and now the trilling conclusion of "Underneath It All"!
Had a new character try to jump in and have his own back story right at the end there. so y'all will have to let me know if he deserves a spin off.
Did you go and watch episode 13 "Infested" like I told you to? If not, there's time, I'll wait...
Back already? Here we go... Running!
Run, Running all the time
Running to the future
With you right by my side
Me, I'm the one you chose
Out of all the people
You wanted me the most
And I'm so sorry that I've fallen
Help me up, let's keep on running
Don't let me fall out of love
Tech sat on the stool, head bowed over the bar, drink barely touched. Cid had offered them a round on the house for saving her life and the parlor, not to mention their own lives, especially Omega's as she had been the one who was held hostage by Pykes while the rest of them fished for spice in bug infested caverns. They deserved a little celebration. So why didn't Tech feel like celebrating.
"What's wrong with him?" Wrecker jerked a thumb in his direction before downing his own drink in one go. It wasn't the strong stuff. That would have put the big guy out in no time as Cid was well aware. And after the day they'd had she wanted 'Muscles' at least partially alert in case the Pykes came back for another round.
Echo looked past his brother down the bar and nodded. "You know what today is?"
"No," Wrecker frowned and then his face broke into a grin. "Is it somebody's birthday? Are we gonna have cake, too."
"No, bucket head!" Echo rolled his eyes and then said softly, "today is the day that a certain young woman was scheduled to have her back surgery."
Wrecker whispered loudly back, "Today's Genna's surgery! Well, that's great! Cheers for her! Hey," he went back to frowning. "Shouldn't that make him happy? He's the one who wanted her to have it done."
"Of course I'm happy for her. It will mean a whole new life for her. She can go anywhere, do anything and I'm glad we were able to help make that possible." Tech lifted his drink, took a gulp and then made a sour face at the taste of the beverage. How did beings drink this stuff? But then he felt the warmth flow through his body and settle in all his joints. There was the attraction!
Omega, who had just entered with Hunter and Cid, climbed up onto the stool on his other side. She had caught enough of the conversation to gauge its meaning. "If it's such a good thing for Genna to be healed, then why are you so sad?" She eyed the drinks on the bar and almost reached for one before Hunter snatched it from her grasp with a shake of his head. The bar keeper supplied her with a cup of muja pop.
Echo figured it out first but then he had had more opportunity to talk to Genna herself than most of the rest of them other than Tech of course. "It's because of what she said about the first time she woke up in the hospital after the accident."
"What did she say?" asked both Omega and Wrecker almost in unison.
Tech took another drink and set down his glass. "She said that when she woke up in the med center after her injury she was all alone. She was unable to walk, two of her brothers had been killed, and there was no one other than the med droids and staff who were too swamped by other casualties of the battle to explain to her what had happened."
"Maybe you could do with another one of these." Hunter held out his own glass to offer it to the clone with the greater need.
Before Tech could take it however, Cid intervened. She took both of the cups in her green claws and set them aside. "It sounds to me like what you need is to get to that med center and be there when the girl wakes up."
Tech blinked. His vision had gone a little blurry and he adjusted his goggles to no avail. "Genna and I agreed that it would be better for us to end things before we took them too far. It would definitely be safer for her not to be involved with us. Look at what we just endured during what was supposed to be a standard debriefing from our latest mission. And speaking of our latest mission, gundarks?!"
Cid gave Hunter a pointed look.
"What?" he asked, confused by the Trandoshan's stare.
"Well, Bandana. You're the one who decides where your squad goes and when," she led.
"Oh," Hunter sighed deeply. "I suppose if we left now we could be on Kuat by the time the operation has concluded."
Tech slowly lifted his head with a somewhat goofy grin, "Really?"
Echo laughed, "We might need to get him some caff for the flight."
"And one more thing before you go." Cid disappeared for a moment into her office where thankfully her wall safe had been untouched by either Durand or the Pykes. She retrieved a small box, glanced inside to make sure that the contents were still secure, and brought it back out to the bar. She placed it into Tech's hands. "When you feel the time is right, give this to your girl. Tell her it's a gift from me and Mollymauk."
…
A sort of an itch in her right foot caused her to bend her knee and draw it up towards her body. She felt the smooth sheets slide over and below her leg as it moved. And then she meant to reach down and explore this new phenomenon but her hand seemed to be caught in something, in someone else's hand.
