The darkness pressed in, harder and harder, until it was implode or explode. Light flashed outward in every direction as she bolted upright, searing the room with a violet fire that just barely took the place of a scream. She stared around wildly, and the light dimmed imperceptibly as she tried to calm her pounding heart.

White light started to edge the purple out, and she tensed as she saw DECA's camera light flicker on. She reminded herself to breathe, to not find a threat in something so familiar. The pressure in her chest eased a little as her repressed cry sank back, retreating toward the center of her being where it could be safely buried once more.

"It's all right, Kerone," DECA said quietly. Her voice was somehow soothing and concerned at the same time. "It was just a dream."

She swallowed hard, hugging her arms closer to her. "I wish..." She stumbled over the words, making sure the scream could not come so close to erupting again. "I wish that was true."

"Did you remember something?" DECA asked gently.

She stared down at the floor, watching the violet shadows fade. The room's normal lighting crept in as her magic's explosive lightshow dissipated, keeping the level of illumination constant. "I remember every night," she whispered. "I go through... through these phases, where I just have nightmare after nightmare. They stop eventually. For a while."

"Why don't you go down to the holding bay?" DECA's tone was warm and comforting, and she found herself starting to relax a little. "I'll make you something to drink, and perhaps you can try to sleep again later."

She shivered involuntarily, but she found herself sliding off her bunk before she could think about it. "Yeah," she murmured, wrapping an oversized sweatshirt around her shoulders and folding her arms again as she headed toward the door. "That would be nice."

"DECA?" she added, as she stepped out into the hallway. "Do you think nightmares are a punishment? For things we've done wrong in our lives?"

"No," DECA answered immediately. Red lights blinked slowly on and then off, following her down the corridor toward the lift. "Current psychological theories suggest that nightmares are a way of keeping certain neural connections in the brain from becoming dormant."

She paused outside the lift, shrugging the sweatshirt off her shoulders and pulling it over her head. She couldn't seem to get warm enough, otherwise. DECA held the door patiently, and she glanced up at her camera before she stepped inside. "Do you believe that?"

"I have had little personal experience with nightmares," DECA reminded her. "But I've seen nothing to contradict such a line of reasoning."

She sighed, entering the lift and leaning against the back wall as the door closed. "So nightmares keep us from forgetting what it's like to be scared out of our minds?"

"Perhaps," DECA replied. "More than that, though, nightmares keep destructive emotions from being completely suppressed. Suppressed emotions have long been recognized as damaging to the human psyche."

She shivered again, glancing down at the Astro Ranger "V" symbol on her sweatshirt. It went from purple to red in the blink of an eye. She tossed her head, shaking out the sky blue curls in favor of blonde, and she smiled half-heartedly as she felt the air in the lift begin to warm slightly. "You don't have to do that."

"The temperature on the Megaship is maintained for the comfort of its crew," DECA answered as the lift came to a halt. "It's no trouble to raise it if you're cold."

It was noticeably cooler in the hallway, but she didn't doubt that the temperature there was climbing as well. "Thank you," she murmured, tugging her sleeves down over her fingers.

"You're welcome." DECA sounded as though she might add something else, but at the last minute changed her mind.

It didn't take long to figure out why. As she paused in the doorway to the holding bay, she saw DECA's holoimage look up from the other side of the room and nod in greeting. Next to DECA was the Silver Galaxy Glider, its pilot leaning casually against it as he argued something with the Megaship's sentient computer.

She closed her eyes briefly. "Thanks a lot," she whispered, knowing DECA would hear her. She'd been set up. Her only consolation was that Zhane looked just as surprised as she felt when he followed DECA's gaze.

"Hey," he greeted her, an easy smile chasing the surprise off of his face. "Couldn't sleep?"

She shook her head wordlessly.

"Me neither." He peered more closely at her and asked, "Are you okay?"

She forced herself to release her grip on her sweatshirt and appear more relaxed. "I'm fine."

