a.k.a. Katana

Chapter Fifteen

On the transport to S'Nekka they finished what they had started on the last transport. He laughed at her scowl when he pushed the button that made the bed fall out of the wall. "Some people have to take long rides on these things." He explained.

Katana was glad to be leaving the hospital and finally going someplace to stay more permanently. Even if things didn't work out with Kokin, he assured her she could still stay at S'Nekka and make it her home. She knew, too that she could always go to S'Edga En and start all over there or even live there. She had options, good options.

"You know, you could have just come home with me in the first place, when we first met." Kokin told her. "Or, if you hadn't been so stubborn, you could have come home with me after you got fired from your hotel job." He was stretched out on the bed smoking a cigarette completely naked. It seemed like a dangerous activity, but Katana didn't say anything; he looked too good doing it. She knew he wouldn't listen, anyway.

"I guess so. I didn't want you to think I couldn't take care of myself." She admitted tracing the lines of the tattoos on his chest with her finger. He shook as he laughed, "You couldn't take care of yourself. But it doesn't mean you never can. Anyway, you can't do everything by yourself. Look at J'Adok. He'd be fucked if it weren't for Pete, Neema, me and Getty, even you cleaned his room for him. Hell, Getty's filling in for me right now and he showed up with the boat that saved both our asses."

Katana let his words filter slowly into her brain, testing the logic of them and trying to think of reasons why they would be untrue, but could not. She could not think of an example of a person who had been completely successful and happy in life by doing everything alone, or by being alone.

Kokin kissed the top of her head and sat up, "You're too hard on yourself, Katana." He began dressing and getting ready to go.

Katana started thinking he might be right. All her life she had watched her mother depend on men to take care of her and her children. She would listen to her scream into the phone about late child support checks or weasel jackets, shoes and school supplies out of all the baby daddies. She spent her days in waiting rooms at the WIC office, on the phone with the food stamp people, and filling out forms for financial assistance.

She never worked a job for more than six months and had petitioned for social security disability at least once a year for a variety of creative reasons.

Whenever things got tough, when money ran out or lines of credit were cancelled the fights would start. Eventually she would trade out boyfriends, the poor one for the barely richer one.

All of this made Katana think that she would really rather work, make her own money and live by herself. No boyfriend to drink up the rent money or get her pregnant and create more people to have to provide for.

Kokin held her robe out to her. After being on the space ship for so long, she knew getting pregnant was probably not a possibility for her anymore. She had been exposed to the Bannit Tai Et for far too long. At the moment it was working out in her favor, though, so she didn't worry over it.

She looked up at Kokin. His expression was soft and his eyes were glittering gold and green. She smiled at him and took the garment from him. "You can start by letting one of the other women from the En help get you some new clothes." He suggested.

Katana shrugged into the garment and sat next to Kokin on the bed, which was now a seat. They strapped on the seat belts and prepared for the transport to stop. Kokin laughed when she told him how she had braced herself last time. He wrapped his arms around her and put his cheek against the smoothness of her hair. "Well, this time I'll keep you safe. I promise." She sighed and rested against him, "And I'll let you."