I took the bottle of Hive wine, Haruka held Dafydd’s hand, and Miko made a gate for us in the middle of the living room. We stepped through together onto a gating platform in the folding nexus above the dragon home planet. It was a large, dome-shaped area with several platforms for goldenscales to gate to.
Miko was subdued as we walked together through the nexus tunnel. Its lower half was shiny black and its upper half was transparent to give us a stunning view of the glowing planet below us and the glittering blue nebula in the rich dark sky.
‘I remember when I first met you here, Jian,’ Miko said, her head lowered. ‘And now look where we are.’
‘I remember,’ Haruka said. ‘The Empress ordered Masako to greet the new human arrivals, and she didn’t feel like it. She sent you to collect them and didn’t make the effort to go herself. Looking back – things were very different.’
She glanced up at him and smiled. ‘We have all grown and changed.’
Haruka shared a sidelong glance with me and I nodded to him.
Dafydd stopped and grabbed Haruka’s leg. Haruka didn’t need to be prompted – he lifted Dafydd and placed him on his hip.
‘Thanks, Papa,’ Dafydd said, and laid his head on Haruka’s shoulder, watching the planet below us and the stars in the sky. ‘This place is so pretty.’ He pulled at his pants. ‘And I hate these clothes.’
‘You wear nice ones for Nanna’s ceremony,’ Haruka said. ‘This is important for the family, so be good, okay? This is a very serious thing she’s doing.’
Miko changed to two-legged form and put her hand on my shoulder. I nodded my appreciation.
We arrived at the central room of the reception centre. It was dome-shaped and the size of a human restaurant with a dark blue reflective floor and a transparent ceiling. The combination made it appear as if we were walking through a sea of blue-white stars.
There were a number of people already present in the central reception area, strolling from door to door around the edge of the room where signs hung in multiple languages, or gathering to chat in the centre.
We followed the flow and I looked around for anyone I knew. As usual there was a wide range of species but the facility was for species that were roughly human-sized so I was familiar with most of them. A couple of peshigas were standing to one side looking up at the sky, and I smelled the sulphuric fragrance of nearby slimes before we were anywhere near them.
Dafydd appeared to be listening as he studied their emotional auras but wasn’t fazed by all the aliens.
‘Here,’ Haruka said, stopping at one of the doors. He turned to me. ‘You’ll be fine.’
‘You’ll be fine, Mummy. We’re here for you,’ Dafydd said.
Miko didn’t say anything, she just squeezed my shoulder again.
I nodded to them and we went in.
Mum’s room was similar to the rest of the centre; it was round, with a soft textured beige-coloured floor and curved white walls and ceiling. It was the size of a smaller restaurant, with tables and chairs around the edge, a central open space for dancing, and a podium for speech-making. Large windows looked out onto the planet on one side, and there were at least two hundred people present.
‘Take your time,’ Haruka said softly without looking at me.
I nodded and stepped into the room.
Oliver came to me and gave me a hug. ‘Here you are.’ He nodded to Miko and Haruka. ‘Otosan, Dragonfather.’
‘I didn’t realise Mum had quite so many friends,’ I said, looking around.
Oliver gave Dafydd a messy kiss and Dafydd pulled free from Haruka to go to Oliver’s arms. ‘Hello, Ollie.’
‘Hey, Daf,’ Oliver held Dafydd and glanced around the room. ‘Most of the people you won’t know are from the Earth-analogue project. There’s a simulator of the planet over to one side, as recognition of Connie’s work. Dianne and Victor send their apologies, but she just gave birth to her second yesterday. Two girls, now.’
‘Mum can still see them, it’s not like this is the end,’ I said.
‘That’s exactly right,’ Haruka said, and put his arm around my waist.
Aki wandered up to us with his wife and a couple of Japanese Imperial Guards behind him. He shook hands around the group and reciprocated Haruka’s low bow. ‘Dear Jian. Nephew.’ He nodded to Miko. ‘Good to see you, Princess.’ He smiled. ‘Apparently during the ceremony there’ll be a retrospective of Connie’s life and I’m present in some of it. It will be interesting to see which parts I remember.’
‘Which parts you remember?’ Miko asked, confused. ‘Why would you not remember?’
