Starbound: A Space Odyssey

Forge looked at Saito and then at John before she spoke at John"s ears, "I don"t think you need me here, right?"

John turned to hear and asked, "Why are you asking?"

"I want to meet with an acquaintance since I"m already here." Forge said with with a faint smile, "He was a co-worker from my times in the Miniknog, I want to see how he"s going."

"Well..." John glanced beneath him and saw Saito silently staring at both him and Forge, "I don"t think you need to be here for this. If you really want to go, you can go. Just don"t get lost."

Forge nodded and was about to leave when Saito instantly grabbed her pants and didn"t let go.

Seeing that wet red eyes innocently looking directly at her, melted Forge"s heart and she crouched in front of Saito and started to coax him.

It took a few seconds before she managed to convince Saito to follow John.

Saito Just sadly nodded and lowered his head.

"Be careful out there." John warned Forge, "This place has a lot of people, and some of them are not up to good things. If you need help, just give me or Lenny a call, we"ll get to you at a moment"s notice."

"Thanks." Forge smiled and thanked John for his worry before she walked out of the restaurant.

John looked behind him for a few seconds before turning to the door in front of him once again.

*Knock*

John softly knocked on the door and waited for a response.

"Come in." John"s heard skipped a beat when he heard the gentle, warm voice. It was a voice he was familiar with, he knew it very well since he spoke with the owner of the voice almost everyday back at his university days.

John calmed his emotions and opened the door.

The private room was very luxurious, just like the rest of the restaurant.

There was a table in the middle and 6 seats around it.

At the table, John saw only two people at their seats. One of them was someone John knew very well, it was Aoi, the Hylotl that liked to stay beneath the cherry tree to read book every morning, and would strike a conversation with John as he was leaving to exercise. The other one was probably Fujiwara Rei, as John couldn"t think of anyone else to be inside the room beside the supposed Saito"s older brother.

Aoi was still the same as John remembered, the only difference was the fact she was wearing a traditional and beautiful plain white kimono with the Fujiwara clan"s crest imprinted on it.

John had to admit, Aoi looked a lot better in such clothes than when she was wearing the Terrene Protectorate uniform.

But on top all, John was happy and relieved that Aoi was alive. Since the destruction of Earth he always stopped himself from thinking about the people he knew that could have died there.

Now, he was more than happy to see a familiar face, and even happier since she was the gentle Aoi that always looked after everyone, including him.

As the one beside Aoi, it was a young male Hylotl with a smooth, light blue skin.

He had a calming and scholarly aura around him. And the gla.s.ses with three lenses, complemented his appearance with the luxurious black kimono, style Haorihakama, with the Fujiwara clan"s crest on his sleeve.

Fujiwara Rei pretty much was a bigger version of Fujiwara Saito.

All in all, John"s first impression of Fujiwara Rei was of a scholarly, knowledgeable and gentle young man.

Peri saw them differently. Although she was sure that Fujiwara Rei was a fighter, he was simply too weak in front of her. But Aoi was a whole other thing.

Peri"s body instantly tensed when her eyes met with Aoi"s eyes. With that faint clash of staring, Peri could say that Aoi was strong, very strong.

Seeing them entering the room, both Aoi and Rei stood up from their seat to greet John and Peri.

When Rei"s eyes met with the small figure of Saito, he let loose a long sigh of relief.

John could see that the young man was really worried about his younger brother.

Although Saito was a little sad that Forge left, his mood instantly brightened when his eyes caught sight of Aoi.

"Big sis!!!!!" Saito sprang out from John"s side and threw himself into Aoi"s arms, completely ignoring his old brother that awkwardly stood there with his eyes behind the gla.s.ses twitching.

"Sai- Young Master, are you okay? Hurt somewhere?" Aoi asked only with a slight worry since she could see no injuries at all in Saito"s body.

"No, the big brothers and big sisters saved me from the bad guys." Saito answered with a big smile of his face.

And just like that Aoi and Saito started to chat with each other. The conversation was more like Aoi calmly asking questions and Saito answering.

[He completely ignored me...] Rei forced a smile and turned towards John, "It"s a pleasure to meet you, sir John Connor." He extended his hand.

"Likewise, Fujiwara Rei." John gave a polite smile and shook hands with Rei.

"And who might be you, miss?" Rei turned towards Peri and asked with the same tone he spoke with John.

It was clearly he didn"t see a Floran as different as a Human, there was no discrimination and enmity.

Peri was surprised for a moment before she used her professional smile she learned when working in the Iron Fist Arena and shook hands with Rei, "I"m Peri."

"Pleasure to meet you, Peri."

"Likewise."

Finished the greetings, Rei than spoke, "Have a seat. I have ordered the finest dish they have. I hope you are hungry."

John smiled and said, "Don"t need to be so polite. I"ll accept your invitation."

And as such, both John and Peri found their seat opposite to Rei and Aoi.

Aoi lifted Saito and placed him over her lap after she seated again.

It was in this moment that John and Aoi"s eyes finally met.

"Long time no see, John." Aoi showed a gentle smile.

"Yeah, it"s been a while, Aoi." John calmly said.