And now, a disclaimer! You know what I'm gonna say. Let's just get on with the story, which is kind of a part two!

Three days had passed since Harry, Melfina, and Jim left on their job, and everyone seemed a little tense. Gene awoke for the third day in a row to find Aisha sitting in front of her favorite game and Suzuka reading the novel that she had bought when Harry moved in. After opening a soft drink, he took a seat by Aisha and kicked his feet onto the coffee table.

"Hey," Gene asked, "Has anyone heard from Jim and the others?"

"No, Gene," Suzuka replied. "We haven't heard anything. Do you think they're in trouble?"

"Well, according to Jim, the job was supposed to take three days at max. He said that the ship would have to go slow for it to hold the payload. But I'm starting to wonder if MacDougall tried something."

"Give it a rest, Gene," Aisha said, interrupting his sentence. "We heard enough 'MacDougall this' and 'MacDougall that' for one week. Let it go."

"I thought you said you would help me look out for Melfina. Remember? We can't trust Harry around her with the way that he used to be. We all agreed that, at any one time, one of us would be watching Harry or Melfina, and defintely watching when he was near her."

"We're not breaking that promise, Gene," Suzuka calmly stated as she continued to read her book.

"Yeah, you are! We let him get on a ship with her."

"Jim is with them, and, if I recall, he promised that he would look after her, too."

"Yeah, well I'm still nervous. I'm gonna call Jim and see what's taking so long. If we don't get an answer, then we're going to find them." Gene walked over to the videophone and began to program it to communicate with ships. Once reconfigured, he began to contact the Outlaw Star.

Three days. Three days. Those words echoed though the minds of Jim and Harry just as the words 'two days' had the day before. The ship still was in dire need of professional repair, but they managed to get some of the systems back online. They were working on no sleep and very little food. The majority of their supplies went to trying to keep Melfina comfortable and to prevent her from becoming worse. She was finally able to sit upright in her bed and eat what Harry made for her. It was becoming very clear that no one was answering their distress call. One problem could have been that they couldn't accept transmissions, they could only send them. Harry stepped onto the bridge, hoping to find Jim there. When he realized that no one was there, he walked toward Jim's seat. Suddenly, a hand popped it's way out from under Jim's seat. Harry pulled his caster and aimed it at the mysterious appendage.

"What the hell?" Harry screamed.

"Hey, it's just me," Jim said from underneath the seat. "I'm trying to get communications back up. Get in my seat and begin downloading the program I set up when I tell you to." Harry jumped into Jim's position on the ship and found the diagnostics menu. When Jim gave the signal, Harry began downloading the program. Once completed, Jim crawled out from under the seat and took his position on the Outlaw Star. After making sure that the systems were working properly, he saw that they were recieving a call.

"Jim, were getting a transmission!" Harry said.

"All right! Now to get out of here."

"Tell them that Mel's hurt and we'll need rescue equipment, okay?"

"Sure, Harry," Jim said as he activated the transmission. As he opened the viewscreen, they noticed that the call was ... not from Gene?

"Jim," Fred Lowe said in his usually giddy manner, "How are you, my young man?"

"Um ... hi, Fred. We're not doing that good right now. We're glad you called."

"What seems to be putting you 'down in the dumps'?" he asked.

"We got into a huge fight with another ship and we took heavy damage. And worst of all, Melfina has been hurt badly. We need a tow ship to take the Outlaw Star to a station for repairs and supplies for Melfina's injuries."

"My word, Jim. Of course I'll help. I'll call as soon as I cut transmission with you. By the way, the reason that I called was because Gene said that he couldn't reach you. He also told me that you had a MacDougall brother with you. I said that he must be kidding, but it looks like he was right. Anyways, I'll be sure to send the ship and the things you'll need to get Melfina back to normal."

"Thank you so much, Fred," Jim replied. "Hey! Is Gene on there?"

"Why, yes, he is. I put him on hold, but I'll connect you two while I make the necessary calls for the ship. He doesn't have to pay me back, but if he wants to it would be much appreciated," he said, very sly.

"Sure. Sure."

"Well, bye, Jim." With that, Gene took Fred's place on the screen and began looking at Jim and Harry.

"Jim," Gene said, "Are you okay? What happened?"

"The Kei pirates tricked us. They were after Melfina, but me and Harry took care of them. The ship is heavily damaged, but Fred said he was going to send a ship." After Jim was finished, Gene looked behind Jim to see Melfina's chamber, shattered and bent. He immediately became horrified at its appearance.

"What happened to Melfina!" he screamed.

"She's hurt, Gene. Really hurt," Jim said sadly. "In our battle, a support beam crashed into the chamber and broke one of her ribs. She okay, but we're keeping her in her room to rest."

"Jim, who was driving the ship?"

"Harry was. You wouldn't wake up, and if you did, then there's a chance that Melfina wouldn't be hurt."

"You're blaming me? Blame Harry! He shouldn't have been driving the damn thing!" Gene shouted.

"Hey, keep it down, Gene," Aisha screamed in the background. "I can't hear my game!"

