The Steel Rose

Chapter Four:
“It’s Almost Like Being Free”

-- January 14th, 6:04 PM --

Hitasa and Narika arrived at home just in time for dinner. Upon entrance the two were greeted with all the wonderful scents of breakfast and lunch, and then some. Hitasa’s stomach growled at sight of the table, laden with various dishes from this country and that planet.

“Jeez...” Narika muttered. “Miss Sasami, where do you get your ingredients?” she asked politely.

Sasami smiled mischievously. “I have my ways.”

Narika raised an eyebrow and glanced at Hitasa.

“Hey, don’t look at me,” the warrioress said, raising her hands defensively. “She won’t even tell Sam!”

The family and their guest settled down to a hearty dinner, after which there was much chatting and tea abounded. After an hour or so of idle conversation, Hitasa and Narika decided to retire to bed early. Samantha looked, concerned, at her sister, and Hitasa told her she didn’t hurt anymore, just that she was very tired.

Hitasa opened the door to her room slowly, pushing aside various articles of clothing and entering with a yawn. She changed into a black shirt and sweat pants, deciding to wear her clothes to bed so she wouldn’t have to get changed in the morning. She hung her armor in the closet, then promptly flopped down on the bed. Narika echoed her motions, falling haphazardly onto the cot Hitasa had set up for her. The two were asleep within minutes.

-- January 15th, 2:15 AM --

The alarm clock went off soundlessly, the actual noise directed into a pair of headphones rigged to Hitasa’s ears. She sat suddenly bolt upright, ripping the headphones off to shut off the noise. She reached over and smacked the alarm clock, efficiently turning it off.

“Narika,” she whispered to the girl in the cot beside her bed. “Get up!” She shook her roughly.

“Huh... wha?” Narika sat up sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

“Shh!” Hitasa hissed. “Be quiet!”

“Oh, right.” Narika nodded. Whispering, she said, “Sorry. Is it time to leave already?”

“Yeah.” The warrioress stood agilely from her bed, wincing as she put her weight on her injured side. The cut still hurt, but thankfully was no longer bleeding.

The blonde followed suit, jumping tiredly off the cot, revealing the black tee-shirt and sweat pants she had borrowed from Hitasa. Both were dressed darkly, so they could travel the streets unseen.

“Man,” she groaned, stretching. “We may as well have stayed up all night, what with how much sleep we got,” Narika muttered into the dark. Hitasa was too busy strapping on her armor to reply. She clipped her sword at her belt, then retrieved a small sliver box from her pocket. She pressed a button and whispered a few words to the small cube, then pressed the button again and slid it back into her pocket.

“Alright, let’s go.”

She and Narika walked silently through the house, wraith-like. When they reached the kitchen door, Hitasa pulled the box from her pocket and set it on the kitchen counter, where Samantha would find it.

As the warrioress was about to leave, Narika said quickly, “Wait. Are you sure about this? You can still turn back.”

“And watch the people of Jurai suffer for the rest of my life?” Hitasa shook her head vehemently. “Never!” That said, she swept out the door, Narika at her heels. And the warrioress and her blonde companion were gone.

-- January 15th, 4:03 AM --

BANG! Hitasa pounded her fist once more onto the wooden door, rattling the structure of the small house. Finally, there was a response from within.

“I’m comin’!” The heavily-accented voice of Dagegar rang out into the night. The sound of metal rattling and general chaos emanated from within the building, when suddenly the cat-man flung the door open and glared at Hitasa and Narika, standing outside. “Wake up t’e ‘ole neig’bor’ood, w’y don’t ye!” he shouted. Dagegar grabbed Narika’s wrist and dragged the girl inside his house. Hitasa followed at a more leisurely pace.

“Ye ready?” Dagegar asked, looking at the warrioress.

“Yeah,” was her determined reply.

The cat-man nodded, satisfied. “Okay t’en, come on.” He led the two off into a large bay behind his house, where his ship was docked. He waved distractedly at the huge spaceship, hidden partially in the shadows. “T’is is t’e Dagger II. T’e original was stolen by pirates.”

Hitasa inspected the vessel with a critical eye, taking in the blast marks on the hull, noting the scratched silver paint. All in all, though lacking in appearance, it seemed a strong, trust-worthy ship.

“It’ll have to do,” she said with a grin. Then, with childish impatience, the warrioress added, “Can we go now?”

