Dinner was excruciatingly silent. Vathion stared at his plate as he tried to work out the things that he was most bothered by about the situation.

Natan sending a letter like that was first on his list. It seemed too staged.

On the one hand, it made sense that Natan would have his affairs in order. He was on the frontlines, after all. But his letter had referenced conversations they'd had last week.

Staring at the pages spread on his desk, Vathion leaned his face on his palm. Jathas lay on the desk nearby, hands on his stomach. He'd overeaten again and was nearly asleep. Vathion's gaze wandered the pages again.

He hissed.

"What?" Jathas jolted awake, sitting up as Vathion jumped to his feet.

"Gannatet!" he growled as he looked around his room in panic. "I should've realized! I'm so stupid!" He swept the letter and will from his desk in a jumbled pile.

Jathas frowned at him. "Vathion, there's no need to talk abo—" He cut himself off as he scurried to jump onto Vathion's shirt as the young Gilon threw his bedroom door open. "Don't talk about yourself like that!" he finished, up to Vathion's shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"Mom, I'll be at the Gannatet's," Vathion called and did not wait for an answer as he threw the front door open. The night air was slightly humid and smelled of fresh grass.

Leaning to look at Vathion's face, Jathas said quickly, "Now wait a sec, Vath, don't do anything rash!"

Vathion shook his head. "Not rash. They deserve to know. If you're going to come, then do so, but don't stop me."

Jathas' ears folded down, and the tip of his tail twitched as he withdrew into a more secure position. "You're right. They do need to know, but it's not like anyone told you who they were."

"Everyone just assumes I know everything." Vathion muttered, though it suddenly hit him that Jathas had just implied that he'd known the whole time that Ameda and Midris Gannatet were Vathion's actual grandparents. "Just because I'm his son doesn't mean I'm perfect like him!" Though it made sense. Of course Ameda would be sad I'm leaving. Of course Mom would tell them about Dad. Of course.

Knocking on the door, he waited impatiently for it to open. It didn't take long, though the waft of scent that emerged informed Vathion that he'd interrupted their dinner. Midris Gannatet stared at Vathion in confusion. "It's a bit late for you to be out, son." Midris was tall, perhaps only an inch taller than Vathion, with white-streaked dark hair that looked violet in the right light. Vathion had never thought about it, but Natan really did look like the best parts of his parents. Ameda was thin and agile with those same blue eyes; Midris was a bit on the bulky side but had the height, hair, and grin when he decided to show it.

"Yeah. Um. Can I come in?" Vathion asked nervously.

Confused, Midris stepped aside, and the young man stepped in. "Is that Vathion?" Ameda called, then stepped into the living room from her kitchen. "Vathion! What a surprise. Have you eaten yet?" She smiled, having regained her composure in the intermittent hours between their last meeting and now. Vathion felt awful, knowing that what he was about to tell them would probably destroy them with grief.

"Gramma," he greeted. She froze in shock.

Jathas dropped to the floor as Vathion took a step forward, pressing the papers into Midris' hands. He wrapped Ameda in a tight hard hug. "I wish people would tell me things!" Vathion sniffled. "It would have been nice to know! I hate being the last to know!"

There was a thump behind him as Midris abruptly sat down. "This—this is... a joke... right?" he stammered, sounding shrill.

Opening her eyes, Ameda stared over Vathion's shoulder at her mate. "Midris?" She disengaged from Vathion, kneeling beside her mate. "Midris, what's wrong?"

Slowly turning, Vathion could not help but stare at them, tears blurring his vision as he tried to hold them back. "I'm sorry. I had to tell you. It was only fair. He probably didn't send you guys anything." Vathion refrained from saying that it was not surprising since Natan had been such a bad father, why should he be any better as a son. This was not the right time to say things like that.

Ameda choked, falling against Midris' shoulder as she read the paper. "This isn't true!" she stared up at Vathion, eyes wide. "Oh please! Say it's just one of his sick jokes!"

"Ma'Gatas sent me that," Vathion whispered, "This afternoon. I'm sorry. I should have come over earlier. I..."

"Hasabi—is your mother all right?" Midris demanded.

Snorting and swallowing, Vathion jerked his chin up in a nod. "Well enough. We're leaving tomorrow... He said he had everything set up for her in his letter." Not that Vathion really knew what all that entailed, but Hasabi had. Midris nodded hollowly.

"At least he's looking out for her."

Stumbling to her feet, Ameda threw her arms around his shoulders. "Oh Vathion!" she sobbed into his chest as he supported her. "I hate this war! It's taken both my sons from me, and now you!"

Vathion shook his head. "If I had a choice, I wouldn't go, but Mom's making me, and I can't just leave the Fleet hanging like that... Gramma, I'll call as often as I can. I promise."

