For months, I have been running; running without rest. Yet, Jared always finds me. Always.

I don't know how he does it. For anywhere I go, he arrives a short while later.

Sometimes he arrives within a few minutes and sometimes after a couple of days. But he never fails to show up.

I wonder how?

The last time we had stood facing each other, moments before I had rebelled, he had warned me, "You are making a mistake. Don't do this, Jia." He had pleaded, and I had turned away, unrelenting.

"You can't hide from me. You know you can't." He had stated matter-of-factly.

Chuckling, I had clutched the vortex manipulator: my invention; my way out of the patriarchal society I was born into, and run to my pod.

Strapping myself in, I had let my imagination run wild; his fuming face, his blazing eyes contrasting his fair skin; his outstretched palms, as he tries to struggle free of the silver bonds that I had placed around him, I had imagined it all; it had boosted my confidence, and filled me with a sense of accomplishment.

Born from the same womb, but different as night and day, we were always on loggerheads with each other.

Love, like life-giving nectar, flowed through our veins, washing away blemishes left by differences of opinions, status and, varying attitudes.

Hurt left by unjust patriarchial favoritism, however, remained. Straining, what was once beautiful and perfect.

Presently, my pod almost crash lands on X1245, pulling me out of my musings; I look at the navigation system and then at myself. Both of us are in one piece, all thanks to the Vortex manipulator I had stolen from under Jared's nose, so to speak.

I hear muffled voices, followed by the sound of metal scraping metal, and fear grips me.

Wasn't this planet supposed to be abandoned!?

Something wasn't right.

FLEE, NOW!, I hear an urgent voice in my head; racking my brain, I try to recall everything mother had taught me about this galaxy, and a second later, it comes to me: vortex jump.

With haste, I punch in the code of my next destination, but just before I am about to hit the mains, the panel catches fire, and the pod door is ripped open.

I watch as two red, slimy Valbin limbs reach for me. Panicking, I scream and lean back; my back hits the wall of the now scorching pod, and I wince.

I am going to die, aren't I?

"You will regret it, Jia." Jared's last words, echo in my mind, filling me with regret.

As soon as I had left home, left Jared, I had questioned my decision and had concluded that I had probably not thought things through. But to return, would be equal to accepting defeat; accepting that I was wrong. And I couldn't let that happen. Not when I knew what accepting defeat meant.

I'd rather die than accept that I was wrong, I had thought at that time.

Oh! you stupid Boragian!

The slimy coarse arms snaking around my waist, and the stench of rotting flesh (probably its last meal) disgusts and nauseates me. I try to hold myself together, but my tear ducts betray me.

Was my ego worth dying for?, I ask myself, as I am dragged out of my pod and thrown onto the soft ground.

I open my eyes, just a smidgen. And red cracked ground, instead of pale blue as I had expected, greets me. A second later, the smell of sulfur overpowers my senses, and realization dawns on me.

I was not where I wanted to be!

Fear, disgust, regret, and the pain in my hearts, everything together, all at once, becomes too much; I puke my guts out.

I hear excited murmurs and impatient snarls as the name of my race, Boragian, bounces off from multiple lips.

Their reaction confirms my fears; I had landed on X1254, X1245's twin: the prison planet of X-Beta Galaxy.

A planet - a prison - whose inmates were put there by us: the peacekeepers of the entire known galaxies.

I look around, gasping. The air here is denser. There are only a few planets where a Boragian would need an air filtration system, unfortunately, this was one of them.

A Movr and a Cion (scavenger races with a panache for torturing even the dead) join the already present Valbin; they look at me like they had been served their next meal.

Turning, I look at my pod furtively, hoping for it to have survived, but alas, the barbarian races had already torn it to shreds.

Standing up on shaky legs, I search for the courage my race was known for; alas, I find it gone; shredded, just like my pod.

The Movr advances, "Boragian!" He exclaims and leaps at me; my three hearts almost give up; my vision blurs. The last thing my senses register is the pain at the back of my head, and the heady smell of sulfur.

When I open my eyes, I find myself almost naked, lying face down on a blue surface; every muscle in my body hurts.

It's X1245, my mind supplies; I try to sit up.

