A/N: Hi everyone! Sooo sorry for the long wait between updates. I have just watched Macross Zero again and am starting to watch the original series. I look forward to writing how things during Space War I unfold from Mao's perspective, which should be quite unique and different from what we all know already. Thank you so much for the reviews so far, Darth Tabby and FrothyMug, and to those reviewing Sheryl's story as well. I look forward to exploring the possibilities for Mao's story and what happened to her between Zero and Frontier.

Another Sheryl chapter will also be posted soon!


I was up early the next morning, taking a boat out onto the water for one last swim in the reefs before I had to leave. I would perform one final ceremony as priestess before leaving my people, resting assured that Nutouk and the few U.N. SPACY people that stayed on the island would take proper care of them until I could visit again. But right now I just wanted to be in the ocean, to play with the animals as I used to. It wouldn't be the same in Macross City. But I still had to go.

Trying to remain lighthearted, I smiled as I dove off the ship, headfirst into the warm ocean waters. Resurfacing, I breathed deep the salty air and tried to memorize the feeling of the water around me, the sunlight glittering down on the calm waves. Softly singing the Mayan language version of 'Yanyan', I dove again into the blue, enveloped by the sea.

Down below, the fish still swam in schools over the colorful reef. I chased after a small, shimmering green one that darted by, paddling down towards some rocks where a cuttlefish floated, flashing colors across its body to signal one thing or another. It was amazing, really, that despite the awful destruction on the surface these creatures survived, resilient and peaceful, beneath the waves. There was certainly hope for life on this planet, if only humans could try and learn from these more innocent creatures.

A flash above caught my attention and I looked up, feeling a little thrill as I saw a school of flying fish skim by above me, heading towards the surface. I broke into a swift swim, chasing them upwards, joining with them and breaking the surface just as they did, to watch them fly all around me, silver-blue, shining, and free, reminding me of Shin and my sister and everything that had happened recently. But I didn't feel sad. I felt happy. Whatever had happened to the two of them, they were at peace and together, and I was certain I would be able to meet them again one day, even if it was ages from now.

Right now, there were other things I had to do, and I felt it strongly. I had a life to live, even if they could not share it with me. I had a future to build.

And I would build it in the city.


The residents of our tribe were finally moved off of the aircraft carrier onto the beach near our ruined huts and the huts that had already begun being rebuilt. Standing in front of them on the sand, I clutched the shining pink, blue, and green earrings in the silver setting that had been passed down in our tribe. It was tradition for the priestess to wear them on the first ceremony she administered, but I had really not had the chance when I had sung on the aircraft carrier during the battle with the Bird Human and the Anti-U.N Alliance. The earrings had still been in Sara's and my ruined hut, but now I had them again, and so I would wear them now.

As I fastened them onto my ears, Nutouk standing next to me and watching me with pride and my people anxiously awaiting my farewell song, I felt an odd sensation running through me. I only really half-believed the old legends of our tribe, now that it seemed Rooy Kanu and Rooy Waka were more metaphors for the Protoculture aliens everyone was theorizing about and their intervention in human development, but there was something in these earrings. They felt like they connected me to those ancient beings that had come to our island, leaving these earrings and the Bird Human behind as the only proof they had been there, giving rise to our legends and traditions. Our song had some kind of power, that was certain, and I felt connected to all of the Kaduns as a priestess should, especially as I know had the Bird Human's blood within me.

I desperately wanted to connect our old legends to the reality out there somehow, to the aliens, to the whereabouts of my sister and Shin, to everything. But first I had to go to Macross City and go to school. And before then, I had to bid my tribe an appropriate farewell.

I felt a little young and nervous, but with the earrings dangling from my ears I also felt pride and a deep connection to our tribe, and so it was not too difficult for me to begin singing 'Arkan'. There were no stones nearby to raise into the air as my sister had done, but there were the faces of my people to reflect the power of the song, and the trembling and glinting of the earrings on my ears – although perhaps that last part was only my imagination.

The song was beautiful and reverberated throughout the beach, and I felt strengthened by it. Hopefully, my people did too. The farewell that followed, parting with Nutouk and so many of the people I had lived with for so long, was difficult, but I promised my people that I would always be thinking about them and would come back to visit whenever I could.

And then our tribe separated, myself and those who were going to the city with me walking down the beach toward the shore where boats would take us back to the U.N. aircraft carrier, and Nutouk and the others remaining on the beach. I waited until the rest of the tribe had gotten settled on the boats before taking Commander Focker's offered hand and stepping off of the sand of Mayan for the last time.

Looking back out at where Nutouk and the remainder of my people stood on the shore, I couldn't help but brush a few bittersweet tears from my eyes before smiling and waving my hand at them in farewell.

I would see them again. Surely.

I took a deep breath and turned back, trying to set my sights on the future instead of the past as our boat slowly floated towards the huge carrier in the distance.

"Are you ready then, Mao?" Commander Focker grinned at me, sober today as he sat down across from me.

"I… think so," I agreed, smiling shyly at him. I had only really gotten to know him well after the fighting stopped, and I felt differently towards him than I had towards Shin. He was more like a big brother type of figure. And I was, apparently, too young to spark his usual womanizing interests, though his mourning over Aries Turner was probably also a contributing factor. Her death had been utterly tragic. Although she had been a bit condescending towards Sara and our tribe's traditions at times, she had been a wise and kind woman, and her thoughts on Protoculture Theory completely inspired me.

"You'll love the city," he grinned, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back in the boat with that relaxed air he had about him. "I'll do what I can to help you get started in school, but I'll be pretty busy with the testing of the new Variable Fighter models that the U.N. wants me to do."

"You need them," I agreed, "before you try and launch the alien spacecraft for the first time, right?"

"Ideally," he agreed. "It should be ready to launch within the year, is what they keep saying. Already the mayor of Macross City is getting ready for a huge celebration on that date. It will be quite an experience for you, I'm sure."

"Mm," I nodded, trying to imagine what a celebration would be like in a huge modern city, with electronics and music and lights and crowds. It was thrilling and I looked forward to being a participant.

Soon our little boat arrived at the carrier and I climbed up the ladder to stand on the main deck, smiling at the line of VF-0 Variable Fighters in front of me, their silver surfaces glinting in the sunlight. Commander Focker would be testing new versions of the fighters soon, and I would be going to school to learn all about modern technology and space and the future of humankind.

The ship was already drawing up the anchor and soon it began to move, slowly, across the ocean toward its destination at Macross City on South Ataria Island. I could not resist running to the bow of the ship and letting the wind rush past me as I stared out at the distant horizon filled with hope, joy, and excitement.

I had not forgotten about my island and my people behind me, but I was also thrilled to be looking towards the future.

Towards the new world that I would be a part of.