#zana kessler

[cactusnymph]

[ID: digital drawings of six different Skyjacks characters all drawn from the hips upwards and facing the viewer. From the top left to the bottom right the characters shown are:

Traveler Kwan: Traveler Kwan is tall and lithe, has black skin, thick eyebrows and their black curls pulled back into a big puff. They are dressed in blue robes and are holding a staff with a swirl of water at the top. Their black eyes are surrounded by blue make-up and they’re looking to the right side of the picture.

Hildred: Hildred is short and stocky with tanned skin, short, brown hair shaved into an undercut and a big smile on her face. She has her arms crossed , showing off their various tattoos. Hildred is wearing a yellow vest and black pants.

Margaret: Margaret has brown skin, long, black, curly hair and a black lily tattoo on the side of her neck. She has one eyebrow raised and her mouth is doing the equivalent of the :3 (colon three) emoji. She’s wearing a green overall over a pastel pink blouse that leaves her shoulders uncovered. Margaret has her hands folded in front of her belly.

The Wasp: The Wasp is a broad, brown skinned woman with chin length salt and pepper hair. Her expression is neutral. She’s wearing a yellow headband, one earring in the form of a flower, a golden bee necklace and golden bracelets. She is also wearing a dark grey button up with a honey comb pattern and a white apron with a sunflower on it. She has one hand propped on her hip.

Mimi: Mimi is a lanky white girl with blue eyes, a gap between her front teeth and long, black hair stuffed under a green beret. She is wearing a brown tunic over a white long sleeved shirt and a light blue scarf. Mimi has blue eyes and is grinning as she’s looking towards the left side of the picture.

Zana: Zana is a black teenage girl with her long her braided into cornrows. She’s grinning widely at the viewer and is holding two paper scrolls under her left arm. A compass is dangling from a necklace she’s wearing. She’s wearing a purple dress over a white blouse and a black belt around her waist. The background is white. End ID]

Top 10 ladies I want to hear from again

[tales-from-thornvale]

I would pay real human money to see Zana Kessler and Cici Whitwick interact

[telomirage]

ZANA KESSLER STARWATCHER ABOARD THE STORM

[devilswalkingstick]

[id: a digital painting of jonnit and zana kessler with their mother, imitating may i have one too? by émile munier. ma kessler is a dark skinned black woman with kinky black hair styled to one side with a teal bandana tied around her head. she is wearing a white chemise with the long sleeves rolled up to her elbows, a blue dress tied up around her waist with a tan apron, and a teal underskirt. she is smiling down at jonnit as her hands rest on a woven basket beside her. jonnit is a young black boy with kinky black hair just visible under a blue bandana. he is wearing an oversized white shirt with a strip of blue fabric tied around his waist. he’s reaching up and tugging on his mother’s dress. zana is a young black girl with kinky black hair pulled into space buns. she is wearing a white top with a teal skirt and a blue bandana tied around her waist. she holds an apple to her mouth and has a slice of bread in her other hand as she looks up at her mother, sitting on the edge of a stone wall. the background is mostly grassy with a tree behind the stone wall. end id.]

more kesslers for the kessler arc 💖

[incorrectcampaignpodquotes]

Jonnit: I couldn't ask for a better sister.

Zana: Aw, thanks, Jonnit.

Jonnit: I really tried, but the Luminaries kept telling me I couldn't do that.

[nojaloart]

zana, according to jonnit: cool older sister (derogatory)

[thesovereignsequelart]

Day 3: Burza Nyth / Family / Missed opportunities I’m ready for the bickering sibling dynamic. Ik it’s there.