"How dare you blame me!" Harry screamed. "I would never intentionally put Melfina in any danger, unlike you've done countless times!"

"Me? Put her in danger? You've done worse than I have! You've hit her!" Harry grew angry yet sad at the same time. He hated to be reminded of that time. He had changed, but the only one who seemed to notice that was Melfina herself.

"I can't deny that," Harry said softly. "But I've changed! You can't say that! All you can say is that you weren't there for her when she needed you!"

"Are you kidding me! I've protected her from everything! Pirates, outlaws, even perverts like you!" Gene said while pointing at Harry.

"I said keep it down, you moron!" Aisha screamed once more.

"I'm a pervert! If I had a wong for every time you've slept with some whore, I could buy this ship from you!" Harry and Gene continiued to exchange verbal blows as Jim grew more and more tense.

"Guys, calm down," Jim said."We've got to think about what's most important here, and that's Melfina, right?" Harry calmed down almost instantly. Gene still was ready to shoot an insult in Harry's direction.

"Jim's right," Harry said. "All that you need to know is that Fred said he'd send a ship with the things that Mel needs. Hopefully, we'll be back at the shop soon." Gene had finally calmed down.

"Fine. But I swear, MacDougall, if you try one thing to her, you'll regret it."

"Like I'm gonna try anything! She means everything to me, Gene!"

"Please," Gene said. "You'd probably rape her the first chance you got!" Harry clenched his fist and began looking at Gene like he could kill him.

"You bastard!" Harry hit the screen as he screamed. His rage was almost unsuppressable. Harry wanted revenge for what he said about him, and knew how to do it.

"Hey, Aisha," Harry said loudly.

"What!" Aisha screeched back.

"Gene just called you an 'insane beast woman'!" Aisha turned around from her seat, fire in her eyes, and began to charge Gene as he turned around to see her headed his way.

"You jerk!" she screamed.

"Aisha! No!" Gene screamed as he was tackled into the video phone, disconnecting it from it's transmission. Harry calmed down greatly when the call was over. He turned to a very worried Jim.

"I'm sorry I acted that way, Jim," Harry said in remorse. "It's just that I get very protective when people talk about her like that. You know I wouldn't hurt her, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Jim replied. "Look, you need to calm down."

"I am calm."

"I know, but you need to avoid work for a little while. Go visit Melfina. I know that would be good for you."

"Can you do all the repairs yourself?"

"We can't do all the repairs even if we worked together. I'll do the important stuff. You take care of her." Harry wanted to stay and help Jim, but he was compelled, as usual, to see his beauty's face once more.

"Fine," Harry responded. "I'll go check on her." Harry walked down the halls until he arrived outside of Melfina's room. As he entered the room, he noticed her on her side, still sleeping. Harry quietly pulled a chair over to her side and began to check her for signs of fever. After he was satisfied that she was okay, he grabbed her hand and gently rubbed it as he watched her roll over toward him. Melfina slowly opened one eye and then both when she saw Harry.

"Hey there, Mel," Harry said in a whisper.

"Harry," Melfina said. "Why are you whispering?"

"Um ... no reason. How are you feeling?"

"I'm feeling very well. I still have some pain, but it has almost subsided. How are repairs going?"

"Good. We got the signal working again and contacted Fred Lowe of all people. He said that he's got ships coming this way and we should be home soon." Melfina sighed softly when Harry told her the good news.

"That's nice. Did the others call? They're probably worried."

"Yeah, ... um ... they called, but ...uh ... me and Gene kind of got into a fight."

"A fight! Over what?"

"Over ... um ... over you," he said, embarrassed over the way he had spoken to Gene. The words that Gene had said to him were still stinging his mind. He had to believe that he would never do to her what Gene said he would.

"Oh, Harry. Why do you always try to stick up for me? I don't need, nor do I want, two people that I care for to hate each other because of me. I don't want it, Harry." Melfina began to slowly cry. Harry was feeling bad, because he knew why she cried. He had made her cry, something he swore that he would never do again. He felt horrible. He felt like he did when he saw Melfina with Gene so long ago. He felt like dying.

"Melfina. I'm sorry. I really am," he said as he cradled her head and wiped her tears away. "It's just that you mean so much to me. I have to stick up for you when people say bad things about you. If I didn't, then I wouldn't love you."

"Someone was saying things about me?" she asked, still being consoled by Harry. He wanted to tell her that Gene had said all sorts of evil, hateful things about her, but he couldn't lie to her.

"It wasn't so much things about you as it was things about how I feel about you. Gene did say that I didn't love you and things like that, but I ignored them." Melfina pulled herself from Harry's comforting embrace and laid her head back upon her pillow.

"I'm glad you had such self control."

"Um, yeah. We both kind of said some mean things to each other, but, if you want, I'll apologize to him."

"That's good, Harry," Melfina said smiling. "You've changed so much over the last few days. It's like you've become a better man. I'm loving the new Harry." Harry couldn't help but show his joy when she said that.

