Dean stumbled around, his head still buzzing away with all the liquor he drank down.



He wiped a hand in front of his face, blinking, and gave a drunken laugh that almost made him sound more insane than drunk. At least the alcohol sluicing through his body killed some of the thoughts. The memories of Cold Oak, Hell, and thoughts about destiny and burdens. He didn't have to focus now. Hunt was done, could sleep. Oh wait, no he can't. Never slept all that much to begin with, what else is new?

He hummed Enter Sandman in a daze as he fell over to one of the organic couches in the Obs Deck. Nothing like magic fingers, but what the hell?

"Damn, I think I need another drink, haha..." he commented drunkenly to himself.

It was going to be like the much needed vacation stuck on a ship with people from all forms of live in the middle of the Black. What better way to take a quick break than to go to the sensoriums and ask Stacy for the most tropical place that she could think of that was crew friendly? It was perfect. That was all Gwen could say as she stretched out on her beach chair soaking up fake sun resting on the fake sand as the fake crystal blue water lapped at the empty beach.

Okay sure none of it was real but it was as close as the red head could get and she was going to enjoy every single minute of it. The fact that there was plenty of room for others to come and enjoy it was just what she possibly thought everyone needed. So Gwen had sent out a text over the waves for people to come on up and bring their sunscreen for the fun that could be had. There was a wetbar not far up nestled under the large palm trees and tropical plants with their own virtual bar tender, heck there was even a place to rent a surfboard or boogieboard if no one was daring enough to test the waves. Thankfully she had asked Stacy to leave the sharks out. No one wanted to reenact the movie Jaws while they were there.. she hoped. Even an empty volleyball court was just down the way waiting on someone to take up a game or three.

Everything was... perfect.

With a pleased little smile Gwen settled back against her chair only adjusting the large sunglasses once. Yep. This was the life.

There was a time to be with the crew. There was a time to be with her Sisters and her ship mother. There was a time to explore and make new friends. Now, because of the efforts of her friends, there was time to spend with Aang too. Every once in awhile, however, there were times where Katara went off by herself to figure things out.

Ironically, it was BECAUSE of her time with Aang, especially recently, that Katara had to have time alone right now. The thing was, to be honest, she hated having to be the responsible one, the one that pulled back now. That had been HER call, and it was a call that made it seem liker Katara was the one with experience or at least the one who would admonish Aang in this new territory of a relationship called "going too far." It wasn't that far a stretch, really: from the crew's interactions, it was clear that issue surfaced every once and awhile, and it wasn't unusual to here from women how men were all after one thing. In fact, she'd heard that echoed in her own world from grown up conversations where no one thought she was listening too: she didn't completely disagree on it with some men. Certainly some could be driven by their impulses, something she knew Sheeana might see as a weakness unless properly contained.

But amidst all these conversations, LOVE never was a part of it, at least, not when it came to the kind of sex that wasn't about flirting and double talk. For love, she'd always view Will and Matt as one example, then Fate and Nanoha as another. Katara had to ask Nanoha at first about having fate as a girlfriend since Nanoha was a new friend, but once she saw them together there was no mistaking it: they loved each other very much, you could see it all around them. With Will she;d known her longer and Will gushed about her boyfriend, but once she met Matt she knew exactly what Will saw in him. He was a man that gave himself to be kind, who cared about his friends and would be there to help you. By that alone, she could see the love that he had for Will, the person he cared for most of all.

But what she hadn't expected was that love and sex could be NOT mutually exclusive: one could bring the other up and come so suddenly and passionately that you weren't prepared to turn away in the first place. She'd had a lot of time to pine away for Aang, to hope that he would see her as he had then, with all the time that had passed. Even though she knew she wanted to be with him, there was the possibility that, older, he was perfectly able to seek any other girl on the ship.

But god, that had been stupid, so stupid. Had she forgotten that look he gave when he saw her, the ways his eyes would slowly meet hers and she knew he couldn't hide his feelings from her because it was Aang, and it was typical that the airbending monk who had turned away from learning the Avatar state to find her would ever want that. Her fears revealed themselves in the Spice dream and died there: she realized Aang was a part of her world, and she couldn't be without him: he had become her heart, her bond.

And with that love came a whole new sort of feeling, feelings she was the GIRL and had to ignore because the girl did not let this happen. The stupid ship had to remind them that they were still subject to someone else's whims, and she pulled herself back even though everything in her was screaming NO I WANT HIM ITS NOT FAIR!!!!

But she had waited months, and when they went there, it would be special, it would be right. It would be something only they shared and a thing that just they understood. Katara hated being the one that enforced that because he was Aang, and she loved him so deeply she wasn't even ashamed that they'd gotten that far. No one had ever made her feel this complete, this happy, warm feeling that made her love everything and everyone and made her forget that she had to look at everything harshly. She wasn't naive, not by a long shot, but for a very long time, she'd had to be wary about everything: the Bene Gesserit, the people she met, the things Sokka said. She had to worry about losing her culture and being tricked and trusting the wrong person and people getting hurt, all the while that aching cutting into her because he was missing.