[ID: A digital drawing of Jonnit and Zana. Jonnit is a Black teenager with a dark brown afro and a red headband. He wears a white long sleeve shirt, a red vest, red belt, brown pants, dark brown fingerless gloves, and brown boots. Zana is a Black teenager who is slightly taller with a short side-parted dark brown afro. She wears a long purple coat, a white shirt, purple scarf, purple belt, lavender pants, purple fingerless gloves, a gold earring, and light brown boots. Both Jonnit and Zana have their hands at their hips. Jonnit looks at Zana with a slightly annoyed expression and she looks at him smugly. /end ID]

[xxtrixster]

Bless this latest arch of skyjacks we've gotten so in Akaron

- giant turkey coming of age celebrstion

- farming Gothic asthetic

- the most authentic absolute sibling bickering and I will die for you right now mood

- Jonnit your parent has secrets TM

- Zana, absolute number one fellow coursair and sibling to Jonnit who deserves her own spin off series

- Travis consequences come to find him in as in I know where you live

- Travis being compared to being an onion that should be set on fire due to the vibes

-Gable, vibes only no thoughts, trying to keep Travis together

- Shout out to dad, Douglas Kessler who didn't expect to host a literal ghost from his past and absolutely would raise Chocobos if they existed but giant chickens just as cool

- Captain Vale also dealing with choices TM and so much story, just chock-full of story , slaps car meme this can fit so much story inside it

[ottovanvonveen]

[ID: A screenshot of a Skyjacks transcript that reads:

"Jonnit: I'm--I'm--Zana Kessler?

Sefa: Yes, Zana Kessler. I believe--

Jonnit: Yay high? Very annoying? Very sweet but very annoying?

Sefa: Well she's grown some since you've last seen her.

Jonnit: I dunno if you can grow out of that--being that annoying--what? What?!" /end ID]

Yep, that's what having siblings is like.

[felagund-fiollaigean]

Wait, other guest performers!!!!! We get more people?????????? Prayer circle for Zana Kessler 🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏🕯️🙏

[not-from-the-absence-of-violence]

The wind she will take you wherever you must go.

day two of @jonnitweek time!! 

Day 2 - roleswap

Jonnit Kessler is the most ambicious apprentice the black audron has ever seen.

Dear dad. I know you were worried when I “followed” in Zana’s footsteps to become a courier, but it’s mostly hard work so far. She really accentuated the adventure stuff. For example; yesterday I had a whole seven hour shift of just shoveling coal, I mean-

A familiar bell rings, Jonnit stares up from the letter he’s writing as the call, “All hands on deck!”, rings out through the still darkened hallways of the black audron.

Jonnit smiles as he quickly shoves his feet into his boots. They are about to land the audron in burza nyth today. Captain Foxglove had confided in him and Dref. They were apparently going to get a mission to take some important letters from the representatives of the liquid swords monastery there and perhaps learn a thing or two about the water cleansing rituals they did.

Speaking of Dref, he seemed to still be enraptured by his meticulously kept notebook and the bits of fish gut he was working on.

“Dref,” Jonnit says as he places a hand on his shoulder startling him, “don’t you hear the bell?”

Dref looks up at him with bleary eyes. Whatever chance they get to rest on the job, he takes to study. A thing Mulden may approve of but Jonnit does not.

“W-what?” he says, suddenly startled again as once again the quartermaster calls them on deck, “R-right sorry...” He says, standing unsteadily quickly pulling on his coal black coat that seems to always have odd stains and new patches on it.

“You need to get more sleep, man.” Jonnit says pulling on his own coat, embroidered in the back of it in golden stitch are feathers, with a crowning centre piece of an eye resting in the middle of one. Jonnit quickly buttons the annoying, but very cool, eye-shaped buttons too. Dref is convinced it must be magic of a sort, although they have yet to find out how.

Dref hufs as he runs his fingers through his hair, adjusting his glasses, peering around the room to find his boots. “I’m p-perfectly f-fine, Jonnit,” he says, “although I ap-apriciate your c-concern.”

Jonnit hums distractedly, as he ties off his black bandana with ease, leaning against the door of their shared room. “We don’t want to be late,” he says impatient, tapping on the floor with his foot rhythmically.

Dref smiles as he laces his boots methodically, “C-captain F-foxglove will n-not promote you just f-for being early, y-you know?” he says knowingly.

Jonnit laughs. “Hey all bits count, don’t they?” he says.

