What I Wouldn't Give: a Macross 7 fanfic
By yutamiyu


DISCLAIMER: They're not mine, and it's going to stay that way.


Basara saves Mylene...




The alarms are sounding all around, and I find myself 
anxious. What I wouldn't give to just run to my 
Valkyrie and blast off into space, singing my song and 
sending my message to the galaxy or to whoever will 
listen.

I hop out of bed and run towards the door, Mylene's 
little pet hopping along behind me. I stop at its 
pleading squeaks and grin. "You're not having a good 
day, are you?" I ask, and scoop it up into my arms and 
continue to run towards the sirens.

I soon run into Mylene. She has been on the beach-her 
small figure is covered in nothing but a small bikini 
and a light long shirt to protect her from the sun. My 
breath catches momentarily in my throat--this is 
considerably more than she shows during concerts. In 
fact, if one were to remove the shirt, one could put 
up a very convincing argument that she was completely 
naked.

What an interesting proposition...

I shove Guvava into her arms.

"You're going out again?" she asks.

Is that sorrow I hear in her voice? 

"Of course," I say. My mind lets go of its ambittions 
for a single moment and contemplates staying with her, 
embracing her and telling her that everything would be 
all right; that I would protect her. 

I can't, of course. 

Can I?

"You'd better hurry," I say, turning away from her and 
watching the rapidly rising safety walls. "The 
shelters are closing."

"You're really..." Her voice still contains the sorrow 
that I cannot bear to hear. Not from her.

I hear a loud, dull thud, and Mylene's gasping wail. I 
turn around quickly and find that she has been knocked 
to the ground by a panicking civilian, and has lost 
her pet. The runner, not even bothering to turn around 
and apologize, or even recognize that he has injured 
someone, keeps running towards the shelter.

"Guvava, wait!" Mylene calls. "Don't go that way!" She 
makes her way to her feet and takes off after him.

That stupid idiot...

I run after her.

"Guvava, wait!" she calls again. Like the damn thing 
is going to listen to her amid all the chaos around us.

I pick up my speed and soon lap the little critter. I 
snatch it up from the ground, and jog back over to 
Mylene. "Here," I say quickly, handing Guvava to 
her. "Hang on to him."

"Thanks," she replies sheepishly.

"We'd better hurry before they close," I say, 
indicating the shelters, and I take off towards them 
with her in tow.

We quickly weave our way in and out of the elaborate 
hallways that make up the ship. Red lights begin to 
flash above and around us along with more alarms, and 
I hear rumbling. My eyes widen in silent horror as I 
realize that the doors above us are beginning to 
descend from the ceiling in rapid succession.


Mylene and I find ourselves trapped in the middle of 
the last hallway of the A-3 area. Not a soul is around 
us. We could very well die.

Together.

I bang my fist on the cold metal door in front of me. 
I rap the door until I can't feel that part of my hand 
anymore, and it begins to turn red.

"It's no use," I sigh. "We're trapped."

"I'm sorry," she says softly. "It's Guvava's fault."

I turn on her and point a finger mockingly. "Don't 
blame it on Guvava," I say with the utmost seriousness.

"But, Guvava..."

I turn my head away from her and cross my arms matter-
of-factly. I love teasing her. "We shouldn't have come 
here in the first place," I say, actually meaning it. 
I appreciate her getting the gig, but it's just wrong 
for our band.

"What, are you saying that this is my fault?" she 
comes back, and I notice that her spirit is rising. I 
am bringing her out of despair, and I am glad. Pain 
just doesn't fit that small face of hers.

"Basically," I reply.

"You're always complaining! I'm the one who found the 
work!"

I stare at her through the corner of my eye. She is 
becoming more and more like the Mylene I'm accustomed 
to: enraged. Furious. At me. "If you're going to find 
work," I say, "then make it decent work."

