A/N: Hello again, everyone, it's me again! Well, I still seem to be going strong, eh? That's okay. I'll lose more people here, and maybe gain some more. Part of growing. Sorry, I'm rambling. Anyway. What's gonna happen here? Well, as usual, shounen-ai, shoujo-ai, het, vulgarity, innuendo, and VIOLENCE. Lots of violence. More violent that "Love never Dies, Hatred never Sleeps". Thus the rating. Anyway, yes, most of this will be exploring normal lives and such, but there is a plot and it IS a mystery. I've been thinking about this one for quite some time, but it's not exactly all planned out and such. Yeah. Like I said, I would NOT do anything with the soundtracks except define it here for you all. Hmmm… Kotani Kinya is good… some Two Mix as well… Alanis Morissette is awesome and kind of happy-ish but not… and Malice Mizer to appeal to the darkness… and Tatu just because I love them so! ^^ All right! Any other things I should let you know about… I don't think so. Well, let's get it started!

~*~

A hand reached out to turn on the water for the shower; the body connected to it shivering in the somewhat chilly air of the man's bathroom causing goose bumps to form on his fair skin. Aoi Jun glanced about his small bathroom, and shook his head at his own foolishness. There was no chance that there was anyone else in his bathroom. He felt the water that ran out of the showerhead and was pleased with the temperature, stepping into the torrent of hot water. He sighed deeply and closed his dark blue eyes, letting go of all the tension in his body to give way to the pounding of the water. But still, his mind was not at ease.

Just an hour ago, the Nadesico had Boson Jumped from the long-lost planet of Ninlan to the ruins of the Satsuki Midori colony at Lagrange Point 2. A distress signal had been sent out, requesting some sort of response, which was met by silence for over an hour. Captain Misumaru Yurika wanted to wait a little while longer before heading for Earth alone, but Jun wanted a shower and had excused himself to do so. It was not only the thoughts of going home, but his actions on Ninlan that had tormented the Executive Officer.

It was nearly three weeks later, and Jun still couldn't believe that he had killed Nergal CEO and Aestivalis pilot, Akatsuki Nagare. He wrapped his arms around his torso and bowed his head, letting the still-warm water pour into his ragged, now chin-length dark blue hair. He hadn't killed in cold blood, though he did not care very much for the longhaired cocky man, but he also hadn't killed him in self-defense, with Akatsuki pinned down and immobile at the time. After all, it's not as if Akatsuki wanted to be possessed by the angry God of Spirit, Magus, either. It wasn't his choice, so where was Jun's actions justified?

What's worse, not a single person blamed him for what he did. Not even Yurika, who had been romantically involved with Akatsuki for some time, and had broken it off with him a few weeks before the fight that had led to Akatsuki's death. Yurika was still sad, yes, and it hurt Jun to know that he caused that, but Jun would have rather that the woman was angry with him, yelled at him, blamed him, than just accepted it as an incident that had only happened, and not been anyone's fault. She accepted that while she still believed that Akatsuki wasn't all that awful, he HAD been possessed, and would have killed them all, pinned down or no. Everyone else had agreed and had already tried to raise Jun's spirits on the matter. He had saved them, they said. He should be happy, or at least not as depressed as he was. But still, he was.

The water ran cold, making Jun grimace. He hated cold. He reached up and touched the showerhead, knitting his eyebrows as he touched it lightly with the warm calmness that was his magic, making the water warmer and much more comforting. But even with that small advantage, Jun withdrew his hand quickly, holding it against his chest. As useful as this power over fire was, as comforting as it was to feel it in him, it was horrible. He hadn't killed Akatsuki with his hands, no; he used the one thing that seemed to hold his happiness.

'I killed him with my own happiness.' It was something of a depressing thought, to know that something that made you happy stole the life of another. Jun quickly washed up to stop thinking in this direction. He had to get back to the bridge after all, and he'd rather go back and not be in tears. He stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his body, securing it before he reached for his hairbrush. Just before wrapping his fingers around the handle, his communicator flared to life and a window showing the only male cook on the ship popped up, scaring the living crap out of Jun and making him almost drop, not only his hairbrush, but his towel as well. He glared at the image before him and gripped the fabric that covered his body tightly. "Akito, Flamma-dammit, what do you want?!?" he near-snarled at the Martian man in the window, flushing with embarrassment at what could have just happened.

