Lady/ A pale, untouchable, twilight By: Eternal_Ukyou Notes and disclaimers: Not mine, you know that already. The song is by STYX. Alright now, what I was going to say is you're probably all going 'WHAT! A JIM x SAZUKA ROMANCE?!?!' well I had to try. It just popped into my head one day while watch the evil cartoon network version of Outlaw Star (they cut all of Fred's good lines :( )and went 'damn, Jim and Sazuka go damn good together' and so here it is. This should take place right after Girls, cats' and spaceships (I think that the title) Also, every one came out very OOC so don't shoot me! "Alright, hold the Shanai like this." Sazuka positioned the bamboo keiko stick in Jim's hand. "Now when you swing it, make it hit the target, and your foot hit the ground at the same moment. Try it," "Alright Sazuka." Jim smiled, and with a rather clumsy swing Jim smacked the piece of wood they where using for a target with a loud yell. "MEN!" "That was good Jim, but try keeping your head up, and don't..." She explained to him, tweaking his form here and there, determined to get him to do it right. Jim would nod and do his best follow Sazuka's instruction with a broad grin on his face. "Geeze, what are they doing out there?" Aisha licked her paw and looked at Gene. "Jim asked Sazuka to teach him how to use a sword so she teaching him. Is that so hard to comprehend?" He barked at her, his tone heavy with annoyance. "What happened to that girl from the space station that he had a crush on, the girl with the cats?" She turned and perched on the stair. "She turned out to be a no show, she stood him up." "That pretty cold." "Ya your telling me, he's so broken up about it, he talked to me about it. I mean, how often dose that happen?" "And teased him about it didn't you Gene?" She eyed him evil, trying to decide which angel would be best to pounce him from. "Actually, we where very adult about it. Now Aisha, I've got to finish these system scans, go play with a ball of yarn or something..." Jim did his best to stand straight, but his body screamed to sit down. He was egsasted, sweat was dripping into his eyes, his arms ached, but he kept going. "Your getting sloppy again Jim, do it again, but faster this time. Stop resting in between hits." "Alright," he swallowed hard, trying to wet his dry throat. And he began. Doing his very best to do exactly what Sazuka had told him, but he could feel himself slipping. "Jim, your losing it." Sazuka yelled out at him. Jim finished the third strike and hit his knees, panting, sweat running into his eyes. "I can't Sazuka..." he panted putting his hands on the ground. "I can't do anymore right now..." He thought she would simply agree and let him but, but then he felt her cold hand on his face. "Come Jim, Just finish his one and was can finish." She put her hand under his arms and pulled him to his feet. "See there." she smiled at him, he was glad his face was already a perfuse shade of red, so the blush the filled his cheeks remind unnoticed. "Ready, go!" Jim littlerly collapsed onto his bed. His hair was dripping and he was finally glad to be clean. Not that he hadn't enjoy Sazuka's prolonged lesson it was just extremely tiring. He wasn't used to such strenuous activity and wanted nothing more than to curl up and sleep for three days. But every time he closed his eyes, he saw her. ________, smiling, laughing, blushing cutely, her cats circling her ankles. Had it been fate that had caused them to meet? He didn't want to think about it. Jim couldn't sleep, it was long past the midnight hour and he still had been unable to drift off. He just keep thinking about her. The more he did the more he made himself depressed in a way he had never really been before. SO he rolled out of his bunk and walked sleepily to the cockpit. (luckily for him Gilium was running a back up on him self and was not conscious.) He sat down in Gene's chair and flipped on the screens so he was surround by a black abyss of endless stars. He had spent his life among these stars. Battling across them, racing through them. Always with Gene close at hand. When Gene would pilot, He had always been there to co-pilot, to back him up at every turn. Or when Gene would puke, Jim was there to hold his hair out of his face. They where a team, if so, if these stars symbolized their partnership and even friendship, why did he feel so alone in them? So lost? He shook his head, his heart growing heavy in his chest, and sighed. "Your up late Jim." a voice cut through the glowing darkness, Jim turned around as fast as he could only to see Sazuka standing there, a cup of tea in each hand. "Oh, it's