I was still trying to process what was happening when one of the rescue workers reached us. "Can you walk?"

Hikaru nodded, his arms finally loosening their protective hold around me. But he kept one hand steady on my shoulder as we made our way across the uneven deck plating to the breach they'd cut. I clutched his flight jacket closer around me, suddenly aware of how thin my performance dress was in the chill air flowing in from outside.

"Careful here," the worker warned as we reached the opening. "Watch your step, the corridor's..."

"What happened to..." I started to ask, but my voice caught. The rescue worker just shook his head.

"Medical first. Then briefing. But you should prepare yourselves - a lot's changed."

They had a small transport waiting - really just an oversized golf cart with medical equipment strapped to it. As we settled in, I finally got a good look at Hikaru's face in the brighter light. He looked exhausted but alert, his eyes constantly scanning our surroundings, picking up details I was probably missing. The pilot in him, already trying to build a mental map of this altered space.

"How long were we in there?" I asked as we started moving.

"Fourteen days," the medic answered, checking something on her scanner. "You're lucky - that section's environmental systems kept running. Not all of them did."

Fourteen days. It felt both longer and shorter somehow. I wanted to ask more questions, but everything seemed to stick in my throat. The transport wound through passages; occasionally I'd catch glimpses of familiar materials or architectural elements, repurposed in strange ways.

"The emergency beacon on the plane..." Hikaru finally spoke up, as we pulled into an area that felt like an indoor parking lot and parked.

"Degraded after the first few days," the rescue worker explained. "Between the fold radiation and the automated defense systems, a lot of standard equipment just... didn't work like it was supposed to. We've been sweeping section by section, but with the city taking priority..."

"City?" I interrupted. "What do you mean..."

But we were already pulling into what was clearly a makeshift medical bay - efficient and sterile in that particular way only military installations can manage. The questions would have to wait.

They separated us for the examinations, though I could still see Hikaru through a gap in the privacy curtains. He caught my eye and managed a small smile that didn't quite hide his tension. I wanted to reach for his hand again, but the medics were already starting their scans.

"Your vital signs are surprisingly good," the doctor commented, studying her readings. "Though we'll want to monitor your nutrition levels for a few days. The emergency rations aren't really meant for extended use." She paused, seeming to really look at me for the first time. "You're the singer from the ceremony, aren't you? The one who was supposed to perform?"

I nodded, suddenly self-conscious in my glamorous performance dress.

"Well, I can tell you, Major Roy Focker will be very glad to know you're safe. Both of you. We've had search teams looking since..."

She was interrupted by a new voice - that same precise tone I'd heard earlier, but in person now. "Doctor, if you're finished with the preliminary checks, I need to speak with them."

Lieutenant Hayase looked exactly like she sounded - crisp uniform, perfect posture, not a hair out of place. But there was something in her eyes when she looked at us - relief, maybe? She waited for the doctor's confirming nod before continuing.

"Mr. Ichijo, Miss Lynn. I know you must have questions. I'm here to answer them, but first it would help me to understand what you already know. Your perspective could be valuable - we're still trying to fully understand what happened during the fold."

"The fold," Hikaru said. "So we did... the ship moved?"

"Yes." Lieutenant Hayase's expression shifted slightly. "But before we get to that, catch me up."

I found myself describing those first chaotic minutes - the emergency bulkheads dropping, the damage and way the walls sealed behind and around us. Hikaru filled in details about the Valkyrie and the alien fighters that I hadn't even noticed.

"The fighter formations were weird," he added, his hands moving unconsciously as if tracing flight paths. "The overall swarm reminded me of a drone show - perfectly synchronized. But up close, they flew like people. Really good pilots actually, but definitely staying under some kind of g-force limit, maybe accommodating for pilot physiology just like we do.? They would be pretty cramped for giants to fit inside them, though it was hard to judge size that well at the time."

"We're calling them 'battle pods', and your observations match what we've learned from examining their wreckage. They seem to be built around a single pilot of roughly the same scale as the Macross's original crew. Your instincts are good, they sit in the central pod almost in fetal position. What about after the crash?" she prompted.

