fanfic_name = Time of Our Lives

chapter = Chpt 14

author = lisav

Rating = AP15

Type = Angst

fanfic = This fan fiction was written for entertainment purposes only. No infringement is intended. I do not own any of the characters-- real or imaginary!

INTRO...

Throughout her life, if anyone had asked her what was the one thing she wanted most, Lisa would have answered, “to be loved.”

She had starved for it as a child after her mother’s death and had hungered for it as an adolescent. She had found it briefly with Karl but lost it again when he died.

----------------

“Rick, as much as Miriya and I enjoyed having you around, it’s time for you to go home,” Max said.

Rick looked up from his bowl of cereal but said nothing.

Now that Max had Rick’s attention, he continued talking. “You and Lisa belonged together, Rick. I’ve never seen you happier and surer of yourself than when you were with her. I never figured you to be a quitter.”

Rick met his eyes and then looked away.

“Max, I don’t want to talk about it and for your information, I didn’t give her up. She chose him. For crying out loud Max, he’s her fiancé while I’m ... I’m just a loud mouth pilot!”

“Did she tell you that?” Miriya asked from behind them and came to give her husband a good morning kiss on the cheek. Rick looked away, trying not to see how happy they were for it always made him feel like an intruder. He knew he had no right to be resentful of them but lately their "cuddly" happiness was getting on his nerve.

“Lisa's actions said so Miriya; for three weeks she lied to me. She knew Riber was alive, was even seeing him and she never once said anything,” Rick answered.

Miriya said nothing else but sat down next to Max and accepted a glass of orange juice from him. After a couple of slips she looked over to Rick again.

“I think you are scared, Rick Hunter,” Miriya said, holding his glaze without blinking. “Lisa’s a strong warrior who needs a strong mate and it’s obvious that you’re not the one for her. The more you sit around here, ignore her and blame her for your cowardice; she will leave you!”

“Miriya...” Max gasped in dismay; he had not heard his wife raised her voice to anyone since their first date in the park ages ago.

Miriya turned to her husband and gave him a stern look that quickly had him squirming in his seat then turned her attention back to Rick again.

“If you are in love with Lisa as wildly and desperately as I am with Maximilian then leave here and go to her NOW. If I remembered correctly, there was a time when all you saw and dreamed of was Miss Minmei. Yet Lisa never gave up on you or her love for you. The least you could do is show her the same courtesy in return!”

Turning to her husband, “I’m sorry Maximilian, but Rick makes me so angry and emotional... He makes me want to hurt him physically!” Giving a brief shake of her head, tears began to fall and Miriya began to cry in earnest as she quickly got up and left the kitchen.

Jumping after his wife, Max stopped and turned an understanding yet anguished face back to Rick. “Excuse Miriya, she’s a bit sensitive these days with the pregnancy and all. I’m sure she didn’t mean...”

“No, she’s right, Max. I am a coward,” Rick interrupted him and smiled sadly to himself as Max disappeared after this wife.

Lisa...

He’d missed her. He’d spent the last two weeks in a limbo state not caring at all; for every time he’d thought of her, all he could see was Riber kissing her and her letting him. But now that he’d had time to think, he knew he was wrong to have left the way he did.

What should I do? What could I do? I never had to compete for her love, it was always there. She was just there like she belonged. I never thought I would loose her or that she’ll leave me.

Miriya had nailed him right on the forehead! He was a coward. He was afraid to accept the possibility that he could be just a substitute for Riber; that Lisa preferred Riber to him and that Riber was more worthy of her than him.

Getting up, he took his bowl to the sink and began washing it while inside he felt drained and numb, sick to his very soul.

----------

Lisa lay quietly for a while, listening to the small sounds of the large house. Even the joy of quietness no longer had the power to soothe her. As it was now, merely rising each morning proved to be an exhausting exercise in sheer willpower.

Suddenly her senses came alive and her body tensed, ready to fight or flight, depending on the situation. She willed her heart to beat slowly and her breathing even so she can focus.

She heard no alarming noises, no footstep in the dark or muffled thuds. But she knew she had heard something or someone and it/he/she was in her house.

After a while she pushed aside the covers and slowly got to her feet beside the bed.

