#stop that one with mecha being surrounded by everyone….hugging him….

[ptw30]

So since the romance in Voltron and how badly-written it was is part of what made it such a shit show with the other part being character arcs that went nowhere, if you keep the pre-s8 (since s8 had so many last-minute changes) narrative, what is a way this could have been remedied?

Oh, wow. Um. Well - if I had to keep Season 7, I think I would treat Season 8 like a one-shot in a comic book. 

You pull out all the stops. 

Launch Day - Shiro admits to Allura and the team he can’t hear the White Lion. Since we didn’t know the White Lion wasn’t in Atlas at the beginning of Season 8, it might as well be. Keith admits he can’t hear Black, Lance can’t hear Red, and Allura talks to the lions, realizing she broke Shiro’s bond with Black. She ties them together once again. Keith goes back into Red, Lance apologies to Blue, and Allura speaks to the White Lion through her crystal. She takes it back, apologies to Shiro, who gets a new arm - the Black Bayard. Shiro tells Allura she needs to become the commander of the Atlas. 

Shadows - I don’t remember much of this episode. One and done - but I would have revealed Lotor to be alive and trying to communicate with Allura. 

Prisoner’s Dilemma - Same deal but with Shiro in Black, Allura in Atlas. Take out Cosmo, put in Shiro and Keith going around the facility. At the end of the episode, have Keith call Allura - they need her and they shouldn’t have split up the group. Allura has her first vision of Honerva. 

Battle Scars - I would have split this a bit - have Pidge seeing Olkarion and having Allura see more visions of Honerva. Eventually, Atlas helps to slow the weblum, and I’d put a comedy into it. 

“We have the greatest weapon in the entire universe, and we can’t defeat a worm?”

“In our defense - it’s like a really big worm!”

“Isn’t that snake?”

“Paladins, focus!”

The Grudge - I would have mixed this up a bit. Have the paladins stranded but work out some issues. Let’s put Shiro and Lance together, have Lance explain how he feels about Allura and have Shiro support him. Keith and Pidge where Pidge says she’s glad Keith is back, Hunk and Allura, where Allura tells Hunk about her visions. The Atlas Crew saves them - Iverson, Veronica, and Coran to the rescue! 

Genesis - Honerva doesn’t kill the White Lion, but she does drain it from Atlas in order to fuel her mission to bring back Lotor. She succeeds but instead of Lotor being dead, he’s alive. Voltron is able to grab him but not his mecha, and they flee. 

Day Forty- Seven - I enjoyed most of this episode, but since Lotor’s back and we have to deal with his issues -  we need this episode back for plotting purposes, thanks. Plus, now that Ezor, Zethrid, and Axca are on board, the generals and Lotor work out their problems. Lotor admits Narti was controlled by Honerva and says he aimed to free her, not kill. Keith comes and admits Narti is alive, working with the Blades. An uncover agent saved her after she was injured.  

Clear Day - Fine. Let’s keep it, but Lotor volunteers to go to his mother and try to get back Sincline. Allura says they don’t know where Honerva is anyway. Lance and Allura have a conversation - he supports her and wishes her the best. Allura kisses him on the cheek and wishes him well.

Knights of Lights Part 1 and 2 - same deal but have Shiro working through his issues. Allura is there, too, and she and Shiro are trapped away from the paladins. Shiro can’t feel Black and Allura can’t feel any of the lions (since, you know, she’s tied to them all). At the end, we see all the flashbacks from og!paladins but the new!paladins recognize Shiro’s pain, too. And we see some of Shiro’s history - his family, his time in the arena. Group hug. Then we have Zarkon help Shiro and address Shiro as the Black Paladin at the end. Paladins escape, knowing Honerva is heading to traverse the realities. 

Uncharted Regions - Allura is awake at the beginning of this but saddened to have lost her father and family again. Lotor consoles her and says he won’t sit back any longer. Honerva almost killed Allura in the Void. 

Lotor starts to leave on a rebel ship to get Sincline, but before he leaves, Allura and Lotor kiss again. Lotor ends up getting captured by Honerva’s mecha. They have some time to talk it out. Voltron and Atlas question whether they have the power to defeat Honerva but decide to try anyway. (Yes, we get a Shiro and Keith hug here before the final battle; Pidge and Lance have a moment, where Pidge says she hopes Lance doesn’t die; Lance comes and draws everyone into another group hug.)

The Zenith - Same as the original, though Lotor attempts to plea with his mother not to destroy the universe. Honerva says Lotor doesn’t understand but he will eventually. Sincline and Honerva’s mecha merge. Instead of needing a “convuldrum” of Balmeras, Allura merges Atlas and Voltron. They go after Honerva. Instead of Honerva trying to kill little!Lotor - we find out Honerva is going after the rift entities. They infected her, and though she used them to control the Alteans, she’s going to take revenge and stop it from happening to anyone else. She finds the rift entities in several realities and goes through each one, killing the realities to kill the rift entities. 

Yes - that means “our” reality has to go, too. 

Unfortunately, Honerva realizes the rift entities are jumping to new realities, too fast to catch them, and realizes all realities must go. 

The End is the Beginning - Lotor eventually fights Honerva to control of the mecha  - he’s been trying but it’s hard - and Honerva ejects him. Voltron/Atlas scoops Lotor up, and he’s able to reach out to Sincline. As Honerva and Voltron/Atlas fight, Honerva enters into the place where all of reality begins, and Lotor attempts to rip Sincline from Honerva’s mecha. Voltron/Atlas tap into their power at the same time - and all the lions, including the White Lion, roar. 

Sincline, too - a purple lion - joins them. 

