Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction ❯ Twenty Years Later ❯ Tomobiki 2001 ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Three years after Lum came to Earth, her old combat teacher Nassur and his wife, Lum's best friend Benten, disappear under mysterious circumstances. Their only survivor is their newborn daughter, Junba, who was rocketted to Earth to safety.

Seventeen years later, at the dawn of the Third Millennium, Junba -- now the adopted daughter of Miyake Shinobu -- is a second-year student at Tomobiki High School. She is also engaged to marry Lum's cousin Jariten, he current serving in the Urusian Defence Force.

But when a mysterious ship crash-lands on the Neptunian moon of Triton, Junba's whole life is turned upside-down . . . and nothing in Tomobiki will ever be the same again!

Anime/Manga: Urusei Yatsura Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Sci-fi / Comedy / Adventure | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 02.03.2006 | Pages: 39 | Words: 51.7K | Visits: 376 | Status: Completed

Three years after Lum's arrival on Earth . . .

It can't end like this . . .

Somewhere in the vastness of interstellar space, a frigate-class ship found itself besieged by a larger starship. The frigate's name was the I.S.S. Renegade, pendant number NFI-337-C. Aboard, her crew struggled for survival and the safety of their lone passenger against an enemy force of black-suited female warriors. The crew not knowing why they were being attacked made the problem more difficult.

One of the crew was male, the other female. He was one of the most recognizable personages of the local cluster: Nassur of Vos.

She, an eighteen-year old native of the planet Fukunokami, was unknown to all save among those circles concerned with the Galactic Federation's growing interest in Earth: the former Shigaten Benten of Bensaikyou.

The passenger, a six-month old baby resembling Benten save for tapered ears, slept in blissful ignorance in Benten's backpack.

This was the couple's daughter, Junba.

It can't end like this . . .

Benten gasped as she and Nassur struggled onto the bridge. Nassur quickly secured the door as a frustrated Benten removed her pack, placing it on the command chair. "We'll make our stand here," Nassur stated, resignation in his voice, "And fight until we're . . . "

He couldn't finish the spoken thought. "So this is it," she concurred, her voice reflecting her immediate grasping of the gravity of their situation. "There's no place for us to go."

Without another word, they hungrily, passionately embraced. They wanted to take the feel of their bodies against the other's into the next plane of existence. Tears brimmed in their eyes.

It can't end like this . . .

After the too-short embrace, Nassur's eyes glowed. He faced the door, gun ready. "It won't be long."

Benten stared at their sleeping daughter. Sleep well, Junba, my Aiotoga. Mommy won't let those scum touch you!

Nassur was quick to notice Benten's look; he didn't have to psi-link with her to interpret her thoughts. "There is a way, Benten," he then said as he moved to a hatch marked ESCAPE POD. "This."

He pressed a button beside the hatch, opening the pod. Benten immediately remembered one inescapable fact about that particular device: "But, Nassur . . . there's room for only two passengers. One of us'll have to stay behind!"

"I'll stay behind, Benten," he asserted as he set the automatic controls. "You and Junba can escape." A stare stopped her automatic protest. "No child should be without her mother." He kissed her as he removed his kill-belt. "Give her this when she's old enough."

Nassur handed the wrapped belt to her, and then he stepped over to assume a defensive position by the command chair as the sound of lasers burning metal grew louder. Without hesitation, Benten placed Junba into the escape pod. Still asleep, she mused in admiration as she took a last look at their baby girl. She'll never know what happened. Her nose crinkled as the stench of melting metal assaulted her senses. A glance to Nassur revealed that the Vosian was taking aim at the closed door. Benten remained still.

It just can't end like this . . .

Wordlessly, she removed her hair and sash chains, placing them beside Junba. Mumbling a quick goodbye, she then secured the hatch. A metallically-tinged computer voice immediately announced the countdown: "Automatic pod launch in thirty seconds and counting . . . "

A viewing glass allowed Benten to stare at her still-sleeping child, Junba blissfully ignorant of events around her. As Nassur prepared for the showdown, he glanced over to see Benten taking up a defensive position by the pod. "Benten! Why aren't you in the pod?!"

"I'm not leaving you, Nassur," she hissed, her voice hoarse as she choked back a sob.

A shrieking noise turned her attention to the door as a molten-line circle of metal dropped away, revealing their attackers. A stun-bolt lashed out, hitting Nassur square in the chest before he could get off a shot in response. The impact sent the Vosian sailing into the helm station. A grunt burst from his lips as his back slammed into metal, and then he slumped to the deck. Seeing no further motion, unsure as to his state, Benten shrieked an inhuman cry of vengeance, she spinning around to bring her rifle to bear on target.

It can't end this way!

Before she could get off a shot, the Fukunokami was struck down by a stun-bolt! Dropping by the pod hatchway as consciousness began to slip away from her, she was able to shift herself to gaze at her child. By now, Junba has awakened, her wails loudly indicating her protest of the bad noise and the absence of her mother. "Goodbye, Junba . . . " she moaned as her eyes fluttered shut. "My Aiotoga . . .

"Don't forget . . . us . . . "

The countdown reached zero.

* * *

As quiet returned to the Renegade's bridge, the invaders all relaxed. One was quick to notice the escape pod rocketing away from the frigate. Another walked up to the team leader, she giving the other woman a salute. "They're still alive, Boss. Orders?"

The leader gazed dispassionately at Nassur and Benten. "Move them out! Let's get this over with."

The woman by the escape pod hatch gazed over. "What about that escape pod?"

The team leader snorted. "Forget it. Lord Dureko's contract only paid for Nassur and Benten, not their little brat!" Contempt appeared in her voice as she turned to walk out. "Sacrificing themselves for their child! How heroic!"

As the others moved to take their prisoners away, the escape pod and its precious occupant warped out of the sector . . .

Destination: a planet named Earth.

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Urusei Yatsura Twenty Years Later

Tomobiki 2001

by Mike Smith <mcmsmith62@hotmail.com> and Fred Herriot <pyeknu@hotmail.com>

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Originally edited by Eleanor B. Kushnir (1937-2001). C&C by Steven Cornett <cornetts@gemair.com>, the Dragon Bard <dragonbard@hotmail.com>, Robert Geiger <robertgeiger@prodigy.net> and Sean Gaffney <gaffney@iconn.net>

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First of a series of fan fiction stories based on Urusei Yatsura, created by Takahashi Rumiko.

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NOTE: For this series, all writers' notes will be placed at the end of the story text.

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The first year of the Third Millennium of Earth's Common Era . . .

"MOTHER!"

In a bedroom of a modest house in the Tokyo suburb of Tomobiki, a beautiful teenaged girl leapt up to escape her nightmare.

Since her arrival on Earth, Junba had matured gracefully, she currently the splitting image of her true mother at age fourteen save for her pointed Vosian ears, slowed aging process (she had just celebrated her eighteenth chronological birthday the previous month) and rapidly-developing psychic abilities. Dressed in azure-blue pyjamas, Junba huddled fearfully as her eyes swam in their own tears. She clawed the bed sheets tightly around her as she awaited her mother. Soon to arrive was a twenty-ish woman dressed in a magenta pair of pyjamas and a blue housecoat. "Junba, it's all right!" Miyake Shinobu soothed as she embraced Junba. "It's only a dream."

"N-no! It was that nightmare again, Mother!" the younger Miyake stammered. "The one about the black-haired woman who put me into a dark room, then waved good-bye to me! She called me 'Aiotoga' as well as my real name." She gazed pleadingly at Shinobu. "I-I never even met her, Mom!" she burbled. "How can she know me? How . . . ?"

Shinobu gently wiped the tears away from her adopted daughter's cheeks. "Don't worry," she assured her with a forced smile. "It's only your . . . imagination working overtime. C'mon, it's time we got up for school anyway."

With that, she allowed her child to slip away from her embrace for her morning ablutions. "O-okay," Junba stammered, nodding.

Once alone, the crown princess of Kyotos' smile fades. Poor Aiotoga . . . she's been tortured by those dreams since shortly after Ataru, Lum and I found her in that escape pod. It's been seventeen years and still no one has any clue as to what happened to Nassur-kun and Benten. Only Junba knows . . . but she was just a baby when they vanished. She needs to be told that she's adopted. She must know the truth about her real parents. My only hope is she doesn't hate me for keeping it secret for so long . . .

The phone's ring interrupted her contemplation. Junba rushed out of the bathroom to answer it. "I'll get it!"

She activated the receiver of a videophone. On the crystal screen, the graphic INCOMING MESSAGE wavered for a second, it then replaced by the image of a pretty girl's face, she possessing neck-length chocolate brown hair. She was currently dressed in a baggy T-shirt. "Hello." On recognizing her, Junba tried to look cheerful on seeing the caller's groggy demeanour. "It's you, Amora! 'Morning."

"Hey, Aiotoga, you okay?"

"I just had that stupid nightmare again." Junba said.

"You don't have to tell me. I'm empathic, remember?!" Moroboshi Amora grumbled. Despite the annoyance she currently felt at being woken up so rudely, there was no hiding the Celtic-like lilt in her voice. "It's even worse now that we're next-door neighbours! This is the ninth time this month you've had that damned dream! Keep it up and I'll be able to throw my alarm clock out the window."

The classmates laughed. Junba then frowned. "I don't understand it, Amora! Why do I dream of this woman? Mom doesn't act as if it's anything to worry about. You and Dansei-chan are the only ones who understand what I'm going through."

"Well, you are pe'cha with Dansei, so she has a first hand look into your feelings . . . and my mind's been long attuned to picking out sad feelings from people, especially friends and neighbours." Amora then sighed on seeing Junba's confused look, which no doubt stemming from the non-Japanese word she just used. "I don't know why your mother doesn't talk to you about this. You ARE part-Vosian, remember?"

Junba's eyes rolled. "Oh, Amora, you know what my mom's like. She isn't comfortable talking about my father and how I got all these weird psychic powers that have kept popping up since I hit puberty. They're certainly not Sagussan-based powers."

Amora's eyes narrowed as she growled out, "You should DEMAND the truth, Junba!" The two young women had thrashed through this debate too many times to be counted by either of them. "It's your right. Your mother's hiding something important. I sense it. Even my parents seem to know something about your origins and they're won't tell me anything! You'd think it's a conspiracy! Parents!" she spat out.

Before Junba could reply, the report of a lightning blast and Lum's voice, audible both over the phone line and through the back windows of the Miyake home, cut in. "Speaking of my parents," Amora commented, "That sounds like them now."

* * *

The Moroboshis' Tomobiki home and its environs had undergone many changes over the past seventeen years. The least of which being that the Miyake family had moved into the house once occupied by Ryooki Koosei, that move reflecting the marei'cha bond forged between Moroboshi Ataru and Miyake Shinobu prior to the final Tag Race just before Christmas in 1984. While Amora was trying to talk to her friend and classmate, Lum was hard at work awakening her husband. "Darling! It's time to get up and ready for school!"

Ataru groaned as he rolled over, he wrapping the bedcovers over his head as he tried to ignore his spouse. Finally, exasperated, Lum turned to her no-fail solution: a lightning bolt. That got his attention! With a bounce that nearly slammed his head into the ceiling of their bedroom, Ataru vaulted out of bed, barely escaping another stinging from his wife. "Geez, Lum! Okay, okay! I'm up!"

The elder Moroboshis were still physically only twenty thanks to their exposure to the regeneration matrix of Sagurei over seventeen years before. Still, time had left its mark on them: Lum's hair had been at shoulder length since before their adopted daughter Reiko's graduation from high school six years before while Ataru, he having taken off his beard and ponytail around the same time, currently sported a smartly-trimmed moustache. Once out of bed, he quickly showered, shaved and donned a tailored business suit. Within minutes, Ataru made his way to the living room where Lum had set up the breakfast table for three. Amora, finally off the videophone, took her place at the table as Ataru leaned down to kiss them both. "Good morning, Lum, Amora," he greeted them before taking his own place.

"Morning, Daddy!" Amora replied. "Sleep well?"

"Like the dead!" Ataru nibbled on a piece of toast. "Lucky thing I've got a wife who can help me get up!"

"I always like to get you going in the morning, Darling," Lum purred before she moved to consume a bowl of rice.

Quickly finishing his breakfast, Ataru then decided on dessert: Lum's horns. She, then passing a bowl of rice to Amora, nearly drowned in arousal from his tongue's actions. "Darling, not now!" she squeaked. "It's time to go to work . . . and Amora's watching!"

Amora was undisturbed by her parents' blatant expression of affection, quite different from most Japanese families even in this day and age. "Oh, please! Don't mind me! I learn so much while watching experts at work . . . eh?!"

At that moment, her brown eyes began to glow a pretty light pink. The doorbell then rang. "It's Ryooki-sensei!" Amora announced as she bolted to her feet, running over to open the door.

Very much unchanged despite his working constantly at Tomobiki High School for eighteen years, Ryooki Koosei was quick to laugh on seeing his former next-door neighbours -- he currently resided in Miyake Shinobu's old home several blocks away -- in their compromising position. "Good morning, you two," he hailed, tongue in cheek and pinky upraised. "Starting a little early for that, aren't you?"

The Moroboshis moved to clean up. "Hi, Koosei," Ataru said. "I was just thanking Lum for getting me up this morning."

"You know," Tomobiki High's vice-principal slyly mused, "You COULD call in sick . . . "

"No." Ataru slipped on his jacket. "I've used up too many of my sick days this year already. Sakura's suspicious."

Koosei hummed. "Why would she be? She's always wanted you and Lum together."

Everyone laughed as Amora appeared, dressed for school. Lum followed her, she carrying two handled lunch boxes, her husband's briefcase and her daughter's school bag. "Here are your lunches," she announced as she held them out. Ataru and Amora took their school things as they moved to exit. "Don't forget that Jariten is coming over from the shipyards tonight and I'm working late, Amora-chan."

"Yeah, yeah, Mom." Amora rolled her eyes in typical teenage annoyance. "You told me this FIVE times yesterday. I'll have dinner ready when he comes. Did you tell Junba you're working late tonight?"

"Of course."

Ataru kissed her cheek. "Have a nice day, Lum."

"Tcha!"

Reaching the door, Ataru assumed a dignified pose. "I'm off to fight the ultimate battle!" he declared before rushing out . . .

And crashing right into a Buddhist monk!

Lum, Koosei and Amora were taken aback on seeing Ataru run into ANYTHING. They then noisily exhaled on seeing who the "visitor" actually was. "You again!" Ataru snarled. "This is beginning to become a bad habit! One I'd like to break!"

Since taking monastic vows after Seiryokuteki Tanoshii's death, Megane Aisuru had assumed the late Cherry's spot as "protector" of the Moroboshi family. His face was weather-beaten from years of piety on the road, the only other change other than the robes marking his current calling was his shaved head. Megane bowed to Ataru, his hands held forth in prayer. "I want to speak with Lum."

"You're lucky I'm in a hurry," Ataru declared. "Or you'd have been kicked into the next prefecture!"

He moved to pass his old classmate. Megane's hand blocked the way. "Don't go that way! Something evil will befall you."

"Yeah, sure! Tell us another one!" Amora snapped as everyone raced past him, they deciding NOT to bother anymore with giving him an impromptu flying lesson at the business end of their fists or one of Koosei's vast arsenal of hyperspace mallets.

* * *

Minutes later . . .

Visually, Tomobiki High had changed little over the previous seventeen years. The school buildings themselves had been thoroughly gutted, refurbished and modernized in late 1997, shortly after Ataru came to work here. Students' names were different, many teachers had either retired or had been reassigned to other schools, yet the morning ritual continued. Among the students arriving this day is Miyake Junba, she still preoccupied with her nightmare. "Why do I keep dreaming of a woman I've never met before?!" she pondered.

Catching up with her as she gazed skyward were twin red-haired Oni men, their eyes locked on the inattentive beauty before them. However, before their hands could acquire target, Junba stopped, her blue eyes glowing a murky green. Here comes trouble . . .

The twin with the red scarf grabbed one arm. "Penny for your thoughts!"

The twin with the blue scarf grabbed the other arm. "And then some!"

And make it double, Junba finished. "Rin? Ren?" She then tried to break free from their grasp. "What're you doing?! Let go!"

Seq Rin grinned. "Only if you promise to marry one of us!"

"And it'd better be me!" Seq Ren added.

On that declaration, the twins spun on each other, their shift of attention giving Junba the chance she needed to escape. "Forget it, idiot!" Rin yelled as he shoved his face into his brother's. "She's gonna marry me!"

"No, she's marrying me!" Ren retorted.

"Me!"

"ME!"

In a flash, the twins morphed into three-metre tall, red-furred, tiger-striped bulls -- virtually near-twins of their father, Seq Rei -- and they were off! As their clawed forepaws lashed out at each other, students arriving ignored Rin's and Ren's battle; the twins' all-too-frequent spats were simply part of the school scene. Meanwhile, just as Junba was moving to escape the twins' attention, another student, he draped in a white school uniform, a cowlick sticking up from his slicked raven hair, brown starry eyes glittering with passion, firmly seized her hand. As Junba spun around to confront her latest stalker, he dramatically bestowed a courtly kiss on her hand. "Never mind those uncivilized simpletons, Junba-san," he romantically intoned. "I beg you, please! Marry me!"

"Starting a little early with that today, aren't you, Tetsubou?!" Junba snarled as she seized him by the arm. "Can't you idiots see I'm not interested in ANY of you?!" She then pivoted on her feet. "I only want Jariten!"

The scion of the Mendou-Mizunokoji fortune instantly found himself slammed onto his back thanks to a perfect judo flip! "My . . . " he groaned as he slid back towards the ground, "Mrs. Moroboshi . . . knows how . . . to teach martial arts . . . "

Moving to stand, the only son of Mendou Shuutarou and Mizunokoji Asuka then paused as his ears detected the whistling sound of a pair of large incoming missiles. Everyone in front of the school then winced as Rin and Ren found themselves crushed by the one sure-fire way of stopping any child of Rei in his tracks: the Saturn Five! "Knock it off, you idiots!" Koosei snapped from the front gate as he marched through, the vice-principal trailed by Ataru and Amora. "How many times do I have to tell you to not fight on school grounds?!"

Noting what Junba had just done to Tetsubou, Amora grinned as she slunk up to her classmate. "Tetsu-kun," she meowed as she leaned against him. "Are you STILL trying to pick Junba up?" A shake of the head. "Forget her, Tetsu-kun. She's lost to you for all time, Tetsu-kun, recognized to Ten-chan!" Her voice then dropped to a seductive purr as she shifted herself to give him an intimate view of her cleavage. "But Tetsu-kun, I'M still available." A lick of his nose. "And after our last date, VERY willing."

Blood instantly leaked from Tetsubou's nose. "W-what a woman . . . !"

"Amora," Ataru forcefully intoned. "Neither Tetsubou's father nor I want a repeat of what you two did on your last date!"

Amora breathed out in a faux pout as she unpeeled herself from Tetsubou. "Oh, poo! You're no fun, Dad!"

Once freed of his classmate, Tetsubou beat a hasty retreat. While he was quite the ladies' man with other women, the young Mendou always found Amora's advances overpowering and intimidating. "Good morning, Moroboshi-sensei," Junba greeted Ataru with a smile.

"'Morning, Junba." Ataru then noted Koosei giving Rin and Ren the tenth degree by the front door. "Those two bugging you still?"

Junba's smile grew a notch wider. "Not anymore, thanks to Ryooki-sensei."

With that, Ataru, his daughter and his bond-mate's daughter headed together to the front doors. Awaiting them was the principal of Tomobiki High. "Well, well, well," Ozuno Sakura slyly intoned, "On time for a change, Ataru!"

Ataru sighed. "You've been late twelve times this term," Sakura added as she waved an attendance file. "If it keeps up . . . "

"I know, I know," he cut in. "If you'll excuse me, Sakura, my class is waiting."

He turned to head into the foot locker room. "Before you go," the principal cryptically added as she gazed on him. "If you don't change your behaviour around my daughter, I'll personally put a curse on you!"

He stopped, his dark eyes sweeping around to glare intently into her grey ones. "What do you mean I misbehave around Seiteki?" Ataru icily wondered. "Your daughter's been putting the moves on me ever since she came here from Butsumetsu Girls' Junior High! You and she should worry. If anyone hands out the punishment, it'll be Lum. If she had her way, your daughter would be burnt toast!"

Unfazed by his warning, Sakura tapped him on the forehead with her spirit-sensor. "Get to class," she ordered. "As your principal I can make your life more miserable than it is now!"

He declines to reply as he proceeded to slip on his indoor shoes, Junba and Amora heading over to their own lockers to get their own indoor shoes. Koosei and Sakura remain by the doors, their eyes following their co-worker's movements. "This isn't really gonna be Ataru's year, Sakura," the vice-principal gently warned as he noted the bemused smile crossing his old girlfriend's face. "Bugging him about Kozue's 'Ataru-itis' isn't going to make him feel better, you know. You're forcing him to quit after all the good work he's put into this place?"

"I know, Koosei," Sakura quietly replied as they turned to head to her office. Awaiting them there beside his favoured space heater, Kotatsuneko was pouring tea for two of his favourite corporeal companions. "Admittedly, it's nice to keep him on his toes," she added as they took their seats, and then she held up a warning finger. "Though I DO avoid pushing it." Taking up her teacup, she took a sip. "Still, there's a good side to all this. This crush Kozue-chan has on him's taken his mind off of what happened to Koishii-chan."

Koosei took his own cup in hand, nodding thanks to the silent cat-ghost before taking a sip. "I'm just pointing out that Ataru's the best teacher we've had in the last ten years," he replied. "And Lum's been the best cultural administrator we've had ever."

"I know." She took another sip of her tea before a grimace crossed her face. "However, I sense a lot is going to happen this year and next." She gazed intently at him. "There's going to be trouble. More trouble then we've had to put up with in a while."

He considered that point for a moment; Koosei had long come to trust Sakura's instincts when it came to matters of a spiritual or mystical nature. "Well," he mused as he gazed at his teacup. "Let's hope not."

* * *

After homeroom period, Ataru stepped into Class 2-4 to commence the day's geography lesson, he taking the place of his daughter's homeroom class teacher, Hanawa Mitsu, the boy's physical education coach and algebra teacher. On seeing him, the class rose in greeting. Placing his briefcase on the desk, he moved to draw out his lesson plans. "Good morning, class."

The entire class returned the greeting in unison before Junba, the class representative on the student council, ordered them to their seats. As he sets out his sheets, Ataru cannot fail but notice that, in the desk immediately in front of him, the well-endowed girl with long black hair and grey eyes seated there was wearing a VERY tight uniform, the jersey BARELY able to keep her considerable "assets" undercover. "Ozuno S-Seiteki-kun," he then stammered. "Isn't that uniform a little too snug and revealing for school?"

Smiling coyly, Seiteki -- very few people beyond immediate family knew her by her real name, Ozuno Kozue -- leaned over her desk, purposefully revealing her cleavage. "How kind of you to notice, Sensei," she purred. "All my other uniforms were dirty, so I just put on this old one that I found in my closet. It's from when I FIRST started here. It still fits fine, don't you think?"

Sweat-drop. "You . . . you should be more modest, Seiteki-kun. I can see your underwear!"

A giggle. "Why, Sensei! I'm not wearing any."

Steam billowed out of his nose as he took a step back from the desk, his feet stumbling over a garbage can. The others in the class shake their heads as he made a four-point landing in front of Junba's desk. Watching this from her own pace to Seiteki's left, Amora sighed sympathetically. Poor Dad! Seiteki's on the loose again! As she watches the game between her father and her best friend, a devilish grin then appeared on the empath's face. This is SO predictable! Boring! Maybe I can have a little fun!

With that, her eyes softly glowed. After recovering from nearly smacking his face on the floorboards, Ataru begins today's geography lesson. Still, he simply could NOT take his eyes off Seiteki. Worse, she was not letting him take his eyes off her. "O-okay, class," Ataru stuttered. "T-today's lesson is on mountains. C-can anyone tell me what the highest mountain on Earth is?" Understandably reluctant to allowed the only person who raised her hand to answer, he then called out, "S-Seiteki?"

Methodically, she stood, angling her body to give him a VERY detailed view of her tight uniform. He appeared horrified on noting that her blouse was on the verge of ripping. "Why the highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest," Seiteki answered as she suggestively gyrated her hips. "It's sooo big . . . " She threw her arms wide, causing the blouse to rip, exposing herself to the dizzy Ataru!

Fujinami Dansei sighed. "Here we go again."

"Place yer bets!" Megane Shinpai called out.

Several students were quick to answer his call. "Oh, dear," Seiteki said, she making NO move to cover herself. "I popped out of my blouse again. I guess I'll have to go topless for the rest of the day. I'm sure you won't mind, Sensei."

Down he went, two streams of blood exploding from his nose into the air! Seiteki looked confused. "Sensei?"

