As Kurt walked down the aisles of William McKinley High School, he couldn't help but think, 'my how things do change.'

It wasn't simply that HE had changed though he had, immeasurably since he'd last walked these halls. He'd learned his mother was alive, though in a coma for the foreseeable future. Kurt and his father had both made peace with Kurt's grandmother, who was behaving with a level of tact that shocked Burt. And though no one knew it (though if all went well Mercedes would by the end of the day) Kurt had won his trial at home, earning the right to be named as his HOLINESS, Prince Kurt-Hummel, Water. Which in practice still meant virtually nothing (Kurt really wished he could insist that homophobic people like the Catholic pope refer to him as his holiness, but obviously that wouldn't be happening).

No, there were also changes in the way that other people treated him. Part of it was the continuing rumor that 'Kurt Hummel killed four guys' (which he had, but after everything he'd been through over the summer he was finally at peace with it). But it was also how he carried himself. He wasn't about to get bowled over by any idiot that came along, and his training was advanced enough now that he could easily get out of any situation school bullies could throw at him.

Which was why Finn had insisted that it be Kurt that showed the new guy, Sam, around school. Well, that was the reason Finn gave Kurt. Kurt had asked that Finn keep most of what happened that summer a secret for now, so New Directions wasn't entirely clear on why Finn had decided this. But no one really objected (well Santana did, but Mercedes pointed out that Sam needed to find his way to more places than the janitor's closet), so there they were.

It was actually kind of fun. Sam was PAINFULLY straight (the only stylish thing he did was bleach his hair, and he'd repeatedly denied that), but he was a good guy and didn't mind hanging with the school's gay kid.

"So, that's Miss Pillsbury's office," Kurt was telling him. "Yes, I know that it's intimidating that it's all glass. But you don't want to take her anything serious in any event, so it isn't like you need privacy-" Kurt caught a glance of trouble up ahead. "And you're going to want to duck with me in a few seconds."

"What?" Sam asked confused. "You're kidding, right? Wanting to make sure the new guy's paying att-"

"Nope," Kurt replied. "Duck now." Sam just barely went down in time to avoid the blue raspberry volley that went over his head.

Kurt would have felt a little bad for not warning whoever was behind him about Azimio's attack. But it was just Karofsky.

"Dude! I am SO sorry."

Karofsky waved off his friend's concern, turning to Kurt irritated. "You think that's funny, Hummel."

Kurt hadn't laughed (and frankly Sam seemed like he was a little in shock), but he just COULD NOT resist winding up the bullies. "Hilarious. You're like chimps performing ballet."

Karofsky was angry, now. "You showing off in front of your little boyfriend, Hummel?" he sneered. "I didn't know Justin Bieber even went to this school."

"I'd be shocked, but I'm sure there are a lot of things you don't know,' Kurt quipped.

"You know, Hummel, I'm really getting sick of you. And you know something else? I don't buy this whole ninja assassin rumor you've got going.' He reached out to shove Sam into the lockers.

His hand didn't make it to Sam's shoulder.

It took very little leverage to shove Karofsky into the lockers himself. And although Kurt never used his powers if he didn't have to, it was worth the effort to latch onto the water in Karofsky's body, just to see the look on the bully's face when he realized his feet had left the ground.

"You know something, Karofsky?" Kurt replied calmly. "I'm getting kind of sick of you, too. So here's the deal. You stay out of my way, I'll stay out of yours, and any slushies that accidentally hit you are not my problem. Clear?"

Kurt noticed there was water spilling out from his control. He thought briefly that maybe he'd actually scared the shit out of Karofsky, but the location was wrong. Wrong for urine, too; the liquid was pooling there but it was going up. Kurt tried to remember what his grandmother had taught him about sensing liquids, and determined there was a shape to what he was sensing.

Kurt realized with a start that it was penis shaped.

Going up.

Kurt dropped the aroused bully with a disgusted gasp. "Oh my Lady Gaga, you are in serious need of psychological help!"

Karofsky didn't argue, he just took off running towards the bathroom. Kurt didn't want to think about what he was going to be doing in there.

Kurt turned to Sam who still seemed to be in shock. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Sam gaped. "Man, that was intense. You're amazing, dude."

"Indeed. Your grandmother is an impressive teacher."

Kurt turned around at the familiar voice, to see the last person he'd ever expected to see at McKinley.

Prince Jute, Fire. The grandson of the president of Kurt's other home planet, Sateen. Kurt immediately flashed back to his summer there, with the only other gay prince in their generation. Remembered passionate kisses brought to an end only by the knowledge that he'd likely see Jute little to never after that.

And yet here he was. In Earth clothes, though Kurt could tell just by looking that Jute's button down, slacks, and dress shoes were likely to each cost more than Sam's entire outfit.

Kurt had had enough of thinking though, and rushed to embrace Jute. "Jute! What are you doing here?"

"I should think that was obvious," Jute teased. "I'm here to see you. How do you feel seeing me? I hope you're glad."

"I am." Kurt realized he'd forgotten his manners and turned to face Sam (though he never quite left Jute's arms. "Sorry, this is one of my new classmates, Sam Evans. Sam this is Jute-" Kurt turned to Jute, wondering how he should get around the fact that Jute didn't HAVE a last name. Should have introduced Evans as just 'Sam'.

