Children of the Prophecy

Chikako went back to where the other passengers were watching the holovid, thinking sarcastically about how fitting it was that the only empty seat was right between Lily and Kalei. She squeezed in and watched for a while.

After a few minutes, Lily noticed her craning her neck to search the room with her eyes. "What are you looking for?" she whispered.

"My water bottle," Chikako said.

Lily glanced around the room. "I don't see it. Maybe someone threw it away," she said.

"Oh," Mika said, sitting on the floor in front of them, "was that yours? I spilled someone's earlier... I'm sorry!"

"No problem, Mika," Chikako said, lightly patting the odango-head.

"I brought some extra water bottles," Kalei said on her other side. He reached into his bag and pulled one out.

"No, that's okay," Chikako said.

"If you're thirsty, you should drink something."

"I'm fine."

"I'm not going to drink this," Kalei said. "I'll just refill the one I'm already using."

"I don't want it!"

"Quiet, Chikako!" hissed someone who was really into the holovid.

"I'm not thirsty," she whispered to Kalei in a much quieter voice.

"Then why were you looking for your water?"

"Can we drop this? I'm trying to watch the movie!"

"You really should drink something," Lily said. "You'll get dehydrated."

"Fine!" Chikako huffed and grabbed the water bottle without thanking him. She made a point not to open it until he'd gotten up to go to the restroom.

"I really thought she'd grow out of this," he sighed, seeing her from the doorway.

The rest of the flight to Myrkr continued in much the same way. Lily proved to be quite a social butterfly, but she often took time out from cheerful kibitz to force Chikako to stop avoiding Kalei. They always ended up arguing. Most times, he would be calm, sensible, and even amused, while she'd be flustered and stubborn. Other times, she would provoke him but remain aloof, then surprise him with snotty, well-placed comebacks to leave him speechless and blushing.

"It's funny," Priire observed to him after one such episode, "she's so nice to everybody - except for you!"

"No, she never cared for me much," he said thoughtfully. "But she's not too bad if I catch her off-guard."

"Well, we'll be to Myrkr soon and you can split up," Miyuki said. "Then you won't have to put up with each other anymore."

"Oh, but he will anyway," Lily said. "She's his destiny."

"Lily!" Kalei scolded, turning red. "I never said that," he told the others.

"Yes you did. In the park, remember?"

"No I didn't!"

"Destiny or not," Ippin interrupted, "Chikako's kind of spoken for right now, you know."

"We know that," Lily said at the same time as Kalei said, "So am I!"

"What?!" Lily whipped her head around so fast she hit both Minae and Miyuki with her ponytails.

"Lily and I have been dating for years," he said, awkwardly taking her hand. "We were just joking about Chikako being my destiny, since she obviously hates me so much."

Ippin and Priire looked skeptical, and Miyuki and Minae confused. "Why didn't you tell us?" Minae exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," he said. "We're just so used to each other that we forget other people don't know. Right, Lil?"

Lily was on the green side of pale and too stunned to react, but she managed a short head bob that satisfied the others' expectant looks.

"Wow," Priire said, still eyeing the pair suspiciously. "Who would've thought?"

"Why did you say that?!" Lily exploded as soon as they were alone, jumping away from him.

"Sorry, I didn't know I was that disgusting," he said, observing the distance she'd just put between them.

"You have no idea! What were you thinking?"

He looked hurt, but answered her question. "I don't know - it just came out. I didn't want them to think I said Chikako was my destiny! Especially when she's already got a boyfriend!"

"You did say it!"

"You didn't have to tell all her friends!" he said, flailing his arm towards the part of the ship where the others were. "What if they told her? It's hard enough to have a normal conversation with her as it is."

"Is it any better to have her thinking we're... lovers," she nearly gagged as she said it, "and didn't tell her?"

"I guess not," Kalei said, starting to look so pathetic that Lily took pity.

"Okay, I'll straighten it out," she sighed. "Just don't talk anymore, if you can help it."

Lily got to work right away on clearing up the rumor Kalei had started. Some, like Priire and Ippin, were easy to convince there was nothing between the two of them, since they'd never believed it to begin with. Some of the others took a bit more work, wanting there to be truth behind any rumor of romance. Chikako acted as if she didn't care at all who dated or didn't date whom. Lily explained the situation as a "little misunderstanding," and since she hadn't been there, left out the comment about Kalei's destiny and hoped it wouldn't get back to her some other way. Kalei, whether doing what Lily said or just extremely embarrassed, hardly said a word till they got to Myrkr.

"Bye!" Priire shouted as she sent Chikako, Minae, Mika, Lily, and Kalei off the ship. "I'll see you soon! Have fun!"

When the Dreamer had gotten too far away to wave at, Chikako turned to the landscape before her. Priire had landed about an hour's walk from Hyllyard City, so all they could see was trees. But seeing them, Chikako knew she was home as strongly as if they'd landed in her father's vegetable garden. She stretched her hands up and took a deep breath, remembering a million emotions.

She didn't know, but she wasn't the only one experiencing homecoming. Lily was sitting on the ground already, running her fingers through the grass like through a lover's hair. Kalei was standing near her, not moving but noticing everything in the trees and sky and rings of wild mushrooms.

As it was already late afternoon, they started walking right away. They had to go through the forest to get to the city. "Watch out for each other," Chikako said, putting her hand on her lightsaber. "There are vornskrs around here."

Upon hearing that, Mika attempted to get out of her position as last in line and immediately tripped on a tree root. They picked her up and formally decided who would walk where, then continued without incident.

The moment they cleared the forest, Chikako dropped her stuff and sprinted towards a petite girl with long, silky black hair who seemed to be waiting for them. "Mai-mai!" she squealed, running into the smiling girl's arms at full speed.

"I saw Priire's ship land over this way," Maiko explained as she squeezed her childhood friend. "How was your trip?" she asked, seemingly unusually concerned. "Did you have any problems coming here?"

"Everything went fine! How have you been?" She pulled away to look her friend in the face. "Oh my gosh, we have so much to talk about! Where do we start?"

Maiko looked at the three girls and the young man standing nearby. "How about with introductions?"

"Eh? Oh, them!" she looked back at her friends and beckoned them forward. Mika picked up the bag Chikako had dropped as they came. "This is Mika and Minae," Chikako said. "They're good friends of mine from Coruscant."

"Nice to meet you," Maiko smiled.

"And this is our new friend Lily, and her friend Kalei. And this," she turned and addressed the four of them, "is Naito Maiko. We grew up together here in Hyllyard City, and now she's going to dance school on Alderaan."

Maiko put her arm around her. "We were supposed to go to college on Alderaan together," she said playfully, "but someone had a little change of plans."

Chikako smiled, wondering how much her perceptive friend had put together. She hadn't told Maiko about the Senshi, but nor had she made up any alibis. "Hey, destiny's destiny," she said.

"Amen!" Lily interjected, receiving a puzzled glance or two and causing Kalei to blush.

"Is my dad home?" Chikako asked.

"Yes," Maiko said. "He's waiting for you."

