Chapter Four: Little Star (Space AU)
Izuku sat in complete silence as he looked out the bubble-shaped window and into the cosmic fields. The floor was chilly against his bare feet, but he was used to the cold of space travel. He'd been used to it for well over seventy years now.
Had it really been that long since he'd been forced to flee from the ruins of his home world? Sometimes it was a wonder for him to look back and remember that he was over a hundred years old. By the standards of his people, he was still so young. Well, what was left of his people.
Despite his age, Izuku looked like a young man in his twenties. Perks of being immortal, he thought dryly.
Of course, the cons of being immortal included your five-thousand-year-old monster of a great uncle—the Imperial King—hunting you and your little band of renegades until you served him or died.
His eyes lingered from one star to another as he swept his gaze over them like he would a hill of flowers on his home world. He felt a pang of homesickness at the thought of that, but he pushed it down. It wasn't safe there anymore.
Well, honestly they weren't safe anywhere. The stolen Andromedan Cruiser they were traveling in, the Ninth Star, was the crew's only safe refuge.
It was a crew comprised of a mix of criminals, runaways, and a few of Izuku's surviving friends from his home world. They were a quirky bunch and a few of them probably got a bit overexcited when it came to raiding Imperial Outposts for supplies, but they were his most trusted allies.
The sound of sheets moving behind him reminded Izuku that the ship carried someone else, far outside the norm of Ninth Star's usual crew.
"Can't sleep?" A soft, sleepy voice broke the silence. Izuku glanced back as the apparently young woman shifted her legs over the side of their bed to stand up. His gaze caught her shiver when her feet touched the cold floor, but she didn't voice her discomfort. Amber eyes glowed against black sclera, and stood out even in the gloom of their bedroom.
"We're gonna need to hit another outpost soon," he said as she made her way over to him. Izuku tried not to focus on the sway of her hips, or how good his shirt looked on her. The pink skin of her long legs was distracting enough, but he stomped down his mind's wanderings for the moment. He was being serious.
"I know," Mina sighed, sitting next to him and leaning bodily into her lover. She was careful to avoid poking him with the two small horns on her head. "We really need to get more ammunition for the ship. It'll be safer to take the armor out from a distance than go in on foot."
He didn't voice his worry that an Imperial Base containing any relevant ammunition would be heavily guarded. The risk would be higher, for sure. She knew that, too.
And she knew that he would not risk her safety for extra bullets.
Mina was one of the last Xenosians in the galaxy. Her race had been almost wiped out by All for One's most loyal servant, Gigantomachia. The Planet Breaker had all but driven her species to extinction.
She was the last of her planet's royal bloodline, a Princess with no people left to keep safe. And she had been given no chance to seek out any survivors—Gigantomachia had seen to that. He'd been hunting her relentlessly ever since she escaped her ruined home world and joined the crew of the Ninth Star.
Izuku had been the only thing keeping Gigantomachia from capturing and killing her. His very presence was enough to give the Planet Breaker a sense of caution.
Izuku's race was endangered just as Mina's. Once a mighty people, brought low by one of their own—All for One. Izuku's abilities made him horrifically powerful, even as All for One hunted him down in a quest to bring Izuku to his side.
But Izuku had a few members of his own race here on the ship. Just a handful he'd escaped the planet with. Mina was on her own even here. For all they knew, she could very well be the last of her species. Gigantomachia had been ruthlessly thorough about hunting down and eliminating any surviving cells of Xenosians.
They were survivors. Fragments of their respective races.
And somewhere amidst their many escapades, vicious fights, and close calls of the last fifty years, they'd grown to love one another so very much.
Izuku gathered Mina into his arms and pulled her onto his lap, pressing his nose into her curly hair. It was starting to get long again. He'd ask if she wanted a trim tomorrow, when they were more awake.
Mina hummed into his embrace and nuzzled closer, lifting a hand to cup his cheek. Her thumb stroked his freckles absently as she too, turned her gaze to the field of stars. The ship was concealed beneath the shadow of a giant planetary ice ring. Silver-blue diamond dust seemed to hover above the stars that were far and away from them.
Izuku kissed her forehead to get her attention. "Hey…about..about the other day…I mean—do you know if…?"
