Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited!

Sorry for taking so long to update, but as an excuse I was focusing on my Operating Systems class(which I got a B+ in!)

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Ledo didn't know what to say, he never thought something like this would ever happen. Chamber had given his hopes up long ago of ever seeing his old home again, and now, he didn't even think that he wanted to go back to it. There had to be some way that this work out in his advantage.

"That might be difficult, my Machine Caliber has been destroyed during my time on this planet." The oldest soldier looked around at the rusty ship, most likely thinking that something on here had destroyed the mecha. His face was skeptical, for obvious reasons too since all of the technology this place had was so primitive compared to the Alliance's.

"How did you find me here? Chamber said that the distress call we sent out would take over 6500 years until it got to Alliance."

"You are forgetting two things Second Lieutenant," one of the Machine Calibars said, "First is that time is relative and you have been aging faster while being on this planet, our society has been able to accomplish much in the time you were gone. After losing both you and Coronal Kugal, we have developed all Machine Calibars to have the ability to use hyperspace navigation within a single unit. Second, is that there are many bases and colonies in existence that are closer to here than the Alliance. Your message traveled to a colony that as about one light year away from here which was recently found and is now frequently checked upon. Your Machine Calibar did not know the location you were in because this colony was not updated to the database to the soldiers in your division yet."

"How did you find my exact location?"

The oldest soldier still looked at Ledo with an expressionless face as if the question he asked was obvious, "you still possess your Machine Calibar's handheld, we were able to find you do to that. Although it may be seemingly useless at the moment, it still has within it a tracker and a backup of the information your Machine Calibar stored."

Ledo thought about this for a moment, there was a backup of Chamber in this small device. He could get everything his mecha was in the past, just with a new body. This news trilled Ledo, but he was desperate not to show it in front of the soldiers. Also if they could make an image based from the information of everything the mecha knew, then that would mean the government would see that he was insubordinate by manipulating Chamber to release confidential information and that he was discharged by being mentally unstable. He needed to let himself seem as cooperative as possible so no one saw the need to search through Chamber's electronic memory.

"We would have arrived sooner to escort you back to the Alliance, however when we discovered that your location was our home planet, we had to report it to our commanding officers. It's big news to our society that we may be once again able to live on a planet. We are here to escort you back to the Alliance so you can brief the Generals on what you have learned while on this planet."

All Ledo could think about was how difficult this situation is since he can't just let the Alliance come here full force. Not when the origin of the Hideauze is here, they would annihilate them all on the spot without thinking. The Generals should already know the origin of the Hideauze anyways, that would probably make the situation worse since they will be even more less likely to listen to what he has to say. Unless…

"Amy," he turned slightly to look behind him, knowing that during the conversation she slowly made her way to the group. She was still wary of the huge machines and strange men so she kept some distance but she wanted to be there for Ledo. It would help if she was able to understand the language they were speaking, then she might be able to read the situation. The tone they were speaking in sounded so angry, but yet they all had a calm face when talking. Once hearing her name, she rushed the rest of the way to him.

Immediately she was intimidated by how much taller and daunting the soldiers looked compared to herself. Ledo seemed to pick up on this and made sure she was positioned behind him, looking to the side of his shoulder. She took in a moment to realize how much taller and stronger Ledo had gotten in the past few months, sure the other girls talked about it at the barbecue but seeing him look straight into the eyes of this stranger she could remember what he looked like when he first came to this ship.

"Ledo?" She looked up to him curious as to why he called her over to him. She had a hand on his shoulder blade and on his arm, still mostly hiding timidly from the foreign group. Then she took a closer look at the two on either side of the eldest, they looked so similar to how Ledo looked when they found him. So why was she acting so scared? This wasn't how she usually acted in these situations. Well unless if it involved ghosts that is, but this is no different than any other situation that they had been through together in the past, and she would walk beside him whatever it was.

"I have an idea," Ledo said to her as she stepped out from behind him. "I want you to come with me, back to the Alliance."

