Another fortnight, another chapter. I may have to take a little break after this one, depending on circumstances. Info will be kept updated on my profile.

Many thanks to Kokodoru for the beta-reading!

Docking at Terranova was nothing new. Part of her feared that her bounty was still active, but visibly her hospital stay had allowed the news to spread; her ticket was accepted without any fuss and she was allowed to dock without delay.

Walking the docks, then through the huge port, was also nothing new. For a residential town, it was busy, packed with humans of all kinds.

Buying a bus ticket to Meiko's was also nothing new.

Taking the bus was nothing new.

Luka supposed that the reason she felt all choked up was because she had been beaten black and blue until her inner organs had popped. The sling felt heavier than ever, resting on bruised skin. The hoodie which hid her face felt all the more important. She caught the cautious glances, the lingering stares. She hid her hands in her pockets, concealing the layers of gauze around her fingers, her desperate twitches for medicine.

Even if her facial symmetry, as Ruko had put it, was alright, clearly she didn't look alright.

And she certainly didn't feel alright.

Or act alright.

For example, she almost bought two tickets for the bus. She kept turning around, half-expecting Miku to be right behind her, taking in the sights of the busy hub, multi-colored as it was, with all the new stores and brands and products with her wide-eyed curiosity. She almost pointed out some posters of local musicians, signs to the zoo, all to a companion who was no longer there.

In the bus, she looked up at the buildings in the early morning light, lit up with neon and screens, and she thought back to what Miku had told her about the long-gone city of Seoul. There were so many other tales and places she had wanted to tell her about. And Luka had already thought of some places she had wanted to show the android in return.

Luka told herself that this was short-term, this was the normal grace period needed to adapt to change. Soon enough, things would go back to normal, and she would be happier than ever, finally working towards an all the more tangible goal. She had a planet for crying out loud. She could settle there whenever, slowly add building after building, and then scavenge to put food on her own table. There would be no singing androids to tend to, no other rules to follow. Everything would be perfect.

Just perfect.

She just needed a little time. Work for a little longer. Nothing more.

Familiar apprehension washed over her when she neared Meiko's home. It was the same every time. Sure, during her previous stay, she had made things better with her mother. Miku had been there to push her forward, too. She had helped. The bandages weighed her down though, almost rooted her in place.

Luka sighed, took a minute, approached the door, and rang the doorbell.

Only then did she realize that it was, as Ruko had warned, early morning. The long summer day meant that the sun had risen a solid hour prior, yet it was still terribly early for vacationing kids.

She almost walked away, but the rattling of the locks stopped her. After a moment, the door opened.

"Luka!" Len exclaimed. He was clad in light pajamas, his hair a mess. "You're back!"

She shuffled, making sure he couldn't see beyond her hood. She wondered how he recognized her. "Is Meiko at work?"

"Oh, no, she's still in bed," he said, backing up and opening the door. "Come in."

"Are you su—"

"Yeah, yeah! Come on. I'll get you some tea."

She stepped in and followed the boy to the kitchen. The home was dead silent, though she could almost feel the presence of the sleeping family upstairs.

"You're back so soon," Len whispered, setting the tea to boil on one of those special no-combustion hotplates.

"Yeah. Bounty got dropped."

"It did? That's great!" he gushed, inviting her to sit. She obliged with some effort, watched him sit across from her. "You don't have to keep up the disguise, then."

She hummed, didn't reach for the hood.

"Where's Miku?" The silence stretched on, and his smile slowly shrank. "I thought—"

"It's ok. We parted ways. I told you, we weren't exactly together by choice. So. It's ok."

"Ah, right."

"Don't worry about her."

He nodded, though with a slight frown. "If you insist."

"Yeah."

Both perked up at the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. Luka kept her eyes straight forward, refusing to turn around when Meiko, wearing a sand-colored bathrobe over her nightgown, entered the kitchen.

"Who was it?" she asked, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Luka's home," Len announced, voice quiet.

At that, Meiko almost instantaneously blinked away the bulk of her drowsiness, her eyes finding the scavenger sitting with her back towards her at the table.

"Luka! You're back so soon. Are you alright?"

When the scavenger didn't reply, Len muttered, "I'm making tea."

"Thank you, Len," the brunette said, approaching Luka cautiously. "You're still wearing your sling."

"Yeah."

"Is the bounty..."

"It's lifted. I'm free."

"Ah, that is good news." Meiko waited for more information, but with every second of silence, her frown grew. "Luka."

"Yeah, ma?"

"Please turn and face me."

The woman obeyed, pushing from the table and turning in her seat slowly, carefully. Once she couldn't even see Len out of the corner of her eye, Luka lifted a bit of her hood.