She turns away from me. "What are you talking about?" 
she murmurs to herself, and I listen intently. "You're 
the one who ruined the concert..." She turns back 
towards me. I don't think I was supposed to hear that 
last comment.

"Who knows if it was ruined?" I ask 
rhetorically. "Even if the audience wasn't into it, I 
was able to sing all I wanted."

"That's just like you!" she yells, and steam starts to 
come from her breath.

Oh my god.

I hadn't noticed, but...the room is starting to freeze.

"You never think of anyone else! You're so 
insensitive!" she continues.

I lean in towards her face, as if in disbelief at what 
I have just seen. "W...wait a second," I say, worried.

"IRRESPONSIBLE!" she yells, leaning closer towards me. 
The steam continues to flow from her words. "SELFISH! 
STUBBORN! COLD-HEARTED!"

We look into each other's eyes, not having words to 
say to the other. I had hoped that such a moment would 
be in passion, but as a second ticks by we both do 
naturally what our bodies order as they take over.

We shiver.

Mylene breaks her gaze from mine and looks around the 
room. "I guess this is no time to be fighting," she 
muses, and sits against the wall, clutching Guvava 
against her chest.

Mylene will soon freeze to death, I realize, as I look 
at her clothing. I am probably wearing considerably 
more than her, and I have more mass. I figure that she 
will perish completely in less than two hours.

Leaving me alone. To die. Alone.

I sit beside her, hoping to give her some of my 
warmth. She trembles next to me.

"Freezing to death on a visit to the summer 
ocean...it's not even funny," she remarks, and closes 
her eyes. "I've got goosebumps all over." She draws 
her legs closer to her body and together, trying to 
conserve as much heat as she can.

I know something that Mylene doesn't. The room is getting progressively colder.


I have to do something before she dies. I have to keep 
her heart beating while I try and think of a way for 
the both of us to escape.

"Let's sing," I say, standing on my feet. //Let's get 
started, it 's a Saturday night. How are you all 
doing? Let's stand up...do you feel the beat?//

"Geez," I hear Mylene grumble. I continue to 
sing. "What are you thinking? You sing in the middle 
of battle, you sing in a situation like this..."

I stop singing and turn towards her. "Singing will get 
you fired up!" I exclaim. "That will make your body 
warmer, too."

She gapes at me in surprise. I idly wonder how the 
battle outside is faring.

"It's better than freezing to death," I reply. //This 
is a flying paradise. A forgotten energy...//

I watch her out of the corner of my eye. She sits, 
motionless, simply watching me.

Come on, Mylene. Stand up. Don't quit on me now. I 
need you.

// Now hurry up and take it back. No more wastin' 
time. Before everything fades away like a dream...//

She stands up and joins in my song.

Together, we instantly melt into one determined being, 
knowing not cold nor frost nor death, but only song. 

Our voices instantly synchronize and we sing my song. Our song.

//Hey, everybody! Aim at the light. Let's dance. 
Dancing in the planet dance...//
//A liar sings a sad song of surrender. No thanks! 
You're of no help. Ever-changing constellations and 
invisible sweat and tears brings courage into my 
heart.//
//No more wastin' love, don't ruin your love. Someone 
must be looking only at you.// 
//Hey, everybody! Straight from your heart...Let's 
shout. Jumpin' in the planet 
dance...//

We have reached the end of the song, and we both start 
over at the same time. We truly are one when we sing 
together.

//Let's get started, it's a Saturday night. How are 
you all doing? Let's stand up...do you feel the beat? 
This is a flying paradise. A forgotten energy...Now 
hurry up--//

I stop singing when I notice that Mylene's voice has 
died out. "Don't give up, damn it!" I yell at her, 
attempting to encourage her. "You have to sing! Sing 
to make yourself feel alive!" 

She looks up at me pathetically. She is 
weakening. "B...but..." she manages.

"You're a vocalist, aren't you?" She turns away from 
me. I move to sing, to encourage her, to give her 
hope...and notice the ceiling hatch hanging open in 
the corner of the room.