She did not see this one coming, he wanted her to leave? They were taking him away? Despite how much she wanted to stay with Ledo, she couldn't just leave her brother here. She couldn't just leave the fleet to go off into space, who knows how long that will take?

As knowing what she was already thinking, Ledo responded, "Don't worry it shouldn't take too long, and I can see if we can take Bevel too. Will you come with me?"

Judging from the result of how the last time he rushed off into danger, she knew that she would want to follow him in the end. There was nothing worse than watching him that day leave the fleet to hunt the whalesquid. And since they were possibly going to take Bevel with them, that was truly all that she needed. She nodded in confirmation. As they both turned back to the soldiers, Ledo began speaking in his native language again much to her dismay. It was practically antagonizing not to be able to understand the conversation, she trusted Ledo but who knew what these strangers were thinking.

"I request that Amy of Gargantia and her brother Bevel join us as well as ambassadors of earth."

"We inquire a reason," one of the Machine Calibars responded for the soldiers.

"I have only lived here a short term, if you are wanting to learn as much as you can about this planet, I suggest that we bring along ones that have spent their whole life here."

"Logic confirmed, they would be useful when planning the return of our society to this planet. I will arrange for a transport unit for them."

"It will take too long to just send a transmission" the oldest soldier responded to his mecha, "Private Meyer, go personally."

The soldier to his right who looked no older than 14 nodded and turned to his machine Calibar to get in. The group momentarily paused their conversation as the boy launched into space.

"Well, if we are awaiting for his return than we're going to have to show you to a place to stay in the mean time. Come, I'll show you to my apartment."

Ledo's apartment was a relatively small space with few possessions considering he had only been here for a little over a year and a half. At one point Amy talked him into getting more furniture, something about making the room more inviting for people to come over. Though it certainly didn't compare with how many things were in the other places he went.

After much insisting Amy convinced him that he should probably stay over her apartment again since there wasn't enough room for three grown men in his. Truth be told she just wanted him to sleep over again, but she wasn't going to say that out loud to him despite hoping that he was thinking the same.

After dropping the soldiers off at Ledo's place the continued back to the party they ran away from. As expected there was a huge commotion caused by the sight of something everyone thought was gone. Though this time, since it was recognized, there was no army sent after it. Actually, the people who saw Ledo and Amy leave a minute before the machines flew overhead calmed the rest of the crowd down saying that everything was being handled by them. This time since there were three of these machines instead of one, they might want to hold off on any type of rash force when they could clearly be destroyed so easily.

Ledo had to explain the situation to everyone at once and the multiple questions that rose from it. The hardest was when Saaya asked when they would be back with a tear in her eye. That he honestly didn't know but he hoped it wouldn't be long. Also considering the fact that time moved differently where he was going, it would be difficult to explain how everything would vary. If anything he would be would be gone for a year but they would only think it was a week or two.

Bellows wasn't exactly happy knowing that one of her best salvagers was going away till who knows when. But there was little she could do at this point and joked that she regretted giving him a day off.

After the party ended Ledo and Amy strolled back to her apartment to prepare for their adventure before going to sleep. Bevel accompanied them, his chair making a soft white noise as Ledo pushed him*. He was inconceivably excited about the trip. Never in his wildest dreams did Bevel ever think that he would be able to do into outer space. There was so much to learn out there, he hoped he would be able to find a library, or talk to some of the scientists out there. Maybe if he was luck he would be able to bring back a book or two to study.

Not long after they got home, Bevel was put to bed, tired from his exhausting but fun day. This left Ledo and Amy to talk the rest of the night about the trip they were about to take. Ledo could sense the anxiety coming from her, but there was also excitement. This would be something completely different than what she was used to. Most of the conversation was spent answering questions she had about the society she was walking into, some of which he didn't know since she asked about utopia that he had yet to see himself. After an hour or so they themselves got tired as well.

