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It turned out that tomato cakes really did exist! Chuchu had pulled a face at the mention of it, though, and Aliya's smile had gone thin as she politely called it "intriguing." It was clear Suletta had no allies on that front, and the nurses certainly weren't going help. That meant they needed to resort to Plan B.
Still, she had a feeling it was a mistake to bring up tomato cakes to Chuchu in the first place, as she scrutinized Suletta with a suspicious scowl while dropping the bag of tomatoes at Suletta's bedside table. "You're not gonna do something stupid with these, right?"
Suletta couldn't really shake her head yet. "No. I just miss the taste."
"Get real. She brings you these all the time."
"Well...I'd like some now?"
Chuchu snorted. "Fine. I'll cut 'em."
"No!" Shoot, she came on too strong Chuchu was going from suspicious to downright concerned. She had to salvage this! "I don't want them now, but eventually," Suletta said. "Soon."
There was a certain level of activity that Suletta was meant to engage in. Even if Suletta wasn't going to do much of the labor, cooking was expressly forbidden. And for all the rules that Chuchu broke, doctor's orders weren't among them. If she found out what Suletta was going to do, she'd flip. Worse, she'd tell Miorine.
So... "Um..." Suletta glanced at her hands. "I'll have a bit. If you're not busy."
Chuchu's face relaxed into a smirk. "There we go."
Maybe they weren't supposed to have pocket knives in the hospital? If so, that was another rule of many that Chuchu was willing to break, as she quartered a tomato and helped Suletta eat a piece. Even though it took a morsel away from the gift she was making for Miorine, Suletta was grateful for the effort. Still, though - it definitely wasn't Chuchu's fault, but it tasted a bit...plain.
The recipe would fix that, she supposed, but right now it just brought her back to the first time she'd met Miorine in Asticassia itself, to that first bite of the brilliant red tomato. Somehow, the taste of them became more delicious as time went on, not less - it was something she would never get get enough of.
"Thank you, Miss Chuchu," Suletta said. "Would you like one?"
"Nah, I'm good."
They'd have the real thing again one day, she knew. She and Miorine would grow them in a new greenhouse, or they'd make a garden on Earth, wherever they lived. They would be together, in the future, for every day to come. They'd be married for real someday, not by arrangement or decree. It would be a beautiful day.
The love must've spilled all over Suletta's face, as the annoyance spread on Chuchu's. "Ugh, I'm going for a walk," she muttered, knocking her chair aside as she stood. "Call me when you quit mooning."
"I will!" She did feel a bit sheepish, but Chuchu wasn't really angry. "Thank you again, Miss Chuchu!"
"Yeah, yeah." Chuchu waved her off as she left. "Be seeing you."
Suletta hadn't intended it, but it turned out that it got Chuchu out of her room without a fuss. The door slid shut, and once they were sure no one else was coming in, Eri's Haro sprung into action and they got to work.
"How's the taste?" Eri asked.
"It's okay, it's just... It's nowhere nearly as good as Miorine's."
"Right." The Haro's machinery whirred. "You would say that."
"It's not just me! Anyone would agree."
Though Haros could not make facial expressions without intense customization, a lifetime with Eri as Aerial let her intuit the sense of a raised eyebrow. "I dunno, should we call back Chuchu over to confirm?"
She sighed. "You have a point." Then she mustered up her determination. "We'll make this work."
"That we will!" Eri opened her flaps and ratcheted out her arms to grab the already-cut tomato. She examined the glisten of it against the white overhead lights, then held a piece close to Suletta's mouth. "Okay, have a bite."
"Why?"
"For good luck."
"It'll be dirty."
"It'll be an indirect kiss," Eri said. "Don't girlfriends like that?"
"E-Eri!"
Although the feeling was faint, she had to admit it was nice for her face to warm up from a blush and not a Permet outbreak. Eri took a bit of mercy on her and pulled the tomato away. "Fine, then. We'll have to make it taste better the old-fashioned way!"
