We Can Survive

Summary: When a pilot from another ship that was destroyed is brought aboard the Nirvana, will his ideas of love change the crew's attitudes towards each other? M/F.

Six weeks have passed since the Nirvana led the attack that destroyed an earth person. In that time, an uneasy peace was made between Tarek and Mejia. The Nirvana was returning from a diplomatic mission when it happened.
The Nirvana crew first detected the escape pod shortly after breakfast. The distress call it emitted was in English.
"Life sign detected, captain. One human, appears to be hurt and unconscious." Ezra said.
"Bring it aboard, and take whoever's inside to the infirmary." The captain ordered.
"Aye-aye, captain." Ezra replied.
The escape pod was brought aboard. Duero, the doctor was there in the landing bay as the pod was opened.
"It's a male!" One of the workers that opened the pod exclaimed.
"He's lost a lot of blood, but I think I can save him." Duero said. "Get him to the infirmary stat."
At the infirmary, Duero set up a blood transfusion and worked on providing stitches for the wounds. It took him over an hour, but he was able to save the stranger's life. Duero reported to the captain once he had finished.
"He'll make it, captain. It was difficult, but he should pull through." Duero said.
"Good. Keep me informed of any changes." The captain replied.
"Did you see that guy that they pulled out of the life pod?" Ditta asked Meia.
"What about him?" Meia replied.
"What do you think of him?" Ditta asked.
"A guy is a guy is a guy." Meia responded. She didn't want to talk about him.
"I wonder what he's like." Ditta wondered aloud.
"We'll find out soon enough." Meia replied.
Two hours later, their guest woke up.
"Is this heaven...?" He asked very weakly.
"We almost lost you. I am Dr. Duero, and you are...?" Duero asked.
"I am Mito Furenteria." The man replied. "Most people call me Mito."
"Well Mito, you should rest. We found you near death." The doctor said.
"I am hungry. I don't suppose you could spare something to eat?" Mito asked.
"I'll see what I can do." Duero replied.
He then informed the captain via the intercom that Mito was awake.
The captain and DK entered the room. Mito greeted them.
"We have some questions for you, young man." The captain said. "Where are you from?"
"I am from the planet Chozo." Mito replied. "I was a pilot of a fighter when the harvesters ambushed us. We scrambled but they destroyed the hangar bay before I got to it. I was lucky to reach an escape pod in time."
"Hmm..." The captain said.
"We could use someone else to pilot one of the vans." DK noted.
"We might let you stay here... but for a price." The captain said.
"Well, if it's piloting one of these Van things, I'll do it." Mito said. "Just show me how."
"You catch on quickly. I like that." The captain said.
After Mito was fed, he rested while his injuries healed. Some of the female crewmembers visited him to see just what he was like.
"So this is the new guy that's going to pilot the van?" Juka asked.
"Yea, please call me Mito." Mito said.
"Just get one thing straight. Out there, I give the orders. Got that?" Meia snapped.
"Loud and clear, ma'am." Mito said.
"Good." Meia replied.
"Tell us about where you're from." Ditta said.
"I'm from the planet Chozo. We work to perfect our minds and bodies there." Mito said. "So what planet are you from?"
"Majera. The doc here is from Tarek." Meia replied.
The conversation continued for a while, and then the doctor asked the others to leave.
"Mito needs to rest. There will be plenty of time to talk to him later." Duero said. The girls left the room.
"Man, you are one lucky doctor." Mito commented.
"How so?" Duero asked.
"One guy in a ship with a bunch of hot babes... man, this is going to be great." Mito said.
"They may be 'hot babes' to you, but they are also misandrious." Duero replied.
"Mis-what?" Mito asked.
"They have an innate distrust of men." Duero replied.
"Damn. Lots of hot babes and none of them want a guy." Mito said. "That's my life in a nutshell."
"Look on the bright side. When I first got here, they had me in a prison cell. Some of them died, some that I could have saved." Duero said.
It took Mito about a week and a half to heal up enough to go into active duty. During that time, he talked to the crew and got to know them better. Hibeki trained Mito on how to fly a vanguard. Mito was able to fly one out shortly thereafter.
On the second day Mito was well enough to fly, a harvester mother ship ambushed the Nirvana. Everyone scrambled and went out to the ships. Hibeki and Mito rushed into the fray in their vans.
"All right, now that we got another man here, we're gonna kick some butt!" Hibeki said.
"We were kicking butt long before you guys arrived." Meia said.
"Let's concentrate on the mission at hand, o.k.?" Mito said.
