Wow I can't believe how committed I am to this plot. Im really enjoying blending classic rouken elements like Kaoru's family's fighting style (with a twist!) with fun schy-phy plot device ideas. I've been thinking that I may leave a little space (heh) in between chapter events and revisit this some other time with oneshots of different interesting ideas because theres just a bazillion ways to go with this.

Thank you to my first reviewer! GUEST! Should I give you a name o precious one? Maybe something nongendered. Mo?! Meredith?! (lol if you're a stargate: atlantis fan you will appreciate that deep cut) Lets go with Mo. Let Mo be an example to yall! Share the love with this desperate lonely human! ;_; i mean me, btw, not Mo. Mo is probably very well adjusted and living their best life. It is I who is the lonely beetle. Pls love me in the form of reviews. PLS.

My last note before we start is a few pronunciations! Considering Im gonna make up a buuunch of words for this shit, we should start getting on the same page with them all. But I'll include soundouts for the real words too as it was recently brought to my attention that the ship's name is a bitch if you havent heard it out loud.

Cassiopeia; cass-ee-oh-pee-ah

Dejambe; day-jhahh-m-bay (like deja-vu but deja-mbay)

Kersch; kurshh

REAL AUTHORS NOTE! Idk when i wrote the one abover but now is Feb 2025!

Hey guys check it out Im reviving this story! It has been a difficult few years for me, but now one of the things that makes me feel safe and whole is reading/writing fantasy romance/scifi stuff. Ive had stargate sg1 on repeat again, as well as rewatching Naruto, so I am REALLY ready to take this story forward. Ive always been a gardening writer, I set seeds and write as they grow, but today I sat down and outlined the mysteries of this stories I hadnt yet solved, and am feeling better about their manifestation. I strongly encourage you to watch a few episodes of Stargate SG1, its free on Pluto (through Roku) and its truly excellent. If you like this sotry, that show may also scratch an itch for you

Anyways in my fleshing out of this story you may find that I missed a few opportunities to foreshadow, but have no fear as we are back on track :)

ONWARD

The Cassiopeia was designed for stealth, but she could be detected. It took a skilled controller (or a lot of dumb luck) to catch her out in open space. Unfortunately it appeared that the Kersch had both on its side that day.

"Fucking hell," Kaoru muttered as she adjusted a dial and tried not to let her eye twitch out of her head. She hit a button next to a display and bit out a few acidic commands. "All hands to stations, prepare for evasive maneuvers," Another button pushed hard sent her voice directly to the engine bay. "Misao I want you to divert power from weapons and put it all into shields then get us ready to bolt."

"Cap'n, they're hailing us," said Sano with an expression ruled by tight fury. Kenshin looked on from the rear of the bridge, feeling very silly and out of place in his fuzzy slippers. Just before him Aoshi was watching with a blank expression, but Kenshin could tell that he was tense. Who was this enemy to elicit such a response from the crew of the Cassiopeia? There were many dangers in the galaxy and not all of them were known - sometimes reports came back of ships destroyed with no way to trace the aggressor or even to know where they had come from.

But something was strange about this crew and Kenshin realized in that instance that he knew absolutely nothing about their operations. He had been swept away by his recovery and a certain jasmine-scented wonder. They had shared information with him, but he had neglected to ask a certain few questions that he felt at this moment would have at least clarified the level of threat they were facing. Was it a business rival, or someone who had darker intentions?

Without struggling too hard with the line of thinking, Kenshin decided that for the moment it didn't matter. At the very least this crew had saved his life and he owed them his support.

As he refocused his mind on the scene before him, he edged backwards a little so that he occupied the empty space beside the doorway in case someone had to get past him. He wanted to remain present and letting himself become a nuisance seemed like a fast-track back to a locked room. He could feel Kaoru's ki twisting around the bridge, growing hot and anxious with the pressure of the engagement. He couldn't be much help in any other way, so he very carefully began allowing his own aura to feel its way along the edge of her's. It went as unobtrusively as Kenshin could will it, submitting to the lashing tendrils of her emotions and obediently reaching for it wherever there was room to approach. It was as though her ferocity of spirit had manifested itself as a wild living thing swirling angrily in the confines of the bridge, and his was a gentle but tame creature offering the simple comfort of being held.

As he tentatively encouraged the dancing swirl of their auras, his understanding of Captain Kaoru Kamiya deepened in a way that had been hidden from him previously. Her name, her family name, there had been something nagging his mind about it since he learned it. He knew it was a little unfair, taking advantage of her distraction like this, but he couldn't help himself. The pieces were right there and he was beginning to put them together. The feral snapping of her aura was something he had never known, but was somehow still familiar.

Kaoru was too engrossed in what was unfolding to consciously notice.

"Open a channel, let's hear what they have to say," She answered Sano after a moment of consideration. There was a crackle of static, and then a man's voice came through the speakers.

"What have we here? Could it be the Cassiopeia and her pathetic outworld band of criminals? Tsk tsk, everyone says you're quite hard to catch, but look at you now, nearly stumbled right into us!" There was a patronizing chuckle and Kaoru's scowl was almost painful.

