Chapter 52 (End)
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So, here we are. I never expected this would reach ~220k words. 

Charlotte came through the Gateway in a huff and rushed towards Keeva’s room and knocked loudly on the door, “Keeva! You helped with a bad thing! Tell Millefeuille to stop!”

Keeva glanced at Mayu, who was working next to her, and hoped she wouldn’t find out, “Umm, is this about the gremlins?”

Charlotte crossed her arms and turned to scowl at the nearest camera, “Yes! She is releasing them right now!”

Keeva scratched the back of her head and chuckled nervously, earning a curious look from Mayu, “Uh… how? We’re all the way across the universe from there.”

She began looking around, “A Gateway! She’s in Mr. Oln’s home right now releasing them!”

Keeva groaned, earning another look from Mayu. Millefuelle was supposed to wait until after they’d gotten the virus from them. She also had expected for Millefeuille to have to come through Luna before heading to Ullia. It appeared she was wrong. Not that she cared,  “Alright, I’ll send a drone in, that’ll be the fastest.”

Keeva sent a cloaked drone to Oln’s base to appease the angry Charlotte.

Charlotte nodded, and looked around some more, “Thank you. Um… where are you?”

“I’m helping Mayu with something on the old bridge. Do you remember where that is?”

Charlotte began walking back towards the mess hall, “Yes.”

Charlotte made her way to the deck above and walked into the old bridge.

Keeva ran up to greet her and gestured around the room, excited to show off what they had done, while also hoping to make her forget about the gremlin situation, “We’re turning it into a farm!”

Charlotte’s anger vanished in an instant as Keeva had hoped, and was replaced with a look of excitement, “That’s… that’s amazing!”

Anton pulled his head from a hole in the wall where an old console had been, “Once we get these farmin’ machines those religious Ullian nuts gave us up and runnin’ we won’t have to worry about eatin’ paste anymore!”

Mayu walked up to greet Charlotte, “Welcome back! Would you like to help? I want to be getting it done before we are going back to Earth.”

Keeva’s drone reached Oln’s headquarters and began looking for an entrance. She then returned her focus back to herself, and gestured to a repair drone at work on the ceiling, “We’re also gonna plant some grass and flowers in here, maybe a small tree so we can have a place to have picnics or come to relax. Don’t think we’ll get it done by the time we return to Earth, but it’s a start.”

Mayu’s expression turned a little sad, but she still looked happy, “I want Aya to have a nice place to play if she comes here.”

Keeva smiled gently at Mayu, “She can play with the fairies here too.”

Charlotte’s expression turned gentle as well and she walked into the room, “I think Aoi will like that..”

Keeva hoped Aya had survived the car accident.  They didn’t even know if her husband had survived either, but she wasn’t going to say anything to break the optimism.

The drone found an open aircraft bay and entered the headquarters.

Evan entered the old bridge and turned to Charlotte as soon as he noticed her, “Excuse me, Ms. Charlotte, I would greatly appreciate it if you would open a Gateway so I can return to the Museum of Ancient History.”

Anton pulled his head back from the hole in the wall and began making kissy faces after saying, “Gonna go see your girlfriend?”

Evan blushed, “I… Of course I have a desire to see River, but I have some important questions to ask the dwarves concerning my research.”

Anton laughed, “So she is your girlfriend! Ya didn’t deny it!”

Keeva giggled, “Nothing wrong with having a girlfriend. It’s quite…” she remembered Etien and she immediately lost much of her positive attitude, “nice having one.”

Everyone else noticed and gave Keeva looks of sympathy.

Evan cleared his throat, “Yes... Well…” he turned back to Charlotte, “If you would. I will try to return with haste so as not to miss our return to Earth.”

Charlotte reached into her pouch and opened a Gateway, however; her brows furrowed in anger as she did so, and she turned back to Keeva.

Evan rushed through the Gateway, probably sensing it was safer to leave as fast as he could.

Keeva raised a hand to stop Charlotte, “It’s alright. I got in and am looking for her right now.”

Mayu looked between Charlotte and Keeva curiously, “Who?”