The fight was intense. The harvesters fired a volley of lasers and missiles. Many of them missed due to the vans and the dreads getting out of the way. The vans and dreads returned fire in the melee, having a similar accuracy problem. While occasionally there was a hit or two, neither side seemed to be getting an advantage.
"These things are too damn fast!" Hibeki said.
"We need some kind of strategy against them. Anyone got any ideas?" Mito asked.
"These harvesters are tougher than ever!" Jura commented. As she finished, a laser shot struck her wing.
"Damnit!" She shouted as her wing flamed up.
"Return to the Nirvana, Jura." Meia said.
"Hey Mr. Alien! We should combine." Ditta suggested.
"It couldn't hurt." Meia suggested.
Hibeki and Ditta then combined their ships to form the vandread. After it was formed, it proved fast enough to strike the harvester ships. However, the progress was very slow.
"Meia, can we combine our ships like that?" Mito asked.
"Permission granted. It should expedite things." Meia said.
They then combined to form another vandread. This was the first time Meia had combined with Mito. The cockpit configuration was not unlike that of Ditta/Hibiki's vandread. Mito sweatdropped when he saw Meia between his legs.
"Oh my... I never thought this would happen." Mito said.
"Pay attention to the mission." Meia snapped.
"Yes ma'am." Mito replied. The two vandreads destroyed a number of the harvesters. Wherever possible, they threw them into the mother ship. The mother ship was beaten badly by the time that the last ship slammed into its front.
"Yea! Let's off this crate and go home!" Hibiki shouted. The vandreads slammed their swords into the mother ship, and it emitted huge sparks. They pulled back as the mother ship had a series of small explosions on it. The vandreads headed to the Nirvana as the mother ship exploded.
Later on the Nirvana, The crew was celebrating this victory. They were in the dining area having a meal.
"Meia, I want to talk to you for a bit." Mito said.
"What do you want?" Meia asked.
"Well, earlier in the Vandread, when we were close to each other... I felt something. It was a kind of love for you." Mito said.
"You actually like a girl?" Hibiki asked, his disbelief coming through loud and clear.
"Where I come from, it's perfectly normal for men and women to love each other to kiss." Mito said.
"What is kissing?" Ditta said.
"Well, basically a man and a woman put their arms around each other and touch lips." Mito said.
"Bleah! Sounds unhygienic." Pai said, moving her puppet's mouth at the same time.
"Have you tried it before?" Mito asked.
"Well... no..." Pai replied.
"Don't knock it until you try it." Mito replied.
"So can any man do this with any woman?" Ditta asked.
"Of course." Mito replied. Hibiki was nowhere prepared for what happened next. Ditta put her arms around him.
"Hey Mr. Alien, why don't we try kissing?" Ditta said.
"WHAT!? YOU AND ME!? HERE AND NOW!? NO WAY!!" Hibiki shouted as he pushed himself away from Ditta.
"You know, most guys on my planet would eagerly want to kiss a beautiful woman like her." Mito noted.
"Really? They can have her!" Hibeki said. Ditta looked hurt.
"Come on, one little kiss won't hurt you." Mito said.
"There's no way I'm kissing a girl!" Hibiki said as he stomped out the door.
Ditta looked very hurt as Mito approached her.
"He doesn't seem ready for that yet." Mito said. "Just leave him be."
"Well, don't expect me to be the one to kiss you." Meia said.
"I don't - at least not yet. It takes time to develop a good relationship." Mito said. "I am patient, but I won't wait forever." Meia stormed out of the room.
"You mean that you love Meia?" Jura asked.
"I'd call it more of seeing a potential relationship. She's got a lot of man-hate indoctrination to overcome." Mito said.
"So is this kissing thing good?" Ditta asked.
"If you do it right, yea, it can be very good." Mito said.
"Hmm... this could prove entertaining." Jura thought. "Maybe I should be the one to kiss Hibiki first." Mito noticed Jura and went over to her.
"I've seen that look before. Whatever you're planning, not only will it not work, but it will also damage your standing with this place." Mito told her.
"What? What makes you think I'm plotting something?" Jura asked.
"I see it in your aura. You should stop now while you can. You aren't the soulmate." Mito said sternly.
"What's a soulmate?" Jura asked.
"Two people are specifically born to love each other. That's Ditta and Hibiki. She realizes this, but he doesn't yet." Mito said.
The next morning, they were back at base and in the dining area. Mito was having breakfast with some of the Nirvana's crew.
"My guess is that people of your respective planets were reared for their genitalia." Mito said.
