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: This is the big one :D I've loved writing this. I don't know exactly why my brain thought to make Saki a lumberjack but I'm so glad it did. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it :) For my next fics for ZLS I'm thinking of writing some stuff from Junko's POV, as well as Ai's, cos there's not a huge amount for them (although Saki will always be my favourite character to write, I can already tell).

Also, I know I should've capitalised 'the Moon' as well as 'the Earth' but I've done it the wrong way for all the other chapters and it'd be a pain to fix, so it's wrong in this one as well. Please forgive that error xD

Thanks for reading!

Chapter 4: The Dark Side of The Moon

I woke up on my back. The stars were still out, little pinpricks in the black sky, but the clouds were gone. So was the moon. Then I remembered-

"Ai!"

I shot up and quickly looked all around me. Ai was on the floor, sleeping. Dead…? No, her chest was moving. I crawled over to her and shook her gently.

"Ai… Ai, wake up!"

Her eyelids fluttered.

"Saki?"

I leaned down and smacked my lips into hers.

"You're alive…" I said, breathless, "you're still here."

She wrapped her arms around my neck and pulled me in for another, softer kiss. The delicate touch of her tongue against mine set my whole body on fire; waves of sensation rolling over every inch of me. All too soon she broke the kiss and moved her hands the back of my head, playing with my hair. As I gazed into her eyes, it was almost like seeing her for the first time. I let my fingers trace the scars on her face; pink, blotchy rivers carved into the surface of her pale skin. Maybe it sounds crazy, but to me, each and every one of those scars was beautiful. Every part of her was beautiful. In that moment I just knew… there was no one in this world that I'd ever loved more.

"Saki," she whispered. I felt shivers run down my spine.

"I'm listenin'."

She started pulling me closer again. I closed my eyes, expecting another kiss.

"We're not alone right now."

Without thinking I stiffened up.

"What!?"

"Shh! Not so loud!"

"Is it close by? How big is it?"

"Uh, big, I think?"

"You think?"

"It's kind of far away."

"Well then why are we whispering?"

"So that it can't hear us, dummy."

"So that what can't hear us?"

"I dunno, maybe guards? I can hear footsteps."

"Guards? What guards?"

"Lots of them hang around outside the castle, patrolling the perimeter."

"Ai I'm sorry but, what the fuck are you talking about?"

"What do you mean?"

"What do you mean what do I mean? You're making no sense."

"Haven't you realised where we are?"

I turned my head.

"No, Saki, you've gotta stay still just in case-"

And there it was. The Earth. A shimmering blue beach ball suspended in nothingness.

"Wow… holy shit, we actually made it."

"Look, you need to hide. The people here don't like visitors. They might even kick you off the moon."

I laughed, "Hah! Let 'em try, see how that works out for 'em."

"Saki I'm serious, if my father finds us now-"

The sudden crunch of heavy footsteps was followed by a voice that sounded like it belonged to a very punchable face,

"If he finds you indeed, your highness."

The voice belonged to a tall, spindly dude in bone-white armour. My instincts weren't wrong, he had a face even a mother would punch.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"I am Yashiro, servant to his royal majesty, King Mizuno the sixth."

"Well you can tell the king thanks but no thanks."

"Hmph! I'm afraid not. The king was very insistent."

"And so am I, you annoying stick insect. Can't you see I'm busy making out with the princess right now?"

His face shrivelled up in disgust.

"So you're the vermin that led her highness astray? I wondered what was causing that stench in the air."

I got to my feet and squared off with him. He towered above me, but I wasn't intimidated.

"My name is Nikaido Saki. Nikaido. Saki. I don't care how big you think you are, you self-important bundle of twigs; kings and paupers all look the same when they're six feet under. So go on, call me vermin again, and then maybe I'll give your face a little home improvement."

"I'll make sure the jailers know your name when they throw you in prison for your insolence, Earthling."

"Alright, don't say I didn't fucking warn you!"

"Saki, wait!"

Ai's voice froze me in place. She stood beside me, her hand on my shoulder,

"I take it father wants to see me?"

"He has requested that I bring you to the court immediately," he replied, looking pleased with himself.

She sighed, "Very well."

They started walking. I grabbed her hand,

"Very well!? Very well my ass!"

The king's servant frowned at me, "If you won't come peacefully then I shall be forced to summon the guards."

"Ai, I could take this guy. I mean look at him! We haven't gotta listen to his shit!"

She was shaking. She was trying to hide it, but she couldn't hide it from me, "Saki, I can handle this."

"Right out the gate they're threatening to set the guards on us. It's only gonna go downhill from here."

"I know what I'm doing."

"Ai-"

"Ahem!" tutted the glorified butler, "if you're quite done!"

I grabbed him by the throat and dragged his head down, "Now listen here dipshit! I don't care how far you've stuck your nose up the king's ass, but I finish talking when I god damn feel like it!"

