Title: Sickness.

Rating: PG for some little swearing. :/

Paring: Harry/Leena. *-*;

Notes: Blah. I'm really tentative about uploading this. :P Yeah. I can see it now. Millions of flames. Oh, well. You don't like this coupling? Don't read.

This prolly really sucks. And not because it's Harry/Leena, but because I wrote it while I was dying of a cold. ; So, Um, let's just say, for now, this is a first draft. I'll edit it when I'm back to being.. unsick. Also, it's apart of something bigger, so if it seems weird, that's why. =_= I can't title my fics, so excuse the stupidity of the title.

Based after the Tournament, around a year, giving Harry time to calm. _ PallaPlease is my inspiration. ;-; I wish she would continue her Harry/Leena.

*                       *                       *                       *

After all the curious glances, unsure and testy mutters, she knew it was bound to happen. The tapping of metal and sound of electrical shocks reverberating through the numbingly cold air within the compound - it all promised the coming of that specific question.

And if that didn't seal it, the fact that they had gathered before her as she laid upon her makeshift bed in the living room of the compound, all looking quite tentative and hopeful surely had.

Her father gave her a wide, joyful smile, which had been countered by a violent eruption of coughs; the poor girl was suffering from a cold! The smile mildly faded, eventually shaping into a frown, and he began to stuff his hands into the narrow pockets of his overcoat.

"Okay, Leena," Around her coughs, she could hear the cheerful voice of her father struggling to gain a sense of superiority. Faint, electronic crackles were somewhere in the distance behind him, but everyone, apparently, had been ignoring them. "I -- uh, installed the video answerer! So, while we're gone, you'll just have to press," He paused once more, digging out a small, rectangular devise, littered in buttons of all colors. He jabbed in the general direction of a large, purple button. "This button and an image of whomever is at the door will appear right on that!" He withdrew his arm, motioning towards a rather large screen, which was previously used rather frequently to relay requests for battles upon.

"Alright," Was her response. That, and nothing more, as she erupted in another fit of coughs and sneezes. She gave a faint, irritated mutter as she lifted a tissue to her face, covering her mouth and nose until the attack dissipated. "When will you be back?"

"Oohh - " He began idly and shot a glance towards the awaiting group of three. Each seemed too busy trying to think of all the glorious things to be seen, far too busy to respond. He coughed nervously and smiled, placing the control box which had had previously pulled from his pocket atop the table nearest to his daughter. "Two days, possibly three."

She heaved a morose sigh and nodded. They had gone without battles for several weeks into upping to rank 'S,' due to the fact that the Zoid Battle Commission Center had undergone some severe damage, care of the Backdraft. The convention her teammates were going to was intending to host several of the largest Zoid Rank S battles in the history of all zoids -- something not to be missed!

She would've done just about anything to earn some personal points, or maybe even some prize money.. Anything would've been fine!

"Well, if you're all settled, do you mind-- I mean--"

"Go on, Dad." She briefly, and dismissively, waved at him, before closing her eyes and allowing herself to sink back into the cushioned, makeshift bed. Brief, though extravagant 'Thank you!'s were muttered and the extra bags were gathered into the three different sets of arms. Feet shuffled momentarily, though she knew at least one had already made for the hangar.

"We'll bring you back a catalogue!" Was the last she heard of them, before the over-packed jeep outside started up and hastily sped off.

Yeah. Like a catalogue will make up for missing such a great thing.. She thought irritably and turned, burying her achy, clogged head into the thick pillows below.

*                       *                       *                       *

She tossed, she turned, and she even got herself up out of bed to take medication, which would hopefully aid to her fatigue, to hopefully clear up her head, though to no avail. She whined and sniffed, kneading at her eyes with the heels of her hands in irritation.

"This is unfair!" She pouted to no one in particular and lowered her hands to her sides, balling her hands into tight fists. She, rather idly, hit one of the pillows, which she had tossed towards her feet. "Leaving me here while they go off and have fun! It's -- It's just unfair!"

She was expecting a response and when none came, she let out an irritated groan and took a hold of the pillow she had previously hit. Instead of getting up, she flopped back upon the couch and secured the pillow over her face.

"Sleep." She stubbornly commanded her sub-conscious. It responded with a resounding no, followed by what sounded like a childish raspberry. She growled and tossed, and nearly did force herself to sleep, until a disturbingly loud beeping ensued, lights flashing and a large image appearing on the screen she had her back to.

