Page 43 of Heart's Keeper

The sun was bright and the air slightly cool. The sky was clear with not a cloud in sight. For a moment, Lana thought she was actually back on Earth. Only from the unique insects and birds of the planet, similar but still different to Earth's, did it remind her that she wasn't on her old home world, not even close. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the light. They led her over to the center of the city where they had attempted to make a small park. She sat down on a patch of grass underneath a low-hanging tree instead of choosing to sit at one of the bench seats, wanting to feel the grass under her hand. Xerus sat beside her, and they took to watching groups of people walk by, talking and laughing as if nothing had happened a week before. It was a pleasant scene, watching the gyda and her kind sharing moments together. She thought again about a time long ago when she imagined seeing such a sight. Of several different races mingling as one in some new governed territory. At the time, she had imagined such a place inside Earth's boundaries, perhaps on some civilian world where the aliens were melded into human society. But now, watching those around her, she saw a city untouched, with a society all their own. And it was much more refreshing.

"There was a time," she said, beside Xerus, who had his arm around her back, "when I wanted this more than anything."

He looked down at her curiously. "What's that?"

"To see you free among my kind and others, living life together." She smiled up at him. "Back on Lazris before I knew about your mission, I wanted to bring you out of that cell and have you with me, living on some human world, maybe with a few other vrisha. It was a silly thought, the idea of you being around other humans, thinking they wouldn't be afraid or that things might change. For some, maybe, but most...not likely. I'd given up that dream long ago, happy to be part of the vrisha instead. Seeing this place though...it gives me hope. Maybe such things are possible here."

His hold on her tightened, bringing her closer. "Perhaps so."

"It would be hard. No one can get along forever. But it could be a start."

Xerus went quiet for a moment, his tail flicking gently beside her. "Do you wish to stay here?" he asked finally.

Lana shook her head. "No. Tryth is my home. With you and our haven." She shifted beside him, resting her hand on his leg. "But maybe...maybe for others, it could be."

Xerus tilted his head as he observed the people around them. "It would be rare for a vrisha to call another world their home. But it's not impossible."

Lana shrugged. "Things are changing. People can change."

"You have shown that to be true," Xerus said.

Lana looked up at him. "I was wrong to think I was the only one who could manage to do so. To set my fears aside and embrace what I'd come to love. It was naive and ignorant to think myself alone and above my own kind and to fear them because of it. I see that now." Lana thought of Elise and her hunter, of Aly far away with her child; and of Bo and the other humans of the station. "There are many who feel the same, who wish the same thing I did many years ago. Even if there are those who will still always look to fight and to conquer, there will still be us."

"There will always be us." Xerus nuzzled the side of her head, and Lana turned to kiss him. He grinned at her, pleased despite what pain he might be feeling. He took hold of her braid and rubbed it in his fingers as they continued to sit and watch and just be.

As the day went by, they took a small nap together, no one bothering to disturb them. Lana dreamed of sailing on a bright sea, with other boats around her, happy and carefree. When she and Xerus eventually woke, they went to take a walk toward the gates. Bo and Abrohs found them.

"I'm so glad to see you looking better, Dr. Hart." Bo smiled as she waved to them. "And Xerus."

"Thank you, again, for everything," Lana said.

"Happy we could help." She glanced at Xerus and nodded. "The both of you."

Xerus bowed his head to her and Abrohs. "I am grateful."

"We gave your x-rays and tests to your crew to take back home," Bo said.

"And my suggestion on the best way to combat the growth," Abrohs said quietly. "For your surgeons."

"Yes, I'm sorry we couldn't do more for you here, Xerus," Bo replied.

"What you have done is enough," he said. "I would rather have the pain to combat the illness than have nothing at all."

"I take it you plan to leave soon, back to Tryth?"

"As soon as we can, yes," Lana answered.

"You will be missed," Bo said sincerely. "I wish we could have met in better circumstances, but I'm so glad we could help after everything you did." She looked off in the distance as the sounds of drills and machines filled the air. "And now we can start over."

Lana looked around and saw men and women working to repair one side of a building destroyed by fire. She saw more people by the broken wall, taking pieces left on the ground to salvage. She noticed they didn't try to fix it up like they did the buildings. In fact, one group was breaking apart one side completely.

"You're tearing down the wall?" she said in surprise. "Why?"

Bo looked back at her and smiled. "We are done hiding. We will keep up a smaller barricade for the sake of wildlife until we grow, but if we are to expand into a true city, we can't keep up these walls. This world is too big and full of possibilities, and it's time we utilized it."

"You won't have much in the way of protection," Xerus observed.

"He's right," Lana said. "And with Sythtec gone, you'll have little aid..."

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