Okay, as promised back in the header for "Almost 1", here is my attempt at
an Original Anime-Flavor
Fiction work.  I felt it was time to try something different (not to
mention the fact that my R1/2 pen ran out of ink) to see how it flies. 
This is part one of four, and the others will follow as I convert them.

C&C as always requested, encouraged and greatly appreciated.

Please, enjoy.

Coutuva.
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Unlikely Hero - Part One
The Meeting
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-



        Aikea walked slowly up the hall to her lonely office, thinking to
herself how much she had come to hate this job.  When it was first offered
to
her back when she was a fresh graduate of the Institute, she thought being
Head of Stellar Cartography would be a fascinating occupation, with
sufficient prestige to satisfy even her haughty grandmother.
        What it turned out to be was eight hours a day of lonely, boring
work
that dulled her senses, making her dread walking into her office. She was
alone in the department, lacking even an answering machine to talk to.  Her
computer did it all, even transposing messages to paper copy for her.  She
found herself wishing that it had voice recognition/response, so she could
at
least talk to it.
	Each day, she would see the crews head out on missions, ranging from
exploration to espionage, and found herself wishing that she was among
them.
She chided herself for these thoughts, knowing full well that she would
never
be required for what they did.  Her work was done in the background,
finished
long before it was ever required.  Of late, she felt the same way about
herself.
	So far, she had made it to the door of her office, and sighed heavily
as she slid her access badge through the reader.  The device beeped, and
the
door slid silently out of sight.  Walking in, she dropped her carryall on
her
desk, and walked straight to the large window that overlooked the Raider
Preflight area.  Two Guild Raiders stood ready below her, and as she
watched,
their crews boarded.
	She knew everything there was to know about the Raider Class vehicles,
having put the time her maps took to compile to good use.  Everything she
knew
was heavily classified, but to someone with her ability, nothing was secret
for long.
	Aikea's heart sank as she watched the doors and hatches of the Raiders
begin to close, knowing that they were about to lift off... and she wasn't
in
either of them.  Sadly, she turned away from the painful sight, and landed
resignedly in her custom-formed office chair.
	Closing her eyes, she listened for the primary ignitions to engage...
followed closely by the main engine start.  As the rumble built outside her
office walls, she fantasized about being aboard the Raider, calling the
order
to release the mooring clamps, and power up the main engines.  Her hand
moved
forward as if she was working the thrust modulation controls, and the
rumble
crescendoed with it.  The main engines would now be at 0.5 percent output,
enough to just counter the effects of gravity.  The mains were too powerful
to use so close to a populated area, so thrusters would now be employed to
move the vehicles to a safe launch zone.
	In her mind, she called for the docking thrusters to fire, providing
just enough thrust to move the large vehicle up to taxi altitude.  After a
timed burst on the lower array, she called for the rear array to fire,
moving
the vehicle out over the launch zone.  She ran the last checklist in her
head,
and heard herself calling the controller for clearance to launch.  She
heard
the affirmative response, and reached her hands up to the position that the
launch initiator occupied.  Timing it perfectly, she mimicked the motion of
engaging the launch process, and being thrown back in her seat by the
tremendous increase in G-Force.
	As the rumble faded out, she opened her eyes to see the inside of her
office once again.  This was her little ritual, repeated every second
morning.
At least it was a distraction, brief though it was.  Sighing resignedly,
she
activated her computer, looking forward to another long, tedious,
unfulfilling
day.
	
	Finally, five o'clock arrived, and Aikea wasted no time in getting
shut down, packed up and out the door.  Her day of punching in numbers had
left her drained and lifeless, and she desperately needed to recharge.
Finally arriving in the lobby of the Central Command building, she made
hastily for the exit, wanting to be free of her daily curse as quickly as
possible.
	Stepping out the main entrance into the late day sun, she took a
healthy lungful of air, savoring each molecule.  She smiled happily to
herself, glad to be free.  She walked down the huge granite stairs leading
into the building she had just escaped from, and made her way toward home.
Running through her mind was her itinerary for the evening, which included
a
fast supper, a good book, or maybe even a vdisk or two.  Since her friend
Mikati was working, she was on her own for the night.
        Approaching the corner news stand, she glanced at the printout of
the
day's paper, its bold headline mentioning an uncharacteristically large
solar
flare that had erupted earlier that day.  Making a mental note to read that
article at supper, she paid for a copy and tucked the disk into her
carryall
for the walk home.
	Unknown to Aikea, events were unfolding a few streets away that would
alter her plans dramatically.  A raw materials processing plant, located on
her way home, was experiencing a massive cooling system failure.  Crews had
been called in to correct it, and were working against the clock to get it
repaired.  The internal temperature of the system was rising rapidly, and
tremendous pressure had begun to build up in several of the sealed
processing
vessels.
	As Aikea passed the building, she was blissfully unaware of what
happened inside it's walls.  A fail-safe device that had been turned off to
quiet it's alarm did not allow the system to vent as it should have.  The
pressure built up to the point where the vessels could no longer contain
it,
and they ruptured simultaneously, the resulting blast leveling a six-block
area.  Aikea never knew what hit her.  When she was found, the watch she
wore
was virtually the only thing left on her dismembered body.  It - and she -
had
stopped at 5:17pm.