And he was here, and now her world had changed and she could...smile and be happy.

The Sensorium became the Cave of Two Lovers, the place she had first kissed Aang. She knew Toph would have liked this place as you needed badger moles to get out of it otherwise. She was here, and yet she wasn't. She should train soon and she knew that, but right now she just wanted to get lost in her thoughts.

Aang, she thought, its hard for me too.

Irma was probably more stubborn than she could admit. Probably why, after spending a few days asleep, she opted to start walking again. Yeah, Reinforce would probably snap at her, but she wasn't going to let that thing bother her much.

She had every intention on trying to see how Sheffield Academy was, to see if it was still standing after the Nightmare King's madness and Aang's outburst. But, something else caught her eye as she wandered. Something she didn't want to see.

"No... no, not that..." Irma muttered, her jaw dropped. In front of her was the Citadel of Kandrakar. The massive fortress in the center of the universe was on board the ship. She hesitatingly climbed its steps and began scouring its halls. Its quiet, looming presence easily unnerved Irma. Most of the time, she was usually with the rest of the Guardians and a handful of others. The place was usually filled with the members of the Council of Kandrakar.

As she wandered, she easily saw that she was the only one in here. It looked like this place had barely picked itself up after Nerissa and Phobos' assaults on the castle before it was picked up here.

"HELLO?! Anyone here?!" Irma called out, her voice echoing through the building. A moment. Two moments. Nothing. No response. It was more than likely that the council, especially the Oracle and Halinor were in the pods, asleep, but it didn't matter much.

This was more than enough proof that things had definitely changed. In the empty Council room, Irma sat on the floor and curled herself up into a ball.

"We really blew it..." Irma muttered.

There's something to be said for finding a place to decompress. Normally, Jamie would go to the City and practice his bagpipes when he wanted to do so. But the city is in shambles, and he's still not up for his usual explorations of the ship. Instead, he turns to the Sensoriums, bringing up a familiar place - a peaceful and quiet location that holds a little bit of home.

There is no strange and interesting technology this time, no war torn battlefield, no people at all. What is there is a small loch, with a tree covered hill visible on its opposite bank. On side closest to the entrance are birch trees, with one standing quite close to the water. Greenish lichen covers a good deal of its trunk, and a faint breeze rustles the summer-green leaves. The hum of insects can be heard, as well as the occasional movement of some small unseen animal passing by.

Jamie rolls up his sleeves, then lies down on the ground next to a nearby rocky outcropping. Supporting himself with one arm, he reaches into the water with the other and begins to feel underneath the rock.

Perhaps it has to do with the silvery shapes that can occasionally be seen darting just under the water's surface, or perhaps he's just lost something. Either way, he has yet to realize there's someone here besides himself and the fish...

Luxord is lurking.

He is lurking in many places, at many times, and though you may be confused to see him one moment in the hallway near Engineering, and just outside the mess the next, you may be comforted by the knowledge that he's simply manipulating specific time loops in specific areas, enabling himself to be in multiple places simultaneously.

The reason?

Publicity.

"Pardon me, you may not know me - I hate to admit, I'm horrible at faces - but I'm trying to organize a bit of relaxation for whatever members of the crew might desire it.  I know most everyone is feeling horrid after the business of the last few weeks, so I was thinking... are you up for a game of poker?"

For the first time in a long time, Billy Cranston could make an honest self-assessment with a positive outlook. Encouragement from the crew, a return to his routine duties, and that last eradication of guilt with Adam, Jamie, and Renne had done much to heal the pain and paranoia from before.

Of course, part of this healing process included the difficult requirement of actually spending quiet time with himself---and that meant applying the meditation techniques that Jason, Trini, and Adam had taught him so long ago. His preference was a natural setting, and the only place to simulate that would be the Sensoriums. So off he went, so focused on the task ahead that he forgot to install a lock or 'do not disturb' sign.

( Someone forgets the Sensoriums are public again. Water still wet. )

This was something that Nanoha and Fate had made a promise - it felt like months ago - to do once the Nightmare King had been defeated: The two of them and Vivio would have a nice family picnic with homemade food, just like they would back home. Of course, Nanoha had extended the invitation to the other children on the ship - not only did she want Vivio's friends to feel included, but she felt slightly responsible for all of them in her own way, and thought that they could all use a boost in morale after the trials they'd gone through.

So, Nanoha had arrived in the Sensorium long before the time had come, turning the area into a replica of her kitchen back home, and had gotten to work cooking. She'd always liked to cook; not only did it smell wonderful but it was therapeutic and relaxing in its own way. Eventually, she had quite the assortment of neatly-packed bento - rice, chicken, some dried nori seaweed and even some tempura and salmon. All in all, it was just like she'd learn to make growing up, and more than enough to feed their little gathering.

Once she'd made and wrapped the bento in the cloth that they'd later use as a tablecloth, she changed the location to a wide, rolling meadow with short grass, studded with trees to provide shade for the bright, warm sun overhead.

Nanoha smiled to herself, waiting to see who'd arrive first.