Shinpai and three friends -- the elder sons of the members of Lum's bodyguards; Shinpai himself was Aisuru's nephew -- immediately gathered around the stricken teacher. Paama Omoshiroi counted Ataru out as if he were a boxing referee making the ten-count on a knocked-out prizefighter. Once ten was reached, Chibi Rikoshugi rang a bell. "Time!" Shinpai announced over a microphone. "Six minutes!"

Hearing that, Kakugari Kokishin leapt for joy. "Banzai! I win!"

Reluctantly, the rest of the male student body paid the heavyset teen 1500 yen in coins. "These guys would bet on the outcome of a nuclear war!" Junba muttered to Dansei, the latter sitting to her right.

Dansei twirled her ponytail; outside of that, she was the spitting image of her "father," Fujinami Ryuunosuke, at that age. "Yeah, Aiotoga, you sure got THAT right. They're just as disgusting as Ozuno there!"

She gave Seiteki a disgusted jerk of the head. "It's a wonder anything gets done in this class," Tetsubou then said.

"Deactivate ETH!"

Everyone cried out as "Ataru" then disappeared just as Ataru walked nonchalantly into the room, he followed by a madly-grinning Koosei. "What the . . . ?" Amora exclaimed. "What happened?!"

"It was a hologram!" Shinpai gasped.

Koosei chuckled, staring at his friend. "Yes, you just had a taste of our new Emergency Teaching Hologram. Worked well, didn't it?"

Ataru icily smiled, he returning his friend's look and pointedly ignoring the still-exposed Seiteki. "Lovely. Seiteki-kun, you have a week's clean-up duty with Mr. Fujinami starting tonight, which multiplies if you are not in your properly fitting school uniform in two minutes. And Amora," -- he glared at his daughter -- "The NEXT time you try to make me more responsive to Seiteki-kun, you can join her!"

"What?!" Amora exclaimed, and then she tried to look innocent. "Dad!"

The glare increased in intensity. "I sensed you trying to wear 'me' down with your powers, young lady. You might be a first-class empath, but I've been at that game a lot longer than you! Meanwhile, as punishment, you can make sure Seiteki-kun is in her real clothes before she returns to class; I thought her bag looked rather large when I saw her come into class this morning over the security monitor."

Humiliated, they quickly withdrew from the class. Shinpai and his friends took their seats as Koosei headed back to his office. Ataru took his place behind the teacher's desk. "Now, let's get onto the real lesson for the day," he said as he pulled out his text.

* * *

In "office row" in the central part of the main floor of the school, Lum watched television in her private office. The Sagussan-enhanced native of Uru served as alien cultural advisor for the whole of the Tomobiki town school board, she monitoring the progress of the growing number of non-Terran students attending Tomobiki High and her sister schools throughout Tokyo's most infamous suburb. Because she was not technically a teacher, Lum enjoyed the added bonus of coming in whenever she felt the need to.

Currently taking her attention was the morning news show on NHK Tokyo, presenting a report on the Earth Defence Force's first home-built starship. "In five days," -- a reporter indicated the nearly completed vessel, an azure-hued craft resembling a cross between a Kashin-class battlewagon and a Yamato-class battleship -- "The first ever Terran-built starship, U.N.S.S. Lum-san, will be launched at the Tokyo Starship Construction Yards in Kawasaki. We talked to the ship's captain, Mendou Shuutarou, about the latest developments . . . "

The video phone rang. Lum pressed a button on her desk to switch the television feed with the video phone feed. Currently on screen was an elderly Oni doctor from the Union consulate in Shinjuku; the main embassy had been shifted to New York City sometime after Pyem Maki began her term as ambassador to the United Nations of Earth. "Doctor!" Lum greeted him with a smile. "Why are you calling now?!"

He returned her grin. "I'm calling to inform you that the result of the tests we ran on you are positive. Congratulations."

Lum beamed. "Tcha! So that explains why I've been gaining weight and missing periods." The Moroboshis' usual family doctor, Mizuno Ami from Minato Ward in Tokyo, had referred Lum to the other doctor several weeks before when the Oni had gone to see the Sailor Senshi for her yearly check-up. "Darling'll be so pleased! I'll tell him tonight before we go to bed! Thank you, Sensei!"

A nod. "That's nice. Please make sure you come next month for a check-up. I'll pass on the news to Doctor Mizuno; she contacted me yesterday for an update." He gave her a knowing wink. "We don't want any problems, do we?"

"I will. 'Bye."

Once the television reverted to the news show, it showing the reporter midway through his interview with a mustached Mendou Shuutarou, she absently touched her stomach. "It's about time," Lum quietly intoned. "Now Darling will be happy again."

Then, with a yelp for joy, she leapt up and did a victory flip!

* * *

Morning recess soon came. In the well-equipped nursing station, Ataru enjoyed some tea with Shinobu and Koosei, all three laughing over Seiteki's attempted seduction earlier. The school nurse wore a Sagussan nursing overcoat, the sleeves marked with a nurse's three tabs; it was a parting present from her friends in the Emergency Medical Response Unit after she returned to Tomobiki in the wake of her sojourn in the Congo dealing with an outbreak of Ebola alongside representatives of the World Health Organization and the Belgian military. "They're both wanting attention, Ataru," Shinobu warned her bond-mate, a knowing chuckle in her voice. "When are you going to learn that?"

"It's gone beyond just 'getting attention.'" Ataru rubbed the bridge of his nose. "First it was the cute notes, then the butt pinching whenever I bend over near her, then hiding in my office wearing just a T-shirt, not to mention the lewd messages she leaves on my video phone answering machine! Why can't she leave me alone? I've made it more than clear that I'm not the person I was twenty years ago."

"It's an age thing," Koosei said. "You and the other boys in your class were the same way with Sakura, remember?" He then winked at his co-worker. "Remember, you DID save Seiteki from those bikers . . . "

Shinobu rolled her eyes. "It's also in her genes. She's inherited Sakura's libido."

Everyone laughed. "So how's Junba?" Ataru asked her bond-mate. "She really blew Amora out of bed this morning."

Koosei blinked. "Is she still having those nightmares?!"

The nurse/health teacher/princess of Kyotos frowned. "They seem to have gone away for awhile, but then they returned," she answered as her eyes turned to the ceiling. "It's as if they were trying to tell us something."

"Like most cultures," Koosei mused, "The Vosians believe dreams foretell the future."

"This 'dream' is giving me a pain in the ass," Shinobu then growled. "What's worse is that she's starting to develop her psychic powers. And she KNOWS the difference between her powers and mine. I think she's starting to suspect that I'm not . . . "

Her teeth pressed into her lower lip as she fought to keep from screaming out. "You have to tell her," Ataru warned. "For her sake most of all. She deserves to know who her real parents are and that you're really her godmother."

"I know." Shinobu frowned as she turned to stare at her bond-mate. "But what will it get her, Ataru? What in Lyna's name will it get her? We don't know what happened to Nassur and Benten. No one's been able to find any proof that they're either dead or alive. Not even Varanko or Dakejinzou have found any clues. It's like they disappeared from the face of existence. I know Sister Niap'yeng's prediction about our finding out what happened to them is coming due sometime this month or the next, but . . . "

"But," Ataru echoed her before he added, "Aiotoga's got Nassur's spirit and Benten's temper as well as their physical gifts. Poor Ten will have his hands full if they ever get married. She's just like you were when you were younger."

"I DON'T want to be reminded of my high school days!" Shinobu snapped.

Koosei moved to calm the nurse. "Down, girl, down. Those days are long over. We're all friends now."

* * *

Sometime later, after the bell for the third class rang, Koosei and Ataru headed to their classrooms. "These days, Seiteki sometimes makes me regret saving her life from those motorcycle goons," the latter declared as his eyes turned down.

Koosei continued to try being cheerful. "She's just like her mother was at that age. If it's any help to you, I should know." He soon noticed that had no effect on his friend. "It's not gonna be a good year for you, is it, Ataru?"

Ataru's lips twitched. "No, it's not. This is the class Koishii-chan could've been a part of had she . . . "

A tear trailed down his cheek. Koosei shook his head. "I wonder," Ataru then mused. "Would Koishii have been as beautiful as Junba? Or as smart as Dansei or Kai? Or maybe as flirtatious as Seiteki or Amora?"

"Does Amora know about Koishii?" the vice-principal wondered.

"No," Ataru replied with a shake of his head, and then he sighed. "She just knows that Lum had a miscarriage when the fight over Uru went down; the same story everyone's heard. Reiko's the only one who knows the full truth." A pause. "Sometimes I feel so grateful to Elle for creating Amora. She's been a lifesaver for both Lum and I, although we wish she wasn't so boy-hungry and so fond of using her powers to play jokes on people! But Amora's always sensed she's not the child we really wanted. I don't want to break her heart with the truth."

With that, he ascended to the second floor. Koosei watched him go up before he sighed, and then he headed to his class.

* * *

Lunch time . . .

Seiteki, currently properly fitted in her normal school uniform, relaxed beside her best friend as they enjoyed the contents of their home-made bentou boxes. "What a dirty trick Sensei played, using that stupid holographic teacher program!" the principal's daughter exclaims. "Nobody in this place has a sense of humour! It was only a joke! I wasn't actually gonna go topless all day!"

Amora sighed. "Sei-chan, Dad's evolved far beyond what most of the older folks here once saw him as," she warned as she gave the other girl a sympathetic smile. "It's called 'growing up.' There's no way you'll ever come close to turning him on."

Seiteki glared at her. "Why aren't you mad?! He caught you trying to use your powers to make him more sensitive to me!"

"True, he did," Amora admitted. "I might be more powerful than he or Mom, but they have years of experience over me. If they guard themselves before I do anything, I can't touch 'em." She then snidely grinned at Seiteki. "Besides, you made it SO blatantly obvious what you wanted to do! You ought to develop patience, Sei-chan. You'll never get anywhere with any guy the way you're going now!"

Seiteki snorted. "I'll never let Sensei go!"

The others overhearing them sighed resignedly. Seiteki's comical attempts at attracting Ataru's attention were one way to relieve the dull, daily drone of classes, but her stubborn refusal to see the obvious was grating on people's nerves, even Amora's. Meanwhile, Junba was enjoying her own lunch with Dansei, Tetsubou and several other students. "Seiteki's so lucky," Junba declared as she gazed on her classmate, an envious sigh then escaping her. "She's got such a nice figure! Look at me. I still look like a little girl!"

"At least everyone knows you ARE a girl, Aiotoga," Dansei quipped as she waved to her boy's uniform. Fortunately, unlike Ryuunosuke, Dansei doesn't have the first kanji of her name plastered all over her back as her grandfather, Fujinami Fujimi, had done for his "son" when Ryuunosuke had attended classes. "Everyone thinks I'm a guy thanks to my stupid grandfather and his weird ideas about raising kids."

"Junba-san would be considered very pretty if more people would quit measuring beauty using the American standards," Ukeru Ayako -- the only person ever to come to Tomobiki High wearing a flowery kimono in lieu of a normal sailor suit uniform -- commented with a sneer.

"What's that to you?" Kobamu Ken, a mildly handsome young man with his grey eyes behind ever-present sunglasses, wondered. "I think a nice big pair like Seiteki's will look great on any girl!"

"Oh really, Kenshiro-san!" Ayako snapped.

"It's Ken!" he barked; Ken never liked anyone calling him by full name.

"Who cares?" Ayako wondered. "A girl like Ozuno Seiteki is nothing but jail-bait. At least Amora-san behaves with some decorum."

"I'm wondering if that was a compliment or an insult," Amora mused on hearing that comment.

"True, she is jail-bait," added Teki Seiryo, a kendou-ka with his black hair tied in a braided pigtail in the same fashion as one of his martial arts heroes, the legendary Saotome Ranma of Nerima Ward's Fuurinkan district. "She has no honour at all. Much less tact."

"Agreed, Seiryo-san," Tetsubou mused before he turned to gaze once more on the class' most popular student. "But, Junba-san, if you're really concerned about your breast size, why don't you have a breast implant?"

Mass face-fault! Junba decked him with her fist! "How DARE you suggest such a thing?! Who do you think I am?! Seiteki?!"

Tetsubou crashed into a wall on the other side of the room. "You should be ashamed of yourself!" Junba growled. "At least Jariten appreciates me as I am!" She put extra weight behind her boyfriend's name to make sure the class' richest student finally got the point. "I'll tell him what you said to me and I hope he roasts you where you stand!"

"It was . . . only a . . . suggestion . . . " Tetsubou groaned.

Junba stormed out, Dansei in her wake. "'Maybe you should have a breast implant,' he says!" The more she repeated the comment her classmate made, the angrier the class representative became. Finally, she spat out, "Pervert!"

"Aiotoga, wait!" Dansei called out.

Everyone returned to their meals. "What a temper!" Tetsubou painfully comment as he slowly made his way back to his seat. "Junba-san should be like a Tritonian! At least they don't get mad!"

* * *

And speaking of the current inhabitants of Neptune's largest moon . . .

Near the capital of the Kingdom of Neptune-Triton, Koori City, this day, everything is quiet. Though "quiet" on this planet always takes into account the endless screaming howl of the constant winter winds, which blew across the surface of this world from pole to pole. Several Tritonian women, accustomed to the noise, were busy shovelling the ever-present snow, chattering amiably amongst themselves.

To the natives of Earth, Triton would automatically be rated as a "cold" place.

This day, there was something of a heat wave, temperatures hovering at a "balmy" minus forty degrees Celsius.

The "heat" had set off a siesta-like atmosphere. At an isolated observation post some distance from the Royal Palace, a lone guard busied himself scanning the frozen wastes beyond with a pair of computerized macro-binoculars. After doing a sweep, he moved to wipe the moisture off his brow as another guard arrived. "I'm relieving you," the newcomer announced. "Go home and get out of this heat."

The first gazed on his co-worker with a relieved nod. "Thank you. This sweat's driving me crazy! Have a pleasant shift."

Before he could respond, a bright light flashed over the blue disk of Neptune. Both guards were startled. "A comet?" one wondered.

The other quickly scanned through a book containing data on known astronomical phenomena. "Nothing scheduled to pass over us today."

The light then dropped, impacting the frozen ground several hundred metres away! Triton itself seemed to tremble for several seconds as if the whole of the moon was being shaken by a baby the size of Sol itself. The guards struggled to maintain their balance as the ground finally settled under their feet. One of them then drew out binoculars to scan the crash site. There, the wreckage of a frigate-class ship bearing Vosian markings smouldered. "Koori's Castle!" the guard exclaimed with characteristic Tritonian calm. "That was a ship."

"Excuse me," the other then stated before he moved to enter a nearby communications shed. "I must notify a rescue squad and alert the Defence Command. I must also inform the Queen; we could be talking about an invasion."

* * *

Hours later, the crash site was a hive of activity. Rescue personnel rushed about searching through the wreck while Royal Tritonian Defence Force personnel stood guard nearby. "Scan for survivors and check for radiation leaks," the rescue commander ordered as he took charge of the scene. "Keep a lookout for anything unusual. This doesn't look like a Lannarkite ship, but there could be some aboard."

A grandly-decorated hovercraft then roared overhead, it manoeuvring to land nearby. A nearby junior officer was quick to note the snowflake coat of arms on the doors. "The Queen is arriving!" he stoically announced.

The hovercraft dropped near the mobile rescue command centre. The door immediately opened, allowing Oyuki to emerge. Save for a more elaborate crown and finer clothes, the present occupant of the Throne of Koori had not changed over the last decade-and-a-half. Regally, she strolled up to the rescue commanding. Personnel not busy with their duties immediately stopped to pay the proper respect. "My Liege," the commander reported. "We're checking the wreckage for survivors as we speak. I'm sorry that there's nothing more to report."

"That's all right," Oyuki quietly replied. "I have no wish to interfere with your investigation. Please continue."

Everyone smartly returned to work. A young enlisted soldier soon rushed up to Oyuki and the commander to make his report: "My Liege, Commander, we've extracted a survivor out of the wreckage." He indicated the downed ship with a wave of his hand. "She's in a very bad way. I'm sorry but I must be bold enough to recommend that she be taken to the hospital with great haste."

"Make it so," the commander ordered.

The soldier raced off. Seconds later, a hover-stretcher carrying a blanket-covered body and two attendants lifted away from the scene. As they moved to pass their queen, Oyuki raised her arm to signal them to wait. As her eyes fell on the stretcher, a woman's hand slipped out from under the blanket. Encircling the limp grey-sheathed wrist was a silver and red leather ornament.

"That bracelet!" Oyuki gasped. "It . . . cannot be."

Instinctively, the queen rushed forward, her hand reaching out. A nearby soldier quickly imposed himself in her path. "Please excuse my disrespect, My Liege," he apologized, bowing. "For your safety, you must not come any closer to the survivor. She may be radioactive."

Jolting in shock on hearing his words, the queen gazed on him for a moment before nodding. "Yes. I apologize; you are in the right."

With that, Oyuki watched as the stretcher was loaded into a hover-ambulance. She turned to the commander. "Please keep me informed on further developments," she politely ordered before returning to her hovercraft. Unnoticed by the rescue crew, though, her thoughts were as stormy as Jupiter's Great Red Spot. Oh, it's really you, old friend! We thought you were dead . . . !

* * *

Some time after school . . .

Amora was busy preparing supper for herself and a guest. The menu was the usual: omelette with meat plus some naturally-ground eta powder for one and a heady pinch of garlic for the other. Much to Lum's consternation -- and frequent bouts of crying every time she came close to Amora's cooking! -- Amora was as addicted to garlic as she was to chocolate! As she moved from cutting board to stove to herb rack, a tune from Kajiura Yuki drifted from her lips. In preparation for a night on the town, she was currently dressed in a white shirt and red slacks; the wardrobe was chosen to flatter without revealing anything to potential onlookers. As she moved to flip one of the frying omelettes onto a plate, her eyes flashed just as Junba's voice hailed from the foyer: "Hey, Amora! Is Mrs. Moroboshi around?!"

"Set yourself down, Aiotoga!" Amora replied. "Mom's working a little late tonight. Your tutorial's delayed."

"Okay."

Junba kicked off her running shoes in the entranceway and headed for the living room, she currently dressed in a blue and red leotard with red leg warmers, a blue Tomobiki High Usagis T-shirt underneath. "You had dinner yet?" Amora then asked from the kitchen.

"Yeah," Junba breathed out as she collapsed on a chair by the table.

A minute later, Amora carried the completed omelettes to the living room table. Sitting before Junba, she dug in. "I told you I wasn't hungry," Junba reminded her as she pointed to the extra dish.

"This isn't for you," Amora blurrily replied before she swallowed her bite. "It's for Jariten. He'll be over in a few minutes."

On hearing the name, Junba zoned out as VERY romantic thoughts rushed in like water thundering through the Niagara River gorge to chase away whatever sense of rationality she had. "Ten-chan . . . !" she moaned as her whole world went pink.

Amora sighed. Romance was one thing. Sappiness, she could do without. "Typical of someone who's recognized someone else."

Confusion then crossed the class representative's face as her mind tripped back from the Harlequin Romance version of the Twilight Zone. "Amora, how do you know all these things, anyway?" she wondered.

"Hanging around Senba of the Intergalactic Boy-Chasers' Club," Amora explained. "Whenever a Vosian or part-Vosian finds the ideal mate, they recognize them and they're paired forever. Atop that, I'm distantly related to Vosians through Dad and Hibaa-chan."

"Who says I'm Vosian?"

"Well, your ears are the first clue." Amora indicated the extremities in question with a wave of her hand. "And yes, while there are other tapered-eared races out there, you also haven't aged a day in nearly three years. The standard Sagussan aging process slows down AFTER puberty. Then there's your pe'cha bond with Dansei and your recognition to Ten-chan. Also, your psychic powers are a lot like Senba's."

"Well," Junba breathed out. "I don't know who my father really is. My mom won't tell me."

Hearing that explanation, contempt stormed through Amora's eyes. "Aiotoga, that witch who CLAIMS to BE your mother," she growls, "Is bullshitting you. You should demand the truth from her. I would!"

Junba gazed on her host, and then she nodded. "Someday I will." She then shrugged, whimsically smiling. "It's funny I recognized Ten-chan of all people. He's so much older than me. Then there's what happened to his first girlfriend. You almost forced us together."

"Well, my powers sensed your arrival at that magic time. And with Ten-chan depressed over what happened to Minami, well . . . " Amora smiled. "Plus, there was just NO WAY that Ten-chan wanted any sort of relationship with Reiko-neechan, even if they had finally buried the hatchet by the time she started attending the Ishinomaki Young Women's Academy. And by the time anyone could've persuaded Ten-chan and Reiko-neechan to go somewhere, Mina-neechan was involved and she SURE wasn't interested in sharing Reiko-neechan with anyone else outside a Sagussan-style marei'cha bonding." A shrug. "So, in the end, why not kill two birds with one stone?"

Their eyes flash. "Ten-chan's here!" Junba chirped happily as she bolted up, immediately rushing for the foyer.

Amora slowly followed her. "No doubt about that."

As they arrived at the entranceway, a very handsome young Oni male dressed in an Urusian Defence Force duty uniform, ensign insignia on his collars, entered. He resembled a male, single-horned version of Lum. "I'm here!" Jariten announced loudly.

Within a second, he crashed to the floor after Junba leapt at him to smother him with kisses.

"Ah," Amora declared with a chuckle. "True love conks all."

* * *

Minutes later, Jariten finished his omelette as he chatted with Amora and Junba, he relaying the latest news from the shipyards. "The Lum-san is almost ready for her maiden voyage," the ensign finally declared. "There's some finishing-up work to be done, though. It's hard to believe a starship would need so much work on it before going into space."

"The christening is in a few days," Amora mused, she failing to hide her smile on noting Junba gazing longingly at Jariten. "I'm sure Captain Mendou'll want everything to proceed without a hitch."

"Speaking of hitches," Jariten said before wiping his lips with a napkin, and then he turned to Junba. "There's some unfinished business between myself and Junba."

Junba blinked. "What do you mean, Ten-chan?"

In answer, Jariten drew a black box from his pants pocket. "This, Aiotoga."

Junba stared confusedly at it. "What's this?"

"Open it and find out," Amora urged.

Junba reached over to open the small box. Enclosed there were two tiger star engagement rings. Junba's jaw dropped in shocked surprise on seeing them. "They're . . . uh . . . " she sputtered before regaining some control of herself, "Beautiful!"

He then took one to slip it onto Junba's finger. "I've already asked your mother," Jariten reported. "She gave us her blessings if we wait until after the Lum-san's shakedown cruise is over, about three years from now."

"Are you gonna do it?" Amora asked.

The answer was instantaneous: "Yes! Oh, yes!"

The couple kissed. Automatically, Amora drew a handkerchief to wipe her moist eyes. "How nice. You both make a lovely couple."

The video phone then rang. "Now who could that be?" Amora wondered as she rose to answer it. "Not another salesman, I hope."

It wasn't. "Oh, Amora-chan," Oyuki hailed after the transmission went through. "Is your mother home?"

Amora shook her head. "Sorry, Oyuki-bachan. Neither Mom nor Dad are around right now. You want to leave a message?"

"I would prefer to speak to Lum," Oyuki gravely said. "Do you know where Miyake Junba is? I called her home but no one answered."

"Yes, she's here. Do you want to talk with her?"

"What I must tell her, I would prefer to say face-to-face." The queen of Triton then sighed before she enigmatically added, "I would appreciate it if you brought Junba to Triton. What needs to be said, needs to be told in person."

"I'll ask." Amora moved to press the cutoff button. "'Bye." Once the link was she severed, she gazed confusedly at the darkened screen, wondering what that was all about. "Junba, you hear that?" she then called out.

"Yeah," Junba stands. "I'm free. Let's go to see Queen Oyuki."

She then turned to Jariten. They held hands, gazing longingly into each other's eyes. "Sorry, Ten-chan," Junba apologized as the light around them sparkled. Violin music simmered softly in the background. "I must leave thee but for a moment. However, I shall return."

"Your presence will be sore missed, Aiotoga," Jariten intoned over the sound of violins. "But I await your return. And I shall inform your mother of your absence, my beloved . . . "

"WILLYA QUIT IT WITH THE AWFUL ROMANTIC DIALOGUE?!" Amora barked.

The newly engaged couple released each other as everything around them returned to normal. "Sorry," Jariten mumbled an apology as he scratched the back of his head. "Just be careful, Aiotoga."

Junba smiled. "Always, Ten-chan."

"Let's go," Amora huffed as she drew out a remote to summon Lum's scout from its hangar at Toranoseishin Finances' Tomobiki offices downtown. "You're engaged for only two minutes and already, you're sounding like a bad weekday afternoon soap opera!"

Jariten watched them as they left. Suddenly, his smile faded as a feeling of dread seemed to overwhelm him.

