Hello, everyone! This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing back in! Here we go. The new year has hit, and the second part is finally up and running. Let's see if we can keep things interesting. For anyone who read the first one and is still up for more, I hope this is worth the wait. Okay, let's do it!

NOTE:

-All of the characters and concepts featured in this fic belong to their respective owners.

I Want to Protect Their Dreams

Restaurant Grazie #9. Planet Earth.

Not very long after his conversation with Stinger, Tsurugi decided to make his first move. With a casual face and an unassuming demeanor, he stepped into the restaurant as he normally did. Even though he had already been here countless times, he still enjoyed the look and feel of the place, and he certainly got a kick out of seeing how happy the people around him seemed to be.

"Tsurugi!" Right on cue, Spada was there to greet him. "You're here a bit later than usual."

He offered a simple nod. "Yes, I was busy with some paperwork. I hope that won't be a problem."

"Not at all. It's a surprise, but they say variety's the spice of life, and I can work with a little spice." The chef definitely seemed happy to see his friend. "You'll be having your usual, right?"

Once again, the president nodded at him.

"That's right." And with that, he went to take a seat. "Thank you for having me, Spada."

Spada offered a very casual bow with his head.

"Of course!" He then turned around and began to make his way to the kitchen. "One curry coming right up!"

Tsurugi kept a calm look on his face the whole time, but as he did, he sank into his own thoughts for a moment.

If I'm fortunate, Stinger should be doing as well as I am so far.

The Battle Orion Ship, currently in orbit around the Earth.

"Commander! Welcome back!"

Raptor 283 quickly scrambled to the bridge's main entrance. The moment she was alerted to the Sasori Voyager making its way to the ship's hangar, she wanted to be ready for Stinger's arrival, and as soon as the door opened, she walked over to greet him with her personal tablet on hand.

"How'd it go?"

Stinger calmly greeted her. "Everything's fine. I let Tsurugi know what happened. He said he'd let me know if he needed our help for any other assignments, but the important thing is, the mission was a success."

"That's great news!" That instantly perked her up. "What should we do next?"

She then stepped aside as he made his way over to the commander's seat.

"Well, there's something I wanted to talk about." He waited for her to walk up to him before continuing. "…Do you remember what happened before we got the news report about Hammie?"

At the sound of those words, Raptor's head dropped down and she held her tablet a little closer to her chest as she stared at the floor. Clearly, she hadn't expected him to bring that up so suddenly.

"Oh…" It wasn't long before she looked him in the eye again, though. "Commander, I—"

Stinger stopped her by merely raising his hand.

"It's alright. I know it was an accident." He quickly brought it back down once he had her full attention. "And I'm not your commander right now. I'm your friend, and you can talk to me like one."

That seemed to calm her down at least a little.

"…I'm sorry, Stinger." As she spoke, Raptor put her tablet down on the table and simply stared at it. "I know I've gotten distracted before, but not in the middle of something like that. I just wanted us to have something made without the replicator. I know it's perfectly fine, but it's not the same as a handmade meal."

Stinger merely nodded in acknowledgement… even though she had her back turned on him and wouldn't be able to see it.

"I couldn't stop thinking about…"

"How much you miss Spada."

Raptor immediately tensed up, which didn't go unnoticed by him. She didn't react otherwise, but he could still tell that the comment had gotten to her.

"I know what's going on, Raptor. I've known about it for years." He decided to speak as gently as he possibly could. "Listen… it's just the two of us here. You can be as open as you want. I promise, whatever you have to say won't leave this bridge."

That seemed to work. She still didn't look at him, but he could see that she was starting to relax, if only slightly.

"I know that Spada means a lot to you." He then leaned forward on his seat. "I know you wanted to tell him that at the 9-star party, and at the one we threw for Hammie, too. Why didn't you?"

Raptor brought her hands together and began to twiddle her thumbs, as she was known to do on occasion.

"It's… not easy." Finally, she managed to force the words out. "Every time I want to, something goes wrong and I don't know how to salvage it. You don't even know about the time I threw a cake at his face and hit him in the gut."

Stinger was unfazed by her answer. "Maybe, but you ended up hitting him again at his restaurant and he was still happy to see you."

"Even so, I… I'm waiting for the right moment." After that, she turned back around so she could look at him once more. "I want things to be just right so I can tell him how I feel without messing up again."