Everyone keeps telling him it’s not possible to get promoted in the first six months of apprenticeship. It had even taken Zana a good two years on the red audron to be promoted to Adept, although she had moved up the ranks of the yellow audron rather swiftly, becoming one of the youngest Allcouriers the service has ever seen. Jonnit suspected it was simply captain Allegria’s favoritism, who if you believed the rumours, was already training his sister to become starwatcher one day. Jonnit somewhat hoped it wasn’t true; pride in his sister lessened a little by his own love for star watching.

Clearly the only way to beat Zana was to rise the ranks even faster, to become the captain he one day wishes to be.

He remembers the day he finally got called on stage on novice day, the certainty with which he had said the reason he wanted to do this job was because he wanted to become postmaster captain one day.

There was only a slight shock on the faces of the crowd, and a gleam in all the captain’s eyes, clear for everyone to see he had potential.

Jonnit was still surprised when his name was called alongside the black audron’s. Red always being the one he had been aiming for, he was even more surprised when the captain had winked at him and said they had specifically requested his presence on the ship.

“Your destiny is here,” he had said, “I’m sure you’ll find you have a way with magic.”

Jonnit loved the way the word destiny sounded, especially said so confidently by the eccentric captain. Who quickly had him running special errands, sorting all sorts of odd and creepy parcels. Making Jonnit confident; if he just worked hard enough, maybe he could soon enough outrank his sister.

Jonnit is snapped back to the present by Dref, finally ready pulling him along to the corridor. “W-who is m-making us late now?” Dref says, easily walking out onto the deck.

Jonnit rolls his eyes fondly, “Sorry, get lost in my thoughts.”

Dref hums as they walk out on the deck, already a flurry of activity in preparation for landing. “Y-yes, y-you are of-ften lost in d-daydreams.”

Jonnit is about to talk back when captain Foxglove spots them, “Kessler, Wormwood,” they say, “I want you two on lookout.”

“Yes, Ser.” They say in unison.

Jonnit easily climbs the rigging, slowing down for Dref who does so hesitantly. Jonnit smiles at him, “I can’t believe you’ve been working here for so long and you are still nervous on the ropes.”

Dref’s face goes slightly red. “I am r-rahter m-more pro- proficient in other areas.” he says as he finally manages to climb up.

Dref and Jonnit had become friends the moment he’d boarded the ship. As a new apprentice, people easily forgot that you hadn’t yet mastered the job and seemed rather keen not to explain things.

Dref had always stuck close to him, eager to teach him the ropes as it were, especially when it came to magic Dref simply had passion and enjoyed having someone to share it with. In return Jonnit started taking his shifts flying the lion birds and soon enough it was odd to see the one without the other.

Jonnit looks onto the horizon, at their left the vast expanse of the sea looming dangerously at their right the bustling city of Burza Nyth the dawn breaking framing it all in a beautiful light. He couldn’t help but get lost in it for a second, with a glance at Dref who too seemed just a little bit mesmerized.

Both of them jump as the call comes from the deck. “Estimation for our arrival in Burza Nyth?”

Dref stares at Jonnit hopelessly and Jonnit laughs as he squeezes his hand reassuringly. “About 20 minutes, sir.” He calls down the tube.

The wind in their faces as the ship descends, the creak of the wood and the roar of the furnace that sounds even in the top. Jonnit looks down at the city below him as a new adventure begins.

[thirteen-abalone]

ZANA??? ZANA KESSLER???

[devilswalkingstick]

[id: a digital painting of zana and jonnit kessler from skyjacks, imitating les enfants à l'agneau by william-adolphe bouguereau. they are both young black children with kinky black hair. zana’s is braided with golden jewelry back into an afro and jonnit’s is styled as a frohawk. zana is sitting with one leg tucked back and a white lamb on her lap, one arm wrapped around its front with the other hand resting on jonnit’s back. jonnit is kneeling beside her on the ground, his hands on his chest as he leans forward as if to press a kiss to the lamb’s face. he is wrapped in black fleece. the background is foliage and trees without many details. end id.]