‘I erased many of the memories of my time married to Jian,’ he said, still smiling. ‘Apparently it was making me suicidally depressed to be taken from her.’
‘That’s awful!’ Miko exclaimed.
‘No major loss; I’ll have them restored when my son takes over as Emperor and I transition,’ Aki said. ‘Not too long to go now, and I’ll see what all the fuss was about.’ He touched my arm. ‘But I’m in a very happy place without those memories, so I doubt they’ll make much difference.’
‘He’s right,’ his wife, Hana, said meaningfully. ‘I hope nothing changes.’
‘I understand, and nothing will.’ I looked around at my spouses, and Oliver to one side holding Dafydd’s hand and showing him the Earth-analogue project. ‘I’m in a good place as well.’
Mum charged up to me with Annie trailing behind her. She hugged me and I bent to hug her back. She embraced the rest of the family. ‘Here you are, right on time. Come on through and we’ll get the boring part out of the way then have a little party.’
‘I don’t feel like—’ I began, and she scowled at me.
‘Hush there. We talked about this.’ She turned and gestured towards the podium, raising her voice so all could hear. ‘Take a seat, everybody, and we’ll have this little ceremony out of the way.’
‘We love you, Connie!’ someone shouted from the side, and a ripple of laughter went through the crowd.
The chairs in the room reconfigured themselves into rows facing the podium, uncomfortably making the room look like a funeral service. I wiped my eyes and let Haruka and Miko guide me to sit at the front with Oliver and Annie. Oliver lowered Dafydd, who came to sit in my lap.
Oliver stepped up onto the podium and stood to face everybody. ‘This is a celebration of Connie Choumali’s life. Our beloved friend and family member has decided to remove her soulstone and seek the path of the Real Death, whenever fate should choose it for her.’
It took nearly an hour to summarise – with a media presentation – all of Mum’s achievements. Dafydd sat mesmerised through the entire thing without moving. At the end, Mum stood at the front of the podium and smiled around at us.
‘I appreciate your love, everybody, but I think it’s time. Marque?’
‘Connie is of sound mind and well able to make this decision under full control of her faculties.’
‘Thank you.’ Mum reached up and removed the soulstone from her forehead.
Dafydd stiffened and whispered ‘No, Nanna’ in my lap. He touched his own soulstone in the middle of his forehead.
Mum took the stone and placed it into the clear glass bowl at the side of the podium, then lifted the black stone rod and crushed her stone with grim satisfaction. She turned back to the group.
Dafydd bounced in my lap.
‘I choose the Real Death, whenever fate should choose its time. If I should become too aged or infirm, or have an accident that renders me incapacitated, in pain or an unresponsive state, please do not revive me.’ She clapped her hands. ‘There, that’s done. What a relief. Now can we have a party, please? Enough with the serious looks.’
Dafydd hugged me around the neck with excitement. ‘She’s still here, Mummy!’ He saw my face. ‘Don’t cry, nothing happened! Nanna’s still here.’
‘He didn’t understand,’ I said to Haruka, my throat thick with emotion.
Haruka took Dafydd from me. ‘Come with me, Daf-chan, I need to explain.’
Mum came and sat next to me. She put her arm around me. ‘I’m still here, Jian, I’m not going anywhere for a long time.’
‘I love you, Mum,’ I said, and collapsed weeping into her arms.
Dafydd was already asleep when I pulled the covers over him. I kissed him on the forehead and went out into the living room to find both my spouses sitting on the couches, Miko in two-legged form.
‘I was about to ask you two to stay here with me instead of running off to do things, because I think we need to talk,’ Miko said. ‘But Haruka said the same thing to me.’ She looked from Haruka to me, her expression stricken. ‘I hope it’s nothing major. I love both of you dearly.’
‘We’re not planning to split up with you, if that’s what you’re thinking,’ I said, sitting on the couch next to him. He took my hand and held it.
‘I enjoyed the ceremony so much that I was about to ask you two if you were interested in renewing our vows in a little celebration of our relationship,’ she said. Her voice weakened. ‘Now I’m not so sure.’
‘I was thinking the same thing – a renewal of our vows would be wonderful,’ I said.
Haruka’s grip on my hand tightened. ‘You’ve grown so much since we were rescued from that asteroid, Miko. You’ve become stronger and more confident, and we love to see how you’ve blossomed.’