Keeva turned to Mayu, “Millefuelle’s releasing some gremlins in Oln’s headquarters right now. Charlotte’s having me stop her since I kinda helped come up with the idea.”

Keeva scratched the back of her head again and laughed.

Charlotte crossed her arms and scowled at Keeva.

Becky ran into the room, “Keeva! The calculations are done! Let’s head… out…” she noticed the icy chill in the room and slowly backed out, “Um… I’ll come back later…”

Keeva sighed and shrugged, “It’s fine. I can deal with more than one thing at once, remember? Didn’t even have to come all the way here.”

Becky laughed awkwardly, “Yeah, I’ll be back in the mess hall. I just needed to tell someone in person.”

Becky walked quickly away after taking another look at Charlotte.

Charlotte turned back to Keeva, “H… have you found…” her brows furrowed, and it looked like she was having a mental argument. After a few moments she focused on Keeva again, looking even more frustrated, “Millfuelle came back.”

Keeva covered her mouth to hide her smile, “I’ll, uh… look for the gremlins. How many were there?”

Charlotte shook her head and breathed out deeply, “It’s… it’s too late.”

Keeva glanced around the room, “Okay… if you’re sure…”

Charlotte sat on a metal crate and it looked like she didn’t want to be bothered as she seemingly argued with her sisters.

Anton pulled his head from the hole again, “Man, Charlotte. You can be scary when ya want.”

Keeva agreed with Anton, “Well, she is the moral compass of the catgirls now that Jeren’s gone.”

Charlotte stood back up and turned to leave the room, “My sisters want to come see Earth.”

A Gateway opened in the mess hall, startling the still flustered Becky just as she walked in, and all the cat girls came through, with Millefueille doing a lap around Luna’s main deck before settling back in at the mess hall.

Keeva groaned, “This is gonna be fun…”

Anton stuck his head back in the hole, “I’m gonna stay up here.”

Mayu grabbed Keeva’s wrist and pulled her through the door, “Let’s hurry before they are causing trouble!”

Things actually turned out to be rather calm, as the Three Stooges were the only cat girls that made any noise as they gossiped about something in the corner. The rest of the cat girls sat at Becky’s table quietly as they looked at the star charts while Becky herself shifted awkwardly in her chair.

Keeva powered up the wormhole device and selected a star in the Tucana dwarf with the most likely candidate for a gas giant and entered the command to open a wormhole, “Alright, it’ll be a few minutes.”

Becky got up and turned to the ever silent cat girls, “Um… anyone want some water, or maybe a soda?”

Charlotte humphed and moved to the food dispenser from where she stood by the door, ignoring her sisters, “I’ll get them.”

Becky sat back down and turned back to the cat girls, “So… how are you?”

Eclair turned to Becky, “We’re fine.”

None of the other cat girls seemed interested in talking and Eclair didn’t seem interested in saying anything else.

Keeva knew the cat girls preferred their telepathic communication and rarely talked, but it worried her. She’d only ever had a real conversation with Millefeulle and Charlotte, and even then, Charlotte was the only one that seemed to like to talk, even if she was still pretty awkward. She’d have to work on their social skills later.

Millefuelle trotted up to Keeva, a huge grin on her face, “I did it! I gave those mean people some gray gremlins!”

Keeva glanced at Charlotte, whose back was turned at the moment, and leaned in towards Millefeuille, whispering, “Good job! I’ll get you something later.”

Millefuelle grinned, “Don’t need it! Going on a trip, later!”

Keeva hadn’t heard about them going on a trip, “Oh? Where?”

Millefuelle turned, “That’s a secret!” and ran back to the other two Stooges.

Keeva shrugged and sat at an empty table with Mayu.

The next few hours went by without much interesting happening. They crossed a wormhole, refueled, did a quick mapping of the Tucana dwarf, opened a wormhole to the Phoenix dwarf, refueled, mapped, and waited. Evan returned during this time, as well, though without River.

Keeva studied the map of the Milkyway, “You sure that’s our sun? I mean, it’s white. Isn’t ours yellow?”