Tenkawa Akito pushed his glasses up his nose before crossing his arms defensively. "Touchy, are we? PMSing much? I just wanted to make sure you weren't randomly trying to depress yourself into an oblivion like usual, Aqua! Besides, it's your own damn fault for putting your communicator in the bathroom. Not that I wouldn't have enjoyed the sight. My timing sucks, it seems." Akito's smirk made Jun grow at least three shades redder. At the mention of depressing himself, though, Jun looked away, feeling a little ashamed for being caught in the act. Akito sighed as he realized that he did, in fact, find Jun doing just as he suspected. The Executive Officer really needed to stop being so predictable. "Ju~un… How many times do we have to tell you? It's not your freaking fault! If you hadn't have killed him, I would've instead! Hell, I'm a little sorry you beat me to it. Now will you PLEASE stop making yourself all sad about it?"

Jun sniffed, feeling his eyes well up. "Dammit. I didn't want to cry." Passing a hand over his eyes, he wiped the tears away before they could birth more. "Akito, you just don't understand. How could you live everyday knowing that someone isn't here anymore, isn't ALIVE anymore because of you?"

"Jun, you know just as well as I do that Magus would have killed us if we let Him use Akatsuki anymore."

"I know that! But does that mean that Akatsuki wanted to die?" Jun grabbed his brush and started yanking it through his hair, not giving any reluctance against the pain that the pulling to his scalp brought.

Akito sighed again. Sometimes there was just no getting through to this guy. He pulled off the white handkerchief that he had tied around his head to keep his hair away from his cooking and to absorb the sweat of the too-hot kitchen. "Jun, you told me he confessed to you that he was in love with Yurika. You remember that? Magus wanted to kill Yurika the most. Akatsuki would have never wanted to kill Yurika, whether it was by his own doing or of someone else's, using his hands. He's probably happy you killed him before he could do the one thing that would have brought him the only thing worse. Living through a pain that hurts more than death itself."

Jun bowed his head, and for a moment, his dark hair obscured his face from Akito's view. A soft response came from the older man, however. "Akito, I need a hug."

Akito understood. Jun felt like he was the only person in the world, and talking to someone over a communications window never did anything to help that feeling. "Why don't you head on up to the bridge, then? Yurika will give you a hug, I'm sure of it." Jun nodded, and Akito smiled once again. "And for Aqua's sakes, put some clothes on first. We don't need all of the crew drooling on the floor today." The joke spawned a now-rare smile from the Executive Officer. Akito grinned and raised a hand to make a small wave. "Later, Junny." The window clicked away.

Jun still couldn't believe that his friend would make jokes about how at least their group had concluded that Jun was definitely one of the most sought-after-for-sex people on the ship at a time when Jun felt like crap. But it certainly helped.

~*~

A smirk formed on Kazamo Itsuki's face as she glanced over to her lover, who was running her hand through her two-colored hair. "So, Ryoko, care to tell me just what exactly caused you to beat down my door and demand that you hide in here, which led to us having a nice round of sex?"

Subaru Ryoko returned the woman's smirk as she rolled onto her stomach, fully aware that Itsuki's purple blanket wasn't covering her body sufficiently, should someone decide it's time to talk to them. "Hikaru discovered a book in Izumi's library on ostriches, namely their mating rituals. I didn't want to sit through an hour of giggling about big-ass birds that could fucking kill someone if they wanted to."

"Emphasis on fucking, I expect. And that whole bit probably turned you on. Maybe we should get a hold of a documentary on it. Big Bird Porn!"

Ryoko rolled her eyes. "Please. If I wanted Sesame Street porn I'd pay Hikaru to dig up the right places. Terra, she scares me sometimes." Ryoko fell silent, not even laughing at her understood joke. The thought of the mating habits of two fairly large birds brought back the queasy feeling she had had earlier, thus the running to her girlfriend's dorm room. The queasy feeling that had come from the act of Boson Jumping an entire ship halfway across the solar system. She laid her forehead on her folded arms, and sighed deeply. Not even raging sex from her girlfriend could get rid of the implications of the act.

Itsuki flopped onto her side and propped her head up on one hand, running her other hand through her long violet hair. "Ryoko, what's Jumping like?"