"Do you usually use your clothes to sleep in?" Amy questionably looked at him.

"No, but I didn't want to make you uncomfortable if I changed."

"Why would I be uncomfortable?"

"I sleep in my boxers."

"Oh," a blush creeped onto Amy's cheeks, "I guess it's not all that different from when we were swimming. It's fine."

"Really? It seems like you're intending on me sleeping next to you again, you seemed pretty embarrassed when other people found out."

"Ah, I'm sorry Ledo. I just get shy about it when talking with other people, I didn't mean it to seem like I was embarrassed to be with you."

"It's fine, as long as I know you want to be with me. I guess I can say your actions are… um, cute."

Amy's face broke out in a blush again, half the time it seems like he doesn't know what he's saying but yet he's so blunt at the same time. She could tell she was unwillingly making a shocked and confused face, but she couldn't help it.

"Yep, cute." He happily smiled down at her, the fact that he found her frazzled state enjoyable really wasn't helping her. But, she guessed that having him like another part of her was better than disliking it. She took a step forward to wrap her arms around his chest to bury her head in it.

Ledo was still not used to these kinds of actions but once again he was not complaining. If this was how she was going to react to, he guessed this could fall under compliments, then he might want to say them more often. They stayed like that for a while in silence.

"Come on, let's go to bed." Amy nodded against him then began to pull away. She mentioned briefly that she was going to check if Bevel had woken up or needed anything before stepping out of the room. Ledo took this as an opportunity to get changed, she did say that it was fine to dress in his normal sleeping apparel but if he were to change in front of her, she would probably get flustered again. That and he figured that he would probably feel uncomfortable as well if she was in here while he was changing. Though it was strange that he felt so self conscious now when before he wouldn't. Even when the tree girls attacked him to go swimming for the first time he didn't think this much about it. Somehow this new dynamic of their relationship was affecting him, but then again she always brought emotions in him that he never knew he had. So much for his only goal in life being the perfect soldier.

After his clothes were folded to the side, he climbed into the awaiting bed. A short while after, Amy closed the door behind her and did the same. It was nice to have one more night like this together before their world would be thrown into chaos again.

…

There was a loud knock at the door. Ledo seriously wished that mornings like this would stop getting interrupted, so far 2 and 0 was not a good sign. He quickly glanced at the window to get a general idea of the time. It was barely dawn. No one should be up at this time, especially since the fleet was still stopped from no wind. Seeing that Amy was still asleep he decided that he wouldn't get up to disturb her, maybe the people would just go away.

Unfortunately the knock was louder the second time, looks like he could never win. Amy shifted a bit as she woke, her obvious intentions were to answer the door. Ledo felt bad that she would have to be the one to greet someone so early in the morning when he knew that the only ones that would be here at this time would be the soldiers they met the previous day. The only other people who would visit her apartment would be Saaya, Melty and himself and neither of the two girls would ever come this early in the morning. He whispered in her ear that he would get the door and in a moment of courage he kissed her cheek while climbing over her. He could see a small smile on her sleepy face as he exited the room.

He opened the awaiting door to sure enough find the soldiers waiting for him. Only question is why.

"What brings you here this early?" now was a bad time to remember that he didn't put any other clothes on before answering the door. Not that it mattered currently since he knew that his former comrades would rarely care about such things, but anyone else stopping by from Gargantia would probably make a fuss.

"We are here to start this morning's training sir." Oh right, Ledo remembered, there was always a morning training session everyday to keep everyone's body fit. This was typically led by whomever was the highest ranked officer below a Colonel, which in this case would be himself, unless the officer was somehow unavailable or had to order the next officer below to take over. Being the lowest officer position, it was rare that he was ever in charge of this routine since there were four other ranks to take over before the responsibility fell onto him, though it had happened twice before. Funny how he hadn't even thought of his previous morning ritual in so long. He briefly wondered how far out of shape he was, or how much better he would be at it since getting help from Pinion. He would find out soon enough he guessed.

