After much thoughts, I decided to insert some parts of FMP Fumuffu (episodes 7 & 8 to be precise), but my way, to suit it, which means darker... ‘Infidelity’ is a song from the excellent album ‘Stooch’, by Skunk Anansie. Lost infidelity We’ve never said a word So black and white you see It’s all the lies we’ve heard In my mind nothing makes sense I’m nothing you can’t have Cracked up to disagree It’s all we’ve ever had You, only you, only you Can’t be the one... Thessa sighed. She was supervising the repairs on the Thuata De Danaan with Major Mardukas, but her mind was completely elsewhere. She didn’t know what to feel anymore, something had gone wrong, terribly wrong. And she didn’t know what... ------------------------------------------------ When she had learnt that Melissa had awakened, she had almost fainted with joy, then had literally teleported to the hospital, only stopping to buy a bouquet of flowers on the way. Weber and the others had barely managed to keep up with her. Once in front of the door, nervousness gripped her, though. She had thought about what she would say thousands of times, but now, it was as if she had exchanged her brain for a pea. And an over-cooked one, at that! She unconsciously rearranged herself before gently knocking at the door. “Come in.” Had answered the sergent-major. The voice was quite weak, but it was to be expected after all. When she opened the door, the brown-haired woman was sitten in her bed, staring in deep thoughts at the window. She was bathed in the rays of the early afternoon sun. The bruises hadn’t disappeared yet and she probably had more bandages and stitches than any mummy had, but in Thessa’eyes, she had all the beauty of a fallen angel. Dangerous and fragile at the same time. Broken, but not vanquished... Thessa had entered the room, the same dopey smile that hadn’t left her since she had heard the good news plastered on her face. Melissa had looked quite surprised to see her and Thessa saw something flicker behind those beautiful purple eyes, though she wasn’t too sure how to interpret it. Nevertheless, she crossed the room, set the flowers on the nightable and without preamble, enfolded the older woman in a thight, though careful embrace. And the dam broke. All the tears she had refused to shed flew now steadily down her cheeks. Melissa seemed to hesitate, but finally wrapped her arms around the young captain. They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, Thessa’s sobs the only sound breaking the silence. Finally, Thessa calmed down and whispered in Melissa’s ear. “Why didn’t you tell me? I love you too...” Melissa tensed. ‘She knows. Of course she knows, you moron. The camera...’ Inwardly, she bitterly laughed at herself. Her life was such an ironic bitch! She gently but firmly pushed her away. Her resolve almost faltered when she saw the glistening and confused face of the young woman, but she had to do it. “You can’t love me. Please, forget it. I was delusional.” She lied. “It was an... error...” She averted her gaze and stared at the window again. She couldn’t stand the look of hurt and betrayal that appeared in those silvery eyes. Thessa choked on the words. It was as if she had just been slapped. What? What was happening? She reached out, cupping the brown-haired woman’s face and forcing her to look at her. The purple eyes were cold, distant, impersonal. “...Why?” She croaked out. She swallowed with difficulty and tried again. “I... I thought you love me... I really love you. I’m in love with you... It’s not like with Sosouke... Why? ... Please, don’t push me away!” She was on the verge to cry again. On impulse she leaned in, she wanted to prove how sincere she was... The sergent-major stopped her, placing her hands on her shoulder and keeping her at arm’s length. Melissa’s voice was as empty of emotions as were her eyes. “No, you probably think that you love me now, but in a few weeks you’ll wake up and realize how silly it all was, trust me. You’re a brilliant, beautiful young woman. A bright future’s awaiting you. You shouldn’t get involved in such an embarassing relationship. I know you’ll regret it. I shouldn’t have said what I said, it was a terrible mistake.” Thessa was suddenly paralized with anger. She jerked away as if she’d been bitten, her gaze became icy. “How could you...?” She seethed. “You think you know ho...” She was about let her anger explode when Weber irrupted in the room. “Sis’! You’re awake! Your bad habit of sleeping in scared the shit out of us, y’know?” In a second, he was on the other side of the bed and was glomping his victim senselessly. “Kurz! Rhaaa! Let go! You’re killing me! Ever heard about the Convention of Geneva?” Melissa tried breaking free from the blonde sergent. Sadly for her, she was still too weak to resist him. Actually, she was probably too weak to fight back a lady-beetle... He completely ignored her. “You’ve been a naughty girl! Running off like that by yourself! Daddy Kurz shall spank you...” Years of practice finally took over and Weber quickly found himself embedded in the floor. “... Glad to see... that you’re recovering just well.” Amazingly enough, he still had all his teeth. When Melissa turned back to Thessa, it was to discover that the young captain had already left... ------------------------------------------------- The