We now have a chance of survival.

I quickly run towards the wall and scale it, hanging 
onto the hatch before turning back to Mylene. "I'll be 
back to rescue you soon!" I exclaim. "Keep singing!"

Let me know that you're still alive...

I jump into the hatch.

Mylene stands up and makes her way to the hatch and 
gazes into it. "Come back for me before I'm done with 
the fourth verse!" she calls. I stick my head out of 
the opening and grin, giving her a thumbs-up before 
disappearing and crawling in the direction that we had 
been running towards.

The hatch is a tight fit, and I find jagged pieces of 
metal tearing at my shirt and the ceiling lightly 
scraping the top of my head. I strain my ears and 
listen for Mylene's song. I can hear it, but it is 
slowly dying out. I force the thought into my head 
that it is because heavy layers of metal are between 
us, and not because she has died.

I won't let her die.

She's our only bass player and female singer.

Wait.

She's my only...

I continue to crawl through the hatch, feeling the 
sweat running down my temple from the force I'm 
exerting.

I finally reach the end and kick in the door. What I 
have been searching for lies there in wait; large and 
red and glistening from its thin layer of frost. I 
drop down and run to it, and bang on the control 
panel. It opens. I enter my code and my Valkyrie's 
pilot area opens. I jump in quickly, and take the 
controls.

I sigh in relief. I never want to do that again.

Hang on, Mylene.

I activate my Valkyrie and the frost quickly 
evaporates, and I stand up and punch the door in front 
of me. It does not fall easily, but it eventually 
does, and I make my way towards the next door.


I'm coming for you, Mylene. Just hold out a little 
longer.

Room after room I force my way through. I know nothing 
but Mylene. I don't even care about the battle raging 
violently outside, I just need to know that Mylene is 
safe.

I punch through another door and see Mylene's crumpled 
form lying on the ground. She is close to death. Her 
lips move but I cannot hear what she says. She 
collapses completely.

"MYLENE!" I scream, and rush out of my Valkyrie. I run 
over to her and fall to my knees in front of her. 


"Oh, god...Mylene..." I put a hand on her back and 
feel. My hand does not move; she isn't 
breathing. "WAKE UP!" I scream at her. "You can't die 
on me now!"

I push her onto her back completely and open her 
mouth. Frantically, without giving it a second 
thought, I slant my mouth over hers and breathe my 
life into her lungs. I lift my head and silently count 
to five before doing it again.

I hear a small cough before I see Mylene's chest 
slowly rise and fall.

"Good girl," I sigh in relief. "Thank god..." I lift 
her in my arms and take her to the heat of my Valkyrie.

I simply stand in the frozen room, my eyes not moving 
from Mylene's face. I hold her rather than the 
controls of my Valkyrie; with the guitar control set-
up it makes for an extremely tight fit. Her body is 
pressed up against mine.

A half-hour passes before she finally wakes up, her 
cheeks bright pink, and stares into my eyes.

I smile down at her. "You're all right now," I say. I 
have completed my mission successfully; Mylene is 
safe. "There is no fourth verse in that song," I 
chuckle to her.

"Oh, that's right," she says, still drowsy, still very 
weak. She closes her eyes and smiles in utter 
contentment, snuggling closer to me. "It's so warm..." 
she sighs, before falling back asleep.

I can't help but smile.

After nearly facing death, she finds absolute serenity 
and comfort in my arms. Such a thought sends a warm 
feeling through my body.

What I wouldn't give to make sure that she keeps that 
happiness eternally.

And what I wouldn't give to see her smile at me like 
that again.

~End~


AUTHOR'S NOTE: I'm doing a lot of these recently. This 
story takes place during episode 6, when they're on 
the resort ship Riviera. I have another fic about the 
concert that takes place there; it's called "Washed 
Away", and you should read it. (End shameless plug ^_^)

BY yutamiyu