Lonesome Ninja

Lily's rodeo seems to have come off without a hitch. Some gentle words with Colonel Silvermane and miss Lionheart before the event assured the Alliance patrols were largely out of sight and were being especially respectful while we had folk visiting. Even the Mercs Lily let "work security" were well behaved. So, all in all, I'd have to call it a success.

Wasn't too much of a surprise that Imrhien and Calina took honors in the Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Or that Nack's dog, Milo, got his share of votes. Haley'd have been jealous, if she cared about such things, or had been here, rather than with 'Brina at Ariel, to care. I missed my Beagle. Don't always miss her snoring, but missed her. Never thought I'd say that about an animal. Bright though she is.

I didn't participate much in the rodeo, except to wander around as Mayor and say hello to more transient folk than we had regular colonists. A couple people suggested I try my hand at the barrel races, seeing as how I've got the build of a jockey. I just don't have the skill of a jockey, or a knack for horses. Beautiful animals in their own way. But as it's been said, they're dangerous at either end and uncomfortable in the middle. No, I'll stick to skimmers, thank you very much.

The awards were done in Firefly's after all the other festivities were over and I decided to stay late and try to enjoy the atmosphere.

It was a mistake.

I'd never been one of the hard core regulars at Firefly's. Maybe why I was never invited to pose for one of their annual calendars. Originally I went because I had friends there, mostly for Imrhien and Lily. It's where I met 'Brina. For a long time I went to Firefly's to dance with her, at least until work intruded and she stopped going. But now, with her on Ariel most of the time, I found myself falling back into a pattern in what was still billed as the "Friendliest Bar in the 'Verse." Sitting off to the side watching other people dance.

It felt so familiar. Lily off joy riding with Ibram in the Sheriff's Department skimmer. Imrhien dancing with one of my friends, Reese in this case. Folk I knew enjoying the evening and each other's company. And me, sitting alone, watching the people swirling around the room having fun.

Oddly, it seemed somehow right to be here again. Part Karma. Part duty. Part being different. I'd come to call this struggling mining colony home, and the people here had long accepted me as one of their own. But times like this brought home the fact that, not for lack of desire or need, I wasn't entirely one of them.

It wasn't that they weren't "my kind of people" either. They were good folk. Some of the best I'd met anywhere in the 'Verse. They were honest, friendly, hard working, and generous. There were a lot of times I found myself wishing I could be more like them. I tried. In a lot of ways, I tried.

But it was like one of those old stories Grandmother had told me. The one about the Dragon who lived as a man in the midst of a small village. The reasons he'd taken Human form and chosen to live with the Village changed with each telling and the lesson Grandmother was trying to teach, but it was always the same story. It was always the same Dragon. Living alone amongst people who didn't know there was a Dragon in their midst.

Through my career, a lot of people had called ma a Ninja. But I wasn't. Not technically. While there were some elements of Ninjitsu in my training, and I was more than capable as a nearly invisible assassin, it wasn't really what I was. Blue had called me a Dragon. The Little Dragon.

It fit.

Why I was here changed with the telling. But it was what I was. I could love this world and the people who called it home, but I would forever be a Dragon in their midst. They could call me their Ninja and I wouldn't object. Their Ninja. Their Dragon.