BETWEEN THREE ROGUES

By Eric 'Erico' Lawson

Epilogue: The World We Want to Live In

"Saying that you love someone only once and never mentioning it again is a poor practice.

If what you feel is real, you don't ever stop telling the people you care about how you feel. Because we forget. We let things get in the way. We start doubting each other.

Don't ever let the person - the people - you care about forget it. Tell them. Show it to them, in the big ways and the hundreds of little ways that love is shown and shared. Because love isn't just telling someone you care for them.

It's in living to prove it."

-Fina Bluevane, The Silver Sermons (Vol. 3)

Daccat's Island

The Frontier Lands

45 Days After the Destruction of Soltis

Year 0 of the New Arcadian Calendar

It still felt strange to walk around in the open with her long red hair out of its usual braids, but Aika Bluevane did so anyways. It was a symbol of the change in their lives. Her twin upswung pigtails had been a warrior's hairdo, a sign of how often she spent down in a ship's engine compartment. 'Letting your hair down' was a popular saying, but it meant something more now.

She didn't need to be the hard woman anymore or spend all of her time down in an engine room full of machines where a loose braid meant trouble - as a matter of fact, the engineering teams had been more or less insisting that she stay out of the engineering spaces and focus on other matters.

Well, they weren't wrong. It was a brand new world now. There were plenty of things to focus on, but she was still a creature of habit at times. The spitfire Blue Rogue was just as willing to brain someone with her boomerang when it was called for, but now…

Now she got to shake their hands instead. Not always, and sometimes she'd much rather go with the braining, but it wasn't the first thing she thought of anymore.

And it really wasn't the first thing she thought of here, on Daccat's Island. No, there was one stop she had been making every morning, either accompanied by one or both of her spouses if time allowed, or alone if not.

The old and ruined village had once been nothing but a desperate fallback for the Blue Rogues, back when the 6th Fleet had found and attacked their base on Crescent Island. It was finding new life now. Centime and Carol and the other adults who had agreed to stay on as caregivers and foster parents for the legion of war orphans that 'The Tinker' had been gathering to his side like mislaid ducklings had been turning it into something better. The village was teeming with life and the laughter of children. Before when it had only been the Blue Rogues of Crescent Island, this place had felt cozy. Now, it was finally beginning to feel like a home.

Aika paused at the entrance to the small clearing where the gravestones of Sahira Daccat and his wives Kikue and Yasmina had been found. A great deal of work had been done to refurbish the site and clean it up, but it had become tradition for people visiting the site to bring tokens. Flowers, sometimes, and the children had taken to leaving precious baubles to thank the deceased couple for giving them somewhere to live. Glass marbles, bits of brightly colored string or bird feathers (The Ixa'takans loved those), whatever they valued they gave over. It had gotten to the point that Carol had politely suggested gathering up the pieces for redistribution, or for use in some greater gesture. The moment Fina had found examples of 'murals' and 'collages' in their collection of digital historical references, the children had been hooked on the idea. It seemed that a new generation of artists were being raised - along with a generation of musicians, engineers, craftsmakers, and even warriors. Inspired by the three historical figures who had fought to rewrite their lives as they saw fit, and the three modern figures who had fought to give the world a chance at something more, the children were blossoming. This morning, it was young Salas, the Nasrad orphan who was visiting the gravesites. He was pouring water over them as Aika watched, and when he realized he wasn't alone, Salas looked back over his shoulder and blinked.

"Missus Aika." He said, and his shy greeting made Aika smile. It was strange to think of anyone calling her a "Missus", but she was married now - twice over, and so happy for that. "I was just saying hello to them."

"I had the same idea, Salas." Aika reassured him, strolling into the clearing. It was peaceful and quiet, and felt wonderful. She hadn't known how much she could appreciate the quiet until they had settled here properly. After everything…after everything that had happened, she hadn't known she could feel so tired and exhausted. Fina had been so much worse off, dealing with her own trauma and mixed feelings. Vyse had fretted over them at the cost of his own health until they'd shouted him down, and then the three of them had fallen apart in desperate laughter. "We really do need all the therapy," Fina had said afterwards, when her laughter and her tears were too mixed up to tell the difference. But they were working on it, and for Aika that meant just…relaxing, without having to do anything. Not going from one crisis to the next. To take the time to sift through all the horrible memories and events and come to terms with them, along with her joys and the wonderful moments as well.

Aika knelt down in front of the graves where Salas had poured water. "Did you plant some flower seeds here?" She asked, tracing her fingertips along the wet soil and grass.

Salas shook his head. "Water is precious in Nasr. It was the best thing I could think to give them."

Aika smiled and reached over to ruffle the boy's hair. He'd definitely been filling out under the care of Centime and his wife, but he had a ways to go before he looked as healthy as Marco did now. Aika remembered all too well how ragged Marco had looked when they'd first met him.

If there was a better symbol for why they were carrying out their plans now than these children who knew peace for the first time in their lives, Aika didn't know of it.

She lingered at the grave and prayed for the three air pirates of 200 years ago for a little while longer, then slowly pushed herself back up onto her feet. "Come on." She said to Salas, offering her hand to the boy. "You look like you could use something to eat."

"But we had breakfast already." The boy pouted. Aika laughed, loudly and freely. Because they were free. They were all free.

"Maybe. But let me tell you about this wonderful thing called snacking…"

Village Schoolhouse

It would be hard to miss the schoolhouse which Fina had insisted on building, once they had decided to make the recovered village a permanent residence and rebuilt it further. Erected a good march away from the rest of the village on the edge of the woods, the building sat in the shadow of the rugged mountains that hid Daccat's so-called 'tomb'. The tomb itself was being repurposed as a retreat shelter in case of trouble…with an underground harbor for their ships to match. One might have questioned why a place set up for learning was so remote from the rest of the village, and indeed the rest of the island. But there was an easy answer when one bothered to look up to the peak of the highest mountain on the island. There, a tower of steel girders had been erected. A thick insulated wire left over from their preparations to face Yeligar ran down the mountainside, fastened to the rock face every thirty meters or so until it reached the schoolhouse. There was a separate command and control facility within the underground tomb's passages where Blue Rogues business was handled, but Fina had made sure that a shunt of that line to the radio tower reached the school also. She had a perfectly good reason to demand it, and a quick glance at the glowing red light on the outside of the building beside the door indicated to Aika that reason was in use again.

True to her promise to no longer hoard the knowledge of the ancients, as the Silvite Elders had, Fina had taken to doing a daily broadcast on a separate frequency where…she taught lessons. Not just to the children on the island, but to the children of Arcadia who had access to radios. At last count, that made for a small, but rapidly growing subset of the populations of Ixa'taka, Yafutoma, and Mid-Ocean. Everywhere the Blue Rogues had allies and contacts, the knowledge of radio technology had been shared. Some had argued, given its importance in their victory over Galcian and the Eternal Empire, that it should be protected and given out selectively.

Fina had rebuked them all, and Aika and Vyse had backed her to the hilt. Nobody had dared speak against the wishes of High Admiral Vyse of the Blue Rogues. Their ability to communicate vocally over great distances and at near instant speed had been the key to that victory. Fina promised it could do so much more.

Aika paused at the doorway to the school and cracked it open slowly, not wanting the hinge to squeak and upset the lesson in progress. She found Fina inside of the classroom, manipulating fire and ice magic over a terrarium full of moisture and fog, creating a demonstration that had all the children enraptured. Even the other volunteers and aides in the room were paying more attention to the lesson than to their charges. What was unusual was the presence of a microphone on the table next to the terrarium, picking up her every word - and sending it up to the mountaintop tower for broadcast.

