epilogue
Oz
The next day, after Oz had carefully supervised the undocking procedures and all the adjustments he’d made to the ship, he felt it was time to show Molly his surprise. He felt a bit giddy, like his academy days when he’d gone to present the designs for Xeo to his instructor, knowing for sure that they would find their way to the council and approval.
But he’d learned, in his time knowing Molly, that she was not one he could easily figure out. All he could do was see.
When he picked her up from their room, she was laying her clothes into the little compartments he’d set aside for her. Pride ran through him that she would always be there, that he would get to see her every night, hold her in his arms and sleep beside her. He couldn’t believe his luck that he would find someone like her. He’d never thought that he could be so happy with a girl matched to him randomly from another world.
As they walked down the hall, she slipped a warm hand in his. He squeezed it gently and looked down to see her smiling at him. It was so different the way she walked beside him now, not frightened of the walls or the viewports or of him, but content and secure.
She was wearing the little skirt again, not suitable for ladders, so he loaded into the supply elevator again.
“I wasn’t thinking,” she said as she paused outside the elevator.
“It’s okay.” He smiled as he pulled her in beside him. “I don’t mind.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and used his tail to push the down button. His tail went to wrap around her ankle possessively.
As the doors of the elevator slid open, he led her toward the front of engineering and into one of the larger storage rooms.
Molly drew in her breath as she looked around. “Is this going to be a garden?” she asked. She went down the rows of garden bays, touching the soil and holding her hands under the warmth of the sunlamps he’d placed over them.
“I’ve asked the captain if we could requisition some Earth seeds. You’ll need to let him know what to request. And there’s this—” Oz reached over and enabled the view screen. It settled on a distinctly Earth visage: a large field of yellow plants waving in a breeze with a bright yellow sun overhead. “I was able to download this from the Mahdfel database. It says it’s from a Kansas wheat field. I thought you might like it, and this way you could work here. Near me.” He held his breath, waiting.
She didn’t say anything at first, just looked around, but when she finally turned to him, she had a sunlit smile on her face that filled his heart with joy.
“Oz, it’s incredible. It feels like a bit of home.” She rushed into his arms and gave him a big hug. She stood on tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Thank you for doing all of this. Now—” Molly slapped him on the butt. “Let me work.” She rubbed her hands together. “I think I’ll need rosemary and thyme… hmm.” She glanced over at him with a smirk of challenge on her face and looked away. “…And over here maybe some…”
Oz watched for a moment, smiling, then pulled her back into his arms. He would need a little more thank you than that.
She acted surprised then leapt into his arms, pulling his face to hers. “I love it.” She giggled. “I love you…” Her voice grew tentative and dark with intimacy as she struggled with the words. “…shah la van lo va.”
He watched the words form on her lips, a tenderness piercing through him.
She had called him her mate.
My Molly, my mate, mah lo ma.
As he leaned her against the wall — his tail wrapped around her leg, his hands through her hair, her soft moan like music to his ears — his tattoos glowed bright enough to rival the sun.
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Thanks for reading,
Phoebe
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