"Great! Come on, guys!"

Within twenty minutes, the six of them, plus Chikako's dad, were crowded into their little kitchen eating goodies he had bought at a nearby bakery. "These are delicious!" Minae exclaimed, holding one half-eaten pastry and reaching for another. "Can we have more for breakfast?"

"You can have anything you want," Chikako's father said, laughing. "Just tell me when and where."

"Here's good," Minae said, mouth full. "Maybe about noon?"

"Noon?!"

"Mm," she nodded. "I feel like I could sleep for days!"

"Speaking of sleep," Kalei said, "I guess Lily and I better go find somewhere to stay in town?"

"With separate rooms, of course!" Lily added.

"Nonsense!" Chikako's dad exclaimed. "You're all welcome to stay here. Actually, I insist you stay."

Maiko made a face. "And where would you put them, Yuria? In the cupboards?"

"We'll make room."

"There's no room here to make," she said. "Let me take a couple home - they're just so cute!" She pulled on Lily's ponytails like someone's great-aunt might.

"Mai-mai, you're so weird," Chikako said, though Lily didn't seem fazed.

"Seriously," Maiko said. "My brothers are off-world right now. It's just me, Mom, and the cats."

"I'll go with her," Mika volunteered.

"Yay!" Maiko said. "Kalei can come too, so he has his own room."

"Well... okay," Yuria said. "Thanks, Maiko."

"My pleasure!"

Chikako knew Minae well enough to know she'd be true to her promise of sleeping till noon. And since Lily was gone before she woke up, and her father was at the market, she had no objections about meeting Maiko at nine o'clock on the hill by the berryad field.

"This is just like old times," Chikako said, accepting the fruit Maiko had brought her and sitting down in the dewy grass.

"Yeah," Maiko said, joining her on the ground. "How many afternoons do you think we spent on this hill, making flower chains and planning how we were going to get off Myrkr? And now we're both back."

"For a few weeks, anyway." They watched as a few dedicated berryad players took the field early.

"Remember when that was us?" Maiko asked.

Chikako suppressed a smile. "Not really."

"That's right! I don't think you ever once went to an early practice!"

Chikako laughed, guilty as charged. "I liked berryad, but everyone always took it so seriously! It stressed me out. But I wouldn't mind playing a game sometime while I'm here - as long as you're on my team!"

"Okay," Maiko laughed, lounging back on the grass. She'd always been their team's secret weapon: she appeared dainty, even wore lipstick onto the field; but her reckless abandon nearly always got the best of the other team. Her dance instructor begged her for years to quit. But like most of the youth on Myrkr, Maiko loved the sport and wouldn't give it up for anything, except Chikako and a ride to Alderaan. She finally tore her dark eyes off the field and turned to her friend. "Do you still avoid stressful things?"

"I don't usually get that choice anymore," she said, wishing beings like Ariel were as easy to write off as their old berryad coach.

"I had a bad feeling about you coming here," Maiko said suddenly. "It went away when I got to Myrkr, and by then you were already on your way."

"Really?" Chikako asked. Maiko had discovered she was Force-sensitive the moment she'd left Myrkr. So far, all of her "bad feelings" concerning Chikako had corresponded with dangerous trials the Senshi had faced, so she trusted her intuition. "What kind of bad feeling?"

"I don't know," Maiko said. "There were no visions or anything this time."

"So... what do you want me to do?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. Just be careful... Do you trust your friends?"

"Minae and Mika - absolutely. I would trust them with my life. Come to think of it, I have trusted them with my life!"

"What about Lily?"

"I haven't known her long... but I think she's all right. Xarae met her and sensed nothing that wasn't sweet as can be. She is full of surprises, though."

"Surprises? Nah. I can see right through her," Maiko claimed. "She's a lot like you."

"Can you see right through me, Mai-mai?"

"Definitely."

"Do I trust Kalei?"

Maiko rolled onto her stomach and rested her chin on her hand, searching Chikako's blue eyes. "You certainly do." Chikako allowed a half smile, conceding, and started pulling tiny pink flowers out of the grass. "Dang!" Maiko said, turned back to the berryad field. "Did you see that goal? That chick deserves a contract with the best pro berryad team in the galaxy."

"There are no pro berryad teams, Maiko."

"I know," she sighed. "Why do you think I'm in dance school?"

The girls came back to Chikako's house around lunchtime and found Lily in the kitchen unpacking groceries. "I went to the market with your dad this morning," she said. "It was really fun!"

"You're insane!" Maiko said, taking a bag of sugar from her and putting it into its proper cupboard. "You think grocery shopping is fun?"

"Oh, yes!"

"Did you get donuts?" someone called sleepily from Chikako's bedroom. After getting an affirmative answer, Minae dragged herself into the kitchen wearing red pajamas. "Where?" she asked, pushing her long, matted brown hair out of her face.

"Ta-da!" Lily said, pulling them out of a sack. "Don't eat them all - I promised one to Kalei."

"Where is he?" Minae asked, powder already on her face.

"In the garden with Yuria."

"And where's Mika?" Chikako asked.

Lily shrugged. "Haven't seen her."

"I saw her," Minae said. "She came in and woke me up like ten minutes ago. Uh, she's... um..." She gave Chikako a meaningful look just as a cat jumped onto the table.

"Oh, there you are!" Chikako said without thinking and patted the feline's head.

"I didn't know you had a kitty!" Maiko exclaimed.

"Oh! This kitty? Um, she's just a stray. Ouch!" She pulled her hand away and glared at the cat. "A very mean stray who bites!" The cat seemed to glare back, then hopped off the table and strolled out the back door into the garden. A few minutes later, a familiar teenage girl with blonde odango walked in.

"Oh, there you are!" Chikako repeated.

"Yep. I was walking in the garden, waiting for you girls to stray in so we could eat lunch."

"Lunch already?" Minae said, as Chikako stuck her tongue out at Mika and her pun.

Just then, there was a knock at the front door. Minae bolted into the bedroom to get dressed, and Chikako left to answer it. "You're here already!" her friends heard her exclaim from the other room.

"Who's here?" Maiko wondered.

"Probably Xanthus," Mika said.

"Who's Xanthus?"

Lily, holding eggs, stopped in her tracks to stare at Maiko. "He's Chikako's boyfriend!"

"Boyfriend?! Excuse me?"

"Uh-oh," Mika groaned. "You had no idea, did you?"

"I think she mentioned having a date once."

"Maybe she wanted to surprise you?" Lily suggested.

Maiko tapped her shiny pink fingernails on the table as she thought. "I don't see why she'd keep something like that from me. She told me all about Ajani and the guy at the market and the newspaper seller and that guy on planet number... whatever it was."

"Maybe it has more to do with her feelings about him," Lily whispered, "than it does you."

Chikako returned to the kitchen looking very nervous; behind her was a tall boy with silvery blonde hair and green eyes. Maiko stood up and gave him her hand. "You must be Xanthus," she said. "I've heard so much about you! My name is Maiko."