"Door!" Something mechanical, something not human screeched and screeched again, the tone of the voice loud, penetrating and ear piercing. "Door! Door! Door!"

"Shut up!" She screamed and bolted upright, taking the pillow into her hands once again to fling it in any random direction, hoping to hit the heart of this newly installed, piece of metal. Once more, things didn't go her way and the screeching continued.

She let out an infuriated scream, which had only been silenced by her sudden glance towards the large screen to the left of her. With haste, she scrambled to grab the control and jabbed furiously at the large, purple button. The screeching stopped, the lights stopped and only to be replaced by a single picture and a voice.

*                       *                       *                       *

She probably isn't going to answer, he deduced as he stood stock still, feeling rather awkward as he clung to the large, plastic bowl. He had visited the compound every other day, just about, though never once had he been alone with her, nor willing to do much other than annoy her insistently about dates and true love and him being king and her being queen --

A small screen abruptly protruded from the wall and extended towards his face. He blinked. It appeared to be looking him up and down, pulling back finally once deciding it was finished and stopping upon his face once more. Through the glass screen, he could see the view of the living room of the compound, empty and littered in blankets and pillows, discarded tissues and random pieces of extra clothing, such as a pull over or five, socks and sweatpants strewn carelessly across the table, the seats..

He went wide-eyed and wailed, nearly dropping his bowl. "That Bit better not be making a move on my Leena!"

*                       *                       *                       *

She didn't care about the door. She didn't care about any packages or special mail, which was bound to show up. The only thing she cared about was knocking herself unconscious until the cold passed over, allowing her to live a normal life once more.

And the first thing to do when that normal life comes to be is, She paused and shoved herself up onto her tiptoes. Fingers were vainly probing about the cabinet, which contained medication, and random other medical supplies, searching for a square, cardboard box. Kill Bit, kill Jaime, and kill Brad and Dad.

The tips of her fingers brushed against the box she had been so desperately searching for and she let out a small gasp. Always out of my reach! She snarled angrily and took the initiative to bounce once, allowing her to rise up just enough to secure a grip upon the box and yank it out as she returned to the ground, flatfooted and wheezing.

She broke out into another round of violent coughs as the rather disturbing noise of someone hurdling themselves into the compound through a window caught her attention. What idiot could possibly be thinking of doing that? Other than the Backdraft, that is..

She grumbled in annoyance, brows lifted in mild curiosity nonetheless, and took both the glass of water she had poured before hand and the medication. Moments later, she slowly padded off in the general direction of the noises.

She wasn't expecting to be greeted with the sight of the only neighbor within a fifty mile radius, sitting doubled over upon himself, clutching a bowl of what appeared to be steaming, and spilling, miso soup. He was blushing severely, either from embarrassment or from the state she was currently in -- which, she wasn't too sure of. Either way, she glowered furiously.

"What are you doing, Harry?" She bit out through clenched teeth; she would've already been pummeling him, if it weren't for the fact that her throat was violently itching and she knew she was most likely about to collapse as well.

"Umm --" He gave a nervous laugh and glanced downwards briefly, before securing the top about the bowl and lifting it for her to see. "Miso soup?"

*                       *                       *                       *

Why she was being nice was beyond all reason to her -- well, if nice could even describe the way she was acting. Once he had offered the food, she scowled and helped him to his feet, ushering him off without another word towards the nearest bathroom.

"Clean yourself up." She had commanded and took the bowl from him, before retreating off once more after hearing his squeaked, 'Thank you!'

This was great. Absolutely, stunningly great. She wasn't allowed to attend a trip to a Zoid convention, she had a cold, and now, Harry, of all people, was here, in her home. She hastily took two of the capsules and gulped down the water; there was no way in hell she was going to stay awake for him to go on one of his little love tirades. Nope. Not ever.

"Your father told me --" He interrupted her thoughts as he poked his head into the room, the hesitance within his voice striking her to her very core. Good. She angrily mused, though that was yet to be seen. Once she had taken the pills, she retrieved a spoon and went about jabbing at the floating lumps of tofu, and currently remained that way. "You were sick."

"Aa?" She retrieved the spoon from the bowl and sat it down upon the counter once she decided she looked rather silly with it. "Why aren't you at the convention?"