"Good morning, cyar'ika ." That warm tenor was almost more miraculous than the sensations in her lower extremities.
"Am I dreaming?" Genna asked, as she had once before weeks ago when she woke up beside him in her old house in Iziz.
"You are not."
She opened her eyes and brought him into focus only to immediately blink back happy tears. "I can't believe you're here."
"Wild dalgos could not have kept me away." He brushed the tears away with his free hand.
"And I can…" she tore her gaze away long enough to look down and witness with her own eyes the movement of her legs under the bed sheets.
"The doctor says it will take a while for you to regain the strength to stand and walk on your own but he was pleased with the outcome of the nerve repair. You should, in time, make a full recovery."
She wanted to ask if he could stick around for that, but instead she just took in her surroundings. "I thought I would be hooked up to more machines or a monitor droid or something when I came to."
She did have an IV line attached to the back of her left hand administering fluids but that was thankfully all.
Tech pushed up his goggles and elucidated, "I convinced them that my helmet's scanners could provide the same if not more thorough information regarding your condition and that I would ping the nurse's station with regular updates or if you were in need of medical assistance. I have had training as a field medic and I could feel your steady pulse…"
He lifted the hand he was still holding tightly and though he seemed to crave more substantial contact he was contenting himself with that.
"Can I…" Genna didn't really know what she was asking but she rolled onto her side and attempted to push herself up into a sitting position. She had to let go of his hand for that but both of his hands were ready to assist her should she need him.
She saw that her hoverchair was nearby and he noticed her gaze travel to it.
"Would you like me to get it for you?" He asked.
"No, not yet." She pivoted so that her lower legs hung over the side of the bed and she was facing him with a smile of amazement on her lips. "It's been so long."
"Just take it slowly." He stepped closer so that she could hold on to him.
"I'm not going to go out for a jog," she laughed. "But I would like to try to stand?"
He nodded and wrapped his arms around her as she slipped off the edge of the bed and placed her bare feet onto the cool plasticrete tiles.
She let out a squeal of glee and looked up at him, holding tightly to his arms for balance. "Don't let me fall."
"I won't." He was grinning too. "You're shorter than I expected."
She let go with one of her hands just long enough to give him a playful punch and then quickly regained her grip as her knee wobbled and threatened to buckle under the unfamiliar stress.
He held her closer and breathed in the mostly lingering bacta scent of her hair. That other scent, the one that was uniquely her, was still detectable underneath. "Genna, I missed you. More than I can say," he admitted.
"I missed you too. I mean I knew you and the squad were probably out doing something important, saving the galaxy. What were you doing?"
"Well," he sat her back down on the edge of the bed and sat as close beside her as he could manage. "Cid forgot to mention that there would be gundarks on one of our missions."
"What?!"
"Yes, and then the Pykes held Omega hostage while we had to delve into a dark cave infested with massive insects to retrieve a shipment of spice that a gangster was attempting to transport to them."
Genna gasped. "That's too insane not to be true."
He laughed, " Ori'haat !"
"That's Mando'a?"
" Elek ." He nodded.
"What does it mean?"
"It means, it's the truth, I swear."
"Tech," she wasn't in danger of falling now but she still held onto him tightly. "Promise me you'll always tell me the truth. I mean unless it will put you and the squad in danger."
"I promise." He cleared his throat. "Genna, I…"
"I haven't just been sitting around since I last saw you. I mean besides all the medical exams and prep for the surgery. I've been taking classes at the beauty school. I've already tested out of several of the techniques and I'm learning so much and it shouldn't be long until I can try for my license."
"That's very admirable. I'm glad you…"
She interrupted again. "But, Tech, I know we said that we should go our separate ways. That it would be easier, safer for both of us and for Meg and your brothers." She shook her head, "It's not working for me. I think about you constantly, every day, every hour…"
He stopped her mouth with a kiss, and not just any kiss. It was a life altering, down to the depths of her soul kiss, that lingered as he laid her back against the pillows and only commenced when they both finally had to take a breath.
Tech leaned over her, "I completely agree. Ni copad solus ti gar ."
" Mhi solus tome bal dar'tome ," was her immediate response, and then she smiled at his expression of amazement. "I've been practicing with the translation program but you're right it's much better to have someone to actually converse with."
"Gen, I love you."
"I love you."
