Remember 16
Chapter 1

Useless notes that no one ever reads:
bwahahaha!!! My first on-going m7 fic!! Sorry if it sucks….
Anyways, this story is basically my theory of how Basara is the way he is. Or to be more precise…why he is the freak that he is.
And no, no, Macross seven characters are not mine, and are used with out permission…but who cares!!??
Okay, enough yap. Enjoy.    
PS. Please send me comments of what you think! 
										Elma-chan
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Mylene slowly opened her eyes.
It was a bright sunny morning. Sun light was pouring in from the window beside her. She sat up and gave a big yawn. "Mmmm… man, I haven't had a good night's sleep in days!" She looked around for Gubaba, and found him snoring like a pig beside her. She giggled, giving Gubaba's smooth fur a stroke.
"Heh heh, you haven't sleep well either have you?" 
Snoring was the only reply Gubaba gave.

She sat up and got ready to prepare for her day. That was when she finally realized…
"Hey!! Sense when did I have a blue blanket?! And this isn't my bed!! This…this isn't my room!!" 
There were music sheets everywhere on the floor. And "The floor" seemed to end right in the middle of the room. It can't be… 

"It's mine."
Basara poked his head up from the ladder and said. "Took you long enough to figure it out."
"W…Why am I… here?" Mylene asked, starting to blush a little now. I slept in his bed?!
"You fell asleep after practice last night." Basara replied, climbing up to the second floor.
"Well, why didn't you wake me up then?" 
"It was too late. It's not safe to drive home all by yourself."
"You're starting to sound like my mom." Mylene grumbled. "I can take care of myself!!"
"Oh, really?" Basara snickered. "Humph!!" Mylene scrunched up her face and stuck out her tongue. Instead of saying a comeback, Basara just smiled. 
"Come on down." He said, climbing down the ladder again. "I made breakfast."
Mylene face-faulted. "You Cook?!"
"Like a pro!!" 

Down stairs, Basara was putting the food on the table. Mylene eyed him. "I never knew you cook."
"How do you think I survive then?" Basara asked her.
Mylene scratched her head. "I'd I always thought Ray cooks for you…"
"RAY?! He can't boil water!! I cook for him!" 
Mylene laughed. "So…the almighty Ray has a weak spot!"

They sat down at the table together. Basara took the fork and dug right in.
Mylene looked down at the food in her plate. She took her fork and poked at it.
Basara noticed what she was doing and asked, "something wrong?" 
"Nothing! Nothing… " She said; and to prove her point, she lifted up a forkful of what appeared to be scrambled eggs, and put it in her mouth.
Hey! Not bad!   
"Ne," she asked, "what is this?"
"Uh…let's just say if I told you, you probably wouldn't want to finish it."
"Oh…Okay…" Mylene took his advise and didn't say anymore. 
One thing she did learn from being around Basara is: never ask him too many questions. 
Apparently that just bugs the heck out of him, and he just shuts himself off. Mylene's mind wondered off a little as she chewed on her food. 
Was he worried for me when he said it was not safe to drive home?
Ha, slim chance.
He probably just thought it would be hard to find a new bass player.
On the other side of the table, Basara was having similar thoughts.
Why did I say it was not safe for her to drive home? Was I worried about that little brat? 
Yeah, right!
It'll be hard to find a new bass player that's all.
Time passed slowly. And there was no sound except for the ticking of the clock on the wall. Both Mylene and Basara were too wrapped up in their own thinking to talk.
Finally Mylene broke the silence. "Ne…where did you sleep last night?"
"On the floor." Basara replied chewing his food slowly.
"Oh…you could have put me on the floor you know…"
Basara shrugged. "Didn't seem like the right thing to do."
They ate in silence for awhile again, then Mylene spoke again.
"Ne, do you want me to do the dishes for you."
"It's okay, I'll do them."
"No, I slept in your bed last night, so today I should do the dishes."
"If you insist then," Basara pilled his plate and fork and cup into her arms. "Have fun."
Mylene gathered up her own dishes and walked towards the sink. 
She heard the strumming of guitar coming from upstairs, then heard Basara start to sing.
She never admitted this before, but she really likes to listen to Basara sing. Especially when it was just the two of them…
She dumped the dishes into the Sink.
Now…she thought, looking around, Where does he keep the dishwashing soap? 
She opened the first drawer next to the sink, and found nothing in it, except a picture. Mylene picked up the picture curiously, and looked at it.