*************	
	
	Leona looked at her watch, counting the seconds till quitting time.
She was tired from a long day of chasing after children at the daycare, and
wanted to get home badly.  She had endured a particularly trying day, and
had
a mean headache to top it all off.
	Finally, the blessed hour came, and Leona almost bolted to her car.
Jumping in, she fired it up, and roared out of the lot in a cloud of tire
smoke.  She hated her job at the center, but it was all she could manage to
get with her education.  She was a dropout, having left school at 17 to go
to work to help support her family.  Her father had died in an accident,
and
at the time, her mom had been in too frail of health to work, so she and
her
brothers had taken on the responsibility.
	Pushing such thoughts out of her mind, she snapped on the radio, and
sang out loud to the upbeat music.  Her heart was happy now that she had
finished another day, and she was looking forward to a laid-back evening at
home, doing absolutely nothing productive.
	Her happiness was briefly interrupted when the radio station broke
into the music and announced that there was a huge solar flare occurring,
and
advised people with sensitive skin to remain indoors for the next day or
so.
Leona sneered at the radio, wishing they'd get it over with and get the
tunes
back on.
	Since the announcer was still talking a few minutes later, she opted
to stop for a few munchies and some needed supplies, and wheeled her car
into
the lot of a roadside store.  Over the door and out before the car stopped
rocking, she dashed into the store, and flew back out with her purchases.
	Jumping back into the car, she glanced at the dash clock as she
started it up.  It read 5:16pm, a quarter hour before her favorite TV news
show came on.  Gunning the old car, she roared across the parking lot
toward
the main intersection of the roads, intent on getting through the light
that
was in her favor.
	From behind a building across the street, a large truck rapidly
approached the intersection, the driver too occupied with changing his
cassette tape to see the red light on his street.
	Leona saw the truck run the light, but too late to do anything about
it.  The impact was horrific, almost folding Leona's car in half.  She was
thrown from it, and landed several metres from where the battered hulk came
to rest.  As she was loaded into the ambulance, one of the EMTs commented
that her watch was broken... and it had stopped at 5:17pm.

	In the hospital, Leona recovered slowly from her injuries, mainly a
broken arm and leg and a massive concussion, for which she was still being
awakened every two hours.  Her room had to be kept dark to protect her
eyes,
and that just made the experience all that much more unpleasant.  She was
in
considerable pain, and her battered body wasn't capable of much movement, 
a
fact which she discovered at the cost of more pain.
	Nobody came to visit her, not even her friends from work, which told
her just what kind of friends they were.  With her mother having passed
away,
and her brothers gone to seek their fortunes elsewhere, she endured her
personal hell alone, often crying herself to sleep.
	