"I'm pleased to meet you, Maiko. I've heard a lot about you, too."

Chikako, lips slightly parted in shock, took in a sharp breath as if she'd suddenly remembered about breathing. Her shock quickly melted into amazed relief and she regained the ability to speak. "You know Mika," she said, motioning towards the backdoor where she was standing. "And this is Lily."

"Hi," Xanthus said.

"Hello!" Minae said behind him. Her long hair was straight and shiny again, and she'd traded her pajamas for a red tank top and a pair of gray drawstring pants. "You're just in time for lunch!"

Maiko and Kalei made lunch and had Mika's assistance in spilling several dishes. Chikako whispered something to Minae, who immediately engaged Xanthus in a conversation with Lily so Chikako could slip out into the garden and visit with her father, plus brief him on the boyfriend situation. She wasn't sure why she'd put off telling them about Xanthus till the last minute - which managed to escape her when he arrived early - but she was definitely glad someone else enlightened Maiko before it was too late. How would she have explained to Xanthus that she'd never told her best friend about him?

Yuria was surprised at the news and had a million typical father questions. She answered as many as she could - embarrassed at how many she didn't know - before they got called to lunch. He was polite in greeting Xanthus, and they managed to find a common interest in fishing. This surprised Chikako; for some reason, she hadn't really thought of Xanthus as having such interests. With the possible exception of dinosaurs, she added, smiling to herself.

After lunch, Chikako and Maiko gave the group an official tour of Hyllyard City. As they walked through the narrow streets, Chikako had the opportunity to apologize and thank Maiko for how she'd acted when Xanthus arrived. "I was going to tell you before he got here," she said. "But..."

"I don't see why you didn't tell me a few months ago," Maiko said. Chikako was about to respond when Maiko said, "No, that's not true. I'm hurt that you didn't, but I know why."

"Why?" Chikako asked sincerely.

"Because you have no idea what you're doing!"

"What do you mean by that?"

"This is your first real relationship; you don't really know how you feel about him, or how he feels about you. I think you'd rather nobody knew until you knew exactly where this was headed. But you don't have that option." She motioned for them to turn right onto the main avenue they were approaching.

"I guess not."

"Nope. In fact, from now on, you're required to tell me every single little detail!"

"You sure you even want that?"

"I need history too. Let's start now!" She paused and turned to the others, pointing at a nearby building. "This is the oldest bank on Myrkr. Sugoi, ne?" She resumed walking and turned back to Chikako. "So, where'd you meet?"

A ways behind then, Xanthus was listening to Mika and Minae explain how they felt about Wookiees. He was not interested in Wookiees, he didn't like the Forcelessness on Myrkr, and he was not at all happy about the fact that Maiko had never heard a word about him till today. Sure, she'd covered nicely, but Yuria's house was small and he'd heard the conversation in the kitchen when he arrived loud and clear, though Chikako was so nervous she was oblivious. "Boyfriend?!" Maiko had exclaimed, after wondering who Xanthus was. Why hadn't Chikako told her? He looked down at his feet as he walked, nearly running into Kalei when the group stopped. Maybe she didn't like him as much as he thought.

He looked up. And who was this Kalei guy?

"And this is the town square," Maiko announced. "As you can see, we have a very large arch." She smiled. "And that's the end of the tour! Conveniently for most of us, it concludes near a soda shop. Which, conveniently for Chikako and Xanthus, is right across the street from a romantic pond to walk around. Enjoy!"

"But I want soda too!" Chikako protested as Maiko chased Minae and Mika into the shop. Lily and Kalei followed more slowly behind them.

"Shoo," Maiko called back to Chikako. "Time for you to go be lovey-dovey!"

"Hey," Mika said, seated at a small round table with a red drink in hand, looking out the soda shop window. "Don't we know that guy?"

Minae followed her gaze. "Yeah, that's Cyrus. Xanthus is his padawan; they're here together to do some task." They watched him walk slowly up the street, looking around as if in a daze. "I hope he's not going senile," Minae added.

Maiko, at a nearby table with Lily and Kalei, was trying to put together a berryad team. "It's not very complex," she was saying. "Basically, the only rule is that to score, you have to kick the ball into the goal. To get there, anything goes."

"Sounds rather brutal," Kalei said.

"Oh, it's not that bad."

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Mai-mai, I've played berryad before."

Maiko grinned. "Okay, it is rather brutal. It's really fun, though - I promise!"

"Do we have enough players?" Lily wondered.

"Finding berryad players on Myrkr is never a problem," Maiko said. "It's finding the good ones that's a challenge. Mika and Minae, are you guys in?"

Mika looked skeptical, but said, "If everyone else is going to play, I might as well give it a shot."

Minae frowned. "It sounds like fun," she said, "but I'm really not very athletic. Nothing short of being possessed by an evil Nubian princess can get me in shape."

"Oh." Maiko shot Lily and Kalei a bewildered look, but they were as puzzled as she. "Well... that's okay... You wanna be goalie?"

The quiet couple sat on a park bench watching birds hop around in the grass. Xanthus, his confidence having taken a few shots recently, had never been so nervous or uncertain around a girl. Now that he was thinking about it, all of her mannerisms seemed to confirm his suspicion that she didn't really want to be with him. When they held hands, it was always on his initiative; she never called him, never invited him when she went places with her friends; she wasn't even sitting close to him now. How could he have been so confident about having her affection?

"Xanthus, are you mad at me?" Chikako said suddenly.

"Mad at you?" he asked, surprised to hear her voice. "No. I'm not mad at you at all."

"Oh." She looked back at the pond and the birds on the ground, but he stayed turned towards her.

"Chikako," he said, "do you like me?"

She laughed, surprising him again. "Of course I like you, silly! Why would you even ask that?" She took his hand and pulled it around her own shoulder, scooting close to him. "Do you like me?"

"No," he said after thinking it over. "I love you!"

The seven of them spent the next few weeks exploring Hyllyard City together. Since Myrkr was generally full of the sort of people who didn't want to be found, conventional entertainment was limited. However, they did find a few cantinas Priire and Nom would've adored. Chikako and friends enjoyed themselves, too; it just didn't involve destroying the place.

Every evening, they returned from their various pursuits to meet at the berryad field - Maiko made to sure to remind each of them every day. Xanthus was athletic and did well at it, though he couldn't always join them because of whatever business he was there for. Lily turned out to be quite good, as did Kalei, though he claimed never to have played.

Chikako's Jedi lessons with Koumi had left her more prepared for berryad than she'd been when she played regularly, and Maiko's skill at the game hadn't suffered at all in all the time she'd lived on Alderaan. Even Mika and Minae, who doubted themselves the most, proved to be decent players, even if Mika had a tendency to trip over the ball rather than kick it. Together they made a formidable team.

In between scoring goals and exploring cantinas, Maiko and Chikako chatted constantly in an effort to catch up on the time they'd lost. When they'd had enough, Maiko never failed to send her off with Xanthus for a "romantic moment." On the rare occasion when Chikako had a moment to herself, she found she couldn't clear her head of Xanthus's voice saying "I love you," always eerily echoed by Nom's stern whisper of the contrary. She didn't know what to think - she wasn't sure she felt the same way; more disturbing still, she suspected Nom was right, and he didn't feel as he said, either.

