The sound of high heels hitting the floor with a tired rhythm could be heard near the officer’s lounge. Stopping in front of the closed door, the woman in the white uniform sighed and closed her eyes in a silent prayer that the room was empty and she wouldn't be forced to get into some polite chit chat with someone she didn't give a damn about.

With a small move of her wrist she turned the doorknob, opened the door and cautiously looked inside. Lisa smiled; maybe someone up there still liked her after all. She was tempted to lock herself inside the room, but someone would come anyway. Murphy's Law never missed the chance to prove itself to her, but considering the early hour she hoped for a few minutes for herself.

She sat down on the couch, and in a very out of character gesture for her she took her high heels off for a minute and let her feet slowly stretch over the carpet. It was painful at first, but when the muscles and nerves of her calves slowly got into their original places she felt the inevitable pleasure that came with it. She smiled languidly and cursed under her breath on whoever invented those torturous things for women... even if they did make you look good.

Hoping that her solitude went on for a little longer, she walked over to the coffee machine and turned it on. Enjoying the feel of the carpet fibers against her bare toes, she looked for a clean mug and waited calmly next to the machine to revel in the addictive smell of fresh and dark morning coffee.

She sat back down on the couch, mug in her hands, and shoes right next to her in case she needed to put them on in a hurry. Lisa stretched out on the couch and closed her eyes for a second, concentrating on the soft murmur of the veritech engines in the distance.

“Happy birthday to me...” she sang softly, enjoying the warmth of the mug in her hands.

The fact was it was indeed her birthday, and she had been avoiding it like the plague. She knew that Claudia and the bridge bunnies were conspiring to do something about it, and she wasn't really in the mood for any surprise parties at all. Without her family and Karl, it didn't make any sense to celebrate anything anymore.

Lisa sighed and remembered older times, when she was only a little girl and both of her parents were alive and around her; the strawberry and cream birthday cake, the balloons, games, friends and lots and lots of gifts on the table. She always loved to rip the paper into thousands of pieces to finally get to the treasure inside. It didn't really matter if the gift was a chocolate, a doll or a book; the fun was in ripping the shiny and bright colored paper.

As time went by, her mother passed away and her father tried in his own way to celebrate her birthdays. In the morning they went to the cemetery and put a beautiful bouquet of flowers on her mother’s grave and remembered her. Then they went to lunch at Lisa's favorite restaurant, and for desert she ate ice cream until she got a brain freeze. After that, her father bought the gift of her choice. He really tried, but the shadow of her mother’s absence covered them like an invisible cape.

When Karl came into the picture, things changed dramatically. Her father grew apart from her and left enough space for Karl to step in. Birthdays became entertaining, fun and active. He took her for candy cotton, walks on the beach, games at the local fair, dancing and kisses. She touched the sky in those days. It was heaven.

It was supposed to last forever.

Lisa’s unbidden smile vanished after that last thought. Karl went to Mars and not much later he died, leaving her alone in body and spirit. Her father was far away working and she was left on her own. She concentrated on becoming the best, it was her only goal, and as long as she was busy and physically tired, she wouldn't think... she wouldn't remember.

When her father died it was basically the same. She cried at his loss, she cried at their fate, but time was wise and made her almost numb on the inside so she would be able to survive. It was only her survival instincts kicking in. After all, they were facing annihilation.

She learned that hoping was in pointless. She hoped that time would stop for a while to let her rest, to get used to all the changes. But time, cruel jokester that it was, went on and on, second by second, moving things forward, forcing her to keep going.

And now, when she finally embraced loneliness as an option, life slapped her in the face with new relationships she didn't even look for. Colleagues transformed into friends, and one friend shook her back into a painfully awakened state. One man, a younger man, with messy hair and a big mouth struck into her heart with a force she never felt before. He infuriated her; he made her lose her temper and her control. She knew he didn't do it on purpose, but he shone light in her life with full force.

“Stupid Rick Hunter,” she murmured, coming back from her reminiscence to find herself eye to eye with the very man she was cursing.

“What did I do now?!” he asked, frowning because of the sudden insult. Lisa jumped a little and blushed without control for getting caught like that.