	A week into her recovery, she was becoming severely depressed, and
even found herself wishing she would have died in the crash, instead of
living to endure this torture.  Her doctor, a callous old goat with the
charm
of an SOS pad, had already told her that she may never recover fully from
the
head injury.  But he had not, however, told her what this would mean to
her,
leaving her mind reeling with unpleasant possibilities.
	As her mind replayed the conversation over and over again, she stared
at the ceiling of her room.  Abruptly, a book falling on the floor
interrupted her thoughts.
	"Good!  You've finally noticed me.  It's about time, space cadet.
I've been sitting here for quite a while now."  An Asian woman's voice
stated,
in flawless English.
	Turning toward the voice, Leona saw an attractive Japanese woman,
with long black hair and a slight build sitting in the chair beside her
bed.
	"Who are you?  I don't think I know you.  Are you sure you have the
right room?" Leona responded, her voice cracking from lack of use.
	"Leona St. Paul?  I am quite sure I have the right room."  The woman
answered, rising to her feet.  "I'm Aikea Nitamaki, Head of Stellar
Cartography for Central Command, Tokyo Headquarters."  She continued,
bowing
deeply.  "At least, I used to be."
	"What?  How do you know me?  I've never heard of you."  Leona
protested, becoming worried about her guest's intentions.
	"You had best relax, Leona... this may be a little hard to accept,
but I can assure you that it's true."  Aikea began, sitting in the chair
again.  "You see, I'm dead.  My body is long gone, and all that remains of
me
is this Spirit you see before you.  I died at 5:17 p.m., the exact time
your
accident occurred.  Only one thing was different... I'm from the year
2097."
	"What?  Dead?  Then how..."  Leona began, but couldn't find the words
to finish.
	"Simple.  Our life forces, or 'Chi' as they're known in Japan, became
entwined when we died at the same moment in time... which just happened to
be
when two huge solar flares sent bursts of radiation through space... one in
your time, and one in mine.  The combination of all these events resulted
in
our becoming permanently linked."
	"But.. I didn't die..." Leona protested, weakly.
	"I hate to say it, but yes, you did die, although only momentarily.
Just long enough for all this to happen."
	Leona could not believe what she was hearing.  Reaching for the
buzzer, she pushed it frantically, wanting the nurse to come and get this
crazy person out of her room.
	"You're crazy.. stuff like that doesn't happen for real."  She finally
said, still pushing the call button.
	"They won't see me or hear me, Leona.. just you can, since I'm a part
of you.  But, since you're still pushing that thing, I guess you need to
see
it for yourself."  Aikea stated, rising and walking over to the door.  She
placed herself right in the path of the door's arc, and stood waiting, a
pleasant smile on her face.
	Leona stared at her, totally stunned that anyone would do such a
thing.  The hospital room door was large and solid wood, and if it hit a
tiny
woman like this Aikea, it would send her across the room.
	"Hey.. Get - " Leona yelled, but too late.  The door flew open, and a
nurse burst through it.  They both passed right through Aikea, who never
flinched.  "See?" she grinned, crossing her arms.
	"What's the problem?"  The nurse asked, walking up to the shocked
Leona.
	It took Leona a second to regain her composure, and another to
realize the nurse was talking to her.  "Oh! Nothing... I'm sorry.. I must
have leaned on the button."  She replied, quickly.
	"Nice recovery."  winked Aikea.
	"Okay.. well, just put it back up beside your head, so it won't
happen again.  That thing's for urgent situations."  The nurse admonished,
turning and heading out of the room.
	"I'm sorry..."  Leona called after her.
	"Convinced yet?"  Aikea inquired, striding back to her seat.
	"What do you want from me?"
	"I told you.. we're linked together now... We share the same body,
although we can't do it at the same time."
	"What? I don't understand this... " Leona gasped, still resisting the
idea that Aikea was telling the truth.
	"Okay.. lets try this;  Lay back, and close your eyes.  You'll feel
funny for a second, but it'll pass right away.  Ready?"
	"I.. guess..." Leona stammered, following Aikea's instructions.  Sure
enough, she felt a strange sensation... almost like she was being pushed
through a jar of gel.
	"Okay.. open 'em!"  Aikea called out.
	Leona opened her eyes, and found herself looking at her own body
lying on the bed.  She was actually outside of it, standing in the same
spot
as Aikea had been, except for one slight difference.  She was stark naked.
Her shriek of horror was not unexpected.
	"What did you do to me?"  Leona cried, trying to cover herself.  As
she watched, her body leaned up and replied to her question.  "I traded
places
with you.  You're now the Spirit, and I'm in the body.  We can do this as
much as we like, but only one Chi can be in here at a time.  Convinced
yet?"
	Leona just stared at what used to be her body, and fought back tears.
The entire concept hit her like a hammer, and she was still having trouble
coming to grips with it.
	"I'm naked..." was all she could say, too stunned to think.
	"That's easy... Just imagine yourself wearing your favorite clothes.
Go ahead.. you'll see."  Aikea encouraged, smiling.
	Suddenly, Leona was dressed in her favorite jeans and a huge
sweatshirt.
	"See?  Easy.  Wow, you took some serious damage here, didn't you?
This body is a mess...  Everything hurts.  At least I died instantly... no
pain."  Aikea noted, taking inventory.  "and it's so big... Where do you
find
clothes?   Anyway, how do you feel now, Lee?"
	"I feel... nothing!  It doesn't hurt anymore... and I can move around,
too."  She observed, happily.  "Can I stay out for a while?"
	"Sure... Just don't wander too far.  Your Chi can't survive if it
gets too far from it's host.  Oh, by the way, nobody can see you like that,
so don't waste any effort on trying to contact others while you're out.  If
you want to talk to people, you have to be back in the body.  You know, the
same old rules."
	"I think I believe you now.  This is neat."  Leona grinned, felling
almost giddy to be free of the pain and the bed.
	"There's lots more to this package yet, but you're not ready for all
of that.  We have to get this body back in shape first, then we can explore
those things.  For now, though, I'm going to put this body to sleep.. it's
hurting pretty bad from all the moving around.  Enjoy your little walk..
we'll talk later."  Aikea stated, laying back down.
	"Aikea?"
	"Yes, Leona?"
	"I guess I should thank you... This is the first time I've felt good
in a week.  This is a terrible place to be alone in."
	"Don't worry... you'll never be alone again."
        Leona stood looking at her now stilled body for several more
minutes,
not really sure of what to do next.  The entire situation was still hard
for
her to accept, despite what she had just said to Aikea.  The idea of being
a
'living ghost' struck her as kind of creepy, but at the same time, she
found
herself thinking it might be fun.
        Eventually, she decided to try moving around, and walked over to
the
door of her room.  Standing before it, she tried to grab the handle.  Much
to
her frustration, her hand passed right through it.  Try as she might, she
could not manage to grab it, and finally gave up in disgust.  Then, an idea
hit her.  If her hand could pass through, then she should be able to walk
right through the entire door.  Smiling, she stepped forward, and found
herself in the hallway.
	Giggling happily, she looked around for things to explore.


