From inside the ship, Drako infected the computers of the extraterrestrial capture's agency with an untraceable virus, thus destroying all the information that they had on planet Life technology. Decades of research and secrets were finally destroyed, ending the ghost created by Mirov.

The Science spacecraft was hidden in the sea, next to ship Star Hunter. The friends from Planet Life decided that they would stay on Earth for a while, disguised as normal human beings, while they tried to find a way to cure Lorena. Despite the progression of the disease, of difficult regression, they hoped that the ship's laboratory would help them.

Nicholas, Merko, Lorena and Helen said goodbye to their friends and went home. Everyone needed to rest, put their heads together and mourn Zara's death. Merko went up to his room with Lorena as soon as he got home.

"My dear. I'm so glad you came back! I couldn't stand being alone anymore. I need you so much. And now with this disease... I may not be able to stand by your side for the rest of our lives as we have always wished", she confessed as she was gently placed on the bed.

"My love, I'll always be by your side. I'll do everything I can for you to be cured."

They fell asleep hugged, full of hope of better days.

Nicholas, on the other hand, was inconsolable. He couldn't stop thinking about Zara without crying. He remembered every minute of the happiness they had side by side. Since the first date, in the abandoned house.

"I can't believe she's not here. That damn Mirov appeared in our lives and brought death. I'd rather have died instead of my love", Nicholas thought with regret in his heart.

Helen couldn't sleep either. She went downstairs and saw her father, prostrate in the living room. She went to him and put her hand over his. The two looked at each other, without saying any words, only the tears in their eyes could express the pain. Nicholas hugged her, trying to appease his soul.

"Dad, will she ever come back?"

"No, my dear. Your mother is in heaven, with the angels. She's looking out for us now, taking care of you, no matter where she is."

Helen bit her lips lightly and continued to hug her father, needing affection.

A few days later, they were giving Zara a farewell ceremony. They had to close the coffin, because they didn't have a body. Lorena, even feeling pain, appeared. Drako, Sivoc, Crom, Tibor and Merko, all dressed in black, as well as Nicholas and Dargan, mourned such great loss. Helen was tearful, hand in hand with Sophia. They were all united in pain, remembering the sweetness and generosity of Zara.

The family explained to Sophia that Zara had died in a robbery, from which a shot was fired, which disfigured her face, that's why the coffin was sealed. They couldn't tell everything, for the girl wouldn't understand. Perhaps, at an opportune moment, they would try to reveal the whole truth to her.

And time continued to close the cycles, making the destined people find each other in their search for happy endings. Dargan ended up assuming his initial form from when he arrived on Earth, and decided to start a new life.

Deep down, he still liked Sophia, so he couldn't let her escape. He was "introduced" by Nicholas and Merko to her, and took every chance he could to win her heart, stay close to her and give her the love she had always dreamed of.

The datings came next, and Nicholas supported the relationship, because Dargan had become a close friend and ally.

Sophia reciprocated Dargan's love, and in the meantime, dreamed of being a good environmental engineer, studying alternative energies that were sustainable and could improve the environment in the future. She wanted to create new methods of recycling, that would renew the ecosystem and the quality of life on Earth.

Together, they became a happy couple.

***

One day, the house woke up with the Lorena's screams. She was in a lot of pain and heart oscillation, so she was taken by Nicholas and Merko to the Los Angeles Oncology Hospital. The doctors used the most modern diagnosis systems and concluded that Lorena no longer had a chance for a cure. Now, only a miracle could save her.

Merko, in a desperate act, took Lorena into his arms and teleported to Star Hunter spacecraft, the woman still doped with the drugs used on the exam. He walked with her on his arms to the bridge of the command room and asked Z8:

"Save Lorena with all the knowledge you have. There must be something I can do. This is a direct order from your commander!"

But not even the technology of the planet Life had a solution ready to help her. And the captain kept silent as he knelt with his wife in his arms...

Sometimes, not even all the technology in the universe can save a life.

Merko returned home, disappointed, with Lorena in his arms. Resigned, he decided to stay by his beloved wife's side until the last breath.