In that white infinity space, Allura says there has to be a better way, and Honerva says Allura, Lotor, and she are connected through Oriande. Allura says they can use Sincline/Honerva’s mecha and Atlas/Voltron and with the power of the lions, reverse what Honerva has done. She’s wiped out all the rift creatures. It’s safe now to rebirth the realities. 

Of course, being the conduits for all the lions’ power, the three Alteans will be wiped out. 

The paladins refuse for them to do it alone. 

“Stronger together.”

“But you will be destroyed as well.”

“Maybe, maybe not. We’re bonded to the lions. If nothing else, we’ll all spend eternity in the Void together.”

Shiro shrugs a shoulder. “I’ll enjoy the company this time around.”

Each paladin says good-bye to his/her lion, thanking each lion for choosing him/her. One last time, the paladins form Voltron, this time with Atlas, Honerva’s mecha, and Sincline, and they rebirth the realities. 

When it is over, Honerva is gone from her mecha. She took the majority of the power within herself. The lions have no power; the team’s bond is gone. Altea and Daibazaal are back. 

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge go back to Earth with Shay and Matt; Allura and Lotor split their time between their home worlds. Shiro and Keith go off with the Blades, but every year, the entire team meets on Arus. 

The King of the Arusians calls Allura the lion goddess again. She corrects him, saying the paladins lost the lions. 

“You lost the lions? Then you must find them!”

“I do not believe it is that easy. See, they call to the paladins, and - ”

Lance, “Maybe we need to call them.”

They go back to the rift, which is now shut. They close their eyes, Allura and Lotor use their power, and as the paladins glow, they open their eyes. 

A roar sounds on the screen. 

Fade to Black

Post-Credit picture - Each lion greets their paladin. Now Sincline and Atlas are both lions, purple and white respectively. 

Tweeted Scene - Honerva’s soul is in a mecha; it seeks its first paladin - Olia, who is surrounded by her children.  

[saintheartwing]

So! Battle of Heart and Mind!

Okay, so the episode begins with more Pink Diamond memories as he realizes Pink got locked up a lot, and lost her first Pearl, and Blue would often come in to talk to her about how she messed up. So Blue is the most sympathetic to her.

Then Steven awakes and Blue comes in. She is angry with Pink and yells at Steven, who points out how her behavior isn’t how family should act. How her behavior has just kept hurting Pink for centuries and centuries and it drove her away. Blue realizes how much she’s been hurting Pink and thus, Steven. So she lets her out.

They go to free the Crystal Gems, and Yellow is there. She’s mad at first and a big fight breaks out. Steven and Connie manage to get her to realize how her trying to build up a perfect empire has made her drive away the people she cares about, and kept her from enjoying the things she loves....and from being happy with the people she loves.

They’re about to go rush off planet and then...White shows up. It looks bad.

Luckily, that’s when the earth Gems show up. And Lapis and Peridot are back to normal! They use the big mecha arms to fight White Diamond in her big white head, fused to the pink legs, off. And Connie suggests to Yellow and Blue they force White Diamond to listen to them, that just talking about their feelings can go a long way.

So, yellow and blue go before white diamond and the gigantic formed jam robot mecha suit. Yellow and Blue say that they’ve worked to further the crystal gem empire for so long, but it’s been grinding them down, and hurting them, for years and years and years. And they’re no longer close. They no longer feel like a family anymore. White is as distant as can be. And they want things to change.

White shoots lasers and does to them what’s happened to the White Pearl. It’s brainwashing, losing all their colors and the like. And the gang is falling, falling and the gems haven’t reformed!

So Steven begs and pleads with the gems, one after the other, first Amethyst, then Pearl, then Garnet... and in doing so, he fuses with all of them! First he makes smoky quartz, then a new Rainbow, and then, with Garnet, “sunstone“!

When none of those fusions work, it’s time for ALL the gems to fuse and make...OBSIDIAN!

She looks just like the front of their home, that big statue thing with the many arms and double mask thing. And she’s all grey and fiery like magma!

So they fight against White Diamond and use their combined might to slice off the arms! Then they force the mech down, down, down!

But that’s when they un-fuse. Luckily they managed to reach white diamond’s eye. They crawl in to talk to her. And White is creepy.

She’s able to see into all her brainwashed people’s heads evidently. And she shoots Amethyst! Then Garnet! Then Pearl! And she insults them, Amethyst is deficient, Garnet is dependent and Pearl is obsessed.

Steven in turn says the Crystal Gems are fine the way they are. White says Pink only thinks that way because she wants them to be around to make herself feel better. Pink just wants to be surrounded by people who are lesser than her to make herself feel better about herself. She’s an enabler who, by being their mentor and their light, is able to get the attention and love she wants. And all the while blaming her problems on everyone else but herself.

Steven insists that he’s not Pink diamond. He’s not his mom. But White just responds with “but don’t you know things about her that you couldn’t possibly know?” She says that deep down, Steven IS Pink, that he’s just been essentially buried all this time, and lying even to himself. This is just a new form for pink diamond...

And then before the shocked Connie’s eyes White removes the gem from Steven’s belly! And...

Steven’s not dead. He’s not got his gem and...

And out comes Pink Diamond’s “spirit” as Steve. Floating down on a beam of light from the gem!

Everyone just stares, shocked. The spirit walks over to the barely alive Steven, Connie carrying him. White tries to stop the spirit but...it just blocks her. She can’t hurt it.

The Spirit tosses them away with its might and then holds Steven in its arms. They hug and embrace, and dance about and then...

Steven is back to normal. White Diamond says “No! You don’t look like this! You’re just acting like a child!”

