The Galactic Bride

Aki took the political meaning in from that brief statement. Where he chose to live was important. He was silent for a while, has his brain processed it. The moment became slightly tense. He didn't know what he should do. Even though he understood what was going on, this was politics. It was still way out of his depth. Even though he knew they saw him as a chess piece, he didn't want to commit to something just yet, only to regret it later. This required more thought."Thank you for the invitations. I'll consider it." He spoke very politely to them. He wasn't say yes, but wasn't saying no. There was a bit of relief on the parent's faces after that long silence.

"Forget about that… Colonel Lama broke the formalities. "Ever since I found out about you, I've wanted to meet you. I didn't know I had a hidden-sister. None of us did."

"I didn't know about any of you, either." Aki admitted, feeling he could relate more to the sisters than the politicians. "The only things I was told about was being an alien and oh, by-the-way you get to fight to the death in the Contest."

Rima and Lama laughed at this. Kalra didn't. She looked even more nervous now. Lama seemed to noticed this and apologized to him. "You'll have to forgive her. She was eligible for the contest, but the folks wouldn't let her join. As you can see, she would have gotten slaughtered."

The free way she spoke about it confirmed Aki's suspicions of before. Kalra was viewed as an embarrassment. The Grajin would rather put their faith in an unknown like him than trust her. "I don't know. The contest is more about luck than anything. She could have teamed up with someone really strong and won out, like I did. If she was there and I knew she was my sister I would have paired up with her."

Kalra look up, a small smile lightly touching her lips, but she was quick to erase it. Lama didn't notice. "Well I think you did more than just luck out. You have a keen mind for strategy on your own. I'd love to pick your brain sometime."

"Not sticking around?"

"I can't. I can stay for the wedding, then I had my orders." Lama shrugged. "I'm kind of like your fiancée in that way, right Major?"

"Yes ma'am. " Lani spoke in a more formal way.

Lama laughed. "At ease. We're almost family at any rate."

"Is she a real Terran?" Rima interrupted, not at all interested in houses or the contest. She was looking at Hana with big eyes. Apparently her capability of being lady like had come to it peak and she couldn't take it anymore.

Hana nodded "Yes. My name is Hana."

There was an unease between the parents and Lama when Hana did this. Apparently she spoke out of turn. Everyone saw her as a concubine or a servant, not a real person. Everyone but the embarrassed Kalra and the excited Rima that is. Rima went over to her, looking excited to see an alien.

"Your skin is so beautiful! And I think your round ears are cute. You look like a Felat."

"What's a Felat?" Aki asked for Hana, as she too read the room after she had spoken.

"It's a cute furry animal." Rima tried to explain. "You look just like them!"

"No she doesn't, Rima." Lama scolded. "I apologize for my sister. She doesn't know it's rude to call people animals."

The way she said it indicated that, like Anura did before he had transformed into a Nimbonian, that Lama saw Terrans as animals. By rebuking Rima, she herself was calling Hana an animal. This was not lost on Hana, as her good mood left her. Aki wondered what she'd do, but she somehow just stood in place, not saying anything.

"Well, she isn't an animal." Aki said. "So it's not offensive to say she has Felat features, now is it?" Aki narrowed is eyes at Lama.

Lama could tell she may have crossed a line. So did the parents. They quickly regrouped. "No, not at all. She's very lovely at any rate."

But the damage was done. They wanted him only as political figure, and Lama, while she genuinely seemed interested in him, saw him as a novelty. So much so she didn't care if she insulted someone she knew he cared for. Kalra and Rima were the only ones who he seemed to care for Hana's feelings. But he knew that this wasn't the moment to drop them. He might need them if things on Sheplam turned wrong. Hate him or not, they couldn't drop him because he was the hero of the Contest.

"Well I'm just happy to have met everyone before the wedding. It might be awkward to meet you all for the first time after I got a wife."

"Yes. We thought so as well. We should get to know each other. Afterall, you're part of the family." Jadkes spoke for the group. They were still on edge after the animal comment.

Aki nodded, looking for a way out. "I wouldn't mind having dinner with you later tonight. That is if you're not tired from the trip."

"Hmm, thank you for being considerate." Kezia smiled her fake smile at him. "We'll make every effort to be there, right girls?"

"Sure." Lama nodded, she clearly had gotten over the tension quicker as her curiosity on him was bigger than the small word battle that occurred between them.

"Then I'll see you at dinner." Aki said then looked at Kalra first, then Rima. "I hope you can come."

"I will!" Rima shouted. Kalra's eyes found him for a moment, then looked down.

Aki told them they could have his cabin, then he left. Relief flooded him like a giant wave. He could live the rest of this life and not see any one of them again and be happy. Even the dejected Kalra and the happy Rima. He saw Hana's face. She looked on the verge of tears. He reached for her hand and this time he gave her his strength. She had it worse than him. Everyone saw her as an outsider and beneath them.

"I'm sorry about-" Lani started, clearly on the same page as Aki, but Hana interrupted her.

"It's not your fault. I just hope the Mari are more polite." She stopped, then looked at Aki. "I will not live in the same house as them!"

"I don't want to either…." Aki admitted to her. "I'll only do it unless I'm forced too…"

"Even then, I won't." Hana repeated. "I'll live with Lani before I do! I'll marry her and stay way from them!"

