Muuri awoke to the sounds of someone tapping on the door to his hut. He was about to open his mouth to yell out for whoever was there to come in, but stopped short as a tiny snore reminded him that Kargo was still asleep in his arms. The tiny Nameksei-jin baby had wrapped two tiny fists around Muuri’s left thumb, the Nameksei-jin’s palm supporting the child’s head. His right hand cradled the rest of the baby’s body. One antenna inched upwards, a habit that Muuri often did when he was debating a course of action. He twisted his neck in an effort to see if Dende was awake, but on the other side of the room, in his own bed, the child was fast asleep. Muuri sighed. He could get up and risk waking Kargo, who had been very fussy and had taken an hour to coax to sleep, he could try yelling at the door and risk waking up Kargo, he groaned softly. Virtually every option had a chance of waking up the baby. Just as Muuri was about to give up and wait for whoever was there to go away, the last fog of sleep lifted from his mind, and he remembered that besides being the elder of this Nameksei-jin village, he was telepathic. He narrowed his eyes, quirked one antenna, and concentrated on the space outside of his hut. He couldn’t identify the Nameksei-jin outside by just feeling the presence there, but according to the ki he sensed it was the warrior Nameksei-jin, Neru.

"Come in, Neru." He thought. A moment later the door hovered open and Neru stepped in. Muuri looked the younger Nameksei-jin up and down. He was covered in dust yet his clothing had a slightly darker, damp looking hue. He grinned.

"Greetings, Neru. What is it that brings you here, brother?" Muuri asked pointedly. Neru smiled.

"I just finished training with Karacol. At any rate, it was slightly more…" Neru glanced down at his wet clothes. "…Bothersome then others, and I was getting angry enough to do some real damage, so I figured I’d better cool off a bit. Is Dende awake? I’d like to see him." Neru finished. Muuri nodded, taking in Neru’s words even while shifting the snoring Kargo expertly to one large hand and cupping the other around his chin. The elder glanced behind his shoulder, where Dende was still lying in his bed.

"Sorry Neru, but he appears to be asleep right now. What time is it anyway?" Muuri asked. Neru nodded, while thinking a moment.

"Well, the village crystal said that it was about time for the third star to appear on the west horizon." Neru said, after thinking a bit.

Nameksei had no night, so it was hard for them to tell time the way some planets told time, but there was a crystal in the center of each village, a sort of Nameksei-jin sundial. The third sun rising usually meant it was about when the late rising Nameksei-jin would get up, as it was the coolest at this time. Every time the third sun passed out of view was considered a rotation, the Nameksei-jin equivalent of a day. Muuri nodded.

"Well, I’d imagine Dende will be waking up soon, want to stay a bit? Would you like some water?" Muuri offered. Neru shrugged.

"Only if it’s not much trouble, Muuri. Want me to hold Kargo?" Neru replied. Muuri nodded, and gingerly handed the child to Neru, who gently took him and let him rest on his shoulder. Through all this, Kargo remained asleep. Muuri got up and crossed the room to a shelf, where several clay pots and jugs were. He reached for a brown earth colored clay glass, and a light yellow jug, which jostled with the sound of water when he shook it slightly. He set both on the table next to his seat and tilted the jug, pouring water in the glass. He was about to slide the glass towards Neru, then thought better of it and kept the glass for himself, sliding the much larger jug to the younger Nameksei-jin instead. Neru chuckled, even while Muuri took a sip from the glass he had poured himself.

Neru took a large gulp from the jug, clutching it in one of his massive hands. He put it back down on the table and looked at Muuri. "Thanks a lot. So what’s been going on lately? I’m afraid I haven’t kept up to date… I’ve been doing some extensive training lately…" Neru admitted. Muuri shrugged, resting one hand on the table.

"Well… There hasn’t been much going on lately… The water’s plentiful, although those Ajissas aren’t blooming quite as well as I would’ve thought by now… I haven’t received any requests, so I really haven’t had to change anything that wouldn’t normally be going on… Did you know that the revival festival is coming up soon?" Muuri asked. Neru’s antennae stood straight up, a Nameksei-jin expression of shock. He gulped, shifting Kargo around.

"Really? I didn’t think it was so soon… I guess I’ve lost track of time lately…" Neru said, trying to conceal his shock. Muuri chuckled.