"...The superheated, moist air from the Deep Sky rises up, but it can't cut through the cloud layer that separates it from the Lower Sky. Not entirely. What ends up happening is that it reaches for weak spots in that cloud cover, and the force of that pressurized atmosphere bursts through in thin ribbons that rise, and rise. They go up as high as they can, these walls of wind and moisture, until they reach the upper atmosphere. The Upper Sky. And there on the border of the Central and Upper Skies, they finally dissipate and release the moisture they carried." Fina went on with a smile, tiny gestures of her hands making a miniature sky rift rise up from that bottom layer of fog in the glass tank to the top, where it disappeared as soon as it touched the open air there. "That moisture cools, collects and gathers into clouds, and comes down as rain. Where it falls on the floating continents and islands, there we have life. The rest of it falls back down to the Deep Sky again, and the process repeats. What do you think we call these thin ribbons of rising hot, wet air?"

Hands went up all over from the eager children, and Fina made a show of thinking very hard about deciding before she picked a bright-eyed, dark-skinned Ixa'takan girl. "I think Mr. Centime called them…um, sky rifts?" The girl got out hopefully.

Fina's smile was a warm summer day after a cold spring rain to Aika's eyes. "That's right, Ma'uri. Sky rifts. We see sky rifts everywhere around the world. For a long time, our ships weren't powerful enough to fly through them, and so everything on the other side of every sky rift that we knew about was unknown to us. Many sky rifts formed around Mid-Ocean, especially in the part of it under the silver moon which we call the Silver Sea. But when the lost continent of Soltis rose, many of those sky rifts just…disappeared. And even now, the reports we get from the people who sail around the Silver Sea and Mid-Ocean say that those sky rifts still haven't reappeared. It's hard to say what that means for us and for the people that will live years and years later. For us, though, it means that we have to redraw a lot of maps." Fina made a face and the children giggled and laughed. "See? Even us adults have to do homework. And you thought I was just being mean to all of you. No, children, I'm afraid that there will always be homework and things to do when you grow up. And it won't get any easier. But it will be more rewarding." Fina looked up and finally registered Aika's presence in the school's doorway, and gave her wife a fond look and a wink as she pulled her hand away from the terrarium and let the spells in it dissipate.

"Now, there's a lot more to learn about sky rifts, and particular sky rifts, for that matter. Including one of the most famous ones known as the Dark Rift. But that's a lesson for another day, and we're near the end of the day. So how about we stop here, and let you all go home a little early?" Cheers rose up, and Aika stepped out of the way as the kids got up from the rug on the wooden floor to race and chase each other out of the building. The assistants in the room, residents of the village as well, followed after them with long-suffering sighs.

Aika walked over towards Fina, and her wife held up a hand for quiet before reaching for one of the devices taken from the set they'd hauled back from the Silver Shrine seemingly a lifetime ago. A thin wire off of the classroom's microphone was connected to it, and Fina tapped the 'screen' of the metal and glass tablet before disconnecting the wire and its tapered metal plug. "There, done. Just wanted to save that broadcast for later."

"You're saving these lessons?" Aika wondered. "Why? You're already putting them out over the radio. It's why the school's built here so you can take advantage of the line going up to the transmission tower."

"Yes, and they only benefit those who hear them when they're first played." Fina explained patiently. "But what about the people who miss the broadcast? Or who only catch part of it? What if one of the children here on the island has a question about a lesson and I need to remember exactly what I said?"

Aika thought it over. "Huh." She finally said, nodding. "Okay. I hadn't thought of that."

Fina hummed and gestured to a few more of the Silvite tablets lying on a table. "Help me clean up, would you love?"

"Well, if it gets you out of here faster…" Aika hummed. It didn't take the two of them very much time at all to put the small schoolroom back in order, and the tablets back in their 'docking box' as Fina called it. Then, with a quick bit of finagling to connect the box to the solar panels strapped to the roof, the tablets were set to charge for another day, and Fina turned willingly into Aika's open arms.

In the quiet of the schoolroom, Aika held her wife and rocked back and forth with her.

"Hey." Aika whispered into the shell of Fina's ear, smiling when the blond-haired woman shivered slightly. "Love you, babe."

Fina hummed and leaned back far enough to pull Aika's head down for a slow, passionate kiss. They stopped to breathe, and Fina's voice came out husky afterwards. "And I love you…Mrs. Bluevane."

Ah, that name. It still made Aika's heart go soft a little to think of it. "You know, I like our name?"

"Of course you do. All three of us decided on it, didn't we?" Fina teased her. Aika reached down underneath Fina's skirt and gave her bottom a pinch for the impudence, and her Princess yelped and jumped slightly as she blushed.

"It is." Aika said smugly. "Just keeping you on your toes, Princess."

"A promise for later, then?" Fina questioned. Aika leaned in and heard the hitch in her breathing as they kissed again, pulling back slowly so Fina's bruised lip fell free of hers with a pop. "Oh, you bitch."

"Your bitch." Aika hummed. Aika and Fina Bluevane, and their husband Vyse Bluevane. None of them had really had last names before. Vyse and Aika came from families in Mid-Ocean who hadn't had one by their social status, Fina had never had a family in the first place. Bluevane was a compromise on their part when Enrique had insisted they needed to choose one as 'honorary nobility' and 'friends of the Valuan throne.' It was a name that meant nothing put together - just a combination of Blue for the Blue Rogues they would always be in their hearts, and Vane, an archaic word from the Valuan Highlands' regional dialect that meant someone who was glad, or good-natured.

Like the Blue Rogues themselves, they would decide for themselves what the name of Bluevane would stand for.

Fina's hand came up to rest above Aika's breasts, and the weight of the object underneath her blouse pressed into the redhead's skin. It made Fina pause for a little bit, as it always did, but then the shadows disappeared from her eyes. Aika put her hand over Fina's and left it there as they looked into each other's eyes. Fina's unsure, Aika's reassuring.

"I still want to wear it." She said to Fina, and the smaller woman tipped forward into her arms a little harder, burying her face in Aika's shoulder. Against her skin was a necklace that Fina had crafted on her own in the week after that last terrible day of the war. A simple pendant on a moonsteel chain that housed Ramirez's shard of the Silver Moon Crystal. "You said you wanted it to do some good for a change. With us…it can." Aika gently stroked Fina's hair back. "Besides, you need another priestess of the Silver Moon, don't you?"

Fina laughed softly. "I can't think of anyone else I'd trust more to be the second."

"Well, you still have to ask Ilchymis if he wants to continue studying to be a proper priest…"

"I'll get around to it." Fina cut her off. Aika chuckled.

"I'm interested in when. You've been putting it off for a week now."

"We've been busy. We're still busy."

"Hate to break it to you, Princess, but I don't think there's going to be a moment in our lives for the next twenty years where we aren't busy." Aika sighed. "Including today."

They lingered in the warmth of each other's arms for a few more seconds before reluctantly separating with one last kiss for good luck. Even then, they reached for each other's hands as Fina swept the schoolhouse one last time before tucking her personal tablet back in her satchel and nodding.

"Well, let's not keep our husband waiting any longer, Mrs. Bluevane." Fina said cheerfully.

"Knowing his luck, Mrs. Bluevane, he probably hasn't even boarded the Redoubt yet." Aika countered.

"Care to wager on that?" Fina asked.

"Usual stakes?" Aika asked, and at Fina's nod and blush, she smiled. "Deal." She still loved that after everything they had shared, Fina could still blush as brightly now as her wife as she did in those first days of their relationship. It made her want to scoop Fina up in her arms and hide her away from the world sometimes, even if Fina would never allow it.

"You're too good for this world, you know that Princess?" Aika remarked, holding open the door of the schoolhouse for her.

Fina pecked her cheek as she passed by, rising up on her toes to do so, and then sauntered out.

"Then let's make the world better." Fina replied. Aika grinned and followed behind her.

"Always."

Daccat's Island

Underground Base

Vyse was aboard the Redoubt, but the ship was far from being ready to sail. One of the officers aboard her gave the two of them a salute as they stepped off of the gangplank and onto the foredeck, then gave an apologetic shrug.