“N-Nothing...” she said sitting up properly and adjusting her skirt and jacket to the correct places. Lisa tried to get her shoes back on, but couldn’t find them- she had pushed them under the couch with her jump. She cross her ankles and hide her feet under it.

“I was dreaming, that's all,” Lisa added, trying to sound polite, but as soon as the words were out of her mouth and she saw how Rick’s eyebrow went all the way up in a curios way, she regretted them.

“So, you dream about me?” he asked with a cocky smile on his face that Lisa wanted to slap off.

“Most likely dreaming about working on the bridge and you, as usual, giving me a hard time,” she explained with a blank expression.

“Boring...” Rick said sitting next to her holding two hot coffee cups in his hand. She looked at him with wide open angry green eyes that would probably scare full squadrons of pilots to the bone, but Rick was so used to it by now, because he got the look at least once a day, that he didn't care much about it anymore. He looked at her and gave her a silly big smile and passed her the mug. This time she frowned, put her cold coffee on the table next to her and took the hot one.

“So, what were you really thinking about? Because you weren't asleep,” he asked taking a sip of his own.

“How do you know I wasn't asleep?”

“Because you snore when you sleep,” he simply added.

“I do not!” answered Lisa, feeling embarrassed.

“Yes, you do. When we were being held captive you snored every time you slept. Ben tried to turn you around once but you hit him in the head and snored louder,” Rick commented, laughing at the memory. Lisa turned completely red-faced because she knew it was true.

“Whatever... I was just thinking about old times,” she explained, quickly changing the subject. Rick looked at her and waited for her to elaborate it. She sighed.

“Today is my birthday... I was thinking about some old memories.”

Rick looked at her in amazement. He didn't know it was her birthday at all, and with a little shame, he admitted that he never thought about it before. Things with Lisa were always chaotic; sometimes it was like she was mean with him and only him on purpose. Stubborn as a mule and cold as ice, he admired her a lot because he never before met a woman with what it took to be really in command. She impressed him with her ways of getting in control of situations when his blood boiled with anger. Whenever he was close to losing it, she took the world and put him in place. It was good when they were on the same side, and it was a nightmare when they were discussing things where they were on opposite sides.

He took her for granted, he knew. He trusted her implicitly as his C.O, and also as a friend. Her words were wise, and her judgment impeccable. She had the guts to make the choices that no one else was willing to take and live with the consequences. He surely thought highly of her.

But now, watching her with that longing expression on her face, he realized there was so much more about her that he didn't know. There were so many levels with Lisa that it was hard for him to figure her out. Minmei was so different; she was an easy person to learn and with a few words he could describe her completely: sweet, lovely, funny, talented... that was her. But with Lisa everything was a mystery.

Right now she seemed sad, he thought. He wondered what those memories were, but he wasn't sure how to ask her about them.

“What?!” she spat at him, annoyed at his staring. He nodded.

“So, how old are you?” he asked her and she raised an eyebrow.

“Older than you, that's all you need to know,” Lisa answered defensively. Rick grinned at her.

“Well, it doesn't matter, a birthday is a birthday and you need to celebrate it.”

“No, thank you,” she said seriously, standing up from the couch.

“Why not? You can't be that...”

“That what?” Lisa said turning around to face him and looking straight into his neck. Without her shoes, she lost quite a few inches. Rick laughed at her as she got onto the floor to look for her shoes.

“That would be...non-social, anti-fun, party killer...”

“All right! All right, I got the idea!” she stopped him. Lisa looked under the couch, then grabbed her high heels and put them on as fast as she could. She stood up, feeling taller.

“So, why not?” Rick pushed a little.

“I just... I don't feel like it, that's all,” she explained feeling somehow defeated. She grabbed the mugs and took them to the sink. Lisa grabbed the edge of the sink and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself a little. She knew it was going to be a hard day. Maybe she just should ask to be excused for the rest of the day.

Rick walked near her and, unsure of what else to do put his left arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her. They both tensed at the first contact, both feeling strange with it. Rick patted her and Lisa laughed softly and looked at him in the eye.

“Could this be any more awkward?” she asked with a small smile on her lips. He smiled back.