Dagegar smiled. “Sure. I’ll lower t’e ‘atch, and ye lot ‘op in.” He pulled a small remote control from his pocket and pressed a few buttons, causing the entrance of the ship to open with a few loud hisses. Hitasa and Narika walked quickly into the ship, and Dagegar followed at their heels.

“Okay, take a seat and ‘old on,” he instructed, heading to the pilot’s compartment.

`The warrioress and the blonde had barely buckled themselves in when the Dagger II blasted off. The bay doors opened seconds before the ship shot through them.

“Jeez... What a driver, huh?” Hitasa said, grinning.

Narika was too busy staring out of the small, circular window to reply.

“What? What’s wrong?” the warrioress asked.

The blonde shook her head, wiping her tears away on her sleeve. “I’ve lived here all my life and now I realize I may never see Jurai again...” She smiled through the crystalline droplets. “I’ll miss it...”

Hitasa scowled. “Don’t talk that way. We’ll find Tenchi, bring him here, and drive those Asridian bastards back to the Hell they crawled out of! And just in time for tea, too!”

Narika grinned at her optimistic companion, then nodded in agreement. “Yeah... we will...” She turned back to the porthole to look back at Jurai, which was becoming smaller by the second.

Suddenly, Dagegar’s voice boomed over the loudspeakers. “T’is is yore Cap’n speakin’. Please take a moment to be sure t’at all passengers are properly strapped in. We’ll be makin’ the jump to lig’tspeed in a minute.”

Hitasa and Narika checked their seat belts, then called to the cat-man, “We’re all set back here, Captain Dagegar!”

The ship lurched suddenly and then just as quickly stabilized. A glance out the window confirmed Narika’s suspicions: the stars blurred together to form many long streaks of light, indicating that Dagegar had made the jump to lightspeed and they were now cruising along at several million miles a second. The two passengers unbuckled their seat belts, and Dagegar made his way out of the pilot’s compartment.

“Everyone okay back ‘ere?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Narika replied.

Dagegar nodded. “Good. We’re ‘eadin’ to the Fuer system now. Gotta stop for fuel t’ere. It’s a long way to Eart’,” he explained, “and t’at’s t’e only stop along t’e way.”

“How long will we be traveling?” Hitasa asked.

“About fifteen to sixteen ‘ours, dependin’ on ‘ow long we stay in t’e Fuer system,” was the cat-man’s reply. “Ye could go to sleep if ye want; neit’er of ye looks like ye got muc’ sleep last nig’t.”

The warrioress nodded her thanks, then promptly settled back in her seat, shut her eyes, and fell asleep.

Narika sighed at Hitasa’s actions, then rolled her eyes and looked to Dagegar and explained, “She’s not very much into conversation.”

“I noticed,” he replied.

The blonde grinned, then abruptly said, “Thanks for doing this. I know how you hate traveling all the way to Earth.”

“Well, w’at can ye do?” the cat-man returned helplessly. “I’m t’e only Tuerian--actually, I’m t’e only creature of any species on Jurai willin’ to go to Eart’ fur any payment.”

Narika nodded, then, again changing the subject, asked, “Were you the one Hitasa’s father chased out of the house?”

“Yep,” Dagegar answered smiling. “Scary guy, t’at Azaka. Looked like ‘e could’ve taken t’e ‘ole Asridian army single-’anded.”

The blonde shook her head sadly. “He can’t. Believe me, he’s tried.”

“It’s sad, t’em Asridians takin’ over suc’ a beautiful planet,” Dagegar said. He ruffled Narika’s blonde locks fondly. “Get some sleep, ye crazy Juraiian. Ye look like ye could fall asleep on a rock.”

“You’re sure you don’t want any company? You’ll be alone until we get to the Fuer system if I do,” the blue-eyed young lady warned, not wanting to be rude to her friend.

“I’ll be fine. Yore t’e one w’o looks like s’e ‘asn’t slept more t’an two ‘ours.”

“Okay, if you’re sure.” Narika reclined slightly in her seat, unconsciously edging toward Hitasa. “Wake me when we get to the Fuer system.”

Dagegar chuckled, looking at the two. Narika had fallen asleep the moment her head hit the wall to which the seats were bolted. She rolled over onto her side, her arms embracing Hitasa loosely in the subconscious actions of sleep. “Not yore girlfriend my furry rear end!” he announced. “If s’e isn’t now, s’e will be,” was the cat-man’s final conclusion before he returned to the pilot’s compartment, settling into his seat for what would be a long, silent journey. Ah, well, it would be a good time to get some thinking in...