Jute had apparently thought of that though. "Jute Anderzohn."

"Anderson?" Sam asked, confused by the distinctly Sateen pronunciation Jute had used.

"That's right," Jute told him, smoothly ignoring his flub.

"Well, I'll leave you guys to catch up," Sam told them with a knowing smile.

"Oh, you don't-" Kurt insisted. He'd promised Sam would get a full introduction to McKinley and Kurt was intent on fulfilling his promise, Jute or no Jute.

"I'm good," Sam assured him. "I already know more about this place than I did about my last school. Thanks."

Kurt watched Sam walk away for a while, before turning his attention to Jute. Already he could feel his body responding to the young man's touch. "Anderson?" Kurt asked, as much as for a diversion as pure curiosity.

"[As you know, Anderzohn was the founder of my family]," Jute told him, switching back into Sateen in case anyone overheard. "[Just as Tyvek was for you. I had a first name picked out as well, but I neglected to realize you'd likely use my given name before I could reveal my alias.]"

"[Well, if you'd given me some warning that wouldn't have happened]," Kurt pointed out playfully.

"[True enough. I'll just have to tell people that Jute is my middle name.]"

Kurt smiled, brushing a soft curl of hair off of Jute's forehead. He gazed into Jute's eyes and realized that he was truly happy, in a way he hadn't been since he'd come home. "I've missed you."

Jute gently brushed his lips against Kurt's. Despite their combined combat capabilities, Kurt knew that two boys kissing in one of the school hallways was asking for trouble.

But he couldn't bring himself to stop.

Sam managed to find his way to the choir room with no difficulty. Where he was promptly intercepted by a concerned Mercedes, who clearly wasn't expecting him to turn up alone.

"Hey," she exclaimed. "Where's Kurt?"

Sam smiled, wanting to make it clear that he wasn't the type of guy to be bothered by seeing a little guy-on-guy action. "Last I saw him he was making out with his boyfriend. He might even still be there."

It was a little surprising to see how shocked Mercedes seemed by the comment. "What? Kurt doesn't have a boyfriend."

Mercedes was loud enough that everyone in the room (which was currently the two of them, Santana and Brittany, Puck, Artie, and Quinn) suddenly turned towards the two of them, unexpectedly interested in what Sam had to say.

Sam was confused. "I thought- I mean, they WERE kissing. Is Kurt easy? Not that there's anything wrong with that."

"Hell no, there isn't," Santana told him with a grin. "So Kurt's slutty now? One more for our team." She high-fived Puck and Brittany, though Brittany seemed confused.

"Kurt isn't slutty!" Mercedes insisted, though it was clear she was thrown by what Sam had just said. "He just- Hell, I don't know. But he's definitely not slutty."

"He wasn't slutty this morning," Brittany told them. "Maybe he got a new bra. That always makes me feel slutty."

Sam didn't know how to respond to that. He finally turned back to Mercedes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to cause problems. Kurt's a great guy, and I don't mind if he has a boyfriend. Or a whatever. I wouldn't have said anything if I thought everyone was going to freak out."

Mercedes calmed herself at that. At least a little. "No. Thanks for telling us. Believe me, when I see that boy-" She broke off when she heard the door open. Two couples entered: Tina and Mike, and Rachel and-

"Finn!" Quinn exclaimed. "What's this about Kurt having a boyfriend?"

But Finn seemed just as confused as the rest of them. "What are you talking about? Kurt doesn't have a boyfriend."

Mercedes strode up to him, irritated enough that Finn took a step back and Rachel actually detached herself from him. "Look here, white boy," Mercedes snapped. "You're going to tell me who that guy Kurt's macking on, and why you all didn't tell me about him. Or I swear to God, I WILL! CUT! YOU!"

"JEEZ!" Finn exclaimed, shocked. "What the hell is going on? I swear I didn't know Kurt was- Kurt's macking on some guy?" It was clear, to Sam at least, that Finn honestly didn't know what was going on.

"I don't know what to tell you," Sam said. "I bowed out right after Kurt introduced us-"

"Well, that gives us a name," Artie pointed out. "What is it?"

"Anderson. That's his last name," Sam told them. "His first name…. now what was it? Jude, or something."

Well, that certainly jogged Finn's memory. His eyes snapped to Sam, startled. "Jute? Jute's here?"

"Yeah, that's it. Jute." Sam grinned. "Don't know how I forgot such an awesome name."

Rachel turned to Finn and frowned. It was obvious she didn't know what was going on, either. "Finn, I think Mercedes and the rest of us would like to hear why neither you nor Kurt felt it necessary to tell us that he had a boyfriend."

Finn shook his head, frustrated. "Kurt doesn't HAVE a boyfriend. Look, we met Jute this summer when we went to visit Kurt's grandmother. And yeah, Jute wants in Kurt's pants. But Kurt said no because he didn't want to deal with the long distance relationship thing."

"Well, he's here now," Sam said.

Finn frowned, concerned for reasons Sam couldn't guess. "Yeah, I wonder why."

