needed help, Sheryl practically shoved her plane into his dumbfounded face, eyes narrowing menacingly.

"A-Ah! The plane!"

It had been a close call. One more second and he would have completely given in to his siren's call. He swore at whoever had the dumb idea to give such a nickname to the mischievous creature in front of him, she clearly was no galactic fairy. The galactic siren, that's what she really was. A beautiful siren with a surreal voice that targeted exclusively long-haired kabuki actors now converted into pilots. He wondered how many men had succumbed to her call. Surely his lover had millions of admirers across the galaxy, and among them he was sure that several millions of men and even women alike fantasized on her. She could have picked any male – or female – she wanted and yet she chose him as her first and probably her last with the way things were going.

Alto's lips curved upward slightly at the thought. He probably was the pilot who had been shot down the most in the history of both the UN Spacy and the NUNS and he was still around, coming through unscathed each time. To top it all he shared the life of the finest woman in the galaxy. There was no arguing that he was the luckiest hime indeed. All thoughts of her impending doom were forgotten for once as he stared at the now pouting songstress, arms crossed over her chest.

"Are you mocking me?"

Sheryl turned away from the smiling hime in a huff, nose high in the air. First he had the nerve to ignore her and now he was mocking her. Did the Vajra abduct her angsty pilot and replace him with a clone when she was undergoing her full check up? Not that this Alto was worse than the previous one come to think it, maybe the Vajras weren't the ruthless killers everyone thought they were after all. Seeing her pilot in shining VF smiling certainly was a nice change.

"Do you really think your crumpled sheet of paper is going to fly? You have a lot to learn before even thinking of challenging me."

Looking back at him, Sheryl was pleased to see he was finally in the mood to go along with her little act and returned the smirk plastered on his face with one of her own.

"Shut up, little hime. It will fly, just wait and see for yourself!"

With one swift movement of her wrist, the plane took off and began its ascension. A flicker of hope lighted her eyes as she watched said plane rising higher and the songstress unconsciously took a step forward as if she wanted to chase after it. There was only one thought in her mind, longer. She wanted her plane to soar through the sky the longest it could. Unlike the man standing next to her it didn't matter to her if it was an artificial one as long as it was the same sky his paper planes were flying in.

Sheryl had never been a superstitious person but her heart still sank when the plane took a nosedive and crashed onto the hard concrete. She sighed as she made her way towards the crash site- not that it was a long way from where she was initially standing- and gathered the plane. Frontier being in shambles wasn't a reason to throw garbage around especially now that the cleaning droids were disabled for the time being.

Spotting an empty trash can that survived the previous onslaught, the songstress disposed of the unimportant paper. It didn't matter if she had used her prescription to make the plane, it was just a playful challenge she had issued to her lover. A challenge that didn't end well for her, it was only normal that she couldn't always win.

"You were right. It was impossible to make it fly after all."

"Sheryl…"

Unbeknown to her, Alto didn't pay much attention to the short flight. He didn't know what was written on it but judging by Sheryl's reaction it wasn't a mere paper plane as she had put it. He had witnessed how her eyes lit up upon seeing it flying at first and his own heart sank with dread when he saw how distressed she looked as it came crashing down.

"Let's go, Alto!"

With that said, the pink haired woman resumed her walking. If she was one of the greatest songstresses the galaxy had ever known, Sheryl Nome was clearly not a great actress. Heck, if he had to rate her attempt at faking cheerfulness on a scale of 20 he wouldn't have given her more than 0.25. Being a professional actor proved to come in handy more often that he was willing to admit.

For the second time in 10 minutes the young pilot succumbed to the call of his siren, except that this one was more akin to a silent cry of despair which was clearly not to his liking.

He would not let her fight alone once more even if he had to trade his former Sakura-hime title for the less flattering trash-hime one.

At least he was lucky that his opponent was an unmoving and empty garbage can this time.

God knows what would have happened if it had been one of those cleaning droid armed with those lethal weapons known as the household goods.

For the second time of the day, Sheryl opened the door to her new home, the home she had always dreamt of in her childhood, and felt like a little girl whom had received the most precious gift ever. She looked back to the man, whose hand was still linked with hers, her face beaming as if all her previous worries had vanished upon reaching their home.

"Home… We're home."

Alto nodded before letting go of her hand.

"Now that you're done with it you should get some rest."

"You're not coming?"

She cringed inwardly upon hearing how desperate she had just sounded. All she could do was silently pray that he hadn't noticed it.

Much to her dismay Alto seemed to have drastically improved at catching those little details lately.

"It's only my daily patrol shift. Nothing to worry about."

They had only officially been together and yet she was already reliant on him to the point she didn't know if she would be able to go on if something happened to the pilot she loved so much.