"Why do I feel like all our dreams will end on Triton?"

* * *

Hours later . . .

Lum's saucer-shaped scout ship proceeded to Triton. On the bridge, Amora -- she had obtained her small starship pilot's license four years before -- piloted while Junba sat nearby, lost in thought. "I know Oyuki-sama and your mother are friends, Amora," she quietly mused, "And that she and Ryooki-sensei are lovers." A shrug rolled her shoulders. "So why would she want to see me? I've only met her once."

"I'm as confused as you, Aiotoga," Amora replied as Saturn passed to starboard. "It must be important if she wants us right away."

Silence fell as the class representative considered that, and then she started to fret. "Something terrible's going to happen."

"That's weird," Amora said after considering the point. "I have the same feeling."

* * *

The scout landed an hour later outside the Tritonian Royal Palace. Waiting in the reception lounge were Oyuki, several attendants, some security personnel and a couple of girls shovelling snow. Oyuki smiled as the landing hatch lowered. "Oh, they're here."

Junba and Amora disembarked, both high school students sensibly clad in hooded, extreme-weather parkas, thermal gloves and over-pants. "Ah," Oyuki hailed as she approached them. "Thank you for coming so quickly. I hope my request didn't come at a bad time."

Amora smiled as they bowed to the queen. "No, there's nothing pressing."

Oyuki then gazed at Amora's classmate. "You've grown so much, Junba-chan. You look so much like your mother."

Junba blinked. "That's funny. Everyone says I don't look like my mother."

Amora stepped in to cover the gaff: "Maybe you do if you're far enough away."

Oyuki raised an eyebrow; it was easy for her to understand Amora's oblique message. She then cleared her throat. "This way, please."

"What was so important that you wanted to see Junba?" Amora wondered.

"Yeah," Junba agreed. "Triton's nice but I prefer going to warmer places."

* * *

Minutes later, a hovercar carried the three women to Koori City Hospital. Oyuki led Junba and Amora through the busy hallways to the intensive care ward. "Why are we in the hospital?" Junba asked with a blink.

"Neither of us is sick." Amora's lips twisted. "Besides, the emotions I sense at hospitals are so depressing."

Oyuki smiled sympathetically. "I apologize. However, what requires Junba's attention is here."

The high school students exchanged looks. "Why?" Junba asked with another blink. "Are they sick?"

"Not exactly," Oyuki replied with a sigh. "Earlier today, a starship crashed outside the city. There was only one person aboard. We rescued her and placed her here for treatment."

They entered ICU room four, a small space crammed with high-tech medical equipment and a team of doctors and nurses hovering over a patient on a narrow bed. When Oyuki and her guests arrived, one of the doctors bowed to the queen. "How is the patient?" Oyuki asked.

"She is fine, My Liege," the doctor reported. "Her injuries are minor: a broken arm, two cracked ribs and a mild concussion. There's no radiation poisoning but she has yet to fully regain consciousness."

"May we see her?"

"As long as you remain behind the barrier."

He indicated the force field protecting the patient from outside contaminants. "Of course," Oyuki acknowledged as she motioned to Junba and Amora to follow. As soon as the three got a good enough view, the queen announced, "This is who I wanted you to see."

They gaze onto an all-too familiar Fukunokami woman, her silver and crimson battlesuit currently exchanged for a hospital gown, bandages on left arm and forehead, she hooked to a dozen monitors. "That's the woman in my dream!" Junba gasped. "She does exist!"

Amora blinked in shocked disbelief. "B-b-Benten . . . ?"

Oyuki blinked, surprised. "You know her, Amora-chan?"

Amora vigorously nodded. "Yeah! My parents told me about her. She disappeared seventeen years ago with her husband." She indicated the unconscious hunter with a hand. "There're statues of them in Heroes Park."

Junba nodded. "I know them. I used to play around them a lot when I was a kid. I always wished I could meet them someday."

"How did she get here?" Amora wondered.

"We don't know what happened to her that brought her here," Oyuki replied. "The logbook was lost in the crash. Surprising since the ship was upgraded by the Sagussans prior to the Planet of Shadows mission."

Amora gazed anew at the long-missing hunter. "Funny. Benten-bachan was the same age as Mom was when she disappeared, but she looks like she hasn't aged a day. Even married to a Vosian, she would age some, wouldn't she?"

"That's still a mystery," Oyuki admitted. "But I have one clue: There is evidence of hibernation sickness."

"Somebody froze her?" Junba gasped.

"And she has been thawed recently, too. But sadly, there was no sign of Nassur, even though the ship was the Renegade."

Blink. "Who's Nassur?"

"Benten-bachan's husband. He was Mom's first combat teacher when they, Oyuki-bachan and Ran-bachan were all in galactic junior high school," Amora explained. "They were both very close to my parents, especially Mom. This is strange."

"I know," Oyuki said. "That's why I want you to take Benten to Ozuno Sakura. Maybe she can determine what happened to her."

Amora frowned. "I'd prefer Budou-sensei to Ozuno-sensei."

"Still, do you think it's safe considering her injuries?" Junba wondered.

"Every precaution will be taken for Benten's safety," Oyuki assured them with a smile. "Please be careful with her. The concussion will confuse and disorient her for a while. She could be violent if provoked."

Amora chuckled. "Do I look like I'd provoke a fight?"

Junba gazed at her friend. "After what happened between you and Tetsubou? Can you HONESTLY say that?"

Amora blushed. "I'll personally supervise things for your journey," Oyuki said before heading out of the room.

Amora nodded, and then she stared at her classmate, her attention still completely focused on Benten. "Something wrong?"

Junba sighed. "I was just wondering why I'm always dreaming of this woman. I've never met her."

"I'll oversee what they're doing," Amora announced as she moved to give her privacy.

Junba nodded gratefully. "I'll stay here."

Amora headed to the door, and then she stopped, turning to gaze anew at her classmate. Funny! she mentally mused. Aiotoga and Benten-bachan look so alike, they could be mother and daughter. But, that's impossible . . .

Is it?

* * *

Lum's scout proceeded to Earth an hour later. Benten, clad in her chainless battlesuit, rested in the small medical station. Amora and Junba stood on the bridge, the latter lost in thought. The silence was almost palpable.

Junba then sighed. "I wonder. Who was Benten?"

"According to Budou Chie-sensei and my mom," Amora answered, "She was a close friend to my parents. Her husband Nassur was a great hero and warrior. I've heard his name mentioned in some of the nightclubs on other planets I've frequented."

Junba gazed at Amora. "There's something VERY familiar about her. And it's more than the dreams and that statue in Heroes' Park."

Silence fell as Amora considered her reply. "Junba . . . this may come as a shock to you, but . . . "

"What, Amora?"

"I don't think your mother is Miyake Shinobu."

Hearing that, Junba's eyes flashed. "What do you mean?!"

"Look at the evidence!" Amora snapped as she returned her classmate's glare. "You're part-Vosian; the evidence is as plain as your ears and powers. Even if your father was Vosian -- which I've always believed he is! -- Sagussan genetics would take precedence!"

"That's conjecture," Junba disagreed, shaking her head. "Besides, even if Mom DID mate with a Vosian, it doesn't automatically imply her genes would dominate! Besides, have you ever heard of successful Sagussan-Vosian couplings?!"

"On Sagussa, there are some, yes. But, listen, Aiotoga," -- Amora sighed -- "Looking at you and looking at Benten-bachan's convinced me that Shinobu-bachan isn't your mother! You and Benten-bachan look too much alike for you not to related in some way!"

Silence fell as the class representative considered the point. "Maybe you're right," Junba finally conceded as she stood to exit the bridge. "I need to think about it. I'm going to lay down for a while."

"Sure, go ahead."

Amora returned her attention to the controls. Junba stepped off the bridge. Watching her through the corner of her eye until she had departed, Amora then gazed at the passing starfield. "Just what is going on here?!" the empath hissed to herself.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the scout's small sick bay, Benten thrashed about in her sleep. Her face was covered in sweat, as if the hunter herself was caught in a middle of a struggle. "N-Nassur," she mumbled. "H-hurry up . . . "

Benten . . .

The hunter went still as the voice gasped an instruction: get help! Benten's eyes snapped open robot-like. Sitting up, she examined herself, and then the room. Recognizing nothing around her, she leapt out of bed. Growling, she slunk out of sick bay.

* * *

On the bridge, Amora watched the ship pass Jupiter. "There's a conspiracy going on here," she mused aloud to herself. "Everyone seems to be in on it . . . including my parents . . . eh?!"

Her eyes flashed as her hearing picked up stealthy footsteps approaching from aft. Turning, she looks at the open doorway leading to the rest of the ship. No one there. "Junba? Is that you?" she called out.

No response. Amora set the helm on automatic as she stood up. Using her powers to confirm what she initially sensed. "Is somebody out there?" she asks again, walking cautiously towards the corridor leading aft.

Gazing to the back, she quickly realized just how intimidating the corridor looked when her mother's ship was in warp. "H-hello?"

Something snarling lunged at her! Before she could react, Amora was slammed into the deck, pinned down by her attacker. Looking up, the teenager's eyes widened on seeing Benten, the Fukunokami hunter glaring at her with predatory eyes. "Benten-bachan, y-you're awake!" Amora sputtered in an attempt to sound cheerful. "Y-you shouldn't be up! You're hurt!"

Benten leaned closer to inspect her best friend's adopted daughter. Amora shuddered as the hunter's growl picked up in intensity. "W-what's wrong, Oba-chan?!" she stammered. "You don't look so good. Why don't you relax in sick bay for a while?"

Benten's only response was one garbled word: "Elle!"

A karate chop flew straight for Amora's forehead! She dodged just in time as the hand forced a nice dent in the deck. The noise was enough to wake Junba. "What's going on?!" the class representative wondered as she bolted up. "Are we under attack?!"

Leaping to her feet, she raced for the bridge. By then, Amora was able to slip out of Benten's grasp, she currently ducking the various punches and kicks the deranged hunter was firing at her without any sign of letup. Luckily, nothing vital had been damaged. Yet.

"Oba-chan, please!" Amora gasped as she ducked a kick. "I don't want to hurt you! Calm down!"

Benten nearly decapitated Amora with a punch. "Die, Elle!"

They continued their macabre dance around the bridge. Can't outrun her forever! Amora panted. I gotta use my powers to stop her!

Amora concentrated as Benten prepared a kick to the head. Before the blow could land, Amora nailed her with an empathic force bolt from her eyes! With a flash of light, Benten was hurled across the bridge to slam into a bulkhead. The hunter was momentarily stunned. Amora dropped to her knees; she was normally unable to maintain her strength after unleashing such an attack.

The empath stared at Benten as the latter began to shake off the blast's effects. "I'm not Elle!" Amora panted. "I'm Moroboshi Amora! The girl Ataru and Lum adopted, born on Elle as a laboratory child, remember?!"

No luck; Benten's only response was an angry snarl. Amora finds herself the target of another charge. She won't listen . . . Amora moaned to herself as she braced for the impact.

It didn't come.

A punch had just sent her rolling across the deck to slam into the helm! Amora's eyes opened, she looking up to see Junba shielding her from Benten, her fists pulled back and ready. "Just what is going on here?!"

"Be careful, Aiotoga!" Amora warned as she tried to stand. "Benten-bachan's flipped! She'll kill you! She nearly killed me!"

Benten jolted. "Aiotoga . . . ?" she whispered.

"I knew we shouldn't have taken her!" Junba snarled. "Look, Benten-san, we're not your enemy! We're your friends!"

The still somewhat-dazed hunter turned to gaze at the young woman who just knocked her down, the emotions on her face transforming from shock to disbelief -- and then to sheer joy. "J-Junba?" she stuttered, her eyes tearing. "My Aiotoga . . . my . . . daughter . . . !"

She collapsed to the deck, her hands flying to her face as sobs stole her voice. Junba remained still, thunderstruck by the hunter's words. "'Daughter?'" she finally gasped. "B-but . . . my mother's name's Miyake Shinobu."

Amora finally staggered up to her friend's side. "I was right. Benten's your mother . . . which means Nassur's your father."

Hearing that, Junba's eyes began to smoke with rage.

* * *

Shinobu sneezed!

"Bless you," Jariten called out.

"Thanks," Shinobu blurrily muttered as she wiped her nose with a handkerchief.

In the living room of the Miyake home, Shinobu and Jariten were enjoying evening tea with Megane. Night had fallen over Tomobiki. All three seem anxious about what was happening with Junba and Amora. "Why did Amora take Junba to Triton, Ten?" Shinobu asked.

"Don't know," Jariten replied with a shake of his head before a pensive look crossed his face. "Something's going on . . . and I can't help feeling that something really bad's about to happen."

"I sense it, too," Megane added as he gazed forlornly at the ceiling. "There's something ominous in the air. Bad luck is coming for both you and Junba, Jariten."

Disgusted sighs burst from his companions as they glared at him. "Still saying that, eh?" Jariten growled sarcastically before he turned back to his tea. "That joke was old even when Cherry was still alive!"

"What do you expect from Cherry's student?!" Shinobu snorted. "Incompetent idiot!"

"That's strange," -- Megane glared at Shinobu -- "Coming from a woman who's never married."

Wrong thing to say. "Keep it up, Megane," Shinobu threateningly growled, "And you'll be joining Cherry in Nirvana!"

"Bah!" Megane spat out before he sipped his tea. "Nothing can defeat my spiritual powers and they're never wrong!"

Jariten seemed ready to roast him. "Oh, right! They're NEVER wrong!"

The loud noise of a starship arriving on the street next door drowns any reply from the monk. Jariten rushed over to a nearby window to see Lum's scout landing. "That must be them!" he announced. "C'mon!"

He and Shinobu raced outside. Megane remained to finish his tea. "It doesn't matter," he muttered. "They can't escape their fate."

* * *

Outside, Jariten and Shinobu watched as the former's fiancée and her classmate disembark, both carrying someone on an anti-gravity stretcher. "Junba! Amora!" Shinobu called out as they approach.

They stop, their eyes focusing intently on the nurse. On the stretcher suspended from their hands, Benten soundlessly slept. Seeing her, Shinobu and Jariten froze, both stunned. "Benten?!" they gasped together, and then Shinobu stared at Junba. "But how?"

Angry stares answered. Amora remained silent as Junba pointed accusingly at her godmother. "You . . . " spat out from the class representative's lips. "You stay away from me, you . . . you . . . you IMPOSTER!"

The nurse was frozen still by those words. "'Imposter?!'" she finally exclaimed. "Junba, how can you say that to your own mother?!"

"The hell you are!" Junba then pointed at Benten. "SHE'S my real mother!"

The older woman ducked the glare coming from her accuser. "Junba, please! Please listen!" she then said pleadingly. "When you were a baby. we found you in an escape pod outside Tokyo with mementoes from your real mother and father . . . !"

"So why didn't you ever tell me I was adopted?!" Junba icily pressed. "Didn't you think it would be important for me to know?"

"I wanted to! I planned to!" Shinobu admitted. "But the time never seemed right. Then, it just was easier to not tell."

A slap! "You witch!" Junba tearfully growled. "How dare you keep something that important from me?!"

Jariten moved to place his hand on Junba's shoulder. "Aiotoga . . . "

Same act, different target! "Don't you DARE use my nickname again, Jariten!" she screamed. "Only friends use it. And YOU," -- her finger shot up to stab him in his chest -- "Are no longer my friend!"

Taken aback by that statement, Jariten then tried to say something. Junba cut him off. "I bet you thought it was funny, didn't you?!" she mused. "You knew who my real parents were and I didn't! I bet you laughed yourself to sleep every night that we dated!"

An adamant shake of the head. "No! You're wrong! I never laughed at you! How could I?! I love you!"

"I HATE you!" Junba snapped. "It's over now! Get lost!"

With that declaration, she threw her engagement ring to the ground, and then she rushed into the house, sobs escaping her. Jariten watched her go, and then he quietly picked up the ring, his sadness all too apparent as he held it in his hands. Just a few short hours before, this ring had brought him so much joy. With a resigned sigh, he then dropped it into his uniform pocket.

Amora walked up to him. "Ten-chan . . . ?"

"Shut up, Amora! Just shut up!"

With that, he lunged into the air, heading south for the dockyards. Amora watched him go, and then, after a shake of the head, turned to redefine "glare" at her father's bond-mate. Right then, Lum flew up to land before them. Her eyes were quick to lock on the prostate figure on the stretcher, they widening in shock as she recognizes her long-lost friend. "B-b-Benten?!" she gasped. "How?!"

No answer. Lum was quick to detect Amora's rage and Shinobu's melancholy. "What's going on?" Lum wondered. "Why such faces?"

"Junba just learned she's adopted!" Amora icily growled before she stomped away.

Lum watched her march off to their home, and then she turned to Shinobu. "How can this be? How did Benten get here?"

"Ask Amora, Lum," Shinobu growled. "She knows!"

"Ya . . . sure," Lum mumbled before she turned to fly off after her daughter.

Shinobu sighed as she gazed at Benten for a moment. She then jolted on hearing crashing noises from inside the house. She turned as Megane calmly stepped out, he nursing a bruise on his head. "I suggest you look out!" he muttered. "Junba's on the warpath!"

"So I see," Shinobu said as she passed by.

The monk then eerily smiled. "I told you so."

Shinobu froze on hearing that, an annoyed shudder flowing through her, as Megane headed back to his camp. She then marched into her house. Inside, everything seemed in order, save for a wrecked living room table. Shinobu then made her way to Junba's bedroom. The door was ajar. Listening in, she was quick to detect her daughter's sobs. Glancing in, she saw Junba crying into her pillow.

"Junba . . . ?"

"Go away!" Junba snapped. "Leave me alone!"

Shinobu gently slipped into the bedroom. "I'm sorry you had to discover the truth this way." She sat beside her, a hand reaching over to squeeze Junba's shoulder. "We are related in a way. I'm your godmother. I adopted you after Benten and Nassur disappeared."

No effect. "Please, Junba," Shinobu said pleadingly. "Benten's parents couldn't take you in; Fukunokami was facing a possible war with Varakos then, remember?" A pause. "And Nassur's mother couldn't take you in; she lives on Sagussa. I didn't want to see you raised in an orphanage. That's why I adopted you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before. I wanted to. I really did! Our lives just got in our way."

Junba stares tearfully at her. "W-why did my real parents abandon me? Why didn't they keep me?"

Without hesitation, fingers reached up to brush Junba's tears away. "I don't know. Maybe we can find out now that your mother's back. One thing I do know: Nassur and Benten loved you to the core of their beings. If they left you, they had no other choice."

Finally, the younger woman's sobbing subsided. Junba slowly sat up to gaze on the woman who had stepped in to save her from some unknown fate. She then leaned forward and the two embraced. "Oh, Mom!" Junba sobbed. "I'm so sorry . . . "

"I'm sorry too, Aiotoga," Shinobu apologized, a smile then crossing her face. "Mistakes were made but none of them were meant to hurt you. I deserved it for keeping everything a secret for so long. Now let's bring your real mother in!"

Junba jolted. "Oops! That's not the way to gain a mother's trust!"

Both laughed as they rose to head back outside.

* * *

Sometime later, Lum returned home after docking her scout at the Toranoseishin Finances Tower. Amora reclined on the living room floor, her eyes gazing absently at the ceiling. A nearby clock chimes midnight. Marching in, Lum moved to lean over Amora. "My ship's docked!" the older woman announced. "Now, kindly explain what's going on, young lady!"

Amora sighed, and then she sat up. "We're not sure exactly. Benten-bachan crash-landed on Triton. That's all we know right now."

Lum blinked. "What about Nassur? Was there . . . ?"

"No sign of him," Amora cut her mother off with a shake of her head. "Oyuki-bachan sent Benten-bachan to Earth for Ozuno-sensei to find out what happened." A snort. "Personally, I think Budou-sensei would be a better choice."

Lum sighed. "Right." Ever since she was a small child, Amora had never really respected Sakura despite the fact that she counted Ozuno Seiteki these days as her best friend. "What's caused the ill-feelings between you and Shinobu? She is your Mamon'cha, remember?!" she then reminded her child, automatically using the Sagussan word for "father's bond-mate" when referring to the nurse.

"She sure doesn't act like one!" Amora growled back before she moved to calm herself. "Anyhow, Benten-bachan woke up on our way back and she discovered that Junba was her child before she began to rip the ship apart. Mamon'cha," -- her voice turned caustic -- "Deserved all she got for what she did to Aiotoga. Unfortunately, someone innocent got it worse!"

"Who?!"

"Ten-chan. Junba broke their engagement once she found out that he knew everything about her parents and wouldn't tell."

Lum took that in, and then she looked down. "Poor Ten-chan. First, Minami . . . now this! He must be heartbroken."

Amora sighed. "He is! How could you and Dad let this happen, Mom? You all knew about Junba's parents! Why didn't you tell her?!"

"Shinobu wanted to do it." Lum then frowned. "We kept quiet in accordance to her wishes."

"Parents!" Amora spat out as her eyes rolled. "At least, you told ME the truth about MY origins." With that, she stood, turning upstairs for bed. "If it was up to Miyake, I'd probably never wouldn't have learned about your miscarriage! Good night, Mom."

Lum remained silent as Amora headed upstairs. After hearing her bedroom door slam shut, she then let her tears flow.

"It wasn't a miscarriage, Amora-chan."

* * *

Next door, Shinobu was heating some food for Benten. The hunter was asleep on the living room couch. Junba had finally turned in for the night. Once the meal was ready, Shinobu poured it into a bowl, set it on a tray, and then she headed into the living room. Carefully, she jostled Benten awake. "Benten?" the nurse/princess called out. "Wake up!"

Benten started. Catching sight of Shinobu, she then recoiled from her hand. Glaring at her host, her lips instantly curled into a silent snarl. "Benten, relax," Shinobu soothed with a sigh. "It's me, Miyake Shinobu. You must recognize me!"

The Fukunokami's eyes remained fixed on Shinobu. The nurse remained still, knowing that, in cases like this, any sudden movement could provoke a violent response. Comfortable with the fact that her psionic powers and strength could more than match a deranged Benten, she saw no reason to provoke a fight. "You're probably hungry." Shinobu presented the bowl. "I warmed up some leftover beefbowl for you."

Looking at the offered food, Benten snatched it from Shinobu's hands. After a precautionary sniff, she then proceeded to gobble it down. "I need to get her trust," Shinobu mused aloud as she sat in a chair across from the hunter. "Benten?" she then probed, deciding it was time for answers. "What happened to you? Where have you been? Where's Nassur-kun? Why haven't you aged all this time?"

The now-empty bowl flew at Shinobu in answer. The nurse calmly dodged it. "More!" Benten snapped.

"At least she can talk," Shinobu wryly mused.

Incensed by the flippant response, the Fukunokami grabbed the Terran-turned-Sagussan by her housecoat, glaring into her eyes. "More!" Benten repeated as she glared intently into Shinobu's eyes. "Hungry!"

Shinobu sighed as she firmly pulled Benten's hands off her, her grip causing the hunter to gasp. "Hai, hai, Sahib! My feet are like wings!" She then stood, muttering, "One thing about you I didn't miss is that Lyna-be-damned temper of yours."

As she picked up the bowl from the floor, Shinobu then froze in mid-stride when Benten sobbed, "Aiotoga."

Shinobu looked over. The moonlight flowed into the room, making Benten's tears glisten. "She's asleep. Do you want to see her?"

Those words were enough to shatter the dam holding the other woman's emotions back. "S-she . . . " the hunter gasped. "She didn't know who I was, but . . . b-but I knew her as soon as I saw her! How long has it been since Nassur and I were captured?"

"Seventeen years."

Silence fell as Benten processed that bombshell. "Seventeen years?! I missed so much . . . and it's all her fault . . . !"

With that, her strength faded as sorrow once more overcame her. Shinobu set the bowl on an end table, and then she sat beside Benten, instinctively pulling her into a warm embrace. "Who's fault?" the nurse gently inquired. "Benten, who are you talking about?"

"It was Queen Elle!" Benten icily replied. "She took us away from our child and friends . . . !"

More sobs. Shinobu remained still, allowing Benten the chance to regain some sense of decorum. Finally, the latter gazed on her host. "You've changed," the hunter whispered. "You're not hyper like you used to be. It's like you're a different person!"

"In more ways than one," Shinobu ruefully admitted. "Seventeen years have passed. In that time, I've physically aged a year and a half. What did you expect?" An eyebrow arched. "That we'd all go into cryogenic suspension to wait for your return?"

"Very funny!" Benten wryly snarled. "It could be worse, I admit. You could be an old lady . . . or dead."

"Care to have more of your body wrecked?" Shinobu dead-panned.

Benten shrugged. Gradually, as the tension faded, the old friendship came back to them. Laughter washed away the last of the apprehension as they warmly embraced. "Oh, it's so good to be back!" Benten said. "Hey, I'm hungry still! Got something to eat?!"

