Notes on bottom.
---
Infinite Earths is based on the characters of Operation: Reality Check, a
Sailor Moon fanfic by Roehl Sybing.  For more information, please visit
http://www.infinitedeferral.com.

Love Will Find A Way
An Onegai Teacher/Infinite Earths Fanfic
By Roehl Sybing (indef@infinitedeferral.com)

Chapter One: Floater

The usual morning chatter in homeroom had turned to rampant speculation and
wild rumors after the announcement had been made.

"I bet she ran away with some guy," Ichigo suggested.

"No way!" said Kaede, "That's not possible!"

Deep in everyone's minds, of course, they all wondered about and became
suspicious of their fellow classmate, until he walked in, on schedule but to
the surprise of those in the room.

Kei discreetly scanned the room, from one corner to the other, and his look
of bewilderment was understandable to no one but himself.

"Hey man, where've you been hiding her?" said Hyosuke, getting into Kei's
face.

Kei jumped, "What're you talking about?  I haven't done anything!"

"Whoa, chill out, I was only kidding!" he said, backing away, "I figured you
found out already."

The truth was, he already suspected, but Kei feigned innocence to his
friend, "What do you mean?"

"Ms. Kazami?  They can't find her this morning!  Turns out she's missing!"
---
The splashdown registered on every early warning system for two thousand
kilometers.  Even sensors at Manila Station had picked up the numbers.  36
degrees North by 139 degrees East.  The coordinates bore a margin of error,
though.  Even if it had been pinpointed to the minutes and seconds, the USS
Norfolk still had a large search area to cover.

"Grid forty-one is negative, captain."

"Resume search pattern.  Continue scan for compression waves."

For the Norfolk this year, today was the second code six-twenty: wormhole
over North Pacific.  Occasionally, someone experimenting on interdimensional
technology would get careless, end up in another reality.  If they were
lucky, they ended up in this reality; on the Earth Prime for the Federal
Reality Commission, a return to the lacking Alternate Earth was easy for
those who were lost.

But Japan and everything for nine hundred kilometers around had been erased
from the map in the Antimatter War not twenty years ago.  Those who opened a
gateway in the blast area would find nothing but water.  That is, if the
ships didn't find them before they drowned.

It had been over an hour and not more than a fifth of the area was searched,
and it was another hour on top of that from the time the gateway was
recorded to the moment the patrolling ship began its search.  Ironically,
the leftover radiation, lethal in some parts, kept the ocean warm enough for
one to survive just a little bit longer than otherwise cold water would
allow.

"Captain!"

The commanding officer reached for his binoculars.  Grid 42, life station
A-21 was being tossed about with fierce waves.  But its warning light was
flashing, and the body of its occupant lay lifeless over it.

"All ahead full, man overboard!  Radio, contact base, we're bringing one
home!"
---
If it weren't for the triple layer of glass that was the window for the
station's quarters, SpaceCol Seven would've unleashed an unbearable amount
of silent tension into the vacuum of space.  In those quarters, the two
stood with their backs to each other, Jake pacing around for the right words
and Lisa staring blankly out her window.  For minutes, neither of them dared
to speak after the last round of shouting and arguing.  Finally, one of them
did.

"You know, this is why I love you," said Jake, "I don't think you'll ever
settle down."

Lisa turned her head, sporting a look of scorn. "Shut up, Jake," she said.

"Right."

Silent again.  Jake knew for sure, this time too many careless words were
spoken.  It was in that instance that the truth came out.

Jake's vid rang an alert. "Junior director," he answered.

"Jake," Michael's face said, "We need you at headquarters."

"This really isn't a good time, Mike.  Can it wait?"

"I'm afraid not.  Naval Rescue picked up a 6-20 late last night, subject's
en route on a medical hovercraft.  We ran her data by Chris, but he says
there's a problem."

"What kind of problem?"

"He's not sure yet, but this is not an open-and-shut.  Return coordinates
are unavailable, and we are going to require a full evaulation.  We're
sending the Midnight Flyer to pick you up, should be at the docking bay in
ten minutes."

"Alright, I want a full briefing when I get there.  Tyler out."

Jake clicked the vidphone shut and tiptoed over to Lisa. "I have to go."

"Just as well.  I don't think you should come back, at least for tonight."

"Lisa, you know I'm right," Jake insisted, "How am I supposed to follow you
to Mars?"