	Now that Leona had a reason to get back to full health, she improved
rapidly.  Within two weeks of her first meeting with Aikea, she was able to
get out of bed on her own, walk around the room, and even have unattended
showers.  Aikea, Leona discovered, absolutely loved showers, having been
used to only baths.  She kept begging to be let into Leona's body so she
could indulge herself, and ended up causing the staff of the hospital to
replace Leona's casts every few days. Otherwise, she and Aikea had
developed
a solid friendship, which made her more content with the new status quo.
The two spent hours talking over their lives, such as they had been, and
even
began to notice some commonality in their interests.
	Eventually, Leona was well enough to be released, and as usual,
nobody came to greet her.  This fact was not lost on Aikea, who floated
beside her as she waited for a cab.
	"This really sucks...  released at last, and nobody even comes to
pick you up.  You sure have some thoughtful friends, Lee."  Aikea
commented.
	"It's like I told you before.  Nobody thinks much of me since I never
went to College.  They just put up with 'the poor girl who left school to
take care of Mommy.'  All the other girls at the daycare have degrees in
this, that, or something else, and I don't even have Grade 11.  So, they
figure I'm some kind of dummy, I guess.  You're right...it sucks."  Leona
stated, sighing.
        "I never had a choice.  My family decided for me what I was going
to
learn, and made sure I did.  Now,  I'm proficient in 8 languages, can
program
computers in at least that many, have Doctorates in Philosophy and
Mathematics,
a Masters in biology and geography, and can map entire star systems in a
day.
I'm proud of it all, but none of it ever made me happy.  I'd rather have
been
a terraformer or some other Explorer Corps position... at least then I
would
have been in Space."
	"Hunh.. Funny how it happens...  I would die for that kind of
education.  Especially now... the daycare laid me off since it'll still be
a
couple weeks before I can work.  The nurse brought me the letter."
	"You want an education?  You already have it.  We're together in this
game now, remember?  Anything that I have is yours, and vice-versa.
Congratulations on the fastest Doctorate Degrees in history, Leona!"
	"What..?  Hey, yeah.. you're right.  Even though it's really you,
people would think it's me..."  She thought out loud, a smile sliding
across
her face.  "This could be fun."
	"Hey.. interested in a little payback?"  Aikea asked, grinning wryly
and floating closer to Leona.
	"What are you thinking, girl?  Better dish..."  Leona responded,
excitedly.
	"Let's just say we're going to break a few noses.  So, does this
daycare have a computer of some kind?"
	"Ooohh.. I like it already."  Leona giggled, listening intently.


	Arriving at the daycare, Leona used the excuse that she wanted to
pick up her last cheque to get into the building.  Once in, she hobbled her
way over to the office, and stunned the girl at the desk by asking to use
the
computer for a moment, claiming she wanted to compose a resume.  As soon as
she sat down, a crowd subtly gathered to watch the show.  Unknown to the
onlookers, Aikea slid into Leona's body, and prepared to go to town. 
Looking
at the computer, she huffed indignantly.
	"Huh.. the old version."
	With a sly grin and a quick crack of her knuckles,  Aikea's hands
became a blur over the keys as she accelerated to her top typing speed of
over 130 words per minute.  In moments, she had composed the resume, sent
it
to print, switched to another program and begun a complex macro.  Quickly
saving and encrypting the code, she switched back to the word processor and
cleared the page off again.
	The crowd of gawkers had moved in tighter now, and every one of them
stood gape-mouthed at the sight before them.  Leona meanwhile, was floating
above them, killing herself laughing.  She was so far gone that she almost
forgot to get back in the body.  Aikea had to remind her by balling up the
blank page fed with the resume from the printer, and tossing it through
her.
	Finally, they made the switch back, and Leona rose to leave the
office.
	"Hey.. Leona.. when did you learn to do that?"  One of her former
associates asked, echoing the thoughts of all others present.
	Leona just smiled, and replied quietly; "I did some reading in the
hospital."

	Once back in the waiting cab, Leona couldn't keep a straight face
any longer.  Bursting out laughing, she gave the old cab diver a real
start.
Noticing that, she laughed even harder, and the poor driver was left
wondering as he dropped her off at her home.
	In her livingroom, she collapsed on the couch, still laughing, not
even caring about the throbbing pain in her leg and arm.
	"That was incredible!  Did you see the looks on their faces?  Aikea,
you're the best!"  Leona exclaimed, finally able to talk.
	"Naturally!  I'm just glad your big hands fit the keys so well.  I
was a bit worried at first."
	"Hey, what else did you do?  I thought I saw you switching things
there..."
	"Good!  Very observant!  I did switch... I jumped over to their
spreadsheet, and whipped up a little 'open macro'.  Next time they start
that
program, it will freak out the computer and disable all user input... they
won't be able to fix it."  Aikea replied, mischievously.
	"I love it!  If I could, right now I'd hug you!"  Leona laughed,
looking up at Aikea, who floated directly above her.
	"I can arrange that!"  Aikea replied, happily diving on top of Leona,
who was surprised to find she could actually feel her.  When she did,
though,
she wrapped the small Japanese woman in a very affectionate hug.
	"How can you do this?"  She asked, still hugging Aikea tightly.
	"It's a special bonus of our being linked."  She said, actually
snuggling in closer.  "I'll explain it all to you later.... MMmmm."  Aikea
continued, making herself quite comfy.  "I'm glad we're together, Lee.." 
she
added at length, closing her eyes.
	Leona, much to her surprise, actually enjoyed the contact with Aikea.
        "You know something, so am I, Aikea.  It's great to have someone...
Especially someone like you."  She confirmed, patting Aikea's back.