"Aww, I'm so glad that you're happy," he said as he leaned toward Melfina and hugged her tightly. Melfina whinced in pain when Harry's embrace became tighter, causing him to quickly break his hold and become worried. "Melfina, are you okay!"

"Yeah, I'm fine. You've got a lot of strength, Harry," she said as she rubbed her chest where her rib was broken.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," he said quickly, not being able to believe that he had hurt her.

"It's okay. It was just an accident. Things like that happen. Besides, I know it was out of love. You didn't mean it."

"You're sure that you're okay?" he asked, running his hand through her hair.

"Yes. I'm fine. Harry, you're getting worried over something very insignificant. Just relax." Harry took a deep breath and looked at her once more.

"Do you want to sleep a little longer?"

"No thanks. I'm very hungry, though."

"Wait here. I'll make you anything that you want."

"Whatever we have that won't use up too much food. I know you and Jim must be so hungry. Just make me whatever you want." Harry didn't want to make a decision like that for her, but if she wanted it, then Harry was going to make sure that she got it.

"I'll think of something. Don't worry," he replied while turning towards the door in his seat. Suddenly, he stopped. The words. The words kept hitting him again. What Gene had said was too much for him to think about. 'You've done worse than I have! You've hit her!' No words had ever had that impact on him. He never wanted to remember that day, and now it was the only thing that could be seen in his mind. Melfina, on the ground. His hand, that robotic growth from his body, clenched tightly in pure anger. 'Why can't I make you understand!' She did understand, but he still wanted to erase the memory. There was something he had to do to forget that it ever happened. "Melfina," he said as he turned back around to her. "Is it okay if I tell you something?"

"Sure," she said in eagerness, not noticing the remorse flowing through Harry. "What is it?"

"Well, remember when we first met at the shop? I had the roses and all that."

"Yes, I remember." Melfina frowned upon that recollection of that day. She knew what had happened just as well, if not better, than Harry did. "What did you want to say about it, Harry?"

"Um ... Remember when I ... hurt you?" Melfina's look changed from distain to sadness. She never wanted to think of that incident ever again, either.

"I ... um ... I remember." Melfina turned away from Harry quickly and curled up as much as her weakened body would allow her to. "I don't want to talk about it Harry."

"Melfina, I just wanted to say ... I'm sorry that I hurt you so long ago. I can't think of a day that went by since then when that action hasn't haunted me. It hurt me so much to think of what I did to you."

"You don't think that it hurt me, too!" Melfina said loudly. "It hurt me more, Harry! It's hurt me since that day! I can't think of one time when I've thought about you when I haven't had to hold back the pain of remembering that!" Melfina was beginning to lose her breath. She had never talked to anyone like this before.

"I know it hurt you," Harry answered calmly. "I've been trying to cover it up for so long, but I've realized that the only way to kill that feeling is to expose it. That's why ... I'm asking if you would forgive me for what I did." Melfina slowly rolled back around. Her face was noticibly red from the stress she was under thinking about Harry's actions. She slowly grabbed Harry's hand and clutched it with both of hers.

"Harry, you know that I forgive you. I couldn't hold feelings inside me that were that hurtful for you. The past is the past. Let's move on. And I'm sorry that I screamed at you."

"Don't apologize, Mel. I kinda deserved that after all the crap that I did to you guys before. Anyways, I'm glad that we can start from a new beginning, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Melfina said with a large smile. "I'm glad."

"Are you still hungry?" Harry asked, remembering that she had wanted some food.

"I guess. Don't forget, whatever you want to make for me." Harry rose from his seat and walked toward the door.

"You're getting healthy foods. I don't know what I'd do if you were eating junk food when you're recovering."

"At least get something that tastes good!" she said, hoping he'd hear her. Harry pretended that he didn't, though.

"What's that? The doors are closing, see," he said as he pointed to the closing doors in front of him. They soon shut tight and blocked him from Melfina's sight and her voice.

"Nothing bitter or sour!" Soon, she realized that he could no longer hear her. She knew he wouldn't make anything unpleasant, but liked the idea of playing around with him as she had just done. As Harry stood outside the door still and Melfina rolled over in her bed, they both had the satisfaction of knowing that a burden that had plagued them for so long was finally gone.

Gene saw Aisha rushing him and tried to avoid her attack, but failed as usual. He was knocked into the video phone and disconnected from the ship. Aisha began to claw at him as he tried to fight back, pushing her face and trying to poke her eyes. Suzuka, noticing the screaming and fighting, rose from her seat and walked towards the two of them. She hit Aisha over the head with her sword, causing her to fall off of Gene. Aisha began screaiming at Suzuka.

"If you do that one more time, I'm gonna ..."

"Do what?" Suzuka said. "Try to hurt me ... and fail?" Aisha gritted her teeth and stormed out of the door, slamming it behind her while muttering things about Gene. Gene, after getting back on his feet, walked back to the couch.

"Thanks, Suzuka," he said, almost forgetting his arguement with Harry. "She looks like she could've ripped my face off."