kessler siblings my beloveds <3

[nojaloart]

jonnit week 2021, day one: akaron / magic / angst

this town ain’t big enough for the both of us

[ID: A digital knee-up illustration of Jonnit and Zana Kessler from Campaign: Skyjacks. Zana is a young Black girl with dark hair pulled back into two braids. She wears a white dress with a red plaid apron, and is standing to the left of Jonnit. Jonnit is a young, slightly shorter Black boy with a short afro, and is standing to the right of Zana. He wears a white collared short sleeve shirt, a brown vest, a red striped sash as a belt, and loose, beige pants. The two of them face the camera and are pressed shoulder to shoulder. They are smiling excitedly as they look down at the long, tan sheet of paper they are holding together. Behind them is a map with sparkles around it, and several different landforms, cities, and routes charted out. /end ID]

[ottovanvonveen]

Zana?? Zana Kessler???

[not-from-the-absence-of-violence]

Some legends are told (some turn to dust or to gold)

first day of @jonnitweek is here!! thank you to @drowninginstarlights for editing <3

Jonnit Week Day 1 - akaron / magic / angst

Years down the line captain Jonnit Kessler finds out he cant die.

Jonnit meets Zana this time the way he usually does, in a port, in a bar. His sibling looks as radiant as ever, her hair done up in braids, their clothing screaming “I’m cooler than you” and a relaxed smile that hides undeniable mischief. There’s something different about her this time though. Admittedly it has been a while since he’s seen her, but she looks so mature now, in the way she carries herself, in the way she looks.

“Captain Kessler,” she says, in her own almost sarcastic way that she uses to indicate they don’t actually respect his title even a little.

He grins at her. “Zana,” they say, tipping his hat and sitting down next to them. “Still the best starwatcher on the fleet?”

“Of course,” she says, “And most importantly, still a better starwatcher than you.”

He rolls his eyes. “You wish,” he says, but he knows somewhere that she’s probably right. “How’s Sefa doing?” he adds, trying not to delve too deep into their well worn rivalry.

“Typical for you to ask after her before me,” she says, with a smirk, “She’s doing well, last time I saw her.”

They nod. “That’s good, we have a meeting scheduled with her next port over.”

She hums in answer, looking around the bar. “Where are your friends?” she asks. “The ones that follow you around looking like vaguely lost puppies.”

He can’t help but bark out a laugh at the notion. “Really?” he says.

“What?” his sister says, with a pointed sip of their drink. “I’m not wrong.”

He shakes his head. “I suppose you aren’t,” they say, amused. “Their partner is in town, you remember Margaret, right?”

She nods.

“So they’ll be busy our whole stay here,” he says, then grins. “If you know what I mean.”

It’s her turn to roll her eyes and they shove him playfully. “Haven’t changed a bit, have you?”

There’s a moment of tension in the air between them as the two of them look at each other. There’s an undercurrent of something in their mundane conversation, and Jonnit knows they both know it, but the bar, rough and crowded as it is, is not the place for it.

“Should we go outside?” Zana suggests, and Jonnit nods quickly.

-

They walk along the pier, staring out at the vast expanse of the ocean.

“You’ve… grown,” he says, breaking the fragile silence. It sounds silly now he’s said it, of course she’s grown, she’s not a child anymore.

She gives him a very solemn look as she turns to him and says “You haven’t, have you?”

She says it like it’s obvious, like he’s supposed to have noticed by now, but it’s only then Jonnit realises with a start what has felt slightly wrong about this evening.

Zana doesn’t look just older, they look older than him.

“I- you think so?” he says awkwardly.

“Jonnit,” they say gently, “You’re pushing thirty by now, and yet you could still easily pass for nineteen.”

He’s only truly been captain for a few years, and appearance doesn’t much matter if you knew how to wield a weapon and lead with passion, both of which things Jonnit had in their favor, even aside from the whole third eye magic thing. He just never really thought about it. But now...

They continue to walk in silence and Jonnit thinks and thinks, thoughts swirling like the crashing waves before them.

“You don’t think that I…” he trails off.

She shrugs. “I don’t know,” she says, linking their arm with his.

After a few beats of silence she speaks up again. “We should go back home soon, see Dad for a while.”

