"Are you ready?" Kofi glanced down at her as they neared his brother's home.

Well, room. Suite? It's still inside the compound, but it's large enough to host a family get-together, so it's not just like a hotel room or something. She nodded, tucking her wings a little closer to her body.

She had borrowed some clothes from the closet in her room in an effort to dress a little less raggedy than she had been of late. She didn't know what nice clothes looked like here, so she just took something similar to what she would have worn at home: loose skirt, plain shirt, neutral shoes. She had noticed all the shoes in her closet either went over the ankle, or had a latch around the foot, there weren't any plain flats. She deduced this type of footwear was designed for flying, so everything would need to be securely on their feet.

"Don't be nervous," Kofi said, nudging her with his wing. "It's just my family."

"I know." Sometimes I just can't help but be nervous though. "I'm sure they have a lot of expectations for me."

"They probably do, but you're going to exceed them all, so I wouldn't worry about it." He grinned at her as they stopped in front of a door and knocked. "Oh, by the way, this is my family we're talking about, so you're going to have to stop with all of the flirting with me. They don't need to know about all the time we spend alone on dates either."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Excuse me? I do not flirt with you. I'm not sure where you got that delusion from, but—" The door opened, cutting off her words and Kofi's laugh.

"Kofi. You're here practically on time. What a nice change," said the male valicara that was filling in the doorframe. He had the same nose as Kofi, but didn't seem that much older than him, so Rocki guessed this was a brother. "Savioress, what a pleasure it is to meet you." He bowed his head low. "I hope you are in good health?"

"Yes, thank you," Rocki said. "It's nice to meet you as well."

"Please, come in. Kofi will get you introduced to everyone." He stepped aside. Rocki didn't move, forcing Kofi to take the lead. She didn't want to have to stand there awkwardly, not knowing where to go. The house was bigger than her room, of course, with the same open concept, but it didn't feel much homier. Everything was pristine and clean-cut, with lavender being the chief color.

There were people scattered across the living space, adults and children. She had been expecting a bit more noise, but everything, including the little ones, was hushed.

"Kofi." An older female valicara greeted him, stepping forward to nudge his head with her own. Another male came to do the same.

"Hello, Mother, Father." He seemed a bit stiff, but there wasn't time for Rocki to dwell on it. "Everyone, this is Roxanne. Rocki, this is my family. My mother, Narloh and my father, Rek."

"Narloh'hofinat'ocushri'panre and Rek'desioklo'humina'barten," said his mother after bowing her head to Rocki. "Don't forget your manners, Kofi."

He frowned a little. "She's not used to valicaran names, Mother. I don't want to overwhelm her." He walked Rocki farther into the room before his parents could protest. Three adult valicara were lined up, one of them the brother who had answered the door. "These are my siblings. My eldest sister, Wish. The second eldest brother, Crem. And the third, my brother Shu." All three bowed their heads deeply. Rocki smile at them awkwardly. The children and spouses were introduced as well, but for the life of her, Rocki couldn't remember any of their names.

The children were dismissed after introductions to go play in another room while the adults sat down to converse. Rocki was given a chair, with Kofi on a couch to her left. She felt a bit in the spotlight as the family faced her.

Spotlights are really not my thing, they're Aley's. She might as well have punched herself in the stomach. I still don't know how she is. She has to still be alive. They wouldn't dare kill her. They wouldn't hurt her either, right?

"So, Roxanne," said Narloh, "where did Kofi find you? He's been looking for such a long time."

"Oh, um, I was on a planet called Earth. I had no idea I was from anywhere other than there. Actually, we didn't know there was anyone besides us in the universe."

Rek raised one of his wings slightly. "Interesting. People of Earth must not be very advanced then."

"Not compared to valicara I suppose. We don't have anything like your big ships and the translators." Rocki's hands intertwined on her lap as she tried to settle her nervous heartbeat. Everyone was staring at her, it was nerve-racking.

"So, what's your plan to end the war?" Shu asked, tipping his head to the side a little. "Are you going to completely obliterate the sariun? What about your sister? Where is she? Why haven't we gotten her back yet?" His questions were direct and sharp. Rocki recognized the sound of an intellectual who was unimpressed that the problems hadn't been solved yet.

She raised her chin slightly. "I don't have a plan. I was thrown into all of this very suddenly. As soon as I have a better grasp of the situation, I will do my best to end the war, but I have no answer as to how that will happen yet. As for Aley ... Sovereign Faish is doing everything he can to rescue my sister. Now that I'm back on Kliktal, I plan on involving myself with him to make sure we keep moving forward. I'm going to do everything in my power to get my sister back."

