Up in the mountains surrounding Summer Cove, Sarah was performing her scans of the area. While they knew that Viera's crash landing hadn't really been deliberate, they didn't want to take any chances and wanted to know if it had caused any serious harm to the area. It was slow going, she was nothing if not thorough, and while the others did understand the value of what she was doing, they had hoped for a little more fun and relaxing while they were on this trip.

Hayley came over and sat with Calvin, having taken as many pictures of this mountaintop as she really cared to. As much as she was getting some great shots, the fact they hadn't left this mountaintop in a couple of hours meant she was quickly running out of things to take pictures of and she wanted to save some space on her memory card for the rest of her trip.

"You know, I love Sarah, but she really doesn't get how boring a lot of this science stuff is for the rest of us." She commented.

"I never thought I'd see the day I'd refer to Sarah as boring." Calvin admitted.

"Well, at least they have a chance to have some fun." Hayley commented as she saw Preston crossing over to her, handing her some candy. She hugged him and popped it into her mouth, before returning to what she was doing. Preston just took a seat nearby. He had taken up a spot near her so that he could offer her water, snacks, sunblock…he knew she could get a little tunnel-vision when she was working on something, and he didn't want her to end up getting sick.

"Not as much fun as you'd think." Calvin commented. Hayley just furrowed her brows.

"What's that meant to mean?" She asked him. Calvin just looked to make sure that Preston and Sarah were a little way off and were unlikely to hear him.

"Preston and I were just talking and he kind of said some stuff that was a little strange." Calvin told her.

"You have MET Preston, right?" Hayley chuckled. Calvin drew in a little closer.

"He told me this is their second date. They haven't been out together since the carnival." Calvin informed her.

"That…that is pretty strange." Hayley conceded. "I mean, I know we've had a lot on since then, but it's been a couple of weeks since then."

"He also let something slip that…I'm not sure he meant to…" Calvin said a little uncomfortably. He pulled in, whispering directly in Hayley's ear.

"They haven't even kissed?" She asked him. Calvin just nodded.

"I…I don't know it that means anything but…" He didn't know how best to phrase it. "When it was us…I…we kissed sooner than that didn't we?"

"To be fair we had been best friends since we were eight. There weren't really many mysteries left between us." She reminded him. She did however feel that perhaps there was something in what Calvin was saying. "We kissed after the first date, but…it's not like we've had much time to…"

"Hayley, how much time does it take?" Calvin asked her.

"Well…it's not exactly like every couple is the same." Hayley said, but she looked to them and saw them sharing a joke. She took a deep breath. "You think we should help them, don't you?"

"As the veteran couple don't you think it's kind of down to us to do so?" Calvin asked her. "I seem to remember someone not to far from here saying something similar."

"You know, I hate how you can forget so much and yet always seem to remember everything I say when it suits you." She replied, holding his hand. "Alright, I guess if they can't figure it out, it's up to us."

"Hey guys! The scans have finished!" Sarah shouted over as she started switching off her devices and packing them up.

"Great, so what did we learn?" Hayley asked her.

"The fault doesn't seem to be any less stable than it was before." Sarah answered. "Some of the cliff faces are a little less secure than they were before, but unless they're disturbed, they shouldn't be a problem. The cliff's far enough from the city that it shouldn't affect anyone that isn't directly underneath. I'm going to send my data to the Parks & Recreation Office though and suggest they mark some warnings and safe hiking routes."

"So…basically we've learned nothing new." Calvin summarised. "We've been up here for the last five hours for nothing?"

"Well, not exactly nothing." Sarah said, packing her equipment away. "Besides, I also spotted a great site down by the lake, just down that trail. We should be there in time to set up before dark. We should even have time for a swim before dinner."

"Now THAT is the kind of camping I'm talking about!" Calvin answered as he started packing up his deck chair. "Since the trail isn't that long, how about a little friendly competition? Last one down does the cooking?"

"We'll take that bet." Sarah assured him. "Come on Preston! It's this way!"

Meanwhile, over in Blue Bay Harbour, Levi and Brody's trip was turning out to be more than a little different. Having found the clearing in Levi's flashback, it seemed that they had indeed found themselves close to the Wind Ninja Academy, far too close for comfort for the Academy Guard by the looks of things. They had quickly found themselves surrounded and under attack.

"This is pretty wild!" Levi called out as he tossed one of the red-trimmed ninjas into a few of his comrades. He clutched his ribs, where he had already taken a couple of hard hits. "They aren't kidding around!"

"Don't kid yourself Levi, if they wanted us taken out they could have done so by now!" Brody told him, taking one of them down, before striking him in the solar plexus, driving the air out him and leaving him down and out. "You see the way they always leave gaps? That's because they're trying to encourage us to run! People fight harder if they think they don't have a way to escape!"

"Well they don't know us very well then do they!" Levi answered as he kicked down a couple more. He heard a rumbling and turned in time to see two of the yellow-trimmed ninjas had dove into the ground. He looked around for them, before they burst out of the ground, throwing him high into the air, tumbling over and over again. Levi managed to get a hand down and flipped backwards to his feet.