"Saki, stop!"

The servant and I both looked in Ai's direction.

"Please," she begged, "let him go. Let's just do what he says for now."

"I don't trust him. He's got some fucking trick up his sleeve, I just know it."

"Then trust me. We're in this together, right?"

I released Yashiro's scrawny neck, "If you insist…"

He brushed himself down and readjusted his outfit, "Now if you will please follow me, without the commotion…"

I gritted my teeth and kept my mouth shut. There was plenty of time to get my own back. Ai wasn't stupid. If she wanted to meet the king then so be it.

Yashiro led us down a long road made of white bricks to a stretch of gargantuan bone-white castle walls, where we entered though an off-white gate into a grey-white courtyard filled with statues made of white marble. Moon people were milling about in uniformly white apparel doing whatever it is moon people do, and alongside them hopped snow-white bunny rabbits, a lot cuter than the sabretooth rabbits back home. Did I mention everything was white?

"Why is everything white? Did you guys have a disagreement with a rainbow or somethin'?"

The king's servant scowled at me, "I think you'll find that the colour white encompasses every possible colour on the spectrum."

"Ha ha, very funny, smartass. You know that's not what I meant."

Ai was more understanding, "My father doesn't like seeing too much colour around the palace. He says it's overwhelming and gaudy."

"He sounds like a barrel of laughs."

The palace was just as colourless as everything else. From the outside it looked like the upturned skeletal remains of some huge beast. Spikes and prongs and things stuck out of it, piercing the sky. Serious-looking bearded faces were carved into the outside of the building. I got a shock as we passed through a series of grey torii gates and reached the palace entrance.

"Holy shit, it's blue!"

It was the most intense blue I'd ever seen. A dark, vivid ultramarine that made the entrance look like the opening to a deep well. The golden door handles seemed to float on top of the door itself, suspended in mid-air. On either side of the colourful anomaly were two pale white guards in pale white armour. With a nod from the king's servant they pulled the doors open and we stepped inside.

I wasn't ready for the king's court. I knew it'd be white, but I figured it'd be boring like the rest of the castle was. Instead I was confronted with a huge, open space. It was like a football field, filled with ornate statues lining the walls and elaborate patterns all along the tiled floor. A white carpet stretched into the distance. Running alongside it were blue torches on thin marble stands. They weren't lit by fire, but by some weird ooze which floated in little circles in the air.

Ai looked at me over her shoulder, "Let me do the talking. "

I sighed, "Alright, I'll do my best."

That seemed to satisfy her. Yashiro led us down the carpet. The court seemed to be completely empty apart from us, and presumably the king, though I couldn't see him from where we were. Eventually we stopped in front of a normal-sized throne sandwiched between two gargantuan statues of dudes in fancy armour.

"So where's the king then?"

The servant shh'd me, "Have some patience, would you?"

The urge to punch him in the mouth was almost irresistible, but resist it I did, just long enough for an old dude with a cane to materialise onto the throne in a puff of (white) smoke.

"Whoa! You guys can teleport?"

"There's a secret passage built into the seat," Ai whispered, "if you push the right button you can-"

"Silence!" the king bellowed, "you will not reveal palace secrets to an outsider!"

'Can't believe I fell for such a dumb trick…' I thought, though I kept my lips sealed.

"I found them lying in Aristarchus' crater, your majesty," the servant began, "I didn't see any others."

"Good work…uhm… uhhh, what's your name again?"

"It's Yashiro, sire."

"Ah yes. Well, well done. You can return to your normal duties now."

"I was rather hoping you'd-"

"I said you can return to your duties."

"Well you see it's that, I thought that maybe perhaps… that is to say I was rather hoping you might… reward…me…?"

"Ugh, fine, thank you, Yamato. Now, move along before I lose my patience."

"It's Yash-"

"I said MOVE!"

Yashiro nearly jumped out of his skin. Wasting no time at all he dutifully scuttled off back down the carpet, shaking from head to toe. Somehow it wasn't as satisfying as I wanted it to be. There's no pleasure in seeing one asshole get shot down by an even bigger one.

"Now," the king continued, turning his attention to Ai, "I am very disappointed in you, young lady. Very disappointed."

"I've done nothing wrong," she replied.

"Oh really? Is that how you see it? Your self-importance is astonishing."

I dug my fingernails into my palm. 'I can't believe this old fart has the nuts to complain about self-importance'.

He drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne, glowering at Ai, "I suppose it was all just a game to you, wasn't it? So did you enjoy your little trip, hm?"

She stared back at him, "As a matter of fact, I did."

"Well isn't that wonderful," he sneered, "I'm glad you had fun disrupting everything for us up here while you frittered away your time on that monkey planet."

"I wouldn't have to disrupt things if you'd just listen-"

"Do you know how worried your mother was? How worried I was?"

"You don't care about me."

