Tanya's eyes were locked on me as I took a long sip of my drink. I had just finished telling her the entire story between me and Heather, and she wasn't even blinking. The news about the mission to the other side had stirred me up like a cyclone and for the first time in five years, I felt the need to spill my guts about everything that happened back when I was a Narval Officer. Tanya nearly sent a margarita flying over the counter, when she knew I was going to spill the beans about 'that wavy brunette gal' as she called Heather.

I wasn't sure how the story would come out; I had never put the words out loud to anyone before. Would I break into tears or have a panic attack? To my surprise, none of that happened. Instead, I spoke at lightning speed, as if the words had been impatiently waiting between my teeth and came out almost without allowing me to breathe.

At first, Tanya couldn't stop smiling and making comments here and there. But as the story unfolded and we reached the part about the attack, the bombs, and Michael shooting Heather, she fell silent. But, I mean, who wouldn't? It's not like it was a fairytale precisely.

"And now, in three days... I'll see her again... After five years of radio silence. And to be honest, I have no idea how I'll cope with it. I might die of a heart block on the meeting table." I said.

Tanya stared at me, processing all the information and playing with a coin, passing it through her fingers. It seemed she had a thousand things to say, but somehow she couldn't decide where to start.

I took another sip of my glass and realized it was empty.

"Another, please." I said pushing the glass to her. 

"Oh no, no girl. You've had enough for tonight," she said firmly, shaking her head. "You need to keep a clear head, especially with everything coming up." Tanya said as she took my glass from the counter.

"Ok, MUM!" I said, annoyed.

"I ain't no mum. Just a good friend." She corrected me.

"A good friend would let me drink." I insisted.

"You want to end up like him?" She said, turning the head to a techno-human who was almost asleep at the counter, clutching his glass as if it were the elixir of life.

"You mean forget about every tinny bit of this messed up world and sleep like a baby in my best friend's bar? Sounds like a plan to me." I said.

Tanya rolled her eyes. "Come on. You are stronger than that. You don't need to drown it all out with alcohol."

"Strong?" I raised an eyebrow. "You've seen my attacks, I'm broken." I said.

Tanya shook her head. "You got your heart broken which is a different thing."

I sighed wearily. "Whatever... The mission will be a total disaster anyway. There's no way I can work with Heather again." 

I gazed at the techno-human and caught sight of a bowl with atomic peanuts next to him. "Can I have some of those at least?" I asked.

Tanya grinned and grabbed a bowl from under the counter. "Atomic peanuts coming right up!" 

She reached into a nearby cabinet, pulled out a big container, and loaded the bowl with a bunch of green and shiny peanuts. I scooped up a handful and popped them into my mouth. No idea how, but those fiery little snacks had become my absolute favorite. Extra spicy and extra crunchy.

Tanya watched me with admiration. "The first time you tried those, I almost ran out of water. You needed an ocean to digest them!" she said, smiling at the memory. "And now look at you, all grown up, eating them like popcorn," she added.

"Well, I guess we all change." I said.

Tanya tapped the table as if I had just uttered something profound. "That's right, girl. We change. You're not the same Grace you were five years ago." She gave me a knowing glance.

"So?" I replied, my mouth full of peanuts.

"So the mission might not be a total disaster. You've changed, and maybe she has too. Perhaps you two can come out of this as friends," she said.

I chuckled so hard that I almost sent a bunch of peanuts flying like fireballs over the counter. "Friends?! You're such an optimist. I'd settle for just not turning into mortal enemies," I said.

"Alright. Not mortal enemies then. It's a start at least," Tanya leaned in, locking eyes with me. "Besides... let's face it... Deep down, you want to see her," she said, as if it were an undeniable truth.

A peanut got stuck in my throat, and I started coughing.

"Easy there," Tanya said, giving me a couple of hearty pats on the back.

"You've got it all wrong. It's not about what I want or don't want. It's more like I'm physically incapable of seeing her," I managed to choke out between coughs.

Tanya threw me a sly grin. "But you need to," she declared, with a confidence that made me wonder if she had psychic abilities.

"I'm not following," I said.

"Listen, Grace, I know you. I've seen you at your lowest," she began. "You're not the type to brush off trauma easily. You need to confront things. You need to confront her."

She wasn't wrong. No matter how hard I tried to push them from my mind, Heather and, of course, Michael lingered there like unwelcome ghosts. They were the two people I had loved the most, yet oddly enough, probably the ones who despised me the most as well.

"How do you feel about them?" Tanya asked.

"I don't know. I don't feel anything, really," I said, trying to shrug off the question.

"Come on. You need to let those feelings out or you'll still be having panic attacks at your 70th birthday," Tanya insisted.

"I feel..." The words caught in my throat. "I really don't know, Tanya."

"You do. Come on. You were about to say it... You feel...?" she repeated.

