Lunar Andromeda

Chapters 1 - 14

 

Fandom: Andromeda/Sailor Moon
Disclaimer: All Andromeda characters are copyrighted to Tribune Entertainment. The Sailor Moon concept belongs to Naoko Takeuchi.
Rating: NC-17
Archive: Anywhere, just give credit where credit is due
Feedback: Yes, please! Send all comments to purenightshade@gmail.com
Author’s Notes: There are some severe spoilers for the entire series, especially concerning the character of Trance Gemini. You’ve been warned. Also, I don’t plan on using Doyle, as she’s a character I know nothing about. I’m pretending she doesn’t exist.
Summary: After a brutal attack by the Magog on a planet belonging to the restored Commonwealth, Dylan Hunt decides to get rid of the Magog threat once and for all. Trance has a plan

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Episode 15: Siblings

Authors note: I wrote all the poetry excerpts Jen is reciting in this particular chapter. For full versions of the poems, contact me.

The dinning hall they were taken to was a medium sized room with a single long rectangular table surrounded by low backed chairs. The large high backed chair at the end was empty. Chuuseki, dressed as he had been earlier, was seated in a chair to the left of the empty one, chatting amiably with Jason. Jason looked up as they entered. He waved happily at them before turning back to his conversation, toying with a strand of his short black hair. He was dressed in an all-black version of his usual clothes.
Tenshi was seated beside Chuuseki with Yumeko on her other side, and Okami was seated to Yumeko's other side. They were wearing fancier versions of the dresses they'd worn when they'd revealed their alien natures to the crew of the Andromeda.
Chuuseki stood and looked at them. "Please be seated. We're just waiting for StarFire to join us before we serve dinner."
"I do hope you remembered what I told you about their palates, Honored Consort," Jason told him. "They likely won't be able to tolerate the spices we commonly use."
Chuuseki shook his head. "How any species could thrive on such bland food is beyond me."
"Well, Rhade might be able to handle it, but the others won't."
"Rhade?" Chuuseki searched their faces. "Ah! I assume that you are Terazed Kamen?" Rhade nodded. "Good to have a name to go with this face. I can't always make the connection between a senshi's civilian form and their senshi self."
"I wasn't really aware that there was a difference," he said, sitting down beside Jason. Trance was careful to leave an empty seat between her and Rhade. Dylan took the other seat beside Trance and Beak sat beside Dylan. Harper sat on the other side of the table beside Okami.
"It's how senshi keep their identities secret," Tenshi explained. "The transformation sequence masks you in more ways than in just the change of clothes. The most drastic example of this that I've seen is with the senshi of the Sol system. For some odd reason, when we were there at least, they were all Japanese. When they transformed, their entire appearance changed. Their leader, Sailor Moon, went from having black hair and brown eyes to blond hair and blue eyes. It took some getting used to."
"The two of you can discuss this later," StarFire said, entering the room. "I'm starving!" The Andromeda crew stared at her. She'd abandoned her normal black uniform for one that was solid red. From the sound it made when she moved and how the light played across it, it was made of some kind of soft leather. Her boots had thinner heels than her normal ones. Her hair was tied back in a braid wrapped ponytail and her forearms were wrapped with red ribbons as had become usual ever since they'd left Callien.
"That's what happens when you head out into the Kanehr Shovasea," Okami scolded her teasingly. "You burn a lot of your energy just trying to move."
StarFire slid into the chair between Trance and Rhade just as the servers brought in platters of food. At Chuseki's instruction, they placed safe platters within reach of the guests. Once the servers had left, Chuuseki raised his glass. "Please, help yourselves."
Jason and StarFire each took a slice of the round, steaming flat bread and set it on the small plate above their larger main plate before taking spoonfuls of food from the dishes. There were meats in varying spicy-smelling sauces, vegetables in cream sauces, as well as steamed vegetables, smoked meats, things that smelled vaguely like pickles, and thinly sliced roasted meat.
StarFire took some of the meats in spicy sauces and some of the roasted meat, ignoring the vegetables. She tore a chunk off the flat bread and used it to pick up some of the meat in sauce and ate it.
Rhade watched her carefully, doing his best to imitate her actions. He chewed the meat thoughtfully, enjoying the unusual flavor. StarFire watched him expectantly for any reaction to the spice in the sauce. It didn't come immediately, but the more of it he ate, the redder his cheeks got until finally he coughed, reaching for his glass.
StarFire grabbed his wrist before he could get to it. "Much as I'd enjoy the show, that's not a good idea. The caverra in the sauce is oily, so drinking only makes it worse. Eat some of the flat bread or vegetables to soak the oil up."
"How can you eat this stuff so casually?" Harper asked her, more than a little red in the face himself. "It's tasty, but I've never eaten anything this spicy before in my life!"
"It would be best for you to avoid the meats in sauce," Okami suggested. "I have a high tolerance for spicy food, but I can't handle that stuff. What's it called again?"
"Chacarry," StarFire replied, tearing another piece of bread and scooping up some more of the food in question.
"It reminds me of that super spicy curry we had way back when. Remember? The one you had to specially order and took fifteen minutes to prepare?"
"You mean the one that killed your taste buds for a week?" StarFire asked, smirking. "I remember. It actually had a nice level of spice to it."
"This stuff is plenty spicy," Rhade commented.
"You think so? There's not quite enough caverra in it for my taste. They must have toned it down just in case one of you made the mistake of trying to eat it."
"It's not good form to make one's guests ill," Chuuseki told her. "No matter how little you like them."
StarFire stared down at her plate. "Yes, Honored Consort."
"You really don't need to call me that, StarFire. I've never understood why you insist on it."
She set her piece of bread down. "That's why I didn't want to come home. Jason is the only person who knows what's going on in my head."
"Perhaps if you'd talk to people, this wouldn't be a problem," a new voice said, entering the room. It was a woman with skin the color of milk chocolate and blond hair that was so pale it was almost white. Her eyes were a solid amethyst color with no visible pupil or white. She was dressed in a deep golden gown that left her arms bare. The deep scoop of the neck exposed part of her average cleavage. Her thin lips were painted a deep red. Her long hair was pulled up into a braided bun with a single braid trailing down her back from the base of the bun. She wore no jewelry. "I see you've finally returned. I was beginning to wonder if you were ever coming home."
"If I could have avoided it, I wouldn't have returned at all," StarFire said harshly.
The woman sniffed. "You would have been doing all of us a big favor but staying away."
Chuuseki stood. "Stop it, you two. Hihana, be nice. StarFire, the same goes for you. I know you two don't get a long, but could you two at least be civil in front of our guests?"
"Nice? To her? Why should I? She abandoned her family."
"Abandoned? I went on a mission. I was doing my job!" StarFire shouted angrily, jumping up out of her chair.
Jason got up and placed himself in between the two women. "Much as I hate to be the peacekeeper between the two of you yet again, it looks like I have to. Honestly! You two are far more mature than this, yet you constantly stoop to this insane sibling rivalry thing. It's getting old."
Rhade looked between StarFire and Hihana. So that's her sister? She's beautiful! This explains a lot about her. They're like day and night appearance-wise, but seem very similar in personality. Stubborn to the core.
"This wouldn't be a problem if mother would just accept me as her Heir instead of the prodigal daughter."
"You still think after all these years that I want any of this?" StarFire asked incredulously. "I don't. If it were up to me, you could have it. I just don't care."
Hihana looked at her younger sister thoughtfully. "There's something wrong with you. Why wouldn't you want it? You would never want for anything so long as you lived."
"My freedom," StarFire said quietly. "As much of a pain in the ass being a senshi can be, it still gives me more freedom than anything else." She moved away from the table and turned to Chuuseki, bowing formally. "My apologies, Honored Consort, but I must excuse myself. I find that I've lost my appetite." She brushed past Hihana and out into the hallway.
Hihana watched her leave and shrugged. "She's awfully temperamental today," she observed, taking the seat StarFire had previously occupied beside Rhade. "And who might you be?" she asked flirtatiously. "I don't think I've ever met anyone quite like you."
Tenshi snorted. "Seeing as how he's from the Triangulum galaxy, that's something of an understatement, Hihana."
Hihana rolled her eyes. "Must you intrude on everyone else's conversations, Tenshi? It's quite rude you know."
"You would know," Yumeko said standing. "You wrote the book on that subject. My apologies. I should go and see if StarFire is alright."
"By all means, Yumeko. Please see if you can talk some sense into her."
"I don't think that's possible anymore, Honored Consort," she said, smiling wistfully before she left.

Three hours later, Rhade found her sitting up on the wall above the entrance to the palace, leaning her back against the statue of Kanehjer Sherakasei. The sun was setting, making the roofs of the houses below appear to be on fire. The statue behind her refracted the light. She was still wearing the red outfit that she'd worn to dinner, but for some reason he couldn't quite put his finger on, he knew that this was Jen and not StarFire. She looked up at him as he approached and then turned her head to look out over the city.
"Jason suggested that this might be a good place to hide," he said, sitting down beside her.
"It used to be," Jen said quietly. "Though somehow I figured that Okami would have been the one to point you in this direction."
"She thought you'd probably be in the library, but you weren't."
"So she is giving you advice. Figures."
"I didn't ask for her help; she offered it. Also, I wasn't looking for you. I need a place to hide."
"Hide from what?"
"Not what. Who. Hihana."
Jen looked at him. "Why are you trying to hide from her?"
Rhade shook his head. "She's the complete opposite of you. No inhibitions whatsoever."
"Throwing herself at you is she?" Jen sighed. "I suppose that means that you're attractive."
"You suppose? You don't think so?"
"Not particularly. You're not ugly, but not spectacular."
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me, which isn't saying much as you rarely speak to me."
"Don't get used to it." She looked back out at the city. "So she's set her sights on you. You should be glad. She's quite wealthy, you know, and in case you were wondering, she's an example of the ideal look for women here."
"I'm not really much for blonds. She's pretty, but she's a little too dark for my taste. She looks like she's been out in the sun too long."
"Dare I ask what you prefer, even though something tells me I already know?"
"I prefer lighter skin and black hair. How about you?"
"I would prefer to not associate with men at all."
Feeling that it wouldn't be a good idea to press her any further on that subject, even though he really wanted, to, he instead said, "Jen, I have to ask. Why did you come to dinner as StarFire and not as yourself?"
"Because StarFire is as close to my real self as I'm willing to get. I want to keep a distance between my family and myself. It won't last much longer. I want to cherish every last moment of freedom I have left before the Queen and my mother get here."
"They'll both be here?"
Jen nodded glumly. "Dealing with one or the other I could probably cope with, but both at the same time? I know I'll be pressured into doing things I don't want to do, but knowing that doesn't help me out any."
"What kinds of things?"
"The usual things that mothers want for their children. Retire from being a senshi, find a mate, have kids, settle down, stay close to home, take over when mother's ready to retire. That sort of thing."
"And your mother can pressure you into this? What about the Queen?"
"For once, she's in agreement with mother. I'm just lucky that this mission came up or they would have won." She snorted. "Lucky. Right. It's funny in a sick sort of way. After everything that happened to me, it's still better than the fate that awaits me."
"I thought you didn't believe in fate."
"Not the fate we were discussing at the time. Really, I'm not sure what word fits better."
"Future?" Rhade suggested.
"That's better I suppose." She sighed and curled her knees up under her chin. "Not that it helps me out any."
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Nothing springs to mind. Besides, the last thing I need is more help from you."
They sat in silence. Rhade watched the light reflect on Jen's dark hair. In the dying sunlight, she appeared to be made of fire. The light added fiery red highlights to her normally pitch black hair and caressed her skin, giving her pale tone a glow that wasn't normally present.
He stood suddenly. "I should probably go," he said reluctantly. "I feel like I'm intruding on what little freedom you have left."
"You can stay if you want," Jen told him. "Despite the fact that I really don't like you all that much, you're the only person who seems to give to shakes of a sand rat's tail about me."
"Harper cares about you," Rhade reminded her.
"Harper is like a little brother. Your interest is different. Oh, don't get me wrong, he tried when we first met, but he gave up after a while. We've been friends ever since."
He sat back down. "I always enjoy spending time with you. It's not always pleasant because of your attitude towards me and all other Nietzscheans, but just being around you…I'm sorry. You probably don't want to hear any of this."
Jen sighed. "Not really. I have a good idea what you're trying to say. I've heard it before."
"Really?"
"Twice. Ironically, the two people who said these kinds of things to me were identical in appearance: Seikou and Seiya Kou." She shrugged. "It was a long time ago, though. If anyone else has said any of it to me since then, I can't remember."
"I imagine that Gaheris said similar things to Valkyrie."
"You're probably right. I wonder if she laughed at him for it."
"Why would she have laughed?"
"If I wasn't so angry and depressed, I'd be laughing. I laughed at Seikou."
"But not Seiya?"
"I'd just lost Seikou when I met Seiya, so I was depressed and angry and trying very hard to loose myself in our mission at the time: destroy Kage Neko and return home to help rebuild everything destroyed in the war. Ultimately, we succeeded, but with unexpected consequences."
"You're talking about yourself. I don't know if I should be happy or afraid."
"Imagine that. A big tough Nietzschean afraid of a talking woman."
"I'm serious! You never volunteer information about yourself. Why now? Are you that depressed?"
"Yes," she replied bluntly. "Coming home was supposed to pull me together. As a senshi, I feel more together, but I feel worse otherwise. So bad, in fact, that I'm talking about myself."
Rhade scooted closer to her and carefully placed a hand on one of hers. "For once, I'm at a loss. I always wanted to know more about you, but this feels strange."
"You'll get used to it. Strange is a part of what we do. Worry when things stop feeling that way." She sighed, staring off into the distance. "I'd rather be anywhere but here/Far away from here/Come take a ride to the other side/Of life with me/Pack your bag, empty your pockets…/Anywhere but here." Seeing Rhade's puzzled look, her lip twitched in wistful amusement. "Seiya used to make a face like that when I was doing something odd. It's a part of a poem I wrote when I was on Earth that first time. It's the only part I can remember right now. To this day, I still don't know what caused me to write that."
"Tell me more about this Seiya guy," Rhade suggested. "Seeing as you seem to be in a very rare talkative mood."
"I'd rather not talk about Seiya right now. It's not a painful memory, but it's associated with Seikou and that's still painful after who knows how many thousands of years."
"Ok, then. You said you wrote poetry. Can you remember anything else you've written?"
"Most of what I write are song lyrics, but yes, I can. What subject are you looking for?"
"Something suiting your mood."
Jen thought about it for a moment and then said, "I feel like a bird/In a windowless cage/Bound and gagged/Denied crying out my rage/The ropes tying me down/Are what you claim is love/What you feel is a smile, I see is a frown/All I can do is stare at the sky above."
"That certainly seems to fit," Rhade agreed. "I think I'm depressed now."
Jen leaned forward and poked him in the forehead. "I doubt it."
Rhade smiled teasingly. "You're right. I'm not. I'm too busy enjoying being alone with you like this to be depressed."
"I could fix that," Jen said darkly. "There are things I could tell you that would depress even the ever cheerful Yumeko."
"So tell me," he suggested.
"And loose all of my last shreds of dignity? I don't think so."
"Don't feel much like talking anymore?"
"I do," she said standing up. "But if I stay here talking to you much longer, I won't be able to stop. The last thing I need right now is to be that vulnerable. See you around, Rhade."
Rhade watched her leave and then turned to watch the sun's final decent below the horizon, wondering if he'd ever know what was going on.

