Chapter Ten
One Last Day
Everyone exited the portal into the exact same spot they'd left from. "Uh, my stomach." Ahsoka groaned as stumbled into the ComVee's bathroom before throwing up.
"Tell me about it." Merida groaned as she laid down on the floor.
"I'm surprised that you're still so sensetive to the jump, though it might have somthing to do with the unique anatomy of your montrals and lekku." Kaede suggested as she gently held Ahsoka's lekku so they wouldn't end up in the toilet.
"Why do I still feel like this then? I don't have montrals or lekku?" Merida asked as she stared up at the ceiling.
"This is only your second or third time traveling via the transport watch, that feeling typically wears off after a few times using the portals. With the exception of Ami, almost all of us felt at least a little queasy the first time we jumped between universes." Usagi explained with a small smile.
"Well it sure as heck isn't wearing off for me." Ahsoka groaned as she slowly stood up with Kaede's help.
"Well that was fun, I hope we eventually have a chance to vist other planets in your galaxy." Marianne said with a smile as she looked at Ahsoka and Merida.
"We'd be happy to show you around sometime, I suspect that you'd both love to visit Kashyyyk and Felucia, both planets have some incredible wildlife." Merida suggested with a smile.
"So, what should we do now? This is the last day of our vacation." Ami asked as she looked at everyone.
"I definitely have to go swimming with Ahsoka, I can't wait to see her in that bikini." Merida replied with a small grin as she looked at Ahsoka.
"What are you going to wear?" Ahsoka asked with a smile as she finally composed herself from the jump.
"Good question." Merida replied in a thoughtful tone.
"Maybe my suit will fit you, we look about the same build." Minako suggested as she looked Merida up and down.
"Thank you Minako, that's very kind of you." Merida replied with a smile.
"Follow me, it's outside." Minako instructed as she lead Merida out of the ComVee, then over to a tree where her suit was hanging over a branch.
"Thank you Minako." Merida thanked as she took the suit and held it up to herself. "This should fit, thanks again Minako." Merida said as she brought the suit into the ComVee to change.
"I suppose I should change as well." Ahsoka said to herself as she walked over to the tree and grabbed her suit off the branch, then ducked into some bushes to change.
"What should the rest of us do then?" Kaede asked as she looked at everyone else.
"Let's go for a walk in the jungle, you can all see more of the wildlife." Eliza suggested as she stepped out of the ComVee with her backpack.
"That sounds like fun, what do you say girls?" Ami asked as she looked down at the puffs.
"Yay, I wanna to talk with more cute animals." Bubbles replied as she flew over to Eliza.
"Zoom?" Donnie asked as he looked at Buttercup.
"Zoom." Buttercup replied as she knelt down so Donnie could climb onto her back. "Donnie and I are going on an ariel tour." Buttercup informed as she started floating into the air.
"Alright, just be safe you two." Mako replied as she looked up at Buttercup.
"Have fun Donnie." Nigel said as he waved at Donnie and Buttercup.
"Woo! Zoom, zoom, zoom!" Donnie yelled as Buttercup dashed off.
"Come on everyone." Eliza giggled as she ran into the jungle, followed by everyone but Debbie.
"Alright, peace and quiet at last." Debbie said with a content sigh as she sat down in her lounge chair and grabbed a magazine.
"Ready Ahsoka?" Merida asked as she stepped out of the ComVee.
"Definitely." Ahsoka answered as she walked over to Merida.
"Wow." Merida quietly said as she stared at Ahsoka.
"What?" Ahsoka asked as she looked down at herself.
"Nothing. It's just... You're so beautiful, and that suit looks so good on you." Merida said with a hint of lust as she gently ran her hand over Ahsoka's chest and down her stomach.
"You look pretty amazing yourself." Ahsoka replied as she gently wrapped her arm around Merida's back and pulled her agianst herself.
"You love birds wanna get a room?" Debbie asked as she blew a bubble with some gum she was chewing, then turned the page of her magazine.