"There is tea for you in the Synthetron," DECA offered, not seeming to notice the awkward silence. Or maybe she spoke to cover it up; it was impossible to say.

"Thank you," she murmured, glad to turn her back on Zhane's curious gaze.

He was frowning down at his Glider by the time she retrieved the mug DECA had left for her, and she was free to study him as she took a cautious sip. He looked somehow... leaner than he had five months ago; not thinner or even taller, really, just--more focused. She couldn't describe it, and she'd been trying to put her finger on it ever since she'd come back.

Now he bent over his Galaxy Glider with as much concentration as Andros, his voice muffled by the metalsynth as he asked, "Are you sure you're linked up right? The dampers all look fine from here."

"It does not require an electronic link to know that the secondary port damper is running below optimum," DECA informed him, sounding mildly exasperated. "Switch the primaries off."

Zhane took a step back, regarding the Glider critically. "I just did. There's nothing wrong."

With some asperity, DECA replied, "Not when it's sitting unloaded in a stable gravity field, no. I submit that the holding bay is not a representative test area."

"Hey, Astrea," Zhane said, glancing over at her. A smirk lingered at the corners of his mouth. "Want to do me a favor?"

She gave him an inquiring look, and he waved her over. "Hop up on my Glider, would you?"

She looked at DECA, but the hologram just folded her arms expectantly. "Why?" she asked Zhane, wrapping her other hand around her mug. Without waiting for the answer, she stepped up onto his Glider.

It remained absolutely stable, as though she were still standing on the deck when in fact she was hovering almost a foot above it. She bounced up on her toes experimentally, careful not to upset her tea. "Feels good to me," she said with a shrug.

"See?" Zhane seemed to take her word as all the proof he needed. "I'm telling you, there's nothing wrong with it."

DECA shook her head. "And I'm telling you that this is hardly the appropriate environment to make that determination. The port secondary is misaligned."

"It's not misaligned!" Zhane exclaimed. "I just checked it!"

"Then you didn't check carefully enough," DECA answered.

Zhane walked around the front of the Glider and eyed its orientation. "It's fine," he muttered, just loud enough for her to hear. Nonetheless, he came closer and inspected the open port panel again. "There's nothing wrong with this thing, DECA."

"It will not take an extended journey." DECA didn't back down, but neither did her calm waver. "Nor will it take battle maneuvers. If the primaries cut out, this is a significant safety risk."

Zhane didn't look convinced. "Well, I guess we'll just have to find out who's right, won't we. Want to come, Astrea?"

Surprised, she glanced down at him. "You're going to try it out?"

"You bet," he said with a grin. "It's the only way to know."

He would do it, too. She didn't even have to see his expression to know. "All right," she said, stepping off his Glider. She took another sip of her tea before setting it down and turning back to him.

Zhane was already on his Glider, holding out his hand as though he'd expected her to agree. "Let's go!"

She rolled her eyes, but she had to hide her smile as he pulled her up in front of him. "Do you have any idea what you're doing, Zhane?"

"Of course I know what I'm doing!" He sounded offended. "I've been flying this Glider for years. I know when the dampers are misaligned and when they're not!"

"Right," she said, unable to keep the smirk out of her voice. She trusted DECA's opinion on all things mechanical over Zhane's any day, but someone had to keep him from getting tossed off a malfunctioning Glider. "Whatever you say."

"Quiet, princess." There was a pause, just long enough for her to consider how long it had been since anyone called her that, and then he added, "Teleporting."

A rain of silver washed away the inside of the holding bay, and an instant later she found herself out among the stars. She let out her breath instinctively and braced for the absolute chill, but there was none. If nothing else, the Glider's atmospheric generator was operating perfectly.

"Not bad," Zhane said, peering over her shoulder as though the view might be different. "We're in good shape so far."

"We haven't done anything yet," she reminded him wryly.

"Spoilsport," he teased, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Hang on."