It was a picture of a girl.
She was leaning against a tree, smiling very brightly. She was wearing a tank top, shorts and boots. Her long dark amber coloured hair was tied back in a ponytail. Bright blue eyes sparkled in the sunlight.
She was very pretty.

Who is she? Mylene thought. Before she knew it, she was climbing up the ladder, yelling, "Ne, ne! Who is this girl?" 
Basara turned, and his face went pale as he saw the picture. 
"Nobody."
"Humph, if a guy keeps a picture of a girl in his drawer, the girl must mean something to him!!"
Basara didn't say anything. 
Mylene asked again. "Well?"
"Mind your own business." he said turning away. Mylene could tell he sounded upset.
"Fine, don't tell me." She turned to leave, but she saw something written on the back of the picture. 
She turned the picture over and read it out loud. 
"B&V Love forever. Ha! She does mean something to you!!!" Mylene's eyes grew big with curiosity. She felt a tingle of jealousy, but she was much too curios. She wanted to know more about this girl.
"Come on Basara, you can tell me! She was your girlfriend right? What!! Why do look so upset? Did she dump you or something?"
Basara hung his head.
"Oh…" Mylene said. "That bad?"
Basara let out a big sigh, "you just don't give up, do you?"
"Not until you tell me the whole story." Mylene said with a big grin. "Come on, shoot! Don't keep me hanging."
Basara sighed again. Mylene could clearly see the sadness in his eyes now.
This girl must have really dumped him bad! Maybe that's way he writes all these sad love songs… 
"Her name's Vicky." He began slowly. "Before I met Ray and Veffedas, she was the only person the whole galaxy that understood me…"
"And she dumped you because…?" Mylene wanted to know.
"She didn't dump me," Basara replied. "She left me."
"What's the difference?!" Mylene was confused now.
Basara sighed for the five thousandth time. "If you want to want to know why, I'd have to start from the very beginning." 
"I've got plenty of time on my hands." Mylene looked like a child wanting to hear a story.
"It was five years ago…" Basara started. "I've never told anybody about her. Not even Ray."
"How come I get the privilege?" Mylene asked.
Basara gave her a loped-eye stare. "Because I know if I don't tell you, you'll bug me about it till my skull cracks."
"True." Mylene said with a grin. "Okay, so you met this girl when you were sixteen, then what?"

Basara leaned against his bed and thought, boy am I gonna regret this…But he's been holding it for so long. It'll probably feel better if he talked to someone about it…even someone like Mylene. Besides, he thought, she only a little kid. She won't understand. 

"It was five years ago," He repeated again. "I was sixteen and all alone on this fleet. I had no family, no friends. But I didn't care…all I wanted to do was sing……"

******************************************
Birds were flying overhead. The sweet summer breeze blew its way across city7. It was a late afternoon in mid August. 
Between the mists of people, walking along the busy streets, was a teenage boy. He wasn't wearing much. Just a tank top and ripped up jeans. He was carrying a guitar on his back.  
He walked past the shops and the cars. He was not familiar with this part of the city. It was pretty though. Trees lined the busy sidewalks, and flowers dotted along the streets. 
He never thought of coming to this part of the city before. He just suddenly had the urge to go somewhere. He liked living like this. Not knowing where he would end up the next day. 
He didn't have much money left in his pocket though…
Guess I'm not having dinner tonight. He thought.
Just then, the main street came to a cross section.
There was three routs laid out before him.
He took out a map and looked at it. 

"Oh, why bother." He muttered. "I don't even know where I am on this map.
He stuffed the map back into his pocket.
Then he closed his eyes and turned in circles. When he opened his eyes again, he was facing the rout to his left. Left it is then. He thought.