“Lisa Hayes”

She halted and tried not to scream when she saw a flashed of light in front of her.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

Slowly the energy of light took the form of a woman. “My name is Sarin. We need to talk.”

--------------

Another week and another day... God let it be a quiet day. Lisa prayed as she walked to her station and pasted a smile on her face.

It was the beginning of her shift yet she felt it like it was the end. Her stomach was raw, her head roaring even after she had taken a painkiller for it before coming onto her shift.

Calling up the daily calendar onto her data panel, she saw that Admiral Gloval was in a meeting with Breetai and Exedore and would not be back for another two hours.

"Captain Hayes, Monument City is asking for assistance in putting down an attack from renegade Zentraedi warriors! But that’s all, I can’t contact anyone at Monument City’s RDF headquarters to verify," Sammy said.

Without looking up from the data panel, Lisa ordered Sammy to send Skull and Vermillion who were patrolling with Ghost in the Northeast quadrant.

“Vanessa, I want a communication signal set up now. I need the latest intel. I will not send my men in without knowing what they will be facing. Kim, inform Admiral Gloval, and Sammy give me visual on Skull One.”

Sammy did as Lisa requested and in two seconds, Lisa was looking at Rick.

Swallowing against the painful ache in her throat, Lisa began to brief him. “...at least a dozen Zentraedi in power armor was the latest update. We’re working on establishing communication now. Your ETA is 15 minutes top, I’ll keep you inform of our progress...”

“Captain, I have Monument City’s RDF headquarters online now,” Vanessa interjected.

“Good work, Vanessa, patch it to Skull One too. He can hear the intel as well as I can,” Lisa said without taking her eyes of Rick and he acknowledge it with a lift of his eyebrow.

... Four Hours Later...

“Here’s the report on the attack in Monument City, Admiral,” Lisa said as she handed the report to Gloval and turned to leave.

“Causalities,” the Admiral asked.

“Five confirm dead, at least a dozen hurt but it could have been worse. Luckily Skull and Vermillion arrived in time to back up Monument City’s security. Sir, in my report, I recommend you send another unit to Monument City. I know they pride themselves on having very little to do with the RDF but we can’t afford another unexpected attack.”

The Admiral said nothing and Lisa stared at him. Wondering what he was thinking bout.

“Lisa, have you given further thoughts to what we talked about last week?” Gloval asked as he continued to scan the report.

Lisa’s eye shifted to the floor and her cheeks burned with embarrassment as will as anguished.

“I have Admiral, and I agree with you a hundred percent. Very few people know that Riber is alive and of those who does, we can trust them not to mention him to anyone else. As to Sarin, the only people who know about her are you, me, Dr. Lang and Commander Hunter.”

Looking up, Gloval said, “I know how hard this must have been for you, Lisa, but he doesn’t belong here. You know what you must do.”

Lisa nodded and gave the Admiral a salute before leaving.

----------------------------

He’s not supposed to be here...

But he was and Lisa noticed the uncertain look on his face. Trying to calm the queasiness in her stomach she slowly approached him.

“Rick...” she said as she opened her car door and dropped her brief case into the passenger’s side. “I hope you’ve been well.”

“I need to talk to you, Lisa.”

“Now is not a good time, Rick.”

“I’ve missed you,” he said without hearing her. “I wish I had never left you. I’ve never met a woman I respect more than I do you. You’re intelligent, beautiful and loyal. You’re the best friend I’ve ever had. I’m sorry, Lisa.”

Lisa said nothing and his gut instinct told him something was wrong, very wrong and his heart jolted into a faster rhythm. For the first time he noticed how tensed she was, the way her shoulders looked tight and straight, her chin angled up a little too high.

“Lisa?”

He could see she was struggling.

“What’s going on?”

She swallowed and then looked strait at him. “I’m sorry too, Rick but... but I have to go. I’m late already.”

“Where?” he asked, wanting to know yet not really wanting to hear what he feared she might say.

“I’m meeting Karl,” she said without guilt or regret and Rick felt it like a bullet, delivered strait to his heart instead of hearing it.

Rick’s vision went black with rage then something else like panic replaced it and he suddenly cleared his throat. It seemed to be squeezing off his air and it was getting hard to breathe.

“I see...”

