He complied, slamming forward again and again as I threw my head back and moaned with abandon. He dropped my head down and pressed his mouth to mine, absorbing my moan. I met his lips readily, ravenously. He pulled back again and growled, “You are mine, little vixen.”

Then, we both shattered into a billion pieces of euphoric ecstasy.

* * *

The air was earthen and breathy, whispering soft caresses of breeze across my bare arms and reminding me how wonderful a clear, sunny day felt. I padded across the grass with ginger care and kept my eyes fixed on the ground. Hints of floral richness wafted past my nose as I walked. I was in the one place I’d hoped never to be, but I wasn’t upset. I was at peace.

When I came to a stop, I paused. My heart beat slowly and rhythmically in my chest, and my body felt alive. It was the ultimate irony. As my eyes drifted to the headstone in front of me, I lowered myself to my knees in respect. The name was etched deep into the rock, a cold intimation of all I’d lost, but I didn’t succumb to the frigid symbol. I felt her warmth inside me. She was gone in body, but her soul still lingered, and I welcomed her within myself.

“Hi, Becky,” I whispered. I kissed my fingertips and pressed them to her name.

The mounted vase was empty and waiting, so I lifted the bouquet of cheerful daisies I’d brought and placed them in the opening. The wind caught several petals, plucking them from the flowers and sending them in coils across the graveyard to other forgotten souls. I arranged the daisies carefully, almost like I would a centerpiece for a dinner party, and spoke aloud.

“I’m sorry it’s been so long. Graduation was a mess. You’d think it would have been simple since I had no one to invite, but there was a problem with my gown, and my roommate had meltdowns nightly because she couldn’t find shoes to go with her dress. I did it, though. I’m officially a college graduate.”

My scalp prickled, and I could almost imagine her hand brushing my hair in a hug. I smiled softly.

“You probably know already, but I got that job at the UN. It’s more of an internship, I guess, but I’ve got to start somewhere. I start on Monday. I’m excited, of course, but I’m more nervous right now. Hopefully, that’ll pass after the first day. I’ve wanted to work at the UN for so long, it would be a shame to screw it up now.”

I straightened a slumping daisy and brushed my palms over my thighs. Sorrow filled me as I thought about my ten-year-old self-raving about a bright future at the UN while my kid sister told me how boring I was, about how she was destined for something glamorous like a singing career or award-winning movie performances.

“You know, sometimes I wish Mr. Palmer hadn’t found me so soon. Or at all,” I murmured. My voice broke, and the tears that had been threatening to come forth finally succeeded. I brushed them away, but more bloomed in their place. “I know I shouldn’t think like that. But it was hard enough without Mom and Dad. Losing you…it was like losing the last thing I had in the whole world.”

My shoulders began to shake as sobs started gathering in my chest, but I forced myself to continue.

“I hate myself for not getting there sooner. Maybe I could have saved you. But I’m not sure you wanted to be saved, Beck,” I whispered. Saying her name out loud fractured me, and I began weeping stormily into my hands. “I know you were still using. The firefighters found remnants of needles and syringes. If you hadn’t been high, you might’ve woken up. You might’ve gotten out.”

Words failed me, then, and I just cried. Tears painted my face like rain on a window, dribbling between my fingers and rolling down my arms. I rocked back and forth on my knees to stop the agony from taking me completely, but I couldn’t. My eyes hurt. My heart hurt. My soul hurt.

“I miss you,” I bawled. “Please come back. God, Becky, please come back.”

Just then, the wind blew in a great gust, forcing the daisies into bows and whipping my hair in a tumult of sharp snaps. I felt electric anger in the air, lifting the hairs on my neck and crackling in my ears. With ragged breath, I slowly regained control of myself and nodded.

“I know. I need to stop holding on.” I inhaled a deep, long breath, and then let it out in one big whoosh. “I’ll get stronger. I promise. But I’ll never stop missing you. I’ll never stop wishing you were still here. You’re my baby sister, Beck.”

Something hot swelled in my belly and spread throughout me, engulfing my entire body in warmth. I smiled.

“I love you too.”

* * *

As I sat in the rich white sunlight of the mid-morning, I sighed with contentment. A soft breeze caressed my face, and my arms tingled. I didn’t know if Becky’s spirit could reach me on Albaterra, but I wanted to believe it could. I felt like her presence was there.

I hadn’t had the fire dream in over a month, ever since arriving on the A’li-uud planet. Instead, my dreams were of the cemetery where Becky had been laid to rest, the last conversation I’d had with her there before all hell had broken loose on Earth. It certainly wasn’t the terrifying nightmare the fire dream was, but it left its own twinge of grief and pain. The first time I’d awoken in the middle of the night with tears streaming down my face and sobs wracking my body, Dane held me close to him and rocked me in his arms until I drifted back to sleep. He’d become used to it by now. I had too. It wasn’t altogether a pleasant dream, but I felt it was Becky trying to visit me as I slept, and that brought me some peace.

