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Her alien friend taking the time to consider and measure his words wasn't a bad thing, and without the third part there everything seemed to feel more comfortable for Jada, anxiety giving way to patience and familiarity, the comfort of an old friend. "I... suppose that's true?" she asked, but she didn't know for sure. "But some of her people are willing. So that means some of those people are already making their decision, and they chose the propaganda she's fed them. A decade of it."

Wrinkling her nose, Scylla finally asked- "What exactly IS Metallia? I've kind of always... envisioned her as a bogeyman, lurking in the shadows. But was she like a person once? What's a Chaos Seed exactly? I'd never heard the term before recently. If it's something that's... infected her... who will be left behind? Will anything be left behind?" If she wasn't human, what species was she? What species had she been? Had Chaos given her this long life, or was it something she was born with? "Is Metallia even a person, or is she more like... a ghost? Hopping from body to body like a virus?"

Caedus sighed heavily, squeezing her hand, and Scylla gazed up at him. "I like that you're more comfortable with touch." the admission was soft. "I appreciate the hand holding. And the hug was awesome. You're pretty decent at fixing too, you know. I needed some, last time you were on Earth, and you were always there for me. I want to be there for you."

"Fear you?" That was an interesting thing to say, and Scylla shifted, turning to look her friend in the face. Well. In the chest, and then crane her head back, and back, and back, until she could see his face, somewhere amongst the early-morning clouds. Why would they fear him? It didn't seem like something that could be casually said. "Are you secretly a super-powerful alien sorcerer?" she squeezed his hand lightly. "Did you scowl at Lyndin and make him cry? Why do you think they would fear you? Other than them not knowing you."

But when he said he could breathe better on Earth- that, she could work with. "It's our fresh, un-recycled air." the answer was prompt and cheery, and yet not forced, considering the gravity of emotion they had been discussing. "It gave you nostalgia-goggles. When you sit back and think about things you loved, like... childhood foods that you remember as being the most delicious things in the world, but when you taste them as an adult they taste wrong. Maybe the recipe changed, or the company. Or maybe you just look back on simpler times, because they got you through the hard ones."

Scylla didn't like his idea of Metallia, but- "Well, as long as I can cross her possessing your senshi off the list." Scylla gave a sigh. "I'm thinking of every possible bad outcome that can happen to this venture. I should be looking to happier ones, but it feels like every time I get too hopeful we're thwarted. It's like living a novel, and you get to the end and think the villain will finally be defeated, but surprise! It's a TRILOGY. And that trilogy is just part of a long, eternal saga that's currently at like... 26 books, and no end in sight. We're not allowed to win."

She hummed. "Raw power given form. Sounds awful. And what is the balance of that Chaos Seed? Not the senshi- there are dozens of us here and we can't even touch her. It? But there has to be something that can destroy it other than just... throwing energy at her and hoping she doesn't eat it all. There had to have been something that was being used to keep the Chaos Seeds in check, back before the senshi all..." Died.

"That's a wish I'm all too familiar with." Scylla agreed, and her steps slowed, and she let her body lean into her friend, taking comfort in his presence, and the peace of this moment. Early morning light, and the sun dappling through the trees. The sounds of birds that had always been sleeping when she had visited him before, as often as she could. Past that barrier there was probably sound, and noise, and yet all of it was hidden and it felt as though they were alone, and their confessions could be heard by no one.

I am tired, he said, and Jada felt that intimately. She sat on the edge of it, daily, and like Caedus seemed to be, she was bolstered by her convictions. But even those could be worn down. Into moments of weakness, and quiet confessions to a friend. And he stood here, supporting her, and so she would support him, as best that she could. She opened her mouth to say something supportive- she wasn't sure what it was going to be- but he was speaking again and she listened.

His faith was enough for her, in its way, and while Scylla's life had begun to condition her to see traitor faces behind every smiling mask, she let herself share her friend's faith in his people. He lifted his hand, brushing his hand across the crystals that decorated his face, and she turned her body to face him. "You are different," she agreed, "You were trapped, and you survived. You made your way out of the rift, all by yourself. You opened yourself up and made friends. You found your way home."

She reached up, placing her hands on Caedus' cheeks, rubbing her thumbs gently over the markings of exhaustion beneath his eyes. "Bend down." she told him, and her tone brooked no argument; and when he did, Scylla leaned up, pressing her lips first to one cheek, then the next, then his forehead. She made sure to brush her lips over the crystals he had briefly seemed so ashamed of, as much a part of the man she knew as the skin he wore. "I say it again, Caedus. Vynlendl. Thank you for surviving, for fighting your way to the here and now, and for being my dear friend. My ally. For fighting with us, and bringing allies you trust to help."

His posture was stiff, and confused and Scylla kept her touch gentle and careful, until he relaxed under the connection of skin to skin. Did her best not to make him feel at all trapped by the way her arms slowly folded around him, when the kisses to his face were over. As she crept closer, quietly demanding hugs.

