Chapter Six

The feeling that she couldn’t fill her lungs and that her mind was fighting against any thoughts that she tried to put through it was getting worse. Ivy didn’t know what she should do. As hard as she tried to get through it, nothing that she did eased the feeling and with every passing minute she was feeling less and less in control of her mind and body. She pressed her fingertips to her temples and closed her eyes, concentrating on the sound of Ellora’s breathing beside her, hoping that that would drag her out of the fog.

“Ivy?” Ellora said. “Is something wrong? Are you alright?”

Ivy shook her head. She knew that she couldn’t keep hiding these feelings. As much as she didn’t want to upset or frighten Ellora, this had gone on long enough and she was starting to worry. She opened her eyes and looked at the older woman.

“I feel strange,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Ellora asked.

“I don’t know. I just don’t feel right. I can’t think straight, and I feel like I can’t breathe.”

Ellora’s face dropped and Ivy saw some of the color drain away. She immediately wrapped her arm around Ivy’s shoulders and stood, guiding Ivy along with her to stand.

“You must be very tired,” she said, obviously trying to inject levity into her voice though there was a tone of worry behind the words. “You should go back to Maxim’s house and rest. You need your sleep.”

She offered a slightly tremulous smile and brought Ivy in for a brief hug before leading her toward the door and out into the night. It was evident that Ellora was doing all that she could to seem calm and relaxed, and Ivy tried to go along with it, smiling through the swimming feeling and walking casually alongside Ellora as they made their way across the village toward Maxim’s house. She pretended for both of them. Staying calm would prevent her from upsetting Ellora any further and would help her to convince herself that everything was alright.

They arrived at Maxim’s house and Ellora walked her to the front door. She looked into Ivy’s eyes, seeming to examine her as if looking for something in her gaze that she wasn’t putting words to. Whether she found it or not, Ellora finally took a step back and gestured for Ivy to go inside. Ivy stepped into the cool, quiet house and closed the door behind her, strangely relieved to be alone. She walked into the bedroom and undressed before going into the bathroom and taking a bath, hoping that a long soak in the warm water would help her to feel better. Though she was still feeling strange when she stepped out of the bath and dressed in one of Maxim’s shirts to sleep in, she felt refreshed and slightly more relaxed.

She didn’t feel tired enough that she would be able to go to sleep, so she started roaming around the house. It was still and quiet, but every room seemed to hold potential promises of what the future could hold for them. As she walked around it, Ivy envisioned what her life could be like there with Maxim as they raised their child together. As she stood in the doorway of the empty second bedroom she imagined the nursery that she could create there. She saw a cradle in the corner where the baby would sleep, and a chair tucked against the wall next to the window where they could sit and hold their child. Her mind formed the image of Maxim standing in the center of the room, cradling their tiny baby against his chest as he sang the lullabies that his mother sang to him and Kyven when they were little. The image brought a sense of peace to her chest and she moved on to the front section of the house. There she came to the kitchen. Though she had already spent time in there cooking, it was mostly for herself. She looked forward to the days when she would be able to spend her days in the kitchen preparing meals for her family. She wanted to bake cookies for her child and learn the recipes of the Mikana so that she could give Maxim the types of meals that he enjoyed.

As these thoughts went through her mind Ivy realized that any questions that she had ever had about leaving Uoria and returning to Earth were completely gone. She knew for certain that she couldn’t leave the planet that she had come to think of as her home. She wanted to be there where the man she loved grew up and for their child to know their planet and their heritage. Though she would never deny the baby knowing about Earth and would even consider bringing the family back to her home planet to visit and learn about that part of the baby’s culture, she wanted to be a part of the rebirth of Uoria that she could feel was happening around her.

****

“Papa?”

It was the first time that Maxim had said the word since finding his father again, and as awkward as he thought that it was going to be, it felt natural coming out of his mouth. Aegeus turned to him, the expression on his face pleasantly surprised as though he didn’t think that he was ever going to hear his son call him by that name again.

“Hi, son,” he said.

“Can I talk to you?”

“Of course.”

They walked out of the glow that surrounded the fire and into the cooler shade. Maxim stayed quiet until they had gotten far enough away from the gathering area that he was confident that no one would be able to hear what he was going to say. Aegeus had brought a plate of food with him and he held it out to Maxim, offering him a chunk of the bread that it held. Maxim realized then that he hadn’t eaten since sometime in their journey and his stomach was growling with hunger. He eagerly took the bread and dipped it into the well of thick, rich stew in the center of the plate. Aegeus did the same and for a few moments the men ate in silence, sharing one of the first meals that they had had together since Maxim was a child.