Eri pulled out the things they needed from where they were hidden around the room. Basil leaves from a colony greenery display, packs of salt and oil and vinegar from the cafeteria. There was supposed to be garlic, and something called "capers" (not in the phantom thieving sense, but some kind of...berry? or vegetable?). They couldn't come up with a good reason to have them brought here, however, so...the recipe would have to suffice without them.
The final element was a clean food tray, set atop Suletta's lap. Eri took Suletta's hands and placed them on either side. Suletta couldn't grab the tray, but they figured the weight of her arms would be enough to steady it.
"They don't hurt?" Eri asked.
There was always at least low level of pain burning through her blood. When there was nothing to occupy her, it became difficult to ignore, but at the moment, it was faint. "I'm good."
"Alright. Just let me know."
Eri knew it always hurt. Suletta had admitted as much, and she had been there with her through the worst of the agony. She still felt guilty, Suletta knew, even though she always tried to dismiss it or play it off. But whenever she got stuck in the past, Suletta helped her move forward.
They were lucky, yes, but they'd also chosen this. They could be proper sisters now, no longer stuck as tools or Gundams. They had years of ill-thought-out ideas and shenanigans they needed to get up to, to make up for lost time.
"We're ready?" Eri held the butter knife aloft.
Suletta double-checked the tomato in Eri's fingers, pressed in the middle of the food tray. "Let's do it."
"Okay! Hi-yah!"
Eri swung the blade down like a beam saber, and Suletta's eyes flew shut at the blast of juice. "Crap! You okay?!"
"It just got in my face! I'm good." She wrenched open one eye, the other felt too wet to be safe. "Did it work?"
"Sort of. Stupid thing's too dull. We need another go." Eri's beady red Haro eyes glared at the plastic knife. "Don't doctors know these things are safer when they're sharp?"
"Really? It feels like the opposite."
"I'll show you the proof later. But let's try again now."
Suletta closed her eyes again. Judging from the thunk, the next blow at least made impact with the tray...a bit too loudly, and much too juicely again.
Miorine's tomatoes were much more well-behaved. She waited for the last of the water to drip off her brow before peeking at the door - still closed, thankfully. It didn't seem like they'd made too much noise to alert the nurses, but it didn't hurt to be sure. "I think we're still good."
The Haro eyes lit up from black - she realized Eri must've hopped out to do a quick run of the security cameras in the halls. "We sure are! So brace yourself!"
Eventually, the tomato was butchered into something vaguely like slices. It turned Suletta's face and hospital gown into a total mess, which meant this project had gone from "maybe we will get in trouble" to "we are definitely getting in trouble," but that was all the more reason to commit.
"That's one step done," she said. "Thank you, Eri."
"No problem!" She fetched another tomato for the chopping block, gesturing at Suletta's gown. "It might be red, but don't worry, no one's gonna mistake that for blood! So they won't yell at you too much."
Neither of them pointed out the juice and seeds that had landed on the ceiling and walls. It was strange that the recipe didn't warn for this, but maybe every chef just knew how to dodge the spray? Or maybe... "Maybe we're not supposed to cut tomatoes like that?"
"Nah. That stance cuts down mobile suits just fine."
"You're right." Granted, it didn't look close to how Aliya or Till handled knives in the kitchen, but the tomatoes were still getting cut. Or crushed. Whatever it was, they were coming apart, and that was the important part.
They weren't the clean slices of tomatoes that the recipe showed, but...they had to do this in what ways they could. While Miorine deserved something absolutely perfect, they couldn't have that right now.
One day, she thought. She'd heal up enough so that she could do this right for Miorine. They could go for walks, work in the garden, visit the beach and the mountains, without making Miorine or her friends worry about her. For now, though, they had to do what they could. Moving forward, one step at a time, even if they didn't gain anything (though she still hoped they'd gain something from this that wasn't just trouble).