“No! You don’t, Rick Hunter!” She turned blazing green eyes on him then and fury was in each of her words. “You don’t see at all, you never had. If you did, you would have never left. You told me that you loved me yet at the first sign of trouble, you took off.”

Suddenly her voice broke and he could see regret and grief in her eyes now; eyes that had once shone with nothing but love and happiness for him.

“I need someone I can trust to be there for the good times as well as the bad times. I need someone who will believe in me, give me the benefit of the doubt...It’s obvious that you’re not that someone.”

He couldn’t stand it anymore. “Lisa...”

“No, Rick. I have to go. Please don't try to stop me.”

Rick stared as her car turned the corner and disappeared from view. He felt like killing somebody-- Riber!

“L I S A!” he screamed but no one heard him.

--------------

“Where are we, Karl?” Lisa asked as Karl took his hands off her eyes and she looked around the room. A room she recognized and remembered all too vividly.

“I’m shocked you don’t remember, Lisa.” She could hear the gentle mockery in his voice but choose to ignore it.

When Sarin had visited her, she had explained everything from who they are to why they had come. Together, she and Sarin had arranged for her to meet with Karl tonight so she could tell Karl the truth.

It was vital to her health and her world that she gets him to abandon this obsession he had of living his life with her.

“This is an illusion isn’t it?” Lisa said as her eyes moved to her mother’s exquisite grand piano in the middle of the open hall way.

He didn’t answer her but took her hand in his and led her to the piano. Cautiously she touched the keys-- they were solid and real!

She gave him a happy smiled full of remembrance and sat down to play. She hadn’t played in ages yet the music came to her, slowly at first but strong and overwhelming as she continued to play. Her fingers moved gracefully and effortlessly over the keys.

In moments she had forgotten everything but the beauty, power and sheer joy of letting the music take over her body and soul. After Beethoven’s "Moonlight" Sonata in C sharp minor, Lisa quickly moved into Chopin’s Ballade for Piano No. 1 in G minor.

She felt as if she had come home!

Much later when she looked up, she was startled to see that it was Karl staring at her instead of Rick. Sadness engulfed her when she realized that Rick had never heard her play.

Watching her, Karl saw the sadness in her eyes and quickly stood up. He knew for a moment there she had expected Hunter and not him to be across from her.

In time, you will forget him, Lisa...

He walked to the French doors leading to the garden. He picked up several woolen blankets and a basket by the doors and gave her a quizzical look.

“Strawberries and champagne,” he replied to her unspoken question.

“You mean to hold a picnic at his time of the night?”

“Night? Lisa, it’ sunny outside and there are no stars in sight. Come, it’s a beautiful day and we’re missing all the fun.”

Lisa was uncertain. She didn’t quiet know how to respond. She knew it was evening yet she could see the sun. Hesitantly, she followed him out the French doors; to the terrace and to the lawn where he had spread out one of the blankets.

A sense of the inevitable flooded through her body. She knew she had to be hard and brazen against Karl’s seductive persuasion. He was fighting unfairly, using her cherished memories of them to seduce her.

When she was seated, Karl fished in the basket and held up the bottle of champagne.

“You were too young before,” he said softly, “but not today,” and he smiled at her.

She watched as he poured two glasses, handed her one then settled himself beside her on the blanket, stretching on his side, supported by his elbow. Defensively Lisa drew her knees up and sipped her wine in silence.

“The warmth of the climate here during this time of the year never fails to surprise me,” he said.

“Karl, we need to talk,” Lisa replied.

She saw him winced but he didn’t say anything as if he hadn’t heard her. Instead he reached into the basket and offered a dish of ripe-succulent strawberries to her. She declined with a shake of her head.

“Sarin came to visit me last night. I know everything. Why couldn’t you have told me the truth?” Lisa asked quietly and did not wait for an answer for she knew he didn’t have one so she continued.

“As much as I want you too, you’re not him, you’re not my Karl. The longer you stay here, the more you’ll throw things in this world out of order, for me, for everyone who lives here. These nightmares that I’ve been having, you knew about them yet you deliberately lied to me that you didn’t. They were a warning, weren’t they? Karl, you can’t play God and not pay the price!”