Satisfied, Maxim looked into his father’s face.

“Ivy is pregnant,” he said.

Though he had intended on only talking about the situation with Frederick and the concerns that he was having, that was what came to his lips. As soon as the words left his mouth, Maxim saw Aegeus’s eyes widen. He looked as though he didn’t know what to say, as if the news had surprised him so much that he had no reaction. His voice stammered out of him for a few moments and then he smiled.

“That’s wonderful,” he said. “Congratulations.”

Aegeus opened his arms and pulled his son into an embrace, squeezing him close for a moment as if he didn’t want to let him go. When their hug ended, Maxim took a step back.

“Thank you,” he said. “I haven’t told anyone yet.”

“Why not?” Aegeus asked. “That’s incredible news.”

“I’ve been trying to protect her,” Maxim explained. “I don’t want anyone to know so that they aren’t distracted.”

“A new baby isn’t something to hide,” Aegeus told him. “The rest of the crew should know that they aren’t just fighting for now, but for the future as well. That little child is what will carry on all that you accomplish right now. What you are doing is not fixing the past. There is nothing that you can do about that. You are creating a legacy for the future and what your child will know and live.”

There was sadness in his voice now and Maxim tilted his head to look into his father’s face more fully.

“Papa?” he said.

“I’m sorry,” Aegeus said, shaking his head slightly as if trying to clear the emotions that he was feeling. “I’m thrilled. Really, I am. I can’t believe that I’m going to be a grandfather.”

“Then what is it?”

“I’m going to be a grandfather when I barely feel as though I was able to be a father. I lost so much time with you and your brother. I never stopped thinking about you or Kyven. No matter what I was going through. No matter how hard Ryan tried to take away everything that I was and make me forget about the life that had been taken from me, I never once stopped thinking about you two and your mother. But I didn’t get to be your father. You were just a little boy when I left, and you’ve had to live your life without me in it. Now you’re standing in front of me a grown man, getting ready to have your own child.”

“But you will have the chance to be with the baby,” Maxim said.

The thought warmed him. It made him happy to think that his child would have the opportunity to be influenced by his father, the man he remembered as the strongest, most powerful, and most courageous man he had ever known when he was young. Though he had had to be without that as he got older, knowing that his child would have it soothed the hurt that those lost years had caused.

“I am so grateful for that,” Aegeus said. “At least now I will have the opportunity to see in my grandchild what I never got to in my children. Those years were a painful price that I had to pay to buy the safety of the Universe. I only hope that it is enough.”

“It is more than anyone else I know would even consider giving,” Maxim said.

He drew in a breath, looking down at the piece of bread that he was still clutching in his hand.

“Is there something else?”

Maxim looked up into his father’s face. Now that he had told him about Ivy’s pregnancy he knew that it was time that he told him what he had really approached him to tell. He explained the situation with Frederick the way that he had with Avery, and that he planned to go back to the ship to do what he could to find out anything else that he could.

“I don’t know if I’m doing the right thing,” he finally admitted. “Being here on Penthos was about confronting Ryan and finishing the war that you started. Now I feel like I don’t even know what’s actually happening and I don’t know if I’m doing what I’m supposed to be.”

It had been difficult to admit his uncertainty. Maxim had been so confident, and he didn’t want anyone to know that he was questioning not just his understanding of what they were really facing on the planet, but whether he was going to be able to do what needed to be done to resolve it. The longer that this dragged on, the more that his confidence faltered. Maxim had no hesitation about what he was willing to do. He knew that he would give of himself completely and unfalteringly. The more complex the situation became, however, the more he wondered if that was enough.

“I know that feeling,” Aegeus admitted. “I know what it is to look at a situation ahead of you and think that it is completely insurmountable. I can promise you, though, that I have no doubt that everything that I didn’t have in me to finish what I started, you have. It is all here, Maxim,” Aegeus said, touching his son’s chest over his heart. “You have to trust yourself.”

“But what Avery said was right. We don’t know if Frederick was telling the truth about the crew being at risk because of someone who isn’t who they say that they are, or if that was a ruse because it was actually him who was the threat.”

