Rick headed up towards the park at the Observation deck where Claudia had reserved some picnic tables to celebrate his and Roy's release from the hospital after they were injured in the last battles. It was a good thing that Claudia had noticed Roy's injuries at the end of the last battle and had demanded that he receive medical attention. The injuries were more serious than the superficial wounds had suggested and resulted in a two week stay in the hospital for Roy.

Rick's and Roy's stay at the hospital had overlapped a week and during that time they shared a convalescent room. Not having much time over the last year to really hang out and talk, it was nice to have the opportunity to reminisce about the days in the flying circus as well as the more recent experiences Rick and Roy had over the last year. Claudia's daily visits also helped them pass the time but sometimes Rick wished he was in another room. Roy demanded their private time and would close the curtain between himself and Rick, and the discussions between Claudia and Roy became lowered into whispers and soft kisses. At those times, Rick would either listen to the MP3 player that Lisa had brought him or stare out the hospital window to the city below and think about Minmei and more frequently about his commanding officer Lisa Hayes. Lisa accompanied Claudia on her visits occasionally but never stayed long as her duties on the ship frequently called her away, especially after the SDF-1 was banished back to space.

There was an awkwardness between Rick and Lisa that he couldn't place his finger on and wondered how the loud, bossy Lt. Commander over the TacNet reverted to a shy woman who barely would look him in the eyes during her visits. At first, Rick wondered if she still felt guilty over his being shot down and even asked Roy about her behavior where Roy had replied with a bit of laughter that he never understood her either. However, Lisa continued to visit and never failed to bring something for Rick to pass the time, a Robotech aviation book that she thought would interest him, her MP3 player which she said she never got a chance to use that much, and sometimes homebaked cookies or other treats.

Roy commented on Lisa's visits trying to get Rick to open up about his feelings for the commander but Rick didn't know how to respond to those comments and inquiries and would deflect the questions by turning the conversation towards Minmei and how much he missed her and wondered how she was doing, even though the nightly tabloid news reported on Miss Macross's daily doings.

After Rick's release and subsequent return to patrol duty, he continued to visit Roy with Max and Ben until Roy's discharge. Since his hospital release, Rick rarely saw Lisa and even during patrol duties, it was more often Sammy or another bridge officer coordinating the flights. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he missed seeing Lisa over the TacNet and missed the shy smiles she gave him during those hospital visits. When he asked Claudia about Lisa, she gave him some vague answers about doing some additional work for Capt. Gloval but that she would be helping with the picnic she planned for Roy and Rick release from the hospital.

Rick hurried up the path to the Observation deck where he could see Roy and Claudia playing around near the grills and tables setting up for the barbeque.

Roy saw Rick first, "Hey Rick, about time you got up here, thought you were going to come and help us setup."

"Sorry, patrol took longer than usual, there was some abnormal readings that the bridge wanted investigated, it ended up being nothing though," replied Rick.

"Well, glad you're here now, the rest of the gang should be here in half an hour," said Claudia, "can you help set up the table? I have to watch Roy at the grill or we may not have anything to eat."

Rick laid out the tablecloth and put out the paper products that he found in the bag under the table and on another table lined up the covered side dishes that were found in another insulated tote bag.

"Thanks for your help Rick, do you think you can go over there and wake up our Sleeping Beauty?" Claudia asked. Rick looked over to where Claudia indicated and saw a couple of chairs and chaise lounges set back next to a tree and noticed that Lisa was fast asleep on one of the lounges. "She just got off a double shift and with the extra work she's doing for Gloval and the food she's cooked for the picnic, she was barely able to keep her eyes open."

Rick looked to where Lisa lay and whispered back to Claudia, "Maybe we should let her sleep?"

"Nonsense, Lisa has been looking forward to today and made some of the appetizers and desserts. Go wake her up , I am sure she will be happy to see you."

Rick slowly walked over to her where Lisa lay, unsure of how to wake her up. It was the first time Rick had seen her in over a week, and the first time he had seen her sleeping. Instead of waking her up as Claudia suggested he sat in the chair across from her and watched her sleep. Lisa lay on her side with her head lying on her outstretched arm. Her honey colored hair was loose and flowed almost down to her waist and over her other arm to her front. She wore a red v-neck top with white shorts and white lace-up casual sneakers. Rick had never seen her dressed so casual and was content in admiring her form. He could not help but notice her delicate face and her fine features, from the straight nose, rosebud lips, clear skin and the long lashes on her closed eyes. He could hear her rhythmic breathing and watched the gentle rise and fall of her chest. He couldn't help but notice the swell of her breasts from the form fitting top. Rick let his eyes wander down to her lithe lower limbs, while slender, were well toned from Lisa's fitness routines.

