The moonlight illuminated the thoughts of another member of the Royal line of Jurai. That light was part of a tableau of natural simplicity and order, joining the light of a candle inside a stone lantern, the touch of a soft breeze that could be heard as well as felt, and the scents of incense, tea and the lake beyond. The woman had placed herself and these several elements in a perfect meditative balance as she sat upon the front porch of Masaki House. At appropriate moments, she would open her eyes and experience the utter roundness of silver moon, then closed those eyes again, joining with the utter truth of the moment.
From behind her, a soft voice asked, "Um, Princess? Mind if I join you?"
The seated woman, Her Imperial Highness Princess Ayeka of Jurai, smiled and turned her head. "Not at all, Ryoko. Please, come sit."
The tall, white haired woman took a place next to the other. She stared at the moon a moment then looked around at her companion's set-up. "If you don't mind my asking, Ayeka, what are you doing?"
"I am sitting facing Kagato," the princess stated with resolution.
Ryoko did a few quick jerks around. "Kagato? Here?"
"I don't mean literally. What I mean to say is, I am preparing myself for our meeting by sitting here in plain sight of him. There are no barriers, nothing for me to hide behind. I am beginning the fight against my enemies by settling my mind and heart."
"Kagato is the one enemy," said Ryoko.
"Kagato and my fear of him," corrected Ayeka. "Either could defeat us. I have found defiance is easier to maintain than it is to find later when you need it. And I defy Kagato by allowing nothing to come between us."
Ryoko shrugged. "Nothing unless you count roughly thirty kilometers of atmosphere, a lot of cosmic rays, a fair bit of solar wind, some ionized molecules and whatever amount of over-sexed spaceship is currently protecting his sorry ass from hard vacuum. Take away all that, and you two are practically cheek-to-cheek!" She turned and looked a moment at Ayeka. "Hey, you know, that regeneration thing you're doing is really starting to take effect! You've taken at least ten years off!"
Ayeka blushed slightly, impossible to see in the silver blue light. "Thank you, Ryoko! I am gratified the process has begun so well! Of course, it was nothing compared to the jump you made!" Ayeka, being of Jurai, was utilizing some of her powers to reduce her visible age. A person from the Earth would have guessed her as being about fifty when she had arrived scant months before, but as Ryoko so correctly pointed out, that had changed dramatically. But even more dramatic was the regeneration Ryoko had performed just after sunset. In a forest of flame and light, she had changed her form from that of a centenarian to that of a woman barely thirty in mere moments. All this was simply a matter of appearance. Ayeka was born over seven hundred years before. And Ryoko? Her age was just another one of her millions of secrets.
"That jump was all flash, Ayeka. The true power was entirely internal. The light show put out next-to-no power, for all the noise and smoke. No, I've been keeping my power well hidden for months now and today was no exception. Since he didn't spot me when he was here earlier, I think it must have worked."
"Here? Kagato? Ryoko, are you sure?"
The pirate/shrine keeper smiled. "Pretty sure! Oh, I didn't see him or anything, but I know how he works. He scoped out the whole place, got power levels on you, Yosho, and your sister, probably even checked out the stasis pool. Only then did he show off up there," she said, pointing up at the moon. "He didn't come for me, so that means I'm still hidden."
"Come for you?""
"Yup. I know how he works." They both sat there a moment, thinking about it. "Say, Aeka, how come you haven't stayed young this whole time, and don't hand me that diplomatic stuff! I mean, you're the Heir and all! I would have thought they'd have chained someone to you by now!"
It took a few long seconds for her to answer. "Oh, a determined woman can control her own fate in Jurai. And I won't say there weren't affairs and moments of romance. But there was this trade delegate, very tall, very handsome, very attentive. Noble blood, of course, and very available for advancement."
"Not a lot of guys who are 'very' in so many ways!" said Ryoko.
"No, there aren't. But then there was the Canereladon business, which of course you know nothing about, and I got trapped in that system for all that time, and so it wasn't until after Liberation Day and I could free myself from Resistance duties that I thought of my young delegate. And so I set off to meet him again." She sipped some tea from her cup. "His grandson wheeled him into the room. He had never advanced far enough. Oh, we talked about a life well lived, and such as that, but it was a total embarrassment all around. So, now, when I get tempted, I remember the old man in the chair, and my heart just moves along." Another sip. "Funny, the grandson eventually was promoted. He became a meaningless pink-haired fop who fancied himself a fighter! I can't even recall his name! Very strange!
"Any what about you, Ryoko? Surely there must have been moments for you!"
The woman nodded. "I had my fun before all this started. Couldn't for a long time after. Kagato took a lot from me. I lost control and I didn't like it! I didn't like it at all!
"Oh, sooner or later I got tired of being afraid of shadows. But, you know what, Princess? It always seemed that when I had the time to play, there was no one worth playing with. And then I'd meet somebody promising, and just then came an opportunity to strengthen myself against that fruitcake up there in the big ship!. And by the time I was ready, well, like you say, time marches on. It was almost like Fate."
"Perhaps you're inspired by handsome young men!" said Ayeka with a smile.
"Could be! There are worse things to happen to a girl! And with luck, maybe I can get myself a personal life after this is all over!"
"You could always come work for me, Ryoko!"
"Work for you? Me, a bureaucrat? Excuse me, Ayeka, but I'm a pirate!"
"Excuse me, Ryoko, but I'm the Jurian Minister of Trade! If there's a bigger pirate this side of the Galactic Core, I'd surely love to meet them!"
They laughed together in the moonlight, and sat there, enjoying the bond between them. "Ayeka, "as Ryoko broke the silence, "Ours is a strange friendship."
"HMPH! You're letting labels get in the way. Oh, it's taken awhile, but I believe we were meant to be friends. We are similar where we need to be similar, and very apart where that's important, too. If you want to be fatalistic, then let that be where Fate intervenes!"
"Fate's okay, but give me a well thought out plan any day." Ryoko got lightly to her feet. "Whoa! Yesterday it would have taken a crane to get me up from a lotus position! Much better! Well, time to rest. Consider getting some yourself."
"Ryoko?"
"Hm?"
"Still won't tell me what part of the Jurai secret Kagato's after?"
"Nope! And it would really help if you didn't think about it, either. One chance image in your head would make all of us expendable, and let Kagato enjoy untold power."
"And what do I think about while I'm trying not to think about it?"
Ryoko pause for a moment, then said, "The young trade delegate. Or, better, your sister, Sasami. Think about them. Remember them. Remember your true feelings. Kagato can't handle love, Ayeka. It's alien to him; he just doesn't get it at all. Trust me, concentrate on your greatest loves and it will set you free of his grasp!"
The princess nodded, and said softly, "What of you? You were under his spell once. Have you enough to keep yourself free?"
"Enough love? Ha! I have generations and generations of Masaki love, Ayeka! The best stuff in the universe! And I happened to land in a place where philosophers and soldiers have very interesting ideas about a tough, disciplined mind! And don't forget, I may have just a few nasty secrets still hidden!"
Ayeka feigned shock "You're joking!"
"I hope Kagato thinks so! By the way, I've arranged transportation for tomorrow. Something a little faster than your ship and a whole lot more agile! We'll be leaving at dawn!"
"Yes, good. We can use the sun's radiation through the atmosphere to temporarily cloud the Souja sensors!"
"Yeah, I guess. Actually, here on Earth, they just do stuff like this at dawn. Must be good karma or something, but, hey! I'll take anything that gets us good karma! Try and get some rest, okay? Looks like our last day is gonna be a long one!"