**Disclaimer- I don't own Outlaw Star. Honest.**

**A/N: This is sort of a continuation of Insomnia that takes place after the Leiline**

All was quiet at the offices that night. Gene and Melfina had left together for an increasingly rare night out together, leaving Suzuka Jim and Aisha to fend for themselves. Suzuka was reading a copy of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" while pouring herself another cup of tea. Jim had been quietly working at managing this month's bills until he was fast asleep on the couch with his grey jacket in a heap on the floor. Aisha was playing with her Game Boy until the batteries ran out. She grudgingly put the game down, got up and stretched. As she made her way over to the table to join Suzuka, she stopped in front of Jim. Picking his jacket up off of the floor, she gently placed it on top of him as though it were a blanket. He quietly murmered something and sleepily rolled over, facing away from the two of them.

"Aisha?" Suzuka asked quietly as she sat down the other end of the table from her.

"Hmm...?"

"I've been meaning to ask you something....."

The C'tarl C'tarl blinked and said nothing. She was free to ask whatever she wanted, but that didn't mean Aisha would answer.

"Do you have any younger siblings?"

She shook her head. "No. Why do you ask?"

"I couldn't help but notice how close you and Jim have become these past few months. For instance, a C'tarl C'tarl usually rushes headfirst into combat, but you only seem to do so once you feel that Jim is safe. You're clearly two very different individuals, yet the two of you are almost inseperable. I thought perhaps he reminded you of somebody back home."

"Nah-" she paused thoughtfully "I'm not sure I'd want a little brother like Jim, I'd worry about him too much....." she trailed off. After all of the time she trained and served for the Empire, they had turned their back on her. But her training and warrior's instinct told her that she needed someone to watch over. Jim was as good a reason to stay behind. "He's one of a kind and it's just that sometimes I can't stand to see the poor kid work himself to death. It's kinda sad."

Suzuka was no longer paying any mind to her book or the cup of tea. Instead she was pondering how to put her next question.

"What do you see yourself doing in a few years, Aisha?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Aisha asked. She was playing dumb, trying to avoid the follow-up question she was sure to ask. Suzuka saw through it.

"I mean where do you think you'll be when Jim turns 17?" A sly grin was on the corner of Suzuka's lips. "Unless I'm mistaken, you'll be 20 years old at that time. Not exactly an old maid."

The C'tarl C'tarl was flummoxed at the blunt question posed by the assassin. This must be payback for all those times I called her Suzu she said to herself. Of course, she didn't have to answer her question but her non-verbal reaction had already said plenty.

"Ahhhh....clever" she said, recovering nicely after a few seconds and wagging her finger at Suzuka. "I see you're familiar with the basics of our C'tarl C'tarl calendar. Actually, I think it'll be more like nineteen years and fourteen months or close to three of your Human decades."

"So you're keeping track....?"

"It's not what you think" the cat-girl said defensively "According to tradition, if I don't find a mate by the time I turn 20, than my parents are supposed to choose a suitor for me."

"An arranged marrige?" Suzuka asked "I thought the Empire did away with those."

Aisha nodded. So far Suzuka was impressing her with her knowledge of C'tarl C'tarl culture. "They did, but it's still fairly common among the Noble families such as mine, and my family can be very old fashioned."

"What will you do about this when you return home?"

"There's a chance that I may not even go back home. Traditionally, if I refuse the mate my parents select, I'll automatically become a Ionah and be disowned."

"You mean a like a pariah or gypsy?"

Aisha nodded "That's still a few years away, if it happens. It's so far off, I'm trying not to worry about it." she sighed. "I gave the Empire the best years of my life, training to become their loyal officer and was rewarded with nothing more than a demotion and bringing disgrace to my family for something that wasn't even my fault." She said quietly and bitterly. Aisha was never ashamed of being a C'tarl C'tarl, but over these past few months found herself questioning the traditions and heirarchy of her beloved homeworld. "The life of an outlaw- accountable to no one but yourself- that has really grown on me". She paused "Besides, I made a promise to someone"

"Jim?"

The C'tarl C'tarl nodded. "Before we reached the Leiline, I found him one night on the bridge. He was in tears" Jim had actually found her, but that was a fairly unimportant detail at this point. The asassin's eyes widened a bit. She had hard time imagining the jaded boy genius shedding tears over anything. "He said he met somebody on one of the space stations we stopped at- a girl around his age. It sounded like he was quite taken with her. I guess they were supposed to meet for a second date, but she never showed up. The worst part was that he askined me what he did wrong. There were so many things that could have happened, but poor Jimmy thought it was his fault..."

Suzuka looked at Aisha. She was conjuring up a mental image of the proud, arrogant warrior drying the boy's tears. It wasn't that farfetched.

"That night, I wanted nothing more than to protect him from any more suffering and pain. It's impossible, I know. But I think he knew that, too. I guess all he needed was a shoulder to lean on" she continued, grabbing the kettle of tea and pouring herself a cup. "Before he went to sleep, I promised him that I would never abandon him. He may not remember what I told him, but I do. A C'tarl C'tarl's word is as good as Dragonite."

