Wonder JenLisa AU

Chapter 6 ✓

"Lisa! Lisa, oh fuck Lisa, can you hear me? Can you hear me?" Jennie grabs the microphone as the man hands it to her and clutches it to her mouth like it could not only save her, but everyone else on this ship.

"We won't be able to get you on a private line because the signal is too weak," the man whispers, close to Jennie's ear, "and once we clear Jupiter's moons, we'll lose radio distance... but you have a little while."

Jennie nods without really hearing the words, too intent on the breaths coming from the large speakers above her. She could almost hear Lisa's heartbeat, feel it beneath her cheek as she presses her face against the cool of the wall, trying to hold down her hiccups.

"Jennie? Oh shit--is that you?"

"Y-yeah, it's me. What the hell did you go back to grab? You know you missed the ship, right?"

"Yeah... figured that one out myself. I... I picked up a teleportation ticket on the ground and figured that... well, you said you wanted to plant cherry trees when we got to this new planet right? So... I came back to grab your gardening book," she worded it out as sheepish; Jennie can just imagine the embarrassed little smile on her face as she scratches the back of her neck.

"You went back for a book?" Jennie lets out a strangled laugh and lets her head thump back against the wall, back pressed to it, knees drawn into her chest.

"I wanted to surprise you."

Jennie feels tears prickling at the edges of her eyes again as she digs a small, thin book from the large pocket in her new pants. The Little Prince. "Me too."

The silence fills the room; no one is talking, all of them looking at the boy curled up against the wall, cradling the speaker to her cheek, a book resting in her lap, an entire ocean caught in her eyelashes.

"We're coming back for you," Jennie says, wiping at her tears. The first man snaps around and was about to say something when Jennie swipes her hand across her own neck a couple of times--don't. The man falters and kept quiet.

"You are?"

"Hell yeah we are. I'll pilot this damn ship myself if I have to."

"You've always wanted to be a pilot."

"I did," Jennie says, a small laugh pressing passed her lips. Lisa always remembered, even when Jennie didn't, "and now I am--I guess dreams really do come true."

This time, Lisa laughs. And to Jennie, it sounds like damnation. It sounds like salvation.

"It'll take a while though, we're pretty far out, so... you should probably get some sleep or something. You love sleep."

"Yeah..."

"Lisa?"

"Yeah?"

"We'll... we'll be there by morning. Captain promised," Jennie says, biting down hard on her tongue. The Captain's got a pair of in-ears in but he glances over with a sad little smile before his eyes refocus on the twenty or so screens in front of him. A momentary slip-up and everyone on this ship is a goner. Jennie thinks that it might not be so bad right now.

"He did?"

"Yep, he did, so you should really get some rest. You gotta wake up at the asscrack of dawn and you're shit at waking up without me."

Lisa laughs again and Jennie swallows, letting her eyes fall shut. "And you better hold onto that book. We're gonna need it when we land in on the new planet."

"I won't lose it, I promise."

"Good."

Another silence. Jennie soaks in the sound of Lisa's breaths and wonders if she could give up her own for Lisa's. If she just held her breath long enough, she could somehow send her lost-breath through the speaker to Lisa, to keep her alive for--

"What star are you going to?" Lisa asks, breaking the silence. Her voice is fuzzy with static. The man points at a screen with a map of the solar system. The ship is closing in on the first of Jupiter's moons.

"Your star. We're going to your star," Jennie says, letting her head drop between her knees to steady her breathing, "The one you picked out that night we were on the roof."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it'll be a long way there so you should--"

"Really rest up, I know, I know," Lisa's voice is indulgent and it seeps into Jennie's skin, sticking like the apple juice that slicks down your fingers when you take too big of a bite.

"It's sunset, you know," Lisa says after another brief break. The static is getting worse, half-syllables breaking off. Jennie glances at the screen--halfway to the last of Jupiter's moons.

"Is it pretty?" she asks, running a finger over the cover of The Little Prince, tracing the title.

"Too pretty."

"Sunrise is still prettier," Jennie says, but she hears the choke in her own voice and has to swallow again.

"It's getting dark... and cold," Lisa says, and for the first time, Jennie picks out the waver in Lisa's voice, and it isn't the static.

"You should sleep, close your eyes and sleep. You're at home, right?"

"Y-yeah... the sofa's really big when you're not squishing me off it."

Jennie chuckles and curls her free hand into a fist so tight her knuckles go white, "Well you get it all to yourself tonight."

"Jen?"

"I'm here."

"I'm... I'm scared."

"Don't be," Jennie fights and fights and fights to keep her voice steady. Three more moons. "I'm right here, okay? Right here. Uhm..." she casts about for something else to say, eyes settling on the large window out to the universe beyond. "Close your eyes and try to sleep. I'll sing you a song, okay? You said you always wanted to hear me sing."

Lisa's breath comes in a small hiccup, "Yeah... I guess dreams really do come true."

"Lie down and close your eyes, okay?" Two more moons. The crowd shifts. The old man at the front takes off his hat and presses it to his chest, eyes downcast.

"Okay."

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star--," Jennie lets out a tiny sob. They're passing the last moon. Lisa's voice echoes out of the static-ridden speakers--

"How I wonder what you are--"