Meiko's eyes went wide.

"Luka...!"

"I think I need a hospital, ma."

"You think?!" the brunette almost shouted, rushing forward, reaching towards her face without daring to touch her. "Stars, what did they do to you?"

"They caught me."

"Stars... Len, I'm going to drive her to the hospital. You're in charge until we're back."

The boy stammered, but eventually said, "Ok."

"Luka, sit tight. I'm going to get dressed."

"Ok, ma."

True to her word, Meiko wasted no time and disappeared from the room, the bathrobe billowing behind her like a cape. Luka pulled the hood back over her face so Len wouldn't see.

"Is it bad?" he asked.

"I don't know," she confessed. "I didn't look."

"I never saw ma go so pale," Len said. "It might be bad."

"Thanks, kid."

He fidgeted. "How long are you staying this time?"

"Until existing stops hurting."

The boy clearly didn't know what to reply to that. Nonetheless, he stayed with her, concern written all over his face, until Meiko returned. She was speaking into her phone with hushed, hurried words.

"Yeah. Thanks. I'll keep you posted," she said before hanging up. "Ok, that's work taken care of. Luka, up, with me."

She obeyed, standing on shaking legs and following the brunette out of the house.

"Len, make sure everybody gets their holiday schoolwork done," Meiko ordered, already dialing another number.

"Ok."

"If anybody asks, tell them that Luka needs a little help. I should be back this afternoon."

He nodded. "Good luck."

"Thank you, Len!" the brunette said with a small wave before closing the door behind her and starting down the steps. Whoever was on the other end of the phone must have picked up by then, because without much of a pause she immediately exclaimed, "Ah, Kiyoteru! Are you open?"

Luka listened to one half of the conversation as she followed the brunette into her car, gingerly lowering herself into the vehicle. Before she even finished the call, Meiko peeled out of the parking spot and raced down the deserted morning streets. Luka held on, every small jolt and every turn making everything within her writhe.

"We're going to Kiyoteru," Meiko explained after hanging up. "He's a doctor that frequents the bar. We're good friends, he'll take a proper look at you."

"The nurse at Crypton said I might need a face surgeon," Luka muttered.

Meiko sighed. "You might."

"How bad is it?"

"It's all still very swollen and red. It's hard to tell. But... Stars Luka, did they... Did they kick you?"

"Yeah."

The woman shook her head, pushed her hair from her eyes. "Unbelievable. And Miku? Is she back in your ship?"

Luka shook her head.

"Where is she? I didn't see her back home."

"She's gone."

Meiko drove in silence for a bit, negotiating a difficult turn with a truck with the patience of a saint. Only a minute later did she ask, her tone firm, "Where is she."

"I don't know."

"What happened."

Luka stalled, regretting skipping the painkiller as they turned again.

"Luka," Meiko started. "I know she wouldn't have left you voluntarily."

"...They took her. To resell."

"Stars."

"They knocked her out first. Then they—"

"I don't want to hear it," Meiko seethed, pushing hair from her eye again. "I don't."

"She'll be ok," Luka tried to say. "The Shion don't believe in slavery."

"But do they believe she is a person?"

At that, she had no reply.

"Stars, Luka."

"The bounty is dropped though. I'm free. The debt is settled."

"What did it cost? Your face, your friend, and?"

"My whole fortune. I'm broke."

"Stars."

"I'm starting again from zero."

Meiko shook her head, pushed hair from her eye. Luka looked over, and saw that she hadn't been having bedhead issues at all: she had been wiping tears from her cheeks.

"Ma—"

"Shush," the brunette insisted, turning the vehicle before she wiped away another tear with the heel of her palm. "We're going to the doctor, we're going to see what you need, and we'll move forward from there. Deal?"

Luka nodded, trained her eyes back on the road. "Deal."

"Oh, my dear," Meiko whispered, reaching over to carefully place a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I can't bear to see you like this..."

"I've been hurt before."

"It breaks my heart every time. Oh, how I hate it..."

The woman swallowed thickly and decided not to say that the hand pained her. "I'll be ok."

"Stars, I hope so."

They arrived at the doctor's soon after, and Kiyoteru confirmed that eventually, she would be ok. Luka allowed Meiko to sit in the room with her during the consultation, needing for her to see the extent of the bruising of her torso, the inflammation of her wound, the uncensored view of the damage to her face. She gave the man a rundown of what the doctors on Crypton had done, and Kiyoteru confirmed that her tongue had grown back wonderfully well, an announcement that sent Meiko reeling so hard she almost fell from her seat. She had been spared of all orthodontic concerns as well, but the shape of her brow and cheekbone needed some looking at. Fortunately, her nose was perfectly alright, the cartilage having healed remarkably quickly. The wounds on her fingers were minor and would heal without any other fussing.