"I see..." Suzuka was expecting more, and after a few seconds, Aisha obliged.

"It's safe to say that he's is my favorite Human....." she started to say.

"Have you told him that?"

"No. I don't need to. I think he knows that already, he's a smart kid. I've learned a lot from him."

Suzuka thought back to how she would have all the time in the world to tell her father how much she loved him, but then one afternoon Hitoreiga forever took that chance away from Suzuka.

"Such as?"

"Well...." Crap! she said under her breath. I didn't think there was going to be a quiz. After a few moments, she said "You don't always have to rely on brute force. Sometimes it can be better to think your way out of a situation...ummmm....Dayji-double stew is not fit for Human consumtion." she smiled.

"I can vouch for that." Suzuka said,

Aisha continued "I've also learned that the C'tarl C'tarl schoolbooks we had when I was in school were wrong about Humans. They were written right after the Second C'tarl-Human Trade War and described all Humans as cowardly, greedy, weak, manipulative and mostly inferior. Do any of those words sound like they could describe Jim? Or you?"

The assasin shook her head as Aisha continued. "He may not look it, but I think Jim's a perfect little gentleman. He'd give me the shirt off of his back if he thought I'd need it...."she said. "Once I met you guys, I had to un-learn almost everything about Humans that was taught to me back home."

Pouring herself another cup of tea. "You never did answer my question..."

"What? About the future....?

Suzuka nodded.

The C'tarl C'tarl shrugged. "Honestly, Suzu- you make it sound like whatever I do will be

cast in stone! Wouldn't it be nice to see Jim enjoy his life before any more time passes? He's always working. It's not like he'll be burdened with less responsibility when he gets older. He'll never get these years of his life back, and they go by especially fast for you Humans. There's no telling what the future holds. " she took one last sip of tea. Besides- I've got time on my side, she said under her breath. That's the closest thing Suzuka was going to get to a straightforward answer.

Jim had been wide awake ever since Aisha placed his jacket on top of him. Her touch, however gentle, had awaken him and sent a small shiver down his spine- he was pretty sure it was the good kind. But it wasn't just her touch- she had a sweet and subtle fragrance, too. Each morning, before the others were up, Aisha would get up early and burn some ceremonial insence in her room while quietly offering her prayers to the C'tarl Creator Gods. She didn't burn the insence for long, seldom more than a minute, but it's sweet aroma had gradually made its way into her hair and every piece of clothing she wore. A person had to be standing very close to her to notice it. Jim didn't know exactly what the smell was, he thought might have been perfume. But he knew enough that it was fast becoming his favorite scent.

Even though Aisha was saying a few things she would never dream of telling Jim in person, listening to the conversation was no more infuruiating than if she were talking directly to him. Of course, Aisha had plenty of good things to say about him and for a few minutes he was afraid her ears could actually pick up his blushing or smiling. He wore an especailly wide smile when Aisha and Suzuka were discussing the C'tarl C'tarl calendar. But every now and then he wanted to drop his ruse of being asleep and throw something at her, yelling out "I'm not a kid, damn it!". This was especially true when Aisha started telling Suzuka about him and Hanmyo. He thought what he had told her that night would remain between the two of them. But she went ahead and told Suzuka, and much to his surprise, she was unusually tactful about it. Of course, there was also a hint of fear in the pit of his stomach. He was afraid that she would say that she planned on returning home to the C'tarl C'tarl Empire right away, never to be seen again. Life without Aisha? He didn't want to admit it, but he was scared to even think about it. Now it sounded like he didn't have to. The strangest thing was that he found himself quietly agreeing with just about everything Aisha had said. There is no telling what the future holds....

"Now then, Suzu" he heard the C'tarl C'tarl say "What can you tell me about you and a certain red-haired Outlaw?"

It was a rare moment as the calm assassin stammered a bit and asked "What is there to tell you that you don't already know?"

Jim wasn't paying much attention to the change of topic. He silently cursed Aisha and then himself. Why did he like her so much? She was so immature, loud, boorish, annoying, irresponsible, rude, whiny, arrogant, bossy and impulsive. Hell- she wasn't even human, and didn't she try killing him at one point? The sound of her voice could be grating, and he never heard her say the words "Thank you" or "please". But didn't she also save his life more than once? Didn't she almost always have some words of encouragement for him? Wasn't she the one who would always tell him he was working too hard or take his side if he was arguing with Gene? Didn't she dry his tears and comfort him after being stood up by Hanmyo? Hadn't she lived up to her promise of not abandoning him?

He remembered after a particularly nasty arguement, he didn't speak to Gene for nearly a week. One afternoon not that long ago, Aisha did something that truly offended Jim. After a very loud exchange between the two of them, he vowed to himself that he would never, ever speak to the cat-girl again. It took him less than a minute to break that vow. How? How could she be a source of such aggrivation for him, but always manage to make him smile, forget all of his worries and feel so safe? As smart as he was, that would be something he could never figure out. In fact, it was keeping him up tonight, but he didn't mind losing a little sleep.

THE END