It was at that point that she noticed how much that last sentence had genuinely confused him.

"Is that why you've mostly avoided him outside of those parties?"

In turn, his question gave Raptor some pause.

She hadn't thought of it as her actively avoiding Spada, but it was true that they hadn't had as many one-on-one meetups or chats as she would've liked in the last four years. Sure, they saw each other plenty when all of the Kyurangers got together, and she accompanied Stinger more than once, but she really hadn't taken the opportunity to go and meet up with him by herself.

Was she doing it unconsciously, perhaps? Or is it that she was too scared to talk to him casually? She had done so many times before, so that couldn't be it… or could it?

"How long have you felt this way?" Stinger asked, taking her right out of her thoughts.

After reflecting on that question for a moment, she decided to take a seat at the table, but not before turning her chair around so she could look directly at him.

"…Since we first met."

Back at the restaurant, Tsurugi was presented with the curry that he was hoping for.

"Here you go. Multiple servings, as usual." Having brought a tray with multiple plates, Spada put it down before taking one of them and placing it right in front of him. "Bon appétit!"

The president was instantly filled with glee. "Thank you for the meal."

As he began to dive in, however, Tsurugi made sure not to lose sight of his goal.

Just as he had hoped, by the time he made his way to the restaurant, he'd have enough time to greet Spada and get him to prepare his usual… and once it was finished, everyone else would've left already, including most of the working staff. He'd be allowed to stay there just long enough to eat his food in peace, since no one would question the president of the universe having a private meal at a classy place without making a scene of it, and since someone had to stay behind to close everything after the fact, he was confident that Spada himself would be the one to do that.

That would give him enough time to have a chat with his friend.

"How's your business?" And he wasted none of that time. "It must be different, going from managing a single restaurant to being in charge of an entire chain."

Spada took a seat at the opposite side of the table. "Sì. It's been a challenge, but I'm lucky to have people who love working with me and understand the most important part of the job."

"Of course. Making your guests smile." Tsurugi had heard that one a few times, and he knew how important it was to him. "It's good to know you haven't lost your touch, or your love for this job."

The chef nodded. "Grazie."

He then took a moment to look at his surroundings. Even if everyone else had left, he could almost hear his customers and employees as if they were actually there, and it always brought him a sense of satisfaction.

"What about you, Tsurugi? Any news you can share?"

There it was. That was exactly what Tsurugi needed.

"Well, Stinger came to my office recently."

Spada was immediately interested. "Oh, really?"

"Yes. He went on a solo mission to a different universe, and we discussed the results personally just earlier." With that, Tsurugi finished his first serving. "He and Raptor received an invitation that promised any one of them could have a wish granted. It didn't turn out that way, but he said the matter was handled. It sounds like everything is fine."

As he switched out his plate for a full one, he took note of Spada's reaction to the news.

"Fantastico!" He seemed quite pleased at first, although it wasn't long before he simmered down. "A part of me wishes they had dropped by, though. I haven't seen them here lately. I'd have treated them to a meal to celebrate."

That caught Tsurugi by surprise. "You mean… Raptor didn't come to see you? Not even while Stinger was away?"

"Not really." Spada's attention went over to the main entrance. "I'd have liked that… but maybe she was busy with something else."

Even though he had planned everything down to the last detail so he could talk with him privately, Tsurugi was genuinely taken aback by the news.

"My word…" And he made no secret of it. "I would've thought she'd take the chance to meet with you again. The two of you have known each other much longer than any of the rest of us, after all."

Spada answered him, his gaze unwavering. "Sì. We had plenty of good and bad times before we found Hammie and Champ."

"Indeed. You knew about Raptor's deep personal attachment to the Orion, as well as why she felt that way. I thought I was the only one who was ignorant of that, but when you regaled us with the tale, the others were just as surprised as I was."

That got a fond smile out of the chef.

"I really thought we were finished back then." That was where he finally turned his attention back to his comrade. "But Raptor always knew we'd make it through everything. From the moment we met, she never doubted it for a second."

That comment suddenly gave Tsurugi an idea.

"If you don't mind my asking… how did you and Raptor first meet? I've wondered about that for some time now."

Spada seemed somewhat surprised by the question, but he wasn't affected for long. "That's fine by me, but won't it keep you away from your work for too long?"

Tsurugi confidently shook his head.