Her golden eyes were intense. ‘But? There’s a “but” coming, I can hear it.’
‘You spend far too much of your time with your goldenscales. You gate remotely, and we never see you. You are neglecting us. You are turning into one of your coloured sisters.’
She froze completely, her golden eyes wide, then gated herself away with a pop of air, taking half the couch with her.
‘Well,’ Haruka said, still holding my hand. ‘All we have to do now is wait for her to return and listen to her apologise non-stop for the next three days. Do you want me to stay with you? You’ve had a pretty hard day.’
‘No, I think I’ll go bury myself in Imperial Guard reports,’ I said. ‘Shudo’s made such a mess of them it’ll take me years to untangle it. I need the distraction.’
‘I’ll go into my workshop and work on the half-finished jewellery I was planning to use when I asked you two to renew your vows,’ he said. ‘If I didn’t know better I’d say that all three of us are soulmates, we are so on the same wavelength sometimes.’
Miko reappeared in the living room in two-legged form and fell to sit on the remains of the couch. ‘How will you two forgive me? You are absolutely right and I—’
‘Or we can reassure our spouse that she’s not the worst person in the world,’ Haruka said.
Dafydd watched his father as Haruka carefully put the eyeliner on. They complemented each other: Dafydd had black hair and mid-brown skin with golden scales, and Haruka was fair-skinned, with green hair and scales.
‘Can I have some too, Papa?’ Dafydd asked, pulling at Haruka’s sleeve.
‘It might sting your eyes, Daf-chan,’ Haruka said.
‘I want to anyway,’ Dafydd said, pouting.
‘Let him,’ I said. ‘You’ll be careful. Just a little.’
Haruka nodded and leaned down to place tiny black marks at the corners of Dafydd’s large golden eyes. Dafydd looked at himself in the mirror, and jumped up and down making his black hair – as frizzy as my own – bounce. ‘I’m pretty too!’
‘You are beautiful,’ Haruka said, and leaned down to give him a kiss on the forehead. He rose from his dressing table. ‘Is the car here yet?’
‘Not yet,’ I said.
‘We should just have Dragonfather gate us,’ Dafydd said.
‘No gates or folds into the Imperial Palace, you know that,’ Haruka said.
We stepped out of the central tatami room and stepped into slippers over our socks to walk through the timber-floored corridor and around the enclosed courtyard with its small garden. We followed the breezeway to the front entrance of what had been Haruka’s Kyoto residence and was now the family’s. It sat high on the hills above the city, surrounded by a forest of bamboo, and at the end of a narrow, ancient road flanked by other legacy mansions.
Miko was waiting for us on the raised timber front entrance and we swapped the slippers for shoes to step down onto the stone walkway. Mrs Sakamoto from next door cycled past and waved to us. ‘Hello, little Daf-Kun! Congratulations for your cousin! I’ll be watching you on my screen.’
‘Thank you, Mrs Sakamoto!’ Dafydd shouted back as she cycled away.
The car pulled up in front of the house and we entered it. It flew directly up and then headed East to take us to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Dafydd and Miko watched the scenery go past through the windows of the car.
‘Fuji’s in the clouds again,’ Dafydd said, disappointed. ‘It’s always in the clouds when we’re here.’
‘That just makes it more special when it isn’t,’ Haruka said.
‘I want to climb it one day,’ Dafydd said. ‘All the way to the top.’
‘We’ll all go as soon as you’re big enough,’ I said, and he lit up.
‘Just remember Asahito’s enthronement is a very important ceremony for the family,’ Haruka said, becoming more serious. ‘A lot of people will be watching, so our clothes have to fit perfectly. If you get bored during the fitting, ask Marque to tell you a quiet story. And do what Steward Tokugawa tells you to.’
‘Okay, Papa,’ Dafydd said, distracted. He grinned at his father. ‘Tokugawa-san’s funny. He makes really weird faces, and he has some masks that he puts on and talks with squeaky voices that make me laugh so hard I nearly pee myself!’
‘Are there two Tokugawas in the Household?’ Miko asked.
‘I was just about to ask the same thing,’ I said.
The car swooped down over the expansive lawn of the Imperial Palace and landed next to the main complex. ‘Here we are,’ it said in Marque’s voice. ‘I think, as usual, little Dafydd has won everybody’s hearts.’