Mina was quiet for several minutes. Izuku didn't want to push the topic—he was terrified of it, but he was more terrified of flying them into a battle zone while she wasn't at one-hundred percent. Oh, she could kick ass and take names like the best of them, but recently she'd become somewhat ill, and her symptoms had festered a suspicion in Izuku's mind.
They needed supplies and specifically ammunition, but ammunition be damned if it meant putting her at risk when—
"I'm pregnant," she murmured. Her voice shook with an undercurrent of overwhelming happiness and utter horror. Mina's hand grasped his and clenched it tightly. He squeezed back and buried his face into her neck.
It should have been a moment to sweep her off her feet, to spin around and laugh with her like in those cheesy romance novels Momo was so fond of. It wasn't.
This wasn't a life for a child and they knew it. Not to mention of Gigantomachia ever found out, he'd redouble the efforts to capture Mina and murder her and their unborn baby. Or worse, All for One himself would seek them out. The baby's father was Izuku, after all. If it were to inherit his devastating power…
"I can't give it up," Mina told him, her voice shaking. Izuku nodded into her neck, unable to speak past the lump in his throat. Both of their races had incredibly low conception rates. They were both immortal, but they did not bear offspring often. He could scarcely believe she'd conceived at all, given that they'd been lovers for just twenty years now.
To take this child away from Mina—when she could very well not conceive again for decades or longer—would be the cruelest of fates.
Assuming this child even survived to be born. If they didn't find a hiding place soon where Mina could carry the baby in safety until she gave birth…
Izuku felt her tears falling onto his skin and he squeezed her tightly. "I'm calling Katsuki tomorrow. If we can hide on one of the planets he controls…"
Mina stiffened at the mention of the vicious, spacefaring pirate. Katsuki—better known as Ground Zero—was not known for his diplomacy skills, and he'd fought Izuku before. That had ended badly for both of them, even if Izuku had earned his grudging respect.
He still bore the scars of that encounter. Mina dreaded the thought of Izuku having to fight that man again.
"I am not going to let us lose this," one of Izuku's shaking hands fell to her tummy, where her womb would no doubt grow months from not. "I'm keeping you safe."
"He could kill you," she breathed. Mina knew Izuku was strong, but Katsuki had almost single-handedly blown up a moon with his terrifying abilities the last time they'd gotten into a fight. He was one of the few beings capable of not just wounding, but outright killing Izuku. That was terrifying in itself.
Her sense of horror was growing as she realized Izuku would not hesitate to challenge Katsuki if that was what it took to find a refuge safe enough for her.
If she lost him now, she would not be able to go on.
"He won't," Izuku promised her. "He's a jackass, but we've come to…an understanding. Sort of. Maybe it'll come to a fight, but nothing as dramatic as Gamma-Two. It'll be fine."
Mina squeezed her eyes shut. His mind was made up, but she knew that for all her fears he was right. Neither All for One or Gigantomachia would expect them to hide with one of Izuku's worst rivals.
They'd be safe on one of Katsuki's wild planets for at least a year if he succeeded. Enough time for Mina to give birth and recover from the ordeal.
And then they'd start running again, (this time with a baby to care for) until they found a way to topple All for One's Empire or were killed themselves.
Or maybe, just maybe, they found a place to hide forever from his clutches.
Izuku gently lifted her chin to plant a firm, but soft kiss on her lips. Mina let out a throaty hum at the contact and allowed herself to relax and melt into his affection. She loved him. She loved him so much it hurt. Even now, with the terrifying and joyful knowledge that there was a new life growing inside of her, she didn't doubt for a moment that she loved him. That he loved her and their unborn child unconditionally and without regrets.
The kiss ended a few moments later and they leaned their heads against one another, eyes closed and silent, but saying far more than they could ever voice with words. Their hands intertwined and a calm fell over the lovers, and with that calm, their happiness caused them to laugh in a mess of quiet giggles.
The stars glistened back, reflecting the joy the two spacefaring runaways felt in that moment. Soon, they would find their lives orbiting the little star growing safely in Mina's womb.
And somehow, everything was going to be okay.
A/N: Halfway there, yay! I'll try to get the last three chapters out before this week is up! Look forward to them!