Midris, using the wall, dragged himself to stand. Putting his arms around them both, he whispered, "You'd better."

Licking his lips, Vathion slipped an arm around Midris as well and closed his eyes, letting the mingled scents of the Grandparents he had never known he had ease his heart some. Likely they were taking just as much comfort in his smell, since Hasabi had often told him he smelled more like his father than he did her. "Please... please don't tell anyone about this? About... Dad... it would cause chaos and panic, and who knows whether it's a Rebel plot or something, and letting it get out would just play right into their hands."

"We won't say a word," Midris promised, "We're already used to not speaking about him... Stay safe, Vath, for our sake. You're our only grandchild."

Managing a laugh, weak as it was, Vathion promised in return, "I will. I'm rather fond of my skin. I'll keep it intact."

***

Vathion leaned against the window, watching as the early morning landscape passed outside. It was a familiar route; one he took four days out of the week to and from his job at the Intergalactic Café. He had given his notice a week ago when they'd started making plans to leave.

He had not gotten much sleep. He'd spent half the night with Ameda and Midris. Hasabi had joined them after a few hours, looking wretched. It had not been until early morning that Vathion had gotten the nerve to get up and get out of bed, and after taking off his shirt to shower, had thought better of dropping it into the dirty clothes. Instead, he had wrapped it with a picture of himself and his mother and snuck over to the Gannatet house to set on their front step. It was all he could really give them that would be of real sentimental value.

He stared at the sunrise, knowing that he would never see this again. Directing his thoughts to Jathas, he said, :It's still not registering. Or maybe I don't really care about sunrises as much as I should?:

:Or maybe it's pretty, but you've always been more interested in space?: Jathas suggested, currently merged with him. Vathion could sense his friend's interest in watching out the window through his Bondstone.

:I didn't say goodbye to Mirith. She's going to be pissed.: He shivered with a cold that was not physical. At least he had Jathas, without which, Vathion felt he would have fallen completely apart.

Hasabi freed a hand from driving and touched his where it lay in his lap. "It'll be all right." While the AI was capable of driving the car itself, his mother liked to have control of her vehicle. She claimed it was because AI could be hacked so easily.

"Mom, why can't you come with me?" Vathion pleaded again, turning to look at her. Her hair was pulled up into a bun on the back of her head, but her bangs and some shorter strands had already escaped it. Eika was merged with her, the Bondstone in her forehead bright green as the Hyphokos' eyes.

Hasabi shook her head without taking her eyes off the road. "I'm sorry, I can't. Vathion. If I were taken prisoner, it would prevent you from doing what you needed. Your father set this up with me a long time ago. Someone will pick me up at Ika station and take me somewhere safe. He set that up with me so that you and I would be protected no matter what happened to him."

Hanging his head, Vathion looked down at their linked hands, "Can't I go with you?"

Again, she shook her head, "No. Vathion, no more of this! You've got a fleet to run, and I'd only get in the way. Please understand, Vathion, please!" Tears were visible in her eyes, and she quickly blinked them away. "You're old enough to be on your own, hon. You'll do fine."

You just don't want me to watch you die.

Turning his hand, Vathion clasped hers tightly, but she removed it and took hold of the steering wheel firmly. Flopping back in his seat, he closed his eyes and turned his face away.

"Vathion, quit pouting. It doesn't suit you. You are capable of doing it. I believe in you."

"Mom. Care to explain how it makes any sense to tell a sixteen-year-old to go be admiral of a fleet of twelve battleships?" Vathion rolled his head on the headrest to look at her.

Hasabi sighed. "Your father... coded the AIs for the fleet. They may not follow orders from anyone but you."

"That's the... dumbest..." Vathion covered his eyes and slouched in his seat.

She pulled into the parking garage.

"What about the car?" Vathion asked as they passed the raised bar and entered the multilevel garage.

"Midris will come pick it up. He's taking care of the house, too."

Scrunching down in his seat, Vathion watched as they went up a level and found a parking space.

Opening the door, he stepped out and moved around to the trunk as Hasabi popped it and began pulling out their luggage. His mother came to join him and pinched his arm. "Vathion, I told you to stop pouting. It'll be alright." Relenting, she wrapped him in a brief hug. When he didn't respond, she released him to take her luggage. "It'll be alright."

Sighing, Vathion hauled his bags after his mother, having a tough time carrying all the extra bags she had insisted he pack after they had gotten back from the Gannatet's house. He could live with three outfits for years, but she was absolutely sure he would need every scrap of clothing he had, as well as every book he owned and a bunch of other dead-weight stuff. Somehow, he managed to make it into the main building and hurried to catch up with his mother at the ticket check-in counter to get his bags loaded onto the next shuttle up to Ika station.

Setting his bags down, Vathion turned—just in time to get a Wilsaer in his face.