Riku somehow managed to keep his jaw from dropping when he saw the Gummi Ship. He'd seen some impressive things at Maleficent's castle, but nothing like the Gummis. Kage and Cloud took his amazement stoically, however, both doing their best not to laugh at him.

"Wait 'til you see outer space," Kage whispered in Riku's ear. He turned to look at her, and saw her grinning, but not in a condescending way. "That's gonna really take your breath away."

"Is it me," Cloud asked over his shoulder, "or has your accent improved?"

"Wouldja rather I talked like a street-rat?" Kage retorted in what must have been the accent Cloud was talking about. "'Cuz I could, y'know. Frankly, I don't have a prollem with neither'n."

"I like it better when I can understand you," Cloud said, a hint of a chuckle in his voice. "Loose the accent, kid." Kage's only response was a chuckle, and she started climbing into the cockpit right behind Cloud.

"Hey, Kage?" Riku called up to her. She paused with one leg over the edge and turned to look at him.

"You can call me Mizu if you want," she said. "What's up?"

"Where are we headed?" Riku asked. "I already know a few of the worlds Kairi isn't on."

"Yeah, we've narrowed it down a bit, too," Mizu admitted. "And Sora's filled us in on a few more, so we're probably going somewhere uncharted. I know that's not much help since most of space is uncharted, but that's all the info I can give you."

"It's alright, I was just curious."

"Obviously, or you wouldn't have asked. C'mon, I gotta show you around this baby before we take off." Mizu climbed the rest of the way into the ship, and Riku followed up after her. He was completely unsurprised to find her waiting for him when he dropped to the ship's floor.

"It's just the nickel tour," Kage admitted, "but you kind of need to know some of this anyway, just in case."

"Just in case what?" Riku asked, all of a sudden slightly nervous.

"Heartless attack, asteroid belt, debris," Mizu said, calmly ticking them off on her fingers. "Nothing usually happens, and this ship has pretty good shields and guns, so we should be fine, but there's always the 'just in case' factor. Here, follow me." She turned and started walking down a corridor to the rear of the ship.

"This is the engine room. The only reason we really have for coming back here is if there's trouble with one of the engines, which isn't likely because Cid built this ship, but sometimes the Heartless get lucky. Over here," Mizu went back up the hall a little ways and indicated a tightly air-locked door that she opened for Riku to see inside of, "we have the cargo bay, which we primarily use for storing supplies we might need on the different worlds, and a lot of extra potions and elixers, obviously. Oh, and spare weapons and accessories. I think Cloud also keeps some of his extra Materia back here." She closed the door and walked further back up the corridor, and opened yet another door.

"These four doors up here are where we'll be sleeping. This ship is a completely different model than Sora's, and is fully equiped with an autopilot so that everyone can get plenty of sleep. This one's your room, I'm just across from you, and Cloud's right next to you. If we're the ones who find Kairi, she'll get the room next to me. They're all furnished and fit to live in for quite a while, even permanently if we have to. And up here," she moved to a set of double-hinged doors and pushed one in, "we have the kitchen and dining area. Be warned, my cooking sucks. There're food stores in here along with in the storage area, and quite a few spices, seasonings, yadda, yadda, yadda, so there's at least a little variety in the gruel around here. If you're wondering, bathrooms are in the bedrooms, complete with toilet, tub, and sink. And last but not least, the cockpit, where we'll probably be spending most of our time."

Kage led Riku to the end of the corridor and into the cockpit, which was mostly taken up by four chairs around the perimiter of the room. Three entire sides of the room were solid window, except for a few feet at the bottom that were taken up by the ship's computer and navigation system, radar, and a whole bunch of other stuff that Riku couldn't understand.

"It's a little hard to understand the first time around," Mizu admitted, "but you'll get used to it quickly. All the controls are pretty basic, and labeled, thankfully. It'll take us a bit to find a job for you, so for now just pick a seat and watch the show. How're things, aniki?"

"All systems green," Cloud said, still fiddling with some of the gadgets. "Just let me finish putting in the coordinates Cid gave us and we're good to go."