He prescribed a cream for the bruising, another for the bullet wound. Just as he started rattling off the different painkillers she would have to take, Luka admitted that most of them would only feed her resurrected addiction. While Kiyoteru was quick to adapt, Meiko sighed quietly, the news surely yet another blow. Once the medical cocktail was perfected, the doctor gave Meiko an address for a face surgeon who would be able to give an expert opinion. They didn't delay, driving there right away, where an energetic redhead named Fukase confirmed that she would need to come in for a day, during which they would accelerate and guide the healing procedure. They promised that nobody would ever be able to tell anything had happened at all once the swelling died down, save for the eventual scarring from the injuries themselves. She would be good as new.

Meiko set up the appointment for a day from then, and then they were finally going home, stopping only at the pharmacy along the way.

Luka looked at the bag of medication with a frown.

"It's cheap," Meiko assured her before she could ask. "All that is cheap."

"My appointment won't be."

The brunette frowned, glanced at the woman a few times. "It's worth it."

"But—"

"I've spent decades raising children. They do the stupidest things. This is nothing new."

Luka sighed. "None of them got their teeth kicked out, I'm betting."

"I don't care. You're my daughter and I'm going to see to it that you'll be right as rain. No matter what it might cost."

"...Ok."

"Is... Is the tongue thing the reason why you speak like that?"

"Like what?"

"You have a slight accent."

"Maybe. I'm still warming up to it. It's not exactly like my old one."

The brunette visibly shivered. "Stars."

"It's just a matter of time."

"I hope so."

They parked, then Meiko helped Luka stand up and out of the car. It was mid-afternoon, so when Luka followed her mother inside the house she was instantaneously overwhelmed by the sound of children. Aoki showed herself first, latching on Meiko's skirts like a tick.

Meiko stopped the rest of the barrage, though. She let Luka isolate herself in the kitchen while the brunette had a word with the others in the living room. A moment later, the children were outside, while Meiko joined her in the relatively quiet room.

"How long do you wish to stay?" she asked the scavenger.

"I don't know. Tomorrow at least, for my appointment."

"Yes."

"...How long may I stay?"

"As long as you want," the woman assured her, sitting down across from her. She pushed back the hood a bit, no longer flinching at the sight of the low brow, the thick cheek. "As long as you need. I'll set up a cot in my room, if you would like."

"The couch is fine."

Meiko's warm smile wavered. "Luka, I have to ask."

"About what?"

"About Miku. She was your friend."

"Barely."

"Luka..."

"We both agreed that parting ways would be best," the woman insisted. "Ever since we met, we've been working towards this. This is good."

"She was abducted. Taken."

"You know her: she's far from helpless. She'll make something out of herself. It'll be fine. There's no reason to worry."

Meiko's frown deepened. "It's not just her I'm worried for, Luka. I'm worried about you."

"We just visited the doctor's."

"Yes. But..." The brunette sighed, and repeated with a little more intensity, "She was your friend."

"Barely."

"We both know you don't mean that, no matter how many times you say it," Meiko softly chided. She reached out a hand, letting it rest on the table between them. "You defended her from me. And she defended you. Even if you two had been forced to stay together by circumstance—"

"That doesn't matter. She's just nice like that, and I had seen what she does when she's angry. I didn't want that directed at you."

The brunette shook her head. "I'm going to need you to listen to me very closely, Luka."

She growled. "You wanted me to be safe, right?! I'm safe! What's the point in sticking my nose back in their business? The Shion is off my back, end of story!"

"Luka..."

"What?"

"I said safe and happy." The two stared at one another, Meiko's eyes gentle, sad, while Luka could barely stop herself from glaring. "I don't like telling this to people: stars know that we never know everything that's going on. But it's very clear that you're miserable." Then, a short moment later, she said, "You're in denial."

Her tone wasn't mocking, in jest, or even light.

"Why would I be."

"Because it's easier."

"What would you know?"

Meiko looked at her with big, sad eyes, and the scavenger immediately felt sick: the strength of the regret was nauseating. She averted her gaze.

"Luka."

"Stop."

"There is nothing you can do right now, regardless. You need to rest and recover. But please, think about this."

"There's no point."

"You're right. Not right now. But soon. Tomorrow. Or the day after. Please."

She said nothing.

Meiko sighed and stood. She looked far from happy. "I'll be outside with the children. Rin and Len will give you bedding for your stay."