"Not at all. To tell the truth, the reason I was late is that I recently completed about a week's worth of work in a few hours and assigned whatever I couldn't do on my own to my aides. They were quite eager to assist with that." He leaned back against his chair for a moment. "In other words, I have more than enough time."

Unlike his earlier reaction, that seemed to have caught the chef completely off-guard, much to his amusement.

"Don't be so surprised, Spada. After all, I am a living legend."

Taking that as his cue, Spada took a moment to compose himself before leaning on the table, all while Tsurugi started to dig into his second serving.

"In that case, I hope you're comfortable, because there's a lot to tell."

A few years ago…

Planet Acantho.

One of many worlds that make up the Dorado System, itself only one out of 88 star systems in the known universe. It is a planet peppered with islands all over what's a full body of water otherwise, but while this would be considered an ecological disaster in any other world, the inhabitants of this one would simply tell you that's how it's always been and it's perfectly fine, so long as you know your way around the place.

For the longest time, under Jark Matter's rule, the system experienced a food shortage that made it difficult for many people to get by, and this world was no exception. On the island of Istiophor, one little boy had been made aware of this fact at a very early age, almost to a painful degree, but rather than letting such a bad situation get to him, he instead chose to make the most of it and work around his limitations.

Having grown up as the firstborn son out of an increasing group of siblings, he took it upon himself to learn the art of cooking, and with a little ingenuity and a lot of determination, he managed to help his family get through even the roughest of times, taking to the task with a smile on his face and a love for the job that only grew as time went on. By the time he turned 28 years old, he had already gotten comfortable with his role as not only the family chef, but also a paternal figure of sorts to most of his brothers and sisters.

"Hey, Spada!"

Speaking of which, one of them was sitting comfortably as he walked up to her with a bag in hand.

Lanza, the oldest among his siblings and only two years younger than him, was the only one who didn't see him as a parental substitute… mainly because she had instead chosen to share that position with him and actively help him care for the others.

"Hey, sis. How's the catch for today?"

The very scenario before him was a case in point. While he had gone to find some spices and ingredients he could use, not only had she spent the same amount of time fishing to provide the most important part of their next meal, but she insisted that he let her do it.

"Why don't you see for yourself?"

He did exactly that, and was met by the sight of a bucket full of fish. Not an uncommon sight for most people, but with the way things were in their home world, being able to catch that much even once would be considered a blessing.

"I should've brought another bucket." That didn't keep her from joking around, though.

Spada briefly chuckled at her snippy comment. "Only one? Don't we have about three more of them back home?"

"Do I look like a wrestler to you?" Despite the quick retort, she sounded more entertained than upset. "I still have to carry them all the way home, bro. I'd need four arms to handle that much."

Once again, her brother had himself a chuckle. "You mean you don't have that many? Since when?"

"Oh, ha ha." She rolled her eyes as she reeled in a single fish.

After leaving it with the rest of her catch, she put her rod down and stood up to look him in the eye. Spada wasn't shaken by her glare; if anything, he just seemed to find it funny.

"Let me get that for you."

As he went to grab the bucket, he missed Lanza grinning and rolling her eyes at him again. "You just can't help yourself, can you, big brother?"

"You're right. I like doing this." He straightened back up and turned to her again. "And so do you, don't you, Lanza?"

She was going to argue, but then she paused for a moment before scoffing at him.

"Okay, yes, you're right. I can't even pretend that I don't." And then she followed it up by taking the bag he was carrying away from him. "But that's why we make a good team, right? You do things, and I help you. I do things, and you help me. We do things together, and the family gets to keep going."

Spada nodded. "The right kind of seasoning can really make a world of difference when you're preparing your favorite dish." Then he smiled at her. "And I couldn't have asked for better seasoning… or a better sister."

As another scoff escaped her, she turned around so he couldn't see her face. At first, he thought she was snickering at his comment, but he quickly changed his mind when he heard what she had to say in response.

"Can we just… go home before the entire island sees me weeping like a baby?"

As a sign of understanding, he gave her a few pats on the back. "Sì. Let's go."

Lanza took a deep breath and wiped her eyes before turning back around.

"…Right." She then cleared her throat. "Time to get moving! Allez!"

She took point while Spada followed behind her, and he couldn't help but smile again.