"Sorry, captains. We're not ready to sail yet. The admiral's on the bridge radio, coordinating with our contacts abroad. We've been getting things ready, but there are some things we need one of the three of you to sign off on."

Fina glanced over at Aika meaningfully. "I suppose this means I win."

"He's here, but he's busy." Aika complained. After a staredown that lasted all of two seconds, Aika smirked and looked away. "Fine, you win this time."

"My cup runneth over." Fina said dryly, getting a chuckle from the Esperanzan expatriate watching them bicker.

"You two had a bet on whether or not the admiral was ready to sail?"

"Something like that." Aika conceded, only slightly put out that Fina would get the coveted middle position in their bed tonight for winning the wager. "A bad habit we picked up, spending so much time around Kalifa. Any word from her lately?"

"Ah." The junior lieutenant scratched at his chin. "I think she just made it back to Crescent Island this morning along with that cargo full of goods from Yafutoma."

"Good." Fina clapped her hands together. "In that case, Keirson, take me to the checklist of things you need a superior officer to sign off on. Aika, see if you can't drag Vyse away from the radio long enough to issue the order for departure. We have a schedule to keep if we're going to make Crescent Island in smart fashion."

Aika gave her wife a half-hearted salute. "Aye-aye, captain."

The redhead made her way to the bridge of the Redoubt. The fine little vessel had gone from backup supply ship during the war to their primary means of conveyance between Daccat's Island and the still-being-rebuilt port of Crescent Island. She had fond memories of the vessel during their 'vacation' trip to the Ruins of Rolana, and was glad that they were able to keep it with them. The ship was able to sail with minimal crew, but more than a few former Blue Rogues were transferring back to Crescent Island following their posting here. Vyse was just where Lieutenant Kierson had said he'd be, sitting next to the radio and caught in some kind of an argument.

"I know that Nasr's suffered. The entire world has. But withholding aid to Valua is shortsighted, captain."

"It was Valua who was responsible for burning the world, burning our city, killing our Nasultan. Their fate is earned, I would say."

"The people responsible for sacking Nasrad are all dead. Whatever vendetta you believe you should still hold died with the Empress and Galcian and his Eternal Empire. New Valua isn't even an Empire any more. It's been expressly stated by King Enrique that Valua's reverting to a kingdom, and they are releasing all formerly annexed holdings in Mid-Ocean to full independence." Vyse pressed on the point with a tone that Aika knew well. It meant he was just short of that cold rage which made him attempt impossible things. "Admiral Komullah was the highest ranking official in the Nasrian military prior to his death. He, and by extension all of the Nasrian Navy, agreed to uphold the principles which the Blue Rogues stood for when he took the Oath and joined the Coalition Fleet. Are you saying that you wish to withdraw from our joint agreements now? The piracy we're seeing now isn't going to improve anytime soon unless there's us to stand against them. I wouldn't want Nasr to have to stand alone against that threat, not when so many of those black pirates will be crawling out of the woodwork."

"We are not Blue Rogues any longer." The Nasrian countered.

Vyse's hand clenched on the microphone stand. "Is it the opinion of Nasr's provisional government that they wish to stand alone?"

There was silence for a bit before the voice reluctantly answered. "I will send my ships to the Valuan plains as planned."

"Glad to hear it." Vyse said dryly, finally noticing Aika's presence. "Well, now that that's seen to, I have some other business to attend to." He let go of the squawk and changed frequencies on the dial to the main band, then sighed and leaned back in his seat.

"What was that about?"

"Something that's been brewing since Komullah sacrificed himself for us." Vyse said wearily. "No Nasultan, no Komullah, what's left of Nasr's leadership is fragmented. Some of them, like that merchant captain I just got off the call with, have their own opinions."

"Would he have really withheld those relief supply ships?" Aika asked worriedly.

"Maybe?" Vyse shrugged. "I just don't know. Maybe Khazim can give me some insight when we get back to Crescent." He took off his hat and handed it over to Aika before scrubbing his hands through his hair. "Moons. Amazing how much more work it is trying to rebuild things than fighting a tyrannical empire was."

Aika put the black tricorn hat on before easing herself into Vyse's lap, forcing him to wrap his arms around her to hold her steady. She smiled and leaned in to kiss him tenderly for a second. "Are you saying you preferred things the way they were a year and a half ago? Before Fina crashed into our lives?"

Vyse rolled his eyes and made a show of considering that before kissing her back. "Nah, I suppose not."

"Good." And before he could stop her, Aika scooted off of him and spun out of his reach. "Now then, I was sent up here to remind a certain commanding officer about the need to pass the order to launch."

"Yes, yes." Vyse sighed, put out by her coquettish display. He reached for the ship's intercom and blew the whistle to get everyone's attention. "All hands, this is Admiral Bluevane. Send word to the bridge as soon as your stations have finished pre-flight checks, we're moving out as soon as possible." He let go of the squawk and looked back to Aika. "Satisfied?"

"Tremendously." She preened. "Were you on the radio with the Nasrians this entire time?"

"No, before that I was talking to my father. He's still organizing a proper supply network through Mid-Ocean with Sailor's Island acting as the centerpoint. People seem to be responding well to it, though dad says he's still not used to calling himself a captain of the Blue Merchant Marine just yet."

"He went from a Valuan Royal Navy officer to an outlaw, and now we're asking him to move into the role of a trader captain with the training to run a naval militia as necessary." Aika pointed out. "That's not something Captain Dyne probably ever saw coming, Vyse. I don't think anyone saw it coming…except for you."

Vyse blinked a few times and let out a nervous laugh. "Really? Aika, I didn't pick the name, remember? What do you mean, I saw this coming?"

"Your update to the Code, remember?" Aika pointed out, nodding as Vyse's jaw clicked shut in realization. "Dyne made the original Code for the Blue Rogues in wartime. The Blue Rogues were a wartime group. Are you really that surprised we'd want to change our name as well, to follow a Code meant for us in a time of peace?"

Vyse chuckled softly at first, and then a little louder. "Well. Not when you put it like that." He got up from his seat as the rest of the bridge crew started to filter back in and man their posts, moving over to stand in front of Aika with that cocky smirk of his. He held out a hand. "Now. Mind giving me my hat back, Captain Bluevane?"

"Hmm. What do I get for it?" Aika asked, swaying back and forth ever so gently.

Vyse wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close, getting chuckles from the other members of the Blue Merchant Marine. "Well. You're a captain now. Maybe I'll give you a ship of your own."

"My own ship, hmm? Like Daccat gave a ship to each of his wives?"

"The thought occurred."

"Hm. Could I have the Delphinus then?" She teased him, gasping when his hand snaked up and snatched his hat back from her. He slipped away and fixed it back on his head with a firm tug, then winked.

"No, but I'd be willing to let you and Fina borrow it from time to time." And then he held out a hand to her again, inviting her back in.

Aika slid back into the arms of her husband and smiled when Fina came onto the bridge, beelining for them with a knowing smile. "I could live with that." She said, welcoming Fina into their embrace.

The harbor pilot on duty finished checking the helm readouts and then looked back from the telemotor. "All stations report ready for departure, admiral."

"Take us out then, ensign. Steady as she goes." Vyse ordered. A warning klaxon went off in the hollowed out cavern where the Redoubt was parked, and the former Valuan transport vessel backed out of its drydock harbor. A welcoming midday sky greeted them as the ship exited the underground space entirely and began to slowly nose around for a southern course.

"Course laid in for Crescent Island, captain."

Vyse pointed with his free hand and squeezed Aika's waist with the other. "Engage."

Crescent Island

2 Days Later

Crescent Island still bore the scars of the raid by Ramirez and the 6th Fleet. The debris had mostly been cleared out aside for a small pile here or there, but the buildings weren't all restored. They had not been erected overnight the first time, and Izmael was dead, unable to put his prodigious carpentry skills to use for their benefit.

