A story about Trowa and Ralph Kurt (probably OOC, oh well.)
Trowa looked down on Heero's sleeping face. He really looks a lot like Ralph. It's really astonishing.
"Trowa, how is he?"
He turned to see Catherine at the door. "He will live. He's too strong to die."
"Do you want me to watch over him? You've been working on him for hours."
"I'll be fine. It's nothing to worry about."
"Tell me the moment you need something. It won't do if you get sick, too."
Trowa nodded.
Catherine turned to the door, looked back, then walked out knowing that saying anything was useless.
Trowa sat down next to the bed and fell asleep and dreamed of a time 3 years ago.
The mercenary had both his wrists in grip that was guaranteed to cause bruising. This man, Nanashi thought, is out to do more than give me a beating. He was considering whether to attack now or wait until the mercenary was in a more vulnerable position when he heard someone say, "In a hurry to see hell?"
He and his attacker turned their attention to the 17 year old teenager was pointing a gun at his attacker's head.
"Be patient. You can have him after me."
"There's none of that kind crap in this unit. He's a member of our group. Do you have a problem with that?" the teenager said with a calm, cool air that was much more mature than his years would suggest. "He's my partner. I can't have him stuck at the clinic because you give him the clap. Too damn inconvenient."
The thug, seeing that the gun didn't waver from his head, released Nanashi and said, "Next time you play hero, piss someone else off, Ralph." The man then shuffled off.
Ralph turned to the young boy standing before him, who was looking at him carefully behind his long bangs. "Your name?"
"I have none. I am called Nanashi. I'm here to join this troop."
"How old are you?"
"12."
"Aren't you a bit young to be a mercenary?"
"It's what I know."
"Are you hurt?"
"Not much."
"My name is Ralph."
"Yes, the other man said so."
"Want some coffee?"
He hesitated.
Ralph sighed. "I'm not going to attack you. If I was that type of person, I would've joined in."
Nanashi thought about this. "That's true."
They started walking through the encampment to his tent. Ralph put on a kettle of water to boil on his hotplate. "Like coffee?"
Nanashi nodded. He was surprised when Ralph took out a battery operated coffee grinder, put some beans into the grinder, then turned it on. "Don't you have instant?"
Ralph made a face. "Hate that stuff. Once you taste a real cup of coffee, you can't go back. It's one of the extras I allow myself. If we eat without regard to taste, then we're nothing but animals."
"Then I guess I'm an animal," Nanashi stated flatly.
Ralph frowned. "Do you like your coffee black?"
Nanashi nodded. He watched as Ralph put the filter-lined funnel over the thermos and pour the hot water over it. "Sorry to put you through so much trouble."
"Don't worry about it," Ralph said. He opened his pack and handed Trowa a roast beef sandwich.
"I don't' have anything to offer in payment," said Nanashi.
"You can pay me back after the next mission."
"I see." He ate the sandwich and began taking sips of the coffee. He's right, this is really good coffee, he thought. He savored the bitterness and the complexity of the brew.
Then he saw Ralph take his mp3 player and press a switch. Some music played.
"Uchuu no umi wa Ore no umi
Ore no Hateshinai Akogare sa
Chikyuu no uta wa Ore no uta
Ore no Sutekirenu Furusato sa"
Nanashi frowned, "Never heard that song."
"It's from Captain Harlock anime series. It's about a loner who fights on with his crew across the sea of stars, standing by his ideals no matter what. That is what being a great man is about. He fights for what is right despite being despised by an Earth that will brand him a criminal and never understand. The song begins with the guy saying, 'the sea of space is my sea.' Later in the song, he says, 'The darkness of space is my darkness.'"
Then seeing the puzzled expression on Nanashi's face, Ralph said, "I guess it's too much of a romantic concept for you, fighting for an ideal. You probably don't think that kind of thing happens in real life. Maybe you think it's just enough to survive, to live. But I refuse to believe that."
"What is your dream?"
Ralph opened his mouth about to say something, then thought for a second. "I would wish that the world was a place where you wouldn't be so casual about saying that you're just an animal."
A grunt awoke Trowa. He saw Heero was momentarily awake. Those eyes are so much like his, but so much unlike his, Trowa thought. "Why did you save me?" said Heero.
"You remind me of someone I used to know," said Trowa.
The End
(:./mk/ralph)