He smiles, even if he knows the implications behind the suggestion. “Yeah. I’d like that.”

-

He walks back along the pier, the knowledge hanging heavy around him. He’s learned a thing or two over the years. They climb a small hill, away from the noise of the town and the skyships. He sits there, cross legged on the grass, breathing evenly and letting himself get lost in the sound of the wind. He undoes his bandana and closes his eyes, lets the third eye on his forehead be his only guidance.

Slowly they see the guiding lines of the universe, feel the power coursing through him, hums softly to keep himself from getting lost in the magnitude of the magic around him. He doesn’t need to ask, what they need to know is shown to him. There’s his own line, the life he will lead, the future he’s living out in every moment. The line goes on and on and on-

So long he has to gasp for breath like he’s pulling himself out of the waves.

There is no vision, not really merely the feeling, how can there be meaning faced with that magnitude? They see the line of his father, his sister, his crew, they are all bound for the cutting stone, the river eventually.

For a second, faced with the infinity that is himself, Jonnit Kessler feels small, like they aren’t capable of all that he will be, that he is. Like they are just a child again.

He realises he’s crying, with all of his eyes- golden tears fall from his third eye, too. His eye snaps shut, he opens his eyes again, staring yet again at the ocean, at the morning star above, at the things that will never change.

He’s a fixed point too now, sort of.

-

Travis and Gable will be all he’s got one day. That’s all he can think about as he knocks on the door of the room they’ve rented, their hands shaky still, not quite yet sure how to deal with everything around him.

“Come in,” Travis says, and he sounds so carefree for once.

To Jonnit’s surprise, Margaret isn’t there, just Travis sprawled over Gable’s lap. They’re looking down at him in fond exasperation. That hasn’t changed.

They both look up at him, worry clear on Gable’s facel which must mean he looks as shaken as he feels.

“Hi guys,” they say tiredly, pushing the door closed behind him and collapsing on the bed opposite to them.

“Is everything alright?” Gable asks tentatively.

He stammers, thinking about how to start. “My sister is in town,” he begins.

Travis noticeably perks up. They get along well together, Zana and Travis, menaces the both of them. “How is Zana?” he asks, casually, like he isn’t avoiding the conversation.

“She’s good,” they say, and then chokes on his next words, “Older.”

He sits there, the silence heavy between them as he tries to bite back tears.

“Jonnit?” Gable says, they look like they want to stand up, like they don’t really know what to do with themself.

“I think- I don’t think I can die?” he says,and his friends freeze, their eyes widening, but he has to keep going, “Because, I don’t know if I’ve been aging recently? And I looked and I think I saw-”

Travis stands up, an easy smile on his face. “I’m sure it could be any number of things,” he says, gesturing, “Some people are late bloomers, aren’t they, Gable?”

Gable looks away. Jonnit catches the guilt written all over their face.

He sits up, “You knew,” he says, and it’s not a question.

Travis’ charade falls immediately, he sits next to Gable again. “Well, you know, suspecting, knowing,” he says. “We couldn’t be sure-”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Jonnit says, and they can feel anger flare up in his chest.

“We didn’t mean to alarm you,” Gable says softly.

Gable remembers years ago; Travis as a bunny in his lap, as Gable looks curiously at the unchanging Jonnit. The instinct inside them, the way they just… felt it. The way Travis had said “He’s just a late bloomer, Gable,” or “What do you know about human biology anyway?” and Gable had known he was feeding them lies but they’d taken them easily enough anyway.

Easier to ignore it than to face than the idea that someone else is saddled yet again with the curse they both bear, easier than having to actually tell them, face him and tell them the truth: everyone who you love will die, time will cease to have meaning, everything will change and yet after everything, it will still be you.

Gable always told themself there would be a good moment to tell him, but the moment just happened to never come along. Travis tried to think about it as little as possible, it was better for Jonnit to live in ignorant bliss for as long as they could, anyway. Travis’ happiest years were when he believed he would die one day.

But here he is now, even as he has grown, even with his power that is much grander than either of theirs, it feels like now, for the first time, they are on equal footing.