He took her hand in his and though she had already said the words of a fashion he looked to her questioningly as he recited, " Mhi solus tome. Mhi solus dar'tome ."
She repeated sincerely, " Mhi solus tome. Mhi solus dar'tome ."
" Mhi me'dinui an ." They both intoned, grinning at each other, and then completed the vow, " Mhi ba'juri verde ."
He kissed her again and she dug her heels into the mattress to arch her body closer to his.
"Riduur," she crooned, biting her lip. "Could you possibly roll over on your back?"
He indulged her request which required the arrangement of her IV tubing and the discarding of certain pieces of clothing and then his assistance in guiding one of her legs over his body so that she could straddle his hips. She gave him a satisfied grin.
"Why do I get the feeling that the reason we could not complete this operation back at your home on Onderon was because you were distressed that you were unable to be on top?"
She giggled and buried her face against his neck, reveling in all the sensations that had been removed from her for so long. Then she placed her hand on his chest over the skull tattoo and gave him an order he would gladly obey, " Kriff ni, shek'eta-she'cu nass t'ad! "
" Elek, ner runi ."
…
Medical student Vivian soon-to-be-Skelari knew where to find information at the medcenter: the nurses' station. When they weren't chasing patients the nurses were a goldmine of not just medical knowledge, but the hottest gossip in Kuat City. When she approached it during her rounds she found that they'd been engaged in the latter.
"Yeah, the boyfriend's whole family tagged along and the oldest brother is hot." The nurse applied a fresh coat of lip balm. "Is he still in there?"
"Yeah." A younger nurse was watching the heart monitors, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Has she been tachycardic?"
"If anything she's been a little brady. Why?"
"Because she just shot up for no reason and she's not the type to be getting up by herself." She made to leave the station. "Maybe I should check on her."
Vivian saw the writing on the wall and moved to intervene but Lip Balm's arm shot out and grabbed her colleague by the back of her scrub top. "Girl. Boyfriend's in the room. You get my drift?"
The other nurse flushed bright red but Vivian didn't. Her time working with the limmie team medic in the locker room had left her with very little shame and sometimes having a loud voice and bold presence was a plus. She knocked on the door to give Tech and Genna just enough time to get decent before she barged in.
Genna rolled onto her side in the narrow hospital bed just as Vivian got around the privacy curtain, her body still wedged against Tech's.
"Ha!" Vivian snorted. "Not your boyfriend, my shebs."
"He's not my boyfriend." Genna replied, completely unruffled. "He's my husband. We said our vows."
"When did this happen?" They'd been separated since they left Onderon and surely hadn't been in contact since. Vivian would have known, considering Genna had stayed with her and Nathon while she prepared for the surgery.
"Just now." This came from the groom himself while he adjusted his goggles.
Cold horror ran down Vivian's spine. "You got married here, in a hospital bed, with no guests or officiant or food or music or anything?"
"None of that is required for a valid wedding."
"Of course it is! You can't just — never mind, I'll handle it. You're going to have a wedding reception if it kills me."
…
Nathon Skelari had the routine down pat. He nodded and smiled while his bride-to-be swirled around them like a whirlwind.
Tech was less certain as he stood by and observed the commotion. He had tried to look up the practices and wedding traditions of various galactic cultures on his datapad but nothing like this had come up in his search. "Are you sure this behavior is quite normal?" He asked the other groom-to-be.
"Nod and smile, just nod and smile," Nathon demonstrated.
Tech tried but he was sure his own attempt was coming out much more like a grimace. He spoke again through the tight lips and teeth that the expression demanded. "But I don't believe I see how any of these preparations are necessary to cause Genna and I to be any more 'married' than we already are at present."
"I find it best just to let her do her thing." Nathon gave his shoulder a squeeze of solidarity. "At least she has a time and expense limit on your reception. I've been living through this typhoon for months and she still hasn't come to a decision about the exact color of the flowers that her bridesmaids are going to carry in our ceremony."
That was some consolation, he thought, Genna had no bridesmaids other than Omega, and they were limited to the time and space allotted to them by the med center while Genna was still considered to be a patient in recovery under the care of the medical staff.
He supposed also that he was having an easier time of things than was Genna although he wished the two of them could be spending more of this precious time together than being choreographed through the motions of this elaborate ceremony. He couldn't really tell if she appreciated all the attention or if it was as confusing to her as it was to him.