"Ok."

"Take it easy, please? And let me know if you need anything."

Luka only had to nod, which was enough for the brunette, who slowly left the room, casting only a worried glance over her shoulder. Luka sat there at the kitchen table, totally still aside from the creeping shiver, until she heard noise from within the house. A cautious investigation revealed it was only Rin and Len, returning from upstairs with pillows and a blanket, as well as the medkit.

"Ma said that she'll be here with you this evening to help with your bandage," Len said, clearly trying to take a peek at her face despite the hood.

"She also told us to give you this."

Luka accepted what the blonde girl handed to her without looking. It was small and soft.

"Are you ok?" the twin asked.

"I will be."

Rin opened her mouth to ask another question, but Len put a hand on her shoulder and wordlessly ushered her out, mumbling only a good night and a welcome home before they disappeared through the door.

Left alone, clutching an unknown object, Luka merely sat down on the couch. To her left, the bedding. To her right, the rest of the couch. In front of her, the coffee table, devoid of books.

She sighed, looked down at her lap.

She was holding Bruno.

The brown bear stared up at her with big, beady eyes, his stitched smile permanent and uncaring. The reassuring expression was mocking, infantile, and most importantly, fake.

She wanted to rip it to shreds.

She needed to hug it.

She only kept it in her grasp, staring at it. It wouldn't replace Dexter, it never would. It was too easy to forget, she told herself. He was too invisible, too light. The size and weight of Dexter made him impossible to miss: everybody saw him, and she wouldn't forget to push him aside when she wanted conversation. This bear wouldn't do the trick.

It was all she had, though.

Slowly, glaring at the bear, she leaned to the left. Everything hurt, even after she fully rested her weight on the blankets and pillows. Outside, the children played. Meiko would join her soon enough, redo the bandage of her ever-present bullet wound. Would the other kids join them as she worked? What kept them at bay, really, if their mother was tending to her? Could she trust the twins to keep the hordes of toddlers and tykes in line?

Her grip on the bear tightened.

Underneath her, the thick material of the blanket became warm from her body heat. She felt like she was going to choke in her hoodie, sweat and dry out like a sponge in the sun, while she shivered from a chill she couldn't locate. The couch itself was entirely too soft, not providing nearly enough support for her bruised abdomen. She was left alone, weak and in pain.

She didn't know which was worse.

She sighed, closed her eyes, her grip on the bear one of iron.

Soon enough she fell asleep. But it wasn't fatigue or drowsiness.

It was simply easier to check out from reality and to leave it all behind for a bit.

Odds were, space just might swallow her whole.

That would be easiest.

As promised, Meiko roused her that evening to help her with her bandages and medication. They started with the painkiller: being sent back to consciousness was bad, but every torturous second she had to endure it was worse. After that, there were the other pills to accelerate her healing, both physical and mental, then the creams to apply, the bandages to change, all in the eerily dark and silent night. The ambient air was one of summer, warm and humid against her skin. Meiko worked with practiced movements, wholly unlike Miku. She was a little more harsh with the drilled-in habit, preferred to pull the tape into place instead of smoothing it over her skin as she went, and had warm palms.

By the time Luka was all wrapped up again, slick with cream, the painkiller had started kicking in. She had warned that this one would likely change her disposition, that she might pass out without warning, yet Meiko stayed regardless. She had dressed Luka, cleaned up all the medical supplies, had made her bed, and helped her lay down, but she stayed there, kneeling on the floor, looking at her with her dark chocolate eyes.

Luka sighed, feeling her mind tether at the edges.

"What else can I do to help you?" Meiko asked quietly.

"...I'll need gas money."

"Ok."

"And a new mattress."

Meiko opened her mouth to ask, changed her mind. "Very well." After a moment, she said, "Here."

Luka opened an eye, found Bruno right before her.

"It's fine."

"You didn't bring Dexter."

"Dexter is gone. They stabbed him."

She could hear the woman swallow thickly. "Ah. Then take Bruno, while you're here. Please."

"I don't want it."

"Please. It helped us so much."

"I don't want it," she repeated.

The brunette sighed, set the bear on the floor, at the foot of the couch. "I'll leave him here, in case you change your mind."

Luka bit back a retort but found that the tension of her anger alone made the pain flare. She breathed instead, wishing she could roll over and away from the woman.

"After you recover and get your fuel, what will you do?"

"Start over," she said. "I have no other choice."

"Where will you go?"

"Wherever the evidence leads me. There's always a wreck somewhere."

"Are... Are you not even going to try to look for Miku?"

"What's the point?"

"In making sure that your friend is in good hands and faring well," Meiko tried.

"I'm sure she's fine."

"Luka—"

"I don't feel like talking."

The brunette stayed quiet for a moment. When she stood though, she did so to sit on the couch instead, looming over the woman.

Her eyes were like little pools of night in the deep sandy darkness of the household. Pits of tar, deep and inscrutable.

"I'm afraid that, despite all I have learned recently, that I am going to have to insist," Meiko urged very gently. "Please, I have but one question."

Luka squirmed, writhed instead, then settled again.

"Fine."

"Let's put aside what you personally feel about this situation, whatever you might want, all that," Meiko started, her tone delicate yet invasive, like a finger poking a tender wound. "Do you objectively think that Miku is in a good situation right now?"

Luka stayed stock still. Her mind was swimming though, carried up and away by the drugs. A constant ache settled within her, no doubt the other medication. Her already racing heart rate increased as a dose of artificial happiness entered her brain.

"Why wouldn't she be perfectly fine."

"She is an autonomous AI in a galaxy that has never heard of such a thing, in the hands of the universe's most powerful mafia. She looks and acts like a person, but they do not consider her to be one."

"She can take—"

"They disabled her, didn't they?"

Luka swallowed thickly.

"Please answer my question. Yes or no?" After a tense moment, she added, "Then I'll leave you alone."

"...No. She... She's not in a good place, right now." She inhaled, followed by a shaky exhale. "When you think that there is no moral obligation towards a thing... They could..."

Meiko shook her head. "We'll think about it later."

"They could be doing anything to her," Luka went on. The fake serotonin in her brain was conflicting with her own heightened, unraveling misery. It was so easy to just start crying.

So, she started crying.

"Luka, darling..." Meiko whispered, scooting closer so she could dab at her tears.

"She's not ok," Luka blubbered. "She could be hurt or broken or—"

"There's nothing you can do right now."

"I can't do anything!" Luka wailed, flailing with her good arm. The painkiller had settled, but the sudden movement made her spine lock up. Still, she yelled, "I can't even do anything! I can't fight them! I can't beat them! I can't—"

"Luka, please..."

"What am I supposed to do?" she whimpered. "If I try to save her, attack them, they'll be after me again. I can't outsmart them... I'm not smart enough... I'm not brave enough to..."

The brunette shushed her, carefully pushing a tissue to her eyes. "All in good time. Now—"

"I'm already out of time. I went here instead of following them. She could be anywhere. With anyone."

"There's no way to know for certain, right now," Meiko whispered. "Did they say what they were going to do?"

"They wanted to sell her. To get back the money I spent..."

"Then she might be for sale."

"So? I'll never have the money to buy her. Did you see her? She's..."

"Her being for sale means that she will be kept in a good condition," Meiko tried to whisper to her. "There is little point in selling damaged goods. It's in their best interest to preserve her."

Luka breathed, nodded. "Right... But—"

"No buts. We will discuss this in the morning when you have had your rest."

The scavenger whined, but conceded, gripping at her hair with her good hand. "Ok."

"Only then we shall see what we can do," Meiko whispered. "If we can do anything."

"I have to do something," Luka insisted through clenched teeth. "I have to."

"She wouldn't want you to put yourself in mortal peril for her sake."

"She jumped in front of lasers for me...!"

"She is laser-proof. You are not. We will see what you can do."

Luka shook her head. "I have to try. No matter what."

"Luka—"

"Ma, she loved me. I have to..."

The brunette sighed softly, still dabbing at her tears. "That is precisely why you have to make sure you can live to see her again."

Luka gulped. "You knew...?"

"She told me when you were locked in the bathroom."

"But..."

"It was the only reason why I trusted her. Anything that understands love as well as she does, I can trust to a certain degree."

The scavenger whined again, writhed on the couch. "I need to find her..."

"You will. After you recover."

"I can't stay for long," Luka insisted, a single moment of clarity punctuating the drug-addled fog in her mind. "It's already been a cycle since they had her. Unless they're doing some big auction, they're probably already considering buyers..."

"Stay for your treatment tomorrow. While you are in Fukase's care, I will buy you a new mattress and get together some gas money for you."

Luka breathed for a moment. "Ok."

"Once you can change your bandage and take your medication on your own, then I'll let you go."

"Ok."

"Is that a plan?"

"...It's a plan."

"Good. Get some sleep."

"Ok."

"Good night, Luka."

Luka nodded, forced herself to relax a bit. "Yeah. You too, ma."

Meiko wiped away the rest of her tears, gently brushed her hair back into place, then stood.

"Ma?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you..."

"You're more than welcome, darling."