- Aurora -

For a moment I just stare. Then a flash of light goes off in my mind and stays there.

“Trak'zor!”

I bounce to my feet and run over to him. The two others are holding him firmly between them.

“It's okay, I know him! He's good.”

They marginally loosen their grips on him. 

He's looking past me, over my shoulder towards the tragedy in there. “That is your friend?”

“Yes. Let him go, please, guys.”

Ar'ox and Dar'ax take a skeptical look at his white stripes, then stare at him hard and release him.

He swings a bag off his shoulders and takes out another stone container, smaller and much cruder than the one I stole.

“Is this needed?”

“Yes! Very much. Wait.” He's soaking wet, so I grab a leather rag and wipe the water off his huge torso.

Then I take his thick forearm and drag him with me.

“This is Trak'zor. He might be able to help.”

He kneels in front of Sophia and takes the situation in.

“The baby is not doing so well,” I tell him, “and it's stopped halfway out. See the foot? Its heartbeat is slower than it should be.”

Trak'zor opens his new orb and scoops out some of the substance. A million tiny silver flakes sparkle in the light from the alien pad.

He looks at Sophia. “May I?”

She just nods, biting her lip.

“Yes,” I add for good measure. “You may. Quickly.”

He has more experience than I do with births. And after the days he spent with me on his island, he should have a pretty clear idea of female anatomy.

He smears the gel everywhere on the outside, being very gentle, but still fast.

Then he changes his position so I can't see what he's doing, but it's only a minute before the baby starts sliding out, feet first.

Delyah helps, and then she's holding a baby girl in her arms. There's a mewling little cry, and then Delyah carefully places the newborn on Sophia's chest. It's the first girl born on this planet for a long time. And she has the silvery sheen I recognize from the boy in the village.

Sophia smiles through tears of joy. “She's perfect.”

The cave slightly erupts in subdued celebrations. We smile and hug each other, while the cavemen smile and nod. Everyone is exhausted.

Trak'zor stands up, a giant of a man vibrating with barely contained power, and gives me a shy little smile that makes my heart flutter.

I hug him tight with my cheek on his chest, facing away from everyone. For a good few minutes I can't talk because I'm shaking too much in his arms.

Then I wipe my nose and my eyes. “You came after all.”

He hugs me back, hard, right on the limit of where I can still breathe. “Pride can be good. Then it crossed my mind that pride without anything else isn't worth much. I love you, Aurora. Will you marry me?”

I crane my neck to look up at him. It's such a sudden question. But then it turns out that tit doesn't surprise me at all. I'm totally prepared for it.

“Yes,” I state as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. And it probably is. “Yes, I will.”

A happy smile spreads on his face.

Then Jax'zan lays a massive hand on Trak'zor's shoulder. The two caveman lock eyes, laser against laser. I half expect to see smoke.

“You're an outtriber. From far away,” Jax'zan states.

“I am.” Trak'zor is tense.

“Come to assist complete strangers in their hour of need. Not of your own tribe.”

“Not complete strangers, perhaps.”

“I can never thank you properly for this.”

Trak'zor relaxes. “No gratitude is wanted. It was no great sacrifice coming here. It would have been a terrible sacrifice if I had not come.”

He takes my hand and squeezes it like he never intends to let it go. That's fine with me.

We all let Sophia and Jax'zan have a moment together with their new daughter, and I introduce Trak'zor to everyone.

Then he and I and walk out to the cave opening.

“You knew we needed your magic?”

“I knew there wasn't much left in the container. Probably not enough. And it had not been cooled down for a while.”

“It was ruined when I opened it.” I point to the discarded orb on the floor.

“It spoils easily if it's not cooled.”

“You went to Bune first, then here? That's where you get it from, right?”

“Yes.”

“In the room where we first ... um ... met?”

He frowns. “It's a strange thing, Bune. That room is obviously divine, but still broken.”

I look up at him again. I can explain what Bune is later. “You came.”

“I knew that you were not going to return. I spoke to the tribesmen. And I knew that I had to go to you. To be worthy of you.”

