Chapter Text
Merga walked alongside Lilac, Cordelia, and Mayor Zao as they walked along the docks of Shang Tu, coming up to the Red Zenith, Zao’s personal ship, and the Crimson Eel, that had been put in the care of Corazon Tea. Mayor Zao would be returning to the Shang Mu Royal Palace with his new unexpected but eventually welcome charge, while the Eel would be taking Cordelia and Lilac over the arctic tundra flats to decommission the underground lab, and then returning them here to Shang Tu right after making a delivery in Shuigang.
As the Red Zenith was parked in front and would be departing first, they had come to that loading ramp first, and the group stopped as Zao turned and looked up at the trio of dragons, cradling the newborn hatching Aadi, wrapped in a blue blanket.
“I am fully aware of the trust being placed in me by being allowed to depart with her, ladies, and I am very appreciative of that. I look forward to having you all visit, and hope you enjoy watching her grow as much as I no doubt will.” Zao said. “I just hope she takes to respecting her elders quickly… It will not likely be long before she’s bigger than I am.”
“Well, what you lack in stature, you certainly make up for in character,” Cordelia began. “Again, how you’ve embraced what is quite an unexpected situation means a very great deal to us, Your Excellency, and you’re absolutely right. We’re all looking forward to seeing Aadi here grow, and see what she becomes.”
“Even if it is a Battlesphere Champion,” Lilac quipped, earning a snicker from Merga, as the red panda’s eyes widened at the possibility.
All three of them bowed.
“Safe travels, Your Excellency. See you soon,” Merga offered.
With that, Zao turned and walked up the passenger ramp to his ship along with his escort, and the trio continued down to the Crimson Eel, where Corazon was waiting by the ramp.
“Afternoon, ladies. If we stay on schedule, I’ll have you up at that secret lab of yours by tomorrow evening,” Corazon greeted.
“It’ll be just me and Lilac this time, Captain. Merga is staying to continue setting up our lab here,” Cordelia told her.
“Ah. Well, if you’ll see yourselves on board, I’d like a word with her, regardless,” the wildcat told them.
Lilac and Cordelia turned to Merga, and Lilac was the first to come in for a hug.
“Rematch when I get back in a few days?” The hybrid asked.
“If you’re up for it. Think about what I said, by the way,” Merga answered.
“I will, I promise,” Lilac told her, parting from the embrace and made her way up the loading ramp.
“This is the first time we’ve been apart in over six months,” Cordelia told her.
“You’ll be back before you know it, love. I’m not worried, I promise, not with Lilac along,” Merga told her.
“Please don’t slave away getting that lab together the whole time. Ask Gong about an available patch in the palace gardens, or even get ready to tinker with your armor a bit; I’ll be bringing that back too. This is our home now, so make yourself at home.”
Merga smiled as they came together for a hug.
“See you soon. I love you,” Merga said.
“I love you too,” Cordelia replied, then parted from the hug, and turned to follow Lilac up and ramp, leaving Merga alone on the dock with Corazon.
“Your sister not coming along this time, Captain?” Merga asked.
Corazon took a deep, quiet breath, before looking Merga in the eyes.
“Not this time. She’s doing more catching up with that hound and Aaa in their lab. And… Look, the assumption that people don’t change all that much has served me well for most of my life. But this time, I’m not afraid to admit that I was wrong. You tried to kill my sister when she talked sense into me on Bakunawa… But after that... You and that girlfriend of yours are clearly committed to this project you two have been working on, and I saw you comfort her from up on my room’s balcony when she went to her father’s grave. So I wanted to say that I can see that you’ve changed, for the better. I thought you should hear that from me before we all go our separate ways again.”
With that, Corazon extended her hand as she offered a handshake to the water dragon.
With a soft smile, Merga reached out and accepted it, squeezing it firmly.
“Thank you, Corazon. I’m glad we can put that behind us. And just to clarify, Cordelia is my fiance now. No idea when we’re tying the knot officially yet,” she told the wildcat.