Lily took every opportunity to push Chikako and Kalei together, but the results usually left her wondering how she came into being at all. She'd hoped that by his coming along on this trip, they'd spend enough time together to realize they were meant to be. She knew she couldn't realistically expect much, though - her younger self was due to arrive soon for training as a Sailor Senshi, and Lily remembered quite clearly what her future parents' relationship would be like at that point. It would be a long time before it got any better.

She didn't understand why her father thought she played such a big part in their coming together if things between his younger self and Chikako would be no better when she left. But, she thought one evening as she watched them squabble about a berryad score like a couple of school children, I suppose Dad knows what he's doing... even if Kalei doesn't.

Cyrus spent his time making final arrangements for his plan, getting whatever information he needed about Chikako's agenda from Xanthus. He was glad they had a predictable schedule in the evenings; all he needed was one night after a berryad game. "Okay, Xanthus," he said one morning after they'd been in Hyllyard City for several weeks. "Let's give it a shot tonight."

"Everything is ready?"

"Every irrational drunk who needs to be paid off has been, if that's what you mean. Though they seem to enjoy bar brawls... I probably could've gotten them to do it for free."

That night, they played an exciting game of berryad and landed with the victory, courtesy of a pretty kick by Minae in sudden-death overtime. The energy they'd exerted during the game returned to them exponentially after they won, and everyone was up for Xanthus's suggestion to go celebrate at the nearest cantina.

It was a small bar that didn't seem to have a name; they'd had lunch there one afternoon, but that didn't prepare them very well for the nightlife atmosphere. It was smoky, very loud, and packed with people - the likes of whom seemed to hide during the day. They went to a big booth in the back; everyone they passed on the way looked them up and down and then ignored them. Their waiter, who was a lot less interested in his job than he was in his woman, threw their drinks at them and never came back unless they shouted across the restaurant to him. But they were in a good enough mood to find all of this hilarious and lost themselves in the revelry around them.

Chikako blinked slowly at her empty glass, trying to focus on it. "I guess I shouldn't have drank so fast," she said drowsily.

"Wasn't that fruit juice?" Lily said.

"That's what I thought."

"What did it taste like?" Kalei asked.

"Fruit." She slumped over onto Maiko's shoulder.

"How do you feel?" Xanthus asked.

"Dizzy."

Minae and Mika exchanged looks. Mika made a peace sign. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Chikako just stared at her, making a groggy attempt to keep her eyes open. "What?"

"Chikako!" Maiko said, pushing her off her shoulder to wake her up. Chikako stayed upright for only a second before falling over in the other direction, onto Xanthus's shoulder.

"We better get her home," Minae sighed.

They didn't have a chance, though, when the atmosphere changed from festive to dangerous in half a second. One man threw a punch, another threw a drink, and the next object to fly through the air was a barstool.

Maiko and Lily thought it'd be a good idea to take shelter under the table, but Minae, realizing it would be only minutes before blaster bolts also started flying, grabbed their hands and pulled them towards the door. "Where's Mika?" she yelled once the three of them had cleared the suddenly chaotic cantina. "She was right behind us!"

The blonde never came out, but when a certain cat emerged unscathed, Minae relaxed. Some situations were easier to get out of if you could become feline at will. Lily scooped the kitten up and backed away as a man in leather pants was thrown through a front window.

Maiko yelped when she heard blaster fire. "Why is Chikako still in there?!" she cried, biting her fingers. She started towards the door. "This must have been what I felt through the Force! We should've carried her out first!"

"Stay here, Maiko," Lily said, dumping Mika the cat into Minae's arms. "I'll be right back!" She ran a ways down the dark street. When she knew they could no longer see her, she pulled out her henshin stick, removed the enchanted Corusca gem, and transformed.

Inside the cantina, Kalei and Xanthus were about to have a little brawl of their own. "Go!" Xanthus shouted. "What, are you just gonna hang around till you get shot?"

"I'm not going anywhere till she's out safely," Kalei said, looking at Chikako, who wasn't much aware of him or anything else around.

"I can take care of my girlfriend," Xanthus said. "Now get out of here."

Their argument was cut short when the table they were still behind got overturned and ended up on top of them.

Kalei opened his eyes to a Sailor Jedi with long blonde hair, dressed in pink and yellow. She pulled the heavy table off them as if it were a blanket. "Are you okay?" she asked him. He looked around. His head hurt, and his arm was bleeding. He judged not much time had passed, since the riot was still in full swing. Xanthus was next to him, out cold.

"I'm fine, I think. Is Chikako okay?"

The Sailor Jedi looked confused.

"She was right here when the table flipped over!" Kalei said, pointing to the spot between him and Xanthus.

"Uh-oh," the Sailor breathed and pulled him to his feet. "Can you stand? Okay. Run outside and tell Minae and Mika that Chikako is missing. I'll end this brawl."

As soon as Kalei got out the door, the Sailor Jedi stood up and faced the room. "Radiant Intoxication!" she cried, and a warm pink mist began filling the cantina. The fighting stopped and the rioters quieted, looking bewildered.

Xanthus's first sight when he woke up was the same pair of brown eyes. "Where is your girlfriend?" their owner asked.

"I don't know," he answered.

The brown-eyed Sailor reached down to Xanthus's belt, and suddenly, the bright green blade of his own lightsaber was being held at his throat. "I know you very well," she said. "And I don't believe you. Tell me where she is."

"He'll kill me if I tell you," he said hoarsely.

"I'll kill you if you don't." She shook her blonde hair over her shoulder and continued her stare.

"They're taking her north of here," he finally whispered. "That's all I know."

The Senshi switched off the lightsaber. She leaned over to whisper in his ear, and he fell immediately into a deep sleep.

"Chikako's missing!" Kalei announced when he burst out of the cantina. The cat in Maiko's arms jumped to the ground and took off.

"Stay with Maiko!" Minae told Kalei, and followed the cat into the darkness.

A sullen looking man with greasy hair ran from the cantina with unconscious Chikako draped over one shoulder. When he got to the corner, he handed her over to a big woman with hard eyes. She gave him a locked box in return.

"Got out just in time," he said. "There's a Sailor Jedi in there."

"Figures."

The man looked at the box in his hand. "Is this my payment?"

"The Jedi said you had the key."

"Yeah."

The woman considered that a done deal and began walking quickly away, anxious for her own locked box.

Sailors Honoghr and Yavin IV weren't expecting to walk into a cantina full of subdued, confused people, but it was a welcome change. "Who are you?" they asked the blonde in the pink and yellow sailor suit.

"They took her to the north," she said. There were no more words exchanged, and the three Pretty Soldiers began running.

Cyrus frowned. It was taking that woman much too long. He'd thought locals would be quicker in getting the girl from the cantina to the ancient city. He'd also thought it would be safer - if something did go wrong, nobody could prove he was behind it, since a simple wave of the hand wouldn't fix things on this planet.

