Sunny Days and Starry Nights

Kai

The servants lugged Kai's suitcase in the back of the podship while Kai assured his adviser that he would be alright. "Torin, I'm going with an ex-soldier from the Lunar army, a cyborg that has a gun in her finger, and a trained lunar guard. I'll be fine."

Torin sighed. "I know, I know. Do be careful though. That current can and will pull you away extremely fast. I read all about it." Kai nodded. "Yes sir."

The pilot of the ship walked over to the two men. He had sunglasses and a hat on, but the way he smiled seemed quite familiar to Kai...

"Ready to go, Your Emperor Kai-ness?" The pilot grinned at Kai, taking off his sunglasses to show twinkling blue eyes. Kai rolled his eyes before embracing Thorne.

"You never cease to provide with your awful jokes, Captain."

Thorne snickered. "I made us stop here on the way for some pork buns, and Cress suggested we pick you up."

That moment, Cress popped her head out of the ship. "The engines are ready for take-off, Captain!" Thorne gave a thumbs up to her, letting Cress know they heard her over the roar of the ship's motors.

Torin turned to Kai. "Have a wonderful time," he said, giving Kai a quick hug. "Oh, you know I will," replied Kai, returning the embrace.

Following Thorne, Kai headed up the stairs and into the podship, waving one last time at Torin. Kai sat down on the plush passenger seat, just behind Cress.

He looked around the extravagant cabin. This was the latest model of ships, not even he had been in one of these yet. "What happened to the Rampion?" He asked. It was not like Thorne to leave his beloved Rampion behind.

Thorne turned in his pilot seat, sniffing. Kai peered at him. He could have sworn that Thorne had wiped away a tear. Cress leaned over her seat to pat Thorne on the back. "It's in the shop for repairs. The engines broke down last week, and this was the only ship in the rental store."

Thorne wailed, "My beautiful ship, in that disgusting garage!" Kai tried not to smile. He pulled out his port and sent a comm to the rest of the crew, warning them not to ask Thorne about his ship. Jacin replied that he would, in fact, ask Thorne about his ship. This made Kai send a flurry of messages to Jacin, begging him not to do so, until Jacin relented and agreed not to ask him.

When Kai looked back up from his port, he realized they were in the air, far above the lakes and mountain ranges he saw. His port rang again, this time it was Cinder.

He accepted the comm. Cinder's voice crackled over the speakers. "Hey, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it, Kai."

Kai frowned. Last time they had talked, she had talked all about the trip. He thought Cinder was as excited as he was to go on this vacation. Why was she having second thoughts? "Is it work? Cinder, we talked about this. You need to relax."

Cinder sighed. "It's not that. Kai, I can't do anything at the beach. I can't get wet, and sand gets stuck in my joints. All I can do is sit on a beach chair and tan."

Out of the corner of his eye, Kai noticed Cress and Thorne give a sad look to each other. At least Thorne could go swimming with his cybernetic fingers. "Guess what? I'll sit on a chair next to you. I don't like to go in the ocean, and I don't like sand in my hair. So I'll sit next to you and we'll have a good time."

Cinder was silent for a minute. "Okay, I guess I'll go." Kai grinned. "I love you." He whispered. He could tell Cress and Thorne were straining to listen. "I love you too, and thanks," Cinder said before hanging up.

Kai sat back and closed his eyes. He knew Cinder sometimes felt like she was a burden to the group, but he couldn't help wondering if something else was bothering her. Kai closed his eyes, letting the rumbles of the podship lull him to sleep.

He woke up sometime later, somebody's hot breath on his face. "Wake up Sleeping Beauty, we're here." Thorne's face was extremely close to Kai's. He groaned. "Are you going to kiss me or something?" Thorne grinned. "No, I do that to Cress." Kai smirked. "No wonder she's stayed with you this long."

Lightly pushing a bewildered Thorne away, Kai stood up and stretched. He walked out of the ship, heading to the back to get his luggage. Cress had already unloaded it, struggling under the weight. "Aces, what did you pack?" Kai helped her with the suitcase, smiling. "Just a week's worth of clothes, papers, toiletries, and a couple gifts for Cinder. Cress leaned against the ship. "What'd you get her, a new metal arm?"

Kai pressed his lips in a line. "You wish." He took his suitcase and started rolling it to the house. Cinder stepped out of the door, looking shy. Kai dropped his suitcase and ran the rest of the way, folding her into a hug.

Cinder returned it, whispering, "Did you really get me a new metal arm?" Kai laughed. "No," he said before kissing her. "Gross," Thorne's disgusted voice said, "I just ate."

Kai pulled away, glaring at Thorne. "Why, I ought to-," he muttered, but then Scarlet and Wolf walked out, arms full with their luggage. "Put it all in the pod, guys, we leave whenever Jacin and Winter get here."

Kai looked around. It was awfully quiet. "Where's Iko?" he asked Cinder.

Suddenly a squeal rang out. Kai jumped, turning around and getting a mouthful of blue braids in the process. "Yay! You made it! I'm so excited for this trip! I got the prettiest new swimsuit just for the beach. Wait until you see it." Iko squeezed Kai so hard, he thought he heard a rib crack.

Cinder rested a hand his shoulder. "Iko, we talked about this. No suffocating my boyfriend." Iko pulled back, inspecting Kai from head to toe. "He's not suffocating. He's perfectly fine. On second thought, you do look tired, did you get enough rest last night?" Kai smiled. It was just like Iko to mother him.

"I'm fine, just a little jetlagged."

Iko hugged him again. Kai almost laughed when he heard Cinder's groan behind him.

Scarlet passed them on her way back in the house, swiping a kiss on Kai's cheek. "Winter said they'd be here in a few minutes, so scoot!" Iko and Cinder ran into the house to get their stuff while Kai went back to get his fallen suitcase.

He headed to the ship they would all be taking to the beach, throwing his suitcase in with the rest of the bags. A strangled moan came up from the suitcase.

"Help me," the voice cried, strangely familiar. "Cress! Is that you?" Kai dug her out. "I'm sorry. Are you alright?" Cress stumbled around, looking a bit dizzy. "I'm fine, I just think I'm going to sit down for a moment." She climbed over the bags, heading to the seats in the trunk. "How'd you get in there?"

Kai asked, leaning over the bags. Cress rubbed her head. "I was trying get up here and my foot got caught in between some bags, tripping me. Then the love of my life didn't see me and threw some towels on me."

Kai shook his head, patting her shoulder. "I am sorry though."

Cress gave him a small smile. "I'm okay now." A series of shouts snapped their attention the front of ship. Up in the pilot seat, Thorne was fighting with Wolf about flying the ship.

Kai watched bemusedly as Thorne was dragged out of the seat, Wolf threatening to throw him in the lake if Scarlet didn't fly. Cress and Kai burst out laughing as Thorne shrieked and pleaded. Scarlet, Cinder, and Iko cam running out of the house to see what was wrong.

When Wolf saw Scarlet, he dropped Thorne. Thorne scrambled up, dusting himself off. He strutted back to the ship, red in the face. By then everyone was rolling around with laughter. It looked to be a great start to an amazing week.

At least until Jacin and Winter arrived.