Becky shook her head, “Yeah, if your projections are right. Even if it’s not, from there we should get a better look. Oh, the sun only looks yellow because of the atmosphere. It’s actually closer to white than yellow if you look at it from space.”

Keeva highlighted the white star in question, “Oh, well. I’m gonna put us a couple light weeks outside just in case, so the Meatballs won’t see a tasty snack nearby.” Keeva entered the destination, “Just hope nothing goes wrong. We’ve never traveled this far before.”

Becky shrugged, “Doubt it. But even if we do blow out the drive, at least we’ll be close.”

Keeva smiled as she watched the noted half hour long countdown, “Hmm, almost half an hour. Maybe I’ll go back and chill in that gas giant so we have a full tank of gas when we go through.”

Becky shrugged, “Sounds good.”

Keeva turned away from the hologram and looked around the mess hall. Pretty much everyone but her and Becky had fallen asleep except Mayu and Anton who were working on the old bridge. So, to pass time, she decided to focus on Mikan and play with Aoi and Saki while they waited while putting on her space suit.

Keeva woke everyone five minutes before the countdown finished from her new vantage point.

Mayu was scolding Mikan, “Keeva! Get back inside! It is dangerous being there!”

Becky was angry too as she frantically put on her own space suit in the airlock, “I can’t believe you went out without telling me!”

Keeva reclined against a blister covering one of Luna’s turrets, “It’ll be fine! It’s not like the wormhole emits deadly radiation.”

Becky finished putting on her space suit and stood next to the airlock door, “Hurry and open the door!”

Keeva giggled, “Sorry, it might be dangerous having the door open while we go through.”

Becky face palmed, “Really? Come on…”

Keeva vented the atmosphere, “Just teasing you.” She then pulled Saki to the mess hall with Mikan, “Come on! Let’s go! It's boring staying in Mayu’s room all day!”

Aoi flitted ahead, “Yeah, Aoi’s bored. Let’s go play with the cats!”

Saki reluctantly followed Mikan, “Cats look hungry when seeing Saki. Saki doesn’t like cats.”

Keeva whispered to Millefeuille as best she could through the intercom, “Pretend like you’re going to eat Saki.”

Millefuelle grinned and turned to watch the door. 

The other two stooges looked on in interest.

It was about then that Keeva began to notice caution warnings from the wormhole drive, but nothing serious.

Millefeuille pounced on Saki as soon as she was through the door and held her in front of her face, “You look delicious!”

Saki shrieked, “Saki is going to be eaten!”

Millefeuille gave Saki a peck on the cheek, then released her, cackling as she turned back to return to the other Stooges.

Saki fluttered to Mayu and hid behind her, although she peeked over her shoulder and blew a raspberry at Millefeuille as she rubbed the spot the cat girl had kissed.

The wormhole device fired and Keeva took Luna through the wormhole. Becky and Mayu watching in anticipation.

Immediately, Keeva began charting the nearby stars, and after a few minutes had a fairly accurate map.

Keeva returned to the mess hall with Becky by selectively turning off gravity, letting them fly the whole way.

Once she entered, she put her helmet on the nearest table, and, grinning ear to ear, looked everyone over, “We were only eleven light years off!” She brought up the map she had made, and highlighted a white star, “Here’s the sun!”

Becky and Mayu hugged each other, with Becky cheering loudly.

Evan was smiling, but more in a way that said he was happy for the others.

Anton looked irritated, although it was hard to tell because he continued to work instead of joining everyone else or even looking at the hologram Keeva had made for him.

None of the cat girls other than Charlotte appeared excited about finding Earth, and each had a varying degree of amusement or interest as they watched the crew.

Charlotte awkwardly moved next to Becky and Mayu and looked like she wanted to join in on their hug but wasn’t sure how to, so Keeva glomped her from behind, causing her to call out in surprise.

Keeva giggled as Charlotte barely kept her balance, “We’re home!”

