We're going to get Aley back. Rocki nodded as she listened to General Bry's report, trying to stay tuned in, but all she could think about was her sister. That's all she had written about last night when Kofi gave her the paper. Two full pages of how much she loved and needed her sister and family.

"We've sent several scouts to try to locate the other savioress," said Bry, pacing around the sovereign's office. "But we haven't been able to get close enough to find anything. We've also made a few small attacks just to test their defenses, and they're stronger than ever around their main camp, where we assume they're keeping the savioress."

Rocki met his eyes. "What about their other camps? Have you investigated those at all?"

"Not in recent days, no. We've been trying to get into their main camp."

She frowned a little. "You said you assume they have Aley there, but what if it's a misdirection? They could have known you would make that assumption. They could have put more soldiers in their main camp to mislead you, and Aley could be in a smaller one." It was a classic Capture the Flag move, but she didn't mention that. They would just be confused. "We should check, just to be sure."

Sovereign Faish nodded slowly, fingers tapping on his desk. "Since most of their soldiers are within one camp, the others will be largely unguarded. It won't be nearly as difficult to investigate there."

"No disrespect, Savioress, but I disagree," said Bry. "The sariun do not play by tricks and cunning, but with their strength. If they are guarding the main camp so closely, it only makes sense for them to have the other savioress there."

"But shouldn't we check? Cover all of our bases?" she asked, leaning forward in her chair. "This is too important to be wrong about."

"I know the sariun, Savioress. I've been fighting against them my entire life. That isn't something they would do."

"But they might. They might be trying something new to confuse you. And you might discover something that will help take over the main camp in the meantime. I could be wrong, but what if I'm not and we never get Aley back?" She locked her gaze steadily on Bry's dark eyes.

Faish allowed the silence for a moment before speaking. "It's worth an attempt, general. Choose a camp and your men. I want them moving as soon as a plan has been established."

Bry bowed. "Yes, sovereign." He left without another word.

Faish sighed deeply, stretching his wings a little. "It's been a long few hours," he said to Rocki. "There isn't much for you to do now that we've decided on our next course of action. You and Kofi should go explore. I would love for you to learn more about our culture."

Standing to also stretch, Rocki nodded. "All right." She knew better than to ask to go along with Bry. They would just tell her that it was too dangerous and that they couldn't risk losing her. "Thank you for letting me talk with you and the general."

"Of course. Thank you for your input, Savioress." He dipped his head.

Kofi had been leaning against the desk silently, but now he pushed himself off it. "Come on, I'll show you around the complex a little more. Maybe one of these days you'll be able to walk it yourself without getting lost on the first turn." He smirked back at her as he opened the door.

Rocki nodded to Faish, then walked into the hall with Kofi. "It's not my fault this place was designed to be a maze."

"It was actually designed for simplicity. Same hall color, same door color, everything is marked. It's not that difficult."

"Says the person who's lived here his whole life."

He scoffed. "Actually, my parents live in a smaller complex around the mountainside. I grew up there, but moved here when I was old enough. Of course, then I was sent to find you, so I haven't spent as much time here as you seem to think. I believe I only lived here a year before I was sent out."

She was quiet for a moment as he started leading them away. "It must have been hard, leaving your family. I only lived fifteen minutes from my parents, and it felt like the distance was going to overwhelm me sometimes."

Kofi tipped his head back and forth as he thought about it. "I'm probably not as close to my parents as you are to yours. I was kind of ... glad to be away from my family. They're great and all, but I needed my space. Of course, now that I've brought you back, they'll be all over me, but that's the way things are, I suppose."

"What do you mean?" she asked. "About bringing me back. Why would that make a difference in your family life?"

His wings shrugged, tightening a little as they passed another valicaran. "My family values political power. They are very close to one of the sovereign's sisters in their complex, which is why they haven't left yet. They always encouraged us to do something big, to get close to someone important. They were excited when I was chosen to go search, even if it meant they wouldn't see me for a long time. It meant I was closer to the sovereign and to the savioresses, which gives them more political leverage." He didn't say it, but Rocki could tell he was thinking about the family meal.

"That's why they invited me over last night," she said quietly, walking through the door he held open for her. She turned, not wanting to go up the stairwell first. "They wanted to meet me as the savioress. Get close to me so they could input their ideas or have the satisfaction of saying they had met the savioress." It didn't hurt as much as she was making it sound. She didn't care about his family, they could do as they liked, it was just so foreign for her to imagine that she had political power. People wanted to meet her because of how important she was, not who she was.

Kofi didn't go up the stairs yet. He looked uncomfortable. "I think so. I'm sorry, I didn't really think about it until after we accepted. I was just thinking about you meeting my family."

She tilted her head a little. "Is that important to valicara? To meet each other's families?"