Episode 16: Garden

After the dinner, Beka had gone back to her room and changed back into
her regular clothes. The ones that had been provided for her were nice
and comfortable, but she didn't feel like they suited her at all. As
much as she disliked Jen, she had to admit to herself that the style
suited her better. She hung the clothes back up in the closet.
Of course the style suits her better. She comes from here. She
sat down on the bed and looked at the room around her. It was modestly
furnished with light hangings over the window. The setting sun cast a
fiery light on everything in the room, making her feel as if she was
in an oven. It's certainly hot enough to be an oven, she
thought, wiping her forehead with one hand. I know Tenshi warned us
that this place was hot on the way down, but I didn't expect this. I'm
glad I didn't wear anything black.
She stood up and headed out of the room. There has got to be
somewhere in this place that's cooler than my room. Besides, there's
nothing to do in there. I can't read the language, so the books aren't
any good. I didn't think that anyone still had books with pages
anymore. Everyone I've ever heard of uses flexis.
She headed down the stairs to the landing where the statue was and
debated on where to go. One of the hallways was heavily guarded, so
that was out of the question. One led to the Audience Chamber. She
didn't want to go there, so that one was eliminated. That left three
hallways. One ended in a staircase going up to a third floor. An
examination of the area around the statue yielded a faint breeze
coming from the hallway leading off to the left, so she followed it.
It led her past some doors with strange markings on them. Beka ignored
them in favor of finding the breeze that teased her short blond hair.
It ended in a gate made of elegantly twisted metal. It was slightly
ajar, so she pushed it the rest of the way open and headed out. She
followed the path on the other side, spurred on by the breeze and the
faint sound of trickling water.
The path led to a carefully manicured garden surrounded by a tall
hedge. Flowers that looked like roses were in full bloom, their scent
mingling in the night air with the scents from the other flowers, ones
she didn't recognize. There was a small pond on one corner with a few
fish swimming in it. The trickling sound she'd heard was the small
artificial waterfall that fed it. Beside the pond was a bush with
strange dark teal colored leaves and shiny silver heart-shaped
flowers. She knelt down beside it.
"I wouldn't touch those if I were you."
She spun around to see Jason standing behind her. "You scared me!"
"Better to scare you than to have you die accidentally from something
as innocent looking as a Shioye plant. The flowers are pretty
harmless; they'll only give you a mild rash. It's the leaves you need
to be careful of. There's a nasty poison coating on them. There are
some people who aren't bothered by it, but most have a fatal allergy
to it. We learned that the hard way when the plant was given to one of
the queens a few thousand years ago. We lost one of our better
gardeners, or so I'm told. It was a gift from the then queen of Ha'ven
to our queen at the time as a birthday present. The Laisheen are
immune to its poison and it hadn't occurred to her that we might
suffer ill effects from it." He shrugged. "Strangely, the fish aren't
bothered by it."
"I didn't think you had fish here, given that there are no bodies of
water anywhere."
"On the surface," Jason corrected her. "There is one large underground
lake way up north. These fish aren't from there, though."
"Another gift?" Beka guessed.
"Yes, but a more recent one and something of a joke between Tenshi and
Jen." Jason frowned at the cloud that passed over Beka's face at the
mention of his twin's name. "Is something wrong, Beka?"
"It's just that I'm getting very, very tired of hearing about Jen. I
don't see what the big deal is. As for the two of you being twins,
I've never met two siblings who are more different."
Jason's expression softened. "Ah. Jen and I aren't all that different,
really. I know you won't believe me, but underneath all the pain and
rage, Jen is really a nice person."
Beka rolled her eyes. "I doubt it. If you ask me, I think she's just
making all this stuff up about the Nietzscheans."
"Now you'd be wrong there. Because we're twins, we share a connection.
She told me what happened to her. She can't lie to me, Beka. I know
when she's hiding something and what she told me was entirely
truthful."
Beka eyed him. "You're very protective of her, aren't you?"
Jason shrugged, blushing. "Yeah, which is odd. She's actually very
protective of me. We generally wind up defending each other. It just
happened that way."
"And that other girl? Hihana? What's the deal with her?"
"Our not-so-beloved elder sister," Jason explained. "Neither of us
particularly cares for her."
"She's pretty."
"As far as Nomaien women go, her coloring is considered to be the
ideal. Blonds are favored quite highly. Personally, I prefer a lighter
skin tone, but that's mostly from my association with Jen and her
friends. There aren't a lot of senshi with darker skin tones, so I've
spent a lot of my life around paler women and have grown to appreciate
it." He stopped, looking her in the eye, and blushed, turning away. "I
also prefer blue eyes to amethyst. Being around Hihana has scarred me
on that score."
"So Yumeko is more your ideal?"
"Kitten?" Jason laughed. "I've known her since she was just a little
thing. I tend to think of her as a little sister. Okami is more like
the eccentric cousin who visits on occasion and Tenshi is a big sister
to me. Besides, Yumeko has far too much hair and her wearing down all
the time like that…not really my thing." He turned his back to her,
too embarrassed to say anything else. "I really shouldn't be talking
about this. It's not considered proper to discuss such things with
women."
"I'm not from around here, in case you've forgotten," Beka reminded
him. "It doesn't bother me to talk about things."
Jason gave a little half smile. "It's very hard to keep my cultures
straight some days."
"You travel around much?"
"A fair amount, yes. Don't get me wrong, I love my home and my people
despite what humans would see as an oppressive matriarchy, but I like
learning about other people. Humans in particular have always held a
fascination for me ever since I went to Earth that first time. I've
never quite been able to figure them out. Just when you expect them to
react one way, they turn around and do something completely different,
and that's just the men. You human women are even more unpredictable."
"Is that a bad thing?" Beka asked him, her head tilted questioningly
to the side, a smile on her lips.
"On the contrary. I think it's intriguing." Jason took a step closer
to her. "It's so different from the women here. You don't try and boss
me around or act superior to me just because you were born female. Oh,
there are a few Nomaien women here who don't do that, but they're a
distinct minority. Being around one woman who doesn't and isn't my
twin is a refreshing change." He grinned. "It's also a strange feeling
to be able to look a woman in the eyes."
Beka grinned back. "I'm only about a half an inch shorter than you
are," she pointed out.
"That and other things. It's rude to look a woman in the eyes unless
you're related to them. With women from other worlds and cultures,
it's fine."
"Well, you can look me in the eyes any time you want." Beka took a
step back and eyed him carefully. "You know, you look different
today."
"I've stopped attempting to look like a human man. It's not hard to
do, but it's been a long time since I've assumed my natural look." He
turned in a circle. "What do you think?"
"I'm not really sure what the difference is. I mean, your eyes are
solid black now, and I can see some red highlighting in your hair, but
that's all I notice. Am I missing something?"
"No, that about covers it, really."
"I liked how you looked before, especially in that tux you wear when
you transform."
Jason blushed, remembering her earlier praise. "It's not often I get
compliments from the opposite sex."
Beka laughed. "You blush like a school boy. It's cute."
Startled, he looked back up at her. "You think I'm cute?"
"Of course. Why should this come as a surprise? Don't you think you are?"
"Not to women, no."
"I've never met an attractive man who hasn't been aware of his looks
before. Dylan, Tyr, Rhade, they're all so confident and know they look
good."
"Not Harper?"
"Harper's cute in that little brother kind of way. Now you, you're
definitely not little brother cute. You're the kind of guy a girl
could take home to her parents."
Jason eyed he thoughtfully. "You're quite blunt, aren't you?"
"No sense in beating around the bush, is there? Besides, I think I've
been hanging around Nietzscheans a bit too much. I'm starting to sound
like them."
"Nothing wrong with bluntness," he said, staring at her as if trying
to come to a decision.
"You ok?"
"Oh hell…" he said, grabbing her shoulders and planting a gentle kiss
on her lips. When she didn't pull away and slap him, he wrapped his
arms around her while crying for joy inside. She tasted sweet to him,
smelling of sweat, sand, and something faintly floral.
For her part, Beka had been wondering how long it would take him to
get over his messed up culture and try something. She brought her
hands up to his chest and tugged on the collar of his shirt playfully.
He'd clearly had time to bathe after dinner, as he smelled clean and
somewhat spicy. He was warm and the bit of skin her fingers brushed up
against was soft and smooth.
Just when Beka was starting to enjoy herself, Jason pulled back. "We
should find somewhere a little more secluded if this is going to
continue," he whispered.
"I like this spot."
"Physical contact between members of opposite genders in public is
taboo here. If I were an offworlder, it wouldn't be so bad, or if you
were male or I were female, but we are who we are, so we'd best
relocate."
"Wait a minute," Beka said slowly. "Same gender relationships aren't
frowned on here?"
"Not at all," Jason said, sounding surprised. "They tend to be more
common, actually."
"That's strange."
"Well, not really if you think about it."
"It's not very good for the propagation of your species."
"You sound like a Nietzschean." He sighed. "You see, this is kind of
why Jen and I don't like to talk about our people."
"Well, let's go somewhere private and you can tell me more," Beka suggested.
Jason nodded. "Do you prefer my room or yours?" At her look, he
snickered. "What place is more private than a bedroom? In our culture,
it's one of the most private areas and is invaded only under the
utmost important of circumstances."
"Yours then."
They made their way back up to Jason's room. It was smaller than
Beka's but had a view of the garden. The breeze toyed with the light
curtains on his window and brought with it a faint floral scent and
the sound of the waterfall.
"Nice room," she commented, looking at his bookshelf.
"You think so? It's actually considered to be one of the worst rooms
in the palace because you can always hear the waterfall. Personally, I
don't mind the sound. It's soothing."
"So, about your people's odd views on relationships." Jason sat down
in a chair and invited her to take a seat opposite from him. "So
heterosexual relationships are in the minority?"
He nodded. "Before you tell me again that it isn't good for the
continuation of our species, let me explain something about the
Nomaien reproductive cycle. We don't have children easily and when we
do, it's not often. It's very rare for a woman to have more than two
children. For my mother to have had three is nothing short of amazing,
especially with Jen and I being twins. Twins are very special and
rare, but that's another story entirely. Anyways, back when my people
were still nomads moving from watering hole to watering hole, it
became clear to them that love between a man and a woman was becoming
more rare as the years passed. The women were finding it easier to
find love among their own gender. Marriage was becoming less frequent.
This came to the attention of the Queen. To make a very long story
short, what came of it was what we presently have. When a woman
decides to have a child, she finds a suitable man and they come to an
agreement. Sometimes they marry if they find that they like each other
enough. Most often, they stay together for a time agreed upon. For
reproduction, we seek the other gender; for love, we most often look
within our own."
"So if I understand correctly, the women see you men as breeding tools."
"That's not a nice way of putting it, but that's the general gist of it, yes."
Beka sat silently for a long time, just staring at him in disbelief.
"I can understand why you don't talk about yourselves much," she said
finally. "Do you...? Have you…?"
"Do I have a lover?" he asked bluntly. "No. Have I? Once, but it was a
very long time ago. It was very short lived."
"At least you're honest about this."
"My sisters have both ruined me that way," he said with a faint smile.
"I much prefer women. Despite my family connections, it's not likely
that I'll ever find a woman among my own species that would consider
me breeding material."
"I don't see why. You're very handsome."
"That's not the problem. It's the fact that I'm a senshi that keeps
them away. I attract men by the hoards, but not women."
"What does being a senshi have to do with anything?"
"I don't know if this holds true for the other galaxies, but here in
the Pegasus galaxy, the senshi only reproduce when they've stopped
being senshi. That doesn't happen often. Once a senshi officially
retires, their starseed becomes inactive. Sometimes, a replacement is
called. In other cases, that office remains open until the senshi has
a child. That child becomes the replacement then. If the senshi is a
woman, it's inevitable that the child is a girl, same with the men.
With both parents being senshi…I'm not sure. It doesn't happen enough
for a pattern to be seen."
"Lucky for you that I'm not from your world," Beka said, standing. "I
have no urge to reproduce any time soon."
Shocked, Jason looked up at her. "Pardon?"
"Well, you interest me."
Jason stood up slowly and took a step towards her. "Are you saying
what I think you're saying?"
"Your people don't have anything against relations with outsiders, do they?"
"It's not common, but because I'm a man I have more freedom in that regards."
"Good to know." She closed the distance and wrapped her arms around
his neck, kissing him hungrily. It took him a few moments to respond,
but he did, kissing her back just as hungrily, his tongue exploring
the inside of her mouth. He broke away and nibbled his way down the
side of her neck as his hands toyed with the hem of her shirt.
Beka's comm. beeped just as he was about to take her shirt off. She
cursed and answered it.
"Beka, we're meeting in my room in five minutes," Dylan's voice said.
"Can't it wait?"
"No, it's important."
She sighed. "Fine. I'll be there." She switched it off and turned back
to Jason. "Sorry about this."
He kissed her again, but gently this time. "There will be other
opportunities for us," he said. "Now that I know you're interested, I
will make myself available for you."
She smiled and headed for the door. "I'll see you later then?"
"My door is always open to you, Beka."
"Mine, too."

Beka burst into Dylan's room. "What the hell is so important that this
couldn't wait?"
Rhade looked up as Beka stormed in. Her skin was flushed and her pulse
was racing. She smelled like she was aroused. He blinked, puzzled.
Well, that would explain why she didn't want to come, but who
caused her to be in this state?
"We just got word that the Queen has returned from her meeting with
the other queens and brought them with her," Dylan said, oblivious to
her current state. "We've been summarily commanded to attend an
Audience with them first thing in the morning."
"That's your big important news that couldn't wait?" Beka asked
incredulously. "They didn't say anything else? Just commanded us to
attend?"
Trance nodded. "That's not the big important thing. Well, it is, but
I'm getting a very strange vibe all of a sudden, starting just before
we received news of Her return. It feels like something major is about
to happen. I wish we were back in familiar territory, where I can see
the possible futures, but it's like I'm walking through a dense fog
here. I can see something, but it's too far away."
"Any hints about this big thing?" Harper asked.
"None I'm afraid," Trance said apologetically. "I've tried talking to
some of the local scholars about that, but they haven't been very
helpful."
"Well, I guess we'll see what it is tomorrow morning," Rhade said.
"Until then, I suggest that we get some sleep.

Episode 17: Princess

The next morning, breakfast was brought up to their rooms with the
instruction that they eat and dress quickly. They knew where the
Audience Chamber was, so they were expected to make their own way down
there within the hour. It was made perfectly clear to them that the
queens would not appreciate being kept waiting long. They ate,
dressed, and headed down, wondering what was going on.
The guards outside the door let them in. Where there had been only one
throne the day before, there were seven large thrones. From left to
right they were light green, solid gold, iridescent grey, red, emerald
green, purple, and deep blue. All but the golden throne was clear
crystal. A regal-looking woman occupied each one.
The woman in the first throne was a Laisheen, her tail tip twitching
slightly as she watched them enter. Her gown was a darker shade of
green from her throne. Across her forehead was a silver band with a
single pale green stone set in the center. Her black hair was left to
hang loose while her cloudy grey eyes remained emotionless.
Beside her in the golden throne, a slight blond woman bearing a strong
resemblance to Yumeko gazed down at them with her light blue eyes. Her
hair was piled up on top of her head. Of the seven women, she alone
wore a golden tiara across her forehead. Hers was set with a pale blue
stone. Her pure white dress fitted her like a glove. Her hands rested
lightly on the throne's armrests. This then was the Queen of the Tora
home world.
The next woman appeared to be human. Her chocolate brown hair was
styled in a thin braid that was slung over her shoulder to hang down
her front. Her dark grey dress was of a simpler cut than the ones worn
by the other women, but the fabric was a soft velvet rather than silk.
Her tiara was set with a lighter grey stone. Her dark purple eyes
watched them with interest.
The Queen of Nomaie in her red throne had the coldest expression of
the seven. One hand toyed with the end of her long blond braid, her
solid gold eyes narrowed as they approached. The crimson colored gem
in her tiara was flat and lusterless. Her red gown had the most
elaborate styling of the seven.
On the emerald throne, the red haired woman looked at them warmly. Her
skin was a pale color with pointed ears that looked a great deal like
Trance's. She had green eyes that matched the emerald color of her
gown, tiara stone, and throne.
A woman with light grey skin and frilled ears sat in the purple
throne, ignoring them completely. She held her silver tiara with its
amethyst stone in her hands, rubbing imaginary spots off it before
putting it back on and smoothing the deep purple silk of her dress.
Her dark grey hair was elegantly coiffed.
The final woman was a Kal'tresh'nal with sea green hair and intense
blue eyes. Her hair hung loose around her in waves with a small
portion pulled back in a braid behind her head. Her deep blue gown
matched the style of the one Tenshi had worn when she'd first revealed
her true nature to the crew of the Andromeda just after they'd
rescued Jen. Her deep blue tiara stone winked in the light.
Jason was already there, dressed in a red silk version of his regular
shirt with black pants. He waited patiently for them to walk up beside
him before turning and bowing to the assembled queens.
"Revered Majesty of Nomaie, Revered Majesties of our allied worlds,
these are my friends, the crew of the High Guard warship Andromeda
Ascendant. They have brought my humble self and my honored sister
back home. They have been nothing but kind and helpful to us. One of
them, Seamus Harper, had befriended my honored sister during her
mission to Earth."
"Indeed," the woman on the iridescent grey throne said, arching an eyebrow.
"I will not tolerate this, Hibashira," the grey skinned woman said
acidly. "Why should we tolerate these strangers in our system?"
"Peace, Amejisetto," the blond Tora woman said calmly. "They have
returned Our children, and as such deserve to be heard."
"As you wish, Kinyuri, but you know how I stand on this issue."
The Laisheen rolled her eyes. "Oh for stars' sake, Amejisetto, open
your mind for once. The way I hear it, two of them are senshi."
"Ancient law clearly states that all senshi are welcome," the
Kal'tresh'nal woman reminded the fuming Amejisetto.
"Very well. Speak!"
"Being that they are outsiders, they naturally do things differently
than we do here on Nomaie. If it pleases your Revered Majesty, I'd
like to present Captain Dylan Hunt of the Andromeda Ascendant."
She nodded and gestured for him to continue. Dylan stepped forward and
bowed politely. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Revered Majesty."
The woman on the grey throne leaned forward. "Well, this is
interesting. A man commanding a warship. How novel!"
Hibashira looked down her nose at her. "Only you would find something
like that interesting, Kineko."
"Please continue, Captain," Kinyuri said to him. "You brought Our
children home?"
"Yes, indeed, Revered Majesty."
"Please tell Us the tale from the beginning."
Dylan cleared his throat and started from the Magog attack on the
Commonwealth world of Arntzed and told them of the discovery that two
of his crew were senshi, the meeting of the women who had introduced
themselves as Wolf, Yumeko, and Serenity, the rescue of Jen, and their
journey from Earth to Nomaie with all the pit stops in between.
Queen Kinyuri listened patiently, waiting until he'd finished speaking
before standing. Jason frantically indicated that they should kneel.
"Captain Hunt, my thanks to you for returning Our children and
rescuing one of Our senshi. We welcome you and your crew to Our
system. You may stay as long as you like. These are my fellow Queens.
On the far left in the light green throne we have Utano Mori of
Ha'ven, Kane Kineko of Taleer, Yoake Hibashira of Nomaie, Akai Hoshi
of Raiven, Nijishi Amejisetto of Dailen, and Namida Mizuumi of
Aiella."
"My thanks for your generosity, but we need to leave again as soon as
StarFire is ready to travel."
Hibashira stood and walked towards him, eyes blazing. "You will not
take her from this planet. She is needed here."
Trance stepped up beside Dylan. "My apologies, Revered Majesty, but we
have need of her strength and skills as a senshi. The Magog are a
threat to all life and the Abyss threatens to end all life in the
Tri-galaxies. They will not stop there, but will continue on to yours
once they have finished with us."
"Who are you to speak so brazenly to me?"
"My name is Trance Gemini, Revered Majesty. I am also known as Sailor Vedra."
"A senshi? So it is true, then."
"Yes, Revered Majesty," Jason said. "The senshi of the Systems
Commonwealth are in need of our assistance, as the only discovered
senshi in the Tri-galaxies are in this room: Sailor Vedra and Terazed
Kamen," he said, pointing to Rhade. "They are in need of experienced
senshi until they can find more of their own."
Hibashira looked at him. "You may go with them, but StarFire remains
here. That is my command and it shall be followed."
The doors opened again and Okami, Yumeko, and Tenshi entered. All
three were wearing the dresses they'd worn when they'd revealed their
true selves to the crew. They stopped beside the others and bowed
formally to the assembled queens. Kinyuri ran for Yumeko and wrapped
her arms around her.
"Welcome home, my daughter."
"It's good to see you again, mother."
"You've been away from home for far too long, Yumeko. Let me have a
look at you." Kinyuri pulled away from her, turning her daughter
around. "You look well."
"I am, mother."
"What is your opinion of these outsiders?"
"I have agreed to help them. I would not have done so if they were not
worth it."
Kinyuri turned to the other two. "Tenshi? Okami?"
"We have also agreed to lend them our assistance in defeating the
Magog," Tenshi replied.
Okami shuddered. "You should see those things, Majesty. They look like
teddy bears gone mad! Exterminating them might seem like genocide, but
that's what they will do to the rest of the universe if they remain
unchecked."
"Go. Help them. I won't stand in your way," Hibashira told them.
"Respectfully, Majesty, you are. You are aware that we need StarFire
to complete our team. Nomaie Kamen is skilled as well as a fire type
senshi, but he is, after all, only a Kamen," Yumeko said softly. "We
need our fourth in order to be of any use."
"You may not have her."
"With all due respect, Revered Majesty, it isn't your decision to
make," Jen said, walking in. She was wearing an elegant scarlet red
dress that clung to her torso, accentuating her curves and then
falling loose around her feet. The skirt swirled as she walked.
"I was wondering if you were going to show up," Hibashira fumed.
"You commanded me to appear and I must obey a royal command."
"My command is that you remain here on Nomaie and accept your familial
responsibilities."
"And, respectfully, I must decline as I said before."
"Kasei, it is high time that you retire from being a senshi and settle down."
"With who? Ryuujin?" She snorted. "The man is a sadist and a pig and I
refuse to have him anywhere near me."
"This was all settled when you were children."
"It's a custom that is long overdue to be removed from our society.
Who could have known that he would have turned out the way he did?"
"You can't tell how a child will turn out."
"This is the point I'm trying to make, honored mother. Besides, I'm
not in a position to be able to settle down. I gave them my word that
I would help them, even thought I think this is madness. Would you
have me break my word?"
Hibashira stiffened. "You gave them your word? Foolish child!"
"I'm not a child, mother! If I choose to assume the throne of Nomaie
in the future, I don't want the threat of these Magog hanging over my
head."
"You will stay here and obey my command, Kasei and that is final.
Ryuujin has been summoned to the capital."
"I am not in a position to marry, mother. You haven't yet asked me how
I am or what has happened to me."
"Captain Hunt has already explained the situation to us."
"Captain Hunt and the other members of his crew are largely unaware of
all that has happened to me."
"Oh? Do enlighten me, then," Hibashira said, returning to her throne.
She sat down, crossing her legs and resting her arms on the armrests.
"Most of it cannot be told in public, so I will save that for when we
have some time alone. Or, simply ask Yuki, as he knows most of the
details. Whichever. It matters not to me. There is, however, a part
that can be told and most everyone here saw what happened even if they
do not realize the significance of it. You see, while we were on
Callien, I fell into a lake that Tenshi inadvertently created."
"It was to save the Callien people as well as Dylan and Beka," Tenshi
added helpfully.
"As your Revered Majesties are well aware, I cannot swim. Rhade jumped
in after me. Yuki would have, but he cannot swim either. It is because
of Rhade's actions that I am able to stand here. You see, honored
mother, Revered Majesties, he saved my life."
The queens muttered in surprise amongst themselves. Finally, Mizuumi
of Aiella turned to Kasei. "So you are under a life debt to him,
then?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, yes. As you are all aware, according
to our laws I am not permitted to marry, hold official positions or do
much of anything until I have repaid the debt."
"I fail to see how this helps you out at all, Kasei," Amejisetto
commented. "According to your won laws, you cannot act as a senshi, as
that is considered an official position. Repaying the debt will allow
you act as a senshi again, but you will also once again be allowed to
marry and my honorable colleague of Nomaie will undoubtedly reinforce
your arrangement with Ryuujin."
"Ah, but Rhade is also Terazed Kamen; therefore, I must continue to
act as a senshi as it will give me more opportunities to repay the
debt."
Hoshi looked over at Hibashira. "She is right, you know. You can't
force her to do anything until this is all settled."
"Peace, Hibashira," Kinyuri said forestalling any further argument she
might have made. "Kasei, you have my permission to help the outsiders
even though you don't need it. Please rid yourself of this life debt
as soon as possible."
"It's not something I enjoy having over my head, Majesty."
Kinyuri smiled. "No, I don't imagine it is. You haven't changed in
eight thousand years."
"Has it really been that long?" Kasei asked with a rueful smile.
"Yes, indeed, it has," Hoshi said, nodding. "We of Raiven recall our
first encounter with you well."
"Now is not the time for reminiscing," Mizuumi chided her. "Now that
we have met with the outsiders, we have other things to discuss
amongst ourselves."
"Yes, indeed," Kinyuri mused. "I see no reason to go back to Kinshei
to do so when we are all gathered here. Besides, should we need to ask
any questions, we are conveniently located here with the Guardians,
the new senshi, and the rest of the crew of the Andromeda
Ascendant. I would advise none of you to leave the palace complex,
however. We have offered you hospitality, true, but we would
appreciate it if you remained nearby just in case. Kasei, if you could
stay behind, there are things we need to discuss with you."
Jason, or Yuki as they now knew his real name to be, bowed. "We will
remain near awaiting your summons, Revered Majesties," he said,
ushering the other out.

Outside, they immediately turned to Yuki. "So, that's your real name,"
Trance said, breaking the stunned silence.
He nodded. "Yes. Yoake Yuki."
Beka stared. "You're a prince?"
"We don't really define it as such here, but yes. I am the second
child of Yoake Hibashira and Akatsuki Yoake Chuuseki. My elder sister
is Yoake Hihana and Yoake Kasei is my younger twin sister."
Rhade leaned against the wall. "A princess."
"Not just the princess," Yuki told him. "She is the Heir to the throne
of Nomaie."
Dylan frowned. "Shouldn't the elder sister be the Heir?"
"Technically, yes, but for some reason that was never made clear to me
mother has favored Kasei since her birth." He shrugged. "It's not
really all that important in the long run. Kasei doesn't want the
throne. The problem is, she would rather slit her own throat than see
Hihana as Queen."
"And,being male, you aren't eligible," Tenshi added.
"Not unless both of my sisters die. In which case, I would have no
choice but to retire from my position as senshi, find a woman of
decent lineage, and marry her. She would then become the Queen. Nomaie
has never had a King, as you would define the term. It is always a
Queen and her Consort."
"Well, she did say things would make more sense once we got here,"
Rhade murmured. "Now I'm almost wishing that they didn't."
"Well, now you all know the truth," Yumeko said.
"As much of it as any self-respecting Nomaien will tell of it, that
is," Okami added. "There are some nuances that anyone who hasn't known
Kasei all that long will miss."
"Who is this Ryuujin guy they kept talking about?" Harper asked. "It
sounded like they're engaged or something."
"Oh, yes. That." Tenshi looked as if she wanted to hit something.
"Don't mistake me, I think of Hibashira as a second mother to me, but
on this I refuse to do so. It's an outdated custom. It was thought in
the old days that it was best to find a mate for the Heir early in
life so that the two could grow up knowing each other. It was felt
that doing so would allow them to come to love each other or, at the
very least, become friends. In theory, it's a good idea. In practice,
it's not.
"As a child, Sabaku Ryuujin was already an odd one, but was clever
enough to hide it from the adults. Hibashira believed the Sabaku
family to be a good match and so she made arrangements with his
mother, Sabaku Shugoryuu, for them to be betrothed. Now, a Nomaien
betrothal bond is something more than what you know as an engagement,
but still less than a marriage. It's long believed to be an
unshakeable bond."
"It's nonsense if you ask me," Okami snorted. "Anyways, as Ryuujin
grew older, it became clearer that he wasn't normal. A lot of people
shrugged it off, saying that it was just a male thing. His family
ignores it, but somewhere along the line he turned into the sadistic
man he is today."
Yumeko shuddered. "His reputation for enjoying the pain he inflicts on
his so-called lovers has reached beyond Nomaie. I'm pretty sure that
they know of it as far away as Ha'ven and Aiella."
"The problem is that no one really believes half of the stories about
him. Frankly, if I didn't know better, I wouldn't either. I've seen
the damage he's capable of."
"Not to you, I hope," Beka said.
Yuki shook his head. "No, he wouldn't dare touch me."
"This is a good thing, as he's expressed in you more times than I can
remember," Okami smirked. Yumeko laughed while Tenshi did her best to
keep it in.
Dylan, Harper, Rhade and Trance looked very confused. "Would you care
to explain what's so funny?" Rhade asked.
Beka took Rhade by the arm and led him away. "I'll explain up in your
room. I probably should have let you in on this last night when I
found out."