“You're worthy of me a thousand times over.”

He smiles that boyishly happy smile. “I wondered briefly what I could do to prove my worth. Then I realized that you'd told me. Help your friend. It was so obvious I suddenly just laughed and ended the speech.”

“The speech?”

“They made me chief. But there was no joy in it. It was unimportant. Because you weren't there. So I spoke to them and told them how dishonored they are and how they have to change. And then I suddenly laughed, stepped down from the mound and walked out the gate. They must think I'm possessed.”

“They made you chief, and you just ... gave it up?”

He scratches his chin. “I'm not sure I gave it up. If the tribe decides that I did, then they will be left to themselves. Well, maybe they don't want me back. I said some harsh things.”

“Things they deserve to hear, I think.”

“Maybe.”

I squeeze him harder. “I'm sorry I stole your sacred gift. And I aimed the crossbow at you.”

“I did threaten to tie you up. And the fight right before ... my mind wasn't working well. I didn't realize the depth of your concern for your friend. I suspected it was a test of my resolve.”

“Did Ren'tax laugh after I left? I think I heard it.”

“He did. It was the funniest thing he'd seen. He said 'see? I told you your pride would be your downfall'. Then he started talking about an ancient ceremony called a 'wedding' and 'marriage'. I knew of those things, but I thought he was speaking in some kind of hallucination. He was very ill.”

“Maybe he will wed us?”

He looks down at me with eyes that he manages to make mild. “Shaman Ren'tax will never do anything in this world again. He's with the Ancestors now.”

“Oh no! Your shaman is dead?” A new wave of tears drip from my eyes. I didn't know him that well, but he was the best man in that village.

“He must have been ill for a longer time than he told anyone. He wanted no treatment.”

“I heard you offering that. Sometimes old people know that their turn has come and they don't mind it so much. At least you used the gel on yourself.” I stroke his chest where the deep gash has closed up.

He shrugs. “There is a lot of it inside Bune.”

I don't know what to say. I'm exhausted and excited and happy and sad about Ren'tax. So I don't say anything for a long time, just stand there and hear the rain and feel Trak'zor's skin on me.

He gently disengages and picks up his bag. “I brought you this. I think your tribe will need them more than me.”

It's a stack of all the garments and fabrics that he had prepared for the Woman.

I gasp at the sight. On this planet, you get a new appreciation of what true wealth is. And this is a fucking fortune. “Thank you! It's wonderful.”

“They were made by the Garan tribe while they were still good for something. I hope they will be useful.”

“They will. Very useful.”

He clears his throat. “I promise that I will never tie you up again.”

“Okay, good,” I say, then instantly regret it. “Um, actually ... I think you can sometimes tie me up.”

“Yes?” His confusion is so adorable.

I smile sweetly. “Yes. Sometimes. For fun. As in, really fun. It's another of those woman secrets. I'll show you what I mean later. Probably after the baby is born.”

He looks to Sophia at the back of the cave, then back at me. “The baby is born.”

“That one is. But there's another one on the way.”

He frowns. “No, there was only one. I checked her very thoroughly.”

“Yes, Sophia's baby is born. But you mated with me many times. Did you think there wouldn't be results from that?”

He stares at me, frowning deeply, and in his eyes I can see the cogs slowly turning in his caveman brain.

“You mean ...?”

“I mean.”

“You ...”

“Well, we, strictly speaking.”

“... are going to have a baby?”

More tears spring to my eyes. “That's right. You're going to be a father. The first real father in your tribe for a long-ass time.”

He stares at my stomach. “I ... but ...”

“It's in there. Very small still, but-”

He takes me into his arms and lifts me, somehow without putting any pressure on my abdomen.

“I thought just now that I will never be happier. And then you prove me wrong in the next breath. I love you, Aurora.”

I don't recall this ever happening to Xena. But I don't think I need her anymore. I can just be Aurora. And right now, being Aurora is pretty damn great.

“And I love you. See how it fits? I think maybe we're a perfect match.”