"He's changed," Harlan told Suzee at dinner. "This whole ordeal has changed him."

"No, he hasn't," Suzee argued. "He said it himself, he's just going through a rough time."

As if on cue, Radu walked in at that moment. Naturally, he had heard them. But they knew that he would. Obviously, they didn't care. They probably want me to know, Radu thought bitterly.

Radu's haircut was now finished. He had spent most of the day working on it.

Suzee couldn't imagine what had taken him so long to do it. Although she had been known to spend hours on her own hair, it was not typical for Radu, unless he had to wash it. A haircut shouldn't have taken half a day.

Suzee wondered if maybe Harlan was right. Something really did seem to be bothering Radu. He appeared to be in a daze as he dialed up his dinner, which turned out to be quock brains, one of his favorites. Even that didn't provoke a comment or a smile from him.

"Something's wrong," Suzee mouthed to Harlan, while Radu's back was turned.

"No, Nothing's wrong," said Radu, irritably.

"What the- " Suzee was flabbergasted. "I didn't even say anything! I mouthed it."

"You said it," Radu replied, flatly as he turned to face them.

Suzee was at a loss for words. Indeed, she must have spoken. She had uttered her words too softly for her own ears to hear.

"So, what if she did say it, huh?" Harlan had enough of Radu's big mouth for one day. (And since when did Radu have such a big mouth?) "This... whatever it is, it's making you really annoying and unpleasant, Radu. And I don't mind saying that to your face."

Radu bit his lip and blushed, staring at his shoes. It was a refreshing site to the others; at that moment, he seemed more like the old Radu. The Radu they had all grown to love during the time they'd spent together on the Christa.

"What's wrong?" Suzee pleaded. "You can tell us."

"You wouldn't understand," he said, almost in a whisper.

"We'll try," Rosie put in.

There was a long pause as Radu considered that. Finally, he gave in.

"The rest of my hair was..." It seemed hard for him to say. "D-difficult to cut."

Silence followed.

"So what?" They were all thinking it, but Bova was the one to say it.

"So, this is it!" Radu exploded. Then he calmed himself, seeing that his friends had recoiled and were giving him looks. "My strength is returning, too. My sense of direction is back. You see, it's over. Already. That means, my ears... this is it. I've got one new spiral in each ear. One."

More confused silence.

"And?" Bova pressed on.

"And there goes my dignity, my pride," Radu went on, now close to tears. Miserably, he slumped down in one of the chairs and hid his face in shame as the tears came. There was an uncomfortable silence at the table as the others could only look on, not knowing what they could do and not understanding Radu's pain.

Two would be pretty pathetic. Harlan considered what Radu had told him earlier. If two was pathetic, then one must mean...

"Deformed," Radu whimpered, a lone tear running down his cheek. "I'm deformed. I'll have the ears of a child for the rest of my life. And that's how I'll be treated because that's how I look." He sobbed. "Do you get it, now?"

They were beginning to.

"I never fit in with other Andromedans." His voice shook as his troubles poured out. "That's why they were happy to send me off to Starcadamy with out so much as a goodbye. More like a good ridance. I always hoped, you know, I-I thought that maybe someday I could change that. But I won't now. There's no chance for a deformed Andromedan in our society. No chance."

"I don't see deformed when I look at you," Rosie spoke quietly, but her tone was unusually firm. It got Radu's attention. "None of us do."

"And you're no more of a misfit than the rest of us," Harlan added. "And I mean that."

A stunned Radu was speechless.

"Are you hearing us, Radu?" That came from a smiling Rosie. She provoked a tiny small from Radu.

"We aren't looking down on you. You shouldn't look down on yourself."

The mood at the table had changed. Radu's friends suddenly had a new understanding of the most mysterious member of their crew, and for that, they were glad. Radu had a new understanding of who he was to his friends, to the people who mattered most to him. He wasn't Radu, the outcast of Andromedan society. He was just Radu.

"You can look on the bright side," Bova began. He hesitated, looking around the table with a sly grin. He had them on the edge of their seats. "You're all paying attention, I see, because I don't say that much. Well, listen up, because it may be years before I say that again. On the bright side, Radu... at least you can sleep again!"

Laughter followed. Radu settled back in his chair, more satisfied than he'd been in a long time. With his friends. With his life on the Christa. Even with his own appearance.

And his satisfaction grew when Suzee leaned over to him and whispered:

"And, by the way, I love that haircut on you."



Sofiana's Notes:

Sound like the end? NOT QUITE... we've got one more loose end to tie up in the tale, mind you. And it just might create a whole bunch of new loose ends (But they won't be retied in THIS story, if all goes to plan. I never know. So I'll keep you and myself guessing 'til next time. Ciao!)
P.S. I have lots of mistakes in the first two or three chapters to fix. (because I was too hasty about posting them! Don't make that mistake, EVER!) Bear with me; I'll fix them soon.