-- January 15th, 2:34 PM --

Hitasa’s eyes slitted open, allowing the dim artificial light to filter through. Apparently Dagegar had lowered the lights so she and Narika could sleep better. Speaking of Narika... The warrioress looked down to see a certain still-asleep blonde girl nestled in her arms. For a moment she almost freaked out, but quickly reigned over her surprise. She attempted to gently pry herself from Narika’s grasp, but only managed to wake the sleeping blonde.

“Huh... wha...?” Narika sat up and yawned. She looked around tiredly, not quite seeing, then fell back onto Hitasa’s hard leather armor, once again asleep.

“Uhh... Narika...?” Hitasa called hesitantly. “Could you get off me?”

The blonde woke up with a start. “What the hell?” She jumped back from the warrioress quickly. “Jeez! What the hell was I doing sleeping with you?” she asked, an almost disgusted tone to her voice.

“Well that’s always nice to hear,” Hitasa replied sardonically. Then, seriously, she continued, “I don’t know why you were sleeping on me. You were just there when I woke up.”

“Ah.”

With a sly grin, the warrioress added, “And here I thought you were straight.”

Narika looked at Hitasa, shocked. “You little...” She punched her shoulder lightly, so as not to agitate the golden-eyed girl’s wound, but with enough power that she got the point.

“Hey, hey, just kidding.” Hitasa yawned, stretching, then stood from her seat. She finally took a moment to look out the porthole and saw that they were docked at the Fuer system.

Narika, too, had taken notice of thus, and muttered under her breath, “I thought I told him to wake me up when we got here...” She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, standing up slowly, her back creaking from having slept in such an odd position. She winced a few times, then left the small ship through the now open hatch, Hitasa at her heels.

“Dagegar?” she called into the near-empty dock.

“G’mornin’!” came the answering reply.

Narika turned her head slightly to the right, taking notice of the furry cat-man standing beside the ship, watching closely as a man in a worn mechanic’s suit filled the fuel tank on the side of the Dagger II.

“I asked you to wake me up when we got here!” Narika said, mildly offended.

“Well, I tried to, but ye two were too cute, asleep like t’at!” Dagegar replied, grinning and chuckling.

Narika let out a few strangled sounds of frustration as behind her Hitasa laughed in an almost sheepish manner, scratching the back of her neck nervously.

The mechanic straightened, pulling the pump from the fuel tank. He muttered something to the Tuerian, who then handed the man a few bills. The mechanic bowed and took his leave of the small party.

“’Ey, w’ile we’re ‘ere, you mig’t wanna get somet’ing to eat,” Dagegar suggested. “T’ere’s a small restaurant over t’ere, “ he continued, gesturing to a little section of the docking bay to the left. “T’ey’ve got some good eggs.”

Narika nodded as behind her Hitasa brightened at the very mention of food. Neither had eaten since dinner the previous night, and running away from Jurai had worked up quite an appetite. So the warrioress and the blonde headed over to the small restaurant, leaving Dagegar to finish his preflight checks.

-- January 15th, 3:03 PM --

After a quick breakfast, Hitasa and Narika hurriedly returned to the ship, running up the hatch just as Dagegar was finishing entering miscellaneous bits of data into the ship’s computer. He turned to the two, grinning.

“We’re ready to leave when you are,” Hitasa said to the cat-man.

Nodding, Dagegar replied, “Just finis’ed up ‘ere. We’ll be leaving as soon as I get clearance.”

Within minutes, Dagegar had contacted the navigational tower, and was granted said clearance. He took off immediately, as he was prone to do, barely giving Hitasa and Narika enough time to put their seat belts on.

When the Dagger II was a safe distance from Fuer’s atmosphere, Dagegar’s voice again rang out over the loudspeakers. “T’is is yore Cap’n speakin’. We’ll be arrivin’ at Eart’ in a few ‘ours. Ye can take yore seat belts off now.” He muttered, “Damn, I love doin’ t’is...”

Narika chuckled, shaking her head. “Funny people, those Tuerians.”

“Narika,” Hitasa asked suddenly. “Is this the same Tuerian my Dad chased out of the forge?”

“Yeah,” the blonde answered with a grin.

Hitasa groaned. “Tsunami, how to I get myself into these situations...?” She shook her head and settled back in her seat, closing her eyes and falling back asleep.