“I AM a child. What’s YOUR excuse?” Steven asks. And then everything goes pink! And everyone turns back to normal! Somehow his influence has gotten to them all and Pink Pearl is back to normal. And White is smaller too. And off-color.

Steven in turn says White needs to learn to accept that other people should be who they are, to not force them to be someone else, and she can be her real self in return, and in turn. White says she isn’t SUPPOSED to be flawed. She’s supposed to be perfect and better, to make everything better, that’s what she exists to be.

Steven says she CAN be better. But first thing’s first.

She’s got to get outside of her own head.

So now we go down to Earth! Sadie and her band are singing on the beach and of course...down comes the Gems in the full mecha suit!

And Lars is there too. He’s finally arrived back home just in time to see-oh. The Diamonds. Whoops!

Luckily the Diamonds are well, reformed. Though White still looks like the Off Colors are something under her shoe. Baby steps. Oh well.

Sadie and Lars are astounded by what they’ve become, and the two share a moment. Lars feels guilty he crashed his show though. Steven, in turn, takes the stage....and sings the theme song as we get a montage of the gems who were made into monsters are changed and made normal once more.

It involves a big bubble bath! That’s hilarious.

Jasper is back to normal and she has horns now too. And she looks embarrassed but, well, cute. And White actually smiles. So they go off into space after they’re all cured at last, and it ends with Steven singing on the beach with all the gang under the moon, Steven singing a song with his ukulele about how you can change your miiiiind...

So! That’s what happened. A lot I didn’t see coming, and the ending was surprisingly heartfelt and tender.

[zwei-the-penguin-with-a-pen]

‘All To Myself’

"Come on, Blakey! I just want to see you guys practice!!" Yang complained as she reached into the fridge for a sports drink. Smile Bomb was having a practice session today, and Yang loved to hear her favorite girl's band play.

"I still haven't asked the band if you are allowed at practices. I'm sure no one would mind but Sun. Neptune has a thing for muscular blonds, and we wouldn't want the Monkey King to get jealous." Blake replied, rolling her eyes at her own joke.

"He likes muscular blond boys, though, so why would Sun get jealous of me?"

"Honestly? Because you have better abs than he does!" Blake giggled. It was Yang's turn to roll her eyes.

"Is that really my fault? I'm not gonna steal his squish or anything! I've got a diamond, what do I want with a sapphire?" Yang smirked and winked at Blake, who was not expecting a response so smooth. Gods, her new girlfriend sure knew how to surprise her.

The few months since that outdoor concert in Vale seemed like seconds and ages simultaneously. She could not believe that some random fan hitting on her had become her girlfriend. Then again, Topaz had seen the spark as soon as the two of them walked into his coffeehouse. That guy was usually right about things of that nature.

"I'll call them and ask if it's okay Honeypot." Blake finally conceded. "You'd better not distract me, though."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Glucose!" Yang grinned as she flexed her right arm. Blake's eyes turned to hearts at that. Blake rolled her eyes once she came to her senses and left the room to make her phone call.

Yang tapped away at her Scroll, playing a game to pass the time. One of Smile Bomb's tunes, 'Who Do You Love' began playing on their small radio, and Yang danced and swayed in her seat. It wasn't her most favorite, but it definitely jammed.

Blake reappeared, shoving her Scroll in her pocket. "Everyone seems okay with you hanging out. Just try not to show Sun too many muscles. He's a bit of a diva."

"Not as much as Scarlet."

"Is anyone as big a diva as Scarlet?" They shared a laugh as they walked out the door. They hopped into Blake's car and drove off.

\/\/\/\/\/

"Ooh, we have an audience for today!" Scarlet raved as Blake and Yang walked into his living room. The tattooed boy with the blazing red hair hugged Yang tightly. He loved Blake's girlfriend almost as much as Blake did, just in a vastly different fashion.

"Guys, I think there are too many women in here. We're gonna be outnumbered if this keeps up." Sage joked, his thick baritone echoing in the mostly empty room. They were still setting up, so most of the gear was sprawled around the area. The gigantic green-haired boy walked up and hugged Yang tightly.

"Ow! Sage, you're crushing my life! Ease up, my dude!" Yang joked, purposely straining her voice. Sage chuckled and rolled his eyes. "But really, do you ever stop working out? You have more muscles than Toguro!"

"I aspire to have a body like Toguro! Except for the stretchy demon muscles, of course! WAIT! You know about anime?" Sage was taken aback.

"I used to watch brawlers with my kid sister, and Yu Yu Hakusho was our favorite until Gurren Lagann gave her an affection for mecha. Why do you think I fell in love with your band?"

"I figured it was because we were all sexy as hell!" He fired back, Yang rolling her eyes.

"I mean, of course, you are all fine, but I only have eyes for Blake!" She replied.

"Aww, that's so cute it's stupid!" Neptune mentioned as he walked in from the next room. "Sun should be out in a minute. I think he was using the bathroom."

"You know exactly what he was doing in the bathroom..." Sage injected. Blake laughed and Scarlet glowered at Neptune.

"I hope you cleaned up after yourselves!" The redhead complained. Neptune crossed his arms.

"Why do you just assume we were up to no good?" The blue-haired boy retorted. Yang could hardly take these boys' shenanigans.

"You're either up to no good or good-good when you're alone together, and both of those mean the same thing, Poseidon." Blake shot off as she tuned her guitar, strumming a sour chord for good measure. Scarlet and Sage burst out laughing. A sweat drop appeared on the back of Neptune's head.

He knew there was no winning this argument.

"You all are just mad because we're so in love!"

"I'm plenty in love with Sage, but I try to keep my Cutlass to myself when we aren't at home in bed! As much as I love the Greatsword, I don't want to disrespect someone's house!" Scarlet replied, another round of laughter filling the practice room.