Episode 18: Musings

It was a good thing that Rhade was sitting down while Beka told him
what Yuki had told her the night before. None of it made any sense to
him. "How can a society thrive on this?" he asked numbly as his mind
raced.
"Apparently, it's a part of their biology. They don't have kids
easily, so it just made sense to them at the time and never saw any
reason to change it."
Rhade shook his head. "This can't be happening. It's bad enough that
she hates me, but to learn that, not only is she a princess and the
Heir to the throne, but she prefers women to men."
"I can only imagine how many lovers someone like her would attract.
She's strong, powerful, rich, high ranking, and not bad looking
either," Beka said. Outwardly, she was trying to be sympathetic, but
inside she was happy. She'd never much liked Jen, or Kasei as her name
turned out to be. Her personality grated and the way she treated Rhade
and Dylan irritated her to no end. This just gave her more reason to
not like her.
"This explains a lot. Her dislike of men, the way she watched those
dancing girls on Callien… Hell, everything about her makes perfect
sense now. Only one thing is missing, and that's what happened to her
in the Drago-Kazov camp. Yuki didn't happen to say anything about that
to you, did he?"
Beka shook her head. "No, but I didn't think to ask. I guess this
means that you should give up on her."
"I refuse to give up until I've talked with her about this."
"Now that her mother is here, I doubt you'll get much of a chance
until we get off this hell of a planet. I don't know why Yuki likes it
here."
"I can understand why Kasei doesn't, though," Rhade said, looking out
the window from his chair.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Just leave me be, Beka. Oh, if you could not talk about this with the
others, that would be good."
"Assuming that Okami, Tenshi, and Yumeko haven't already filled them
in," Beka said, reminding him that there were others that knew what
was going on. She got up and patted him on the shoulder before leaving
the room.
Rhade sat in shocked silence for several hours, trying to piece things
together. So. This is why she wouldn't tell us her name, why she
hates men so much. I'd hate women too if I were in this kind of
cultural position as well as being engaged to someone I hated. If only
I'd known about this from the beginning maybe it wouldn't hurt so
much. No, I think I still would have fallen in love with her. I tried
not to. I didn't even like her when I first saw her. She wasn't even
all that pretty.
He smiled a little at the memory of seeing her in the bed on the med
deck. Not bad, but nothing special either. If only I'd known how
she would look when cleaned up, or how she'd look in her senshi
uniform. Black leather. Just thinking about the few times he'd
seen her transformed made him sweat, never mind how he felt when he
was training with her back on the Andromeda. It was a good
thing that Tenshi was always there. Who knows what he might have tried
otherwise?
It's not my style to force myself on women, and the very idea is
abhorrent to me, but all sense or reason leaves my mind when she's
around. With the way she dresses and moves, her healthy figure, and
the way she smells, it's amazing that I've been able to keep my mind
so far. I don't know if it'll be easier or a lot harder now that I
know more about her.
He sat back and thought about it for a moment. None of this really
helps explain why she hates Nietzscheans, so it has to have everything
to do with whatever happened to her on Earth. That's the one missing
piece. Princess. Senshi. Woman. Man hater. There is no one word that
suits her more than the other.
Rhade got up out of the chair and walked over to the window. Judging
by the position of the sun, it was midday. Have I been sitting here
that long? he mused. He shook his head. I don't think that
there's enough time to fully come to terms with what Beka told me. It
goes against everything that I believe in. It makes me wonder how the
Nomaiens would take a typical Nietzschean family and the polygamy we
take for granted.
There was a knock on the door. "Come in."
Yuki came in and closed the door behind him. "I just thought I'd come
up here and see how you were doing."
"Not well."
"Look, Rhade, there are reasons why we kept this aspect of our culture
hidden from all of you. We've been judged very harshly for some of our
ways in the past and its led to long, bloody wars. I know it's not a
very good excuse, but that's how it goes."
"It's alright, Yuki," Rhade said without turning to look at the other
man. "Just answer me one question."
"The one question you don't really want to know the answer to. In all,
honesty, Rhade, I don't know. We don't talk about it. What I do know
is this; if she ever wanted a lover, she could have anyone she wanted.
Not for her looks, but for who she is."
"That's right. She keeps telling me that she's plain."
"She is, but she's pretty in her own way. Not many people see it. You
can, apparently. I'm glad I never really tried to make a pass at you.
My sister may not like you, but she gets cranky when people make
passes at anyone trying to get her attention. She doesn't share well."
Rhade turned to look at him. "Your sister is really quite strange."
"You don't know the half of it," Yuki groaned.
"Wait a minute. You tried to make a pass at me?"
"Can you blame me? Between how I was raised and you being a very good
example of Nietzschean physical perfection, it was hard not to be
interested. Besides, I seem to have found myself in a better situation
than I would be in if I had made a serious pass at you."
"I'm not sure if I should take that as a good thing."
Yuki blushed. "Umm, well, that really depends on how you look at it.
Hihana seems to have taken an interest in you. A word of advice, if I
may? Avoid her. She's what we call a trophy hunter. She collects
attractive men, adding them to her household. If she ever finds out
that you have a thing for Kasei, it'll make it worse unless, of
course, Kasei claims you for her own."
"And the likelihood of that is less than zero."
"You're quite the pessimist aren't you?"
"Given what I've just been told about her, I don't think it's all that strange."
Yuki gave him a puzzled look. "What are you talking about?"
"It's no wonder that she doesn't like men given her upbringing."
"Oh. That." Yuki shook his head. "Honestly, Rhade, don't let it get to you."
"How can I not let it get to me?" Rhade exclaimed. "I feel like I'm
trapped in a bad dream!"
"Has it occurred to you to just go and talk to her?"
"It's not likely that I'll have much chance to do that now that her
mother's here."
"Mother can't keep her busy forever," Yuki told him. "Kasei really
doesn't like being near her much." There was a knock on the door. "I'd
best be going. I have things I need to talk to Beka about."
Yuki left a pair of women wearing the uniform of the Nomaien Home
Guard entered. The blond watched Yuki leave while the redhead eyed
Rhade appraisingly.
"Rhade, you have been assigned new quarters in light of information
that has come to the attention of Her Revered Majesty and the council
of ruling queens. Please come with us."
"I don't understand."
"Of course not," the redhead said in a slightly condescending tone.
"You're just a man, after all. You aren't expected to understand, only
to obey the wishes of Her Revered Majesty."
The blond gestured at the door. "My apologies for the rudeness of my
colleague, but please do come with us."
He stood up. "It looks as if I have little choice in the matter,
though I must admit to a curiosity."
They led him down the hall and down the stairs to the main landing and
over to the guards blocking one of the hallways. They saluted smartly
and moved for them to pass. Rhade followed with a rising sense of
dread. At the end of the hallway was a large door carved with an image
of Kanehjer Sherakasei, the representative of the Queen and her
Heir, Hibashira and Kasei. Behind it was a staircase leading to
another hallway, this one lined with images of people. Some showed
pleasant looking women, others showed children at play. Few were
images of men. One large image showed a younger Hibashira with her
consort Chuuseki, both wearing very fancy clothes.
He was led into a room on the left side of the hall. The room was very
luxuriously decorated with silk hangings, tall shelves full of books,
musical instruments, plush couches and chairs, elegant looking
weaponry, and, strangely enough, a toy version of Kanehjer
Sherakasei sitting on one of the couches. Beside it was a very
strange creature that looked like a cross between a cat and a fox. It
looked up as they entered and hissed, unwinding its twin tails from
around its paws, jumping down and heading though a door leading into
an adjoining room.
"These are your new rooms," the blond informed him. She looked as if
she wanted to run from the room. She swallowed nervously. "I advise
you to not disturb the objects in this room." Both guards bowed and
left with a haste that made him wonder what was so special about this
room. Shrugging, he looked through the doorway the odd-looking
creature had gone through. In it was a single, massive four-poster bed
with silk hangings tied to the posts. It looked immensely comfortable.
In another room was a smaller daybed that looked slept in. The covers
were mostly on the floor. At the foot of the bed was a pair of boots
and a pair of leggings. The door to a closet was partially open. Rhade
peeked inside to find a few gowns, some fancy clothes, and plainer
ones like the kind he'd seen Kasei wearing.
Beside the closet was a vanity with a large mirror. Instead of the
usual feminine objects one might expect to find, he found a hairbrush,
some silken ribbons, a well-used book with a scrap of ribbon inserted
between two of the pages, an assortment of writing instruments, some
scraps of paper with things scribbled on them, and a short red stick
with a strange symbol on top. The stick shimmered in the light.
Inserted into the corners of the mirror were pictures of the four
Guardians in strange clothes. In one, Kasei had her arms wrapped
around Tenshi and Okami. All three were laughing. His eye was drawn to
one of Kasei with a tall, thin boy with long black hair drawn back
into a ponytail and blue eyes. He was wearing a red suit, green shirt,
yellow tie, and had a crescent shaped earring in each earlobe. Kasei
herself was wearing a pair of short red shorts and a white tank top
with a pair of knee high red boots. Both looked happy.
Rhade frowned at the image. It just occurred to him that this was the
first time he'd ever seen Kasei look happy and these were pictures.
Who is that? Why is she so happy with him?
"It's considered rude to enter a woman's private room without an
invitation," Kasei said, walking up behind him.
Rhade turned. "Could you explain why I was told that this is my new room?"
"It's because of the life debt. There were two options: I could move
into your room or you could come here. My mother is quite the snob at
heart and balked at the idea of her precious daughter living in guest
quarters in her own home. Personally, it matters little to me. These
may be my rooms, but I don't spend a lot of time here."
"Where do you spend your time, then?"
Kasei frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"Just answer my question," he said impatiently.
"You're snappy today, aren't you? When I'm not in the library, I'm
usually, out in town, in the desert training, visiting my friends, or
training senshi or Home Guard members. I do a lot of things when I'm
at home. I don't sit in my rooms like some of those pampered, high
born halfwits who think their time is better spent putting on makeup
or having their servants twist their hair into the latest styles."
"You look nice with your hair done."
"Grow your hair out and I'll style it, cramming the required number of
pins into your scalp in order to keep it there. Then we'll see how
much you enjoy looking like that."
"You're in a bad mood today."
"I was forced to talk to my mother all morning. That's more than
enough to make me angry."
"Your mother is a strange person. She's very insistent on keeping you here."
Kasei smirked, sitting down on her bed. "In that respect, you actually
have a use. For the first time, I'm actually glad that you saved my
life. It's because of it that she has no choice but to let me leave.
Because you aren't Nomaien, she has no power over you. Even our senshi
council can't tell you what to do because you're from another galaxy.
She tried that, but the head of that council stepped in and told her
bluntly that she can't order you around. Granted, Himitsu can do
pretty as she damn well pleases, but I think she's taking some kind of
pity on me and won't. If she put her mind to it, she could make you do
things. She's our most powerful senshi."
"How powerful?"
"Let's just say that I she put her mind to it, she could probably hold
the Abyss at bay for a while. Her strength would fail eventually,
though, and she isn't strong enough to take it out on her own. The
problem is that she won't leave here, so it's not even worth asking.
It's because of her that Kage Neko wasn't able to destroy us even
though she tried and nearly succeeded."
Rhade nodded and sat down beside her. "I didn't think I'd get a chance
to talk to you before we went back to the Andromeda."
"Well, you ren't really getting one now. I have to pack a few things."
"Pack? Where are you going?"
"Yuki and I are headed back into the Kanehr Shovasea, to the
place we tried to find before we came to the capital. I've always
hated that damn spell put on it. It's nearly impossible to find."
"Tenshi said that you have a really good sense of direction."
"Direction has nothing to do with this. If you aren't welcome or
invited, you won't be able to find it. It's a very ancient place and
an equally ancient protection spell."
"What is this place you're going to?"
"If you must know, it's a place that senshi go when they need to. It's
very hard to explain."
"Well, if that's where you're going, then I should go as well."
"Only senshi can go."
"I am a senshi. Remember?"
"Oh. Right. Well, I suppose we should drag Trance along as well. She
might get something useful out of this. The two of you can keep Yuki
company while I do my thing."
"Are the other Guardians going as well?"
Kasei shook her head. "No. They don't like going out into the desert."
"Will we be taking Yuki's shuttle?"
"The people where we're going don't like technology. We'll be going
the old fashioned way. Oh, you'll also want to leave your weapons
behind. They aren't keen on those, either. Don't worry about being
defenseless. No one will attack you out there. Besides, you're a
senshi. You are a weapon."
"When do we leave?"
"As soon as Yuki gets his things together. I tell you, he can be worse
than those pampered noble women when it come to getting ready for a
journey."
"Is there anything I should pack?"
"You didn't really come down here with anything, did you?" Rhade shook
his head. "Right. Come with me. There might be some things in storage
that will fit you."
Rhade followed Kasei back down the stairs and into the main hall. They
went down the hall that led to the garden, but instead of heading
outside, she took him into one of the rooms. Inside was a desk with a
steel haired woman sitting behind it. She looked up at them, looked
from Kasei to Rhade and back again, and raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Well this is unusual," she commented with a gruff voice.
"Save the commentary, Captain," Kasei told her. "We're heading out to
Senshino Garan with Yuki and he needs proper clothing and
supplies."
The Captain clucked her tongue. "I do hope you aren't in a hurry,
Kasei, as this may take a little time."
"Take all the time you need. You're well aware of Yuki's habits."
She laughed merrily. "That boy never changes. Go on then. Out with
you, Kasei. Go spend some time in the garden or library. When he's
ready, I'll send him to the stables."
Kasei left the room and she turned to Rhade. "Well, aren't you a fine specimen."
"My name is Telemachus Rhade. Most people seem to prefer calling me Rhade."
"It's certainly less of a mouthful to say. You can call me Hakusa."
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
"You won't be saying that in a few minutes," she told him. "Now, take
off you shirt and pants. I need to take some measurements before we do
anything else."
Rhade was well aware of her appraising eyes watching his every
movement as he removed the indicated garments. She sat on the edge of
her desk with a long measuring tape in her hands. She looked him up
and down, making mental notes to herself.
"Turn around. Let me get a look at you." He did so, wondering what was
going on. She got up off the desk and took one of his forearms in her
hands, examining his bone blades. "What are these?"
"Bone blades," he explained. "All Nietzscheans have them."
"This means adjusting any clothes we have to fit them." She picked up
his discarded shirt, taking a look at the holes in the sleeves made to
allow his bone blades to poke through. "This will be useful as a
model. Now, hold your arms out parallel to the ground." She held the
measuring tape up, measuring his arms and chest. "Spread your legs a
little." She measured his instep, leg length, and waist. Nodding,
Hakusa took a step back. "You have very good measurements, better than
I usually get from the men that come through here. I may not actually
have anything suitable, but I'll look. Don't bother putting your
clothes back on. I'll have them cleaned and returned to your room."
"They've recently moved me to another room."
Hakusa waved dismissively. "That's not a problem. Doubtless, the
servants know where they put you. Have a seat and I'll be right back."
Rhade sat down in a chair against the wall, grateful for his
undergarments. Hakusa might have the outward appearance of a
middle-aged woman, but she certainly didn't act like one.
Admittedly, it is nice to be noticed by a woman for a change…
Hakusa came back a few minutes later with an armful of clothes. "Well,
we'll start with the leggings first as those will be easier to do."
She handed him three pairs and waited patiently as he tried on each
one. Two of them, a tan pair and a white pair, fit perfectly with the
third being a little tight. She discarded the tight ones and then
handed him a shirt. "We'll see if these fit before I adjust them."
The shirts looked like Yuki's. Some had no sleeves and fit like a
glove. Three had longer sleeves. Only one of those, a tan colored one,
was loose enough to accommodate his bone blades. The other two, red
and grey respectively, pinched uncomfortably but fit well otherwise.
Hakusa nodded and took those two to be altered. She handed him some
jackets. These were all very loose in the sleeves. One was much too
small for him, but the other three were fine.
"Take the white and tan ones," Hakusa advised, sitting down to adjust
the two shirts using his regular shirt as a model for where to put the
holes. "They'll go better with your leggings. As for shirts, take all
of them. It gets hot out there. I'll just get these adjusted and get
you the rest of the supplies you'll need. I know how Kasei and Yuki
travel."
"You seem to know Kasei very well," Rhade commented, putting on the
white leggings and a red sleeveless shirt. "Well enough to call her by
her name."
"She prefers it to being referred to as 'princess'," Hakusa told him
as she worked. "Ever since she was a small child, she's preferred it.
There are some people here who will always call her Princess, though.
Well, until she takes the throne."
"She says she doesn't want it."
"Yes, I know. The problem is, she won't really have much of a choice.
It's lucky for her that Hibashira is in good health. She has many
years left still. Kasei is a stubborn girl, but she's not stupid.
There is such a thing as a senshi queen; they just aren't common. She
can rule and remain a senshi. She knows that. She just prefers to be
able to leave whenever she likes."
"You think she will accept the throne?"
"It's that or Hihana. The people will more readily accept Kasei to her
sister. Kasei seems to care more for the people and less for the
titles and respect they bring." Hakusa looked up at him. "You're very
curious aren't you?"
"You're the first Nomaien who is willing to talk about things."
She smiled. "I'm an old woman. I'm free to say whatever I want.
Besides, you're an off worlder who knows little about us. I can't have
you making a fatal blunder, especially where our Princess is
concerned."
"How well do you know Kasei?"
"Fairly well. She always hung around the training grounds as a little
girl, watching the Home Guard train. She would always talk to me, as I
was more likely to listen to her than her mother. I love my queen, but
there are things she does that make me wonder. If she truly wants
Kasei as her Heir, then why has she done things that have caused Kasei
to dislike her?" She shook her head. "Not my business, really.
Anyways, I suppose I became a second mother to her after a time."
"Do you know much about her private life?"
She frowned. "That's a dangerous area to be poking into, young man."
"I'm a little afraid to ask her something, something I need to know
the answer to. By your laws, she has to answer, but it's a huge risk.
Yuki suggested that I talk to her, but I want to talk to her in
private about this."
"When you get to the Senshino Garan, you'll all be very busy.
The trip there, however, may give you an opportunity to get her alone.
I'll speak with Yuki before you leave. The trip will take at least a
full day, meaning you'll need to spend at least one night out in the
desert."
"Kasei did tell me that if I asked nicely, she'd show me a Nomaien
moon rise out in the desert," Rhade said, grinning.
"There you go. A proper Nomaien woman never breaks a promise. Call her
out on it, get her alone, and talk to her." She threw the shirts to
him. "There, I'll be back with the rest of your supplies."

Episode 19: Journey

While Hakusa was getting Rhade ready to go, Yuki was fussing over his packs, pondering if he should bring more or less clothing. He knew Kasei would laugh at him for it, but he couldn't help it. Conditions out in the Kanehr Shovasea were unpredictable, so one never knew what one was going to need. You could always guess, but things were constantly changing. Just my luck, he grumbled to himself as he tossed an extra shirt in his pack. The conditions out there are like a metaphor for my life. Constantly changing and wildly unpredictable. Someone knocked on his door and he called to them to come in. He smiled. I should also add dangerously beautiful, he added as Beka Valentine walked in and closed the door behind her.

"So I'm told that you're leaving for a few days," she said, getting straight to the point.

He nodded. "That's right. I'm going out into the desert with my sister to one of our most sacred places." He shrugged. "I'd invite you along as well, but you couldn't go in.; this place is only for senshi."

"That's alright, really. I don't fancy spending a couple days wandering around in the desert with that bitch of a sister of yours. I know you care for her a great deal, but-"

"It's ok, Beka," he said with a smile. "She's a difficult person to like. Frankly, I'm amazed that Okami, Tenshi, or Yumeko hasn't killed her by now."

She walked up to him slowly, wrapping her arms around his neck. "It's not really nice to start something with a woman and then leave her for an indefinite period of time, you know."

"I'm not going to be gone all that long, Beka," he told her.

"That's beside the point, Yuki. What am I supposed to do while you're gone, hmm? Sit around waiting for you to come back? For all I know, you won't feel the same when you return. Like I said before, I'm interested in you."

"I'm still in shock about that, you realize. This is a first for me."

"I don't know about you, but I think it's high time I staked my claim before some other woman sees the error of their ways and takes you away from me."

Yuki wrapped his arms around her waist. "Possessive, aren't you?"

Beka smiled. "Just ask Harper about that," she said kissing him. She ran her fingers through his short black hair, enjoying its softness.