‘Even those who don’t have one,’ Haruka said with wonder.
We exited the car on the lawn in front of the complex. Tokugawa was waiting for us with two Household staff members, his expression stiff and formal. They were dressed in traditional wide hakama pants and haori jackets, all in black and adorned with gold stylised chrysanthemums. He bowed to us and we bowed back.
The palace buildings had been rebuilt to their post-secondworld-war structures after the cats’ attempt to destroy the Earth had ended up razing the entire complex. They were single-storey, long and low, in a rectangular configuration. The interiors were minimalist with simple tatami or wooden floors and slatted walls. The front entrance hall was big enough for the Emperor to hold small meetings and receptions, with a larger reception hall further in. The apartments were at the back – separate ones for each member of the family – but, as usual, Aki had broken from tradition and the entire family occupied one apartment together.
Tokugawa presented us with guest slippers and the staff took our shoes away.
‘This way, and we will prepare,’ he said.
He guided us through the empty reception hall, the floor echoing with our footsteps, to the apartments at the far end. He slid the door across, and there were more Household staff waiting for us in the corridor between the rooms.
‘Koharu-Sama will assist Princess Jian and Princess Miko,’ Tokugawa said. ‘I will assist Prince Haruka and Prince Daiki. If you will come with me.’
‘Is that me?’ Dafydd asked.
‘That’s us,’ Haruka said. He shot me a quick smile before he took Dafydd’s hand and led him into the apartment.
Miko and I followed Koharu into the far room and left the slippers outside it. The movable screens had been set up to partition a twelve-mat room, the size of a large living room, and pine boxes containing the multi-layered junihitoe kimono that we were all required to wear were neatly stacked at the side. Empress Hanamaru and her daughter Princess Mikako were already in there. Five-year-old Mikako was kneeling quietly on the mats next to the wooden slatted wall, and Hana was being tied into a plain raw silk sample kimono by a couple of assistants.
Mikako jumped up and ran to us, giving Miko and me hugs.
‘Jian, Miko,’ Hana said, her voice warm with pleasure. ‘Ready for this?’ She wiggled her hands in the long sleeves. ‘I tried the first five layers of the junihitoe, and it weighs a tonne. I don’t remember it being this heavy when I married Aki. Thank God we don’t have to do this often.’
‘Oh, come on, Hana,’ Koharu said. ‘You look fabulous and you know it.’ She winked at me. ‘We have a really ugly wig all ready to fit on you, Jian.’ She looked around. ‘We’re doing Hana and Jian first, then Miko because she’ll be more difficult to fit. We’ve never put a junihitoe on a dragon’s two-legged form before.’
‘What about Mikako?’
‘I don’t get one, I just have an ordinary kimono,’ Mikako said. ‘I want to wear a junihitoe too, Mummy!’
‘When you’re bigger and can carry the weight.’ Hana smiled. ‘It’s not an ordinary kimono, it’s gorgeous. Artists all over the country competed to design the fabric. You’ll look beautiful in it.’
Mikako knelt next to the door again. ‘Come and sit with me, Miko, this is so boring.’
‘How’s the little prince?’ the other assistant asked as I was guided to a screen on the side of the room to strip down to my underwear and put on a basic cotton under-robe.
‘He’s only three and he looks ten,’ I said.
‘Like most dragonscales,’ she said with a smile. ‘I remember Haruka – so precocious.’
‘Princess.’ One of the assistants bowed to Miko. ‘Please take a seat and enjoy tea while we measure your wife and the Empress. We will do you next.’
‘How about I take Mikako out for a walk in the garden?’ Miko said. ‘Marque can call us back.’
‘Yes!’ Mikako said.
‘Good idea, thank you, Miko,’ Hana said. ‘Marque, tell Tokugawa to provide the princesses with an honour guard.’
‘They’re waiting outside,’ Marque said.
‘We’ll call you back when it’s your turn, Princess,’ the assistant said.
Miko nodded and went out with Mikako, one of the assistants showing her the way.
Koharu pulled a plain, deep purple under-kimono out of a box, unwrapped the rice paper from it, and held it up to me. ‘Each one is slightly smaller than the one above it.’ She slipped the kimono around me and tied it.