Jonnit stands up, their hands twitch and they should thank the luminaries he’s good at controlling his anger. “You should’ve told me,” he says, just a little ragged, “I’m not a child anymore!”

“Oh, Jonnit, of course you aren’t-” Gable starts out.

“We were just trying to do what was best for you,” Travis says matter of factly, looking away, smirking disinterestedly. Old habits die hard.

“You don’t get to decide what’s best for me,” he says, as they walk out the door.

-

The cold night air hits harder now, as he leaves behind his friends. He knows he’ll go back to them eventually, after all, they’re all he’s got, in the end.

He doesn’t want to end up like Travis, as much affection as they have for the man, playing games to pass the time, running from his problems, that doesn’t seem ideal. Then there is Gable, who until semi-recently was also always on the run. They were both trying their best. And what is the corsair's life if not being on the run, really? Especially when they were, in fact, being hunted.

Here he is now, staring up at the sky, trying to figure out what he wants to do with the rest of forever, how to cope with it.

I can figure it out tomorrow too, they think bitterly, not like it matters.

-

Margaret finds him the next day. She looks as beautiful as ever, and she has a kind smile on her face as she lightly touches his shoulder. He’s leaning on the railing of a lookout post, staring at the horizon.

“Captain Kessler,” she says, with a nod.

They can’t help but smile at seeing her, her mere presence calming.

“Margaret,” he says, “It’s been a while.”

“Glad I found you,” she says, easily moving to lean next to him with her back against the railing, “Gable and Travis were worried sick.”

He smiles and shakes his head. “They shouldn’t be,” they say and then more serious, “Did you know?”

“If I’m honest,” she says, “No. But I’m not exactly surprised either.”

He nods and takes a deep breath, staring back out onto the ocean.

“If there is some advice I can give you,” she says, “It’s that everything keeps mattering.”

He glances at her. “In what way?”

“This moment right now, the present, the people alive. It all still matters.”

“You mean completely isolating yourself and not getting close to people doesn’t work?” he says, full of fake surprise.

She sighs, “You say that as if it’s a given, but you’ve seen how easy it is to fall into it.”

“I’ll always find a purpose or something, Margaret, I’ll be alright.”

She smiles, just a little sadly. “I know you will,” she says and then, “Besides, you have Gable and Travis too.”

They raise an amused eyebrow. “That's a perk now?”

She rolls her eyes amusedly,  “I can see how my husband's eternal friendship wouldn’t always be a blessing.”

“Oh, trust me,” he says, as the person who has travelled with Travis Matagot for decades now and is now his captain, “I’m aware.”

“People are here for you and some things stay the same.”

Like the morning star, Jonnit thinks, the one that always guides you home.

-

He meets up with his sister the next day. She’s as energetic as ever, and for an afternoon he lets himself enjoy it. They walk easily around the streets basking only a little in the recognition of the public and causing a little chaos.

It only takes an hour or so for him to shake the preemptive feeling of missing them in favor of getting dragged along with her to some shop or another. She isn’t gone yet and he’s damn well going to get the most out of it.

-

They go back to Akaron. His father is older, but welcoming as always, glowing pride in his two children. He’s worried about who will take over the farm, and Jonnit can’t help but feel guilty, feel afraid.

Zana keeps telling him to slow down. “You aren’t dead yet, Pa,” she says with a smile. Later, though, they do make worried eye contact with Jonnit.

This will be the normal part, Jonnit knows, most people lose their parents, but they can’t help but feel like it’s the beginning.

-

Many decades later Captain Jonnit Kessler descends from the sky to Akaron once more. It’s changed. Some towns grow, but this one seems to get smaller. The forest that was once at the most distant borders creeping in closer, blurring the edges of the town.

Gable walks at his side. They look as they always have, maybe except the new, coal black coat, and the locket hanging on a ribbon around their neck, the engraved lily an ever present reminder. A snow white bird is perched upon their shoulder, and as always, they’re loudly bickering. He hasn’t taken his whole crew with him, but Travis and Gable are different. The three of them that understand.