you Sazuka." He smiled at her wearily. "yea..." he sat back down in Gene's chair. "Can't sleep for some reason..." He closed his eyes, hopelessly. "Have some tea." She held out to the cup to him, he opened his eyes and took the steaming cup. "Thank you." "Gene told me you like it weak so I made it that way." she sat down in her own chair and smiled at him. "I guess he knows me better then I give him credit for." "You two have been through a lot together from what I've heard." "Yea, we've been partners for as long as I care to remember. It's really not that bad just something... he's hard to talk to..." She put her hand on Jim's shoulder. "Why is it hard to talk to him?" "He's rude and always teases me about things, I wish he'd be serious, he's about the only person I trust but he's so casual about everything, and messy, and forgetful and self centered I don't talk to him. He'd just make fun of me anyway." Jim looked up at Sazuka and took a drink of the tea. "SO, what -is- the problem Jim?" "She stood me up..." he sighed heavily. "She was like the first girlfriend I've ever had... and it was just Like Gene told me she was going to stand me up and I wanted more than anything to prove him wrong...but... he was right..." Jim shrugged ad leaned back. "Life is not fair..." "You right there Jim. Life isn't fair..." Sazuka patted Jim's hand and a smile creeped across his lips. "What is it Jim? why are you smiling?" "Thank you Sazuka!" and rather occ-ly he hugged Sazuka. "I ah..." she stuttered as Jim raced back to bed. "There is something very odd about that boy... much to grown up for his age." Jim climbed up and threw himself light heartily at his mattress. After bouncing a bit so he could lay on his back and pulled the light covers up and sighed. She had done it, how he wasn't quite sure, but she had. It usually took him days, if not weeks to pull through his silent depression, but she had fixed it in a matter of minutes. "ah..." he sighed and turned over to go to sleep, when something in his chest started hurting. "What is this...?" It wasn't an unpleasant pain, no it as hardly a pain. More like an odd burning sensation but Jim found it some what pleasant, and so with his hand to his chest he closed his young eyes and fell to sleep. Her face filling his dreams. Jim yawned and rubbed his eyes, looking toward the rising sun that was cresting over the far away planet. It really was beautiful to see a sunrise from space. So he though he might enjoy it before the bridge was flooded with sleep weary travelers. Again he sat in Gene's chair. Maybe it was the hope that me might get to sit there some day, but he pulled his knees to his chest and smiled at the ball of fire lit up the endless abyss of space with a soft eerie glow he found strangely conforming. He had been finding a lot of things about space comforting lately. Maybe he had finally got used to it, learned to love it, or maybe it was something in space he was falling for. "That's it!" He slammed his fist into his open hand in astonishment. "I figured it out now..." "figured out what Jim?" It was Gene, coming on to the bridge with a large yawn. "Nothing that concerns you space men, Gene." He sneered, in the same friendly manner he always did. "No, come on Jim. What is it... and why are you in my chair?" "Why should I tell you, you'll just tease me any ways." Jim crossed his arms. "Ah, come on Jim. I'm sorry about that. I really want to help this time! I promise I won't pick on you!" "Swear?" "I swear, now come on already." Gene, not wanting to carry on the battle for his chair sat down in Aisha's spot, straddling the back of the chair. "Well you remember that girl I liked?" "Oh yea.. the cat girl..." Gene did everything in his power to sappers the want to tease Jim. "Well... I got all broke up about her standing me up and then I saw something I didn't see before.. in some one I never expected to see something in... Gene..." Jim looked at him, "Your not going to say you love me.. are you?" "NO!" Jim shook his head. "I don't swing that way... often anyway. But I need to know, exactly how to know if your in love?" Gene nearly fell out of his chair, but he could see the Jim was very serious. "Why, you got a thing for Melfina?" he leaned over the chair and gave Jim a rather nasty look. "No, no. I wouldn't dare touch Melfina, her poor excuse for a boy friend might try and beat me up." Jim smiled back deviously, knowing if they went to a verbal battel he would win. "Oh yea-?" "Gene, I don't wish to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person. Please get back to the point... I need to know!" "I... oh.. um, yea." He