"Beka," he whispered against her lips. "Stop for a moment."

She pulled away from him. "Now what?"

He took her hands and knelt, kissing the inside of her wrists. "Beka Valentine, I accept your claim on me and swear to have no other for as long as you'll have me.""What are you doing?"

He stood and kissed the side of her neck, still holding her hands. "I am yours, Rebecca Valentine. What do you wish of me?"

"Mmm. What you're doing now is fine," she said hoarsely as he kissed his way up the side of her neck to nibble on her earlobe.

Yuki pulled her close, running his hands over her waist and across her lower back, pushing up the bottom of her shirt. Beka ran her lips lightly over his cheek, pressing up against him, smiling as she felt him harden beneath her, enjoying his cautiousness. He was like a schoolboy. He'd already admitted to her that his only other lover had been a man, and a long time ago at that. Strangely, it didn't bother her at all. She brought her hands out of his hair and slid them down his arms. He wasn't as muscular as she typically liked her men, but his wiry slimness was appealing in its own way. Yuki got his hands up under her shirt and started to slide the fabric upwards, swallowing nervously. Trying to encourage him, Beka reached down and tugged his shirt up and off. His chest now bare, Beka could see a wide, angry red scar slashing diagonally across the left side. It wasn't very long, but it was still there.

Yuki followed her eyes. "Don't let it bother you," he said to her. "It's ten years old. Training accident."

Beka traced one finger over the surface of the scar. "It doesn't bother me. Scars are sexy as long as they aren't disfiguring." She bent her head to dance her tongue across his chest. Yuki threw his head back and moaned. She nibbled and kissed her way up to his throat. He let her be for a few minutes until he couldn't take it anymore. He slid her shirt off and tossed it into a corner, not really caring where it landed.

Smiling, Beka led him across the room to his bed and lay him down, straddling his groin area. He sat up as much as he could, caressing her face with a hesitant finger. Seeing that he really had no idea what to do, she took his hand and placed it on one of her breasts, moving his hand to show him how she wanted him to touch her. As his confidence grew, it showed in his touch. He reached up with his other hand to mirror his movements on the other breast, falling down to lie flat on his back so that he didn't loose his balance. Beka sat back toenjoy it, letting go of his hand entirely. As he moved his hands, she rocked lightly in place, enjoying the twin sensations of his hard maleness beneath her and of his hands on her skin.

Yuki's hands slid down from her breasts to her flat abdomen over to her hips, and up her sides. He pulled her down to him so that he could kiss her. His lips met hers in urgent, hungry kisses as his hands ran over her bared back. Beka straightened her legs so that she was lying flat on top of him, her hands cupping his face. His back arched beneath her and he moaned, whispering her name over and over between kisses. He moved his hands down to try and get her pants off. She obliged him by rolling off him to lie on her back beside him. He sat up and unfastened the belt holding them up and pulled them off. He sat back and ran his eyes over her nude body, licking his lips. It was the first time he'd seen a grown woman without any clothes on and he intended to savor the sight.

She sat up and touched her finger to his lips while her other hand slid across his chest. She leaned forward and whispered his name in the sexiest tone she knew, all the while slowly moving her hand lower, down his abdomen, to his stomach, and, finally, to his groin. He gasped in surprise, leaning forward and resting his head on her shoulder. This was a sensation that was a little more familiar to him, but coming from a woman it felt immensely better to him. It felt to him like she knew what he was doing. He'd figured that she'd been with other men before him and it bugged him a little. As her hand became more and more insistent, it was harder for him to form any coherent thoughts. His breathing became heavy and his eyes closed, enjoying the sensation.

A woman is touching me, he thought through his moans. An attractive woman who has expressed an interest in me, a woman I would never dare approach otherwise. His line of thought was interrupted by Beka throwing him back down onto the mattress and easing his leggings down over his hips. She discarded them over the side of the bed and ran her hands up from his feet, rubbing his skin in circular motions. She stopped at his waist, pulling herself up to lie on top of him, wriggling teasingly. Moaning, his hands shot up to grip her shoulders. Beka smiled and nibbled his neck, wrapping her arms up above his head."Beka," Yuki moaned, bucking beneath her.

"Want something?" she asked, continuing to nibble at his neck. Panting, he nodded, moving his hands to grab her ass. She rolled off him to lie on the bed, pulling him up on top of her. Figuring that he'd need some help, she guided him inside of her, enjoying his gasp of surprise. "There we go. How does it feel?"

"Like nothing I've ever felt before." Yuki looked down into Beka's blue eyes and ran a finger across her cheek. "You're so beautiful."

"You say that because you're inside me."

He shook his head. "No, I thought so pretty much since I met you. I would just never day such a thing to a woman unless she'd expressed an interest in me. As you can imagine, I'm not used to telling women what I really think. The only ones I can really talk to are other senshi. It's nice to talk to a normal woman for a change."

Beka thrust her hips upwards. "Less talk, more action."

He recovered quickly from the feeling of her moving against him and started to thrust back. It felt good. Really good. Between the physical feelings the act of making love to this incredible woman and hearing the moans of pleasure that were coming from her because of what he was doing, Yuki was happier than he could recall being in a very, very long time. She ran her hands down his back to grab onto his ass, digging her nails in to get him to move faster. A minute later it was over. He threw his head back and groaned as he came and then collapsed on top of her, gasping for breath. Beka stroked his sweat-dampened hair, holding him to her.

"I could die happy now," he whispered.

"Don't you dare," she threatened playfully. "I'm not done with you."

He looked at her in dismay. "You want more already? You do realize that I have to go soon."

Beka laughed, pushing him off in order to cool down. "Not right away, but I will when you get back. Think of it as an incentive to come back intact."

"We're on Nomaie. No one will harm me. After all, I am twin brother to the Heir herself as well as a senshi."

An expression of surprise crossed Beka's face. "You know, I completely forgot that you're a prince here."

"Not that it really means anything, but yes."

"Well, at least I liked you before I found out about all that," she said stroking his face. "You don't have to go right away do you?"

"No, but soon though," he said sadly, kissing her deeply.

"You'll just have to hurry back then, won't you?""Knowing that this is waiting for me? My feet will sprout wings to get me back here." He took one hand and kissed the inside of her wrist. "I am ever at your beck and call."

"So stay here."

Yuki sighed and shook his head. "Unfortunately, in this, my duty as a senshi and my duty to my sister must come first. I promise you this, though. I will always be yours. Well, for as long as you decide you want me around."

Beka looked at him thoughtfully. "That has to be the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."

"Sweet Beka, anyone who would offer you less than complete devotion is undeserving of you."

She swatted him lightly. "You'd better get going before I start thinking that you have the energy for round two."

"I don't think I could find the energy, as enjoyable as it was.""You'll build up some stamina the more you do it," she told him encouragingly. "You just need more practice."

He got up to search for his leggings. Finding them, he turned around and put them on, grinning at her. "Are you willing to have that kind of patience? Kasei says that I'm a slow learner."

"Oh I don't think that would be too much of a hardship," she replied, stretching out. "Besides, you look good without clothes on."

He mock pouted. "I thought you said I looked good in my uniform."

"You do, but I think you look good without any on as well," she said sitting up. "I think your shirt is over by the bookshelf."

He went and retrieved the missing garment and put it on. "Going to come downstairs and say good-bye?"

"Any good bye I'd like to give you would by your own words be considered indecent." Yuki blushed furiously. "You're so cute when you do that." She got up and put her own clothes on. "I'll come down anyways. It'll be nice to be rid of Kasei for a while."

"A couple days at the least," Yuki said nodding. "I'm just worried about being stuck out in the middle of the desert with both Rhade and Kasei." At Beka's puzzled look, he explained. "Because of the whole life debt thing, anywhere one of them goes, the other has to go. There are few exceptions to this. Because Rhade is also a senshi, he can go into the place we're going."

"I see. Well, at least Kasei is your sister; otherwise I might get jealous."

Yuki shuddered. "That's not a very nice thought, Beka. I love my sister dearly, but if you ask me, Rhade is slightly crazy."

"He's Nietzschean. What do you expect? They're genetically engineered for perfection, but all the ones I've met are a little nuts."

He chuckled, picking up his pack. "We'd best get down there. Kasei gets very grumpy when people keep her waiting."

"It seems to me like a lot of things make her grumpy."

"That's Nomaien women for you. It's a wonder we still exist as a species with the way they act."

"Let's put it this way. The men are probably just so grateful for the sex that they overlook the rampant personality flaws."

He laughed at that. "You do have a point there."

Beka and Yuki met Rhade outside of the building Yuki called the stables. He was leaning against a wall, wearing a white version of Yuki's outfit. His packs were on the ground by his feet. There was an older woman standing nearby. Beka whistled appreciatively."Nomaien clothing suits you well, Rhade," she told him.

"Hakusa does nice work," Yuki said casually. "I take it that Kasei decided that since you needed supplies for the trip, she may as well get you decent clothing."

"Good guess," Rhade said, arching an eyebrow.

"Not really a guess. I know my sister quite well."

"Not as well as you'd like to think some days, elder brother," Kasei said, walking up, her packs slung over one shoulder. Beka and Rhade stared at her. Where Yuki and Rhade were both wearing typical clothing for Nomaien men, Kasei was in red leather pants and tank top with her arms wrapped in her usual ribbons. Her long black hair was braided with a long ribbon. Her solid black eyes looked at each in turn. Seeing Beka, she frowned. She walked up to Yuki, sniffing. She looked him in the eyes, her frown deepening. She looked between him and Beka, shaking her head. Turning to Rhade, she said, "I see that Hakusa came through, even thought I do question her choice of colors."

The older woman standing nearby cleared her throat. "I did the best I could given the haste with which you want to leave. We don't breed men his size very often, Kasei, so it's surprising that we had even this much in storage. I could have gotten him clothing in a color you would have deemed more appropriate, but would have taken all day."

Kasei waved dismissively. "Yes, yes, I'm aware of that, though why you would keep white clothing in store is beyond me."

Rhade turned to Yuki. "Is there some significance to this color that I'm missing here?" he whispered.

"I'll tell you later," Yuki whispered back, snickering.

"Yuki, can I speak with you alone for a moment?" Hakusa asked, leading him away. She took him out of both Kasei and Rhade's hearing ranges and spoke with him for a few moments before returning to the others. "You'd best be off," she said as the stable master and two of her assistants brought out three hulking beasts that had a resemblance to Terran horses in their general shape, but their four legs were wide past the knees with no discernable hoof, their tails looked like those of the Laisheen, and they had a pair of horns on their head, curling around each ear. The one brought for Rhade was a cream color with black legs and mane, Yuki's was a dusty color and Kasei's was a dark red with a golden muzzle. Hers also had a somewhat more elaborately decorated saddle. She patted the creature on the nose affectionately, whispering things to it in her native language before mounting. Yuki followed suit.

The stable master walked up to Rhade. "My pardon, but I doubt you've ridden one of these before. Would you like some assistance in mounting?"

Rhade looked at her. "Yes, that would be appreciated," he said, swallowing his pride. It wouldn't do him any good to attempt to do it on his own and fail, embarrassing himself in the process. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yuki nodding approvingly.

Beka walked over to stand beside Yuki's mount, one hand resting lightly on his thigh, causing Kasei's eyes to narrow. Beka ignored her and spoke softly to Yuki. He smiled and bent down to touch her hair. Kasei urged her mount over to stand beside Rhade's.

"I'm glad they chose that mount for you. He's a very docile creature and will follow ours, so you won't need to worry about guiding him at all."

"Does he have a name?"

"Danterr. In Nomaien it means Gentle. They like it when you scratch behind their ears. They can't reach there themselves."

Experimentally, Rhade reached a finger in between the curling horns and the beast's ear and scratched. He was rewarded by Danterr leaning into the scratch, his eyes closing happily. "You're not so scary, are you?"

"Sandrunners are generally quite placid," Yuki said. "Well, with the exception of that fire eater Kasei is ridding." In response, the red Sandrunner snorted and danced a little in place.

"These things almost remind me of horses," Beka said, stroking the soft fur of Yuki's mount.

"Behaviorally speaking, they are quite similar," Kasei replied. "They have a basic herd structure and are herbivores. How they survive in the wild is beyond me. It's rare to see a wild herd in these parts. They're more common in the northernmost areas." She took up the reins of her mount. "Let's get going. I know the afternoon isn't the ideal time for traveling, but waiting until morning is unacceptable. Besides, it'll be dark soon and I'd like to make the most of the daylight we have left. Laiike, Sharahase!"

Kasei's red mount turned and headed for the large gate nearby that led out into the desert. The other two Sandrunners followed. Rhade clung to the beast's neck, unused to the speed with which they moved while Yuki turned and waved goodbye to Beka. Once they were out in the sand, their mounts took off. Kasei and Yuki gave them their heads and Rhade's mount followed, matching their pace. Danterr and Hijarr, Yuki's mount, fell into line behind Sharahase, Kasei's mount. Once he'd adjusted to the animal's movements, Rhade sat up and looked around him. His mount was directly behind Kasei's. She sat bent over Sharahase's neck, moving with her as she ran. Behind him, Yuki had the same posture but didn't look as comfortable as Kasei did. Rhade did his best to mimic them but it felt uncomfortable to him, so he just sat slightly hunched over and watched as the sand dunes passed by them. The palace fell behind them quickly.

They rode for hours through endless tracts of featureless desert. Each dune looked the same to him as the last. Every so often, Kasei would nudge Sharahase off to one side. Sometimes is was for no more reason that to avoid having to go over some of the larger dunes, but at other times her reasons weren't so obvious. The sun beat down on them relentlessly. Rhade could feel his skin heating up and his need for water grew more and more urgent as the day progressed. Shortly before sunset, he started to get dizzy and sleepy. It was very hard for him to sit and he had to force himself to stay awake. When they paused for a brief rest at a small watering hole he'd never been so glad to see a tree in his life.

With some help from Yuki, he dismounted, feeling stiff from the unaccustomed position he'd had to sit in all morning. He sat down in the shade of the tree beside the cool pond. Yuki brought him a cup full of water.

"Drink this slowly," he instructed. "I know you're thirsty, but if you drink as quickly as you think you need to you'll only make yourself sick." Rhade took it gratefully, taking slow sips of the cool water. "How do you feel?"

"Hot. Tired. Stiff. Very dizzy. My head is pounding."

Yuki nodded. "Before we head off tomorrow, I'll put together a head covering from you. There should be one in your packs if I know Hakusa. Kasei and I are used to the heat and don't need water as much as you do. I'll have to remind her of that fact later."

Rhade looked around. "Where is she anyways?"

Yuki pointed out at a dune not to far away from them. She was kneeling, facing the setting sun. As they watched, she put her hands together in front of her in a prayer gesture and bowed. "She's sending the sun off to sleep. I know it sounds like a silly superstition for a people with an understanding of how the universe really works, but it's comforting. It's a part of our tradition that will never die. We know that the sun doesn't really go away, but following the ancient customs and rituals is our way of honoring our ancestors and showing that we haven't forgotten our roots."

Kasei's voice carried across to them. Rhade couldn't understand a word of what she was saying, but he guessed that it was the words that went along with the ritual. He listened to it carefully. Nomaien could be a harsh, guttural language, but there were moments were it was supremely beautiful.

"If you're wondering, this is ancient Nomaien," Yuki added. "All of our rituals are, so not many people understand the full meaning behind the words. We're taught a simple translation of them, but Kasei tells me that some meaning is lost. Come on. She'll be up there for a while, so we may as well get things set up for the night."

"We're stopping for the day?"

Yuki nodded, rummaging through his packs. "It gets very cold out in the desert at night, so it's unwise to travel unless you're desperate. The twin moons don't give enough light to navigate to dunes by at any sort of quick pace. Kasei would much rather keep going I imagine, but she's not an idiot. Besides," he said with a smile. "I bet she's just as tired as we are. She hasn't ridden for a long time. While they say that once you learn, you never forget, what they don't say is that if you don't do it often enough, you get out of practice and your body forgets what it feels like." He winced. "Same goes for me. Help me get the shelters set up and I'll start cooking our meal."

"You cook?"

He nodded, pulling a roll of canvas out of his pack and some collapsible poles. "Not very well. I'm high nobility, so my tutors didn't really teach me the finer points of it. It's edible though, which is more than I can say for Kasei's few attempts at it. Tenshi and Okami always tease her about it. Women aren't expected to know much about domestic things. That's men's work here."

Rhade shook his head and helped Yuki get the one shelter up. He figured that it was large enough for two people to sleep under. He mentioned his observation to Yuki, who nodded. "If that's the case, then who sleeps under it? There are three of us."

"To be honest, I'm not sure. Under normal circumstances, we would share it, but with the life debt, I'm not sure about that anymore. I do know that Kasei has a shelter in her packs, though. We'll work this out when she gets down here." He went into his largest pack and brought out a pot and what looked like a portable cooking stove. At Rhade's look, he laughed. "What? Where you expecting a campfire? We don't have wood to burn. Our ancestors were very big into elemental magic and they came up with contraptions similar to this one. This version uses more technology than magic. If I felt a little more confident in using my senshi powers outside of my transformation, I could easily call a fire onto the sand and sustain it, but that's not really something I'm good at. Kasei can, but she doesn't like to."

As Yuki spoke, he filled the pot half way with water from the pond and put it on the stove, turning it on. When the water reached a boil, he tossed some precut vegetables in as well as some dried meat and a package of brownish sauce. He stirred the mixture for a few minutes before putting a lid on it. "There. We'll just let that be for a little while. Ah. Here she comes."

Kasei was heading for them. She got up to the stove and collapsed down into the sand beside Yuki. "It's so nice to be out of that oven they call a palace," she sighed, looking happier than she'd been since Rhade first met her. "I can breathe out here."

"I don't know how you people tolerate this heat," Rhade said, rubbing his forehead.

"A few million years of evolution," Kasei said bluntly. "Adapt or die. Such is life. Does your head hurt?"

"It feels like it's going to split open."

She got up and walked over to her pack and brought out a cloth and a small white container. She dipped the cloth in the pond and tied it around his forehead. Next, she opened the container and dipped her finger in the clear, sticky substance inside it. "Take your shirt off."

Surprised but not asking why, he complied. She eyed his bare chest briefly before touching her gel covered finger to the side of his neck. He flinched in pain, jerking away from her. "Don't be such a baby," she scolded, rubbing the gel on his burns. It hurt at first, but the more gel she applied, the better he felt. He watched her thoughtfully as she worked. Despite her expressed dislike of him and the gruffness she showed to everyone around her, her hands were quite gentle and she went about her work methodically, getting at the worst burns first. The cold cloth on his head was helping his sore head as well.

"Turn around so that I can get at the ones on your back. Honestly, I don't know what Hakusa was thinking, sending you out here with clothes like this. They're all well and good for city dwellers, but not so good for someone going for a journey."

"To be fair, she did give me some jackets. A large part of this is also my fault. I knew we were heading out here, but I never thought to put one on."

She nodded, smoothing the soothing gel over the burns on his upper back. "It's good that you realize that you are also at fault. I'm glad to see that you aren't an idiot. There. That should do it. Those burns aren't too severe, but they'll still be difficult to sleep with. In a few days, they'll start peeling. In the meantime, make sure that you're wearing decent covering when out in the sun. These will get worse otherwise."

Rhade turned to face her. "My thanks. You have gentle hands."

Kasei blinked in confusion and blushed. "I'm only doing my job. No need to thank me for it. If I didn't help you, there's a high chance that you could get sick and, in a worst-case scenario, die. It's my duty to keep you alive, remember?"

"It's considered polite where I come from to thank someone for doing something nice. I know you weren't doing it to be nice, but I'm grateful all the same."

Yuki looked up to see them staring at each other and coughed politely, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between them. "Dinner's ready if you'd like to eat."

Kasei sighed with relief. "Good. I'm starving."

"You're always hungry, Kasei," Yuki admonished. To Rhade, he said, "Nomaien women are perpetually hungry. If it's known why, they aren't telling. At least K a sei has an excuse with her high metabolism. She burns a lot of energy just doing normal things."

"Yuki, must you explain such things? I highly doubt he needs to know such private matters as my eating habits and energy needs."

"It's interesting," Rhade told her.

She snorted. "Rhade, you'd probably find the length of my toe nails fascinating."

With a straight face, he nodded. "You're right. I would."

Yuki snorted at the expression on Kasei's face. "You walked right into that one, little sister."

"Shut up and serve dinner before I eat Rhade out of desperation."

"I don't think you want to do that," Yuki said, spooning food into a dish and handing it to Kasei. "For starters, there's the taste. Something tells me that no amount of spice in the world will make him palatable to you. We also don't have enough fuel in the stove to cook him for the proper length of time. There's also the small matter of the bones. Sure, there's enough meat on them, but do you really want to skin and debone something his size? Think of the mess. Neither of has the proper knives to do that."

Kasei shrugged. "I suppose I'll just have to make do with whatever this is," she said, digging into her meal.

Rhade looked at Yuki. "That was all a joke, right?"

"Nomaiens have a very strange sense of humor," he replied, handing him a bowl of food. He winked cheerfully, dishing out a bowl for himself. They ate in silence. It felt awkward to Rhade, but Kasei and Yuki didn't seem to want to talk, so he ate the spicy meal, enjoying the unusual flavor of the meat. Each of them ate a second bowl before the food was all gone. Yuki collected the dishes and took them over to the pond to clean them, leaving Rhade with Kasei.

He cleared his throat. "Would you like help setting up your shelter?"

"I don't need your help."

"I wasn't implying that you did. It would go faster with two people. I helped Yuki with his so I'm familiar with how they go up now. That also reminds me. What are the sleeping arrangements going to be?"