"I think she was going to." Suzuka remembered that there was something that she needed to bring up to Gene's attention. If she was ever going to do it, this was the perfect time. "Gene, I need to speak to you for a moment, if now's a good time."

"Yeah, now's fine," he said, still rubbing his red hair to try to calm his bump he took from Aisha. "Just let me sit down before you start talking." He and Suzuka walked toward the seats as Gene fell on the couch and Suzuka calmly sat in her favorite chair. Gene grabbed the drink that Aisha luckily didn't knock over.

"So," he said as he took another sip of the soda, "What's up?"

"It's about Melfina and Harry," Suzuka said. She didn't have any problems getting to the point. Gene's eyes grew larger as he sat upright to listen to Suzuka more clearly.

"What about that psycho?"

"Melfina has told me something that you might find very interesting."

"What is it? If that bastard hurt her ..."

"No, no. Nothing like that," she said quickly to calm Gene down. "She's fine. In fact she says that she's never felt this good."

"Well," Gene said, finally calm, "It's good to know that she's okay. She had been acting a little tense over the last few months."

"Yes, but do you know what made her feel better?"

"No, but whatever it is must be a good thing, right, Suzuka?"

"It was Harry MacDougall," she told Gene. He immediatly crushed the still full can of soda in his hand in shock, not caring that it now covered his hand and part of the floor. He couldn't believe that he would make her happy.

"Great. Next thing you're gonna do is tell me she's in love with him, right?" he said sarcastically as he put his head toward his knees. Little did he know that that was exactly what she was going to say.

"Why yes, Gene. She is." Gene's face quickly rose up with hatred for Harry. "Did she alrerady tell you?"

"Of course she didn't tell me! What the hell is she thinking! I thought that we were together!"

"Well, she doesn't. Melfina has told me that she's looking for someone who can stay with her no matter what. I don't mean to be rude, but it doesn't look like you can do that."

"What do you mean! Of course I can!" Gene was getting mad.

"You can't, Gene! You've pushed her away from you, you barely know she's alive except when something like this happens, and she already knows that you've been with other women behind her back. Please don't tell me that she's better off with you." Gene looked down at the ground, knowing that he didn't deserve to be with her, but he couldn't stand the fact that Melfina wanted to be with Harry.

"I'm not the best guy for her, I know. But Harry is a pervert! He's probably got something up his sleeve to make sure that she stays with him. Do you wanna see Melfina be assaulted by that freak, cause I don't!"

"Gene, if Harry wanted to take Melfina and hurt her, he's had more than one perfect opportunity to do so. After watching him and his motions around her, I must say that he is what he says he is, and that's in love with her. I want the best for her and so do you, right?" Gene still was frozen in guilt and shock.

"Yeah," he whispered. "I do want that."

"Well, she's come to me to tell you something."

"What?" he said sheepishly.

"That she's told Harry that she loves him. Apparently, he didn't go completely psycho like you thought he would, and he says he can wait to be close with her. So, to put it bluntly, I guess that they're dating." Gene knew that there would be no talking Melfina out of this decision. Whenever she put her heart into something, it was impossible to get her away from it. Gene had finally faced his nightmare, she wanted Harry.

"If that's the way she wants it, then fine. All I really care about is that she gets home and that he doesn't hurt her," he said as he got comfortable on the couch again.

"At least tell me this, Gene. You have noticed that Harry has been a great help around the place, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well, look at it like this. When you first met me, you thought I was nothing but a murderous assassin and I looked at you as a dumb punk. But look, I've come to know you people as my friends and I even consider you to be a true outlaw. I think this works the same way with Harry. We're always looking over our shoulder with him, but I think he'll become a great help, and who knows, maybe you two will be great friends." Gene gave her a slight smirk.

"Don't push things that quick," he said as he got up and walked to the kitchen sink. He washed the sticky, dried-up soda off of his hand and then made his way back to the couch. "Maybe I should at least apologize to him for what I said. Aw, I'll do it if he brings it up." He then began flipping through the channels as Suzuka gave a small smile behind her book she was reading. Gene still didn't trust Harry completely, but there was a small glimmer of hope in there.

Back on the ship, Jim had been working without rest for 22 hours. He was tripping over tools, falling to sleep while standing up, and loosing his focus. As Harry walked back onto the bridge, he saw Jim still at work on programs. He walked over to him and placed his hand on Jim's shoulder.

"Hey, Jimmy," Harry said quietly, "What are you still doing working?"

"I've gotta keep working until the ships that Fred sent get here," he said with a very large yawn. "It's gotta be done." Harry showed great concern on his face for Jim's current state.

"I don't care about that, man. You need sleep. Let me take over. I'll do all the work since I've been taking a break to talk to Mel."

"Fine," Jim said, still worn out and fatigued. "Here's a checklist of all the work that needs to be done." He handed Harry a large clipboard flilled to the top with papers. Harry grew a little worried.

"We still have to do all of this?" he asked, totally stupified.

"Yeah, now goodnight." Jim stumbled down the hall to his room as Harry watched him walk away.