Shu seemed satisfied with the answer, as he leaned back and stretched his wing slightly to brush against his wife. Crem, however, leaned forward, putting his arms on his knees.

"Well, now that you've been found, I suppose Kofi can finally join the war like the rest of us." He gave his brother a pointed look.

"Hey," Kofi rejoined sharply, then glanced at Rocki and lightened his tone. "Don't be angry at me that Sovereign Faish chose me to search. Maybe you should take up your concerns with the sovereign." He gave Crem a look that Rocki didn't understand.

Wish interjected. "Oh, give it up, Crem. Now that we've found the savioresses, the war is almost over. No one will have to fight anymore." She nodded at Rocki, who smiled tightly at her.

They all have so much hope in me. I'm only going to let them down. Prophecy or not, I am not cut out to end a war.

"After the war, are you going to be in charge, or is the sovereign?" Rek asked.

Rocki stared at him for a moment, trying to keep it together. How many times do I have to say I don't know before they stop asking questions? "I'm sure Sovereign Faish will still be your leader. I have no wish to take that away from him."

Something beeped softly. Narloh stood. "The meal is finished cooking. We'll be ready to eat in a few minutes." Rek, Wish, and her husband all got up to help.

Rocki would have helped as well, but she would have no idea what she was doing. Shu started talking about battle strategies and his ideas for wiping out the sariun, but too many of his words were unfamiliar; Rocki could only nod along.

Finally, they were ready to eat. When they retreated to the table, Rocki tried to hang back and let everyone else sit first, but Kofi pulled her over, giving her a seat in the middle of the table, settling himself beside her. Crem and his wife claimed the spots to her left, Shu and his wife across the table.

When Shu's wife was sitting, Rocki's eyes landed on her protruding stomach and the way she carefully lowered herself. Their eyes met, and the female valicaran smiled. "We have something in common," she whispered. Shu noticed, stretching his wing halfway across her back with a nod at Rocki.

She couldn't say anything. Everything except for one thought fled her mind. I should have had that with Kahinu. Her heart sank at the thought. My life should have looked like that. A gaping hole expanded inside her, but it wasn't her womb.

After serving the children and sending them off again, Narloh and Rek served everyone else and all of them sat at the table. Rocki couldn't focus on any conversation though, even when it was directed at her. The desire for what Shu had with his wife for herself occupied all of her thoughts. She wanted to be alone. She needed to be alone. But Kofi's family kept asking her questions and trying to make conversation—it didn't seem there was any escape.

A little while into the meal, Kofi leaned close. "Are you all right?" he whispered.

Rocki clenched her jaw, eyes on the pregnant valicaran's stomach. She shoved her chair back, standing. "I'm sorry," she gritted out to the surprised family. "I need to go. Thank you for dinner."

She retreated, walking as fast as she could across the home and out into the hallway. There were other valicara there, strolling the halls and chatting, but she kept her head down, hoping none of them would recognize her. She heard some confused and surprised whispers follow her, but no one came up to attempt to speak with her.

Despite not having any destination in mind, Rocki plunged through the hall, trying to keep her tears at bay. Why can't I have that? Was it too much to ask for? Why couldn't Kahinu have stayed? I should have been better. I should have done better. Why wasn't I enough?

"Hey!" Someone grabbed her shoulder from behind, turning her around.

She tensed, but it was only Kofi, finally caught up to her. She tried to blink her impending tears away, but it was too late, he would have already been able to see the saltwater glistening in her eyes.

His demeanor melted. "Hey ... what's wrong?"

Rocki put a hand over her mouth, wrapping the other one around her middle as she tried to come up with anything to say while not making herself too emotional. "Sorry. I just needed space." Her voice quavered, bringing more tears rushing to her eyes.

His eyebrows raised sympathetically before putting a wing around her and looking around. "Come here." He led her down a long staircase that ended in a doorway. He slid it open, peeking his head out to check for something before pushing it the rest of the way into the wall. One foot out on sand, one foot in on the concreate, he turned back to Rocki, holding his hand out to her.

She allowed her fingers to be placed in his palm to help her step out of the building, but pulled away as soon as her feet were secured. She didn't want anything to distract from the beauty she was breathing in.