"You and Yuki are sharing his shelter. I'm sleeping in mine. How is this difficult?"

"He said the life debt might complicate things."

"Only if you plan on going for a stroll late at night. You're close enough sleeping in the other shelter. If anything happens, I'll hear it. I'm not a very deep sleeper."

"Good to know," he said nodding. "In truth, that comes as a relief."

Kasei looked up at him. "Really? I would have thought that you would prefer sharing my shelter," she said, taking it out of her pack.

Rhade shook his head. "Don't misunderstand me. I'd love to, but I know how you feel about me. Even the room reassignment is something of a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I'm closer to you that way and that makes me happy. On the other hand, you clearly aren't comfortable with that. It bothers me that I almost regret saving your life."

Kasei nodded. "You should regret it. Things would have been simpler if I'd died then." At his horrified look, she continued. "I'm a senshi, Rhade. I would have returned in a few years, reborn into a new, whole body, one without all this pain."

Rhade picked up the poles and helped her get the shelter up. "I'm sorry for causing you more pain. It's selfish of me, but I want you to live. I know you're hurting from the things that have happened to you on Earth and I know now what your home life has been like, but ending your life isn't the answer. Sometimes, it takes more courage to continue living."

Once her shelter was set up, Kasei went inside, taking her packs with her and closing the flap behind her. Yuki finished his clean up and joined Rhade in their shelter. He patted the other man's arm comfortingly. "Deep, deep down, I think she's glad to be alive, Rhade."

"I'm having a hard time believing that, Yuki."

The two men settled down for the night, falling asleep quickly.

 

Episode 20: Stranger

Beka watched as Rhade, Yuki, and Kasei rode out of sight. She turned around and went back into the palace to see what the others were up to. She found them out in the garden. Trance was examining some of the plants with Okami explaining about each one. Dylan was sitting on a bench near the fish pond talking with Tenshi. Harper was playing some kind of game with a girl she'd never seen before. Yumeko was playing with a weird two tailed creature. She looked up as Beka approached.

"So they're gone now?"

Beka nodded. "Any idea how long they'll be gone?"

"They won't get to the Senshino Garan until tomorrow. It could take a day or two for Kasei to do what she needs to do, and then another day of traveling for them to get back."

"So at least three or four days."

"Or longer. Kasei is dangerously out of balance. In a worst case scenario, the damage is beyond repair. If that's the case, then she'll spiral into madness, eventually going rogue on us, which means that if we'll have to take her out. We're all hoping that it's not as bad as we fear."

Beka nodded sympathetically. "I don't like her much, but she's your friend and Yuki's sister, so I hope for the same thing." She pointed to the strange dark haired girl playing what looked like chess with Harper. "Who's that?"

"Trance says her name is Aries. They seem to know each other. I'm not entirely sure who she is, but she's spent the last couple hours talking to the queens. From what I've heard, she came to Nomaie with them from Kinshei. She seems nice, if very shy."

The girl, Aries, was wearing a dark blue tank top and a pair of black pants belted at the waist. Her arms were covered by long wide sleeves that were tied to her upper arms and extended almost to her fingertips. Her cocolate brown eyes were focused on the board in front of her, trying to decide her next move. Beka frowned. There was something very familiar about the way the girl looked, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. She said as much to Yumeko, who laughed.

"It's silly, isn't it? We've been thinking the same thing. Trance knows, but isn't telling. Whenever we press her about it, she does that mysterious thing."

"Trying to get a straight answer out of her is nearly impossible some days."

Aries looked up from the game. Seeing Beka, she turned back to Harper and excused herself, standing up and walking towards her. "You must be Beka Valentine, captain of the Eureka Maru. It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, extending a hand.

Unsure of what to make of this, Beka shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, too."

"My apologies. My name is Aries."

"Just Aries?"

"Trance says that it would be a bad idea to say anything more of who I really am to too many people." She looked around. "I thought Kasei, Yuki, and Rhade were with you."

"They went to some place out in the desert."

"Oh." She looked disappointed. "I guess I'll have to wait to meet them."

A guard entered the garden and bowed politely. "My apologies, but the council of the Queens has requested the presence of Princess Tenshi and the Lady Aries."

Tenshi looked up from her conversation with Dylan. "Did they say why?"

"I was not informed of their reasons, Princess. Please, come with me." Tenshi and Aries followed the guard out while the others watched, puzzled.

"I wonder what this is all about," Okami said while Trance just gave them a knowing look.

Okami and Yumeko caught up with Tenshi in her rooms that evening. She was sitting in her favorite chair staring out the window. The other two Guardians exchanged a look. Tenshi's eyes were blank. Her posture made one think that she was watching the sunset, but the lack of expression on her ace coupled with the blank eyes made them worry.

Yumeko walked up to her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tenshi? Is everything ok?"

Tenshi looked up her, her eyes regaining their focus. "Hmm? Oh, Yumeko." She turned to look back at the setting sun. "To be honest, I'm not sure. I'll have to wait for Kasei to return before I can be certain of that, certain of anything."

"What did our mothers want with you and that strange girl?" Okami asked. "Who is she?"

"She is Aries. She won't say anything much about herself to me. The queens know more than they're letting on. Even my own mother won't tell me anything that would help."

"That's odd," Yumeko observed.

"At any rate, the queens have decided that this Aries is now a guest here and is to be treated as such. They're still quibbling on some things that were only hinted at. Hibashira in particular doesn't want this girl around. She seemed almost afraid of her."

"Nomaiens don't scare easily, especially not that one."

"This is why I'd rather wait for Kasei to return before I make any further judgments on this girl and the entire situation."

"Situation?" Okami repeated. "What situation? Tenshi, could you stop with the cryptic for once?"

Tenshi stood and looked at her friends. "I don't know who she is or where she's from, but she has the aura of a senshi."

"You know I'm glad to see you, Aries, but why are you here? You could be jeopardizing the future I've worked so hard to fix."

Aries sighed. "Trance, you're a great person and all, but there are things that you just wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"Things in the future are starting to fall apart. Mother is in a coma and Father is understandably distracted. I don't even think he knows I've left."

Trance frowned. "This sounds bad."

"The Council is of the opinion that it can all be fixed in this time period."

"How?"

"I'm not sure. I need to find the younger version of my parents. Strangely, this is a time period we don't know a lot about. Things are happening around me that I don't remember learning about in school, so something must be altering the timeline."

"The Abyss."

"Possibly. My theory is that the Abyss somehow learned of future events and enlisted a new and powerful ally." Aries shrugged. "It's just a theory."

"This worries me."

"I was sent here because of my connection to the future and my senshi nature. I apologize, but by necessity I have to keep that a secret from the others for as long as possible. They can know I'm a senshi. That's unavoidable as Princess Tenshi already knows, but my realms of influence and senshi name must remain a secret. It won't do to give them too much knowledge of how things should turn out."

"They won't find out from me. They're used to me being secretive."

She breathed a huge sigh of relief. "I was counting on that."

Trance gave her a hug. "It's so nice to have someone familiar to talk to."

Shortly before the sun began to peek over the horizon, Yuki was up preparing a brief breakfast. Kasei wanted to get going before the sun rose, so they ate hastily. Rhade took down the shelter he'd shared with Yuki while Kasei took hers down and Yuki cleaned up and packed his bags. They mounted their Sandrunners and headed off as the sky began to lighten. Rhade rubbed his eyes, yawning. He hadn't slept very well the night before as his dreams had been haunted by a pair of endless black eyes and pale skin that felt like silk. He hoped that Nomaiens didn't have noses sensitive enough to smell arousal. That had the potential to be very embarrassing. He was also glad that he and Kasei had been in different shelters. Seeing Kasei yawn, he figured that she hadn't slept very well either. Yuki appeared to be the only one who was at all well rested.

They rode all morning and for part of the afternoon before they came upon a large cluster of tall, intertwined rocks shaped like thorns. Kasei dismounted and knelt a few paces in front of them. "We seek entrance," she said loudly, standing. "We have not been invited, but we require aid in the hallowed halls of Senshino Garan."

A fuzzy shape walked out of the rocks and towards them, gaining more detail as it approached. It was a tall man in a loose grey robe, belted at the waist with a braided cord of red, gold, and blue. He looked to be about middle aged with black hair graying at the temples. His skin was pitch black. "You say you seek entrance," he said, eyeing each in turn. "You would bring an outsider into our hallowed halls? I see that he is a senshi, so he shall be permitted, but I must question your judgment, Princess."

"If it were not for the life debt I owe him, he would not be here."

He nodded sagely. "I have seen your coming for many nights now. You are always welcome here. It has been far too long since I have seen either of you."

Yuki smiled ruefully. "It has been many years since we have been home."

The man gestured and a black archway appeared behind him. "You may enter," he said, vanishing.

Kasei turned to Rhade. "You must dismount. The Sandrunners don't like the portals and there aren't any facilities for them inside anyways. They'll be fine out here."

Yuki and Rhade dismounted and followed Kasei into the portal. On the other side was a massive building. There were more people dressed like the black man milling about. They stopped and stared as they came through. The building itself was made of pure white stone. The roof was domed and held up with ornately decorated pillars. At the tops of the pillars were statues of men and women in different senshi uniforms, holding the done up with their hands. The dome was capped with a massive bird statue, like the ones at the Nomaien palace.

One of the women stepped forward, bowing. "Welcome, Princess, to Senshino Garan. To what do we owe this pleasure?"

"I'm afraid that I'm not here for a visit, but because I seek help in regaining my center. Tenshi tried by retraining me, and Yuki brought me a piece of the Core, but both measures will fail soon if I don't get proper help."

The woman frowned. "Saishi Chiryo foresaw this. Please, come with me, Princess. Others will see to the needs of your brother and guest."

Rhade looked like he was going to protest, but Yuki stopped him by placing a hand on his arm and shaking his head. The woman led Kasei into the building while two men stepped forward and took them over to a small garden.

"Please remain here for a time," the taller of the two men said. "We will keep you appraised of the Princess's situation."

Yuki sat down on a bench. "Well, let's hope that they can help."

"Could you explain some about this place?"

"The closest word I can think of in your language is a temple, but it's more than that. It's a place where senshi come to learn, to meditate in peace. The people you see around us are like monks. They're the caretakers and keepers of senshi lore. They are teachers and philosophers. Nomaien senshi come here to commune with the spirit of Nomaie Herself." Yuki shrugged. "It's really hard to explain this place in terms you'll understand. Your language doesn't have all the right words."

"So Kasei came here to talk to Nomaie?"

"I'm not sure what she's doing," Yuki admitted. "I know her purpose, but there are any number of things she could be doing in order to accomplish it and an equal number of people, both living and not, that she could speak to. It's anyone's guess as to what she's doing right now."

Rhade nodded. "That's ok. I wasn't really expecting much."

After sitting in the garden for three hours, Yuki stood up and walked over to the two men standing nearby and spoke with them in hushed tones. His words became more and more anxious as he spoke with the two men. Finally, he said something that sounded like a command. The two men blanched, bowed, and left. Rhade, curious, got up and joined him.

"What was that all about?"

"I asked them about Kasei and her progress. The taller one, Sakyuu, says that she's still not done. Sunayama, the shorter one, thinks that she may have gone into the Senbotsusha Senshino Kinenkan, the Hall of the Fallen Senshi."

"This is bad?"

"It can be, but it can also be a good thing. In this case, I'm not sure it is a good thing."

"What's in there?"

"Statues of senshi that have fallen in battle, mostly. I've never had much cause to go in there until this moment."

"You're going in there?"

"No, we're going in there. The way Sunayama said it, it sounded as if there was something wrong. They were refusing to let me go in. They forgot that they can't actually deny me entrance to anywhere here. Come on. I really hope nothing bad has happened to her. I don't know if I could deal with that."

As they headed towards the domed building, Rhade couldn't help but wonder how he'd handle it himself.

They entered the building. It was cool inside. It was undecorated and as pure white on the inside as it was on the outside. There was no one in sight. Yuki led him to the back of the room and through a doorway leading into a long hall. He ignored the two doors in the middle, one on each side, and headed for the one at the end. It led to a circular room with doors all around its circumference. He chose the third one on the right. Behind it was a long, wide rectangular hallway. In small alcoves lining the wall were statues of men and women in senshi uniforms, each staring at them as they passed. Some held weapons in their stony hands: staves, swords, and scepters among others. A few of those were real and not merely carved representations of them. Yuki pointed those ones out to Rhade as being statues of the Nomaien senshi of the past.

They walked for what felt like an hour until they saw Kasei standing at the end of the hall. Yuki gestured for Rhade to slow his pace. She appeared to be talking to someone. She took a few steps to one side, showing them who she was speaking to. The person's form was transparent and it shimmered and rippled, making identification difficult. Whoever it was, their conversation was quite animated. Yuki and Rhade snuck closer and ducked into an alcove to listen. To Rhade's surprise, the two weren't speaking Nomaien but Common.

"I figured that she'd be speaking in Nomaien," Rhade whispered.

"That means that whoever she's talking to doesn't speak Nomaien," Yuki replied. "This means that he's from one of the other worlds in our system."

"He?"

"It can't be a woman. The figure is all wrong. I've seen some effeminate men in my time, and he's certainly slim enough, but there aren't enough curves there. I wonder…"

"Kasei?" the transparent man asked, trying to put a hand on her shoulder. After the third time his hand passed through her, he gave up. "Look, Kasei, I know it hurts, but I'm glad you're still alive."

"If I'd died, I could have been with you again."

"Very briefly. A starseed as powerful as yours would have been reborn very quickly."

"You don't know that!" she shouted, rounding on him. "Maybe I would finally be allowed to stay dead."

He shook his head sadly. "Kasei, aishen, you know I love you and always will, but as long as your starseed remains intact, you'll never be able to do more than visit once in a while." His hands twitched like he wanted to try and touch her again. "My starseed is gone. It's just fortunate that Himitsu was able to trap me in this star system."

Yuki gasped. "Rhade, I know who that is. This is bad. Very bad."

"Why? Who is that?"

"How much do you know about Kasei's past? The time she went to Earth for the first time?"

"Not much. I heard something about a guy named Seiya and that she was mourning a guy who looked like him that had died recently."

"Well, that man didn't really die. Well, he did, but his starseed was damaged, preventing his rebirth. Kage Neko trapped him in her palace after his death. When he was freed, we learned shortly after returning home that he could never return to a physical form. If Himitsu hadn't bound what was left of his essence to this star system, he would have faded into nothingness."

Rhade watched Kasei's face. All the anger and bitterness was gone, replaced by the most profound sadness he'd ever seen. There were tears in her eyes.

"Rhade, that man is Akai Seikou, Kasei's one and only love dead these eight thousand years."

Episode 21: Seikou

Rhade stared at Yuki in stunned silence and then back at the fluctuating figure of Akai Seikou. So this is the one man she loves. A ghost. Just my luck. He narrowed his eyes. He looks kind of like the guy in the picture attached to Kasei's mirror back in the palace. What's going one here?

"So we know who he is," Rhade said slowly, wrenching his eyes away from the ghost. "Why is he a bad thing?"

"If she's talking to him, then she's all but given up. She doesn't feel that she can be helped, that the damage done is permanent. It used to be that she would talk to Seikou whenever she was feeling lonely or depressed, but gradually it came to be that she would speak to him when she was either nearing the end of her life or wanting to end it. I'm sorry Rhade, but I think we're loosing her."

"What about that life debt she claims is so important?"

"If this damage to her system isn't repairable, it'll drive her insane, life debt or no. She'll become a rogue senshi, a very dangerous loose cannon and will turn against us at the drop of a hat. Give her level of power, she'd likely try for a take over of the system and spread out from there."

"Assuming that's the case, there's nothing we can do to stop it?"

Yuki shook his head. "Not really. If we can't heal her, we'd have to kill her. Honestly, I'm trying not to think about it."

Rhade sat and watched Kasei and Seikou talk. At the sight of tears forming at the corners of her eyes, his eyes widened. She spent so much time acting cold and tough that to see her cry was difficult to deal with. Seikou's look of utter helplessness didn't help either. His hands kept twitching as if he wanted to hold her, but having no real form, he'd just pass right through her.

After a while, Kasei just sank down into a heap on the floor, her shoulders shaking as she cried silently. Seikou knelt down in front of her, talking too quietly for Rhade or Yuki to hear before standing up and walking towards their hiding spot.

"It's good to see you again, Yuki," he said pleasantly. "Who's your friend?"

"Telemachus Rhade, the guy who saved Kasei's life."

"My thanks, though she doesn't think it's a good thing," Seikou said, bowing. "I would ask of you a favor."

"Anything."

He looked over his shoulder at Kasei. "Talk to her. Please. I don't care what you say to her, just get her to do something other than cry. I've never been able to handle seeing her cry. Get her angry, make her laugh, anything."

"It'd be fairly easy for Rhade to make her angry," Yuki snickered.

"I'm not going to ask. Please, Rhade. I'm asking you not as the man who loves her, but as a friend."

Rhade took a deep breath and nodded, walking towards her. She didn't seem to notice until he sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. She flinched away, scrambling up to her feet.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think I was doing? You're crying, so I was trying to comfort you. That's all."

She looked around frantically. "Where is he?"

"Seikou? Talking with Yuki. From the sound of things, they haven't spoken in a while."

Kasei's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Did Yuki tell you who that is?"

"Yes. He also mentioned what this could lead to, what it means." He stood up. "Kasei, I know you hate me for saving you, but don't give up. Your brother and your friends love you. You mother and sister aren't the greatest people, but I'm sure that deep inside they care about you."

She snorted. "They sure have a funny way of showing it. Yuki brings you in here and interrupts my privacy. Tenshi, Okami, and Yumeko care, but they don't understand. They couldn't even if I told them. Yuki understands, but he's my twin, the other half of my soul so it's not hard and to be expected. The rest of my family…my sister would be happy to have me out of the way so that her path to the throne is clear. My mother only cares as far as seeing me crowned as the next queen and seeing some arrogant, empty headed noble get me with child to ensure the succession. My father, well, of my parents he takes the most interest in our lives, but even then he's largely ignorant of most of the things going on. He's not much help and almost always sides with mother or Hihana."

Rhade blinked. "Yuki brought me here because he was worried. You know, Kasei, maybe if you explained to the rest of us what happened to you then maybe we'd be able to help. There's an old expression: 'pain shared is pain halved'."

"Oh right. As if it was that easy. If simply talking about it would make me better, then I'd be more than happy to do so, but it won't. Yuki thinks he's so smart. He thinks that my conversation with Seikou was because I'd given up. Well, it's not the first time he's been wrong and it certainly won't be the last. Yes, Rhade, I love Seikou and I always will. Nothing can change that. If I had my way, I'd die forever and be with him but it's never going to happen. We both know that. The conversation we were having earlier was the same one we always have. It's almost like a ritual we go through before we get around to any other talk. We talk, we have the same pseudo-fight, I cry, I feel better, we talk about something else. "

"So why would he have asked me to talk to you? If you two have the same fight all the time, then he'd know you only cry for a certain period of time. There'd be no real need for me to get your mind off this."

Kasei blinked, puzzled. "What are you saying?"

"He asked me to get you to do something other than cry. Make you laugh, get you angry, anything."

Kasei stared at him. "Why that little… Who the hell does he think he is?"

"Someone who loves you," a feminine voice said softly. A softly glowing pillar of light appeared behind Kasei and a tall woman walked out of it. She had paler skin than Kasei and long black hair that floated around her. Looking into her eyes was like gazing into the heart of a raging fire. Her loose scarlet robe was belted at the waist by a golden chain studded with dark red stones. Her feet were bare. Kasei took one look at her and fell to her knees.

"You honor me with your presence," she said in an awed voice.

The woman shook her head. "Do you think so little of yourself that you doubted that I would come to one of my children in her time of need? Honestly, Kasei. I thought you knew better." She looked at Rhade. "A senshi from another world, but not of our galaxy. Interesting."

"I am Telemachus Rhade," he said, bowing politely.

"A friend of yours, Kasei?"

Kasei snorted. "Hardly."

"I think perhaps you should explain everything from the time you left us. Your pain is great, but I cannot follow things beyond the outer edges of this system so I am unaware of what has happened to you."

Kasei stood and shot a cautious look at Rhade. "My apologies, but these are things I'd rather discuss privately."

"Why? Is there something you do not wish him to know?"

"These are things that I have only told Yuki. Rhade is aware of some of what has happened, but not all."

"You haven't told your teammates?" The woman looked shocked.

"I have not."

"You had best start talking. If you wish to talk privately, I would like a good reason for it." Kasei started to talk in Nomaien. As she spoke, the woman's expression grew more and more concerned. "I have heard enough. Come with me, Kasei. I believe I can help, but it may require some sacrifice on your part."

"I am a senshi and a Guardian. Sacrifice is my life. I have already lost so much that sacrificing more won't make much difference."

Kasei followed the woman into the pillar of light. Yuki and Seikou ran up just as the pillar vanished. "Well, that went well," Seikou commented.

"Who was that?"

"That was the spirit of Nomaie in her humanoid form," Yuki replied. "Her appearance is either good or bad. Hopefully, it's good in that he can help Kasei."

"Let's just hope it's not bad in the sense that she'll end Kasei's life to prevent her from going rogue," Seikou added.

When Kasei finished telling her story, Nomaie nodded. "I see. So what I sensed from you and that senshi, Rhade, was indeed accurate. The cause of your pain, the reason you're off balance, is that these Nietzscheans disrupted the natural paths in your genes, thus interrupting your inborn connection with me and the planet's starseed. I know how much you dislike returning to Nomaie, but it's good that you did. Had you waited much longer, I would not have been able to help you in this life. I would have had to terminate this life and heal your starseed before giving it a new body. That could take years as you understand time."

