Once upon a Christmas Eve – A Vandread
fanfiction by KW
Disclaimer – I do not own any of the characters of trademarks that deal with Vandread the anime. Those rights are owned by Gonzo. I however do own this story, and will not appreciate plagiarism.
Authors Note : Italics are used for memories/ flashbacks.
Sleep would not come to Hibiki Tokai this night.
Hibiki sighed. It was like this on most nights, but usually he would be able to push the memories aside and fall asleep... but tonight wasn’t any night. It was Christmas Eve.
To many, this night represented a lot of things, a time of
celebration, of hope regardless of circumstances… as could be seen by the party
currently in progress, the same party he had excused himself from. To him it bore
a different meaning. It represented an anniversary of sorts. Ironically, what
should have brought joy only brought pain, and the anniversary marked something
which he could never celebrate, only mourn.
“You see these scars here? I got them during battle.” The leader of
the Bangata squadron had said during the final confrontation with Earth’s
Harvest fleet, “Don’t go telling me what to do until you have scars of your
own.”
That was then, and now Hibiki had more than his fair share of scars;
however most of them were of the emotional variety: the ones which hurt for far
longer and far more than the physical type… the ones which could never be
forgotten.
He had matured a lot since he had first arrived on the Nirvana, all those years ago. Back then he had been a scrawny kid who had thought himself a man… but that was then. No longer could he be considered scrawny, as now he stood as one of the tallest on the Nirvana. The growth spurt did mean that a change in wardrobe was necessary; he hadn’t been able to fit into his old orange and black flight suit in two years.
But neither was the greatest difference to be found in his height, or his new appearance.
His greatest change lay in his heart. Wisdom brought about by the trials he had endured during the Harvest had increased greatly, and he no longer could be called rash or foolish. With wisdom, came understanding, and with understanding a greater appreciation for the people who he had come to call his friends.
Yet, even with all this, he still felt very much a fool when it came
to his emotions. Especially when it involved expressing them to a certain
individual.
“Uchuujin-san!”
He had always found that name annoying, and on most occasions the person who said it, but he also could not deny the fact that some of his happiest memories were when she had been with him. Ironic, that in all the time that they had spent together, he had never told her that he cared about her. True there had been that one time during the war where he had almost finished saying it…. But that didn’t count.
“Yosha!” Hibiki said, grinning as he stepped out into the brightly
lit hallway. In a few hours, Christmas would arrive… and he couldn’t wait to
give Dita her Christmas present.
The thin band of metal felt cool to his touch.
Having noticed how Jura had reacted when Barnette had given her one
for her birthday, he figured that it was something that women found special,
and resolved to get a special one for Dita. With that in mind, he had contacted
Hours of frustration, and the occasional swear word later, he had found
the perfect one. Yet the small ring of gold was only half of the gift he had
planned. Finally he was going to tell her that he liked her… and this time
nothing was going to interrupt halfway.
If only he had known that indeed something was going to happen.
Unconsciously, he clutched the pillow that she
had made for him when the Nirvana was first formed. Back then he had thought
her crazy, constantly chasing him around shouting “Uchuujin-san!”.
Yet he came to realize that there was much more
to Dita Liebely than he obsession over aliens.
“How can you keep on grinning at a time like
this?” He yelled at Dita. Gascogne was dead… and here she was trying to cheer
him up with a hand puppet of all things!
“But... I don’t know.” Dita had quietly replied,
her grin quickly disappearing as a forlorn look took its place. “I don’t know
how I should act during times of sadness…”
But she had been wrong. She did know how to deal
with grief- much better than he ever could.
Even after twelve months, he was still unable to cry... he just couldn’t
release the emotions which ricocheted inside him.
“Look at me now, Dita. Now that you’re gone, I’m
the one who doesn’t know how to act…” He whispered, the words falling unheard
in his empty room.
*****
“Leader…”Dita shouted as she ran down the
corridor, “Look what I got Uchuujin-san for a Christmas present! I hope
Uchuujin-san is going to like my present!”
“I’m sure he’ll love it”. Meia replied, smiling
softly as the younger girl continued jabbering about how she was going to get
her “Uchuujin-san” to open her Christmas present exactly at twelve this year.