"Hey, we can't control when his Staff or my Trident call out to one another!" Neptune tried to keep a straight face, failing when Blake made a face at him. She loved her bandmates, she truly did, but they were a neverending fountain of crotch humor.

"It's a pain in the neck being surrounded by four horny dudes all the time. Must be the reason I love ladies..." She mused. Yang grinned at the remark. Neptune grabbed his bass guitar and slapped its strings. Sun finally appeared and hooked the microphones into his drums. And finally, their practice began.

A few songs in, Blake sang lead on a new song the five of them had been working on, 'This Means War'. Yang's eyes turned to stars at the sultry sounds of Blake's beautiful singing. The way her upper ears twitched as she sang drove Yang wild. Was this woman a goddess?

Gods, Yang was so lucky.

"Of course you realize, THIS MEANS WAR!" Blake sang, the finishing line of her part. The boys sang a chant to finish the song out. Yang clapped raucously for her favorite girl and her favorite band.

"Break time! The Monkey King needs a quick snack!" Sun announced, setting his sticks down atop one of his floor toms.

"Your snack better not be the Ocean, Wukong." Scarlet snapped, Sun rolling his eyes.

"We took care of that earlier. Gods, we're not that horny!" Sun saw Blake roll her eyes at him, but he decided against making another comment since his growling stomach would not let him think of one.

Blake sat on the couch next to Yang, tossing one arm around her. Yang snuggled into her gorgeous girlfriend.

"I'm sorry about all the junk jokes, babe," Blake apologized. She'd gotten used to it and forgotten how awful they could be.

"It's fine, Bee Vomit. I mean, if I had a dongle I'd name it something cool, too! The Golden Dragon, probably." Yang joked, causing Blake to giggle.

"You're so silly, Glucose!" Blake snuggled closer to Yang. "I love you, Goldie!"

Yang's heart skipped a beat or two at that. "I love you too, Kitty Cat." She replied, lifting her head up to kiss Blake. The soft kiss turned into another one, and suddenly they were making out on Scarlet's couch. Blake pulled away.

"Perhaps we shouldn't disrespect Scarlet's couch." She suggested. Yang nodded, and the two returned to their cuddles.

"I appreciate you not defiling my couch, especially since my bathroom has already been sullied today," The redhead commended, winking at the girlfriends. "Also, Sun has sufficiently stuffed his face, so what say we get back to practice?" With that, Blake hopped off the couch and scooped up her guitar. The band played the song they were named for, one of Yang's all-time favorites. Then they went into 'All to Myself', her absolute favorite of theirs.

Yang was thrilled to bits. She was glad the guys didn't mind having her around. Maybe she could get backstage at their concerts now. That would be super fun. \/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/ \/\/\/\/\/

Day 4: Team SSSN Member

I had a load of fun on my last challenge writing about the band Smile Bomb, so I figured I’d write more of their shenanigans. It also gives me an excuse to write three of my favorite ships at one time, not to mention make Team SSSN make a bunch of crotch jokes.

This fic ties into ‘Feeling’ and ‘Still Alive’ from my last challenge. ‘Smile Bomb’ would also be a great name for this, but I used that name for another fic that has nothing to do with these ones. Plus i ran out of fitting BigBang songs.

Bumbleby always seems to work their way into this day of the challenge. At least, the last two times. XD

Oh, and since June is Pride Month, HAPPY PRIDE MONTH EVERYONE! I will try to write as much gay stuff as I can. I usually do so anyway, but I’ll try a bit harder this time I guess.

[wolf2009]