“That’s true. But you can’t let that stop you. Whoever that man was and whatever his intentions, it doesn’t change that he got out of that containment unit and is missing. If you believe that that has some significance to everything else that’s happening, and that you need to find him, then that’s what you need to do. The more that you hesitate, the more that you question yourself, the less effective you are going to be. You can’t let your thoughts control you. Listen to what is inside you and let it guide you. You’ll find your way. Who Frederick was doesn’t change that he needs to be found. Whether finding him will protect everyone because of him or from him, it’s something that needs to be done.” Aegeus reached up and touched his son’s face, looking at him as if through all of the years that had passed and seeing the face of the child he had left behind. “I believe in you, son. I know that you can do this.”

Maxim walked away from his father feeling stronger and more at peace, but still aware of the emptiness that was within him. He didn’t want to go back to the others or be a part of all of the reunions that were happening around the compound. These weren’t his reunions. The only embrace that he was interested in was on Uoria and until he was able to be with her again, he didn’t have any interest in the emotions that they were all experiencing. He roamed along the edge of the darkened cluster of houses until he reached one of the larger buildings. There was a platform near the top that he could only assume had been created as a lookout post for the original users of the compound. He used it for the same purpose now, climbing up onto it so that he could look out over the desert.

The platform wasn’t high enough that he could see extensively over the planet, but it was enough that he was able to see beyond the stone wall. Maxim paced back and forth across the platform a few times, scanning as much of the horizon as he could see in the glow of the torches that were positioned on the wall. He was looking for any sign of movement, anything that might indicate that there was another battle impending. When all that he could see remained still, his mind wandered away from the desert and back to Ivy. He remembered the first time that he saw her. Everything changed in that moment. Everything that had been happening in the settlement faded away and all that mattered was the beautiful woman in front of him.

Ivy had been unlike any one who he had ever known. Though interacting with the humans in the settlement had been something he had heard about extensively from the elders of the kingdom, Maxim himself had never met a human. Once the Denynso came to the Mikana kingdom to ask for help, he was suddenly surrounded by humans, but that didn’t change that Ivy was precious and unique. She stood out from them not just in her beauty, but in the personality that seemed to challenge him while also luring him closer and softening the longer that they spent together.

As Maxim walked across the platform and continued to stare out beyond the stone wall, the desert faded away and became an endless expanse of lush purple flowers. He was looking out over the field where he and Ivy had roamed as they explored Uoria together and he allowed his mind to immerse him in the memory, remembering what it was like as she melted into his arms, her sweet mouth meeting his so willingly.

He turned his face to press a kiss to the center of her palm as Ivy cradled his face with one of her soft, tender hands. Maxim closed his eyes and took his hand from where he had held in on her cheek to press it over the one she held to his face. Ivy eased closer to him so that they sat together in the flowers with their thighs touching, then leaned forward so that she brought their chests close together. Even now Maxim could feel the breath sliding in and out of his lungs in a slow, deep rhythm that surrounded them and stretched out over the flowers that created a soft, fragrant blanket beneath them.

When Maxim opened his eyes, he lifted them to Ivy's. That was the moment when their connection had solidified, proving to him that he had found the woman he had looked for his entire life, that she was who he would love with all of the passion and devotion within him. He leaned toward her, tenderly touching her lips with his, and nothing else mattered.

As their kiss deepened and their bodies moved toward each other, he focused on the taste of her and the sensation as they shared their breath, filling themselves with one another. Maxim moved around until he was at her back and brought his hands to the zipper at the top of her dress. He had felt no urgency or impatience as he lowered the zipper, revealing her smooth, soft skin and reverently kissing along it with each new bit of her that he discovered.

Maxim's lips traveled down her spine, touching a loving, adoring kiss to each bone and gently grazing the skin with the tip of his tongue. Her head dropped forward, showing him the pleasure that she was feeling and the desire that they were sharing. When her dress was open, he pushed it forward over her shoulders so that it peeled away from her body. She had worn only panties beneath and he was greeted with the luscious sight of her perfect breasts and taut, pink nipples that hardened further when the breeze touched her. Within moments Maxim had removed her dress and shoes so that she was wearing only pale pink panties and Ivy turned around to face Maxim. He had never seen anything so incredibly beautiful as he drank her in, gazing over her body as she undressed him slowly. When his shirt opened beneath her fingers, she ran her hands along his chest and shoulders, as much removing the shirt as she was enjoying the feeling of him as he had her.

