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Emotions Arc
Part 1: Sorrow
Written by Sailor Yavin IV
Honouko awoke to a beeping and chirping ship console. She sniffed her nose and blinked, looking around the ship's cabin. Her ice blue eyes finally began to focus as she looked at the ship's controls. They quickly widened when she saw the date on one of the screens.
"I was asleep for three days?!" screamed Honouko. "How could I -- and what on Yavin 4 is wrong with this ship!? Shut up!" She thwacked the ship's console with a fist.
"Pardon me," the ship's CPU coughed, "but I thought you'd like to know that you're low on fuel and that we need to land."
"Maybe if you had woken me up earlier, Cia, we wouldn't have this problem!" Honouko shouted at the ship's computer. For some reason, Gage had liked having a humanoid personality be his ship's CPU. And Cia certainly had quite the personality.
"Don't blame me, Inazuma, I tried to wake you up," Cia moaned. "Those alarms have been on for the past two days to just get you up!"
"You must be joking," Honouko mumbled. She had always been a relatively light sleeper.
"You did cry a lot," the CPU pointed out. "That must've been tiring."
Honouko shook her head. "Don't remind me. Gage..." She held back tears. Crying wouldn't help her now.
"Gage... passed on, I know," Cia said quietly. "But you--"
"Never mind that." Her grief quickly turned to anger and annoyance. "Where are we right now?"
"Outside of Coruscant. We need to land soon--"
"Coruscant." Honouko thought back to Gage's lessons on Yavin IV, ignoring the wave of sadness that washed over her. "The city planet, right?"
"So you did pay attention!" Cia said, astonished.
"Shut up!" Honouko shouted. She tugged on some of her silvery-white hair. "So... so let's land, then. We'll stay for a while, and then move on." If Nio... if he's following...
"All right then! Landing procedures initialized!" Cia said happily. "Please strap in and prepare for--"
"Just land already!" Honouko screamed. Cia went silent and continued the landing. Honouko simply stared blankly at the floor. It was only a few seconds before Cia spoke again.
"I know it's painful that Gage has left, but you can't let it rule you like this. You'll find other people, other--"
"No one I can trust," Honouko said quietly, not looking up. "The moment they find out what I am, where I came from..." She sighed, and a tear fell to the floor. "They'll..." She couldn't finish the sentence.
Cia sighed. "Inazuma, if I had arms, I'd hug you right now."
Honouko managed a laugh and wiped away the tears. "Cia... thanks." She grinned. "Even if you are just a ship's computer combined with a protocol droid, you are really nice."
Cia sniffed. "Protocol droid my shiny metal ass. They're too stuffy to control a ship like this." Both the CPU and Honouko giggled. "Now, stay upbeat. I knew Gage for years. He'd want you to stay happy."
"I can't guarantee it, but I'll try," Honouko said, still smiling slightly.
"Hang on -- we're in the atmosphere, and there's an incoming comm--"
"Ship, please identify yourself. You are currently in TechnoHangar airspace. We need identification before you can land."
"Uh..." Honouko looked at the comm. "Cia, what did Gage name this ship?"
She snorted. "Jungle Crasher. He should be in the TechnoHangar records. He stayed there, years before."
"Jungle Crasher," Honouko repeated, smiling as another small tear fell. "How like Gage."
"Ship, identify your--"
"Sorry! This is the Jungle Crasher, under new ownership," Honouko said. "I'm Gage's daughter, Honouko Inazuma." Adoptive daughter, I guess... Another tear drop fell.
"Ah, Jungle Crasher, long time no see! How is Gage?" the voice over the comm asked.
More tears. "He died recently..."
The voice over the comm choked. "Sorry to hear it, Miss Inazuma." A pause. "You can land in hangar 2-C. Shinwa will get your credits there. Again, sorry."
"S'okay." Tear drops fell steadily onto the floor, making little noises as they hit the metal. "I..."
