Helios Fighter

Chapter Eighteen

Modified Rematch

Flying towards the sun, I felt my solar energy surge. I also felt Ladasha the fuzz-ball shaking in my hand.

"You alright?" I asked.

"I guess," she said. "Just... uneasy."

"'Uneasy' how?"

"Well, this is similar to Pax's ship, and the last time I travelled like this—"

"The ship fell out of luminal transit. And then the second time, ​you​ fell out of luminal transit."

"Yeah..." I had to think about what to say next.

"Look, Pax had a mission to complete. Even so, that ship, regardless it's function, was shoddily made. I'm glad you made it through."

"Yeah... well, it was still my fault. I snuck aboard."

"Given the... fate... of Speelsaîūm, I think that he'd have preferred you with him, rather than on the planet."

"Yeah..." There was a silence that was only broken when Jax spoke.

"Hey, space girl," she said.

"What?" Ladasha growled.

"Why's this 'Pax' guy trying to chase down this girl?"

"Have you​ seen​ the way she looks? Kinda easy to guess why."

"I doubt it," I said.

"What do you mean?"

"The Sword Goddess and her sister, based on the concept art, had twice the... appearance Speelsa had when she was a Platinosaiyan. Pax hated the Sword Goddess, and could just more than barely tolerate her sister. Not to mention that Speelsa looked exactly like her​​ sister, and Pax didn't have the same affection when he saw her."

"Yeah, well, that's because Speelsa was a tad more elegant." I shook my head.

"No. Speelsa's not simple, but there's a simplicity in her beauty. She never tried to show off."

"But that still doesn't explain why he's going after her," Jax said. "Two reasons, sole ones that, currently, I can think of."

"And those are?" Gally asked.

"One, he's repaying a debt he owed her as a child and fulfilling a promise, and two, because she was in immediate danger."

"Sounds like it was all business, if you ask me," Jax said. "Why'd he catch those feelings?" There was another pause.

"You'd never want to do more for someone," I said, "Someone like your first crush." More silence followed.

"I was in danger," Ladasha said, partially to herself. "Why couldn't he save me?"

"That's just it. He couldn't. The ship was falling apart so bad that it was stretched during transit. From my guess, the only reason you're still alive, and arrived here, more or less unscathed is because you were in the back of the ship, the part with the thrusters. You probably flew on those for a while as they eventually ran out of fuel, allowing you to fall relatively safely out of transit."

"But–"

"If he'd stopped piloting the ship, you'd be off course and unable to recover from the damage anyway." Ladasha fell silent. "It was nothing you did. Somewhere, deep down I think he wanted to save you, but at the same time...primal instinct."

"'Primal instinct?'"

"In saving others, there comes a time when one must save themselves. You were in danger, yes, but not in any immediate danger. Pax would've blown to smithereens if he took his hands off the controls for even a second." Ladasha was still silent. "Look, I won't let that happen to you again, if I can help it, but I doubt you're in any danger now." Ladasha chuckled. "What?"