Ryoko faced her lover with a solemn look. "Well, you see a color, then it's all dark, like the lights are cut off, you know? And then it lightens up a bit with this odd… color. I don't even know how to describe it, it's that weird. Next thing you know, you feel this tingly tug on your stomach, like you're getting punched or like you have to puke. And then your mind just kind of flashes on all the places you've been, heard about, seen, whatever. And at all times of you life, kind of like seeing your life flashing before your eyes. It's really hard to focus on only one of them, you know? But when you do, all the light comes back in a flash and the tug on your stomach stops and you're free to barf all you want."

Itsuki stopped combing out her hair to run a thumb over Ryoko's lips, never to wear anything but air on them. "I had no idea that you would get motion sickness, Ryoko-chan." Ryoko growled, biting the thumb in response. Itsuki pulled back, rubbing the barely injured thumb. "Now that wasn't very nice Ryoko. How do you expect me to be able to play violin properly without my bow-thumb, hmm?"

"Do it with your feet."

"Well, that may be your most inner sexual fetish, but some of us like the use of all of their limbs, thank you." There was a heavy pause indicating a sudden switch in topic.

Ryoko punched the pillow, her black eyebrows knit in confusion. "Of all people, why me? Why did Miss Fressange have to pick me to Jump the ship?"

Itsuki sat up, reaching down to the floor for her bra and fastening it once again on its rightful place on her body. "Well, maybe she was trying to see if talent was a nanomachines-thing. Akito's the best Jumper, as far as we know, and Hikaru's the best mage, and you're the best pilot."

Ryoko shook her head. "Itsuki, the day I met you, you almost died. Why? Because you were about to be Jumped along with the Jovian robot. Earthlings can't Jump. No basketball jokes, please, as we all know I could kick your ass in THAT particular sport. But how is it possible that I COULD Jump us here?"

Itsuki shrugged. "Maybe it IS a nanomachine-thing, Ryoko. Why so worked up about it?"

Ryoko sat up and glared at her lover, not bothering to attempt dressing at the moment. "Well, Itsuki, it's only the small little detail of the fact that I could have DIED if it didn't work!"

"But Miss Fressange would not have let that happen. We both know that."

"She let Akatsuki die, didn't she?" This last retort was whispered, barely carrying the fierce tone that Ryoko gained when she was determined to win an argument. A tone Itsuki had heard often in the past few months.

Itsuki reached over to rub the tomboy's back. "Ryoko, you know that has nothing to do with this. What happened to Akatsuki was an accident, a problem that needed to be righted, and was. Miss Fressange isn't cold-blooded. If she were, she'd never survive with Izumi. She wanted you to do it because she knew you could, obviously." She leaned over to lay a kiss on Ryoko's temple. "I would have worried if I knew what was going on at the time. Magus knows I know what it's like to be on the edge of death, doing something that could bring you to the gates of hell. But I didn't know, Ryoko. And you're all right. A little empty-stomached, but that's nothing that our little Martian friend won't fix. And you know me, no reason to cry over spilt milk. Well, most of the time at least," she whispered into her lover's black and green hair, remembering the first few weeks of their contact and how Itsuki had been apologizing constantly for her latest attempts to win her over. Was that only a few months ago? "You're alive, and we're about three days' flight from home. What more is there to it?"

Ryoko smiled softly, one that defined her true gender, rather than the somewhat masculine smirk that seemed to mirror her girlfriend's flirtatious one. "Nothing, I suppose." She turned her head to kiss Itsuki, giving silent thanks for her concern, or lack thereof.

~*~

'Two hours. Two hours and no response from Earth, the moon, Mars, OR Jupiter!' Shiratori Yukina bunched her hands into her shoulder-length auburn hair. With their main Communications Officer Megumi Reinard taking up residence on Ninlan, the Jovian girl was now in charge of all of her duties. Not to her pleasure, as much as she enjoyed the job. But she had no idea how freaking tedious it was to just sit and wait for something that was so important, but so far away. Yukina was starting to wonder if the message they were waiting for would take days to be received, when they could be using this precious time to go to Earth, rather than wait around to figure out when in the timeline of the universe they were in.