The rout took him out of the city and onto a small trail. It then took him into the woods. The trail got narrower and steeper. The boy had to use his hands to climb up. 
I wonder where this trail leads? He thought, as he plied his way through some tall bushes, and came to a clearing.
Then his breath caught. The clearing over looked the whole city!
It was beautiful…
He sat down on a rock and took down his guitar. Soon he was lost in his singing…

"Hey! What are you doing here!!"
The boy turned and saw a bunch of tall, bully looking guys behind him.
One guy had handcuffs with spikes on it. Another guy was carrying a small knife.
"Don't you know this is our property?!" A guy who seemed like the gang leader said.
"I don't see any 'private property' signs." The boy said in a calm voice.
"Listen, punk." The gang leader snarled, "This is our area. And ya got ten seconds to get your ass off it, or you'll be seeing stars for the rest of the week!"

The boy looked at him. Then looked at the rest of the gang. He took up his guitar and started singing

Everybody just looked at him for a second. They all had a 'What the hell…?' look on their faces.
"Well," The gang leader finally said, "Seems like our little singer boy here didn't quite get the message! Get him!!!" 

The gang raced towards him.
The boy didn't stop singing. Instead he started dodging the attacks.
"Hold still!" A guy yelled. "Stop singing!!"

The boy continued to sing.
Then, he was hit over the head with a club.
"Ug…!" He fell to the ground in pain. 
"Take that!!" The guy with the knife jabbed the knife into the boy's right thigh. 
"Ahh!!" the pain swelled over him.
"Now, to put him out for good…!" The leader let out an evil chuckle, as he raised the club over the boy's head.
Th boy squeezed his eyes shut…

"Yo! Why don't you pick on someone your own size!!"
A voice came from behind them. The gang of bullies turned around, and there behind them stood a girl. She was at least a head shorter than all of them. Her arms were crossed around her chest. Dark brown hair blew with the wind. She looked as if she was ready to take on the entire gang.

All of a sudden, the attitude of the bullies changed. "Uh…oh! Hi Vicky!…I..uh..we..we..weren't picky on him…heh heh…heh…"
The girl narrowed her eyes, and the leader could tell that his pleading was not working. "Uh…well, guess we should be going now…see ya!"
The leader and his gang ran off in the opposite direction, and didn't turn back.

The girl watched as the bully gang ran and ran, until they were out of sight.
She sighed. 
"Morons." She muttered. Then she turned and saw the boy sitting on the ground staring at her.
She stared back at him. He had dark spiky hair and bright Spanish orange eyes. Even though she doesn't usually pay attention to the opposite sex, she had to admit he was pretty cute.

What am I thinking?! She thought.
She mentally slapped herself a couple times, then walked over to him.

"You're new around here aren't you?" She asked him.
"Never been here before." He replied. "You know those guys?"
She sighed. "Sadly, yes. Garth and his gang think they're the boss around here."
"Then how come they were scared of you?" The boy asked, puzzled. 
"Let's just say they changed their minds after they tried to boss me around. Don't worry, they usually don't pick on the same people twice." The girl answered him.
"I don't think I'll be staying around for long anyway." 
He tried to get up, but his thigh was bleeding a lot, and it was very painful.
"Here, let me look at that." The girl said, seeing he was hurt. The boy let her examine his leg. 
"Ooo…that's pretty bad. You'll need to get that taken care of." The girl frowned as she looked at his wound. Blood was gushing out of the cut and soaking his jeans.
"We'll need to stop the bleeding." The girl looked around, but unfortunately, the chances of finding a bandage in the woods are pretty slim. Then she looked down and saw the red bandana she had tied around her waist as a belt.
She undid the bandana and tied it around his wound.
"There, that should stop it from bleeding. For now. Come on, I'll get you to the hospital."
"Why are you helping me?" The boy asked.
"Consider it your lucky day." The girl replied smiling. "I don't leave people to bleed to death."
"I can take care of myself!" The boy said, a bit angrily. "I've done it for sixteen years!"
"Oh!" The girl looked surprisingly at him. He's an orphan?!
"I've lived by myself all my life." The boy said. "So don't go telling me I can't take care of myself."
"I never said that." The girl said coolly. "I only said that I don't leave people when I can help them."
"Huh." Was all the boy said. His leg was hurting a lot from walking, and it made his limping a lot worse.
The girl linked her other arm around him for support. "Hang on, we're almost at the foot of the hill. Oh, by the way, my name's Victoria."
"Nekki Basara." The boy said. Then he looked confused. "What kind of a name is 'Victoria' ?!" 
Coincidentally, the girl had bursted out at the same time, "What kind of a name is 'Basara' ?!"

