Epilogue

Princess wiped down the already gleaming countertop, making the final preparations for her company that evening. 'Princess Pizza' had been a great success in the three months it had been open, thanks to its location near both the Space Academy and the downtown Center City business district. Mark was just glad that Princess was happy, not to mention that she never seemed to mind if he took a free slice now and then.

The Federation had granted each member of the G-Force team a substantial sum, as recompense for their efforts during the war, and Princess had used a good portion of her funds to open her own restaurant. Of course, she had also been ecstatic at the prospect of going clothes shopping for the first time in her adult life. Now she wore jeans, dresses, shorts, blouses… but never a mini-skirt.

Mark sighed from his seat at one of the restaurant's tables. There were some things he actually missed about the war.

But as downsides went, that one was pretty minor. Mark had taken a position teaching at the Space Academy, and for the first time in his life he had plenty of funds. He hadn't told Princess yet, but he was planning on using the money he had received from the Federation to make a down payment on a house. He had yet to figure out how to take Princess with him while looking, without letting her know that he wanted it to be her house too.

And Keyop's as well, of course. The boy came bounding down the stairs, declaring that he had already finished all of his homework. Now that he no longer had to worry about fighting Spectra, Keyop had become an excellent student, and amazingly enough, his speech impediment was much less severe now that he was not faced with the incredible amounts of stress he had been regularly subjected to in the past three years.

Princess laughed at one of the boy's jokes, tossing him a cloth and asking him to clean the remainder of the restaurant. Keyop looked around at the spotless room, casually tossing the rag into a corner the moment Princess had disappeared into the kitchen, plopping himself into the chair beside Mark.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked curiously.

"Grading papers." Mark sighed. "I didn't realize that teaching kids to fly would actually be work."

"Serves you right!" Keyop smirked. "Shouldn't assign homework!"

"Spoken like a true student." Mark laughed, ruffling the boy's hair.

The bell on the front door jingled, and Jason walked into the restaurant, followed by an exuberant Tiny.

"Look whom I found digging through the dumpster for old pizza!" Jason smirked.

"I was not digging for old pizza!" Tiny protested. "I just lost my keys! But I found them!" He jingled his pocket for emphasis.

"Yeah, yeah… we all know you can't resist Prin's pizza." Jason teased.

"Keeps me visiting Center City at least once a week!" Tiny grinned, rubbing his stomach. "I tried to convince Captain Jack to re-locate here, but I guess the fishing isn't as good in this area, so he doesn't want to."

"Imagine that." Mark smiled.

"Great to see you, Tiny!" Keyop chirped, wrapping his skinny arms and legs around the large man.

"Great to see you too, little buddy!" Tiny smiled, sitting down next to the boy.

"Oh, good, everyone's here!" said Princess, as she came back out into the restaurant with a pair of pizzas and a large basket of garlic bread. The former Swan placed them on the table, while Tiny smacked his lips appreciatively.

"This sure beats Spaceburgers in the Ready Room any day, Princess!"

"I don't know, I kind of miss those Spaceburgers sometimes." Jason admitted. "Food at the track is pretty bad."

"Why don't you get one of those racing groupies to cook for you, Jason?" Princess asked, as she retrieved some sodas from behind the bar.

"Well, uh, theircooking isn't exactly what interests me about them." Jason winked.

"Why am I not surprised?" Princess rolled her eyes in an amused tone. "So how are things going at the track? I heard that you qualified to compete in the Federation Cup."

"I did." Jason confirmed with a smug expression. "And I'm expecting all of you to attend the big event on Riga next month, since I'm sending you free tickets."

"I have classes to teach!" Mark protested.

"I'll have to close the restaurant." Princess said thoughtfully.

"I'll get to miss school!" Keyop cheered.

"I'll ask Captain Jack if he could let me go…" Tiny grinned.

"Ah, the G-Force team, always willing to drop everything to rush out to the next mission." Jason smirked. "But I'm not going to accept any excuses!"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world, Jason." Princess smiled.

Mark sat at the table, looking around at the animated faces of the people he loved most in the world, his arm slung casually around Princess' shoulder. She was sitting at his side, as she always had been, only now their relationship had deepened, fulfilling the former Commander in a way he had never imagined possible.

For the first time in his life, Mark Turner was completely relaxed… incredibly happy… and one hundred percent stress-free.

And he owed it all to Zoltar.

Who would have thought?

Mark leaned over slightly, placing a gentle kiss on the top of Princess' head as she snuggled into his embrace. Jason was regaling them with tales of his latest race, while Keyop and Tiny were surreptitiously engaged in a food fight across the table from each other.

Always five, acting as one…

That hadn't changed. The only difference now was that their primary role was to act as one… as a family.

And that was something that would last forever.