Albatross King watches in bafflement as the last human contender, Xi Chang, chooses to fight a duel as well, even though the other choice is treatment for his leukemic infant and monetary support for his pregnant wife, He didn't even have a clue about either conditions before now, and given his middle class status, the support offered will be a boon to his family in their last days. But he doesn't want anything to do with our money. His wife doesn't want it either.

It's irritating for him to admit, but he can see that peacemaker isn't entirely wrong. Her people can still be kind and selfless when they want to be. But it angers him even more, because they intentionally choose not to be so in their daily lives. That in his opinion is worse than being selfish racist bastards in the first place.

As Albatross dismissed the humans back to their rooms after the final call, his mind wanders back to the conversation between peacemaker and her niece. He smiles as he remembers how that little girl is just as badass and smart-mouthed as peacemaker is. But what she said, those simple, innocent words stuck deep with him, so much that he's finding them too disturbing to let go. Why would she want to do anything with the sister of a man who's forcing her family to fight, and threatening to kill her people day and night?

Albatross cannot help but think how there will be millions of human kids like her on Earth; kids like Precious, who know nothing of greed, selfishness and cruelty. Is it fair to punish them for the crimes their ancestors committed? Is Vadarius right in believing this is injustice? Is he really being unfair?

He sighs deeply as his head swirls with the conflicting thoughts. He was so convinced these humans are evil incarnate, how is he second guessing himself now? That peacemaker is messing with his head with her manipulation. He knows what he's doing is right. He has spent years waiting for humans to mend their ways, but they don't give a damn. He's just doing Earth a favor.

Then why doesn't it feel right anymore?

__________

"Mr. King", Peacemaker's calm, melodious voice from somewhere behind Albatross breaks his reverie. He stops gazing at the velvety purple veil of midnight sky stretching above the vast gardens, its beautiful expanse adorned with the twin moons and millions of tiny twinkling stars. 

He turns around to see her, wrapped in a simple black dressing gown, messy hair tied up in a loose bun and tired red eyes boring into his own with a tiny calm smile on her face.

"Couldn't sleep?", he asks her in a soft voice that she has only heard him using with Precious before.

"Yeah", she says in a faint whisper, but doesn't explain any further.

"Missing your family?" He asks as he continues gazing into her eyes that are now looking back at him with curiosity.

"Yes, seeing them after so long was kind of overwhelming", she says as she comes and stands next to him, both of them looking at the beauty of the night sky.

"It's hardly been two months, peacemaker."

"I haven't met them since at least six months."

His brows furrow in confusion, and she responds to his unasked question immediately.

"I was too busy working on the new COEXIST policies. My priorities were messed up, I guess. I never made much time for them, even when we lived in the same country and now they're so far away, I can't even try, if I want to."

He nods silently and the silence lingers, the only sound around them is their calm breathing and the cool breeze rustling leaves in distance.

"I wanted to thank you, Mr. King", Avni says suddenly.

Albatross turns to face her so quickly, that her lips curve into a smile at his shock.

"You want to thank me?", he asks baffled, his brows raised towards his hairline.

Her smile stretches wider as she nods.

"Yes, for letting me talk to my family that long, and for giving me a chance to prove we aren't all bad. Misguided, selfish, greedy, yes. Cruel, maybe. But, evil? I don't think so. We aren't perfect Mr. King, but if we try, we can become a better version of ourselves. We just need a shove in the right direction."

He looks at Avni in silence as he contemplates her words. He can see that what she's saying isn't wrong; she isn't sugarcoating, just laying down the facts that he already witnessed today.

"So thank you. Mr. King. For the chance you gave us today. And if one of us wins your game, I hope you'll find it in you to give us a chance to survive as well. I know you don't want to, and you're entitled to your opinion, just like I'm entitled to mine. I just wanted you to know that I respect that you're keeping an open mind. It reaffirms my hope - in my species, and in yours too."

He nods at her silently, which she returns gratefully. She turns around towards the direction she came from, and as she walks away, he watches in lilac glittery moonlight, as her confident silhouette drifts away from him. There's no malice in her odor, no lies, no treachery - just pure honesty and hope.

"Peacemaker!", Albatross calls out to her and she stops abruptly. He walks towards her briskly and when he's close enough, he can notice her looking back at him with those curious eyes again. A stray thought crosses his mind, that if she was one of his kind, her eyes would be beautiful, deep ocean blues, just like Precious'.

"I wanted to thank you too".

Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise, but she doesn't say anything, just waits patiently for him to go on.

