The phone was silent for once. There were no messages waiting to be answered on the prepaid phone. That in itself was a blessing in disguise. Meissa looked down at the device, which was powered off, before sighing. The thing had done its needed purpose of a faster means of communication with the Beatrix, a corrupt super senshi, but now did she really need it any longer? Her gaze shifted to the woods that she had decided to retreat to this night as she had a blank writing pad and a pen with her. It had been a wiser decision to sneak out of the house with her astronomy gear but also a means of leaving a note for her folks for when she planned her little trip. She had of course talked with her parents about having the desire to visit a place like New York City, and surprisingly, they had agreed to let their daughter proceed with her plans. It was not really a surprising event, given she had been able to take care of herself for quite a while now. She was not sure whether or not it was wise to do everything that she was planning to do but there had been little bits of a made-up itinerary left here and there so that her folks would not worry about the issue of not being kept in the loop. Although if anyone bothered to check out what was listed, they would have found no confirmation that Delaney was even going to be at any of the places written down.

It was a ruse, plain and simple. If her idea of trying to pull one over Beatrix failed then there would be no going back to the life that she once knew. The whole trip idea was completely false except for the train ticket that she had told Beatrix about. But everything else in her last conversation with the other senshi had been accurate. She had been gathering up loose ends in her personal life that would see her with no bank account and all of the official documents that she would need to either try and change or ... create anew. In that case, things that required ID would have to be made anew. Or was that something that someone else could handle? Either way, Meissa was stressed out. Her gaze flicked to the sky above and she gave her telescope a new set of coordinates to scan the sky for before she picked up the notepad she'd brought along before giving the deepest of sighs. This note was going to be one of the hardest that she had ever considered writing. But it had to be written, at least, she thought it needed writing. How else would she concentrate on things that needed to be done if she ended up worrying that her folks would raise a racket over her sudden disappearance?

Taking the pen back up, Meissa tapped her chin thoughtfully before beginning to sketch out what needed to be said and how she needed to explain the situation that she wanted to spend extra time away from home.

On the page that she had selected to write her note the words began to flow:

Dear Mom and Dad:

Do not be alarmed. I have decided to extend my trip. I may end up leaving New York to explore other places. I have enough funds that I will be alright for a while. I need to do this in order to completely understand my place in the world. I have made preparations with places that I can stay in the meantime but I will be taking my passport with me along in case I leave the country, which is a possibility. I know that you may worry anyways but I am just letting you know that I will be alright.

Delaney

Oh, that note really was something quite pathetic. Sure, it was short and sweet and to the point but it was truly something that she would not want to leave for anyone that she really cared about. It could work as the basis to a much more detailed note though.

Putting down the pen Meissa instead went over to her telescope before adjusting the focus on the eyepiece. Looking at the stars had always helped to relax her and tonight was no different. No, something was different this time. She had, on a whim, looked at the coordinates for where her home world was supposedly located in space and she sighed before instructing her telescope to seek and find the Meissan star system. It was not too hard to do given that her home world was part of the well-known constellation of Orion. Peering through the scope's lens did Meissa take in just everything that was coming through clearly from her telescope before she glanced back down at the ground. What would it be like to be able to at least check out the place that lent her its power just once before things got too complicated to deal with. Taking up her senshi phone, Meissa glanced at the controls before wincing a little. Did the need of her curiosity outweigh the need of getting the rest of her s**t together? Perhaps it did but also maybe it would have been a great big waste of time. There was perhaps only one way to find out it seemed.

Packing up the telescope Meissa organized her belongings and sent most stuff back into her subspace pocket before picking up the handle of the carrier case that her telescope had come in before glancing down at her senshi phone and the other phone before picking it up with a resigned fate. Once everything was secured the bluenette glanced upwards towards the star-filled sky and pressed down hard on the button that would take her home. The air currents around her wavered, shimmered, and finally stabilized only to show an empty space where she once had stood.

(1000 words)