The only girl left to get her spotlight is Piper! I hope you like her. (That kind of rhymed!)

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The ship was dark, lit only by the greenish glow of the strip lights in the ceiling. The back of the Hawk was filled with the usual post-mission bustle of teens playing Truth or Dare, braiding hair, and going over rough spots on the mission. The familiar chaos bounced off of her bones and made Piper feel restless.

Falling back into old habits when the noise inside of her head and outside of her body started to sing in dissonance, Piper wandered onto the silent deck, filled with rows of empty chairs save for one- the pilot's seat.

"How much longer, Captain?"

Mica looked over his shoulder and sent her a smile that wasn't even deep enough to bring out dimples. Piper frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just tired." He sent another smile up to her as she leaned against the side of the pilot's chair.

A shriek came from the back that told her Ace had started another game of late-night keep-away with the wand they had just stolen from a coven in Solaria. Mica looked over his shoulder longingly at the hall that led to the barracks.

"I'd trade spots with you in a heartbeat," she admitted and he pulled his eyes away from the hall to look sidelong up at her.

"Why do you say that?"

He looked pretty with the green light pouring from the controls under his hands into the soft contours of his face. Piper blushed at the intrusive thought and she wished she was still wearing makeup to help conceal it, but she'd washed that off in the bathroom when Lee wanted to clean the gash over her eyebrow.

The music fairy came around the chair to perch on the blank space between the two steering levers. Her aching feet dangled in the space between his knees and the console. He was still wearing his dirty uniform.

"Too loud," was her simple response.

"I get that." Piper's eyes flicked to his scarlet hearing aids. Mica leaned back in his chair, arms on the armrests as he looked up at her. "So… are you ready to go back to school?"

Piper shrugged. Mica went on and the music fairy found herself liking the sound of his voice. The chaos inside of her stilled to a dull buzz.

"Jane said you have to earn Charmix because your headmistress wants you guys to save the world or something."

"Supposedly."

"So you don't think it's true?"

Piper shrugged again, resting her chin on her shoulder to watch the stars zip past them.

A beat passed.

"I hate awkward silence."

Piper raised an eyebrow at the prince. He was chewing his lip. Another round of riotous laughter sprung up from the back of the ship and echoed out into the giant empty cockpit. His eyes darted over his shoulder again, looking hungry for something to do other than stare endlessly into the dark void of space. Plus she couldn't imagine he was comfortable in that uniform when he could be in his normal clothes.

"If you want to go ahead, I can supervise while the ship is on autopilot."

His wide ruby eyes darted back to her, trying and failing to hide his enthusiasm.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'll scream if we're in danger."

His hands were already on the steering levers at either side of her hips. A spark shot up her skin when his knuckle brushed her knee. If he noticed, he didn't show it, just biting his lip again as he twisted the knobs into autopilot and jumped up from his seat.

He was suddenly too close, too fast and Piper stared dumbfounded at him and the slight shimmer of his skin that marked him as a native Isisian.

"Sorry, I- thanks. Thank you!"

He tripped over his feet a little in his haste to get to the barracks, leaving Piper alone in the cockpit with her thudding heart and the endless Magic Dimension. Well, for a second.

"Yeah, it's empty. I just saw Mica run back there," she heard Ace giggle as the door slid open.

Then another voice that made her blood freeze in her veins. "Are you sure?"

"You're such a worrywart," Ace said with a giggle. "I'll be right back. Stay here."

Piper heard the door sliding again and then she was left with the decision of whether or not she should reveal herself to her brother. Eventually, he made the decision for her.

"Piper, is that you?"

Piper slid off the dashboard and walked around the pilot's seat to face Coda from across the cockpit. His magenta hair looked almost black in the green nightlights.

"I'm supervising the autopilot," was her curt reply.

"Okay. Ace is going to get her camera."

Unlike Mica, Piper never really minded silence, no matter how awkward it was. It was just the company she couldn't stand.

The music fairy turned her back and plopped down in the pilot's seat.

"Hey, why do you hate me?"

Piper tensed, hands gripping the armrests as she stared ahead at the black void between them and Magix.

"What's not to hate?" They fell silent again.

One, two, three galaxies passed before Piper admitted, "I'm just mad. Really mad."

"At me? I didn't do anything."

"Exactly." There was a war raging within her, to either keep the peace or invoke the chaos that brewed beneath her skin every waking hour of the day. Guess which one won?

"I get that you didn't want to be a hero and you were right; Dad shouldn't have tried to force you to be something you're not. But you left me all alone."

"Piper, he was suffocating."

"You think I don't know that? You think he goes easy on me?" she asked incredulously out at the stars.

"He's always gone easy on you," Coda said, sounding closer now.

She scoffed. "That's not true. And now it's worse."

"I wasn't going to sacrifice myself for you."

"Well, you should have and I hate you for it."

Suddenly, a light enveloped her and she felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. When the light died, there was a silver brooch on her chest in the shape of a music note with a tiny purple gem on the bottom of the stem.

As the brooch faded away, she held her hands to her chest. Piper hadn't been stressing about her Charmix so much, but it felt surprisingly nice to accomplish their mission. Plus now she wouldn't have to take that truth serum again. Ace walked in a second later.

"Ready?"

"I changed my mind," Coda practically growled out.

"Oh, okay. Let's go back then."

She listened to them leaving and the sound of the door sliding shut with a thunk. And then silence. Just beautiful silence.

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September is over. On to month two, October. Or whatever the Magix equivalent of that month is. (Every six chapters is a full month.)

Love, Ru