"We were just... trapped," I said. "We tried to find ways out, but everything was sealed. We had water from a cracked pipe, and the survival kit from the Valkyrie, but..."

I trailed off, suddenly uncertain how to describe those days. How do you explain time that exists outside of time? But thankfully, the lieutenant seemed to understand what I wasn't saying.

"You did exactly right," she said, her tone softening slightly. "Staying with the Valkyrie, rationing supplies, maintaining a secure position. But now I need to prepare you for what you're going to see. The fold operation was... complex. We're still understanding exactly what happened, but the short version is: the Macross, along with a significant portion of South Ataria Island, was transported well beyond the orbit of Pluto."

I heard Hikaru's sharp intake of breath, but Lieutenant Hayase continued before either of us could interrupt.

"The civilian population has been evacuated into the ship itself. We've had to completely reconfigure internal spaces to accommodate them. What you're going to see may be... disorienting at first."

"My aunt and uncle," I blurted out. "The restaurant..."

"The Nyan-Nyan was in one of the sections of the city we managed to salvage, though please understand - almost everything was exposed to hard vacuum during the fold," she said, checking something on her tablet. "The fold field was... wrong. It formed a perfect sphere around the Macross, a little under ten kilometers in diameter. Most of South Ataria Island came with us, but..." She paused, choosing her words carefully. "The environmental effects were immediate and severe. Anything not rated for space conditions experienced explosive decompression. Water flash-froze, infrastructure shattered, materials that could sublimate did. The shelters held, thankfully, and most military structures were built to withstand vacuum. But for ordinary buildings..."

I thought about the Nyan-Nyan - the large front windows where we'd watch people pass by, the kitchen with all its steam and heat, the old-style wooden doors my aunt had insisted on. None of it built to withstand the kind of forces Lieutenant Hayase was describing.

"Your family made it to a shelter in time," she continued. "Once medical clears you, we can arrange transport to the temporary civilian quarters where they're staying. We have about forty thousand survivors accounted for, out of..." She didn't finish the sentence. Didn't need to. Launch day had brought visitors from all over the world. We would probably never know everyone that died that day.

The relief of knowing my family was alive hit me so hard I had to grip the edge of the examination table. But something else the lieutenant had said caught my attention.

"Wait... temporary quarters? What exactly do you mean by 'reconfigure internal spaces'?"

"Your aunt was quite... insistent about the restaurant," Lieutenant Hayase said, something almost like amusement flickering across her otherwise serious expression. "She still had the original plans and started lobbying engineering teams almost immediately. Actually, she wasn't the only one - we've had a lot of people pushing to recreate their spaces exactly as they were."

"And you're letting them?" Hikaru asked.

"Within reason. Captain Global believes maintaining some normalcy is important. We're all going to be stuck in here together for a while." She paused. "Also, I suspect he enjoys good Chinese food."

Lieutenant Hayase's explanation of what they'd done with the ship's internal space made a strange kind of sense, once you accepted the basic problem they had faced. The Macross had been built for giants - which meant, if you divided each corridor vertically and horizontally into human scale, the ship's original perfectly optimized layout of passageways and access points was also a perfectly optimized street grid for travelling the ship when sectioned down to our size.

The transport they arranged for us wound through what had once been maintenance passages, now transformed into something between streets and malls. In the sealed section we had felt like we had been shrunken down to the size of dolls, and now that feeling was amplified. We had built ourselves dollhouses on the walls of every giant hallway. Everything felt simultaneously familiar and wrong, like a dream version of the city we'd known.

Then we turned a corner and I saw it - the Nyan-Nyan's facade, exactly as it had been on Earth, somehow transplanted into this impossible space.

Aunt Lynn was waiting outside. She took one look at me in my wrinkled performance dress and Hikaru's flight jacket and burst into tears.