"On what grounds do you hail us, Gohei?" Kaoru spat evenly, sparks sizzling through her aura like fireworks. Kenshin bit the inside of his cheek as their commingling energies brought the sensation into his body, not allowing himself to dwell on exactly how much he enjoyed the feeling of her intensity. It really wasn't the time.

"You'll hand over whatever stolen goods you've surely got squirreled away in that old bucket of yours and submit to the law, Captain Kamiya, or we will remove your stain from this quadrant permanently!" The Cassiopeia rocked and there was a strange sound like water hitting a roof.

"Shields holding, but that was not a warning shot," Sano relayed, watching the monitors in front of him as diagnostics of the attack appeared. "He's trying to immobilize us." He added, holding the main steering control and nervously glancing at the captain.

"We can't risk him overpowering us," Kaoru returned just as another blast rocked the ship. "How far are we from Dejambe? Will he presume that was our heading or are we still far enough out?" Another booming crash, this time a monitor in front of Sano went blank. He turned and punched a few strings of letters into a keyboard beside him before shouting over his shoulder to Kaoru.

"There's still a dozen rocks between here and there - if we can break away, we can give him the slip!" This time another strike from the weapon had an alarm ringing in the bridge. "We're losing shield integrity," came Aoshi's terse but dutiful report as he looked at the many screens around them.

"Hit the auxiliary thrust and push off, then open a hyperspace window - set course for Dejambe's furthest moon," Kaoru shot back, leaping from her seat to reach a set of controls on the wall nearby. The ship rocked again as Sano put the proverbial pedal to the floor, all of his muscles straining with the strength it took to hold the controls in the correct orientation against the screaming force of the engines. Racing back to her position again Kaoru hit the button for the engine bay. "Are you ready Misao?!" Kaoru had to yell over the next hit that struck the ship, but Misao's clear ringing voice filled the air in the next moment.

"Punch it!"

Sano needed no further instruction. He had already begun the motions required, steering the ship into a pivot from the battle theater to retreat into open space. As soon as Misao gave the green light he flipped two switches and threw a lever forward, then gripped the steering device with white knuckles as the Cassiopeia shot forward like a bullet.

Kenshin reeled from the sudden acceleration but the ship's inertial dampeners kicked in quickly enough and in the span of a heartbeat had reset normal gravity in the vessel. The wide front window was suddenly filled with a kaleidoscope of colors all streaming past as though they had entered a tunnel. His mouth hung open at the sight, never having actually seen travel through hyperspace from this vantage. In fact, the only ships he knew of that could pull off the trick were massive Circuit cruisers that were built for war or permanent occupation in space. Another incredible mystery to solve.

Looking around the room from his position in the back, he watched as Kaoru slumped back into her chair and Sano tried his best to hide his shaking behind a big stretch. Aoshi hadn't moved even an inch, but there was something to the set of his shoulders that implied he had relaxed as well. Hoping to continue going unnoticed, Kenshin waited.

"How exactly did that just happen, Sano?" Kaoru's voice was like ice as she slowly turned her attention to the pilot, who had already begun trying to make his escape. He froze in his position, half-risen from the seat he was no longer strapped into. Kenshin could see from where he was that Sano's face went a little pale at the question.

Sano turned and raised his hands in front of himself, a placating expression on his sheepish face. "Ah - well - the sparring match you saw Yahiko and I finish, well - ah - I know I had been supposed to report to the bridge immediately after but -" He was fumbling his words as Kaoru's expression darkened. "It's the fox's fault!" Sano finally spewed out in exasperation, "She distracted me!"

Kenshin could feel the amusement bubbling up in his chest. Who was the fox? His mind's eye flashed a sultry and beautiful doctor-ess, welcoming him aboard as she left his medical prison just earlier that morning. If he squinted hard enough in his mind, yes there - he could almost see fox ears sprouting from her head and a wickedness to the clever gleam in her eye. It was hard to suppress his smile.

Kaoru however, was less than pleased with his excuse.

"Dishes for a MONTH, Sasuke! And you'll clean the hangar, top to bottom!" She growled as she pointed a finger, her punishment lashing at Sano as his expression of frustration and fear turned to abject depression, his hands dragging at his cheeks as he nearly tipped over. Rendered speechless though sputtering to come up with a rebuttal, Kaoru didn't give him the chance. She stood and turned to leave.

Kenshin realized that Aoshi was gone, he hadn't even seen him move. Smart man, he thought briefly as the fury of Kaoru's aura practically slammed into him as her attention shifted his way. His eyes widened a little and a twinge of fear showed on his face, Kaoru's wrath seeming to melt his own ki with its powerful heat. She recognized it quickly though - he wondered if through her ki or his facial expression - and to his complete shock the feeling retreated politely, almost smoothing his own as it left in apology. Kenshin felt a cold sweat bloom on his body and realized that he immediately missed the burning fire of her aura; it had wrapped around him so securely that when it left him again, the ship felt colder to him than it ever had before.