Narika sighed. “Damned if she can’t get to sleep quick.” She fell back against her chair, making sure she leaned away from the warrioress, and joined her friend in dreamland.

-- January 15th, 8:14 PM --

Not a half hour after she’d fallen asleep, Hitasa was awakened by a slight buzzing coming from the hilt of her sword. She quickly unsheathed the katana, setting it on the table and inspecting its polished blade. At the pommel a small red light flashed, and Hitasa quickly unscrewed it. She criticized the small orb, then set it on the table. It rolled for a second, then stopped. Four small arms shot from the sides of the metallic ball, latching onto the steel table. The top spun for a moment, then spilt open and, with several sharp buzzes and tapping sounds, promptly fell apart. The pieces rearranged themselves so that one was exactly four inches from the other at even, obtuse angles. Then the pieces shot beams of light to each other, a circle of white light forming between them. From the white light, a hologram emerged to hover about a foot off the table. Hitasa stared fixedly as the face of her father came into focus.

In a crackling, digital voice, Azaka began his story. “Hitasa, if you’re seeing this then you have come within range of the sensors on Earth’s moon.” The holographic picture of Azaka stopped for a moment, attempting to find the words to continue. “Your mother and I want you to know we’re very proud of you,” he said at last. Azaka sighed, scratching the back of his neck. “There’s something I have to tell you though, Hitasa.” He waved vaguely for a few moments, then continued. “I’m... I’m not your real father.” Hitasa gasped, shocked. She stared incredulously as the holographic Juraiian knight continued. “Sasami isn’t your real mother, and Samantha isn’t your true sister. You are actually the daughter of Tenchi and Ryoko.” Hitasa blinked back her tears, looking at the man she’d called father for years on end. “Yes, all those times I told you how you remind me of her, I was hinting at the fact that she is your biological mother.” The holographic Azaka wiped away a tear.

“Hitasa... We understand why you left. You have to find Tenchi, please. And if you can, find your mother, Ryoko.” He stopped, searching for the words. “Thank you so much, my brave Hitasa. No matter what may happen, you will always be my daughter.” And the holograph winked out of existence. The orb gathered itself together, then abruptly blew up in a small puff of smoke. Hitasa stared at the charred remains of the truth with sadness in her eyes.

“Father...” She shook her head, rubbing the tears from her eyes. “No... Azaka...” she corrected herself. “I will find Tenchi, and when I do I will bring him to Jurai, even if I must force him to come.”

Narika, who had also been awakened by the slight buzzing, and had witnessed the whole event, said quietly, “Hitasa... I’m sorry.”

“Huh?” The warrioress shot a look at the blonde. “What all did you see?” she demanded.

“Everything,” was Narika’s even reply.

Hitasa looked back at the charred bits of metal, sighing. “Oh.”

“I’m really sorry,” Narika said again. “If not for me, you’d still be on Jurai, happy with Azaka, Sasami, and Samantha.”

The flame-haired warrioress scowled. “Happy living a lie?” she spat. “I don’t think so.” She sighed deeply, resting her head on the metal table, brushing the remains of the orb onto the floor.

Narika moved closer to the other girl, embracing her comfortingly, albeit hesitantly. “Hitasa,” she whispered sadly, “if I knew... I never--”

The golden-eyed warrioress shook her head, effectively cutting the blonde off. “No. Had you not helped me, I’d have found someone else to, or stolen a ship and taken it here myself. If I had done that, I’d be drifting in space right now, never thinking to stop at the Fuer system for fuel.”

“Mmm...” The blonde nodded, resting her head against the warrioress’s back. She felt the other girl stiffen slightly, then force herself to relax, but paid it no heed. She didn’t care what she was feeling right then. She just wanted Hitasa to be happy again.

“Narika...” The taller girl shifted slightly, turning to face the blonde. “W-what’s wrong?” she stammered.

The other girl’s only answer was to bring her lips slowly to Hitasa’s, kissing her gently, seductively. She felt the warrioress freeze, then begin responding, deepening the kiss as her hands roamed silently over her washboard stomach, flitting across her sides. The kiss continued for what seemed to them as an eternity, and when it did end, it was only so they could catch their breaths, then continue spiraling into endless bliss.

Hitasa had just slipped her hands under Narika’s black tee-shirt when the two were brought back to reality as a blast shook the ship and alarms started flashing and sounding.

“Dagegar, what’s going on?!” Hitasa called to the cat-like pilot.

“Pirates!” was all he had to say. The two girls leapt up out of their seats, Hitasa grabbing and sheathing her sword before continuing to the cockpit.