The mechanized lift up to the overlook offices had been rebuilt. The framework of the main bunkhouse had been put in, reinforced for an eventual second floor or perhaps a third, and the cafe was doing open-air business for the sailors and builders mulling about on the surface.

There were signs of new construction as well. Some of the gantry cranes from the island's interior drydock had been brought out and firmly mounted on some of the island's perimeter. They had seen the work on their flight in, and Vyse had been pleased to see that the plans were proceeding to Brabham and Khazim's designs. Within the space of three or four months, there would be torpedo launchers arrayed twenty feet below the surface of the island, connected to the rest of their underground base by tunnels that were still being excavated and reinforced. And Fina had been making noises about a new kind of detection system which was based on using radio waves as opposed to the crude sonar they they'd implemented in the Deep Sky, though the first priority had been to erect a proper radio tower above the mountain-side command conference room so they could keep in touch with their friends more effectively.

Crescent Island served as the gateway to the Frontier Lands and Daccat's Island, where the most vulnerable among them made their home. They could no longer rely on deception and camouflage to protect them, not in a world that knew that Crescent Island was the home of High Admiral Vyse of the Blue Merchant Marine.

Vyse had refused to turn Crescent Island into a menacing thing like the Grand Fortress had been. He wanted the Blue Rogues - now the Merchant Marine - to stand for something better than the Armada had, and in that Aika and Fina wholeheartedly supported him.

Their fortress stronghold would have eyes to see trouble coming, ears and a mouth to talk to people so they would never be alone, and it would have hidden teeth that only came out in times of dire need. But Crescent Island would remain a beacon of hope and inspiration. Not tyranny.

Cheers rose up when the Redoubt parked off of the island next to the restored flagpole. It flew the colors proudly again, with an even larger flag than they had before. It was meant to be seen from afar now, they were done hiding. Curiously, there were other ships holding position around the island as well with smaller transports ferrying people and supplies back and forth, and Vyse laughed out loud when he saw who was the first person racing up the slope to greet them, pushing through the crowds of sailors disembarking from the Redoubt.

Little Marco. He didn't brain himself when he pulled to a stop and saluted, but his grin showed just how eager he was. He wasn't a green sailor anymore, though. None of the Blue Rogues were.

"Welcome back, admiral. Captains." The red-headed boy declared.

"Marco." Vyse returned the salute, then stepped forward to pull the boy into a back-slapping hug. "Been keeping things shipshape while we were gone?"

"More or less, Vyse." Marco said. "But I'm glad you're here." He looked away and dug the toe of his boot in the dirt. "There's…some of the sailors here, Vyse, they're heading for Valua. Admiral Little sent a ship for anyone who volunteered for the reconstruction effort."

"I know." Vyse told him. "Things are a mess right now, and Enrique has his work cut out for him. I figured you would be going back."

Marco pulled a face. "You did? I mean, no! I'm a Blue Rogue, why would I want to leave?"

"Marco." Aika said, drawing his attention. "We know you. Of course you'd be going back to fix things."

"Valua wasn't good to you as a kid, but you aren't that helpless kid anymore." Vyse explained gently. He wasn't, he'd been gaining inches and shooting up like a weed. Aika could see he'd be a tall, wiry man when he finished growing. "You're a Blue Rogue, you don't run from the hard jobs. And the survivors in Valua, they're as bad off right now as you had it. If anyone could understand what they're going through, it's you."

"If…If I do this, though, I won't be a Blue Rogue anymore." Marco mumbled. He was ashamed, Aika realized. This was why he'd been so nervous about it.

"Marco, did you think we'd be upset with you if you left to go fix things back home?" Vyse asked him softly. "Ridiculous. You've never done anything that made us anything less than proud of you. It's just as ridiculous as you no longer being a Blue Rogue. Of course you're still a Blue Rogue. You always will be, so long as you're sworn to the Code. And what's one of the lines in the Code? If you would seek Power…"

"...Defend the powerless." Marco mumbled back, finally looking back up at Vyse with a pensive look.

"Sure seems to me like the survivors in Valua are helpless right now." Vyse went on, smiling. "I think they could use all the help they could get from a Blue Rogue as good as you are. If you feel like you need my permission, Marco, you have it."

Marco swallowed, nodded, and turned to look at her. "Big sis Aika?" He asked. "It's okay with you too?"

"Damn right it is." Aika smirked at him. "Just be sure you come back to visit every so often. How's things going with Lyndsi, by the way?"

Marco flushed a little at the name of the blond-haired girl who was fixated on him. "Um. Good, I think?" He scratched the back of his head. "We've been sending each other letters." Fina made a cooing noise, and Marco blushed even harder. "I - I mean, it'll be good to get to know each other a little more before we, um, do anything. Right?"

"Yes, it is." Fina praised him.

"Good." The boy coughed and looked behind him. "Well. I'd better let you all get to where you're going. That ship's taking off in a bit and I guess I'd better be on it." He gave them one more smile and then took off, flying down the slope to get to his destination.

"That kid, I swear." Vyse shook his head. "Always in a hurry to get places."

"And you weren't?" Aika asked pointedly. Vyse turned his head slightly to look at her and shrugged with a smile. "Look at it this way. He hasn't taken a scar to the face yet."

"And given who I took it for, I'd argue things worked out for the best." Vyse mused, bringing heat to her face. Moons, but the man could flirt. He laughed a bit and then clapped his hands together. "All right! Seeing as we're on a timetable, why don't we divide and conquer?"

"I wanted to check in with Dr. Ilchymis before we left for Mid-Ocean. I could make sure we're resupplied while we're at it." Fina offered.

"I'll see how the reconstruction is going, pop in and visit Lapen and Hans while I'm at it." Aika said, getting a look from the other two. She sighed and shook her head. "Relax, I'm not going to go digging in the reactors or the engines, all right?"

"All right." Vyse conceded, not pressing on the point. Which was good, given how protective everyone had started getting lately, especially Vyse. "And I have some paperwork and the like to see to. Let's plan on getting back together at the tavern in…say, two hours?"

Aika looked over to Fina, who shrugged. "Fine by us."

Vyse tipped his captain's hat. "All right then. Blue Rogues…break!"

Fina had walked into the hollowed out chambers beneath the mountains expecting to find Ilchymis in his usual spot. To her consternation, a good deal of the pharmacist's laboratory was missing. So were his stores of shelf-stable potions, crystals, and powdered medicines the doctor had spent months gathering. Her sense of panic lasted for perhaps all of ten seconds before she spotted an unusual item on his desk and recalled that Marco was leaving as well.

The First Priestess of the Silver Moon made her way down to the underground drydock, where a line of sailors that included several Esperanzans were gathered at the base of the gangplank to a waiting vessel. At the back of the line was the healer she had adopted as her honorary uncle so long ago. A crate marked with his name and several warnings about its fragility was being hauled up and guided to the forward cargo hold of the Valuan cruiser from Admiral Little's remnant fleet, and Ilchymis was watching it go while keeping an overloaded satchel pressed to his side.

"So. you're leaving us then, uncle?" Fina said. Ilchymis tensed up for a moment and turned around, smiling sheepishly at her. "Without saying goodbye?" She added.

"I wrote you a letter, Fina." He pointed out. "Did you look for it on my desk?"

She produced the letter she had found, still unopened. "I preferred to hear it from you directly, if you don't mind."

He sighed, folding his hands together. "Very well. You remember the story I told you about how I got started? The event that put me on the road to true medicine?"

She did remember it - a dying poor Valuan who had passed away in his arms, and driven home the disparity and unfairness of the class system. Fina kept silent, settling for a nod of her head.

"The first census of the survivors was disheartening. There are no more rich or poor. There are merely the dead and the suffering." He fixed his glasses. "Before I became a Blue Rogue, I was a physician of medicines. My first vow was to the sick, the ill, the meanest of souls. I refused to serve an Empire. A kingdom left in its ruins cries for help. I am a doctor, dear Fina, and a Blue Rogue sworn. I must go to help them. I can do no less."

