Reunion and Regrets

[Alain]

Seiya read the list of "improvements" that had been submitted to him by one of the more spirited recruits. The trainee had made it clear that all of the ideas weren't his but Seiya was still amused and a little impressed by his initiative as well as that of the other recruits. Some of them were impractical but others were suggestions made by a few teachers and even things he had been thinking of himself.

Seiya put the suggestions aside and sat back in the chair in his office. He thought for a moment and then pulled up the files on the recruits in question. He made a small note in each about the action and finished the chore up just as his computer alerted him to a meeting he had ten minutes, which meant to Seiya, he had it in five. He closed down his terminal and neatened up the very little mess he'd made in his office.

Cassie had asked him to give a tour to a few of the officers she'd brought with her. She wanted them to know as much information about Bladeships, and yeerk ships in general, as could be stuffed into their heads while they were here and Seiya agreed. He'd arranged to have many of the Bladeship's staff on location when he went through so that Suji, it was one of the few names he did not need to consult a file to remember, would be able to ask questions.

Seiya heard the soft chime that meant someone was outside his door asking for admittance. He hit the key that opened the door.

[Suji]

Suji walked in through the doorway. Some of the doors were clearly human, and some were clearly alien; differences between doorknobs and palm-identification panels. As she stepped inside Seiya's office, the tidiness of it struck her first. Not that she wasn't relieved to see an organized leader: everything just seemed to have a place on the Blade Ship in a way that they never did in faction hideouts. That was probably the nature of the beast, though; the facilities here were unbelievable, but nothing beat a rundown home safely hidden in plain sight.

Seiya'd been polite with her, if stiff, when they'd arrived. When she'd asked after Drake, he'd complied without any sort of fussing. If anything, that seemed to describe the man best. He didn't fuss about things. He had a certain surgical exactness about him.

"Nice to see you again," Suji said. "Apologies if I was curt last night." She took a couple steps forward and held out her hand. They'd shook when they first met, but it was clear that she didn't want that to be his only impression of her. "Things are quieter now, I'm guessing?"

[Alain]

"Yes, I suppose they are," Seiya said as he stood up and shook her hand. "It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Clark." Ranks were a topic on which he and Cassie differed quite a bit. Seiya strongly believed in rank and had even helped engineer a rank system for the Animorphs. By his rank system Suji was at least Special Forces, probably Special Forces First Class by now. Seiya felt there were certain privalages of rank that should just be expected such as private rooms and respect including the respect of a title. Medals were not things they could easily wear, it was simply a nature of their job. But that didn't mean they shouldn't be awarded. Such things were important to any military culture and were the physical and social expressions of leader's and civilian's respect, gratitude and trust in an officer.

But Cassie did not wholly agree. Or, at least, if she agreed in theory she did not think it was practical to try to put into practice when there were so many animorphs already out there. It was a point Seiya would continue to try to fight her on but at least he had gotten the important changes pushed through. Every animorph was now entitled to vacation. It would not always be as scheduled and would depend on bug fighter availability and faction need, but it was there. And the animorphs knew it was there. They had almost lost too many to war fatigue and that wasn't just a product of the war, people needed a break. On this point, he and Cassie agreed though Seiya had wanted formal break and Cassie had believed her informal method of sending soldiers off to low key or restful posts worked well enough. Seiya didn't think so. Not because it didn't work in practice but because it relied on Cassie always knowing who needed a break when. And that was just impractical. She was extremely empathetic and prided herself on knowing as much as possible about her troops but no one could be everywhere at once.

"I apologize again about the accommodations," Seiya said with real regret tinging his voice and a bit of wounded pride. "You and Miss Casey will have your own rooms before noon if that suits you?"

[Suji]

Suji shook her head. "I appreciate it, but don't trouble yourself. We've been separated for a while, and it isn't so bad to share a room now." In fact, it was comforting to have an old faction-mate close by. The knowledge that Drake wasn't far definitely helped too.

"So, I was told there would be a tour." Suji smiled with half of her mouth. "I'm actually surprised how eager I am. You'd think a person would get tired of alien technology and spacecraft eventually, right?" Suji let her arms drop back to her sides, patting her hands against her legs lightly. "This place though..." She looked around, and there was a telltale gleam of excitement in her eyes. "It's nice to think that we're training people from the beginning. I wish I'd had it."

