Act VII: A New Home

     The ship enters into the area of Europa. The ship lands and the doors open. Miya and
Ami hurriedly leave the ship to explore the new place. Munenori calmly follows behind them,
and behind him follows the aides with the luggage.
     Ami finds her excitement in looking into the windows of various stores in the downtown
area. Miya finds herself gazing upwards at the stars of Europa's perpetual darkness.
     "One would think it would be depressing out here with so little sun, but I'm quite
happy," Miya comments.
     "You like stars?" Munenori asks.
     "I guess so."
     The group soon arrives as the newly finished Imperial Palace. The building rises
incredibly high nearing the top of Europa's atmospheric dome.
     "Why is it so tall?" Miya asks.
     "It is more like an office building than a palace. It is where the government operates. The
lower floors make up the government offices, it's the top floors that are where I stay," Munenori
answers.
     "oh..."
     They enter the building and it is swarming with many busy workers. They walk through
the lobby, and enter an elevator. Munenori, Miya, Ami, and the aides pack in and they go up to
one of the top floors that are the emperor's residence.
     Once they reach it, Munenori, Miya, and Ami take their baggage, and the aides disperse
to do other tasks. Miya and Ami choose their rooms. Afterward Miya and Munenori meet in a
large room at the very top, that has a dome window instead of a ceiling.
     "I put Ami to bed," Miya tells him. "She's pretty tired."
     "Well, she's had a big day," Munenori replies.
     "So have we all."
     Munenori walks up to the window and Miya follows behind him.
     "Yeah, I guess you're right, the stars do make a pretty good replacement for the sun,"
Munenori comments. "You can see the constellations clearly from here."
     "Yeah, they are pretty," she says. There is a moment of silence between them when
suddenly Miya wraps her arms around Munenori, resting her head on his back. "Especially when
I am watching them with you."
     Munenori is a little surprised, but he allows her to. After a little while and no response
from him, she backs away.
     "I'm sorry," she says. "I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."
     Munenori turns to face her, "No, it's okay. I don't mind."
     "It's just, times have been so rough. I have only known you shortly and yet you show so
much kindness to us."
     "It's a strange case," Munenori states. "I am usually the unkind one."
     Miya and Munenori stay silent a little longer, and they begin to fidget a little. Munenori
finally faces the stars again. He closes his eyes and remembers what it was like. When he
watched the dragons fight.
     "Miya?"
     "Yes?"
     "Never mind."
     "What?"
     "Well, no, I won't bother to explain," he decides to say nothing about it. "Good-night."
     "Good-night."
     Munenori walks out of the room. Miya watches him leave as he closes the door behind
him. She then turns back to the stars. She walks forward, placing her hands on the window.
     She speaks to herself, "There is something troubling him. Well, I am sure anyone his age
with so much power would feel at least a little uneasy. Maybe I can do something for him. At
least I can be his friend. I owe him that much, although I may want more."
     She turns away, head lowered, and leaves to go to bed also. She opens the door, reaches
for the light switch, and looks out one more time. She lets out a little sigh, turns the light off, and
closes the door behind her.

     "Has he arrived back in the capitol?" a dark voice asks.
     "Yes, sir," another voice replies.
     "Have you made the preparations?"
     "Yes, sir. We move tomorrow night."
     "Good."

     Munenori wakes up, stretches, and stares at the ceiling. Then he notices something. He
stands up, puts on his clothes and heads out of his room. He walks towards the small kitchen
within the suite and finds Miya cooking breakfast with Ami's help.
     "Good morning, Munenori-san!" Ami calls out.
     "Good morning," Miya says with a smile.
     "Breakfast?" Munenori questions. "You know, that what we have room service for."
     "That's okay," she says. "I wanted to cook breakfast for you."
     "Um, okay."
     Munenori sits down at the table. Ami sits down next to him.
     "Hi Munenori-san!" she greets enthusiastically.
     "Yeah, hi Ami," he responds.
     Miya, wearing a little apron walks over to the table and sets a plate of pancakes down.
     "Breakfast is served," she announces as she places butter and syrup alongside.
     "Looks great," Munenori comments.
     "Yummy!" Ami shouts as she places a bunch on her cake.
     "Not too much, Ami," Miya warns. "You don't want to get a tummyache, do you?"
     "Okay, sister."
     In response, Munenori places one pancake on his plate, and then switches it with the rest
of the pancakes.
     "I'm big boy, I can handle all these."
     Ami starts laughing. Miya stares and says, "Well, I want some too."
     "You do have some," Munenori says. "See?"
     Munenori points to the one pancake plate. Miya playfully knocks him on top of the head.
     "I think not," she grabs a couple off of "Munenori's" plate and puts them on hers.
     "Okay, everyone. Enjoy!"
     
     With breakfast finished, they all gather on a couch, still rather sleepy from the ongoing
events.
     "So, what do we have planned today?" Miya asks Munenori.
     "I don't know," he replies. "What do you feel like doing?"
     "I wanna see all the neat places!" Ami shouts.
     "Soooo, you wanna go shopping?" Miya questions.
     "YEAH! Can we Munenori-san?" Ami asks hopefully.
     "Suppose so," he answers.
     "Yeah!"
     "Come on, Ami, let's go get you ready to go out," Miya says taking Ami by the hand.
     As they walk away, Munenori can only think of how much he is enjoying their company.
And it puts a smile on his face. He gets up and readies himself to go out. He puts on his trench
coat and eventually, Miya and Ami arrive.
     "Don't you two got jackets?" Munenori questions since neither appear to be wearing one.
     "Ah, no, we don't," Miya answers. "It doesn't get too cold in Shoumu."
     "Yeah, I know," Munenori replies. "I just always had this coat to conceal my..."
     He stops in mid-sentence as he notices Ami paying attention to every word he says.
     "...well, we'll just have to get you some when we're in town," he finishes.
     "Sounds good," Ami says officially.
     Munenori opens the door and lets Ami and Miya out in front of him. He closes the door
behind him and follows them out of the building. Once outside, they head towards the center of
the city where all the shops lie.
     They enter the first one, a clothing store, to look for their jackets. 
     "How about this one?" Miya asks Munenori as she models it in front of a mirror.
     "Fine," he placidly replies.
     "This one?"
     "Fine."
     "This one?"
     "Fine."
     Miya looks angered as she says, "You're not even looking at me, how can you know if
it's ‘fine'?"
     "Simple," he replies.
     "What's so simple?"
     "I'm a guy, I don't have to know if it's fine."
     Miya makes a frustrated noise, grabs one of the jackets and finds Ami. Ami has chosen a
purple jacket and Miya has chosen a blue one with purple trimming.
     "That it?" the cashier asks.
     "Yup," Miya answers.
     Munenori plops down a bunch of cash, "That should cover, keep the change."
     "Thank you, sir," the cashier responds as Munenori walks away letting the
acknowledgment go unnoticed.
     Miya and Ami catch up with him outside the store.
     "You could have said ‘Your welcome' or something like that," Miya scolds Munenori.
     "What for?" Munenori asks nonchalantly. "He got what he wanted."
     Miya stares at him as they walk, "I don't understand you. And I probably never will."