Deep in thought, he didn't notice Roy pull a chair up to him.

"She doesn't look so scary when she's asleep huh?" joked Roy in a low voice not wanting to wake Lisa. He knew there would be hell to catch if she caught them staring at her.

"No, not really," murmured Rick," she looks so young, Roy, not like a military officer at all." Rick was ashamed a bit for not knowing more about Lisa, but asked anyway, "How old is she anyway?"

Roy looked at Rick a little funny and thought a bit and said, "Well she's quite a bit younger than Claudia and I, even though she's our commanding officer, Lisa's only about 24 or 25." Roy continued, "She's always been mature for her age, combined with the uniform and her no nonsense attitude it's easy to take her as older than she is. Lisa knows her age is a factor against her with the higher ups and tries to downplay her youth by appearing older than she really is. Claudia is always trying to get her to loosen up and interact with others her age, but she doesn't quite fit in with the younger crowd because of her position as First Officer."

Roy wanted to say more but was interrupted by Claudia's greeting of the others that were reaching the picnic.

"I better get back and greet the others," Roy said, "wake her up will you, I don't think she would like to be caught by everyone sleeping." Roy sauntered down to here Claudia and the others, Max, Ben, Sammy, Kim and Vanessa were gathering.

Rick took a breath and walked over to where the commander was resting. He stood over her a bit and watched the breeze blow her hair gently across her face. He looked back towards the others and then looked back down on Lisa. He hated to wake her knowing how tired she must have been to have fallen asleep out here. Rick perched gingerly on the chaise lounge and gently shook Lisa on the arm. "Commander, hey commander, wake up." Her skin felt soft under his fingertips as he shook her again to wake up. "Lisa, you need to wake up, everyone's here now."

Lisa, hearing someone calling her name tugging on her arm, groaned a bit and turned more fully onto her back. "Lisa, wake up, everyone's here, the food's ready" Lisa still in a sleepy haze, slowly opened her eyes to find Rick leaning over her. Her sleepy eyes met his deep blue eyes and her emerald eyes widened in surprise to find him sitting next to her.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty," Rick joked, "it's about time you woke up. I thought I was going to have to give you a kiss to see if that would wake you up" Lisa didn't quite know how to respond, instead she ignored the comment and slowly pulled herself up to a sitting position and stretched her arms above her head to get rid of the kinks from sleeping on her arm. At that moment Sammy and Ben came up to get them.

"C'mon you two, get down here, Claudia says that we can't eat until Rick's there." said Sammy.

"Yeah, and I'm starving, so hurry up you two," added Ben.

"Okay, okay, I hear you, we're coming," said Lisa laughing, swinging her legs to the other side of the chaise lounge and standing up," you have to try my coleslaw and potato salad." she said as she followed Ben and Sammy. She looked back and Rick and said in a soft voice, "Ready?"

Rick also stood up and smiled, "Yup, let's go eat, I'm starving." He was sorry that their conversation was cut short but hoped that he could continue the discussion at another time. He realized in those minutes that he watched her sleep that he wanted to know more about Lisa.

Rick followed Lisa, Sammy and Ben down to where the others were waiting to dig into the bounty of food that was laid out. Roy and Claudia had grilled the burgers, hot links and chicken to perfection and the food smelled great. There were numerous side dishes including Claudia's famous pineapple salad.

Everyone laughed and kidded around as they pushed Rick and Roy to take the first selection as they were the guests of honors and everyone sat down at the large picnic table to enjoy the late lunch. Rick found himself sitting between Sammy and Claudia with Roy next to her. Lisa was sitting across from him sitting next to Max on one side and Vanessa on the other. Ben was on the other side of Max and Kim on the other side of Sammy.

"Well dig in everyone, there is plenty for everyone even with Ben's appetite." laughed Claudia.

Max stood up and said, "Before we begin, a toast to Roy and Rick, and to their swift recovery. We're glad you're still with us. " Cheers abounded and everyone started to eat.