As he grew more and more comfortable in his chosen role, he had picked up the habit of peppering his speech with cooking metaphors and what other planets would consider foreign exclamations. At first, he simply did it because he figured that's what any good chef would do, but eventually, it just became second nature to him, and he liked how much more credibility it seemed to give him.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but think that Lanza had started to do a similar thing as a sign of solidarity, even if it was less frequent and she never brought any attention to it, and he appreciated it greatly.

"So, what's it going to be today? More of that special curry of yours?"

On their way back home, Spada was taken out of his thoughts by Lanza's voice.

"Actually, I was thinking we could do with a new recipe." He bounced back quickly, however. "It's been a while since the last time we grilled some of these, and I had an idea on how we could give it a twist."

She gave him a cheeky half-smile. "Ooh, how intriguing."

And suddenly, before either of them knew what happened, Lanza felt someone pushing her to the side, causing her to bump into her brother.

"What the— hey!" Then she noticed that she wasn't holding onto her bag anymore. "Get back here!"

Spada saw her quickly giving chase to whoever had stolen the ingredients he had gathered. Before he could follow her, however, he noticed something on the ground, and his first instinct was to go and pick it up.

He eyed it curiously for a moment. It looked like some kind of globe or sphere; there seemed to be some kind of image on it, but he couldn't make out what it was supposed to be, although he did notice its yellow coloration and the fact that it was apparently numbered "09" for some reason.

Before he could wonder about it for too long, he heard his sister's voice once again.

"Got you! You thought you could get away from me?"

Wasting no more time, he stood back up and decided to follow the sound of her voice.

By the time he caught up with her, he was surprised to find her arguing with a little boy while they fought over the bag… or rather, as the boy tried in vain to yank it away from her grip again, all while a little girl just watched them uncomfortably.

"Who do you think you are, stealing from people like that?"

The boy seemed more than a little upset. "Give it back! We need it!"

"Yeah, well, so does my brother, and he worked really hard for it!" And she looked just as displeased, if not more so. "If you think I'm just going to let some thief stomp on his efforts, think again!"

The boy just snapped back at her. "I'm not letting my sister go hungry!"

That seemed to give her some pause, and looking at the little girl's reaction didn't help. She looked like she didn't know whether to be happy or sad at what he had just said.

Before Lanza could say anything else, though, Spada decided to speak up.

"Scusa?" Both she and the two kids turned their attention to him, and they noticed he was raising his hand, like he was trying to defuse the tension. "That's just full of spices and condiments. I don't think it's going to do you much good."

That stopped the boy in his tracks, and as he took a moment to actually look inside the bag, he was dismayed to find that what he had just been told was true; there was nothing there that they could eat on its own.

After letting go of the bag at last, he let himself drop to the floor in defeat, an unhappy expression taking over his face.

"Why would you even try to steal from anyone like that, not to mention before dark?" Lanza asked, her voice no longer as angry as it was before.

Since the boy would not answer, the girl decided to do so instead.

"The governor took our food."

The second he heard that, Spada did his best to hold back his anger.

He couldn't recall a time in his life when he hadn't been aware of the Jark Matter governor who oversaw his planet: a monster by the name of Musaboruindaver. He'd never had the displeasure of meeting him in person, but he was familiar enough with his appearance for the mental image of what he had just heard to upset him greatly.

Every now and then, he would come down and select one or two people, sometimes more, without any real rhyme or reason. Those unlucky enough to be chosen would end up having to give him some kind of food as a tribute of sorts, no matter who they were or what they had to offer. It sounded like these kids were the victims this time.

Spada was usually fairly good job at keeping a cool head for his siblings, even in the face of some of their most childish antics, and this also extended to most people he talked to. All in all, there wasn't a lot that could really get under his skin… but taking food away from those who needed it most was definitely on the list.

"Bro…?"

And Lanza noticed it.

Even with how much the reveal had upset him, his facial expression and stance hadn't changed all that much, but that one word gave him some pause regardless. After seeing the concerned look on her face, he took a quick breath to try and calm himself down.

Of course she'd notice. Even when no one else did, she could always tell when her older brother was unhappy.

Having collected himself, Spada turned to the two kids once more.

"…He took everything you had left, didn't he?"

They merely nodded in silence, frowning all the way.

"Are you hungry?"

Sure enough, they nodded again.