“Where are they?” the warrioress asked urgently.

Dagegar pointed with one furry paw at the radar, and said simply, “T’ere.”

“How are the shields doing?” Narika chimed in.

The cat-man shook his head. “Not well. We’ve already taken two ‘its near t’e engines, an’ one by t’e ex’aust port. Anot’er at eit’er place’ll knock t’e s’ields out.”

“Great,” Hitasa and Narika sighed in unison.

“Well, what have you got in the way of guns?” the taller of the two asked.

Dagegar flipped up a screen, displaying the ships schematics. Two spots lit up on either side of the ship. “T’e main gun’s up ‘ere, controlled in the cockpit. T’ere’s a second one in t’e back of t’e s’ip. One’a you two s’ould go back and use t’at one.”

The blonde and the fiery-haired girl locked eyes for a short moment, then Narika quickly kissed Hitasa and said, “See you when we land.” She ran agilely out of the cockpit and to the rear of the ship, where she found the gunning station.

Flipping on the radio, Narika said to Dagegar, “You reading me?”

“Loud an’ clear,” came the cat-man’s reply.

“Okay.” Narika cleared her throat nervously. “I’ll take out the smaller ships, you two concentrate the main gun on their bigger ship.”

“Roger,” Dagegar said, then opened volley upon volley of fire upon the largest ship, which easily dwarfed theirs twenty times over.

Suddenly, a small red button began blinking on the console. Dagegar hit it, noticing that the ships had ceased fire. The face of a cyan-haired, golden-eyed space pirate came into focus on every screen, including Narika’s, in the ship.

“Dagger II, this is the Violet Princess,” the pirate said.

Dagegar growled. “We read you, Violet Princess. W’o am I talkin’ to?”

“Dagegar!” the female space pirate said abruptly, suddenly recognizing the furry Tuerian. “It’s been a while!”

“Ryoko?!” Dagegar replied incredulously. Beside him, Hitasa jumped up, shocked, shoving the cat-man aside.

“Ryoko? This is... this is Hitasa...” she said hesitantly. “Your... daughter...”

The cyan-haired pirate gasped lightly. “Hitasa?! What are you doing out here?” she demanded. “I told Azaka and Sasami not to let you leave Jurai, no matter what!”

“We left without their knowing,” Narika cut in.

“And just who are you?” Ryoko asked the blonde.

“It doesn’t matter who I am. We request permission to dock on your ship,” Narika replied bluntly.

“Oh yeah, sure. We’ll have a spot cleared for you in a few moments.” Ryoko disappeared for a few seconds, then was back. “Okay, we’ve got a slot open in Bay Three. An escort will take you there momentarily.” Suddenly two small shuttles left the mass of ships, each situating itself on either side of the Dagger II. The two shuttles guided them to a large opening in one side of the flagship, and Dagegar piloted the ship into the docking bay, where he then set it down with a loud, hissing sigh.

Hitasa met up with Narika at the door. The blonde squeezed the warrioress’s hand comfortingly, whispering that everything would be all right. She slipped her arm around the redhead’s waist, hugging her gently.

Dagegar opened the hatch, then quickly joined his passengers in descending the boarding ramp.

A party of five or so armed-to-the-teeth pirates were waiting for them, all surrounding their cyan-haired, black-tailed leader. Ryoko stepped forward, gesturing for her guards to wait behind her.

“G’day to ye, miss Ryoko,” Dagegar said, walking calmly up to the pirate and shaking her hand warmly.

“Dagegar, how’ve you been?” Ryoko returned.

“As well as can be ‘spected, after bein’ s’ot up by a bunc’a pirates,” was his rueful reply. “Ye?”

“I’m doin’ good.” Ryoko looked beyond the cat-man, to the flame-haired warrioress still standing on the boarding ramp, surveying her surroundings warily as the blonde girl clung to her almost desperately. She quirked an eyebrow at the pair and decided it best to voice her opinions.

“Don’t tell me, I’ll get it...” She tapped her forehead for a moment. “You two are together, aren’t you?” she asked them.

“Huh?” Hitasa and Narika said in unison. They looked at each other for a moment, then the blonde suddenly remembered that she was supposed to not like Hitasa. She yelped slightly, jumping a foot or so away from the other girl.

“No!” Narika cried, stepping farther away from the warrioress.