‘Can we have a moment, please?’ Hana asked. ‘Jian and I need to talk.’
‘Of course, Hana.’
Both remaining assistants bowed to her and went out, sliding the door shut behind them.
Hana moved closer. ‘I would prefer not to do this right now, but I need to talk to you. I’ve been losing sleep since your mother’s ceremony.’
‘Because of Aki?’
‘She’s planning to transition – and have all her memories returned – as soon as Asahito is enthroned.’
‘Are you okay with her as a woman?’
‘Of course. She lives as a woman in private anyway. It’s not that big a difference – except that she will be much happier in her true body. The memories, though – they could ruin everything if she decides she loves you more than me.’
‘So talk to her, Hana. Explain that you’re concerned the memories will jeopardise your relationship. Ask her not to restore them. She will understand.’
‘I did talk to her. She says those memories are precious and part of her life. She’s seen the photos. She wants them restored.’
‘But she may be profoundly changed when they’re restored. What you have together is so good.’ I sat on one of the chairs, restricted by the tight kimono. ‘This is a terrible idea.’
She sagged with relief. ‘I’m glad you agree with me. Can you talk to her?’
‘I will. I don’t want to take her from you – I can’t take her from you. I’m happy with Haruka and Miko – and Dafydd – and wouldn’t return to her even if she asked me.’
She put her hand on my shoulder. ‘I’m so glad.’ She bent to speak more softly. ‘Is it possible to arrange an accident? Haruka and Marque are holding the copies of the memories. Can the stored data be destroyed?’
‘No,’ Marque said. ‘That would be inexcusable.’
‘You have never hesitated to do anything inexcusable in the past,’ I said. ‘Look at what Shiumo did to Richard Alto. Look at Miko – look at all the goldenscales. You treat us as if we exist for your entertainment.’
‘It would be morally wrong. Those are her memories. You have no right to them. It’s her choice what to do with them, not yours.’
‘True,’ Hana said with resignation. She sat next to me on the box. ‘I only hope that when she does restore them, it doesn’t destroy both our families.’
‘As I said, I won’t take her from you,’ I said.
‘But if she wants to return to you and stays with me out of duty, it will make her miserable. I don’t want to see her hurt.’
‘She’d do that, too.’ I squeezed her hand. ‘But if she ever came to me, I would send her back to you, because I’m happy with Haruka and Miko. The three of us have pledged to each other and I would never do anything to jeopardise what we have.’
‘Are you sure?’ she asked, searching my face.
I nodded.
‘I hope you can talk Aki out of it. If she restores these memories it could wreck our relationship.’
‘I’ll do my best, Hana.’
She put her arm around me and we embraced side-on to each other.
‘Tell them to come back in and finish tying us up,’ Hana said. ‘It’s a shame none of us are into bondage, it would make life in the Household a very different experience.’
I stared at her for a moment with my mouth open, then we both collapsed laughing together.
Koharu and her two assistants came in and she smiled when she saw us laughing. ‘It’s good to see you happy, Hana.’
‘It feels good.’ Hana rose to tower over me. ‘Just a few more weeks and Aki and I will be free. We’ll travel, tour the Seven Galaxies . . .’ She became wistful. ‘All the things we’ve seen images of, but we’ve never had a chance to try. Ribbon skating, fluoro diving . . .’ She sighed. ‘It will be wonderful.’
‘Aki can teach you to fly on Mon,’ Koharu said.
‘Yes!’ Hana said, excited. ‘It’s not fair that she’s done it as part of her duties as Emperor and I never had the chance. She’s so excited about that – she was a level three flyer, and it was wiped with her memories.’
I didn’t tell them that I was the one that taught Aki to fly on Mon.
Haruka and Miko stayed in traditional dress for the post-enthroning reception, but I made them wait while I changed into my comfortable captain’s uniform. The reception was held in a hall rebuilt to be identical to the one when Aki had been made Emperor and the rest of the guests were already there. I’d arranged for double security, remembering the last enthronement when Japanese fundamentalists had tried to assassinate the dragon Empress.
Annie raced to me with her arms out when we entered.
‘Nanna!’ she shouted, and I lifted her, making her squeal. I stroked her soft tortoiseshell fur.
‘You looked so pretty in the layered kimono!’ she said. ‘All of you were so pretty. I want one too!’