"Well, that just won't do." Spada approached them before crouching down, just so they could better look him in the eye. "You caught us on our way home. We were getting ready to make supper, so… would you like to join us?"

Just as he hoped, their faces lit up almost instantly. "Really?!"

"Of course! I can't just leave you here knowing you have nothing to eat!" As if to prove his point, he reached out and gently patted their heads. "Times are tough for everyone here. If we don't help each other out, who will?"

Lanza, on the other hand, was taken aback by this. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Her brother simply stood back up before turning his attention to her.

"Tell me something, Lanza." He gestured in the kids' direction with his hand. "What do you see here?"

She gave them a quick look before turning back to him. "The same thing I've seen too many times: someone who's sad they couldn't sneak poison or explosives into the governor's tribute."

"Well, all I see is a pair of hungry children." As if to emphasize his point, Spada tipped his hat at her. "First and foremost, no matter where I go, I am a chef. When I see people starving before me, that place becomes my kitchen."

The moment she heard those words, Lanza realized what he was getting at.

"And in the kitchen, no one talks back to the chef." She promptly facepalmed, sighing in what almost seemed like frustration. "You really are too nice sometimes, bro."

Spada, for his part, came off like he knew that was coming. "Grazie. Besides, I know you've got my back, sis."

"Always have, always will." As she brought her hand back down, she gave him that same cheeky smile from before. "You're lucky that today's catch was so good."

That got her brother to smile back at her.

"It's not about what you have, but what you do with it." He then made a gesture with his head, as if asking them to follow him. "Alright, let's get going. Supper isn't going to make itself."

The two kids did as he asked, while Lanza gave her brother a mock salute, much to his amusement.

"Oui, chef."

On their way back home, the two pairs of siblings eventually managed to clear the air a little. The boy introduced himself and his younger sister, respectively, as Cœur and Âme; Spada was simply happy to know what to call them, and while Lanza had herself a laugh at how fitting their names were, she also couldn't help but find them adorable… even if she wouldn't say so.

After they finally made it to their destination, the two kids were surprised to discover that Spada and Lanza hadn't gathered all of the materials for themselves. The moment they announced their arrival, they were greeted by no less than seven younger people, all of whom were incredibly happy to see them again.

Even if he sincerely meant what he had said before about Âme, Cœur suddenly felt really bad about having tried to steal from them. They had so many more mouths to feed, after all, and he very nearly ruined everything for everyone.

Before he could dwell on it any longer, though, the two adults had already brought the group over and began the introductions all over again. The kids were surprised to find out that their parents didn't seem to be with them; every single one of these people just happened to be Spada and Lanza's younger siblings.

While the kids' very first impulse was to try and apologize for everything, the others didn't seem to pay it much mind after Spada mentioned that he had invited them over for supper and explained why they had been late. Some of them were surprised, but in the end, they all accepted that today's supper would be for eleven people instead of nine.

The boy wanted to be upset at their kindness, wanted to argue against it after what he had done… but in the end, seeing how happy his sister was led him to try and push his worries aside. If she was okay, he was okay. That was enough for him, and he had all of them to thank for that.

After basically putting on a show for his brothers and sisters, not to mention their two unexpected guests, Spada's work in the kitchen had ended. As usual, Lanza insisted on handling the dishes, and once she was done with that, she made sure that her siblings and the kids were distracted before she slipped away.

She was ready to start searching around, but before she knew it, she found her older brother hadn't gone too far away from their home, and he was gazing at the stars all by himself.

"Hey… are you okay?" She took a seat next to him as she spoke to him. "You don't usually bail on us like that."

Spada nodded without looking at her. "Sì. I was just… thinking about a few things."

While Lanza hadn't been helping her brother out from the very start, she didn't need that to know him well. At least, well enough to know when he was acting out of character.

"…Wow, that's big brother talk for 'something's bothering me' if ever I've heard it." And this was such an instance, as far as she was concerned. "Alright, talk to me. What's eating you?"

He was hesitant to answer at first, but when he noticed the play on words, he couldn't help but laugh at it. She always had something of a disarming wit to her, and after he realized that she was using it on him, he simply relented, a sigh escaping him as his laughter died down.

"Do you… ever wonder why we're here?"

She tilted her head at that. "What, you mean… out here?"