She really needed to get a grip of herself if she didn't want to die from anxiousness once they would engage into their final battle for Frontier survival. It wouldn't be long before the unavoidable day everyone feared would come.

"That's right. You're a squad captain now."

Alto returned her smile, it was a good start.

"Yeah… It's not that bad even if my wingmen are kind of nosy."

His reply elicited a giggle from the songstress.

"What should I call you now? Hime-leader? Hime-1?"

The songstress punishment came in the form of a flick on the nose.

"I'm glad I didn't seek any advice from you for my call sign."

It was his turn to chuckle as the sole answer he received from her was a light sneeze.

"You deserved that punishment for messing with newly-appointed Captain, Saotome Alto… aka Sagittarius-1."

He had his moments of sweetness but never did she expect him to name his very own squadron after one of her song. It was even more touching considering how they first met while she was performing that one at the time. One day she would have to establish a list of all those little things Alto had done to make her feel special lest she forget some of them.

"Alto, I-"

"Just rest until I come back. I'll take care of dinner."

He turned around to make his way back to the elevator. It was typical of him, saying one of the sweetest things he could have told her and leaving the next second without even letting her a chance to give him a good luck kiss. She would be damned if she let him go away like this after what had been said.

Grabbing one of his arms, she prevented him from going any further and forced him to face her once more. The rest of the story was self-explanatory and didn't need much description. Suffice to say the pilot went along with the good luck kiss his lover offered him and several seconds passed before they pulled apart.

"I'll be waiting, Alto."

He cupped her cheek and laid a kiss on a forehead before resuming his walk to the elevator.

It was just a patrol shift and here they were acting like it he would not come back from it. Alto couldn't help but shudder at the thought of the coming battle. No matter what was thrown at them, he would have to make sure he would come back to her safely. This very thought ran continuously in his head as he began reading the paper he had retrieved from the garbage can.

The puzzled looks he received didn't matter to him, he would stay by her side.

Wiping his eyes once more, Alto shoved the paper in his pocket and hurried to the base.

Alto hated these patrol shifts. Not only were they incredibly boring, they left him dispirited. He could see another Island being abandoned as his VF-171EX veered back to the once luxurious Frontier, a colony whose only hope of salvation resided in the conquest of an alien world. Kill in order to survive; it has become their ranks new motto.

It shouldn't affect him that much, seeing his homeland wrecked beyond repair. He used to hate that place with its artificial sky after all and yet it sickened him to see it in such a state.

"Taichou, I have a question. May I ask?"

He saw no harm in answering one question from his wingman and with their shift practically being over he might as well spend its remainder talking with his men instead of brooding like he had been for the most part of it.

"Go ahead."

"Is it true that you're dating Sheryl?"

Maruyama was known to be one of Sheryl's die-hard fans. Heck, he even introduced himself as her biggest fan in the galaxy when they first met. His nose art confirmed his infatuation with the songstress, much to his leader's displeasure, the former actor even had him remove it as soon as he was given command, despite his subordinate complains.

Alto cursed inwardly at his lack of forethought. He should have known that question would have something to do with her.

"What are you asking all of a sudden?"

"It's the rumor! They say the reason you didn't join the SMS desertion is because of her."

This boy knew too much for his own good.

"All private questions are rejected."

Changing the subject was the only thing Alto could do to avoid further enquiries on his love life with the galactic fairy.

"Don't you know about the valkyrie pilots curse? If you tease someone about a woman during a mission, you'll suddenly get shot d-"

His heart raced upon hearing the younger man's scream. Although he had secretly prayed for something to happen and force his subordinate to drop out the subject, he certainly didn't mean to kill him. He would never look at "Do You Remember Love" the same way now that he knew the curse worked.

"Maruyama!"

"S-Sheryl-san…"

"Eh?"

The relief of knowing Maruyama was still safe and sound was all but forgotten at this point as Alto zoomed to see his girlfriend was effectively standing in the place where they always seemed to bump into each other, waving at them moreover.

"Well, well…"

If even his second wingman, Warrant Officer Inada, joined the teasing, it could only mean one thing.

"Taichou, please get her autograph for me afterwards!"

Alto was definitely screwed.

"I told you to wait at home!"

"Are you that displeased to see me…?"

Those eyes were one of his greatest weaknesses. Alto couldn't stand to see the sad look she was giving him but she didn't seem to know any of this. On second thought he wouldn't put it past her to exploit it to her advantage.

"That's not what I meant…"

It was the truth after all. He was greatly moved to see she walked all the way just to see him. However, the last thing he needed was his two wingmen gossiping about his private life during their missions. More importantly, he just wanted her to take it easy until she recovered.