She barely had time to open her mouth to retort before the world started to slide past, faster and faster as the Glider picked up speed. She could easily have been standing in the holding bay, still and unmoving, but for the lightshow around her. The Megaship closed in above them, hull flashing by too fast for her eye to follow, and when she dared to glance "down" she caught a glimpse of blue and green amidst the twinkling blackness.

The stars burst into their full glory before her as the Glider shot out of the Megaship's shadow, and she tensed as they started to spin around her. "Zhane!"

She heard him laugh in her ear, and she realized suddenly that her hands were clenched on his as the Glider rolled over and over. Her heart pounded in her ears even as they started to level out, and she had a moment of relative peace before the Glider banked sharply and dove. She would have had no indication that they were actually descending had it not been for the Megaship's dorsal side rushing up to meet them at an alarming rate of speed.

The armor plating reached up to embrace them, but she didn't have time to shriek. The Glider's nose rose sharply and their flight path flattened out only meters above the hull, Zhane's arms still firmly around her as the force shielding streaked by on either side. She forgot to breathe as they sailed recklessly between the Megaship's defenses, canyonlike walls fairly sparkling with power as the Glider flaunted its proximity.

She felt Zhane shift slightly and the Glider sped up, racing toward certain doom when they ran out of fissure. And they would, as soon as they reached an overlap--

"Relax, princess," Zhane whispered in her ear. The sound was startlingly loud in the utter silence of space, where all she could hear was the pounding of her heart and the imagined scream of wind and heat as they dared the Megaship's shields. "I'm not going to let anything happen to us."

He thought she was afraid! She let go of his hands with one of hers, lifting her fist defiantly over her head as she laughed. Her, the princess of evil! Dark Spectre's second in command! A self-taught master-level sorceress, and he thought she was afraid!

She could feel the magic gathering with every heartbeat. She didn't have to look to know her hand was glowing as violet sparkles started to spill out from between tightly clenched fingers. Zhane whooped, tightening his grip on her as the Glider pulled up hard. The overlap loomed close enough to see only as they cleared it, shooting straight "up" and out of the electrically charged ravine. Purple fireworks streamed behind them as they soared on into open space.

The Glider arced around, making the sparkling trail visible over her shoulder before it faded all the way out. "Nice," Zhane remarked appreciatively, even as they coasted lazily over the edge of the Megaship.

Earth lay spread out before them. She had had nothing but the impression of its presence until now, when they were actually going slowly enough to see more than "fast", "close", and "big". Not that Earth wasn't big enough itself... a vast expanse of blue-green life protected by swirling white and the thinnest shimmer of atmosphere. But it was finite--not like space, where the stars went on forever, but limited and all the more precious for being so.

For a long moment she could only stare, until she became aware of Zhane muttering something under his breath. She tore her eyes away from the tiny giant in front of them, trying for an inquisitive look that she couldn't quite manage so close to him. "What's wrong?"

"You didn't feel that?" he asked, sounding more rueful than surprised.

She shook her head wordlessly, not bothering to explain that she'd been distracted.

"The secondary port damper just cut out. Good thing the primary kicked in, or we might have been in trouble. I hate it when DECA's right," he added, almost as an afterthought.

She tried to suppress a giggle. "You must hate it a lot, then."

"I do," he agreed. There was a grin in his voice that told her he wasn't even remotely serious. "I'm going to get her someday, though. I'll be right and she'll be wrong; you'll see."

She just rolled her eyes. "Is it really that important?"

"It doesn't keep me up nights, if that's what you're asking," Zhane told her. The grin was still there as he let go of her waist and put his hands on her arms instead. "Take a step forward, okay?"

She did, tentatively, well aware that there was room for only a single step. "What are you doing?"

"Reinitializing the other primaries," he answered, crouching down in the space she'd made by moving. "DECA will say it's silly, but I don't like running on three backups and one main. Might as well have them all working as a team."

"You're anthropopathizing your dampers," she informed him.

"So?" He glanced up at her amused expression and shook his head. "I don't even know what that means," he admitted sheepishly.