“What can I say? I can't stand to see a woman crying,” he said relaxing a little, keeping his arm around her.

“I'm not crying!”

“Close enough... C'mon... cheer up! You are not that old and you still look good,” Rick joked and Lisa poked him in the ribs, a little too strong to be called playfully and he winced. “Look, we can all get together, go somewhere, have dinner, go out... it would be fun... what do you think?”

“Thank you... really, but I'm not in the mood... please try to understand?” Lisa told him honestly, looking into his baby blue eyes. Rick sighed and put his arm down.

“As you wish,” he said, a little disappointed.

“Thanks,” she said and walked to the door. She needed some space between them right now. With a final look at Rick, who looked back at her, she closed the door and walked back to the bridge feeling an ache inside her heart.

*********************

“Happy Birthday!” they all cheered loudly when the automatic door opened and Lisa walked inside the bridge. She was impressed with the loud greeting, not expecting it at all.

In the middle of the room were Kim, Sammy and Vanessa with dreamy looks on their faces. Next to them Claudia stood with a soft smile on her lips and then Admiral Gloval stood very still and solemn. Between all of them was a small birthday cake, clearly home made, with candles already lit up.

“What's this?” Lisa asked joining the group. Claudia was the one to answer her.

“Well, we know you didn't want a party, and we didn't want to go against your wishes, but...”

“But it's not fair not to have a cake!!” interrupted Sammy excitedly, while Claudia raised an eyebrow at her. The girl shut up immediately.

“As I was saying... well, Sammy said it all really. You left us without a party, at least have the decency to share a cake with us!” joked Claudia and Lisa smiled back.

“All right... we can have cake,” said Lisa with a lighter mood.

They all sang the typical song and Lisa felt a little excited waiting for the moment to blow out the candles. She already had her wish in mind. The song ended and she blew out the candles all together, just to see all of them coming back to life once again. She looked shocked and the trio laughed aloud.

“Magic candles! That way you can have more than one wish!” Kim joked at her superior officer’s shocked face. Lisa grinned, took another big breath and blew them all out again, but the little candles sparked back to life for the third time. By now, even Global was laughing aloud.

“I'm running out of air here, girls...and I'm not getting any younger!” Lisa said, feeling a little dizzy after several attempts at blowing them out. Vanessa took the cake away and proceeded to cut it into slices. They all took a plate and a fork and ate, chatting a little.

“Thanks for all this... really. By the way, the cake is very tasty!” said the birthday woman, enjoying the sweetness of the cream.

“We made it!” said the trio together, feeling extremely proud.

“Good job,” commented Gloval before asking Kim for another piece.

They all ate in silence until they finished their meal. Claudia then looked under Gloval's chair and took out a small box wrapped in colorful paper. Lisa looked at her suspiciously.

“Let us have our fun, honey. I'm sure you are going to like it,” Claudia said, giving the gift to her. Lisa carefully took it, feeling overwhelmed at the gesture.

“You didn't have to...”

“It is from all of us. Nothing fancy... something we thought you might like,” explained her best friend to her. Lisa nodded, thankfully.

She opened the box and inside was a beautiful wooden frame with an unknown picture of her father and her mother when they were quite young. The picture was a little faded by the years, but the look of happiness on her mother in her early twenties was breathtaking. She was a beautiful young woman, filled with hope. Her father was also in his twenties, looking dashing and perfect in his uniform, and with a soft look of innocence in his eyes, almost naive. Lisa touched the cold glass that protected the picture and felt close to tears.

“Where did you find this?” she asked holding the frame with trembling hands.

“I found it,” said Gloval with a tender look at her. “It was from an officer’s party a long time ago. They were recently engaged back then. It was in my old files.”

“And I chose the frame,” said Claudia smiling.

“Thank you... so much,” Lisa said and hugged each of them really touched by the gesture.

After the emotional moment, each of them returned to their jobs feeling a lot less stress, especially Lisa who felt quite grateful that her friends respected her wishes, but at the same time found a simple way to let her know how much she meant to them.

