"Do you love him?" said Misaki as she and Kazuko sat at a small table outside the studio's broadcast room.
Kazuko's brush pen formed "dai" in her calligraphy practice notebook. The character didn't look right, so she tried again. "I don't know…" She attempted the more complicated "suke," but the intricate lines required a hand more adept than hers. Japanese is so much easier to speak than to write.
"Do you think he loves you?"
"What are you saying?" Kazuko gripped her pen hard as Misaki leaned closer.
"You looked good together."
Kazuko twirled her pen in her fingers.
"You're beautiful. He can't help but notice that."
Kazuko smiled and blushed at the compliment. For just an instant she considered telling Misaki about the Mazone—the plantlike race of shape-takers who invaded Earth back in her own time—so Misaki could understand why beauty was not necessarily a good thing. But she didn't. "I… was just so sad after I saw Kodai and Yuki…"
"Sad for him? Or her? I saw your brother. He looked like officer Kodai—except for the blond hair."
"I knew a woman…" Kazuko studied her page of botched characters. "Her name is… was… also Yuki, but it was her surname. Her first name was Kei."
"Did she look like officer Mori?"
Kazuko nodded. The weight of Tadashi's harmonica in her pocket sparked a memory—the day her adoptive mother gave her the necklace that used to belong to another woman—the one whose features she shared. Kazuko fingered a strand of her shoulder-length blue-black hair. "Time and life are strange things, Misaki…"
Earth. Barren, red. This… is home? Kazuko stared out the viewport.
"I'm sorry," Kaoru said from nearby. "I probably didn't prepare you for this very well. Come with me. I want to show you something."
Kazuko followed. She took mental notes, reviewing what she knew of each section they passed. Midday traffic proved problematic, and it took almost twenty minutes to reach their destination.
Kaoru nodded toward what looked like an engine. "The Cosmo Reverser System."
"You got that on Iscandar?" Kazuko said.
"Your Japanese keeps getting better every day." Kaoru smiled. "And yes. With it we'll regenerate Earth."
A glowing orb hovered at the alien machine's center. I've never seen anything like this… She stared at the orb. Its soft, blue radiance cast a veil of serenity over her.
"Do you get sad sometimes—I mean, about losing everyone you know?" Kaoru said.
"Sometimes," Kazuko replied.
"You think that pain will ever go away?"
"I don't know. Will you ever stop mourning the ones you've lost?"
"No," Kaoru admitted. After a ten second stretch of silence she asked, "Will you ever… be happy again?
"I hope I will." Kazuko pictured Daisuke's handsome face. His kindness and a wonderful sense of humor intrigued her. But that's not enough to base a relationship on… Her stomach tightened at the thought of using the word "love" to describe what she had with Daisuke. "Why are you asking me this?"
"I—are you—Are you anxious about the future?" Kaoru stumbled.
"Sometimes. You?"
Kaoru hesitated, folded her arms and stared at the CRS core. Its light reflected off her glasses. "Maybe I am."
Two days later, Daisuke approached her in the mess hall, an invitation for Makoto Harada's and Saburo Kato's wedding in hand. Kazuko smiled at the card. The cartoonish figures drawn on the front reflected a grouchy Saburo and smiling Makoto.
"Susumu—Kodai—gave me this. Apparently, Kato and Makoto have been pretty serious for a while." Daisuke flipped open the card. "Do you… know anything else about Yuki's condition?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Susumu's my friend, and he's been… strange lately." Daisuke looked up from the card.
Kazuko relaxed a little. "I'm sorry. I don't know any more than you do. Doctor Sado won't tell me anything about Yuki. I've asked."
"Okay." He held up the invitation. "Do you… want to come with me to the wedding?"
"Daisuke, I…" She wanted to say "yes," but the right words eluded her. "I… need to think about it."
"I understand." He tucked the card into his pocket and started to walk away but after five steps he stopped. "What if you came with me… just as a friend?"
She blushed. "All right… I'll come with you."
The day of the wedding, Kazuko accompanied Daisuke in her orange ship's uniform. She wished she had one of her dresses to wear, but everyone else was in uniform too except the couple, so she didn't feel as awkward.
During the reception Kodai offered congratulations to the newlyweds as they stood on the short platform at the front of the room.
Saburo lowered his gaze as Kodai approached. "Do you remember when we were assigned to the Yamato?" said Saburo. "Back then, I said this to you… That if your orders caused one of my men to die needlessly, I'd never forgive you. Well… You've done better than I could have hoped. Better than anyone. I guarantee that." He gave Kodai a confident smile. "So, Mori will be fine!"
Makoto grabbed her husband's arm. "Sabu!"
Kodai's expression didn't falter as he whispered one more sentence to the pair before leaving the platform. As he approached Kazuko and Daisuke he smiled, but the pain in his eyes was clear.
"I'm happy for you," Kodai said.
Kazuko smiled back and shook her head. "We aren't a couple."
"Maybe you should be." The ache in his face remained, along with a spark of envy for Daisuke, but he refused to express it.
Kazuko wanted to bring up Yuki's condition, but she couldn't do that now—not when Kodai was trying so hard to get through this wedding.
Kodai headed for the door and saluted a few people along the way.
"You think he's going to see her?" Kazuko said.
"Could be." Daisuke watched downcast as his friend left.
Several hours after the wedding, everyone crowded around the viewports as Yamato neared Earth. On the bridge, Kazuko stood beside Daisuke. As more people filed in, she studied the barren, red husk of a world and wondered where Kaoru was watching from.
A surprised cry from Aihara—the comm officer—startled her, and she peeked over Daisuke's shoulder.
Just inside the door, in Kodai's arms, was Yuki, alive and well. Kodai set her down, and Misaki wailed and engulfed her in a hug. Yasuo Nanbu—another officer—greeted her enthusiastically, which made Yuki a bit uncomfortable.
Daisuke shuffled through the crowd to welcome Yuki back, and Akira Yamamoto did the same, though more formally than Daisuke. The two women's past tensions lent a sliver of awkwardness, but Yuki's smile held no hint of animosity.
Kazuko didn't know what she should do. She wasn't well acquainted with Yuki, but she was glad the woman was doing well, for Kodai's sake.
Daisuke returned to Kazuko's side. She took his arm and smiled up at him.
He leaned toward her. "You're part of this family. You were ever since the day we named you," his soft voice whispered.
Yes… I am. She laid her head against Daisuke's arm. Just like my name says, I've got a new family.