Takeshi Mori and GONZO own all characters mentioned and such. I lay claim to nothing aside from the situations they are placed into.

A/N: Takes place immediately after the 2nd Stage.

And I have no idea what the woman's planet is called. There are numerous and countless spellings and translations…so I'm sticking with Mejeru, which seems to be what the English dubs place, it as.

Growth of a Nation

Chapter 1: Adventures in Co-habitation

Hibiki looked around the room he'd been given. After the fairly short 'conference' that took place between the eight leaders of Tarak, he was escorted out and into this new area.

Hibiki shook his head as he remembered seeing the man he called his grandfather among the leaders. It was quite a shock, to be sure. Even more shocking, was that he was the son of Zen, the leader of Tarak, and Anri, the leader of Mejeru. And the man he had come to acknowledge as his grandfather was his uncle.

However the main points of the conference stuck in his mind over anything else; the remaining 1st generation still in cold sleep would soon be released. The only problem with that idea was that neither past nor present population could possibly be ready for what they would encounter.

As a result, both Zen and Anri petitioned the help of Magno. The base of operations for the pirates would be the place where the 1st generation would stay, as the pirate crew had dealings with co-habitation to a degree. Although it would be on a vastly different scale, the results were expected to be the same.

The idea had solid backing in its beliefs, as the 1st generation males and females held no animosity towards each other. With the upbringing the 1st generation received and the tolerance that the crew already had for the opposite sex; the plan seemed to have a solid foundation to start on.

Hibiki sighed as he looked around again. Although it was a great deal nicer than his previous home in the slums of the undercity, it still didn't feel like home. All of the little trinkets and machines that he'd collected over the years gave comfort to the young man. He had things that he'd collected the first couple of days when he first came to the city, to the few days before he was forced on the incredible journey in space due to him rashly boasting about his talents.

Hibiki slightly lowered his head and mumbled something about wanting to go back home. That's when the idea struck him. He remembered the guards leaving shortly after they escorted him to his current location, so why couldn't he just sneak back out?

Hibiki grabbed his bundle of belongings and made his way to the door. He opened his door to a rather loud 'swoosh' sound and immediately jumped back, afraid his cover might've been blown. After no one came to the door to investigate, he made his move. He made sure that no one was either around or looking in his direction before he slowly started to creep outside. When he succeeded in doing so, he crouched and pushed the button to close the door. As it shut, he cringed at its loudness; for being such a nice area, the doors were awfully loud.

Hibiki slowly made his way to the corner of the building and looked around before he finally turned and started sneaking down the other side. He was looking behind him still when he ran into something that he wasn't expecting: another person.

He immediately looked up and prepared an excuse, but was both relieved and irritated to see who it was.

"What are you doing Mr. Alien?"

Hibiki sighed and looked around again before answering with, "I'm going back to my home."

Dita looked at him in confusion, "But Dita thought you were home?"

Hibiki put his right hand to his head, "I meant my real home. The place I used to live before everything happened."

Dita's eyes lit up as he mentioned his previous surroundings, "Really? Can Dita come with Mr. Alien to see?"

Hibiki winced and put a finger to his mouth, "Shhhh! Not so loud!" He quickly looked around himself and behind Dita to see if anyone had heard. As Hibiki turned back to glare at her, he couldn't seem to keep his ire. The young woman had a look of curiosity and admiration that was directed towards him.

Hibiki sighed and scratched the side of his head, "I guess you can come…just-"

"Yey! Dita gets to see wh-"

"Shhhh!" Hibiki quickly responded as he clasped his hand over her mouth, "Geez, you're noisy…If you don't keep it down we'll get caught."

Hibiki grabbed her hand and started leading her quickly away from the side of the building. As soon as they were far enough away from the housing area, Hibiki sighed and flashed a cocky grin.

"Well there went the hard part. Now we just have to get there." Dita nodded in confirmation with a smile.

Then the thought suddenly hit Hibiki, "Crap…"

Dita looked at him curiously again, "What's the matter?"

"You are," Hibiki replied before thinking about it. But when he saw the hurt in the girl's eyes and the frown that appeared on her face, he quickly corrected himself, "That isn't what I meant! You're a woman…and so far, there aren't any on Tarak…so we need to keep you covered so no one can see you."

Dita quickly regained her smile and nodded before accepting a rather large and worn looking piece of cloth that Hibiki handed her. When she finished covering herself so that no one could see her face or most of her body, she looked at Hibiki.

"How does Dita look?"

Hibiki smirked, "As long as you can keep quiet, you can pass as something acceptable."

Dita nodded and proceeded to follow Hibiki into the dark alleyway.

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Nirvana

Meia walked into the cafeteria area of the Nirvana and made a mug of coffee. She took a short pull of the dark, steaming liquid and looked around before sitting at the closest table.

Although the men had left only hours earlier, Meia could see that several of the crew were disheartened. But then again, Dita had accompanied the little group. Dita was known to be a bit more cheerful and carefree than most members of the crew. That little fact alone made her easy to get along with; and while the men leaving wasn't such a blow, Dita leaving with them left several people rather down. Meia couldn't imagine what it would be like if the small group was gone for more than a month.

As Meia looked around, she could count the four helmswomen all sitting around looking rather…sluggish. Celtic, Belvedere, Ezra and Amarone were all sitting at one table engaged in a quiet conversation. Parfet and Misty seemed to be chatting at another table until the chief engineer left the room. That left Misty to stand by herself. However, Misty soon noticed Meia and began walking towards her.

Meia sighed quietly and prepared herself for the young girl's attentions. Although they weren't normally bad, Misty was the only person on the ship, aside from Hibiki, Magno and Gascogne, that had ever seen certain sides of her.

