Hello everyone! Christmas is coming and I feel inspired in writing something emotional ^lol^ so I started this little story set in the universe of Macross: Do you remember love?.

I recently read the 1984 light novel by Sukehiro Tomita based on the movie. The author is also the screenwriter of the theatrical version, and I must say that the whole story is beautiful and well focused on the Hikaru/Misa couple.

I was also kind of inspired by some lovely fanfiction written by Japanese fans, there named SS- SideStories (I read them by using a translator I'm still bad with kanji and kana hehe),and beautiful fanart. I'm happy that there are so many Hikaru/Misa fans all over the world after almost 40 years since the first Macross was aired.

This fic will be only two or three chapters long. Then I'll keep on with my other story set in the Robotech universe.

Thank you for reading! Mao

EARTH WANDERERS

a Hikaru and Misa story

-UN Federation Pacific fleet offensive Aircraft... Prometheus...

Lieutenant Misa Hayase's voice cracked on the last syllable as the terrible reality unfolded before their eyes. That planet, that blasted land in the midst of nuclear storms was... Earth.

-no way

he said

-this is ... our earth

she retorted

Lieutenant Misa Hayese felt tears welling up in her eyes, as in the blurred view in front of her, the majestic aircraft carrier Prometheus stood against the stormy sky and the violent ocean waves that slammed into the rear bridge.

The two young officers quickly dismounted from the Valkyrie that had landed on the sand in gerwalk mode. Lieutenant Hikaru Ichijo tried to offer his hand to his senior officer but she ignored his help and with a small leap jumped onto the ground.

Instantly a big dizziness grasped the pit of her stomach, turning her body around. She collapsed on her knees vomiting a large amount of liquid in a single spasm that left her breathless. When she could get her eyes open again, she saw that her subordinate had just experienced the same violent consequences of the fold on his organism. Ichijo struggled to lift up, resting his hands on his thighs, then walked away towards the seashore. When he finally turned back his soaked hair was dripping sea water onto his face and jaw line. At that very moment their eyes met. Lieutenant Hayese realized with dismay that the only living being in the immediate proximity was him.

But maybe... maybe someone had been left inside the Prometheus.

-We have to explore the Prometheus.

she said in the strictest tone she could muster

- Lieutenant Ichijo take on your rifle.

The two were both familiar with the carrier that during the attack was anchored to one of the arms of the Macross. It was quite easy to access the main bridge, it was simply torn off.

The surreal silence that surrounded them was only tempered by the sound of their breathing and the backwash of the waves splashing on the steel. She had hoped... a meager hope. But what they found below the decks were only horribly charred bodies that had neither the peace of time used to skeletons, nor that of ordinary buried corpses. The suits of the US Navy had melded with the flesh resulting in monstrous plastic man hybrids that were rotting in the cavernous space making the air unbreathable. The Prometheus fleet had been massive but they found only a few hidden corpses. A few minutes passed, and then Lieutenant Hayase was caught in a new bout of nausea and collapsed to the floor, her forehead beaded with sweat.

-Hayase-tai!

Ichijo had cautiously placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to lift her up. His touch made her flinch.

- don't...don't touch me!

Ichijo frowned in resentment.

-Wait for me outside Lieutenant, I'll go on checking

he said dryly.

She couldn't help but agree.

Then she sat down on the sand, her flight suit boots lapped by the murky water back and forth. The big star on the skyline that burned like fire then was the sun.

An orangey light, much like a lava flow, covered the whole horizon, glowing on the young officer's face.

Ichijo came from the sea, drenched from head to toe. He carried a box in his arms. Their eyes met again, both glaring at each other.

In her angry lucubration, Lieutenant Misa Hayase could not help but blame that young pilot.

it's all his fault... It's his guilt. Minmay-san is dead, Commander Fokker is dead...for what? All for a stupid, stupid game... and now...

She squeezed her eyelids tightly, as she felt tears overflowing and didn't want him to see her cry. When she opened them back up, Ichijo could see Lieutenant Hayase's green eyes flash with hatred.

-I found some canned goods, ma'am... They should not be expired...

he took a few steps and showed them to her but Misa Hayase dignifiedly turned her face ignoring him.

He drained the entire contents of the box on the ground right between her legs.

-As you wish Lieutenant!

he took a few steps and moved away towards the Valkyrie.