"Well... If I have to say the first thing that comes to my mind... it's..." I hesitated.

"Yeah?" Tanya locked eyes with me, as if by holding my gaze she could coax out the words she knew were bubbling just beneath the surface.

"Anger," I blurted out. It came out so intense that I surprised myself. "I'm angry at both of them!"

Tanya hit the table in triumph. "That's what I thought," she said, crossing her arms on her chest and looking satisfied.

"Yeah, right?" I said, finally acknowledging a feeling I had never expressed out loud. It had always been there, hiding behind the guilt that was eating me alive. But even with that, it had never gone away. I was furious. There was a fire burning inside me, destroying everything in its path. I looked at Tanya, and she nodded as if permitting me to keep talking. So I did.

"Michael ran away. He didn't trust me. I moved heaven and earth for him! Erik suffered the consequences, and he... he... ran away! Like I was nothing!" A quick tear slipped over my eyelid and down my cheek, though I quickly brushed it away. I had shed enough tears for them in the past. "And Heather... She... She was cruel." My heart sank in pain at every tiny reminder of her.

Tanya reached her hand over the counter and held mine gently.

"You have to allow yourself to feel that anger," she said.

My hands trembled, and my heart once again ached with pain. That anger was battling to the death with the overwhelming guilt I had carried all those years. "But everything happened because of me..." I mumbled.

Tanya shook her head. "No, no. We're not going down that road. Not a chance. You can't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, Grace. You did what you thought was right at the time."

I closed my eyes for a moment trying to absorb the meaning of those words.

"I just wish things had turned out differently. Maybe then Michael... Heather and I..." I trailed off. 

Thinking about how different everything could have been was like digging myself into a hole I couldn't escape from.

"Hey, you can't get stuck on what-ifs. Don't waste your energy on those questions. You gotta live the present girl, and work on how you'd like it to be." She said.

"I don't know how to do that." I said.

"First of all, try to relax. The meeting is in three days, right?" Tanya asked.

"Right." I confirmed.

"Then, stop that head of yours and give yourself a break. Go running, gather with friends, do whatever you like to do to relax. And then, in three days, you go to the meeting. Keep it professional between the two of you and let things flow at their own pace," She said.

"I guess you're right." I said.

"Of course I am!" Tanya said with a grin. "And hey, don't forget the most important part: rushing back here to spill all the juicy details to me!"

"Only if you're willing to keep the drinks flowing," I replied with a playful wink.

She chuckled, nodding in agreement. "Deal. I'll provide the drinks, and you'll provide the drama."

· · ·

The days leading up to the meeting were incredibly claustrophobic. Brooke practically didn't leave the Nexus Court. Every day, high-ranking people from different departments came to arrange the details of the mission. I had never seen so many people wandering around the gardens, corridors, and rooms of the Nexus Court. The hangar for airships had never been so full.

Luckily, Brooke's busyness meant that I had more free time, so I decided to take Tanya's advice and try to relax.

Running was always the best medicine for me. So very early in the morning, before the Nexus Court was up and running the world, I laced up my running shoes and dashed outside.

I decided to cut through the hangar since I loved admiring the new and expensive spaceships, that those top-ranked people brought. Besides, the Nexus Court's hangar was one of my favorite places. It was gigantic, with towering walls and a roof that opened automatically upon detecting ships to let them descend. That day, the hangar was unusually quiet, save for the faint hum of engines and the presence of a solitary Asthar R6-02. It was a small model but very luxurious. It had golden-edged doors and a triple engine in the rear that God, surely made that machine go wild.

Suddenly, the hangar ceiling shook, gears grinding and it began to open. A spacecraft had been detected. I glanced upward just in time to see a sleek dark and red hoverbike descending at breakneck speed, narrowly avoiding a collision with the Asthar model. Close call, I thought.

Hoverbikes weren't exactly a dime a dozen. There were very few models, very famous for being powerful beasts and at the same time real pain to handle.

The rider, who was wearing a shiny red helmet matching the color of the hoverbike, skidded in the air and stopped in Brooke's parking area.

"Hey, you can't park here!" I called out.

No response. The rider jumped off from the machine and connected its battery to Brooke's energy source.

"Hey, didn't you hear me? This is private property. You can't park here!" I raised my voice this time.

"Says who?" The rider turned towards me while pulling out its helmet.

A cascade of wavy strains tumbled over her shoulders. Clear silver eyes locked onto mine. My heart froze. Goosebumps prickled my skin. And I felt as if the floor was cracking beneath my feet. It was her.

Author's Note:

Hey there, lovely people! Thanks for reading!💖 So... The chat with Tanya came at the perfect moment... What's your reaction when you have to meet someone you haven't seen in ages? Do you handle it with ease or do you freak out? I won't lie, I totally freak out!! 😂Let me know in the comments! 

Thanks for being here, love you to the moon and back!

Ava 💫