Fina shook her head ruefully, feeling the tug of her blue headscarf against her neck. "I know. But I will miss you." She gestured around them, trying to mask the hurt. "So many of us are scattered now. Some stay at Daccat's Island. Some linger here. And now you, and so many others - you are returning home. Going elsewhere."

"And who ever said you would never see us again?" Ilchymis posed. "You gave me the gift of true healing. You gave the world a greater gift - their voices, and the freedom to use and hear them alike. You are family to me, my dear adopted niece." He stepped closer to her and brushed a tear away from the corner of her eye. "I go where I am needed now, but all you need to do is call and I will come back for you."

Fina sniffled. She had wanted to hold herself together, but she was still in ruins, still healing. "I need you." She begged him, and without being asked, Ilchymis pulled her into a hug, holding her gently. "I do."

"No you don't. Not today." He answered. "Today you are strong." She sobbed.

"What if we're doing something wrong? What if I'm doing something wrong? What if you aren't there to tell me that I'm doing the wrong thing?"

"You haven't done a wrong thing yet, and I don't think you will. Your heart is too full of love to become a tyrant." Ilchymis kissed the top of her head and pulled back away. "And if nothing else, just remember my…sorry. Our family motto. Always to guide…"

"...Never to rule." Fina finished, wiping at her eyes. It was now, as it had been before, the proof of Ilchymis du Argas's Silvian heritage. The proof of their bond.

"That's my niece." He grinned. "You're showing us the path to a better future, Fina. You and your spouses. I know it may feel like we're leaving you, weakening the Blue Rogues. We're not. We're going out into the world and continuing the work the three of you have started. We're growing." He laughed a little. "I honestly have no idea what's coming up next. I'm excited to find out."

"Oi, Doc! You coming? We're wasting daylight here!" One of the Esperanzans shouted over the railing of the docked ship.

"Yes, I'm coming! Hold on a moment!" Ilchymis yelled back, sighing after. "I really do have to get going, Fina."

"I know." She nodded, finished with her crying jag. "If you're going to train other doctors, though, you'll have your hands full."

"If I find any good candidates, I'll send them your way. I'm just sorry I couldn't be a better doctor for you."

"To be fair, I don't think anyone could have predicted that particular side effect of silver magic." Fina sniffed. "You were a perfect doctor."

"Perfection is something none of us can lay claim to. But we try for it, always." He bowed slightly. "May the Moons bless you, Fina Bluevane." A sense of warmth and peace fell over her, and she nodded back to him.

"They already have."

Ilchymis gave her one last wave, then turned and marched up the gangplank. As soon as he was aboard, the ship powered up for launch. Two minutes later, the Valuan vessel backed out of the hangar and disappeared from view. Fina lingered until it was gone before leaving herself. She couldn't help but be reminded of a line of dialogue from a story so ancient that only the quote remained in her people's database.

"Life is a series of meetings and partings…that is the way of it."

Aika had lingered aboard the Delphinus as long as she could before the engineering crews under Lapen, Hans, and old Brabham finally got tired of being polite and all but forced her off of the ship again. It might have bothered her more, but at least Hans was cordial enough to walk out with her, still feeding her information about the ongoing repairs to their flagship and the reconstruction of the rest of the island.

"Given the damage and the losses so many other ships in the Coalition fleet took during that last battle, it could've been a lot worse, boss." Hans finished the summary. "I don't want to think about how badly it could have gone if we hadn't figured out how to hammer out those thin sheets of Velorium plating for the critical areas of the hull."

"Okay. Timeframe, though. Vyse is going to want to know how soon the Delphinus will be ready to deploy."

Hans gave her a look as they marched up the metal stairs that connected the drydock to the upper levels of the underground space. "It sounds like you're expecting to need it soon."

"And you aren't?" Aika countered. "Hans, back before our wife stumbled into our lives, Vyse and I knew that there were two forces keeping the black pirates at bay - the Armada, and the Blue Rogues. The Blue Rogues kept them out of parts of Mid-Ocean and the Silver Sea and Valuan territory was a death wish for them. Pretty much the only territory they had relatively free reign of were the rougher parts of Nasrian airspace. Now the biggest force that kept them laying low is gone, and - We're it. Yes, we're expecting trouble." She let out an aggrieved sigh as her boots clunked up the walkway. "So, how soon?"

Hans coughed and looked away. "Two more months for the repairs. Resupplying the ammunition, maybe a month more past that." Aika frowned, wanting to argue that point until her brain caught up with her.

"Right. No Valua, no factories selling product under the table to the black marketeers."

"And Lorenzo and his bunch brought us the bulk of what they had on hand to arm the Coalition for the last battle. Yafutoman merchants have been sending what they can for ammunition, but their manufacturing process isn't up to par yet." Hans nodded. "At least the black pirates will have the same supply problems."

"They aren't spread as thin, though." Aika murmured. "We're losing so many people that are scattering back to the winds, who are going back home. Will we still be able to fly and fight with the Delphinus with a reduced crew?"

Hans laughed at that. "As I recall, Mrs. Bluevane, you fought your way out of the Grand Fortress the second time with only four of you. It's one of the most sensational parts of the story, after all." She swung her head around and gave him a dirty look as they came to the top of the stairs and turned for the first tunnel access leading out of the mountain.

"Hans, I would prefer it if we didn't have to do that next time. I also recall how Vyse and Enrique had to take shifts flying that monster, and I was alone down in the engine room for way too long."

"I know." Hans nodded. "Just trying to make light of the situation to get a smile out of you. But I guess you're not in a mood to laugh."

"Sorry." She apologized to him, and ran a hand over her scalp. "There's just a lot going on."

"Well, I wouldn't worry too much about it." Hans consoled her. "You've been out of the loop for a few days, but gossip's been spreading as you know it loves to do."

"What are people betting on now?" She groaned.

"Oh, nothing big this time around. No, that's not the gossip I wanted to bring up." Hans told her. "There's been people in Mid-Ocean - and elsewhere - who have been making subtle inquiries about what it would take to join the Blue Merchant Marine. They've been coming up one or two at a time to Lorenzo's merchant ships and the Blue Rogue vessels that make port, asking questions about it, about what life's like with the Blue Rogues. Drachma almost couldn't stop chuckling when he radioed his report in. It's just small numbers right now because people are still rebuilding and reorganizing their lives, but. It's a start. And I think it's a trend that's going to continue as our people filter in and out to help rebuild their homes and settle back in their existing territories." Hans pointed at her shortly. "Take Tikatika, for example. He left for Ixa'taka on one of those Yafutoman merchant ships we've been getting, right? Those three Ixa'ness sisters went with him, and I'm not certain where they're going to end up in their homeland. But given that Ixa'ness Village is all about women going out and finding worthy men to bring into the fold, I would suspect that those three young women won't be able to stop themselves from gossiping about how they would've never found Tikatika if the Blue Rogues hadn't stomped into their life."

That thought made Aika snort and put on a ridiculous grin. "Oh, Moons. I can see it now. 'Join the Merchant Marine, see the world, find a worthy mate!' It's so ridiculous, it might just work for them."

"Worked for you." Hans pointed out, before slipping into a dopey lovestruck smile. "Worked for me too." She couldn't help herself, Aika punched him lightly in the shoulder.

"You are such a goof for Urala." Aika teased him.

Hans laughed and rubbed at his arm. "A man in love often is. She's eager to try a new soup recipe on the three of you - Something she picked up from Gordo when we were all gathering at Alpha Base."

