Mortal Kombat; A Second Chance
~A/N~ Eno-on: Welcome back everyone, the set up in the previous chapter Lewis' plan can be shown to both you and Mileena.
"Speech"'Thought'"Read Text"
Disclaimer: I don't own ~'Mortal Kombat'~
~Chapter 24 A Bonding Experience~
Mileena was confused about what Lewis was planning, after her argument with Jade, she told both the doctor and Sonya what had been said, Lewis had told her that they'd be taking some time away from the Special Forces and that Sonya would deal with Jade.
When she asked about what they were going to do, Lewis simply smiled and said "it's a surprise" after arriving at home Lewis had told her that they were both going to "pack bags for a trip"
The next morning did not give her details on what they were going to do together, but she still helped take all of their bags down to the car parked outside, aside from the bags that she and Lewis had packed there were others she didn't know the contents of.
"Did you bring your pillow off your bed?" Lewis asked, unlocking the car.
"Yeah" Mileena mumbled, tiredly rubbing one of her eyes "it's pretty early"
"Don't worry you can sleep on the way if you want" she reassured "I'll wake you up for lunch"
"Alright" Mileena replied, taking her seat in the car before leaning her pillow against the door, it didn't take long for her fall asleep.
"Rest up Mileena" Lewis chuckled quietly, starting the engine.
Mileena felt a gentle poke on her shoulder "Mileena, it's time to wake up" Lewis whispered, the car was parked and Mileena was unfamiliar with clearing they were in.
"Where are we?" she mumbled, loud enough to be heard, knowing it would just be her and Lewis she discarded her face mask.
"Well, after I came to realize just how much time I could take off from work, I wondered what we could do" Lewis started, leaning back in her seat slightly "but then I remembered something that I used to do when I was a kid, so I thought we could go camping together"
"So the other bags are?"
"The camping supplies" Lewis answered "a tent, sleeping bags and other things like that"
"So… what do we do now?" Mileena asked.
"We'll have lunch right now" the older woman smiled, reaching for the cooler just behind their seats "afterwards we'll find a nice spot to pitch the tent, now do you want the pork or cheese sandwich?"
"Pork"
Mileena wasn't sure when started trusting Lewis so much, but she'd left her mask off all day after lunch, there was no looks or any kind of judgement and it made her feel like she wasn't disgusting.
It wasn't all fun and games setting up the campsite, she followed Lewis' instructions they set up the tent fairly easily, it was a three room tent so both women had their own privacy, Mileena liked the look of her purple sleeping bag, after camp was established they sat and watched the clouds go by.
"So what do we do now?" Mileena asked, looking off into the distance.
"I thought we could just relax for a while" Lewis smiled "you don't have occupy every moment with something to do"
"But I…" Mileena trailed off "I need to get better, so I can help the others"
"You have a big heart Mileena" said the older woman "but you need to take care of yourself as well"
Mileena was unsure of how to reply and just stared at her feet "...it's nice out here" she said eventually "ever since I started training with the Special Forces, I don't think I've just sat down and done nothing"
"It's important to rest sometimes Mileena" Lewis replied "if you overwork yourself you'll put too much stress on your body, I'm a bit of hypocrite in that regard though"
"What do you mean?"
Lewis sighed deeply before turning to face Mileena "aside from the week I spent helping you settle into my apartment, I haven't taken a day off from work in three years" she explained, catching the younger girl by surprise "I wasn't in a good place and was just overworking myself so I was too tired to think about what was hurting"
"Why would you do that?"
"I… it's something that happened in the past" she answered eventually "I don't like to talk about it"
"I'm sorry" Mileena mumbled.
"It's okay Mileena, it's just that when things hurt emotionally, they can be hard to talk about" Lewis smiled sadly "but I've been wondering about something for a little while now…"
"What is it?" Mileena asked turning to face the doctor.
"I know you originally agreed to work with the Special Forces to save your sister…" Lewis trailed off "but then you volunteered to help Sub-Zero with the Cyber Lin-Kuei, that doesn't have anything to do with Quan Chi, the Netherrealm or your sister" Lewis thought for a moment "so why are you so insistent on being there?"
"They need help and…" Mileena stopped mid-sentence to think about it, both women sat in silence for a few minutes as the hybrid looked for an answer "...I don't people to feel helpless or powerless" she finally answered "I felt like that after I... saw Kitana, I don't want others to feel like that"
"I see…" Lewis mumbled "you're a good person Mileena, I'm proud of you"
Mileena couldn't help but blush fiercely in nervous embarrassment, a warm feeling filling her chest.
Lewis decided to climb back to her feet "we've still got a few hours before it gets dark" she said, patting the dirt off her pants "we should've gotten the fold up chairs out earlier" she muttered before shrugging "let's go get them out and then gather stuff for a fire"
"Right" Mileena smiled, hopping to her feet, after patting herself down she walked back to the car with Lewis, opening the trunk revealed two folded up chairs, a hatchet and the cooking supplies.
"So Mileena if you help me move all of this over to the tent, I'll let you use the hatchet to gather some firewood" said Lewis, grabbing one of the chairs and one the bags containing tinned cans of food.
"Okay" Mileena nodded.
The sun was setting over the horizon and Mileena sat on her chair, paying close attention to everything Lewis did to prepare dinner, the campfire burned brightly and the amount of wood Mileena had gathered ensured they wouldn't be running out any time soon.
"Mileena could you stir for a moment?" Lewis asked, gesturing to the pot suspended fairly high above the fire on a metal rack "while you do that I can butter some bread for us"
"Yeah, I can do that" she replied, taking the wooden handled spoon from the doctor, Mileena stared into the pot as she stirred, watching the diced steak, potatoes and sliced carrots circle around.
The evening was quiet and as Mileena let out a sigh she didn't know she was holding, as she did she felt a weight lift off her shoulders and she relaxed more than she had in a while.
"Oh, that looks good" Lewis smiled "could you take it off the fire now, please"
Nodding, Mileena moved the rack away form the firepit and couldn't help but get excited to try the "stew" as Lewis had called it.
"I hope you're hungry" said Lewis, coming over and using the spoon in the pot to pour it's content into the bowls.
"It smells good" Mileena mumbled, doing her best not to drool.
"Thanks, it was a recipe my mother taught me" she replied, a fond expression on her face, she handed Mileena her food, a spoon and a piece of buttered bread "I always said I'd make when I took my own kid camping"
Mileena froze 'Is that what Lewis thinks of me?' she asked herself, despite her overwhelming self doubts, she couldn't help but feel like it was true, the two sat and ate their food in silence, the younger woman definitely enjoyed her bowl, especially the steak.
Afterwards they cleaned their bowls and put away the supplies "we should probably head to bed" Lewis decided "I think we could go on a small hike tomorrow"
"That sounds fun" Mileena replied, a genuine happiness in her voice, heading into her tent room she changed into her pajamas and shuffled into her sleeping bag, looking at her room's screen door towards where she new the other woman would be sleeping for a moment before closing her eyes.
"Goodnight Mileena" Lewis said gently through the tent material.
Mileena yawned before whispering "goodnight… Mom"
~A/N~ Eno-on: Geez, that took so much longer then intended, but it was finally said, so Woo Yeah Baby!
Eno-on: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and give your thoughts, until next time…
Eno-on: Eno-on out.