"Give me one minute." Before either man could respond he closed the door to retreat back into Amy's apartment. The clothes he brought with him weren't exactly great for working out in, but it would have to do for now. Ledo didn't really feel like doing this right now but he doubted the two Privates would take it very well if he skipped out for no reason. The better their report of him to the generals, the better his situation will be, he hoped at least.

He told Amy he had to leave for a while but he would be back later to help her prepare for her extraterrestrial journey. He assumed that the closer it got to the time to part, the more nervous she would get. It's only natural for someone to react as such when partaking in a new experience. She may be used to flying around on a glider, but that's completely different from the dangers of flying in space. Before leaving he picked up the letters he wrote the night before they went to sleep to those he didn't have time to tell he was leaving and didn't attend the party the day when he dropped the bombshell. He didn't doubt they already knew that there were visitors from where he came from here, the large robotic machines were pretty hard to miss, but this was also to tell everyone that Amy was leaving with him. Ledo figured that part of this mornings 'training' could be running around the fleet, informing a handful of people the journey he was about to take.

The two Privates didn't complain that the only thing they had to do was run the whole time. Ledo knew that usually this whole concept was meant to be harder, especially since they were given breaks every time Ledo had to stop somewhere to talk to someone like Ridget, Dr. Oldham, and Amy's boss. He figured that they were enjoying the time off from their usually strenuous activities. During their run he found out that the older Private was named Hayes and the younger was Davis.

Hayes had quite a different mentality compared to Ledo when he was in the military. Where Ledo turned himself into the perfect soldier, Hayes was relatively lazy and didn't aspire to go through the ranks of the army. He just wanted to serve his time to get out. Becoming one of the leading politicians was more appealing to him, he wanted to help shape the future of their society by making decisions rather than dying. He had more of a personality than he ever thought possible of someone from his home, being relatively outspoken and lively.

Davis was the quieter of the two which made it hard to extract any personal information from. All Ledo received was that he was trying to become an engineer that helped design the Machine Calibars after he served the minimal time in the military. Due to Davis' nature, Ledo eventually gave up on his inquiries to continue talking to Hayes.

"So, when do you expect Meyer to get back with the transport unit?" Ledo's breath was slightly ragged as he spoke to Hayes as they continued their run.

"Shouldn't be too long until he returns, the speed we have acquired has increased our productivity greatly."

"In that case we better go back to Amy's apartment so she can gather things she would need for the trip." They increased their speed for a last sprint through the winding paths through the fleet. Upon entering the room, Ledo could smell delicious food. He looked behind him to see the reactions of the members of the Alliance, unsurprisingly they were confused by the aroma.

"What is this?" Hayes looked at the contents on the table in mild disgust.

"Looks like Amy made us lunch before we leave."

"This is the food you eat here? My Machine Calibar is telling me that this is an animal's carcass."

"I thought it was appalling when I first arrived as well. After you get over the concept it's actually really good. Amy makes some of the best meals."

"What are you guys saying? You better not be insulting my cooking!" Momentarily Ledo forgot that Amy couldn't understand them, he merely laughed and assured her that they weren't. Though he didn't tell her that this kind of food was a foreign to the soldiers, she would learn soon enough of how dull the meals he was previously used to were. She was still pouting at him, not liking how she couldn't understand the conversation.

In a huff she turned back to the mean in progress. Ledo gestured for the soldiers to take a seat, meanwhile he peered from behind Amy to reach around her in hopes of stealing a bite.

"Hey! It's not done yet! You can wait like everyone else." She attempted to swat his hand away but it was already too late. His hand containing the piece of food rose above her head, she momentarily cursed at how much Ledo had grown in the past year.

Knowing that as long as Amy was struggling against him he wouldn't be able to actually eat the scrap, Ledo pulled her opposing arm down and held her against him, effectively trapping it against her side.