"His penis probably couldn't reach all that way," Brittany noted, detached as ever. "Kurt's could but I think his penis has that fear of closed in spaces. He didn't want to put it in me when we were dating, and it got all sad looking."

Finn winced. "Okay, can we PLEASE not have a conversation about Kurt's penis?"

"Not unless you want Brit to leave the room," Santana teased.

Everyone's eyes went to the door when they heard it open. Sam exhaled in relief when he saw Kurt walk in with Mr. Schue. "Kurt!" he exclaimed. "What's the deal, man?"

"Yeah," Puck chirped. "I thought we were buds. Why didn't you tell anybody you got some hot foreign tail."

Kurt's brow furrowed, briefly puzzled. Once he parsed out what Puck was saying though, his shoulders slumped. "I suppose I asked for that by being as tardy as I was."

Mercedes looked more upset than angry at that point, though. "Kurt," she intoned, sounding very subdued. "You can't blame everyone for being curious. Ever since- For the last couple of months, you've pretty much been shutting everyone out."

Sam didn't know what THAT was all about. But Kurt seemed to crumple in on himself like he was a little bit ashamed. "I know. I have a lot I need to tell you and I think I'm finally ready to talk about it. I was actually going to invite you over today, but with Jute showing up out of the blue I was hoping you could come over tomorrow."

Mercedes frowned a little, not quite satisfied. But it was clear that was the best she was going to get for now. "Sure thing, boo."

"Wait, that's it?" Finn asked, affronted. "Kurt, I know things are messed up between my mom and your dad-"

"What's the deal with that, anyway?" Tina asked.

Kurt and Finn exchanged a tense look. Kurt briefly looked disgusted as he noted, "Finn, the reason I'm putting off Mercedes tonight is so the four of us - You, my dad, your mom, and myself - can discuss recent events as a family."

Finn winced, shamed. "Right. Sorry. I just wasn't expecting to come in here and find out from Sam that you were making out with some guy."

Kurt actually looked worried at that. "Jute's not some guy. That's kind of the problem."

"Kurt, this boy isn't pressuring you to leave school and move back to your Grandmother's home country, is he?" Rachel worried. "Because we need you in New Directions. We just barely got Sam in once Matt moved away, and I don't know where we'd get someone to be our twelfth member if you quit."

"Well, you're on topic if nothing else," Kurt quipped. "No, he isn't pressuring me. But that doesn't mean it isn't an issue."

"So?" Puck asked. "This guy is offering you a ticket out of this douche-bowl of a town. I don't get why you're not packing."

Kurt smiled at that. "Your concern for my wellbeing is touching, Noah," he noted, sounding genuinely pleased. "But my life is really complicated right now. I'm not sure what I want to do with my life at this point, and all these other factors are just muddying things."

"Kurt's told me one thing about what's been going on with him over the summer." Sam jumped; he'd almost forgotten Schue was in the room until the teacher spoke. "It's quite a story. I was going to give you a standard 'what I did this summer' assignment this week. But from what I've heard, I've decided that this week's theme is 'game changer'. I want you all to sing something that describes a huge life altering moment for you."

Mr. Schue wrote the assignment on the white board, eliciting groans from around the room. Kurt muttered an aside to Finn, and Sam was almost positive he'd heard 'mother coming back from the dead' in his grumble.

Sam though, couldn't really focus on it in his astonishment. "Wait. This club hands out homework?"

"[Bebe, I don't think this is a good idea]."

Kurt's grandmother looked across her sitting room at the President of Sateen, whom she called friend. She put aside her data pad and refilled his glass. "[Ari, your own hand-picked successor vouched for this procedure. Yes, it's risky. But I think the risk is manageable]."

"[I just don't understand why you're taking the risk at all]," he admitted amiably. "[Kasha is making excellent progress. In a couple of years-]"

"[She's running out of time]." Bebe poured herself some more water, using the moment to get her emotions under control. Aramid was drinking standard tea but clear water strengthened and consoled her, always had.

"[I don't understand.]"

"[Every day, my grandson and his father get closer to Burt-Hummel's new woman,]" Bebe revealed. It would be really easy to hate Carole-Hudson, but Bebe knew it wouldn't be honest. "[She really is a good woman, and I can't fault them for it. But if Kasha doesn't wake up soon it will be too late. Her whole life will be gone.]"

Aramid's face darkened with unease. "[I am sorry, Bebe.]"

Bebe was surprised by that. While she knew that Earthers sometimes said 'sorry' to mean 'condolences' the two words were quite different in Sateen standard. "[What have you done to be sorry?]" she asked, surprised.

Aramid smiled wanly. "[I'm the president of our world. My inactions are surely as damning as what I've done.]"

"[You are a dear man,]" Bebe told him, her smile much warmer than his. She'd learned a long time ago that power didn't equal results. If it did, she herself wouldn't be in this position. "[Which is why I hope I can count on your support in this matter.]"

He nodded. Concerned though he may be, she was convinced that he had her back. "[Of course. When will you be attempting this?]"

"[I need to speak to my grandson. By the end of the week, I think.]"

(to be continued)