"Don't cry! Inazuma--!" Cia shouted. "Agh, I need arms -- Inazuma, don't cry. Gage--"
Honouko fell to the floor in tears. Gage was gone. She should have done something. Maybe bacta at Coruscant, or if she had stayed by him instead of going to train in the deep jungle...
"I could have saved him..."
"Inazuma..." The computer sighed. "I saw it on my holo cams. If you had been there, you would've been killed, too. At least now there's someone to beat up Nio."
"I could have saved him!" Honouko wailed, banging her tight fists on the floor. "He and I could have both escaped!"
"Honouko, we're landing! Hang on!" Cia bellowed. The ship came into the hangar rather bumpily, making an already weak Honouko tumble across the Jungle Crasher's floor, banging her head against a storage cabinet and bringing her to a halt as the ship finished landing.
"Inazuma? Inazuma!" Cia shouted, rather panicked for a computer. "Inazuma!!"
A few seconds later, a voice came over the comm.
"Hey, this is Shinwa Densetsu. Dor sent me to get the credits." He waited for a response.
"Inazuma?!" Cia shouted. The girl didn't respond whatsoever.
"Miss Inazuma?" the man asked over the comm. "Can you open the door, please?"
Cia decided to use the comm herself. Directly tapping into the comm channel, she said, "Densetsu, right?"
"Yes. Miss Ina--"
"Actually, this is the ship's computer speaking. Name's Cia."
A pause. "Where's Miss Inazuma?"
"She was... I think she's unconscious. She's weak and hit her head."
"Open the door!" Shinwa shouted, suddenly panicked.
Cia complied. "The door's at the rear of the ship, left side. You're close to it already."
Shinwa ran in and skidded to a halt in front of Honouko. He knelt down next to her and put two fingers to her neck. Relaxing a bit, he dialed on his comm.
"Is she okay?" Cia asked.
"She'll be okay." He held the comm up to his mouth. "Dor, Miss Inazuma's unconscious -- she hit her head and it's bleeding."
"Gotcha -- sending a team right away."
As Shinwa clicked the comm off, he used his free hand and gently wiped her hair out of her eyes and the gash on her head.
"Hang in there, angel."
Cia laughed quietly. He wasn't too far off base...
She'll be okay?"
"Yeah, she's just weak. According to her ship's comp--"
"Cia."
"--well, according to Cia, Miss Inazuma hasn't eaten for days. She's just really weak."
Honouko groaned. The voices were hovering just over her bed. She turned on her back and slowly opened her eyes.
At the foot of her bed were two males. One was younger by far, with red-orange scruffy hair pulled into a short ponytail and light blue eyes. The other was older, even older than Gage, with short-cropped gray hair and matching hued eyes. Groaning again and wincing brought their attention onto her. The gray-haired man spoke first.
"Good to see you're up, Miss Inazuma!" He picked up a tray from a nearby table and set it on Honouko's lap. It was piled with meats, veggies, and fruits. "Eat up. Not eating for three days is not a healthy habit."
Honouko eyed the food warily, but dug in anyway. She was hungry.
"I was asleep for most of it," she croaked. Her throat was dry. "Got something to drink?"
"Here," offered the redheaded man. He held out a large container that Honouko saw held water. She took it and drank a big gulp.
"Where's my ship?"
"In the hangar. It's safe," the redhead reassured.
She tugged back a sleeve of her shirt. Wait, my shirt...
"What happened to my other shirt? Who changed my clothes?!" she screamed. Honouko still felt a bit weak, but her shouts were nonetheless quite ear shattering.
The gray-haired man stepped back, but the younger man stepped forwards, extending his arms and turning red in the face.
"Relax! My sister changed your clothes," he said. "She's a bit taller than you, so her clothes are a bit big for you."
"Sister?" Honouko asked, calming down. Another human female?
"Yes. Tomo."
"I'd advise you to relax, Miss Inazuma," the gray-haired man said, stepping further back.
"It's hard to when you think you've been... taken advantage of," Honouko said slowly. "I don't even know who you are."