"You just don't get it, do you?  I love you, Jake Tyler, but I cannot change
what I am for you," Lisa said.

Jake scoffed.  His head was spinning at the sound of those words as the
tension only escalated even further. "And I cannot rearrange my life to fit
your career, if you haven't noticed."

"Then we have nothing more to say, do we?"

On that note, Jake stormed out, but only out of the fear that Lisa would
kick him out on the next command.  The door opened and closed according to
his movements, but had he an old-fashioned door, he would've pulled it shut
to let everyone on the whole deck know of his displeasure.  But he didn't
make it to the autolift before he had to fight back some tears.
---
Kei was in a state of abject confusion.  If Mizuho was inside her hidden
ship, somehow hurt and unable to get help, he could not get to her, simply
because he did not know how to get into the craft.  Save for the chase they
experienced on their very first encounter, she never showed him how to gain
access to the inner workings of her vehicle.  Not that he had a reason to go
in, anyways.  But Kei pushed against the walls and doorways nonetheless, in
a hopeless attempt to trigger something that would his efforts to find
Mizuho worthwhile.

"Where did you go?  Why did you leave?" he said out loud.  Kei remembered
back.  She was with him all day yesterday, but that night - a very stormy
night of torrential downpour and vicious thunder and lightning - he went to
bed long before she did.  All week she had been filing and sending reports
back home, work she had neglected in favor of her duties at school.  But she
always returned to bed eventually.

That morning, when the storm died down, Mizuho was not there when he had
woken up.  He had assumed that she went to school early, and it was not
until he arrived in homeroom that his worst fears had been confirmed.  She
was not at home, she was not at school, and there was no trace of her
anywhere in between.

Out of frustration, Kei pounded against the furniture.  Was it something he
did that made her leave?  Was he too stupid to even pick up on it?  He was
beginning to doubt himself, easily slipping into that troublesome,
downhearted emotional state, until a voice brought him back through
distraction.

"Kei!"

Kaede's voice filtered into the open window of the apartment.  When he
peeked outside, he saw his friends calling to him in the direction of his
uncle's apartment, no doubt to ask him to hang out with them.  Of course Kei
wanted to find Mizuho, but it was hopeless at the moment, and he didn't want
to raise suspicions any higher than they probably were, so he decided to
sneak out through the back and come around to the front to meet them.

"What'cha doing out back?" asked Ichigo.

"Me?" Kei said, "Well, I--I mean--I was--that is--so, what did you guys want
to do today?"
---
With an hour by colony transport to Kennedy and another hour by hovercraft
to FRC Headquarters in the city, Jake had more than enough time to put on
his best face.  But the two armed guards standing post at the front of the
infirmary were not standard procedure, and nearly broke his concentration.

"Hey, what's shaking, guys?" he said as he scanned his card for entry,
"Don't shoot anyone, that's an order."

Inside the infirmary was a room for special patients, and connecting into it
was an observation room with a window for staff to look on.  Jake joined his
fellow Reality Jumpers there.

"You know, the hologrids have better picture shows, I hear," Jake said,
getting his first look at the patient, who lay motionless in bed with all
sorts of machines about her. "What's with the guards?"

They all shrugged. "Only the doctors and Hacker One on up know, and they're
supposed to tell you, and you're supposed to tell us," Jackie replied.

Said Chris, pointing at the patient, "Our floater from this morning.  Spent
over two hours in the blast area before the Norfolk picked her up.  Sent her
straight here, but her quantum signature is coming up negative."

"What do you mean, it's garbled?"

"I don't know, but I have it analyzed, and the Alternate Earth is not
showing up according to our computers.  We don't know where she's from."

"Wormhole analysis?"

"Standard, homemade gateway.  But believe me, it takes a lot more than a dip
in the blast area to scramble your quantum signature."

"Alright.  I'm gonna talk with Hacker and the doctors.  I'll brief you guys
at 1500 hours."

The Jumpers agreed silently, and walked out at once, but not before they
placed their bets.

"Fifteen credits, she's a princess."

"I say she's a spy."

"No way, she's from outer space."