"Just… this whole situation we're stuck in. Always living in fear of Jark Matter, worrying about how we'll make it to our next meal…" Finally, he turned his head and looked at her. "Is it going to be like this forever? Going in circles and hoping that things will change one day, not able to do anything to make that happen?"

Lanza raised an eyebrow at him. "Getting tired of cooking for us? Is that it?"

"No, I love cooking for you and the others." Despite her jokey tone, his answer was completely sincere. "…But what about those who don't have someone to help them through the tough times? The rest of the people here, the other planets, the other systems… who's to say they're not having the same problems we have? Who's looking out for them?"

By the time he was done talking, she was already lying down on her back as she turned her eyes to the sky.

"What, are you telling me that's something my big brother can't fix?" A sarcastic chuckle escaped from her lips. "And here I thought we had the greatest chef in the universe living under our roof."

That last part made Spada's eyes widen.

"…You really do believe that, don't you?"

And this time, she was the one who answered without looking at him.

"I wouldn't say it if I didn't, and I can promise you that the others think the same. At this point, I'm convinced the only thing you can't do is quit, and even that's only because you'd refuse outright if someone asked you to." Then she raised her hand to vaguely point at their home. "In fact, I'll stake my next meal on those kids over there agreeing with me too."

Despite some mild amusement at her comment, Spada shook his head. "I think I'd like it better if you don't do that."

"Relax, bro. I was just kidding. Besides, I don't think you're physically capable of taking a loss anyway." Lanza brought her hand back down. "Remember what happened when you tried to make curry for the first time?"

As soon as she said that, the memory flashed right before his eyes. He turned away from her, and he could feel a grin taking over his face.

"…It didn't turn out great."

She merely scoffed at his answer.

"Yeah, well, you were just a boy." She began to draw constellations on the sky with her index finger as she kept talking. "Not that it stopped you. If it were me, I would've dropped it, but you just kept on trying again and again and said you wouldn't stop until you got it exactly right, and hey, you eventually did. Then you slowly graduated to bigger and trickier dishes, and now it's like cooking is your superpower."

With a sigh, she sat back up.

"Seriously, you've been cooking for this family since you and I were small, and you still find ways to feed a total of nine mouths every day. And that's putting aside all the times you've managed to surprise us with something you're just trying out. I can't even begin to tell you how much I've learned just from watching you." And then she turned her body around so she could look right at him. "I swear, if you had a spaceship, you'd probably cook the feast to end all feasts and then pass by every system in the known universe so everyone could get a piece of it."

Spada was taken aback. It wasn't often that he was caught off-guard, but his sister was doing a fine job of that without actually trying, and it took him a moment to come up with something to say.

"Maybe, but who would take care of you guys then?"

In response, she crossed her arms. "Ah, so you don't trust me to fill in for you. Good to know."

"No, that's not what I—"

That got her to laugh once again.

"I know, I know. I'm just messing with you." Lanza let her arms drop back down before turning away from him again. "Honestly, if you did… we'd be nothing but proud of you. Can you picture it? Spada from the Dorado System, the greatest chef who ever lived, riding on a spaceship and righting wrongs across the universe, armed with nothing but a fancy hat and a frying pan."

That got a chuckle out of him in turn.

"That sounds like an adventure… even if I would prefer a fully stocked kitchen."

She scoffed once again. "I thought a first-class chef wasn't allowed to get picky."

"Touché."

And with that, the two siblings exchanged an elbow bump.

"Thanks for the help, sis."

"Don't mention it, bro."

Suddenly, they heard a voice right behind them.

"Excuse us, mister."

They turned around, and sure enough, Cœur and Âme were standing there.

"Sì?" Spada was quick to ask.

This time, Âme spoke up first. "We should get going before it gets any darker, but we didn't want to leave without thanking you for the meal."

She bowed her head down, and in response, Spada gently patted her once again.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it."

As she straightened back up, her brother looked at Lanza instead.

"And I wanted to apologize for earlier. I never would've done it if I knew how much you needed everything." Now he was the one who lowered his head. "I'm sorry for what happened, miss."

She couldn't help but sigh at that.

"It's fine. Believe me, I get why you did it." After reaching out and bringing the boy's head back up, she took a moment to lightly ruffle his hair. "Just… don't make a habit out of it, okay?"

Touched by the gesture, he could only nod at her, a few tears threatening to fall from his eyes as he did.