He knocks on the familiar door of the farm, and a young girl opens the door. She has stars in her eyes and long box braids with beads in them and she smiles up at Jonnit. “Hello?” she says.

It takes their breath away for a second how much she looks like Zana.

“Hello,” he says, “Are your parents home?”

She nods, disappearing into the house briefly then returning with her mother. A woman who Jonnit remembers meeting as a teenager, when her father had bought this farm. Here she is, a child at her leg and clearly pregnant with the second. They smile at her.

“Jonnit.” she says happily, “I was wondering when you would come around.”

“It’s good to see you again, Amanda,” he says sincerely, then gestures at the others next to him. “My friends, Gable and Travis.”

Gable waves awkwardly, Travis preens.

Amanda nods at them, and gestures at the kid half hidden behind her skirt. “This is Cai.”

The kid giggles at them.

She gestures at them to come in, talking excitedly about renovations done to the farm, as Jonnit looks around. He’s always surprised by what stays the same, in their house that only barely resembles the one he grew up. It’s covered in all the marks of different families, yet still the ghosts of him, his sister and dad live on.

There’s still the dent left from that small accident when he was eight, and still the window that looks out onto the lawn and still the one odd creaking floorboard that somehow no one has ever bothered to fix.

As they walk into the living room, there’s a loud crash from outside. Amanda smiles awkwardly. “That’ll be my spouse. I can't really help with all the farm work right now, you know,” she says, gesturing at her belly.

Gable perks up immediately. “What needs to be done?” they ask, and Travis pecks at them. They pretend to not notice.

Amanda eyes them up and down, clearly taking in exactly how capable Gable would be at the task. “Just some lifting, I reckon you can help,” she says and smiles at Gable as they grin with excitement. “In the meantime, make yourself comfortable, Jonnit.”

They walk outside, leaving Jonnit in the little living room. He doesn’t know why he still comes back, they know it’s always hard to feel like a stranger in a place that was once yours. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t got much to do these days, their destiny behind him, now all of eternity to follow.

Maybe it’s because of moments like this, when Cai climbs next to them on the couch, bright eyed with wonder only a child can have.

“Mom and Ren say you are a captain,” she says conspiratorially. “On a skyship.”

Jonnit smiles. “Yes, they’ve got that bit right.”

“They also say you grew up here, you’re like, a legend around town.”

Jonnit shakes his head smiling, they are a legend everywhere. “I did grow up on this farm,” he says wistfully, “A long time ago.”

She stares at him, and then resolutely walks off to a shelf to grab a book, and puts it in his lap. It’s an old book of constellations, the pages worn and the cover ragged. “Ren gave me this,” she says, proudly turning the pages. “Because I want to be on a ship someday too! And study all the stars.”

He feels familiar tears in his eyes as he turns the pages gently. “I knew the best starwatcher in the skies that ever lived, you know.”

It was odd to remember her like that, when they went on to become leader of the Bandit Fleet, when she was there in the final battle that turned the tides of everything forever.

Cai’s eyes go wide. “Really?” she says.

He nods, getting himself comfortable to tell a story, something they do a lot these days. “Her name was Zana Kessler,” he says, “And they grew up on a farm in Akaron, just like this one.”

Cai moves to sit cross legged, paying rapt attention. He smiles as he recounts the tale he has gone over so many times before.

And so his sister lives on through the love Jonnit has for them in their heart, and through the stories he and so many other people tell, through the smile of a child dreaming of the life they have led. They all live on, the places and people he’s lost, because what is the world built on, if not stories and remembrance?

Later, Gable, Travis and Jonnit walk through the darkened streets at night. Travis is glaring at the shrines to Her Majesty and Gable seems undecided on whether or not to pick a fight with fate today.

He rolls his eyes as Travis turns to grin wickedly at them, eyes full of trouble, his hand in Gable’s and the other playing with his matching lily locket. “What do you say, Jonnit? Feel like causing some luminary drama tonight?” he says, like tonight’s the night he’ll actually kill Her.

Some things don’t change, he thinks as they yet again look up at the stars and smile. “Sure,” Jonnit says, grinning too. “Not like we’re in a hurry.”