"Onee-sama!" Meia looked up to see that Misty was standing in front of her with a smile.

"Misty," she returned with a small nod.

Misty sat down across from Meia and looked at her with admiration, "Onee-sama, what has gotten into everyone?"

Meia raised an eyebrow slight, "What do you mean?"

"Well…some people seem to be depressed, while others seem to be a little pensive and irritable."

Meia nodded, "That's understandable, since so much pressure is being put on us for this project to work." Misty nodded in agreement, "As for being depressed…wouldn't you feel a bit down if one of your friends left for a while? It's only a logical response for people that miss someone."

"Onee-sama, do you miss someone as well?"

Meia looked at Misty with a small sense of shock, "Why would you ask that?"

"Well…onee-sama seems a little more distant than usual. Could it be…that onee-sama misses Hibiki too?"

Meia sighed and shook her head slightly, "If I said no, then it would be nothing more than a lie. Without both he and Dita here, the ship seems…empty."

Misty looked out the window into the vast region of space, "I just hope they come back soon. I miss them too."

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There had been little problems getting to his former quarters, but the main problem now lay in getting inside. Hibiki shuffled through all of his belongings to find the one thing that could give him access to his sanctuary. As he rummaged through his things, he noticed that the shrouded figure off to his side was shaking slightly.

"What's wrong with you? Are you cold?"

The figure shook its head.

"Alright, whatever. Let's get inside first so we can at least talk." Hibiki turned back and started looking for his keycard again. After several more moments he finally pulled a sleek white and grey card from somewhere in the pile, "Finally! Here it is."

He got up and passed the card through the door scanner, "Please present form of identification."

Hibiki then placed his hand on the scanner on the left side of the door. A dull green light passed beneath it in several directions. After a few moments, the blinking red light turned green and the door slid open.

Hibiki grabbed the corners of his cloth and quickly pulled it inside. The covered figure followed him in immediately after Hibiki vanished through the doorframe.

As soon as the door closed, Dita took off her 'cloak' and looked around.

"Wow…Mr. Alien sure is messy."

Hibiki darted an annoyed look at her, "Well when you're forced to work in the factories all the time, it's hard to keep things in order. Plus, I never had a reason to. I know where everything is…"

Dita giggled as she looked at the flustered face of the young man. Hibiki glanced at her, then away as he felt his face heat up.

"Why'd you want to come here with me anyway…It's not that interesting."

Dita shook her head, "No, anything that Dita can learn about Mr. Alien is always interesting. Dita wants to learn everything she can."

That being said, Dita started looking around and exploring the little space that Hibiki called home. After a few hours of organization and talking about certain things, Hibiki's room was less of a hell hole and looked more of a place to reside and live.

If Hibiki was annoyed or angry, he didn't show it in the least. He'd stopped rejecting Dita and her feelings ever since the trialhe went through. The chief of what he dubbed the 'spirit talkers' had certainly given him a challenge. And he'd overcome it. Yet, it was during the heat of the final battle that Hibiki had truly understood the words of Chief Kokoperi and the trial he was presented with.

Hibiki only had to overcome himself when facing any obstacle. It was his own emotions and thoughts that held him back, not anything the enemy did.

Dita turned and looked at Hibiki as she finished cleaning out the last corner in the room. The smile on Hibiki's face as he was looking at her made her blush. When Hibiki realized she was looking, he quickly looked away.

"Are you satisfied now?"

Dita looked at him, and then around the room with a thoughtful look, "Dita thinks it could be a bit more colorful."

"Oh no you don't! No way, never. Tidy I can live with, but no way "pretty-pretty," as you call it."

Dita smiled and looked around again, "Then Dita thinks everything is done. What does Mr. Alien think?"

Hibiki sighed, "It's fine…and I don't know about you, but I'm tired."

Hibiki turned and started to take off his orange vest, but got his cast stuck on the insides of the sleeve. After struggling for a few moments and cursing under his breath, he felt a hand touch his shoulder and looked back to see Dita. She had a look of concern written across her face.

"Do you need help?"

Hibiki was about to launch into his normal rant, but stopped when he realized all she was trying to do was help.

He stopped struggling and nodded slightly. Dita gently held out his arm and quickly pulled the left sleeve of his vest off his arm.

Hibiki looked at the ground and mumbled a word of thanks before walking to the end of the 'bed' and sitting down with his back against the wall.

Dita frowned slightly before taking off her own jacket and lying down on the mattress. However, she moved the pillow to the opposite side of the bed and placed her hands under her chin while staring at the boy.

Hibiki looked up to see the girl looking at him intently from the edge of the bed, "What is it?"

"Is Mr. Alien sure he wouldn't be more comfortable with Dita? It seems uncomfortable down on the floor…"

Hibiki shook his head, "I'm fine." He shifted to his side to avoid her gaze, but muttered, "Maybe another time."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he immediately winced and waited for her to start yelling. When nothing came he looked back at her and saw a smile on her face.

"Dita will hold Hibiki to that when he comes to her room."

Dita then relaxed and placed her head on the pillow. She couldn't see the look that the red-faced Hibiki possessed as he thought of something to say.

With a grunted, "Whatever," Hibiki turned to his side again and cradled his broken arm in his lap while he slowly drifted off to sleep.

A/N: May be OOC, but I don't really know. The last few episodes do give the impression that Hibiki has at least accepted Dita to a degree. And of course, the ever unfulfilled promise.

Next chapter will deal with a bit more of the 'selection process' than anything else. Along with a twist :P

Until later!