She was whisked past him in her hoverchair on the way to her physical therapy that he would have liked to attend with her but he was stopped by Vivian herself who was ushering towards him a Tholothian male wearing a long dark clerical robe.
Vivian made the introductions but Tech filed the man's name away as unimportant.
"He is our chaplain here at the med center and it will be he who officiates your vows tomorrow. He asked to speak to you beforehand so he would know how to proceed." Vivian explained. She looked back and forth between them smiling and rooting them to the spot to complete what she must have deemed to be an essential conversation. "Then Nate and I will leave you to it." And with that she dragged the limmie player off the field.
Tech cleared his throat and addressed the gentleman. "I appreciate your willingness to compose a service for my wife and I but it really is unnecessary. Whatever standard words that are said in such a situation will be sufficient. We have already exchanged our Mandalorian vows."
The Tholothian cleric nodded. "The Mandalorian promise of unity and the sharing of all things are a very beautiful troth. Would you like to include the words in your public ceremony?"
"The saying of the words was a rather… private declaration just between me and my wife. I don't think that she or I feel the need to recite them again in front of a crowd."
"That is understandable. Was it you or she who wished to honor the Mando'a way?" the minister asked.
It was a bit of an invasion of privacy but since Genna's heritage was common knowledge it didn't seem to cross the line. "She was born on Mandalore but left it as a young child and is only now beginning to connect with that part of her history. Is that entirely relevant to our wedding observance?"
The Tholothian's gaze scanned the immediate area as if he was checking to see if the two of them were even now being observed. "I only asked because I am aware that many clones who were trained by Mandalorians ended up coming to follow their system of beliefs."
Tech's eyes widened and his hand went to the comm unit strapped to his opposite wrist to send up the alarm. If it was necessary they would grab Genna and make a strategic departure from the planet. They would find someplace more friendly to continue her rehabilitation.
"Please," the cleric raised his own hands in a peaceful gesture and he did indeed look as if he meant no harm. Tech now realized what the male's appearance had reminded him of. He looked a little like a Jedi. "I believe we have a similar opinion about the current situation of galactic leadership. I wouldn't dream of turning you or your brothers in to the Empire."
Tech decided to give him the benefit of the doubt for the moment he took the man's arm and led him to a more secluded area. "What do you mean? How do you know so much about clones?"
"I was a chaplain for a Republic Mobile Surgical Unit on the front lines during the war before I came here to the med center. I prayed over many of your brothers and their Generals and commanders, held their hands when nothing else could be done to save them."
"You worked with the Jedi but you aren't one yourself?" Tech had to admit his curiosity. Was this religious man not worried that he would be handed over to the Empire or killed?
"I am not." And then as if to prove his trustworthiness he began to tell his own story. "I always knew when I was growing up on Tholoth that I would enter the service of our goddess when I reached adulthood. The goddess of the Tholothians is our great mother and she in her holy scriptures encourages her supplicants to marry and have children, so I did as was expected of me as I did in all things.
"I was married and we were soon blessed with a child. She was very special and it soon became apparent that…"
"She was Force Sensitive?" Tech guessed.
"You are exactly correct." The cleric continued. "A Jedi Master came to collect her and my wife was distraught. I wanted to know everything I could about the order into which my daughter was to be inducted and I asked many questions. It was the Jedi who sent me on a path of discovery. I came to believe that our regional faith in the goddess was only one path to the truths of the Living Force."
"I assume that your religious leaders did not share your opinion."
"I was expelled from our order and my wife was encouraged by the brothers and sisters to renounce our marriage so that she could be free to marry someone else who would remain more loyal to the statutes of the order."
"Not exactly the sort of thing you tell a man to encourage him on the night before his wedding." Tech said dryly and the Tholothian laughed.
"I suppose you're right but then as you said you have already technically said your vows."
"Yes, and as Genna has never expressed any particularly religious allegiance I can assume we are safe in that regard."
"If she'd had a preference, I have studied most of them. I traveled the galaxy learning as much as I could about different beliefs and forms of worship. They all seemed to lead me back to the reality of one all encompassing Cosmic Force.
"Even though I wasn't sensitive to it myself I could see it's effects all around me, like the wind that blows through the trees though you can't see it. I was proud that my daughter could experience it even though I could not."
