Kikata blew a steady jet of warm air between her lips as she sighed, her golden eyes scanning the darkening skies above. She smiled as she took notice of the tiny movement against her cheek, the warmth of Richards body seeping down into her skin. She could not have dreamt of such a perfect moment..yet it was a moment brought about by soul shattering pain and despair. To face death and over, and even here laying in the middle of an icy landscape with her entire fate resting upon a distress beacon. It was strange to be on this side of a disaster, to be the one in need rather than the one coming to aid. 

"I've never seen a sky like that." She finally said in a low voice, just slightly over a whisper. 

"What do you mean?" Richard said, he almost had trouble fighting off sleep as he lay upon the soft skin of her cheek.

"It's just so clear." She said, her eyes gazing out into the stars that were only hidden by the occasional gray cloud. It was just turning night but most of the night sky was visible to them, even the clouds held a slight pinkish hue on their edge from the suns final light. 

"Yeah. No light pollution at all." Richard replied. He chuckled to himself as a thought emerged, "Hey Kikata?"

"Yes?" 

"You suppose I'm pretty safe in here, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I mean what could possibly harm you? Maybe if I were walking you might bounce a little...but I figure you are pretty safe. Why do you ask?"

"Well. It just struck me as odd that no one thought to recommend carrying the tiny individual, you know, in here. Rather than scaring them to death swallowing them whole." 

Kikata blushed slightly, realizing how obvious it seemed to them now. A smile creased her lips before she broke out laughing. "You're probably right." She finally stammered, "I guess our first meeting could have been a lot smoother."

"And dryer." Richard added. 

"And you are kind enough to not mention the smell." 

Richard shrugged, "Compared to where I have been, your stomach smells like roses." 

Kikata giggled again, "Oh, thank you. Best way to flatter a woman is by complimenting the aroma of her insides." 

Their playful chat was interrupted by an oddly familiar voice, "Kikata?" It asked. A guard ships engines could be heard roaring somewhere over Kikata's head, snow and ice began to kick up around them.

"Prila?" Kikata called into the radio.

"Oh thank god." Prila gasped in Neko tongue, "We found your ship but saw you must have kicked out the window."

"Not me." Kikata said.

"Then who?"

"Long story. Please come get me off this ice please?"

"Can you walk? Are you injured?" The voice asked, two shadows soon engulfed Kikata's motionless form.

"Injured, yes, but that is not why I am laying here. My suit has locked up and wont disengage. The damn thing must be fried...I assume you are with Fisc?"

"Right." Fisc voice chimed into the conversation. A guard soon appeared in front of Kikata, leaning down to grab her legs.

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"Ah, ah! Careful, careful!" Kikata urged as Prila gently removed her shoulder and arm armor. 

"Oh wow, your arm is swollen pretty bad!" Prila gasped as she set Kikata's armor aside.

Kikata winced, "Yes, that happened in the crash. I was lucky to be honest."

"We've got a setting wrap." Fisc said jumping up and making his way towards his supply crate. "So what happened? And what is Richard doing here?"

Kikata smiled towards Richard, "He came back for me...and saved my life in the process."

"With some help." Richard added, "A miraculous stroke of luck really. For the circumstances anyway." 

Prila winked at Kiakta, "Seems as though fate had plans for you two, huh?" 

"I guess so." Kikata said softly. "Long story short I was hit by a EMP and crashed pretty bad into the ice. They took me in and tried to put me under...but luckily I was able to resist long enough for Richard to show up." 

Prila nodded, pulling away Kikata's final scraps of armor, "Okay. And Richard?"

Richard shrugged, "Well. I decided I wasn't ready to go home...so I did a little asking around and got myself teamed up with U.N.S.S. We broke into the base, got the shit shot out of us and eventually we ended up in the lab where they held Kikata." 

Prila shook her head, "I can't believe all that has happened. This is the last time I let either of you two out of my sight."

Kikata rolled her eyes, "I just hope I never have to see a gun again. Is it all over?"

Fisc nodded slowly, "It's safe to say that the majority of the New Order leaders are either dead or in custody. They say some regions haven't even heard of the attacks at all. We were just caught up in the worst of some strange cult group that got a little too powerful and a little too trigger happy." 

"What a universe we live in." Kikata huffed, "Kill off a few thousand people and you don't even make-" She grunted as Fisc tried to gently put the setting wrap onto Kikata's arm, "Front page news." 

"Well. It made news almost everywhere." Prila said with a sigh, 

"Where did they even get a hold of those weapons?" Richard asked.

"They had a bunch of old military connections. People who have served in other rebellious groups before, such as the force that had invaded Earth all those years ago. With so much space to hide they can disappear for a while and theres no real hope of weeding them all out for good. We gotta take the punches when they come."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata had trouble placing herself in all the events of the past day, even the past year, with the face she saw in the reflection of the mirror. She would wince occasionally as the device around her arm would constrict around her injured arm. 

"So you going to turn the water on or?" Richard began, looking up from the sink.

Kikata shook her head, smiling towards him as she leant down, "Richard I-" She took a deep breath, "I am a mess of emotions right now. But...there is one feeling that is persisting over everything else." She gently took him back into her hands, "I want to act out on them for once in my life. I don't want to push away feelings anymore...I want to live in the moment. In this moment I can't think of anything more that I would want than you. All of you."