It was twilight, the sky was cast in blue and purple with a hint of red along the horizon. The white sand twinkled in the night, reflecting the soft stars that glowed from above. On her left the purple-brown mountains were mere shadows, but not the kind to be afraid of. The kind that watched over you when you slept, reassuring you with their strong forms that whispered, "no monster will hurt you here."

Rocki's eyes welled again, but she desperately tried to push the tears back. "It's beautiful." The cool night air brushed her skin gently—she could almost convince herself it was a caress meant to comfort her.

Kofi nodded, looking over the sands as well. "It is. I've been to many planets, but there's nowhere quite like home."

Her heart wilted. Home. Mom, Dad, Aley. My house, my books. Blazes, I want to go home.

He glanced over. "Do you want to talk about ... what's wrong? I'm sorry if my family overwhelmed you. They're just ... um, excited to see the war over."

She noted the hesitancy in his voice, but chose to ignore it for the time being. "No, your family was fine. I've just been stupidly emotional the last few days. I swear I don't usually cry this much." She tried to crack a smile. "It's hard to explain, but ... I guess when I saw your sister-in-law was having a baby too ... She just ... I've never ..." She sighed, irritated at herself for not being able to finish a sentence. "She has what I wanted when I found out I was pregnant. What I wanted with Kahinu." She crossed her arms, looking up at the stars.

Kofi was quiet for a moment. "The father?"

Slowly nodding, Rocki looked down again, trying to hide her tears. "He was my fiancé. But he left before he knew I was pregnant." Kofi's saddened eyes were already watching her when she looked over at him. She knew he was dying to ask about it, but he didn't.

Steeling herself, Rocki's gaze turned to look over the dunes. "We had been dating for over two years; engaged for five months. I was still a virgin because I've always been picky like that. I didn't want to have any sort of intercourse until I was married. Intimacy was very important to Kahinu though. He wanted to know if we were the right ... partners before we got married. I shouldn't have, but I let him convince me to spend one night with him before the wedding."

Tears swelled in her eyes. When she blinked, one fell, skirting down her cheek. "When he left that night, he couldn't even look me in the eye. I couldn't get a hold of him all day. When he finally called in the evening, he told me that it wasn't going to work between the two of us and he was cancelling the wedding. I found out three weeks later, over a month ago now, that I was pregnant, but I never told anyone. Kahinu made it clear he didn't want to be a part of my life, so why would he want to be a part of our child's? And my family ... They've always known my standards. How do I tell them that I made a bad decision like that?"

Her voice choked. "Aley doesn't even know. I'm too ashamed to tell my sister and best friend that I'm having a baby." More tears found their way down her face.

Warm arms and wings wrapped around her, turning her into Kofi's chest. He hadn't made a sound throughout her story, not a word to shame or scold her, and he didn't say anything now. All he did was hold her and let her cry into his shirt.

Rocki didn't return his embrace, her arms were locked securely around her waist, but she did lean into him, allowing her head to rest on his chest. He smelled like warm air and something else she couldn't describe. Something that was entirely unique to him.

They stayed like that for longer than Rocki cared to think about.

Eventually, Kofi broke the silence with a quiet murmur, his nose resting on the side of her head near her ear. "I don't care what that man thinks of you, Rocki. You are beautiful. You are intelligent and determined and everything a good person should be. You are worthy of being loved, just not by that idiot who is only driven by carnal things. Don't let him make you feel like less."

But I did. Rocki was stunned. I let Kahinu make me feel like I shouldn't be loved. But I didn't tell Kofi that. She pulled her head back to look up at Kofi. His dark eyes studied her deeply, as if trying to reach her soul. He just knows.

She wiped the tear tracks off her face. "You're right. Kahinu doesn't define me." She looked over the sand dunes as Kofi rubbed her arms gently. "Thank you for bringing me out here."

"Of course. Do you want to go back to your room now?"

It hadn't occurred to her to return to her room, but it sounded heavenly to just sit by herself, so she nodded. "Please."

He led her back through the halls, one wing around her back to shield her from the other valicara. He brought her straight to her bed and sat her down, then told her to wait a moment, disappearing into the adjoining room. When he returned, he had a tray with sheet paper and a stylus, which he dropped onto her lap.

"What's this?" she asked, looking up at him.

"You're an author, right?" Picking up the apparent pen to twirl it in her hand, she nodded. "Well, a writer's got to write. I thought it would make you feel better."

Rocki looked down at the blank paper, and let a smile touch her face. "I think you're right. Thank you."

"Of course. I'll leave you to it."

When he left, Rocki brushed her hand over the papers, still smiling. Then she put pen to paper and started writing.