"So you can help me?" The look of relief on Kasei's face was almost pathetic.

"Yes, my daughter, I can help."

"What do you wish of me as sacrifice?"

"You will understand once you've been returned to your normal self. First you must know that your hatred of the Nietzschean people may either dim or fade completely. I can heal more than your body, after all."

"Nomaie, I have to ask you. Was I really reborn a Nietzschean? Was I really Valkyrie Museveni?"

"I see no reason to doubt that you were. In fact, I believe it's most likely."

"If that were true, then wouldn't my DNA be identical to hers?"

"Nietzscheans and Nomaiens have a lot in common, but they are essentially human. There are bound to be basic racial differences."

"I see."

"It's not the body that matters anyways." She placed her hands on Kasei's head for what seemed like hours. "Now then, go to the Onsenchi and soak in the hot waters for an hour."

"Will it help me heal?"

Nomaie laughed." No, child, but it will relax your muscles. You're quite tense. Don't look so dismayed, Kasei. It will help you relax."

"So I'm better now? I don't feel any different."

"It will take some time for any change to be noticeable. That is the other reason for the long soak. As you relax, the changes will take effect more quickly. If you stay as tense, it could take days."

"I see. Thank you for your help."

"Kasei, you were once my senshi in name. Anything you need, you have but to ask."

Kasei stripped her clothes off, placed a towel nearby, and climbed into the hot waters of the Onsenchi and sighed. She hated water, always had, but the heat felt good. I must be starting to feel better, she mused. I'm actually in the water. I haven't been in anything more substantial than a shower since Rhade rescued me from that lake.

She leaned her head back against the rock ledge looking up at the sky. The sun would set in a few hours. We won't get to head back tonight. We'll head home in the morning. When I get out of here, I should go find Rhade and Yuki. She paused. How long was I with Nomaie anyways? It didn't occur to me to stop and check the time. I just came straight here. Oh no. I didn't even stop to get a fresh change of clothes. Great. The last thing I need is to put on sweaty clothes after a hot soak. If this was home, I could just ring a bell for a servant to bring me clothing. Oh well. It won't be for long. Just long enough for me to get down to my packs.

Hearing footsteps behind her, she spun around and peaked over the edge of the rock ledge, seeing a pair of boots. She looked up to see Rhade leaning down with a bundle of clothing in his hands.

"Pardon the intrusion, but Nomaie asked me to bring these to you. She figured that you would have headed straight here without stopping to get clean clothes."

Kasei simply stared at him. It felt like seeing clearly after walking through a dense fog. This is not happening. I don't like him!

"Kasei? Is everything alright?"

"This really wasn't necessary."

"She was quite insistent on it, actually. Yuki offered, but she gave him this look and he backed down."

"I'm being set up," she muttered.

"Set up?"

"She's testing me to see how well the healing worked."

"You haven't tried to kill me yet," he said with a smile.

Kasei rolled her eyes. "That has nothing to do with my physical or mental state."

"So this is the part where you tell me that it has to do with that life debt. Isn't it?"

"Yes."

"You're starting to get predictable," Rhade said sitting down, setting the clothing off to one side. "Oh don't worry. I can't see anything. The water is too dark. Besides, you're cute when you're blushing."

Kasei hadn't even been aware that she'd turned red. "You know, I'm in here to relax. It's not all that relaxing with you around."

"Why?"

Kasei bit her tongue, forcing herself to calm down. "I don't like you. How many times do I need to tell you that?"

He shrugged. "I'll leave you to your bath, then."

Se watched him leave and turned around. That was weird. I don't like him, but I didn't feel any malice towards him. Was I just hallucinating the last six months? No, I have very clear memories of everything that happened. She sat and pondered that for a while.

Odd, but it doesn't hurt as much to think about it. That part of the healing worked at least. She wrapped her arms around herself. I can't feel anything on the senshi end of things, but I think I need to meditate on that first.

She climbed out and wrapped the towel around herself, noting that some of the scars had faded. They were still there, but they weren't as angry looking as they had been yesterday. That's useful, too. Let's get these clothes on and go send the sun off to sleep with the others.

Episode 22: Talking

Rhade walked away from the hot spring with a smile on his face. He had to admit to himself that he'd been worried when the spirit of Nomaie told them that she'd sent Kasei there. He knew how much she disliked water. It had come as a relief to him that he'd been sent to take some clothes to her. Nomaie had been quite insistent on that.

He sat down on one of the bottom steps leading from the hot spring, pondering the current state of things. <i>I wonder if Kasei's ok. What side effects will this healing have on her? Yuki seemed a little skeptical about it, but I think he was just trying to hide his hope that all would be well with his sister again. I can only imagine how I'd react if my sister was in Kasei's situation.</i> He paused, looking back over her shoulder. <i>I wonder if she'll ever talk about what happened to her. Yuki knows, I'm sure of it, but he's not talking.</i>

"Is there some reason why you're just sitting there?" Kasei asked, walking up behind him. "You're blocking the stairs."

Rhade stood up, turning to face her. "Not really. I was just thinking."

"That can be a very dangerous pastime," she commented.

"Did you just make a joke?" he asked, staring.

Kasei blinked. "It must have been your imagination," she said with a flat expression on her face. "Anyways, you mind moving? I need to send the sun off to sleep with the others."

Rhade stepped aside to let her pass and followed her down the stairs. "How do you feel?"

"Alright, I suppose." She glanced back at him. "I know what you're asking and to be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I'm feeling. Don't expect me to say much about anything."

"I've learned not to," Rhade said, sighing. "I just hope that you're going to be alright."

"It would be hard for things to get worse than they were before."

"True enough," he agreed.

"Oh, and just as a note, don't expect any change in my opinion of you. I still don't like you. No magic in the universe will ever change that fact."

He cursed inwardly. Out loud, he said, "Just as long as you dislike me for and not because I'm Nietzschean."

She nodded stiffly. They reached the bottom of the stairs and she headed off to join a gathering group of people in loose grey robes. They greeted her amiably, speaking in Nomaien. Yuki was amongst them. He hugged his sister, receiving a light cuff on the side of his head in return. She said something to him that caused him to blush and the others around them to laugh. He pretended to be offended and left the group, heading for Rhade.

"Well, it's good to see that her sense of humor's back," he commented.

"What was that all about?"

"It looses a lot in translation, but she was teasing me about Beka. Apparently, I still smell."
"Smell?"

He flushed. "I don't know if your nose is able to pick it up, but Kasei says I still smell like Beka."

It took a few seconds for that to click in Rhade's mind. "You? And Beka? I didn't see that one coming."

"Frankly, neither did I, but one thing led to another…"

"Huh. Well, I'm glad that someone around here is getting somewhere."

"Now I wish that Kasei would smarten up and open her eyes. If she doesn't realize that you're a good person soon, mother will win and she'll be stuck with Sabaku Ryuujin for the rest of her life."

Rhade studied the younger man. Despite Kasei's statement, he couldn't get rid of his own feelings for her. The thought of her stuck with someone she didn't even like made his blood boil. "She deserves better than that."

"You say that and you haven't even met him. If you had, you'd be challenging him on this."

"I can do that?"

"Lucky for you, being a senshi is this system grants you a lot of freedoms you wouldn't normally have. I'd save a challenge as a last resort, though. It could be fatal. Ryuujin is no weakling."

"I'll remember that should I ever meet him."

"It's doubtful t hat you will, but things that you don't think will happen have this nasty habit of coming to pass. I'm going to join the other men in their sunset rituals. You're welcome to join us."

"I don't know any of the words."

"Relax. It's all repetition."

"Will anything bad happen if I say the wrong thing?"

Yuki laughed and shook his head. "No, no. They all know you're an outsider. They aren't sure of you, but this would give you instant credibility with them. Credibility with them is a very good thing."

Rhade nodded. "Alright. I'll join you."

An hour later, Yuki led an exhausted Rhade up to the guest room. <i>Senshino Garan</i> didn't see too many visitors, so they only had one long guest room with small beds spaced out on both sides of the room. For privacy, thick curtains could be pulled around each area. It wasn't perfect, but it was better than nothing. Rhade sat on his bed for a while after Yuki left him there to go bathe. He was alone in the room, but evidence around him suggested that he wouldn't be for long. Yuki had selected the bed next to his and his traveling clothes for the next day's return journey to the city were laid out and his packs were made up and sitting at the foot of his bed. At the far end of the room, the curtains were drawn partially shut around one bed. Through the small opening, Kasei's traveling clothes could be seen. He figured that her packs would be already made up as Yuki's were.

Deciding that it was the best thing to do, he also laid his clothing out and then started making sure that his packs were in order, making sure that there was a jacket out before closing the bags up. He looked at the clothes, nodding. They were a nice tan color. Hopefully, he wouldn't burn as badly as he had on the way here.

He sat down to take his shirt off just as Kasei walked in. His arms wouldn't move properly to get it over his head. Kasei stopped and watched his efforts. He grunted in pain and looked at her.

"I'm sure you must find this very amusing, but if you wouldn't mind lowering yourself for a moment, I could really use some help here."

Kasei walked into her bed area and came back with a jar of the same ointment she'd used on his burns before. Wordlessly, she sat down behind him, opening the jar and lifting his shirt up. She got some on her hand and spread it over the burned area. "You're starting to peel," she said, smoothing the ointment over his burns. "Really, I'm not surprised that you're having trouble moving considering how badly you burned."

Rhade gritted his teeth in pain, knowing that it would only hurt for a little while. To her credit, Kasei was trying to be gentle, but she was putting the ointment on a mix of burned and new skin and it stung. It took longer this time for the pain to fade.

Kasei stopped rubbing and eased his shirt off before continuing. This time she used more of a massaging touch than the soft rubbing she'd used previously, trying to relax his sore muscles. He closed his eyes and let her work. When he opened them again, he was lying down with his head in Kasei's lap with the curtain pulled closed. He sat up and turned around to look at her. Her eyes were half closed and she was unresponsive when he waved a hand in front of her face. He scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to her bed and lay her down, pulling a thin blanket over her. He paused before pulling the curtains shut.

<i>How did my head end up in her lap? For that matter, why would she have allowed that to happen?</i> Her eyes closed and her breathing slowed. </i>Whatever the reason, I'll have to wait to find out.</i> He smiled. <i>Not that it matters, really. I'm just glad that it happened.</i>

Kasei woke the next morning drenched in sweat. She sat up and looked around. She was in the area she'd claimed as her own the day before, but the last thing she remembered was falling asleep with Rhade's head in her lap. She growled a little. <i>You try and help a guy and he goes and falls asleep on you. Hmph! He must have carried me in here. I'm sure he felt that was the most appropriate thing to do, but it would have been better for him to just choose another bed and let me sleep.</i>

She got up and made sure the curtains were closed tight before peeling her sweaty clothes off and wrapping herself in a light robe. <i>I refuse to get dressed with sticky skin, especially if I have to travel through </I>Kanehr Shovasea<I>. I'd wind up just as sore as Rhade was last night.</i>

Gathering up the clothes she'd set aside for the day, she headed out for the hot springs, noting that Yuki and Rhade were already awake. Yuki knew better than to disturb her sleep, so he must have warned Rhade against waking her. <i>Good. My brother is showing some sense for a change. Now if only he'd show some sense towards that woman, Beka.</i>

She made it to the hot spring, saying good morning to people on the way. It was a false cheeriness that she showed them, as she wasn't a morning person. As she approached the spring, she heard voices. Rounding the corner, she saw Rhade and Yuki already there. Yuki waved cheerfully at her.

"Good morning, Kasei. Sleep well?"

"No," she said bluntly. "For some odd reason, I went to sleep fully dressed with a blanket on." She glared at Rhade. "I'm sticky and disgusting."

"Sticky perhaps, but never disgusting," Rhade told her.

"It's your fault," she pointed out. "You're the one who pulled the blanket over me. At least, I assume it was."

He nodded. "It was. I wasn't expecting you to sleep through the night, though. I figured you'd wake up not long after I moved you."

Yuki snorted. "I could have told you that wouldn't happen. After what she went through yesterday, I'm amazed that she's awake as early as she is."

"Had I know that, I wouldn't have put a blanket over you. I know how you prefer to sleep, as it was pointed out to me not long ago. I highly doubt that you would have appreciated me taking your clothes off."

Yuki took one look at Kasei's expression of mixed shock, outrage, and slight embarrassment and burst out laughing. Kasei glared at him which made him laugh harder. She walked over to the ledge and crouched down, cuffing him on the head.

"Hey! Show some respect!"

"Why? Just because you're a little older than me? Ha!"

"Are you going to come in here or not?"

Kasei shook her head. "Not with the two of you in there."

"Oh come on! It's not like you can see anything in this water," Yuki scoffed. "We'll even turn our backs so that you can get in without Rhade seeing anything. Otherwise, you'll just have to wait until we're done."

"And knowing you, you'll be in there for hours if no one hauls you out by the ears." She sighed. "Fine, fine. But no peeking."

Rhade and Yuki dutifully turned their backs for Kasei to disrobe and slip into the water. When the splashes subsided they turned to see her sitting on a ledge as far from them as possible.

"There. That wasn't so bad, now was it?"

"Don't patronize me, Yuki," she snapped.

"I wasn't patronizing you, Kasei," he replied calmly. "You need to lighten up a bit."

"My burns feel much better today," Rhade said after a long silence. "Thank you."

"I'm only going to tell you this one more time. You don't need to thank me. You asked for my help, so I was required to help you."

Sighing, Rhade shook his head. "So you have to do what I ask of you, no matter what. I hope you save my life soon because I don't think I can take much more of this."

"That feeling is mutual. Being forced by cultural laws to stay around someone I don't even remotely like makes me sick to my stomach."

"So break the rules."

"You know I can't do that. Think about it from my perspective. Even before I told people about the life debt, I would have walked around with the stain of guilt on my soul for the rest of my life. Now that people know, breaking with it would knock me out of favor with the people. Even without my position as princess, I'm still a senshi and no one would trust me."

"So you're stuck doing everything I ask until you save me."

"Right."

Rhade was very rapidly getting tired of all this dancing around. "So if I told you to come over here, you would have to."

"Weren't you listening? And besides that, didn't I warn you about abusing this? I can't do anything to you now, but I will eventually be in a position to."

"Kasei, come over here."

"You're serious about this?" He nodded. "Fine, but I'm not happy about this."

Yuki climbed out while Kasei was heading for Rhade and wrapped a robe around himself. "I'll just leave you two to work this out," he said, gathering his clothes up as well as Kasei's and Rhade's. "Until you get this thing worked out, you're stuck in there unless, of course, you feel up to parading stark naked in front of the entire compound."

"Yuki! Get back here this instant!" Kasei shouted.

"I agree with her," Rhade added. "This isn't funny."

"It's not supposed to be. Kasei, you might be healed of your other trauma, but the mental turmoil is starting to make me crazy. Work it out or boil. Your choice."

Speechless, Kasei watched him walk away with her clothes as she stood in the middle of the pool. It was deep enough that nothing beneath her shoulders was showing. Her long black pony tail floated on the surface of the water, trailing out like a serpent behind her.

"Well, I guess we have to talk," Rhade said.

She turned to look at him. "There's nothing to talk about. I don't like you. I've said it many times before. How many more times do I need to say it? I feel like a broken record."

"Come over here and tell me," he suggested. "I might be more inclined to believe you."

Figuring that it was the only way to get him off her case, she walked right up to him. Her solid black eyes met with his deep brown ones. "I. Don't. Like. You," she said spacing out each word as if she was speaking to a child.

He looked at her for a brief moment and nodded, surging forward to wrap his arms around her, pulling her up to his chest and kissing her deeply.

Episode 23: Confessions

He looked at her for a brief moment and nodded, surging forward to wrap his arms around her, pulling her up to his chest and kissing her deeply. His arms were locked around her securely, her hot, damp skin pressing against his. He could hear her heart hammering in her chest. He slid one hand up her back to the base of her neck. She dug her nails into his shoulders, but he ignored it, holding her there, praying that she wouldn't fight him.

His kiss was passionate, but gentle. Kasei just stood there, unable to move and incapable of doing anything. Her mind raced as quickly as her heartbeat. Thoughts formed and vanished before she could make any sense of them. She dug her nails deeper into Rhade's shoulder, but not hard enough to draw blood. It should have been enough to cause him pain, but all he did was hold her tighter.

He broke off the kiss and looked down at her. "Kasei, I know you don't like me, but the problem is that my feelings for you are very much the opposite. At first, I thought you were odd. Then I started to fall. I'm still falling. Every moment I'm with you, I fall a little more. It's stopped mattering how much you hate me or Nietzscheans. I can't help how I feel. I love you."

Kasei shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rhade, but-"

"Don't. Please, don't. Don't say it. Just let me have this brief time. It's all I want."

"All you want? I highly doubt that."

"It's all I can be sure I can get."

"Has anyone ever told you that it's very rude to interrupt a woman when she's trying to talk to you? Especially a Nomaien woman?"

"I've never met one before I met you."

"You thought you knew what I was saying before I got four words out. Why I'm bothering to waste my time on this is beyond me."

"What were you going to say?"

"I don't hate Nietzscheans."

Rhade stared at her. "Really?"

She nodded. "The healing not only repaired what they did to me but eased the psychological trauma the damages inflicted on me."

"But you still hate me."

She hesitated. "I'm still trying to figure that out. I walked out of there yesterday still hating you. When you brought me clothes, I still did. I wasn't so sure when I woke up this morning. What you did, moving me into my bed, was a nice gesture even though it was misguided."

"Humans do say that the road to hell is paved by good intentions."

"Why? Are they short of bad ones?"

Rhade laughed. "I'm not sure why they say that. They just do. Anyways, please continue."

"I've been trying to rationalize my dislike of you with the fact that I seem to think about you a fair amount of the time, mostly concerned with how to get rid of the life debt, what to do afterwards, ways to take you out in training sessions, or just how to avoid you. At least, that's how it started. Ever since the night we sat by the lake, the night I wound up with all those guiveri in my system and you kissed me. Remember?"

"How could I forget? You were just asking for that kiss. 'What could possibly make this stranger'? Really now."

"I told you about Nomaiens and physical contact. There hasn't been enough for a strong addiction, but there's been enough before now that you're in my head. I don't want you there, but I don't want you to leave either. It's making me crazy and probably that's what's doing it to Yuki."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

She brushed his cheek lightly with a damp finger. "You could relax your grip on me. It's starting to hurt a little."

"Sorry," he said, relaxing a bit.

"These things are meant to squish a bit, but that was beyond their limits."

"They're very nice. It wasn't bothering me at all."

"Typical," she sighed. "Show a man a pair of breasts and his mind leaves the building."

"That's what they're purpose is. Well, besides feeding babies. They're meant to be attractive."

"Lucky me," she grumbled.

"I think you're very attractive, Kasei, regardless of what your people consider to be the height of beauty. On most worlds I've been to or heard of, you would be considered a great beauty, especially on Terazed."

She looked away from him, shaking her head. "That doesn't matter. Now that I'm here, it appears that I won't be leaving again."

"Why?"

"Mother wants me to stay. She'll likely arrange for something to happen to you, something life threatening, to rid me of that. Once it's out of the way, there's nothing stopping her from going through with my marriage with Ryuujin."

"Isn't there a way to stop that?"

"What? My mother or the wedding?"

"Both."

"So far, having you around has been keeping both at bay, but it won't work forever. Sooner or later, this life debt will be repaid."

"It doesn't have to be," he said quietly, cupping her face in his hands.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He swallowed nervously. "I'm reluctant to bring this up, but if you were otherwise engaged, your engagement to Ryuujin would be invalid, right?"

"Only something like the debt will do that, but it's a temporary state."

"Is there some way to make the debt more permanent?"

"Why would anyone want that?" she asked, shocked.

"Just listen. In any of your stories or histories, has anything like our situation ever happened?"

"Occasionally. In bard ballads it happens more often, but those aren't real stories."

"What's the usual outcome of it?"

"In the real histories and stories, they usually part ways once the debt is repaid and the one pines after the other. In some cases, they're both killed. In very rare cases do both parties share the feelings."

"What I propose is this. We could pretend to the outside world that we've discovered feelings for each other. Well, rather you've discovered that you reciprocate my feelings."

"Are you out of your mind? No one would believe that for a second!"

"They would with a little help. Dylan and the other members of the crew are well familiar with Nietzscheans and our customs. A Nietzschean female chooses a mate based on the superiority of his genes. Once she's done that, our weddings are very private matters, consisting of only the male and female. There's an exchange of wedding bands and that's it."

Kasei looked skeptical. "Go on."

"If Dylan or the others saw you wearing a double helix band on your arm, they'd understand immediately and explain to others about it. Since it's the women who choose, there wouldn't be any suspicion on their part that this is fake."

"And you have one of these bands? Assuming I'm crazy enough to do this in the first place."

"It's in my bags," he told her, shifting uncomfortably. "Hope does strange things to men."

She thought about it for a moment. "There would have to be ground rules. I'll act appropriately in public, but in private, nothing will change."

"We can't be fighting, though," he pointed out. "Servants have a tendency to pick up on things."

She nodded. "We'll also have to let Yuki in on this. He'll know something's off and will ask questions. If he knows, he can help."

"Agreed."

"One more thing. Are you doing this to help me out or because you think it's the closest thing you'll get with me to the real thing?"

"Because it helps you. I won't pretend that this doesn't make me happy."

"I'm glad you're honest about it." Kasei nodded. "Alright. We'll give it a try."

He smiled and kissed her again. "As soon as Yuki brings our clothes back, I'll get you the band."

"We'll get dressed and lets get going, then," Yuki said, coming around the corner, startling them. "What? You thought I was just going to leave you two to talk this out? I stayed nearby in case things got ugly."