"You say such sweet things," she said wryly, yet there was a smile curling around her lips he likely could not see, "It's enough to make a lady blush." I have held it in my heart since you worked your way into it. It made tears sting her eyes. "You don't have to repay me, Caedus. Not for anything. You are my friend. I- I care for you deeply, you know that. It's not just kindness to a stranger in a strange land that kept me coming back to visit you as often as I did, or made me miss your presence so much."

She wanted to pull him closer, hug him tighter, and breathe in the nearness of a friend, of a warm hug, of a momentary feeling of safety and security, of having someone to lean against. "I'll take you to see Scylla, when you're ready," she told him with a smile, "Though I'm sure you'll be busy for the next few days."

For a moment, she was silent. And then she spoke again.

"I trust you." she said softly. "And I'm not going to blame you if something goes wrong. I'll blame Lyndin though. Though, if something goes wrong and you get hurt I will be very angry with you." she poked him in the side, gently. "Promise me, Caedus. You just got back. Everything is going to be okay, and you will take me to see your home. Homes, perhaps."

Everything is going to be okay, Caedus promised, and Scylla felt her shoulders loosen, and let her body lean forward, close to him. "Of course I have to worry," she chastised gently, teasing, "You're too nice. And I'm a mother, worrying is what I do. My allies, my kids, the friends I love, the enemies I don't. What's going to happen on the next episode of One Life to Live."

Her hands squeezed his own in response. "Words are hard, but let me say this. I will do everything I can to protect you. You're in my heart too, Caedus." she lifted his hand to her face, pressing the backs of his fingers against her cheek and looking up at him.

"You're NOT bad luck." her voice was firm. "And I would never leave you to be stuck, though I have to admit I am well-pleased your Lyndin can come and pick you up if something 'strange' happens." her eyes crinkled in the corners. "I want you to be safe as well. And it would be nice if I could be too, but I feel like keeping you safe would be- will be- a full time job."

Her grin was wide and warm. "You aren't bad luck for me, but I get the feeling you sure can be trouble."

The contact was... good. It was a soothing moment, and when Caedus laughed, a sheepish expression crossing his face even briefly, Scylla could feel the knots in her stomach unfurling. "And here I thought a thousand was still young and fresh for an alien," she said teasingly, "And you'd be running around causing problems for my grandchildren." an eyebrow raised delicately, playful affection in her tone.

He rested against her hand, and Scylla caught herself watching him silently, drinking in the renewed presence of her friend, the relaxation and mingled exhaustion and... lightness. He was not the man who huddled in the woods, wrapped in a cloak and living off of what those of Order could spare him that he would accept.

There was something else in him now, and it was... good. The comfort he was willing to show with her was good.

"I always believe you, glynd." she told him, and there was something more than friendly in affection in the way she said the word, and it brought tears to her eyes to have the emotion so... unclearly defined. "You might be wrong," she told him with a wet little laugh, "But you're not a liar."

She drank in the touch between them. "I would love to get into trouble with you," she told him as though there could have been a question involved, "And I'll take you anywhere you want to go. You can try food at a proper restaurant, or we can grab a picnic lunch and eat on the beaches of Scylla. I can show you the library, or the zoo, or the gardens. There's an art museum with paintings I think you'd adore. There are some parks nearby that just-" cutting herself off, Scylla laughed. "One thing at a time, though, right?"

Smiling, the senshi tilted her head at him, watching the light flicker over his face. "Though if you'll never be too busy for me, perhaps there will be time to see it all.. I'll need to come back to help drop off energy for you, so we can set up lunch dates."

"You don't look a day over 900," Scylla assured him as he smiled, "And we will work on how you feel."

If he was a king now the weight on his chest would only get worse. Scylla couldn't help him with that bit of unfortunate responsibility, but she would do whatever else she could to keep him from feeling even more old.

He pat her on the arm and the short senshi beamed at him. "Yes," she agreed, "Lots of time. First we will stop the Negaverse, and then I will help you find your senshi and fix Velenia. Whatever you need from me. I can't wait to see Velencya, and we're going to fix Velenia. With the technology your people have, plus the magic of our homeworlds, I know we'll be able to do it"

There was no doubt in her voice. Not in this dream of the future. "None of our own worlds have people to help the way yours will. A world with people to help grow and encourage it- not just one senshi wandering the homeworld like it is a garden, but a planet with actual people tending it and helping it to thrive..." And Scylla and Caedus having adventures and getting into trouble.

She drew in a breath. "I like this dream. I like it very much."

"Let's make it reality."

Scylla beamed at her friend, letting his own confidence and hope buoy her own. "Your best will be enough." Scylla was sure of it, with his own hope in her fueling her hope in herself. In the rest of Order. In his people.

For the rest of their walk together, though, she wanted to discuss something a little lighter than saving a world or three. "So, tell me," she said, and pulled him along with her, guiding him onward to resume their walk, "Did you discover any good Velencyan books on your return? Any new rocks to show off? Three years is a long time, have you made any new friends to introduce me to?"

The sun was shining, and the light flickered through the trees, and Scylla was content.