((time jump as you see fit))

[Alain]

Seiya only raised an eyebrow for a moment when Suji said she was more comfortable with the current situation. He still didn't think it was proper, but he was not going to argue with her if that was the case.

"Yes, if you'll accompany me I can show you what we've accomplished with this ship," he said, coming out from behind the desk and motioning towards the door. The bridge was located right outside his office and he gave a brief explanation about the capabilities of the ship while the crew continued about their business, only glancing up every once and a while to look at their Headmaster and one of the heroes of the force.

From there they moved on to the mess quarters, the hangar bay, the crew quarters, the classrooms, the labs, the gym, the library, the pool that was in the final stages of construction. At each point Seiya gave a brief explanation of where they were and what part it played in the lives of the people on the ship, especially the recruits. Not only would the tour give Suji an understanding of how yeerk ships operated, but also of what her new recruits would have gone through and were trained to do. An important collection of information considering Suji had not gone through the same training. She would need to know these things in order to deploy her forces properly and Seiya was proud of the young men and women who had gone through this program so he didn't mind the chance to speak about them in an official capacity. It was as close as he came to bragging.

Finally they got to the Damage Control center where their chief engineer and his staff were coordinating a check of all of their weapon's systems after yesterday's excitement. There was a serious air about the people going about their business but there was also a sense of pleasure. These people had worked very hard to rebuild these systems and yesterday had been the first real test of their capabilities. Seiya made sure to mention as much to Suji and to congratulate the staff on their accomplishments. It may not mean much to Suji but by the smiles on the crew's faces it meant a lot to hear the praise.

Seiya allowed himself a small smile of his own before beginning to turn towards the door to continue the tour just as a group of engineers entered the room on their way back from a hands on inspection of another part of the ship. They had one of the animorph recruits in tow, something that confused him for a moment before he remembered Alain had a talent for such things.

"Ah, a moment," he said turning to Suji, "if you don't mind delaying the tour one of the recruits is here in person. Alain," Seiya said, turning to call the young man over.

[Suji]

Suji listened intently to Seiya's points, committing each of the areas to memory. She'd never been on a Blade Ship before, and it was clear that they were a masterwork of Yeerk technology. This one was probably already outdated, but she knew it'd be invaluable information if she ever found herself on one that didn't happen to be commandeered by Animorphs. That, and it was a look at the war front that she'd only glimpsed briefly during stays at the New York faction. She knew her way about factions easily enough -- one guerilla soldier camp was the same as the next -- but actually seeing scientists and more military-minded individuals do their work was awe-inspiring.

"You know," Suji began as they walked. "I always considered myself as something of a specialist, a planner. But seeing your team at work," she smiled at him, "it's strange. I've never felt like the muscle in any group, but that's what I am, isn't it? A soldier." The word felt weird in her mouth. It'd always seemed like their army had been nothing but untrained teenagers who could turn into animals. Seeing people that were obviously skilled and educated in such high-tech fields was eye-opening.

As they came through the Damage Control section, Seiya stopped them. Suji's eyes followed Seiya's motion, and she felt the moment her heart skipped a beat -- which sounded terribly romantic, unless it was happening, and it actually felt much closer to terror. The world slowed down as her eyes found the familiar, tall figure. By the time Seiya said the word Alain, Suji had already been stuck in slow motion for what felt like an eternity. She didn't move, didn't react; she just froze on the spot.

[Alain]

Alain laughed as Morgan made a joke about the particle dispersion mechanism of the dracon canon. It made him feel terribly geeky since no one without some serious background in physics, both human and yeerk, would know what they were talking about. But it also felt good to laugh among his peers. He hadn't felt that feeling in a while. His fellow recruits were not really his peers. It wasn't so much age as experience. As far as the war went he felt like he couldn't really connect with them. But here, the war didn't matter as much as the science did.

"Maybe next time," he said after a moment and the group around him chuckled as they entered Damage Control, the feeling of a job well done causing all of them to be relaxed and easy going with one another. For most that relaxed feeling was only affected slightly by seeing Seiya in the room. Everyone around him known they'd done a good job today and yesterday and the Headmaster's presence was surely a sign of that.