"You always go for that, Kim, and you're always wrong!"
---
The door swung open slowly, and Jake tiptoed into the room.  It was
obviously felt that guards at the front and inside the infirmary, and
cameras monitoring the patient were sufficient security for...whatever they
felt was the threat.  As a result, no one but the patient occupied the
private room.  The medical monitors surrounding the bed were not on, Jake
noticed, and the unnamed woman slept unassisted, without any wires or drips
plugged onto her body.  Only makeshift dressings and a thin blanket kept her
warm.  He inched up to her, so as not to disturb her sleep, and looked over
her.

Jake brushed aside her hair, which obstructed her face.  After her ordeal in
the ocean, seemingly exhausted and near death, she had this peaceful look on
her face, not of contentment but of relief.  Some lucky guy back home was
missing her for sure, he thought to himself.

Now, thinking of Lisa, Jake was envious of a guy he never met.

"Who are you?" he asked, "And why did you bring me down here?"

A hand clutched his arm suddenly.  Startled, Jake tried to shake it off, but
it only brought the patient closer to full consciousness.

"Ack!" he cried, "Don't hurt me!  Don't hurt me!"

The woman, wide-eyed and delirious, shouted, "Kei?  Kei!"

"Oh my God, woman, get off of me!"

His pleas only tightened her grip, as she, not aware of anything real at the
moment, believed him to be someone else. "I'm right here, Kei," she said in
her state of confusion, "Hold on to me, no matter where we end up!"

The guards rushed in behind the doctor. "Do something already!" Jake said in
a panic.

But before the doctor could administer anything, the woman had exhausted
herself, and sent herself back into a deep sleep.  When her grip loosened,
Jake pulled away and caught his breath.

"Are you alright, sir?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Jake said in an accusatory tone, "If she's going to be
like this, why isn't she on a sedative or anything?"

"It was a precaution," Hacker One said, stepping in as the guards stepped
out, "We didn't want any adverse effects."

"What are you talking about?"

"Doctor?"

Said the doctor, "Agent Tyler, you should at least have a guard escort you
if you're going to come in like this, I thought that was made clear."

"I don't understand, what's with the patient?"

"I'm sorry, sir, I thought you were briefed.  The woman, you see, is not
human, she's an alien."
---
"The doctor ran some initial scans on our floater," Jake explained,
"Apparently there are some attributes of human physiology, but for the most
part the patient is not native to Earth."

"Well, that explains her quantum signature," Chris said.

"What do you mean?"

"All living beings have a common signature that identifies them with their
alternate reality, but our computers only use the part that identifies all
creatures that are born in this solar system.  If the patient is from
outside our system, the section of her quantum signature that we focus on is
going to be unreadable.  Couldn't form a stable wormhole with the data if we
tried."

"You see?" Kim said, "Told you she was from outer space."

One by one, the Reality Jumpers groaned and threw their money onto the table
for Kim to collect.

"Are you done, lieutenant?" asked Jake.

"No, sir, looks like I'm going shopping this weekend!"

"Chris," Jackie asked, "Could we scan the patient's entire quantum
signature, would that help?"

"Not a chance!" Chris exclaimed, "Look, it's like genetic code, we could
plug her up to the fastest computer we've got, it'll probably take years
just to read it into memory.  That's why we read only the key sequences.
We've never been in this situation before."

Mike scoffed, "I'll say."

"Alright," Jake said, "Looks like the first thing we need is for her to wake
up, tell us who she is and her world looks like.  Get a working image of her
Alternate Earth fed into the computer.  Scan the continuum for any
accidental wormholes.  If her body's not going to tell us where she's from,
then we have to solve this through some old-fashioned detective work."

"So," Kim chuckled, "Any bets on how long this will take?"

"Kim!"

"Sorry, boss."

"We'll start in the morning.  By tomorrow afternoon, I want at least half of
the continuum discounted.  Dismissed."

In unison, they all stood up and headed towards the doorway out of the war
room.

"Mike," Jake said.

"Yeah?"

"Take you to dinner?"

Mike nodded, "Sure.  What's up?"
---
Kei was getting desperate.  He didn't get back from hanging out with his
friends until nightfall.  It was difficult to break with his fellow
classmates without doing anything suspicious, and in all that time he hoped
that something might've happened for the better if he just left things well
alone.

Once he got home, it was easy to see that nothing had happened.  The
apartment was just as he had left it, quiet and unoccupied.