His heart was thudding in his chest. “I love you, Lisa. I can’t loose you again. If I had known things were going to turn out this way, I would have never left you for Mars in the first place. I was a fool... so idealist and arrogant!”

Her voice softened, “the Lisa in your world, she... she died didn’t she?”

He turned sad, blank eyes to her. “Yes... she died in my room on Mars. She took her space helmet off before Hunter could reach her. He, he was too late,” then his voice rose. “I was too late. I was responsible for her death!”

Grabbing Lisa by the shoulder now, he shook her, “don’t you understand, I killed her, no, I killed you! You came like you promised but I couldn’t get there in time... there were too many worlds, to many parallel universes. Sarin, she couldn’t be sure and every time we traveled to a different world, she needed time to regain her strength. I couldn’t let her kill herself trying to help me.”

“Karl! You’re hurting me,” Lisa said and roughly pulled herself away from his tightened grasp. He quickly realized his lost of control and let her go, apologizing for shaking her.

“You have to stop this, Karl, now! You said it yourself, Lisa, your Lisa is dead. You have to let her go.”

His gaze held such gentleness. “But you’re not. You are her. Everything she was is in you. I see it, I feel it and I know it! Come with me, Lisa. We can still have the life we dreamed about. Nothing’s changed, baby.”

“No. Everything’s changed. You died and I met Rick. I belonged here.”

He didn’t say anything. He needed a moment to pick up his heart from the ground where it had fallen when he had heard her words. He knew it was useless now but he asked anyway.

“With him?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, Karl,” Lisa whispered.

“Hunter will hurt you, Lisa,” he said sadly and she could see the tears pooling in his summer blue eyes for her and this pain he was so sure she would have to endure someday.

“You don’t know that,” she whispered back. “You being here changed a lot of things and maybe you’ve changed that too.”

Staring into her eyes, he saw his answer. Slowly he bent down and kissed her lightly on the forehead. “I do love you Lisa; believe that, if you don’t believe anything else about me. Everything I did, I did it for you; for us.”

She nodded and they suddenly embraced. They clung to each other tightly, fiercely and when they parted at last, their eyes were bright with unshed tears at what might have been had things been different.

“Take care of yourself, my love,” then he turned but she caught his hand, pressed it against her cheek.

“I won’t forget you.”

He smiled at her and walked away. A part of her wanted to call out to him, to tell him to come back but she didn’t. She felt tears in her eyes but she refused to let them fall.

No, I can't let him see me crying. I want him to remember me always… smiling.

She stared at where he had disappeared to for a long time. Finally, she turned and realized she was in her and Rick’s back yard; it was definitely night time and she felt free!

Good-bye Karl, Godspeed, my love.

----------------

She’s gone.

Tiredly Rick moved to the window of their bedroom.

You have no one to blame but yourself, Hunter. You drove her away; your jealousy and cowardice killed her love for you.

He stared at their live oak tree standing tall, still and lonely in the middle of their bare backyard. In his mind, he imagined Lisa in Riber’s arms, saw him smiled triumphantly as he held her to him and inhaling the sweet fragrance of her “spring-time” perfume.

Rick’s breath caught sharply. How well he remembered her perfume, he’d first noticed it when they were stranded together high above Macross City when Sammy ordered a modular transformation.

Even now, it haunted him, seemed to waft to his nostrils tantalizingly.

--- spring rain, meadows of wild flowers and soft cool breezes ---

She was really gone... there was a frightful emptiness that hurt so much he felt like screaming. Tears leaked down his cheeks. He had expected the hurting and had prepared for it but not the shock or numbness that was rocking his body right now.

“Goddamn him! Why didn’t he stay dead?” Rick swore. “Goddamn him to hell and back!”

“Goddamn who, Rick?” Lisa asked quietly, crossing the shadowed bedroom to stand at his side.

“So you came back,” he said, not looking at her at all; for he believed she was a dream.

“Yes.”

“Why?”

Lisa swallowed hard.

“To-- to ask for your forgiveness, I guess. Rick, I was wrong, to have lied to you about Karl. I’ve been bleeding inside since you left. Is it too late for us?” she broke off awkwardly.

Her heart pounded in her chest as she gazed up at him pleadingly, her eyes filled with tears.

“Did you-- did you love him, Lisa? Riber, I mean.”