"That's hurtful, Ai. I'm your father. Of course I care about you. I want to see you become the upstanding princess you were born to be."

"I told you I don't want to marry that prince."

"But it has to be you. The heavens have ordained it. I have ordained it."

She laughed bitterly, "If the heavens wanted me to marry him they shouldn't have made me a lesbian."

"Hmph! More excuses!"

It took everything I had not to punch him right then and there.

"Of course you don't believe me," Ai said, folding her arms, "well I'm telling the truth, whether you like it or not."

"Why do you commit so much energy into frustrating me?"

"I could ask you the same question."

He looked at me. I gave him the dirtiest stare I could muster.

"I take it this is your girlfriend?"

Ai grabbed my hand, "Yes, and I love her."

The king stroked his beard, "Would you like to marry her? Spend your life with her?"

He had a nasty look in his eyes. I could feel sweat lining my palms.

"Well, yes."

"And that's why you brought her here?"

"You forced me to bring her here. You tried to kill me."

"I did no such thing!"

"How can you say that!? I would've died if not for Saki."

"You would've died because of your own foolishness! None of us can survive away from this planet!"

"I can, now."

"Is that your girlfriend's doing as well, is it?"

"Yes, she-"

He pointed to the scars etched into her face, "Did she do that to you, too?"

"No, that was-"

"Just look at you!" he roared, his voice filling the entire chamber, "Turning up like this without even an apology!"

"Excuse me!?"

"I knew this would happen, as soon as you left. I told your mother 'she will not survive that journey unscathed' and I was right! Do you have any idea what you've done!? You were my most beautiful daughter! How am I supposed to get anyone to marry you now!? I can't believe you've done this to me. My own daughter…"

"I'm-"

"No, I'm quite done listening to your nonsense! I thought you'd understand what you've put us through, but no, you only care about yourself. You shall go to your room and think about what you've done. And you," he got off his throne and pointed his finger right in my face, "you should be executed for defiling my daughter, you disgusting, treacherous-"

Look, I couldn't help it. I couldn't help it when I swung for his face. I couldn't help it when I threw my whole body into it and broke his nose almost immediately. You telling me you wouldn't? There's no way you wouldn't pounce on him as he fell to the ground and start knocking out his teeth. And look, it's not like you wouldn't throw in a black eye for good measure, right? I mean that's just common sense. You might think you'd stop there, that you wouldn't wrap your hands around his neck and start hammering his skull into the ground, but we both know you'd be lying. You'd be lying if you said you wouldn't get up and start stomping on his chest, too. How would you resist the temptation? You wouldn't. I refuse to believe otherwise.

Needless to say I didn't resist anything, not even a little. The only thing I resisted was the guards. There were a lot of them. Like, a lot of them. They had to carry me out like people carry crowdsurfers. There were two guys for each of my limbs.

"Where the hell did you all come from?"

Turns out there were secret passages hidden all the way along the king's court. I found out cos we went back through one. I could hear Ai calling out to me, but then the door shut behind us. It really did look just like a wall.

The jail was as white as the rest of the place. Even the bars were white. The only thing that wasn't white was the toilet, which was jet black. I had the cell to myself. The guards took turns watching me, swapping out every few hours. When I needed to shit I made sure be as noisy about it as I possibly could, but it didn't seem to faze the girl on duty at the time. She was a strange one. Everyone else on this planet was white all over, but this girl had vivid, red hair. She had a nice chest on her too.

"Hey," I said, walking up to the cell bars, "what's your name, good lookin'?"

"I-I'm not supposed to talk to you."

"Who's gonna know? It's just us, right?"

She looked side to side.

"See?" I continued, "I'm right, ain't I? Aren't you curious about me? I'm from the Earth, you know. I travelled up here on a lightning bolt."

That got her attention. She crept over to the bars. I could've grabbed her right then and choked her out, stolen her keys, stolen her uniform even. I thought about it. But she wasn't like the others. She had an honest look in her eyes.

I extended my hand, "I'm Saki, nice to meet ya!"

She timidly gave my hand a little shake, then quickly brought her arms back to her sides.

"I'm not gonna bite," I grinned, "not unless you ask me to!"

"I'm Sakura."

"Sakura, eh? That's a good name. It suits you."

She forced a smile.

"Thanks."

"If you're wondering why I'm here, it's cos your king is a bit of a dick."

"He doesn't like people trespassing on the planet."

"He didn't like me making out with his daughter either."

She gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.

"You did what!?"

"Yeah man, me and Ai have totally fucked, too. I've seen everything."

Her face went as red as her hair.

"You've, no, you cant… with princess Ai? How…? Why?" she asked.

"Whaddya mean, why?"

"I mean, well, you're both girls-"

"You saying you've never even thought about it?"

"W-Well I-"

"Not even once?"

"Maybe once, maybe…"

"Maybe once, huh?"

"Or less."

"Less than once?"

"Well, no, I mean-"

"Who's your crush?"