Keeva herself hadn’t cared too much about going back to Earth, but as she watched Mayu, she was glad they had. Sure, she’d like to see her family again, but… well… she wasn’t Ryan anymore. She was an ageless Aos Si that looked nothing like her original body. Just getting her family to accept that their dead family member was alive in a new body would be hard to explain, let alone a beautiful ageless Aos Si woman.

Keeva keyed in some coordinates a light day out from the sun as she hung from Charlotte’s shoulder, “One more trip through a wormhole and we’ll be home.”

Becky turned to Keeva, “Can you see any radio transmissions? Might be fun to listen to a radio program or tv show from eleven years ago.”

Keeva looked as best she could, “Hmm, there might be something there, but it’s hard to tell against the background noise.”

Becky shrugged, “I thought as much, but just wanted to try.”

Evan actually looked disappointed, “A shame, but not unexpected at this distance.”

Becky nodded, “Yeah. You’d need a pretty strong transmitter to get something this far out.”

The wormhole device finished charging, and Keeva took Luna through to the Solar System, “...and we’re almost home.” She began charting the solar system and found Uranus was closest, “Gonna hop over to Uranus,” Anton snickered as she said the planet’s name, “for a top up, then head to Earth.”

Mayu got Keeva’s attention by waving at her, “There are no Meatballs following us?”

Keeva shook her head, “Haven’t seen nearly as many since we got a way to kill them.”

Mayu looked relieved, “That is being good to hear.”

Charlotte let Keeva down and took a step back as she turned to get a better look at the group of women, “I can’t wait to see your families!”

Evan stood up from his seat at the table, “I had no spouse or children and most of my family is deceased, so do not worry about myself.”

Keeva felt a little sad Evan had no one to return to, “Didn’t you mention a brother once?”

Evan closed his eyes, “He and I cut relations years ago over various disagreements, and I have no desire to explain our circumstances to him.”

Charlotte looked a little sad, “I think you should. It’s…” she looked at her sisters, “it makes me sad thinking about never making up with family.”

Evan crossed his arms and kept his eyes closed, “I suppose if we avoid politics it might be worthwhile to attempt to mend our relationship.”

Mayu brightened, “Take Ms. River with you! I am thinking it will be easier with someone you are loving there to be supporting you.”

Evan opened his eyes and tapped his chin as he considered it, “I suppose showing her Earth would be a pleasant experience, and she has expressed interest in my family. I am sure she would want to visit her family as well.”

Becky grinned, and turned to Charlotte, “Open a Gateway so we can ask someone to see if she can come yet.”

Charlotte reached into her pouch and opened a Gateway, “Okay.”

Keeva found that Niamh’s communicator was in her home, which meant she probably was too, “Looks like Niamh’s there with her communicator. I’ll ask her.” She opened a line to Niamh, “Mom, we made it to Earth!”

Niamh’s face appeared over the line, and Keeva could see she was wearing her night clothes and it looked like she had put her mask on in a rush, “That is excellent news. May I join you? I have been meaning to ask if I can see your old home.”

Keeva saw no reason to not invite her, “Sure! Can you send for River, too?”

Niamh thought for a moment, “She is currently helping with some agitated mobs at the moment, but I will send a messenger.”

Keeva smiled, “Thanks, mom. See you after you get dressed.”

Niamh glanced at her nightclothes, “I will see you in a few minutes, daugh… Keeva.”

The channel closed, and Keeva turned to Evan, “Looks like she’s still busy, sorry.”

Evan nodded in understanding, “I thought as much, but I suspect we will remain here for a while so I see no need to rush.”

Evan’s comment made Keeva wonder what they would do now. Their goal had been to return to Earth, and now, here they were.

Luna reached Uranus, and began sucking up its gasses.

Becky looked towards the mess hall camera, “What about you, Anton?”

Anton didn’t stop his work, “Don’t worry about me.”

Charlotte’s expression became concerned, “You… you don’t want to… to see your family?”

Anton took a moment to reply, “I… don’t want to talk about it or talk to them.”

Keeva recalled Anton had always shown indifference or even slight hostility whenever the subject of his family came up, “Alright. Let me know if you change your mind.”