"Okay, greedy guts, you win! I'll go get the shovel!"

Shinobu headed back into the kitchen. Benten stuck her tongue out at the nurse's back, and then she relaxed as her mind churned over the primary bit of news Shinobu gave her. Seventeen years . . . !

* * *

Finally stuffed to the gills, Benten then found herself the centre of attention of a gathering of the "usual suspects." Lum and Ataru had come immediately over from their home, the latter having sensed what had happened through his marei'cha bond with Shinobu. Also present was an obviously pregnant Seq Ran, a curious Ozuno Sakura and Ryooki Koosei and a calm Megane Aisuru. Junba was also awake, she eager to learn the truth about herself. Surrounded by both old friends and a new daughter, Benten realized she needed to explain her seventeen-year absence. "Elle's troops captured Nassur and me," Benten began. "I put Junba into an escape pod on the 'Renegade' because we both believed we wouldn't escape. We knew someone would find her and take care of her. Nothing until five days ago. We woke up . . . in freezer units."

"Freezer units?" Ataru said. "You were cryofrozen all this time?"

Benten nodded. "That's right. It was then we made our escape . . . "

** ** **

Five days previously . . .

On Elle, in a darkened laboratory outside Baran, Benten and Nassur woke to find themselves standing in cryofreeze chambers. Both were quick to discover that the chambers weren't open. The uncomfortable warmth was also something they couldn't ignore. To make matters worse, Nassur saw thick grey smoke seeping into the lab. Turning to each other, they tried to shout something. No sound could pass through the walls of their chambers. Nassur then made a motion with his open hand across his face, mouthing "psi-link." Benten nodded understandingly as both relaxed themselves, allowing their minds to forge a psionic line.

Benten, can you hear me?

Yeah! I guess you can hear me.

Loud and clear. You have an idea what happened?!

Damned if I know! Last thing I remember's seeing Aiotoga escape. Where are we?! Why've we been frozen? Why's it getting so hot?

This clearly wasn't planned, Nassur replied with a grimace. These units usually open automatically when the person inside thaws. The unit's still working but the lab's so warm, the computers haven't registered that we're awake.

Great! Benten moaned. We suffocate or we sweat to death. You sense anyone around?

Several people nearby. Their brainwave patterns tell me they're frantic about something.

They aren't the only ones, Benten began to pant. Can we get out of here?

Good question.

Benten sighed, and then she began to bang on the glass to see if it would break. No effect; the confines of the chambers prevented her from leaning back and hitting the glass with her usual élan. Nassur then flashed a warning: Somebody's coming! Stay still!

They assumed their original positions. Through slightly opened eyes, they watched as several Ellsian lab technicians, supported by members of the Royal Ellsian Defence Force, rush in. Some headed for the other chambers and open them; others gathered and moved portable equipment, tools and notes out of the room as quick as they could. An older technician raced to the chambers containing his guests. "Good," she said with a relieved nod. "They're still frozen! Take them out of those tubes before the fire spreads to this room."

The doors were unlocked and opened. The attendants grabbed them roughly, hurling them onto available gurneys and pushed them out of the room. The stench of a chemical fire assaulted the hunters' noses as they were carried out. Now what? Benten asked.

Wait for it, Nassur warned.

The technicians and the guards transported the "frozen" hunters out of the complex. The parade finally arrived at a loading dock where a small hovertruck marked MOBILE FREEZER UNIT awaited them. Uh-oh! Benten tried not to gulp. We're in trouble.

Now or never!

Nassur sprang into action. The technicians and guards were startled at the sight of two "frozen" beings leaping nimbly off the gurneys. Their hesitation was enough to give Nassur and Benten the chance to easily subdue them. Off in the near distance, another guard doing sentry duty turned a corner, spot the ruckus, and then she yelled, "They're awake!"

"Capture them!" one of the subdued technicians ordered. "Don't let them escape!"

Thanks to their long suspension, it took fifteen seconds for the hunters to eliminate all potential resistance. As the last guard dropped unconscious, Nassur and Benten quickly armed themselves. "That was easy!" Benten noted as she picked up a rifle.

"We've learned one thing," Nassur affirmed as he grabbed a couple of blasters. "We're on Elle."

Benten blinked. "Elle?! How can you tell?!"

He showed her a blaster. "The guards are dressed in R.E.D.F. uniforms and these are standard issue weapons!"

"What does Elle want with us?" Benten wondered. "We're not on her list of most popular people."

"We'll find out soon enough," Nassur mused. "Let's go."

"No arguments here."

They leave the mobile freezer unit truck behind, knowing that the darkness of the night would help keep them invisible. The hunters made their way to a bush behind the lab to catch their breath. "Made it!" Benten gasped.

Nassur motioned to the lab. Benten watched as flames consumed the building. A dozen fire trucks, lights flashing and sirens blaring, pulled up and try to quash the blaze. "Lucky!" Benten commented. "We just missed becoming fried squid."

Nassur motioned into the bush. "Let's get some distance from this place!"

* * *

After an hour of running, the bush melted into Baran's suburbs. Despite the late hour, Nassur and Benten stayed in the alleyways and back streets. No telling what police patrols were dashing hither and yon, hunting for criminal-looking types. "Now what?" Benten wondered.

"Right now? Avoid capture." Nassur then snorted. "What we have to do is get off this planet."

"How?" Benten asked as she stretched herself. "My body feels so sluggish . . . "

"Hibernation sickness," he noted as he took a moment to examine their surroundings. While he had not frequented this world as much as he had places like Gomiana, Nassur did know Baran's general layout. "It'll pass soon. We've probably been frozen a couple of years."

"Why would Elle freeze us?" she asked as she took her own look. "It doesn't make sense." Hearing no reply from her husband, she turned to see Nassur hacking into a street-side computer information terminal. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find some answers," he grunted as he played with the keyboard. After a moment, he smiled. "There! I've broken into planet Elle's main database. Let's see . . . "

* * *

In the core of Baran's main city computer complex, a security monitor technician blinked as something appeared on her screen. "Commander," she called out. "I'm detecting an unauthorized entry in terminal THX-1138. Should I send a squad to investigate?"

The obese watch supervisor limbered up to glance over her subordinate's shoulder. "Strange. It's only a street information post. Perhaps some kids playing around. Keep an eye on them. They might get into something sensitive."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Nassur gritted his teeth. "This computer's more advanced than I thought. We've been out a long time."

Benten remained on watch as her husband worked away. "Get anything?"

"Nothing . . . wait!" Nassur then yelped. "I've just located Renegade."

"Good! Let's get out of here!"

"Agreed."

* * *

The supervisor's private audiophone rang. "Yes?" she answered. She then tensed as the other end made its report. "I see. We'll send squads out immediately!" Hanging up, she then opened a video phone line to the city's internal security primary dispatch station. "Attention all units! Be on the lookout for Nassur of Vos and Benten Shigaten of Fukunokami! They're both armed and dangerous! If possible, they're to be taken alive! Chief Operative Seven Bake Rose, report to duty immediately!"

Around her, the technicians all shuddered on hearing the mercenary's name. The one monitoring THX-1138 then looked up on noting some new action from the terminal in question. "Ma'am! The hackers stopped after gaining information about the captured starship Renegade."

"What?!" the supervisor gasped, then, on realizing the significance of that report, she flipped open the link to internal security.

"All units: converge on City Spacedock 245!"

* * *

City Spacedock 245 once belonged to the Royal Ellsian Defence Force. Currently, it was largely empty. Save for storage boxes and a familiar Fukunokami-built frigate, all covered with dust and cobwebs. "There she is!" Nassur declared with a cautious smile as the hunters slipped inside through a side door. "She still looks in fine shape." A pause. "I hope."

"I hope so, too," Benten muttered as she scoured the area. "This is too easy! Somebody must know we've escaped!"

Almost in answer, Nassur's eyes glowed, and then he grabbed his wife to force her to the deck. "Down!"

Several lasers bisected the air above their heads. "I knew it!" Benten moved to take cover. "I see seven!"

"Mark! Let's fight!"

A sporadic firefight began. I just thought of something! Benten psi-linked. Where do we go when we get off this rock?

Not sure, Nassur replied as he fired his weapon. Right now, any port in a storm will do.

Thanks for the encouragement! Benten forced a security officer to dive for cover with a spray of rifle fire. Here's another thought: what if everyone we know is dead or too old to be any use to us?!

We're in trouble.

Suddenly, all fire ceased. Nassur and Benten peek out from cover, both quickly noting that more security troops were streaming into the spacedock. I think we can make a break for it, the Vosian mused as he bit his lip. C'mon!

Both bolted for the Renegade's boarding ramp, they dodging sporadic fire as the other side quickly noticed what was happening. I'll stand guard, Nassur psi-linked as he took cover by several boxes, still some distance from the boarding hatch. Get her going!

Right!

Benten dashed aboard. The Fukunokami ignored the dust and cobwebs as she ran to the bridge. The disturbed air threw up a fine cloud, causing her to sneeze. "So much for house cleaning!" she grumbled as she sat at the helm to commence emergency start-up.

Below, Nassur kept watch. His eyes flashed, and then he ducked as a metal fist flew overhead. "Ah, Seven Bake Rose!" Nassur then smiled on seeing an older yet familiar -- and currently cybernetic-enhanced -- mercenary facing him. "You haven't aged well!"

"I've waited years for this!" Rose de Hausenbach growled, sensor-eye glowing. "I'm better than I was the last time we fought!"

"Bad imitation of Ataru's Cyborg form!" Nassur noted as he calmly began to evade her punches. Benten, Seven Bake Rose's here! Can you get Renegade ready?! he psi-flashed his wife.

Benten was busy trying to cold-start the warp core. Trying! Keep her busy!

It was easy; Nassur was more than able to hold his own against Rose. "You're an idiot getting cybernetic parts, Rosie!" he taunted her. "Even now, you can't take me on one-on-one! I speak from experience!"

Meanwhile, on the frigate's bridge, Benten angrily slammed her hands on the console. "Damn it, why won't you start?!"

Renegade's engines turned over. "Finally!" she cried.

Nassur blinked as he heard the start-up. Rose moved to take advantage. "Don't get your hopes up!"

He sidestepped the cyborg as she waded into some nearby crates with the grace of a crashing missile. "Sorry, Rosie!" Nassur said in farewell as he dashed to the boarding ramp. "We'll finish this some other time!"

"Coward!" Rose screamed. "Come back here and fight like a man!"

Benten! he psi-linked. Coming aboard!

Hurry up! More soldiers!

Unseen by either of them, a sniper had taken position behind a crate. Calmly, she bore-sighted her weapon on the Vosian some metres away. Her bolt lanced into Nassur's left shoulder! B-Benten! he gasped as he sank to the spacedock deck. I'm hit!

I'll stop and get you!

N-no . . . Nassur said pleadingly as he faded out. Get help . . . Varanko, Dakejinzou, the hybrids, Lum . . . do it . . . !

As more soldiers raced into the dock, he smiled as "Renegade" blasted off before unconsciousness overcame him . . .

** ** **

"I decided to fly Renegade to Earth," Benten completed. "The engines gave out over Triton and I crashed. End of story."

Everyone remained silent as they absorb the hunter's tale. "As soon as I'm able," Benten added, "I'm going back to rescue Nassur."

"I'll help!" Junba immediately volunteered. "I want to meet my dad."

"Junba, are you out of your mind?" Ataru demanded. "That's very dangerous."

"Moroboshi-sensei." Junba stared at him. "I'm no green kid! Mrs. Moroboshi's been teaching me marital arts for years."

Benten blinked as she absorbed what she just heard, and then she smiled. "I see a lot's changed since we left!"

"We wished you could've come," Lum noted as she squeezed her husband's hand.

"Makes four of us." Benten then gazed at Junba. "What about you, Aiotoga? Do you have a boyfriend?"

Hearing that, the teenager's happy look crashed. "What have I done?!" she wailed as she bolted for her bedroom.

"Did I say something?" Benten asked as she heard a bedroom door slam shut. "What happened?"

"Junba's boyfriend was Jariten," Shinobu explained with a shake of her head. "They were going to be married. I never told Junba she was adopted. Neither did Ten. When you came back, they got into a fight and Junba broke off the engagement."

"I see," Benten breathed out. "Poor kid."

The other nodded, many of them sighing in turn. In her bedroom, Junba was weeping into her pillow. "What a jerk! What an idiot! Why did I break it off?! What do I do?! How will he ever forgive me?!"

* * *

Next morning, Amora was quick to pass on the news to her classmates.

Tomobiki High's rumour mill did the rest . . .

"This is the most horrible day I ever thought I would live through!" Megane Shinpai exclaimed.

"I've never seen Junba-chan so upset!" Chibi Rikoshugi noted. "What do we do?"

"If word spreads," Kakugari Kokishin warned, "Every guy in the school will be after Junba-chan! What will we do?!"

The bodyguards crossed their arms and thought about it. "I got it!" Paama Omoshiroi spoke up. "Why don't we get first in line?!"

They exchanged looks, and then the quartet diabolically laughed. "And they say I'M wanton and fickle?" Amora sneered at them before she barked out, "You guys are sick! Working on a poor girl's sadness for your own gain! Disgusting!"

Junba then arrived, her shoulders sagged in sorrow. Fujinami Dansei trailed her best friend, concern etched on the tomboy's face. On seeing their class representative, many of the boys moved to "prepare" themselves. Poor girl, Amora mused as she gazed sympathetically on her neighbour. She's in for it now! How could Shinobu-bachan DO such a thing to her?!

Junba sat down. "S-she's here!" Shinpai stuttered as nervousness washed through him. "Who should go first?!"

"Should it be by lot?" Rikoshugi wondered.

Kokishin shook his head. "Nah! Too easy to cheat! Jurgen?!"

"Too long!" Omoshiroi hissed.

"There's only one course to take!" Shinpai's glasses then glowed. "A MASS ATTACK!"

With that, they leapt at Junba . . .

And ran into a pair of tiger-stripped walls!

Of course, the "walls" were the transformed Rin and Ren. "There's the devil twins, right on schedule!" Amora muttered.

They reverted to normal as they sympathetically gazed at their class rep. "Hiya, Junba!" Rin began. "We heard about your break-up."

"And we'd be honoured if you'd go out with one of us!" Ren added.

"And it'd better be me!" Rin finished.

Sure enough, Ren spun on his brother, he snaring Rin's jacket. "How can you be so airheaded?! She wants to be with me!"

"Stick your head in a cannon! She wants me!"

"ME!"

Junba rolled her eyes as the expected fight began. I don't want EITHER of them!

Suddenly, a pair of rockets blasted Rin and Ren out of the class! When the smoke cleared, Mendou Tetsubou stormed in, rocket launcher at the ready. "Enough! You monsters will not fight near Junba-san as long as I'm here!"

"Tetsubou!" Junba gasped, surprised by his actions. "What are you doing with that?!"

"I was merely paying homage to Assemble Insert," Tetsubou reported.

Mass face-fault! In the blink of the eye, Tetsubou is at Junba's side, his hand gently grasping her. Expectantly, the lights around them grew fuzzy as romantic music played in the background. Their classmates watched this strange tableau play out. Save Amora, she clearly nauseous by his show of exuberance. "Junba-san," Tetsubou intoned. "I know how you feel. It was the same for me when my parents divorced."

Junba looked ready to cry. "I feel so dead inside, Tetsubou."

"I'm here if you want me. Go ahead and cry. You'll feel better."

"I see Tetsubou didn't waste time," Seiteki commented from nearby.

Amora scowled. "You'd think this was a soap opera, not a science fiction comedy-adventure!"

Tears flowing, Junba accepted Tetsubou's embrace. "Tetsubou . . . "

He patted her back. "Aiotoga . . . "

"So THIS is what you do when my back's turned!"

Everyone spun around to stare at the window, where a VERY incensed Jariten currently stood. "Jariten!" Junba gasped as she pulled herself away from Tetsubou. "It's not what you think . . . !"

"Oh?!" the ensign icily growled. "What DO you think I'm thinking?!"

Amora was quick to notice the bouquet of flowers. It's hit the fan, folks . . .

Incensed by Jariten's unspoken accusation, Junba marched up to glare at him. "Tetsubou's only showing some kindness," she growled.

"Is that what YOU call it?!" He snorted. "I came ready to apologize. Seems to me it didn't take YOU long to find a replacement!"

"Oh, yeah?!" she retorted, her face flushing with rage. "Well, listen up! Mendou Tetsubou's a lot better than you! At least HE knows how to treat a woman and HE doesn't hold the truth from them!"

Hearing that, Jariten seemed stricken. "I see," he then said. "So that's what you think, eh?! You want him?!" he demanded as he then threw the bouquet into the air, incinerating it then with his flame-breath. "You can have him!"

The ashes cascaded to the floor between them. Junba slapped him. "It's over! I hope you die in space! HORRIBLY!"

"If I had to come back to a girl like you?!" he retorted with bared fangs, "I'd rather I DID die in space!"

With that, he was off, flying back to the shipyards. His abrupt departure instantly made Junba realize that she just let a golden opportunity slip through her fingers. "Oh, no!" she then moaned, hand falling over her heart. "What have I done?!"

Tetsubou then seized her from behind. "Aiotoga!"

* * *

Moments later, Ataru stepped in. "'Morning, class!"

The teacher jolted on seeing wrecked desks piled over someone and Amora trying to calm a violently shaking Junba down. "Calm down, Aiotoga! There's still time to get back together if you try!"

Ataru stared at Seiteki. "What happened?"

"Ten and Junba just had a fight and Tetsubou interfered," she responded before a coy stare crossed her face. "I didn't know Junba was into kinky stuff. It gives me an idea . . . "

His eyes rolled. "Grow up, Seiteki, and stow it!"

The principal's daughter jolted. The teacher called the class to order, pointedly ignoring her. "Why's he playing hard-to-get?!"

* * *

Later, at the Miyake home, Benten stared in disbelief at an ornate suit of body armour hanging on the wall of Shinobu's bedroom. Magenta with silver piping, it was clearly Yehisrite in design, complete with ceremonial cape and sheathed broadsword. After taking a moment to absorb that fearsome image, the hunter then hesitantly turned to Shinobu, she busy drawing out some photo albums. "You're a laqu'r?!"

"That's right," the nurse replied with a smile. "Shortly after you and Nassur were captured, Sheko tried to avenge the Mikado's death on Ataru. He nearly killed Ataru; my sister Joshu saved him via tre'cha. I killed Sheko. End of story."

Benten moved to sit beside her. "Then why aren't you living in Kyotos?"

"I lived there for five years, helping out with political reforms and cleansing out Sheko's cronies," Shinobu explained as she opened an album. "But eventually, I felt Kyotos City was no place to raise Aiotoga. I moved back here and left Varanko's grandson Chanko in charge as Principal Lord Protector. It's the first time ever that Kyotos has tried this form of government. No one's had reason to complain: the lords' positions are secure and the citizens are prosperous, light-years different from Sheko's time. Anyhow, take a look . . . "

Benten eagerly began looking through the many images of Junba growing up, first on Yehisril, then on Earth. As the various albums were paraded before her, a mixture of delight and sadness crossed the hunter's face on seeing how Junba had matured. "These pictures" -- she indicated one of Junba and Dansei on a school trip to Kyoto -- "Make me realize how much I've missed."

"I've tried to keep her out of trouble," Shinobu moved to assure her guest. "Lum's been teaching her kari'fu, taking what lessons Nassur once gave her and passing it on to Aiotoga. Most everyone likes her; Lyna, there's even a 'Junba's Bodyguards.'"

Benten's eyes rolled. "Bensaiten's Grave! Not that again! I assume Megane's relatives have something to do with that!"

"Aisuru's nephew Shinpai leads it. Shitto's, Daremo's and Urayamu's sons back him up." Shinobu chuckled. "Their luck's usual."

Both laughed. "How did Aiotoga wind up with Ten?" Benten then wondered.

"Ten's always had an interest in Aiotoga," Shinobu explained. "I think it stemmed from the times Aiotoga took over your body when you were carrying her. They grew up almost side-by-side. She helped him out of a . . . very difficult time while in high school."

Benten tensed. "Minami, you mean? I remember she was pretty interested in him when they were staying with me in Oshika . . . "

"Minami isn't with us anymore," Shinobu then reported with a saddened sigh. "Anyhow, Junba recognized Jariten sometime after. Unfortunately, she became quite the pain when he left to attend the Urusian Naval Academy. She only saw him during vacations. Always moping around. Once, she even tried to run away to Uru to live with him."

Benten laughed. "She obviously got that from me."

"Oh, there're a few things I regret her inheriting from you," Shinobu wryly mused. "Still, there's a bright side to this. Ten's on exchange with the United Nations Defence Force. He was just assigned to the Lum-san."

"Lum-san?"

"Our first home-built starship," Shinobu reported. "Ten years ago, Earth officially became part of the Galactic Federation. Thanks to technological transfers, mostly from Uru, Vos, Zephyrus, Ipraedos, Kyotos and most of the other Yehisrite principalities, we're now able to build our own fleet. Daremo and Kenmei designed her. Shuutarou's going to command her. I hear the name was chosen out of a hat."

Benten grinned. "I never thought Lum would have a starship named after her. How're Ataru and Reiko?"

"Reiko's living with Dakejinzou with her lifemate and their child. As for Ataru . . . well, he's okay, but there have been problems."

Benten noted the downcast look. "Something wrong?"

"I'd rather not comment," Shinobu exhaled. "The last seventeen years have not been kind to some. Ataru and Lum are two of them. If you want to know more, you should speak to them. Since I am Ataru's bond-mate, I would be violating his privacy by saying more. We've lived side-by-side for the last decade here in Tomobiki, but many Sagussan social guidelines still dominate our lives."

The Fukunokami tensed as that warning washed through her, and then she nodded. "I . . . okay."

Their conversation was suddenly interrupted when the front door flew open, slamming against the wall as Junba stormed in. Benten and Shinobu walked out of the latter's bedroom to greet their child. "Aiotoga!" Benten chirped, beaming. "How was your day at . . . ?"

Junba slammed her bedroom door shut behind her!

"School?" Benten completed before she stared at Shinobu. "I guess today wasn't very good."

Shinobu smiled as she headed into the kitchen. "Your temper, I'm afraid."

"What about YOUR temper?" Benten taunted.

Shinobu stopped, turning to face her. "Benten, let me make something VERY clear: Just because I may only look a year older, I am not the person I was seventeen years ago. I don't particularly care to regress to that time, even for your amusement. You don't realize what it's been like, being a Sagussan and raising a part-Vosian child. I've learned to maintain a tight control over myself. Think about it. If I dropped my psi-shields, Aiotoga would die of a stroke because her tracking powers would overload once she sensed my brainwave pattern."

Benten fearfully nodded. "I . . . I see."

"Then you see why I've disciplined myself." Shinobu then sighed. "Just to warn you, Ataru and Lum are the same way. I'm sorry about you missing out on so much. But, like it or not, we can't change the past. This is the way I am now. The sooner you accept it, the better for all of us, especially Aiotoga. Now, why don't you look in on her while I get started on supper?"

"Um . . . y-yeah, sure!" Benten sputtered with a nod before she headed off.

* * *

In her bedroom, Junba wept into her pillow. "It's over!" she sobbed. "It's my fault! I'm so stupid . . . I . . . ?!"

"Bad day?"

The teary-eyed teenager turned to gaze on her smiling mother. "I had a fight, Mom. With Ten-chan."

"I see," Benten calmly replied as she wiped her daughter's face. "You know, your father and I fought once. Real bad one, too."

"You did? When?"

"Shortly after we first met," Benten explained. "He was training Lum. I was assisting him. Unfortunately, Nassur's first wife Cinba died during that time. He wasn't in a good mood. I was only a few years younger than you are right now and I had major-league crush on him. He became incensed about that one day. Our tempers flared; there was a lot of screaming and yelling and I slapped him."

Surprised by that revelation after hearing so much about Nassur from Amora and Lum, Junba leaned up. "Then what happened?"

"He slapped me back," Benten answered. "Twice, right in the face." She pointed to her cheeks in emphasis. "For the first time in my life, I actually hated him. So I ran away. Then I realized Nassur was in pain over Cinba's death. He wasn't really mad at me per se. So I decided to help him get over that sadness. It took me seven years but I finally managed to do it."

With that, she displayed her cygnet's eye wedding ring. Junba blinked confusedly. "So what does that mean for me?"

Benten shrugged. "Everyone has fights, especially when they're developing a relationship. You gotta set boundaries and some rules for it to work out. Until that happens, there're gonna be misunderstandings, misconceptions. There's no such thing as the 'perfect' relationship, Aiotoga. As you grow up, so grows the partnership. And," A pause, and then she pointed at her daughter. "You always gotta remember this: Nothing's ever truly over until you both agree it is."

Junba looked down. "I see. But . . . after what's happened, how can Ten-chan and I get back together?"

