Chapter 12: Fears and Choices
Zakuro sat and stared through the vision port of the spaceship. Outside nothing could be seen – no light, no stars, and really, no darkness. As they sped down the wormhole, all seemed to be shapeless gray – a shapeless gray that somehow seemed to have vague shapes in it. On the other side of the cramped compartment, Aoyama Masaya sat alone, staring at the floor. Or was it the ceiling? Everything was weightless, and there was no up, no down.
At what must have been the front of the compartment, Pai sat and stared at his instruments. He has told them that it had been many years since one of the aliens' ships had entered a wormhole and never came out the other side. Yet he was concerned, and watched his computer and displays carefully. Of course, Pai always acted concerned, and most likely there was no problem. But the silent Pai was not about to tell them if there were.
Zakuro sighed. As the days of the journey passed, she had become more and more uneasy. Aoyama was sunk within himself, unable to think about anything except Ichigo. And Ryou as usual was so self-absorbed that he noticed the others not at all. But someone did notice; and oddly, it was the child alien that approached Zakuro.
Taruto sat himself directly in front of Zakuro in silence, staring at the wolf-girl. Zakuro looked into his eyes in silence also; and then the alien spoke quietly. "What's wrong?"
Zakuro half-smiled. It was odd that of all the people on the ship, it was the child that had noticed her unease. She thought for a few seconds, and then, apparently, decided that the child was harmless. "I'm worried. And we all should be."
The child alien cocked his head to the right, and asked, "Why be worried? Pai knows what he's doing."
"Well, you've done space travel before. We haven't." Zakuro's words were said with another half-smile. Then the smile disappeared. "But that's not what I'm thinking of. You have to know what might happen, if Kisshu really did kidnap Ichigo. If we find her on your planet, there will probably be a fight. Kisshu won't let go of her, and we won't let him have her."
Taruto smiled broadly. "That'll be fun! And – we'll kick your butts!"
Zakuro just shook her head, and then stared at the floor. "It won't be fun, if some of us end up dead." She watched the smile fade from the child alien's face, and then she went on, "But that's not the worst, not really. I'm worried about something else." She turned away from the alien and started out the window. "I'm afraid – what if Ichigo is there, but by choice? What if it wasn't a kidnapping, but instead, they eloped together? What if Ichigo chose Kisshu and rejected all the rest of us – her parents, her friends, her boyfriend, her people, her world?"
"No," Aoyama suddenly said from the seat against the far wall. Obviously, he had been listening to Zakuro's sad musings. "If she went on her own, then Mint would not have gotten her pendant."
Zakuro slowly shook her head. "Maybe. But she could have given the pendant to Mint, or even Berry, as part of leaving her old life behind. Remember, we haven't yet heard Mint's version of the story. And it would make a lot of sense for Kisshu to ask her to leave the pendant behind."
"Why?" the child alien asked.
Zakuro turned back and looked into the alien's eyes, staring into narrow-slit pupils. "Because Kisshu likes to be in charge, and if Ichigo has her pendant, no one can rule her. Her spirit is far too strong, and far too free."
Taruto looked away. This conversation was clearly beyond him. But Aoyama said, "She did not choose to go with him. She loves her parents. She loves her friends. She loves… me." He said the last words with total conviction.
But Zakuro was older, and she knew the power of passion, the strength of desire. And she shook her head slowly, and lapsed into silence. She stared out the vision port, while the formless gray of the wormhole that hid so many forms went streaming by.