"Why get a room when we have an entire island?" Ahsoka giggled as she took Merida's hand in her own and lead her towards the path that would take them to the water.
After a short walk the two women arrived at the beach, happy to find it empty. "Looks like we're all alone here." Merida said as she looked around a bit.
"What should we do first?" Ahsoka asked with a smile as she looked around.
"Honestly, I've always dreamt of building a massive sandcastle, but I never had a way to do it. But maybe with a Jedi's help I could." Merida answered with a small grin.
"Okay, that was definitely not what I was expecting to hear, but it should be fun. Let's do it." Ahsoka replied as she looked for a flat and even spot of ground to build their sandcastle.
"Ah ha! Here's a good spot!" Merida said as she pointed to a large, flat section of packed sand.
"Awesome, let's get started." Ahsoka replied as she and Merida started planning their sandcastle.
While Ahsoka and Merida built their sand castle, everyone else was wandering through the jungle. "Oo." Donnie said as he picked up a long worm before slurping it down his throat like a noodle.
"Ew! Donnie, don't eat worms." Eliza scolded as Donnie grabbed a second worm from the dirt.
"Why not?" Buttercup asked as she looked at Eliza with a worm hanging out of her mouth.
"Buttercup! Spit that worm out right now, that's disgusting!" Ami yelled as she glared at Buttercup.
"Fine." Buttercup grumbled before spitting the worm out.
"Oh wow." Eliza quietly said as she walked over to a tree.
"What is it Eliza?" Usagi asked as she walked over to Eliza.
"Look at these claw marks in this tree, I wonder what made them. There shouldn't be any predator species on this island, and none of the local wildlife have claws capable of making marks like these." Eliza replied as she studied the deep claw marks in the tree trunk.
"Quite an astute observation Eliza, though these claw marks weren't caused by anything native to this island or even our planet." Nigel replied with a smile as he looked at the marks in the tree.
"I can't imagine who could've caused them then." Rei said with a chuckle.
"This must've been where you both first met Ahsoka." Blossom said with a smile as she looked at the marks on the tree.
"Indeed. It was spectacular, the way she climbed and moved with such agility. It was quite a unique experience, we'll have to show you all the footage we took when we first met her." Nigel replied with a chuckle.
"You should've heard Nigel and myself trying to figure out what she was, Nigel thought she was the missing link." Marianne said with a small grin.
"Wait, you thought Ahsoka was the missing link?" Eliza asked with a giggle.
"I did, but it wasn't a terrible conclusion. Other than her orange skin and her montrals and lekku, her appearance is quite humanoid in nature. She had some communication skills, but nothing as advanced as what the average human had. Her behavior while in her feral state is definitely something between full human and full animal, hence my thinking that she was the missing link." Nigel explained with a smile.
"I can see why you'd suspect that she was the missing link, I may have thought the same thing if that's how she was behaving when we first met." Ami replied with a thoughtful expression.
"I agree with Ami, it wasn't a completely illogical suspicion to have." Kaede added with a small smile.
"I suppose I can understand the reasoning behind your thought process Nigel, though I still think the orange skin was a clear sign that she wasn't human." Marianne replied with a chuckle.
"Actually, I would argue that even that wouldn't be a complete deterrent to the thought that Ahsoka was the missing link. Humans already come in a variety of skin colors and tones, and some medical conditions such as albinism can cause even more drastic variations in skin color." Ami said with a thoughtful expression.
"Marianne actually did suggest that Ahsoka was a human that was infected by some kind of new disease." Nigel informed with a small smile.
"Thank goodness that wasn't the case, I'd hate ta contract an illness that made me grow montrals and lekku. That'd probably hurt like hell." Sarah replied with a shudder.
"Yeah, but it would be interesting to have Ahsoka's incredible hearing and senses. I remember her telling Debbie and I how sensitive her montrals and lekku were, they're so sensitive that she can probably hear us talking about her right now." Eliza replied with a smile.