“The Riber I loved died a long time ago, Rick. The Riber who came back for me was not him. Can you forget the things I said, the things I did? Can you ever forgive me for doubting your love?”

He looked at her at last and he felt as if his heart had begun beating again.

“Why?”

“Because... I love you, Rick Hunter. I have never stopped loving you. I’ve loved you yesterday, today and I’ll love you a hundred years from now.”

“That’s a very long time, Captain Hayes. Are you sure you’re ready to make that kind of a commitment?”

She caught him studying her with an odd, searching expression. She wondered if she’d heard him correctly.

“What are you saying, Rick?”

“I love you, Lisa. You give meaning to my life. These two past weeks have been hell for me because I’ve learned that I can’t live without you. Will you marry me?” He stared at her and into the beautiful green infinity of her eyes.

Joy washed over her. “Oh, Rick,” she hurled herself toward him.

He opened his arms to catch her. “Is this a yes?” he whispered into her hair.

“Yes,” she said. “Yes, yes, yes.”

... Four Years Later...

Halfway through the party, Rick found Max alone near the buffet table. They both looked across the crowded living room to where Vanessa and Bron stood with Claudia, Roy, Sammy and Rico.

There was an aura of quiet happiness around the small group. Gold wedding rings gleamed on the hands of all six people. Their easy laughter and teasing jokes could be heard through out the room.

“How long do you think Kim’s going to hold out on Kondo?” Rick chuckled as they watched Kim leading a dark haired man around the house while Kondo watched their every movement with a scowl.

“I’d say about another month or so?” Max said as he helped himself to another slice of cheese. “These are delicious. Where did you ever find them?”

“One of the perks of being married to an Admiral, my friend,” Rick replied with a knowing smile.

“I don’t know,” Rick said, stealing another look at Kondo. “I’d say another week, give or take a couple of days. Speaking of marriage, Max, looks like things might be serious between Jack and your daughter. Does that worry you? They’re a little young, don’t you think?”

“Don’t worry, my daughter is a tough warrior, she can take care of herself,” Max replied with pride.

They both muffled an “ouch” when five year-old Dana Sterling pinned a tough-looking five year-old Jack Fokker onto the floor with ease and gave him a haughty look; while three-year old Bowie Grant clapped from the side cheerfully.

“I wondered where she got that from,” Rick said and they laughed together as if sharing a private joke when they saw Miriya giving Dana a good stern look.

Serious now, Rick turned to Max, “did you ever think life would turn out this way?”

“No. But I had hoped, Rick. I had hoped.”

Roy walked toward them then, carrying a handful of empty, used plates. “Nice party, buddy, too bad the guest of honor is going to sleep through it.”

“Yeah, she does that a lot. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll go check on her. Oh, Roy, don’t be leaving those there,” Rick’s glaze zero in on the used plates in his hand.

“Take them to kitchen like Claudia told you or I'll tell her you’ve been naughty and you know what that means," Rick said with a smile and Max laughed as Roy quietly swore under his breath, and turned toward the kitchen with the used plates.

Exactly one month ago today, Roy had lost a wager to Claudia and Claudia had enlisted the help of all their friends to make sure Roy does not cheat on his part of the wager-- be her domestic slave for the next four weeks!

Watching Roy disappeared into the kitchen; Rick moved away from Max and picked up more food from the buffet table onto his plate before going into the hall. At the door, he stopped and stared.

Lisa glided gently in the rocker. She held their one month-old daughter, Isabella Eleanor Hunter to her breast. The happiness in her green eyes stole his breath and he thanked his lucky star every day for having her to share his life with.

“Thought I’d find you in here,” he said.

“You left our guests on their own, at our party?” she asked with a smile that never ceased to leave him weak in the knee.

“They can take care of themselves for a while. Besides they’re all big boys and girls now.” He could not take his eyes off her and the baby.

“I know that look, Hunter. What are you thinking about this time?” Lisa teased.

He’d always knew Lisa would be good mother but he never saw himself enjoyed seeing her being one until this very moment. Leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, he answered, “I was thinking of our future, Admiral.”

“How does it look, Captain?”

“Pretty terrific,” he said, "pretty terrific,” and gave her a smile she would never forget for as long as they lived.

-- THE END --