A short trio of beeps brought Yukina from her near-raving trance. She gripped the headset with her right hand as the other flew across her console, pushing buttons. "Incoming message, Kanchou!" she reported. "Ship has been identified as one of Earth's, but I can't read its code." She squinted once more before turning to her right. "Ruri?"

Hoshino Ruri calmly placed her hands on the console before her, making it light up with a bright white light. "I'm on it." A few moments passed, short moments, before Ruri opened her pale mouth again to report the findings. "NG-SF-23T is the communications code."

Yurika, on the top level, nodded. "Yukina, patch us through." Yukina nodded and did so.

"Hello there, Kanchou. You're certainly one face I never thought I'd see again."

Yurika's jaw dropped. "Erina?"

Erina Kinjo Won closed her brown eyes and smirked. "Didn't expect to see me at first either? How sad. We thought you would never show up. We've been looking for you, you know." She pushed a lock of her black hair behind her shoulder. It had gotten much longer since their last encounter at Mars North Pole, back in March.

"Looking for us?" asked Yurika. Well, that proved one thing: it WAS the future. "Erina, where are you? What is the date?"

One corner of Erina's painted mouth turned up. "Well, Captain Misumaru, we are on the ND-005, Gardenia. The ship created for two purposes, to find the Nadesico and take care of any rebels still running loose from the war, still thinking it's going on." Erina nodded before making her next statement. "Of course, our Captain has informed me that she'd like to have some of the crew of the Nadesico visit the ship before we begin escorting you back to Earth. After all, you all are famous nowadays." Before Yurika could open her mouth again, the window clicked away, and a map of where the Gardenia was sitting was shown.

Yurika scowled at first, but her expression softened. "Just like an Akatsuki, using logic and flattery to get their own way." She sighed, and closed her green eyes, willing herself to not think about her late lover and to contemplate about whom she should take to the Gardenia. The group needed to be small, must include her, but she needed some others as well, for many different reasons. Explaining, saving their conscience, and just to check out the ship itself. Suddenly, she had it. She straightened as she announced, "Okay, Jun, Akito, Ryoko, Miss Fressange, Ruri, and I will take the Hinagiku over to the other ship. Until we come back, the Nadesico won't go ANYWHERE. It could still be a trap." Her instincts screamed at her that it may be so, and this time she was going to follow those instincts.

Goat Hory, Head of Security, furrowed his brow at the young captain. "Kanchou, we need Aoi-san to take your position when you head over there. He can't go." As soon as he said the words, he wished he could take them back, no matter how true they were. Yurika and Jun were definitely the most unstable emotionally since the battle on Ninlan, and he made them both solemn about this development.

Itsuki popped up almost instantly from the bottom level to the top. "Now, now, Mr. Hory, Jun-chan and Kanchou aren't the ONLY ones capable of keeping people in line. I may be a simple pilot, but I HAVE taken some Strategic Simulation classes while I was in Pilot's School. I'll gladly take over for them. Besides," she dropped to a somber whisper, "we both know Jun NEEDS to talk to Erina." Goat sighed in resignation. It wasn't a smart move, but the female head of Mugendai Industries was right. Jun needed to apologize and start repenting, if his performance was to improve any. So, despite his better judgment and the silent animated arguments coming from the ship's accountant, Viktor Bros, he nodded.

As Itsuki stepped up to the captain seat and sat down, and as the named people headed in the direction of the hangar bay to leave on the Hinagiku, Viktor fisted his hands on his hips and glared at Goat. "What the hell is the matter with you? You just handed control over the ship to one of the irresponsible PILOTS, for Christ's sakes. Not to mention on of the heads of Mugendai, a rival company to Nergal! What's to say she won't blow up the Gardenia, let alone the Nadesico? Can't you even imagine the economic losses both companies would suffer?" Before he could pull out his calculator to figure the exact numbers of this suffering, Itsuki spun the swivel chair to face them both.

"That's very rude of you, Mr. Prospector. Didn't I come back to the ship with Jiro when we took over? Trust me, I'm definitely dedicated to the Nadesico and the crew, despite it being the work of a rival company. And I won't kill Erina in cold blood, okay? The competition is fun, and we have no need to wipe her out. And we aren't the ruthless Nergal family, thank you very much!" She spun back, her face flushing with anger. "Not to mention that my own lover is going to be on that ship. No reason for me to order it to be shot at."