"Ah! My apologies," gray-hair said. "I am Dain Knait. Dr. Knait. And this is--"
"Shinwa Densetsu, ship mechanic," the red-head introduced.
"I'll be going, then," Dr. Knait said, heading for the door. "Other patients to see..." He scuttled out the door.
"You scared him," Shinwa said, laughing. He got closer to Honouko's bed. "And he's been in wars before."
Honouko ate another piece of fruit before saying, "So?" There was a moment of awkward silence. "You... you can leave now."
"No," he said, sitting down. "I'd rather ask you a couple of questions, if you don't mind."
What she really wanted was for him to leave her with her thoughts, but for some reason, Honouko said, "All right... a couple." She shoved another piece of fruit in her mouth.
"Why was there blood on your other shirt?" he asked calmly.
Honouko looked at the young man warily. A memory came back to her.
"Others... may not take to your heritage, Honouko," Gage told her. "Some make a living out of hunting your kind."
"You mean there are others like me?" she asked hopefully.
Gage shook his head sadly. "I meant half of your heritage. Your father's side. Demons and half-demons are oft hunted." At this he grabbed a tight hold of Honouko's shoulders. "Never, ever tell anyone that you are part demon or part angel. They would kill you for what you are."
"Even if they knew me?"
"Never tell. Ever."
"Miss Inazuma?" Shinwa's voice broke her reminiscing. "Miss Inazuma?"
"My father... was murdered before my eyes," she said finally. "His blood was on my shirt." Honouko held back tears once again and ate more fruit.
Shinwa nodded slowly. "I knew him. He used to stay here often." He paused. "Who killed him?"
Never tell. Ever...
"A... a former client," she said, "who wasn't happy. I only escaped by using my sword."
"You have a sword?"
Honouko cursed mentally. "Big vibroblade." She swallowed hard. Hopefully the young man would believe it.
Lucky for her, he nodded. "In his business, I'm not shocked. You'd make a lot of enemies."
Honouko nearly choked. "You knew... Gage and his business?"
"Yeah," he said, still nodding. "Demon hunter for hire. At least, those were the rumors. And what he told me." Standing, Shinwa sighed. "Sad to hear he's gone. He did a great job, from the stories." He ran a hand through his red hair. "I'm sorry you lost him."
"Unh," Honouko granted. Like you'd know...
"Well, ah, Tomo'll be in later to show you around Coruscant and help you pick out and buy new clothes," Shinwa said as he neared the door.
Honouko almost choked again. "Buy...?!"
"Yeah. Tomo works as a manager at a nearby mega mall. She's the head of the clothing department." Laughing lightly, he continued. "Tomo kind of sees herself as a fashion guru."
"Fashion guru?"
"Yeah. Anyway, she'll be by later. Until then, you should probably just rest up and eat your fill. Okay?" Shinwa walked out, whistling to himself.
"Sounds like Gage," Honouko said around a mouthful of food. She sighed and stared out the small window in the room, watching speeders and small ships go by. "I could have saved him..." The tears fell once more. "Nio... you killed him... you..."
Honouko's tear-filled ice eyes stared at the ceiling. Real father or not... I'm going to kill you. And any other of your demon friends that may cross my path. She grasped at the ever-sparking gem at her neck, its tightly-wound cord still stained with her mother's, and now Gage's, blood. "I'll get him for both of you..."
Honouko wiped the tears away determinedly. "I will kill Nio."
"Honouko?"
The white-haired girl paused in mid-kick. The door had peeked open, and two dark blue eyes were peering in at her. Putting her leg down, Honouko said, "Come in."
A girl, about 20 or so, Honouko figured, opened the door fully. She had bright red hair, and wore a neon green tank top with only one shoulder and a blue knee-length skirt. Her hair was pulled up in high pigtails that fell to her chin.
"Ah, I'm Tomo," she said slowly. "Shinwa told you I was coming, right?"
"Yes." Honouko tugged the long shirt back down over her tight shorts and went up to the door. "To buy clothes, right?"