Aki's heart pinched. Hana would leave him? He couldn't handle being alone. Lani would go off into space on her next mission, and Hana would follow her,leaving him to deal with the Grajin and the Mari alone. He didn't know if he could handle that.Lani looked shocked at this as he was. "Marry me?"

"You don't want me too?" Hana asked. "I guess not. I'm just a filthy alien to everyone-"

"It's not that…" Lani looked embarrassed. "…don't say that. I just… I like you and everything, but I don't love you like that."

"It's not about love. Aki-chan doesn't love the Minister's daughter and has to marry her, right?"

"Yes. I see your point." Lani looked away. "I just think…" but what she thought, she didn't say. She changed her mind in mid-sentence. "If it comes down to it, I will marry you Hana. B-But if I marry Aki as his lower-wife… you might have to live with him anyway. And it's much safer on Sheplam than it is in space."

Hana screamed. Literally screamed. It made both of them jump. "I'm tired of being passed around, like some possession! I wish General Anura never took me a board. I wish-"

But she must of seen Aki look hurt. In truth, he was still shaken at the prospect of her leaving him, that he didn't really noticed her rant about wishing she was never brought on board. She calmed down almost instantly from her rage as her eyes started to water.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, Aki-chan. Of course I care for you… but…but this is getting out of control. I hate my life."

"I know." Aki wish he could make her happy. But in truth he had little to no control over his life either. "Hana-chan, in Sheplam, no matter what I won't live with those people. I swear. And if the Mari treat you like that as well, I'll figure out a way to live on my own. I-I can't do anything about the Minister's daughter… but maybe if I married you as well…"

"She'd be a lower-wife and an alien. As first wife, the Minister's daughter still would be more important. Still, it's better than being a concubine." Lani broke his thoughts. She swallowed again and looked as if she were struggling to say the next part. "I'll give up my role as lower-wife if… if you need me to."

Both Hana and Aki looked at her with amazement. They both knew how she felt about him. Even as she said it, there were tears in her eyes.

"This is so backwards." Hana complained. "On Earth it's so much easier. One man, one woman. Done."Aki isn't a man thought." Lani said but was ignored."Lani-chan, I can't take away Aki-chan from you. Even if I love him. That's not right. After everything you've done for me, for us… that's just spitting in your face."

"But you're right, Hana… I don't like that people look down on you. They don't know you like I do. You're not just a primitive alien. You're-"

"Look… I think I should just be your lower-wife." Hana blurted out, blushing. "That was the best plan anyway. That way we call can be together." After she said that she whispered to herself. "This is so messed up."

"The Minister's daughter could still treat you bad, even if you are my wife." Lani looked embarrassed.

"So it all depends on that mystery girl." Hana sighed.

There was a small silence between them, but this was broken when Aki's stomach growled. Hana and Lani looked down at his bare midriff then laughed a bit. Aki patted his stomach, as if trying to get it to shut up. But it growled again, as if seeking more attention.

"Guess you're hungry, Aki-chan."

"Yeah." He felt slightly annoyed.

How did he end up in this mess. Hana was the girl for him. But in the process he was engaged to both Lani and the Minister's daughter, while at the same time Anura had been in love with him. If he counted the Iris the Wahco, that was five women who wanted him. Well, the Minister's daughter was forced into it… but whatever. Who ever heard of that? The situation was getting out of control.

"What's wrong, Aki?" Lani asked.

"I just don't get it. Why am I the center of all of this?"

"You won the Contest." Lani told him quickly.

"Not just that. You, Hana, and Anura… you didn't like me because of that…"

"I liked you before they did… so they are copying me!" Hana joked. "And it's getting really annoying having to point out to you constantly that you're gorgeous. And for the record, I'm straight."

Aki scoffed. "Yeah right. Not anymore, you're not."

"I know it's weird, but I still see you as a guy. Impossible as it seems with a body like that. You're the Akihiko I grew up with deep down, so even though you look like that I still think of you as a boy."

"It's not just that." Lani looked at him. "I didn't just fall for you because of your appearance. I fell for you because you're sweet… and I liked watching over you. Maybe the General was the same way?"

"I'm sure his looks didn't hurt, did it." Hana laughed and nudged Lani.

Lani just blushed all the more. "Usually hidden-seeds don't turn out so… pretty."

Aki was tired of all that. He didn't ask the question to get praised. He just wanted to know what the damn appeal was. He wasn't going to get it from them, he figured. As if to remind him that he was forgetting something important, his stomach growled again. The two girls laughed like they did the first time.

"Well, you should get some dinner." Hana took the opportunity to pat his stomach.

"You're not going?"

"Those Grajin might be there." Hana's mood soured. "I'll pick up something from a vending machine and wait for you in your real cabin."

Before he could argue, she left him. He watched her go, then rejoined Lani on the watch to the mess. He wondered of Lani was serious about what she had said before. If she really would forget about their engagement if he asked her too. But on looking down at her, he somehow knew it was true. She seemed happy that it was just them for the little time it took them to go from cabin decks to the mess.

"Lani… are you really going to marry Hana-chan?"

"I will." She nodded, and looked into his eyes. "For you…"

His heart broke for her. She knew full well who he really loved. She was just happy for the left overs. "I'm sorry to be such a burden to you. I wish… I wish we met under different circumstances."

"Me too." Lani admitted. "But I'm happy with what I got as well."

"If you marry Hana-chan, does that mean you and her will-"

Lani snickered a little bit, her playful side coming out. A rare thing. "Pervert."