Viktor scoffed, trying to come up with an argument against the girl. Goat chuckled. "I think you have been fully slapped in the face, Viktor." In response, Viktor punched Goat's arm before huffily stomping back to his seat.

~*~

It certainly was odd that all of those on the Hinagiku were somehow capable of using magic in some form. It was immediately understood that Ryoko would be the one piloting the shuttle, of course, but Akito was wondering if he had to do it anyway. It didn't help that the atmosphere was a bit unsettling. Erina had remarked that they were quite important, famous even, and that was compounded with the fact that Nergal had built an entire battleship just for getting rid of rebels, a small, yet tedious job, and for searching for the Nadesico.

"Detaching from the Nadesico," reported Ryoko, pulling the switch that did exactly that. Once the Hinagiku was separated from the ship and speeding on its way toward the fifth Nergal battleship, Yurika let out a sigh of apprehension.

Inez Fressange, Head Doctor and Scientist on the Nadesico, glanced at her fellow Martian female. "Is there something wrong, Kanchou? You seem a bit more nervous than usual. You certainly weren't this jumpy during the mutiny."

Yurika somehow made herself look quite innocent. "Why, Miss Fressange, I have no idea what you mean. I'm fine!" She gave a bright smile to assure Inez that she WAS fine, but the slight prick of sadness in the captain's green eyes gave away her true feelings. She was scared shitless, not to mention still upset. Nevertheless, Inez gave in and stopped hammering her. If Yurika would go to the extent to lie to a Nadesico crewmember, all of whom she seemed to trust with her very life, it really was something she didn't want any of them to discuss at that moment.

So, with a knowing smirk, Inez nodded. "Right, Kanchou." Before Yurika could respond to the obvious sarcastic remark, Ryoko reported that they had reached the Gardenia. Apparently it was closer than they had first assumed.

The silence did not leave, but the atmosphere changed with stepped out of the shuttle and onto the guest deck, from confusion to anticipation. Hopefully, they would receive the explanations that even Inez could not, or would not, give to them. Surprisingly enough, only Erina came to greet them, or at least by their sight. It wasn't all that unconventional for Nergal personnel to escort them to the higher-ups first, but captain or no, Erina WAS the higher-up. But the captain of the Gardenia could have been more polite and come to greet them. Yurika always did, but it may have just been her nature to be friendly.

"Took you long enough. It seems that we may have to do an overhaul of your systems, if the Hinagiku is so slow. I had no idea that it was, but maybe time and our extensive development on our ships has made me a little critical."

Inez rolled her eyes. "Erina, will you just tell us what this is all about, for Terra's sake?"

Erina glanced at her former lover before replying, "I cannot quite do so lightly. Much time has passed, if you can't tell. Maybe I can begin by formally introducing the Gardenia's crew?" With that, Erina walked off toward one of the elevators in the seemingly small hangar bay. She waited for the guests to follow before opening the elevator for them.

For what seemed the first contact in months, and it just may have been, Akito poked Yurika in the arm to get her attention. If it was one thing he loved about the Nadesico, it was the pure casual atmosphere that everyone upheld, despite who you were and what your job was. There was some sense that the Gardenia just wasn't the same in that sense. "Hey, Yurika," he whispered, "have you noticed how plain uncomfortable everything is on this ship?"

Despite the attempts of being out of hearing, Erina heard the comment plainly. "I assure you, while we may be a load more professional than the crew of the Nadesico, we still have some sort of outside life." Inez snorted. Erina turned her head to glare at the Martian doctor once again. "Problem, Inez?"

Inez chuckled. "Oh, none really. Just the idea of you having a life outside your work is outrageous and astounding." Erina's face screwed into a twisted mass, and the other two Martians were sure she was going to blow her top and scream at Inez. But, instead, Erina just sighed exasperatedly.