"Oh, before I forget…" As Cœur wiped his eyes, he heard Spada's voice again.

When he brought his hands back down, he was surprised to see him holding the yellow globe that he had picked up earlier.

"Where did you find that?"

Spada shrugged at that. "I guess you dropped it when you tried to steal our ingredients. I figured I'd hold onto it until I could give it back to you."

He offered it to the two children… and was surprised by what seemed like hesitation on their part. They just stared at it for a moment, then at him, and then they turned to each other for a moment before nodding in unison, before finally looking at him once more.

"Actually… you can have it if you want, mister."

That managed to genuinely surprise him.

"Oh, no, no, you don't need to do that. This is yours."

The two children shook his head before Cœur spoke up again. "Please, keep it. It's the least we can do after everything that happened."

Even though he wasn't on board with it, when he saw the looks on their faces, Spada found himself unable to argue any further.

"…Alright, if you insist. I'll take good care of it." He took a moment to put it away before focusing on them again. "But promise me you'll do the same for each other. Can you do that?"

The children nodded once again, this time with a smile on their faces. "Sì!"

Lanza immediately began to laugh as she lightly punched her brother in the shoulder. He wasn't even bothered by it; if anything, he seemed just as entertained as she was.

"That's what I wanted to hear." He then tipped his hat at the two kids. "Ciao!"

They waved goodbye at Spada and Lanza, which the two adults responded to in kind.

"They're good kids." Once they were far enough, Lanza addressed her brother again. "It sucks that we had to meet them the way we did."

Spada eyed her curiously. "Do they remind you of someone?"

"Not really, no."

She sounded fairly serious when she said that… until she narrowed her eyes at him with a cheeky grin.

As he chuckled once more, Spada turned back around, and it wasn't long before his attention was caught by something else.

"Look! A shooting star!"

Lanza quickly turned around as well, and just barely managed to see it as well.

"Hey, lucky you. That's good for one wish." She lightly nudged him. "Make it a good one. You earned it."

He nodded at her. "Grazie."

Spada had never been one to believe in the idea of wishing upon a star. It's not like that was going to magically fill out their pantry, or get rid of Jark Matter overnight, or bring their parents back. However, he knew that his sister was more open to the idea, even if she also knew it could only do so much without some hard work to back it up, so he decided to indulge her this time. Maybe the whole situation with the two kids had him in a more accepting mood, or maybe it was their conversation from a moment ago, but either way, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

I wish… I could make a real difference. I want a universe where no one has to go hungry or live in fear, where I truly can become the greatest chef… and I want a way to make it happen.

After a moment, he opened his eyes again, and when he saw Lanza again, she had a smile on her face. Not one of the usual ones, though; just a gentle, sisterly smile.

"There you go." Even her voice was a lot calmer than it normally was. "Now you've got a goal to aspire to, something to work for. How's that feel?"

He took a moment to reflect on it before just going with what came to mind. "…Not too bad."

Lanza nodded at him before standing up straight.

"Well, we better get going. The others are going to flip the entire system upside down if their big brother suddenly vanishes overnight." She did some stretching exercises as she spoke, and then ended the routine by pointing back at their home. "Allez, tout de suite!"

As she walked away, Spada had himself one more chuckle before following suit… all the while failing to notice the faint glow that was emanating from one of his pockets.

Meanwhile…

Elsewhere in the Dorado System, a slightly odd-looking spaceship had made its way there after seemingly flying for some time with no clear end goal. On the bridge, someone stared intently at the controls, almost as if trying to comprehend what she was looking at, before gazing at the view in front of her.

"…We did it." Despite the restraint, she couldn't hide how pleased she was. "We did it! We finally found one!"

With nothing more to say, she took a seat at the controls and a course was set in the direction of whatever had caught her attention.

Full disclosure: as I worked on putting this whole idea together and sort of pictured the little sibling conversations in my head, when it came to thinking of someone that could bounce off Tetsuji Sakakibara's usual charming performance, the actress that came to mind was actually Yui Koike. Is that weird?

Anyway, for anyone who's still interested, my deepest apologies for the delay. Life has been keeping me busier than I expected, but trust me, I am not planning to abandon this project anytime soon. Thanks to everyone who's read, reviewed and added this story to their Favorites and Alerts. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and that you'll stay tuned for the next one.

This is Umbra the Hedgehog signing off.