"I, I don't, I didn't, there's no crush, I, oh my…"

"Alright, alright, slow down there sweet cheeks, or else you'll fry that egg-head of yours."

"Egg-head!? Does my head really look like an egg?"

"Only a little…" I said, as I let my arms slip through the bars, towards the keys tied to her waist, "but I mean it in a good way."

"Eggs aren't very cute, though."

"Now that's where you're wrong, Sakura…" I flashed her another grin, feeling the smooth metal of the keys between my fingertips, "eggs are very cute. I mean they're small, and round, and they're kinda pretty in a way, don't you think?"

"You're just saying that."

"I never lie, baby. Do you think her highness Princess Ai would've fallen for a liar?"

"Well…"

"Okay, maybe that was a dumb question. But I can assure you, I'm not lying. I'm being one-hundred percent real with you here. You're ten out of ten, drop-dead gorgeous any day of the week. If I wasn't taken, I'd date you in a heartbeat."

Her eyes were wide and her lips were trembling. I had her, I had her right where I wanted her.

"I… don't swing that way."

"You sure you don't?"

I winked, and with the keys now in my hand, slipped back into the far corner of my cell.

"I'm feeling kinda tired now. Been nice chattin' with ya egg-head."

"But you said you'd tell me about Earth!"

"I will! As soon as I wake up!"

"But-"

"Goodnight, Sakura. If it even is night right now."

I crawled into bed and closed my eyes. I was tired, but I had no intention of sleeping. I just needed to wait till one of the guards got sloppy and wandered off while on duty. Maybe it wouldn't happen, maybe it'd never happen, but I had the keys now - everything else was just a matter of time…

…and that time was 'no time at all'. As soon as I'd (accidentally) fallen asleep someone started shaking my shoulder.

"Huh?" I grumbled, "unless you wanna die, I suggest you leave me the fuck alone."

"That's a fine way to speak to the man who's saving you."

"Yeah yeah, you stuck up piece of-"

Then I realised what he just said, "did you say you were saving me?"

I opened my eyes. Staring down at me was a tall dude with brown hair. His clothes were white just like everyone else's, except he was wearing a cape… and sunglasses.

"Why the shades, dude?"

"What? Is it a crime to be fashionable?"

I didn't dignify that with an answer.

"Anyway," he continued, "we'd better hurry. The guards won't be gone for long."

"I'm amazed they left me unguarded at all."

"My natural charms were just too powerful."

"Your natural charms, huh? Coulda fooled me."

"Naturally, seeing as you're a fool."

"You're one to talk."

"Now come on, we need to-"

"Hold up, hold up. Why should I even trust you? I don't need you, you know. I already stole the cell key from one of the guards earlier."

He gave me a smug grin, "Why should you trust me? Perhaps because I'm the prince your girlfriend was meant to marry."

"Her room is right round this corner," the prince whispered, "but I think someone's in there."

"Well duh, Ai's in there."

"No you idiot, I mean someone else."

Muffled voices echoed down the hall.

"Mother, please," Ai's voice, "she's not like that normally."

"She nearly killed your father, Ai," her mother's voice, much older, very stiff, "I can't possibly ask him to approve her marrying you after that."

"But he started it!"

"You did leave without warning us."

"I gave you plenty of warning. I told you I didn't want to marry Kotaro."

"But he's such a nice young man…"

The prince nodded in approval.

"He may be nice, but I don't love him. At all. And he doesn't love me."

"Love takes time."

"I'm a lesbian."

"Sweetheart…"

"I'm not discussing this again. You didn't listen the first time."

"Lots of young women experiment."

"That's right, and then I realised I didn't like boys."

"He'd make a great husband."

"I don't know why this is so important to you both."

"You know your father, dear. Once he has something in his head, he has to see it through."

"But this isn't his life!"

"He's only thinking of your best interests."

"Then why did he try and kill me on Earth?"

"He would never do something like that. He loves you."

"He tried to drain my soul out of me. Then he destroyed my girlfriend's house."

"The planet acts on its own, Ai. That was nothing to do with your father."

"I don't believe you."

"I wouldn't lie to you."

"No, you wouldn't, but you're so blind you can't see what a vile person Father is."

"That's no way to speak about your own father."

"He's my father only in name. He's never been a good parent to me."

"Ai! How can you say such a thing!?"

"As far as I'm concerned, he can go fuck himself."

Now it was my turn to nod in approval. Hell yeah, Ai.

"Young lady you need to remember who you are. That is no way for a princess to speak!"

"To hell with being a princess!"

"Ai-"

"Leave me alone! I thought maybe you'd understand, but I should've known better."

"Ai, I love you. You know that."

The bedroom door muffled Ai's sobs, but I could still hear them, every single one.

"Then help me… please…"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"Mother…"

"I'll speak to you in the morning."

"Mother, wait!"

The door creaked open. Footsteps headed towards us.