	After thoroughly enjoying her first home-cooked meal in a month,
Leona hobbled into the livingroom again, and plopped herself in an easy
chair.
Firing up the T.V., she surfed the channels to find one of her shows. 
Aikea,
meanwhile, explored the house completely, happily flying from room to room,
occasionally teasing Leona about dust bunnies and such.
	Before long, though, Leona began to feel very tired, her big day
catching up to her at last.  Yawning, she announced that she was headed for
bed.  Dragging her tired body into the bedroom, which thankfully was on the
same floor, Leona peeled off her clothes and fell into the bed heavily.
	"Oooohhhh... this bed feels so good after that slab of concrete they
made me sleep on in the hospital."  She proclaimed, closing her eyes.
	"You should see what I used to sleep on... It was about half that
thick, and was flat on the floor."
	"You're kidding me... on the floor?"  Leona asked, leaning up to
regard Aikea curiously.
	"Nope.  It was a futon... not much more than a puffy blanket,
actually.  The nice part was that I could throw it in the closet each
morning,
and have all the space back.  Kind of a hideaway bedroom."
	"Was it comfortable?"
	"Surprisingly, it was."  Aikea replied, thoughtfully, then went quiet
for a few seconds.
	"Aikea?  What is it?"  Leona prodded, sensing Aikea's emotions.
	"I just  caught myself wondering if my family claimed my property...
If they did, then it should still be around."
	"What?"
	"My futon... now that I've been thinking about it, I actually miss it.
We spent a lot of lonely nights together."  She answered, wistfully.
	Leona had to giggle at that remark.  She knew full well what Aikea
meant, but still found it funny that she missed her bed.
	Aikea heard her and shrugged, grinning sheepishly.
	"Well, I have to get to sleep, Aikea... I have to start job-hunting
tomorrow, and I need to rest up."  Leona stated, rolling herself under her
blankets.
	"Oh.. Okay... Well... See ya."  Aikea replied, vanishing.
	Leona swore she heard a distinct sadness in Aikea's voice, and
wondered if she hadn't hurt her feelings with too abrupt of a dismissal.
Immediately, she felt guilty.
	"Sorry. Aikea.. I didn't mean to be rude."  She said aloud.
	"It's..  all right... see you tomorrow, Lee..."  She heard from the
darkness.


	The next day, Leona crawled out of her bed slowly, her body having
stiffened up during the night.  Upon rummaging through her closet for a
housecoat, she hobbled herself into the kitchen to make up some coffee.
Aikea floated by her, shaking her head sadly.
	"Is this what we look like in the mornings?  Eeeuuuwww..."  She
commented, smiling.
	"Funny.  At least you don't have bad hair days.  I feel like I'm
having a bad body day."  Leona griped, scratching her head.  "I gotta get
some coffee."
	"You make your coffee.. I'm going to check the paper for you.  As you
pointed out,  we have to get some income into this operation."
	"Huh?  How can you check..."  By the time Leona had turned to face
Aikea, the small Japanese woman was floating above the kitchen table,
turning
the pages of the paper with a swish of her hand.
	"How can you...  When I tried to touch things, I..."
	"Couldn't, right?  Not a problem.  Come here, Lee.  Look.  You have
to stop thinking like a mortal."  Aikea admonished, tapping Leona on the
forehead.  "Neither one of us are anymore.  By default, you win the body
since it was originally yours.  Mine was trashed, so I get to be the
Spirit.
However, in order to get along, even our Spirit selves can influence things
in the real world."  She continued, turning back toward the paper.  "See,
I'm
not actually touching this paper... I'm making it move by using the forces
around it to push the pages.  You can do this too, even when you're in the
body.  Later, you and I have some homework to do, and I'll show you this
and
some other stuff that you won't believe.  But for now, just remember...
stop
thinking like a mortal.  It's far too limiting."  Aikea explained,
regarding
Leona with a polite smile.
	"If you say so..." Leona responded, still taking in what Aikea had
said.  At length, she perked up, and looked at Aikea excitedly.
        "I have an Idea... Aikea, you said you were a programmer, right?"
	"Yes... why do you ask?"
	"I know that they're always looking for something called a
"Client-Server Programmer" at the new Co-Generation plant down at the
river.
Do you know what that is?"
	"Wow.. you mean they still use that technology?   Archaic.   Yes, I
do know it.  What have you got in mind,  Kiddo?"  Aikea asked, regarding
Leona
suspiciously.
	"I want you to get the job.  It pays great money, and I can keep my
house and get a new car.  We can do the same as we did at the daycare." 
She
replied, happily.
	"Sure.. why not.  It'll be boring, but it's worth it for now."
	"Oh, fantastic!!  Aikea, you're the best!"  Leona squealed,  opening
her arms to Aikea.  Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Aikea flew right
into them.  Leona hugged her happily for a few moments, then hobbled off to
the shower.
	Aikea watched her go, replaying the feeling of the hug in her mind.
As Leona turned out of sight, she wrapped her arms about her chest and
sighed
wistfully.