"Well, if Gordo taught Urala a thing or two about cooking, I'm game." Aika shook her head. "Man was an absolutely terrible pirate, but he's one hell of a cook. Oh, and you're going to love this, Hans. Some new gossip for you. It seems he's been asking around looking for more ships to put under his command. But not all in one place, no. He wants to train a fleet of cooks and chefs to work on restaurant ships like the kind he turned The Bloodlust into in North Ocean. And then he wants to scatter them all over the world, so that he can get people everywhere eating, and paying for his cooking."

Hans cracked a laugh, just as Aika had anticipated he might. "That, I can't wait to see. At least it's honest work."

"Hm." Aika squinted as they stepped out of the tunnel and into the sunlight of Crescent Island, and the noise of all the reconstruction work.

Honest work. It was remarkable to think about what those two words meant. All her life she'd been the daughter of Blue Rogues and a Blue Rogue herself. Outlaws in every sense of the word, people who lived outside of the law because to live within it meant to be marginalized, persecuted, trampled on. Now, suddenly, she found herself at the top of a new and rising international power not beholden to any one particular country. A power that sought freedom of ideas, freedom of trade, freedom of liberty and freedom in love.

They had the goodwill and friendship of so many around the world, the foundation of even deeper bonds. Yafutoma and the rebuilding Kingdom of Valua were linked by marriage. Mid-Ocean was even now redefining itself in the absence of Imperial oversight. Blue Rogues were no longer air pirates, but the Merchant Marine - sailors and traders who could be called up as militia in times of need. They were legitimate now. They were doing honest work.

Some had asked in those first weeks if Vyse meant to declare himself king of the Frontier Lands. If his marriage to Aika and Fina meant the creation of a new dynasty, a bloodline that might one day slip to madness and ruin as the Valuan Queen and Empress had. Aika had laughed in their faces at that.

No, she wanted no part of that nonsense. Vyse was already a leader renowned by all, and she wanted no fancy titles or the expectations that came with them. Fina had vehemently denied it as well, still so gunshy after her people's shaded history. And Vyse? Vyse had never been comfortable with the burden of leadership, even though he wore it so well.

"Now what are you smiling about?" Hans asked her, as they approached the tavern where Urala was even now working to prepare meals for the crewmembers hammering and framing and sawing away, erecting their new buildings.

"Just something that Fina said once." She answered him, pulling the door open and beckoning him to go inside first. "Great men do not seek power. They have it thrust upon them."

Vyse had made it a point to check on his crew often during the war. Their return visits to Crescent Island to rest and repair had given him a chance to speak to his wildly eclectic crew when they weren't on the job, quite so beholden to his command. It gave him a chance to know them as people beyond their roles on his ship.

Some faces were missing now, either off on different assignments or gone entirely in this world or the next. Yet some remained, even a handful which Vyse had thought would leave as soon as the fighting was done.

Ryu-Kan was one such crewmember he was surprised to see still on the premises. The elderly man was waiting for him with two steaming cups of green tea and the heat from his red moonstone-enhanced forge burning at his back. The Yafutoman people put great pride in their ceremonies, and there was ceremony at work here. Ryu-Kan had shunned much of it when he could, so for Vyse to find the man seated in seiza with an offering laid out before him meant something important.

Vyse sat down opposite of the man, cross-legged for lack of an ability to sit with his legs folded underneath him for any length of time. Ryu-Kan's eyes watched him under hooded eyelids as Vyse removed his tricorn hat and set it beside him, then bowed when Vyse was relaxed. Vyse bowed in turn and waited for Ryu-Kan to serve him his cup.

A good minute passed with the two men sitting there, savoring the warmth and the slightly bitter taste of Ryu-Kan's favored Yafutoman blend. He wondered if Ryu-Kan meant to speak to him - a dicey proposition, given Ryu-Kan's inability to speak the Mid-Ocean tongue to any real degree. Vyse knew certain phrases in the Yafutoman language, but his wife outclassed him, as did Enrique. Vyse almost started to say something, but Ryu-Kan held up a finger to silence him, continuing to work on his drink at a leisurely pace.

Just as Ryu-Kan finished and Vyse prepared to stutter out something, another person sat down beside them. Vyse did a double take when he recognized the presence of Kalifa.

"Apologies, Lord of Rogues." She greeted him with a knowing smile. The woman had tipped her head down so the reflectivity of her glasses was absent, and there was good humor in her eyes. "Ryu-Kan asked me to serve as translator for him, but insisted that the two of you should finish your tea first."

"Why?"

Kalifa drew her legs underneath her in a seiza that made Vyse jealous. "The master swordsmith Ryu-Kan wished to give his liege lord a moment's respite." Vyse looked back over to the craftsman, and caught the hawk-nosed man giving him a slight knowing smile as he set his empty cup down.

"I'm not his lord." Vyse blurted out. "Ryu-Kan is a citizen of Yafutoma. If anyone is his liege lord, it's Emperor Tokugawa or Prince Daigo." Kalifa waited for him to finish before translating his protest in Yafutoman that wasn't quite as good as Fina's, but more passable than his own. Ryu-Kan absorbed it in stride.

"When you become as old as I am, as skilled and sought after, you have the power to serve who you wish to." Ryu-Kan said through Kalifa's translation. "Show me your swords, Lord of Rogues. Show me the Dragon Swords you named after a Lord of the West."

The expectation was clear on Ryu-Kan's wizened face. Vyse reached to his belt and unbuckled it, sliding the scabbards of his Vorlik blades off of the leather. With a reverence that the heaviness of the moment called for, he laid the swords between them.

Ryu-Kan reached for the first and held it at eye level. With practiced movements, he grasped the nose of the scabbard and the hilt of the blade, smoothly pulling them apart. The sword sang as it appeared and Ryu-Kan stared at it, turning it one direction and then the other.

"This blade, like its master, has seen battle." He declared. "It has taken lives. Every sword I have ever made shared the same fate." His gaze moved to Vyse. "Tell me of the blood spilled by this sword."

It felt like a test. Vyse closed his eyes and breathed in and out. "They were with me when we fought Galcian and Ramirez. When we fought through the soldiers that defended the Flying Fortress, when we journeyed through Soltis. They were used against men and machines. Against tyrants and the heart of a Gigas. With them, I was able to defend my wives and my friends. With them, we were able to save this world."

Ryu-Kan nodded slightly. He slid the first cutlass back into its sheath, then set it down and drew the second. His eyes scrutinized it as closely as they had the first.

Kalifa took a breath before Ryu-Kan began to speak, and it was well that she did. A torrent poured forth from the old man and she scrambled to keep pace with him. "Yafutoma says it is a land of stability. Favored by the Blue Moon, its rulers lead by the Mandate of Heaven. This is what they say, and what we are taught. Order and discipline are the…earmarks of harmony." she paused, giving Vyse an apologetic glance for the unfamiliar word. "But I have made weapons for years, and I know that for all that my people praise obedience and harmony, there is chaos in their hearts. They war for greed, or out of fear. They war because of slights left to fester, taken too far. This, I have learned, is true of all men." He stared Vyse down. "Some stand above those petty flaws, though. There will always be conflict, and the urge to silence your enemies forever. Your reason for using these swords, then, is important." He slid the second Vorlik Blade back into its scabbard and set it down beside the first.

Vyse still had some of his own tea left, cold as it was. He picked it up and drank the rest to give himself time to think. This conversation demanded the best answer he could give.

"I know that there are some people who believe I intend to rule. There are those who believe I fought Galcian and his Empire only to replace him, and that all of our words and pleas were empty promises. That I have somehow engineered the past year to arrive at this point. They are wrong. I do not want to rule. I did not fight all my life tearing down one empire to build another. I could do terrible things if I acted out of greed or fear. I could hide myself and my family away and live behind guns and walls, but I refuse to. There is a cycle of violence, and to do any of that would be to live in it, to perpetuate it. I refuse. We must step away from that cycle. Live outside of it."

Ryu-Kan watched him as he spoke, not moving or turning in to look at Kalifa as she translated. At length, he grunted once and bobbed his head.