"Shit!"

"Quiet, you buffoon! If she hears us-!"

But she walked right past us, lost in her own thoughts.

I resisted the urge to sigh in relief. The prince and I exchanged looks, then we darted round the corner before Ai's mom had a chance to do a double-take and snuck into the bedroom.

She didn't hear us as we entered through the still-open door. She was lying on her bed, her face buried in a pillow. Her room was enormous. Her room was bigger than Reiko's dad's entire house. It was full of books and stuffed toys and fluffy pillows - it even had a whole grand piano just sitting in the corner. I motioned to the prince to stay quiet, and I crept up to her bed. I had to climb onto it, it was so big. That was when she noticed me.

"Saki!?" she gasped, her face damp with tears.

"Ai…"

I wrapped my arms around her and we collapsed onto the bed together. I kissed her, her tear-soaked cheeks dampening mine as I hugged her tightly.

"I fuckin' love you, Ai."

"I thought I'd never see you again," she said, her eyes still red from all the crying earlier.

"Hah! You think a few metal bars could hold me? Though I didn't do it on my own."

Her brows furrowed in confusion, "What do you mean?"

"She's talking about me," said the prince, striding over to the bed.

Ai couldn't believe what she was seeing, "Kotaro… you helped her?"

"Without me, she'd still be in there."

"All right bub, slow down. I stole the key from one of guards all by myself no problem. You just expedited the process."

He laughed, "She's quite a catch, isn't she?"

Ai squeezed me against her like a big teddy bear, "She's one of a kind. Thank you. I'm sorry I dragged you into this."

"The king dragged us both into this when he insisted on our marriage. I want it about as much as you do."

"I thought so. Even with those sunglasses on, you give away everything with your face."

"I do?"

"Why do you even wear those?" I interjected.

He ignored me, "The truth is, I have someone else I love. Alas, she's a commoner, so courting her would be strictly forbidden."

"Who is it?" Ai asked.

"You wouldn't know her. She's one of the guards. She probably has no idea how I feel about her."

I sat up, "Which guard?"

"I'm sorry?"

"What's her name?"

"I understand you just came out of the jail but we have a lot of guards here. Really, you wouldn't know her."

"Try me. Come on."

"All right. Her name is Sakura."

"…"

"Exactly, like I said, you wouldn't-"

"The one with red hair, right? And a nice rack?"

Ai poked me, "Saki! Seriously? A nice rack?"

"Hey, it's true! Don't shoot the messenger!"

The prince froze.

"How do you know her?"

"I talked to her while I was locked up. She's the one I stole the keys from."

Suddenly there was a noise outside, in the hall. Panicked voices, heading our way.

Ai shoved me down onto the bed, "You have to hide. Get under the covers."

"What's happening!?"

"Just do it!"

She dragged the blankets over me and jammed my face into her lap - not a bad position all things considered. Then I felt something heavy thump down right next to my gut.

"Is that you, lover-boy?"

"Keep your voice down!" Ai chided.

Then BANG, the door was kicked open.

"Your highness! …Uh, highnesses," a deep voice, "there has been an escape at the prison. We thought the prisoner in question might've come here, but…"

"No need to worry," said the prince, "I've been here the whole time. Princess Ai is quite safe, and we've had no visitors. In fact we were just discussing our marriage arrangements, in detail, so if you don't mind…"

"Oh, uh, yes, yes of course your highness, I do apologise."

The door clicked shut. Outside the bedroom boots stomped up and down the hall, then silence.

"What do you want to do?" the prince asked.

"I'm not sure… but there's nothing here for me now, not as long as my father rules this planet."

"So you want to leave, then?"

"Well, I want to leave, but I can't. If I stay away too long, I'll die."

"It's a myth, you know. There's nothing stopping us surviving on other worlds."

"I got very weak on Earth, Kotaro. Even without exposing myself to the moon. I managed to get around it by drinking some… strange medicine, which I'd rather not talk about, but I doubt it's permanent."

"You were too close to home. The mechanisms designed to keep us stuck here have a long reach. If you went far enough away, they'd have no effect."

"But how do you know that?"

"I've been thinking about running away myself. With Sakura. Just a pipe dream really. But I looked into it, read about the history of our people. The truth isn't even well hidden, people just don't question the lie."

"Damn, that's deep," I said from my vantage point from under the blankets.

He leapt off the bed, "Good god, I almost forgot you were there!"

I tossed the blankets off of me, "I'm gonna choose not to be insulted by that. Anyway, you say we can leave. How the hell do we do it?"

"By chariot. I have a big one. A really, really big one. Huge. I mean, it's impressive. It's also stocked with enough supplies to last you a year at least."

"Wait, you're letting us ride off in your chariot?" Ai asked, incredulous, "But what about you and Sakura?"

"I can build another one. A better one. Something truly fitting for her."

"Are ya sayin' she's fat?"