	After arranging a meeting with the head of the MIS department at the
Co-Generation Plant,  Leona arrived for the interview a few minutes early,
and ducked into the ladies room.  Once she was sure they were alone, she
briefed Aikea on her plan.
	"Okay.. it's up to you, Aikea.. You have to impress this guy to get
in."  Leona whispered, worriedly.
	"Huhn.. Somehow, I don't think that will be a problem."  Aikea
replied, dusting her fingernails on her blouse.
	"Smartalec.  Well, let's do it."
	"Agreed."
	A heartbeat later, Leona floated above Aikea and her body quickly
checking for imperfections.
	"Damn.. I wish I wasn't stuck in those casts.  That won't look good."
        "I suppose you're right.  It won't do to have a prospective
employee
looking like a walking liability.  Best remedy that."  Aikea stated,
reaching
down and placing her hands on the leg cast.  Before Leona's startled eyes,
the cast simply disappeared.  A second or two later, the arm cast was
similarly handled.
	"Wow.. did you heal them, too?"  Leona blurted, staring.
	"No.. that I cannot do.  I simply made them invisible.  So, how do I
look?"  Aikea replied, spinning around before Leona.
	"Like a million bucks.  Go get 'em, Aikea!"  Leona encouraged,
gesturing toward the door.

	Aikea spent about an hour with the Department Head, and was then
ushered down to the programmer's stations.  Within fifteen minutes, she
resolved a major translation problem with their legacy power grid database,
and was being cheered by the entire department.  Immediately, she was made
Migration Team Leader, and pocketed a nice fat sign-on bonus.  Leona was
beside herself with excitement.
	After swapping back, Leona promptly called a cab to go shopping for
a new car.  As she stood waiting for it, she chattered happily with Aikea.
	"I still can't believe it!  You just walked in there and stole the
show!  You are incredible, Aikea!"  Leona gushed, still in awe.
	"No, actually I'm not.  Those structures were so elementary compared
to what I normally do... or, used to do, that it looks like I'm a
practitioner of miracles.  Of course, my incredible talent did help."  She
replied, grinning smugly.
	"Ha!  Darn right!  Just to show my appreciation, I'm going to let you
pick out the new car.  Your taste is probably better than mine, anyway."
	"I don't know about that... I've never driven.  I lived close enough
to work to walk, and I used to actually look forward to it after a long day
behind a desk."
	"What?  Never driven a car?  I've never been without one.. till
lately.  Well, Aikea, prepare for a new experience!"  Leona announced,
happy
to be able to actually introduce Aikea to something.
	Just at that moment, the cab arrived, and Leona wasted no time in
getting to a certain dealership.  Stepping out of the cab, she had to blink
at the collection of beautiful cars surrounding her.
	""See anything you like?  She finally asked Aikea, who was floating a
few feet away.
	"All of them!  These are really nice.  Let's go get a closer look."
She prodded, flying off toward them.
	"You bet!"  Leona  agreed, hobbling after her.  She watched Aikea
sweep down the first row, suddenly coming to a stop about five cars down.
When she caught up, she discovered what had caught Aikea's eye.  A deep
emerald green Miyata, fully loaded, held Aikea's attention as firmly as a
vise.
	"Kawaii..." Aikea breathed, quietly.
	"I guess you like it."  Leona deadpanned, noticing Aikea's mindless
stare.
	"Hai... do I ever!  It's my favorite color, and it's so kawaii!"  She
replied with gusto.
	"What?  Talk English, will ya?"
	"Sorry... I guess I got too excited."  Aikea shrugged, sheepishly.
	"May I help you with something today?"  A pleasant male voice asked
from behind Leona.
	"I'll take it."  Leona announced, pointing to the Miyata.  She heard
Aikea cheering as she said it, and had to smirk at the salesman's stunned
expression.
	
	After all was said and done, Leona drove the shiny new car home
proudly, making a point of driving past the daycare just as the staff was
leaving for lunch.  She slowed a bit, beeped, waved happily, then dropped
to
second and roared off in a cloud of dust.  Aikea, in the passenger seat,
squealed like a little girl  as the car accelerated.
	"You should learn to enjoy life."  Leona quipped, noticing the
expression of pure delight on Aikea's face.
	"Right... like that's a problem."  Aikea shot back, laughing.
	Leona responded by taking the bend in the road at full speed, again
eliciting a shriek from Aikea.  Laughing to herself, she noted how good it
felt to be with Aikea, even if she was a "Spirit".  It was like she had
been
rejuvenated, and was actually happy inside for the first time since she
could
remember.  It was a feeling she liked.