“Don’t hold your breath…”

Keeva shrugged, “Let’s leave him alone for now.”

The other women looked at each other, but all agreed with some reluctance.

The refueling didn’t take long, and soon Luna was headed towards Earth, specifically behind the moon.

Keeva’s sensors were assaulted with signals from Earth as soon as they left FTL. At first the massive amount of data overwhelmed her, but in milliseconds her computer brain got a handle on it and she could see everything. Every TV channel. Every radio broadcast. Every internet connection. 

Keeva held her head, “Whoa… I can see every transmission.”

Mayu rushed to Keeva and tried to put a hand on her forehead, “Are you feeling alright?”

Keeva nodded, “Yeah, just wasn’t expecting so much information at once, but my machine brain can handle it just fine.”

A Gateway opened and Niamh came through. She immediately spotted Keeva and Mayu,“Is something the matter?”

Mayu stopped trying to examine Keeva and stepped back from Keeva, “No, she is feeling fine.”

Keeva gave Niamh a reassuring smile, “Yeah, just got a little overwhelmed with all the data coming from Earth.”

Niamh relaxed, and nodded in understanding, “I see.” She turned to Evan, “River should arrive in about an hour.”

Evan gave Niamh a nod in appreciation, “Thank you.”

Anton finally showed some interest in the conversation and stopped working, “Hey, if you can see all the data transmissions, can you connect to the internet?”

Keeva checked the transmissions, “I think so? Only problem is, that it’s all gibberish to me.”

Anton crossed his arms and furrowed his brows, “Hmm, makes sense. You probably need to be taught html, java script, and all that stuff.” He nodded to himself, “I know some of those if ya want me to teach ya.”

Keeva saw no reason not to, “Sure.”

She pulled up a hologram for Anton to work on, “That’ll help. My computer brain already seems on it, but it’ll probably go faster if we have a base to start on.” She looked at the image of Earth peeking from behind the moon, “Guess I should send some cloaked probes down while I do that.”

Mayu looked hopeful, “Can you find Aya and my husband?”

Keeva smiled and nodded, “Yeah, let’s see, Kyoto in Japan…”

Keeva moved the cargo drone from the airlock and it reached the air above Japan in seconds.

Mayu moved right next to the hologram showing the cargo drone’s video feed and pointed to a spot, “Kyoto is there.”

As Keeva jumped the drone to Kyoto, she turned to Becky, “I can send the Mk. II out too and look for your family too.”

Becky shook her head, “No. I want to give Mayu my full support.”

Keeva smiled, and jumped the Mk. II from the still open airlock to where his family lived and found his parent’s house easily, though it was early morning and they were asleep. Still, it was nice to see his parents again, even if it was just their sleeping faces.

Meanwhile, it was late evening in Japan, so it appeared that most people were out enjoying the night or at home, and, as Mayu directed the cargo drone to a residential area, Keeva felt her heart beginning to race.

Soon Mayu pointed to a small house in a suburb of Kyoto, “There. That’s my house!”

Mayu’s face was flush with emotion, and she was clutching her chest, as tears began to wet her cheeks. 

Becky was much the same, and even Keeva felt her eyes begin to tear up.

The house was two storied, but had a small footprint and even smaller yard in the cramped neighborhood. It was an older house, but well kept. The second story appeared to just be bedrooms, with nothing out of the ordinary inside.

The lights on the first floor were on, and Keeva could see a small kitchen, living area with a dining table, sofa, TV and other assorted furniture, as well as a small shrine in the corner with Mayu’s picture in the center. 

A man and a small girl Keeva recognized as Aya and Kazuya sat watching a variety show.

Mayu reached her hand towards the hologram, “They’re both alive!”

Becky gave Mayu a hug from behind, resting her chin on the top of the shorter woman’s head, “I’m so happy for you!”

Mayu put a hand on Becky’s arm, “They are both alive! They are alive!”

Keeva maneuvered the drone to the doorbell and used the drone’s manipulator arm to ring the doorbell. She then made a hologram of herself, ears included, “Alright, ready to talk to your family?”