“Then allow me to say congratulations, Merga. For what it’s worth, I’m glad you and her have figured out how to heal from that tragedy a century ago. Regardless of what you went through, regardless of why I was willing to hop on a spaceship and think my sister was just going to let herself be dragged along… Even after all of that, you deserve some peace, Merga.”
Merga and Corazon shook hands.
“Save travels, Captain,” Merga said.
“I’ll have them back safe and sound in a few days, ma’am,” Corazon replied.
With that, she embarked onto her airship, and walked down the deck to the wheelhouse, while Merga stood and watched the vessels fire up their engines and take to the skies. Afterward, she opted to not take a car back to the palace, but to walk the streets, taking in as much of Shang Tu as she could.
Cordelia was right; this was her home now, and she should get familiar with it as quickly as she could. So on her scenic route back to the palace, she stopped by a florist kiosk and purchased a packet of moonflower seeds, and decided she would see Mayor Gong about any available areas in the palace gardens at the next convenient time.
Having been given the proper credentials to come and go as she pleased, Merga entered the palace and found Mayor Gong in the operations center, going over a report that Pangu had just given him.
“Ah, afternoon, Merga. I take it everyone has been seen off?” Gong asked.
“They have. I’ll try and keep myself occupied and out of everyone’s way,” the water dragon replied.
“Nonsense. You’re a part of this place now. Let me know if you need anything,” the mayor replied.
“Well, let’s start with two things, then. One, are there any available plots in the palace gardens? I’d like to start growing some flowers if I can,” Merga asked.
“This time of year, there should be quite a few. I’ll speak to the head gardener. You know, Cordelia has told me about your affinity for botany. I don’t want to make any assumptions about how busy you two will be with your work, but if you believe you would have the time, our head gardener is retiring after this season, if that’s something you think you’d like to do,” Gong told her.
“I’m flattered, Your Excellency, and will certainly have to give that some thought,” Merga told him.
“What was the other thing you needed?” The panda asked.
“Cordelia will be bringing my armor from the lab up north. Is there room in the armory to perform maintenance? Perhaps further research and development?” Merga asked.
“Certainly. Sublevel 1, the entire east wing is dedicated to troop equipment,” Gong answered..
“Then I believe I’ll go make preparations until dinner. Thank you, Your Excellency.”
With that, Merga turned and headed towards the elevator that would take her downstairs to the basement levels.
On the short ride down to the basement, Merga thought of how Cordelia had not been the only one to have Lilac on her mind for the past few months. The more Merga thought about it, the more she came to realize that she had never been able to repay Lilac for everything she had done; reach out to her, convince her to begin making amends with her former enemies, and of course, reuniting her with her long lost love.
No doubt to the hybrid, her friendship would be payment enough, but Merga wanted to nevertheless provide something more material.
Merga went all the way down to B3 first, back down to the in-progress laboratory that she and Cordelia would be using together. She turned on the console that had been hooked up to the screen on the center island, and opened a program that had been installed to keep track of everything pertaining to their future hatchlings. She went to the very first entry that had been started, and she typed in ‘AADI’ under the blank space for the first hatchling’s name, adding it to the rest of the vital info she had entered, such as blood type, location, and her measurements from her first weigh-in. Smiling at the screen, she saved the file, and walked out of the room back to the elevator, and went up two levels to B1.
Stepping off of the elevator once again, she found her way to the armory, and found an available console and holoprojector on the east wall. She stepped up, reached into her robes, and pulled out a small data stick, inserting it into the console.
The projector thrummed to life, and schematics of her gold and violet armored battle suit flickered on the screen, along with the five ‘bladewing’ augments that had been made over the course of the resistance against Shang Tu a century ago.
Pressing a trio of keys, another hologram appeared, this one of Sash Lilac, along with her precise physical measurements.
“Alright…” Merga said to herself. “Let’s see what we can do.”
FIN