"Alrai din, wa' di ya wan'?"

Yui looked helplessly between the mildly annoyed cashier and Nokosu, who stood to the side giggling. "Jus' order," she told him. Yui scanned the displayed menu but found it was useless, as it was written in Arizonan. He pointed to one of the pictures helplessly and Nokosu sighed. "Ilren sel rril. Dai-fee sel moi," she told the cashier.

The burly man nodded and called back to the cooks. "In' ya?" he directed at Fai, who smiled just as helplessly. Nokosu ended up ordering for all of them, a fact she found hilarious. "Blady ailan'as," the man muttered as he stalked off to fill their drinks.

"Quit laughing. It's not that funny," Kurogane growled as he slid into the booth.

"It's bloody hilarious," Nokosu said with a grin. "We speak Standar'. Y'all jus' can't get pas' th' accents."

"What was it he called us?" Sakura wondered mildly.

"Islanders."

"But we're not from the islands," Syaoran protested. Nokosu shook her head.

"It's jus' slang fer folks what ain't from this worl'. Most o' Magrathea ain't like this, but Arizona's got more natives than usual. Xenophobia gets passe' down, an most don' like strangers anyhow."

"You certainly don't seem to have a problem," Fai said.

"I ain't from aroun' hea." And with shocking suddenness, her accent disappeared completely. "I've been around long enough that people don't mind me anymore, is all. It helps to speak like an Arizonan, though, and it makes Ma more comfortable."

"Thank the gods," muttered Kurogane. "That was getting really annoying."

"Kuro-taco, don't be rude," Fai scolded, and Kurogane's jaw clenched, but he said nothing. Their server appeared with plates piled high with food that looked more like an abstract painting. He set them in the center and handed out empty plates before disappearing. Nokosu explained that food here was meant to be shared, not kept to one plate, and showed them how serve themselves with chopsticks.

"It's like how I used to eat at home," Syaoran mused. "But it was different when we went out to eat."

"We did the same thing when we went out, but I've never used chopsticks," Sakura admitted, and Syaoran reached across to correct her hold on the utensils. She smiled her thanks.

"What ship will we be taking, anyway?" Nokosu wondered idly, digging into something that vaguely resembled burritos, except they were green and she only ate what was inside the hard, fried shell.

"The Phoenix," said Fai. Surprise flickered briefly across Nokosu's face.

"A pirate ship," she said. "One of Commodore Ashura's."

"Yes."

There was an uncomfortable silence, and then Yui spoke hesitantly.

"If that… makes you at all uncomfortable –"

"Last I heard, Starfleet gained quite a bit of information on Commodore Ashura's fleet." Nokosu didn't look up at them as she reached to serve herself more food. She bit into a dumpling and chewed thoughtfully, then smiled up at Fai. "No offense to Captain Kurogane, but I'm not exactly Starfleet's biggest fan. It just strikes me as a bit… odd that a pirate I'd thought was captured by Starfleet, paired with a former Starfleet captain I'd thought was imprisoned by Starfleet, are working together on a ship I'd thought was being tracked by Starfleet. Don't you agree, Yui?" Her smile turned to him.

Yui furrowed his brow at her. "We're not working for Starfleet."

"So you still work for Ashura."

"No." This time it was Fai who spoke, and Nokosu's gaze flicked back to him. "We've never worked for him. Once a year we give him his due and he leaves us alone. That's as far as the relationship goes."

She studied him for a moment – her expression curious; his, an unfaltering smile – then glanced at Yui and smiled. "Well. We did have a deal, didn't we? I suppose it doesn't matter. Excuse me." Yui stood up so she could leave the booth. He hesitated for a moment, watching her, then, seeing her head for the exit, followed her without a word.

The entire group seemed to exhale all at once. Under the table, Fai's fists unclenched, and if Kurogane's hand didn't move from its comforting touch on Fai's back, he pretended not to notice.

"Is she… going to leave?" wondered Sakura. Fai smiled at her.

"I think she'll listen to Yui, if nothing else."

More than half the food was still on the table, but no one reached for it.

"How much of what you make goes to Commodore Ashura?" Kurogane asked suddenly. Fai flinched almost imperceptibly.

"About forty percent, usually."

Kurogane's eyes widened. "That's – is that… standard?"

Fai didn't answer right away. After a second, Syaoran stood up. "Sakura, why don't we go check on Nokosu? If she decides to leave we'll have to give her a ride back home anyway." Sakura nodded and followed him outside. Kurogane watched them go with a frown.

"It's not… typical, no," Fai said softly. He traced the swirling designs of the tabletop with his fingers, eyes lowered. "But it keeps him off our backs, usually."

"Usually."

"Sometimes it's not enough. A bad year, or he's just not satisfied for some reason. Usually I just take what I can out of my share."

"Usually," Kurogane repeated again. Fai looked up.

"Sometimes it's still not enough."

He wasn't smiling.