They looked at each other. Then laughed.
"I think I was named after my mother." Victoria said.
"And I…" Basara started, "…have no idea where my name came from."
Victoria giggled.
"Victoria…that's actually a pretty nice name." Basara said.
"Call me Vicky." She replied. "Being called Victoria just reminds me of my mother."
"Why, you don't like your mother?" Basara asked.
Vicky looked him in the eye. "She's dead. So is my father. I live with my grandpa."
This time it was Basara who was shocked. "Oh! I'm…I'm sorry…"
"Don't be." Vicky said with a smile. "People die. That's just the way things are. The trick is though, to not let that pull you down. But to let it help make you stronger."
Basara just stared at her. There was a big question mark on his face. 
"I'm sixteen. I'm not a philosopher." He said.
"I'd thought you understood me! Didn't your parents…"
"My parents didn't die!" Basara protested. "I just…I just…"
"You just don't know where they are.' Vicky finished for him.
Basara sunked his head. "No, I don't." 
Basara bit his lip, willing her not to say anything. And as if she understood him, Vicky didn't say a word.
They finally reached the foot of the hill. Vicky called a cab.

Basara looked out the window and into the sky. Billions and billions of stars burned in the dark peaceful sky.
"I've always dreamed of flying into space." Basara said. "I would fly out there, and sing to the galaxy."
Basara was too enveloped in his daydream, that he failed to notice the sorrow that had crept into Vicky's eyes. 

"Don't stop dreaming." She said with a sad smile. "You never know when you're dream might come true."
"Ha! In a million years I suppose." Basara said. "Look at me. I'm a skinny, short, little nobody. How do you suppose me to go out into space? There's no way in this world I'd have the money to take piloting lessons."
"Oh?" Vicky said. Basara failed to notice again, the mischievous grin that was now stretched across Vicky's face.

"You should never give up on anything." Vicky said. "Only the people who keep their dreams alive, really get to go places in the end. If you really believe in yourself, then anything can happen. You shouldn't care what other people say or think about you, even if you do look ridicules. Sometimes our dreams are the only things that keep us alive, and willing to go on and face tomorrow."

This time Basara understood her completely. 
He thought about what she said. 'Sometimes dreams are the only things that keep us alive…only the people who keep their dreams alive really get to go places in the end.' 
It's true. He thought. My dream *is* the only thing that's kept me alive till now.
He looked at the girl starring out the window beside him, and smiled. It's nice to know that there's actually another person out there that also believes in dreaming……
******************************************
Mylene was completely absorbed by Basara's story now.
So that's why he always wears that stupid bandana. She thought. 

"Wow," Mylene said, "that Vicky's a pretty strong girl. I mean, to face her parents' death like that."
Basara smiled. "Yeah, Vicky's a toughy. She never lets anything stand in her way."
"What she said had a lot of effect on you didn't it?" Mylene asked. "I mean, the whole 'don't care what other people think about you' thing and that stuff about your dreams."
Then it hit Mylene.
"So that's why you flew into battle signing when we got attacked!!"  
Basara chuckled. "You're learning now, Mylene. Actually, what she said was not the only reason I did what I did…"
"Well then, what's the other reason?" Mylene wanted to know.
"Be patient. I'll tell you." Basara said. 
"I didn't get what she said about letting someone's death help you get stronger." Mylene said.
"I never got that either…not until…" Basara trailed off
"Not until she 'left you'?" Mylene asked 
Basara nodded.
"I still don't get it!" Mylene said. "Why did she leave you? Did she had to go somewhere?"
"I guess you can put it that way." Basara said.
"Don't say 'I guess'!" Mylene cried. "Tell me !!"
"I will!"

Basara took a deep breath, and got ready to continued with the story. 
The more he spoke about her, the more it hurt. Each word burned away at his heart. 
But he had moved on. She was no more than a beautiful memory…He knew her presence was gone, but her words and her smile will live forever within him.

Mylene saw that he was getting upset. But she was too into the story now, and there was no way she was going to let him leave her hanging. 
"Well?!" She asked.
"She took me to the hospital to have my wound taken care of. Then she offered me to stay at her place. Since I didn't have anywhere else to go, I accepted the offer……
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End of chapter 1