"You were a different man when I met you. You were a sword still glowing from the furnace, unfinished and still being hammered into shape. I look at you now and I see your edge sharpened. Your steel hardened. Your final shape is realized. You are the Lord of Rogues at last - tested and unbroken. A man who does not rule, but leads." The old man smiled. "This is why I stayed." It figured that the swordsmith would rely on smithing metaphors to get his point across.

"Are you sure you want to stay?" Vyse asked carefully. "The war is done. Others have gone home to rebuild. To rest."

Ryu-Kan shook his head. "I have moved enough. If I grow lonely for home, there are Yafutomans who fly in our direction every week I can speak to and share a meal with. Your blades are the pinnacle of my craft. I will never make another sword that is their equal. In the few years I have left, I would like to see if there is enough strength in this tired body to make something else besides weapons."

Vyse thought about it. "Sort of how I'm turning the Blue Rogues into the Merchant Marine. We can be more than warriors."

The old man nodded. "If we have the courage to try. How does the Code go…"

Vyse set his empty teacup down. "Blue Rogues never give up." He bowed, and surprised both Kalifa and Ryu-Kan by ending with a phrase in stuttered, but passable Yafutoman. "Thank you for the tea, honored elder."

Ryu-Kan let out a laugh and pressed a fist into the opposite palm. "Sail well, Lord of Rogues." He answered through Kalifa.

Vyse took his swords back, stood up, and walked away. As he strapped them back into place he was unsurprised that Kalifa followed.

"Thank you for translating." Vyse told her. "You've improved."

"It was a pleasure, admiral." He made a face and she laughed. "Still not quite used to the rank, are you?"

"I will be what I have to be, but you're right." He admitted, cinching his swordbelt into place. "Being a captain is - was - easier. But this is what I am now. What is needed. And I'm hardly bearing the weight alone."

"No. You are not." She agreed. "Where else do you need to go, Vyse?"

"Fina was taking care of the resupply issues, Aika was doing island repair and reconstruction checks." He said. Vyse had already checked in with their friends and comrades over the radio, conferred with Domingo over the conference room's central chart table to determine the latest reported locations of transports and patrol vessels, and called ahead to Alpha Base to let his parents know they'd be stopping by sometime in the coming week for a home visit. "This was my last stop before I met with my wives for dinner."

"Then your coming rest seems well-earned. I am sorry that the cabins are still unfinished." She said to him, no longer keeping to her habit of speaking about herself in the third person. The apology made Vyse smile, as he knew full well that the carpenters were planning on converting the upper section to contain a double suite for the three of them when they stayed on the island.

"It's all right. We weren't planning on staying overnight anyways. Something to look forward to next time. How goes that book of yours?"

"I have collected all the primary accounts, but I am still working on the conclusion. Trying to put into words what we lived through at the end is…it is difficult."

It had been difficult to live through. Vyse didn't envy the task of writing it all down.

"You do not wish to ask me why I am doing this?" Kalifa questioned.

"Oh? No. No, I don't need to. I know why you're doing it." It was the same reason Fina had preserved the knowledge of her people - some lessons were too important to forget. Beyond the advancements that would come in the following years as the Silvites' knowledge of engineering, chemistry, and physics was taught and spread out was a desire to make sure that the mistakes not only of the Valuan Empire, but also the mistakes of the Old World were never repeated. Knowledge was a gift that Fina would see everyone in the world receive, instead of being hoarded away like the Elders had believed in. In her own way, Kalifa meant to do the same.

"Well, then. Good."

"You'll figure it out, Kalifa." Vyse said. "I have every confidence in you. Let me know when it's finished, and I'll pay for the first printing of it."

"You will?" Kalifa was surprised at the offer, but smiled and accepted it. "As you will, Lord of Rogues." She stopped fifteen paces away from the tavern where Vyse was heading. "I'll say my farewells here, Vyse Bluevane. I have some other errands to see to."

Vyse nodded, but didn't look away from her. That stare finally made Kalifa still and remove her glasses, looking at Vyse with her brown eyes.

"Did you see this, Kalifa?" He asked her. "Did you see all of this, what's happened, before you lost your Visions?" She smiled at the question. "Do you know what's going to happen next?" He pressed.

The former fortuneteller laughed softly and shook her head. "Oh, Vyse. Nobody knows what's going to happen next. You are reshaping the world beyond anyone's ability to predict." She reached over and patted him on the arm. "Don't be so afraid of making mistakes that you stumble into them. Just be yourself. That is enough. It always was."

She slipped her glasses back on, waved, and sauntered off. Vyse waited until she was out of earshot before he snorted and shook his head. It wasn't bad advice, but she hadn't answered the question.

Then again, did any fortuneteller ever give a straight answer?

He walked into the tavern and a dozen people all shouted his name. He gave them all a wave, but he only had eyes for the two women sitting at a table close to the unfinished entertainment stage that looked back at him as if his coming had made the sun break out from behind the clouds. A sensation of warmth and belonging settled into his heart, and he found himself sitting down between them and giving both Aika and Fina a tender kiss in greeting. "Miss me?"

"You know, we're perfectly capable of going an hour or a day without seeing you Vyse." Aika countered.

"A few days might be pushing it." Fina added, smirking when Aika gave her a dirty look for ruining her reply. "Is everything okay, Vyse?"

"Drachma says hello, he's at Sailor's Island doing some fishing while Polly and Robinson spend time with their daughter. Mom and dad are looking forward to seeing us when we get to Alpha Base." Vyse looked over and caught the attention of one of the new faces on the island, a Yafutoman merchant's daughter who was working as a waitress on Crescent Island to brush up on her Mid-Ocean tradespeak. She nodded and said one last thing to Urala, who was stationed behind the counter with Hans looking on affectionately, and then came over with a small skateboard and a bit of chalk tied to it on a string.

"What you will have?"

"Close, Su Min." Fina said back to her in perfect Yafutoman. "What will you have?"

"Ah. Yes." Su Min made a face, memorizing the correction. "What will you have?"

"Soup of the day. Warm bread. Cheese and pickles, if you have them." Aika said.

"Ugh." Fina made a face. "Pickles? No thank you. I'll have a salad, some fried noodles, and whatever poultry you're serving today. Light on the spice." Aika winced at the mention of fried noodles.

Vyse chuckled as the two of them argued over their meal choices. "Bring me whatever Urala has on the grill, and some ale."

"Fruit juice better." Su Min pointed out, eyeing Aika and Fina for a bit before fixing her gaze back on Vyse. "From Ixa'taka. Fresh." Vyse started to argue the point, but caught Aika giving him a look and sighed, nodding his head.

"Make it three, then." The woman nodded and walked back to deliver the order, and Fina patted his shoulder.

"Drinking alcohol makes sense in the context of preventing ingestion of parasites and harmful bacteria, Vyse, but the merchants are making strides in better methods of food preservation."

"Yes, that's exactly why I'm refusing it." He muttered, though without any real heat or irritation. "At least garpa juice isn't bad. Although it might be too sweet. I may have to get some tea after, if we're banning ale from my diet now."

"You're welcome to sneak one later at Alpha Base with your dad while mom's pampering me and Fina." Aika promised him. Three cups of garpa juice were set down in front of them, and the three spouses raised their glasses.

"Here's to the Merchant Marine!" Vyse toasted, clinking their glasses together. A cheer rose up around the tavern, and more than one person held up their Blue Rogues crew coins. It was a moment that caught Vyse by surprise, but maybe it shouldn't have. Surrounded by his family and his friends, it made sense that his crew would want to join in on the toast as well.

"We've made something really special here, haven't we?" Aika sighed as she set her half-empty glass back down.

Vyse allowed himself a small laugh. "And we aren't done yet."

