Author's note: This is the chapter you've all been waiting for!!!!!!

Friendship

"Ughn… where am I…?" Ayeka groaned miserably, and shook her head as her vision cleared. Before her was Ryoko, who had a look of genuine fear and concern on her face. Ayeka swallowed, and shook her head once more for good measure.

"Stupid woman," quivered Ryoko, who was obviously holding back her sadness. "Why'd you have to go and do that? Why?"

"I…… don't think I understand," whispered Ayeka. Ryoko sighed, and managed a sad smile.

"You… you fool," she muttered. "You… you had me worried there for a sec, you stupid woman… How… how dare you pull a… a stunt like that…" Ryoko sighed again, and to Ayeka's surprise, wiped her face of tears. The princess suddenly began to catch on to what Ryoko was saying.

"Oh, that," she mumbled sheepishly. She smiled, and chuckled softly. "I guess I did overexert myself a little there. I must have fainted from doing too much work." Ryoko sniffled and shook her head wearily at Ayeka. Sure enough, while Ayeka was doing her usual fanatical chores two hours previous, she had fainted from exhaustion in the plane of grass. Had Ryoko not came to her rescue……

"You… stupid fool," murmured Ryoko. She hung her head sadly, and began pounding gently on Ayeka's leg. "Don't ever do that again, okay? From now on, no more hogging the chores to yourself, all right? Okay?" Ayeka sighed, and smiled tenderly at Ryoko's concern. Three months ago, there would have been bitterness and hate between them, but now they were truly starting to care for each other.

"All right," sighed Ayeka in defeat. "If it really means that much to you, then I'll go easy from here on out. But don't expect me to sit on the sidelines anymore, Ryoko! I'm going to start throwing a whole lot more weight around here!" And before Ryoko could counterattack with another "fat joke", the princess pointed an accusing finger at Ryoko's nose.

"And no snide comments, either!"

"Who, me?" said Ryoko innocently. Ayeka smiled, and stretched her arms up to the sky.

"Just… remember, Ryoko. I'm… still grateful for what you did for me, but I do believe that I have learned my lesson. Oh, and… well, thank you for… well, you know."

"Rescuing you?" offered the pirate. Ayeka smiled warmly, and nodded her head. Ryoko mirrored the smile, and patted the princess' head like she was a six-year-old. "You stay and rest for awhile, okay?" instructed the spacer. "I'm gonna go get you something to eat." And with that, Ryoko left Ayeka to rest up in the bed.

By the time Ayeka digested her food, she was strong enough to get out of bed and walk again. Ryoko smiled and nodded her head in approval as the lady began to meander around again, and the two agreed to work in cooperation again. For the time being, Ayeka's fanatical efforts had paid off, and the girls were left with only light chores to do before the day was theirs.

Once their labors were finished, the two decided to strip down to their swimsuits and have a nice dip in the sea. For the first time since they arrived on the island, Ryoko complimented Ayeka's figure, and the princess had nothing nasty to say about the pirate--in fact, it was quite the opposite. Taking towels, a basket of food, and an umbrella they had found washed up, the girls walked to the beach, side by side.

Sighing in contentment, Ryoko plopped down on the beach and let out a smile. Ayeka gently descended downward, and felt herself smile with joy. The day was warm, the sky was clear of clouds, and the sun was as merry as the singing gulls and the scurrying crabs. The ladies each laid back on their towels for a brief tan, and reclined back as they absorbed the perfect day.

"Ryoko?"

"Hm?" A pause.

"I want to say something."

"Go ahead." Another pause.

"I… just want to say that you're the hardest-working person I've ever known. You have really impressed me recently, and… I want to apologize for all those times I called you lazy." Instead of the usual quiet, warm silence that Ryoko usually responded with, the pirate giggled and squirmed in her towel.

"Stop it, you're embarrassing me!" she chuckled. Ayeka smiled and shrugged. "Well, I also have a thing to tell you."

"What's that?" wondered Ayeka. Ryoko turned to her side and looked straight into Ayeka's pupils.

"I think you're the most gorgeous woman in the universe," she said, "and I want to apologize for ever calling you a cow-face." Ayeka smiled brighter than the sun, and giggled.

"Apology accepted!" she beamed. "But I really wish you didn't copy off of me, like you always do!"

"Hey, what can I say?" shrugged Ryoko. "You have a lot of good precedents, and you've gotta admit that I do, too."

"Indeed," agreed Ayeka. The girls shared another smile, and the quiet of the day once again took over. For awhile, the girls basked in the bright rays of the sun, content to listen to the wind blow and the waves crash. Only sighs of happiness escaped their mouths as the gulls sang above, and the sun smiled higher still.