"I.. resigned." His response came out sounding startled. Why didn't she know that? She was the reason for it, after all! No less, he began inching in to the kitchen towards her. "It wouldn't be of much interest to me."

"Oh." She had the decency to frown, gazing between the soup and him. "Then, what of your Zoids? Isn't that a waste, to simply quit when you've spent so much..?"

"Yeah," He grinned faintly and shrugged, still moving towards her slowly, hesitantly, as though expecting to be buried beneath a mountain of furniture. "You remember Mary, right? She took them and I assure you, she wont let them go to waste."

"Mm." She nodded though was reluctant to do much else. Not exactly comfortable with having him break into her house, though not exactly uncomfortable with having him as company, especially since he brought tasty soup!

"Is -- er, Bit here?" He shot a few rather infuriated glances about the room, namely towards the corners, the fridge -- anywhere where the nasty, horrible, woman stealing Bit could've been hiding. She shook her head.

"He went with," She glowered as she paused and turned her back on him. Sometime between then and her next eruption of coughs, she had brought a tissue to her face out of sheer common courteously. He frowned. "Dad."

"You okay?" The frown was still there as she continued coughing. It wasn't life shattering or anything, average, typical cold related cough, though she probably should've been visiting a doctor instead of house sitting for a bunch of irresponsible teammates.

"I'll be fine." She grumped and balled the tissue up, tossing it into the compactor before skirting around the table and towards the sink. She muttered unhappily to herself as she washed her hands, cleansing herself of whatever disgusting germs still resided upon her.

"Positive?" Not turned down by her disposition, he pressed, gazing worriedly at her.

"Absolutely." She turned back around and toweled her hands off upon the plain, white towel, which hung from a pin to the left of the sink. He wasn't convinced and continued watching. Feeling more awkward than he had when he tumbled through the window, she shifted her weight, rubbed at the back of her neck and motioned towards the soup. "Um -- thanks for that."

"Get well." He intoned and offhandedly waved his hand, as though indicating that the soup was for just that, and definitely not for him to come intruding upon her, all the while, beaming. She faintly smiled and nodded once more.

He wasn't acting too badly. Maybe his being away made him more humble? Maybe it helped him realize that all things aren't received through constant pressing and bribery? Maybe this wouldn't be so horrible after all.

*                       *                       *                       *

"You're going to get sick." She scolded out of nowhere, cleaning her spoon of the soup once more before jabbing it in his direction. Sometime after they had chatted aimlessly about Zoid battling, skirting cautiously about the reason as to why he had resigned, he had taken the task of ushering her from the kitchen, gathering a bowl or two, spoons, and soy sauce along with it. After that, he had piled it all up upon a tray and carted it out to her.

She invited him to stay, to eat, stating that his company was needed -- direly? No. Desperately? No. Company was just needed. That was it. She didn't want to be alone while being sick, and everything she did after that completely contradicted it all.

"That's fine." He mimicked her action and dipped the spoon into the soup, ladling in a mouthful. She shook her head.

"You'll hate it. It's horrible!" She forced the thought upon him as she did with everyone else, on every other topic, the spoon still pointed in his direction. "You wont be able to sleep -- though I'm sure you'll have a better time than I will. After all, Benjamin and Sebastian are probably more faithful than my dad and stupid Jaime, Brad and Bit are."

"You'll be able to sleep." He nodded towards the soup -- "Once you get enough of this in you, you'll be out like a light." Though soon began to blush. "At least, that's how it always is with me."

"Humph, pass out here and you'll be woken up ten minutes later because of that thing my dad installed." She jerked her head towards the 'answering' machine for the door. He took a moment to look, as she sipped idly at the soup. "It's supposed to answer the door, though all it does is give you a migraine."

"Mister Tauros deserves the credit, though." He looked back at her and ironically, he seemed rather.. different. He looked older. She probably did, too. It had been close to a year since the world cup had ended, giving either of them time to mature, whether physically, or mentally. "He can do some impressive things."

"Sometimes." She slowly responded, giving an awkward grin. "Rarely." She took down more of the soup as he did, pausing between sips to muffle her coughs and yawn. "Dad is smart, though he prefers to put it to other things."

"Like building models?" He offered, his tone hinting that he wasn't intending to be insulting. She smirked and nodded.

