Namaka held her phone in her hand loosely, thumb hovering just over the button that she’d been told could send her to her homeworld. Homeworld, it was a ridiculous thought to some degree. Just randomass places out in space that used to hold life. But no Rovers had ever photographed anything because… reasons. Before she’d ever become a senshi, that was the line her thoughts would have taken. If she’d ever bothered to think of such things. But now? She knew better. She knew there was magic in the universe that was perfectly capable of hiding a castle on the moon. It kept the homeworlds hidden. To a lesser extent it kept her hidden too.

Ieni had died when she’d toppled out of Mirrorspace and found herself at the feet of Cosmos. Purification had been easy. Re-establishing a life for herself, not so much. Sure, she’d been able to take her ATM card and drain her account, using the cash to open herself a new one under her new name. And she’d couch surfed until she’d been able to have her school transcripts altered, allowing her into college. It had taken work and sweat and tears to force herself to feel like herself within Malie’s skin. And that wasn’t even counting the hell she’d put her parents through. She’d emailed for a time, until their pleas for pictures or news or visits became too much. Then, Ieni had been magically accepted into an overseas program and had to go right now. No, she really hadn’t thought everything through when Cosmos had freed her from the Mirror. She knew she’d left her parents heart-broken. She hated lying. But pretending to go away to school in another country and then gradually forgetting to write had been kinder than inventing a death report for her old name.

Still sucked.

She’d forced herself to be braver as Malie. It had started as an act and then slowly became real. She’d done well enough in school to graduate and now she had a nice little job in the record store and a cute little apartment. Life, all things considered, was good. She knew Ieni would have never forced herself to grow. Malie hadn’t been given a choice.

Purple eyes drifted back to the phone’s screen. To the homeworld button. Would she be brave enough to take the plunge tonight? She still wasn’t sure. It wasn’t something that could be put off indefinitely. Would Corvus be proud of how far she’d come since they’d met? She hadn’t seen the older senshi since, but she thought the answer would be yes.

Hell, she’d still kept up with powering up and patrolling, thought they’d been uneventful and quite solitary. Maybe it was a better idea for now to focus on some networking. Friends first, then Homeworld. Or at least talk to another person or cat and then go up. So much of her life had been spent alone and the thought of continuing that way made her stomach roil. She couldn’t have her parents, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have a family of sorts. She just had to shake off her solitary skin and reach out…

Thumb hovering over the button, Namaka stared at the phone screen before sighing and slipping it back into her fuku. Not tonight. But soon.

Word Count = 555