For some reason, he always seemed to fall asleep before midnight- unintentionally
of course. Ironically, it was usually searching for Dita’s present caused him
to exhaust himself… much to his chagrin, as he always complained about missing
the food.
In her sleep, Meia turned, her subconscious
trying to wake her up- escape from having to relive those memories. Yet, it was
in vain, as sleep retained a firm grip on the young woman and she continued to
dream, to remember...
It was a ship no bigger than a dread, which made
its passage through the magnetic storm quite remarkable. Even more perplexing than
that however, was that the ship, or whatever it was, had somehow gotten through
both the automated minefield, and the border patrols from both Mejerr and
Tarak.
It was not moving without a purpose however, as
slowly but surely, it headed for where the Nirvana was stationed.
“Entering visual range now… “, Meia reported. The unknown ship resembled a three dimensional
diamond, and had it not been glowing with an eerie red light, she wouldn’t have
considered it threatening in the slightest.
“Is that what you dragged Jura out to look at??”
Jura was obviously, very unimpressed by the ship’s mundane look. “Jura wants to
spend Christmas eve with Barnette, not out here with that!”
Dita however seemed to be even more impatient
than Jura was as she fidgeted in her seat. “Dita still hasn’t given
Uchuujin-san his Christmas present! Dita doesn’t want to be late for the
countdown…”
Hibiki however remained uncharacteristically
quiet, not even bothering to snap back at Dita’s calling him “Uchuujin-san”. Something
about the ship just didn’t seem right; he’d felt that something very bad was
going to happen from the moment they had been given the orders to investigate
the ship
”That red glow… I’ve seen it before…” He
whispered.
Meia silently noted Hibiki’s discomfort. It was
unlike him to be so solemn when given the chance to battle. He was usually the
most gung-ho of all of them. Making a note to ask him about it later, she
decided that they had lingered long enough.
“Something isn’t right here…” Meia whispered, before
switching on the intercom, “Hibiki, Jura, try to capture that ship in your
shields. “
Meia bolted upright, her face covered with
sweat.
“Already a year has passed…” She whispered,
before pushing off her covers. She really needed some fresh air.
*****
“Something isn’t right here…” Meia whispered,
before switching on the intercom, “Hibiki, Jura, try to capture that ship in
your shields. “
“Roger.”
Attempting to capture the ship had been their
first mistake.
As Vandread Jura came into range to activate its
shields, a scarlet beam of energy lanced out from the diamond, striking the
crablike vandread head on, causing it to revert back to Hibiki’s vanguard and
Jura’s dread. Mere seconds later, a second beam followed, flying unerringly towards
Hibiki’s cream and yellow mecha.
…That was until Dita’s blue dread got in the way…
Thrusters blazing, Dita flew her dread straight
into the enemy’s line of fire, firing her own cannons in the process.
For the pilots turned spectators, time seemed to
stretch as they watched the power struggle between the blue dread and the red
diamond. Red energy crackled as it met its green counterpart, and for that
instant they were perfectly equal. Perhaps, had the others joined in at that
moment, it would have ended differently, but in those precious few seconds led to the greatest loss that the
crew of the Nirvana ever incurred. The diamond self destructed, surrounding
itself and Dita’s blue dread with unholy red energy.
In those last wretched seconds, Dita’s face acted
as a beacon of calm in the hell that surrounded her: a small smile lit her face
as she uttered the last words they would ever hear from her.
“Dita will always do her best to protect
Uchuujin-san…Gomen-nasai Uchuujin-san, Dita won’t be able to give you your
Christmas present this year…”
And then all that remained of Dita Liebely, the most
sincere person on the Nirvana, sister to all, and something more to one, was a
horrible emptiness, and memories that would haunt them forever..
*****
Her footsteps seemed much too loud in the quiet
that permeated the hallways of the Nirvana. Almost all of the crew had gone to
the Christmas party, they having decided to throw the biggest party ever in
memory of Dita, she had not felt like rejoicing and excused herself by saying
that she wasn’t feeling well. There were too many things that she didn’t want
to remember… yet even sleep could not protect her from those memories.
Meia really did not know what she was supposed
to do. For most of her life, she had always held people at arms length,
believing that to care for others, to have important things in her life would
make her dependant on others; would make her weak.
Than the Harvest war happened.