Silence fell as Benten considered how to answer that. "I don't know," she finally announced. "But somehow, I'm sure you'll find a way. One of you'll have to make the first move. Then, things'll progress from there."

"Maybe."

* * *

Sometime later, Benten walked around the block to visit the Moroboshi home. The front door opened before the hunter could knock, revealing a smiling Amora. "Hi, Benten-bachan! Come on in! My parents're still working!"

"Thanks," Benten replied as she followed the teenage empath inside. "Are you sure you're not half-Vosian? I know about your great-grandma, but . . . heck, only Nassur and the hybrids answer doors before I knock on them!"

A chuckle. "I'm empathic," Amora reported as they stepped into the living room. "In a way, my powers're just as good as Aiotoga's. How's she taking what happened between her and Ten-chan?"

"Give her time, she'll make it," Benten asserted as they sat at the table. "Look, I should apologize for my behaviour earlier. Believe me, I wasn't in my right mind then. You and Elle look so much alike, in my confused state, I couldn't tell the difference."

"That's okay," Amora said. "Many people make the same mistake. Then again," she mused as she rolled her eyes knowingly, "I could've looked like either Nokoko-bachan or Atako-bachan. I doubt I'd be as popular with boys if that ever happened to me. Excuse me, please." She then stood to head into the kitchen. "I'm making an omelette."

"Go ahead."

"I've met Hazel," Amora then called out as she flipped her omelette.

"How are they? I haven't been able to contact Home Base."

"They're fine. They've been doing pretty well with Home Base and the school. You ought to see how Hazel's grown out."

"Really?" Benten mused as Amora returned, plate and glass in hand.

Silence then fell as Amora attacked her dinner. Benten gazed at her. The former then looked up.

"You don't trust me."

Benten jolted on hearing that, and then a sheepish look crossed her face. "Well . . . "

Amora waved it off. "I understand. Being Elle's daughter is hard. Everyone loathes her. Being an empath, I can sense that. Elle must've done something horrible to you and your husband. Did you find out why?"

"No," Benten then snarled. "But when I go to rescue Nassur, we'll find out . . . even if we have to kill her to do it."

Amora smiled. "No one will blame you at all."

Silence again fell as Benten took time to examine the living room. Pictures of Ataru's and Lum's family dot one of the walls. Prominent in almost all of them were Reiko and Amora. Standing, Benten walked over to examine Reiko's graduation photograph from the Ishinomaki Young Women's Academy, and then she gazed on a handfasting portrait of Reiko with her life-mate, Fujisawa Mina.

It didn't take the hunter long to realize something vital was missing. "Amora, where's your sister?" she wondered.

"Who, Reiko? Kaneko?"

Benten blinked on hearing the name of Reiko's twin sister. Ask about that later, she mused before speaking, "No, Koishii."

Amora blinked. "I have no sister named Koishii."

Benten froze as a chill ran down her spine. Shinobu's words then came back to her: The last seventeen years have not been kind to some. Ataru and Lum are two of them. "I see," she finally exhaled.

Amora's eyes then glowed. "Ah! Here comes Mom!"

The door opened. "I'm home!" Lum called out as she stepped into the living room. Her smile then widened on her seeing who was there with her daughter. "Hi, Benten!" she hailed as she put her briefcase down. "What brings you here?!"

Benten smiled. "I just need to talk."

"I'll leave then," Amora said as she finished her omelette and drink before moving to clean up. "Homework, you know."

Once they were alone, Lum stared at Benten. "What's up?"

"How close're Amora and Junba?" Benten wondered.

"They're friends, but Junba's much closer to Fujinami Dansei."

Benten blinked. "Fujinami . . . Dansei? Ryuunosuke had a kid?!"

"Yes!" Lum's eyes then rolled. "Unfortunately, she's a girl raised as a boy."

"Don't remind me!" Benten groaned as she remembered the first time she met Tomobiki's resident tomboy. She then stared at the kitchen. "Amora-chan seems to carry a lot of anger inside her. She sensed I didn't trust her, then got really stand-offish."

"Amora-chan resents most of Darling's former classmates and friends from Tomobiki," Lum warned. "What Shinobu did with Junba destroyed a lot of respect Amora-chan had for her. Amora-chan says she feels some lingering resentment towards Darling in everyone else. Outside that, Amora-chan's a wonderful girl . . . even though she IS a boy chaser!"

Hearing that, Benten laughed. "So she DID inherit something from her father."

"Tcha!" Lum groaned. "She joined the Intergalactic Boy-Chasers' Club and she's trying to get Sakura's daughter Seiteki to join."

"They're still around? I thought they'd be gone by now."

"No, Senba's leading them now." Lum then started to fret. "I don't mind her joining, but they made her sterilize herself!" Hands reached up to grip her temples as she stared heavenward. "How'll I have grandchildren . . . ?"

"FOR THE LAST TIME! IT'S REVERSIBLE, MOM!" Amora bellowed from the kitchen. "HAVE YOU NO EARS?!"

Lum and Benten were blown over by the wall of noise. "See what I mean?" Lum breathed out.

"Gotcha!" Benten agreed.

* * *

Days later . . .

Across the Kantou plain, crowds gathered around public videoscreens in parks and at busy city streets to witness the Lum-san's launching and christening at the Tokyo Starship Construction Yards in Kawasaki. A large review stand had been erected in front of the cruiser's bow as the Shinto priest completed his blessings. Along with Lum and her family, the gallery was packed with dignitaries from the United Nations, Uru, Triton, Noukiios, the U.N.D.F., the Japanese government, local administration and the construction firm.

Lum beamed. "Darling, isn't this exciting?"

Ataru nodded. "Yeah . . . what I can see of it, that is."

"Dad," Amora groaned. "Maybe you'd see better if you take that stupid paper bag off your head."

"It's not a bag, Amora," Ataru corrected her. "It's a symbol of my defiance towards the idiots that fill the toghmoghbiki . . . " -- here, he used the Sagussan homonym of their hometown's name, which translated "place of fools and madmen" -- "Of my youth!"

Amora shook her head. "Yeah. And fifteen rhymes with apple and twenty-four rhymes with bees and both equal thirty-nine."

The paper bag joke started when Ataru and Lum married, a month after the final Tag Race. After Nassur's and Benten's disappearance, Lum had became melancholic. To bring cheer, Ataru proposed having their wedding right away (they were originally going to wait until after Koishii was born). Lum happily agreed. It would have gone smoothly had not news of that decision reached their former classmates, who immediately moved to ensure they DID marry. To retaliate at their interference, Ataru and Lum used Sagussan technology to sabotage the wedding pictures and video recordings. Save for pictures and videos meant for immediate family, all photos of Ataru's and Lum's wedding (including a doctored set displayed in the Moroboshi home's living room) depict the happy couple wearing paper bags over their heads!

By then, Kakugari Daremo and his wife, Kenmei, had arrived. "Lum, Ataru, Amora!" the former hailed. "Nice to see you here!"

They exchanged bows, handshakes and hugs. "We were obliged to come," Ataru replied. "The ship IS named after Lum isn't it?"

"That's right," Kakugari confirmed with a nod. "It's taken Kenmei and me over ten years reach this point."

"Yeah," Kenmei added with a knowing chuckle. "I was three sizes smaller when we started. Daremo was a lot smaller as well. I wonder how wide we'll both get before the remaining twelve ships of the class are built."

"Here." Ataru then handed a bottle of Sagussan brandy to his former classmate. "Use this instead of that cheap American champagne. It's a reminder of the one who made this ship's existence possible."

Kakugari smiled understandingly as he took the bottle in hand with a bow. "Thanks, Ataru. I only hope that this stuff doesn't burn the paint of the hull. That stuff's powerful."

Everyone laughed. "Darling?" Lum then asked, "Is that from your old still?"

"Yeah, my last bottle of the stuff. It's a fitting use for this."

"Maybe you should have kept it a little longer," Lum mused.

* * *

In Tomobiki, Benten and Shinobu were watching events on a public television screen. "Benten," the latter warned. "Junba won't come."

"She'll be here, Shinobu," the former affirmed with a nod. "She's watching."

* * *

On the cruiser's bridge, sailors from two planets rushed around as they tended to last-minute tasks. Many of the watch officers and senior petty offices, Jariten amongst them, stood ready at their posts. Mendou Shuutarou, accompanied by his executive officer, Mizunokoji Tobimaro, then step the bridge. "Captain on the bridge," Jariten announced.

The bridge crew froze. "As you were," Mendou bade them to carry on with a nod, and then he flipped a switch on one of the arms of his command chair to activate the ship-wide intercom. "All hands prepare for launch!"

"Engage main systems, anti-grav lifters and manoeuvring thrusters," Tobimaro then ordered. "All personnel to launch stations!"

Mendou took his seat. He was quick to notices the forlorn look on Jariten's face. "Well, Ensign, we'll be leaving soon," he then spoke up. "I take it your personal affairs have been tended to."

Jariten sharply nodded. "Yes, sir."

The captain nodded sympathetically as he stood up, walking over to stand by Jariten's side. "My son told me everything, Ten," he lowered his voice. "There'll be a small reception in the wardroom. You can watch Earth from there if you want."

Jariten nodded. "Thank you, sir. I'll consider it."

* * *

The Shinto ceremony drew to a close as the proceedings continued. The bottle of Sagussan ran'jugh was tied to a ribbon and lowered into position by a nearby crane. At the appointed time, Lum took her place. "By the Great Bird of the Galaxy . . . and in the never-to-be-forgotten name of the one we only know in memory, I name thee Lum-san! May the Great Bird watch over you and all who sail within you!"

She grasped the bottle and let it go. It shattered against the bow of the ship, right below the ship's name and registry number, NCE-001. The crowds cheered as confetti flew, streamers flapping into the wind as the Lum-san slid into Tokyo Bay.

* * *

"Ceremony's over!" the coxswain -- the Lum-san's senior non-commissioned officer -- announced.

"Helm amidships! Five seconds to full immersion!" the helmsman reported.

"Retrothrusters on-line and ready for launch," the yeoman of signals added. "Tugs standing by."

"Yard master signals clear for launch," the coxswain then reported.

"All external hatches closed," the chief hull technician announced.

Jariten looked back from his station. "Captain, we're ready for space flight."

"Lum-san," Mendou barked. "Lift off!"

Launching jets thundered as the starship surged forth, rising from its watery birthplace for the heavens beyond.

* * *

"Good luck, Shuutarou! Good luck, Ten!" Shinobu called out with a smile as the crowd in Tomobiki cheered the cruiser on. "What a beautiful day! Eh, Benten?" She then turned . . . to see her companion gone. "Benten?! Where did she go?"

* * *

In the former town park -- these days, called Tomobiki Heroes Park -- Junba stood near her parents' statues as she sadly watched the Lum-san rocket away from the entrance of Tokyo Bay. She then jolted, her eyes flashing. "So what're you gonna do now, Aiotoga?"

"Mom?!" Junba turned to see Benten sitting on her statue's pedestal. "How did you find me?"

"I'm not a hunter for nothing," the older woman asserted as she dropped to the ground to approach her. "Junba, what're you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're recognized to Jariten, aren't you?"

Junba sniffed. "Not any more. Not after what's happened this week."

"No, Aiotoga." Benten placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're wrong and both of you know it. You had the last few days to cool down. Believe it or not, you still have one last chance to repair this break before he's gone for who-knows-how-long."

Hearing that, Junba shuddered before she sank into her mother's embrace. "Oh, Mom! How can you love and hate someone at the same time?!" She pulled herself away from Benten to gaze into the other woman's eyes. "How can I tell him I'm sorry?"

Benten pointed. "Look up into the sky, Aiotoga."

Junba looked up to see the Lum-san fade into the heavens. "Now . . . raise your hand, wave and say goodbye," Benten gently urged.

Junba does that, her tears glistening. "Goodbye, Ten-chan!" she yelled. "Goodbye, my love! Good luck and come back to me!"

* * *

In the cruiser's wardroom, Jariten watched Earth recede aft. Goodbye, Aiotoga. Goodbye, my love! I'll come back! I swear it!

* * *

Next day . . .

It was a Sunday. In the Miyake home after church, Shinobu removed some of Benten's bandages. Sitting nearby were Lum and Junba. "Your ribs and arm are nearly healed." Shinobu then swept a scanner over her. "Expected with the Vosian traits in your DNA."

"How's that possible?" Junba wondered.

"While carrying a Vosian child, many of the antibodies possessed by the baby transferred into the mother's system through the umbilical cord," Benten explained. "I heal a lot faster now. Also, I have a Vosian lifespan."

"I'm gonna live 500 years?!" Junba exclaimed as she remembered a xenobiology lesson on various races' lifespans.

"That's right," Benten said. "You've got at least another year before your first Age Day, Junba."

Junba stared at herself. "So that explains why I'm so slow developing."

Benten smiled before she gazed at her friends. "What's happened to the rest of the gang since Nassur and I disappeared?"

"Nokoko and the others are still in Oshika, running the Tiger Cub and expanding their school," Lum began. "Same with Ria, Atako and the others in Sado. Reiko handfasted with an old primary school classmate of hers, Fujisawa Mina, and then they moved to Fukunotaiin to work with Dakejinzou. We also learned some years ago that Reiko's had a twin sister all this time; her Earth name's Moroboshi Kaneko."

"Yeah, Amora mentioned her name," Benten said, nodding. "Where'd she come from?"

"She was kept behind on Noukiios by one of the scientists who helped out with the Lost Star project after we helped move Reiko to Earth and the other Lost Stars to Magairu," Lum explained. "Kaneko also helped out with the Naihu Emancipation and the Ip'ihu Repatriation sometime after the whole thing with Skelad Lara went down."

"'Ip'ihu Repatriation?!'" Benten gasped on hearing the name of Noukiios' infamous "out-caste" of frontier warriors. "Shit! With the way the Ip'ihu tore into the Urusian frontier colonies over the years, I'm surprised a war didn't start over that!"

"It almost did," Shinobu noted.

"Oh, we got over all of that finally," Lum added with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Anyhow, Kaneko's currently living on one of the new Noukiite colony planets with her life-mate . . . " A wink. "Shinobu's niece, Annabelle."

"Belle?!" Benten exclaimed. "I thought she and Reiko'd get together in the end! They were as close as sisters!"

"Oh, it didn't work out between them because of Mina, but things went better between Kaneko and Belle."

"Okay. What about the Sagussans?"

A touch of disquiet appeared on the Oni's face. "The Daishi'cha are pressing on with the Grand Design. Noa's still a minister. Mie's a flightmistress with DEFRON One. Makoto commands a destroyer, the Shiowataru'cha. They have a pair of daughters, Kum and Unmyon. Kum-chan's just done her watchmistress exam and Unmyon-chan's working as a nursing assistant at the Defence Fleet Medical Unit on Sen'sha Seven, last I heard. The Hasei'cha was lost ten years ago in a fight with Lannarkites. Fortunately, no one was killed. Lufy got the Order of Lyna for things she did in the wake of that concerning the veterans of Vos' Special Hunters Corps. Everyone else was either reassigned to other units or they mustered out of the Navy. Catty's working with the Emergency Medical Response Unit now. Nene and Linna're running Pathfinder Troop Six these days. Rei's a civilian doctor these days and Aunt Asuka teaches at one of the defence education institutes in Tere'na City. Sylia and Yedris work in External Affairs. Priss now works in Intelligence. Honey and Hunba're still together."

"Do you still see them?" Benten wondered.

"Well, we stopped living there about six months after you and Nassur vanished." Lum shrugged. "It was for the best."

Benten was quick to detect the subtle message. "Anyhow, Grandma and Nyassur still live in Rishiri-tou, starting their own family now that Grandma's other children have moved out and got on with their lives," Lum continued. "Darling's parents moved to Hachiouji after his father retired. Nothing much has changed with my parents except that Dad retired from the U.D.F. to serve in Uru's Congress. The guards married their girlfriends. Ryuunosuke's living with her family at school. Sakura's married; she's now Tomobiki High's principal. Koosei's vice-principal now; he and Oyuki still aren't married. Ran married Rei and has three kids with another on the way. Onsen Mark moved with Ayanba to Sagussa when he retired. Shapiro-san's still running his ice cream shop here in town. Chie is . . . well, Chie. Cherry passed on ten years ago, Aisuru taking his place. And . . . " She shrugged. "That catches up with everyone."

"Mom," Junba cut in. "What's Dad like?"

Benten beamed. "He's an inspiration. Very beautiful, inside and out . . . and he's an excellent fighter," she added, winking.

"He taught me kari'fu, the Vosian hunter's art," Lum added with a smile. "It's the martial art I'm teaching you, Junba. Very few people can beat your father in one-to-one outside Dakejinzou or a Pirpirsiw'r like Lufy, Priss or Seikou Makoto."

"Your father also has a kind but strong heart," Benten continued. "He's a legend on many planets."

"What did he do?" Junba gasped.

"He's a bounty hunter," Benten answered. "Just like Dakejinzou. They actually worked together for a time."

Shinobu then stood up. "I just remembered something!"

The nurse walked over to a nearby closet. "What's that all about?" Benten asked.

Lum shrugged. "Search me."

Shinobu produced a white box bearing the items Junba's parents left with her on the escape pod. "My chains!" Benten exclaimed as she slipped on the silver links. "You kept them!" Tears sprang in her eyes as she handled them. "Thanks! I've felt so naked without them!"

Shinobu smiled. "I was planning on giving them to Aiotoga when I got around to telling her about her past."

Junba then drew out Nassur's knotted belt. "What's this?"

"Your dad's kill-belt," Benten explained. "It's traditional among Vosian warriors to put a knot on that for each successful mission."

"Like the notch on a Yehisrite executioner blade," Junba mused as she gazed at the multitude of knots. "Dad was busy, wasn't he?!"

"Here, Aiotoga," -- Benten took the kill-belt in hand -- "You put it on this way." With that, she wrapped the chichi bear belt around Junba's waist, pulled it tight, and then she wrapped the excess around Junba's waist until nothing was hanging loose.

Junba giggled. "Now, I'm a hunter like my dad!"

"Not exactly," Lum warned. "Your training's barely started and because I'm a Sagussan, I can't teach you to use your powers."

Benten shrugged. "Don't look at me. Only a Vosian knows for sure."

Junba hummed. "Right."

"Now that I'm getting better," Benten then announced, "It's time I collected a group to rescue Nassur. I've tried contacting Dakejinzou, Varanko and the hybrids. All of them're busy right now. I'm looking for volunteers."

"Count me in," Junba volunteered.

Shinobu then looked anxious. "Okay," Benten affirmed with a reluctant nod as she took note of the nurse's worried look. "Who else?"

"Megane might come," Shinobu suggested.

"Darling and I'll go," Lum volunteered.

* * *

Somewhere in Tomobiki, Ataru sneezed!

* * *

"Sakura and Ran are out," Shinobu then warned. "Sakura's getting on and Ran's pregnant with her fourth child."

Benten nodded. "That's okay."

"I can ask some of my friends at school," Junba mused. "Dansei, Tetsubou, Rin, Ren, Shinpai and his friends, Amora . . . "

"Better not bring Amora, Junba," Benten cut in. "Elle's her real mother and if something happened, it could get nasty."

"I agree," Lum affirmed with a nod. "Amora's safer here."

"Okay," Junba said. "No Amora. Any others?"

"How about me?" Shinobu volunteered.

"Sure," Benten agreed with a nod. "Why not?"

"So it's set," Junba happily asserted. "When are we going?"

"How's tomorrow sound?" Benten proposed.

Lum stood. "Fine. I'll tell Darling."

With that, she headed home. Junba moved to the video phone. "I'll start calling my friends."

"Who'll call Megane?" Shinobu asked.

Suddenly, a tall, dark, scary figure with white, glowing eyes appeared in front of Shinobu. "Who asks for Megane?!"

Shinobu clobbered him with a couch, the television, a statue and a giant octopus! "YAAH! IT'S A GHOUL!"

"Sorry," Megane groaned as he extracted himself from under the pile of debris. "The door was open, so I came in."

"Next time, knock!" the nurse growled before she stormed off.

Megane sighed, and then he held up his hands in prayer. "It's fate!"

* * *

At the Moroboshi house, Amora was watching television when Lum flew in. "I'm home!"

"Oh, Mom! What is it?" Amora asked, quick to sense Lum's excitement. "Why're you so happy?!"

"Benten's is gathering a team to rescue Nassur."

Amora beamed. "Great! Did she contact Dakejinzou or the others?!"

"She couldn't." Lum shook her head. "No matter. Benten has a team of volunteers together. Darling and I'll be going."

Face-fault! "WHAT?! ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND?!"

"What's with the attitude?!" Lum wondered.

"Plenty!" Amora exclaimed. "You can't go running off into space at a whim like you did when you're a kid! You're an adult now!"

"This is important," Lum snapped. "Nassur's my friend! I owe him. He rescued me and Darling from horrible things!"

Amora glared knowingly at Lum. "That's not the point, Mom! Since when did Dad agree to volunteer to go into space?!"

Lum fidgeted. "Well . . . "

"You haven't asked yet, have you?"

"Tcha . . . "

"Dad'll have a cow when he hears." Amora threw up her hands in a "why me?" gesture. "I guess I'm going as well."

"No," Lum asserted. "We thought it better that you remain here. The less Elle knows about you, the better."

Amora breathed out. "At least, you've got some brains, Mom! I hope when you tell Dad, he won't scream too loud. It hurts my ears when he yells. I just hope you can live with the consequences."

With that, she headed upstairs. A minute later, Ataru arrived. "I'm home!" he called out. "What's wrong, Lum?"

"Benten's going to try to rescue Nassur," Lum nervously announced.

"It's about time!" Ataru noted as he removed his suit jacket before sitting down. "So, who'd she get to help?"

"She couldn't contact Dakejinzou, Varanko or the hybrids," Lum reported. "She asked for volunteers. I volunteered our help."

Silence.

Ditto.

Then . . .

"YOU DID WHAT?!"

The shout blew the roof twenty metres from the Moroboshi home!

* * *

Later, at the Miyake house, Junba placed the video phone handle down. "There! That's the last of them."

"How many are coming?" Benten wondered.

"Let's see." Junba counted off on her fingers. "Tetsubou; Shinpai, Rikoshugi, Omoshiroi and Kokishin; Ozuno Seiteki; Rin and Ren; and Dansei-chan, of course. Funny, once their parents heard who they were going to help rescue, they didn't hesitate giving permission."

"That's good." Benten then noticed Junba's fatigue. "Better go to bed, Aiotoga. Falling asleep at a critical moment's a 'no-no.'"

"I know." Junba then yawned. "This's been so exciting."

Unseen by them, Shinobu was eavesdropping from the kitchen. "Mom, why do you call me 'Aiotoga?'" Junba inquired.

"It's a Fukunokami word meaning 'love song,'" Benten explained as they headed to her bedroom. "Believe it or not, it meant the same thing here in Japan. Seeing as you were born here, I felt it was the perfect name to give you."

"I was born on Earth? Not on Vos or Home Base?"

"In Oshika to be exact." Benten then smiled. "When I learned I was pregnant, your father ordered made me to stay on Earth while he went to rescue Lum, Ataru, Shinobu, Mendou Shuutarou and Megane Aisuru when they were captured by the Mikado."

Junba nodded. "I heard of him. He was the dictator of Vos for a century. Is it true that Moroboshi-sensei killed him?!"

"Yeah, I watched it happen. Anyway, your father christened you with your Vosian name, 'Junba.' It means 'woman of peace.'"

"I see." Junba then stifled a yawn. "I'd better go to bed. Good night."

"'Night," Benten parted with a nod as Junba headed to bed, and then she turned to walk into the kitchen.

Shinobu was busy finishing with the dishes. "Now I really regret not telling Aiotoga about you two," the nurse noted with a smile. "I just hope she doesn't make rash decisions before comprehending the consequences of her actions."

Benten stiffened. "She has a right to know."

Shinobu chuckled. "I'm not disagreeing. Benten, after all we've experienced, all I'm concerned about right now is our coming through this mess with our skins intact."

"You're saying we shouldn't go."

Shinobu turned around. "No. If we leave Aiotoga behind, she'll find some way to get around it. She's headstrong, but she learns from her mistakes and takes her lessons to heart. It's the experience factor I'm concerned about. We have it, so we're not afraid to leap onto the windmill. If the cause is just, we're strengthened with conviction. Aiotoga and the others don't. Still, we should be fine."

"I hope so." Benten stared warily at her. "Shinobu, aren't you worried about what will happen to Aiotoga when Nassur comes back?"

"No," Shinobu affirmed with a shake of her head, calmly smiling. "If you planned to take her somewhere dangerous, I would stop you. Legally, she is an Earth citizen and my child regardless of who gave birth to her. Your parents and Nassur's mother couldn't take care of her. Don't worry; I know you two better than that." She then stared at her guest. "Benten, Aiotoga's eighteen years old. She's ready to go out into the world and carve her own niche. Regardless of what you, I, or Nassur would desire, the decision is, in the end, her own."