While Rick was eating and listening to a conversation that Trio was having about certain pilots in another squad, he noticed that Lisa and Max were engaged in a conversation and couldn't help but eavesdrop.

"I can't believe you cooked so many of these dishes, they're really good," enthused Max.

"Oh it wasn't much," said Lisa, "it was much harder to find the ingredients for the tabouli salad and the right cheeses for the mac and cheese."

"Where did you learn to make all these?" inquired Max.

"Hmm, well before I went to boarding school, and after my mother died, I used to spend a lot of time with the housekeeper and we spent a lot of time cooking and trying out new dishes to make for the staff. I'd also travel to spend time with my father during the holidays wherever he was located and he encouraged me to learn about the culture through their food, "replied Lisa.

Rick couldn't help but notice the similarities between Lisa's upbringing and his own. While Lisa may have come from a privileged background, they both lost their mothers at a young age and traveled a lot due to their father's occupation. While the locations that Rick traveled with the air circus were not as exotic as the locales that Lisa had probably gone to, he knew what it was like not to have a "home" to go to every night.

Max and Lisa continued their discussion and found themselves to be fellow "foodies" and discussed their favorite dishes and best places on the ship to try and acquire the spices or fresh herbs needed to make some of their culinary dishes. Lisa offered to share with Max some of the special oils, spices and herbs that her father had loaded on the shuttle for Lisa while they were meeting at Alaska Base. She also mentioned that during the supply refueling of the ship when the SDF-1 was sent back to space also contained supplies of restaurant quality goods but were still being sorted in the warehouse.

Rick getting a little jealous of the time that Max and Lisa spend in animated conversation, interrupted their conversation with a comment of his own, "All the dishes were great, Lisa, you really are a good cook. Makes me wonder what other talents you are hiding."

Claudia, aware of Lisa's growing feelings for Rick, and happy to have an opportunity to highlight Lisa's attributes to Rick joined in, "Yes, not only was she top of her class, and an excellent chef, but also a very talented musician."

"Claudia!" exclaimed a blushing Lisa, "please, you're embarrassing me."

Claudia ignoring Lisa's protests continued, "Before Lisa entered the military academy, was accepted to Julliard to study."

Max let out a low whistle, "that's a pretty tough school to get into, what was your specialty?"

Rick was also interested and pressed Lisa to tell them a bit more.

"Uh, well my mother was a promising concert pianist before she married my father, and taught me the piano at a young age." said Lisa.

"Oh now,that isn't the only reason you got accepted for now is it Lisa, tell the whole truth," pushed Claudia.

Lisa glared at her friend and said in a low voice, "I'm going to get you back for this."

Claudia just laughed and continued, "apparently, Lisa is a very talented singer as well. I've only heard her a few times but it was enough to convince me the acceptance to Julliard was well deserved.

"How come we've never heard you sing?" said Sammy

"Yeah Lisa, we've known you for this long already, and how come this is the first we are hearing about it," said Vanessa.

"Sing something for us now, it's only fair," entreated Kim.

"What? No, I couldn't," protested Lisa. "It's been a long time since I've sang and..well.. I just couldn't." Lisa had another reason why she didn't want to sing. She just couldn't stand to have Rick compare her to his precious Minmei and would hate to come up short.

Both Ben and Max also vocalized their desire to hear her sing as well but it wasn't until Rick added his pleas to theirs and said with a smile, "Please Lisa, for me?"

That smile from Rick and the look in his eyes, softened her resolve. Lisa looked around at the table and knew that she wasn't going to get out of there without pacifying them somehow.

While the group continued their requests and threw out suggestions on what she should sing for them, Lisa quickly came to a decision and said, "Okay, okay, I'll sing for you, but no requests and it's going to be short."

She looked around the table and saw Ben finishing his drink from a blue plastic cup and got an idea of what she could perform.

"Ben, are you done with that? Can I borrow that cup from you?" Lisa asked.

"This, sure thing," Ben looked at his cup and looked at Lisa and wiped it down with a napkin before handing it over to her.

"Thanks," Lisa took a deep breath and let it out as she held the cup in her hand. "I haven't done this in a while and maybe a little rusty so give me a few minutes okay?"

Everyone watched as Lisa took a few minutes and turned the cup around in her hand a few times and tapped the cup against the table looking for a rhythm.

Lisa closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths as she went through the pattern in her mind. She opened her eyes and smiled at her friends. "Like I said, I'm a bit rusty so please forgive any mistakes."