Unfortunately there would probably be no recovery for the pink-haired woman.

Now wasn't the right time to mope around. He would have all his life to do it afterwards…

"So why did you come here?"

As much as she had expected that question, Sheryl still couldn't help but nervously shift her gaze towards her feet. How she wished she didn't forget her faithful pair of sunglasses.

The songstress braced herself for the lecture she would have to undergo once she told him what he wanted to know.

"I… We need to… do some shopping…"

Alto raised an eyebrow at her reply. While one couldn't say their refrigerator was full, he was sure he would be able to cook a decent meal with the supplies they had. He was skilled in the culinary art since he had lived alone for several years now.

"Don't worry about it, we have more than enough. That is, unless you plan to stuff yourself."

Normally she would have already wiped off the smirk her lover had on his face but she knew this was an argument she wouldn't win, no matter how many witty remarks she came back with.

"No we don't…"

"What did you do?"

Sheryl flinched at the wary tone he had used. There was no doubt her ego as a woman wasn't going to be spared the humiliation that was upon her.

"I-I just wanted to cook something for you and-"

"I told you I would take care of dinner! Do you realize how hard those ingredients are to find?"

Of course she knew how hard it was to come across fresh ingredients these days. Under normal circumstances she would have slapped him for talking as if she was just some kind of diva who had no foothold in reality, but there was no denying she was responsible for wasting those valuables supplies.

"I was just trying to make a simple-"

She stopped as he took her right hand in his and gently brushed his thumb against her bandaged finger. For the umpteenth time in two days she could feel her eyes watering and had to blink back the tears as she saw Alto's eyes widen in realization. What kind of woman couldn't cook without risking of contaminating her boyfriend with an incurable disease?

Her heart shattered once more with the look he gave her. She could see it all, confusion, guilt, sorrow… pity? All those negative feelings swirling in those golden orbs because of her. He wasn't supposed to look at her that way.

"Sheryl, I didn't know… I-I'm sorry-"

The songstress instinctively yanked back injured her hand to hide it with her other one.

"Don't say it! Don't…"

Once more she was forced to concede defeat as a lone tear trailed down her face, followed soon after by some of its peers. Things never seemed to go the way she wanted them these days. She was supposed to be enjoying some nice homemade cooking with her dearest person at this moment, not crying over a little cut with her boyfriend giving her the look she despised the most.

There were numerous instances where Alto should have shut his mouth and this was one of them. It pained him to no end to see the woman, whom once could be considered as the personification of self-confidence, breaking down like this. He thus did the only thing he could think of which was hugging his sobbing fairy. Comforting her became his top priority as he kept on stroking her back, completely oblivious to the curious stares being thrown their way. The couple stayed locked in an embrace until her sobs died down.

"Let's go…"

The songstress simply nodded against his chest.

Sheryl sat on the edge of her new bed, contemplating the events that had taken place that night. So far it had been a pleasant one, mostly thanks to Alto's thoughtfulness.

She had no more doubt about it, she really needed to list all the little things he had done to make her feel loved. It ranged from gluing down the end of her chopsticks together to make sure she would be able to eat without humiliating herself as she did earlier to making sure she wouldn't bawl her eyes out in the shower while he wasn't looking.

In her defense, bath-time had been exciting for the both of them even if his unexpected incursion started it all. It was too bad she would have to get used to the rubber feel against her flesh from now on.

She was still combing her hair when her princess charming stepped into the room, a towel hanging around his shoulder. He sat down next to her and mimicked her gesture in an attempt to untangle the mess known as his own mane of hair. The songstress giggled as she heard her boyfriend struggle with some renegade strands.

"Do you need some help?"

A groan of frustration was her only reply. Maybe she should help him, it would be her way of repaying his unusual consideration.

She left her comb on the nightstand and immediately worked on ruffling her hime's blue hair. It was much more fun to mess with him after all.

Being caught by surprise, it took him some time to get a hold on her arms. Once he did, the pilot pinned the mischievous fairy down to the bed. Narrowing his eyes, he scrutinized his still giggling prey. He would make sure this stab in the back wouldn't go unpunished. Hell hath no fury like a disheveled hime.

During several minutes, Sheryl's laughter were the only sounds echoing in the room amidst the shuffling of the bed sheets as she was subjected to Alto's wrath, his agile fingers tickling her like there was no tomorrow.

He eventually stopped when he deemed she had learnt her lesson – or rather when she began to beg for her life – and flopped down next to her, joining her laughter. They both laid down there, trying to catch their breath. This was how she had always wished her life to be, full of laughter shared with a person she could call her dearest.