	Finally, Leona brought the car to a screeching halt in front of her
house, and turned to Aikea, who looked as if she was totally blown away.
	"Did you like that?"
	"Oh, did I... I'm still high from it!  When can we do that again?"
Aikea gushed, excitedly.
	"Fairly soon.  After all, we have to work in the morning."
	"Hoooo... I'll need that long just to get my protoplasm back together.
You are some driver, Lee."
	"I used to race my brothers all the time, and I ran in the local
"Baby Baha" a few times.  Even managed to win three years running."  Leona
replied, proudly.
	"Now that, I can respect.  I've always wanted to do those sorts of
things, but I always had to be too prim and proper.  I never even tried for
a driver's license. "  Aikea admitted, pouting.
	"Well, to swipe a quote, You have one now!"  Leona replied with a
smile.  "Anyway, C'mon.. I have to get off my feet for a bit... This ol'
body
is getting pretty sore."
	

	Once in the house, Leona promptly flopped on the couch, falling
asleep within minutes.  Aikea floated back out to the car, simply unable to
take her eyes off of it.  She circled it a few times, admiring it's clean
aesthetic lines, it's flawless coat of metallic emerald green paint, and
how
the sun danced off the tiny metal particles deep within the finish. 
Drifting
down into the driver's seat, she started to fantasize about tearing down
the
highway, zipping in and out of slower traffic, powering up hills and around
corners... in short, a new version of her old fantasy.
	It dawned on her then that she and Leona were a perfect fit.  Each
was or did something that filled a void in the other's existence.  It also
struck her that the coincidence of that was simply too convenient.  It made
Aikea think that there must either be a reason for their twinning, such as
a
master plan, or that the powers that influence such things just hated to
see
two lives only half-lived.  She didn't know what the answer was quite yet,
but she was convinced that there was definitely one to be found.
	Abruptly, the sensation that Leona was near snapped her out of her
reverie.  Turning, she saw Lee hobbling toward the car.
	"Having fun out here?"  Leona called, smiling.
	"I thought you were resting.  You okay?"
	"Yeah.. the phone woke me up. The video place called, and wants me
to return these movies I rented the day before my accident.  They're a
month
late."  She explained, holding up the movie cases.
	"Hooo... that's going to cost you a few yen."
	"Yen?"
	"Oops.. Bucks."
	"That's okay.. I have a real job!"  She grinned, opening the car door.


	The trip to the video store turned into supper out and a lengthy, fast
cruise around the outskirts of the city.  Leona couldn't resist Aikea's
begging for another 'thrill ride', as she called it, so she gave her one
she
wouldn't forget.  When Aikea had finally had enough excitement, she headed
the car home gratefully.  She was still very sore, and bouncing through
parts
of an old baha course didn't help.
	After parking the car for the night, Leona hobbled into the house and
promptly downed some pain killers.  Grabbing a quick shower, she wrapped a
towel about her, and hobbled to her bed before they hit.  After peeling off
the waterproof covers for her casts,  Leona rolled into the bed, and
loosely
tossed the covers over her.
	"G'night, Aikea.. Have a good day at work tomorrow..."  She began,
drifting off to sleep before she could finish the sentence.
	Aikea floated over to the bedside, and touched down lightly on the
floor.  She stood and watched Leona sleep for a few minutes, her heart
happy
beyond description with her new partner. Sighing, she thought for a second
about whether or not to do what her ethereal body was crying for her to do.
Finally, she could deny her desire no longer.  In a heartbeat, she was in
the
bed, totally nude and snuggling closely to Leona's soft, equally nude body.
Snaking her arm around Leona's waist, she nestled in as close as she could,
sighing happily at the euphoria she felt growing within her.


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


	Leona awoke slowly the next morning, and noticed Aikea alongside her,
head on her chest and arm across her tummy.  At first, she didn't know what
to think, and almost jumped out of the bed.  But, as she looked down at
Aikea's peaceful, content expression, she relaxed and put her arm around
the
small woman.  Aikea, who appeared to be sleeping, responded with a soft
moan,
and nestled herself in tighter.
	This development came as a bit of a shock to Leona... First off, she
didn't think Spirits were able to sleep, and second, it seemed as if Aikea
was... well, in love with her.  What surprised Leona the most was the
discovery that she was not repulsed by the idea... as she thought she would
have been.  Leona knew she was not "that way", but this situation just
seemed
so ...'natural'.
	Looking down at Aikea again, she was unable to resist the urge to
kiss her forehead gently, and as she did, Aikea woke up.
	"Leona.. did I...?"  Aikea asked, her eyes widening.
	"If you mean sleep with me, I guess so.  I woke up and you were
here."  Leona smiled, gently.
	"Oh, no.. I meant to just lay here for a while, and get out before
you woke up.  I didn't mean to force myself on you."  Aikea stammered with
embarrassment.
	"No sweat... at least now it's not a secret.  Why didn't you say
something sooner?"
	"I was afraid... you... wouldn't be comfortable with it."
	"Well, if you had done this before my accident, I would have been
pissed.  But now, for some reason, having you here like this feels really
good."  Leona assured, smiling and running her fingers through Aikea's long
hair.
	Aikea's eyes shimmered as she stared wordlessly at Leona, and within
a few seconds, her bottom lip began to tremble.  "Leona.. I'm so glad we're
together."  She whispered, leaning forward and kissing her full on the
lips.
Leona returned the favor, actually enjoying it.

