New beginings
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New
beginnings
A RahXephon: Pluraritas Concentio fanfiction by regie27
Story/technical
advisor and beta reader: Carrie Asagiri
Standard
disclaimers apply
Author’s
notes at the end of the chapter
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Prelude:
Unexpected news
The unmistakable scent of sanitizing detergent and
alcohol filled Haruka's nostrils. The short-haired
woman wrought her hands nervously at her lap. Anyone who was acquainted with
the Intelligence Officer would have agreed that was an unusual gesture for her.
The tensed jaw, the nervous eye movement and the aloof countenance spoke
outwardly of the thoughts that had invaded her mind during the past two weeks.
It all started when she noticed that she had been
"late." This event immediately rang alarms in her mind because her
body had always been as regular as a Swiss clock and the last time something
like this had occurred, it had been at the middle of the qualifying tests to earn
her pilot's wings. Even her with her cold blood and serene demeanor amidst the
stress that was the Academy, she had also begun to yield to the pressure and
her body had made it quite evident with this occurrence. It had been widely
known among the female personnel that stress could seriously screw up their
periods and it wasn't unusual to see cadets buying pregnancy tests at the base
commissary in order to dispel their fears while they wondered on the times they
had acted recklessly after a rendezvous. Most of the times it had yielded
negative results to their relief but Haruka had seen
more than one classmate pack their bags with an expulsion letter inside their
pockets. And there were the rare but highly entertaining instances a high
ranking officer, married of course, would end up
sweating his rank and ribbons at an inquiry board for fraternizing with a young
subordinate.
Back then, Haruka would
have flashed a knowing smile and forgotten about the incident attributing it as
the outcome of stress. However, this time around she wasn't so confident and
she wasn't going to rely on an over the counter test to dispel her doubts.
Coincidentally, her physicals were almost due and so this afternoon, TERRA
Special Duty Captain Shitow Haruka
sat at the rather cold and sterile environment of the installation's medical
quarters, dutifully and very nervously waiting for the results of her checkup.
Luckily for her, the doctor on duty was a good friend from her days back at
Officer's School. Major Carrie Stewart was an anomaly on the mostly Japanese
staff at TERRA, being a Briton through and through and even after years serving
in Japan she still spoke the language with a slight accent that made her stand
out and become practically unforgettable. However, she had made a name for
herself but not for being the cute gaijin
doctor with the funny accent but because she was a prodigy in the medical field
and this had enabled her to move up the ranks in record time. Even the
respected head of the scientist division, Dr. Kisaragi
Itsuki had spoke of the Lancashire
native in the most respectful of manners. Haruka
hadn't seen Carrie since Operation Overlord had been launched but she knew she
could still trust in her friend’s discretion.
Haruka instinctively stood when
the bespectacled doctor made her entrance holding a white dossier in her right
hand while lifting her glasses up her nose with the left.
"Captain, I'm glad you didn't forget the
appointment this time. You weren’t this punctual at your last physical as I
recall."
"Gomen. I'm not too fond of
hospitals and hospital environments doctor."
"You should have thought of that before
becoming a pilot. You know you need to be assessed periodically to maintain
your flight status, but I know that thought never crossed your mind with that
impulsive streak of yours taking over and all" the doctor replied with a
knowing smile.
"You still know me pretty well after all these
years, don’t you."
"And I'm glad for that also because it seems
I’ve been appointed the bearer of interesting news. Your own judgment will
decide whether they’re good or bad." The doctor stood staring at the
short-haired captain with an intriguing spark of mischief in her eyes. Haruka sighed loudly, the suspense making a wreck out of
her already altered nerves.
"Spill it out already Carrie, you're killing me
here!" Haruka almost screamed out.
The doctor sat down and opened the dossier.
"Oh, I hope I don’t do such a thing because then I'll be accused of double
murder." Dr. Stewart couldn’t hide the grin that began curving on her
lips.
Haruka stared at the fair-haired
woman with brown eyes wide open, the true meaning of the jest just barely
sinking in.
"Kami-sama, does that
mean that…" Haruka muttered.
"The blood tests are unmistakable. Haruka, you’re pregnant."
The TERRA officer stared at her friend with jaw
slackened. “Pre-pregnant you said? Are you sure?”
“I ran the test myself. You can imagine I was pretty
shocked too. I mean, I’m okay with whatever you do in with your private life.
You’re a grown-up to do whatever you please with whoever you choose but I must
admit that it did strike me as odd in you. You were always so methodical and
careful back at the Academy even with your scatterbrain lapses it was as if you
had planned your life down to the smallest detail.”
Haruka couldn’t manage to
articulate any words, her mind still unraveling with the news and what they
revealed. Her glance shifted from the dossier to the doctor. “Since
when?”
“I would need to do an ultrasound for that but
judging by your constitution I would venture to guess about a month but
something tells me you suspected something already.”
The TERRA captain blinked. “But how…? Oh, it’s no use.
I can’t fool you. I sensed something like this might be happening but it was
too ludicrous to believe. I mean, he and I were together just that one time…”
Carrie’s features sobered. “Shitow
Haruka, do you mean to tell me this is the
consequence of a one-night stand? I had
inferred you were in a committed relationship with the father since you had told
me you had reencountered a very special someone. I knew you and Elvy hung up together a lot lately and because of my work I
couldn’t join you like we used to back at the Academy. I know I’ve always said
that we were an odd group, being I and Elvy the complete
opposites and you the balance between us and I worried that some of Elvy’s party animal antics would have rubbed onto you but
I’m sure even she wouldn’t have been this careless. I judged you to be more
careful in your actions, no matter how harebrained or impulsive they might have
been. Do you realize what this means to you, to your career?”
“It would have been much easier for me if it had
been just an anonymous one-night stand” Haruka
replied almost in a whisper, avoiding the hard glance the doctor was bestowing
upon her at this very moment.
Now it was Carrie’s turn to be dumbfounded as she
remained motionless and in silence for an instant. Suddenly, the palms of her
hands connected firmly against her desk as she rose up, pushing her chair forcefully.
“Haruka, what’s going on
here? I’ve never seen you like this!” the doctor inquired sternly with a
mixture of worry and irritation in her voice.
Haruka suddenly flashed an
enigmatic smile as her fingers instinctively slipped over her abdomen as her
auburn eyes shimmered brightly:
“Carrie, do you believe in fairytales?”
To be
continued…
Author’s Notes:
And so it begins my exploration on the huge gap that
we are left with at the end of the movie. Yes, we know that Haruka
lived a long life and even had a granddaughter but what happens between the
aftermath of the tuning and the end of the film is left for us to interpret. My
purpose is to attempt to fill part of that void through my own interpretation.
Due to the very succinct format of the film, I will be borrowing certain
elements from the anime version but this will be first and foremost a RahXephon movie fanfiction and I will
abide to the events and concepts developed there. I wanted to emphasize this
because for those who might have not be familiar with the movie, certain
elements such as the absence of Ixtli and the change
in roles of Quon just to mention a few, might strike
you as a flagrant error of the author, but I assure you that this is not the
case. Also, I do not claim ownership of any of the characters and concepts
owned by Studio BONES and Yutaka Izubuchi but
original characters like Dr. Carrie Stewart are of my own creation.
Special thanks to my very patient and understanding
collaborator Carrie Asagiri for her helpful insights and for pointing me
towards the better path for this story. Without her help, this story probably
would have never seen the light of day and I hope it will turn out as good as
we wish it to be.
