"Where are we going?"

"Magrathea. One of the first planets to be colonized by humans," Syaoran answered as he led Kurogane and Yui down a hall. "The Phoenix is too well-known here, so we're taking one of the larger landing pods."

"Why?"

"Well, because we're pirates, Kuro-silly!" exclaimed Fai, popping up out of nowhere with Sakura trailing behind. Kurogane grit his teeth.

"Don't call me that. And I meant, why are we going to Magrathea?"

"We've heard that someone here might be able to help us find the Pasillo de Muerta. We thought it was worth a shot," Yui told him.

"It's thirty light-years out of our way," Kurogane noted.

"Yes, but if we find who we're looking for, it will be well worth our time," said Fai with a smile. He reached the landing pod before Syaoran and keyed in his access code. "Actually, the only ones who really need to go are Syaoran, Sakura, and I. If you and Yui want to stay, you can."

"What? No, I'll come," said Kurogane before he could stop himself. Yui nodded in agreement and Fai smiled as they all climbed into the landing pod.

"Then let's go."

~X~X~

"Ma! There's two new hovercars in th' driveway! An' some folks walkin' up th' yard!"

"Again?"

"Yeah!"

Mae Sutner grabbed a shotgun and peered out the window. Sure enough, two white hovercrafts sat lazily on the ground, gleaming in the Arizona* sun. Three men were advancing up the front lawn- not that there was any lawn to speak of, since it was all red-hot desert sand- all in grey business suits and sporting the same close-cropped brown hair. She frowned and cursed lightly. "That's the third time today!"

"I know, Ma. I'm sorry," said Nokosu, stumbling into the living room. "Maybe we could move."

"It's not your fault, hon," said Mae with a sigh. Her eyes narrowed when she heard the knock at the door. She unbolted the front door and opened it a crack while Nokosu clutched what appeared to be a fat white rabbit. "What?"

"Excuse me, Mrs. Sutner, but we'd like to speak with your daughter," said one of the men, flashing her a practiced smile. Mae frowned and tightened her grip on the shotgun.

"I ain't been Missus Sutner in a lon' time, sweet'eart. What do ya want with Nokosu?"

"Just a little chat. She has some information we want, you see."

Mae sniffed. "Yeah, tha's what they all say. Hmph. At least yer more clean-cut than th' rest."

"What?"

The door swung wide open and Mae leveled her shotgun at them. "Git th' hell offa my property."

"Pardon?"

"You 'eard me. If you ain't offa this porch in ten seconds, I 'ave every legal right t' shoot ya. Now git."

"Ma'am, we're only here to talk. We don't mean to cause-"

"Five seconds," said Mae, cocking the gun threateningly. The man started to back away.

"Mrs. Sutner-"

BANG!

"Tha's right, you betta haul yo' asses offa my property! You eva come back here again I'll shoot yo' ass up wit' so many holes you won' kno' which one t' shit out o'!" Mae screamed as the men scrambled away. Before Nokosu had even started to laugh she had loaded another round and aimed at their retreating backs.

BANG!

"Dammit. Missed," muttered Mae crossly.

"That loud noise hurt Mokona's ears," whimpered the fat rabbit, and Nokosu stroked its head comfortingly, still laughing. Mae caught sight of another group of people standing awkwardly in front of the porch. She shoved another round into her gun, took a step out of the house, and aimed it at the blonde man in front. Almost immediately, the black-haired man beside him jerked him back and stood protectively in front, glaring at Mae like he was daring her to shoot. She narrowed her eyes.

"An' what th' hell do you want?" she growled.

"I'm afraid we're here to see Nokosu, too, ma'am," said the blonde, all smiles. "Though it seems you're rather opposed to the idea."

"Damn straight," grunted Mae, tightening her finger on the trigger. But suddenly Nokosu was beside her, smiling, putting a hand on the still-hot barrel and lowering it.

"I think they're alright, Ma."