Now that it is complete. I really want to thank @oblivionscribe and @writer-ofstuff for all they have done. And now without further a due here is my Overwatch Story. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert sat in the rec room of one the many Overwatch stationed bases, playing a video game with D.Va, or as Robert calls her a Gremlin, and Lucio. D.va was winning, no surprise there really, but unlike other times when he would game with the two, Roberts mind wasn't fully in the game. Instead thinking back at the conversation he had with McCree earlier, the two have been a thing for sometime, though in a open relationship which both were fine with, it just seemed to Robert McCree was being distant lately, and every time he asked what was up he'd get brushed off as if was nothing. Finally he had enough and had snapped at McCree, storming off form the other man and holing himself up in the rec room where Gremlin and Lucio found him. "Ha! I win again!" D.va says, Lucio and Robert sighing in defeat. "Isn't even a surprise at this point Gremlin?" Robert says, letting out a soft chuckle, right before he feels a sharp pain flare from his neck, his hand instantly moving towards the source and pulling out a dart. "The fuck?? he grunts, suddenly feeling dizzy, falling to his knees, hearing commotion around him as Lucio and D.Va rush to his side, hearing them shouting about an intruder, calling for help as Robert starts to break out into a sweat, body feeling hot and cold at the same time, panting heavily as the poison from the dart spreads through his system.He can vaguely here the others storm into the room, hearing Solider 76 shouting for Reaper and Genji to follow him after the intruder, instructing Mercy and Zenyatta to help Lucio and D.Va with Robert. Robert starts to feel worse, gritting his teeth, feeling his fangs dropping, claws sharpening as his shift starts to happen. He tries to hold back, to keep calm, but the poison is making it hard to do so. Finding his wolf power taking over as it feels threatened when the others circle him, their voices sounding muffled as he shifts from human form into a large beast form. Shoving the all back form him with a loud roar as he tears out the room. McCree sighs, thinking back about the small argument he had with Robert, how the younger man looked upset as he stormed off from him. He didn't think pulling away from Robert would be that bad on him, the younger man seemed fine when they started their open relationship, McCree even seeing him making out with Lucio one time, and the two would often talk about their hook ups as they laid in bed with one another. "Time to head back I suppose." He mutters to himself, he needs to talk to Robert see what he can do to make the younger man feel better, only when he gets back to the base he sees a shadow figure dashing out, chased by Reaper, 76, and Genji. McCree is about to follow and see whats going on, but stops and turns his attention back to the base after hearing a loud roar. "Robert?" He mutters softly, hurrying inside. He hears a loud commotion coming from one the larger rooms on the base, hurrying there he finds Robert, in full beast mode smacking around Lucio and even Reinhardt. He sees D.Va coming in her Mecha suit, only to be tackled by Robert and tossed into Reinhardt when the older man starts to get up. "McCree! You have to help, we can't get him still to heal the poison from his body." He hears Mercy say. her and Zenyetta are currently off to the side looking a little beat up themselves.  A lot happens in the next few minutes, McCree tries to talk to Robert, only to get knocked back and dodge in time to miss the claws that barely miss him. "Whoa there Darlin, it's like you're trying to hurt me." McCree jokes, earning a snarl from Robert who circles him. "COme on now, don't tell me you forgot about me have ya?" He asks, not liking seeing Robert like this, as the beast in front of him lunges, knocking McCree back and goes to bite him, McCree having enough time to block with his metal arm, thankful it's that, that Robert bites down on. "Come on now Robert you gotta snap out of it!" McCree pleas, staring into the near feral eyes of Robert as the wolf bites hard on the metal arm. "I know you might still be mad about what happened, but please fight through this, for me?" He says, thankful to see the wolf falter a bit, his grip on McCree's metal arm loosening. "See I knew you were still in there. That's one of the things I admire, no That I love about you Robert, you're a fighter." McCree says, not wanting to admit his love for Robert like this, wanting it to be in a more romantic setting than the two like this. Robert suddenly lets go, stepping away from McCree and sitting on his haunches and whimpers. "Do it now!" McCree says, Mercy and Zenyetta moving, surrounding Robert in a bright light, healing the poison from the younger man's body. The next few minutes are tense, everyone in the room gathering and watching Robert starts to shift, shrinking down to human size, human features taking over the lupine ones as he reverts back to his human form, falling forward and gets caught by McCree.  McCree hugs the younger man to his chest gently, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Who knew you could be such a sap." Robert jokes, getting a small chuckle from McCree. "You bring it out of me." he mutters, as Roberts healing session slows. "He should be fine now the poison is gone, but he needs plenty of rest. Forced into that form like that as the poison was in his system took a lot out of him." McCree hears Mercy explain. "We're going to help the others find the intruder," Reinhardt announces, nodding to McCree and Robert as he, Lucio, and D.Va follow. "You should go with them, I'm fine now." Robert mutters, McCree helping him stand and leading them to his room. "Not a chance. You're stuck with me till your feelin 100 percent Darlin." McCree says. Robert sighs, but doesn't protest, glad to be here in McCree's arms as he leads them to his room.

[ultrahenry88]

Academy Days

Chapter 6

Have you ever experienced a situation where you are asleep physically yet some of your senses are "awake"? You can hear, smell and feel but you can't taste and you especially can't see, because you're still asleep or in some state of unconsciousness. That was the exact same phenomenon Nozomi was experiencing right now. She could hear the voices being said around her, she could smell the various distinctive scents and she could feel the sensation of being lifted up and down several times. But she couldn't see where she was as her body was still more or less "asleep". So she basically felt like a sack of potatoes with some mild sense of awareness.

Finally, though Nozomi's body slowly began to awaken after what she figured was probably twenty minutes. Then again it could have been longer since you lose all sense of time when you're unconscious. The first sense that bombarded her was a sense of taste. She had that God-awful taste morning breath in her mouth. And as a stickler for dental hygiene, that was the absolute worst. Regardless, Nozomi did her best not to focus on that. Instead, she focused on the ability to open her eyes. The crust surrounding her eyelids tried to keep them shut but eventually, she managed to open them. Immediately the young lady was bombarded with a bright, luminous light.

"Damn!" Nozomi cursed and raised a hand to cover her eyes. She counted to ten, then waited an extra five seconds before removing her hand after she got adjusted to the brightness. Nozomi blinked a few times then looked around the room she was in, noting the sterile white walls, small T.V. atop a medium sized dresser and the fact that she was laying on a lifting bed. "Where...am I?"

"You are in the hospital, Miss." Said a new voice, and Nozomi looked up at the door to see a smiling young man dressed in a male nurse's uniform.

"Ho... Hospital? How did I end up here...?" Nozomi asked slowly as she tried to sit up with slight difficulties.

"You went through quite an ordeal during a telepathic training exercise with your friend. Christine, I believe her name is... Anyway, you experienced a heavy backlash of Feedback but luckily your friend was able to protect you from the worst of it. Ms. Fujiko brought you here as soon as she got you out of the simulator, and here you are." The male nurse explained.

Nozomi was hung on every word the nurse said, and by the time he was done speaking, she was suddenly hit by the memories. She remembered now. Agreeing to help Christine, going into that mecha simulator, that loud awful noise and then the bombardment of all of Christine's thoughts...Yes, it figures she would be in the hospital.

"I'm surprised I'm not dead" Nozomi said aloud.

"To be morbidly honest, you could have been. Yours is one of the worse cases of Feedback I have ever seen." The nurse replied.

"Gee, I feel accomplished." Nozomi said sarcastically making the nurse chuckle.

"Well, for what it's worth, it isn't as bad the worst Feedback situation we dealt with. Oh, and I'm Marcus Horton by the way." The man said.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Horton. Say, um...did my friends get notified about what happened to me? That is...do they know I'm alright?" Nozomi asked. To this, Marcus gave a tender smile and walked towards the door.