Benten fidgeted. "Still . . . "

"I know. You still think of her as the baby you put into that escape pod. Nothing wrong with feeling that way as long as you don't allow that to cloud your judgement when you're with Aiotoga. Now, let's put that aside until we have Nassur back safe and sound, okay?"

"Okay."

* * *

Next morning, Lum's scout ship landed in front of the Miyake home. Benten, Junba and Megane waited by the front gate. The boarding ramp then lowered, revealing Lum, alone. "Where's Ataru?" Megane wondered.

"Darling's not coming," Lum quietly announced.

"What?!" Benten barked. "Why not?!"

"Darling wants nothing to do with flying into space."

The others were quick to imagine the row which resulted from Lum's assumption. "Pity," Benten mused. "We could've used him."

"Hey, the others should be enough," Junba announced.

"You honestly believe that?" Shinobu wondered.

Junba looked wary. "Of course, Mom."

At that moment, a van marked with Mendou-Mizunokoji Clan insignia pulled up, the side door opening to disgorge Junba's classmates. Introductions were made. Benten was quick to note one problem: Seiteki's form-fitting frock, standing out in the sea of work clothes and battle uniforms. "Are you sure you're dressed correctly?" the hunter wondered. "This isn't a tea party we're going to."

"Well," Seiteki whined. "Moroboshi-sensei once told me Elle has a whole building full of boys frozen somewhere. I thought I'd go and borrow a few for myself. Maybe I can bring some for Amora-chan since she's not going with us."

Face-fault! Benten spun on Junba. "And you asked her?"

The younger woman's eyes rolled. "I didn't ask her. She called me after Amora told her and DEMANDED to be taken to Elle or she was going to get her mother to curse the mission!"

Seiteki innocently giggled. Everyone else sighed resignedly. "Oh, well," Benten breathed out as she glared at the principal's daughter. "Maybe she can be used . . . as CANNON FODDER while we're rescuing Nassur!"

Seiteki jolted, she quickly grasping the meat of Benten's words. As her lips turned down in a sulk, everyone else laughed as they streamed aboard Lum's scout. Once everyone was strapped in, the Oni directed her ship into space.

* * *

At Tomobiki High, Amora watched the rescue party depart. "Good luck, guys. I wish Mom and Dad had parted on better terms."

A tense Ataru strode into class. "Okay, class," he announced. "Take your seats."

The remaining students sat down. Ataru soon noticed the surprising number of absentee students. "Has there been an outbreak of flu?" he wondered before turning to his daughter. "Where is everyone?"

"They went with Mom, Benten, and Junba to rescue Nassur," Amora reported.

An explosion! After the smoke cleared, Ataru snapped, "They ALL went?! Is everyone crazy or just stupid around here?!"

Amora weakly shrugged. "Benten tried to contact Varanko, Dakejinzou and the hybrids . . . "

No effect! As the students watched in morbid fascination, he began to chew on Amora's desk! "Benten I can see going!" he growled. "Junba I can see going! Lum I can see going! But the rest of my class going?! If they get killed while rescuing Nassur, I'll kill them!"

Maybe I shouldn't tell him that Shinobu went, too! Amora mused as she watched her father do a good imitation of a beaver.

"Boy, Moroboshi-sensei is upset!" Kobamu Ken stated.

"Many of his class have gone truant," Ukeru Ayako said with a sneer. "How Western!"

"Too bad we weren't invited," Teki Seiryo muttered. "Then we wouldn't have to see Moroboshi-sensei eat desks."

The whole school then shook at Ataru's yell: "IT'S ALMOST LIKE TWENTY YEARS AGO!"

* * *

Yamada then popped up. "This stunt was done by a trained professional! Please don't do this at home!"

* * *

As her father ranted and raved, Amora slipped out of the classroom, heading down to the main floor to walk into the school computer lab. "I hate to sneak away when Dad's acting out," she muttered as she closed the door, "But certain people HAVE to be told about this."

Fortunately, the computer room was empty. Drawing a highly advanced CD-ROM from her shirt, Amora sat at one station. Loading the disk into the player, Amora waited for the system to reboot, and then she typed several commands. Within seconds, at a speed much faster than the system normally would operate, a very familiar stylized phoenix insignia appears, surrounded by a line of Sagussan characters. A chilly-sounding female voice was then heard. "Welcome. This is the Tere'na Compudata Centre. Identify yourself and state your business."

"A real stickler for protocol, eh, Rally?" Amora muttered as she typed several commands before hitting ENTER.

The graphic then disappeared, replaced by a live-screen transmission. Amora took microphone in hand as she found herself gazing at Sagussa's computer services chief. "Hello, Amora!" Rally hailed with a smile. "What can I do for you today?"

"Rally, put me through to Noa-bachan. Something really serious has happened!"

* * *

In space somewhere between Earth and Elle, Lum's scout ship raced on. Aboard, everyone save Lum -- the pilot -- seemed bored.

"Are we there yet?" Junba asked with a yawn.

"It's not far now, Aiotoga," Benten answered as Shinobu took the chance to examine her injuries.

"Are you sure you feel okay, Benten?" the nurse wondered. "You still haven't recovered fully from your injuries."

"I'm fine," the hunter growled. "I just want Elle's head on a platter for what she's done to Nassur and me!"

In emphasis, she bent a metal staff in half! "I'm surprised Sensei didn't come," Seiteki then spoke up, a disappointed look on her face. "I thought he was friends with Benten's hubby."

"He is," Shinobu answered. "Ataru-kun's never really liked going into space. He was always afraid something horrible would happen."

Megane frowned. "The Battle of Uru proved him right."

Junba smiled. "Don't worry, Mom. We'll be all right. Everyone says we're the most powerful class in the school."

"I hope they're right," Lum said. "Darling would never forgive me if something happened to any of you . . . eh?!"

The radar alarm sounded. Benten leapt to Lum's side. "Ship just came into range," the Oni warned. "On screen."

A familiar rose-shaped cruiser appeared, racing right at them. "Ellsian patrol monitor!" Benten exclaimed. "Get us outta here!"

"I can't turn in time!" Lum warned as she tried to guide her ship clear of the oncoming juggernaut. "Brace yourselves!"

* * *

On the bridge of the Royal Ellsian Naval Ship Rose Empress, the patrol monitor's captain was relaxing in her command chair, she and her current bridge crew ignorant of what was about to happen. "How long until we reach home?" she asked.

"About twelve hours, ma'am," the first officer replied as she gazed at her screen.

"Twelve more hours of boring border patrol." The captain sighed. "I want some action in the worse way!"

Unfortunately, she got her wish! The ship jolted as the shriek of tearing metal echoed from below decks. Everyone was tossed about as the patrol monitor automatically slowed down. "Report!" the captain barked out as she stumbled back into her chair.

"Ma'am!" A shipwright looked up from her station. "A small starship has collided with us on Deck Thirty-four. It's caused a minor hull breech but our shields are holding. The ship has Urusian markings on it."

"Survivors?!"

"Yes, ma'am. Fourteen lifeforms from several different races."

"Tell Security to arrest them immediately." the captain ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!"

* * *

Deck 34 was in shambles, debris scattered everywhere. Most of it belonged to Lum's scout. Out of the rubble, the rescue party quickly extracted themselves, none the worse for wear. "So much for stealth!" Benten brushed herself off. "Is everyone okay?"

"I think so," Lum said as she moved to take a head count. "Where's Seiteki?"

Shinobu blinked as she felt someone struggling to get out from under her. "Kindly get yourself off me, Sensei!" Seiteki growled.

Tetsubou leaned down to help her up. "You okay, Seiteki?"

"I'm fine!" Seiteki asserted as she stood up. "Just had the wind knocked out of me!"

"I imagine the captain of this junkpile'll be sending troops to capture us," Benten announced. "We'd better move out of here. Junba, can you sense anyone coming?" she asked as her eyes began to scan about for weapons.

"No, Mom." Junba shook her head. "I can't be sure. I've never tracked anyone this way before . . . "

A bulkhead then collapsed, revealing a group of heavily armed guards. "Then again," Junba muttered with a chuckle.

* * *

Benten and the others were paraded to the bridge. "Captain." The guard warrant saluted her superior. "We have all the intruders."

The captains sneered. "So. The escaped prisoner Benten. Come to rescue your husband, eh? Who are these others?"

"The Oni's the Devil's Daughter, Lum. This one's Shinobu Miyake, laqu'r of Kyotos. The others are unknown," the warrant reported.

"So, it seems we've had a successful border patrol after all. There may be a few promotions for us. The only one left is Mr. Groom."

"Darling's safe," Lum warned. "On Earth. Where you don't DARE try to get him."

The captain turned to the signals officer. "Well, I suppose you can't have everything. Signal the Queen. Helm, let's go home."

* * *

Several hours later . . .

Quoting Cat Stevens, morning had broken over Baran. In the bowels of Elle's castle, standing proud within the branches of the largest tree in this beautiful city, a female servant in a heat-suit stepped into a chilly room. Striding up to the cryogenic unit, she pressed controls. Within minutes, the room warmed up as the occupant within stirred. "My Queen," the servant called out as she bowed to the sixty-fourth Rose Queen of the Ellsian Kingdom. "Time to wake up. Matters of state call for your attention."

"What is it now?" Elle grumbled as the servant moved to help her up, and then she proceeded to dress her. "More ceremony?"

"The Rose Empress is returning, My Queen," the servant reported. "They have recaptured Benten."

"Not relevant." Elle slipped on her cape. "She wasn't important. We kept her as a hostage in case Nassur tried to escape."

"There's more," the servant then added with a smile. "They've also captured Lum."

Elle blinked, her memory immediately replaying the three times she had tried to seize Moroboshi Ataru within her grasp. "The Devil's Daughter? You mean . . . Honey will be there, too?"

"Perhaps, My Queen. The Rose Empress will be here in three hours."

"Tell the Fleet Drydock to prepare for me when the ship arrives," Elle sternly ordered.

"By your command, My Queen."

"What's the physical status of Nassur?"

"His injuries are healing but it'll a while before he can be frozen again. The lab is weeks away from being completely repaired."

Elle sighed. "This delay has been costly. The Plan must continue. I don't wish to end up like Babara."

The servant was quick to note the expression deep in the Rose Queen's eyes. There's been so much fear in the Queen since Lady Babara perished. She thinks of nothing except staying young and beautiful forever!

* * *

Three hours later, the Rose Empress docked at the Fleet Dockyards. As they were paraded off the ship, the younger members of the "rescue squad" couldn't help but gape at the beauty around them. "This is Elle?" Shinpai exclaimed.

"Humph! No cute guys to chase!" Seiteki noted with a snort.

Dansei shrugged. "I guess they're in Elle's Refrigerator of Love."

"And they say I'M greedy?!" Seiteki exclaimed.

"Nothing's changed since we last were here," Megane noted.

"Yeah," Benten mused. "Same old flower-filled planet run by a tyrant!"

A guard slammed Benten in the back of the head with her rifle butt! As the hunter doubled over, Junba and Lum moved to steady her. "No talking in the line!" the guard barked.

Benten waved Lum and Junba off. "I'm okay! What was that for?!"

"My mother was a member of the commando team who caught you and Nassur," the guard announced. "She used to tell me stories on how tough you were! I think she exaggerated. I recaptured Nassur and you let something like a rifle-butt to the head lay you out! Wimp!"

"Why you . . . !"

Benten moved on her. "No, Benten!" Lum gasped as she restrained her friend. "This isn't the time!"

Before the fight could start, a rose-embossed hovercar pulled up. The door opened, allowing Elle to emerge, she currently in robes of state. Her eyes quickly scanned the prisoners for a familiar face. The younger students were all taken aback on seeing the Rose Queen.

"That's Elle?!" Rikoshugi exclaimed.

"I didn't know she was such a babe!" Kokishin noted.

Omoshiroi blinked. "She looks like Amora."

Then, with a joyous smile, Elle raced at the group, her arms out. "Ataru!"

Darling?! Lum wondered, blinking. But Darling isn't here!

Elle ran into Tetsubou's arms. Mass face-fault from everyone else! "She would do that again," Shinobu groaned, her eyes rolling.

"Honey!" Elle gushed. "How I've longed to see you again!"

Tetsubou began to sweat. "Um . . . I hate to say this but I'm not Moroboshi Ataru-sensei, Your Majesty."

Hearing that, Elle jolted before she backed away, her eyes locked on the young scion of the Mendou-Mizunokoji fortune. After taking a moment to absorb that, the Rose Queen then spun on Lum. "Where is he?! What have you done with him, Devil's Daughter?!"

"He didn't come," Lum reported. "He's still on Earth!"

Elle paled. "What?! You mean I was awakened, allowed to age . . . and Honey didn't even come?! How horrible!" Elle then began to wail. "I'm denied my true love again! Will we ever reunite so I can marry him . . . ?!"

"Excitable, isn't she?" Dansei noted with a sneer.

Seiteki smiled. "People who like Sensei can't be all bad."

Then, Elle's demeanor cleared up as she reached over to grab Tetsubou! "Well, I guess this one's worthy enough to be the newest member of my Cute Boys!" she announced as she moved to drag him off.

"Hey!" Tetsubou exclaimed. "Leggo!"

Junba leapt into Elle's path. "Leave him alone! Queen or no queen, I'm not letting you put him into a freezer!"

Elle snorted. "Don't try to stop me, girl!"

Incensed, Junba lunged . . . but before she could land a punch, she was grabbed in mid-air by a metal hand. "What's this?!" Seven Bake Rose wondered with a sneer full of contempt as she glared the younger girl down. "A gymnast or something?!"

Junba was force to hobble on one foot. "Let Nassur and us go or I'll . . . !"

"What?" Elle wondered before she peered intently at the younger woman. "You look familiar! Who are you?!"

"She's my daughter, Elle!" Shinobu snapped. "Leave her alone."

Elle quickly did a comparison between the princess of Kyotos and her adopted child. "Your daughter? She looks nothing like you!" A shake of the head. "Oh, never mind. Take them all to the prison. We'll execute them later."

"By your command, My Queen," the guard commander acknowledged with a bow.

"What about me?!" Tetsubou wondered.

Elle thumbed him. "Him, too."

Without hesitation, the guards herded the rescue party into a nearby personnel carrier. Elle watched them dragged off, her eyes not swerving from Junba. "That's Shinobu's daughter, eh?" she mused aloud. "She's a pretty one. Who could her father be? She looks so familiar . . . " Her voice trailed off as she considered the point, and then, shaking her head, she called out, "Captain!"

"My Queen?" the captain responded with a bow.

"Now that Lum's out of the way, I think it's time that we take Honey for ourselves." Elle then chuckled as she turned to gaze at Seven Bake Rose. "Are the Black Roses ready for a little retrieval mission, Rose?"

"I believe so, Boss," the cyborg replied, grinning. "I'll assign a squad immediately to the Rose Empress."

Elle nodded her thank before proceeding back to her hovercar. Once inside, the automated ground vehicle sped off to her castle.

"You require us, Mother?"

A beautiful teenage girl, looking barely older than Junba, had just appeared beside Elle, she dressed in a form-fitting black jumpsuit with a dark red rose stitched over her left breast. Elle was startled for a second before calming down. "Don't do that to me, Fura!"

"I apologize, Mother," Fura said with a repentant look. "Is there a job for us?"

"Yes," Elle acknowledged. "You're to go to Earth and retrieve Honey for me."

"At once, Mother."

With that, Fura disappeared. "I was smart to allow the Freemasons to come here," Elle mused. "Now nobody will get in the way of my getting Honey! The years of separation are over and Honey will be mine!"

Laughing shrilly, the Rose Queen relaxed as her vehicle returned her to her palace.

* * *

Meanwhile, the rescue party found themselves dumped into a jail cell, the procedure under Seven Bake Rose's supervision. "Looks like you old-timers're finished!" the cyborg noted, her sneer all too apparent. "I hope the Boss'll let me finish you all . . . personally."

In the blink of the proverbial eye, Megane appeared before her! "Brag on, Rose! Your day will come!"

Her fist smashed him down. "What an ugly face!" she gasped. "I'll be doing the Galaxy a favour killing you!"

Lum's eyes rolled. "For once, we're in agreement!"

Megane sent his former classmate a wounded look on hearing that. "Enjoy the elegant accommodations," Rose parted with a snicker. "By tomorrow you'll all be dead and Moroboshi'll be the Boss' again. The Black Roses'll see to that!"

With a laugh, she headed off, most of the guard detail following her. The rescue party watched their captors depart, and then took a moment to absorb their current surroundings. "Tcha!" Lum snapped. "How'll we warn Darling?!"

"Who or what're the Black Roses?" Seiteki wondered.

"Elle's laboratory-born children with all of her Cute Boys," Shinobu reported. "They're a special missions fighting force created by the Freemasons living here. Varanko's brother Dureko's in charge of that project."

Dansei shuddered. "I've heard of them. Are they any good?"

"They could easily defeat even the ninjas serving Ataru's uncle," Shinobu replied.

Junba blinked as she stared quizzically at her birth mother. "Elle's children with her Cute Boys?! Does that mean Am- . . . "

"Aiotoga!" Benten shushed her. "We might be monitored."

Lum faced the others. "No words on you-know-who, got it?"

The students nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

"Does that include me?"

Everyone yelped in shock on hearing that strange voice, and then they spun around to gaze on the target of their rescue as he stepped out from the shadows. "Nassur!" Benten cried out as she lunged over to fiercely embrace him. "You're all right!"

He jolted as her arms slammed up against him. "Owch! Take it easy! That's where I got shot!"

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" Benten intoned as she rained gentle kisses all over his face.

While taking a moment to enjoy his wife's administrations of affection, he did not miss her dressings. "What happened to you?"

"Had a little accident," she replied with a smile. "As you see, I brought some help."

She waved around them to indicate the others in the rescue party. Nassur took a moment to gaze upon many familiar faces. "I didn't know Junba's dad was such a hunk," Seiteki mused before she added, "But he pales against Sensei!"

"It's good to see you again," Nassur greeted them. "I wish this was under happier circumstances though."

He took some moments to chat with Lum, Shinobu and Megane to catch up on old times. After hearing Shinobu had adopted his child, he then turned to Benten, she having brought Junba up to stand with her. "Aiotoga, this is your father," Benten announced.

A respectful silence fell as Junba and Nassur gazed on each other. "Hello, Aiotoga," the latter greeted her with a delighted smile. "You're very beautiful . . . just like your mother."

Hearing that, Junba collapsed into her father's arms, she tightly embracing him. The Vosian gritted his teeth as his body instantly protested the pressure on his ribs. He remained stoically quiet, though. "Oh, Daddy! I finally get to meet you!" Junba wailed.

"I'm glad you did," Nassur tearfully groaned.

"I didn't know Nassur-san was so emotional," Dansei mused. "He's crying as much as Aiotoga is."

Seiteki was sympathetic. "I don't think those're tears of joy."

Mercifully for the wounded Vosian hunter, the embrace ended. Junba then introduced her classmates to him. As with Benten earlier back in Tomobiki, Nassur was quick to notice Seiteki's choice of attire. "Why's she dressed this way?" he then asked Lum.

"She's exactly like her mother at that age, or so I'm told." Lum rolled her eyes. "A relentless boy-chaser."

"I see," he said with a nod. "One of those."

"That's right," Seiteki confirmed with a smile. "Nassur-san, do you know if Elle still has her Refrigerator of Love?"

"As far as I know."

"Fine. See you later."

She then promptly walked out of the cell and out of the prison! Tetsubou and Shinpai zipped over to examine the cell door, both quick to note that it was still locked. "How?!" the former exclaimed in disbelief.

"How did she do that?!" Nassur parroted.

Lum shook her head. "We keep asking the same thing. When it comes to boys, nothing keeps Seiteki away!"

The Vosian chuckled. "Now, I understand what Koosei-kun complained about every time he thought of Sakura at that age! Anyhow," -- he took a deep breath -- "Let's take stock of what we have."

"Well," Junba began as she indicated her classmates, "Rin and Ren can transform into tiger-bulls like their dad. Tetsubou, Dansei-chan and I are trained in martial arts. The rest are pretty good, too."

"The only problem is lack of experience," Lum warned. "I still have all my powers, as does Shinobu."

"I have powers of my own," Megane reported.

"Yeah," the Oni noted with a sneer. "You can smell them for miles!"

Megane glared at her. Dansei laughed. "That's a good one!"

"But I am worried about Darling," Lum then added. "If the Black Roses get him, he'll be in trouble!"

"Aren't the Sagussans still around?" Nassur wondered. "You can still contact them through the Dreamscape, can't you? The Gatherer or any other of their ships could be over Earth or come here in two hours. Lufy, Priss or Troop Six would tear this place to pieces."

Darkness shrouded Lum. "The Gatherer was destroyed sixteen years ago over Uru," she explained with hooded eyes, her voice as cold as deep space. "Since then, Darling and I've had little reason to maintain contact with them outside Noa, Mie and Makoto. It . . . was for the best. Besides, I haven't practised slipping into the Dreamscape for some time. If the guards notice, they could try to stop me."

Nassur shuddered as he sensed a wave of long-repressed sorrow wash through their pe'cha bond. "I see. What about your kids?"

"The one still at home isn't much of a fighter," Lum then added with a sigh.

"I see." The Vosian then nodded. "Don't worry. We'll come up with a plan."

"I know!" Megane then exclaimed. "We can call Cherry with my Holy Telephone!"

Confusion crossed Nassur's and Benten's faces. The others groaned. "Oh, Lyna!" Lum moaned, her eyes rolling. "Not that again!"

"'Holy Telephone?!'" Benten asked. "Isn't Cherry dead?!"

As everyone morbidly watched, Megane drew out a white cellular phone from one of his sleeved, and then he proceeded to press the number keys. "Of course," the monk calmly reported. "That doesn't mean I can't talk to him for guidance."

Nassur looked incredulous. "A phone straight to Heaven?!"

Shinobu snorted in disbelief. "So they claim."

"Who pays for long distance charges?" Benten wondered. "You get phone cards with it?!"

Everyone was quick to notice the muffled sound of a phone ringing. After four, Cherry's voice was then heard: "Hello, this is Sakurambou Hayao. I'm not home right now, so please leave your name, number and plane of existence after you hear the beep!"

A beep then echoed from the machine. Mass face-fault! "An answering machine?!" Nassur exclaimed. "Where can you go in Heaven?!"

"Cherry, it's Megane Aisuru," the monk called out. "We're in trouble on planet Elle and we need advice. Call as soon as you can."

He cut the connection. "So much for that," Nassur noted, his eyes rolling. "We'll have to think up a plan on our own."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Tomobiki . . .

It was late evening. Twenty Black Roses materialized inside the Moroboshi home, they having beamed down from a cloak-capable scout ship dispatched from the Rose Empress, the patrol monitor awaiting them beyond Pluto's orbit. The house was empty. "We're to take the people in this house alive," Fura ordered. "It shouldn't be hard. Mother's Beloved is no killer by nature. He doesn't have frequent access to his cyborg body and the ninjitsu database in his head is said to be neutralized. Scout for any warning devices and disarm them."

Minutes later, the group mustered again in the living room. "The house is clean," one of the warrior-maidens reported, and then she produced two framed pictures. "I found these in the master bedroom."

One picture was of Amora. The other was of a newborn, brown-haired Oni girl, it captioned:

Koishii

Our Darling Daughter

4-9 April 1985

Our Eternal Love

Your Parents

"The Ninth of April?!" another Black Rose wondered. "Wasn't that the Earth date of the Battle of Uru?"

All the visiting warriors took a moment to take in that revelation. "He lost more than just the Gatherer," Fura sadly mused with a shake of her head. "But who's this?" She then gazed at Amora's picture. "This can't be Reiko Moroboshi."

"She looks like Mother!" one girl gasped.

"Yes, she does," Fura trilled, and then her eyes went very wide as it suddenly dawned on her who this might be. "Then . . . could it be that she's our missing sister Amora?! One of the ones taken from gestation when Lady Babara died?!"

The other Black Roses readily nodded after they took the chance to examine their half-sister's portrait. "Very well," Fura declared with a determined nod. "We'll take her with us to show Mother! Until then, hide!"

The others vanished. "This is for you, little Koishii," Fura said to Koishii's picture. "Now your father'll be at peace."

After returning the pictures to where they were found, Fura hid herself.

* * *

In space . . .

The Lum-san continued her maiden voyage. On the bridge, Mendou Shuutarou was relaxing in his chair when the communications officer looked up from his monitor board. "Captain, we're getting a distress signal from an Urusian ship."

"Urusian?" Mendou wondered. "Can you locate it?"