"Of course not, you fool!"

"Hey, chill out man, I was just-"

"Where do you keep it?" Ai interrupted.

"The chariot? It's where the others are, lined up near the castle's north entrance."

"The one we came in from?" I asked.

"No," Ai replied, "we came in from the south. You can't miss the north entrance - it's enormous."

"How many entrances does this place have!?"

"Just the two," answered Kotaro, "I can take you there, but we'll need to disguise your girlfriend first."

"Good point," Ai agreed, "she doesn't exactly blend in right now."

"Thanks…?"

"Would your clothes fit her, Ai?"

"Yeah, we're about the same size."

"Wonderful! It's settled then: you dress her up in one of your outfits, and I'll fetch some dye for her hair."

"Hang the fuck on!" I said, grabbing the prince's sleeve as he strolled towards the door, "you ain't touching my hair."

"No one on this planet has blonde hair but you."

"Your crush has red hair!"

"Yes, red hair."

"Well that's the same as blonde, ain't it?"

"No, it's not blonde."

"Don't try to be funny with me, Shades-"

"Shades? Really? You know my name by now."

"Can't I just wear a hat?"

"Well…"

"Actually," said Ai, darting over to one of her many wardrobes, "I do have something that might work…"

"Oh Ai, she looks perfect!"

"I look like a fucking idiot."

Ai rubbed my shoulder, "You look like you're from the moon."

"Did I stutter?"

The prince was beside himself with joy, "No one will ever guess you're from Earth in that outfit. The use of the headscarf is inspired, Ai! It's genius!"

"Thanks! I mean, it hides her hair."

"Completely!"

She kissed me on the cheek, "Don't worry, you still look just as cute as always."

"You're lucky that I love you."

The prince clapped his hands together, "Right! Let's not waste any more time, ladies! We only have one shot at this and the guards could return at any moment."

We snuck out into the hall. All three of us were dressed in white, matching the wallpaper, tiling, ceiling, doors, ornamental vases and light fixtures. We had enough co-ordination to give most ballet troupes a run for their money. I walked alongside Ai and the prince walked alongside me. We were a perfectly normal trio of perfectly normal people. We must've looked like a bunch of freaks. Thank fuck the hall was empty.

We passed through our first door. It opened without so much as a creak. I could hear my heartbeat, feel it pulsing behind my ears. The room beyond was full of servants shuffling to and from various ornate decorations. One of them saw us.

"P-Princess Mizuno!" he exclaimed, halfway through polishing a marble bust of the king, "You shouldn't be here, there's a criminal on the loose right now!"

Ai gave him a dismissive wave, "Don't worry, I can handle myself."

"But your highness!"

Then the prince swooped into action. He placed his fingers under the servant's chin and looked deep into his eyes (or I assume he did, as he still had those stupid sunglasses on), "She's under my protection. I'm not just a pretty face, you know. I can do a lot with these hands…"

The servant's eyes fluttered and he nearly fell flat on his ass, but Kotaro caught him before he hit the floor.

"Be careful," the prince smiled, "you wouldn't want to get hurt."

The rest of the palace caretakers didn't bother us as we passed through the room. No one seemed to wonder who I was, or if they did they didn't dare ask. Man, if I'd known disguises worked this well I would've used them when I visited Reiko.

"We're almost there," Kotaro explained after we'd been walking for a little while, "just through these doors and across the plaza."

"And then that's it?" I asked.

"That's it. You'll be free. The chariot will take you wherever you want to go. The rest is up to you."

"Wherever we want, huh…"

The doors opened to reveal the plaza. It stretched on forever, so vast that I could barely see the castle walls snaking along the horizon.

"Dude this isn't a plaza, this is like a fucking ocean."

"It's a landing strip. It has to be big enough for the chariots to come and go safely."

"Are we thinking of the same 'chariots' here? The kind horses pull around?"

He looked at me like someone had drawn 'kick me' on my forehead, "Well I can tell you that there are no horses involved in my chariot, that's for sure."

Unlike the other parts of the castle, the 'plaza' was completely dead. No moon people, no guards or servants, no anything. There was no sound either, no sound apart from the thump of our feet on the soft grey moondirt beneath us. I looked up at the sky. Every inch of it was littered with twinkling stars. I must've seen it countless times. The sky is always there, right above you, all around you. You get used to it. You stop seeing it. In that moment I felt like for the first time ever I was really looking at it, really seeing just how much stuff was actually in it. Pretty soon I'd be in it too. Up there with all those stars.

I felt my throat tighten.

"Can you see it?" Kotaro asked.

Ai gasped, "No… you've gotta be kidding. You don't mean that one? It really is big!"

He laughed, "I get that a lot."

I looked down at my feet. One in front of the other. The fancy royal shoes I was wearing were so pale they nearly blended in with the moon's gravel. My old lumberjack boots were shoved under Ai's bed, along with the rest of my outfit. My axe was who knows where. Probably still next to my silver tree.