The Imperial family entered, including Aki. She was already in her female body and glowing with joy that she’d never shown when she was a man. The years fell away, the world disappeared and it was just me and her again. She approached me, and I took a moment to appreciate her. She was wearing a tailored suit that flattered her small, round frame and her dimples were still enchanting.
‘Come outside onto the veranda, we need to talk,’ she said. She turned to Haruka and Miko. ‘If you don’t mind?’
‘Go and talk,’ Haruka said.
‘We’ll wait here for you,’ Miko said.
Aki and I went to the edge of the veranda and looked out over the sand garden. Black rocks had been arranged into three clusters – one of three, one of five, and one of seven.
‘I didn’t realise how much Haruka had changed,’ Aki said, leaning her forearms on the balustrade. ‘He used to be filled with self-loathing because he couldn’t fulfil his reproductive duty, and I had no recollection of that. I only knew him after I took over as Emperor and he was with you; you’ve made him a different man.’
‘You have your memories back.’ I peered into her eyes. ‘What—’
‘Do you remember the ribbon skating?’ she asked. She turned to see me and smiled to make the dimples appear. ‘When you sailed off the edge of the ribbon—’
‘You nearly had a heart attack,’ I finished for her. ‘It was a long way down.’
Annie chased Mikako and Dafydd onto the veranda, all three of them squealing and laughing. They pounded in circles a few times, chasing each other, then disappeared back inside the reception hall.
‘Tokugawa will give them his stern face,’ I said.
‘Terrifying,’ Aki said. She went serious. ‘The last time we were here, I told you I’d had the memories removed.’
I nodded.
‘If it was you who’d said that to me,’ she said, ‘I would have jumped onto the rocks. You were so restrained – your face crumpled. You looked like I’d hit you in the stomach.’ She lowered her head. ‘And I didn’t even know what I’d just done. I’m sincerely sorry. What I did to you was unspeakably cruel, and I did it selfishly.’ She turned back to the garden. ‘You said you would wait for me.’
Pain shot through me. ‘You told me not to.’
‘I’m glad you didn’t. Are you happy with them?’
‘I am. Happy doesn’t begin to describe it. My lovely goldenscales, my passionate samurai, my darling, unique sons and my little granddaughter – I don’t know what I’d do without them.’
‘And they don’t know what they’d do without us. My wife needs me.’ She nodded at the garden. ‘There are three very desperate people standing in the doorway pretending not to watch us.’ She touched my arm. ‘Maybe one day? But I don’t think so. What you have with Haruka and Miko – what I have with Hana – it’s good for us.’
‘I was worried you’d want me to come back to you.’
She clasped her hands and chuckled. ‘I’m smarter than that. And so are you.’ She turned to me and put her arms out. ‘Give me a hug, and then let’s go back to our families. A lot has changed, and I think that both of us are in good places and don’t want anything different from what we have.’ I embraced her and she squeezed me. ‘I am just so damn glad I can go and direct the investigation of the Yayoi tombs in person now. It’s been killing me to have others doing the work. I want to get my hands dirty and open one of those coffin jars myself!’
I pulled back and touched one of her dimples. ‘Let’s go back to our families. You’re right about them panicking in there.’
I went back into the hall to find Miko and Haruka standing at the far end of the hall, and Oliver near the door. He stopped me before I could speak to them.
‘Everything sorted?’ he asked. ‘Miko and Haruka asked me to talk to you. They’re scared to death that anything they say will ruin everything.’
‘Aki and I are good friends and will probably never be anything more than that.’
He let a huge breath of relief out and unfocused for a moment, probably telling my spouses through comms. Miko and Haruka hugged each other in the corner of my vision.
‘Aki was your second mother,’ I said, searching his bright green eyes. ‘Are you okay with it?’
‘All of us have moved on,’ he said. ‘You’re happier with Miko and Haruka than you ever were with Aki. All that Household stuff hanging over both your heads – it was a relief when she decided to give in to them. They were pressuring me to make Aki return as well.’
‘I didn’t know,’ I said, and he shrugged.
‘We’re all in better places now. Go and talk to Miko and Haruka,’ he said, ‘before Haruka dies of an aneurysm or something. There’s a vein popping out on his neck.’