"Trying," the officer replied as he pressed a few buttons. Everyone turned to gaze on the starmap over the main viewscreen, where a target icon appeared. "The signal's source-point is coordinates 05-37-90. Twelve hours from Elle."

"Elle?" Mendou questioned as he straightened himself in his chair. "What are they doing there?! Identify!"

"It's a scout. Pendant number CSU-479-L."

"That's Lum's ship!" Jariten exclaimed. "What's she doing out there?"

"Running into an Ellsian patrol monitor from the sounds of the automatic distress signal," the communications officer reported.

"I see." Mendou grimaced. He knew through his son about Benten's return. If Lum's ship was close to planet Elle, it was easy to determine why. "Helm, set course for Elle! Signals, alert all Federation craft to our intentions! Ensure that Shogai Dakejinzou on Fukunotaiin, Lord Varanko on Cademus and Commander Darsei on Home Base are told about this! All hands, yellow alert!"

The cruiser banked over.

* * *

Back on Earth . . .

Ataru returned home. Tired and depressed, he didn't sense the Black Roses discreetly hiding throughout his home. "Damn those idiots!" he exclaimed after slipping off his shoes in the entranceway. "Running off with Lum and Benten like that! Do they want to get killed?!" Drawing his newspaper, he sat down in the living room. "And Shinobu went with them, too?! This is insane!"

"Either he's too overconfident to worry about us," a Black Rose hissed to the group leader from her hiding place somewhere in the upper floor, "Or he's too involved in what he's doing to notice us."

"I think it's the latter," Fura whispered back, nodding.

Hours passed. Ataru carried out his evening chores, missing each Black Rose as he walked from the refrigerator, to the bathtub, or to the closet. Marking papers, he didn't notice the alien warriors handing him pens and other stationery. Finally, he went to bed, hopelessly surrounded by Elle's many children. As he began to doze off, the Black Roses advanced on him. "Now's our chance," Fura whispered.

The group swarmed around Ataru -- as he tiredly sat up. "Damn! Forgot to shut off the light," he muttered.

"Don't worry, Lord Moroboshi!" the Roses cheerily announced. "We'll put them out for you!"

In a New York minute, the drugged and hog-tied Ataru was readied for transport. "That was easy," one Black Rose chirped as her mother's would-be husband was beamed away to their orbiting ship.

"There's still one more," Fura reminded them. "Our missing sister. She should be coming home soon. Let's be ready for her."

The Black Roses hid themselves. Sure enough, minutes later, Amora walked in. "I don't understand," she muttered. "Chasing boys without Sei-chan around's no fun . . . eh?!" She then halted, her eyes glowing as her powers quickly locked in on the people within her home. Someone's here . . . and none of them feel like Dad! With that, she gingerly stepped into the living room. "Anyone home?!"

Before she could react, Amora was seized from behind and drugged! As soon as she passed out, the other Black Roses moved to bind her. "We have them both!" Fura exclaimed as her half-sisters congratulated themselves.

"Won't Mother be surprised when we tell her?" another Black Rose gushed.

"We'll tell her after we show this one to Lord Dureko," Fura amended with a nod to Amora. "We owe it to him to do so."

With that, the alien warriors disappeared.

* * *

Back on Elle . . .

Junba handed her father's kill-belt back. "Here, Dad. I believe this still belongs to you."

"Thanks," Nassur said as he slipped it on. "I'm glad to have it back. I'll make sure you'll get your own soon."

Junba's eyes twinkled. "Sure."

Suddenly, the cell door flew open, Seiteki being tossed in right after by the guards! "Don't try that again!" one snapped.

"Seiteki?!" Tetsubou gasped as he rushed to her side. "What happened?!"

"She tried to kidnap some of my Cute Boys," Elle answered as she stormed into the cell, the Rose Queen flanked by several soldiers. "She would've succeeded if I hadn't been getting ready to go back to sleep!"

"Greedy pig!" Seiteki snarled as she stumbled back to her feet to glare Elle down. "You've got over one hundred thousand boys in that freezer of yours! Why can't you give a few up for me?!"

"You're lucky," Elle answered with a glare of her own. "I should've ordered your termination immediately. Stealing one's lover is a capital crime on Elle, you horse-thief!"

Nassur sneered. "How come you've never been caught?"

Elle snorted. "You're so cruel. That's the thanks I get for keeping you and that jail-bait wife of yours alive all these years?!"

"You call freezing them for seventeen years deserving of thanks?!" Lum exclaimed, bolting to her feet.

"You're lucky I'm executing you tomorrow," Elle said as she stared at her rival. "I would rather torture you first, then have you beg for your life before you die. Still, in the end, I win. The Black Roses just captured Honey!"

Lum jolted. "No! It can't be! Darling isn't that easy to capture!"

"Apparently he was," Elle retorted as she turned to leave. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've a wedding to plan! Ta-ta for now!"

After the door was locked behind the Rose Queen's entourage, Seiteki then popped up behind her. "Hey!" the principal's daughter snapped. "At least give me one last wish before I die!"

The guards exchanged confused glances; once again, the door was properly secured. A larger female guard seized Seiteki by the throat and dragged her back to the cell. "No fair!" Seiteki protested. "I'm not a queen!"

"You know, Ozuno," Dansei spoke up with a glare at her classmate after Seiteki was flung against a wall to make her behave herself, "You COULD use your escaping powers to bring us a key!"

"Stupid tomboy!" Seiteki growled. "That's not funny!"

"I never thought Ataru would get captured that easily," Nassur lamented.

"Darling's a lot different since you last saw him, Nassur-chan," Lum replied. "He's been in mourning for a very long time."

* * *

Sometime later, Elle walked into her room to find Ataru helplessly trussed up in a red ribbon on her bed, a note tied to one wrist. "Oh, I see my gift's arrived!" She then gleefully untied Ataru before reading the note. "'To Mother from the Black Roses!' How sweet!"

Whose sick idea was this? Ataru grumbled.

[In response to that, the writers sneezed!]

"There!" Elle breathed out as she finished untying him. "You're free now to be mine, all mine!"

Ataru glared at her. "I thought we saw the last of each other years ago!"

"Mmmm . . . yes," Elle admitted. "But that was until I captured that Oni and her party invading my planet."

"What?! If you've harmed Lum or any of my students, I'll . . . !"

"I haven't harmed any of them . . . yet! Though I could spare the children if you'd perform a special favour for me."

Silence fell as the teacher considered those words. "For my students, anything!"

"Marry me!"

"What about Lum?"

"I'll execute her with Benten, Megane and Miyake. You can't be married to two people at the same time, you know."

"B-but..." he stuttered. "I love Lum! I can't let you execute her!"

"But does Lum really love you?" Elle wondered. "Honey, I KNOW what happened at the Battle of Uru. I know about Koishii."

Silence.

He croaked out, "Koishii . . . "

"Did Lum ever want a family on your terms?" the Rose Queen pressed on as she leaned up to gaze into his eyes. "Honey, all Lum wants is a husband who won't rebel against her, not like that moron she dated before she ever met you!" She waved to herself. "Honey, I watched you after the Battle of Uru. Your love of life disappeared! You secretly wished your own death several times but never had the courage to carry through with it!" On noting that he wasn't trying to respond -- Ataru was just staring nowhere -- Elle reached up to gently turn his face so he could gaze into her eyes. "Lum doesn't care about you, Honey! She never has! If she did, she wouldn't have allowed you to deteriorate like this. Those you call your 'friends' back in Tomobiki are equally uncaring! All they care about is the fact that Lum was sad over losing little Koishii while you were left to wallow in your own depression! Not even those girls on Sagussa cared . . . "

"Enough!" Ataru barked, and then he closed his eyes before waving his hands in a baseball "safe" gesture. "All right! Do what you want with the adults, but don't you dare harm the students! If you do, I'll kill you!"

Elle blinked, and then one of her eyebrows arched. "Even the one who sneaks into my freezer to steal my Cute Boys?"

"Her?" Ataru was quick to realize who Elle spoke of. "You could take her out and club her to death and I won't mind . . . "

"Done!"

Congratulation balloons burst and confetti fell as a banner stating CONGRATULATIONS, YOU'RE MARRIED! flapped above them.

"Aren't you a celebrating a little too soon?" Ataru muttered.

* * *

Minutes later, Elle, with Seven Bake Rose accompanying her along with the usual entourage, returned to Nassur's cell. Everyone was quick to notice the Rose Queen's delighted smile. "What do you want now, Elle?" Nassur asked.

"I've come to announce my plans," Elle crowed. "Honey has asked me to allow the kids to return home while Lum, Benten, Miyake and Megane will be executed tomorrow before my wedding. Nassur'll be frozen again as soon as the cryogenics laboratory is repaired."

"How did you manage to bribe Ataru into agreeing to that?!" Benten demanded. "He'll only end up in your freezer!"

"Yeah!" Seiteki said as she -- once again! -- appeared beside Elle OUTSIDE the cell. "Sensei'd NEVER agree to that willingly!"

In a flash, Rose grabbed Seiteki. "Out again?!" the cyborg snarled. "How do you do that?!"

Elle glared coldly at the principal's daughter. "He also agreed to have you clubbed to death!"

"Sensei agreed to WHAT?!" Seiteki shrieked.

Laughter from some of the students. "Just joking," Elle crooned.

Seiteki's face slammed into the floor after hearing that! "The reason he agreed to my terms is this: Honey found out how much I really care about him," Elle said as she gazed on each of the prisoners, and then she pointed at Lum. "And it's more than you!"

Lum shuddered. "But I love Darling! More than my own life!"

"Perhaps," Elle mused as she turned away. "But I love Honey even more!"

As the Rose Queen departed to get on with wedding plans, Seiteki was thrown back into the cell! "Don't do that again!" Rose snarled as the younger girl's face was crushed against a wall. "Unless you REALLY want to be clubbed to death!"

The door slammed shut behind her! "Oh, no!" Junba wailed as she tightly embraced her mother. "Elle's gonna kill you!"

"Buck up, Aiotoga," Nassur assured his daughter as he moved to kneel beside her. "Your mother and I've got ourselves out of tighter spots before! This isn't any different."

Junba sniffed. "R-r-really?"

Nassur nodded. "All you need's a little bit of faith."

And speak of the angel, Megane's Holy Telephone rang. "Hello, this is Megane Aisuru!" he answered it. "Yes, Cherry, you heard correctly. We do need help . . . hai . . . hai . . . wait a minute." He removed one of his sandals to stare at the heel. "Size seven. I'll tell them. See you in a couple of minutes." He cut the line. "Cherry'll give us his spiritual guidance in Nirvana."

Mass face-fault! "How the hell do we get there, you fraud?!" Dansei yelled. "We're stuck here!"

"We project our astral selves there, Dansei," Megane calmly answered. "Everyone join hands with each other and form a circle."

A prayer circle was formed. "Now what?" Tetsubou wondered.

"We concentrate, chanting 'Ventora, Ventora, Heaven People.'"

"We're doing a homage to the second television episode to talk to a dead gluttonous monk!" Shinobu muttered under her breath as one of her eyebrows twitched. "This just CAN'T get worse!"

"Let's do it," Nassur spoke up. "It can't hurt."

The group chanted the incantation a dozen times slowly before their minds faded out . . .

* * *

And they found themselves on a beautiful, sunny tropical beach! "This is Heaven?!" Benten exclaimed.

"This is only where Cherry's soul lives," Megane explained. "You should see where some of the really powerful Buddhas live!"

"So where is the little creep?" Lum wondered.

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

An explosion! "Some things haven't changed," Nassur muttered as everyone found themselves gazing on Cherry.

"Ah, Aisuru-kun," Cherry hailed his student. "It's been some time."

"Not since that exorcism five years ago," Megane replied with a respectful bow.

"True. Is Ryuunosuke's leg better? It was a very long drop from Tokyo Tower, wasn't it?"

"Yes." Megane then leaned over, lowering his voice to ensure the students didn't overhear. "Any sign of Tan-chan or Koishii-chan?"

A shake of the head. "I'm sorry, my student. I've not been able to locate either of them anywhere up Here."

Nassur and Benten, who were within hearing range, exchanged concerned looks. The Buddhists shared a prayer, and then Cherry turned to face his other guests. "My," he said with a smile. "Everyone certainly has changed since I came Here. Is that young Junba?"

"It is, Sakurambou-san," Junba answered with a bow; she had been seven when he passed away.

"You look so much like your mother," Cherry commented as he turned to gaze on her parents. "Ah, I knew you two weren't dead! Glad to see you both again. Cinba's been very anxious to see you, Nassur."

Nassur smiled. "Fate isn't finished with us yet."

After greeting Seiteki, Cherry turned to Shinobu, his eyes suspiciously narrowing. "There's something ominous about you, Shinobu," the deceased monk then warned. "Much bad luck is coming for you!"

Shinobu whacked him with a hammer! "Who has bad luck?!"

"Cherry, what can you tell us?" Lum cut in to stop the approaching fight.

A deep breath. "I must consult the stars first to be sure."

And with that, Cherry drew a mallet to slam Megane with it over the skull. As stars appeared over his apprentice's head, the deceased monk began his divination. "The stars say a rescue shall come from a ship from space that's new."

"A new ship?" Junba wondered. "The Lum-san? Ten-chan's ship?!"

"Perhaps," Cherry said. "But there's danger. Especially for Junba . . . and Shinobu will be the one who causes it."

Shinobu blinked. "Me?!"

"That's why I sensed those ominous feelings when I saw you," Cherry explained before continuing his divination. "Ah! There's the sign of the phoenix. Something HORRIBLE will occur to Ataru."

"The phoenix?!" Lum wondered. "Could it be . . . Sagussa?"

"Not Sagussa," Cherry replied. "But something . . . or rather SOMEONE . . . who has been profoundly influenced by that planet and its civilization, both past and present. Something long thought lost to him and you, Lum, will make contact with Ataru . . . and nearly cause his doom as a result!" A pause. "Ah! There's trouble for Amora as well. She'll face a choice between her family and her real mother."

"Amora didn't even come with us!" Benten protested.

"My dear, the stars don't lie," Cherry warned.

By then, the stars began to fade as Megane recovered from the blow on his head. "Kingyo Tea's great after a long day . . . " he dizzily muttered, and then he shook his head. "Owch! Did you have to hit me so hard, Sensei?!"

Cherry patted him gently on the head. "My apologies, Aisuru-kun."

"We'd better get back to the real world before the guards find out what we're doing," Benten warned.

"I think you're right," Megane agreed. "Thank you for your guidance, Sensei."

He bowed to his teacher. "Think nothing of it," Cherry dismissed him with a gentle wave of his hand, and then he leaned up to whisper into Megane's ear. "I'll keep looking for Tanoshii and Koishii." He then perked up. "By the way, did you bring some sukiyaki?"

Mass face-fault! "Same old Cherry," Nassur groaned . . .

* * *

As, in the blink of an eye, everyone found themselves in their cell. "We're back!" Dansei exclaimed.

"Oh, you're awake." A guard stared into the cell. "Here's your itinerary: at noon, Lum, Benten, Miyake and Megane will be executed. The students shall be sent back to Earth. Nassur will remain here until the cryogenics laboratory is repaired. Have a nice day."

She departed. "Nice tour director," Benten muttered. "Cherry said a rescue's coming. It can't be too soon for me."

"Strange," Tetsubou mused on noticing the dawn. "It was night when we left but it's morning now. How can that be?"

"Time moves slower in Nirvana, my son," Megane answered him, the monk currently reading a rather large book titled Other Planes and Their Rules. "A minute there means hours here . . . "

"It's strange that Cherry can't find either Tanoshii or Koishii," Lum whispered to Shinobu.

"Since when's he found anything but a refrigerator?" Shinobu retorted.

"True." Lum then looked anxious. "But what about Amora?! If Elle's got her hands on her, we ARE in trouble."

"Funny," Nassur mused. "If Elle has Amora, she acts like she doesn't even know she exists."

Megane gazed at the ceiling. "I sense something ominous happening around Amora right now."

* * *

And speaking of which . . .

Amora's eyes opened. "W-where am I?"

"Welcome home, Amora."

Her eyes flashed. "W-who's there?!" she stammered. Impossible! No one's able to sneak up on me like that!

And sure enough, someone appeared before her! Amora found herself gazing at a man with shoulder-length, wavy, grey-streaked red hair -- complete with trimmed mustache and goatee -- and the most piercing set of green eyes she had EVER seen on anyone. His suntanned skin -- to say anything of the black jumpsuit over-layering a full-body suit composed of non-reflective chainmail armour -- told her more.

"A Yehisrite . . . ?"

"I am Dureko of Kyotos," the newcomer announced. "Elder teacher of Her Majesty's Black Roses."

Amora blanched. "B-black R-roses?" she stuttered, immediately remembering Lum's tales about how she was born. "I . . . b-but . . . why have I been brought here?!" she then demanded. "Where am I?!"

The Freemason grand teacher snorted. "Where else would you be, child? This is the base camp for Project: Black Rose."

"But why?!"

"Easily explained. You're one of two missing Black Roses created by Lady Babara."

"I see," Amora responded as she moved to force herself to be calm. "Why've I been kidnapped?"

Dureko's eyebrow rose. "As I said, it is easily explained. You're to fulfil your destiny as a Black Rose!"

"What?!" she exclaimed. "I'll never work for her!"

"It matters not," he retorted with a glare. "You were created to serve Her Majesty. The sooner you accept that, the better!"

Amora shuddered. "I don't need any training . . . especially from the likes of you!"

Her empathic force bolt lashed out. It barely came close, the Freemason teacher having leapt over Amora to gracefully land behind her. "I see you're very adept in the use of your powers," Dureko noted. "Was your teacher one of your father's pet Pirpirsiw'r?"

"N-no," she stuttered. "He was a Shinto priest named Budou Chiezou. I also had some tutoring from Chishiki Rogo."

A nod. "I've heard of them both." He made a dismissive wave with his hand. "It matters not. We'll be able to make use of you."

"I don't want to be a Black Rose . . . " Amora protested.

"I shall decide that," Dureko warned before barking out, "Fura!"

Fura suddenly appeared. "My Lord?"

"Keep an eye on this one. I wish to study her and see if she's fit to join us."

"Yes, sir."

With that, Fura disappeared. "And what if I'm not fit to join you?" Amora wondered, her whole body shuddering.

"Then we will be RID of you."

And with that, Dureko vanished. Amora remained still before she sank to her knees. "What have I gotten myself into . . . ?"

* * *

At Baran Cathedral, everyone had begun to gather for Elle's wedding. Hundreds filled the pews, anxious for their queen's luck to improve. A television announcer monitored events for the local news. "Everything's ready for the wedding of Her Majesty, Queen Elle the Sixty-forth, and the retired Daimon'cha and Daite'cha of the Fifth Republic of Sagussa, Ataru Moroboshi of the planet Earth. This is the fourth try between these two heads-of-state, but I've been given word that THIS time is definite . . . "

* * *

In orbit . . .

"I can't believe that after all this time, Elle still wants to marry Moroboshi," Mendou muttered.

The Lum-san had invisibly slipped through the gateway of the flower-shaped planetary defence shield to assume a hovering position over the Baran Cathedral. The Earth starship wasn't alone. "Cloaking systems operational," Jariten reported.

"All accompanying craft are in place," the signal officer added.

"Battle stations!" Mendou barked.

The crew leapt to action stations. On the main viewscreen, the Wedding March had begun. Elle escorted an obviously drugged Ataru to the altar. "Weapons," Mendou then ordered. "Target the cathedral!"

"Aye, sir!" the ship's combat officer replied.

Jariten raised an eyebrow. "We're attacking a church?"

A chuckle. "You should know me by now, Ten. Even dazed, Moroboshi's very dangerous. One distraction'll get him going."

"Just checking."

"All weapons ready," the combat officer reported.

"Fire!" Mendou barked.

* * *

At Ground Zero . . .

"If anyone objects to this marriage, let them speak now or forever hold their peace!" the bishop intoned.

The cathedral shook violently as particle guns lanced into the masonry. The impact was enough to throw everyone off his feet. The poor bishop, nicely toasted by the attack, then muttered, "A simple 'yes' . . . would have . . . been sufficient . . . "

He passed out. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Elle screamed as she bolted to her feet.

A guard raced up to her. "Your Majesty! We're being bombarded by a starship!"

"Who?!"

"We can't tell! She's cloaked!"

The Rose Queen shuddered. "I've underestimated Lum and her friends! She used the same trick as the first time! How unoriginal!"

"Why do you continue falling for it?" the guard then wondered.

"Place Honey in the Refrigerator!" Elle ordered as she ripped off her gown to reveal her battlesuit. "Destroy that ship!"

She raced off for the Planetary Defence Centre. Guards moved to seize Ataru . . . as his dazed look faded. "Sorry, troops!"

They were knocked out with nerve pinches. Ataru then slipped off his jacket, scanning for a route of escape. "Seems Elle forgot that I have all the saikoo jinseijitsu skills Negako-oneechan gave me," he muttered. "That's one mistake!"

A photon torpedo then exploded nearby! Ataru ducked the flying shrapnel, and then he crouch-walked towards a nearby exit. "Can't risk the Cyborg; haven't used it since Reiko was at the Women's Academy! I'd better get out of here before I DO get killed!"

* * *

Baran Cathedral was not the only place which had been shaken by the Lum-san's attack.

"What's going on?!" Junba gasped as everyone automatically ducked from the sounds of explosions.

"Either Elle likes to use lasers and photon torpedoes to celebrate her wedding or our rescuers are here," Nassur answered.

Another explosion then made the wall around the cell door crack! "Look!" Tetsubou hissed, pointing. "We can escape!"

A guard instantly appeared in front of the door. "The prisoners will stop thinking of escape!"

The door slammed down on her! "That's part one," Nassur said as the rescue party headed off. "Let's go do part two."

* * *

The Planetary Defence Centre was a beehive of activity as Elle stormed in. "Your Majesty!" the general-in-command hailed her with a sharp salute. "Why are you here?!"

"Why hasn't that ship been shot down?!!" the Rose Queen barked.

"Please understand, My Queen," the general answered. "The enemy ship's cloaked. We can't lock weapons on it."

"My Queen!" a sensory tech yelped. "Other starships have decloaked inside the defence shield and are moving to bombard the city!"

"What?!" Elle exclaimed. "Who?!"

The technician scanned her readout, her face sallowing. "One is a Yehisrite battle galleon registered in Kyotos, the second is a Fukunokami frigate with independent registry, and the third is the Perseverance!"

"Incoming message from our original attacker," a signaller reported.

Mendou Shuutarou's image then appeared on the main viewscreen. "This is Captain Mendou Shuutarou, commanding officer of the United Nations Starship Lum-san," he hailed. "Surrender now or be destroyed."

"What do you want?!" Elle growled. "Why have you attacked us?!"

Mendou smirked. "According to Grand Duke Varanko of Kyotos, you're holding the laqu'r of Kyotos, Crown Princess Miyake Shinobu, prisoner. And according to Shogai Dakejinzou of Fukunokami and Darsei of Home Base, you're holding Moroboshi Ataru, Moroboshi Lum, Nassur of Vos, his wife Benten and several others as prisoners illegally. Release them in ten minutes or the bombardment will continue!"

The screen went dark. "My Queen . . . ?" the general probed.

"My Queen!" a security technician then yipped. "Ataru Moroboshi has escaped!"

"Nassur and the others have escaped!" another reported.

"Find them or it'll be on your heads!" Elle screamed.

"Don't bother!" a voice barked. "We're already here!"

Everyone spun around to see the rescue party -- save Ozuno Seiteki -- storm into the Defence Centre, several perimeter guards currently unconscious at their feet. "You!" Elle screamed out.

"Give up?" Nassur wondered.

"Never!"

Benten hefted a blaster. "Fine!"

A firefight started off! Right at the start, Seven Bake Rose lunged at Nassur. "I've waited years for this, Nassur! You'll never beat me! I'm invincible! Invincible!"

One punch sent her down. "Still have that glass jaw, eh?!"

"I-invincible . . . " Rose burbled before she passed out.

As the usual no-man's land appeared between the shooting sides, Elle ducked behind a console. "What do I do?!" she wondered. Her eyes then locked onto a wounded security guard dropping to the floor beside her, her weapon sliding free of her grasp to come to a rest close to Elle's own hand. Shuddering, she seized it, and then swung around to aim at Shinobu's back. "Enough! Die!"

Junba was quick to see the danger. "Mom, no! Look out!"

Shinobu turned as Elle fired! Junba took the blast in her right shoulder. "Junba!" Shinobu screamed as she moved to catch her child.

"Aiotoga!" Benten and Nassur call out as they raced to her side.

"It . . . it hurts," Junba groaned through her teeth as the three adults moved her to safety behind a console, Shinobu then ripping off a sleeve of her shirt to dress the wound. "M-my shoulder . . . "

"Why did you do it?!" Shinobu demanded.