But for Alain the relaxation he'd felt disappeared completely when he saw who was with Seiya. He'd known intellectually that Suji was an animorph and had arrived with Cassie and he thought he'd been prepared for it. But he wasn't. It was a shock to see her here, on this ship where she didn't belong. He still thought of Suji as he'd last seen her, surrounded by moonlight and the sound of ocean waves in a little tropical hide away. For some reason, seeing her here among the war effort just felt wrong.

When Seiya called him it broke Alain out of his paralysis. He shook his head a little and walked towards the Headmaster trying his best to look like the professional he felt and was told he'd become. It only partially worked.

"Alain" Seiya said with his usual formality and a slight nod in his direction. Alain had noticed that Seiya called all the recruits by their first name but everyone else, including the teachers, by their last name. Except in the case of Nineteen of course since she didn't have any other name. He assumed it had something to do with rank. "I would like to introduce you to Miss Clark. She is one of our senior animorphs."

Alain looked at Suji and his one sided smile appeared out of habit and an honest joy in seeing her again. "Miss Clark," he said, his smile growing wider at the absurdity of the situation. He had imagined coming into contact with Suji again a dozen times but none of them had been like this. "It's a pleasure to meet you again."

[Suji]

Alain gave her an all-too-familiar smile, and Suji continued to stare at him. If he thought she looked out of place, that sensation was magnified a hundred-fold for her. Alain didn't belong here. He couldn't be here. Somehow she was dreaming. The place she'd been and the place she was now was mixed up in her head. Those things weren't allowed to intertwine. Alain was simply not allowed to be a part of this side of her life.

But the longer the pause extended, the more she realized she wasn't dreaming. There was too much painful detail: Seiya waiting expectantly, Alain's hair grown longer than she'd last seen him. Him in a morphing suit, for God's sake. This was real.

Her stomach felt like a brick had been dropped into it. Alain was supposed to be back in that free human camp, teaching children and making up new beers. Not standing in the Damage Control center of a Blade Ship that'd been re-purposed to train Animorphs. Did he already have the morphing power? Was he already locked into this war, just like all of them were? Her insides turned violently, and she thought she might throw up.

"You son of a bitch," Suji exhaled, barely above a whisper.

[Alain]

Alain couldn't help but laugh when he heard her reaction, a reaction that was only made worse by the look on Seiya's face. Seiya was never that expressive and yet he managed to make his approval and disapproval known. It was a gift. But right now he just looked confused and a little offended, which was a rare combination for the Headmaster since he always seemed to know what was happening on his ship.

Alain stopped laughing abruptly when Seiya seemed to decide to discipline the person under his immediate control and looked at Alain, his composure regained. "Well," Seiya said, looking between the both of them like they were school children, "it seems you two know each other already so further introductions will not be needed. I believe you had duties to attend to Alain?" Alain turned to look at Seiya since he'd been staring at Suji.

"Yes sir," Alain said respectfully. He very rarely ran into Seiya and the Headmaster didn't require that people call him sir and yet it seemed unavoidable when dealing with him. Alain had fallen into the habit along with the rest of the staff of the Bladeship.

"Very well, be about it then. Miss Clark, would you like to continue the tour?" Seiya asked politely, giving her a chance to say no. Alain realized he'd been dismissed but he couldn't quite get himself to walk away. He made a few half hearted steps towards the rest of his group but waited to hear Suji's answer.

[Suji]

Suji stared at Alain, barely hearing any of the actual conversation that was taking place. It took her a moment to realize that Seiya had asked her a question. Her eyes turned back towards the Headmaster's, and her brow was deeply furrowed. Deal with this later. Don't do this in front of all of these crew. She couldn't handle this right now. Suji had only arrived late last night after hearing that Drake had fallen out of a Bug Fighter onto the South Pole. She didn't have the mental bandwidth to... to acknowledge the fact that someone she'd been close to for the past few months had traded in a life of relative ease and safety for this.

"Yes. Please." Her brow smoothed, and Suji forced herself back into her own head. The usual intense focus returned to her gaze, burning even hotter now than before. "Let's continue."

With all of her willpower, she concentrated on Seiya and the rest of the tour, refusing to allow herself to even begin thinking about what Alain being here meant. There would be a time and a place for that. For now, she had a good excuse to put it off, something else to think about, a different obligation.