"See ya later, Jim," Harry said back. He immediately began going over the checklist and tried to do his best to work through the problems that Jim had found on the ship. After he had been working for about two hours, he noticed that they were recieving a transmission. Harry got into Gene's seat and accessed the communication to reveal a man whom he had never seen.

"Is this the Outlaw Star?" the man asked.

"Yes, it is. Are you the guys Fred sent?" Harry asked eagerly.

"That's us. He says you got someone on there that need medical attention, right?"

"Yeah. Is it okay if I bring her over?"

"Sure. We'll connect the ships, bring you guys over, then hook up this baby and tow her to a station." Harry couldn't help but smile. They were finally getting out of there.

"Great! Where is the nearest station, by the way?" Harry asked the ship's pilot.

"It's Blue Heaven, I think." Even better! Harry had been to Blue Heaven a few times, so it wouldn't be a strange place for them.

"Okay," Harry said back, "We can't move the ship at all, so you're going to have to hook us up."

"No problem. Just get everyone at the airlock and I'll see you guys in few minutes."

"Thanks again, sir," Harry told him.

"You're very welcome, man. Ending trasmission." The pilot disconnected the trasmission as Harry ran back through the hallway to get everyone. He entered Jim's room first, almost running over Jim who was still walking, zombie-like, to his bed.

"Ji .. Whoa!" He stopped before running into him. "Come on. We've gotta go!"

"What now?" Jim asked, just wanting sleep.

"The ship's here. We've got to get Mel and get onboard. Now hurry!" He grabbed Jim's hand and began draging him to Melfina's room.

"I don't care if the ship is here. I'm tired," Jim mumbled.

"I'll let you sleep until New Year's Day if you just help me get Melfina to that airlock."

"Fine." Jim ripped his hand out of Harry's grip and followed Harry the rest of the way to Melfina's bedroom. When they entered her room, they noticed that she was trying to sit up in her bed, but still having some difficulty.

"Melfina," Harry said. "What are you doing?"

"I was kind of uncomfortable," she replied through her labored breaths. "I'm just trying to find a nice spot."

"You won't need to," he said grabbing her hand and smiling. "The ship's that Fred sent are here. We're going to take you over there where they can help you." Melfina had a worried look on her face despite the good news.

"Um, what's wrong with Jim?" Harry turned around to see Jim on the floor, asleep. Harry picked Jim up and lightly slapped his face. Jim began to wake up and scream.

"Stop doing that!" he screamed at Harry. "I'm awake!"

"Good," Harry said. "Now help me carry Melfina to the airlock." Harry and Jim wrapped Melfina's arms around their necks and helped her onto her foot that wasn't sprained. Slowly, they began to walk to the point on the ship where they were to meet Fred's friends. The doors opened to reveal the man Harry had talked to and two more men who were carrying a thin, rolling bed for Melfina.

"Is she the one who's hurt?" the man asked.

"Yes," Harry replied. "Should we just lay her on it?"

"Yep. We'll put her into stasis once she's on our ship. It should completely heal her in no less than a day." Harry picked Melfina up into his arms and set her down onto the stretcher. Quickly, the two men beside her wheeled the stretcher back into their ship as Harry, Jim, and the unknown man followed them to an infirmary. Once the two men entered with Melfina, the doors shut and locked, blocking Harry and Jim from entering. The man then turned to them.

"I'm sorry that I haven't gotten to introduce myself. The name's Theo. Fred already told me who you two are, so you don't have to go though the trouble."

"Yeah," Jim mumbled, "Tell me, where's the bedrooms? I'm so tired."

"First door on your left," Theo replied. "You look like you need the sleep anyway." Jim began walking to his room as if he didn't even hear the comment Theo had made.

"I'm going to sleep," Jim said in his daze. "Goodnight, guys." He entered his room as the doors automatically shut behind him." Harry then remembered that Melfina was still in the next room.

"So," he asked Theo, "What are they doing to her?"

"Beats me, but if it's anything like what's happened to us guys before, she'll be in a stasis chamber all day. It's gonna pump her full of something that's supposed to speed up her recovery system. I don't really know how it works, I just know that it does work." Soon, the two men came out of the room.

"She's in suspended animation right now. You're probably not gonna see her until tomorrow," one of the two men said to Harry. Harry put his head down. He wanted to see her so badly, but he knew that she need her rest.

"Well, can you at least tell me where my room is?" he asked Theo.

"Yeah, it's right next to Jim's." Suddenly they felt the ship begin to shake slightly. "Looks like we're pulling your ship now. But yeah, you're probably tired, too."

"I'm beyond tired. Thanks again for saving us."

"No problem. Fred's a good friend of mine, and his friends are my friends. Well, I'll let ya sleep."

