Darien's POV:

I woke up and gazed down tenderly at Serena as she slept curled up against me. Mere days ago I didn't think it was possible for me to love her any more than I already did, but I was once more proven wrong. I had known she was my heart from the moment I saw her, but she had become more, she had become the center of my life.

I rested my cheek against her hair. I was perfectly content to lay here as long as she was in my arms. Small flickers crossed her mind and I focused my reading ability on her dreams.

She had enjoyed the events of last night. I had been gentle and her dreams only held positive emotions. That was a relief since I had been worried about hurting her.

Images appeared of our time by the lake. She had taken great delight in splashing me, even though she knew I could easily catch her. Flickers of various flowers and shrubs appeared, and I recognized them from the flower beds in front of the house that she had tidied up.

I tilted my head slightly at the next series of pictures, I hadn't realized how intently she had been watching me make the meals. She had always helped, but I now knew that she wanted to learn how to cook the foreign foods on this planet. Well, I was more than happy to teach her.

Saphira's face appeared along with happiness. I had a feeling that Serena hadn't had many friends before meeting me and she was quite excited that Saphira was more than happy to be friends with her. Glimpses of a few of the other Dranek appeared, but it was mostly Saphira. Serena had no fear of them despite how much larger they were than her.

Serena's memories of more plants piqued my interest. Serena had told me that her magic could help plants grow, but it was one thing to hear it and quite another to see the plants literally growing as I watched them in her dreams. I was quite certain that this was not a dream exaggeration either. I might have to get her to tell me more about her singing ability.

A stream of seemingly random images and emotions distracted me. I saw quick glimpses of the Dranek war camp, trees, flowers, and myself at the same time as I heard faint hums and saw glimpses of rather wilted flowers suddenly recovering.

I was just about to consider them random dream images when a memory of Saphira appeared in Serena's mind saying that the forests on her planet were dying. I closed my eyes and exhaled slowly.

It didn't really surprise me that Serena wanted to help the Dranek. She was just the kind of person who liked to help people. I wasn't sure what the Dranek thought she could do to help an entire forest though.

I had to hold in a chuckle at the next image in Serena's mind. She had been eyeing up some flowers as she contemplated how she could weave them into a crown and get them onto my head without me noticing.

Before I had met Serena, if anyone had tried to put a stupid flower crown on my head, they would have been left with bruises. In fact, even today, most would get that reaction out of me. Serena was the only one I would allow to do such a thing.

The thought of her trying to put a crown on my head actually made me grin slightly as I tried to imagine her expression. That alone showed me just how lost I was in her love. Had her love been water, I would have drowned long ago. And I didn't care in the least.

I couldn't imagine life without her. She made every day brighter and I couldn't figure out how I had managed to get through each day before I met her.

She was my heart and that was all there was to it.

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I watched in amusement as Serena's cheeks went pink again, although I continued to keep my gaze on the toast I was buttering for her. Breakfast didn't take much effort, so I decided that she could relax while I made our simple breakfast over the fire in the wood stove.

"Honest, I can butter bread." She was probably trying to distract herself from her current thoughts. She was leaning against the counter with a relaxed expression while watching me.

A smile crept across my face, "I know, but I like cooking for you. If you want, I can show you how to make that casserole dish at lunch."

"The one we had at the hostess' place?" She tilted her head in curiosity and building excitement.

I passed her the toast, and when she took it, I wrapped an arm around her waist to draw her in closer. "Yes."

She leaned against my side and hummed for a few seconds before taking a small bite of her toast. She didn't even really need to reply in words, her emotions were written on her face and danced along my reading ability.

"I would really like that," she mumbled before swallowing her mouthful, "I didn't know that you knew how to make it. Actually, I would like to learn to cook more. I never really got a chance since I didn't have access to a stove."

So much for my subtle approach. Subtlety had never been my strong suit and I had been quite proud of my attempt. A different thought occurred to me.

"I have no problem teaching you how to cook, although I am hoping that you can tell me more about your singing magic. I hear you hum before you eat, and I have seen a few other things, but I am pretty much in the dark about your ability."

She looked up at me in surprise at the change of topic, before looking thoughtful. "It is hard to describe... It usually involves humming, whistling, or singing. A whistle is stronger than a hum, and singing is stronger than whistling. It can do a lot of different things, but I have no real control over exactly what happens with some of the more general stuff. The purification hum and picking locks are fairly simple things, but most of the time there are other unexpected side effects."