"You may ask them yourself if you'd like that." Marcus said and opened the door, and almost right away, the patient room was flooded with several of Nozomi's classmates. But the ones she was especially happy to see were David, John, Sayuri and Christine.

"Hi, Nozomi!" Everyone exclaimed happily as they approached the tough girl's bedside. The girl blinked in shock for a moment before her face broke out into a smile.

"Guys...all of you really came to see me?" Nozomi asked.

"Of course we did! We wanted to make sure that you were alright." Said a female classmate.

"Yeah. After all, you need friends with you now more than ever." Added one male classmate.

"And we certainly weren't going to just sit around without seeing you." David said with a smile.

"Sure, we weren't! It's not the same without Nagging Nozomi around to burst my chops." John said with a grin and Sayuri lightly elbowed him in the arm.

"Anyway, once we got permission from Dr. Princeton she said that it was alright for us to come and see you." The lady warrior said.

"And even though we don't have anything now, we promise to bring you some get well presents next time we visit." Said the same female classmate from earlier.

"Aw guys, that's alright. You don't have to do anything for me." Nozomi said with a small smile.

However, the smile dropped when her eyes turned to Christine. She was quiet the entire time. And she kept her eyes down at her feet. As if she couldn't bare to look at Nozomi. Or, rather, she felt too guilty to look at her. Deciding that they needed a private talk Nozomi gestured over to Marcus to get his attention.

"Say, Marcus, could you please have everyone go to the cafeteria for a while? I'd like to speak with Christine alone." Nozomi said, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed that the telepath visibly stiffened at her words.

"Certainly. Come on guys, follow me. The lunch guy working there is a friend of mine. I can hook you all up with the good stuff for half price." Marcus said and led everyone out of the patient room.

"Awesome! I haven't eaten since breakfast." John said with a smile as he followed his friends and classmates out of the room.

"Please, John! You ate so much you went into an immediate food coma after breakfast." Stated another female classmate.

"That's probably why he doesn't remember." David said with a grin as everyone laughed while John just blew a raspberry.

Once Marcus closed the door, only Christine and Nozomi were left. The room was kept silent as the telepath girl kept her eyes trained squarely on her feet while Nozomi looked at her closely. She wondered if she should speak up first and ask how Christine was doing. After all she had been affected by the Feedback as well and it surely caused her some equal amount of pain. But just as Nozomi was about to open her mouth Christine spoke up first.

"How...How are you feeling?" Christine asked. It shocked the other girl a little, as she didn't expect her friend to reply after keeping silent for so long. Never the less she replied.

"I'm, uh...I'm fine. Kinda lethargic and my mouth tastes awful from not brushing my sleep, but other than that I'm good." Nozomi said.

"That's good..." Christine said with a single nod. After a thirty second pause, she said something barely above a whisper. "...sorry."

"Huh?" Nozomi said.

"I said sorry." Christine spoke up a bit louder.

"Christine, I can't hear you very well. You'll have to speak..." But before she could finish her request Nozomi was cut off by an unusual shout from the normally quiet young lady.

"I SAID I'M SORRY!" Christine exclaimed loudly as she finally turned her head up to look at her friend. And her face revealed bloodshot eyes and a rosy nose from past excess crying as well as tears from her current crying. "Do you understand?! I'm trying to apologize for causing you so much pain that you ended up here and...!"

"CHRISTINE, SHUT UP!" Nozomi shouted, which did the trick in making the other female snap her mouth closed as she flinched back. Once she was sure that Christine settled down the bedridden female took in a deep breath, then breathed out and spoke again.

"Look...You don't have to apologize. You didn't do anything to me."

"But...but I did! You're here in this condition because...!" Again, Nozomi cut Christine off before she could go on.

"I'm in this condition because of the Feedback, not you! So stop apologizing for something you didn't do Christine. I'm not like your parents." Nozomi said. And that made Christine look at her in horror.

"My parents...? Oh God, you saw my memories. Then...did you see the one about my phone call with moth...I mean, Mrs. Navarro?" Christine asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. I did. It all went through really fast. Like pressing fast forward on a movie. But...I saw enough. And Christine, you shouldn't downgrade yourself like that. They're pieces of crap who don't deserve to even say they're related to you – if they can't see how great you are." Nozomi said.

"I...I... But..." Christine stuttered but her sentence didn't come out like she wanted.

"And besides, the nurse told me what happened. You saved me. So if anyone has to be sorry it's me. I'm sorry that I put you through that hell and scared you so badly, Christine. And I thank you for saving me. Please, don't ever blame yourself. You're a good person." Nozomi assured as she gave a deep, sympathetic expression.

"You... Do you mean that?" Christine asked slowly.

"I do. And once I'm better I want to continue helping you with your training. I keep my promises, Christine. And I'll be damned before I turn my back on one I made to a friend." Nozomi passionately stated.

For a moment, Christine said nothing. She was absolutely silent. At first Nozomi was worried that she may have said too much and accidentally caused offense. And she got especially worried when Christine started to cry. But before she could apologize to her friend, the telepath embraced Nozomi in a bear hug.

"Thank you, Nozomi. You have...no idea how much that means to me." Christine said through tears. Nozomi relaxed when she realized her friend wasn't upset and hugged her back.

"You're welcome Christine." Nozomi said. Then after a minute or two of hugging the girls pulled away and the tough lady gave a smile. "So, we're going to pick up from where we left off when I get better! Right?"

Christine smiled widely and gave a sure nod.