Erina announced, "We've arrived at the bridge." The doors opened to reveal a small, yet very developed area that would be put to good use ONLY as a bridge of a Nergal ship. It seemed similar to the Nadesico's bridge, only much more sleek and professional, for lack of better word. There were still three levels, but the bottom level was the smallest one, and obviously not used very much. The second level had two seats on the outside, and two on the inside. The two in the inside were not separated from each other as the other seats were by short walls that did not extend the entire level. The top level was almost exactly like that of the Nadesico, with a captain's seat in the middle, but with a bigger console. The XO's seat was not as important looking as Jun's, but still was impressive in comparison. All in all, the entire room looked to be much more useful and important than just a search and rescue vessel. But it was expected, as Nergal always did have a habit of going all out and showing off whenever they got the chance.

But in all the examining of the bridge, it seemed their eyes somehow slid off the crew, not to mention that the captain was nowhere to be found. Erina walked forward and stopped at the first console, the one, in reference to the Nadesico's bridge, where Megumi or Yukina would be sitting. Instead, a girl that seemed older than both of the Nadesico's Communications Officers sat there. "This is Iwasaki Mari," introduced Erina, " the Gardenia's Communications Officer. She used to be the seiyuu for Magical Princess Natural Laichi at Nergal Productions, but we decided to use her for this ship."

"Especially since, while I'm not QUITE as popular or well-voiced as our dear Megumi, I am close to second," spoke the brown-haired voice actress, with something of an egotistical smile on her face. "Nice to meet you all, finally, by the way."

"Mari-chan is the egomaniac as always…" came a slightly familiar voice from the upper level.

Mari scowled and plopped into her chair, crossing her arms over her somewhat small chest. "As if you weren't the most obsessed-with-self person on this ship, Saburota-san, not to mention the biggest playboy I have ever met." Small chuckling was shared with the Gardenia's crew, most of which came from Erina, surprisingly.

"You never really met my cousin then, Mari-san. Anyway, that is Takasugi Saburota, our Executive Officer."

"Please, Erina dear, I do my own introductions." Erina scowled and grumbled something that sounded like, "I'm not your dear, baka," before he continued. "Takasugi Saburota, formerly XO of the Kannazuki of the Jovian Empire, now I serve Earth and its colonies for the hell of it. And YOU would be the crew of the Nadesico, including the Captain Misumaru Yurika, who had once beaten my previous ship in a battle of wits, and also including a very magnificent looking Subaru Ryoko." He stood and swept them an elegant, Western-style bow. Yurika blushed slightly, to the exasperation of Akito and Jun.

"Yurika, I know you have a thing for chivalry, but this isn't the time," chided her childhood friend, and she shook her head. He was right. Jun smiled slightly at Akito in thanks.

Ryoko, on the other hand, crossed her arms and glared at the now-blond Jovian above them. "For us being so well known, I'm surprised you aren't aware of the fact that I DO have a girlfriend and all…" Saburota smirked at her before retorting, "Well, it seems that she's not with you, now IS she, Ryoko-san?"

"If I MAY continue without further interruptions, Takasugi-san!" interrupted the very annoyed helmswoman, intent on her previous effort. When the man sat down without another word, her red face toned down a bit. She stepped forward to the next section of consoles, the double ones in fact. It did not surprise the Nadesico crew that the two kids that seat in the seats that would have been the same as Ruri's WERE, in fact, children. But, instead, it was the young age of the boy and girl that astounded them. The youngest crewmember of the Nadesico was easily the Prince Notsumote Ariko, Ruri's little brother, topping out at eleven. These two kids looked about eight or nine.

"These are our Computer Operators. We need two because, while the Nadesico's computer will always be Asuka's greatest accomplishment, the Gardenia's computer is one of their complex ones, not to mention that Ruri is the best Computer Operator at our dispatch, thus the need for two to cover the work. Makibi Hari," the boy, being the farthest, stood and bowed first, "and Lapis Lazuli." The girl stood and bowed as well, only with more of a mechanical air than the boy. It was amazing how much her and Ruri looked alike, with their similar amber eyes and deathly pale skin. However, Lapis was horrendously younger than the silver-haired princess of Peaceland, and her own hair was more of a light pink or white than silver. She sat back down without saying a word.

Hari, on the other hand, had stood straight once again, his blue eyes full of wonder as he clasped his hands in front of him. "It's truly an honor to finally meet you, Ruri-sama. We've heard so much about you, it really, really is an honor." He bowed once again, obviously shaking with nervousness. Ruri sighed, truly flattered, but rolled her eyes. One admirer, whether he be human or robot, was more than enough as it was. She definitely didn't need two.