"You're giving them human feelings," she said, feeling a smile creep onto her face.

"Ah." He seemed to consider that for a moment, then shrugged cheerfully. "Well, whatever works!"

Her smile widened as she watched him go back to whatever he was doing, but then a shiver took hold of her and she wrapped her arms around herself instinctively. She swallowed, her smile fading, and she was glad when he didn't notice. *You can't be cold,* she told herself sternly. *It isn't cold!*

It was dark, though, just like in her dreams. It was pressing in on her. She wondered fleetingly if Zhane ever felt this way--if this was how he felt when he said that the walls were closing in on him, and nothing she or anyone else said could convince him otherwise.

She took a deep breath, concentrating on the flow of air and the overloud heartbeat that was still rushing adrenaline through her system. She stared at Zhane for lack of anything more comforting, and she felt the fingers of her left hand clench around her locket. It still hung on the same chain she had worn as Astronema...

She couldn't help but remember the sparkles, and as she glanced down her fingers glowed briefly. Where had thoughts like those come from? She knew Zhane had thought her only exuberant, and she had been, but had she been exuberant as Kerone? Or as Astronema?

"Astrea?" Zhane was standing in front of her, a worried look on his face. "You okay?"

Another shiver shook her body, and she tried to step back.

"Hey, whoa!" Zhane caught her just before she would have fallen. "What's going on?"

"I'm so cold," she whispered, her eyes locked with his.

He pulled her into a hug without another word, holding her and her bulky sweatshirt close as she wrapped her arms around him. "You look like you did when you walked into the holding bay," he murmured. "What's wrong?"

This time he must have felt her shiver, for he added, "It's the same temperature as the Megaship... do you want me to adjust it?"

She moved her head back and forth, just enough to let him know he didn't have to. "It isn't the air," she whispered, suddenly glad to have someone to lean on. "It's me. I'm cold on the inside."

"What are you talking about?" He sounded torn between anger and concern, but he held her tighter instead of pushing her away. "Tell me what's going on."

"I just..." She swallowed hard. "I just don't know who I am sometimes," she confessed miserably.

"You're a wonderful, caring person," Zhane replied immediately. "You love to smile and you want to make everything right. What else matters?"

She fought the smile that threatened, and she felt tears prick her eyelids. "So am I Kerone?" she asked softly. She didn't know why the answer was so important. "Or am I Astronema?"

"You used to say you were both," he reminded her, rubbing her back gently. "What changed?"

She sighed. They had been standing too close for too long, but she didn't want to pull away. "I don't know..." she murmured, knowing it was untrue. "Astronema's not... not very popular, Zhane."

He hugged her hard, and she heard him whisper fiercely, "I *love* Astronema, so don't you ever say that again."

"Really?" She couldn't keep her voice steady. "Everyone else loves Kerone."

"They don't love Kerone." He drew back, staring into her eyes. Both hands found her shoulders, and then he lifted one to gently stroke her cheek. "They love *you*. Just like I do."

"But--" She lowered her gaze helplessly. "If I'm really Astronema, then all those horrible things that I did... how can anyone love that?"

"Evil deeds don't make a villain," Zhane said firmly. "No more than noble accomplishments make a hero. All you are is what you're doing right now... all you are is what you believe."

"I don't know what I believe in," she murmured, still staring down at his shirt.

"Not many people can put it in words," he answered. "But that doesn't make it less real."

She touched her locket again, inadvertently. "I believe in family," she whispered. "I believe... in love." She lifted her gaze to his again and took a deep breath. "I believe in you, Zhane."

He smiled, a warm affectionate smile that made his eyes seem lighter. "I believe in you. Astronema, Kerone... those are just names. They may represent different aspects of you, but there's only one you." His blue eyes twinkled, and he added, "After all, we call Andros 'Red Ranger', and you don't see him having an identity crisis, do you?"