Tomo brightened. "Yup! Ready to go? Got your credits?"
"Credits?"
"You probably left them in your ship, huh?" Tomo said, laughing. She grabbed Honouko's arm and began pulling her down a hallway. "I'll show you where it is!"
Honouko blinked as she was being dragged down the hallway. Tomo was acting rather like a five year old. "Tomo--"
"Almost there!" She took another corner with Honouko following like a trailer. "There! Shinwa said this is your ship."
Honouko went a bit cross-eyed. The Jungle Crasher looked out of place, now that it wasn't in the jungle. 17 years of vines and plants had grown over it making the ship look more like a giant plant than a mode of transportation. She hadn't quite noticed that back on Yavin IV.
Then again, I was too busy running and fighting for my life to notice much of anything, Honouko thought with a sniff.
Tomo heard this and giggled. "It is kinda silly looking, you know. It hardly looks like a ship!"
"I'm working on that!" Shinwa's voice shouted from behind the ship. There was a cough. "Man, I'm surprised this thing flew!"
"Gage never took care of it well after Honouko came along," Cia piped in. "He was more worried for her than the ship."
I hope she hasn't told them too much. "Cia! Open the door! I need to get some stuff from the ship!"
"Take a shower, too," Tomo suggested. She picked up a strand of Honouko's hair, which quickly became a large clump. "Your hair's all matted."
Honouko took the hair from Tomo's grasp. "I know." She walked to the back of the ship. "Open the door, Cia."
The door fell open and Honouko ran up the ramp. The door shut behind her and she said, "What have you told them?"
"What do you mean?" Cia asked indignantly.
"Are the outer speakers off?"
The computer sighed. "Of course. They were once you stepped in here."
"What did you tell them about me? Or Gage?" she asked, starting to search the ship for credits.
Another sigh. "Really! I told them you're Gage's daughter from his late wife, who died soon after childbirth. I wouldn't tell them--"
"Never tell anyone. Ever," Honouko said firmly, still searching. Cia made no response except for a "Mmm," which Honouko took as a yes. After going through another box, Honouko stopped. "Cia, did Gage have any credits?"
Cia snorted. "How do you think he was paid for demon slaying? In nerf nuggets?" Honouko gave one of the console's cameras a glare. "Yes. In the biggest storage compartment on the right." She went over to it and turned the handle. "But--"
A large pile of credits about the size of a young Hutt poured out of the cabinet and onto Honouko, who let out a yelp of surprise.
"--They're just stuffed in there messily," Cia finished. "Gage just left them there until he'd need them." Honouko's head popped out of the pile to give another look of death. Cia ignored it. "That's only about a quarter of his money, too."
"You mean there's more?!" Honouko shouted.
"In another compartment is another quarter, and the rest is in a still open account with your name on it."
"So Gage knew all along this would happen," Honouko mumbled.
"He wanted to make sure you'd be okay if it did," Cia assented. Honouko got out of the pile of credits and began pushing them back into the cabinet. "He had had them anyway, and never had anything to spend them on after his wife died..."
"But she died just barely before I came along. How could he have gotten this much money in such a short time?"
"Honouko? You okay? We heard you shout," Tomo's voice said, barely audible through the ship's door.
"The half that's in the account came from the job where she died... the job where he found you," Cia said much more quietly.
Honouko blinked. "Wha--"
"Cia, open the door! I want to come in!" Tomo shouted.
"But--"
"I'll tell you more later," Cia said as the door opened. Tomo rushed up and ran to Honouko.
"Are you okay? When you didn't respond, Shinwa and I thought--" Quite suddenly, she noticed the gigantic pile of credits at her and Honouko's feet. "Wow! Are these all yours?!"
Honouko's face became hot. "Gage's, really, but seeing as he's... dead..." And his wife... when he found me... Her eyes welled up, and she tried hard to fight the tears. Unfortunately for her, Tomo noticed.
"Honouko..." She put an arm around the white-haired girl, who flinched at the touch. "I know its hard, losing a parent..."