"Thanks," Harry said as he walked into his room. Once inside, he noticed that it was essentially a barren room except for the bed in the corner. He crawled inside and tried to fall asleep, but all he could think about was Melfina. He tried to block all the thoughts from entering his mind, but she was the only one that he kept thinking about. He rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Oh, Mel. I can't sleep when I don't know what's happening to you. In fact, he didn't sleep the whole night. When morning had come, he was still staring at the top of his room, worried and wondering when he would be able to see her. Harry had gotten out of bed and began to walk down the halls. He had to find Melfina. As Harry turned left, he ran into Theo again.

"Whoa, Harry," he said in shock. "I was just coming to find you."

"What about!" he asked desperately. "Is Melfina okay?"

"She's still recovering, but you can go see what they're doing to her if ya want." Harry followed Theo to the infirmary, anxious to see her, but also worried of how he might see her. Once the doors opened, he saw an almost completely white room. It was vacant of people, probably because most of them were still asleep at this time. Harry's eyes widened as he looked to the far side of the room. There, in a large chamber similar to that on the Outlaw Star, was Melfina. She was suspended in a green liquid and completely motionless. Harry slowly walked over to the chamber, saddened that Melfina was in the state that she was. He placed one hand on her chamber, not caring about the fact that, this time, nothing was concealed.

"Is she able to comunicate with people yet or not?" Harry asked Theo.

"From what they told me, she's completely unconscious. That liquid is being inhaled by her and going throughout her system to speed up her recovery. She should be out for about ... oh ... seven more hours. Oh! I forgot to tell you that we've made it to Blue Heaven."

"Already!" Harry said, turning around. "That was fast."

"Yeah. But this is a fast ship. Anyways, Jim's already up, so if you guys wanna go hang out and stuff, we'll look out for her here." Harry was very apprehensive about leaving Melfina alone on a ship filled with guys he'd never seen before. "Hey, if ya don't wanna go cause of her, I understand, man. But just remember, if she's in my care, nothing's gonna happen." Harry still didn't like the sound of that. To him, Melfina was always his responsibility. He wanted to be the one to look after her. But he knew Jim would drag him away eventually, so he might as well go.

"Alright. Who knows, maybe I can take my mind off of this whole thing," he stated. Harry turned back to Melfina's body, floating helplessly in the capsule as air bubbles left her mouth and nose. He gave her a small smile. Harry left the room and turned back one more time to look at Melfina. "I'll see ya soon, baby." The doors closed in front of him as Jim turned the corner to notice him.

"Harry," he said loudly as he ran towards him, "How's Melfina?"

"She's fine. She's just resting right now, but they said that she'll be fine in a few hours. In the meantime, you wanna go check out the station?"

"Yeah. It seems like there's things we need to get," Jim told Harry while going over another checklist which looked like it had just been written ten seconds ago. "For one, caster shells. You used up all the ones I had when we got ambushed."

"Wait a minute! You're telling me that you only brought two shells with you!"

"Well, we were in a rush, okay?" Jim replied. "Anyways, it's still gonna be really hard to find them on a station. But the good thing is the Outlaw Star is getting repairs here, so we should be going home when Melfina wakes up. And I got the repairs at a major discount."

"How in the world did you get a discount repair job on a station!" Harry asked, almost not believing what he had just heard. Jim began to show a clever little smile.

"Oh, it was nothing. I just know the repair guys," Jim told Harry. "Now let's go." Harry and Jim left the ship, leaving Melfina to recover from her wounds. Harry figured that the only way he could get her horrible condition off of his mind was to hang out with the one guy he knew, besides Ron, who he had fun with.

It was almost dusk. The sun was near the far side of Heifong as Suzuka shifted her seating to allow just the right amount of light to hit her book. She was almost done with it, after only reading it for a few weeks. Taking a small pause from her reading, she took a small sip of her herbal tea near her side before continuing. Gene had just come downstairs from his room and began watching the tv to see if anything new had happened on the local news. Suddenly, he noticed that they were reciveing a call on the beat-up video phone. Suzuka looked up from her novel to see Gene walking toward it. Gene picked up the receiver as an image of Fred Lowe appeared on the screen.

"Hi, Gene!" Fred spouted off in his happy manner. "How are you today?"

"Hey, Freddy. I'm doing fine, I guess. What's this about?"

"Well, I'm just calling to inform everyone there that I've gotten word that Jim and his friends have been picked up by my crew and they're safe and sound."

"That's great!" Gene replied. "Do you know where they are?"

"They should be at the nearest station, which would probably be Blue Heaven. Jim just called me and gave me all the details."

"Does he know how Melfina is doing? What happened to her?"

"Didn't he tell you when I put you two through yesterday?" Fred asked in wonder.

"No. We ... um ... kind of got disconnected."

"Oh. Anyways, she had some chest injures and a badly hurt ankle, but she's in one of those healing devices that were all hearing about now. I ordered one overnight for them. It's top-of-the-line! She and the dynamic duo should be there in about a day." As he was finished talking, Aisha walked back in the door from her day on the town.

"Hey everyone!" she cried, which was her usual greeting.

"Keep it down, Aisha!" Gene screamed as he turned around to her. "I'm on the phone with Fred."

"You shut up, Gene! I'm already mad with you anyway!"