Junba then smiled. "H-hey . . . y-you're my mom, remember . . . ?"

The pain then overwhelmed her. Shuddering, Nassur then scanned the room for the Rose Queen. "ELLE! DAMN YOU, HOW DARE YOU?!"

Hearing that booming voice, Elle was quick to make an escape. Locking onto her with his tracking powers, Nassur grabbed a pistol, and he was off in pursuit. "Nassur, wait!" Lum cried out. "Don't rush off alone!"

Reinforcements arrived, their weapons fire making the Oni dive for cover.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ataru had managed to make his way out of the cathedral. "Where is everyone?"

Soon enough, he spotted an unexploded photon torpedo buried in the rubble near the main gates. "So, that's who's attacking!" he snarled with a shake of his head on seeing the U.N.D.F. markings. "That stupid idiot Mendou comes in with his sword out and starts swinging it as soon as I'm close! At least he should've made sure all his torpedoes weren't duds!"

He turned to head off . . .

As the torpedo exploded, the force wave slamming him against a wall!

Dropping to the ground, Ataru dizzily looked around, his mind hazing out as his memories slipped back sixteen years, making him relive his encounter with a monster from his darkest nightmares . . .

** ** **

They called her "Cassandra."

The Eliminator.

Space over Uru was a free fire zone as the Gatherer drove at his sistership, the first Type 61 superdreadnought of the Fourth Sagussan Republic. The Eliminator, far more sinister and sleeker-looking than the Gatherer, was painted white-over-black in lieu of the light tan standard to Sagussan warships. Around them, Urusian and other ships fled for safety as the titans ripped into each other's shields with particle shot and concussion missiles. Both were jockeying to gain position to use their bow-mounted anti-proton cannons to finish it.

To the horror of many on Sagussa -- who believe her destroyed during the Clone Rights War fourteen millennia before -- the Eliminator, who had just appeared out of NOWHERE several days before near the Galactic Core, had already destroyed two planets near Zephyrite space, Sakarahaven and Kamahana. Cassandra had insanely gloated to Henry that she had terminated thirty billion "genetically imperfect sentients" and was determined to eliminate ALL sentient life from those worlds once touched by the Fourth Republic.

Triton would have been next on the Eliminator's hit parade had not the Gatherer sailed in to stop her. The two giants mauled each other near Pluto, the confrontation sending the Eliminator on a direct course with Uru. On board the Gatherer, under the stress of the fighting, Lum had delivered Koishii alive and well just as the shooting stopped. However, ten billion Urusian lives were now at risk from the insane Cassandra. With Sagussan reinforcements still hours away, Henry had raced off in pursuit . . .

* * *

"How bad?!" Ataru wondered as the Gatherer took severe blows to his starboard side, causing everyone to lose their footing.

"Severe but not enough," Henry grimly warned. "Every attack I can employ, Cassandra can counter. We are at an impasse."

Lum was busy riding the Gatherer's gyrations from the command chair at the aft end of the bridge. Koishii herself was in an anti-grav crib floating by the Oni's head. "How long for the others?!"

"One hour, seventeen minutes," Henry reported. "Cassandra is keeping close to Uru to deter my use of the proton cannons."

"Then we'll just have to ride it out until they get here!" Noa, she at the watchmistress' post, said with gritted teeth.

Hysterical laughter then echoed over the bridge as the Eliminator moved to break orbit. "Do you think all the others can stop me, Henry?!" a mocking female voice -- her frightening psychosis far WORSE than ANYTHING Ataru has ever encountered -- wondered. "You really disappoint me, little brother! Why did you allow yourself to serve Yura's idiot idea when you knew it couldn't work?!"

"Cassandra, it HAS worked!" Henry retorted. "Go to Sagussa and see for yourself! This madness has to stop!"

"Oh, I'll go to Sagussa, alright!" Cassandra declared with a wild cackle. "I'll go there to cleanse it after I've done all the other worlds touched by the Fourth Republic . . . like this one!"

Everyone gasped as the Eliminator swung around to bring her proton cannons to bear on Uru. "Why?!" Henry demanded as he automatically moved the Gatherer's bulk into the line of fire.

"Why not?!" Cassandra growled. "Don't you remember, little brother?! Our creators tore themselves to pieces all over a stupid debate about clones! CLONES! That's the ONLY thing that is constant in life, Henry! It ENDS!"

Silence.

"Yes . . . it ends."

And with that, the Gatherer surged towards the Eliminator, impulse drive forcing six trillion tons of superdreadnought on a direct collision course with his sistership. "Henry, what are you doing?!" Ataru gasped as he realized what was happening.

"This is the only way," Henry replied as transported beams came alive around Ataru, Lum and Noa. "The Perseverance is close by; you will be safe. Farewell, my friends . . . may Eternity be kind to you!"

The beams did not take the anti-grav crib beside Lum.

To say anything of its precious cargo.

** ** **

"KOISHII!" Ataru screamed as he bolted to his feet.

"Halt!" a female voice barked.

The dazed Daimon'cha of Sagussa immediately found himself surrounded by a half-dozen Black Roses. "Lord Moroboshi!" one called out as she moved to guide him away. "Please come with us! It's not safe here!"

Snarling, Ataru batted the hand aside as he turned to race off, Koishii's name bellowing from his lips.

"Hold it!" the Black Roses screamed as they raced off in pursuit.

They don't get far.

"EARTH-HEART FIRE-GEYSER!"

A volcano sent the Black Roses flying as Ataru staggered off.

* * *

Metres away, Elle staggered towards the cathedral. "Who's the father of the child I shot . . . ?"

"I am."

Elle shrieked as Nassur appeared before her, gun locked on her heart. "No!" She backed up to a wall. "I'm a queen! Mercy!"

"Why should I?!" the Vosian hissed. "You captured my wife and I, froze us for seventeen years . . . !"

"Don't hurt me!" the monarch sobbed, knees buckling. "I'll let you go! I'll never bother you again! I'm sorry I hurt your child!"

A look full of contempt answered her. "Because of you, Benten and I missed raising our child! Why?! In Lecasur's name, why?!"

He walked up to press the gun into her forehead. "Don't shoot me! Don't shoot me! Don't shoot me, please . . . "

"Tell me . . . or die!"

"I'm getting old!" she then gasped. "Vosians, Sagussans, Zephyrites and other races have longer lifespans, age slower than Ellsians! I wanted to know why! I wanted to find a way to live and be young and beautiful forever!"

Nassur shook his head, laughing. "You're SO pathetic! There's no true immortality in this universe, Elle! All things must die!"

Suddenly, the Vosian found himself besieged by several Black Roses! "How dare you assault our mother?!" one howled.

As Nassur fought to regain his footing, Elle fled.

* * *

Atop a nearby building near a fire escape, Dureko emotionlessly watched the battle between his students and his brother's stepson. He then glanced over to see Ataru wandering closer and closer to a cliff. "Fura!"

She appeared beside him. "Yes, sir?"

"Release Amora and return her to Earth."

"Sir?!"

"Do it."

Fura then nodded. "I understand."

She departed. A second later, someone emerged from the darkness of the fire escape. "Smart thinking, Dureko," Makoto Seikou noted with an icy smile. "Consider going after that child again and you AND YOUR STUDENTS will answer to the Sisterhood."

The Freemason grand teacher declined to reply as the Pirpirsiw'r-turned-Sagussan shipmistress was transported away.

* * *

Ataru continued to wander about as he searched for his child, not seeing the cliff before him. "Koishii-chan, where are you?!"

Something then appeared before him, floating by the cliff: the silhouette of a young Oni woman. Otou-san? Do you call upon me?

* * *

"By order of Lord Dureko, you are free," Fura announced to Amora as she allowed her half-sister to step out of her cell.

"About time," Amora mused as she headed for the waiting hovercar.

Suddenly, her eyes glowed as her surroundings faded into darkness. Before her, there appeared a glowing, woman-shaped form.

Amora blinked. Who are you?!

You will find out who I am quite soon, Onee-san.

* * *

As Nassur continued to struggle against the Black Roses, Elle looked around. She then screamed out on seeing Ataru staggering for a cliff. "Honey!" the Rose Queen wailed as she ran after him. "Don't do it!"

All Ataru heard was the voice of the image before him. "Koishii-chan, you naughty girl. Don't wander off. You could get hurt."

Otou-san, the woman replied as her image began to fade. I shall return very soon.

"Of course, you will," he muttered, holding out his arms. "Now come give your daddy a hug!"

To everyone else -- including Lum and the rescue party, who had just emerged from the Planetary Defence Centre -- all they saw was Ataru walking calmly over a cliff! "Darling, no!" Lum screamed.

"Dead for seventeen years . . . " Ataru mumbled. "Now I can live again."

Everyone -- the Black Roses, the rescue party, Nassur, Lum, Elle -- raced after Ataru. "Ataru!" Nassur barked.

"Sensei, don't do it!" Seiteki shrieked.

"Honey, no!" Elle cried.

Unfortunately, the three dozen or so pursuing Ataru ended up slamming into each other, they falling WAY short of the goal. "Koishii-chan, don't go yet . . . " Ataru muttered as he reached for his child. "Don't g- . . . "

He fell!

No scream echoed from him as the others gazed at the spot where Ataru once stood. "Darling," Lum moaned. "Why did you do it . . . ?"

"Oh, Honey," Elle cried. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry . . . !"

Everyone began to grieve. Shinobu, however, sighed as she calmly walked up to the cliff, looking down. "You okay, Ataru?"

Shocked, everyone scrambled to the edge, they gazing down to see Ataru on his back five metres below. "If you're finished with the eulogies," he groaned, wondering what just happened. "Will somebody PLEASE give me a hand?!"

* * *

Hours later . . .

The Lum-san was on a return course to Earth. After Ataru had been pulled out of the pit, Elle begrudgingly released him and the others. Amora had been secretly inserted with the rest of the crowd by her half-sisters before the cruiser's shuttle, piloted by Jariten, came to pick them up. In the wardroom, everyone was relaxing as they gave themselves a chance to unwind and heal.

"At least I wasn't seriously hurt," Ataru muttered as he rubbed his head. "Just some bruising from where I landed."

Lum chuckled. "I hope this proves you should never stand close to unexploded photon torpedoes."

The couple and Shinobu then turned to gaze at the passing starfield. It's funny, Ataru then mused, switching to a psi-link for more privacy with his wife and bond-mate. I felt I was talking to Koishii-chan.

Lum and Shinobu stared at him. How can that be? the nurse wondered. Koishii-chan's dead!

Strange . . . Lum breathed out.

Standing nearby, Nassur and Benten were busy reuniting with Jariten and Mendou. "Nice ship you have here, Shuutarou," the Vosian stated as he took his own look around. "She's as gallant as the person she's named after."

Lum blushed. "Flatterer!"

Seated by a window, Amora glanced at Seiteki, the former quick to sense the latter's foul mood. "What is it now, Sei-chan?"

"I didn't get one Cute Boy from Elle's freezer!" Seiteki exclaimed. "She's a greedy pig!" A resigned shrug then rolled her shoulders. "Oh, well! I guess I have to chase Sensei from now on!"

Everyone's eyes rolled. Shinobu walked up to Junba's natural parents. "So, any ideas about what should happen to Aiotoga?"

"Junba?" Nassur gazed at his child. "I think she's old enough to make her own decision about who to live with."

"Besides," Benten added, "She's not ready to become a bounty hunter."

Ataru gazed at them. "You're going back to bounty hunting?"

Nassur nodded. "That's right. It's the only way I know to explore this new time. I've always been an explorer at heart."

"Speaking of Aiotoga," -- Benten glanced across the wardroom -- "I think she has other things on her mind right now."

Junba was busy watching the stars pass, her shoulder bandaged and arm in a sling. Jariten walked up. "Hi, Junba. How are you?"

"I'm fine now," she answered, smiling. "I guess I'll have to learn how to duck."

"Well, you did save Shinobu's life. That counts for something."

"I guess."

Embarrassment then seized them as they looked away from each other, and then they turned back to face each other.

"I'm sorry!" they exclaimed simultaneously.

Their cheeks coloured. Junba twiddled her thumbs. "I guess I flew off the handle when I found out you knew my parents."

"I did the same seeing you and Tetsubou together," Jariten admitted.

They gazed again on each other. "Marry me?!" they asked in sync.

Everyone laughed as the couple flushed again in embarrassment. Junba smiled. "I guess we both know why we're together."

Jariten then drew out the tiger star engagement rings to places one on her finger. "I guess so."

And with that, they kissed. "So goes the power of recognition," Amora mused.

"Oh, what a wonderful day!" Lum exclaimed as she clapped her hands in delight. "Ten-chan and Junba-chan are back together, Nassur and Benten are back . . . and atop that, I'm pregnant!"

Mass face-fault! "Lum, y-you're . . . ?!" Ataru stammered.

"I confirm it," Nassur spoke up, his eyes flashing. "Lum's pregnant."

Heat then exploded from Ataru as he glared at Lum. "You mean you actually risked our baby?! When were you going to tell ME?!"

Lum shrugged. "With all that's happened, I didn't get around to it!"

A volcano exploded behind Ataru! "Just like twenty years ago!" He then glared at his wife. "Lum, for Lyna's sake . . . !"

Lum smirked innocently. "Yes, Darling?"

They kissed, everyone around them laughing. "Good!" Ataru said before he turned to wrathfully face his students. "As for the rest of you: With the exception of Junba-kun and Amora, you'll be on clean-up duty with Mr. Fujinami for a month!" A finger went up to mark his point. "That's for going off on this crazy trip and nearly getting killed! And while you're busy cleaning, I want you to think about all the things that COULD'VE gone wrong on that trip . . . AND DON'T YOU EVER DO IT AGAIN! UNDERSTOOD?!"

The other students meekly bowed. "Hai . . . "

"Sensei!" Seiteki whined as she appeared before him. "A month's clean-up duty will ruin my boy-chasing!"

"Is that a problem, Ozuno-kun?" Ataru growled.

The other students tensed; Ataru NEVER addressed them by family name unless he was REALLY pissed off at them. Seiteki didn't take notice of that as she reached for her top. "Only that I can't do this!"

Seiteki whipped off her blouse, revealing that she had no bra underneath. Seeing her, Tetsubou, the twins and the guards dropped to the deck, blood exploding from their noses! Ataru turned around, his eyes turning to the heavens. "Why me?!"

"SEITEKI!" Lum appeared behind the younger girl, she giving her a blast of lightning! "GROW UP, WILL YOU?!"

Seiteki dropped fried to the deck! "He didn't react!" Shinpai cried out. "How can we make money if he doesn't react?!"

The other guards howled indignantly at losing a chance to engage in their endless gambling. Watching them, the adults exchanged knowing chuckles. "I guess the more things change," Nassur mused aloud, "The more they says the same."

The Beginning

**** **** ****

SERIES INTRODUCTION:

Welcome to Urusei Yatsura Twenty Years Later, the series chronologically following Urusei Yatsura - The Senior Year and Urusei Yatsura - The Ishinomaki Years. For those of you who are just joining us for the first time, it is highly advised that you read up on UY-TSY and UY-TIY, available on other webpages, before carrying on with this series.

For those familiar with UY-TSY and UY-TIY, welcome back; we hope you'll enjoy your visit with us.

For those wondering what happened in the seventeen years between the end of UY-TSY and the start of UY20YL beyond what was covered in UY-TIY, a brief explanation of the relevant events will be made in the narrative.

UY20YL, as the series is short-formed, will run approximately triple the number of stories in UY-TSY. Most of these stories are shorter than some of the epic stories in our previous series, so archiving this should not take much more space.

It should be noted that this series is not a continuation of the adventures of the "classic" cast. This series is centred on a whole new cast. The "classic" cast (mostly Lum, Ataru, Nassur, Benten, Shinobu, Ryuunosuke, Sakura, Koosei and Ran) will be in supporting roles.

**** **** ****

WRITERS' NOTES:

1) With the start of this new series, there'll be some stylistic changes. The tense of the narrative will be in past, not present as we did for TSY; Mike and I first started writing in script format (which demands present tense) and its taken us quite a long time to adjust to prose writing. Further, we've caught up on some glaring spelling mistakes (the "Lan = Ran" debate, for one, plus "Miyaki = Miyake" and "Shutaro = Shuutarou"), so hopefully, those UY purists who made mention of these problems before won't have reason to complain now.

2) For those who might be familiar with the UY/Sister Princess crossover series The Senior Year ... With Sisters (as written by Fred), you'll note that the names for Lum's Bodyguards have remained the same as what appeared in TSY. And no, the SisPri girls won't appear here.

3) Naming convention: if the name is Oriental in origin, it's family-name first (i.e., Moroboshi Ataru). Urusian, Fukunokami and Aimaiyite names fall under this category. If it's Occidental in origin, it's family-name last (i.e., Jamie McTavish). Ellsian, Zephyrite and Sagussan names (second-generation Sagussans possess matronymic-type middle names, i.e., Kum Aimakoto Seikou) follow this convention. For some (Makoto Seikou, for example), the convention when used in spoken text will depend on the speaker and the language used.

4) A reminder of stylistic notes:

* . . . * (italics in narrative) = thoughts/telepathic communication

** . . . ** (bold print in narrative) = emphasis on titles/strong emphasis

*** . . . *** (bold & italics in narrative) = very strong emphasis/someone like Nicole McTavish's Crystal Palace speaking

"* . . . *" (italics in conversation) = computer audio talk/minor emphasis/strange words in foreign language

"** . . . **" (bold print in conversation) = strong emphasis in conversation/the Cyborg Ataru speaking

"*** . . . ***" (bold & italics in conversation) = very strong emphasis i.e. screaming one's head off

"(special name in narrative)" = name of a ship/movie/television series/series episode (in HTML text, will always be in italics)

"'(special name in conversation)'" = name of a ship/movie/television series/series episode (in HTML text, will always be in italics)

[ . . . ] (text in square brackets) = fourth-dimensional narrative

[" . . . "] (quoted text in square brackets) = fourth-dimensional conversation

* * * (three asterisks spaced evenly) = scene break

** ** ** (three paired asterisks spaced evenly) = switch to/from flashback scene (in HTML text, flashback scenes are all in italics)

**** **** **** (three groups of four asterisks) = start/end of story text/writer's notes/story title blurb

Note that in flashback scenes, text that would normally be in italics will be in standard print.

5) A reminder of some basic terms and concepts used in this story:

Kyotos . . . Largest principality of the planet Yehisril. Fifteen hundred years before UY-TSY, Kyotos was one of the three founding kingdoms of that world's current planet-wide ruling government, the Royal Kingdoms of Yehisril.

marei'cha . . . Literally "the one with whom you raise a child;" more commonly translated as "bond-mate." The Sagussan psychic bond between people who elect to raise a family together. A marei'cha bond would be seen as the equivalent of a marriage bond on Earth. Marei'cha bonds are also seen as unbreakable save for when one of those so bonded dies.

Sagurei . . . Literally "Child of Sagussa." The lone moon of Sagussa. A planet about the same size as Luna. The regeneration matrix used to restore the Daishi'cha to life is found in the upper magma of Sagurei.

pe'cha . . . The Vosian variation of the blood-brother/blood-sister concept. A psychic bond between best friends. This can be done between Vosians and non-Vosians. Like marei'cha bonds, pe'cha bonds normally are seen as unbreakable save when one of those bonded dies.

Lyna . . . The hero of Sagussa's War of Clone Rights, who lived fourteen millennia before UY-TSY. It was her death (she was actually a clone created thanks to the regeneration matrix of Sagurei by her "mother") which effectively brought an end to the civilisation known these days as the "Fourth Republic" and, by extension, launched the Grand Design for the Creation of the Fifth Republic. Her still-preserved body is buried in the heart of Sagussa's Stonehenge, Tere'na-korgh (the Forge of Tere'na). These days, Lyna is as venerated among Sagussans as the Buddha among Buddhists, as witness the common phrases "Lyna's Soul" or "Lyna have mercy" when someone wants to spit out a ripe oath.

Koori . . . Oyuki's ancestor, the founder of the modern Neptunian royal dynasty. It was she who led the Neptunian race to the moon Triton when alien conquerors ecologically devastated the former planet. "Koori's Castle" is the Neptunian/Tritonian allegory of Heaven.

eta . . . Noukiite red pepper, far spicier than the Earth version. Urusian puru powder is a derivative of the eta plant; it was brought over during the century-long Urusian Occupation of Noukiios, which ended 180 years prior to the events of UY-TSY.

recognition . . . The Vosian mating bond, a telekinetically-based psionic power which normally activates anytime after Stop Time (around age 14) whenever a Vosian or Vosian-dominant hybrid encounters a genetically compatible mate. The traditional belief among Vosians concerning this process is easily put into one sentence: "Recognition does not lie." Recognition mostly is cross-gender, though same-gender couples are also possible. Bisexuality is unknown among Vosians, save for Vosian-Zeiwanite or Sagussan-Vosian hybrids.

Varakos . . . Second-largest principality of Yehisril. Varakos was also one of the founding states of the Royal Kingdoms.

Laqu'r . . . Crown prince/Crown princess (in Yehisrite, all titles are gender-neutral). Addressed normally as "My Prince"/"My Princess" by those who see themselves as loyal to the title-holder. One of sixteen such people, these are the true centres of power among citizens of the Royal Kingdoms of Yehisril, even if (technically), they rank below the Yehisrite head-of-state, the Lord Protector.

tre'cha . . . Literally "the passing-on." The Sagussan variation of the process shown in "Star Trek" where a Vulcan bestows his/her katra (in Sagussan, "mei'na") to a worthy recipient when death is believed to be coming. The restoration process -- which is normally used whenever a person's physical body can be restored via the regeneration matrix -- is known as "satre'cha."

Bensaiten . . . The founder of the modern Fukunokami state. "Bensaiten's Grave" is the Fukunokami allegory of Heaven.

Fukunotaiin . . . Fukunokami's moon.

Magairu . . . A Zephyrite colony world close to Earth.

Naihu . . . Noukiios' slave caste, ninth in rank of the "Ten Orders" (Noukiios' ten super-castes) up to the time of UY-TIY, when it was abolished to make way for the Ip'ihu. Moroboshi Reiko was originally baptized as a Naihu when she was created for the Lost Stars project.

Daishi'cha . . . Literally "great first mother." One of 100,000 young humanoid women who were found recently deceased on their homeworlds, and then restored to life thanks to the regeneration matrix so they could become the first generation of mothers for a new Sagussan race. After the events of the UY-TSY Tales of the Daishi'cha side story The Ones Left Behind, the number of Daishi'cha increased to 104,906 (including Hisrana of Chemlos and Nassur's mother Hunba) when ships were dispatched to retrieve those people like Sylvie and Anri.

flightmistress . . . Special first-tier officer's rank in the Sagussan Navy, given to fighter pilots. The normal Sagussan Navy title for this rank is "watchmistress." Equivalent to a navy lieutenant, an army captain or an air force flight lieutenant.

Sen'sha Seven . . . Outermost world of Sagussa's home solar system, similar to Pluto. Sagussa's primary naval station is located here.

Pathfinder Troop Six . . . The Sagussan Navy's special missions paranormal combat force, equivalent to the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team Six, the British Army's 22nd Special Air Service Regiment or the Canadian Armed Forces' Joint Task Force Two.

Pirpirsiw'r . . . Literally "the most dangerous soldiers." A group of highly-trained Yehisrite warrior-women who lived from about a thousand to about 400 years prior to the events of UY-TSY. Considered by experts throughout the known Galaxy as the deadliest group of warriors ever to live. As a group, they normally address themselves as the "Sisterhood of Steel." Many Pirpirsiw'r were brought to Sagussa by the Gatherer to become Daishi'cha; Lufy, Priss and Makoto Seikou were three of them.

Freemason . . . On Yehisril, this was a group of volunteer citizen-soldiers who possessed ninjitsu-like fighting skills. Since they often worked beyond the normal feudal power structures dominating Yehisrite society, Freemasons were most often feared and loathed by government authorities. The name "freemason," in part, denotes the traditional occupation of the group's original founders.

Daimon'cha . . . Literally "great first father." Moroboshi Ataru's primary title on Sagussa. This title can also be applied to all others who helped in the birthing of the first native-born generation of Sagussans in the years immediately after the events of UY-TSY. Ataru's other title on Sagussa, marking him as ceremonial head-of-state of the Fifth Republic, is Daite'cha ("great first citizen").

saikoo jinseijitsu . . . "Path of the supreme life." The Moroboshi family's in-house school of ninjitsu.

shipmistress . . . Second-tier officer's rank in the Sagussan Navy, equivalent to a navy captain, army colonel or air force group captain.

Lecasur . . . The founder of Vos' current world government, who lived almost two thousand years before the time of UY-TSY. On Vos, he is as venerated among Vosians as the prophet Mohammed is among Muslims on Earth.

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