"Wow, having the force makes doing this so much easier." Ahsoka said with a giggle as she formed some sand into a large wall shape before gently setting it down.
"I know, this is so much fun. I can't wait to show everyone what we've built." Merida replied as she smoothed some sand over the edges that connected Ahsoka's sand wall to the rest of the structure.
"I can't believe we made a sandcastle that's big enough to go inside of." Ahsoka said with a smile as she and merida stared at their sandcastle.
"Oh! Let's dig a moat around it, then we can make a sand bridge to cross it." Merida suggested as she started digging around the perimeter of the castle.
"You do that and I'll work on the interior of the castle." Ahsoka replied as she walked over to the castle, then got down on her hands and knees to crawl through the door they'd made. "Uh, I think we made the door a little too small." Ahsoka grunted as she tried to pull her lower half through the door.
"Oh look, the full moon's out." Merida giggled as she stared at Ahsoka's butt.
"Very funny Merida." Ahsoka grumbled as she continued wiggling in the door.
"Here, let me help you." Merida replied as she walked over to Ahsoka.
"Thanks." Ahsoka thanked as Merida gave her butt a firm push. "We should really make that door bigger." Ahsoka said as she looked out the door at Merida.
"But this small door gives me an excuse to touch your cute little butt." Merida giggled in reply.
"If you wanna touch my butt that badly you could just ask." Ahsoka replied with a grin.
"I could, but it's not as much fun if you know it's coming." Merida chuckled before going back to work on digging the moat.
"I suppose not." Ahoska replied as she looked around the inside of their castle, planning on where she should put furniture and other decorations. "Oh, what if we put a table here, and couch here, and a..." Ahsoka started to say, until she took a step and a small hole opened up in the floor. "Woah! That was close." Ahsoka said to herself as she jumped to the side, then peered into the hole.
"Everything alright in there Ahsoka?" Merida asked as she poked her head through the castle door.
"Wow. You've gotta see this, Merida." Ahsoka said with a quiet gasp as she stared into the hole.
"See what?" Merida asked as she started crawling through the door.
"There's a cave under the castle, it looks like some kind of crystal cavern or something." Ahsoka replied as she continued staring into the hole.
"Perhaps you were right about the door." Merida mumbled as she tried to wiggle through the door.
"Told you it was too small." Ahsoka replied as she crawled over to Merida and pulled her through the door.
"Thanks. Now let's see that cave you found." Merida said with excitement as she and Ahsoka walked over to the hole in the floor. "Oh wow, it's beautiful." Merida quietly gasped as she stared into the hole. Their was a cave directly below them, and it was filled with sparkling purple rocks. The light that was shining down into the hole caused the cave to glisten and twinkle, almost as if the cave was filled with stars. "We have to check it out." Merida said with a smile as she looked up at Ahsoka.
"Okay, but let's finish our sand house first. That way we can show everyone else both our sand house and the cave, plus, no offense to Mako and Minako, but something tells me that our door won't survive their entry." Ahsoka chuckled as she looked back at their tiny door.
"Good point. Well, I'll work on furniture while you work on making a few windows. Just be careful where you dig." Merida replied as she gathered some sand and started forming it into the shape of a couch.
"Got it." Ahsoka said with a smile as she started looking around, thinking about where to put the windows.
While Ahsoka and Merida worked on their sand structure, everyone else was hanging out in the jungle, slowly making their way to the beach after exploring.
"This has been such an amazing vaction, I can't believe that it's our last day here." Usagi said with a small sigh as she looked around at all of the beautiful scenery.
"I know what you mean, but Kaede and I have to get back to work in a few days." Naru replied as she walked alongside Usagi.
"Yeah, and I's got some training ta do in 'bout a month. I'm going all the way ta Alaska ta train fer winter combat." Sarah said with a sigh as she walked beside Kaede.