Misa was seized by a state of panic and rage, all the scarce forces flowing in her body canalized. As if hit by an electric discharge, she jumped up, clenching her fists.

-How dare you!

she screamed at Ichijo's back.

-How dare you talk your superior officer like that!

Ichijo took a few more steps then stopped. She could see his shoulders trembling.

then he turned back: on his face he wore that arrogant grin that had pissed her off several times on Macross.

-I don't think I have to obey you anymore, Lieutenant Hayase. This is not Macross, and your rank is worth nothing

he said with scorn.

His words affected Misa with the violence of a slap.

how could he even say such a thing... how did he dare to use such words to her? he... he had always been an arrogant, disobeying... ignorant of discipline and rules he... he just shouldn't be in the army!

Misa took a few steps towards him, her boots sinking into the sand: her fists were so tight that her knuckles whitened.

-You!

she yelled out of her mind

-You! how you dare! you! you caused all this!

Tears soon rose up Misa's throat and she choked, but she didn't stop screaming

-You're the one who stole a valkyrie for your own personal use! you took Minmay-san into space! it's because of you that the enemy captured us and now Minmay is...

Ichijo suddenly blanched and Misa could clearly see his eyelids fluttering.
She pointed a finger at him

-it's your fault!

At the mention of Minmay, Ichijo's heart stopped.

He hadn't stopped for a single moment to relive that time when the giants had divided them.

Minmay had thrown herself on the huge glass, pounding her fists and crying.

-Hikaru! Hikaru, help me!

Her voice echoed clearly in his mind and was overlaid by that of his senior officer.

Hayase-tai was right. It was all his fault. and now Minmay was...dead. So was Roy.

-You don't deserve being a soldier!

As if she had drained all her energies Misa fell again onto the sand: she raised her hands to her face, then the sun started to set and the night descended upon them like a heavy blanket. Misa gasped at feeling the darkness closing over. In an few instant Ichijo's body had become just a shape in front of her.

-You know what Lieutenant? You're right! I should never have taken Minmay out of Macross! I should have never...

his voice was cracking too. Misa heard his footsteps walk away, and she got scared.

-Ichijo!

She clearly heard his footsteps moving away. He had left her there on the beach... the weight of this immense loneliness overwhelmed her. She felt as if she was vanishing.

-Ichijo!

Soon a light flashed a few feet ahead. It was the valkirye's side lights. Ichijo was there. Suddenly she started running towards the light as if it was her last salvation.

When she was under the mecha's heavy arms she could see him pulling the sleeping bags out of the cockpit and throwing them on the floor.

The nylon lining with the UN spacy logo sparkled in the artificial light. Misa lifted her gaze and saw Ichijo's still damp hair popping out of the cockpit.

-I... Lieutenant Hayase. .. This are the sleeping bags. I'm going far away to... to sleep. You just stay here at the Valkyrie.

Misa's heart froze for a moment and she couldn't tell what she felt was fear or pain. Their eyes met, this time free from the previuos anger.

Hikaru was a man and he could hold back tears. That's what he told himself in his mind . But since he had experienced the intensity of that woman's hate, just a short time before, he could feel his confidence fail.

He was trapped in that nightmare with the person who hated him the most. She blamed him for everything, and she was right. Maybe she wished it had been him that had died and not Roy.

Ichijo's eyes were like two mirrors. All his pain poured out of them.

Misa shuddered with shame and regret.

He's so young... she thought

-Ichijo... I...

She could not bring herself to speak as words refused to come out.

He turned his gaze away and jumped out of the cockpit. Soon was in front of her.

-Sleeping bags are insulated. They adjust to both body temperature and outside temperature. They enable you to keep warm even below 5 degrees...

he said casually as if reading the jet fighter maintenance manual.

He picked up his bag and walked off into the night. The pefect shape of his shoulders, his unruly hair still damp, all got swallowed by darkness.

Misa raised both hands to her mouth, feeling her last remaining strength leave her. A loneliness she had never experienced before gripped her like a vice. She fell on her knees sobbing silently. She didn't even know where he was, but she hated the feeling of him hearing her cry.

Hikaru had squatted not so far away, under a sand dune. He lurked under the pillowy folds of his sleeping bag. The silence was broken only by the waves crashing on the beach and Lieutenant Hayase's crying.

He felt his chest aching in a way he had never experienced before.