Suddenly something grabbed my arm and started dragging me off to the side.

"Hey what the fuck!? Who the-"

"Calm down, calm down!"

It was Kotaro.

I yanked my arm out of his grasp, "Jeez, man, you could'a given me some warning."

"You're going the wrong way."

"Huh?"

"The chariot is this way," he said, pointing towards an enormous metal thing in the distance.

"That's your chariot!?"

"Yes, I pointed it out earlier."

"I wasn't paying attention."

Ai's face was full of concern, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, of course I am! It's just a tense situation, you know? When someone starts pullin' on ya you've gotta react fast."

She took my hand in hers, "It's okay, Saki. I'm nervous too."

"I don't do nervous."

"Saki…"

"I'm not afraid."

I started walking, but Ai didn't let go. She was staring right into me.

"Alright Ai, look, it's just… a lot has happened to me, you know? A day ago I was up there, on Earth. Now I'm walking across the moon to ride some huge machine into nowhere. Can you blame me?"

"Of course I don't blame you."

"If I didn't wanna do this, I wouldn't. Trust me. I trusted you didn't I?"

"You did… up till you punched my father in the face."

I laughed, "Okay, you've got a point."

"He deserved it though. Thanks for standing up for me."

"If someone needs a punching, you can count on me."

"I'll bear that in mind," she replied, smiling, "Now, how's about we finally get off this rock?"

"Count me in."

Kotaro looked on, oozing with smugness, "Did you enjoy your little moment?"

"Don't get cocky, Shades, or I'll have to redecorate your face."

"I'm gonna be glad when I don't have to hear you calling me that terrible nickname anymore."

The chariot really was enormous; it was easily as big as a house. It looked nothing like any chariot I knew of.

"This," the prince said, slapping a huge round thing full of tiny knives, "is part of the jet propulsion system. It's got a lot of horses in it."

"You crammed horses into that!?" I asked in disbelief.

"It's a figure of speech. Horsepower is just a measurement, like feet or inches or furlongs."

"I don't get it."

"The whole thing is powered by a super solenoid engine using high-efficiency batteries. Keeps it ticking over for years and years before it needs to recharge. The batteries collect solar energy, so you'll want to park up near a star when she's running low."

"And you built all this by yourself?"

"I had a lot of free time."

"So… how the hell do we drive it?"

With a wry smile he replied, "It's surprisingly simple."

The chariot was even weirder on the inside than it was on the outside. The walls were patchwork, made out of different sheets of metal of various sizes and shapes. Every inch of it was glowing and flashing and twinkling. Metal gizmos whirred and grumbled, and the ground trembled beneath our feet whenever we took even a single step. It was intense. It was terrifying.

I loved it.

"Was your chariot like this, Ai?" I asked.

"No, mine was completely different…"

"It's state of the art," Kotaro explained, "not even the king realises what this chariot is capable of. Which is just how I like it. When you run away with this, he'll be none the wiser as to how you did it."

Ai stared out the chariot's window, "Won't he know you helped us?"

"I'll tell him you overpowered me. Given how badly Saki injured him, he'll probably believe it."

"I hope so."

"Anyway," the prince continued, "these are the controls."

Myself and Ai both stood either side of him while he explained.

"…and you pull this lever when you want to land. You can pull it while you're in the air but it won't do much."

"Which one makes it go fast again? I got lost halfway through," I asked.

"This one is for lightspeed. It's not the same as just 'going fast', though."

"Got it."

"Are you sure?"

"No, but I'll work it out."

Ai gave him a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, I'll remember."

He didn't look reassured, "You should know… I've only ever tested it on short flights. Even if you do everything perfectly I can't guarantee your safety."

"I understand."

"You still want to go?"

"What other choice do we have?"

She was right. If we stayed we'd both face the wrath of her old man, and the same went for trying to hide out on Earth. Escaping on the chariot was our only option. It was all or nothing.

"All right," he sighed, "I wish you all the best. Live well, and safe travels."

"Thank you Kotaro," Ai said, giving him a big hug.

"You're a good man, Shades," I added.

He nodded at me, "Take care of Ai for me."

"You bet."

As he left the chariot I strapped myself into one of the two seats at the front, where all the knobs and levers were. The entry door opened and closed with a smooth whoosh. Soft footsteps slapping on the metal floor told me Ai was coming to join me.

"Right," she said, "I guess this is it."

"This is it."

"How are you feeling?"

"Honestly? I'm shitting myself."

She placed her hand on mine. Her palm was sweaty.

"I'm scared too. But not as scared as I would be if you weren't with me."

Her eyes twinkled in the chariot's dim light. 'That's right', I told myself, 'I'm not alone. I can do this. This is nothing. This is fucking nothing. I can pilot this bucket of bolts no problem.'

I could feel my arms begin to shake, "L-Let's fucking do this shit!"

