And you people thought I couldn't do oneshots.

While the ending to Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040 was good
(proving once again that the new surpasses the old), it was
missing a little bit, like closure with a couple of
characters.

Oh yeah, for those who haven't seen the whole thing, you
have been warned.

Every Time
By Andrew Wilson

Sun's going down.  Maybe it'll cool off now.

Where the hell am I, anyway?

The umbrella was orbiting over Japan, and this is a desert. 
China, maybe?  Or Australia?

Doesn't really matter.  I doubt anyone will get out of here
in time, not with all the shit that's happened.

Heh.  That's what I get for saving the human race, death by
exposure, lost and forgotten.  That's the thanks I get for
killing a machine god.

Have to admit, though, the bitch wasn't too bad in the end. 
She did get me down safe.

Did Linna and Nene survive re-entry?  I wonder where they
are.

I wonder if the trailer is still there.

Who care's about the trailer, it's not like it was home. No,
haven't had a home since the quake.

Eyelids are getting too heavy.  Can't go to sleep, not now.

Oh hell, why fight it?  Note to self: haunt Sylia's place
after death.  Serves her right.

Ouch!  There wasn't a wind a minute ago, what's blowing all
this sand around.

Someone coming?  Come on!  Open your eyes, stupid!

Checking a pulse?  Can't you see I'm still breathing,
whoever you are?  Come on, move!

Who the hell's talking.  Leon?

"Why is it, every time we meet up, you're underdressed and
in trouble?"

The knight in not-so-shinny armor is here.  Happy now?

Maybe.  But that's something for morning, sleep comes first.

*******

Leon gathered Priss into his arms, watching her face soften,
and her breathing slow into a series of soft, almost
inaudible snores.  He was careful not to touch the more
badly sunburned patches of skin as he turned and walked back
to the jet that had brought them from Japan.

"How is she?" Sylia asked from the hatch.  Linna and Nene
had already loaded what was left of the hardsuit into the
cargo compartment.  Their relief at finding Priss alive was
tempered by the embarrassment that they were still feeling
from their own rescue.

"I'm no doctor," Leon replied, "but she'll need rest, water,
and a
lot of sun burn cream."

"Lucky her," Nene grumbled, "she didn't have Mackie ogling
her."

Linna giggled. "You're not fooling us, Nene.  You enjoyed
every second of it."

Nene's face soon matched Priss' in color, and the entire
team was chuckling.

Except Leon.  He silently walked over to a small cot built
into against the plane's bulkhead, and gently set Priss in
it.  Sylia waited until Priss was covered and strapped down
before signaling the pilot.  The plane immediately began to
rise, the turbofans blasting sand away from their landing
spot, erasing the few tracks they had left.

*******

Yeah, it's short.  Yeah, it doesn't have much of a plot.  So
what?  It's just something I wanted to write after seeing
the ending.

C&C welcome.
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