"Don't move." A deep voice instructs: Jared's voice.

How dare he tell me what to do!?

Irritated, I do exactly what I am told not to. Keeping my eyes on his back, I try to pull myself up and wince; his body stiffens, but he doesn't turn around.

"What are you doing?" I enquire, trying to sound calm, but the quiver in my voice betrays my hearts.

Silence.

"How am I here?" I demand, but what I truly want to know is why am I not dead yet.

"Isn't this where you wanted to be?" He asks, cold and condescending;

He is here to punish me...or worse, gloat and shown me the error of my ways.

Anger replaces fear, "I will never bow down to you or father!" I yell, trying to look for my garments. Every bone and muscle in my body hurts as if set on fire. I close my eyes to stop myself from looking week and the next moment, a cold substance makes contact with my back.

Relief floods me, and I open my eyes. I try to turn, but Jared's firm hand turns my cheeks to the front, "I am not done yet." He informs, and more cool substance lands on my arms and neck.

Grass root gel, I realize: the most valuable medicine created by my race, known for it's healing and regenerating qualities.

I stay still and wait for something derogatory to drop from his lips, but it doesn't.

He remains silent and goes about his business: healing my battered body; slowly, carefully, meticulously.

Once he is done, he covers me up, and making sure not to put pressure on my injuries, he picks me up.

That's when I look at him. Really look at him. Cuts and bruises mark his face and forearms.

How many more such injuries are hidden under the fabric covering his tall muscular frame, I wonder.

"You are hurt!" I state the obvious, and he smiles, "Yes, I am." He replies and carries me to a pod similar to mine.

"Jared, I won't go back there!" I declare, struggling; he stops and looks at me, "It will hurt more if you move. Jia, I will not take you anywhere against your will, alright?" He reassures, and a multitude of questions pop up in my mind:

What is happening?

Why is he not arguing with me?

Why hasn't he reprimanded me for stealing the vortex manipulator and fleeing yet?

But I don't ask any of those, instead, I ask the question that had been troubling me for months, "How did you keep finding me?"

He shakes his head and smiles, "That's for me to know, and you to find out." He replies, stroking my cheek, "Jia, I won't force you to, return. But know this, I never have thought of you as lesser than me, and I never will. Your place is not below me, it is by my side." He pauses and gently settles me into the pod before continuing, "I have done my best to patch you up, but it's not enough. Come back with me, please." He urges, his eyes pleading me to understand him.

Guilt floods me, "But I hurt you." I remark; he shrugs, "No, you didn't. Your captors did."

"That's not what," I start, but change my mind and decide to admit my follies instead, "The vortex manipulator is destroyed."

"That's fine, I made another one." He states, pointing at his pod's navigation panel. And there in the center of it is my vortex manipulator, or rather it's twin, for mine was destroyed.

That's not possible... Not unless he can read my mind!

I open my mouth to voice my query, but he doesn't let me. He holds my wrist, "Jia, I was never on father's side. You did not hear the whole conversation. You misunderstood me." He pulls out a metal band from his pocket and hands it to me.

Engraved on it is my father's royal seal; my eyes widen, and hands tremble.

"What does this mean?"

"He is ready to make changes. He is ready to let go of the old unjust traditions and embrace fair ones."

Did he convince father?

Why?

Wasn't he better off without me: a threat to his ascension.

"Wear it." He suggests, pulling me out of my reprieve; I continue to stare, and he puts it around my wrist, "I am not here to insult you, nor am I here to reprimand you. I am here to take you back. Come with me, Jia. I am tired of following you. I am tired of not having you next to me."

His words bring me joy the kind I had never known; I leave a breath I didn't even know I was holding, "Alright." I nod.

Jared beams. "Thank you." but doesn't elaborate. I notice that he hadn't answered my question about how he had managed to find me, and I decide to tease him one last time, "What if I run away again?"

"Well then, I just will have to follow you, won't I?" He replies, getting into the pod next to me and punches the key for our home planet. Then just before the pod comes to life, he looks at me mischievously and adds, "Jia, haven't I always told you that there is not a place in any galaxy you can think of where you can hide from me."

{Note:- Word Count 1780}