"Getting lovestruck again?"
"I'm not—!" She shut her mouth, refusing to be teased. "No."
"If you say so." Eri drummed the knife. "But I was just thinking this is kind of fun! We should do this more often."
"Yeah. We'll have a kitchen one day."
"Right! And you guys can just leave all the knives to me. So what's the next step?"
"I think we just mix it all together, and that's that." Or...maybe it wasn't as simple as that. "Do we have a bowl?"
They did not. And they couldn't do this correctly with the tray. Eri hopped to her feet. "The cafeteria should have a bowl we can steal, I mean, borrow. Let's go!"
"Right!"
Eri set the sloshing tray on the bedside table, spilling a bit of it on the floor but that was okay, it was easier to clean the tiles than the ceiling. The ceiling...they'd figure something out for that.
But that was for later. Now, Eri pulled the wheelchair over, and was about to help Suletta into it, until Suletta realized there was no way she could go out tomatoed as she was without putting the whole plan in jeopardy. "Wait, Eri, maybe we—"
But then the door slid open like the cocking of a gun. And Miorine's voice was the sound of it going off. "What the hell?"
...Yeah. It was kind of a mess. A drop of juice splashed on Eri's head. Miorine glowered, and Chuchu peered over her shoulder, her lips screwed up as she took in the carnage.
There was a long stare between them all. Suletta figured it was her silence to break. "Um, hi, Miorine! You're back early!"
Chuchu clicked her tongue and ducked away. "Good luck, guys."
"Narc!" Eri snapped. "This was her idea, not mine!" She snapped back into a ball just as the wall-mounted monitor lit up with her presence. "Yell at her, not me!"
The door closed after Miorine. They were alone. And definitely in trouble.
Miorine rolled her head back and took a deep breath, then pulled the chair over...and brushed it clean of debris before dropping into it.
Suletta glanced around, her smile falling. They really had made a mess of things. Maybe it would've been better if they'd done this right, but...
She felt a wet dab on her cheek. Miorine had her water bottle in hand, the cloth from her suit pocket in the other, and wiped clean Suletta's face. Her expression, at least, had cooled down to neutrality. "I won't yell unless it was an extremely bad idea."
"How bad?"
"Dangerous."
"Well, it wasn't," Suletta said, unsure if her body had relaxed, but certainly her heart had. "Eri used a butter knife."
"That's not making me feel any better."
"Um..." Oh, now she knew why Miorine was worried. "That's right, Eri taught me sharper knives are safe—"
"Eri."
"It's true!" she yelped from the monitor. "It's not my fault!"
"Eri—"
"I'm sorry, Miorine," Suletta said, because yes, this was her idea, it was her fault, and she had to take responsibility, just as she did on the day they both first met. "We couldn't make a cake, but I had to do something for you. It's not as good as something you'd make, but it's...something?"
Miorine's head snapped from Eri's direction to Suletta's, tilting with bemusement. "Why?"
"Because the tomatoes aren't as good as—"
"Not that," Miorine said. "I meant, why did you do this in the first place?"
"It's your birthday present."
The word made Miorine flinch, her hand flying back. "I—"
"Keep your hand there, please?" Suletta urged.
But for a time, Miorine ground her palm against the wet cloth before dropping it in her lap, and her hand hung low like the rest of her.
"I mean it, Miorine. If you want to."
She pressed her lips tight. With a sharp exhalation, though, she lifted her hand and touched her fingertips to Suletta's cheek. She wasn't able to look at her in the eye, but stared at the floor, remembering.
"Thank you. I...I like feeling your hand," Suletta said. Just saying these things took an enormous effort from her, but the pressure lessened every time she asked. And it was worth asking, every time. "Please?"
Miorine pushed closer to her. Eventually, her touch filled the entire side of Suletta's face - even though most sensations didn't reach Suletta in their entirety, she always knew Miorine's touch. She couldn't lean into Miorine's touch, but didn't need to, as Miorine pushed her now-certain grip against her.