"YAMERU!" They heard someone yell out. They recognised it as Japanese, instructing them to stop. Three figures blurred into view, dressed similarly though a little differently than the others. Their outfits were a little more ornate than the others, and also seemed to be armoured. With another instruction, the rest of the ninja all exploded smoke bombs, disappearing just as quickly as they had appeared. They left only the three behind.

"Who are you?" One of them asked, one that whose outfit was trimmed in red. "How can you do that?"

"Do what?" Levi asked.

"Uh…Levi?" Brody asked, before pointing down. It was only then that Levi realised he was standing on top of the lake. He suddenly sank and plunged into the lake. Quickly swimming to the edge, he hauled himself out. "How…how did you…?"

"I…I don't know." He spluttered as he pulled himself out of the lake onto the banks.

"Bullshit, you mean to tell me you can just walk on water and you don't know how?" The one trimmed in yellow asked him.

"Well…yes, unfortunately." Levi said as Brody came to his side. "Something happened to me. I've lost a lot of my memories from my past. I don't remember much of anything before I was about 12."

"Yet somehow you seem to know some of our techniques." The one trimmed in red chimed in. "We all saw that fight, you both used some of our moves, and you…you can…"

"My father was Dane Romero!" Brody called out. The one in red held up a hand as soon as he heard this. "He trained me."

"Dane Romero?" He asked. He pulled off his mask, looking to them. "Now you see, there's a little problem with that story, Dane Romero and his kids are dead."

"My dad might be, but I'm definitely not." Brody told them. "Aiden…I really don't know, but I was taken by the aliens that attacked his farm."

"Alien abduction? That's the story you're going with?" The one in Yellow answered as he too revealed his face.

"Uh…Dustin? I think we're pretty much the last people who should doubt alien abduction stories." The one in blue said to him. "Every one of us has been abducted at one time or another."

"Let's say we give you the benefit of the doubt. Let's say that we assume you are Brody Romero. Dane was a master of the Air Style. If you taught this man, then how would he know how to walk on water?"

"I…really don't know." Levi admitted. "But I have a feeling it's her we need to talk to." He pointed to the one trimmed in blue.

"Me?" She asked.

"Tori, do you recognise this man?" The one in red asked. The woman pulled off her mask, but Levi was disappointed to see that it wasn't the woman he remembered from his flashback. It was a blonde-haired Caucasian woman that was wearing the sensei armour. She inspected Levi's face closely but shook her head.

"No, I really don't think we've met." She told him.

"One of my few memories from my time as a kid was in this very clearing." Levi explained. "I was talking with an Asian woman wearing sensei armour just like yours."

"We think that Levi might have been here as a kid." Brody told them. "We were hoping maybe if we could talk, we might be able to figure out what his memories meant."

"You understand, we don't really get many visitors out here." Dustin told them. "Certainly not many that attack our guards."

"Yeah…tell the one I hit with the rock I'm sorry about that." Brody told them. "We knew we were being followed, but…"

"Oh, believe me if you saw him, the fact that he got hit with a rock is going to be the least of his problems when I de-brief." The one in red answered. "My name's Shane, I'm the Air Style sensei. This is Dustin, Sensei of the Earth Style and this is Tori, the Water Style sensei."

"Pleased to meet you." Brody said, shaking hands with them. Levi did likewise.

"So, what do you think?" Shane asked.

"Cam's been here the longest." Dustin answered. "If anyone's likely to know much about the students before our time it'll be him."

"Alright, come with us." Shane told them, gesturing to the waterfall. "You understand that what you're about to see is one of the best-kept secrets on Earth."

"You think we don't know that?" Brody asked. "Even dad didn't tell me how to get here. If it wasn't for Levi's flashback, all I'd know is that it was in Blue Bay somewhere."

"Point taken." Dustin answered as they all started to walk across the lake. Brody paused.

"Um…how am I meant to do that?" He asked.

"Oh…you'll be fine if you walk where we walk. There's a force-field bridge just under the surface of the lake." Shane informed him. "But if you step off the bridge…yeah, that's when you take a swim unless you're up on your Water Style."

Brody and Levi followed on, making sure they followed right behind the three sensei. As they followed on, Brody couldn't help smiling. While he had been to the family farm and he loved his life there, coming here felt like he was coming home.

Back in Summer Cove, Jennifer, known to the kids as Principal Randall, was putting the final preparations in for her dinner guest.

She had dimmed the lights, and just finished lighting the candles when she heard the doorbell. She quickly checked the clock to remind her of the timing for her meal, and headed to the door, taking a deep breath as she got there. She smiled as she opened the door, finding Mick standing there.

"Hi." He greeted her, waving as he stood before her. He was carrying a box of candy and some flowers. He didn't know anything about wine, and he knew that Jennifer had an extensive wine cellar anyway and so he had figured there wasn't much point in risking bringing her something she wouldn't like. "Wow, you just look…wow!"