Hitasa shook her head furiously. “Of course not!” she agreed. Throwing a sidelong glance at the blonde, she asked, “Right?”

“Right.” Narika nodded with finality.

Ryoko chuckled lightly, her tail flicking restlessly from side to side. “Sure, whatever you say.” She shrugged and walked past Dagegar to Hitasa. “So, you’re my daughter, huh?” she said, trying to keep her tone light. She inspected the girl in a very Washu-esqe manner, walking slowly around her, looking her over from head to toe. “Not bad, if I do say so myself. Azaka and Sasami did well.” She winked at Narika, then gestured to Hitasa, “Nice catch on your part, kid.”

Narika spluttered wordlessly, then sighed and waved mutely for a moment. “I give up!” she exclaimed at last.

Ryoko nodded. “Well, come on. I’ll show you around the ship.” She waved for them to follow, and whispered something to one of her guards, who took the others and left the pirate and her guests on their own.

Hitasa growled suddenly, all pretense aside as soon as the guards left the bay. She walked up to Ryoko, forcing her to turn around. “I could kill you for what you did to me,” she said threateningly.

The pirate smiled predatorily. “Go on. Try it. I dare you.” The warrioress, caught off guard, only stared at her mother as she continued talking. “I won’t stop you from trying, but if you do fight me, I can’t guarantee you’ll live to tell the tale.”

“Huh?” Hitasa looked at the cyan-haired pirate, curiosity piqued.

Ryoko laughed, throwing her head back. When her merriment subsided, she said, “Your power hasn’t even surfaced yet, and mine has just reached its peak!” To prove her point, she summoned up her energy sword and had it at Hitasa’s throat before the redhead could think to unsheathe her own blade.

“Still wanna fight, girl?” Ryoko asked mockingly. Behind Hitasa, she saw Narika and Dagegar staring horrified at the two.

The warrioress growled, annoyed, and said between gritted teeth, “No.”

“Good.” The pirate nodded, allowing her sword to dissipate. “I wouldn’t want to kill my daughter at such a young age.”

Hitasa gulped, rubbing at her throat, then jogged to catch up with Ryoko, who had already begun to move on, as behind her Narika and Dagegar shook themselves from their stupor.

Approaching Ryoko, this time with a more respectful intent, she asked, “Can I do that?”

The pirate nodded, chuckling at the girl’s bluntness. “Yes. Given time, you will surpass even me.”

Hitasa blinked. Her blonde friend and the pilot of the Dagger II were now walking a short distance behind her. “Uhh... Mother...” she began hesitantly. Ryoko turned around slowly, grinning.

“Oh, it’s ‘mother’ now is it?” she asked, delighted. “Funny how kids are polite only when they want something.”

“Yeah, well...” Hitasa trailed off for a moment, then bowed her head and said quietly, “Would you train me...?”

Ryoko nodded. “Of course.”

Narika, having caught up with them, said, “Not now.” She looked at the warrioress imploringly. “You’re injured, Hitasa,” she pleaded. “Wait until you heal, please?”

“Damn this cut in all its hindering glory!” she crowed, quoting herself.

“Yeah, I remember that one.” Narika smiled, giggling mildly. She stepped closer to Hitasa, wrapping her arms around the girl in a loose embrace. “Please, wait ‘til you’re healed...”

Hitasa sighed, nodding slightly. “All right, fine. If you insist, blondie.” She rested her forehead on Narika’s, her lips inching closer to the other girl’s...

Then she remembered where she was and who she was with. She jerked her head back suddenly, just as their lips were about to meet. Narika looked at her questioningly, and Hitasa inclined her head slightly to where Ryoko stood, whistling innocently, trying not to stare at the pair.

“Oh!” Narika exclaimed suddenly, steping back out of Hitasa’s embrace. Ryoko sighed exasperatedly and let her head fall into her hand, lightly smacking her forehead.

“Aw, an’ it was gettin’ good, too!” Dagegar chimed in.

“Dagegar...” Narika whined. She looked back at Hitasa, who’s eyes more or less said, We’ll finish this later. She blushed crimson and nodded at the girl, who was suddenly very happy.

Hitasa announced suddenly, “All right, enough of this! Mother, shall we be going now?”

Ryoko, sighing again, said, for the pure sake of embarrassing her daughter, “You didn’t have to stop for me. I wouldn’t have minded at all.”

Flustered, Hitasa replied, “Moving right along!”

The pirate laughed uproariously, as she was prone to do, and led them out of the docking bay.

To be continued...