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I wake with a pained gasp surrounded by smoke and ash.
‘Calm down,’ Ri’nela says softly, pressing me softly back down. ‘You are injured.’
‘Ri’nela?’ I force my gaze around to look at her. She leans over me, eyes flitting over my face. ‘Where is So’lek?’ I have a brief flash of seeing him inside Hometree, of feeling his arms around me as he carries me, of a hand cupping my cheek.
‘He went after Wukula.’ Ri’nela glances over her shoulder towards Hometree.
‘No,’ I moan, panic tight in my chest.
‘He has to, Tamtey,’ She takes her hand in mine. ‘He needs this. You—’ She glances at me. ‘—we need to trust him.’
‘We have to help him.’ I try to push myself up, but my whole body aches. I can barely breathe, imagining him out there, alone.
Ri’nela helps me into a sitting position, one hand holding my arm, while the other rubs soothingly over my back.
‘Ri’nela, he cannot face him on his own.’ I cling to her.
‘Tamtey, he has faced the entire RDA and the Mankwan on his own,’ she says in a low, soothing voice. ‘Ever since you were taken.’
I look up at her with wide eyes.
‘He's been looking for you all this time.’ She cups my face in the ghost of a different hand. ‘He looked for all of us.’
‘Everyone is okay?’ I know they are, really, because Bukowski would’ve been around to glatt if he got any of the other Sarentu. The only one I thought was dead was So’lek… until Bukowski let it slip that he too was alive.
‘Yes. Teylan and Rasi are here too.’
So the only one still in danger is So’lek.
‘Come on.’ Ri’nela helps me to my feet. ‘Let’s meet up with Rasi, then find Teylan. He is assisting So’lek remotely.’
That's good. That So’lek has support. He shouldn’t have to do everything on his own. He shouldn’t have to do everything alone. I should be out there helping him. The two of us, against the RDA and the Mangkwan.
Instead I have been held prisoner for weeks. Immobile, useless.
‘Let’s regroup. And hopefully end this.’
Ri’nela nods solemnly.
My heart nearly stops beating as I see So’lek lying splayed on the ground next to Wukula.
No, no, please don’t let him be–
He blinks at me as I crouch next to him and grab his arm, helping him sit up in a mirror of how Ri’nela helped me earlier.
As his biceps flex, I notice the songcord tied around them. My songcord.
He glances down at it too, then up at me, before quickly down again. Then he covers it with his other hand, takes it off, and hands it to me.
‘Irayo,’ I whisper, cupping his hands in mine.
He just nods, heavy, quiet, staring at a point past my shoulder.
Weeks of silence have passed, filled with danger and exhaustion. Right now, no more words are needed between us. His presence alone reassures me more than any speech can.
Then everyone is here, Ri’nela, Rasi and Teylan, all of us crowding around So’lek.
I keep a hand on his shoulder and watch as Nor limps towards us. He and So’lek nod to each other, but no one else makes a move towards him.
It is… strange. Why isn’t Ri’nela checking on him?
But I honestly have no time for Nor right now. He is injured, yes, but walking. So’lek is worse off after that long battle with Wukula.
‘Come on.’ I squeeze his shoulder tight. ‘Let’s go back to camp. It’s… still standing, right?’ I have no idea what has been going on the past few weeks.
‘It is.’ He covers my hand with his. ‘Let us go.’
Coming back to So’lek’s camp is like a breath of fresh air. It’s the one constant we have left now, what with Hometree burned and turned into an RDA fortress.
A big part of me just wants to collapse to the ground and weep for everything that’s happened, but I won’t allow myself that luxury.
I might have been a prisoner for weeks, but they are the ones who have been out here fighting. I might be bruised and beaten, but So’lek has been in a literal battle.
If anyone is allowed to weep right now, it is him.
A dapophet pod and some herbs later thanks to Rasi, he is sitting next to the fire. I join him there, chewing on my own pod. We share the same space, close enough that the warmth from the fire touches us both, but not intrusive.
Rasi and Ri’nela start cooking, while Nor stays out on the platform. Teylan is… missing. He said he would be here soon, so we know he’s all right. What’s keeping him though, that we don’t know.
‘Thank you,’ I say again. I can’t say it enough. ‘For saving me. For everything.’
His gaze is heavy as he looks at me, then he nods slightly and stares back into the fire.
My heart sinks. He’s not talkative on the best of days, but he usually has a few words for me. Sometimes I have to tease them out, but right now is no time for teasing. I don’t have it in me, and he’s definitely not in the mood for it.
So we just sit in silence, listening to Ri’nela and Rasi cooking. When they finish, we all eat in silence as well. Teylan shows up halfway through our dinner, and he’s just as quiet as the rest of us.