"Hari-kun, don't make her arrogant. Now, where on Earth is-" Erina didn't get to finish her sentence before the person she was about to ask about bounded out of the elevator and ran toward them, frightening some of the crew a bit. The purple-haired girl in question looked very much like Itsuki, to the point where it was unnerving, but her mere energy was enough to dispel any thought of this girl being the Music Mage of the Nadesico.

"Rika-chan??? Akito-kun??? Oh my God of Spirit, I haven't seen you in so long!" The woman hugged both Martians at the same time, almost knocking Yurika to the ground, and definitely knocking Akito's glasses askew. "How have you two been? Magus, it's been a long time! I haven't seen you two since I was eight! Have you been taking good care of Yurika, Akito? You better have! You two have always been made for each other, I know it! And here you are, together!" The woman ceased her uncontrollable babbling to give Yurika and Akito separate squeezes before actually looking over them fully. "Yurika, you haven't been sleeping well, have you? I can see the circles under your eyes! And Akito, when did you get glasses? Of course, your sight has always been pretty bad, but I never thought you'd resort to glasses! You seemed more of a contact sort of boy! Well, don't keep quiet! How are things on the domestic side? When's the wedding?"

Erina cleared her throat, causing the woman to look over at her. "Kaguya, darling, I think you're jumping a little ahead, don't you?"

Inez snorted. "'Kaguya, DARLING?' Feeling a little lonely here, Erina?" Erina shot a glare at the Martian doctor, but said nothing.

Kaguya immediately let go of Yurika and Akito and smiled brightly, a smile that could only be compared to Yurika's on a wonderful day. "Oh yes, of course. I might have scared you a bit, haven't I? Well, it's just been so long, and of course, knowing the loser I am, I have no life, so of course I'm going to obsess over a little playing between us three for over fifteen years, ne? But you never answered me. How have you been? How are things between the two of you?"

Akito reached up to fix his glasses, giving the woman called Kaguya a strange look. "Excuse me for asking, but who in the five hells are you?" Kaguya gave a pout before responding, but not answering, "Aw, Akito, you really don't remember me?"

"Kaguya, it's the memory glitch, remember?" said Erina, rubbing her temples, obviously put off by the acts of the woman that it seemed she was intimately involved with.

Inez snapped her fingers, as if immediately remembering something. "Of course! Is that the official name for it? Memory Glitch?" At Erina's nod, Inez began to pace, obviously about to explain something crucial about the appearance of the girl that looked like Itsuki, but seemed to know Akito and Yurika from childhood. "Remember when I lost my memory because of the shock of Jumping and wandering around the Martian desert? It was truly because of the act of Jumping. Boson Jumping makes an imprint in your mind, just as you have to use your mind to Jump in the first place. And since it deals with the time continuum and the timeline of the universe, it's capable of erasing key moments in your memory, even creating new ones in its place."

Yurika's jaw dropped and she turned to Akito, poking him in the arm. "The bike ride! Remember? From when we were in Limbo! There was a memory tile of us riding a bike together when we were kids, through fields of grass. I knew it wasn't a real memory because there were no fields of grass on Mars by the Utopia Colony!" Akito's memory certainly wasn't as good as Yurika's, but he nodded, despite this. "So what you're saying is-"

"You erased a year of memories and replaced it with a single afternoon of bike-riding over grass that didn't exist? I feel offended to say the least." Kaguya crossed her arms and stuck out her bottom lip, but her violet eyes still danced, happy that there was an explanation for the odd behavior from her childhood friends.

Erina cleared her throat again. "Well, since you don't remember her, allow me to introduce her once again. This is Onikirimaru Kaguya, Captain of the Gardenia, CEO of Asuka Industries, my own lover, and not to mention the only Martian that was never stationed on the Nadesico." Kaguya swept them a short bow before grinned to them again.

"Hah! I knew you two were sleeping together! She's just your type, too, Erina dear. Giving into your Martian fetish as usual," sniggered Inez maliciously. Ryoko's black eyebrows snapped together at her behavior. If one didn't know any better, that almost sounded like a comment of jealousy. But Inez was already romantically involved with someone, one of Ryoko's best friends and piloting partners, Maki Izumi.

Erina glared at her former lover. "If you're finished, I suppose we have things to discuss, don't you?"