"Alright!" Ai yelled, "I'm starting the engines."

The jet propulsion whatchamacallits roared into life. I looked out the window and there was Kotaro, waving at us.

"We'll end up running over you if you stand there, you idiot," I mumbled under my breath.

"Engines are on. Releasing the brakes. Saki, did you fasten your seatbelt?"

"Yeah it's fastened, let's do it, come on."

"Okay, this is it."

The whole contraption was shaking from top to bottom. Everything was rattling and buzzing. The gizmo lights were so bright that I could barely see out the window anymore.

"Saki are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"When I tell you, pull that lever, okay?"

"What lever?"

"This one," she said, dragging my hand to the right place, "this one, and not before I say, alright?"

"Alright, got it."

I could barely hear myself think over the sound of the engines.

"Here we go. Three, two, one, and-"

Suddenly I was thrust back into my seat as the chariot rocketed forward, trashing the other chariots nearby.

"HOLY SHIT!"

We raced across the plaza. The world beyond the window was just a grey blur.

"Ai Jesus Christ why is it so fast?"

"I don't know!"

I kept my hand on the lever. The roar of the engines started to get higher and higher and higher.

"Do I pull it now!?"

"No!"

My teeth were smacking against each other as we bounced in and out of craters in the blink of an eye. I was squeezing the lever so hard my fingers were aching. Then we started to swerve.

"Ai!"

The force almost pulled me out of my seat, dragging me left then right as we careened out of control.

"I've got it, I've got it!" she yelled over the chainsaw buzzing of the chariot's interior. And she did. She had it. We stabilized and started gunning in a straight line for the horizon.

"Ai, why aren't we flying!?"

"It needs more speed!"

"More speed!?"

I saw the wall ahead of us. A line of bright white getting bigger and bigger and bigger, and in the centre of it the enormous north entrance, so big that I couldn't even see the top of it.

"We're gonna crash…" I muttered, but she couldn't hear me. "Holy fuck, this is it, this where I die."

'Fine' I thought, 'if that fucking gate is gonna kill me, then I'm gonna look it in the goddamn face while it does it. Motherfucking piece of-'

"Saki, pull the lever!"

"What!?"

"Pull it now!"

I yanked that son of a bitch down so hard I damn near tore my shoulder off. Immediately we started lifting off of the ground.

"Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!"

"We're flying! We're really flying!"

"Ai the wall! THE WALL!"

"I'm turning!"

"Turn moWHOOAA!"

The whole chariot twisted round as the gate bore down upon us. The only thing holding me in my seat was the seatbelt. Somehow Ai still had her hands firmly on the controls. I was screaming, she was screaming, all the gizmos were screaming and then WHOOSH, the gate shot by us… and that was it.

We'd done it. We were free.

"HELL YEAH BABY!"

"WOOOO!"

"WE DID IT! HOLY FUCK WE DID IT AI WE DID IT!"

"I CAN'T BELIEVE WE MADE IT!"

"GOD I COULD FUCKING KISS YOU!"

"SAKI WAIT I NEED TO FOCUS!"

We soared clean over the furthest edges of the castle, over the cold face of the moon and into the void beyond. The window became dark. Only stars and the infinity of space before us.

"I'm retracting the wheels."

The chariot shuddered as it drew the wheels back into itself.

"Saki, push that blue button over there."

"The big one?"

"Yes."

The whirring of the engines began to calm down to a low hum. The shuddering relaxed. The chair went from violently shaking me to gently massaging my back. I was completely drenched in sweat. Head to toe.

"Is that it?" I asked.

"Not quite."

The chariot veered to the left, bringing the Earth into our sights. We had no intention of landing there. According to Kotaro's calculations, if we skirted round it in just the right way, it'd shoot us off into space without us having to waste any of the chariot's energy. After that… well, after that we were on our own.

"Shouldn't take long for us to reach the spot," Ai said.

"Sure looks big huh? The Earth."

"I wish I could've explored it more."

"Nahh. The weather sucks and the locals are rude."

She grinned at me, "Does that include you?"

"Me? I'm from out of town, don't know what you're talking about."

I could still feel that emptiness in the pit of my stomach.

"Do you need me to do anything else? Push any buttons or anything?"

"No, you can relax now. I just have to steer us right and we'll be on our way."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely sure."

"Okay, no problem."

I tightened my seatbelt.

"Ai…"

"Yeah?"

"After we go round the Earth… what's next? What's after that?"

She leaned back in her seat, "I don't know… I guess we just… stay here?"

"In the chariot?"

"Yeah. Just you and me."

"Floating around in space together."

"Free."

Her skin was glowing again. Pale and bright, like the sunlight reflected off the Earth in the distance. She looked like an angel.

"I love you, Ai."

She smiled, "I love you too, Saki."

"And one more thing, before I forget."

"Yeah?"

"Can I take this headscarf off now?"