"Whatever," he mumbled. "So I guess everything's okay with them, Fred."

"Yeah," Fred replied. "Oh, there was one thing I was supposed to say before I hung up, but I can't remember it."

"Really? What was it?"

"Well, how should I know what it is when I can't remember it! All I know is that Harry said it was very urgent."

"Harry said it?"

"Yes. It was something very peculiar and strange. Oh! I remember! It was for Aisha." Gene turned around in his seat again to see Aisha just sitting on the couch and grabbing the remote control.

"Aisha!" Gene yelled, "Fred has something to tell you." Grumbling and complaining, she made her way to the phone, angered that she had been pulled away from the screen.

"What is it," she said in a complaining voice.

"Harry told me to tell you that he's heard Gene call you a 'hairball-spitting vermin'. I don't know of what importance that is, but he just wanted me to tell you. Bye now!" Fred spouted off before cutting his transmission. Aisha quickly grabbed Gene by his shirt and picked him up off of his feet, giving him an evil yet happy smile.

"I'm gonna enjoy this, Starwind," she whispered through her clenched teeth. "Start begging."

"Great," Gene sighed.

Hours had passed since Harry and Jim had spent time on Blue Heaven. Finally, after a long day of relaxing, they returned to Theo's ship. Their immediate first stop was to check on Melfina. Both of them didn't carry a lot of money with them. Almost all of the wong they had went toward paying for the repairs. Harry did use the little change they had to buy Melfina some roses and a small card that they had both signed. Harry stepped into the infirmary first, followed by Jim, to see Melfina being helped out of the top of the chamber by two female nurses. Once she noticed them, and noticed the fact that she wasn't wearing anything, she panicked.

"Guys!" she said, trying to cover herself as Harry and Jim quickly looked away to give her privacy, "Can you come back in a few minutes?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure," Harry said, slightly embarrassed, "Come on, Jim." He grabbed Jim's arm and quickly dragged him out of the room into the hallway. Once there, Harry calmed down. "Maybe we should just find her room and put these there."

"Yeah. Good idea," Jim said. "Anyways, I'll be on the Outlaw Star. I think the repairs should be done so put the flowers in her room on the ship."

"Can you do it for me Jim? Like a surprise when she goes in there. I want to be here to greet her."

"Okay," Jim said as he took the huge vase of flowers from Harry and walked towards the exit. "I'll see you two later tonight."

"See ya," Harry replied to Jim. He waited outside the infirmary for what seemed like forever. What could be taking her this long? She looked fine when I walked in there. Oh well, it'll definitely be worth the wait. He wanted so badly for her to walk out of that room. He wanted even more to walk in there and hold her close. After only a few minutes had passed, yet it felt like an eternity, Melfina walked out of the room wearing her usual attire. Harry, bursting at the seems with emotion, grabbed her in a tight hug and picked her up off of the ground. "Melfina! Oh baby, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said chuckling. "Just look." Harry put her down on the ground and she showed Harry that she was perfectly fine. There wasn't anything wrong with her. "See, I'm completely healed. There's nothing to worry about."

"I wasn't worrying. I knew you'd be okay," he told her.

"Please. You were checking on me every second on the Outlaw Star."

"Okay, so you're right. Anyways, we've gotta go. The ship's ready from what Jim told me." Harry and Melfina both left the ship and walked through the station to the Outlaw Star. Once inside, they found Jim at the controls. "Jim, are we ready to blast off?"

"Yeah, Harry. We are." Jim turned around to see Melfina, beaming and perfectly healed. "Melfina! Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah, Jim," she said. "Don't worry about me. Let's just get ready and go home." Harry crawled into Gene's seat as Melfina emerged in her newly repaired chamber."All systems green."

"I've already cleared us with the station, Harry," Jim said, "So we can leave any time." Just then, they noticed that they were receiving a transmission. Harry activated the call.

"Hey guys," Theo said from onboard his ship. "I couldn't find you guys onboard my ship so I thought you were about to leave."

"Yeah, we are," Harry said smiling. "Thank you once again for helping us with everything. Is there anything we can do to pay you back?"

"Nah. Fred said he'd pay us, cause we technically work for him. Well, you guys have a safe trip."

"You, too." Harry then cut the transmission as he pulled the Outlaw Star out of the station and, this time, launched it correctly toward Heifong.

Back at the shop, it had been two days since Fred's call. Everyone still was waiting anxiously for the guys to return from Blue Heaven. Suzuka was just finishing the novel while Gene passed time playing video games with Aisha, who kept beating him at them.

"Again?" Gene asked in defeat as he lost for the tenth time in a row.

"Ha ha! You're just practice for that idiot MacDougall!" she spouted off.

"That idiot who?" a voice said. Aisha and Gene turned toward the door as Suzuka poked her eyes over her book to see Harry, Melfina, and Jim standing at the door. Melfina was carrying the roses she had found in her room, while Jim was carrying a large stack of papers that he dropped in Gene's lap once he walked over to him.