"Groovy," Mizu said absently, sitting in front of the radar and fixing a set of headphones over her ears.

"That was new," Cloud mumbled. "Riku, you might want to sit, I'm almost done."

"Take-off's kind of bumpy, and it could knock you flat if you're not strapped in," Mizu said, now fastening several buckles over her lap and chest. Riku sat in the next seat down and strapped himself in as well.

"Ready, kids?" Cloud asked.

"I am," Mizu announced, raising her hand. Riku just nodded.

"Keep an eye out the window, Riku," Cloud advised. "And hold on tight." Riku noticed that Mizu was leaning back in her seat, as was Cloud, and had the arms of her chair in a tight grip. Cloud punched one of the buttons, gripped his own armrests, and then the ship took off.

Riku was rattled around so much he thought his teeth were going to fall out. When the ride finally smoothed out, though, he completely forgot about the momentary discomfort and gaped.

"What is this?" he breathed, staring wide-eyed out the window.

"This," Mizu announced grandly, "is the universe. The time and space between worlds. And totally awesome."

"I'll say," Riku said absently, completely oblivious to Mizu and Cloud's exchange of knowing looks. Mizu got unbuckled and drifted over to Riku.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked rhetorically. "This darkness is so vast, and so deep, but there are always the stars to break it up. Always at least one tiny spark of light, one small flame of hope, to keep you going when you think it's all for nothing. I've often taken comfort in just looking at the stars, and the hope they represent. This is just one more example, perhaps even the ultimate example, of how you can always find a little bit of light in an overwhelming tide of darkness." Riku turned his head to look at her, and saw that she was just as entranced by the scenery as he was.

"You should be a poet," he suggested lightly, and Cloud snorted a laugh.

"Are you kidding?" Mizu asked, smiling at Riku. "That's about as silver as my tongue gets, and it was still a little tarnished."

"You're eloquent and you know it, Mi-chan," Cloud admonished.

"Shut up, Cloud," Mizu said, sticking her tongue out at him. All three laughed. Mizu went back to her seat and perched on the edge, fitting the headphones over her ears again.

"So are you two really brother and sister?" Riku asked.

"No, we're not," Cloud admitted with a chuckle. "I know we may act like it, but I'm old enough to be Mizu's father."

"Cloud was the second one I swore with," Mizu said, holding up her scarred wrist. "The first was a very old friend of mine, Nathan, who taught me the ritual. He was murdered the day I met Cloud, along with the rest of my gang. That was almost ten years ago. Hm. I'm proud to say I haven't broken my promise to the Boss since I swore it."

"Good," Cloud said. "Don't ever break that promise, either, unless you absolutely have to."

"I can't think of any situation where I would need to," Mizu admitted. "Running into you that day was one of the best strokes of luck I've had in my entire life." Mizu chuckled at whatever memory was playing through her head. "Even if you did catch me trying to lift from you."

"I'm glad you broke that habit so quickly," Cloud said. "Little theif, you were really lucky no one had caught you before I did."

"You were a theif?" Riku asked, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah," Mizu admitted proudly, "I was one of the best pick-pocketers in all of Midgar. Between the two of us, Tommy and I could have robbed the city blind in a day if we wanted to, and I'd have gotten most of the loot."

"And she isn't bragging, either," Cloud said. "She managed to nip something from the Boss before she was even admitted into the gang. And she's still wearing it today."

"I tried to give it back," Mizu protested, lightly touching the crowned heart pendant she wore. "But Terra told me to keep it as a mark of my new 'prenticeship. I was going to be the next Boss, but on the day I ran into Cloud, Shinra found out hide-out and blew it to bits. Terra was the only one caught in the blast who lived, but it was only long enough for her to make me swear to keep my heart shining as bright as I could. 'Prentice to teacher and friend to friend, and I've kept that promise ever since, even through my amnesia."

"I don't want to see the day you do break that promise," Cloud said. "And with any luck, that day won't come. I'll keep my fingers crossed that it doesn't."

"You and me both, Cloud," Mizu said, holding the pendant in her fingers. "You and me both."