"I'm going to throttle you when I get out of here!"

"You do that. Bye!" Yuki dropped their clothes on the ground and made a run for it.

Sighing, Kasei pulled away from Rhade and headed for the edge of the pool. She started to climb out, but remembered that she wasn't alone. She looked back at him.

"What's stopping you?" he asked, heading towards her. "It's not like I don't know what's there. You were squished pretty close to me after all."

"Feeling and seeing are two different things."

"I'm confident that my mental image is very close to reality. Besides, I don't mind if you see me."

"No, of course you wouldn't."

"Why don't we climb out together?" he suggested. "On three?"

"It's lucky for you that I'm in danger of turning into a prune if I stay in here much longer."

Rhade counted to three and they pulled themselves out of the water. Kasei made a dash for her robe. Rhade watched her wrap it around herself. He was pleased to note that his mental image of her was bang on. There were some scars lining her skin, but it was otherwise perfect. <i>No wonder the Drago-Kazov had her pined for a Nietzschean reborn. The woman is built like one of us. Smaller in the chest than I'm used to seeing, but that's fine with me.</i>

Kasei did her best to not look at Rhade, but caught a brief glimpse as he wrapped his robe up. <i>Oy. So that's what they mean by perfection. Not that I see many men in the buff, but oy.</i> She shook her head. <i>If I have to pretend to be married to him, it's just lucky that he isn't hideous. Far, far from it…Stop that! Don't even entertain those ideas, Kasei! You have other things to worry about.</i> She picked up her clothes and headed into a corner to dry off and change, noting that Rhade did the same, but had enough tact to go to a different corner. She could feel him watching her as she dressed, but chose to ignore it. She pulled on a pair of dark tan leggings and sleeveless top.

"Aren't sleeveless tops a bad idea in the desert?" Rhade asked.

"I have a jacket with my packs. You'd best wear one, too." She took a look at his clothes. "That's better. You won't burn as bad in that if you're careful. Just keep your jacket and head wrap on and you'll be fine."

"I'm not worried about burning."

"You should be, even with protection." She picked up her robe. "Let's get our packs and head back to the city. I want to get all of this over with. The sooner I'm back to fighting Magog, the happier I'll be."

"The distance it will put between you and your mother not having anything to do with that happiness."

"No. Nothing at all," she said blandly, walking down the stairs.

Yuki met them at the bottom of the stairs. He had all of their packs waiting at his feet, holding their jackets in his hands. "Let's get moving, people. It's almost too hot to travel now. We'll be lucky to get any kind of distance before it gets too dark to travel."

"You were the one who stole our clothes, Yuki," Rhade pointed out.

"It was for a good cause," he said innocently. "Rhade, come help me load these onto the Sandrunners."

He nodded, picking up half of the packs and following Yuki through the portal leading out into the desert where the three animals waited.

"Yuki, despite how upset I sounded about what you did, I have to thank you for it."

The other amn grinned. "I know. I saw and heard most of what happened. So. What do you think of my sister now?"

Rhade sighed, leaning against the side of his Sandrunner. "I thought she was beautiful. Having held her like that…I don't know if I should have brought up my plan."

"Why? It's a good plan. I would have brought it up if you hadn't."

"It's not that. It's just…I don't know if I can deal with just pretending."

Yuki stared at him. "You're serious about her, aren't you?"

"I wish I wasn't. I heard what she said about not hating Nietzscheans anymore. I'm finding it a little hard to believe. And what she said about me. I'm still trying to make sense of it."

"Having never heard anything like that from any woman ever, I'm not sure what to tell you. I'd say that it was close enough to a confession of love, but unless she makes any sort of move, I wouldn't say that just yet."

"Define move."

"If she offers to share food from her plate or makes a physical move towards you. You know, touching you when she doesn't have to, snarling at other women who come close to you, all the way up to actually kissing you. Things like that. Watch for them."

"I'll keep that in mind," he said as Kasei joined them.

"Keep what in mind?" she asked.

"I was just reminding Rhade how to tie his head wrap. No sense in him getting a heat stroke or something."

Kasei nodded and mounted her Sandrunner. "Let's get going."

Six hours of hard travel later, they stopped in the same place they had before. The Sandrunners dropped to their knees once the packs were removed. They were exhausted, as were their riders. Yuki walked over to a tree and collapsed at its base. Kasei simply sat down beside Sharahase and leaned on her side, looking up at the fading sunlight. Rhade walked over.

"Not sending the sun off to sleep?"

She shook her head wearily. "Too late in the day for that and I'm too tired right now," she said wearily. "I hope Yuki has enough energy left to throw a meal together."

Rhade glanced over at him and shook his head. "He's asleep. If you don't mind, I can probably throw something edible together from what he's got in his packs. It might not be the greatest meal you've ever eaten, but it will be food."

"I need food too badly to complain about who makes it or what it tastes like. I'll make you a deal. You cook. I'll get the shelters set up. The desert is no place to be sleeping without them."

"Deal."

Rhade rummaged through Yuki's packs to take out the larger pot and some food items that looked like the ones Yuki had served them last time. He chopped things up while Kasei got the smaller shelter set up. After three tries to get the stove lit, he called Kasei over. She laughed and turned a knob before pushing the button that turned it on. He thanked her as she headed off to get the next shelter up. He put the pot on the stove to cook the meat and vegetable slices a bit before adding some water and seasonings. He let it sit for a little while. Kasei joined him once the second shelter was up.

"Tell me that's going to be ready soon."

"I hope so, but these ingredients are unfamiliar to me."

Kasei took the lid off and looked inside; poking the things inside with the knife he'd used to chop them. "I'd give it another ten minutes tops. These things were already precooked a little to make traveling easier."

"Good to know." He stared at the small flames under the pot. "I hope this turns out alright."

"It smells alright. I'm so hungry it doesn't matter, really."

"So hungry, you could eat me out of desperation?" he teased.

"Don't tempt me."

"Why not? Afraid you might do something you'd regret?"

She snorted. "Hardly. I'd ruin my supper."

"I didn't taste that bad, did I?"

"That's not what I'm talking about. If I ate you, I'd have no room for whatever you're cooking. I'll try that first. If it's bad, I may just try and eat you."

"You'd have to catch me first," he grinned, stirring their meal.

"Is that a challenge?"

Rhade leaned towards her. "Why not?"

Kasei growled low in her throat and looked as if she were about to pounce. Yuki stirred in his sleep, moaning, breaking their eye contact. He sat up and looked around, confused.

"Dinner will be ready soon if you're hungry, Yuki," Rhade told him.

"You cooked?"

"I wasn't sure if you were going to wake up anytime soon and Kasei might have decided to take a bite out of me if I didn't."

Yuki smiled tiredly. "She must be starving by now."

"Let's not get into that again."

Yuki came over and prodded the meal. "I'd say this is ready if you want to eat."

"I'll go get the bowls," Rhade offered, getting up.

Episode 24: Moonrise

They ate their meal in silence. Rhade watched as Kasei practically inhaled her meal, silently taking a second and third helping from the pot. Yuki ate his meal slower than Kasei, but also had seconds, leaving just enough left for Rhade to have more if he wanted it. Yuki offered to clean up afterwards and wouldn't let Rhade talk him out of it, insisting that it was his job anyways.

When they finished, Yuki didn't immediately whisk the dishes away. He stacked them and set them aside. "So," he said, looking Kasei and Rhade in the eye. "If you two are going to go through with Rhade's plan, you're going to have to start now."

"Now? Why?"

"Well, if the two of you were actually married, you'd share a shelter, right? I can guarantee that mother will ask about that. If Rhade isn't at least a little familiar with how you sleep, Kasei, then this will fall apart as soon as the questions start being asked. Second, details of the ceremony will also be asked. Rhade, you'll need to fill her in on that. Got it?"

Kasei looked as if she wanted to throttle her brother, but simply nodded, standing. "You have a point, Yuki," she said, heading for the shelters.

"Well?" he asked Rhade. "Go after her."

He needed no further encouraging. He scrambled up to his feet and followed. When he reached the shelters, he saw her sitting on the top of a dune not far from the larger shelter. He took a deep breath before joining her. "Kasei?"

She didn't even look at him. "Is this even a good idea?"

"I'm not even sure of that," he said sitting beside her. "It'll be hard for both of us, but I think it'll be worth it in the long run."

"Hard? How could this be hard for you?"

"Hard to remember that this is only pretend, that you're only wearing the double helix to escape something worse than me."

She turned to glance at him briefly. "Remind me when we get back to the palace to give you the thing that I keep in my secret drawer."

"What would that be?"

"You'll find out when we get back. It's not something discussed in the open. Yuki doesn't even know about this. Men aren't supposed to unless…Unless they're married."

"Ah."

"Don't say anything more about it. I really don't want to."

"Would it be alright with you if I gave you this now?" he asked, pulling the smaller of his two double helix bands out of the pocket of his jacket and holding it out for her to see.

She looked at it. "It's lovely."

"Take your jacket off and I'll show you how it's worn," he said, taking his own off.

She slid her jacket off and turned to face him. He took her arm and clasped the cool metal around her arm. "Now, you put this one around my arm the same way I put it on you." As she did so, he said, "Normally, the female puts the band around her arm and then puts another on the arm of her male."

"That's it?"

"Pretty much. What happens afterwards…I think you can guess."

"I have a good idea, yes," she said, looking at the arm band. "It's a little uncomfortable. I guess I'll just have to get used to it."

"Hopefully, this won't take long. After we leave Nomaie, you can give it back."

"And gladly, too."

Rhade turned away to hide his disappointment. "Hey, Kasei. Remember when we were looking at the moon on Callien? You said then that you'd show me a Nomaien moonrise. Would you?"

"Wait a little bit. The moons should be coming out shortly after the sunlight fades away. There's nothing I've seen more beautiful that the twin moons over the desert at night. I've been around a long time and nothing compares."

Rhade sat and waited with her for the last of the sunlight to fade to blackness. One by one the stars appeared overhead. Slowly, the smaller of the two moons began to appear followed shortly by the larger. "Most cultures have myths about their moons. Does yours?"

She nodded. "The old legends tell of the first queen and her daughters. The youngest was called Kaikou. She was loved by a man named Aori and he desired to have her with him always as his very own to share with no other. Such things were forbidden then. Though at first, she didn't love him, she grew fond enough of him to want the same thing. Outraged, her mother called down a curse on their heads. She turned Kaikou into the smaller moon, the one we call Shanshe, and Aori into the larger moon, Kaivashe. Though they would always seen each other, they would never be able to touch out of embarrassment , for all of Nomaie would see it if they did. So they were doomed to forever wander the skies."

"Tragic."

"Most tales of moons are. It's odd how that works out."

The moons were fully in view now. The smaller was only a half moon, but the larger one was full. "It's more impressive when they're both full. It only happens once a year, though."

The moons shone their pale light down on the ground, turning the formerly golden desert sands into fields of silver. Rhade turned to Kasei to agree with her on the beauty of the sight, but lost all ability to speak. The silver light caressed her pale skin and added a silver glow to her jet black hair. Her eyes sparkled as if they had stars in them.

She turned to see him staring wide-eyed at her. "What? Do I have something on my face?"

Rhade reached out a hand to caress her moonlight kissed cheek. "I'm afraid I can't agree with you on you opinion of the beauty of the sight before us. I rank it as the second most beautiful thing I've ever seen with the sight of you fast asleep as the third most," he said hoarsely.

"What do you think is better?"

He moved in closer. "Seeing you in this moonlight," he whispered softly into her ear, kissing her cheek. She didn't pull away, so he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She smelled of sweat and something sweet and spicy. It was a scent he'd smelled on her once before, but he had no idea what it was. Whatever it was, it was very pleasant. Emboldened by her lack of resistance, he cupped her face in his hands and kissed her, letting her have the full force of his feelings for her.

He jumped in surprise as he felt a pair of hands on his chest, resting lightly. He pulled back and looked at her. She simply raised an eyebrow, but didn't pull away or make any effort to get him to let go. Cautiously, Rhade stroked her cheek. Closing her eyes, she leaned into it.

"I'd love to hate you right now," she whispered. "But how can I hate you when you're doing that?"

"Doing this?" As he stroked her cheek, she nodded. "I'm hardly doing anything."

"Tactile addiction," she reminded him.

"So what you said earlier today about there not having been enough for a strong addiction? That was false?"

"No, it had been true up until you kissed me in the bath. That was the point of no return."

"So you can't hate me while I'm doing this? Remind me to never stop."

"I doubt you'd need much of a reminder as I'm sure you'd do this every chance if you could get if you though you could get away with it."

"That's true." He paused. "So...you're addicted to my touch?"

"In simplest terms, I'd have to say yes. I spent the entire trip here arguing with myself, trying to figure out how I'd deal with it if you ever touched me again. Or, for that matter, how I'd cope if I you never did. The thing with this is that if, from this moment on, you didn't touch me for a very long period of time, I would still want it. I'd eventually get over it, but once I'd gotten over it and you touched me again, even just a brief touch, I'd be back to square one." She laughed. "In a sense, I need you as much as you want me."

"But you don't want me?"

"Physically, I crave you. Mentally, I'm still coping with this. Head verses heart. I'm pretty sure the heart will win out in the long run and will reign supreme over the other, but will my head ever feel the same?"

"Let's find out," he suggested.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea," she said cautiously.

"What Yuki said earlier about the questions we'd be asked upon our return got me thinking. He's right about the sleeping thing. Take that a step further. Since, to their knowledge, we're married, we're each bound to be asked private questions about that. I know for a fact that men tend to talk about their conquests. Since the gender roles here are the opposite of what I'm familiar with, I can only assume that the women here do the same."

Kasei stared at him in shock. "Having never done so, that wouldn't have occurred to me, but Hihana does that all the time. Tenshi, Okami, and Yumeko have more tact that to ask. Those kinds of things aren't discussed in private on Kinshei, so Yumeko would never dream of asking, but Hihana is bound to, especially given her interest in you." A thought dawned on her. "She's going to be furious that you're mine and not hers."

"You consider me to be yours now?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Not in the sense that these bands imply, but since you have all these feelings for me, you don't have eyes for anyone else. I need your help getting off this planet and need you physically more than I've needed anyone since Seikou. In almost every sense, you're mine. Ask Yuki. We're very possessive, we Nomaien women."

"So are you likely to snarl at other women who come near me?"

"Possibly. We'll see how I feel when we get around other women."

On impulse, Rhade took her hand and kissed the inside of her wrist, just above her pulse point, drawing a very unexpected moan from Kasei.

"What? What did I do?" he asked, alarmed.

"Just don't stop. I'll explain later."

Puzzled, but happy to oblige, he kissed her soft skin, making his way up the inside of her arm. She leaned her head back, lips parted slightly. The more he kissed, the more aware of that sweet spicy smell he became. Up at her shoulder, he toyed with the thin strap of her top as he nibbled gently up to her neck. He almost went fro her throat, but a low warning growl from her made him think better of it. He went up to her earlobe instead, tracing his way down her jaw line from there to her chin and up to her lips.

The instant his lips met hers she reacted, matching the passion of his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck and tangling her fingers in his hair. The scent was very strong now, strong enough that Rhade was certain that what he had been smelling was arousal. The shock was lessened by her earlier confessions about her addiction to him, but it was still a surprise. He slid his hands down to her lower back and pulled her as close to him as he could, considering their sitting postures. He dared to slide his hands up under her top. Her response was to do the same, avoiding the still raw skin on his back from the sunburns. Her hands felt hot as did her back. Her skin was getting slick with sweat even though it wasn't very warm out.

She stopped him from trying to get her shirt off. "If you're going to do that, we should head for the shelters. I love the desert, but I don't relish having sand in certain vulnerable places."

He laughed, understanding. "Then let's go down to the shelter and see where things go from there." He got up and pulled her to her feet. She stumbled, catching her balance by grabbing onto his arms. "Careful," he teased.

Gripping his arms, she stared up at him for a moment. "Let's go before I loose all ability to walk under my own power."

"If you did, I'd carry you."

Inside the shelter, Kasei closed the side flaps to keep the wind and prying eyes out, never mind that Yuki was the only other person there and would never peek in on this. Watching them at the bath was one thing. Nothing really happened. This was something else entirely.

It was dark with the flaps closed, but a little moonlight peeked in. They could clearly see each other's shapes. Rhade's enhanced Nietzschean eyes could pick out a little more detail than Kasei's could. She joined him over by their bed rolls, unsure what to do now. It was difficult to make out her expression in the dark, but he figured she was probably a little shy, possibly nervous. <i>Understandable,</i> he commented to himself, reaching out to pull her towards him. He held her in his arms, enjoying her scent.

Trembling fingers reached up touch his cheek, cautiously at first, but gradually with more confidence. She brought her head up to look him in the eye, sliding her hand down to his lips, down his chin to the base of his throat and around to the back of his neck. He brushed her lips with his encouragingly, trying to keep from overwhelming Kasei with his need for her. He caressed her lower back as he pulled her in closer, their bodies pressing tightly together. It wasn't as nice as it had been in the bath, but it still felt wonderful to him. He nibbled the tip of her ear, kissed her along the length of her jaw before heading back to her lips, brushing them gently again. Tentatively, he placed a light kiss at the corner of her mouth. When she didn't pull away, he went for her lips. She tasted of the spices from supper, a taste he found very pleasant. It was odd how much more enticing a woman could be when she tasted of a meal of his own making.

Pushing herself up on her toes, Kasei took his face in her hands and kissed him back, her craving for him breaking loose. She dug her nails into his shoulders as she had before. Not because she was trying to push him away, but because she was trying to keep him where he was. Rhade ran his hands up under the back of her shirt again, enjoying the smoothness of her skin, daring to run them up higher and not caring that he was moving her shirt up at the same time.

She explored his body with her hands, going from his shoulders down his arms and to his sides, teasing his skin as she went, kneading and caressing. When she got to his sides, she remembered that his shirt was in her way. Snarling, she pulled away from him and pulled it over his head, standing back to look at him. She well remembered what he looked like from earlier that day, but the limited moonlight made him look just that little bit more appealing. It highlighted some areas, leaving others in shadow, daring one to come closer and see what it really looked like.

Smiling, Rhade walked up to her. "Well? Like what you see?"

"How dare you look the way you do? It's not fair."

"Why don't you some closer and tell me just how unfair it is?"

She turned away from him. "Even if I did, I wouldn't have the faintest clue what to do with you."

He placed his hands on her shoulders, caressing her upper arms. "Don't worry, Kasei. I can help you there. Just don't think too much about what you're doing. Relax. Breathe. Go with your instincts." He slid his hands down to her waist and under her shirt. "Trust me."

"That's a lot to ask."

He hiked her shirt up a little more. "I know. I'll be as patient as I can, but the way you're reacting to me makes it difficult." The shirt was up just at the bottom of her breasts now.

She turned to face him. "Head verses heart."

"Let your heart tell you what to do." Before she could protest, he had the shirt off and tossed it to the ground. "What do you want?"

She placed her hands on his bare chest. "What I want? I want to leave here. I want to be free of the pressure my mother has placed on me, of the restrictions on my life. I want to be free of the life debt, but not at the same time."

"Why wouldn't you? It's all you've talked about since it happened."

"If I'm never free of it, I can always be near you. I can always touch you."

"Even free, you're always welcome to be with me. The helix on your arm can be for real if you want."

Kasei shook her head. "I don't know if I really want to be married to you. I need you, but I'm not really sure if I like you. I don't dislike you, but…"

He nodded. "I understand. Are you ok with pretending, though?"

"I'm a little more comfortable with the idea now," she said, shivering as he ran his hands up her sides, brushing the side of her breasts. "If only because it gives me a cultural excuse to stay near you. My main problem right now will be the taboos on physical contact in public. You, on the other hand, get to deal with the hoards of jealous women. You know, the ones who've sought after me since I was old enough to know about such things."

"I think I can handle that."

Her lips twitched in amusement. "We'll see about that," she said, pulling his face to hers to kiss him soundly, her tongue exploring the inside of his mouth. Startled by the ferocity of her attack, it took Rhade a moment to respond to her.

He took her hands and sank slowly to the bedrolls, pulling her with him. He lay her down on the ground, running a hand up her flat stomach to her breasts. Her skin was covered with a thin film of perspiration. With one hand, she fingered the length of the bone blades on that arm, running her fingers long the insides, stroking their length. He helped her slide the bracer off. Once it was gone, she ran her fingers across the smooth skin in between the blades, causing Rhade's eyes to close in pleasure. He stopped moving so that she couldn't accidentally hurt herself on them. Kasei took his hand in her smaller ones and brought it to her face. Gently with increasing need, she kissed the inside of his wrist, the same place he'd gotten that deep reaction from earlier. Her hot lips felt good on his skin. The smell of her arousal was nearly overwhelming. He freed his hand and sat up to pull her leggings off. Her legs free, she pushed him over onto his back to do the same, growling low in her throat. She straddled his chest and twined her fingers through his hair.

"Mine," she snarled, kissing him.

"Yes, yours," he confirmed, rolling her onto her back, mounting her. She looked surprised, but let him. Rhade kissed ever inch of skin he could get his lips on, tangling his fingers in her long hair, trying not to pull it out of the ponytail. Some had already come loose.

Kasei spread her legs a little to make things a little more comfortable for both of them. He let himself sit inside her until she was ready for more. She ran her nails down his back. It felt unexpectedly good, prompting him to thrust a little more roughly than he'd intended to. She arched her back at the sudden movement, her head tilting back and lips parting. Her hands clasped around his back, pulling him towards her. Aware of her need, he continued, increasing the strength of his thrust, gasping at the sensation of finally being with the woman he loved, his mind reeling at the fact that she was letting him, that she needed him to touch her.