What a reunion.
So’lek is out on the platform, just standing there, staring out at nothing. Everything, maybe. I don’t know.
I get out of my newly hung hammock—everyone except Nor is now staying at So’lek’s camp.
‘Why are you awake?’ I ask in a low voice as I step out behind him. ‘You need your sleep.’
He turns halfway to look at me. ‘Go back to sleep.’
‘Not without you.’ My voice is low, almost teasing. A little joke to light the tension. It earns a small, almost imperceptible shift in his posture, which is a win. I don’t want him to stand out here all alone, beating himself up over whatever’s going through his mind.
He sighs, then turns his head away.
‘Come.’ With that, he moves up the camp, away from our sleeping friends. Past his mural supplies, and all the way to the top where he does his shooting training. Or, well, the training’s more for Teylan than himself, but… yeah. He uses it sometimes too.
I skip on light feet after him. My body still aches slightly, but the dapophet has mostly done its job.
‘When you were gone, Temek stayed here,’ he says. ‘In a cave, just down there.’
‘Good girl.’ I look the same way he is, but I can’t actually see said cave from here. ‘She went where it was safe.’
He doesn’t say anything else, instead he stands there staring down at the ground. I decide not to push, so I just stand beside him, shoulder brushing against his.
‘So’lek…’ Eventually the silence is too much. ‘You kept my songcord… Ever since that day I was taken?’
He nods tightly. Not a word.
I exhale, trying not to overthink. This is the answer I wanted. His silence isn’t distance—it’s trust.
‘You kept it all this time.’ Wrapped around his bicep.
‘They took you.’ His voice is low. ‘I did nothing.’
‘You survived,’ I answer, sharper than I mean to. ‘That is not nothing.’
His jaw tightens. ‘It was not enough.’
I step closer before I can think better of it. My hand find his chest, steadying—him or me, I’m not sure. ‘I thought you were dead.’ The words come out quieter than I expected. ‘The explosion. I—’ I stop, swallow. ‘I believed it.’
He doesn’t move.
‘I stopped thinking past that,’ I admit in a low voice. ‘Didn’t seem useful.’ That almost sounds like a joke. It isn’t.
A breath leaves him, slow. ‘I was not.’
‘I can see that.’ My voice wavers—just slightly. I hate that he hears it. So I do my best to pull it back in. ‘Bukowski talked,’ I continue, steadier now. ‘And suddenly I had a problem.’
His gaze sharpens. ‘A problem?’
‘I believed you’d come.’
A pause. ‘I did.’
‘You did.’ That’s the part that matters.
Silence settles between us again—but it’s different now. Not empty, not uncertain.
His gaze finally meets mine. It’s quiet, calm, steady. He doesn’t smile, but the corner of his mouth twitches almost imperceptibly. That small gesture is enough.
‘I will not lose anyone else,’ he says then. Like it’s a fact. A promise. Perhaps it is.
‘You haven’t. We’re all here.’ My hand finds his arm, resting lightly. No pressure, just… presence. He leaves his hand where mine touches him.
‘Many aren’t.’
‘I know.’ So many Aranahe didn’t make it. They were hit the hardest out of all the clans… ‘And we will get them back for that. They will not get away with it.’ I shake my head at my words. ‘But first we need to rest and heal.’
‘There are still RDA left in the forest.’
‘And we will get them.’ I stare up at him. ‘But not while we’re injured, So’lek. You got Wukula. Celebrate that victory. After we’re healed, we move on to the rest.’
He breathes in deeply, then slowly lets it out.
‘I knew you would come for me,’ I continue, intensely. ‘Once he told me you were alive, I knew you’d come.’
He just looks at me quietly. No more words, no more actions.
‘My vengeance was over,’ he mutters eventually. ‘After the last dog tag. But now there are new RDA to seek vengeance against. RDA and Mankwan.’
‘I will be right by your side as we take our vengeance, together,’ I vow. ‘They will all regret the day they destroyed our home.’
We stare at each other, in full, mutual understanding.
We’ve already fought for our home for a whole year together—and we’ll continue on like that, until all the RDA and the Mankwan are gone.
We will have vengeance—together.
The night settles around us as we stand there quietly, watching the trees flutter in the light breeze. Words are unnecessary. No tears, no confessions. Just this—shared quiet, shared survival, shared trust.
That’s all we need.
As I tuck myself into the hammock near him, I catch his gaze. There’s acknowledgement in it. Still no words, no overt affection. But I know—somewhere deep, unspoken, we’re both here, and we’re both staying.
It isn’t dramatic. It isn’t perfect. But it’s enough.
The sounds of Pandora hums around us. And in that moment, I realise that we have each other now.
And that is enough—for today.