"It's important to me," he said. "I wanted them to like you. I ... wanted you to like them." He laughed a little. "It didn't go quite like I had planned." He started up the stairs, leaving her to trail after him.

He wanted me to like his family. If we were on Earth and he was human, that would mean ... He wanted me to meet his family. That's totally different on Earth. It sounds more like we're dating. I mean, he keeps bringing it up, although I can never tell if he's joking or not. I wonder if I would ever go on a date with him if things weren't insane and he was just a guy on Earth. I haven't nearly recovered from Kahinu, but ... things would be different I think.

Kofi pushed the trapdoor at the top of the stairs open, and they emerged into natural light, apparently on the roof. The sky was overcast with clouds, but it was still bright out. There were other valicarans on the roof, most taking care of the ships, but a few were guarding the edges, staring into the sand dunes as if nothing else in the world mattered. Maybe it didn't.

Rocki followed her guide towards an unoccupied edge of the roof. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw several wings flare as they walked past, excited whispers following them. She wasn't sure if they were whispering just about her, or about her being with Kofi, as she pretty much always was.

Give me a break. I don't know my way around anything on this stupid planet. If I could live without him, I would. She flicked her wings back, frowning a little. "Where are we going?"

He grinned at her. "On our second flying date."

She rolled her eyes. "For the last time, we have not been on any dates, flying or otherwise."

"If you say so," he replied unconvincingly. They stopped at the edge of the building, and he peered over it. "But this time I'm flying with you." He stepped off and plummeted before quickly rising back in the air with his powerful wings.

Crossing her arms, Rocki squinted up at him. "I thought your wings hurt too much to fly. Doctor's orders, remember?"

He shrugged. "I figured my wings felt good enough. I've taken care of myself enough times to know. Are you coming out or what?" He did a flip, faltering a little in midair when the pain apparently hit him.

She scowled but opened her wings. "Fine, but only because you'll kill yourself if I'm not there to save you."

"If that's what it takes." He laughed as she took a few steps back. "What? Too afraid to jump off the edge?"

"Don't even start." She took a few running steps, jagged from her leg wound, and jumped, pumping her wings as hard as she could. Her stomach jolted with fear when she lifted off, but it was soon replaced with excitement as she stayed in the air. Her leg burned a little from the exertion, but she didn't mind. Flying was worth it.

"Hey!" Kofi yelped, spinning out of the way when she almost plowed into him. "I know you said you came out to help, but did it ever occur to you that you might be the cause of my death?" He laughed, swooping closer to her.

Rocki shoved him away, using his chest as boost herself in the other direction. As she propelled away from him, she realized she was grinning, like he was an old friend she had known and loved for a long time.

When did I start liking his company so much? I thought he was so annoying when he took me, but now I kind of enjoy being around him. I wonder what changed? She spun around to see him following her. "Hey, is it safe for me to fly while I'm pregnant? I don't think pregnant women are supposed to go on roller-coaster or anything."

He flew closer so she could easily hear him over the wind. "Valicara do it all the time. They're built to have very safe space for the baby to grow in."

"But he's half sariun," she said. "No, wait, one third." This baby will be a little bit of everything.

"I think it's all right as long as we're careful and don't do anything crazy," he replied. "Like you usually are," he added with a wink.

Rocki flapped her wings a harder to be a little higher than him. "Oh, I do crazy stuff all the time? Like what? Kidnapping a person? Flying even though my wing hurts?" She raised an eyebrow, but he remained unoffended.

"I don't know, I thought you were a little crazy for arguing with the general like that." He grinned.

She crossed her arms, eyebrow still raised. "You thought I was crazy for trying to make sure we have the best possible chance of getting my sister back?"

"No," he said truthfully. "But I did think you looked incredibly attractive with your blue eyes blazing at him like that. I don't know how he didn't pass out with those gorgeous eyes looking straight at him." He edged closer, spinning around her without ever losing his smile.

She had to turn a little to meet his gaze, not sure what to say. Word spilled from her lips as she tried to process, none of them meaning a thing. "Um ... I ... ah ... I don't ... you ..."

He floated closer. "I've never seen you this flustered," he murmured, their synchronized wingbeats almost creating a shield between them and the world. "Was it something I said?"

The breeze from their wings brushed Rocki's burning face as she searched for something to say. I ... wow, has he always looked this handsome? Or is that just the compliments talking? Talking ... I should say something. What should I say?

There was something more than just the wind in the air between them when Kofi reached out his hand, brushing her cheek with his fingertips. Something pulsing that wasn't just her rapid heartbeat.

Rocki had a sudden urge to hold onto his arm that she couldn't resist. She didn't think she would like him so near, but his skin was temptingly warm beneath her fingers. Something almost electric was simmering across their beings as she stared into his beautiful dark eyes. But something was familiar ...

