Sweet Chocolate Kisses
Captain Tita Mu Koshigaya strode from her cabin,
swiftly slinging her white jacket on over her black
skin-tight hunter's suit when she stopped in surprise.
The brown haired young woman knelt down to the deck
and picked up the single red rose and a box of
chocolates, a slight smile tugging at the corners of
her lips.
"I wonder who left...?" Tita murmured, taking a deep
breath of the rose's lovely scent and noting that
there was no identifying card. She returned to her
room to put them on top of her desk then returned to
the hall, hurrying down to the motorized ladder that
would take her up to the bridge of the petshop hunter
Cha Cha Maru.
"Tita," Nichol Hawking looked up at her in surprise
from his position at the helm as she appeared. The
pink haired young man smiled at her warmly as he
blushed faintly and declared, "Happy Valentine's day."
"Thanks," Tita jumped into the captain's seat even as
she thought, 'So did Nichol leave those?' She smirked
as she swiftly concluded, 'No, he doesn't have the
guts.'
"You know Tita," Joshua Balboa said to her gently,
"you don't have to be on duty today." The blonde
haired man continued on, "We made sure you weren't on
duty roster today...."
Tita smiled back wryly, knowing that the ship's rumor
mill had been busy for the past several days spreading
the news about her and Elysse. "It's all right,
Balboa," she flashed him a warm smile as she
continued, "I'd rather be out working, honestly."
She and Elysse had been planning to spend Valentine's
day together, a romantic night out in the colony, but
the letter that had been sent over a week ago had
ended all that. Tita should have been angry at
Elysse's confession that she had found someone else,
but in all honestly they had been drifting apart for
quite awhile. If she had been willing to move to the
shore with Elysse full time or if Elysse had joined
the ship maybe things might have been different, but
otherwise their part-time relationship had been
doomed.
"Course and heading, ma'am?" Nichol asked.
"We've got a shopping list of species to capture this
time," Tita leaned forward eagerly as she ordered,
"submerge the ship and let's get to work."
Meanwhile in sickbay Mei Lin Jones was scolding one
of her more difficult patients. "Mikail," the short
haired blonde frowned down at him, "you have to
remember to watch what you're eating. A man of your
age shouldn't..."
Mikail DiAgieff looked sullen, the gray haired, dusky
skinned engineer sitting in his chair looking oddly
like some child in trouble. "What's the point of
living forever," he complained, "if you can't enjoy
life a little?"
"I don't think enjoying life a little caused you to
gain this much weight," Mei said dryly as she tapped
the display. She hauled out her ultimate weapon and
said, "How do you think Tita would feel if you
collapsed on her one day?"
Mikail visibly winced at that thought. "All right,
all right," he finally grumbled out, "I'll try a
little harder to watch what I eat."
Mei smiled in satisfaction. "Now I just have to
figure out how to get Tita down here for her
physical," she said.
"Speaking of Tita," Mikail ran a hand nervously over
his balding head before asking, "have you managed to
tell her yet?"
"I left her a rose and some chocolates this morning,"
Mei blushed faintly as she continued, "but I really
don't think this is the best time." She sighed as she
fiddled with a pen, "I mean, her girlfriend did just
sent her a Dear Jane letter."
"Or it might just be the best time," Mikail countered
as he picked up his white shirt and pulled it on over
a scarred chest. Buttoning it up he said, "Tita has
always cared about you, but you've never really told
her about how you feel about her."
"It's not quite that easy, you know," Mei frowned.
"She's been living with my parents for almost as long
as I've known her, since the death of her father, and
she probably just thinks of me as an elder sister,"
she sighed.
"We've had this discussion more than once," Mikail
gently reminded his younger friend. He smiled as he
stepped up to the door, "But the only way things are
going to change for the better is if you tell her the
truth about your feelings."
"Or change for the worse," Mei sighed as the door
closed behind him.
Mei smiled to herself fondly as she walked around
tidying up the sickbay, remembering the first time she
had met Tita. A child prodigy she had helped develop
the cure for the deadly Ietta fever, and Tita had been
infected. Working day and night she had strived to
save Tita, the fever finally breaking even as the
worst storm of the year had passed. Stumbling tiredly
to Tita's bedside she had been greeted by the most
charming smile....
....and Mei had lost her heart.
Her whole life changed on that day, the lonely,
driven child genius finding her first true friend. Mei
and Tita had spent almost all of their free time
together, the bond between them growing deeper, and
when Tita lost her father to the sea of clouds Mei's
parents had taken her in. But through the passage of
years Mei had never told her about the depth of her
love, content to remain the trusted sister Tita could
always rely on.