One day, she'd hold Miorine's hand again. She would brush the ends of her hair, which looked so fluffy and light now that it was short. One day, she'd make a full-blown meal or cake or some other present for Miorine.
One day. That day would come, she'd make sure of it.
"A lot happened on your birthday," Suletta began. "And um, a lot is still happening. But I wanted to celebrate it properly, because...well, we didn't get to."
"I don't think I—"
"You do deserve it, Miorine." Miorine missed her gaze again, but Suletta kept steady, wanting to see that moment where Miorine would let herself be happy again. "It took a lot of time, but I felt good enough today to do this."
"Suletta."
"It's messy, but...happy birthday." She glanced at the tomato tray beside her. "Your present was... that was supposed to be a kind of sauce, where you don't even need to cook it. You can put it on bread or pasta, if...we'd managed to finish in time."
Miorine looked at the tray too. She didn't speak.
"I thought you'd like it, since we don't have the greenhouse anymore."
Miorine still didn't speak. Was Suletta sweating now?
"I know it's bad."
"I wasn't thinking that," Miorine said.
"It doesn't have garlic in it, or capers. It's missing a lot of things."
"It doesn't need anything else to be good."
Miorine's hand pulled away from Suletta's face and she almost protested, but then Miorine pinched up a dripping tomato chunk and took a bite. She nodded to herself. "Just as I thought."
"It's good?"
"Yeah."
"You really think so?"
"I do."
Kind of like a wedding, Suletta thought, but Miorine feeding her the rest of the piece broke that train of thought, and... Miorine was right, it somehow did taste much better than it had before.
Part of that feeling came from the smile finally reaching Miorine's lips. "I'd say it's perfect as it is, yeah?"
"Maybe..." Suletta had to giggle from how quickly Miorine pouted. "Okay, yes! But I'd still like to finish the recipe, one day, maybe. Eri worked hard."
Miorine sighed, but not with bitterness. "I'll get a bowl and we'll do whatever we need to. But then I'm calling a nurse."
She'd get a real shellacking, but it was worth it now. "That's fair." Suletta grinned. "Happy birthday, Miorine. For real this time!"
"It is." Miorine's smile was just the best thing ever. "Thank you."
"You're welcome!" Eri chimed.
Miorine glared askance at the monitor. "I'm making you help clean this up."
"Sorry, no can do! I'm too busy keeping an eye on Suletta."
Miorine's smile was more mischievous this time. "Really? Too bad."
Suletta knew what was coming. Eri didn't until it was too late, but her yowling fell away from Suletta's ears at the touch of Miorine's lips to her cheek. If it wasn't the real touch, she felt like she could imagine it, the chapped scrape of her lips, the tickle of the tip of Miorine's nose and the warm breath against her cheek, the fingertips on her chin.
"Next year," Suletta said, "I want to be well enough to actually make you something." And to kiss Miorine, the way she deserved.
She felt the quirk of Miorine's lips on her cheek before she pulled away. "I'd like that. But if you're not well enough, we'll make something together instead."
"Okay. That's a plan."
"Just let me know if you need anything cut!" Eri said.
Miorine didn't spare a glance. "We won't."
A small, warm silence fell between them. The tension in Miorine's face had faded as they looked at each other. Miorine carried so many burdens, ones Suletta could not lift for her, but here and now, nothing weighed her down.
"I love you," Miorine murmured.
Suletta swore she felt her toes curling as she giggled. Those words were another something she would never get enough of. "I love you too! More than anything. And, um..." Yes, she remembered! "Did you know there are tomato cakes?"
"I love you, Suletta," Miorine said again, her voice light with humor. "But I'm not sure if I love you enough for that."
"Aw!"
There were plenty of other things they could try, though. There were so many ways to express their love, in all the years to come - and Suletta couldn't wait to try them all.