"Yup. Never would've believed that, huh?" Her tolerance wasn't to be so hastily melted down; fatigue was forcing itself upon her, though her sub conscious struggled gleefully with it, pounding it down ruthlessly. One moment, she felt tired and the next, she felt sick. What fun! She supposed that was the sole reason as to why she was feeling remotely happy with his company.

*                       *                       *                       *

She was tired. So painfully, extremely tired. Her eyes stung with every passing moment that she forced them to remain awake and her head swam furiously; tired and dizzy due to the medication, though she didn't want to fall asleep! It would be rude and -- well, she would feel simply weird for falling asleep on him.

The literacy within that was so incredibly true; her head was pillowed upon his lap, her eyes lulling closed at an alarmingly fast rate. He was either following her example and snoozing, or so transfixed upon who knows what that he hadn't spoken a single word since draping a blanket over her.

"I'm going to fall asleep," She warned distantly and sighed, shifting until she found herself comfortable once more, draping an arm awkwardly over his legs. He shifted as well, his head lolling lazily upon the back of the couch.

"I missed you." He idly declared, not caring that it was straying from the actual topic, his hand straying to rub and gently shake at her shoulder, as if thinking that she had fallen asleep, and that the statement was of the utmost importance and she needed to hear it-- Her brow furrowed in temporary confusion, before nodding faintly against his leg.

"You're still going to get sick." She stubbornly quipped, lacking much else to say. What was she supposed to say? 'Oh, while you were gone, I happened to develop a minor crush on my air-headed teammate and in the midst of it all I missed you, too, and then I got a cold and -- well, hey! Here we are! Quaint, huh?'

"Considerate," He yawned, one hand lifting to cover his mouth. He hardly took notice of her squirming, her adjusting and then finally, the extending of her hand, allowing her to take a hold of his own and hug it against her chest tiredly. "But, it's worth it."

"I already told you -- it's not." She pressed once more, extending her free hand to jab gently at his thigh. He wasn't convinced and ironically, she wasn't about to let him leave.

"Sleep?" It was more of an inquiry than an actual command, his tone gentle, caring. She sniffled and muffled her coughs, reaching behind her to retrieve a pillow. He paid special attention to her as she lifted herself, placing the pillow within his lap to help balance herself out.

She didn't immediately drop, fall asleep or even yawn. He pushed himself forward as she held herself upright, closing the distance between them with a faint kiss -- acknowledging the consequences, which would most likely be a resounding smack upside the head, followed by violent coughing for a week, maybe two. His guesses were wrong, no less. She found herself pressing her weight against his chest to help herself remain upright, returning the kiss rather inexperienced.

"Thank you." She muttered when she pulled away and dropped back into his lap tiredly. She was asleep before he could puzzle over the passing bliss and it didn't take him much more than a few minutes to follow in suit.

*                       *                       *                       *

She smiled and waved as she bounced joyfully. The jeep which was over packed when they left was putting into view, now far more than over packed, possibly personifying the word overstuffed. Boxes and bags and books and small components and -- everything was piled atop the bags in the back seat. Underneath that, despite the fact that you couldn't see, had been both Brad and Bit, crushed and hidden.

"Hey, Leena!" Jaime was bright and perky, waving furiously in response. They had won, she supposed, and Jaime had most likely helped somehow, because she had never seen him like this before. The jeep neared and came to a short, cautious stop; her father beamed.

"Feeling better, dear?"

"Yup!" She nodded and took a hasty dive towards the pile in the back. She must've crushed someone further as she heard an un-manly scream emit from below. "Um -- what was that?"

"Probably Bit." Jaime laughed nervously and rubbed at the back of his head. "We ran out of room so we had to kinda -- elaborate."

"I knew he would come to use sometime!" She drew back from the pile and picked off a few things from the top. Her father was slowly getting out of the jeep, taking various bags from his lap to place on the concrete ground, Jaime following in suit. Another curious sound emitted from below the pile, probably Brad chuckling, as Bit whined unhappily.

"I heard that, you know!"

Fifty miles into the distance, Harry was whining pathetically between coughs, demanding food and complete silence, much like the red-head had two days before.

Leena grinned and gathered up the bags tighter into her arms, before bouncing onto the top of the pile of baggage once more, relishing the screams and whines coming from below. She felt good!