Rick, The Trio, Max, Ben, Claudia and Roy watched as Lisa started out clapping a pattern with her hands and then slowly incorporated the cup into the rhythm by picking up the cup and it placing back down within the clapping pattern and manipulating the cup to tap against the tabletop at an appropriate time. Lisa went through the pattern a few times and slowly increased the speed to the tempo she wanted.

They were so engrossed with watching her hands and the cup that they almost missed when Lisa started singing in a low sultry voice.

I got my ticket for the long way 'round
Two bottle 'a whiskey for the way
And I sure would like some sweet company
And I'm leaving tomorrow, wha-do-ya say?

When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

I've got my ticket for the long way 'round
The one with the prettiest of views
It's got mountains, it's got rivers, it's got sights to give you shivers
But it sure would be prettier with you

When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my walk
You're gonna miss me by my talk, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

("Cups- Anna Kendrick)

Lisa placed the cup down when she finished the last line of the song and looked at her silent friends.

"That was really beautiful Lisa," cried Sammy. "It really was," said Vanessa and Kim.

Max and Ben also complimented the commander on her song and Claudia just gave Lisa a big thumb's up.

Rick stunned by the emotional tone conveyed in Lisa's song and the beauty of voice, was just speechless. While Minmei's voice was well trained and pleasing, it didn't quite have the same quality as Lisa's singing

Lisa noticing that Rick didn't say anything felt a little disappointed but just smiled at the group and made a little bow.

The Trio cornered Lisa to talk a little more about her hidden talents and to teach them the cups pattern Ben, Max and Rick started to help Claudia and Roy clean up. Leftover food was packed away for the pilots to take with them, and soon the picnic was cleared away.

"Claudia, I gotta go, I have to report in soon," said Lisa.

"Already? You've been putting in too many hours already, doesn't the high command know that you need your rest too?" said Claudia.

"I know, I know, but if there is any chance of getting the citizens of Macross back to Earth, well it will all be worth it," said Lisa. "What's the sacrifice of a few hours of sleep if we can get them home."

The unselfishness of Lisa's words and the conviction, with which she spoke, impressed Rick. He had always felt that Lisa was more interested in following her military duty and not as interested in using her position to help those on the ship.

Claudia handed Lisa the large insulated tote bag that Rick had found the food in earlier.

"Uh Lisa, do you mind if I go back with you too?" said Rick.

Lisa looked a bit surprised at his request as the rest of the group had started throwing a Frisbee around and was having a good time with their break from work.

"Wouldn't you rather stay and have fun with everyone else?"

Ricked looked at the group playing in the fielded area and then turned to Lisa, "not today, I am a bit tired and I could use some rest."

"Well if you're sure…."said Lisa hesitatingly.

"Yeah, let's go." said Rick as he took the tote bag from her hands.

Rick and Lisa said goodbye to the friends and continued to walk down the path that would lead them to the military quarters.

Not much was said between the two, until Rick stopped before they entered the lobby to the front desk. Lisa lost in her own thoughts thinking about the young man walking with her, didn't notice his stop and would have continued in to the lobby if Rick didn't suddenly grab her wrist. She turned to face him and found herself looking up into his eyes again.

"Lisa, uh, Commander. I just wanted to say how lucky we are to hear you sing and I hope that I'll get the honor of hearing you sing again. It truly was beautiful, your voice is amazing. "

Lisa thanked him and said, "I am sure you never thought I could use my voice for anything else then yelling at you over the TacNet."

They both laughed , Rick handed her the tote as they entered the lobby, checked in and parted ways to their quarters.

Rick paused to watch Lisa hurry down the hall to where the officer's quarters lay. Rick was conflicted with the growing attraction he felt for Lisa, the jealousy he felt when Max had engaged Lisa's interest and decided that he wanted to know more about Lisa than the few tidbits that were dropped today. He thought back to the song that Lisa sang and felt a little sad. He didn't know why but he felt that Lisa was telling them something with her song and that he didn't like the feeling of her being gone from the SDF-1. Little did he know that a few days later, Lisa would be on her way back to Alaska Base on Earth to try and convince the UEG to negotiate a peace treaty with the Zentradi and to allow the citizens of Macross to resettle on Earth.

When I'm gone
When I'm gone
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone
You're gonna miss me by my hair
You're gonna miss me everywhere, oh
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone