DISCLAIMER: I do not own Zombie Land Saga or any of its characters. This work is a fan-work offered free of charge, and I make no money from it whatsoever.

A/N: It's been a while! Had this half-finished almost 4 months ago but mental health problems held me back. Thankfully I'm feeling a lot better now :)

You don't see a lot of Saki x Ai because Saki's usually too busy hitting on our favourite egg-head. Hopefully this can scratch your Saki x Ai itch! It'll probably end up being around three chapters long. It's all in Saki's perspective - I'm just too addicted to writing from her POV :P

Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

Anyone who knows me knows that there's nothing I love more than beating the shit out of a tree. Give me an axe and I'll go to town on one of those fuckers any day of the week. Maybe it's the adrenaline, maybe I'm just a sociopath when it comes to nature; I don't know and I don't care.

Now normally when it comes to trees I find 'em pretty boring apart from when I'm laying into them. But there was this one tree, this real old, white, almost silver tree that I refused to take the axe to. It'd been around for as long as I could remember. It was the tallest, most beautiful tree in the forest by far, and you couldn't miss it, cos when all the other trees would fall into shadow at night, that silver tree would glow bright as a full moon.

Being a lumberjack, I didn't really have any friends. I didn't have any friends before I became a lumberjack either, but that's besides the point. What I'm trying to say is I was lonely, so that tree, crazy as it sounds, was kinda my only friend. Maybe it's fucked up to kill all your friend's siblings and use them as firewood but I didn't think about it that deeply. So I'd go about my day, chopping down trees whenever I got the urge or got pissed off at some random thing (or both), then I'd go back to the silver tree and just sit beneath it. Sometimes I'd even talk to it.

"You're one hell of a good lookin' tree," I'd say, "if I was a tree I'd tree-marry you in a heartbeat."

One time I even hugged the tree. I dunno man, you do weird shit when you're lonely. There was a village about five hours walk away that had plenty of other humans I could've talked to, but I didn't like to go there and they didn't like me being there. It should come as a surprise to absolutely no one that when you fuck around with the mayor's daughter it gets you into deep shit. I have no regrets. That girl is smokin' hot and as gay as they come so if he thinks she's settling down with anyone let alone some prince charming in future he's got a one-way ticket to disappointment city.

I had a pretty normal life, or at least a stable one. Wake up, kill trees, burn logs in my cabin, sleep, repeat. Sometimes I'd wander down to the big river that runs through the far side of the forest or sneak into town to buy supplies but mostly it was the same-old, same-old, day in, day out.

Then one night this real motherfucker of a storm rolled in. I was in my cabin burning logs (as always) when the rain started to fall. At first I didn't notice it, but when your roof starts shakin' like it's being stomped on by an army of tiny goblins it's kinda hard to ignore. I looked out my window and sure enough, the forest was being absolutely pummeled by rain. The trees were being beaten so viciously that their leaves were being torn right off the branches. It didn't scare me, pretty much nothing scares me anymore, but then I thought about the silver tree and my heart started racing. What if the storm tore it out of the ground? What if the rain knocked all of its silver leaves off? I shouldn't have worried, I mean what even was the point of worrying? It's not like I could've done anything. But it didn't matter. I couldn't leave it. I couldn't just sit in my hut not knowing what was happening to the silver tree. So I put on my red coat, made sure my hair was tied back nice and tight, then I walked out into the darkness.

The rain had completely fucked the ground. Every step I took I sunk a few inches into the mud. The raindrops were full-on rain boulders. I nearly broke a finger shielding my face from the assault. If the trees weren't takin' the bulk of the attack I'd have been a pile of mush in the ground within seconds. The wind was fierce too. Less a howl and more a roar, making even the tree trunks creak and groan. More than once I was dragged off my feet and thrown down into the mud. I was starting to get real worried for my friend, the silver tree.

After an endless march through the wet hellzone the storm had created I was finally approaching my dendric buddy. The storm had settled down for a moment, so that you could just about see the moon peering through the clouds. It was a full moon, and it cast a glow that reached right down to the forest floor. I trudged up a hill, climbed over the roots of a huge oak tree, then there I was in the small clearing around my only friend in the world: the silver tree.

By some miracle, not a single leaf was out of place. It glowed just as brightly as ever, perhaps even more brightly, and as the moonlight hit it, even its leaves shimmered silver in the breeze. It was safe. I breathed a sigh of relief and instantly lost all strength in my legs. I let myself slump into the damp grass. Without the adrenaline I was totally pooped, but it was worth it to know that my friend was safe.

"You're stronger than you look," I told it.

Suddenly dark clouds started swirling around overhead, blocking out all moonlight till everything was pitch black save for the pale glow of the tree. I expected more wind and rain. Instead from the clouds came an enormous lightning bolt. It was so bright that even seeing it for just a split second sent stabbing pain right through my eyes, forcing me to look away. The almighty boom of the thunder was so loud it reverberated through my entire body. Then the rain came. I didn't hear it falling, the ringing in my ears made sure of that, but the heavy pebbles of rain are unmistakable when they're smacking you in the head. I felt dizzy. My fingertips were numb. Even with my eyes closed I could still see the white hot energy of the lightning on my eyelids. On my knees I crawled towards where I thought the silver tree was. I dunno what I was thinking. I wasn't really thinking at all. The forest didn't normally have that kinda shit happen to it.

As the lightning's afterimage faded I opened my eyes. I'm not one for cryin', but when I saw it I couldn't stop my throat from closing up. The silver tree had been split clean in two. Its glowing white trunk was burnt black, and its branches were all bent and broken. What few leaves were left were still glowing meekly, as if they were trying to stay strong for the rest of tree's sake. But then I saw something strange: in the middle of the black maw left by the lightning was what looked like a human girl. She was glowing, like the tree used to. She was also covered in nasty red marks all over her (butt naked) body.

"Uhh..." I said (I'm not really a big talker), but her eyes were closed, and she wasn't movin'. For a second I wondered if she was dead, but then she started stretching and yawning as if she'd just woken up from a nice nap.

Then she saw me and screamed.

"Woah, SHIT!" I screamed back, "you don't need to-"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

She tried to back away but she was lodged in the tree. I could see every inch of her. God damn she was beautiful. Is it weird that that was my first thought? My brain was like 'holy fuck this girl's a ten outta ten stone cold stunner' even though she was burnt and bleeding and screaming at me. Maybe I need to see a shrink.

Another bolt of lightning cut through the clouds. She flinched and covered her ears as the thunder rolled through the forest. The rain bullets were starting to give me a headache. I got to my feet and offered her a hand.

"We've gotta get out of here or we'll both be fucked. Come on."

It took all my strength to keep my eyes focused on her face and not her bare chest. I could tell from her eyes that she was still totally out of her mind, but despite that she took my hand. I pulled her up, but it was no good. Every time she tried to stand her knees gave out. We tried three times total, then I said,

"Fuck it, I'll carry you."

She mumbled something incoherent but I didn't have time to hear her opinion. I grabbed her butt (COMPLETELY INNOCENTLY) and hoisted her onto my back. She yelped as I lifted her up but otherwise she didn't complain. As I trudged back through the mud she even wrapped her arms around my neck.

Who knew that all it took to get a hot girl into your bed was a good storm and some third degree burns? I sure didn't know. I sure didn't know what the hell to do, either. I had some bandages lying around somewhere, but I couldn't remember exactly where and I could easily have been wrong. I checked all my drawers but there was nothing, I checked under my bed but it was just junk.

"Water..."

On my knees on the wooden floor, I wondered for a second if I was hearing things. But then she said it again,

"Water... please..."

Those were the first actual words I'd heard her speak that night. Out in the forest, all the water comes from the well. Thankfully I had some stored away from when the weather was less shitty. I got a wooden mug and filled it with lukewarm water. It wasn't perfect but it'd have to do.

"Here you go," I said, more gruffly than I meant to. She didn't open her eyes. "You're gonna need to sit up to drink it," I explained, but still she didn't move an inch. It's not like I could blame her; if I had injuries like that I'd probably be dead. I realised I had to do something, but I didn't have a clue what. Acting on instinct, I gently placed a hand under her head and lifted her just enough so that she wasn't totally prone, then I put the mug to her lips. I figured that'd do the trick. It took her a while, but she drank the whole mug right down. 'Good job, me', I thought to myself. Then she said,

"That was disgusting."

I was a bit disappointed, to say the least.

"Hey, that's fresher water than you'll get in the city you know!"

She opened her eyes and gave me a serious look, "Where are we?"

"In a forest."

"A forest..."

"It's a pretty big forest."

Outside, the rain had finally started to settle. So much had fallen that the mud was filled with dozens of lake-sized puddles of water. That was gonna be fun to deal with in the morning.

"You've got some pretty nasty injuries," I noted, "now that the rain has stopped maybe we should get you to a doctor."

"No..."

"I don't want you dying on me."

"...where are my clothes?"

"Uh, you didn't have any?"

She frowned, "That's impossible, I had them when I left. Did you steal them!?"

"No! Why the hell would I do that?"

She turned her head and glared at me, then she remembered she was still butt naked and wrapped the blankets around herself. I could feel heat rushing to my cheeks. Didn't realise I'd become so thirsty in the time since I hooked up with the mayor's daughter.

"Look, I didn't steal-"

"What's your name?"

"Hm?"

"Your name."

"Saki, Nikaido Saki. Yours?"

"I... think my name is Ai."

She looked at me like I had a pimple right on the tip of my nose.

"What are you giving me that look for?"

"Nothing, it's just I-"

"Also, how the hell did you end up inside my silver tree?"

My silver tree... it felt weird to say it out loud.

"What do you mean?"

"The tree I found you in. The lightning split it clean in half!"

Her expression stiffened as I said the word 'lightning', "I really can't remember. I don't remember being in a tree."

"Okay, I mean, I guess I can understand that, given the circumstances. Is there anything you do remember?"

"It's difficult, like when a word is on the tip of your tongue, or you've forgotten something you wanted to tell someone. I can feel it there, but..."

"Don't worry about it."

Maybe her memory would be clearer once she'd had some rest, I thought.

Or not...

We sat in silence for some time while the fire crackled away in the corner. I couldn't stop myself staring at the wounds on her face. Still damp with fresh blood, they glistened in the firelight. Thankfully she didn't seem to notice. She was so still, and quiet, with her eyes closed, that at one point I really thought she might've died right there in front of me. Then she started fidgeting around, and after getting comfy and adjusting the covers so they just about covered her chin, asked me matter-of-factly,

"Can I borrow your bed?"

The ridiculousness of the situation wasn't lost on me,

"You're already in it, so knock yourself out."

She closed her eyes again without saying another word. I felt kinda creepy watching her, but it was also kinda relaxing, just watching her breathe. It was more relaxing now that I knew she wasn't dead. I got up and poured myself a mug of water. 'I suppose tonight I'll be sleeping on the floor', I thought, then from behind me I heard her ask,

"Also... could I borrow some of your clothes as well?"

"Uh, sure," I replied, "I'll have some out for you in the morning."

"Thank you."

I avoided mentioning that I hadn't washed any of my clothes in months. I didn't mention that those same clothes were gonna be my pillow for the night either, but as I'd given her the bed I figured it was fair enough.

In the chaos I'd almost forgotten about the silver tree, but when I laid my head down on my mud-encrusted shirts it all came back to punch me in the gut. I couldn't count how many days I'd spent just sitting beneath its boughs, relaxing in the shade. I remember one year we had a typhoon so rough that it got half-lifted out of the ground – but it still survived. How the fuck did a lightning bolt kill it off? Of all the trees that asshole storm could choose to strike down, it had to pick my one. It would take years, decades for it to regrow to how it once was, if it even regrew at all. I thought of the leaves fading out in the sodden grass and a lump started to grow in my throat.

Then on the ceiling I saw a strange, pale blue light. The light flickered ever so slightly as if it was caught in a breeze. It mingled with the dull orange from the fireplace, like a sunset reflected in a river. 'I'm dreaming already', I thought, but it didn't feel like a dream.

"Tree..." I whispered into the darkness, "is that you buddy? You come to say goodbye?"

The light got brighter and brighter. It started to pulsate on the ceiling.

"It's been good," I said, "You're probably the best friend I ever had, you know."

The light started to drift off to one side, and suddenly I realised where it had been coming from. It wasn't a message from the tree. It was the girl. She was glowing, just like the silver tree's leaves used to. Her whole body was glowing beneath the covers. I sat up, my mouth wide open.

"Holy shit," I blurted out without thinking, but she didn't seem to notice. I watched in amazement as the wounds on her face went from bright red to dull pink. Skin raced over the exposed flesh and closed up every last gap till everything was sealed over and only faint scars remained.

My mind was racing. I had an alien or fairy or witch or something crazy like that sleeping in my bed, in my hut. Maybe there was a reason she was in the tree, I thought. I mean she glowed like the tree, but why? I fell asleep trying to work it out and had dreams full of thunder and lightning and puddles that led to huge pits that took you to the center of the earth.

I was already awake by the time sunlight was trickling down through the leaves that survived the storm. The forest was a mess. I was considering chopping some trees to relax but when I saw the carnage before me it really killed the mood. I wasn't gonna chop a tree when it was down, so to speak. The forest floor was lined with fruit and pinecones and other tree shit that wasn't ripe and now never would be. It reminded me: I only had enough food to feed one person.

"Fuck," I said. You get used to speaking to yourself when you live alone in a forest long enough.

Normally I'd go gather something from the woods in a situation like this. 'A situation like this'... who am I kiddin'? This shit didn't happen to me. I lived alone, in a forest, talked to trees – I didn't get visitors. But I had one now, a visitor who glowed in the dark and healed life-threatening wounds in her sleep. I mean hell, maybe she didn't even need food. I could just sit and watch her as the sun rises... listen to her breathe, close my eyes and imagine...

I inched the door closed as I stepped out into the wet and the mud. It shut with only the slightest little creak, so quiet it almost got drowned out by the birdsong outside.

'Glad you guys can be so peppy after all that shit last night', I thought. Birds are always peppy, or hysterical. You so much as fart in their direction and they're off, screeching at you from the tree branches. The bigger, uglier birds that hung around the deeper parts of the woods were so used to my shit by that point that they didn't bother to squawk at me when I stepped into their territory anymore. They just kind of accepted that whichever tree I wanted to smack the crap out of was a goner.

I went to find the river that ran south of my hut. It didn't take long; the river had swelled up WAY beyond its usual size.

"I shoulda guessed."

There was no chance of me catchin' a fish in that nonsense. It was obvious: the forest was fucked, and my chances of getting any food from it were equally as fucked.

"There's gotta be something..."

And something there was. A big, ugly sabretooth rabbit was gnawing away at some poor bird's corpse on the other side of the bloated river. I had my axe, but I couldn't exactly just stroll over and say 'hi' to the nasty little critter. I considered throwing the axe, but long range wasn't my forte. If I could just get close enough, I thought, I could really give it something to chew on.

Then out of nowhere something flew past my left ear. I ducked instinctively, figuring it was just an excitable bird. Then I head a guttural screech and a thud in the distance. I looked up; the rabbit was out cold. From behind me came a voice,

"It's dead."

There was something familiar about the voice, but I couldn't place it. I turned around, and standing before me, clad in my own dirty clothes, was the girl I found in the tree.

"Ai, what the hell!? That was you?"

"I hit it with a rock."

"Yeah you hit it all right, but damn, with a rock? From that distance?"

"It's strange, but my body moved on its own. I just knew how to do it, knew the angle to throw it at, the speed..."

I stood up, "Well it's a good thing your body did move on its own, cos that little bastard is our dinner tonight."

"What is it?"

"You killed it and you don't even know what it is?"

She crossed her arms, "I could tell you were hunting it, so I thought I'd help. So what is it?"

I sighed, "It's a sabretooth rabbit. They're ugly but they taste alright."

"Really? It doesn't look anything like the rabbits I know."

"Trust me, it's a rabbit."

"But how does it make mochi?"

"Excuse me?"

"Rabbits make mochi don't they? Every night they hop around and make mochi and celebrate together."

"You're thinking of moon rabbits. They're not real. No one lives on the moon."

"But I remember seeing them make mochi..."

How do you reply to that? 'Yeah I can believe you did, cos last night I saw your entire body glow in the dark'. I started to think of what to say but I didn't get time to say it cos she strode right past me and into the river.

"Hey, that's deeper than it looks!" I called out, but she just swam in, somehow unaffected by the current. What the hell was up with this girl? In no time she'd grabbed the rabbit and was making her way back through the muddy water.

When she was back on land she held it out to me and asked,

"Do you know how to cook it?"

"Are you kiddin' me? How do you think I survived out here all by myself for so long!"

I fetched a few dry logs from my hut and lit a fire outside under the midday sun. Then with some old rope I strung up a washing line between my hut and a nearby tree and put out Ai's wet clothes to dry. Those were the only other clothes I had apart from the ones I was wearing, so she had to wrap herself in a spare blanket I had lying around while they dried, but she didn't seem to mind. With that sorted, I skewered the sabretooth rabbit on a metal rod and hoisted it over the flames. These things take a while to cook so you've gotta start early if you want it ready for dinner. Knowing we were in for the long haul, me and Ai dragged a couple of chairs out from indoors, stuck 'em into the crusty, muddy earth so they wouldn't move, and sat round the fire.

"Do you normally cook like this?" she asked me.

"Nahhh. If I want meat I just go buy it from town, when I can be bothered."

"Why didn't you do that today?"

"It's a long walk. Didn't wanna leave you on your own," I replied, though it was only half true. "Anyway," I continued, "don't worry about it. We got food in the end, thanks to you."

"You don't need to thank me."

"Seriously though, where the fuck did you learn to throw like that?"

"I've always had good eyes."

"What, you never had to practice?"

"I don't think so. I can't remember."

She stared down at her mud-encrusted boots (which we hadn't put out to dry).

"What can you remember?"

She sighed, "I'm not sure I can remember anything from before we met. All I know is my name."

"Come on Ai, there must be something in there."

She closed her eyes, "I think... I used to like dancing."

"Dancing?"

"It's like seeing your reflection in a river. I can feel myself dancing. I can hear my parents' voices, see the palace, white and shining all around me... I remember now, the floor was so cold, everything was cold, and quiet... and I remember singing actually, yes I can almost-"

"Hold on, you used to dance in a palace?"

"I think it was my home."

"Holy shit! So you're rich?"

"Well, I'm not sure, I-"

"And it was cold, like on a mountain kinda cold?"

"No, it was different. Nothing like a mountain."

"What other cold places are there though?"

"I don't know, it's heavy. The memories are so heavy in my head, it's like lifting a boulder."

"Well then we have to keep prodding till the boulder shifts! You've gotta have guts if you wanna-"

"Stop. No more questions. Please, I don't wanna talk about this anymore," she said, scrunching the blanket up in her hands.

"Oh... sure, no problem," I replied, realising I'd gone too far. This was always how it went. I always pissed someone off one way or another. It was just a matter of time. My big mouth would always say some stupid shit without thinking. 'This is why you live alone, dipshit', I thought as I watched her gaze forlornly at the roasting sabretooth carcass. For the first time in forever I actually had a girl over in my shitty little hut, and the best I could do was serve up torched rabbit with mud and a side order of awkward conversation.

The rabbit tasted alright. Nothing special but it wasn't awful. I guess you could say we had a lot in common in that respect. We ate in silence. She looked as exhausted as I felt. Her wounds had healed but the scars were still there, pale valleys carved into her skin. I know it's a weird but somehow, to me, it made her more beautiful.

"It got dark so quickly," she noted, looking up at the crimson sky.

She was right. The days were getting shorter. If the storm hadn't butchered the forest you'd be seeing the red leaves soon enough. The only tree that never lost its leaves was the silver tree. It was always there in full bloom, ready to start glowing as soon as the moon showed its face in the night sky.

"Ai," I said, "I want you to come with me, back to the tree. The one you landed in during the storm."

When I saw the fear in her eyes I knew her answer before she even said it.

"No, I can't. I'm sorry," she ran a finger across one of the scars on her cheek, "I can't explain it, but-"

"Then don't explain it. You need to rest anyway. I won't be long."

I got up from my chair. The fire was almost dead now. I could feel Ai watching me but I didn't return her gaze. It was stupid, I know, but hindsight is twenty-twenty and I was in a shitty mood. As I walked away I saw her in my mind's eye, I saw her there in the tree. Naked, scarred, but perfect all the same. An angel. An angel nestled in the burnt remains of the only thing I'd ever considered a friend in this world.

The birds were singing the same old tune as I trudged through the forest. Forests don't sleep at night, they only get louder. Even in winter they don't die. It takes a lot to kill a forest – and I should know, with the amount of trees I've massacred. I was tempted to go back and get my axe to let off some steam, but that wasn't what I needed. I didn't know what I needed. Like I said before, my life had always been very simple: chop trees, piss off humans, eat, sleep, repeat. Life has no complications when you live on your own. Being alone is easy. I thought it was, anyway. I was convinced of it. I didn't need anyone.

It didn't take long to reach the clearing. The silver tree was still there, charred and split in two, but its leaves had already started to rot into the earth. Although it was bathed in moonlight, not a single part of it was glowing. I got down on my knees and placed my hand on its bark. My throat felt tight, and tears were slowly working their way out of the corners of my eyes. I'm not a crying person. I don't get upset about things like this, about a fucking tree being struck by lightning. I chop trees every day. What's one tree?

"God fucking damn it!" I roared.

'I'm over it', I thought to myself, 'it's just a tree'.

"But it was my tree."

I stayed there for a while, listening to the birds, listening to the breeze howling through leafless branches, listening to the sound of my own heavy breathing, and sobbing. I stayed there for a long time, till my chest ached and my throat was sore. The sky was purple when I arrived; as I left it was pitch black. Thanks to the moonlight I could just about make out the path back through the trees, though I stumbled over rocks and a couple of sleeping animals along the way. When I finally reached the hut I saw the chairs had been taken back inside. 'I'll have to thank Ai for that tomorrow', I thought.

Then I laid my fingers on the metal handle to my front door.

It was ice cold, much colder than the air outside, much colder than anything should be in late summer. As I pulled the door open a frosty gust spilled out to greet me, its chill cutting right through my boots to my ankles. Inside the hut the fire was dead, and the room which should've been in total darkness was filled with a bright, ghostly light, pale as the moon. Ai was glowing. Every inch of her was glowing. Her body was a shining, pulsating outline beneath the bed covers.

"Ai?" I whispered, but she was fast asleep.

'She glows just liked the tree use to', I thought. Questions I asked myself the night before came back again to knock around in my skull: did she only glow in her sleep? Why did she glow like the tree? Why did she appear in the tree? I couldn't get it out of my head, the idea that maybe the tree wasn't dead, maybe it'd just changed. It wasn't there chopped in two, it was here, alive, breathing, beautiful.

I couldn't help myself; I took a step towards her. Then another, and another. I was standing over her, gazing at her perfect face, watching the light wash over her skin in waves. Now I was being creepy. I mean, I was being creepy before, but now I was really creeping like a proper pervert.

'I should let her sleep, but I have to know... I need to hear her say it'.

I stretched my fingers out and slowly, slowly moved my hand over the top of her head, letting her hair barely kiss the tips of my fingers. My heart was jumping out of my chest. I filled my hand with her soft hair, and god was it soft.

"Ai, you awake?" I asked, but I knew the answer. If I wanted her awake I had to wake her up myself. I placed my other hand on her bare shoulder. I noticed that I was holding my breath. Her glow got stronger, brighter, the gaps between pulses got shorter. Did she know? Could she tell I was touching her?

I gave her a little shake, but that wasn't enough. I shook her harder and she groaned, still asleep. I took a deep breath.

'Keep it together Saki. Don't go imagining weird shit now'.

But I was already there, imagining everything that could happen, imagining things that would never happen. I saw her naked body before me in my mind's eye, felt my palm sliding over the pink scars lining her legs.

"I need to stop..."

Then suddenly her eyelids began to flutter. I froze. She turned her head towards me.

"Saki...?"

Thankfully her eyes were still closed.

"I was just checking to make you were sleeping well. Don't mind me," I replied, my fingers still wrapped in her hair. I tried to back away before she realised what was going on, but before I had a chance she rolled onto her side, trapping my hand under head, and looked right up at me.

"Is it morning already?" she asked, clearly noticing the blue glow in the room.

"Uh, well, no... it's-"

Then I noticed that the glow from her body was trickling down from her pillow. In fact it was drifting away from every part of her, floating on an intangible breeze like snow drifting through the sky. I realised the front door was still open. Glancing over my shoulder I saw it: the moon, peering at us through the trees. My heart fell into my stomach as I watched her glow sail out the door towards that pale bastard in the sky. It was sucking up whatever the fuck she was emanating, and fast.

I looked back at her. She must've seen the horror on my face because she was wide awake now. She looked down at her arm and finally understood what was going on.

"Don't let him take me away!" she screamed.

"What!?"

Her energy was flowing faster and faster out the door. I kicked it closed and pressed my whole body against it. The energy changed course and darted for the windows but it smacked against the drawn curtains and dissipated into the air. Everything was quiet apart from the sound of my heavy breathing. Even the birds were quiet for once. It seemed like Ai was safe... for now.

"Ai, do you know what this glowing shit is?"

"No... I have no idea."

"Seriously? But you were just-"

"It's my father. I don't know how, but it has to be him."

"I didn't see anyone out there though."

"I saw him in my dreams. He was calling down from the moon."

"So you are from the moon!"

"I guess I must be... but what makes you so sure?"

"It's not rocket science. Just this morning you were talking about seeing rabbits dance around and make mochi. I would've been more surprised if you were just a normal Earthling. Anyway, why does your old man want you back so bad?"

"I was meant to get married to a prince my family had set me up with."

"Oh boy, I can already tell where this is going."

"I had to marry him specifically. It'd all been arranged, so we could continue the royal line. My father needed a grandson for an heir because all his own children are daughters."

"Well why couldn't one of the other girls get married?"

"I can't remember."

"You can't remember your own sisters?"

"No, I don't know! It's all jumbled up. Just, let me finish."

"Sorry."

"There was nothing wrong with the prince. I feel like we used to be friends, even. But... well the truth is, I'm not attracted to men. Physically or romantically. I know that's strange, but-"

"Hah! Girl, trust me, I understand."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, I'm as gay as they come. Been into girls since as long as I can remember. It's always got me into deep shit, every time. For example, you know that village nearby, the one with all the nice food? Well pretty much everyone there hates me cos I'm gay. I hooked up with some guy's daughter and now I'm public enemy number one. Even the people I worked with, people I thought of as friends, turned on me. I realise now that they never gave a fuck. Back then I used to be a carpenter, see. It taught me stuff, taught me how to make tools and use them to do shit. It taught me everything I needed to get by on my own. They never officially kicked me out of town, but every day they made sure to let me know that I wasn't welcome. One morning some asshole threw a brick through my window, and I thought 'fuck it, I've had enough of this shit', so I decided to go live in the woods. I'd been thinking about it for a while, but it seemed crazy. I mean it is crazy, but it's better than living with those pricks."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I had no idea-"

"Don't worry about it. You get used to being hated when you're like me. I mean hell, you're the same, right?"

"I suppose."

"Escaping an arranged marriage is a way more metal than fucking some girl and then hiding in a forest."

"Not really. I didn't have the courage to face my father. I don't even remember how I got here. All I know is that we had a chariot, one that could fly up into the sky, and I rode off in it."

"So you stole it?"

"Technically I owned it, but it was more my mother's chariot than mine."

"Was your mom as stubborn as your dad?"

"No."

"But she didn't stop him forcing this on you...?"

"No."

"Sounds pretty weak to me."

She didn't like it when I said that. Clearly she got along with her mom better than she did her dad, but what kinda parent lets their daughter get sent off to marry some random dude?

Then I saw the tears in her eyes.

"Ai, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It's not that. It's... the memories... they felt so numb locked away in my head, but when I started talking about them, it all became real again. Saki... what do I do? Am I stuck here forever? I don't wanna go home, but I don't know anything about Earth. And look at me... I'm covered in scars. I'm hideous."

She was sitting up now, shaking, wrapped in blankets. Her eyes were puffy and red. She looked helpless. She looked as helpless as I felt. In that moment everything I'd been holding back, all the pain I'd pushed to one side came gushing out. Half-sobbing, I said,

"You aren't hideous. Don't you ever say that again."

"Saki..."

"Ai, you're a fucking badass, all right? I'm not gonna let that prick get to you."

"I'm a coward. I ran away."

"From a forced marriage, in a chariot you stole."

"I don't even know where the chariot went."

"Hopefully straight up your dad's backside."

Though we were both crying our eyes out, when she heard those words, a hint of a smile crossed her lips. Then she started to laugh... laugh and sob, all at once. That got me going, and within seconds we were laugh-crying together in the darkness like a pair of idiots.

"Thank you for taking care of me," she said, still giggling a little, "I'm sorry about your tree."

I sat down beside her on the bed with a huge sigh, "Honestly, it's all right. I get it now. For what it's worth, I don't think the tree would blame you. You had to escape somehow, right? I woulda done the same if I were you. Hell, I had no idea people even lived on the moon... did you know people lived on Earth?"

"Yeah, I knew there were people on Earth. I didn't know there were gay lumberjacks on Earth though," she said with a smirk.

"Hah! Yeah well I don't figure there are many as gay as me, let me tell ya."

She slid a hand out from under the covers and placed it on top of mine.

"I'm glad you're the first Earthling I met."

My heart kicked off again. God, I'd never felt so many different emotions in one night.

"I'm uh, glad you're the first moon person I met, as well."

"You should get some rest," she said, "I've kept you up long enough."

I nodded and got off the bed, blood rushing to my cheeks, "Yeah, I'm pooped."

"Are you gonna sleep on the floor again?"

I scratched the back of my head, "There's only one bed in this hut, so, you know. It's all right though, I'm used to sleeping rough."

I heard the sheets ruffle behind me.

"You should sleep in the bed," came Ai's voice.

"No," I replied, watching the blue glow from her body slowly drift across the wall, "you're not used living like this. I am. You can keep the bed."

"That's not what I meant."

I thought about the implications of her words. Suddenly I felt dizzy.

"What did you mean?"

"There's more than enough room for two people."

"I just told you I'm a lesbian, right?"

"And I'm not?"

"I mean, I guess, but what I mean is-"

"Saki, you've been staring at me the whole time since we met; I know exactly what you mean. Now are you gonna join me in here, are you gonna keep being stubborn about it?"

My mind was racing. I didn't realise she'd noticed me checking her out. She wanted me in the bed. I mean that's an invitation right? What was I waiting for?

I dragged my mud-encrusted clothes off and dumped them on the floor. I was butt-naked. She was butt-naked. I was still facing the wall. At some point I had to turn around. I'd never been so nervous around a girl before, but then again I'd never been propositioned by a moon princess before either, so I feel like my nerves were justified.

I turned around. I thought maybe she'd thrown the covers off, but no, they were still pulled up right to her chin. When she saw my naked body her cheeks went bright red.

"Changed your mind already?" I joked, ignoring my own sweaty palms.

She glared at me, then threw the covers back so that only her legs were covered. It was now or never. The bed creaked as I climbed into it beside her. We were face-to-face. I could feel her breath on my lips. Then I felt her fingers stroking my thighs, my waist, my chest. She leaned closer. This was really happening. Somehow every impossible dream my mind had ever cooked up was here for real, in my bed. Then her lips were on my lips, our bodies interlinked in the darkness. I closed my eyes and gave in.

That was the best sleepless night I'd ever had. I even forgot about the moon and its bullshit. Unfortunately, the moon hadn't forgotten about me...