She definitely should have arrived by now. Maybe it was a good thing he'd played it safe.

But maybe if he started taking risks, something would actually get done.

Sailor Yavin IV was the first to spot the large woman walking away from the city as fast as she could with the load she was carrying. Sailor Honoghr squinted to see exactly what the load was. "That's Chikako," she said. "I recognize her running shoes."

Upon that confirmation, the new Senshi sprinted ahead of them and caught up with the woman. She cut her off and turned around, forcing the woman to stop. "I am Sailor Neo-Myrkr," she said in a low voice. "And you will pay if you don't hand over that girl. And trust me - you'll be paying a lot more than whatever bounty you're planning to get in exchange for her."

The woman narrowed her cold eyes at the Sailor Jedi. For a moment, she looked like she was going to try running for it - or, more likely, fight - but that thought was extinguished when Sailor Yavin IV and Sailor Honoghr appeared on either side of Sailor Neo-Myrkr. She stared at them for just a moment, then dropped Chikako and dove into the forest to escape.

Honoghr and Yavin IV dropped to their knees to tend to their unconscious friend. When they looked up, the other Sailor was gone. "We'll worry about that girl later," Yavin IV said, trying to hoist Chikako. "Oof! Though we certainly could've used the help carrying her!"

Chikako woke up the next morning with a bad headache and no recollection of the previous night's events. But other than that, there was no damage from whatever drugs she'd been given; this fact was confirmed by the medical droid her father insisted she see right away.

Out in the garden, Mika and Minae filled her in on everything they knew. "Do you have any idea who would want to kidnap you?" Mika wondered as she inspected a flower the tree they were sitting under had just dropped on her head.

"Maybe somebody I fouled in a berryad game?"

Minae half-smiled. "Chikako, be serious! Who knows what would've happened if that other Senshi hadn't known where to look for you?"

"And if we hadn't decided to trust her," Mika added. "Because we really had no reason to. She could've been leading us into a trap."

"True," Minae realized. "We'll have to work on that..."

"I don't know who did it," Chikako said suddenly and got up to go in the house.

"I think she's lying," Mika sang softly as the kitchen door slapped shut.

"Really?" Minae said. "Who do you think it is?"

Mika frowned. "How would I know?"

All day, Chikako was aware of being very closely monitored - something she was not used to. Xanthus came by early and stayed for the day, and as far as Minae and Mika were concerned, going anywhere was out of the question. And Maiko seemed ready to bolt the doors and board up the windows the moment Yuria gave the word. Kalei kept their company, but seemed more withdrawn and thoughtful than usual. Lily, however, had become Chikako's personal bodyguard. Nothing she did - and nothing anyone else did - escaped the watchful brown eyes the girl kept hidden under a layer of black makeup, even today when they weren't planning on leaving the house.

Under all this surveillance, the day passed without incident and almost without conversation. Chikako knew they only cared for her, but felt too much like she was being babysat to manage speaking to any of her friends without getting very annoyed. Xanthus was the only one she talked to, since he was the only one willing to pretend last night hadn't happened. But deep inside, this bothered her more than anything, as it supported a suspicion she was trying to convince herself she didn't even have.

Chikako shook her head to clear it of ominous warnings. "Good night," Xanthus said and kissed her. "I'll see you tomorrow." He left her alone on the doorstep to deal with the fact that Lily was watching through the front window.

"Mika and I are going to stay here tonight," Maiko said, clutching the arms of the chair she was sitting in as if her world were about to fall down. Chikako nodded; she'd expected that much. Though she was annoyed, she looked at Maiko with some sympathy. After this experience, Chikako felt certain she'd made the right choice in not telling Maiko she was a Senshi, even if she did suspect it. The girl clearly wouldn't be able to deal with the stress of knowing for sure that her best friend regularly stood defiantly before the most evil creatures in the galaxy.

Chikako stood and went into the kitchen, where her dad was sitting with some tea. She poured herself a cup and sat with him. "How are you, Dad?"

"Been worse. Been better, too."

"Your garden is pretty."

Yuria smiled. "I miss you a lot, you know."

"Me too," Chikako said and stared into her teacup till the catch in her throat went away.

"I got a visit from Nuri."

"You did?" she looked up in surprise. Nuri was, as far as she knew him, a big fire. After she first found out she was Sailor Myrkr, Nuri had explained her history and given her little hints about her destiny. "Why?"

"He said that you were going to meet faith."

"Meet faith?"

"He doesn't always make sense," he said through the side of his mouth, as if Nuri were in the room. "Though he also told me not to worry about you so much."

"Good for him," Chikako said. "I hope you listen. So... where'd he show up?"

"Behind the shed," Yuria said, still sounding a little mystified by the whole experience. "It was actually months ago. I wasn't going to tell you, but..." He trailed off, going over the meeting in his mind, making sure he hadn't left anything out. Chikako sat quietly, wondering how the heck she'd 'meet faith.' She poured another drop of tea into her cup and downed it in one gulp. "Ah," Yuria said, watching her. "I see the big city has taught you how to hold your tea. You probably think you could drink your old father under the table now that you've been to those kick-ass Coruscant tea parties."

Chikako burst into unexpected giggles, trying to decide whether she missed her dad's sense of humor or not.

"Well, I'm off to bed," he said and kissed her forehead.

"Okay. I'm gonna go out in the garden to get some fresh air." She glanced towards the living room and smiled wryly. "Tell Lily she can watch if she wants."

Yuria chuckled. He liked Lily. "I know you're not used to being mothered, but she and the others mean well."

"I know," Chikako sighed and slipped out the backdoor.

The night air always smelled mysteriously sweet. Chikako took long, deep breaths so she wouldn't waste any time exhaling, in case the scent were to suddenly disappear. Her father's backyard wasn't large, but as every inch of it was a part of the garden, there was a lot to see.

She spent her first few moments outside regarding the stars, then headed deeper into the garden to her favorite place: a draping tree with a few smooth stones set underneath as seats, surrounded by an informal patch of mixed flowers. Outside the tree's curtain of long, hanging branches was a birdbath that she used to spy on. But there were no birds at night; and besides, it was empty. She sat under the tree and stroked the petals on the flowers near her feet. It wasn't long before she was in tears: bitter, frightened, and profuse tears.

Kalei stood by the birdbath listening to her cry. He wished he could make himself a stranger to her again. Then she would talk to him and probably listen to him too. Maybe even flirt with him. Now he never knew what he was going to get.

He thought about the distant past and supposed he never had known.

When Chikako's crying suddenly subsided, he realized she'd noticed him. He froze, not wanting to make the first move. Neither leaving nor staying seemed like a good idea. She didn't act either, and they stayed for a moment just staring at one another's shapes in the dark. "May I come in?" Kalei finally said softly, half-hoping she wouldn't hear him.

Chikako sniffed, then nodded, then said, "Yes."

He ducked under the tree's umbrella and crouched on a nearby smooth stone. "I'm sorry you're... crying," he said.

