by Jaide Fox
She felt like crying when she saw Earth. It was beautiful. She was so happy to be home!
Grinning from ear to ear, Luna turned to look at her. Her expression faltered. “You're crying?"
Cole sniffed. “I'm just so happy,” she sobbed. “I'd begun to think I would never see it again."
Luna climbed out of her seat and put her arms around her and Cole cried harder. Finally, however, she managed to get herself under control. When she looked around, she discovered that Hauk hadn't followed her ... either that or one look at her tears had been enough to drive him back into hiding.
"We'll be entering the atmosphere in about five minutes,” Kerel reminded them. “You'll need to strap yourselves in."
Nodding, Cole moved to a seat and strapped her belt on. After a few moments, Hauk appeared from the companionway and, without a word, strapped his belt on, as well.
The sudden bucking and jolting of the ship heralded their piercing of the earth's atmosphere. Cole closed her eyes and gripped the arm rests tightly. She would never get used to this. Space flight wasn't really all that bad, but take offs and landings were the pits.
To her surprise, she felt a warm hand cover hers. Opening her eyes a crack, she saw that Hauk had settled his hand comfortingly over hers. A sense of peace settled over her, easing her fear.
It was dark when they landed, naturally enough. Kerel hadn't dared enter American airspace until he had a chance to sneak in and sneak out again without having missiles launched at them, but then he threw caution to the wind and landed the thing in their backyard.
When they emerged from the hatch, the first thing Cole noticed was the neighborhood dogs barking their heads off. The second thing she noticed was the homey smell of smog. God! She was crazy to have missed something like that! It was amazing the stupid things that one missed about home.
Hauk and Kerel escorted them halfway down the gangplank, but neither of them stepped off it. Cole, acutely aware of Hauk despite her joy at being home, stopped when he did. She turned to look at him, feeling a sudden desire to burst into tears again.
What was wrong with her?
Must be some sort of hormonal imbalance! And, now that she thought about it, she should be just about due for her menstrual cycle.
That had to be it.
Who was she kidding? Now that it came right down to it, she knew she didn't want to leave Hauk.
Hauk cleared his throat awkwardly. “Guess this is it."
Cole nodded. “Guess so.” She licked her lips, trying to think of something to say. “You guys could come in for coffee ... or something."
Hauk glanced at Kerel. “We should be going. I didn't want to set you down in the woods, but it's a risk bringing you here. The sooner we take off, the less chance we'll have of getting shot down on our way out."
It was hard to argue with that, and Cole knew suddenly that she wouldn't be able to think of anything to say even if they had decided to come in for refreshments. She couldn't just ask Hauk to stay. After everything that had happened between them ... he'd probably think she was trying to play some sort of trick on him anyway. “Right. You should go."
Hauk nodded, but he didn't move back up the gang plank. “Cole ... I ... uh...."
"Yes?” Cole said hopefully.
"It's been a wild ride, but I'm glad we got to know each other."
Cole felt her chin wobble. “Yeah. Same here.” Moving down the gangplank, she stepped off onto the grass and turned to wave.
Kerel and Hauk waved back and ducked into the ship. A moment later, the door closed and the gangplank was retracted.
Cole and Luna retreated into the house to watch as the ship rose into the air, slowly at first, almost hovering. Almost in the blink of an eye, it zipped away and disappeared into the night sky.
Sighing, Cole made her way to her bedroom.
It was more of a struggle to take up the life she'd left behind than Cole had anticipated. Her boss welcomed her back, but a replacement had already been hired and she felt unnecessary. Not that it really mattered. She had a job. She thought, eventually, she'd get back into the swing of things and enjoy her work as she once had, but the truth was she no longer had the heart for it.
She discovered she didn't really have the heart for much of anything. Luna wasn't a lot of help. She seemed subdued herself and Cole strongly suspected that she'd formed an attachment for Kerel.
The two of them were sitting in the living room one evening about a month after their return to earth, staring blankly at the television when the doorbell rang. The sisters exchanged a look and shrugged. Finally, since Luna seemed more inclined to just ignore it than to see who it was, Cole got up and went to the door.
Hauk was standing on her front porch, looking determined and scared at the same time. Cole gaped at him. “We need to talk,” he growled.
Cole's brows rose. “We do?"
His lips tightened. “Look, I owe you an apology, so just hear me out."
"Do you want to come inside?"
"Is your sister here?"
"Yes."
He grabbed her hand and dragged her out onto the porch. “I don't know what I was thinking ... guess I wasn't thinking. It just sort of came over me when I realized you didn't recognize me. Maybe I was a little bit miffed that you didn't, because.... Well, you should've known it was me."
Understanding dawned, but so, too, did irritation and Cole folded her lips, refusing to help him stumble through it. He was right. He owed her an apology.
"I was disguised. I mean, it was me that rescued you and ... uh .. pretended I was somebody else. We needed the disguises to rescue you, but I should've let you know right off that it was me and ... I'm sorry."
Cole smiled. “You came all the way back just to apologize?"
Hauk cleared his throat. “Actually ... uh ... yeah, but....” He raked a hand through his hair. Obviously, his nerve had deserted him. Finally, he knelt in front of her and grabbed her hand.
Cole looked at him blankly. “What are you doing?"
He blushed. “I've been studying the earth customs and this is the way its supposed to be done ... I think.” He drew in a deep breath. “Cole ... would you, will you marry me?” he growled hoarsely.
Cole's jaw went slack with astonishment. “What?” she said vaguely.
"If you don't marry me I'm going to...” His shoulders slumped. “I'm going crazy without you, baby!"
Laughing and crying at the same time, Cole threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Yes! Yes!"
Hauk looked at her, doubt and hope warring on his features. “You mean it? You'd leave earth and come to live with me on Vulkahn?"
Cole laughed. “It's not like you couldn't bring me back to visit if I get homesick."
Hauk stood up, lifting her into his arms. “I've missed you like hell,” he murmured, nuzzling her neck and nipping at her ear.
"Plleease!” Luna said behind them. “All this billing and cooing is making me ill!"
Cole turned to look at her sister guiltily.
Luna was smiling. “I'm invited to the wedding, right? When are we leaving? Do I have time to pack?"
Hauk chuckled. “Kerel was to give me fifteen minutes tops and then come back for me. I figured either Cole would say yes, or she'd be chasing me down the street, tying to shoot holes in me."
When they'd settled once more in their bunk in their cabin on the ship, Cole sighed. “I've got a confession to make,” she said tentatively.
"What?” Hauk said, nuzzling her ear.
"Passion fruit doesn't work on humans."
Hauk lifted his head and stared at her for a long moment, then burst out laughing. “It doesn't work on Vulkahns either."
The End
Glossary of Terms:
Bonghy: Horse-like animal. Used for riding in ancient Vulkahn times, but used now only for recreational purposes.
Fonktol: stinky mangy creature similar to a cat.
Shertouj: Keeper of my heart
; Heur t’ asinu: A wound in the ass. In Vulkahn slang, this is the English equivalent of pain in the ass.
Asinu: Slang for buttocks
Mecre: Excrement
Nagia: The planet Fuzzy finds for Sylo to land the ship on.
Nagy: Gentle native of Nagia. Often serve as sacrifices and food for the whoopies.
Whoopi: An inhabitant of Nagia. Extremely ferocious, no member of the Federation has been able to get close enough to enter their language into the translators. They are named for the sound they make when on the hunt.
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