stopped for a minute trying to decide if he should be offended or not. "Really Jim, I hate to say it, but your asking the wrong person." "But your always out with girls!" "Exactly my point, if I knew anything at all about 'love' I wouldn't be out with so many girls." He leaned back and put his hands behind his head. "I guess you'll just have to figure it out on your own." "Hey, Mel..." Jim approached her in the kitchen unit, with a shy smiled. "Good mourning Jim, what do you need?" She smiled, staring some sweet smelling concoction in the frying pan. "Oh, theoretically..." He perched him self on a counter. "Let's say there this guy, and he has a crush on you, and he doesn't know how to tell you..." Jim began to play with a nut that was in his pocket. "Alright." she nodded. "And you want him to tell you how much he loves you... what would you want him to say to you?" He looked up at her hopefully. "Well that's a silly question." She giggled. "I would want him to tell me exactly how he felt, and not be afraid of what I might say. Being shy is a total turn off." "Alright!" Jim jumped to his feet. "Thank Mel! That's exactly what I needed!" And he sped out of the Kitchen unit back to his sleeping chamber where he leapt onto his bed and pulled out a pad of paper and I pen from under his pillow. "She wants me to say exactly what I feel... huh...?" "Sazuka..." Jim looked up at her soft features, as she sipped at a cup of tea. "Yes Jim?" "Can I talk to you?" He did his best to hide his shyness, (make the shyness shy! heheh) "Sure Jim." she crossed her milky legs and looked down at him with her soft eyes. "S-s-s-s-Sazuka... I wanted to tell you that... that... I think that I've... I think that...-" "HEY!" Aisha came barreling in the door and nearly knocked Jim to his knees. "Wha's going on in here? Huh? Huh? Huh? Why so quite!" She looked at them, from Sazuka's serene features, to Jim bright red cheeks. "Are you alright Jim? Do you have a cold or something? Maybe you should go lie down." Aisha crawled over to him and put her hand on his forehead. "I'm fine Aisha! Geez! Will you just go away!" He swatted at her hand and turned around violently and stormed out. "What's up with him?" She hissed. "Beats me." "Damn!" Jim slammed his hand into the wall. "Stupid Ketaroketaro girl... I almost had it.." "Here, like This Jim." She repositioned His Shanai again. "Try it now." Jim sighed, egsated yet again, and laid down on the cool metal floor. It had been bugging him for the past two day. He had to tell her, just say it and get it over with but.. what about the cat girl... what if she came back? If it really was fate could they not meet again? (they would have, cept for the fact she's... um.. dead!) He missed her.. she was so pretty... but... no, he shook his head, and used his arm as a pillow. It wasn't the time for that... not anymore. "What wrong Jim?" Sazuka stood over him, as he lay quietly on the floor. "I-I'm just tried that all..." He realized then he was crying and quickly wiped the moisture from his cheeks. "And it's cool down here..." He covered his face again. -poor Jim- Sazuka sighed silently. Jim heard the strange *click* noise as Sazuka set her bokken down on the floor and then she laid down next to him, questionably close, and pulled a blanket over the both of them. "Sa-sazuka?" "It's alright Jim..." she whispered in his ear. Sazuka wrapped her arms around him and held his small body aginst her warm figure. Neither one of them said anything for a long time. Jim was to busy wondering if this could really be true. That those where really her hands on his face, whipping away the tears that ran from his eyes, really her arms around him, really her chest so close to his face. "Sazuka..." He finally spoke up, rubbing his face with the back of this hand. "I want to tell you ... what I ment to tell you earlier..." he swallowed hard. "Alright Jim..." "I... I think I love you Sazuka..." He immodestly looked away from her face. But then he felt her hand on his face, Turning him back to face her. Her eyes where soft, and full of a gentle sort of love he remember in a weird sort of way. Like something from a along, long time ago. "Just this once." She whispered softly. "Just this once what?" And for the first time in as Long as Sazuka could remember she locked lips with another boy. Softly, tenderly, she embraced with Jim... Just this once. Notes: alright you may kill me now. But can I ask one question first? Am a stupid or what? Where is Jim's mom? We all know his dad is some compu hacker but what about mom? She musta had really cool hair... wonder if Gene ever fucked her...?