Having had no other choice but to rely on others
to survive- including the men, changed her. Looking back now, she hadn’t even
been aware that she had been changing, yet now she could hardly imagine a life
without the crew of the Nirvana, the people who she had fought alongside with,
had eaten with, fell in love with...
Then Dita just had to go get herself killed. The
ensuing pain had been incredible, and she had fallen into a state of shock. But
irrespective of the emotions that threatened to run loose, she remained calm…
to some almost as if she did not care.
“Didn’t she mean anything to you?” Hibiki had
shouted at her the day after it happened. ”Why can’t you show some damn
emotions? Anything but that damned indifference!!!”
But he didn’t understand… having lost someone
who she cared deeply about, to let herself go… to let go of her emotions, to
allow herself to cry, to allow herself to feel anger… once she let go of it,
there would be no stopping the flow, not until it was done- the last time that
had happened…
Pain...
She had never gotten the chance to say sorry to
her Fama. After the words she had said that night… the anger at her Ohma… she
spoke rashly, lashing out… and before she ever got the chance to say sorry, her
Fama had died making sure she got away.
Emotions…
No, she had not been able to control them then, and the only result was the
guilt of never being able to apologize. She
could not risk having that happen again, yet that didn’t mean the pain wasn’t
as real for her as it was for them.
Especially this night.
“And anniversaries are supposed to be events to
be looked forward too.” Meia said, her normally quiet voice tinged with
cynicism.
Dita… many times Meia had found herself
confounded by the red haired girl. Her cheerfulness, her ability to stay
cheerful when everyone else had long given up, her lack of restraint when it
came to expressing her feelings, Meia never understood how Dita had managed to
nurture those characteristics; and in many ways had been envious of her.
“…you don’t know a good thing till it’s gone…”
It had been a line from the chorus of a song
that had originated from the home of their ancestors… and now birthplace of all
their troubles. Regardless, the truth behind those words struck her mental
controls like a sledgehammer.
“Merry Christmas indeed…” She whispered as the
quiet of the hallways bore silent witness to the turmoil inside her mind.
*****
The sound of stones hitting water tore her out
of her thoughts.
Looking around, she noticed that she had
unknowingly walked to the shore of the lake in the Nirvana’s garden, and that
she was not alone. Not further than ten feet from her, sat Hibiki, legs crossed
in his trademark position. He regarded her for a moment before returning his
attention to throwing stones into the lake.
*Plop*
“Couldn’t sleep too huh?” He said quietly, the
taunting edge his voice normally contained missing.
*Plop*
“No.” Meia replied, not feeling like talking.
Yet for some reason she did not want to leave either... she did not want to be alone
this night.
*Plop*
“She would have loved the party they threw
tonight. The last thing that baka ever wanted to do was to make all of us sad.”
Hibiki continued as he motioned to the bridge up above, sounds of the Christmas
party drifting down to where they were. “Shouldn’t you be up there with the
other women?”
*Plop*
Meia didn’t reply. Motioning with her head, she
silently asked whether it was alright if she joined him. Hibiki looked at her,
taking a moment to understand her request before nodding his consent. And in a
rare show of maturity and understanding, he remained silent as he turned back
to face the lake. He picked up another stone and tossed it into the lake. Meia
followed suit.
*Plop*
*Plop*
And in the ensuing silence, broken only by the
repetitive sounds of stone hitting water and the joyful whispers from the
celebration happening above them, two people found a moment’s respite from
memories of what they had lost, yet never mourned, the year before on a fateful
Christmas Eve.
Authors Notes: Well, firstly I should say that I
did not plan for this story to become a Christmas one. However, that’s the way
it turned out.. But I digress.
I wrote this fic originally to be the first
chapter of a Meia and Hibiki series. Looking at this chapter, I think this is a
pretty decent standalone don’t you think? But never fear… I aint done yet. I
have an awesome idea of how I’m going to end this series, but how I’m going to
get there… well we’ll all have to just wait and see =D
One final note, there isn’t much “romance” yet,
simply because, I’ve come to realize the sheer amount of character development
required for a relationship between the two to work is quite substantial. (Much
thanks to feedback from the Vandread Fanfic Mailing list)
Anyways, till next time. I hope you enjoyed my
story, and I promise I am not done yet.
LaterZ
K