"Jim! Melfina! You guys are okay!" Gene said ecstatic. "What are these, Jim?"

"Repair bills!" he shouted. "We have to pay this to Blue Heaven with our reward money! We're blowing through it so fast that I don't know if we'll be able to keep ourselves out of the red for long!"

"Aw, don't worry about it," Gene said, laid-back as usual, "At least you've got your health."

"Yeah, well I'm pretty sure that it's because of you that Melfina almost didn't have hers," Jim shot back.

"Speaking of Melfina, are you okay?" he asked her.

"I'm fine, Gene," she replied. "Harry and Jim took great care of me, and now I don't have a scratch."

"That's good. Well, I guess me and Jim have paperwork to go over. Come on." He grabbed the large stack of papers and followed Jim upstairs to his room. Once there, he quickly shut the door and locked it before switching his demeanor entirely. "Jim!" he said in a loud whisper, "What the hell happened on that ship?"

"What do you mean?" Jim said defensively.

"I mean with Melfina! Did that asshole try anything!"

"No. I couldn't believe it myself. He was completely normal. But, um, I did find something out while we were up there."

"Yeah, me too, Jim. You go first."

"Okay," Jim sighed. "Gene, Melfina's in love with Harry." Gene showed no emotion.

"Strange. That's what I was gonna tell you."

"Where did you find it out from, Gene."

"Suzuka. She verbally stabbed me trying to tell me how Harry's better for her cause he loves her or some crap. How did you find out?"

"Melfina told me." Gene finally showed emotion in the form of shock.

"What!" he loudly whispered again, "You mean she's that adamant about it?"

"Yeah. She said that she loves him and that nothing was gonna change her mind."

"Please don't tell me that they've had sex."

"No, they haven't. I asked. She said that if he can't wait, then she'll let him go. I think we should just still watch him. But I've gotta say, he may have won me over to his side already."

"Yeah it seems like he's doing that a lot, anyways." Gene opened the door to his room as he and Jim stepped outside. Jim went downstairs while Gene laid down on the one-person seat that was next to their large window. Jim couldn't find Harry or Melfina when he glanced into the living room. He slowly cracked open the door to Melfina's bedroom. He caught a glimpse of Melfina setting her vase of roses on her table next to her bed. Harry was standing right behind her, going through his backpack that he had left in her room. Melfina walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Thanks a lot for the flowers, Harry. They're beautiful." Harry lightly kissed her on the lips as his response.

"I know. But something tells me that you're more beautiful than them." Melfina giggled at Harry's cute comment.

"Why do you love saying stuff like that?"

"Cause then I can say normal stuff again, like 'I love you'."

"I love you too, Harry." This time, Melfina leaned in for a kiss. After a longer, more passionite show of affection, she pulled away to look at him. "I'm starving. You want to order something to celebrate being back."

"Sure!" Harry said. "Let's go!" Harry burst out of the door and into Jim, knocking the blonde kid to the ground. "Jim! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, no problem. I heard something about food, is that right?"

"We are going to get something. What do you want?" Melfina asked.

"How about pizzas?" Jim suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Harry exclaimed. "I'll tell everyone." Harry ran into the living room where Suzuka and Aisha were still doing what they were doing when they arrived. "Hey, how does pizza sound everyone?" Aisha immediately paused her game and looked at Harry.

"Pizza is a great choice! But who's paying?"

"I've got an idea," Harry said as his eyes shifted from Aisha to the game controllers. Aisha instantly grabbed her controller and sat back on the couch. Harry grabbed another one and took his seat.

"Loser pays, right?" Aisha asked.

"Right," Harry replied.

"Sir," a voice said to a mysterious man in the shadows. "We recieved a disturbing report."

"What is it?" the hidden man replied as he stepped toward the first man.

"We have recieved word that Pyrados was captured. Apparently the result of a raid." The man who had now shown himself widened his eyes in shock.

"What? Who did it! Who caught him?" he replied with a booming voice.

"Um ... some bounty hunters. We have identified one of them as 'Harry MacDougall', one of the famed MacDougall brothers."

"What? I thought Hazanko killed him?"

"Well, sir, even though we did keep a close watch on Hazanko, there really was no way for us to know what happened when he went into the Leyline."

"Hmm, I suppose you're right," the ominous man said, calming down. "My protege never quite did live up to his expectations, did he?"

"No, he wanted the Leyline all to himself, and look what happened," the first man replied.

"Don't forget, I want it all to myself, too. But I always come into situations better prepared."

"Well, you are the Tendo King. I wouldn't expect you to do otherwise."

"Yes. I'll be better prepared than that fool. Have you located the new location of the Leyline?"

"Why, yes. That's just what I have come to tell you."

"The girl too?"

"Yes. Apparently she is living with the MacDougall."

"Good. We'll be able to solve two problems at the same time. And I'll finally have the power of all the universe in my grasp!"

Okay, it's taken me forever but I finally did it. Here's you're new chapter. I'm still planning the next few, so be wary. What is happening now? Well, if I told you, then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?