*********************

It was 6:30 when she finally got home. The first thing she did as she closed the door behind her was kick her shoes away and let herself drop onto the nearby couch. She lifted her legs and rested them on the soft material of the couch. Lisa sighed and opened the box with her gift in it and smiled widely. It was beautiful. She never saw a picture of them like that before. When the Earth was attacked and she was staying in Alaska Base, all her family belongings where destroyed. All she had was an old photo album that she treasured like the most valuable jewels.

It always amazed her how much small things meant after a tragedy. People were willing to risk their lives to save their belongings, especially photos. She saw it countless times on duty. Civilians that crossed into dangerous places only to get a photo or a letter. They left everything behind, saved their lives, but after the imminent danger was gone they wanted to get those things back, no matter what. She never understood it, until she felt it herself. Those little things were the only links to a past that was suddenly taken away from them.

It was a reason to keep going.

Lisa let the tears run freely down her face. She was home and safe, and could have the luxury of crying alone. The framed picture was an unbelievable gesture of love for her. Cleaning her tears away with her hand, she stood up and looked around for the perfect spot to put her picture. She walked around analyzing every corner and every wall. Finally, she got into her bedroom and put the picture on her nightstand.

“So you can keep me company and watch my dreams,” she said softly, as though talking to them. Lisa gave a big smile.

She was resting on her bed on the covers ready to fall asleep when a knock on her door woke her up. Unwillingly, she stood up and opened the door.

“What are you doing here?” she said sleepily to Rick, who was standing outside the door wearing civilians clothes. He grinned at her look, barefoot again, with her uniform with wrinkles all over it, probably from sleeping in it, her hair shooting off in all different directions and her eyes a little swollen.

“What a way to greet a guest!” Rick answered. Lisa turned around and left the door open and walked into her kitchen. Rick, now all alone, took it as a signal that he could come in.

“What do you want?” Lisa asked again, filling two glasses with orange juice she grabbed from the fridge.

“What do you think?” he said taking one of glasses.

“Let me guess... I'll put my money on you, following your natural heroic instinct, are attempting to save me from my own misery on my birthday, by taking me... I don't know, to dinner, a movie, a walk in the park and maybe buy me a balloon and an ice cream,” Lisa said with irony, taking her juice. Rick winced a little, bothered by her words that were sadly right on target.

“Well, excuse ME for being so... obvious,” he said rolling his eyes. Lisa laughed a little.

“It's all right... the gesture is the important thing. More juice?”

“No thanks, this is quite acidic,” Rick complained handing her the glass.

“What a big baby,” she mocked him.

“What an annoying old witch!” he spat back playfully.

“Ouch... I'm hurt,” she faked.

“You are on a roll tonight. Besides, you were wrong. I wasn't planning on taking you to dinner,” he lied, trying to save some of his dignity. Lisa grinned.

“Thanks Rick, but really, all I want to do is eat something and sleep,” she said, really looking tired. He nodded, defeated again and looking quite sad. Lisa couldn't see him like that, looking like a lost puppy. She cursed his good boy looks and his affect on her.

“Well... I can use a walk in the park... balloon included,” she offered and Rick looked at her smiling from ear to ear.

“Maybe a hotdog?” he asked her and she nodded, finally giving up.

*********************

They walked around the park in silence, enjoying the warm breeze. The sun slowly went down, and the soft darkness wrapped the sky letting the stars twinkle with their characteristic glow. Children ran in different directions playing hide and seek, laughing with sweet sounds. Lisa and Rick smiled, watching as a boy and a girl who were fighting over a bag of candy. They looked at each other and grinned, thinking that they probably looked exactly like that when they fought, only a little taller.

“Wanna eat that hotdog?” Rick asked as they passed the hotdog stand.

“Sure.”

They walked up and waited for their turn. The night was inviting and calm, and Rick and Lisa sat on the grass and ate quietly, the only light supplied by a nearby streetlamp.

“You got ketchup on your nose,” Lisa joked at him. Rick cleaned it up with a napkin. She crossed her legs in an Indian position, relaxing and enjoying her hotdog with everything on it.

“Not bad for a birthday celebration, eh?” he asked.

“I’ve had better,” Lisa said, trying to annoy him.

