Almost

Chapter Seven

Have you ever woken up to the snoring of a person? Hear their soft snores, dragging you out of a deep, precious sleep?

So when Tam awoke to the sound of a lawnmower, she wasn't very happy.

Still a bit groggy, she aimed a kick at whatever was making that awful noise.

"Ow..."

"Stop it."

"What?"

"Snoring."

She opened her eyes to see Kaz's face glaring at her from under his cocoon of blankets.

"No." He snapped, then let out an obnoxiously fake snore.

WHACK!

"OW!"

"Stop it!"

"Why!"

"Because it's annoying!"

A soft giggle came from the doorway, and both of them found Annie's amused- looking face in the doorway. "You two are very silly. You argue about funny things."

She walked toward them, letting out a soft yawn as she did. She sat down on the couch and started to peel away Kaz's blankets.

"Are you hungry, little one?" He asked sleepily, oblivious to what Anne was doing.

"Yes." She said, managing to pull the rest of the blankets off of him.

Kaz let out a groan. "No. Too early."

"C'mone Kaz." Tam said, trying not to laugh. "Time to feed the kid."

Kaz sat up and gave Tam a sleepy glare. Tam in return giggled at the state his hair was in.

"Why do you enjoy my suffering?" He said, trying to smooth out the tuff of-a-mess on his head.

Tam leaned forward and ruffled his hair.

"Hey!"

"I don't purposely make you suffer. You just make it too easy."

Kaz shot her another glare through his locks of messy mane.

Anne pulled on Tam's shirt. "Food now?"

Tam smiled. "Of course."

Kaz yawned and stretched as Annie disappeared around the corner. Tam took the pleasure of shoving him off the side of the couch.

**************************************************

Despite it being early in the morning, the market place was bustling with life. Smells of jogan- jelly wafted through the stands, mixing with freshly baked biscuits and mouth-watering puffer pig bacon. The heavenly, fruity musk of meiloorun juice tainted the air. The scent of the sea and scenery of the blue-and-green ocean really tied it together.

"Everything here is strange. There are so many different types of people." Annie turned in a full circle, gaping at the stands that seemed giant to her, and almost got caught between two arguing vendors. She scampered back to Kaz, seizing his open hand.

"Nothing to be afraid of, little one." Kaz said as she grasped his open hand.

"So what's the plan?" Tam asked.

Kaz though for a second. "We'll get some food, then pop by to the Tower. I guess we can see if they need our help."

"What's that?"

Tam turned to see what Annie was pointing at and saw a fat, plump, gorg perched on a cargo crate.

"Oh that's a-"

"Ah ha! I have caught you!"

Neeku sprang out of the blue and seized the gorg from its underside, shoving it into the capsule he had under his arm.

"Hey Neeku!" Kaz grinned, nudging his best friend.

"Hello Kaz! Hello Tam! Hello small Aeosian that I have never met! What is your name?"

"I'm Anastasia." She giggled. "But you may call me Annie."

"Very well, Annie." Neeku said, pulling the capsule close to his chest when it gave a small jump. "I am Neeku. You may call me- well, I don't really have another name people call me. So just Neeku."

She giggled again. "It's very nice to meet you, Neeku.

Neeku grinned. "Gorgs were on sale today. I am in a very good mood!"

"Guess that could be breakfast." Kaz remarked.

"As long as you're paying." Tam joked.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Kazuda Xiono."

Tam turned around to see an older woman she had never really seen before.

"Mika Grey." Kaz chuckled. "Nice to see ya. Haven't really heard much about you lately. Business dying down?"

Mika snorted. "Can't really know if you don't ask, Xiono."

She turned her gaze to Annie. "Who might these people be?"

"This is Tam", he said, gesturing to the confused pilot next to him. "And that's Annie."

Speaking of Annie, she was looking at Mika with some look of concrention, like she was trying to remember something. "I've seen you before."

Mika's eyebrows (what was left of them) shot up. "Funny. I don't remember seeing you, young one."

Annie looked up at her. "Like I saw you in a dream."

Tam and Kaz groaned at the same time.

"What?" The elderly woman asked.

"No dreams." Tam moaned. "Last time there was a dream a giant sea monster attacked us."

"Oh yes." Neeku commented. "That was a rather memorible experience."

Just then, like a cue, Kel and Elia swung out around one of the cargo crates.

Kel slid to a halt. Elia bumped into him, and the two siblings almost fell over.

"Hey kids." Tam smiled.

"These two are always following me around." Mika teased, ruffling Kel's hair as she gave Elia a soft squeeze around the shoulders. "Always causing trouble."

"Who are you?" Kel asked, tilting his head at Annie.

"I'm Annie."

"Nice to meet you." Elia said this time. "I'm Elia and this is Kel."

"Kaz!"

The small group of friends and aquatints looked up to see Norath Kev running towards them, obviously out of breath.

"Kaz!" He wheezed again, skittering to a stop. "We... they..."

"Whoa whoa whoa." Kaz said, a concerned look crossing over his face. "Take a breath there, buddie. What's going on?"

Norath took a deep breath and gasped out,

"We found them."