Having calmed down, the songstress reached for the comb she had been using before. Her eyes widened in recognition at the small paper plane next to it. She didn't notice at first but it clearly was the same plane she had used earlier, albeit slightly modified.

"I was starting to think you were too blinded by my manliness to notice."

She looked up at the man currently leaning on his elbow watching her, confused. The aforementioned man sat up, before turning back to his girlfriend, a smile still plastered on his face.

"So what do you think of the improvements I made? Looks better now, doesn't it?"

Seeing how her gaze kept shifting from him to the crumpled plane lying on the nightstand he decided to go on with his explanation, hoping he would answer most of the question he was sure she wanted to ask in the process.

"Yes, I know that rummaging through garbage is not really classy but it seemed important to you."

"You read it?"

It was an unnecessary question, she perfectly knew that. There was no way he would pick up a random paper plane she had dumped in a trash can, refold it into something more suitable for a durable flight, just to leave it standing there on their nightstand. She already knew he had read it and yet he hadn't mentioned anything regarding either her degrading health or the fact that he never saw her take the pills she had been prescribed.

As if he read her mind, the young man answered her silent query.

"I understand that you're doing it for us all…"

He made no movement but she still felt compelled to hold his gaze.

"I just want you to promise that you won't give up… I promise I won't give up on you."

She took a deep breath and it seemed he was actually struggling to find his next words. However she had seen nothing except absolute certainty in his eyes so far.

"And when it's all over… We can… You… Well you get what I mean, right?"

Although the songstress really had no idea what he meant, in fact she wasn't sure he even knew what he wanted to say, she could still comply with his request.

"…I promise I won't give up either."

A simple phrase and yet he felt as if a great weight has been lifted from his shoulder upon hearing this. Letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding, Alto shifted closer to her, reaching for two sheets of paper lying beneath the plane.

"Well then, let's make your plane fly."

"But you said yourself it was impossible for-"

He handed her one of the two sheets before straightening himself. Folding paper planes equaled serious business in his book.

Upon further inspection Sheryl noticed she was actually holding a copy of her medical prescription.

"You would think it would be easy to make a duplicate in this era."

She could see what he was planning to do, the whole idea was completely stupid though.

"You know what it's called? Cheating."

"I prefer to call it, guiding fate with our own hands."

Alto's eyebrow twitched as he saw his girlfriend trying to stifle a laugh and he threw a pillow at her. He was serious, for God's sake!

"Just shut up and go along with it, ok?"

"Folding paper planes, a romantic moment according Saotome Alto is it?"

A second pillow hit her square in the face, sending her in a giggling fit.

"Let's just get over this and move on to something else, please!"

"I shall look forward to learning from you, Saotome-sensei."

She bowed to him as she said that. That woman sure knew how to drive him insane, no matter what she did. The pilot grabbed a third cushion – who knew how many more she did put in their bed – and smacked her with it, eliciting more giggles from her.

"Stop calling me like my old man!"

Lifting her head, she wiped the tears of laughter from the corner of her eyes before looking back at her fuming companion.

"Okay, let's do it."

"Finally!"

The following minutes were spent peacefully and no more violence took place as Sheryl did her best to fold the finest plane she could under her lover's guidance. If the princess she was so fond of could do it, she should be able to.

"Finished!"

She eagerly handed him her paper plane, waiting for his verdict.

"How is it?"

Putting it against the light, the young man reviewed the object with meticulous care.

"Not bad."

The galactic fairy stuck her tongue out in response to his condescending tone and snatched her work from his expert hands before making her way to the opened window. Alto followed her, a plane of his own at the ready. He pointed to the plane she was gingerly holding.

"Everyone deserves a second chance. At least you of all people should have one."

Smiling at his uncharacteristic sensitiveness, Sheryl took his hand, intertwining their fingers, before they simultaneously launched their respective planes. All was going well when suddenly Alto's plane banked towards Sheryl's one thus colliding with it. He had worked so hard for this moment, only to ruin it all in the end. A bead of cold sweat trailed down his spine.

"I-It wasn't supposed to-"

Sheryl didn't let him finish his sentence as she pressed her lips against his. It was an amazing feat on her behalf as she managed to smother him with passion with this plain gentle kiss.

She glided her lips across his cheek and reached his earlobe, his arms tightening around her waist as she began to nibble gently at it. He was rapidly reaching his limit, it wouldn't be long until he lost whatever self-control he had left.

"Sheryl…"

Her whispering in his ear didn't help in keeping what little sanity he had left.

"Let's move on to something else…"

He couldn't agree more. Even if folding paper planes had always been one of his favorite ways to pass the time, he clearly didn't mind moving on to something likewise interesting if not more.

They definitely had to make the best of the three days they had left before the last battle for their survival took place.