"My new semester starts about a week after we get back, and Mako's working on getting a loan to start a bakery in Juban." Ami added with a sad smile.
"You all act like we're splitting up after this, just because we may not see each other as often as we used to doesn't mean we won't all still be friends. Besides, Rei and I have a wedding to finish planning, we can't let you all know everything about it. What's a wedding without a few surprises?" Minkao replied with a chuckle.
"You have a point I suppose. No matter how far we may all drift physically from each other, we'll never stop being a family." Usagi said with a smile as she looked at everyone around her.
"You're right Usagi, we'll always be connected to each other. Plus, if any of us are that desperate to meet up, we can just use the transport watches to instantly move to anyone's location." Ami replied with a smile.
"Exactly. But even if we couldn't, we're all still connected by the most powerful force in the universe." Usagi said with a smile as she continued walking.
"The silver crystal." Mako replied as she looked at Usagi's brooch.
"No Mako, love." Usagi corrected with a giggle.
"Oh right, duh." Mako replied with a chuckle as everyone arrived at the beach.
"Halt! Who goeth there?!" Ahsoka shouted from atop a tall wall of sand.
"What in the world? How did you do this?!" Usagi asked as she shouted up at Ahsoka.
"Thou shalt not reveal thine secrets to ye who trespass on the kindom of Sandopolis!" Merida shouted out of a small window.
"I... Thine duth beath confuseth by ye old English!" Minako yelled back as she stared at the massive sand castle in front of her.
"Thou arth terrible at role playing, and ye ol' English beith an atrocity!" Merida shouted back with a giggle.
"If though wisheth to enter thine castle, then thou must giveth the secret code!" Ahsoka yelled with a grin.
"Please let us in?!" Mako yelled with a smile. Ahsoka and Merida both stared at everyone for a moment before speaking.
"Thine password is good enough, thou may enter." Ahsoka replied as Merida pushed large piece of driftwood over, which created a bridge across a shallow moat.
"Thank ye for thine hospitality." Ami yelled up with a smile.
"Ye are welcome strange traveler. Please watcheth thine head and other parts as ye crosseth through thine tiny door." Merida warned as she stepped away from the window.
"Maybe thou shouldn't have made thine door so tiny." Mako grumbled as she tried to get through the door.
"Always the chest, huh Mako?" Minako asked with a giggle.
"Like you're one to talk." Mako grumbled as she wiggled her chest through the door with a little help from Ami.
"I'll be fine, watch." Minako replied as she tried to squeeze through the door, straining so hard that she ended up breaking part of the door as she pushed through it. "Okay, maybe not fine, but I made it." Minako replied with nervous chuckle.
"Thou hath broken thine door with ye gigantic bosom!" Merida said as she and Ahsoka walked into the main area of their sandcastle.
"In my defense, that door is way too tiny." Minako replied as she dusted the sand from her chest and stood up.
"Wow, you two sure were busy." Ami giggled as she looked around a bit.
"Yeah, we may have gone a little overboard with the castle building." Ahsoka replied as she looked around their sand castle a bit.
"Ya don't say." Sarah replied as she looked at the insane detail in the castle. There was furniture all over the first room, ranging from chairs to tables, and even some pictures carved into the walls. There were openings to other rooms, and even a flight of stairs leading to a lower level in the castle.
"How did you two build this?" Usagi asked as she looked around in amazement.
"With sand, water, and the force." Ahsoka answered with a smile.
"Come on, we'll show you all the coolest part." Merida informed as she grabbed Usagi's hand, then lead her to the stairs.
"Are they stable?" Usagi asked as he looked at the set of sand steps.
"Oh yes, Ahsoka and I packed them very tightly, they're practically stone." Merida answered as she lead Usagi and everyone else downstairs.
Everyone gasped in amazement at the the glistening cave they entered, the beautiful purple rocks glowed and twinkled as the light hit them. Ahsoka and Merida had specifically dug various holes in the surrounding sand to let light in at specific angles, which created the amazing spectacle of light that everyone was seeing at the moment.