4 Days Later

Mid-Ocean, 20 Lunaleagues from Sailor's Island

Doc's Houseboat

It felt a little strange to walk onto "Doc" Levinstone's houseboat and have Piastol Mendosa greet them with a warm smile and an offer of a cup of tea. Even though they had restored her sister to her, settled the demons of her past and fought alongside her in the depths of Soltis, Aika still flinched when Piastol appeared. To her credit, the other woman understood she was the cause of those phantom pains and took time today to keep in clear view of her at all times. Fina had told her a long time ago that mental trauma took a while to recover from. Dying, especially. As usual, when it came to topics beyond a standard Mid-Ocean Blue Rogue's education, Fina had been right on the money.

Her wife was sitting on a chain-hung foldout bench in front of the boat's wheelhouse, smiling and playing a game involving knotted string with little Maria. Her husband was making small talk with Doc ten feet off to the side, keeping it light. That left Aika to savor her tea and glance at Piastol every so often. There was someone missing, though.

"Where's that big yellow bird gone off to?"

"Mister Piccolo?" Piastol clarified, speaking softly and even glancing back over to Maria to make sure the girl hadn't heard her. "Hm. Those Moonfish that you shipped to us made him big enough that he started glowing and took off, flying southeast last we saw of him. Maria was sad to see him go, but I'm kind of grateful."

"He was probably eating his weight in regular skyfish." Aika surmised. Piastol gave her a wry look and the two of them shared a brittle smile before raising their cups in unison for another sip. Mint tea. It helped to settle her queasy stomach, at least. "How did Maria take it?"

"Oh, she was pretty broken up about it for the first five minutes, but you know Doc. He talked her down, easy enough. Whatever kind of Hamachou Mister Piccolo was, he was never going to stay around forever. He was going to move on, just like people do. Just like she will, one day. When she gets older and decides to either have a family of her own, or decides to go sailing. Who knows? I saw how friendly she was with those kids back at Alpha Base."

Aika giggled at the thought. "You'd be okay with your sister being a Blue Rogue?"

"A Blue Rogue, no." Piastol quickly shook her head. "But a member of this Mercantile Marine your husband's setting up…?" The young woman sighed. "For now, she's still a little girl. And she'll always be my little sister. I'm just enjoying the time I have with her while it lasts." Piastol looked over her shoulder to Maria and smiled a little more honestly, then threw back the rest of her now lukewarm tea in one swallow. "I never did thank you properly."

"For what?" Aika asked, relaxing a little bit more as the peace of the domesticity of their visit settled into her bones.

Piastol bit her lip and looked down. "For not killing me. For not letting me kill myself." She looked up, looking entirely vulnerable. There was no trace of the vengeful girl left on her face. "You gave me back my family, Aika Bluevane. Thank you."

A lump settled into her throat. "You're welcome." She drank down the rest of her own to get rid of the lump and restore her voice. "What will you do now?"

"I don't know." Piastol shrugged. "By rights, I'm a noblewoman of Valua. The daughter of an admiral. But I know now my father had more than one side to him. As much as he doted on my sister and I, there was darkness in his heart, and it poisoned Ramirez. Maybe it's better if the Mendosa name is lost alongside the Empire. Doc offered to adopt me."

"Piastol Levinstone?" Aika marveled. "Really?"

"Why not?" Piastol countered. "He already adopted my sister. And David offered to teach me what he knows about medicine." She dragged the toe of her boot along the deck, looking down for a bit before jerking her head back up in clear resolve. "I've taken enough lives, Aika. I think I want to see if I can learn about saving them instead."

Aika smiled. "I think that's a good idea. The world needs more doctors."

"Good. Good." Piastol worked her lower lip between her teeth for a few seconds and Aika waited. "Um. One more thing."

"Yes?"

"There's a rumor going around about your wife."

"Which one?" There were so many that Aika knew about, after all. That Fina was going to revolutionize communication, that she wanted the knowledge of the ancients disseminated into the world. And those were just the polite ones. There were dozens of more illicit whispers and barbs shared around the world.

"That she's looking to train…other silver magic users." Piastol offered hesitantly. "I only know how to kill with silver magic. Do you think she'd be willing to show me how to save people with it?"

"Maybe." Aika hedged, startled that they were even discussing this. The world really had changed, if a pirate killer wanted to become a healer. "But it isn't easy. A priestess of the Silver Moon must have the deepest commitment. The most serious mind." She leaned forward. "Do you think you're ready?"

Piastol breathed in and let it out slowly. "I have to try." Aika searched her face for any wavering, but saw none.

"You may get your chance sooner than you think." She said, giving Piastol her empty teacup. The silver-haired woman looked confused.

"What do you mean?"

Aika ignored the question and whistled to get Vyse's attention. "Hey, you Pirate! Stop jawing and just tell him why we're here already!"

Silence hung over the deck for a moment before little Maria nudged Fina and whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Gosh, Fina, Aika's grumpy!" Aika blinked in shock and Fina broke out into loud giggles.

Vyse tipped the brim of his three-ribboned black hat up sheepishly and turned to Doc. "Well, all right. As our wife pointed out, Doc, the three of us did come here for a reason beyond a social visit."

Doc matched Vyse with his own tic of a rub over his short trimmed haircut. "Okay. What, Vyse?"

"We're in need of a doctor." Fina said.

"Um." Doc frowned. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you had a doctor on your staff. Ilchymis."

"Uncle Ilchymis is more a pharmacist than a physician, but even disregarding that, he's unavailable." The former Silvite explained. As Fina spoke, Aika sauntered over and sat down on the foldout bench beside her wife.

"And we need someone with some experience in pre-natal care…and deliveries." Aika added on, wrapping an arm around Fina's curvier body as she smiled at her. Fina looked back and sighed in satisfaction. Little Maria let out a happy squeal and reached for Fina's tummy.

"You're gonna be a mommy?!" The girl shrieked.

"Both of us are." Fina said, and if Maria had been ecstatic before, the scream of joy she let out then was easily three times as loud.

Ilchymis had crafted some very fine birth control medication. It was revolutionary compared to the harsher abortifacients available before. But for all that his hormonal treatment was a marvel, it hadn't been able to stand up to the utter change in them that Aika's desperate, overcharged Riselem spell had wrought on both of their bodies. Fina hadn't been angry, really. Pleasantly surprised. Gleeful, once the shock had worn off. If only Vyse didn't preen every time someone brought up the fact that he'd knocked them both up at the same time. She had smacked him more than once in the three weeks since Fina had realized they were pregnant whenever he got that - and there was that dopey look on his face again. Aika growled at him and Vyse quickly schooled his features, but it was hard to stay mad at him when Doc let out a laugh and patted Vyse on the shoulder.

"Well. Congratulations are in order. Or condolences." The physician looked at Maria and then Piastol and shrugged. "I suppose we could do with a change in territory for a year or so. You have a doctor. Are you three sure you're ready for this?"

"We're ready to find out." Aika told him, melting a little when Fina kissed her cheek.

She really wanted to shake that younger version of herself from over a year ago. That Aika had been too blinded by jealousy to see how wonderful Fina really was. What she would come to mean to her. She really was that pretty. Inside and out.

Maybe Aika was a little scared about the prospect of having kids and raising them. She hoped that they'd turn out better and deal with less pain and loss than she had. Maybe she was afraid that the world she was bringing their babies into would have just as many problems as the world she'd inherited as a girl.

But, Aika Bluevane reminded herself as Vyse plucked Maria up from the bench so he could sit down next to Aika and Fina, she wasn't facing any of that alone. She'd never be alone again. Their children wouldn't be alone. There was an entire world of friends out there who were walking towards that future as well. She leaned in as Vyse stretched his arm out around Fina's back to anchor onto Aika's shoulder and left their Princess trapped between them.

Her Pirate, her Princess. And Aika, their Valkyrie.

She closed her eyes and smiled as the warmth of the Mid-Ocean sun shone down on her freckled skin. Their greatest adventures were still ahead of them.

THE END