currently hiding in her hair, completely oblivious to the resemblance.
Beside Devon, Rheya had one hand propped on her hip as she teased the small girl in front of her.
The youngest of the four, Ziva could be mistaken for an eight-year-old child—though her true age was likely around thirty years.
Because of her white-blond hair and deep blue eyes, people tended to underestimate her, never realizing the fierce heart that lay within.
Though young, Kira had a feeling Ziva would be a force to be reckoned with in a decade or two.
She was a scrapper, disregarding her limits, more than willing to come out swinging no matter the opponent.
Kira couldn't help but admire someone who possessed that sort of stubbornness. They were the ones who held the power to change the universe because they didn't pay attention to what was but rather devoted their attention to what should be.
The final person in the party was also the one who'd spent the most time at Kira's side.
Joule's face had thinned out since she last saw him, nearly a month ago, losing some of the softness it had had when they'd first met.
It looked like his training was beginning to have an effect, packing his small frame with muscles.
There was a world-weary look in his eyes that was new. Something that said he'd seen the dark side of life and knew things weren’t always going to turn out the way he wanted.
Kira couldn't help feeling like she shared some of the blame for that look. People around her tended to lose their innocence far sooner than they had a right to.
The loss of his parents might have started the process, but Kira had finished the job.
Despite that, he still had an earnestness to him. A goodness that Kira hoped he preserved.
All this wouldn’t be so bad if not for the oshota keeping watch on the group from several feet away.
"Your luck continues to trend toward the shittier side," Jin observed.
Of all the ships on the docks, they had to choose this one to board.
Kira supposed it could be worse. Graydon could be with them.
FIVE
FROM THE SAFETY of her hood, Kira allowed herself to study the four as they moved further into the craft. They had the same idea as Kira, selecting seats far from the other passengers where they could place their backs against a wall and see anyone who entered.
Curious looks were aimed Kira's way, but none of the others recognized her or Finn with their hoods concealing their faces.
A relief really.
"What do you think they're doing here?" Jin asked.
Kira's head shake was slight.
That was a good question.
She also wanted to know how Ziva came to be here. Liara and House Luatha were supposed to be taking care of the girl.
Kira would be curious to know how Luatha finagled this—especially in light of the visitor restrictions.
"I'm going to see if I can get closer and hear what they’re saying," Jin said.
"Don't you dare."
"But—"
"No buts. Sit still and don't draw attention," she ordered.
"Boring," Jin pouted.
And Kira wondered where Elena got her sass from.
Seconds later, Jin nudged forward inside the hood.
Kira slapped a hand over him. “What are you doing?”
“Looking for the seatbelt. I don’t see it.”
“Don’t even start with that again,” Kira said through gritted teeth. “The objective is to appear normal. Not like we have a few screws loose.”
Even if their screws had long since come undone and been lost to the void.
Before Jin could respond, a figure wearing dark clothes and a hat pulled low over his face dropped into the seat across from her. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Jace." Kira blinked dumbly at him, caught off-balance.
She glanced around.
"I'm alone," he assured her.
"How did you find me?" Kira asked, thankful Joule and the rest had chosen seats out of hearing range
Jace made himself comfortable in his chair, stretching out his legs until his feet edged close to the aisle. "I'd like to say this is on purpose, but it's quite by chance."
Kira didn’t believe that.
One coincidence maybe. Two? Unlikely.
She could have overlooked Joule and the presence of the others. For Jace to pop up as well, that strained the threads of credibility.
Jace's lips quirked as he sensed her doubt. "You're starting to rub off on us. I simply needed to ask myself what ship Kira would take and then wait. The hoods are a nice touch and the big guy threw me off for a moment."
Finn shifted at the comment, his expression not entirely friendly.
"Don't worry, I doubt anyone besides those who've had close