"Incredible, an amethyst cave. You found this place?" Blossom asked as she stared in awe at the glistening geode they were all in.
"By complete accident. A hole opened in the floor and I almost fell in it." Ahsoka replied as she looked around a bit.
"It's so pretty." Bubbles said as she stared in amazement at the cave.
"You think we can take some home?" Minako asked as she looked around the cave.
"No, it would be best to leave this beautiful place undisturbed. Tell no one outside the group about it, with the exception of the professor anyways. If word got out it was here, it might be mined and destroyed." Usagi replied with a straight face.
"Actually it wouldn't be, the Galapagos Islands are a protected sanctuary. You can't mine here, and anyone that tried to would be in a lot of trouble. At the most, a few amateurs might break a few pieces off with some hammers and chisels, but nothing that would affect this place to such an extent that it would be destroyed." Eliza replied with a smile.
"That's good to know. So we can take pictures then?" Blossom asked as she pulled out her camera.
"Definitely." Eliza answred with a smile.
"Yay!" Bubbles cheered as she started taking pictures of the cave.
"Wow, you two sure built an amazing castle, and you just so happened to build it over an amethyst cave. What are the odds." Usagi said with a smile as she looked around some more.
"Very slim." Ami replied as she looked around as well.
"You guys wanna see more of the castle?" Merida asked in a giddy tone.
"Yes please." Rei answered as she waited for Ahsoka and Merida to lead the way.
Both women lead everyone back upstairs to the main floor, then they gave them a tour of the castle, showing off the many rooms and decorations they made before leading them back to the main room.
"You two certainly created a masterpiece here, it's beautiful." Rei said as she looked around a little bit more.
"Wait until you see the best part." Merida said with a grin as she looked at Ahsoka.
"The cave wasn't the best part?" Ami asked in a shocked tone.
"Okay, the second best part. Follow us." Ahsoka replied as she and Merida lead everyone up a flight of packed steps to the roof. "Tread very lightly, the roof isn't too stable, so walk along the wall if you can." Ahsoka informed as she climbed on top of the wall and walked across it for a few feet before sitting down.
"It's night time already?" Rei asked in a surprised tone as she looked up at the dark sky.
"Yep, and that's exactly why we brought you all up here." Merida replied as she looked up at the sky, followed by everyone else.
"Incredible." Usagi whispered as she and everyone else stared at the star filled sky above them.
"It's so beautiful. There's no light pollution to drown out the stars, this is amazing." Ami whispered as she looked around the night sky.
"It don't even look this pertty back home, it's breathtaking." Sarah whispered as she stared at the stars.
"You two created something beautiful with this castle." Mako said with a smile as she and Ami sat next to each other and looked at the stars.
"We didn't create any of this beauty, we only built a place to observe it from." Ahsoka replied as she and Merida cuddled together.
"I couldn't think of a better way to end our vacation than staring up at the stars like this." Ami whispered as she snuggled close to Mako.
"I agree. If it had to end on any night, I'm glad this was the night." Usagi quietly said as she cuddled with Naru.
"Can we sleep up here?" Minako asked as she and Rei cuddled as well.
"Of course we can, that's why it's here." Merida answered with a smile.
"No matter what life throws at us next, as long as we're together like this, we'll always come out on top." Kaede said with a smile as she cuddled with Sarah.
"We sure will darlin'." Sarah replied as she kissed Kaede's cheek.
"Goodnight everyone, I'm so glad that we went on this vacation together. I love you all." Usagi whispered as she started to fall asleep in Naru's arms.
"We love you too Usagi." Ahsoka whispered as she and Merida fell asleep, followed by everyone else.
The End
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed the story, and sorry that it took so long to write. I hope the sequel won't take nearly as long to write, it will likely be titled War Of The Galaxies. Thank you for reading.
Sincerly, SailorGuardian9.