***

That mood of sadness affected everyone, including Helen. Alone, sitting on the swing, giving an impulse each time bigger, she thought that she had lost her mother and soon her grandmother would also abandon her.

In this attempt to forget everything, the girl lost her balance and fell, cutting her arm into a pointed stone that was on the floor. In face of the blood, she began to scream, thinking that she would die too. Nicholas and Sophia rushed to help her and saw that she had a great wound on her right arm, one in which the doctors would have to give stitches to close.

Merko was coming to see them at the time of the event. He gave himself little moments during the day when he left the side of Lorena's bed, willing to see that there was still life in the world, in the figure of his granddaughter.

"Ouch... My arm... It hurts!" Screamed the little girl, through tears.

But something unusual happened, that they would never forget. Suddenly, the edges of the wound united and, as if it were a miracle, the injury began to heal, instantly. Everyone looked at each other in astonishment, and Merko remembered the power of Nicholas' cells. They all looked at that in wonder, except Sophia, of course, who nearly fainted seeing the process of regeneration.

After all, she didn't know she was living among extraterrestrial and hybrid beings with surprising powers.

Merko and Nicholas managed to convince her not to tell anyone about anything, so as not to cause trouble for Helen. They said she had a blood with fantastic defense properties and asked her to keep the mutation a secret, not to catch the attention of the scientists, who would try to study her. The young woman complied, although she couldn't handle the fact very well.

Drako, knowing that new information, had an idea. He summoned everyone to the ship and asked to do some exams on Helen's blood.

"Why? What happened?" The girl was curious when she was taken to that ship once more.

"He thinks your blood's even more powerful than your father's. If that's true, you can help heal Grandma", Merko said hopefully.

He had studied all the hypotheses with Drako before giving such great hopes to everyone, including his granddaughter.

"We think that the defenses that exist in your blood can be genetically altered." At this moment, Dr. Sitak, a specialist in the field, spoke. "Nicholas has the highly differentiated N lymphocytes and has already proven this by healing princess Isadora. But these cells could never regress a malignant tumor with this degree of advancement. As for Helen, perhaps having a stronger hybrid feature allowed her to acquire defense cells with the magnificent power of regeneration. If we can separate the gene that controls this characteristic and replicate it, we can implant it in your grandmother, reversing the disease state."

Nicholas, Merko and Helen smiled, dazzled by the possibility of saving Lorena. The girl accompanied the doctor, along with her father, to the exam. With the sample collected, within a few hours, they modified the blood with apparent success. They went to Merko's house and, while Lorena slept, injected the medicine into her bloodstream. Now all that was left to do was to wait.

For hours, nothing seemed to work, which saddened everyone involved. One by one, they all left the room, discouraged, thinking they had lost their last resort there. But Merko didn't give up and stood beside her. He slept sitting until he heard a whisper, calling him.

"It's good to wake up and see you here, next to me", it was Lorena, holding his hand. "I had a strange dream that I was dying..."

Merko's eyes filled with water, trying to hold the urge to laugh, full of happiness.

"How are you, my love?"

"I'm great! Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing, love. It was just a nightmare that passed..."

After staying with her until she fell asleep again, a better sleep this time, without pain or fever, Merko went downstairs to celebrate with everyone.

"She's fine... I think she is cured! Please, Dr. Sitak, examine her to give us your opinion."

Happiness embraced everyone at that moment, but there were still good things left to live.

Only one person didn't feel fully happy yet: Nicholas. Day after day, he suffered with Zara's death.

He had even thought about returning with the ship to the past and rescuing her, as they had done on other occasions, but he wasn't going to put all his friends and family in an unwise idea. Besides, he had to take care of his daughter. And if he died or failed in the mission, what would be the chances of losing her?

Every day, he walked along the trail where everything started; there he had met the woman of his life. He stopped near the hut where they had kissed each other for the first time, and remembered every moment, as if she were alive and present. Many times, he seemed to hear Zara's voice, saying that she was fine, asking him to raise their daughter with all the love he still felt for her.