"It's okay." She wiped the tears from her face with both hands. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," he replied without thinking. "Well, I guess I'm a little shaken up. A lot on my mind."

Chikako nodded.

"You probably know the feeling," he said shyly.

"Yes," she said.

Kalei moved a pebble around with his foot as they sat quietly. "Well," he said, getting ready to push himself up. "I guess I'll go back inside."

She stared at her knees. "No," she whispered. "Stay here, please."

He nodded and put his hands in his lap, trying to see her face without making her feel like she was being looked at. Tears were still slipping down her cheeks. He couldn't think of anything useful to say, and it would've been too much to hold her hand; so he sat silently, wondering why she wanted him to stay.

Chikako turned her face part way towards him. "Thanks," she said, dropping her eyes back to the ground.

"For what?" he couldn't help but ask.

After a minute's silence, Kalei assumed she wasn't going to answer; finally she did. "You comfort me tonight," she mumbled.

Kalei's cheeks grew warm in the darkness. They did not move for some time, until Maiko called their names from the kitchen door. Chikako stood up slowly and squeezed through the long tree branches out onto the main path. "Sweet dreams, Kalei," she murmured without looking his direction.

"You too," he said to her back, as she made her way towards the house.

The girls all camped out that night in Chikako's room, enjoying very close quarters. What useful guardians, Cyrus thought sarcastically as he surveyed her four friends, each one sound asleep. He slid the window open, easily getting around the lock, and picked up his victim like a flower from a bouquet. He threw a damp cloth over her face, forcing her to breathe in a substance that would keep her out as long as he needed. If you want something done...

Chikako woke up on the forest floor, hands and feet bound. The sky was bluing in the east, but it was too dark to see anything other than the shadows of trees above her.

"Good morning, cousin," said a smooth male voice. She tilted her head back to see Cyrus standing over her. He dropped a cloth on the ground and walked around to kneel next to her.

"What are you going to do to me?" she asked.

He unhooked his lightsaber, and laid the handle on her stomach, holding it there. "You probably don't know that my family is from Myrkr," he said. He waited for her to say if he was right, but she didn't, so he continued. "My grandparents were nobility here, pillars of the most respected family in the city that used to stand in this very spot." He glanced around at the ysalamiri-infested trees. "That was a very long time ago. Back then, Myrkr wasn't populated by criminals, political rejects, and ex-smugglers like your father. There were prophets here, though.

"Once, one of them came to my grandfather's house right after he married my grandmother. His name was Selig; he said he had a wonderful message: my grandfather would have a son, and his son would give birth to the Guardian of Myrkr and Heir to the Kingdom.

"They conceived that year, and gave birth to their only son. He was a spitting image of his father. They named him Wyn. Wyn grew up and married a beautiful woman named Antheah. They had one child, and from his birth they taught him and prepared him to be a wise warrior, an excellent ruler, a faithful guardian. His name was Cyrus."

Chikako was already shivering from the cold, but the hate in Cyrus's eyes when he said this would have been enough.

"I was five when a dying prostitute showed up at our door with a scrubby twelve-year-old boy. She said to my father, 'Lord Wyn, Lord Wyn! Please be merciful - this is your brother!' She said she'd grown too weak to care for the boy, and wouldn't my father please take him in? He called her a wicked liar, sent her away, and went immediately to my grandfather.

"My grandfather said only that he'd never seen the boy's face. He could not deny his relations with the prostitute, nor his son by her.

"My father immediately had the prostitute put out of her wretched misery, but his illegitimate brother escaped and enlisted in the King's army. I never heard of my bastard uncle again until I was twenty years old. I'd been going to every royal event, hoping it might be the day when the King would finally honor me as Myrkr's Guardian. At one of them, I met a young man who bore a striking resemblance to my father. When I saw that he was a general in the army, I realized he had to be the prostitute's son. They called him Justen. I was standing nearby when he whispered to the King. 'Your wife, pregnant?!' His Majesty exclaimed. 'Then Selig's prophecy is fulfilled!'

"I would've killed your mother that night had I known who she was."

Chikako stared in disbelief at Cyrus. He, too, was from ancient Myrkr? And he was her cousin!

He leaned in close to her. "My father was the firstborn son, the son of the prophecy. As his son, I was to become Guardian and Heir of Myrkr. Your father was an illegitimate child of a prostitute. The King was wrong to favor him and to allow you to have my inheritance."

He turned on his lightsaber, the golden glow casting a strange hue on the surrounding trees. Something in the bushes scampered away. Chikako could do little else but continue shivering in her shackles. "Now, by killing you, I will avenge myself of my loss; and maybe, some of the inheritance you stole will return to me once you are finally dead."

"For the sake of Myrkr," Chikako said shakily, "I hope not."

Cyrus raised his lightsaber.

Mika woke up freezing, cursing whichever girl liked sleeping with the window wide open. She climbed up on Chikako's bed to pull it shut. "Oh my goodness!" she gasped, kneeling on the empty bed. "Chikako?"

Chikako watched as the golden blade started its descent, aimed to fall straight across her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut. The last thing she expected was to hear the grinding electricity of lightsaber blades colliding. Her eyes flew open, and she saw a bright purple blade fighting away the gold one. Was that her own lightsaber, in the hands of... "Kalei?" she said aloud. What was he doing going up against a trained Jedi Master?

"How are we going to find her?" Minae whispered outside Chikako's house. She and Mika, careful not to wake up the other girls, had determined she was definitely not at home.

"Maybe we should head north again, like last night," Mika said. "They might be trying to take her to the same place."

Minae put her hands in the air, frustrated. "I guess we don't have any other clues," she said. "Let's go."

Chikako knew there was no way Kalei would beat Cyrus, but she had to admit he was a lot better than she'd expected. He managed to push the Jedi away from Chikako, and she realized the absence of the Force was working in their favor, as Cyrus had probably never fought a lightsaber duel surrounded by ysalamiri.

The planet of Myrkr continued to work for Kalei when a vornskr decided to join in the fun. Cyrus killed the beast with one slash of his saber; it was no time, but it might have been enough to give Kalei the edge had he not used the opportunity to turn and slash the bindings on Chikako's wrists. "Run!" he grunted. She reached down to free her feet as they continued dueling and obeyed.

She rushed straight into the woods, eager to get away from the gold blade of Cyrus's lightsaber. She hadn't gone far, though, when she stopped and turned around. "What am I thinking?" she muttered. "He saved me and I'm going to abandon him? It's not like I'm your typical damsel-in-distress." She produced her henshin locket. "Super Myrkr Heart Power!"

She ran back to the fight and lifted her hands, yelling. "A Thousand Flower Spiral!" She aimed the bombardment at Cyrus and distracted him just long enough for Kalei to switch off his lightsaber and book it in the other direction.

"So pretty little Sailor Myrkr is at it again," Cyrus sneered, trading his lightsaber for a blaster. "Why don't you finish me off with your vornskr teeth attack, cousin?" He started shooting repeatedly in her direction, but she was long gone, trying to catch up with Kalei. They ran for a long time before she finally caught him when he stopped to rest and listen for their pursuer.