Mayu looked eager, though slightly puzzled, “Yes. You are taking Luna there?”

Keeva crossed her arms and pursed her lips, “Uh… Nope. Gonna bring them here in the cargo drone… If you don’t mind.”

Mayu shook her head, “That is okay. It is a short trip.”

The door opened, and Kazuya greeted Keeva’s hologram, “Hello. Can I help you?”

Keeva got a closer look at Kazuya, and noticed some scarring on the ends of his fingers, nose and ears.

Mayu whispered under her breath a word in Japanese he wasn’t familiar with, but was easy to figure out, “Frostbite.”

Keeva, felt that made sense, but chose to ignore it for now and made her hologram smile politely, “I am a friend of your wife, Mayu. I… well…” she turned to Mayu, “this is hard to say, but she’s alive.”

Kazuya’s expression went from polite, to sadness, then to anger, “My wife died. I saw her! Please leave if you’re going to play tricks on me!”

Keeva decloaked the cargo drone and made a hologram of Mayu climb out from it, “Alright. I’ll let her talk to you, then.”

Kazuya took a few steps back in surprise, “This is… what… Mayu…”

Aya came from the living area to the front entrance, a noticeable limp in her stride, “Daddy, who…” She spotted Mayu’s hologram, “Mommy! You came back!”

Kazuya tried to stop Aya, but was too slow, and the girl tried to hug Mayu’s hologram, passing through it.

Aya stumbled, but caught herself on the cargo drone.

Keeva laughed uncomfortably, “Umm… we’re not actually here, just this drone.”

Kazuya still looked confused, “Please… if this is some sort of trick…”

Mayu glanced at Keeva to show she wanted to speak, “Kazuya. It is really me. I died, but a being of great power gave me another chance. We are on a spaceship, and can’t come there, but if you ride the drone, you can come to me.”

Kazuya didn’t move, “I’m dreaming…”

Keeva poked Kazuya with the manipulator arm, “Nope. It’s a bit cramped, but this drone can really take you to space where we are.”

Aya looked confused and tried grabbing Mayu’s hologram again, “Mommy, why can’t I touch you?” 

Mayu’s hologram turned to Aya, “Mommy isn’t there, but we came to get you.”

Kazuya took another step back and pointed at the holograms, “If… if this isn’t a dream, then you must be ghosts!”

Keeva was getting tired of the situation and grabbed Kazuya as gently as she could with the manipulator arm, “Sorry about this, but you’re not listening, so…”

Keeva put him inside the cargo drone’s cargo bay. She then quickly grabbed Aya, who started crying in fright. She then closed the hatch to the drone, closed the door to the house, then jumped back to Luna.

Everyone ran to the hatch leading to the lower deck, and descended as soon as the air finished cycling.

Kazuya was poking his head from the hatch, holding Aya tightly, when Mayu jumped onto the drone then giving them a tight hug, “Kazuya!” She turned to Aya and kissed her on the forehead, “Aya. Mommy missed you!”

As Keeva tried to hold back her tears while watching Mayu’s reunion with her family, Charlotte tapped on her shoulder, “Um… K… Keeva?”

Keeva turned to look at Charlotte with mild irritation, “Yeah?”

Charlotte pushed the button to the Gateway device, then handed it to Keeva, “We,” she glanced at her sisters, who were gathering around the Gateway, “We… um… we’re going to find Jeren.”

Keeva blinked a few times as she wondered how, “You found a way?”

Millefeuille gave Keeva a thumbs up, “By going through the back!”

Millefeuille walked through the back side of the Gateway, followed quickly by the rest of the cat girls, except Charlotte.

Charlotte smiled sadly as she glanced at Mayu and her family, “I… If I don’t go, who is going to keep them from trouble?”

Keeva wished they had waited longer, “So… I guess it makes sense you would go the same place she did if you go the same way.”

Charlotte didn’t look very confident, “We already sent some supplies through. Mostly stolen…” she did not look happy admitting that, “so we should be okay.” She gave Keeva a hug, “I’ll miss you guys.” 