Kahinu. The realization practically slapped her in the face. This is almost exactly what I felt like with Kahinu. She jerked away from Kofi, heart shivering in her chest. I can't go through that again. "Let's just fly," she muttered, turning to shoot away from him and farther over the sand.

She could feel the confusion radiating from him as she left him behind but didn't care to explain herself. She had told him too much about what had happened already, he didn't need to know all her insecurities as well.

Something shifted in the sand below. Rocki dipped lower, knowing it was probably just the wind moving the dune, but hoping she would get a chance to see a desert animal. There were no critters skittering across the sides of the sand, so she kept sailing forward, albeit slower than before, using her hunt for a creature to distract her from Kofi.

Half of a sand dune exploded outward, and Rocki was knocked out of the air with a gasp. When she hit the ground, she found a weight on top of her body, trapping her against the sand. Someone was grabbing at her, hauling her up again almost as soon as they had fallen.

"I've got you, Savioress," he said. "Let's go!"

Rocki shrieked when she got a good look at him. His skin was gray, hair a shocking fluorescent sky blue, but it was his eyes that scared her the most. The irises were electric blue, practically glowing between the pure black pupils and sclerae.

"Rocki!" Kofi shouted, far behind her. Two more sariun had emerged from the sand, firing blades at Kofi as he tried to fly closer.

The brunette twisted, trying to get out of the sariun's grip, but it was harder than iron. He pulled on her, beginning to drag her along as he ran from the small battle. She could hear sand exploding behind her, and shouts, mostly Kofi's furious bellows.

The sariun jerked to a stop to unbury a machine from the sand. It was built like a big motorcycle, but when he started it, it hovered above the sand. "Come on!" he said, putting his arms around her and forcing her to sit on the vehicle. Rocki screamed, doing everything she could to struggle out of his grip. She clawed, slapped, elbowed, and kicked, but he still hoisted her onto the seat and swung over behind her.

A blast exploded near them, showering sand on Rocki's hair. She shouted, ducking low onto the machine. When she looked up, she met Kofi's desperate eyes. They only had a split second of contact as her kidnapper revved his engine and turned around. Rocki tried to twist around, but the sariun kept his grip around her waist tight.

Fly. Fly! She gasped as she remembered her wings. She forced them open and flapped as hard as she could.

"Hey! Stop!" her captor protested. Rocki sprung off the vehicle, powering herself into the air, but he grabbed her ankle in an iron grip, pulling on her injured leg. She shrieked, his grip making her crash into the sand and taking him with her.

Tears clouded her vision from the pain of both her leg and falling, but she blinked them away as she scrambled to her feet. She jumped, heaving herself into the air again, this time ascending quickly into the sky. Something cried below her and she spun around to see the sariun who had tried to take her lying on his side, unmoving.

"Savioress!" She turned again to see Arinda swooping towards her. The valicaran pulled up just short of smacking into her. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I ... I'm fine. How—"

"Rocki!" Kofi also flew over, but he didn't stop. He barreled into her, almost tangling their wings as he hugged her tightly. Rocki grabbed him around his neck to keep from falling as she drew her wings in, allowing him to hold her body weight. He gently lowered them to the ground as he embraced her, although her feet didn't touch the sand since he was still holding her aloft. "Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"

She couldn't bring herself to let go of him. "I'm fine," she breathed, her mouth near his ear. "I ... Well, my leg hurts a little, but I'm okay."

He squeezed her a little tighter, then put her feet on the ground. "Let me see." He hooked her leg under her knee, pulling it up while supporting her with his other hand around her back. They were a little too closer for comfort, but that was less concerning than the red staining her pant leg. "Freaking—" Kofi growled, stopping himself. "You opened your wound again. We've got to get you a doctor."

"Let's take her back to my room, it's closer than the medical area," said Arinda. She set off running and then leapt into the air, wings pounding.

"Hold on, blue eyes," Kofi said, then picked her up gently and sprang up towards the sky. Rocki latched her arms around his neck as he flew them swiftly after Arinda.

Rocki noticed his flying wasn't as steady as usual, but she couldn't get a good look at his wings. She could, however, see that a small chunk of hair was missing from the side of his head near his temple, and blood was oozing from the scratch. She reached up to brush her finger below it, eliciting a wince from Kofi.

"You're hurt too," she said.

"It's not that bad," he promised. "Just a graze."

"What about your wing?"

He grimaced. "Small puncture."

"You should be more careful," she said, half teasing.

He glanced at her briefly, raising an eyebrow. "I would be if you didn't get into so much freaking trouble all the time."

"Sorry." He really does get hurt a lot because of me. When he first took me, the sariun got a little bit of his wing; the lopenants tried to rip him to shreds; he could have been hurt in the gunfire that tried to kill me; and now he had to save me again and got hurt because of it.

He gripped her a little tighter. "Hey, I'd do anything for you, blue eyes."

She smiled a little. "I can tell."