“It's your fault! We could be dancing and drinking with everybody else somewhere!” Rick complained.

“I prefer this... thank you very much,” and with that she took a big bite of her hotdog.

“Do you know how to dance?” he asked suddenly and Lisa almost choked on her food.

“Of course I know how to dance!”

“I'm just asking, I haven't seen you doing that.”

“It’s not like I'm going to begin dancing on the bridge!”

“That would be something...” he added and they laughed as they pictured it.

“Well, I do know how to dance... but I haven't danced since Karl passed away,” she explained while the night hid her sad face from him. Rick gulped.

“Can I ask about him?” he wondered. Lisa considered it for a moment.

“All right, what do you want to know?” she answered him.

Rick thought for a moment, not really sure what to ask. He did have a lot of curiosity about Karl, but now that he had a blank card he didn’t know what to say.

“I guess... how... I mean... what... er...”

“That's clear... try adding the words together,” she laughed at him.

“Funny... I guess I wonder how you are with someone you love. You are a little hard sometimes, I wonder if you were like that when you were with him... I wonder how you acted, what you said... you know what I mean.”

Lisa blinked a couple of times digesting the question. It was quite complex and she didn't have a straight answer for it.

“I'm not sure... I guess that's a question that would have been better for him to answer, not me... all I can say is that with Karl, I was just... happy,” Lisa said truthfully.

Rick looked at her, lit only by the dim light coming from the streetlamp. Ghostly shadows played on her hair, almost making it look black and white. Her face showed a sad but peaceful expression, her eyes focusing on the stars searching for a planet far away that was void of life and held her last memory of a lost love.

“You look beautiful.” The words escaped from his mouth before he even realized he spoke it aloud. Like in slow motion Lisa returned her gaze from the heavens to the earth... to his eyes. She smiled softly, making her look like a lady from a long time ago.

“Thank you,” was her answer. Rick felt his heart beating fast, feeling an emotion so intense, something he never experienced before. The wind played around them, and they stared at each other... waiting for something, for one of them to make the first move.

When the wind calmed down a bit they were able to hear something other than their own heartbeats.

“What's that?” she asked, looking around following the high-pitched sound coming from the bushes.

“I don't know... it's like a cry or something,” Rick said standing up and holding out a hand for her to take.

“It's coming from there,” she said taking his hand and standing up. Holding hands and unaware that they were doing it, they searched into the bushes, following what sounded more and more like a small high-pitched cry.

“Here it is,” said Lisa, finding a small open box with two kittens inside.

“Look at that!” Rick commented, kneeling next to the box and watching the two kittens crying and looking at them. They were probably a little more than a month old, very small, dirty, obviously hungry and full of fleas.

The kittens, hearing the noises Rick and Lisa made, cried even louder asking for help. Rick frowned, but Lisa took each one in one hand and hugged them tenderly.

“Poor little things! You must be starving! Where's your mamma?” she said to them. The kittens hugged themselves to her sweater and wouldn't let go. Rick frowned.

“You are going to get all dirty.”

“Doesn’t matter... they are so little Rick! What are they?” she asked while one of the kittens tried to get closer to her neck.

“Cats,” he simply said.

“Idiot! I mean are they are boys or girls?”

“Let me see... it's too dark! I can't tell... besides they are quite small to see anything.”

Rick watched her interact with the kittens, speaking softly to them and holding them like they were little babies. He suddenly got an idea.

“Why don't you take one home?” he offered and Lisa looked at him with wide eyes.

“I work all day! I wouldn't be there to take care of it, besides... I couldn't take just one! They are obviously siblings! And I can't take care of two cats! But I can't leave them here on the night!”

“Calm down! Geez... it’s not that hard to take care of a cat. I used to have lots of cats and dogs when I was little. They need some attention when they are this little, but after some time they look after themselves. You just need to leave food and water and they manage it,” Rick explained.

Lisa looked at the little kittens that were now trying to hide inside her sweater and thought about it. What Rick said was true, and besides it would be nice to go home and have someone waiting for her.