[Alain]

Alain hung his legs out over the side of the walkway that stretched across the engine below. The engine threw off an oddly peaceful and probably radioactive blue light that reminded him of both the ocean and the morphing cube. He knew for a fact that the engine was behind shields so it's energy would not affect him but he still felt like a kid sitting in front of a microwave sometimes when he came here. But it was quiet and peaceful and a great place to think and to hang out.

He took a sip of his beer. He'd finally managed to reproduce his brewery here on the ship and he had a feeling he was about to leave. They were coming to the end of classes and he knew he'd be assigned somewhere at soon and now he had to think about where that place would be.

He turned when the heard the door swish open at the end of the walkway. He saw a familiar figure begin to walk towards him and smiled and held up a beer. "Care to join me?" he said to Nineteen as she walked towards him. She knew he liked to hang out here and they'd even been here a few times. He wasn't surprised she'd been able to find him.

[Nineteen]

"Sure, but only if you haven't got anything stronger." Nineteen took the beer, twisting off the cap. Drinking the stuff out of plastic bottles seemed like a shame, but glass was harder to come by. She hunkered down next to him, tucking one foot under her and letting the other hang like his were.

Apparently, Alain had had a run-in with one of the Animorphs that'd come in last night. All Nineteen knew about them was that they were important people; Cassie was amongst them, if nothing else. One of the girls had even been on that ugly Dallas broadcast, and wasn't dead at all. Good for her.

"So Dimitra tells me you had an incident earlier. Got called a bad name in front of tight-ass Seiya, even." Nineteen smiled as she took a long drink of the beer. "You know one of those Animorphs? The hotshots or whatever?"

[Alain]

Alain laughed. He wasn't surprised at all that the gossip had spread that quickly. After the incident with Seiya he had begun to realize just how important Suji was. Everyone knew who she was and everyone wanted to talk about her. He'd been pestered with questions by some, completely avoided by others who feared he was in the bad graces of one of the powerful animorphs. He'd finally taken refuge in the Engine room.

"I suppose you could say that," Alain said, taking a sip of his beer. "Though when I knew her, she was just the history teacher." That wasn't completely true. He'd known a bit of who she was and she had her own infamy attached to her in his mind even then, but it had been their secret, almost his secret since he hadn't revealed he'd known. Here it was different. Everyone knew who she was and what she'd done, at least the basics. Here she was a legend and he, he was just Alain, the nice but quiet recruit.

[Nineteen]

History teacher. Which meant the chick was from whatever free human camp Alain had been at before being recruited. And that didn't really make any sense. Why would one of the Animorphs' big guns be hanging out teaching history to teenagers who weren't even Animorphs themselves. Nineteen frowned, the answer to the question obviously beyond her grasp.

"D said Seiya's head almost exploded. Like it almost struck him dead, introducing you two when you already knew each other, especially if she knew you uh, well enough to call you a son of a bitch. He hates not knowing that kind of stuff." In way Nineteen wanted to make fun of Seiya for it, but found that she couldn't bring herself too. There were a lot of things she'd rag on Seiya for, and mostly to his face. She got away with an alarming amount of it too, things she was beginning to realize other people didn't. Part of her suspected that Seiya actually liked her, had a certain attachment that he didn't let himself feel for other recruits. Maybe because he'd been there for her when she was first brought to the Academy, and because he'd personally seen to her mental recovery when no one else could. It felt wrong to even consider making fun of him for feeling embarassed. Just the idea of an embarassed Seiya stressed her out.

"Wait, so hold on. What happened? You pissed off one of Cassie's sweethearts? Spill it."

[Alain]

Alain laughed at the thought of Seiya's head exploding combined with the expression on his face. It hadn't been quite that bad but things grew in the telling and he had looked surprised. This would probably be talked about for days. Not only was it hot gossip involving one of the heroes of the west but it involved their Headmaster too who everyone seemed to like but who gave too few reasons to joke about.

"I think my presence pissed her off," Alain said, "but I didn't do anything. I just don't think she wants me here that's all." He looked at Nineteen sideways, wondering if he could or should reveal just how well he knew Suji and why she wouldn't want him here. "Suji and I..." he said, trying to figure how much to say and how much to keep to himself. If Suji really was the gossip magnet he believed he didn't want to create more of it. But, while Nineteen didn't strike him as the most tactful person she certainly didn't seem inclined towards gossip either. She didn't seem to have too much patience for it, or at least he hoped that was the truth.

"She's really a hero here uh?"