The sun was on its way up now, and there was enough light for Sailor Myrkr to see Kalei's face and know that he hadn't slept at all that night. "Cyrus had his geography wrong," he said breathlessly. "This is where the ancient city really was."

Sailor Myrkr looked around. The trees weren't so close, but other than that, the forest hadn't changed. She looked up at the sky, watching it steadily grow lighter. The ysalamiri lazily blinked down at her, not remotely interested in the reasons these two people might have for running noisily through their forest at daybreak. Kalei slumped against a tree. Sailor Myrkr turned back to him. "How do you know where the ancient city was?"

He looked at her, but didn't answer. Suddenly, a noise in the south turned both their heads. "That's coming towards us," Kalei whispered. "Let's go."

"Wait," Sailor Myrkr said, listening closely. "That's not Cyrus." A moment later, Sailors Honoghr and Yavin IV came into view.

Yavin IV yelped when she saw them. They'd been running for so long, she'd stopped expecting anything other than trees. "What are you two doing out here?!" she exclaimed.

"Just having a little midnight rendezvous in the middle of a dangerous forest," Sailor Myrkr said sarcastically.

Sailor Honoghr stopped running, stumbled towards them and collapsed on the ground. "We were so worried," she heaved. "We've been running forever. We didn't know where to look!" She stopped talking to breathe. "And I'm so tired!" she added.

"I don't think Cyrus is chasing us anymore," Kalei said quietly. "Maybe we should go back to town before everyone wakes up."

"Cyrus?" Yavin IV and Honoghr said in unison.

"I'll explain later," Myrkr said. She turned to Kalei. "But what will we do when he gets back to town? Won't he be waiting for us? He knows we won't leave our friends there for very long."

"We can't stay in the forest forever," he said. "And what makes you think he won't harm our friends? Besides, he's no match for three Sailor Jedi, as long you're on your guard."

"Sailor Myrkr?" Honoghr said from her spot on the ground.

"Normally, yes, but he's determined, Kalei. He'll hide somewhere near my house, waiting with his blaster. We'll never have enough time to attack before he hits one of us. I can't risk that!"

"What, are we going to live off tree bark?" he argued, motioning with his hands, "and just hope he doesn't bother our friends? We can't just hide out here while he dreams of new ways to kill you!"

"Sailor Myrkr?" Honoghr said again.

"What?" Sailor Myrkr said, turning in frustration away from her argument du jour with Kalei.

"Come here."

She walked over to where the green-eyed Senshi was digging at the forest floor with a stick. "What is it, Sailor Honoghr?"

"Look." She nodded towards the ground where she digging. Sailor Myrkr watched in amazement as Honoghr brushed the black soil away from something shiny in the dirt. "It looks like your flower petals," she said, wedging it out of the muddy soil with her stick.

Sailor Myrkr picked up the dirty, teardrop shaped jewel. "It is," she said in wonder. Kalei and Sailor Yavin IV came closer to see what was happening. Myrkr looked down at the locket on the bow of her sailor suit and flipped it open. There were two identical flower petals embedded inside. She pressed the dirty petal next to them, fitting it into an empty teardrop groove.

A bright flash of light forced them to cover their eyes, but it didn't come from the fusion of the flower petal into Sailor Myrkr's locket. When they turned around to see where the radiance had come from, they were astonished to see a small girl watching them from a few feet off the ground. She had blonde hair in two heart-shaped odango and fiery blue eyes, and was dressed in a school uniform with a stiff metallic skirt, collar, and boots up to her knees.

The strange little girl glanced over the four of them, looking closely at Kalei. Finally, she turned to Sailor Myrkr and smiled. "My name is Shinnen," she said. "I'm three."

"Hello," Sailor Myrkr said.

Shinnen cleared her throat and began speaking slowly. "To complete the power of your locket, you must find all seven petals. But while you do this, you will have many sad days, and many things will happen that you do not understand. But when you do not understand, you must not doubt the promises you have, or the ones you will have." She paused for a moment, letting them marvel at the words they'd just heard from a three-year-old. Shinnen tilted her head. "Super Sailor Myrkr, do you know who you are?"

Sailor Myrkr straightened, not sure how she was supposed to answer. She started with what was fresh in her mind. "I am the Guardian and Heir of Myrkr. I am a servant of her True King, who gave me this position, although I am the daughter of the second-born son, and the granddaughter of a prostitute. And I serve the galaxy as a Soldier of Joy and Faithfulness: I am one of the Sailor Jedi." She smiled a little. That had come out a lot better than she thought it would.

Shinnen smiled back. "This also you must not doubt. For though your heart knows this today, sometimes it will not be sure. Then you must ask the friends who hold your hand as they fight beside you. They will tell the truth." She looked at Sailors Honoghr and Yavin IV, assuming they must be some of those friends. Then she turned back to Sailor Myrkr. "I have one more thing to say. Every lost petal of your flower will teach you a new power, making you ready to survive the Bad Thing that is to come. And here is a promise for you to remember: you will be one who helps destroy the Bad Thing." She stopped to give Sailor Myrkr time to memorize the promise. "Now I will tell you your power."

Shinnen leaned down from her place in the air to whisper its name in Sailor Myrkr's ear. "Now I have said everything," she said when she'd finished. "Soon, my sisters will come to you and say more." She sneaked one more look at Kalei, said, "Goodbye," and disappeared in another flash of light.

Nobody spoke for a few minutes after Shinnen's departure; they stood trying to read each other's faces and staring at where the little girl had just been. "Okay," Sailor Myrkr finally said. "Let's go back to Hyllyard City."

"You want to go back now?" Kalei asked, fairly certain that had been his side of the argument.

She nodded. "Metallic Invisibility!" she said, and kissed Sailor Yavin IV on the cheek. The blonde senshi immediately disappeared.

"Uh - Yavin IV?" Honoghr said.

"I'm here," she said.

"Metallic Invisibility!" Sailor Myrkr said again, this time kissing Sailor Honoghr.

"Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed when she looked down at herself and saw nothing. "Your new power is invisibility!"

"We're not invisible to the Force," Myrkr said. "But that hardly matters here! Now we can get past Cyrus if he's waiting for us on the way to town. Metallic," she kissed her hand and blew it at Kalei, "Invisibility!" He vanished a second later. Finally, she put her right hand on her locket and repeated the phrase, disappearing herself. "Okay. Let's go home."

After deciding it would probably be a good idea to hold hands as they went, they spent a few minutes finding each other in the seemingly empty forest. Once they were all accounted for and connected, they rushed back to Hyllyard City without speaking. When they got to Chikako's house, they ran inside to make sure there were no signs of Cyrus, and that the girls and Yuria were safe and quite asleep. They were, but as the sun had been up for over an hour, the latter was due to wake up any minute. Chikako powered down and they all reappeared. She set Kalei down on the couch and ordered him not to leave the house and then went to follow the examples of Mika and Minae and sneak back to bed.