Then Elysse had arrived and Mei had learned first
hand what jealousy was. Tita and Elysse had an instant
bond, a pulse of electricity between them that Mei had
deeply envied. Her thoughts were in turmoil when she
learned they had slept together, not to mention the
lengths Tita was willing to go for Elysse. Yes, she
knew Tita would have done the same for any crew member
of the Cha Cha Maru, but still it bothered her. The
only relief had been Elysse's decision to stay in the
colony, and Mei still felt mildly guilty being happy
about that.
"So," Mei murmured to herself, "now that Tita's free
again... what do I do?"
Later that day a tired Tita headed back to her
quarters, feeling satisfied at catching nearly a third
of her list of targets on this trip. 'I wonder if
Roger left them?' she mused then giggled, 'No, edible
panties would be that pervert's kind of gift.'
Tita reached her door and opened it, stepping inside
only to suddenly stop, the scent of roses wafting over
her. On the bed were two roses and a small bag, in
addition to the ones still sitting on her desk. She
walked over with a bemused smile, opening the bag to
find chocolate kisses, her favorite. Noticing that
there was a letter attached to the gifts this time she
sat down on the side of the bed, picked up the letter
and began to read.
"Tita," the paper read in familiar script, "your
smile has always warmed my heart, your presence brings
joy to my otherwise barren life. I know it may seem
cowardly to tell you about my feelings in a letter
like this, but it seems I have little choice. No
matter how poised I may seem around you in fact I'm a
bundle of nerves, unable to get the words past my
lips. So instead I'm forced to write out these words:
I love you."
"Oh," Tita reached up to wipe at the corners of her
eyes, surprised to feel a few tears well up, then she
continued to read.
"My timing, I know, is terrible. You may not want to
hear these words from me, or even want to consider me
in that way, and if so I understand. No matter what I
hope that we will remain friends," and at the end it
was signed, "Mei."
Tita set the letter down, a bit of a blush coloring
her pale cheeks. "Mei?" she whispered to herself
aloud, thoughts racing as she considered the other
woman, the beautiful, graceful blonde that she had
known for so very long.
Swiftly making a decision Tita rose from her bed and
left the cabin, walking a short distance down the
curved hall until she reached the suite that she
wanted. The chime was soft then she heard Mei's voice
call out, "Yes?"
"It's me," Tita answered.
The door swished opened and Mei stood there, dressed
in her simple white uniform. She smiled at Tita
nervously, running a hand through her short hair as
the taller woman smiled shyly down at Tita, "You came,
then."
"After leaving me a letter like that," a smiling Tita
answered as Mei led her inside, "I couldn't not see
you, Mei."
"I almost didn't leave the letter," Mei admitted,
sitting down on the side of her bed and waving Tita to
a nearby chair, "I know this isn't the best time."
Tita smiled wryly, "I'm still getting my head around
all of this." She took a breath, "How long have you
felt this way about me?"
"Honestly?" Mei asked. Tita nodded and she continued,
"For several years now, almost as long as I've known
you."
"I haven't treated you very well at times, have I?"
Tita murmured, thinking of the times she had asked Mei
for advice on dating and other things.
"I was glad you trusted me with that," Mei said
loyally.
Tita smiled wryly, the silence stretching around
them. She took a breath, "Part of me wants to just
step into your arms and let things go from there."
"But...?" Mei knew there was more.
"It wouldn't be fair to you," Tita said firmly, "I'd
just be rebounding from Elysse." She flashed a smile,
"Instead, how would you like to go out with me, next
time we're on shore? We can go on a date and see what
happens."
Mei burst into a smile, "I'd like that, very much."
Tita rose from her chair even as Mei did, the two of
them walking over to the door. "Oh," Tita paused, "I
wanted to thank you for the chocolate kisses."
"Hmm?" Mei's eyes widened as Tita moved closer.
Tita smoothly pressed her lips to the startled Mei's,
not a sisterly kiss but not quite as passionate as a
lover's might be. She slid back and smiled up at the
fiercely blushing Mei, "Just think of that as a
promise for later."
"That's better than any chocolate kiss," Mei managed
to breathlessly say.
"Happy Valentine's day," Tita smiled as she left.
End.
Notes: The names were taken from both the Plastic
Little anime and manga, as was the Mei and Tita
relationship. The anime focuses, understandably, on
Elysse and Tita, but the manga goes much more into the
lives of the crew of the Cha Cha Maru, as well as
detailing how Tita and Mei first met. It's a very good
story, and I recommend it as light reading. I also owe
a tip of the hat to Chris Davies, who wrote the first
Plastic Little fic that I've read as well as implying
Tita and Elysse might have some troubles with their relationship.
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