Chapter 8, Reprise

Keith woke slowly to his favorite sound. Rather than moving, he lay still with his eyes closed, listening. The mixed up lullaby involving a goose, a pumpkin, and lions jumping over the moon curved his face in to a smile. As he did so, he felt a small hand pat his face. "I see you smiling, Daddy. You are pretending."

At that, Keith let out a deliberate loud snore.

Giggling, his daughter leaned over him and gave him kisses. "Wakey, wakey, no more fakey!"

Opening his eyes, Keith reached out carefully to pull Cady into a cuddle and cover her face in loud, smacking kisses. Within a few minutes both Dad and daughter's laughter drew her Uncle to watch the proceedings.

"Well-a-day, that is the way to start a glorious day."

"Uncle Yo!" Cady launched herself off the bed, expecting her Uncle to catch her and swing her in circles. Keith laughed as a slightly hung over man barely managed to grab Cady before she collided with his stomach. Carefully, he levered himself to a sitting position, pleasantly surprised to feel no after effects of their long afternoon and evening of imbibing. Even more so, his stomach growled. He could not remember the last time he actually felt hungry. "Ok, munchkin, shoo so I can dress."

"'Kay, Daddy. Hurry up, cause I am ready to GO and have been waiting hours and hours for you and Uncle 'Yo to wake up so we can LEAVE! Chop, chop, on the double!"

"Yes, ma'am. As you say, ma'am." Keith tossed a salute her way, as she left the room with Tsuyo and he carefully made his way to the bathroom to ready himself for the day. As he moved, he realized for the first time since he had woken after the last battle, nothing actually hurt. His left hand still felt half asleep, but he felt no pain. With a sense of wonder and relief, turned on the shower, wondering what Mikko's wife Lara put in her drink.

Twenty minutes later, he emerged from the room feeling refreshed and ready to start the day. Cady sat at the table with Magda, happily engaged with crayons and paper, humming out of tune as she drew. Magda sat across from Cady with her ever present cup of tea and knitting. She could not stand to sit still, and only admitted to taking up knitting to save her own sanity. She liked keeping her hands busy while she talked with or supervised others.

" 'Bout time you woke up. Slug-a-beds, the lot of you. Well, do not expect me to serve you, I am in the middle of a row, and this pattern is a tricky one."

"Yes, Magda." He walked over to give his daughter a kiss on her head and look at her drawing. "What are you creating today, Cady?"

"I do not know yet. But I will know when it is done!"

With a chuckle, he walked over to serve himself some breakfast. To his delight, he found more of the little bites, as well as eggs scrambled with cheese.

"All easy to keep warm or cold. Figured the three of you would sleep late today. Mikko already left, but Tsuyo should emerge soon."

Keith grunted around a sip of coffee. He sighed, "Ambrosia."

"You always that say about any drink that resembles coffee."

"True, but then it is always a true statement!"

Keith brought his plate and cup over to the table, left hand shaking at the weight of the mug, but he did not drop it, which pleased him greatly. He and Magda made small talk, while Cady concentrated on her creation. It secretly amused Keith that she could neither draw anything recognizable nor sing in any key ever created. Allura had always told her, "Goddess gave you your voice, make sure you give it right back!" So Cady sang, and hummed. Terribly. Keith loved her all the more for it.

A few minutes more, and Tsuyo wandered out of the bathroom, heading straight for the food. He joined them all at the table, and started eating quickly.

After a few minutes, Cady started squirming. "Ok, now, Nanny?"

Magda smiled and sipped from her cup. "Yes, now."

"Daddy, daddy, guess what?"

"Green goats eat purple grass."

"Noooooo, everyone knows ORANGE goats eat purple grass."

"Ok, Gorillas grow grapes."

"Nooooooo. Daddy! Guess really!"

"Ok, Uncle Darrel created yet another new wonderful technological gizmo no one understands."

"No! Daddy!"

"Ok, I give up, what?"

"We are going on a vacation!"

Keith blinked, hand paused halfway to his mouth. "We are going on a vacation?"

"Uh, huh. You and me and Uncle 'Yo and Aunt Saria and Nanny."

"Ooooh kay. And when are we leaving?"

"Today!"

"Uh, huh, and where are we going?"

"It's a surprise!"

"A surprise. . . vacation, with Uncle Tsuyo, Aunt Saria, and Nanny Magda."

"Yes! And Nanny is going to teach me how to cook, and stuff."

"Well, this certainly sounds interesting."

