Author's Note: Something short that I wrote quickly and on a whim. I wouldn't say that Maleigh is something that I'm super SUPER into, but I can see it evolving into a believable thing within the PR universe. I was actually really inspired by a piece of fanart I'd seen on Tumblr by "purushi", and it made me really want to write something for the two of them.

By the end of the movie, we aren't quite sure what Mako and Raleigh mean to one another.. Friends? Lovers? A lot of real life relationships can end up like this too, and sometimes we just have to stop questioning exactly what it may be, step back and appreciate things for what they are. And- that we have people who truly care about us.

Dark Maleigh. Angst, comfort. Implied sexual relations. Please R&R.

Plastic Blue

Mako Mori should have been happy.

They had won, after all.

The Breach had finally been sealed. She was a hero. All around her, humanity was slowly but surely beginning to rebuild itself in the aftermath of the horrific war it had been waging for over 10 years. For the first time since she could remember, having hope for the future wasn't just an unfounded, foolish dream. It was actually something to look forward to. Something real.

And yet...

Half a year after Gipsy Danger had self-detonated within the Anteverse and saved the human race, she should have been more than ready to start living again.

But closing old wounds sometimes meant opening new ones in the process.

The sky was overcast that day. An ominous and dull sort of gray in colour. Mako had been there before.. on five other occasions. However, Raleigh had asked to accompany her this time- holding the large black umbrella that shielded them from the rain as they walked along the unpaved path in unison. Neither of them spoke. Whether because it seemed inappropriate or they couldn't quite conjure the right words, the only sounds that followed them were water pelting against the thick canvas of the umbrella and two sets of heavy footsteps.

They stopped then, the road they had been following coming to a dead end. Two stones sat in front of them there. Graves. Both had been cleaned immaculately, despite the rain, and a small bundle of wild flowers left at the base of each. It seemed as though Herc Hansen had beaten them there. There had been no bodies, obviously.. but the new Marshal had seen to it that both were given proper burial sites. Mako's gaze fell to read the letters adorning the grave on the left, her expression contorting slightly as she clutched the bouquet of flowers she'd been carrying even tighter against her chest.

'Stacker Pentecost. December 30, 1985 - January 12, 2025.'

Droplets of rainwater had started gathering on the blue tendrils of hair that outlined the sides of her delicate face, and the look that the Japanese ranger wore was sullen at best. Raleigh's eyes never left her, watching intently as she bent down and gingerly laid the flowers upon the grave site. Pentecost had been a good man. He had some idea as to how she may have felt. Raleigh remembered- that when Yancy had died, everything just... seemed to lose significance. The food he ate lost its taste. His life suddenly lacked meaning. And it was horrible. Terrifying. Yes, he did have some idea.. but even he knew that it wasn't quite the same.

Raleigh hadn't let her out of his sight, but she wasn't getting up. Mako merely sat there- looking utterly defeated. She hadn't even noticed or cared about the mud that had gotten all over her stockings. Then came the soft sobs and she'd lifted one trembling hand to wipe the tears from her soft, white cheek. And suddenly she was that 10 year old girl all over again. The one he'd seen in the Drift. Wandering the decimated streets of Tokyo alone, crying out for someone. Anyone. It made his insides twist, painfully.

"... Raleigh.."

Her voice was meek, and he had strained to hear her speak his name amidst the downpour around them. Mako had turned to finally meet his gaze. Tears were streaming freely down her flushed cheeks in the same way that the rain had been cascading from the bluish tips of her hair.

Mako was up off her knees in a flash and had thrown her arms around Raleigh, who was startled enough to let the handle of the umbrella slip from his right hand. Carefully he'd reciprocated her embrace, his heart nearly splitting in two when her now-audible cries reached his ears.

"Raleigh- Raleigh... He's dead- HE'S DEAD-!" The girl in his arms shrieked. She buried her face against his chest and into the dampened material of the sweater he wore, finally able to let out exactly how she'd felt now that no one else was around. The American only tightened his grip on her.

"Mako..." Raleigh began tenderly, not knowing where he possibly could have been going with any of it. He wanted to comfort her in the worst way.. To steal away every ounce of her pain. But what was he supposed to say? That it was 'okay'? Because no- it wasn't okay. Pentecost was dead, and Mako's heart was in pieces. Raleigh had remembered growing weary of people apologizing to him over and over about his brother. He knew that they'd meant well, but... words alone never really fixed anything. The same was probably true for Mako now too, who was still sprawled in his arms, weeping violently.

"I'm here, Mako- I'm here." It wasn't much, but it was the only thing he could say that he felt would have been completely true. For her, he only wanted the truth. Nothing else.

Their first kiss had happened there in the rain, and innocently enough. Mako had never kissed a boy before.. There had been that one time where Chuck had dared her to kiss him, back when they were kids. An 11 year old Mako had wrinkled her nose in disgust at the notion though, still having deep-seated beliefs of boys being riddled with "cooties" and things of the sort. The way Raleigh's lips had touched hers though.. So sweetly and with such ardor- it made her reconsider that even as a small girl, maybe she'd refused only because she hadn't fancied Chuck all that much.

The Marshal had been her mentor- her father. Her savior... The single constant thing in her life throughout the war and the person she'd cherished above all others. And now he was only a memory... They were big shoes to fill. He knew that.. But Raleigh swore, blindly even, that he would do anything within his power to become that person for her now.

Because she needed him to be.

The journey home had been a silent endeavor. Mako had kept her head low the entire way, wrapped in Raleigh's pilot jacket which was clearly too large for her as she huddled next to him under the umbrella.

When the time came for them to part ways in the barracks of the Shatterdome, Mako's hand had unexpectedly caught on his, and a needful look had filled her glassy brown eyes.

"Don't go." She'd pleaded softly.

Raleigh glanced down to her hand which was still entwined with his own and frowned. She had said those words to him before.. but this time they had taken on a completely different meaning.

Mako was aware of how he felt towards her... Raleigh knew that much. They'd Drifted together numerous times. She'd seen his innermost thoughts- and yet it was far from simply being a physical attraction. Raleigh genuinely wanted to be something good in her life. That was one thing that hadn't changed since their first test run in Gipsy Danger together. He knew she wasn't the type of girl who wanted rescuing either, but even if he could just- rid her of the insufferable heartache she'd been feeling... that would have been a heroic enough deed for him.

Maybe he wasn't totally sure of how she'd come to view him since Pitfall- but Raleigh knew what he felt. And that if she let him, he would prove just how much he cared for her.

"Mako, I-"

"I know- Raleigh..."

There was an attempt at a tiny smile then on her part, giving his hand a small squeeze to match it.

And that was all the persuading he'd needed.

Raleigh reciprocated her humble smile before his co-pilot began pulling him into the dimly lit room, the door latching into place behind them with a defining click.

He would save her from her darkness...

In the very way she had saved him from his.