A small laugh escaped at the thought, and Zhane grinned back at her. "You call him Castor," she accused, not willing to let that pass without retort. "If anyone's going to give him an identity crisis, it's you!"

Zhane's eyes widened. "How do you know about that?" he wanted to know, his grin fading a little.

"I heard you one night in the holding bay," she said, watching his expression curiously. She had always meant to ask one of them about it. "What does it mean?"

"It's..." He looked uncomfortable. "It's kind of a long story."

"You listened to mine," she reminded him.

"Well--" He hesitated. "Castor and Pollux were brothers, in a story his parents used to tell. Twins." Zhane shrugged self-consciously. "That's all."

She smiled at his reluctance. "I think that's sweet," she said gently. "You should have been brothers."

He grinned, but the expression was strangely shy. "Maybe we were." Before she could respond to that, though, he asked quickly, "So did you mean what you told Carlos?"

"When?" She hadn't expected the subject to change quite so fast.

"Yesterday, on the Bridge. You said you'd never danced."

"Oh." She gave him a mock-frown. "Of course I meant it. I always mean what I say."

He glanced down, tracing a line across the front of her sweatshirt. It was an unusually intimate gesture, until she realized that he must be able to see the silver chain of his phoenix medallion around her neck. She wore it under her shirt, unlike her locket, but he must know it was there.

"Always?" Zhane asked quietly.

She swallowed at the reminder of her broken promise. "Most of the time."

He looked up at her again, one hand still on her shoulder. "Why didn't you call?"

She had called. But not as often as she could have. Not as often as she had said she would. And not at all, toward the end. She had nothing to give him but the truth, now.

"I was afraid to," she said simply.

"Because of me?" he asked, studying her carefully. "Or because of you?"

She hesitated. "Both," she said at last. "You, because it had been so long. Me, because... I don't know."

He lifted his free hand to her face again, but this time he brushed the straight blonde wisps back from her eyes. "I told you I'd be here," he reminded her.

She nodded wordlessly. It was easier to hear than it was to believe, and she suspected he knew it. They both knew the power of unkeepable promises.

"Your hair," he realized aloud. It was the way she had always worn it as Astrea. "Trying to be less like Astronema?" he asked gently.

"Sometimes," she admitted after a moment. "Sometimes more like her."

It was his turn to nod. They said more in the silence than they had with the words.

Then he touched her cheek again, one hand still caressing her hair, and she smiled a little. She turned her face toward his, and he kissed her slowly. It was gentle and unintrusive, but strangely comforting. They stood that way for what felt like a long time, thought it couldn't have been much more than a few seconds before Zhane pulled away.

"I have something to tell you," he said softly. "It's not important, but I don't want you hearing about it from someone else."

"One of those things," she said, a smile tugging at her lips again. "I promise not to throw anything."

"Thanks." He sounded more serious than she'd expected, and more nervous than his earlier disclaimer warranted. "I kissed Kayatachi."

She frowned, sure she should recognize that name from somewhere. "One of the Eltaran Rangers?" she guessed at last.

He nodded, not taking his eyes off of her.

She studied him in return. "Do you love her?"

"No, of course not. We were celebrating, and it just... happened. It didn't mean anything."

She shrugged a little. "Okay then."

He gave her a worried look. "I do love Andros, though."

She smiled. "I know."

"Okay then," he echoed, looking relieved.

"I have something to tell you, too," she said, trying to keep her expression neutral.

"Yeah?" he asked apprehensively.

She bit her lip. "I kissed Saryn."

His eyes widened. "What!"

She couldn't keep from giggling any longer. "Kidding! I'm just kidding!"

He clapped one hand over his heart, miming shock. "Man! I thought I'd been zapped into some sort of parallel universe! Not that you can't kiss anyone you want," he added hastily, "but... Saryn?"

She smirked. "Don't worry. It isn't worth death by Cassie even if I wanted to try."

He laughed, but she saw the glance he shot her out of the corner of his eye. "So you don't?" he asked, his grin just a little bit worried. "Want to try, that is."