"Did you ever discover what happened to her?" Of course Tech was referring to the recent purge but he also assumed that this ardent father had sought out some news of his daughter's progress long before those like her were all but exterminated.
"The Jedi order would never give me specific information and I was not allowed to attempt to contact her, but I knew from my studies about advancement of initiates that at the start of the war she would have been of the nearly proper age to be chosen as a Padawan learner. I admit that was why I volunteered my services of spiritual support for our armed forces on the field of battle. I thought perhaps one day I might come across a young commander and I could tell her how proud I was of all she had become."
He looked expectantly at Tech when he had finished his admission and it took a moment for Tech to realize what the cleric was asking with his silence.
"I know of at least three adult Tholothian Jedi whom our squad never had the opportunity to work with directly. I am sorry I don't have any other information. If she was commissioned as an officer I could perhaps pull up her record of service…" Again he reached for the holo device he wore on his arm plate.
The minister reached out his hand and shook his head. "I know it's not likely she survived the order of extinction."
"Our squad did not participate in the order." Tech stated as a matter of fact. He couldn't imagine the guilt he would have felt if he had been unable to resist the mandate of his own inhibitor chip.
Was that the point of this entire recitation, to discover if Tech and brothers were remorseless murderers? He supposed he couldn't blame the guy. After all, Genna herself had needed to come to terms with her husband's part in the war that killed her brothers.
But the cleric wasn't quite done with his inquisition. "Is it true that more of the Jedi may have escaped than what the Empire is allowing the holonet to report?"
"I do not know."
"But you are known for occasionally finding lost things?"
"We are not bounty hunters, Minister."
"Of course. And that's not why I was meant to speak to you. The er… wedding ceremony?"
"Oh," Tech remembered their original topic as well. "Yes. Did you have something you might suggest?"
"Your… Genna grew up on Onderon did she not?"
"I suppose she did but she wasn't religious."
The cleric nodded. "There are two systems of faith on the planet, that of the salt gods in the north and those in the city of Iziz worship at the temple of Unifras."
"I am aware."
"Their wedding ceremonies differ in some small ways but the binding of the couple's hands and the promise of I am hers and she is mine, and vice versa is included in both traditions."
"I'm sure that would be just fine," Tech agreed.
…
Vivian couldn't have been more pleased that they had chosen to go with the more traditional Onderonian liturgy. She and Nathon had also chosen to observe his culture in that way and she had already purchased a binding cloth. Didn't the old rhyme say something about having something borrowed for good luck?
Genna didn't want to tell her that the bride who was wished the luck in the poem was the one doing the borrowing not the lending but perhaps if Genna borrowed it and used it first and then Viv borrowed it back they would both receive good luck.
Of course it wasn't until Genna and Tech's hands were bound and they were ready to say the words that he remembered the box Cid had given him. He had been curious to see what was inside so he had looked almost as soon as they were out of Ord Mantel's atmosphere. He wasn't sure what to expect when she had said it was also a gift from Mollymauk but perhaps the young fence was the only other person in the Galaxy who might have been able to afford that amethyst ring.
When Tech remembered it during the ceremony and Echo pulled the box out of his pocket and handed it forward, the couple's hands had to be unbound again so that Tech could remove the ring from the box and give it to her.
"Tech, this is beautiful!" Genna breathed, looking at the facets of the purple stone gleaming on the palm of her hand. She tried it on her left ring finger and the weight of the stone immediately spun the too large circumference around to the back of her hand. She laughed, slipped the ring off, and put it onto her thumb instead.
"I suppose a trandoshan can not be expected to know the proper dimensions of a human female's hand." Tech suggested, "We can have it sized later on if you wish."
"No, I love it just the way it is. I'll put it on a cord and wear it around my neck, closer to my heart." She pulled him down to kiss him soundly on the lips.
Vivian rolled her eyes and resisted correcting the giving of a ring with a stone during the ceremony rather than the exchanging of bands, and the interruption of the sequence of the program. Instead she just cleared her throat loudly.
The minister rewrapped the couple's hands and together they recited, "I am his(hers) and s(he) is mine." They kissed again to the loud cheers of his brothers and Omega and Nathon who shrugged and gave in to the absurdity of it all.