Cady nodded, wiggling on her chair in excitement. "And Nanny and me already packed everything, and boy was there a lot of stuff! Uncle Darrell had to hook up a whole big trailer to one of the transports, and stuff is still everywhere. Black is super excited too. He says he is tired of the den and is looking forward to basking in the sunshine."

"Black is coming?"

"Uh, huh. It will be lots of fun! Plus Black says he has lots of fun games to play."

Magda rolled up her ball of yarn, and finished her last sip of tea. "All right, young lady. If we are going on vacation today, you and I have some last minute things to accomplish, while Daddy and Uncle Tsuyo have a talk. Deal?"

Cady quickly jumped off her chair and ran to the door before stopping to look back at the table. "Oh, my crayons."

"Your Dad will put them away this once. Now then, off we go!"

Magda and Cady walked out the door, leaving Keith to lean back in his chair, coffee mug in his right hand, and pointing his left at his friend. "Spill it."

The yellow pilot ran a hand through his hair, and swallowed hard. "See, it is like this. You are not getting any better here. Too many people making too many demands on you. Me and Yellow been working on our communicating, and even if I cannot talk to him the way you talk to Black, we have an understanding happening. See, the way I figure is it is like this. I sat in Yellow and been talking through all the things that have been happening around the Castle in the last few months. Yellow has been letting me know when I am on the right track and when I am on the wrong one. It's not like I hear him or anything, more that I get this, well, feeling of approval when I am on the right track, or a nudge when I am not. Then I started paying attention to what is happening. Yesterday confirmed it." The man blew out a breath, "I am rambling here."

Keith nodded. "I have absolutely no idea what you are trying to say, other than that you have started to feel Yellow."

"Ok. You need to leave the castle for a while and concentrate on you. Not the council, not the military, not anything except you. And Cady. Mikko and I think that your body is reflecting your state of mind. The spasms should have slowed by now, and if anything, they continue to increase in severity, duration, and frequency. We have a theory. Which is long and involved, but the short answer is, you need a spa month."

"A Spa. Month."

"Yep. You need a month where you do not have anyone depending on you, asking you questions. You have an entire month of massage, relaxing, and playing with Cady."

Keith did not reply, but just tapped a finger on the side of his mug as he looked at his friend.

"It is all arranged. Saria will act as your physical therapist and personal masseuse, I am the muscle, Magda is in charge of fattening you up, and Cady is in charge of keeping us all smiling." He paused to smile, "Young Cady has spent most of the last day making elaborate plans. And writing them down. It is pretty amazing how excited she is to have time with you and no one else."

"And Allura? And Magda?"

"I do not know the details there, but she has instructed me not to let you come back until you are ready. I think she plans on visiting once or twice, but otherwise is staying behind to continue with the rebuilding. Magda said, and I quote, 'I have not had a vacation in five years. I plan on cooking, knitting, and reading steamy romance novels. Putting my feet up and enjoying my time with Cady.' End quote."

Tsuyo watched as Keith closed his eyes and swallowed hard twice. "Black is coming?"

He heard the pilot stand and opened his eyes and he brought something over to the table. It looked like a cross between a turtle shell and a wet suit.

"What in the world?"

"It's a support suit. See, Mikko asked me what I thought would be the most helpful, and I told him flying. Well, he told me about the problem with your bones, and why it would not work well. So, Darrell and I started tinkering and came up with this design. It is not very elegant, but we did not have much time. It is flexible and rigid at the same time. As you fly, it should provide support against the g-forces, but without putting any added pressure on your body. Basically it keeps the pressure constant. Don't ask for the details unless you want to go to sleep. Darrell had an equation that took six boards. See, Yellow led me down a path where they think Black can help, but needs time with you to do that. Never going to happen around here, so, off we go."

Keith did not say a word, but fingered the material of the suit. "I can fly?" He whispered.

"You can fly."

Tsuyo watched as a blaze of joy flashed across Keith's face and his whole body relaxed. "Thank you, Tsuyo, Just. Thank you."

The man shrugged, "You are welcome." The he smiled ruefully, "Of course, there are rules, regulations, expectations, schedules, and such."

"Which we are ignoring?"

"Absolutely! Rules, schmules. You will have to keep up on your therapy, but other than that? Nope."

Keith carefully stood, finishing the last of his coffee. "So, when do we leave?"

"How about now?"

"How about yes!"

Laughing, Tsuyo scooped up the suit, and gestured Keith toward the door. "After you, your majesty."

"As it should be," he replied, sticking his nose in the air and walking out the door.

Shaking his head, Tsuyo followed his friend out the door and toward the repair bay where Keith's ride awaited.