She put her hands on her hips. "I thought you just said I could kiss anyone I wanted," she teased, well aware that they weren't just joking around. They were both testing the limits, seeing how far they could go.

"Well," he said with a shrug, clearly trying to be casual about it. "You can. Obviously. But... I guess I just want you to know that--no matter who I kiss, you're the one I love."

"Thank you," she said softly. "That means a lot to me." She tugged the phoenix free from underneath her sweatshirt and stared down at it, not quite able to meet his eyes as she continued. "I don't--I don't really know enough to say 'I love you' and mean it, and I'm sorry, because if anyone deserves it, you do."

She held up the medallion, meeting his eyes involuntarily. "But if this is you, then it's me too. I'm still... I'm still figuring out what it means to be free, and to be able to love without being afraid. But... if it means anything, I think you could teach me--because you've already started."

He was looking at her without a trace of the amusement that usually lingered on his features. "It does mean something," he said quietly. "It means a lot. I'll be here for you as long as you want me, you know."

"Even if it's a really long time?" She hadn't thought about that, she'd just said it, but he didn't hesitate.

"Especially if it's a really long time," he told her.

She smiled tentatively, and he pulled her close for a hug. "Now," he whispered in her ear. "What's all this about nightmares?"

She pushed against his chest indignantly, but he didn't let go. "DECA told you!"

"She told me not to say anything," he admitted, hugging her harder. "She said you'd just leave if I did. But she wanted to be sure I wouldn't make any stupid jokes by accident."

"I like your jokes," she mumbled. She squeezed him back before trying to let go, and this time he let her. "They're just bad dreams; they'll go away."

"Not if you ignore them," he countered. "Bad dreams only get worse when you ignore them. Trust me; I know."

She looked up, searching his expression. "What do you dream?"

"I used to dream that the monster got to Andros before I could," he said frankly. "I would dream that he died back on KO-35. I still dream about the school sometimes, or hypersleep--that I'm trapped, and that I won't die; I'll just stay that way forever and no one will even know."

"You dream about being alone," she murmured, looking away. "I'm never alone in my nightmares. There are always people around and I know that I'm going to hurt them but there's no way to warn them... I know they're going to die and it's because of me but there's nothing I can do!"

"Hey," Zhane said softly. He caught her hand and she tried to pull away, not wanting him to see the tears in her eyes. "Uh-uh," he said, twining his fingers through hers and holding her fast. "It's not that easy. You can't turn away from nightmares; you have to face them."

She lifted her head, knowing her eyes were too bright. "Like you?" she said, wishing her voice wouldn't tremble.

"I do the best I can," he said softly. "That's all any of us can do. We cry when we have to, and sometimes we just scream out loud, but we're always stronger for it."

A tear slid down her cheek, and to her embarrassment she felt a sob slip out. She swallowed hard, trying to turn away again, but he wouldn't let her. Staring down at his shirt she whispered, "This is not me being strong, Zhane."

"Yes it is," he insisted, catching her other hand and squeezing it tight. "Astrea, people who aren't afraid never have to be strong! People who don't feel anything aren't heroes; they're machines! Nothing stops them, nothing slows them down, but it's not because they're strong, it's because they don't *care*!"

She sniffed, wiping her cheek against her shoulder. "So next time I should just scream, huh?" she whispered, trying to smile. "Carlos won't like that; he's right next door."

"Did you want to scream tonight?" Zhane asked quietly.

She hesitated, but she managed to make herself nod.

"Turn around." He gave her a little push when she looked at him oddly. "I mean it; turn around."

Reluctantly, she let go of his hands and turned around to face the stars. She felt him put his hands over her ears, and then she heard him whisper, *Go ahead. Scream. It'll make you feel better.*

She tried to shake her head. "I can't just scream!"