"You two have become a lot closer in the past few days." To Amy's dismay, her brother took this moment to come out of his room to greet their guests. Her face started to turn red, pondering a good excuse for the current proximately of her and Ledo.

Ledo on the other hand took this opportunity to drop the slice of meat into his mouth. Releasing her, he walked back to the table where Hayes was watching the interaction with interest and Davis was barely paying attention.

As Bevel was retrieving plates for the group to use, Hayes spoke to Ledo in their own language, "why does the boy not use his legs?"

"Bevel suffers from a heart condition and usually has to take it easy on his body," Ledo answered not remembering the conditions of the society he used to be a part of.

"Bevel, isn't that the other person we are supposed to be taking to the base? Why would we take a person who is useless to society?" The thought was like a slap in the face to Ledo. Part of him remembers the time when he said the same thing and instantly felt guilt. He was glad that Bevel couldn't hear them, comments like that are never good for one's self esteem despite if he says that he's un-bothered by them. This was actually one of the reasons why Ledo wanted to take Bevel with him, besides personally liking the boy and using it to encourage Amy to accompany him, Ledo wanted to introduce a new way of thinking to his former home. The more he can get the Alliance to question their way of thinking, the more he would hopefully persuade them to not harm the whalesquid when they inevitably find them.

"He is actually considered a genius on this fleet. He meets with the leaders to help with the civil structure and occasionally fight off pirates. Even though he can't move as well as others, he rises above them when it comes to knowledge. He is a most valuable asset to this society."

Hayes nodded his understanding of Ledo's response, there was momentarily relief that there was no further questioning. At that moment there were plates were set in front of them, Ledo could see the next challenge of making these men more open minded had now arrised. Before either Private could do more than open up their mouths, he said, "It is seen as rude to deny the food a host provides their guest, we are going to have to fit in with this society so we are going to have to learn and accept the concepts that they uphold."

This effectively quieted both of the men up to begrudgingly consume the food. They shortly realized their superior was right in the fact that once they got over the thought of eating an animal's corpse, the food was like nothing they have ever had before, in a good way.

Interrupting the meal was the loud noise of a large object flying overhead. There was no doubt in anyone's mind sitting at the table that Meyer had finally returned which meant their expedition to space was now to begin. Bags for the three occupants of Gargantia were retrieved hastily before the door to the apartment was shut.

A group had formed in front of the three Machine Calibars, two of which had not moved since landing on the ship, and the transportation ship to wish a safe journey to their friends and comrades. Bevel's wheelchair was folded and put into the back of the ship which was securely attached to Meyer's Calibar. After hugs from Bellows, a 'manly' handshake with Pinion, and being told by Ridget that he would be paying for the fee for having such large cargo stored on the fleet overnight when he gets back, Ledo finally hoisted himself into the cockpit of the ship next to Amy. They donned suits much like the one that Ledo had before he settled down in the fleet and bought his own clothes. He knew these suits would allow them all to sustain through the force they would experience when traveling through space.

With one last wave all four units began to rise in the sky slowly to avoid damage to the ship.

"Ledo…" he briefly looked over to Amy who was giving him a face that said she was scared of this experience but didn't want to admit it out loud.

He reached over to grab her hand reassuringly, "Everything will be fine, I've been doing this since before I can remember."

She sighed for a moment before squeezing his hand and looking forward out the window. After they were a reasonable height above the fleet, the boosters finally kicked into gear and they sprung through the atmosphere. One thing that Ledo forgot about was that with an atmosphere such as Earth, there was turbulence when traveling through it. This was personally something was expected subconsciously from having training on random planets to deal with this kind of situation, but Amy on the other hand had never experienced such rapid movements on a vehicle that her nerves had totally left her. Getting her to calm down was going to take some time, especially since he just said there was nothing to worry about.

/ *A/N dude, has anyone ever thought of how Bevel gets up all of those stairs o.O I haven't seen any type of elevator in Gargantia, or at least I don't remember.