"Well, I thought I should tell you. In fact, it’s in about two rotations. After all, you wouldn’t want to miss it when you’re on one of your training expeditions, would you?" Muuri said, chuckling. Neru nodded. At times, he often went away from all villages for several rotations. The training benefits were obvious. He could train as hard as he wanted, and since he often went to far off, desolate places, he didn’t have to worry about any other Nameksei-jin people accidentally being harmed by one of his ki blasts, as he tended to go all out on these expeditions. Well, that, and if he was going to try a new technique, he didn’t want to have to face the embarrassment of walking in with a burned hand or a broken leg if he messed up somehow. Although Muuri continued talking, Neru scarcely heard him as his thoughts turned to the revival festival. It was a very special occasion on Nameksei, as it only happened once every twenty years. (Note: Normal, solar years, and not Nameksei-jin years.)

He still remembered how… interesting the first one he had ever attended had been.

Nameksei-jin had interesting ways of celebrating, especially since the festival stood for the time when

Nameksei had been recovering from the weather cataclysms. Mostly, Neru recalled, it stood for several things. Hope for the future, when Nameksei would be covered in Ajissa’s and be beautiful again, and in memorium for the long forgotten Nameksei-jin. The high point was when the Saichoro himself would gather all the Nameksei-jin around and tell many stories about the Nameksei-jin before the cataclysm.

A small twinge of sadness entered Neru’s thoughts.

"This might be his last festival… he’s lost a lot of strength in the past few years…" Neru murmured softly. Muuri looked startled, and Neru realized he had spoken loud enough for the elder to hear. The conversation ground to an abrupt halt, as Neru and Muuri glanced at each other with sad eyes. By unspoken agreement, neither said a word about the Saichoro’s health, and a moment later Muuri continued chatting about day to day matters. This time, Neru paid closer attention. A few minutes later Muuri changed the subject.

"So Neru, what do you want to see Dende for anyway?" Muuri requested. Neru glanced down at Kargo, still snoring, and grinned.

"Well elder… with your permission, I’d like to see him and…" Neru gulped, as he knew this might be a bit of a shock to Muuri. He tried to maintain a slightly more serious expression. "…Start teaching him how to fly. Muuri scratched his head as his eyes widened. Dende was his responsibility, but Neru did give him an opportunity to think on something that had been nagging him the past two months…

After a long silence, during which Neru quickly went from thinking of the best way to teach Dende how to fly to thinking of the best way to convince Muuri to let Dende learn to fly, Muuri nodded slowly.

"Well… I guess it’d be okay… Are you sure he’s ready?" Muuri asked, in a concerned tone. Neru shrugged.

"You know how Dende is… he’s pretty smart, he’s certainly got willpower, and he’s old enough now… Would you object to this course of action?" Neru asked, shifting Kargo from one arm to the other. Muuri sipped his water, quietly spinning all the details in his mind.

"Well, I still feel a bit worried, but I know you wouldn’t let anything happen to him." Muuri said. He grinned, trying to lighten the moment. "And if you don’t teach him, how do I know someone like Tulapas isn’t going to try and wind up teaching him how to fly upside down?" Neru chuckled.

"True, he probably would…" Neru responded with a grin. Muuri nodded.

"This might be a good test anyhow…" Muuri’s voice trailed off. Neru’s antennae perked up slightly.

"Test? What do you mean? I never really thought of a child learning how to fly as being a test…" Neru said. Muuri glanced at his glass and shook his head slowly. He glanced up at Neru and smiled.

"I’ll be honest with you Neru, I’ve been feeling my age a bit these past few years… and I’ve been thinking a lot… Well, the truth is I just don’t think I can handle watching two growing Nameksei-jin children. I was wondering if you might be interested in…" Neru’s eyes widened, although whether in joy or shock, Muuri couldn’t tell.

"…Taking care of Dende…" Neru finished softly, his voice barely above a whisper. Muuri nodded sagely.

"He looks up to you more then any other Nameksei-jin. You’re also pretty young, and I think he would benefit more from you being his guardian then me. Still, I want to make sure that I’d be doing what’s best for Dende, and I’m not sure how you’d feel about it… Not to mention you’d probably have to tone down your training a bit…" Neru stared at Muuri, a million thoughts going through his mind.

"Forgive me, brother, but do you really think that I would be a good choice? Don’t get me wrong, I love Dende, he’s probably my most well loved brother, but… I have a duty to the Saichoro…" Neru said. He was still taken slightly aback by the way the conversation was going. Fortunately, Muuri understood.