"Minmay! We thought... when they said you crash landed..." She pulled me into a crushing hug, then immediately switched to scolding mode. "What were you thinking, wandering off during an attack? And you!" She rounded on Hikaru. "Taking her joyriding in a military aircraft!"

"Note," Lieutenant Hayase cut in, her tone precise, "Major Focker's and Mr. Ichijo's actions are under review. However, one fact is clear - that airfield took a direct hit less than a minute after they lifted off." A slight pause. "The investigation can wait until after they've had time to recover."

Aunt Lynn's expression softened slightly. "Well then. I suppose you'll be wanting lunch?"

The interior of the restaurant was uncanny - every detail as it had been, but every piece brand new. The biggest difference was the window view: instead of South Ataria's main street, we looked out on this new hybrid of city and starship.

"They're still working on supply chains and organizing the salvage," Aunt Lynn apologized as she brought out bowls of noodles. "Most ingredients we just won't have anymore. But we're adapting. Your uncle's been experimenting with hydroponics in the back, if you can believe it."

I could smell familiar spices, perfectly balanced. "How did you... I mean, all of this..."

"Oh, the rebuilding was the easy part once they approved the plans. If anything, it was easier this time than when I first did it years ago. The hard part was convincing them it was worth my time. But then other businesses started pushing for the same thing, and eventually they realized..." She trailed off as the door chime rang.

"Sorry to interrupt," Roy Focker's familiar voice filled the space. "But when I heard..." He strode over to our table and gripped Hikaru's shoulder, "Kid, you had me worried. Both of you."

"Major," Lieutenant Hayase acknowledged. I hadn't even realized she'd stayed.

"Misa! Didn't expect to see you here." Roy grinned. "Finally trying real Chinese food instead of that synthesized stuff in the officers' mess?"

"I was just leaving actually. Miss Lynn, Mr. Ichijo - please take some time to rest and recover. But we'll need to speak more later." She stood, precise as ever, but paused. "I'm glad you're both safe. And... Major Focker... please be careful."

Roy smiled, "Always am, Lieutenant. That's why I'm still your favorite problem child."

As she left, Roy settled into her vacant seat. "So. Heard you managed to wreck one of my planes."

"Roy, I..." Hikaru started.

"Saved a civilian's life under extreme conditions?" Roy's voice was light but his eyes were serious. "Yeah, I heard that part too."

My aunt appeared with another bowl of noodles before Roy could say more. "On the house," she declared. "For helping find them."

"Actually," Roy said between bites, "that's part of why I'm here. Kid, we're short on pilots. That stuff you pulled with the Valkyrie... Look, I know how you feel about the military, but what's happening isn't-"

"Roy." Hikaru's voice was tired. "Can we... not? Not today?"

Roy nodded slowly. "Of course. Not today. But soon. Things are different now."

He was right, I realized. Looking around the restaurant - so perfectly preserved in this impossible place.

Hikaru came by almost daily. Roy became a regular, at first just to visit Hikaru, but then bringing other pilots. I could see Hikaru watching the pilots who came in, studying their conversations, their camaraderie. Something was shifting in him, though he might not have realized it yet.

We learned the full story in bits and pieces. The first ships had appeared just beyond the Moon's orbit. They'd sent in a small recon team, and the Macross's defense systems had activated unexpectedly, firing on the alien ships. No one knew why - the systems weren't even supposed to be operational. That single shot had sparked a battle that quickly escalated out of control.

"They blockaded us," Misa explained, in a later debriefing session. "Every time we tried to get the Macross into orbit, away from the island, they forced us back. The civilian casualties would have been catastrophic if we'd stayed and fought."

That's when Captain Global had ordered the space fold - a desperate attempt to reach orbit where they might link up with other UN Spacy forces and try to de-escalate the situation.

Meanwhile, stories about the two of us had evolved, growing more elaborate with each retelling, and our rescue only stoked the fire. We couldn't correct them fast enough to make a difference. How could we explain those days in the sealed section? The makeshift stars, the songs in darkness? Who could we ever explain the wedding to? Some things belonged just to us.