Watching the scene unfolding before me, tall blue alien Elders gathering in a circle on a lawn so green it seemed unnatural, was surreal. Yet, somehow, it seemed like it was the way things should have been all along. Albaterra was a place of stunning beauty and reverence for natural order, and it grounded me while filling me with a perpetual high at the same time. I had never felt so calm, so serene, but also so energized and exhilarated, on Earth as I did on Albaterra. It was addictive, sensational, and perfect.

The Elders took their seats. They sat in chairs very different from the thrones inside the Forum chamber. These were low-backed, slatted, and painted a hue of white that matched their colorless hair identically. If there had been large, puffy bows tied to the backs, the chairs could have easily passed as seats for an outdoor wedding. I had to stifle a giggle as I imagined the Elders in nice button-down shirts and trousers with heavily made-up dates.

Silence rose from the crowd around me. Vi’den stood again, and I found myself wondering why he’d even bothered to sit in the first place.

“Citizens of Albaterra, guests,” he said, holding out his arms grandly. “The Council is proud to welcome you today to witness the crowning of our next great Elder.”

There were whoops and hollers from the crowd, many of the A’li-uud raising their fists in the air and jumping up and down. Vi’den smiled and waited patiently for the noise to ebb into quiet once more, and then he continued.

“We have survived some difficult times in our recent past, and it was ungently brought to our attention that the difficulties were at our own hand.” His pale eyes met mine, and his mouth curved into a small, indulgent smile. I couldn’t help but grin back. “The Council is not above making mistakes, nor is it too bullheaded to accept responsibility for those mistakes. Our purpose has always been to maintain the security and well-being of our faithful Albaterran citizens, and the Council now recognizes the necessity of open minds and willingness to change. To that end, it is also our delight to welcome you to the very first Ceremony of Elderhood held out-of-doors. A small change, perhaps, but a change nonetheless.”

This was met with more whoops and hollers. I started to clap, but I stopped when it became clear applauding was not an A’li-uud custom. It didn’t matter. The very atmosphere around us was rent with hope and happiness.

“Now, if you will please show your respect and support for the newest member of our ancient ranks, I am proud to introduce you to Montemba’s next Elder, the son and brother of his predecessors, De’inde Et’Petrum Montem’tribus!”

The storm of shrieks that rose into the air was deafening, and I couldn’t help joining in. Some of the A’li-uud dropped their fists and pummeled them into their chests. Others followed suit until, within a matter of seconds, the shrieks were masked by the sounds of thousands of A’li-uud thumping their chests over and over. It was tribal, primitive, and invigorating. The low, pervasive drumming punctured my soles and thudded its way up my body until I was bursting with the energy and power of it. I’d never felt less human and more like an alien in my life, but, if I closed my eyes, I could have believed for a moment that I’d become A’li-uud.

Dane appeared, escorted by the same young A’li-uud who had shown me in and out of the Forum chamber when I’d met with the Council. For once, he wasn’t bare-chested. He wore long robes of the richest plum color I’d ever seen, draping over his shoulders and swaying down the length of his body. Silver and gold thread embroidered the fabric to give the robes a truly elegant and regal appearance. Against his light skin, Dane almost looked violet rather than blue, and I couldn’t stop myself from giggling.

It didn’t seem possible that he could hear the giggle over the loud thrumming of fists on muscular chests, but Dane’s head lifted and turned until he was looking me dead in the face. His eyes, as white as the sun overhead, glittered with playful danger, and he quirked a brow imperceptibly at me. I smiled innocently back, and he almost grinned.

“Little vixen,” he mouthed.

Heat flooded my thighs, and I tried to stop the blush from rising in my cheeks. Certainly, I couldn’t have been the only one to see that. Then again, there was something exciting about his teasing me, claiming me, before thousands. I fluttered my lashes back at him coyly.

As his coronation began, I thought about the first time we’d met. I remembered—with a small pang of pining—Madeleine’s thrilled announcement that the alien had arrived. I recalled walking into the room and feeling his eyes burning embers into me. I relived the strange, unexpected lust I’d felt for him and the visceral fantasies I’d had for him days after. My life had truly begun the day I’d tried to end a war, and it stretched out before me like a vast expanse of wide open ocean.

Thankfully, the Elders had accepted the offer of the peace treaty just two days after my initial meeting with them. Furthermore, when Dane learned he was going to be made a true Elder, he promised me to present the Council with the idea of societal integration.

I wasn’t going back to Earth. That possibility had disintegrated the moment I’d acknowledged my feelings for Dane to myself. I would stay right here on Albaterra, and the only way I would ever go back to Earth would be if Dane came with me. Just like Emily had said. I glanced beside me at the short, pixie-haired girl and squeezed her hand, and she beamed with a squeeze in return.

My eyes met Dane’s once more, and I watched as his mouth formed the words I’d learned to adore more than any others. “I love you.”

A brilliant smile broke over my face, and I whispered, “I love you too.”

* * *