After that, the next day came with relative swiftness. Students went on about their lives all while still keeping Nozomi in their thoughts and prayers. During that whole day, the entire Class 214 was working hard at their simulator training. While some were rather concerned about experiencing Feedback both the technician and Erina assured them that the machine was repaired. Students were also working harder at their sparing, putting in more time to learn both weapon's training as well as hand to hand combat. Erina watched on from the sidelines with pride as her students practiced their boxing skills. They are truly coming a long way, and she just knows that the time will come when they become great mecha pilots. Speaking of time, Erina hadn't checked to see how long her students had been training. Upon her check, as she checked her watch, she made a soft gasp when she saw that it was getting close to ending the school day. So the teacher put her silver whistle to her lips and gave a hard blow, the resulting loud "fweet" sound coming right after and making all of the Class 214 students look up at her.

"Day's just about done, kids! Time to call it quits." Erina said.

"But Ms. Fujiko, is that alright? We the bell hasn't rung yet." Pointed out a male student.

"Relax, dear. I'm the teacher and if I say you can go then it's alright. Besides, I don't want you guys overworking yourself. So go on and head to the dorms. You've all earned yourselves an early day." Erina said with a smile.

"Thank you, Ms. Fujiko!" The students all exclaimed happily and proceeded to go to the respective boys and girls locker rooms, grab their stuff and head back to the dorms.

And as soon as they left the gymnasium, the students now understood that Erina was right to stop them when she had. It was only after getting into their comfortable clothes and letting their muscles relax that the students realized just how much their bodies ached from all that working out they did. Luckily though it was the start of the autumn season and that cool air provided much-needed comfort. Despite that bit of relief though they were still quite a ways from the dorms, which was going to take even longer to get to considering how slowly they're walking.

"Man, I feel like a used mop right now..." Said a brunette female student in a tired tone of voice.

"I know. I don't think I worked my body that much since my mom made me clean the whole house and the garage for Mother's Day." Said a male student.

"Was it attached or detached?" Asked a blonde male student.

"Detached. Plus it was like five feet away from the house. I had to make trips while I was cleaning!" The red-headed student exclaimed and his classmates gave a mix of chuckles and sympathetic words.

Just then, a new voice joined in on the conversation.

"Well, well, nice to see future mecha pilots in such a cheerful mood after a school day." Said the mature feminine voice. The students looked up to see who was talking to them, and gasped all at once. It was Colonel Dakota.

"Oh. My gummy bears." Said the brunette female student in shock.

"I-It's...S-She's..." The blonde student stuttered to say but David spoke up and said it.

"Colonel Dakota! What are you doing here, ma'am?" David asked whilst giving a salute to the ranking officer.

"At ease, Cadet David. I decided to go out for an evening jog, and was doing a lap around when I saw you all heading towards the dorms. Mind if I join you?" Dakota asked with a smile.

"Are you sure? I mean we don't want you to go out of our way just to walk with a bunch of cadets." David said.

"Oh it's not out of my way at all. I was headed that way. In fact, I would prefer walking with you all. I like talking to someone when I jog." Dakota said.

"Well in that case, what say guys?" David asked as he turned to the rest of Class 214.

"Sure!" Exclaimed all of the students happily.

"Great then. Let's get going." Dakota said and did a mild jog ahead while the students continued their even-paced walk.

The students and colonel had a mellow conversation as they made it to the dorms. Nothing major, just random and silly stuff. They laughed and joked and before they knew it, the group made it to the dorms. Though instead of relieved the students were disappointed.

"Aw, we got here so quickly?" Asked John.

"That is a shame. I was enjoying our time with you, Colonel Dakota." Sayuri said.

"So did I, Sayuri. Alas this is where we have to part ways. Though I do want to tell you something before I go." Dakota said.

"What is is it, Colonel?" John asked.

"I just wanted to say that I greatly admire the dedication you all have. Especially for being cadets having just been here for a few months. Sure you're still a bit bushy-tailed, but you still have shown a strong hard work ethic. And that is something that will take all of you far in your career as mecha pilots." Dakota said passionately.

"Wow, ma'am. Do you really think we'll become good pilots?" David asked with awe and his eyes.

"I don't butter people up just because I want to, Cadet David. I see a bright future for every last one of you." Dakota said with a smile, then her face took on a slightly somber expression. "Which reminds me, I was told that one of your classmates suffered from a terrible reaction to Feedback. Cadet Nozomi, I believe."

"Yeah. She's awake now, thankfully. But she's still in the hospital." John said with a sad expression.

"Hmmm. Well, the next time you all go to visit her, tell her that I said I wish her a speedy recovery. And that I believe she has a strong spirit to become a great soldier." Dakota said.

"We shall pass on your words, Colonel Dakota." Sayuri said with a respectful nod and a small smile.

"Excellent! I had better carry on with my jog now. Goodnight, future pilots!" Dakota exclaimed as she jogged off and waved at the class of students.

"Goodbye!" Everyone called back as they waved away the ranking officer.

"Wow. Dakota is so cool and inspiring." Said the brunette female student with stars in her eyes.

"Just imagine – being a soldier in the mecha army as good as her." Said the blonde female student.

"Please, I can barely imagine being half as good as Colonel Dakota." Said the red-headed male student.

"As much as I would like to continue this conversation, fellow classmates, I believe we should turn in now." Sayuri spoke up.

"Shoot, Sayuri's right. It's getting really dark." John said as he looked up at the sky.

"Like the colonel said, this is where we part ways. Goodnight, you guys!" Called the brunette female student as she, Sayuri and the other girls headed for the female dorm rooms.

"Good night, girls!" Called the red-headed male student as he and his fellow young men went to their own dorms.