He spent the next half hour tearing the place apart for any trace of Mizuho.
He spent the next half hour searching the forest.  Another hour after that
just searching all the public places.  No doubt others have started their
own search, but as the sole keeper of her secret, Kei felt the most
responsible for her well-being.  If anyone was going to find her, it would
have to be him.

But time slipped by rather quickly, and Kei wore himself weary just
searching aimlessly.  What bothered him was that there wasn't even an
explanation.  Was she recalled?  Is she coming back?  Did any harm come to
her that he could not perceive?  Or was this sudden, complete rejection by
Mizuho?  Certainly Kei wasn't perfect, and it was killing him to think that
his unworthiness drew her away from him.

Kei returned home with all of the questions and all of the second guesses.
He had to do something, but he was too tired to go on.  His last, most
conscious moment that night was when he tidied up the apartment that he had
trashed while looking for Mizuho.  There, on the floor, lay the one bit of
proof that led him to believe that she did not leave of her own free will.
Kei held on tightly to the snack box that accompanied Mizuho always,
wherever she went.  It brought on feelings of hope, but also that of great
sadness, so great that when Kei stagnated, collapsing onto the floor, he
hardly resisted sinking into unconsciousness.
---
"Give me everything on the menu," Jake said, "Plus some pie.  Please."

The waitress looked at him curiously, not even writing down what he had
ordered.

"He didn't mean that," Mike said.

"Yes, I do."

"Two burgers with fries, alright?  No lettuce for me."

"Well, give me everything on mine."

Mike looked at Jake from underneath his lowered head. "Jake, you alright?"

Jake lifted his head, "Mike, I have to act professionally on duty, the only
thing that's going to keep me sane is large amounts of food.  I'm only happy
when I'm eating."

"Jake--"

"I mean, I think I'm too healthy.  I think I can afford to gain twenty,
thirty pounds.  So I'm going to eat."

Mike sighed, "What happened with Lisa today?"

"Oh, Lord," he said as his forehead stuck onto the table.  He handed Mike a
piece of paper. "She copied the letter she received for me.  ESA wants to
promote her."

"Why, that's great!"

"They want to send her to MarsCol, put her on the administrative staff."

"Oh."

Jake rested his head on his hands, chewing on the straw in front of him.
"That's bad enough, trying to maintain a relationship like that.  But, well,
we got into an argument."

"Boss, you two get into arguments about the sex you're having."

"Yeah, I know," Jake said, laughing briefly until his face fell again.
"Anyways, I think she got the idea that I don't think her career is
important enough for our relationship."

Mike's jaw dropped.  He looked at Jake incredulously. "How did she take it?"

"What, you don't see the mark on my face?" Jake said, pointing to a patch of
redness on his cheek.

"Man, you are in the doghouse, my friend."

"Don't I know it.  But you know what really bothers me?"

"What's that?"

"Lisa...I think she's really set on going to Mars."

"Jake," Mike consoled, "I'm really sorry.  Wish there was something I could
say, but--"

"I don't know what to do, Mike," Jake said with labored breathing, "This was
something I could've prevented, but I was careless, and--Mike, can you get
me some water?"

"Yeah.  Ma'am, water, please?  Don't worry about it, Jake, I'll talk to Lisa
for you and--Jake?  Jake!"

All the patrons turned around to see.  Jake clutched his chest and trembled.
His eyes rolled upwards before he fell out of the restaurant booth.  On the
floor, he stopped shaking.  He stopped everything.  Mike rushed to his side,
and it was easy to see that he wasn't in good shape.

"Get on the vid," he cried out, "Someone get a doctor.  Doctor!"

TO BE CONTINUED...
---
Notes: I'm not really back, but my campaign manager's on vacation in Texas
for the week, so I spent the weekend cleaning up a piece that I wrote
sometime back, hopefully make it look decent for the viewing public.  I
thought it was lost in a disk crash, but thankfully I was able to recover
it.  Gave me something to do, there's nothing else I enjoy more than
writing.  Otherwise, politics would've driven me insane. :)

I don't know when I'll pick up on this storyline, I still have Only Human to
wrap up, and real life always comes first, but I wanted to see what reaction
this story'll get, so please, C&C when you can.  Most appreciated.

Miss you much, love you lots!

Roehl Sybing - (917) 741-5355
infiniteDeferral - http://www.infinitedeferral.com/

"And I miss you, like the deserts miss the rain" - Everything But The Girl


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