Set immediately post-The Kure. This scene was originally supposed to be part of an as-yet-unfinished one-shot called Bad Medicine, which would show how Acylius managed to talk the Yuks into using Joyce medicine, but it was difficult to transition from the flirting to the actual plot. So it became this!

Frustration

All things considered, Aelia took the destruction around the crashed Koleopter surprisingly well. Acylius had already apologised profusely when he explained what had happened, but when he saw Aelia wince, he felt compelled to repeat himself.

"I truly am sorry about this," he said, indicating the slashed and koal-juice-splattered landscape in front of them. "If I had ever thought that a war machine could help to gather pollen, I would have paid more attention in my lessons."

Aelia shook her head. "Don't worry about it," she said with a sigh. "It's not like we're not used to cleaning up this kind of mess. Just…don't do it again, okay?"

"I think that I can safely promise that," said Acylius. Being responsible for such destruction once was quite enough. If preventing it from happening again meant paying proper attention in his flight lessons, then he would pay attention—though nothing was going to persuade him to learn to use the actual weapons on the machines.

Aelia tugged at one of her antennae. "It might not be such a bad thing," she said slowly. "I was working on some new flowers before all of this started. Maybe it's time to put them to the test. And I have the samples of the golden-orange desert flower to work with, as well. It might be a good idea to develop a cultivar that will grow in the soil around here…just in case."

Acylius gazed at her in admiration. "Aelia, have I mentioned lately how incredible you are?" Repair, development, and preparation against a future disaster—all in a few sentences. Acylius could only hope that in time he would be half as good at seeing the opportunities in setbacks.

"Oh, just a few times in the last hour or so," she said coyly, peering at him sidelong. "But you're always welcome to tell me again."

He laughed, leaning in for a moment to brush her antennae with his own. "You are incredible."

She took his hand and squeezed. "So are you," she whispered.

A barrage of laughter cut through the moment, and they reluctantly pulled away from one another to survey the Yuks in front of them. General Lukanus was chortling and twirling, apparently trying to perform a waltz with an invisible partner. The two pilots were spinning in graceful and ever-widening loops around the Peripatetik, having discovering that flying low over the spilled kolor would kick it into the air in a rainbow mist. Krabo was still in the Peripatetik's cockpit, expression dark enough to turn kolor to karbon, but apparently his voice had given out. Acylius wasn't precisely sorry about that. Krabo's shouting could get shrill enough when he wasn't sick, but the microbe had ensured that the Yuk prince had suffered a headache every time he'd had to listen to his tutor during the last four days. Some peace and quiet would be a welcome change.

"Are you sure that you want to take them all back with you right now?" asked Aelia dubiously.

"I can't leave them here," said Acylius. "Who knows what kind of damage they could do? To your flowers or to themselves." As though to prove his point, one of the pilots—Krabouic, Acylius thought—tried to throw his bike into a loop. Unfortunately, he forgot to accelerate, and as he reached what should have been the apex, his momentum gave out. For the briefest of moments, he seemed to hang suspended in the air. Then he and the bike both dropped to the ground with a mighty thud.

Aelia gasped. Acylius sighed. Lukanus and the other pilot dissolved into fresh fits of laughter, and after a moment, Krabouic joined in.

"I see what you mean," Aelia said.

Acylius nodded. "Regardless of my personal feelings towards them, I am their prince and it is my responsibility to see them safely home." He looked down at the giggling trio and shook his head. "Some Yuks just can't handle their kolor."

"Well, just be careful," said Aelia. "And…" She squeezed his hand again. "You'll come back soon, won't you? I missed you."

Acylius lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed her knuckles. "As soon as I can," he promised. "I missed you, too." Aelia smiled at him, filling him with a pleasant, tingling warmth. But before Acylius could say anything in reply, a loud cooing filled the air. They both turned, to see the remaining Yuk pilot gazing at them with hands clasped over his heart.

"Oh, now what's the matter?" demanded Krabo. Apparently his voice had not entirely given out after all. "Stop that noise at once!"