Before he knew it, it was all over. He collapsed on top of her, gasping for breath. Gently, she wrapped her arms around his head, holding him to her chest, kissing his forehead. She stroked his sweat dampened hair. "I'm sure this is comfortable for you," she whispered in his ear, "but I can't breathe properly."

"Sorry," he apologized, lifting himself off and moving to the side. He lay down on his side and Kasei rolled around to lie against him after pulling a blanket up to keep their damp skin from getting too cold. "How do you feel?"

"Exhausted," she said sleepily. "Relaxed."

"I'm glad," he said smiling. "Get some sleep Kasei. It's a long journey back to the city tomorrow."

"G'night, 'Lemachus," she said, yawning before she fell asleep cradled in his arms.

Episode 25: Fate

Rhade woke alone the next morning. The bedroll was still warm, so Kasei hadn't gotten up long ago. He stretched, yawning. He hadn't been this relaxed since he and Okami had rescued Kasei from the Drago-Kazov prison. He sat up to try and find his clothes. Finding them, he stuffed them into his pack and pulled out a fresh set. Dressed, he headed out of the shelter to find Yuki sitting with a pot of food cooking over the stove. He looked up at Rhade, grinning.

"So," he said. "How was it?"

"That's kind of a strange question to be asking, especially seeing as how it involves your sister."

Yuki waved dismissively. "Only odd if you haven't yet seen her today."

"Oh?" he asked, sitting down.

She's been sitting over there on that dune since she got up," Yuki said pointing. "She had a very odd look on her face this morning, one I don't think I've ever seen before. I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It was kind of…vacant. She was looking around as if she had no idea where she was. She seemed to remember when she saw me, but she headed for the dune right after that."

"Maybe I should go talk to her."

"That would be good. Tell her that breakfast will be ready shortly. After last night, I figured that you two would sleep a little later." Seeing Rhade's embarrassed expression, he laughed. "You weren't that noisy, but I saw you up on the dune and then heading into the shelter." He cuffed the older man on the shoulder. "All I can say is that it's about time."

"You and me both," Rhade agreed, grinning back. He got up and headed for the dune Kasei was sitting on. He sank down beside her and placed his hand on her thigh.

She jumped, startled. "Rhade, don't do that!" She scowled at him.

"Lost in thought?" She nodded, looking back over the desert. "May I ask about what?"

"Mostly about how much my life has changed since I left home. Some for the better, but I think some change is for the worse."

"Like what?"

She hugged her knees up under her chin. "I'm not the same person I used to be. I know that's kind of an odd statement, but after what happened last night and the dreams I had, I'm afraid of how much I've changed. Yuki told me once that I used to be a lot more fun, that I used to laugh more. I never used to be this serious, even before I left. Odd isn't it? I was happy here once, but now I don't know if I can be happy here."

"Considering what you've been through, I'm not surprised, If I'd been through a serious trauma, I don't know if I'd want to be near my family either."

"I thought you Nietzscheans were family oriented people."

"We are, but a serious enough trauma will make even the most social creature into a hermit."

"True enough. I'll be glad to be back on board the <i>Andromeda</i>, heading off to fight Magog. That's something I know, something I have a lot of confidence in. Well, I did. I'm unsure of how well my powers are working now, but I don't think I'll have any meltdowns."

"Good to hear. What else have you been pondering?"

"Something I'm still trying to work out. If I ever do, maybe I'll tell you about it."

"Fair enough. Anyways, Yuki says that breakfast is almost ready. You're doubtlessly starving."

In response, her stomach growled. "I promise not to try and eat you if it's not ready yet."

They headed down and ate a quick meal before cleaning up and breaking camp. The packed up their things and mounted the Sandrunners one last time, heading for the city. Yuki in particular was eager to return. His awareness of Rhade and Kasei the night before made him ache for Beka. He just prayed that she hadn't found someone else in his absence. It was a reasonable paranoia. She was a beautiful woman and any man would be proud to be called hers.

They reached the city entrance near supper time having had their lunch in the saddle. All three were exhausted, but apprehensive. They kept their proverbial fingers crossed, praying that the plan didn't fall apart. It would be hard fooling their friends, especially the other three Guardians who know Kasei better than anyone save Yuki. Kasei in particular dreaded the wrath of her mother, even though it wasn't real. She fingered the double helix band on her arm and swallowed nervously.

Rhade brought his mount over close enough so that he could reach over and squeeze her hand reassuringly. She smiled at him, feeling a little calmer. She led them through the streets and up to the palace gates. The guards saw them coming and opened them. Before they'd even stopped their mounts to dismount, a stream of people came out of the palace: The crew of the <i>Andromeda Ascendant</i>;the other three Guardians; the Queen, her consort, and Hihana; a sream of servants to help them dismount and to take the animals away. There was a bunch more people that came out, but they weren't people that Rhade was familiar with. Some of them wore very elaborate clothing, so he figured that they were nobility of some sort.

Kasei dismounted and made a formal bow to her parents. She noted the expression of shock on the faces of the <i>Andromeda</i> crew at seeing the helix. <i>Good. That's what I hoped for.</i> "Greetings, Revered Majesty."

"Welcome home, Kasei," she said warmly. "I trust that all is well."

"All is as it should be. The Spirit of Nomaie came and healed me. I am mostly as I was, but my experiences are still with me."

"As it should be," Chuuseki said, embracing his daughter. "You must surely be tied from your long journey."

"Yes, but if I sleep now, I'll be up all night."

"And cranky as a dune bear with a sunburn all day tomorrow," Yuki added, dismounting. The instant his feet hit the ground, Beka ran up, throwing her arms around him and kissing him soundly. The Nomaiens in the crowd gasped at the scandalous display.

Kasei merely blinked. "She's human," she said shrugging. "They don't have any taboos on this sort of thing."

Hibashira eyed her twin children carefully. "Yuki, has this woman chosen you?"

Beka broke off her kiss so that she could answer. "Yes, Revered Majesty, I have."

"And you accepted her claim?"

He nodded. "Yes, Revered Majesty, though I can't understand why she'd want me."

Chuuseki's chest puffed with pride. "She may not be a Nomaien woman, but she's a lovely creature all the same. You're my son, Yuki. I wish you every happiness. If you're lucky, you can get her to marry you before she changes her mind." The crowd laughed at his blushes.

"What was that about?" Rhade asked, dismounting.

Kasei turned to whisper, "Nomaiens mate for life when they do at all."

"I see."

"So, Kasei," Hihana said suddenly. "Where did you get that odd piece of jewelry? It's the most bizarre thing I've ever seen!"

"Rhade gave it to me."

"Oh? Now, which context of give are you using? Come now, we must be clear on this."

Kasei took a deep breath. It was now or never. "<i>Janshe rak tor el hanesse akarin emesyo, Telemachus Rhade sha ne.</i>"

Anyone who spoke any Nomaien stared at her. The silence in the courtyard was deafening. Hibashira tried to speak, but she was having difficulty forming any words at all. Finally, it was Trance who broke the silence.

"What does that mean, exactly?"

Tenshi turned to her. "She's claimed Rhade as hers."

Dylan nodded. "I figured as much. Kasei's wearing a double helix band. Only married Nietzscheans wear those."

"She married him?" Harper asked incredulously. "She hates him!"

"I hated him" she corrected him. "The healing I had helped me get rid of my hatred for him and the Nietzschean people."

"This is insanity, Kasei," Okami warned her. "You're still under a life debt to him."

"I know, Okami. I'm in no hurry to discharge it."

"Kasei, you know it is forbidden to marry while under a life debt," Hihana told her smugly. "What you've done is illegal."

"Why?" she challenged. "For starters, he's not Nomaien. Secondly, he's the one my life belongs to. If I choose to accept him, that's my business. Third, according to his people's marriage customs, the female does the choosing, much like our own society, only they don't form the kind of temporary liaisons that we do. That constitutes a marriage. It was only natural for him to offer me the double helix after explaining about it first."

"If he explained, then what does a Nietzschean wedding entail?" Dylan asked.

"I put the band on my arm, and then I put the band on his arm."

"And?"

"Do I need to spell out to you what you do after you get married?"

"No, I was just checking."

Hihana growled at her sister. "You cannot do this!"

"Why? Because you want him for yourself? You're just upset because I chose him first."

"You have a fiancée."

"That's right, Kasei," a man with deep golden skin, solid blue eyes, and long white hair said, stepping forward. "Me."

Rhade stepped up to stand beside Kasei. "Sabaku Ryuujin, I presume."

Ryuujin walked up to Rhade. "Don't think that you can take her from me, <i>laikerr</i>. She's mine!"

Rhade blinked, certain that he'd just been called something rude. "As I understand the way things work here, she's not yours. You don't get to do the choosing. She does. She chose me. Therefore, it's illogical for you to assume that you stand any chance. Besides, Nomaiens mate for life, do they not? There's nothing you can do about it."

"I can still kill you," he snarled, aiming a punch at Rhade.

He raised his bone blades, flexing them. "I'd think twice about trying that. I'm not just a soldier of the Commonwealth, but Terazed Kamen as well. Kasei has chosen me. Even though she owes me her life, I will still defend her." He turned to Kasei. "As much as you'll let me anyways."

She sighed and shook her head. "Do as you will, but I'm not going to stand here and watch you two men posture and claim me. I've made my decision, Ryuujin. You know perfectly well that I never liked you. Even when I hated him, Rhade was still infinitely preferable to you. Hell, the Nietzscheans who held me captive were also, but not by much."

"Kasei!" Hibashira exclaimed, outraged. Beside her was a woman bearing a resemblance to Ryuujin. "How dare you!"

"Revered Majesty, Lady Shugoryuu, I've made my feelings clear in the past. If you failed to heed them then, then I see no reason why I should hold back now. Besides, I'll be leaving here shortly. I have a life debt to repay and a promise of help to fulfill. My friends need me, so I shall help."

"You are a Nomaien and my daughter, so you shall stay here!"

"I'd hoped to not have to use this, but you leave me with little choice. According to a test the avatar of the <i>Andromeda Ascendant</i> performed on me, I am the reincarnation of a Nietzschean woman by the name of Vlakyrie Museveni out of Verdandi by Achilles of the Drago-Kazov Pride. 300 years or so ago, I had been married to a man named Gaheris Rhade out of Morgause by Lot of the Majoram Pride. Telemachus is the reincarnation of Gaheris Rhade.Therefore, I am only acting as fate dictated. Our marriage was cut tragically short when Gaheris was killed in battle just before Dylan and the <i>Andromeda</i> were trapped on the event horizon of a black hole, keeping them frozen in time for 300 years before they were rescued by Captain Beka Valentine and the crew of the <i>Eureka Maru</i>. We were reborn as we were as a challenge. If we could overcome our obvious differences, then we deserved to be together. Gaheris was my love. Telemachus is my love. We are senshi, though not born as such in the past. We were allowed to awaken as senshi now to bring us together."

"And what about Seikou?" Hihana asked. "I thought he was the only man you would ever love."

"I never said that I didn't still. Rhade understands that. Seikou can never be reborn, so all chance I ever had at a life with him is dead. It died 8000 years ago when he was slain in the battle with Kage Neko. Thought he will always be in my heart, he is in the past." She took Rhade's hand. "As do the Nomaiens, so do the Nietzscheans. I have chosen. Such a choice is unbreakable by our most ancient laws. Death shall not part us."

Someone in the crowd clapped and walked forward. Her dark reddish black hair was bound in a long pony tail. Her chocolate brown eyes were wide and bright. "That took considerably less time than anticipated," she said happily. "I was worried for nothing."

Kasei gave the strange girl an odd look. "Who are you?"

"My name is Aries. I'm a friend of Trace's from the future she comes from. I apologize for having to be here, but events in the future are rapidly deteriorating. I came back to help. If I don't, all I know may vanish. My home, my friends," she swallowed nervously. "My parents."

"Your parents?"

"Because of the instabilities in my time, my mother is in a coma. We don't know if she'll live. My father is distracted because of it and has lost his will to fight. He simply sits by her side talking to her, reading to her, telling her about things that are happening. He barely even eats anymore, only enough to keep himself alive. If mother dies, he might loose his will to live."

"So you're a senshi from the future come to help us fight in order to save your parents?" Aries nodded. Kasei sighed and shook her head. "Does this sound familiar to anyone else or am I hallucinating?"

"It does, but I can't place it," Yumeko said, puzzled.

"Chibi-usa," Tenshi said slowly. "She came back from the future to get Sailor Moon's help I saving her mother."

"Yeah, but what she didn't know was that Sailor Moon would be her mother in the future," Okami snickered. "I remember Minako telling me that story. If Chibi-usa was anything like her mother, I'm glad I never met her."

Yumeko walked up to Aries. "Are you like that? Are you the daughter of a senshi in this time?"

"I can't answer you yes or no. It might make things worse if you know too much about me."

"Can you at least tell us what your senshi name is?" Rhade asked. There was something familiar about this girl, but he couldn't out his finger on it and that bothered him.

"When it comes time for me to use my powers, then I will tell you, I promise."

Okami shrugged. "That's good enough for me. Let's go smack some Magog!"

"Could we at least eat supper first?" Kasei asked her.

Hibashira, Chuuseki, Ryuujin, Hihana, and Shugoryuu stared at them, unsure of what to make of any of this. Hibashira watched her youngest daughter carefully. "Kasei, if you insist on doing this, then you are no longer my Heir."

"That's not much of a threat, mother. I never wanted to be in the first place."

"Fine. Hihana is now my Heir." Hihana looked exultant.

"Don't celebrate too quickly, Princess Hihana," Aries warned her. "Your reign as Heir won't last long. I know who will become the future Queen of Nomaie. I'm only saying this because I know that it won't affect how the future turns out. It's no surprise to anyone who can think. No offense, Guardian."

Kasei sighed. "Look, I'm going to eat and pack. Anyone caring to join me for the evening meal is welcome to."

Rhade found her up in her room that evening trying to decide on what to add to her packs. She already had a full one of books and small trinkets. Spread out of the large bed was an assortment of clothing and assorted other items. A couple stuffed toys, some ornately decorated daggers, a long sword that looked immensely old, some jewelry, a large book full of photographs, a miniature figurine of a Sandrunner, a woodwind instrument and a deep red, long necked instrument with six strings.

"Trying to make up your mind?" he asked, sitting between her and the picture album.

"All of these things are important to me, but I can't take too much. What would I do with it all?"

"Why don't you tell me about these things? I can help."

She pointed at the long sword. "That sword has been in my family for countless generations. It belongs to the Queen and it's passed on to the Heir when she is named. It should go to Hihana, but I can't bear to part with it. Hihana doesn't even like it anyways. The larger dagger was a gift from my father when I turned fourteen, when I ceased being a child. The smaller was a gift from Seikou when we completed our senshi training."

"What about the clothes?"

"The white robe was worn the day I received the larger dagger and the sword, as I was formally declared Heir on the same day that my childhood ended. The red top and pants are definitely coming as that's my formal senshi uniform. The black outfit is what I have to wear when I attend my mother at court. I wouldn't even consider it, but it's incredibly comfortable. The tan shorts and white top are what I wear when I go sand skimming. Harper tells me that sand skimming is a lot like surfing. It's one of my favorite pastimes."

Rhade nodded. "What about those pieces of jewelry?"

"The gold rings with the diamonds belonged to my grandmother, the one adult who understood me perfectly growing up. The necklace was a birthday gift from Tenshi, Yumeko, and Okami after we became a team in this life time. The four stones set into the chain represent our four auras. The plain silver ring was a gift from Seikou not long before he was killed. The tiara is something I only wore once, at my eighteenth birthday party. It's pretty, but it's not very practical."

"The instruments?"

"The guitar I brought back from my first trip to Earth. Back then, I was lead singer in a band we called Zodiac. My stage name at the time was Aries. We'd created profiles for ourselves, and since Zodiac signs were important back then, we picked ones for ourselves based on our personalities. Mine was Aries, Tenshi was Pisces, Okami was Virgo, and Yumeko, when she finally joined us, was Libra."

"Would you sing for me sometime?"

"If I could ever remember the songs I used to know, maybe. Anyways, the long flute is a traditional Nomaien instrument. I made it when I was six."

"Very nice."

Kasei made a face. "It looks nothing like the one I was modeling it after. Hihana made fun of me."

"I still think it's nice. The album?"

"The pictures in it are all of my friends, my fellow senshi, and of the senshi from Earth." She flipped open to a page. "Here we are shortly before we came home. Standing in the far back is Chiba Mamoru. The next row is Meiou Setsuna, Tennou Haruka, Kaoiu Michiru, Hino Rei, Tsukino Usagi, Mizuno Ami, Aino Mianko, Kino Makoto, Yaten Kou, Seiya Kou, and Taiki Kou. In front is Tomoe Hotaru. The black cat is Luna and the white one is Artemis. The grey one is Miocci, Yumeko's guardian. He wasn't reborn with us after that. In senshi terms, these people are Tuxedo Kamen, Sailors Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Mars, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, StarHealer, StarFighter, StarMaker, and Saturn. We had our disagreements, but we were friends of sorts."

Rhade looked at Seiya. "He looks identical to Seikou."

"Keep in mind that he's really a woman in disguise as a man. It's a long story. All of this is."

"And the toys?"

"The most beloved relics of my childhood. Not even Yuki knows that I still have these."

"My opinion is this. Take everything with you. There's plenty of room on the <i>Maru</i>, never mind the storage capacity the <i>Andromeda</i> has."

"You think so?" He nodded. "Then let me just grab my hair brush and ribbons and I'll throw them in the pack."

While she was grabbing those items, he got up and walked over to her closet. "I notice that you're not bringing any of your dresses with you."

"I hardly ever wear them, so why would I? Besides, I'm going to fight the Magog, not invite them to a fancy ball."

"Still, wouldn't it be nice to have one around just in case?"

"Admit it, Rhade, you just want to see me all dolled up like a Princess."

"There is that, too," he said grinning. He watched her finish packing before sitting behind her, rubbing her shoulders. "I came up to tell you that Dylan says we aren't leaving until tomorrow. Presumably, it's to let us rest from our trip."

"Sensible," she agreed, shuddering as he started to kiss the nape of her neck.

"in light of that, I thought maybe we could spend some time together up here. I figure this bed must be more comfortable than those bed rolls we were using last night."

"You're not going to ask me about what I said to my mother earlier? I'm shocked."

"If you'd rather talk about that, I'm happy to do that, too, but I see no reason why we can't do both."

"Men!" she exclaimed, getting up. "You know I crave you, so you take advantage of it."

"Did I misunderstand what you said earlier, then? Or were you just saying that to get your mother off your back?"

Kasei sighed and sat down, facing him. "I don't love you. The problem is that I remembered things last night, things about my past, about Gaheris and Valkyrie. The part of me that is Nietzschean, the part that is still Valkyrie, loves you more than life. I am her, but I'm not her."

Now it was Rhade's turn to sigh. "Kasei, I love you very much and I hope that one day you will mean everything you said today about me being your love and fate brining us together. Until that day, I'm happy with what we have."

"What we have is a misunderstanding. I won't tell you again to interrupt me when I'm speaking. What I said today was the truth. I don't believe I fate, but I've been told otherwise. Us being reborn like this, that was the truth. Fire senshi are, unfortunately, prone to visions and the like. Valkyrie loved Gaheris. I can only assume that, given time, I'll develop true feelings for you and not this craving mixed with echoes of Valkyrie's feelings and the slowly growing comfort I have when around you. I don't love you right now. I'm ok with being with you, though. If I am truly destined to love you, then I will allow it to happen."

"So…you like me then?"

"I'm growing comfortable with you." She took his hand. "I think I like you. You're at least a well-balanced individual, unlike that sadist Ryuujin."

He looked at her hand. "That's the second time today that you've done that."

"What of it?"

"Yesterday, Yuki warned me to look out for things like this. Touching me without needing to, kissing me of your own free will, things like that."

Kasei raised an eyebrow. "And what did that upstart of a brother of mine say it meant?"

"He said it was you making a move for me. He said that after he said that what you told me in the bath was close enough to him to a confession of love. I know you don't, but what does this mean?"

"It means you talk to much," she said, kissing him soundly.

Rhade let her push him down to the mattress. Her top today was laced, so he undid them with one hand, letting the cord fall to the floor. He got her out of it, but she sat back before he could touch her. "You and Yuki forgot one thing in all your brilliant planning yesterday, the one thing that you've never seen and didn't ask about." With one hand, she untied the loose ribbon holding her hair back. Loose now, it fell around her shoulders, falling forward over her bare torso enhancing instead of hiding what was there.

Rhade's breath caught I his throat. "No wonder you wouldn't let me see you with your hair down before now. Shining goddess of fire, you honor me."

"Keep talking like that and you'll never get away from me," she purred. "You'll be stuck with me forever."

"If this is prison, sign me up for life," he breathed, sitting up. He grabbed the back of her neck and brought her face close enough so that he could kiss her. In between kisses, they removed each other's clothing, collapsing down on the soft mattress, Rhade on top. They kissed for a little longer before Rhade slid inside of her. Once he was inside, Kasei flipped him over so that she was on top. He managed to last a little longer than he had the night before, but not by much.

"How do you do this to me?" he panted. "I thought I had good stamina."

"Perhaps with Nietzschean women, but I'm not like them. Once, I was, but not anymore." She patted his cheek. "You'll just have to build it back up."

"Is that an invitation?"

"Since I have this craving, you touching me will inevitably lead to this. It's more satisfying if you last longer."

"Ah. A challenge, then." He yawned. "For now, sleep is what I need. If I'm going to be able to keep up with you, I need my rest."

"It's been a long day. Let's get under that blanket and get some sleep."

.....to be continued!

Chapters 1 - 14

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