	As they drove to work later, Aikea couldn't shake the bright smile
that decorated her visage.   Leona got quite a kick out of watching her
sophisticated, together soul-mate acting like a smitten teenage girl.  She
found herself smiling back happily.
	Through the day, Leona floated about the plant, occasionally dropping
in on Aikea for company. Luckily for the two of them, Aikea's office was a
single one, allowing them a measure of privacy.  Leona still managed to be
bored though, since there was not much to amuse her in a place like the
plant.
Aikea still hadn't taught her how to turn pages or move objects yet, and
this
left her with limited options.
	Leona was grateful for the end of the day, when she could finally
slide back into her body and do things again.
	"Can you teach me all that stuff that you said I could do soon?  I
was bored absolutely stiff in there today, and couldn't even read a book."
Leona pouted on the drive home.  "It was awful."
	"Okay.  I can start after you eat.  You're going to like this...
there's a lot more to this Spirit business than you realize, so be
prepared.
Aikea replied excitedly.  "I can't wait to show you all of the
intricacies."
	"Good!"  answered Leona emphatically. "One more day like that, and
I'll go nuts!  Bleahhh!"
        Aikea laughed out loud at the silly face Leona made, and made one
of
her own back.  The pair of them ended up laughing themselves almost to
tears
by the time they arrived at the house.

	After Leona had eaten, Aikea began the task of training her in the
art of being a Spirit.  Leona had a ball learning how to manipulate
objects,
make things vanish, communicate with Aikea telepathically, and even how to
pull a few tricks involving her body.  Aikea wasn't able to demonstrate all
of them, since the body was still in rough shape, but she did happen to
show
Leona how to numb the pain when she was occupying it... Leona chased her
around the room when she revealed that secret, wanting to know why she
hadn't
told her sooner.
	Leona managed to absorb a great amount of instruction in the marathon
session, but was having a bit of trouble mastering them all, especially the
ones involving telekenisis.  Aikea noticed that her student seemed to have
a
hard time coordinating her thoughts to her actions, which resulted in a few
messes in the livingroom.
	Aikea did the best she could to laugh it off, not wanting to
discourage Leona at this early stage of the game.  Leona, despite trying
her
best, was not quite able to get it all totally right.  She finally managed
to
get the door to unlock and open, at which point she called a halt to the
frustrating process, vowing to continue later.
	Aikea used that convenient opportunity to explain to Leona what the
situation was with her body.  It was now essentially a soulless shell, and
as long as it lived, the two of them were tied to it.  When it died, they
would be free to go their separate ways in either the Spirit World or the
World of Mortals.  She also cautioned that as long as the body lived, if
one
of them were to stray too far from it, they would end up weakening and
finally disappearing all together, their life force dissipating back into
energy.
	That explanation reminded Leona to ask Aikea about her "sleeping"
that morning, since she was sure Spirits didn't need to.  Aikea explained
that her assumption was correct; it was not a true sleep, since only
mortals
needed that, but was in fact a way of allowing the Spirit to reclaim energy
expended in becoming 'tangible'.  Despite only being able to 'touch' each
other, the privilege came at a price, and it was that price that Aikea
blamed
for her still being there when Leona had awakened.

	Eventually, Leona was brought up to speed on a variety of techniques,
leading her to think that existing as a Spirit was more fun than being
mortal.
Aikea had to concur, not ever having been happy with her life as a mortal.
She also felt compelled to mention her thoughts on why the two of them
ended
up 'soul mates', and to her surprise, Leona had the same sort of ideas. 
This
convinced Aikea that perhaps there was some larger purpose to this
'arrangement'.
	
	When bed time finally came, Leona was more than ready.  She hobbled
into her room after her usual shower, and was met by Aikea perched on her
headboard.  Aikea had 'changed' into a housecoat, and waved coyly at Leona.
	Leona grinned back, rolled herself into the bed, then wormed her way
toward the middle of the mattress.  Lifting the blanket, she looked up at
Aikea.  "Well, are you coming, or do I have to sleep alone?"  She asked,
winking.  Aikea's face lit up, and a heartbeat later, she was in the bed,
nestling her now nude form into Leona's soft bosom.  Leona sighed happily,
hugged Aikea gently and closed her eyes, enjoying the closeness.





============================================================================
=
END - Unlikely Hero - Part 1      An Original Fiction by V. Coutu


Comments Welcome, Flames Extinguished!
coutuva@vecdev.com


Looking forward to your comments!
Coutuva.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Catch all my 'Fics (and more!) at Water's Edge!
http://waters-edge.home.ml.org/archive/Vic

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much of a strain on the Artist's wrists."