Mae looked at Nokosu and glanced at the group before her. She sighed. "Alright. It's about time fo' suppah besides. Why don' ya'll come in?" she said reluctantly. As she stepped back to let them file in she noted that two of the men were identical- twins, she supposed. There was one girl with them who smiled at Nokosu as she passed. Nokosu smiled back, but seemed more interested in one of the blondes. Mae sighed again as she closed and locked the door. "I'll go get suppah on th' table, then."

"Yay! New people!" the fat rabbit squealed, wiggling out of Nokosu's grasp and launching itself at the nearest person- who happened to be the girl.

"Oh, what is this? It's so cute!" she exclaimed as it perched precariously on her shoulder, wobbling back and forth uncertainly.

"Mokona is Mokona!" it informed her happily, then lost its balanced and fell back. The brown-haired boy caught it and the girl smiled at her again.

"My name is Sakura," she told her.

"I'm Nokosu, but I'm sure ya already knew that. Everyone does, it seems," Nokosu said spitefully, but then her smile returned. "You're a pilot, right? But so's th' boy. I guess yer here 'cos they thought I'd relate t' a girl my age."

Sakura looked shocked, but Fai laughed. "You're very perceptive."

"Mokona likes this one!" Mokona suddenly cried, leaping onto the red-eyed man, who growled in annoyance. Nokosu giggled.

"Mokona, come," she commanded, and the fluffy creature bounced to her and nestled in her arms. "What're the rest o' yo' names?"

"I'm Syaoran," said the brown-haired boy.

"Fai."

"Yui."

"Kurogane."

Nokosu tilted her head to the side, considering this information. "Syaoran," she said slowly. "You're that famous pilot who-"

"Yeah," Syaoran said quickly before she could elaborate.

"Hmm. And you want me t' help ya find the Pasillo de Muerta, right?"

"Only if it's alright with you and your mother," said Fai, smiling. "We won't force you into anything."

Nokosu blinked. "Who, Ma? Oh, tha's just a nickname. She's not actually my mother," she said with a shrug. "Which means the decision is up t' me… Tell ya what, I'll make ya a deal. If Syaoran can beat me in a four-mile race on my aircrafts, I'll come with ya. Sound good?"

She looked at Syaoran expectantly, who looked to Fai. Fai nodded his encouragement and Syaoran grinned.

"It's a deal," he said confidently. Kurogane laughed.

"There's no contest. Syaoran's the best damn pilot in the universe."

Nokosu smirked. "We'll see about that. I'll give you three days to get used to my aircraft. I built them myself, so they're a little different than regulation."

From somewhere in the house came Mae's cry of "Suppah's ready!"

Nokosu's eyes lit up. "Yay! Food!" she squealed, and ran off.

~X~X~

~ So my apologies for ending in such a random place. There was really no point in continuing this chapter because all that was going to happen was them eating dinner and then being shown to the guest bedrooms, so nothing significant. I am much too lazy to write things that aren't fun and/or significant.

For those of you (although I don't think any of you have) who have read my fanfiction Safe, you'll recognize Nokosu. Yes, they have the same name. Yes, it's for the same reasons. Their personalities have the same roots and they are both very, very powerful girls, but they are not the same person. I'm still not sure which Nokosu I like better, but since I discontinued Safe I guess I'll have to be content with this one. I hope you like her!

You're going to get some lovely pairings in the following chapters, namely KuroFai (of course), SyaoSaku, and YuiXOC :3 Nokosu is fast becoming my favorite character, and I'm trying really really hard to keep the focus on KuroFai, so let me know if I slip up and start treating her like the main character.

*Also, the deal with Arizona: I'm being extraordinarily lazy with names lately. Every name I have except for Mae Sutner (I think; for some reason that name sounds familiar) was stolen- er, borrowed. Normally I have names like Lagoren, Kiera, Delivi, Syisa, and so forth (PLEASE DON'T STEAL MAH NAMES! DX). Anyway, the point is, I decided to extend that laziness to place names, too. Magrathea is a sci-fi movie reference (can you guess from where?) and I named Arizona after, obviously, the state Arizona. It just sounded right. Here, Arizona is actually a small country about the size of Egypt, maybe a little bigger. I meant to address that in the story but it sounded awkward, so I took it out and stuck it in my author's notes :3

Five more reviews, as always. :) ~