35

A loud clang broke the two apart as the pod snapped open.

'We're here,' smiled Kenji. 'Close your eyes, I want you to have a beautiful first view!'

Airi felt a pang of nervousness as she stepped out carefully with her eyes closed. She couldn't believe that she was actually here — on another planet! She suddenly felt far away from everything that she had ever known or understood, and her heart began to hammer against her as she felt a tinge of fear, hoping anxiously that nothing would go wrong.

'All right...' said Kenji, guiding her gently before speaking approvingly. 'This is it! — open your eyes!'

Airi opened her eyes slowly with some trepidation — but all her fear was forgotten as she had her breath taken away by the beautiful view in front of her.

A vast, rosy sky stretched out above her; as her eyes travelled downwards, it turned into peach and yellow until they reached the horizon, which was tinted with a dozen different shades of neon green she had never seen on Earth. In the East, a half moon was rising, far larger than the one she was used to, and she stared at it in awe and delight.

'This is the prettiest sky I've ever seen!' she exclaimed, and Kenji smiled happily. 'The moon is so beautiful!' she added, still gazing at it.

'Which one?' said Kenji with a sparkle in his eye, and Airi looked at him in surprise. 'Look behind you, too, in the West,' he said with a grin.

Airi turned around, where the sky was more purplish than pink, and saw another moon was midway in the sky! It was slowly making its way to the horizon, its colour turning yellower as it slid downwards — a full moon, large and beautiful, just like the ones Airi had seen in paintings.

'This is amazing!' she said excitedly. 'I never thought I could see something like this in real life!!'

'I'm so happy you like it!' said Kenji, smiling at her shyly. 'I was hoping you would!'

'Oh, I love it!' said Airi, smiling from ear to ear. 'I want to paint it! I really should have brought my watercolors along! What do you do when you — oh, who is that?!'

Kenji whirled around and saw his father coming towards him, his usual gold eyes streaked with white, and he carefully stepped in front of Airi so he wouldn't notice her, and applied the Force very lightly, so that she could catch the drift of what they were saying.

'Zinzann, haya ma li haan!' said his father. Finally, you're here, my son!

'Hei, Zhanli,' said Kenji nervously. 'Ma oudlu la xin nu lan?' Yes, Father. Why did you call me so suddenly?

'I called you here to tell you that I kept up my end of the promise, but humans didn't,' said his father coldly. 'Just like I thought!'

'What do you mean?' said Kenji in surprise.

'Remember those dangerous nuclear weapons that Shen-ja mentioned in his last report? I saw one of those missiles pointed towards our planet!' said his father furiously, as his eyes turned completely white and almost piercing. 'And on top of that, just a few hours ago, a unit of military men was sent on a shuttle bound here — it's probably that A-Unit!'

'What?!' exclaimed Kenji in dispair. 'But...'

'I told you, Xiennan,' said his father, 'these humans can never make peace like we do! Only war! That is all they know and all they will ever do! You tried whatever you could do, but you can't change human nature!'

Airi felt rather terrified at first, as she peeked at Kenji's scary-looking father from behind him, and heard them both converse urgently in a strange, sing-song language that was literally quite alien to her; but gradually, she began to understand what they were talking about, and this scared her even more at first, until she realised that Kenji might have applied the Force on her to help her understand. She shuddered slightly; she hadn't even noticed!

As she paid attention, she realised with alarm that not only was there going to be some sort of attack from Earth, but Kenji's father seemed to be blaming the entire human race for it! She fumed as she heard his harsh words and watched poor Kenji nod and agree silently — no wonder he had had such strong views when she had first met him! Gradually, her indignation grew larger than her fear, and, when she couldn't take it anymore, she took an agitated deep breath before determinatedly stepping forward, taking both father and son by surprise.

'Nhang la jata nin?!' exclaimed Kenji's father, before frowning as he recognised her and applied the Force to understand whatever she was about to say. 'Airi?'

'Yes, I am Airi, and I respectfully disagree with the things you have been saying about humans,' said Airi firmly, pausing for a few seconds as she watched his expression carefully to gauge whether he could understand her — he could — before going on. 'The truth is that humans are full of love and kindness, but a handful of evil leaders give us all a bad name with their shocking acts! War, indeed! No one wants war!'

'But, it is going on, and you can't deny it!' said Kenji's father.

'You're the leader of your people, aren't you?' said Airi.

'Yes!'

'Well, do you deny that you've been going against their will all these years, and therefore manipulating them, even if you thought it was for a good cause?'

Kenji's father paused. 'Y—yes, but...'

'Likewise, our leaders manipulate our people and make them go along with things like war that no one actually supports! And it is these limited few who are truly driven by greed and hate and cruelty; it is them that deserve all the criticism you've been hurling against humans — but not the entire race!'

Kenji's father looked at her intently, the white replaced with gold again, as he thought over what she had said.

'Father,' said Kenji. 'Airi is right. We have been campaigning together against hate and war, and it's been working! We wrote this together—' Here he took out a folded copy of The Daily Truth from his pocket— 'and it had an massive effect on people! It's just like the Force, but it's only words — of truth and love!'

'The good side always seems to be the weak one, the impossible one,' said Airi softly, 'but at the end, it is they who win!'

Kenji's father looked at her, his previous anger and sternness disappearing as he almost smiled at her. 'My wife used to say that...' he said musingly. 'That goodness is at once the weakest and the greatest power — it's odd, isn't it? But I suppose it is true...'

'Please, don't attack Earth, Father,' said Kenji earnestly. 'We'll go back and try something else...'

His father looked at him regretfully. 'I'm so sorry, my son,' he said. 'I panicked when I saw the human military's war arrangements, so I sent for you at once, and dispatched a troop of soldiers to Earth at the same time!'

'What?!' said Airi, her heart beating fast as she thought of the consequences.

'I'm sorry, Airi,' said Kenji's father, turning to her. 'You have a good heart, I can see that, and I'm proud of Xiennan for choosing an honourable girl like you; it's good that he brought you along. I accept you fully, and I promise I will never criticise the human race again! But... I can't reverse what I did now...'

'Then... there will be a war after all?' said Kenji, crestfallen, his eyes dim and almost hollow as he stood still, frozen in a blizzard of dispair.

'Yes,' said his father sadly.

Airi felt a hot tear roll down her cheek as she thought of all the innocent people on both sides who would suffer and die, all due to the pure evil or misguided hastiness of a handful of leaders.

'Come inside, both of you,' said Kenji's father, looking up at the sky, which had turned navy blue. 'It's about to rain...'

'Black rain,' said Airi, bursting into tears, following him inside.