Charlotte turned to Becky, who had noticed the cat girls leaving, and gave her a hug too, “I’m glad you got home.”

Becky returned the hug, “Yeah, it was worth it just to reunite Mayu and her family.” She then patted Charlotte on the head, “Be careful, okay?”

Charlotte giggled, “My sisters are the strongest around.”

Charlotte gave quick goodbyes to Aoi and Saki before stopping next to Mayu.

Keeva heard Aya shout out, and glanced at Mayu’s family where she saw that Kazuya was still looking dumbstruck, but Aya had already accepted the situation and was pointing excitedly at Charlotte, “Kitty! Mommy! There’s a girl with kitty ears and a tail!”

Charlotte smiled and went over to greet Aya, “Hi! I… I don’t know Japanese, but I’m happy to meet you.” She then turned to Mayu, “Um… My sisters didn’t want to wait, so… um…” she hugged Mayu, her tears finally breaking free, “I’m going to miss everyone!”

Mayu hugged Charlotte back, “You are really going?”

Charlotte released her hug and stepped back, “Mmhmm. My sisters wanted to leave sooner, but decided to stay until you made it home.”

Mayu put a hand on Charlotte’s shoulder, “Thank you for helping and I am hoping you find Jeren.”

Anton finally made an appearance.

Charlotte scratched her cheek, “Yeah…” She turned to Sashae and walked to her, giving her a hug too, “Goodbye. I’ll miss your music.”

Sashae patted Charlotte awkwardly on the back, “Bye, Charlotte. You are best cat girl.”

Charlotte blushed as she stepped back, “Thanks.” She turned to Evan, “Um…”

Evan shifted on his feet a bit before opening his arms for a hug, “Goodbye. Please keep your sisters out of trouble.”

Charlotte gave Evan a quick and awkward hug, “I will.” She then spotted Anton, “Goodbye Anton.”

Anton didn’t approach, but waved goodbye, “Have fun.”

Charlotte and Niamh politely nodded their heads at each other, as Charlotte still looked intimidated by her.

Charlotte smiled as she gave the group a look over, “Goodbye. I will come visit after we find Jeren” She then walked to the Gateway, waved at Aya, then to everyone else again, “Goodbye!” Then she finally walked though, a nervous look appearing on her face as she did so.

Keeva turned off the Gateway and turned back to Mayu as she tried to convince Kazuya she wasn’t a ghost again.

Becky turned to Keeva, “So what now? After we visit our families?”

Keeva already knew her answer, “I’m going to look for Etien. Maybe do some exploring on the way.”

Becky smiled, “Sounds like a plan. Got any leads?”

Keeva nodded, “Maybe. If I concentrate, I can feel a connection to her, and it’s getting stronger, especially when a wormhole is open, but it’s still too weak for me to tell where.”

Becky chewed on her lip, “Um… While you’re figuring that out, mind if I do some sightseeing? For example, Sagittarius A*? Or maybe Eta Carinae? Or…”

Keeva giggled, “Sure, why not?”

Anton seemed interested too, “If you guys are going, I am too!”

Evan glanced at the Gateway device in Keeva’s hand, “I… was considering staying on the Museum of Ancient History and assisting them settle there, but I too would like to journey with you to see these things.”

Becky grinned, “You already thinking of marrying River? That was quick.”

Evan’s face turned a bright red, “River is a fine woman, and I would be lucky to have her, but the dwarves have much to teach me, and I to teach them, which is why I have come to this decision.”

Becky laughed, “Sure… sure…”

Sashae waved a hand to get everyone’s attention, “I will go with Evan. Music will be good for keeping happy there.”

Keeva sighed, “You guys know you can stay here and still help, right? I mean, we’ve got a Gateway.”

Evan shook his head, “I have had enough of living inside a spaceship for now. I want to find residence in a place I can easily explore nature without having to make detours on the way.”

Keeva remembered he had said he enjoyed hiking, “Alright, but you can always come back whenever.”