Yurika's eyes widened and she pointed to Kaguya, suddenly realizing something. "You swore to Magus!"

Kaguya nodded, looking at her a little incredulously. "Of course I did." She raised her right hand. Sure enough, there was the silver nanocontroller, sparkling only silver, and no other color. "Magus's Calm," she announced. "Copy." She crossed her arms, but pointed up to the top level, where Saburota now stood, leaning over the railing. "He's Terra's Calm, plants and rocks."

Yurika's blue-violet eyebrows knit together. "So, you've had contact with Ninlan already?"

Mari rolled her eyes. Their own captain was pretty odd, but never THIS bad. "Of COURSE we have. Where have been floating around in the past few months? They contacted us about a month or two after the Treaty of Mars was signed by both Earth and Jupiter, stating that Martian technology was to be studied and improved on, not shoved in each others faces."

For the first time, Lapis spoke, her voice quiet, but monotonous in a way that even Ruri could not emulate. "The Treaty of Mars was signed on June 14th of 2198. We received recognition of another nation planet on August 21st of 2198."

Ryoko whistled, impressed. "Wow. And we left Mars with the Jump Computer in March… I didn't think the war would end so fast."

Saburota shrugged, smirking slightly at the tomboy's amazement. "Jupiter's resources were running low, and the Jump Computer was the last resort they had. We eventually surrendered and pulled back all the Chulips that Earth didn't want to keep for their own purposes. But Earth was kind with our surrender. Besides, you think a Jovian like me could get on a ship of this magnitude if the war hadn't ended and there were still border problems?"

Ryoko's face grew red with her suppressed anger. She clenched her teeth as she mumbled, "We all knew the war was going to end, just not so fast…"

Kaguya nodded, agreeing with Saburota. "And peace became a big Jupiterian thing after the truth about Shiratori-san's death came out to the general public. They couldn't WAIT to get Kusakabe out of office after that little scene, not to mention apologize profusely to Earth." For the first time on their entire visit, Kaguya sounded like the captain she was.

At the mention of another's death, however, Jun glanced at Erina, wringing his hands. He didn't want to, but he was going to have to confess and suffer the consequences of his actions, not to mention apologize profusely himself to her. He caught her eye, accidentally, however, but the message got across. They needed to talk face-to-face.

Erina flapped her hands. "Now I'm sure everyone has something to say to everyone else, so I think we can go speak in private in the cafeteria, or the guest lounge, or wherever." Almost in agreement of this statement, Kaguya wrapped her arms around the shoulders of both Yurika and Akito. Ruri couldn't help but glance at the two Gardenia computer operators. Saburota raised his eyebrows at Ryoko below him, who sighed and rolled her eyes, grumbling to herself. Mari glared at her with an intense hatred. Erina tapped Inez on the shoulder, and the two of them headed for the elevator on the left side, with Kaguya leading her childhood friends to the other elevator.

Yurika twisted around to see Erina. "Erina! You never answered me!" she called out. Both groups stopped. "What day is it?"

Erina's eyes seemed to grow sad, as if dreading to tell her the truth. But the determination in Yurika's green eyes showed that she was ready to hear just about anything. "It's the 20th of January, Misumaru-san. Of 2199."

Ryoko's jaw dropped and Akito gasped. Jun froze in place, and even Ruri blinked in response to the great Jump in the timeline they made. It was nearly six months later, and they had left Ninlan only a few hours ago. It certainly put the whole Jumping theory into perspective.

Erina chewed on the inside of her lip before she turned. Inez nodded slowly. The crew finally understood the implications of Jumping being a form of time-travel. Implications that they would have to know as it was.

~*~

TBC…

~*~

A/N: Welp, that was the first chapter of "I'm your Madness"! How was it people? I know, a little fast-paced and such, but the Gardenia's crew will end up being almost as important, if not just as important, as the Nadesico crew. Mingling of crews, you know? Anyway, yes, I stole stuff from both the movie and the manga. Expect to see more of this. Anyway, as I asked before. Good start? Bad start? Go jump off a bridge start? Thanks for sticking with my extremely long universe for this long at least guys, and keep in mind that it won't be ending soon! Remember, reviews equals happy writers equal faster chapters! Bye~!