Aura and ki, two halves of the same coin and relatively interchangeable terms, did not usually manifest so physically. Especially, Kenshin mentally noted, in people outside his clan. He was sure her crewmates would have only felt her tension, perhaps seen a spark or something out of the corner of their eye, but when he looked closely he could see it truly. More pieces were clicking into place for him, but the shock of their discovery was still looming and clouding his ability to assemble them.

'While the lovely doctor may be the fox of the crew,' Kenshin thought as he watched Kaoru mentally gather herself and try to offer him a soft smile, 'their captain is a tigress.'

The journey through hyperspace would reduce their travel time immensely, but not completely. They had about a day's travel through the portal still remaining, but because it was such an exclusive technology limited to the hyper-elite and wealthy due to its difficult maintenance, they knew that no one would be able to attack them while using it. It was as safe as it got in the wilderness that was outer ring space.

They were long away from the tendrils of policing that existed around the boundaries of the circuit, which was the real reason the attack by the Kersch had been so completely unexpected. They always needed to be on guard for roaming space pirates and other dangers, but they would never have anticipated seeing Circuit forces so far out. The Cassiopeia had weapons that may have been able to help, but Kaoru knew this foe - Gohei Hiruma, captain of the Kersch, had a particular bone to pick with her and her crew. He would not have stopped at disabling their ship and capturing them for trial in the Circuit.

Kaoru had been chewing on these lines of thinking as she led Kenshin away from the bridge. Her proffered smile had faded the moment she turned from him. She had invited him back to his own quarters to rest before the crew regathered for a shared meal, and he had silently acquiesced. His mood had shrunk at her offer, which had really been a statement more than a question, and he began resigning himself to his inevitable lockup in the infirmary. His gaze was lowered as they walked quietly together, both captured by their own minds.

He looked up with a start however as they stopped walking. He hadn't been paying attention to their direction, but when he brought his eyes up he saw that they were not in the medical wing as he had anticipated. This was a long narrow hallway she hadn't previously shown him. With a question in the crease of his eyes he glanced at her, unsure suddenly and hoping this wasn't even more like a jail cell than his previous accommodations. Kaoru looked up at him, the few inches of height difference just tilting her chin, and the corner of her mouth lifted in a smirk which threatened to leave him breathless.

"This will be your room," She stated. The door slid open before them in response to her left palm pressing a pad beside it. There was an unspoken second half to her sentence and he waited almost without moving to hear it, tearing his eyes away from her face to look into the compartment. She seemed to hesitate in saying more and instead, if anything, was absorbing his reaction. Kaoru was beginning to accept that this stranger and she had things in common that had been foreign to her before. The way she could read his emotions even though they weren't being revealed on his face or in his eyes, no more than any other human could. The way he seemed to follow her around the ship, even though he was locked in the infirmary. Her father had left a lot of secrets behind with his unexpected passing and Kaoru was feeling, more than ever, the absence of knowledge he could have supplied.

She watched, and felt, as Kenshin ran the gamut of emotional responses. The room was small of course, hardly a few meters square, but it was enough space for a full-length bed. It had shelves and compartments built all around it, including a cold one for storing snacks. The linens on the bed looked old but comfortable and soft, books on the shelves were worn out from overreading, and the sensation of home lingered in every nook and cranny. He seemed at a loss for words, which she took to her advantage to finally lay a choice at his feet.

"If you decide to stay, that is."

With a little wave and a press of the door pad, Kaoru had left him with only that as the door slid shut between them. Kenshin felt her move away, then turned his attention back again to the room he was in. His room.

"Stay," He said uselessly as he continued to soak in his surroundings. The walls had been painted an azure blue, and as he reached out a hand and touched one he felt a pang in his heart. There was so much love here, in this cold unfeeling vastness of empty space there was love. He felt as though he was wandering in the very essence of Kaoru's aura, as though nothing was real and the time and space of his existence was only occurring in the magic of her being, manifested in the shape of a spacecraft. Could any of this be real?

Overwhelmed by his thoughts he sat on the bed, facing the door and the multicolored woven throw rug beneath his slippered feet. Joy leaked out of every space he turned to. He stood and began looking closer, at the books and the walls, and noticed there were empty spaces. He had thought initially as he visually scoured the room that this was certainly a guest space, as luxurious as that seemed on a vessel like this. But there was room in that compartment for what he wanted to bring, or keep safe. He even spied a lockbox that was half-open, the code for the lock written on scrap inside. It was trust to shape his environment, to have silence and separation, to be a part of their lives by choice.

Kenshin's fingers ran over the spines of a few heavier books on lower shelves. His eye caught something just as he was about to move on, the corner of a glossy paper sticking up out of one of those heavy books. He tugged out the ratty tome and wiped a little dust off the shell before gently cracking it open to the bookmarked page.

When it opened flat in his hands, he nearly dropped it in shock. Trembling, his eyes met the ones in the photo. Strong, dark blue eyes framed by black hair and pale features. The man in the image stared back at him with strength and conviction. There was no expression on his face, but his eyes gleamed with something otherworldly. Kenshin slowly closed the book and replaced it where he had found it, his hand lingering on it and his expression darkening as he bowed his head.

He was beginning to see the image the puzzle made, at last.