CHAPTER 25

"Loe? Loe, wake up! Come back to me, niela."

She didn't open her eyes. Didn't move in the gel encasing her body. But she moaned weakly.

Nitiel felt the sting of tears in his eyes for the first time since he could remember. Happy tears, the Terrans called them, and he never believed such a thing was possible.

Apparently, today was a day of one impossible thing after another.

He began directing the gel away from Loe, now that it had served its purpose. She appeared unharmed, not a drop of blood on her. Down on his knees by her head, Nitiel ran his fingers through her curls – there was no red, no bumps. She must have lost consciousness out of fright, not a head trauma.

Loe moaned and scrunched her little nose. "Tickles," she mumbled, eyes still closed.

Nitiel grinned from ear to ear, and brushed the tip of his hair away from Loe's face. Then he cupped her cheeks and pressed his lips to hers.

"Mmm… More…"

He laughed and kissed her once more, twice, three times. When he began pulling back, gentle fingers caught him by the ear and tugged him down for a fourth.

"Loe," he said on a sigh over her lips. "Are you awake?"

"No… Dreaming... Best dream ever."

"This is not a dream, my Loe. We're alive."

"Hmm… You won't disappear if I open my eyes?"

Nitiel chuckled. "I'm not going anywhere." He lay down next to her and gently tucked her under his wing. His whole body hurt from the rough flight and even rougher landing, but none of that mattered when Loe was in his arms, alive and well.

She cracked one eye open. "Nitiel?... We survived?"

He cupped the nape of her neck and brought her lips to his. He kissed her long and deep, until there was no doubt left that they had both escaped death.

She then touched his face, his shoulders, his chest to make sure he wasn't hurt. "My God, we made it!" She buried her face in his pec and clung to him as if he still might disappear. "We kicked butt and didn't die!... Um, how?"

"The strong winds on this moon – Europa, as your kind call it. I used the current to slow our descent and get us horizontal." Nitiel still couldn't believe he had managed to pull that off. He had seen it done just once, and in a flight simulator. "Had we ended up on Jupiter, that would have been our end."

Loe looked up at him, eyes rounded. "Because of Jupiter's Great Red Spot? The endless storm baffling scientists for decades?"

He shook his head. "That storm is not endless. It has been shrinking for some time now, after the Jupharri stopped experimenting on the surface from space and left the Solar System for good." Loe's eyes rounded further. Did she not know that fact? Every Gaenthian child studied it in science class as a warning to the dangers of experimentation.

"Jupiter's atmosphere alone would have torn us to pieces. In fact, any stronger wind on this moon than the one we found ourselves in would have finished us off with our shield at 1%." He met Loe's gaze before adding, "This is the Goddess' work. She wanted us to live."

"Huh... And, um, what happens now?"

He followed her gaze in the direction of the cockpit. Visible through the porthole was an ocean of ice as far as the eye could see. Loe shivered and snuggled closer.

"We wait to be rescued. I managed to send a distress signal out. It won't be long until they send a shuttle."

"What about the lack of power? Won't we freeze to death? Lose oxygen?"

"The life support system is separate. It will last us long enough, we are safe."

Her pale lips stretched into an amused smile.

"What is it, my Loe?"

"I'm thinking about all the times you used the word ‘safe'. Starting from that little mishap in the limo, which you claimed would be the last. ‘Everything will be running smoothly from here onward, my lady,' is what you said."

Nitiel felt like hiding under his wings. "There is no bigger failure among Gaenthians than me. All this time I was trying to protect you, when the biggest threat to you was me."

"No, Nitiel, that's not what I meant!" She placed her small hand over his upper heart. "I was going to say that using that word jinxes everything. Let's just say we're okay for the time being. And enough with the word ‘failure' as well! You have saved me how many times already? I'm still here thanks to you."

He shook his head. "Exactly. You're here, on a frozen moon after having to fight for your life, because of me."

"I snuck aboard, or have you forgotten?"

"I should have returned you to the station immediately after finding you here. To Commander Siriniel. That's what an honorable male would have done."

Loe narrowed her gaze at him. "Is that what you'll do now? Once we get rescued? Forget what happened between us and take me to the Twirly Horn guy?"

Nitiel took a deep breath. "Yes."

Fire ignited in Loe's gaze, but he put a finger on her lips before she could say anything. "I'll take you to him so I can tell him face to face… that you're mine."

Loe's lips formed an O.

Yes, Nitiel was shocked at his decision himself. But there was no backing down now. "I'll tell the Commander you're my niela, by my own decision. Not some glitchy AI's."

Loe smiled then laughed, the sound full of joy that made both Nitiel's hearts swell with happiness. "That's right. And you're my niel, I've decided. Fudge the ASI."

He grinned. "Fudge it."

She giggled, and he swallowed her bubbly laughter with a kiss.