"Thanks for taking care of Precious, when I was fighting to save Vadarius, and even before I reached there. You didn't have to, you could have refused Haile, but you didn't. You were right, I couldn't identify your kindness and compassion. You genuinely care about her, perhaps like you care about your own niece back on Earth."

Her eyes glitter in the dark, a soft smile gracing her features as nods and swallows the lump in her throat in silence.

"I apologize for blaming you that morning, my anger was unnecessary and my words were way out-of-the-line."

"I understand your perspective, Mr. King, you probably have some strong reason to believe we humans are inherently selfish. Perhaps that's why you found it hard to believe me that day. I won't say what you said is fine or it's okay, but I do forgive you. You're protective of Precious, so it's natural for you to second-guess everything related to her safety, especially if it involves somebody you believe is your enemy."

"You don't consider me your enemy?"

She shakes her head and smirks.

"Enemy? No. Egoistic, arrogant jerk? Sure. I don't believe you're evil, Mr. King, but in my opinion, your methods and beliefs are wrong. But who am I to judge you? My methods and beliefs are wrong in your opinion too. We are two very different people from two different species. Our personalities aren't just poles apart, they're galaxies apart! You believe in punishment, I believe in redemption. You want to wipe us off Earth, I want us to change and become worthy of living there. There's no middle ground to our ideologies. We don't really agree on much, so best, let's agree to disagree?"

He nods back at her, mulling over the depth behind her honest words. She takes his silence as her cue to leave, but before she can turn away, he stops her again.

"Let me make it up to you for my unfair behavior that morning? Can I do something for you?"

Her brows shoot up again. 

"No thanks, Mr. King, I don't want you calling me selfish again later. I don't need payback for taking care of that little one. She's a sweetheart, I like spending time with her."

"This is not for taking care of Precious. And, she likes spending time with you too. In fact, feel free to meet her anytime you want. I just want to make up for my unfair behavior that day, I'll appreciate if you let me do that."

"This is so out of character for you, Mr. King. But, if you insist, I have been meaning to ask you for permission to use your library or internet, if you have that. And before you misunderstand my intentions, I don't want to use Internet to contact Earth, I just want to use it to learn. I am really curious about your planet and your species. I want to know more about it, I have so many questions but I don't want to bother anyone with them. And it gets really boring when we're not training in the evenings, so it will be a productive way to spend time."

Albatross considers her request for a few seconds. He knows she can't really connect to Earth using Internet anyway, not without Commander, Vadarius or his own retina scan. And he knows she is a curious one, so if she just wants to know more about his people and his planet, where's the harm in that?

"Okay, I'll talk to the Commander tomorrow peacemaker, he'll show you our library. We have internet connectivity there as well. You can visit when you're not training, but remember all your online activity will be monitored closely. You won't be able to erase any footprints. If I find anything out of ordinary, your privileges will be revoked immediately."

"That's fair. You don't really have to worry about anything, you know. I'll most likely read about Volzites, their color changing eyes, emotion smelling noses, color of their blood, circulatory system, nervous system, stuff like that. Or maybe, the size of Volzolks, the countries, cultures etc. I have always been interested in biology and history, so I'll likely be reading all about that."

"Isn't history and biology an odd combination though?"

Her eyes light up and she responds excitedly, "Yeah, my family thinks that too. Biology always fascinated me in my formative years, how body works and all that. So I chose a nursing major later. But when I decided to ditch my nursing degree midway to take up political sciences, mom got really furious. She said I'm wasting my life by ruining three good years of college. I wonder what she thinks now though. I'm sure she wishes I had stuck to my nursing career, I wouldn't have been stuck here right then."

Her voice takes on a morose note as her mind wanders back to her family.

"Do you regret it? Giving up your nursing career?" Albatross asks curiously, his mind feeling fascinated with this mystery of a human woman.

"Nah! I found my calling in governance. Now that I think about it, I wouldn't have got the golden chance to negotiate with an alien king on an alien planet if I hadn't chosen this career path. If I could go back in time, I think I'd ditch nursing all over again for this."

She says and chuckles lightheartedly, like she isn't talking about a life choice that turned into a life or death situation.

"You're one of a kind, peacemaker", he says shaking his head, as she tries to catch her breath after her not-so-funny joke.

"I know, Mr. King. So are you," she smirks at him after another terrible attempt at poor humor.

"I wasn't talking about our species, peacemaker."

"Neither was I, Mr. King. I should retire to my room now, I have training early morning tomorrow. Good night." She says with a warm smile and turns around and walks away.

He watches her as she finally turns around the corner and disappears inside the palace entrance.

"Good night, peacemaker. I'm sure your mother is proud of your choices, nursing or not."