As John walked ahead, he turned to his left to say something to David, only to see that he wasn't there. When he looked behind himself he saw that the black haired teen was standing in the same spot as he was before. He seemed to be starring after the now hardly visible form of Colonel Dakota as she jogged away. Confused by this, John went over and tapped his friend on the shoulder to get his attention.

"David? What's up man?" John asked. The teen in question shook his head a bit, as if coming out of a trance, and turned around to look at his friend.

"Oh, uh sorry John. I was just... thinking about what Colonel Dakota said." David said in a somewhat absent-minded tone.

"Well, I can understand that. What she said was pretty inspiring, but we gotta turn in man. It has been a long day." John said.

"Sure, you're right, let's get to our room." David said and after staring at Dakota for one final moment he turned back and headed to the dorms with John. He didn't know why, but just something about how she spoke it just felt somewhat familiar.

The next morning David, John, Sayuri and Christine had finished their classes early and decided to meet up in the rec room to hang out. Christine and Sayuri were playing chess at a table while David and John were reading comics on the couch. The group of four sat down in comfortable silence between each other while soft, jazzy music played in the background to provide a relaxing atmosphere. But while the air in the room was fairly relaxing, the group of teens still felt rather sad. After all, they were one person short in their group – Nozomi. Though it has been some time there was still no word on her condition and when she will be able to return from the hospital. It made the group of four feel pretty melancholy despite their best efforts to stay chipper. Finally Sayuri couldn't take it anymore and stood up to speak the words kept unspoken.

"Listen, everyone, I understand that we're all trying to avoid speaking what's on our minds but I can no longer endure the clearly unaddressed matter. So, I'll say it. I'm worried about Nozomi and the fact that neither Dr. Princeton or that male nurse Marcus has notified us on her condition." Sayuri stated in a rush, then took a breath when she finally finished her long sentence.

At first none of the three teens responded. But, knowing that Sayuri was right, they all sighed in sad agreement.

"You're right, Sayuri. I am worried that we haven't heard anything about Nozomi." David admitted somberly.

"I even asked Ms. Fujiko if she got any word about when Nozomi would come back yesterday, but she just gave me a trick reply and left before I could try to ask again." John said.

"I hate to think it, but what if Nozomi..." Christine paused as she gulped down the lump of anxiety in her throat while her face took on a frightful look. "What if her health has taken a turn...for the worst?"

"No way! Nozomi is the toughest chick I know. She's fine. Yeah, of course she is." John said. But while he sounded confident, his face revealed some doubt.

"As much as I would like to agree with you, John, I fear that we should take Christine's words into consideration. A relapse into poor health could be why we haven't been told of how Nozomi is doing." Sayuri spoke in a cool, almost emotionless, tone of voice. However just like John her face showed the concern she had.

"Hey now, let's just stop right there Sayuri. We're only speculating at this point. I mean we just saw Nozomi two days ago so it's not like she's dead. And there could be a bunch of reasons why the hospital hasn't told us about how she's doing. She could be going through physical therapy, she could be meeting with her family, she could be having specialized check-ups, it could be anything." David trailed off as he began to list the alternate reasons.

Then, before he could continue, a knock sounded at the open door that made the teen stop talking. Then a very familiar voice spoke up.

"Or, she could have been busy signing patient paperwork and had her returning bus delayed." Said the familiar, female voice with a humorous tone.

The group of four snapped their heads up so fast it was like they got whiplash. Standing in the doorway of the rec room was none other than Nozomi. And aside from a noticeable loss of three or five pounds of weight, she looked perfectly fine. After they got over the initial shock David, Sayuri, John and Christine all got up from their seats and ran over to their friend.

"NOZOMI!" Everyone exclaimed happily as they embraced the tough girl in a hug.

"I can't believe you're really here!" Christine exclaimed with joyous tears pouring down her face.

"We missed you so much, girl!" John added with a bright smile and eyes shining with unshed tears.

"Thank heavens you are alright." Sayuri added in a more mellowed tone but she was just as ecstatic looking at seeing the other female again.

"Nozomi...Welcome back. We were so worried about you." David said with a relieved smile on his face.

"Heh, heh. So, I can tell. But as much as I likewise missed you guys, I'd really like to settle down and sit for a moment." Nozomi said and the four teens immediately backed off so she could walk over to a chair and sit down.

"So when did you get released from the hospital?" John asked as he took a seat to Nozomi's left.

"This morning. After you all left. Doctor Amanda actually told me that I could be released in two days and let Ms. Fujiko know." Nozomi explained.

"Hey, that explains why she didn't answer my question about when you would be released. I guess Ms. Fujiko just didn't want to get our hopes up." John said.

"Yeah. Plus, if I was going to be released as soon as the doctor said, she wanted my return to be a surprise. And boy was it. I freaked out a lot of the other students when the bus pulled up. And I told them not to call and tell you guys. I wanted to break the news to you all myself." Nozomi said with a cheeky grin.

"Well, you sure made a dramatic report, as it were." David said with a returning grin.

"So what did Dr. Princeton say about your condition exactly?" Christine asked.

"She said that I was showing great improvement. That's why I was cleared for early release. However to play it on the safe side I'm benched from doing any training for the next two days." Nozomi explained.

"Understandable. Even though you healed swiftly, doing any strenuous activity too soon could prove risky, and even fatal." Sayuri said.

"But don't worry. You can always do make-up training and catch up with us later. Besides we're just glad to have you back on campus, Nozomi." David said with a smile as he wrapped an arm around Nozomi's shoulders in a half hug. The tough girl smiled happily and returned the gesture by giving a pat on the back.

"And I'm glad to be here with you guys again, David." Nozomi said.