"Ryoko?"

"Hm?" A pause.

"When we… last had a serious argument," began Ayeka, "you mentioned that… you thought we were close to being friends."

"Yeah, so?"

"Well…" Ayeka paused, and swallowed her throat. Three months ago, she would have vomited at the thought, and would have rather hanged herself than consider it. But now, after truly getting to know Ryoko, after really and truly seeing every side of her, and after making her own fresh start recently, the idea didn't seem bad at all--in fact, it sounded very wonderful.

"Well," began Ayeka (even now, this was hard for her to say), "I was hoping that… well… maybe, if it's not too late… we could, ah… give that friendship a try?" Ryoko paused, and looked at Ayeka calmly. To her reckoning, the princess was dead serious.

"What are you saying?"

"I'm trying to say that I want to be friends with you, Ryoko," whispered Ayeka. The pirate sighed, and gave the princess another one of her warm, kind, and compassionate smiles.

"R… really? You… you mean it?"

"With all my heart." Ryoko, poor dear Ryoko, was too much in rapture to smile. Instead, she shook her head, and extended her hand.

"Ayeka… I would love to be friends with you." The girls smiled, but Ayeka did not reach for the extended hand.

"Ryoko, I'm ashamed!" exclaimed the lady. "You know full well that friends don't shake hands!"

"They don't?" said Ryoko with a measure of confusion.

"No, silly!" sang Ayeka. "Friends have to hug!!" Ryoko nearly spat out her breakfast at her comment, but was more elated than she was disgusted. She had never expected Ayeka to say that! Tentatively, Ryoko reached out and took Ayeka's shoulder into her hand.

"This… is really… weird," she mumbled.

"Nonsense!" exclaimed the lady. "Here, you big doofus! Let me show you how it's done!" And without further warning, Ayeka leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Ryoko's mostly-bare body. The pirate froze for a period; even in her wildest dreams (and with Ryoko, dreams can get pretty wild), she had never expected Ayeka to actually hug her.

But Oh, it felt good! Slowly, awkwardly, Ryoko returned the gesture, and a new friendship was forged on that day.

"Good," said Ayeka after they broke the difficult embrace. "Now, how about that swim, my friend?" Ryoko, still giddy over Ayeka's declaration, could only laugh.

"After you, buddy."

Night slowly came, and the two new friends walked back to their home after a long fun-filled day. Yes, they still threw insults at each other as they splashed water around, but now the insults were taken as friendly, and not hostile as they had been so many times in the past. For now, Ayeka knew that Ryoko was one of the hardest-working people around, and to call her lazy now meant that she liked her very much; Ryoko, quite observant of Ayeka's beauty, called her cow-face out of fondness of times gone by.

As they walked back to the tree, the girls pushed each other around as friends usually did. Harmless shoves often caused giggling fits, and Ayeka swore (with a big smile on her face) that she would "exact her revenge on the wicked woman" for the assault. Ryoko, who had accidentally stumbled into the sand once, chuckled as she poked Ayeka's ribs and promised to "beat her sound" after what she did.

Of course, both girls knew that there was no more harm in their speech; if anything, there might have been a hint of love. Whether or not that was down the road was a mystery, but now that they were friends, everything was finally looking up. And as they approached the tree, Ryoko allowed Ayeka to climb up first, since she was royalty. The princess giggled and raced Ryoko up the stairs; Ryoko won, but only because she could fly, and Ayeka almost slipped once.

After barging into their house (and catching their breath), the girls shared another laugh and a fancy dinner. They gathered together many fancy dishes that were normally reserved for emergencies, such as the pasta, the crackers, the bottled water, and even some chicken meat to go with everything. The dinner conversation was lively and full of friendliness and laughter, and both girls cleaned each other's plates (whilst noting that the other "ate like a pig" or "a hippo").

After dinner, the girls retired to bed early. They undressed into their nightgowns, and only genuine, honest compliments went between them. No longer having to shake pinkies and call a "truce" (for this had been their nightly tradition ever since their first time sleeping together), the girls snuggled under the blankets and wished each other fond dreams and a pleasant sleep.

Ryoko, positive that Ayeka was unaware of anything, quietly snuggled up next to her new friend, and rested her arm over the other woman's stomach. But Ayeka had seen it all, and while she would have been mortified four weeks ago, she could only smile as Ryoko cozied up next to her.

"Good-night, my friend," she whispered, and for the first time ever, she meant every word.