"Oh yea, well, they can have my cock when they pry it from my cold, dead hands!" Hibiki said.
The other guys couldn't help but giggle. The women, however, looked confused.
"What's a cock?" Ditta asked.
"Hey, what are you laughing about?" Hibiki asked with anger his voice.
"Well, calm down now. Nobody's trying to remove your cock here." Mito said.
"What are you talking about?" Meia said.
"Well, a cock is the male reproductive organ. It's between the legs, like the pussy is on a woman." Mito said.
"Pussy? What's That?" Hibiki asked.
"Do you mean the vagina?" Pai asked.
"Well, that's another word for it. The cock was created to go inside the pussy." Mito said.
"You've got to be kidding me." Everyone else said at once.
"No, I'm not. That's the way humans evolved." Mito replied.
"Now I know you're crazy." Meia said. Such a thing sounded utterly insane to her.
"Well, I see this is getting me nowhere. Obviously the men and women here have been apart for so long that you've forgotten how to love each other." Mito said.
Later on, the order was given to scramble. The vans and dreads went out to find a group of harvester scouts heading to the Nirvana. The initial wave was easily destroyed; however, a second wave was a bit tougher. Meia's ship was crippled when one of the lasers hit the engine. Hibiki combined with Ditta and Mito combined with Jura.
The configuration of the new ship was different from the others. It looked like a giant sea urchin. It glowed, began spinning around and then charged headlong into the enemy. It made short work of the ships. Inside the new Vandread, however, things weren't so good. Mito and Jura spun around so much they had spirals for eyes.
"Would someone... tell me... which way is... up?" Mito asked.
"Ah... we are NEVER combining again." Jura said. The cockpit configuration was also different; they were in separate cockpits next to each other. Jura then regained her senses long enough to see what the Vandread looked like.
"We're... a giant sea urchin!?" She asked in disbelief. The ship then tumbled again and they separated.
"Ugh... tow me in... someone..." Mito said.
"We're on it. As soon as we drop off Meia's ship, we'll tow you in." Gascone replied.
"Thank... you." Mito said seconds before passing out.
Afterwards, Meia and Mito were lying in separate beds in the infirmary. Mito still had spirals for eyes. Meia had some minor burns on her shoulder and arm.
"Will he be o.k., doc?" Meia asked Duero.
"He's stunned. All that spinning around at high speed has disoriented him. His balance is off. He's recovered some, but he's still complaining of a headache." Duero replied.
"O.k." Meia said.
"Well, are you concerned about me, Meia?" Mito asked.
"I am concerned about you as I would be any other pilot. You haven't been with us long, but until this recent incident, you were doing o.k. out there." Meia said.
"Coming from you, I consider that praise." Mito replied.
"Take it as you wish. You're still getting nowhere with me." Meia said.
"As you wish... for now." Mito said.
Well, a little later Ditta and Hibiki were walking down a corridor together.
"Just what's so important that I have to see this now?" Hibiki asked.
"Just come with me." Ditta said. She took him into a room with a single bed and a dresser. The room was pink in color. The sheets in the bed were very frilly and had lace on the pillows.
"What kind of place is this?" Hibiki asked.
"It's my room. I figured that you'd have to be led here." Ditta replied.
"O.k., I'm outta here!" Hibiki said. Ditta tried to stop him, and grabbed his arm.
"Oh no you don't! You promised that you would come into my room and I'm keeping you to that promise!" Ditta replied.
"Hey - leggo!" Hibiki said. The two of them struggled a bit, and then crashed on the floor. When they did, Hibiki landed beneath Ditta, and their lips contacted.
Neither one of them knew what to expect. When they kissed, they found out what it meant to be in love. Both of them felt an avalanche of pleasure crash down on top of them. They kissed for a long time, and then parted lips.
"Ditta.... I'm sorry I've treated you so bad..." Hibiki said.
"Just kiss me again..." Ditta said as she went in for another kiss. They kissed again, and again it felt wonderful.
"Well, I see you two actually did that kissing thing Mito talked about." A voice said. Standing in the doorway was BC. Ditta and Hibiki separated and stood up. Hibiki sweatdropped.
"Uh..." Hibiki stammered. "It's not what you think..."
"So how was it?" BC asked.
"Mmm... I really liked it." Ditta replied.
"I see." BC replied.
"Was there something you needed?" Hibiki asked.
"Not really - I was just passing by and I saw you two like that." BC said. She then left.
Hibiki and Ditta stared at each other for a bit.
"Well, where does that leave us?" Ditta asked.
"I need to think about this." Hibiki said. With that, he left the room.