"Don’t worry Neru, no one says you have to decide right away. Heck, I might wake up tomorrow and find myself full of energy and more then ready to handle two children. I just felt I should tell you so you could think about it." Unable to muster a response, Neru nodded slowly. A small sound echoed to the left, and they both looked left, where a sleepy looking Dende was leaning again the arch of his room, staring at the two of them with tired eyes. Neru and Muuri’s eyes widened in shock, but Dende didn’t appear as if he had heard anything. He appeared to wake up a bit more when he recognized Neru, though. And his expression changed to a sleepy smile.

"Neru! What are you doing here? What are the two of you talking about, anyway?" Dende said quickly, rattling off one question after another before either adult had the chance to respond. Neru grinned.

"Slow down, Dende. Um…" Neru glanced at Muuri, who shook his head. "…We were just talking about the Ajissa plants, Dende." Neru finished hastily. He didn’t want to lie to Dende, but he didn’t want to get the child’s hopes up, as it would take awhile to decide something as lifestyle changing as being Dende’s guardian.

Muuri grinned and offered Dende a glass of water. "Well Dende, Neru was wondering if you’d like to have some lessons with him. You see…"

Karacol was trotting around the village, a grin etched on his face in remembrance of the trick he had played on Neru. He overheard talking going on from a window outside Muuri’s house. He grinned.

"Doesn’t hurt to keep my ears open, I wonder what’s up?" Karacol thought slyly. He crept over to Muuri’s window and sat down just below it.

"…So anyway Dende, would you like me to go and take you with me for awhile? I want to teach you how to fly…" That was Neru’s voice.

"WOW! REALLY? CAN I GO, HUH? PLEASE?!" Karacol smirked. Unless Muuri had suddenly woke up with a high pitched voice and had forgotten how to fly, that was an excited Dende. The next voice was Muuri’s.

"Well… I guess since you’ll be with Neru, there isn’t really much that could happen… You can go Dende. Be sure to listen and do what Neru tells you, though. If you manage to learn enough about it today, I don’t want you flying off somewhere. The planet is quite dangerous, even to someone who knows how to fly."

"Okay! Hurry Neru, let’s go!" Dende yelled happily.

Karacol slid over to the left of the window and stood up. He grinned.

A few minutes later, the door to Muuri’s hut opened, and Neru stepped out alongside Dende. From his vantage point behind a nearby barrel, he saw Neru smile down at Dende, who smiled back with wide eyes.

"Okay Dende, we’re going to be going a little ways off so that there aren’t any distractions. I’m going to pick you up and I need you to hold on tight, okay?" Dende just emitted a childish happy shriek as he leapt into Neru’s arms, which frantically juggled the tiny Nameksei-jin for a moment, struggling to balance him. Finally doing so, Dende wrapped his arms around Neru’s neck, Neru wrapped one huge arm securely around Dende’s waist, and blasted off into the sky.

Karacol stood up and ran over to where Neru and Dende were. He cursed as he tripped over a bucket that had gotten in the way and hit the ground with a loud crash. Grumbling to himself and dusting his pants off, the Nameksei-jin waited until they were a distant dot on the horizon, focused and suppressed his ki, and began flying after them.

In the hut, Muuri was attempting to console a crying (and very cranky) Kargo, who had just woken up due to the crash coming from outside. Muuri groaned. Being the guardian of children was never an easy task.

As they flew towards the nearby valley, Dende continued to impress Neru. The child had calmly been hanging on to his neck the entire time, but his grip was snug, not clenched or tight. He glanced down at Dende’s smiling face, and couldn’t help grinning himself. The child trusted him completely. Neru recalled his first experience with flying, and could easily say that he hadn’t been nearly that calm. He had been crying and white-knuckling onto the adult Nameksei-jin that had been bringing him to the same spot.

It was without a doubt the best spot on the planet for teaching ki related lessons, at least to children. The reason being, the valley he was taking Dende to was different from the rest of the planet. It was easier to concentrate on one’s ki there. None of the Nameksei-jin, with the exception of perhaps the Saichoro, had any idea why the valley was the way it was, but there was no arguing with the results. Neru had learned how to fly there, and probably every Nameksei-jin alive had learned to fly there. Rumors about the valley circulated all over Nameksei, and it was always a popular conversation topic. Neru himself believed that a great battle had taken place there, long before even the Saichoro himself had been born, and that somehow so much ki had been used that it amplified one’s sensation to it. He hardly had to concentrate on flying now, but the feeling also meant he was close to the valley.