"Well, thank you." She replied as she showed him in. She was wearing a black dinner dress. "You look pretty good yourself."

"Yeah, I thought the whole coveralls look wouldn't really fit for dinner." Mick told her as he came in. "Security were a lot more gentle than the last time I was here."

"Yes, I remembered to give them your picture and tell them I was expecting you this time around." Jennifer told him. "We have a little while before dinner, do you want to head to the sitting room for a bit?"

"That sounds lovely." Mick answered as he followed her through. Jennifer gestured to the couch, where Mick took a seat. She sat beside him, looking to him.

"So, how have things been at the school?" She asked him. "How's our new student fitting in?"

"She's…gone back home." Mick told her. "We managed to help her get her ship up and running."

"You sound a lot happier about that than the last time we talked." Jennifer commented.

"You know, if you'd told me before that I would help a member of the Royal Family, I don't think I could even laugh about it." Mick replied honestly. "But Viera, she did everything she could. Without her armour and her ship, there's no way we'd have been able to defeat Drillion."

"It sounds like she showed who she really is when the situation called for it." Principal Randall said, pouring them both a glass of wine. Mick picked up his glass and he looked to her.

"When she went back, she promised she'd try to make the Lion Galaxy a better place. For the first time, I actually feel like I can believe that." Mick said as he took a sip of his wine. "She…she let me talk to my parents."

"Your parents?" Jennifer asked.

"Yeah, I was surprised they were alive as well! They look just like I remember them! Well…maybe a bit older, but they looked happy and healthy and…Viera actually offered to take me with her."

"She offered to take you home?" She asked. "And you didn't go?"

"Well, I WANTED to, but I couldn't go until we're finished with Galvanax." Mick told her. "I mean, I'll probably go back there some day, but while Galvanax is still around, I can't in good conscience leave."

Jennifer gave him a little smile as she heard this. He took another sip of his wine.

"I still can't believe my family are still alive." He commented. "I mean…they worked in the weapons' factories so they were in protected industry, but with the way things were, I was…I wasn't sure I'd ever see them again. I always hoped my decision to take my dad's place would give them a little longer."

"I'm really glad your parents are still around. You clearly love them very much." Jennifer answered as she looked to him. "It's wonderful to hear you talk about them so fondly."

"Well, your parents couldn't have thought that badly of you." Mick answered. "I mean, just look at this place."

"Yeah, just because they left me a lot doesn't mean to say they were exactly happy about a lot of my life choices." She told him. "My dad made it pretty clear he wasn't happy with me going into education."

She looked to her wine glass as she thought about it.

"This bottle was part of a case my dad bought when he earned his first million." She told him.

"FIRST million?" Mick asked her. She just looked to him.

"You know how the Tiens own pretty much everything in this city?" Jennifer asked him. He just nodded. "Well, it wasn't always that way. Before they showed up, it was the Hastings' that held that position in town."

"Your dad was THAT loaded?" He asked. She just nodded.

"Have you never wondered how the school never seems to be short of supplies? How there just happens to be an anonymous donation any time we need something?" Jennifer asked him. "Dad wanted me to go into the family business, but it just never appealed to me. I wanted to do something for other people instead of just enriching me and mine. When I told dad, I wanted to be a teacher, he completely flipped out, but I stuck to my guns. It was what I wanted to do. In fact, I made a point out of picking some of the schools where I thought I could do the most good."

"Which is how you ended up in the place where you got stabbed." Mick reminded her. She laughed a little.

"Yes, well…that aside, I felt like what I was doing was doing real good in the world. What's more I felt good doing it." She told him. "It's kind of like this wine. My dad bought it when he earned his first million. He kept it in his cellar always swearing he was saving it for a special occasion. In the end, now, almost thirty years later…this is the first bottle that's been opened. He waited too long and never found an occasion 'special' enough, so now…now it's just sitting in a case doing no one any good."

"Until tonight." Mick answered. "So, what's the occasion?"

"Does there need to be one? What's the point in owning everything if you never get a chance to enjoy any of it? What's the point in being the richest person in the city if you never feel good about what you could be doing with it?" She asked him. "You want to help us here, you know you wouldn't feel right about leaving until you do. That's your gift to us, and for what it's worth, I'm really glad you're staying."

She took another sip of her wine, but just winced and spit it back out.

"And…the wine's gone sour. It really does look like dad left it too long." She told him as the oven timer sounded. "It's best not to leave anything too long and let it go sour. I should get that."

With that, Jennifer headed into the kitchen and opened the oven, pulling out her garlic bread. She put it up on the top of the cooker, checking on her pasta, she heard something behind her. She turned to see Mick standing behind her.

"Mick?" She asked. "What are you…?"

"I hated the wine." He told her, reaching out to her face. "I don't want to wait until things go sour."

"Neither do I." She replied, moving in and kissing him softly.