Pai was talking to some of the other crew in the lounge.
"BC told me she saw Hibiki and Ditta kissing." Pai said. Most of them were surprised at this.
"She went and did that? Why?" One of them asked.
"Who knows? I just know they did it. Bleah!" Pai responded. "Now she's got his germs." The others really weren't sure what to make of this, until Mito strolled in.
"Hey, what's up?" He asked.
"Hibiki and Ditta were kissing." Pai said. "That sounds disgusting."
"Not when you're in love." Mito replied.
"She loves him? Why?" One of the crew asked.
"Why two people fall in love has baffled the most profound thinkers of all time." Mito said. "Some say it's a spiritual thing. Others have theorized that it's due to certain odors the body produces. One thing is for sure: Love can happen anyplace, anytime and to anyone."
"Well, I certainly don't want it happening to me. The thought of loving a guy is sick." Pai said.
"Love can strike between two women or two men." Mito said. "Not everyone is heterosexual."
"This just sounds wrong to me. Which is it: love between two men, two women, or a man and a woman?" Pai asked.
"All of them. Love cannot be explained. You just have to feel it." Mito said.
"I still say you're filled with shit." The voice was Meia's, as she entered the room.
"Really. Don't knock something until you've tried it." Mito said.
"I'm not about to try anything, let alone with you." Meia retorted.
"Is your heart so devoid of love that you cannot see what is in front of you?" Mito asked.
"My past is none of your damn business." Meia said with anger.
Mito stared deep into Meia's eyes.
"You've played the tough girl for so long that I think you've forgotten how to be a woman." Mito said. His hitting the nail on the head made Meia a bit angry, but she controlled her anger.
"The only relationship I want with you is an officer-subordinate one." Meia said coldly.
"That's your indoctrination talking. What does your heart say?" Mito asked.
"I do not love you." Meia said flatly.
"So who do you love? Hibiki? Duero? Barnett? BC?" Mito asked.
"I don't love anyone." Meia replied.
"Life is much better when filled with love." Mito said.
"You're full of shit." Meia said.
"I see no alternative in this then." Mito said. He then cradled Meia's face in his hands and kissed her.
Initially Meia was very stunned that he would do this. Her eyes went wide as their lips touched. She then closed her eyes and moaned softly. After a brief pause, she opened her eyes and pushed away from Mito.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!? Put him in the brig!" Meia ordered.
"Listen to what your heart is saying for once." Mito said as the guards dragged him away.
"How did you feel kissing him?" Jura asked.
"I got weak in the knees. I felt gentle warmth overcome me. It... scared me." Meia said. "It... also... exited me too." Meia then shook her head.
"I can't do this. I'm his superior." She said.
At the men's quarters, Hibiki was next to Mito, who was in a prison cell.
"Looks like you didn't do too well with Meia." Hibiki said.
"Well, I tried. When you don't get what you want, go for what might be available." Mito said.
"I don't think any of the available girls want to date. Most of those women are still afraid and hate men." Duero said.
"Still, it was good to kiss a babe like that. You know, there are rumors floating around that you and Ditta kissed, Hibiki." Mito said.
Hibiki sweatdropped, getting a look of terror on his face.
"What? Who told you that!?" Hibiki asked.
"So you're saying it's not true?" Mito asked.
"Of course it's not true!" Hibiki snapped back.
"So how was it?" Mito asked.
"Well..." Hibiki then shook his head.
"How the hell should I know!?" He said.
Mito smiled and said, "Being macho over it won't disguise the fact that you love her."
"I don't love her!" Hibiki shouted in anger.
"Ooh, denial. Even worse." Mito said.
"He's right, Hibiki. You love her, whether you realize it or not." Duero said.
"What? I do not love her!" Hibiki retorted.
"You've never experienced love before, have you? So how would you describe your relationship with her?" Mito asked. Silence answered him.
"Well?" Mito asked.
"We're... still deciding about that." Hibiki said.
"You mean you're still deciding." Mito said.
"O.k., I love her! Are you happy!?" Hibiki said with anger.
"I certainly am." a voice said. Ditta then entered and put her arms around Hibiki.
"You may act all macho but I know deep down inside you've got a tender side as well." Ditta said.
"Oh, damn you, Mito! She put you up to this, didn't she?" Hibiki asked.
"Nope. However, you just needed a little push to fall in love." Mito said.
"I'll get you for this." Hibiki said.
"The only thing keeping you from being happy is your ego. Just relax, Hibiki." Mito said.
"C'mon, let's go back to my room." Ditta suggested.

-To be Continued-