Mayu brought Aya, and the still confused, but now calm Kazuya over, “I am staying here too. You are needing a doctor.”

Keeva was surprised, “You’re not staying with your family?”

Mayu’s expression said she probably wanted to go back to Japan, but wasn’t sure, “I am thinking it is hard living in Japan when I should be being dead…”

Keeva totally understood, “Yeah. Would be kind of hard explaining how you came back from the dead.”

Everyone looked uncomfortable at that thought.

Mayu turned to Kazuya, “Is it okay if they are living on Luna?”

Keeva turned to the others, none of whom seemed opposed to the idea, “If they want.”

Kazuya looked around, “Um… This is all real?”

Keeva gave Kazuya a gentle smile, and held out her hand to shake, “Sorry about earlier. I promise I’m not a hologram this time. Oh yeah, my name is Keeva, by the way.”

Kazuya reached out his hand cautiously, “Nice to meet you, Ms. Keeva.”

Keeva shook Kazuya’s hand, then introduced the others to him.

Aya was staring at Keeva’s ears, “Why are big sister’s ears so long?”

Kazuya’s eyes focused on Keeva’s ears, before he turned to scold Aya, “Aya! That’s not polite!”

Keeva giggled, “It’s fine!” She crouched in front of Aya, “I’m a kind of elf called an Aos Si. Want to touch my ears?”

Aya’s eyes focused on something behind Keeva, and she took off, “Cute! Fairies!” Only to scream moments later as she noticed Anton, “Monster!”

Everyone but Kazuya, Anton, and the frightened Aya laughed.

As Keeva watched, she was happy things had gone so well. She wished the cat girls hadn’t left, especially so suddenly, but she had a feeling she’d be seeing them again someday and was sure they’d have a fun story to tell. She was also glad they had come back to Earth and everyone would have a chance to see their families again.

As Anton covered his forehead, and retreated to the main deck in shame, Keeva joined the others in getting to know Mayu’s family and found herself wondering if she would find a hopefully male Etien and start a family with him. Still, it was a big universe among an infinite multiverse so it felt almost impossible. But she would find him, even if it took her a thousand years. 

A vacation first wouldn’t be bad though, and there was still the matter of infecting the Dregasi drones with the Ullian virus. 

It had been a fun adventure, and she was ready for a new one. Where it would take her, she didn’t know, but she was sure was ready for it. 

***

Meanwhile, back on Ullia. A guard came upon a strange winged creature digging through a crate of food. When he tried to scare it away, dozens more came from every which way, attacking him, killing him, and eating all the evidence.

By the time the Ullians found them again, they numbered in the hundreds and had already spread away from the base to others via transports. 

The gremlins spread so quickly, soon the only safe places were the small space station in orbit and islands across the oceans. 

The Ullians had already decided to leave their irradiated world and each of the two remaining factions spread into the stars.

Thank you everyone who read to the end. I wrote this story mostly for practice and never expected it to be a masterpiece of writing, and I feel it was worth it. The biggest thing I got from it was the value of prep work before starting. I did do some minor backgrounds for the main characters, but I feel I should have gone much more in depth with that. I also feel the whole Mljos Tersa arc was a direction I shouldn't have gone in as it removed Luna from the picture for much of the story. 

Some other things I want to improve upon are descriptions, both of people, and locations. I also really need to get over my fear of reading comments as I'm super pessimistic and a part of me is scared they'll all be people criticizing my story. I know this usually isn't the case, but it's hard to push past that feeling. Yeah... I haven't even read the second review someone wrote, but I know it wasn't good, because the score for this story dropped one point after they posted it.

Finally, some news. Until now, I've been lucky enough to be a stay home parent, which has allowed me time to write, but because of financial reasons I've had to get a part time job and my shift happens to be when I usually write. It's actually kinda funny that I finished this the week before I started.

As for the story I did the polls for... I still plan on writing it, but my writing time will be less reliable so I might not be able to put out chapters on a week by week basis. I wish was good enough at writing to make some income off of it, but I don't see that happening. 

Anyway, thanks for reading my story. Until next time.

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