Flickers of plants crossed her mind, but disappeared too quickly for me to make much sense of them. "How so?"

She shrugged lightly, "For example, if a plant is ailing, I can determine what is wrong and fix it, but even if I am just focused on the cure, it will often sprout new leaves." She paused for a second before grinning, "Do you want to see what a bit of humming can do to the flowerbed outside?"

I was quite intrigued, both by the prospect of seeing her magic in action, as well as by her eager emotions. "Sure."

A brilliant smile emerged on her face as she grabbed my hand, "Come on!"

I chuckled at her reaction as I let her pull me towards the front door, "Don't forget to eat your breakfast."

"I had always been too scared back on Earth to sing much, but I just realized that there isn't really anything stopping me here since I don't have to hide it." She took another bite of her toast, but she was still quite excited, almost as if she had shaken off invisible chains with her epiphany.

"You can sing whenever you want. Anyone who objects can take a long walk off of a short pier." She had previously hidden it to avoid people like those scientists, but anyone who tried to take her from me would realize that they had just made a major mistake, and there wasn't really anybody around here anyway.

Her carefree laughter distracted me. She glanced back at me and her eyes were dancing with mirth at my words. Her hand let go of mine as she leaned against the porch railing to gaze down at the small flower bed below.

I came up beside her and took a long look at the flowerbed. Until Serena had come here, I had never really paid attention to the plants. The neighbor lady had tended to our small patch of flowers once my mother had passed away, but I still didn't know much about them. I knew that they bloomed, or I was pretty sure that most of them did at any rate.

Serena had previously spent a few hours weeding, or attempting to. She wasn't entirely sure what plants were weeds, and I only knew the most common weeds. I murmured, "What are your thoughts?"

Serena's eyes continued to examine the tiny plot of green things, "I am not entirely sure which ones are weeds, so I think I will help them grow to their peak and, if we like them, they can stay. If we don't like them, then there is no reason to keep them here."

Her logic made perfect sense in my mind, "That sounds good to me. How do you plan to make them grow?"

"Plants really like music and it doesn't take much for them to grow. A bit of humming should work wonders, although I will have to contain it to just these plants or anything in the immediate area will also grow."

I watched her with interest. I didn't have to ask how she would focus her magic since I was also able to consciously focus my reading ability on one person when I chose.

Serena started to hum softly and I focused my reading ability on her while watching the plants below. That silver light appeared once more in her mind, but I was still unable to get a read on it.

Her soft hum rose and fell slightly, but it had an almost immediate effect on the plants. I blinked in faint disbelief as leaf buds grew and unfurled within seconds. The plants were literally growing right in front of my eyes.

Serena's song eventually trailed off and we both stood in silence as we looked at the rather lush garden that was now in full bloom. She murmured, "I never actually sang to plants for as long as I wanted before, mostly due to fear of getting caught. The effects are kind of startling."

I had to agree with her on that one. I couldn't wrap my mind around how a hum could turn tiny sprigs of green into full-sized flowering plants within a couple of minutes.

Serena leaned against my side and I wrapped an arm around her as the scent of hundreds of blooms wafted up from the tiny garden that was practically covered in a sea of flowers.

She wrinkled her nose as one particular scent contaminated the sweet-smelling bouquet, "One of those really stinks."

I happened to know which weed was the smelly culprit and I eyed up the pale blue flower, "Shall I pull that one out for you?"

"Please..."

I lightly vaulted over the railing to land on the almost obscured stepping stones. I grabbed the base of the putrid-smelling plant and pulled it out before tossing it far to the side. I glanced up at her, "Which other ones do you want out?"

She tilted her head, "Can I smell them before making a decision?"

"Certainly." As far as I was concerned, they were her flowers now. She would decide what would stay and what would be taking a short flight.

She descended the stairs and came over to smell the various flowers. I may not have had much interest in flowers, but I was more than willing to help and watch Serena as she played with the plants.

It took her some thought, but we had the flowerbed sorted out within the hour. Several more plants had also taken flying lessons, then we had moved some of the other ones around. Serena smiled at our handiwork as she wrapped an arm around my waist.

I put my arm across her shoulders while my other hand held the shovel that I hadn't let her use. My strength still hadn't faded any and I saw no point in letting her try to dig through thick roots when I could do so much more easily.

I checked her mind once more, but she was completely satisfied with the outcome. I knew that at least one of the plants she really liked were considered weeds, but she had no way of knowing that and I really didn't care. They bloomed and she liked them, that was all that mattered.

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Author's Note:

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