“Look, take them both...obviously you are not going to leave them here. I'll help you with them while they need it,” Rick said taking one of them in his hands. His hand was bigger than the cat. The cat meowed and then sought the warmth of Rick's arm.

“Ok... but we better take them to the vet right now. I don't know what I should give them; they are too little to eat dry food I think,” she said worriedly.

Rick smiled at her for being so worried. He was an outdoors boy and knew how to raise orphan dogs and cats, but for Lisa it was all new. He wondered if she ever had any pets as a child. He was going to say something to her, but then decided to play along by her rules.

“Agreed. There is a vet around the corner,” he said standing up, taking one cat with him and Lisa the other. They walked until they reached the shop and went inside.

An hour and a half later, they came out with two healthy female kittens, some baby formula especially for them and the tiniest bottle Lisa had ever seen. She had an expression of pure joy on her face. Besides, Rick paid for everything, claiming that was his birthday gift for her.

When they arrived at her home, they unpacked and placed the kittens on a warm blanket. Both girls fell asleep after they ate their formula.

“I love this,” said Lisa while watching the small kittens.

“Cleaned and without fleas they sure are cute,” Rick grinned. After a professional cleaning, one cat was orange, black and white, and the other white and black. Lisa rolled her eyes at his comment.

“You need to name them,” added Rick, tenderly touching the tiny heads with his index finger.

Lisa looked at the tender expression in Rick eyes as he watched the cats and felt embarrassed for her sudden thoughts about him being a good dad. She concentrated on names... girl’s names that weren't Minmei.

“Mmm... what about Mittens and Kitty?” she wondered, but Rick made a face.

“Do you really like these cats? I veto those names... no way,” Rick complained. This time Lisa made a face.

“Rain and Stars?”

“No.”

“Sun and Moon?”

“Never, and come back to Earth...”

“You are mean!” Lisa accused him, but she immediately shut up when the kittens reacted to her voice.

“I'm not... just chose something normal,” Rick whispered to her. Lisa couldn't stop her shudder at his voice.

Lisa thought about it for a moment, thinking about girl names she liked and she remembered that when she was a little girl she chose the names for her future daughters based on her favorite book characters.

She wasn't even close to having kids anytime soon, so she decided to use them on her new adopted daughters.

“Jo and Amy,” she said proudly.

“Nice choices. How’d you get them?” he wondered, while one of the kittens decided to yawn. He smiled, looking at her.

“From the book Little Women, I loved that story when I was a girl. They are both sisters, not alike at all, but they loved each other no matter what. I would like to go with Beth instead of Amy, but Beth dies so... you know…”

“I see... I like the names and the background.”

“Thank you, your highness,” Lisa laughed softly at his unnecessary agreement.

“I gave them to you. So... they are half mine.”

Lisa rolled her eyes and felt very content with everything. Both kittens were deeply asleep and they left them near Lisa's bed. They walked into the living room and saw each other not knowing what to say next.

“Thanks for everything,” said Lisa, breaking the awkward moment.

“No problem. Next year we’ll get a dog,” he said and they both laughed a little.

“Well, I guess I'm out for tonight. I have an early shift tomorrow,” Rick said walking to the outside door. Lisa walked next to him.

“See you around,” he said and walked outside, while Lisa looked at him walking away.

“Rick, wait!” she said, suddenly running at him. He turned around wondering what she wanted.

Lisa stood in front of him looking into his eyes. She didn't know what she was doing at all, but they were both expecting... something. Breathing unevenly, she got enough courage and kissed him softly on the cheek.

“See you,” she said smiling at him, and then walked back to her home, closing the door behind her without looking back.

Rick stood in the middle of the street looking in her direction. He couldn't stop the smile on his face or touching the place where she so tenderly kissed him. It felt different; everything about her felt differently now. Turning on his heels, he walked to his home, hoping that this new year for her would also bring new knowledge of her for him too.

The End.

A/N: Hello everyone!! Since Bittersweet Destiny (BD), it’s been a while since I've written a Robotech fanfic so I really hope you like this little story. This is dedicated to all the readers who have been asking for a sequel to BD. To all of them, thank you for your confidence in me. And, as always, thank you to Dwparsnip, who beta my fanfics.