"Chikako, wait."

"What?" she turned around, exhausted, but definitely owing Kalei whatever conversation he wanted.

He pulled her lightsaber from his jacket pocket. "I believe this is yours?"

"Yes it is," she smiled, taking it back. "And I can't thank you enough for borrowing it."

"Don't mention it," he said, stretching out on the couch for some much needed rest. "Sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams, Kalei."

Chikako woke up a few hours later. She could hear Lily and Maiko talking and moving dishes around in the kitchen. She turned over and saw that Minae's eyes were also open. Mika was turned away. "It's not safe for us to stay here," Chikako said.

Minae pulled her covers tight. "I was just thinking about that."

"Priire's due back in a few days. We can camp out near the clearing until then. It'll be dangerous, but maybe not quite as bad as here."

"Lily will have to know you're Sailor Myrkr."

"Yeah," Chikako sighed. "But I don't know what else we can do."

Mika turned over. "Will you be able to keep us invisible the entire time?"

"I don't know," Chikako said. "Maybe I will. Once it's done, it doesn't take a lot of energy to keep up, as long as I stay in Senshi form." She looked into her friends' sleepy faces. "What do you think?"

Mika and Minae looked at each other, and then back at Chikako. Mika reluctantly pushed her blankets off. "I think we should leave today."

While Mika and Minae told Lily about their change of plans in the vaguest terms possible, Chikako talked to Yuria. She tried to convince him to stay at Maiko's house for a few days without telling him why, and he refused. "I'll sleep in the garden shed," he said. "Will that help?" She sighed and said maybe it would.

She went into the living room to wake Kalei and tell him what had been decided. He got up right away to begin packing their food for the next few days. As soon as he left the room, Maiko came in demanding to know what was going on.

"We're leaving a little early," Chikako said sadly. Maiko said nothing; she knew that much. "Try to stay at home for a few days, Mai-mai. No, better yet - do you think you could stay at Clover Kessellian's house?"

Maiko nodded. She'd promised Clover a few dance lessons while she was home, anyway... but...

"And if you happen to see Xanthus, tell him I've already gone to back to Coruscant and you don't know why."

Maiko crossed her arms. "Okay, good, 'cause I don't."

Chikako smiled. "No worrying. I'll call you when I get there, but give me a few extra days." She pulled her friend close and kissed her. "Now go home, and then go straight to Clover's. I'll see you soon."

"You better," Maiko said, still pouting, and left.

Chikako said good-bye to her father and then took her friends out to her favorite spot near the birdbath. She transformed and cast her invisibility spell over the five of them, hands already joined this time. They walked the hour away from Hyllyard City and reached the clearing they'd landed at. There they set up camp.

It was an odd thing to camp with invisible friends. They did little other than lay and think, or chat quietly about whether invisible people could get a suntan. The food went by faster than they expected, and they spent a day or so hungry and staring at the sky for any sign of a familiar starship.

The sun had already gone down when a bright new star appeared in the deep blue sky. Nobody had spoken for hours, but Sailor Myrkr knew her friends were awake and alert when she heard them stand up at the sight of the silvery streak. When the ship got closer, she was sure it was Priire. "I'm going to power down," she warned. She received a few acknowledgements, and a minute later, her friends came into view. Only Minae was curled up on the ground, fast asleep. For a minute, they all stared at each other through the bluish twilight, finding it suddenly strange to see one another.

"We should move," Lily said, glancing back up at the lowering ship. "Wake up, Minae!" Minae woke, marveled for a moment at being visible, and then marveled at the ship that was about to land on her. They walked to the forest edge and braced themselves against the heavy wind of Priire's landing gear.

The hatch dropped open and the blonde pilot stepped out. "Sorry I'm late!" she yelled to them. "I sent a transmission but no one received it."

"I hope that means Dad's sleeping in the shed," Chikako mumbled.

"Have fun?" Priire asked as she welcomed them onto her ship.

Chikako couldn't help but laugh at the question. "Oh, we had a lot more than fun," Mika assured her.

Priire smiled as she closed up the ship and prepared to take off. "That's what I like to hear."

Chikako closed her eyes as they lifted away from the ground and eventually escaped the planet altogether. She felt suddenly safe again, happy to be suspended between stars.

Xanthus stepped out into the narrow street and watched as the Black Fire Dreamer streaked over Hyllyard City. This time, there was no way Cyrus could blame him for what had happened. He glanced back at the tiny house they were renting, imagining his master brooding inside. Chikako had twice managed to elude him, and he was not taking it lightly. Xanthus wished Cyrus could simply abandon his quest for vengeance, but he knew that would never happen. It had been his life for too long.

The young Jedi sighed at the empty sky. Now that they were certain Chikako had left Myrkr, he hoped they'd leave too. He didn't pretend to like the planet. Of course, nothing would be the same when they got back to Coruscant. It occurred to him that he might never see Chikako again, even if his master continued to pursue her. He'd told her he loved her; had she believed him? He'd never mentioned that conversation to Cyrus. It was none of his business.

An elderly couple ambled past, arm in arm, and he stepped back towards the door.

Could Chikako be convinced that Cyrus was acting in secret, that Xanthus hadn't known a thing about his ancient vendetta? If he could persuade her that he was on her side, maybe some trust could be restored.

He balked at his own train of thought. Was it for his master's sake that he wanted to regain Chikako's confidence, or for his own? "I need a serious loyalty check," he mumbled and vowed to do nothing without Cyrus's approval.

A streetlight went on with a soft click, and Xanthus suddenly realized how dark it had become since he'd been outside. He went to go back in, and as he turned, found himself looking right at Maiko's pretty face. She was still several meters away, walking next to a girl with several long ginger-colored braids. The dark-eyed dancer noticed him with a start.

Xanthus nodded politely and averted his eyes, pretending he couldn't hear the ginger-haired girl saying, "He's cute! Do you know him?" as soon as they passed.

"He's Chikako's boyfriend," Maiko said softly when she thought he was out of earshot.

He watched them turn the corner, heading towards the town square where he'd noticed most of the young people hung out in the evenings; it was like a nightly fashion show. He wondered why Chikako hadn't invited them to experience this custom. He had a feeling she rarely went herself.

He sat down on the steps, annoyed at his thoughts for returning to that subject. A few more decked-out teenagers strolled past. He looked down at the gutter to avoid their curious stares. The last thing he expected was for something down there to attract his attention.

He narrowed his green eyes, trying to focus in the unnatural light of the street lamp, on the strange glimmer among the refuse in the gutter. He reached down and plucked it out, looking at the object closely. Could this really be what he thought it was?

Xanthus smiled. Perhaps he'd be seeing Chikako again after all. He slipped the treasure into his robe and went inside. Music and sounds from the square floated down the narrow streets and between the closely-stacked houses, and the stars multiplied as the violet sky darkened to matte black. Maiko peeked her head around the corner building and glanced up the empty street, resting her gaze for a moment on the empty steps in front of Xanthus's door, her glossy hair swaying in the midsummer breeze.