Ivy released the fastenings at the front of his pants and pushed them off of his hips and away so that their bodies were nearly bare before one another. There was no hesitation, no sense of nervousness. It felt only natural to be with her this way, open to her and to the beauty of Uoria around them. The velvety purple flowers were plush and warm beneath them as they kissed again, the tangling of their mouths guiding them as he lay her back and came down onto her.

Maxim cupped Ivy's breast with one hand and brought his mouth down to cover the other. Ivy let out a long breath as his tongue swept over her nipple, sending a shiver of desire and anticipation through him. He moved his warm mouth over to repeat the attention on her other breast, mimicking with the pad of his thumb on the first nipple as his tongue encircled and traced each side of the hardened point. This was something that he had never experienced before, but what he was feeling guided him, leading him through his reverent worship of her as he pushed back to sit on his thighs and removed her panties. When he came back to rest over her, he returned his mouth to her breast and ran his fingertips along the side of her ribcage. Desiring more of her, he brought his hand to the dip of her waist, and over the swell of her hip.

Ivy parted her thighs slightly and Maxim had felt the tip of his engorged erection brush through the warm, wet petals of her core. The touch of her hands on his back had encouraged him and in one careful, slow movement, Maxim sank into her. As he filled her and felt her body wrapping around, Maxim tucked his head down into the curve of her shoulder. His hands gripped her hips to hold himself steady as he began to roll his hips against her. With each deep stroke he felt her soft, tight walls massaging his length. Maxim took her hands so that he could press their palms together and intertwine their fingers and bring her arms up beside her head. This offered him more leverage and Maxim pushed back slightly to press even deeper.

Maxim rolled to his side and swept her leg up over his hips so that his arms were wrapped around her waist and he held her tightly against him. Maxim's legs tangled with Ivy's and their arms grasped each other close, allowing their bodies to mesh. This allowed him to continue to stroke inside her in thrusts that kept their bodies tightly connected even as she began to roll her hips to meet his. The pressure building within him had become almost unbearable as he grasped her thigh tightly with his fingertips and buried himself almost impossibly deep within her. The feeling of her body crashing around him, squeezing him as she cried out in pleasure pushed him over the edge into a climax that made the world around him disappear. He felt himself change as he throbbed and released, spilling into her body and clutching her as tightly as he could.

When it was over, they continued to cling to each other, Ivy kissing his neck and licking the sweat from his shoulder. They lay that way for what seemed like hours, staring into each other's eyes and occasionally kissing as their hands explored each other. Ivy’s eyes had closed in that moment and though Maxim had wanted nothing more than to drift away into the feeling of her breaths and the rhythm of her heart against his chest, he knew that there was something that she wanted to say.

The flowers disappeared, withering away into the desert sand as Maxim’s ears filled with the sound of the conversation that they had had that day, their bodies still warm and softened from the first time that they made love.

"What will happen when it's time for me to leave and go back to the Denynso settlement?"

"I'll go with you."

"And when it's time to go back to Earth? I'm only on Uoria for a short time."

"I'll go with you then, too."

"You will?"

"Yes. Or you can stay here with me. Look at everything that had to happen so perfectly so that we would be here, now, together. I won't let anything happen that will change that."

They hadn’t known the true impact of that conversation when they had it. Then their only concern had been Ivy leaving the Mikana kingdom and eventually leaving Uoria and whether Maxim would be able to convince her to stay with him or whether he would embark on an adventure away from the planet where he had lived his entire life so that he could start a life with her.

That was before everything. That was before his skin started to mutate, changing and dissolving away as the toxins in the flowers started to transform him into one of the gruesome, fearsome Klimnu. That was before Pyra let the power that he had take over his mind so that he imprisoned the Mikana men and threatened to kill them all.

That was before they learned about the Nyx 23 crew and the horrors of Ryan’s experiments.

Everything had changed so much since then. The innocence that had defined the earliest days of their relationship had been taken from them by all that they had experienced, but the adoration was still there. The passion and the devotion that he felt for her then had only intensified. Despite all of that, though, he knew that what they had said during that simple conversation was still true. He would do anything for her. He would go anywhere with her. There was nothing that would keep him from spending his life with her, and now with the child that they would share.

Maxim climbed down from the platform and headed for the building that he had turned into his temporary dwelling while he was on Penthos. He closed the door to the bedroom and undressed before climbing into bed. He expected that his thoughts of everything that had happened and the mission that he had ahead of him the next day would keep him awake all night, but within moments of his head touching the pillow he felt himself disappear into a deep, dreamless sleep.