"It's just so beautiful," the pilot almost wailed. "Th-they, they just love each other so much, it's so beautiful!" He burst into loud tears.

Aelia and Acylius exchanged baffled glances.

"It certainly is not beautiful!" shouted Krabo. "Our prince should not be consorting with a Joyce! This is wrong, unnatural, disgusting!"

The pilot was entirely unmoved by this declaration. He almost threw himself off his hoverbike (which nosedived into the ground nearby, narrowly missing the giggling general) and onto the shoulder of his fellow pilot, where he proceeded to sob in—apparently—transports of complete joy. Krabo growled, shaking his fists at the air, and glared up at Acylius and Aelia. "Now do you see what you've done? You've reduced one of the finest Yuk pilots to a mass of sentimental gibberish! Prince Acylius, you have a duty to uphold the dignity of the Yuk people! Don't you see that what you're doing is revolting? The hand-holding, the kissing, the mawkish declarations!" Krabo gagged. "Sentimentality has never been tolerated by the royal family! Are you really going to break thousands of years of tradition?"

Acylius turned to Aelia. "I thought that I already had broken thousands of years of tradition. It seems I wasn't trying hard enough."

She giggled.

"Think of your mother, Acylius! How do you think that she would react if she were to hear of this?"

Acylius rolled his eyes. "As if my mother isn't already well aware," he said to Aelia. "Perhaps you should go. It isn't going to get any better from here."

"Prince Acylius, don't you dare ignore me! I am your tutor! This is vital instruction in proper behaviour!"

Acylius gestured towards Krabo without looking. "You see."

"If I had some on hand, I would have given you some headache medicine as well," said Aelia, shaking her head. "Doesn't he ever shut up?"

"Rarely. Don't worry, I've learned to tune him out."

Aelia lifted a hand to his face, and Acylius leaned into the contact. He was only partially motivated by defiance, though he couldn't suppress a small smile when he heard Krabo's wordless screech of rage. Aelia leaned in to whisper in his ear, "Someday, we'll have to see if we can make his head explode from sheer outrage. If this is how he reacts to hand-holding, I'd love to see what he'd do when you dance with me."

Acylius stifled a laugh. "Perhaps Fulgor could write some music to harmonise with his screaming."

Aelia giggled and pressed a kiss to his nose. "I'll suggest it to him. See you soon!"

Acylius couldn't help the silly smile on his face as he watched her fly off. Sadly, duty called. He floated down to the Peripatetik. This wasn't going to be easy, so it would be best to get started as soon as possible…and of course, once he got back, he would still have to talk his mother into allowing the use of Joyce medicine. That was going to be a challenge.

On the other hand, he could still feel Aelia's kiss, warm on his nose, just as clearly as he could feel the cold blue medicine that still marked his chest. Both of them gave him strength. He clapped his hands together. "Alright, gentlemen, let's get back to the Stump," he said. "Krabo, if I could have your assistance rounding up these three? We should get back as soon as possible."

Krabo gave him a sulky look. "I will be mentioning this to your mother, my prince."

"You'll have to be fast. I have some rather urgent matters to discuss with her, myself," said Acylius, completely unperturbed. Bakrakra's estimation of Lord Krabo had been falling rather sharply lately. "Are you going to help me, or not?"

The Prime Minister tried to glare. Once upon a time, that might have made Acylius quail—but those days were long gone. He held Krabo's eyes calmly, and after a moment, Krabo turned his head sharply and started to shout at the pilots. Acylius shook his head and fluttered over to talk to the General.

It would be hours before he managed to convince his mother to allow to distribution of the medicine Aelia had given him; hours more while Teknocratus constructed a machine to do so efficiently and Acylius himself spread the word of the cure and organised an orderly queue for the people to receive it. But Acylius had the warmth of Aelia's kiss; the reassuring coolness of the medicine on his chest; and Krabo's crackling, impotent frustration at Acylius's competence.

With such a trio of talismans, Acylius felt that he could do just about anything.