*We're not strong because we're never afraid, Astrea. We're strong because we're afraid and we go on anyway. So scream and prove it. Scream to prove that you're afraid, and that it doesn't matter.*

She took a deep breath, knowing that in the end she would scream not because she needed to but because he had asked her to. So she did, screaming so that he would hear her and know that she was trying as hard as he was. She could hear herself, too, despite his hands over her ears, and the sound caught at something inside of her.

Something woke at the sound of the scream, uncoiling deep inside of her and forcing its way to the surface before she could even recognize it. It got into her throat and took over her voice, turning a half-hearted shriek into a full-bodied howl of release. It was the stuff her nightmares were made of, and she screamed and screamed until she couldn't feel it inside her anymore.

Zhane's arms went around her waist the moment she stopped, hugging her close and holding her up when she slumped against him. "Feel any better?" he murmured, kissing the back of her head and smoothing her hair with his cheek.

"No," she sulked, her voice barely above a whisper. She did, in a way. Less pent-up, more tired. She couldn't tell if it was a good change or a bad one, but at least it was a change. "My throat hurts."

"Wuss," he teased gently, kissing her again. "You have a pretty scream."

She elbowed him, hard, but she felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips. "I suppose you've made a lot of girls scream."

"Not since I was six and fell into a mudhole," he said wryly. "But don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to maintain."

"Really?" she murmured, putting her hand over her throat. She was really going to regret that tomorrow. "How much of it's true?"

"What?" He sounded surprised. "My reputation, or the mudhole story?"

She managed to giggle. It was a good feeling. "Both."

"The mudhole story's true," he told her. "And it was an accident, no matter what Andros tells you. The reputation thing, though..." He paused for a moment. "I've kissed a lot of girls, Astrea. But that's it."

She nodded once. "Just curious," she whispered. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For telling me," she said, having to think about it. Thanking him had been automatic. "And--for making me scream."

"Yeah, well, I have that effect on a lot of people," he cracked.

She giggled, elbowing him again. "Liar."

"Is that a compliment?"

"Maybe," she said with a smile.

They stood that way for a few moments, staring into the void and letting the stars' peace seep into them. Finally she murmured, "You're going to have to admit to DECA that the damper got fried eventually, you know."

"Yeah, I know." He sounded like he was grinning sheepishly. "But not yet."

She was about to ask what he was waiting for when he added, "So about the dancing thing... Did you mean it when you said you weren't planning to start?"

"I meant I wasn't planning to start with Carlos," she answered, twisting to look over her shoulder. "I didn't mean I wouldn't dance ever."

"Good." He loosened his grip on her, carefully, as though he wanted to make sure she could stand on her own. "Turn around again and I'll give you your first lesson."

She turned, about to make a sarcastic remark when she saw the look in his eyes. She closed her mouth without a word, smiling a little instead. He smiled back, and the expression warmed her heart.

"Okay," he said, edging a little closer to her. "Rule number one." He slid his arms around her, pulling her into an embrace that wasn't quite a hug. "Music is optional."

She wasn't sure how her hands had ended up on his shoulders, but it didn't seem quite right. She wound them around behind his neck before she could think about it, and he smiled again. They were close enough that they were almost-touching, in a way that was somehow more intimate than hugging would have been.

"Rule number two," he continued, his voice a little lower. "Moving is also optional."

She leaned a fraction closer, keeping her eyes on his until the last second. "What about kissing?" she murmured, brushing her lips against his. "Is kissing optional?"

"Kissing is good," he mumbled, letting her capture his mouth again.

When their kiss ended she whispered breathlessly, "I think my heart is dancing. Is that silly?"

He shook his head. "No," he breathed, kissing her again. "Mine too."

Finally she found herself staring into his blue eyes again, getting lost in something deeper than the stars. "Zhane?" she whispered at last. "When will I know that I love you?"

He smiled at her. "When you don't have to ask," he answered. "Hey..."

She gave him a curious look, and he ran his fingers through her hair. "Would Astronema have done this, do you think? Danced on a Glider?"

"Yes." The answer came easily, and she found herself smiling. "If you'd asked me, I would have."