two of them had played cat and mouse ever since. Thessa trying cornering her and getting a real explanation and Melissa avoiding her. The only time she managed to have a tête-à-tête with the elusive sergent-major was just after the funerals held for their fallen brothers-in-arm. Melissa had been so cold and harsh that Thessa had had trouble to recognize her. It had resulted in another night of cries for her. Was she the same person as on her precious record? And there was those rumors... Those rumors that said that Melissa was out every night since she was strong enough to do so. Going out with a different man each night and getting drunk... She didn’t want to believe these rumors but... Jealousy burnt her like acid. The emotional turmoil was slowly but surely eating at her. She found herself wishing that the brown-haired woman would just leave. Or better, that she hadn’t ever met her... But she was entitled to stay at the base for as long as her complete recovery would take, since she had been hurt on duty and didn’t have anywhere else to go. Things just couldn’t go on like that. “... You should take some vacation...” Mardukas’s voice wrenched her from her thoughts. She contemplated the idea. It was a good one, at least, she would be away... Somewhere away from all of her responsabilities... Away from her... And two could play. -------------------------------------------------------- “Have you heard the news?” Kurz drawled. Melissa, who was currently eating, just groaned an incoherent reply. They were alone in the mess at this time of the day. “Our lovely captain’s decided to have a little vacation. Guess who she decided to go and pay a visit to?” The chopsticks stopped midway between her mouth and her plate. Her other hand balled into a fist. She forced herself to relax. It was what she had wanted, after all... And she wasn’t worried about Sosouke, she knew he would never touch her, if only because Kaname would keep an eye on him. “But knowing Sosouke, nothing’s gonna happen. The guy’s haven’t even scored with Kaname yet! Tssk!” Kurz stretched like a contented cat. “But luckily for these poor neglected girls, Kurz Weber is assigned to their protection too. I’m supposed to join Sosouke in five days...” “... And what?” Melissa cut him off sharply. “Are you going to seduce them, take advantage of them, then let them down like used tissues as you usually do?” Weber looked offended. “I haven’t seen you acting any differently the past week, sis’. Anyway, I don’t take advantage of them! I teach them the real meaning of pleasure.” His voice dropped to a leer. “Imagine our sweet captain naked, beautiful lips asking to be kissed, jingling breasts shouting to be gropped and sucked on. And finally, smooth, white legs spreading for me. I’m almost sure she’s a virgin, how I’ll enjoy tak...” He didn’t have the time to finish his sentence. Melissa had shot out of her chair and before he knew what happened, he was flat against the wall, her iron grip around his neck. In many ways, Mao reminded him of his real sister, although he wished she didn’t. They often had the same kinds of arguements a brother and a sister would have and he quite enjoyed them, but this... This was very different from all the other times. There was real hatred in those purple eyes and for once, he sincerely feared for his life. He also saw the purest of jealousy in them and from experience, he knew that he wasn’t the real cause of this jealousy. So, he had been right. There was something going on between the two women... Trying vainly to keep images of them together in the bath, he managed to smirk despite the tightening hold on his throat. “I think she loves you too, you should tell her...” He croaked, hoping it would distract her. That worked. Her eyes widened and she let him go. She watched him as he breathed laboriously, massaging his sore throat. “It’s none of your business, Weber...” She turned around and walked out of the mess. She stopped at the door though and keeping her back to him said “Touch her and I’ll kill you...” She first headed to the transmission room. A short peek inside. She smiled in satisfaction. Nobody. She entered the room and sat in front of one of the impressive machines. She pirated the system, then sent an encoded message. She waited for the answer, replied and finally, carefully erased all traces of her passage before leaving for Mardukas’s office. Hopefully, it wouldn’t be too hard to persuade him to send her as reinforcement on the ‘vacation’ mission. AN: Ahhh, what’s going on with Melissa? Answers in the next chapter! Well, once I get some sleep, though... And even though Kurz is the typical comic relief character, I don’t think he’s as dense as he would like us to believe he is, at least not when it comes to relationships... By the way, if you haven’t watched FMP Fumuffu, here’s a very edited resumee of the episodes I’m talking about: While checking on the repairs on the De Danaan, Mardukas notices that Thessa’s tired and offers her to take a vacation. She accepts and decide to go the same school as Kaname and Sosouke for one week. Poor Sosouke’s having a hard time when Mao finally arrive. Weber comes along and they all go to a onsen (hot springs) for the week-end.
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