But in one occasion, the pain was great, unbearable. He sat on a rock on the path and cried for everything he had lost. He screamed, gave way to the agony so it could leave and he could go on his way. Until a figure stood before him.

Someone who made Nicholas astonished...

The impossible had happened.

"Zara. I can't believe it... It can't be you!"

He was surprised and got up. He touched her face, which smiled at him. He then saw that Zara was there. Alive, real. Beautiful.

"But how...?"

She kissed him and they both cried. They hugged each other, excitedly.

Drako suddenly appeared near them, smiling, and sharing that happiness.

"Can you tell me how is this possible?" Nicholas asked.

Zara said nothing. It was Drako who started to tell him what had happened.

"When we came to Earth on the first trip to get you, we created an android to take with us on the mission, with the same profile as Zara. It was her who made the first trips to the Earth, to understand the behaviors of your era. The doctor would control her replicant in the safety of our ship, Science, without getting involved. But when Zara saw you through our files, something in you touched her. That's why she decided to come to Earth in person, and the rest of the story you already know... The android, then, went into a hibernation state in Science ship, until second order. What you don't know is that before you went to Helen and Lorena's rescue mission in the Bermuda Triangle, I did some routine exams on Zara on the ship..."

"I remember she wasn't well and they took her for a while, right?"

"Yes. On that occasion, we discovered that she was pregnant. She couldn't take any risks, because I didn't know how this second pregnancy would affect her. So, I programmed the android with Zara's memory and consciousness and replaced her to face your enemies. We put on her a sedative substance and she fell asleep, very reluctantly, because she wanted to help you at any cost. She wanted to see Helen and save her. But then the clone was killed and its body thrown into the sea."

"And why didn't you tell us the truth?"

"Because they tried to get me off the induced sleep, but they couldn't," Zara said, finally. "My body went into a kind of coma, so I wouldn't go through all the emotional disturbances that were plaguing me during the pregnancy, especially what was happening to Helen. So, I was ecstatic not to lose the child I carried in my womb. How could they tell you something? What if I never woke up again?"

Nicholas squeezed Zara into his arms and began to smile. Tibor appeared next to Zara, bringing the little baby, another fruit of that love able to surpass time and space.

"I love you, Zara. And our son..." He could barely contain himself with so much happiness.

"I love you too, Nick!"

They hugged and their lips met in a long, intense kiss of love. Soon after, Nicholas took the little baby in his arms and smiled happily. He knew his story was about to begin again.

Tibor and Drako cleared their throats and walked away slowly. They felt that the moment belonged to the couple in love and the pair now needed to make up for lost time. So, they left as quietly as they had arrived.

Now, life would return to normal. Finally.

Leave the family quiet now for a moment, so they can have their own moments of peace and happiness. Allow Zara to see her family again and say - or make up the necessary explanations, depending on the necessity. Let them live the humanity that has been denied to them until now, since there's no more threatening shadow over them.

***

It was time for Science spaceship to leave.

Merko, Zara and Nicholas once again hugged Tibor, Crom, Sivoc and Drako. Everyone was emotioned, torn between leaving and staying because of the bonds that brought them together.

"When you need us, know that you have real friends ready to help you, in whatever you want." Drako smiled as he commented.

Merko nodded. Meanwhile, Zara and Nicholas exchanged their last jokes with the others.

"Now, we must leave. Our families are waiting for us. The trip will be long and I think we can return to our routines now," Sivoc tried to scare away the sadness.

"I don't know what to say. You're the best people I've ever met in my whole life. Thank you, my friends!" Nicholas said goodbye, before they teleported outside the ship.

That was how they saw each other for the last time, in a mood of effusive celebration, before the ship took off for planet Life. There, they were greeted with a huge party by Queen Isadora, who was happy with the end of the threats. All the team members were treated like the heroes they really were. And they would live happily, until a new threat tried to attack the kingdom.

But that would be another story. What I can ask is that you believe... If you ever look at the stars and notice a different glow, something new scratching the skies, don't get scared, and whisper "have a safe journey". Maybe it's Merko and his friends embarking on a new adventure...

THE END

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https://youtu.be/07JiIpO7hFo