"How would you know?" she asked, wrenching herself from Tomo's arm.
Tomo was silent. Honouko thought herself proven right, but it was then that Tomo chose to speak.
"My parents died when I was five. I was asleep, but Shinwa saw them killed." Honouko turned back to Tomo, who was on the verge of tears herself. "He never told anyone who did it. Not even me."
For the first time since Gage had died, Honouko felt sorry for someone other than herself. She put her arms around Tomo and, herself crying, hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry," Tomo said, sniffling. "I--"
"But I made you cry--"
"--so hard to think about, its just--"
"Forgive me, Gage never--"
"--to see him killed, I can't imagine--"
"Girls! Calm down!" Cia said, shouting over the sobbing duo. She had never seen Honouko so emotional, although she guessed Tomo was like this a lot. "Inazuma! Densetsu!"
"You called?" Shinwa said, peeking in through the open door. His eyes went wide as he saw his sister and Honouko standing there, crying. He ran in, yelling, "Whoa, whoa, what happened?!"
"Gage died!" Tomo wailed.
Shinwa blinked. "I know, and its sad, but..."
"Inazuma!" Cia screamed. "Densetsu, separate them, please..."
Shaking his head, Shinwa stepped up to the crying girls and gently pulled them apart. He patted them both gently on the shoulders.
"I know it hurts, more than anyone," he said quietly. "But sometime, you have to move on." Both girls began to calm down, sobs turning into sniffles. "Right, Cia?"
"Precisely."
Honouko closed her eyes and put a hand around her mother's jewel. I can't lose it... but, to have someone else who knows how I feel, who's seen what I've seen... She opened her eyes and watched as Shinwa gave his sister a reassuring hug. I wonder who killed their parents?
"I'll go, um, get cleaned up," Honouko said, suddenly feeling out of place. She snuck out of the main cabin and went to the refresher.
Tomo smiled and sniffled. "She really does seem nice, underneath her exterior."
Shinwa nodded. "A lot like Gage."
"But he had better fashion sense."
He laughed. "I hope that's not all you see in a person."
"Of course not!" Tomo said, pretending to be offended. She paused. "If it was, I would have disowned you as family a long time ago."
"Hey!" He pulled on one of her pigtails. "I have to wear this thing," Shinwa said, picking at a sleeve of his dark green jumpsuit. "It's company policy."
"That doesn't account for what you wear outside of work," Tomo said. She stuck her tongue out before going to place Honouko's credits back in the locker.
"Are those all hers?" Shinwa said, finally noticing the money.
"Mmhmm, Gage's, she said. Doesn't look rich, does she?" She threw in a small pile. "Doesn't act like it, either."
"She doesn't care, that much I can tell. The death of Gage weighs heavily on her." Tomo looked at Shinwa with a confused expression. "I heard her when I left her room... whoever killed her father, she's going to try to kill for revenge. She mumbled the guy's name, though, so I didn't catch it."
Tomo half-snorted (as a full snort was much too vulgar for her). "With all this money, she could hire a bounty hunter and have plenty of credits to spare."
"Not her style," Shinwa guessed, shrugging. He chuckled. "Not Gage's style. Guess it runs in the family." He started piling credits back into the cabinet. "C'mon, let's get this cleaned up. Keep some out for her to spend."
"Right." The siblings went about cleaning up the rest of the credits.
It does run in the family, Cia thought, watching Tomo and Shinwa closely. Just not genetically...
Honouko began scrubbing her hair, using some homemade soap from Yavin IV. She was sitting in the shower, as she still felt a bit weak.
They're so nice to each other... Honouko leaned her head against the refresher wall. To have a brother or sister must be nice. If I had a sibling-- She shook her head and began rinsing out the soap. --if I had a sibling, it'd just be another person with this problem to live with. Closing her eyes, she let the warm water fun over her face.
Gage... what am I supposed to do without you?
The jewel around her neck gave a small shimmer, as if giving a reply. She didn't see it and gave a sigh.
Gage...