Completion

To the Imperial Archives:

Thirteenth Year of the Reign of Vejiita 266, Protector and Sovereign of the Saiya-jin Empire, in the 4,793^rd Empirical Year.

"... and so it is, Sire, that all is proceeding well. The Zasshu send you their felicitations and fealty…"

There is little to report, and I am swiftly done. I close the file and store the communication unit - a shimmering ball of orange energy devised by the Feeodoreeans a very long time ago - in its recharger, then lean back in my seat on the balcony we ki-carved out of the rocky hillside, smiling out over the encampment below. The wingbeats of the aerial dancers are a soft whisper over the sweet sound of the bells the ground dancers wear, rising through the warm and fragrant air…

I am Haabron, the Speaker for my people. We are the Zasshu of the Saiya-jin Empire.

We came to this lovely place only a half-year ago, and already it is ours - a gentle world, warm, loving, gifting us with everything we could want. We haven't yet named it, but only because we can't decide on a name sufficiently beautiful and fitting.

Tonight is the solstice, and I listen to the chanted song of thanks from below, a song I know so well it is engraved on my heart - on the hearts of us all. The voices sound especially sweet tonight, and each name sung has a deep resonance within us...

Vejiita, the first Emperor, whose vision of a united Empire led - quite accidentally - to our creation. His Companion to the end, Leteetza, mother to the second Emperor, who took her destiny into her own hands and whose determination and loyalty we revere.

Zha'haabron, born in pain and blood, who found his home in his zkai'da's heart, and Radittsu, who loved his bondmate more than life.

- we have named two stars for them, a blue-white steady flame in the darkness and a red giant, warm as a heartfire glowing in the night, orbiting about each other two lightyears distant. We will never forget them, though they passed from us, together, as they would have wished, ten generations ago -

Ti'aasaan, sire of the first Zasshu, Ti'ani and Le'leen, and Mahrayne, mother of the Silver and the Gold amongst us, whose skills fill our lives with beauty, and Lutra, Prime Mother of the winged Zasshu…

... there is something... I frown, gazing up, *seeing* a faint image… a zn'hre, *bright* against the star-filled sky… a name. Zha'zhasaan? The progenitor of the zn'hre from which we came? Or maybe 'zhasaan, the little seer who saved the family so very long ago… I *smile*, *see* a faint smile in reply before the image fades…

A blessing from the past, perhaps...

Below, the dance continues. Looking upwards, I can trace the Empire in the stars above us: of the vast bright path across our sky a goodly quarter of the suns warm member-worlds. The Saiya-jin found their meaning, their place, in our cosmos - and forged an empire that has endured for over four thousand years, and may well last for four times four thousand more…

"Haabron?"
      I feel my heart leap within me at his call, and moments later he is with me…
      My zkai'da.
      We have seen the ancient images of our forebears. We know that Radix is the very image of Radittsu - save for his dark golden skin and silver-splashed white mane. But the ebony eyes beneath those heavy pale brows are the same. And we know I resemble Zha'haabron twin-close, though my skin is the palest purple. But my mane is his, a bright emerald green, and my eyes an ancient gold.
      Radix sweeps me into his arms as always, and as always I melt. The other half of me. He smiles and strokes my face.
      **All is well?**
      I kiss him, slowly and deeply, feeling my self pour into him as I do so, and he pulls me so tightly to him I can barely breathe. And he breathes for me for long moments before he pulls back a little, his eyes huge with the wonder reflected in mine.
      **Beloved…**
      He moves to stand behind me, our tails twined together, his arms around me, holding me close as we look out together across the land below.
      Our land. Our own world. Soon to become the cherished heart of the Saiyan Empire. The feeling of completion is almost overwhelming.
      I feel him sigh, and as one we look upwards. Above us the vast rings that girdle the planet are bright with the light of the little shepherd moons above them, and Radix wraps his silver-white tail around my hips, kissing the back of my neck. For our Saiya-jin bloodline there's been no danger in the moonlight for generations.
      His hands press against my belly, feeling the three little lives within, our first hostlings, the first to be conceived on our new home. And joy soars and sings within us. Our bloodlines stretch back into the distant past, and forward into the unknown future, vibrant and eager and filled with hope. We have eternity before us. It is good to be alive.

Let us call this world

Fulfilment