Richard stared into Kikata's eyes as she spoke, once again the event seemed so familiar, "So...are you really ready for this?" He asked, "And do you care that Fisc and Prila are sitting right outside?"

Kikata glanced at the door, "They already know I'm sure. Or think they know."

She set Richard down on the counter before rising back to full height. Her anxious fingers gripped the zipper by her neck, slowly drawing it down over her chest, across her stomach before it came to a rest a few inches below her navel. She smiled, her cheeks growing warm and red as she slipped the jumpsuit off her shoulders.

Richard looked on in awe as Kikata revealed herself to him, so he began to do the same. As she kicked away her suit she lowered her hands for him, he climbed on excitedly though he still had one single doubt. 

"Kikata. You are sure about this? I made a promise to you-"

"I don't care about that anymore...for all I care I could never marry. All of that culture and spiritual stuff seems like nonsense to me now. Now that I know love like this." She finished her sentence in a whisper, her head leaning forward and gently pressing her lips against him, the strange embrace that can only be shared by Human and Neko. 

She turned towards the shower, her free hand reaching inside to turn on the water. She couldn't help but feel a little nervous, she was really going to do it this time.

Richard was a little surprised as they entered the misty chamber. The water that swirled around them felt like a heavy, warm rain. It was not as powerful as he imagined it might be. It was as if Kikata had stepped into a tropical rain storm. 

"Nice in here." Richard commented.

"So relaxing...it's perfect." She replied as she lowered herself to the floor. She couldn't wait any longer. She rose her hands back to her lips, kissing him gently at first. As  emotions rose so did her actions, her tongue slipped from between her lips, unsure of what she was doing but Richard seemed to enjoy it. She tasted him as she had never done before, in fact before she had always done her best to ignore the taste. But now she was almost absorbing him, getting every little piece of him in contact with her flesh. She could feel his throbbing member against the tip of her tongue as she lapped at him lovingly, it was so strange yet it felt so incredibly right.

Kikata only pulled away as Richard reached his peak, smiling at him widely with only love in her eyes. Richard was nearly overwhelmed by it. It was a look he had never received before. With Kina it was lust, but with Kikata it was so much more. 

"So...now you?" Kikata asked nervously, her hands already starting to lower towards her untouched flower. 

Richard nodded, "Yes. Just let me take over, I just need help inside." 

Kikata bit her lip, lowering him between her legs nearly squirming with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. She gasped at the first touch, a warmth spreading from between her legs to the rest of her body. She watched with wide eyed anticipation as he pulled himself within her, "Oh...my..." She panted, unable to comprehend the feelings as he moved within her. Her fingers had to be careful not to move him deeper too vigorously, she must remind herself to always be gentle. 

To Richard he was inside of a sort of soaking, warm tunnel. It was noticeably narrower than Kina's. He gripped the slick walls as best he could before getting himself completely inside. He worked hard to make sure it was as pleasing as possible, his arms growing sore as he slid them up and down, back and forth, any direction that the confines of Kikata's vagina would allow. He would feel her finger tip against his legs occasionally, and occasionally a moan that she would quickly stifle. 

When all was finished Kikata sat in the warm waters with Richard cupped against her cheek. "I love you..." She whispered.

"I love you too...I cannot describe how happy you make me." Richard said.

Kikata nodded slowly in agreement, "Let's never run away from each other again..." 

~ ~ ~ ~ 

"That was a long shower." Prila said with an all knowing grin, though she did Kikata the favor for not teasing her with the specifics. She knew that it was not playful sex they were having, not like her and Fisc. 

Kikata blushed still, "It was a long day." She said, setting Richard on the table. She glanced towards the pilots chair as Fisc entered in coordinates. "I'm not ready to go back." She groaned. 

"Neither were we." Prila said with a mischievous grin, "So I suggested we take a different route." 

Kikata blinked, "You mean...we're not going back to base?"

Prila shook her head, "That one planet you visited sounded so lovely...Fisc said you couldn't stop raving about it's tranquility. So I requested we go there."

"Besides, I think I might have left some stuff in my old ship." Fisc called over his shoulder. 

Kikata grinned widely, "Oh...you guys thank you so much."

Prila shrugged, "Hey. Least we could do. And as of right now I could live with a discharge..."

~ ~ ~ ~ 

Kikata nestled herself into the pilots chair, Richard held in her hands as they gazed out into the stars, "We are so small." She whispered.

"Speak for yourself." Richard grunted.

Kikata smiled, "That was wonderful before...I have never experienced anything like it."

"Not in the real world anyway." Richard added.

"True." She laughed, "I can't help but wonder where we are headed."

"I thought they told-"

"No I mean...large scale. What is this life going to lead to?"

"Certainly not children."

Kikata nodded, "I can live with that." 

"I don't know how your parents will feel about it."

"I can live with that too." 

"You will have to put up with my mother."

"I am looking forward to it." She said, a large smile creeping across her lips. 

"The rest is uncertain I guess. We'll just have to float along and see where the ride gets us."

"Together." 

"Yup."

"I can definitely live with that."