Dawn came surprisingly fast. For Misa who hadn't slept and for Hikaru who had quickly drifted off into nightmare filled sleep. He dreamed again and again of Roy Fokker's battloid being riddled by the enemy zentradi on that ship. The sound of exploding scrap metal was so realistic that it made him grit his teeth and clench his nails in his palms.

He awoke in a state of edge tension.

The sunlight was a sick shade, as if filtering through layers and layers of fog and soot. Everything was wrapped in a veil. Lieutenant Ichijo lifted with a struggle, looking around to spot the valkyrie. He saw her stranded like a huge insect on his just left. Under the fighter's arms a sleeping bag was unzipped but there was no sign of his senior, Lieutenant Hayase.

She had been up all night, considering every possible way to take advantage of the disastrous situation that had caught them. First of all it was required to look for survivors on planet earth, both military and civilian... the valkyrie, despite being a trainer model, had all terrestrial and aerial tracking devices

And if Ichijo would refuse to escort her on the mission, well she would have gone alone. She wasn't a combat pilot but she knew how to maneuver the fighter... but that would mean leaving him there...

How could she abandon one of her subordinates... She would pass through military court for that. But he had made it very clear that he no longer intended to obey her orders in that situation. He had said it.

He would be punished too, or downgraded... yeah, but there probably would have been no court anymore in that ruined earth, and as for Macross...

Misa raised her hands to her head and pulled her long hair sobbing in frustration. So she spent all night racking her brain for a solution.

At the first hints of light she quietly slipped out of her bag, shivering from the chill. She soon realized that Ichijo was lying only a few steps away, under a dune. She had quietly approached him, spying his restless sleep and was surprised to see his face drenched in sweat, the look of someone sinking into a bad nightmare.

Then Misa lifted her thin fingers, trembling. Carefully ran her fingertips over his forehead, stroking his dark hair. She shuddered at the touch of that portion of skin and at the smoothness of his hair.

She realized with dismay that it had been years since she touched another human being like this. Misa threw back her hands pressing palms together:

Why did she do that? Why was she stroking that man's forehead?

Scared, she walked away from him, trying to make it clear in her heart. She couldn't leave Ichijo on that beach. Yes, they would be going together wherever it was necessary. She wondered if he would be okay with it.

-Lieutenant Hayase!

Ichijo's voice echoed loudly, shrillly.

-Ichijo-kun...

Her voice, on contrast, was quiet, almost shy. The top of her head slowly emerged from the cockpit,

Then she popped up to her waist, letting one arm hang out in a relaxed pose, so unexpected in her.

Ichijo looked at her in surprise.

-Under the seats I found two water tanks. We can to warm it up and drink it... like...

Misa squeezed her eyes, trying to utter the final words

-As if it was... tea

Ichijo's eyes widened slightly at her truce flag. It was a peace offering coming from her and Hikaru wasted no time in deciphering it.

-Uh... yes... let's do it, I mean... aye ma'am, I'll light the fire!

Hikaru looked at her sidelong, and couldn't hold back a small grin of relief.

Misa, unintentionally, smiled shyly, as well. It was the first time he saw her smile.

Ichijo climbed into the cockpit, removed the cover for the gauges, suspended it like a bowl over the fire and poured water on it. They both sat down on the sand facing the fire.

When the water was hot Hikaru took one of his gloves from his flight suit and picked up the homemade kettle. Instantly Misa followed him by taking one of her gloves from her pocket. Hikaru handed the water to Misa to let her drink first. Heat flowed down her to her throat and into her stomach. Her numbed and tired body suddenly awakened.

-Ichijo

she said in her professional tone of voice that he knew so well

-I... want to explore the planet. At least a part of what we can, I...

she forced herself to look into his eyes, and she felt him watching her deeply.

-Ichijo, I need to know if there are any survivors on the Earth's surface, it is my duty and...

she paused

-to do that, I don't need your cooperation...

She saw his brow wrinkling with disappointment

- It is not mandatory that you come with me... but... however I...

Misa's voice cracked

-I.. I 'm asking you to come with me on this mission.

No longer able to hold his gaze, Misa let her eyes wander over the sea, the waves were slowly lapping the shore, silence between them seemed to last ages

-Yes... Lieutenant Hayase, I am coming with you.

Ichijo's voice did not waver, then he...

Misa brought her gaze back to her subordinate's sapphire eyes that sparkled with resolution.

She breathed in relief.

-Thank you... Ichijo-kun.

I'm not alone...

to be continued