Wrecker cheered loudly again when he found out they got to have cake even though it wasn't the traditional many tiered white confection with a miniature bride and groom standing on the top. What they had instead were the samples that Vivian had requested from the bakers to taste and choose the flavor for her and Nate's own reception. The samples were served on samples of mismatched dishware which were also items that Viv was planning to choose from. As such the small group of wedding guests took forkfuls from each other's plates and they all decided that the muja berry tort was the variety that they would most like to sample again when they were invited to the next wedding celebration.
While they enjoyed the general chaos Tech pulled his bride into his arms and waltzed her around the room with her feet resting on the top of his shoes, "Are you disappointed that we could not have had a more traditional ceremony at the Temple in Iziz with a full complement of guests in attendance?"
"I got my dance." She smiled and squeezed his hand still with the ring on the thumb of her own left hand. "I suppose I had always imagined that my brothers would be there to see me get married in some vague day dream."
His head drooped.
"Hey," she nudged him. "Today I had all of my family present. Mhi shek'eta-she'cu. "
" Mhi shek'eta-she'cu ." He repeated and gazed at her with wonder.
"Vivian can have her perfect wedding. If ours was too traditional she would have had to out do it. Our wedding is perfectly defective, just like us."
…
They had known that at the conclusion of the celebrations, a difficult goodbye would be the only possible course of action. Genna stood at the foot of the Marauder's loading ramp with the aid of two walking canes. She and Tech had at least been given a wedding night alone together before the squad saw fit to be on their way again.
Genna promised herself to save her tears for after they were gone but a few drops leaked from the corners of her eyes and down her cheeks. Tech wiped them away and then rubbed his fingers together as if he could absorb some of her sadness into his own skin and thus lessen her distress.
" Mhi solus dar'tome ."
" Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum. "
"And I will comm as soon as we are out of hyperspace so that we may continue our language lessons."
"I will hold you to that promise, shek'eta-she'cu nass t'ad ."
…
"I passed! I got my license!" Genna gushed as soon as the comm connection activated.
"Ah," Tech held up a finger but a smile was pulling at the corners of his lips. " Lo Mando'a ," he instructed.
She screwed up her expression as she tried to remember the translation, " Ni… parja ner … ba'jur? "
" Kandosii! " he beamed at her. "Your conjugation still needs work but your retention of the vocabulary improves every time we are able to practice together."
"Any chance we'll be able to practice tome anytime soon?" she hoped.
"Right now we are on another mission from Cid." he was as doleful regarding the delay in their physical meeting as she was. "I regret it is necessary so that we can continue to have food to eat and fuel for the Marauder."
"When I'm able to set up my own salon, I'll send you some credits," she offered, more than willing to help.
He waved a hand. "You will need that income to get lodging of your own where I might come and visit."
She was sure she saw a bit of color rise in his cheeks even through the holo transmission and knew he was thinking of a conjugal visit. She was looking forward to that as well.
"I think I'm going to take Dalla up on the idea to resettle on Onderon."
Tech's eyes widened behind his goggles. "Not in Iziz!"
"No, I thought I might go up north. Dalla's aunt is the woman who owned the fruit business before we did and she found out about my brothers and offered to let me stay with her for a while so I can finish my physical therapy."
His attention was suddenly divided even though he wanted to focus on her every word. " Ni eparavur takisit, cyar'ika . It's a comm coming in from Rex."
She had been told about the reg brother who they all respected but she had no idea if he had been told about her yet. "Of course, you need to take it, I'll wait."
After a few moments, sometimes it was the shorter waits that were harder to endure than when she knew he would be unreachable for weeks, his image reformed over her comm device. "What is it?" She asked, knowing he might not be able to tell her.
"Rex has passed on to us the signal of a tracking beacon that he believes will lead us to a reg who has requested assistance."
"A brother who needs help? Well you have to go."
"That is what Echo said also. Even though we are already on a mission from Cid, he believes we should trust Rex and since we went to Skako Minor to rescue him…"
"He's right. You mustn't leave a brother behind."
"Gen," Tech searched her expression for confirmation.
"Of course I would rather if you were coming straight to see me but I couldn't be more proud of ner riddur ."
" Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, cyar'ika! "
" K'oyacyi, shek'eta-she'cu nass t'ad!"
Thank you so much to all of the readers who joined me on this adventure. If you would like to follow the further happenings of these characters please check out Lux's Sister's story "Mollymauk". The soon to be published chapter nine of that story also functions as something like chapters seventeen, eighteen, and nineteen of this one. Hope to see you there!