He spotted it, lush with bluish-green grass growing all around, and ridges circling it, separating it from the rest of Nameksei, unless you were either good at climbing or, like Neru, you could fly. He landed so softly that there was hardly even a thud. Dende jumped out of his arms and giggled. Neru smiled. This definitely was the place. It was time for the lesson to begin.

He beckoned Dende over, who sort of dance walked in the way that only a small child can do gracefully. Neru grinned.

"Okay Dende, now I’m going to start instructing you in what it takes to know how to fly. Can you tell me anything you already know about flying?" Dende glanced up at the sky for a moment, thinking. Nameksei-jin children were often schooled as soon as they were able to talk and think fairly well. Neru wasn’t sure if ki had been covered in his lessons yet or not, since there wasn’t really a Nameksei-jin structured educational system. Dende smiled at Neru, wanting to impress his idol.

"Isn’t it some kind of energy people have or something?" Dende’s chime-like voice answered. Neru smiled, impressed that Dende knew even that much, and nodded.

"That’s partially correct… you see, it’s an energy inside everyone, some more then others, and you can learn to tap or channel it to do things… like this." To Dende’s amazement, Neru pointed a single finger at a boulder, and fired a thin ki blast, which bored a smoking hole through the rock. Dende’s antennae flew up in amazement as his eyes widened.

"WOW! That was awesome! You never told me you could do something like that, Neru!" Dende exclaimed. Neru shrugged.

"You’d have a difficult time doing that Dende, since you aren’t a fighter-type Nameksei-jin. But anyone can learn how to fly… First thing I’m going to teach you is how to sense and focus your ki. Dende looked pained.

"How do I do that?" Dende asked, confused. Neru thought for a moment. Ki control was so easy for him and virtually every other adult Nameksei-jin, so it was a bit difficult to remember his lessons as a child. He smiled, remembering what had worked for him.

"Try to clear your mind, Dende. Focus on nothing. If that doesn’t work, pretend you’re going to sleep. Remove all distractions from your mind… Pretend I’m not here, pretend nothing’s here. You’re just floating in space…"

Neru watched Dende’s face, as the child sat down cross-legged style and his face contorted, trying to concentrate. Neru couldn’t help grinning. That was the wrong way to do it, because the child was focusing on something… getting rid of his thoughts. He didn’t interfere though. If he spoke he might disrupt whatever concentration the child had.

"Dende has to find out about this on his own…" Neru thought.

Dende’s face slowly contorted less and less until he was wearing a calm expression about ten minutes later. To Neru, he almost looked as if he was asleep. Neru was surprised.

Neru observed longer, as Dende’s face got calmer and calmer. Neru grinned. Everyone had their own ki, even if they weren’t capable of controlling it yet. And from what he sensed, Dende was just about mustering the slightest bit of control, although he probably didn’t even realize it. It was getting focused slightly more every second, until…

Dende’s eyes shot open, as the child started panting, his concentration broken. He looked at Neru with wide eyes that showed a hint of fear. Fear of the unknown. When he spoke, his voice was quivering slightly.

"N…Neru! I… felt something… it was… warm? I felt something… a shaking inside me? And then something wobbled… it felt like there was something right in front of me, and lots of different other things were far off… some of them bunched together, but they felt tiny in some way…" Dende trembled, as the sensation had been quite a shock to his system. "What was that? It was scary, Neru!" Dende continued to tremble, as Neru put a reassuring hand on the child’s robe-covered shoulder. A light breeze settled around them as Neru spoke.

"Don’t worry about it Dende. As a matter of fact, just the very fact that you felt it for a second meant something. The resonation you felt in front of you was I, and the kind that felt far away was the village. The warm feeling you felt was most likely your own Ki… Don’t be scared of that feeling, Dende. It can’t hurt you."

Dende seemed to relax a bit, but his lip was still trembling, and he was obviously quite scared. He spread open his arms to Neru, looking up at his sensei. Neru glanced down at Dende’s eyes, which were beginning to fill with tears. Even with a person he was as close to as Dende, Neru wasn’t much into that, being his rough and gruff warrior-type Nameksei-jin self.

Understanding the universal sign for, "I want a hug!" Neru knelt down and embraced the child in his arms. The lesson could wait for a few minutes.