"Huh?" he said, too loud and too abruptly. Jason's fingers danced in front of him for a moment while he shook his head at her.

The "app" must have failed again. Kira steadied her voice, trying to sound merely polite. "Thanks for coming," Kira said. "It was…fun."

"Fun?" He laughed and shook his head in disbelief, then looked at her again with that puzzled expression.

"Thanks." Jason backed away, stumbling into the side of his transport. The opening appeared in it and Jason got inside. He waved to her as the opening closed, and a moment later the transport rose into the air again.

Her mother and father came out as Kira stood looking up into the star-filled sky. "Anything else?" Mari asked.

"Not too much." Kira summarized their discussion, leaving out the parts about her personal life. "He seemed to take the warnings from foresight seriously after I explained it, and said the people on the ship have been excited about something. He promised to find out what it was."

"I hope he doesn't get into any trouble," her mother said. "He seems to have plenty of trouble in his life already."

"If he wasn't such a jerk sometimes I think he'd be fun to talk to." Kira shook her head, feeling anger rise. "I don't blame him for hating his mother. I've hardly met her and I hate her!"

"Do not hate," her father spoke firmly. "I have told you. Hate no one, hate nothing. Oppose those who do wrong, but do not hate."

"Why not?" Kira demanded hotly. "Doesn't she deserve to be hated?"

"I am not wise enough to know what anyone deserves. Kira, hate harms no one so much as the one who hates. Do not grant even the worst person such a victory over you."

"But if they're doing things that bad—"

"Then you work to stop them, without letting them harm who you are," Alain said. "Have you ever noticed, Kira, how easy it is to hate? It is like water running downhill. You just have to let it happen and it does. Is anything worthwhile ever so easy?"

Kira looked at him, her father in his Mage robes under the stars of the night sky, and at her mother beside him, emotions warring within her. "I know…that love is hard."

"Yes," Alain said. "Real love is hard. Forgetting yourself for another. Love is like fighting uphill against all of your worst instincts."

"And," her mother added, "Jason is the sort to bring out the worst instincts in someone. Thank you for making the effort to treat him well."

Kira couldn't help a brief laugh. "Yeah, that's my little version of holding the wall at Dorcastle. Being nice to a guy like Jason."

Her mother flinched. "It's not a competition, Kira."