Aekzhea

Aekzhean Federation Territory

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Aredhiel, a 26 year old woman, was excited!

She'd been widowed two years earlier, and was finally moving on with her life, starting over. She was traveling with friends who, like Aredhiel, were moving to Porzhu from Aekzhea.

She was running late. She finally arrived, carrying three large cloth tote bags and her purse as she boarded the shuttle taking them to Porzhu, their new home planet.

”Glad you made it! Packing light, I see!“, a pilot said to her cheerfully. He helped her with her bags.

She looked around. There were two empty seats. He escorted her to the seats.

”We're going to have so much fun on Porzhu.“, a lady said.

”A new life, new experiences. I can't wait!“, another lady replied.

Two minutes later, the pilot started the shuttle's engines. Ten minutes later, they were out of Aekzhea's atmosphere and in the blackness of space. Five hours later they met up with a freighter.

The freighter would take them to the edge of Aekzhea's solar system. Twenty-two hours and 2 star portals later, the travelers would then fly two more hours to their final destination, Porzhu.

Ninety minutes after leaving the freighter, a blue planet came into view. They'd passed a few other planets since entering the solar system, but this planet was a vibrant, beautiful blue.

"This is Porzhu, your new home planet!", the pilot said as the passengers cheered.

"It's absolutely beautiful!", Aredhiel said to her friend sitting next to her. Her friend agreed. They saw three moons as they flew closer to the planet.

They finally arrived. It was time to leave space and start the descent into the planet's atmosphere.

As they flew closer to the area they were traveling to, the pilot didn't decrease their speed.

Below them they saw what looked like cities and towns as well as lakes, rivers, mountains, canyons and, at one point, an ocean.

"We're about 10 minutes out.", the pilot said as they flew over another ocean. Suddenly the shuttle started shaking.

”WE'RE GOING DOWN! HOLD ON!“, the pilot shouted.

The shuttle lost altitude fast. Once on the ground, it bounced several times, flipping several times as well, then skidded 1/2 mile through woods before crashing into the side of a cave.

Everything went black as Aredhiel slipped into unconsciousness.

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Sauria

Ulzuix Empire Territory

Saurian Quadrant

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When she woke up, she was in pain. She was injured, suffering a twisted ankle and wrist, plus bumps, cuts, and bruises.

Looking around, Aredhiel checked on the others. They were all dead. Her eyes filled with tears.

She was on a strange planet, her friends were dead, and she had no idea where she was or where to go for help.

She decided to travel along the nearby river and keep going until she came upon a town or place she could stay. She collected what food, snacks, drinks, and flashlights the others had, plus her own bags and purse.

It was extremely hot out, since it was the Hot Season in that part of the planet. She stayed by the crash site until dusk, then started traveling.

Aredhiel walked for days, traveling only at night when it was cooler out, staying along the river the entire time. She slept outside most days, under trees whenever possible for shade, bathing every evening in the river before starting her journey again.

At one point it rained heavily for four days straight. Aredhiel slept in a cave those days, taking a break from her travels.

When the rain finally ended, she started her evening journey once again.

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Azhem was more than ready for Leave! After arriving on Sauria, the seat of the Saurian Empire, along with several fellow crewmembers, he rented a pod and flew to the motel he had rented for the week.

After checking in and dropping off his luggage, he decided to go for a flight in the pod before having dinner.

His flight was quite relaxing. His Empire's seat was a fairly beautiful world, and he loved exploring it whenever he had Lesve there.

There were lovely meadows, forests, rivers, streams and hills, with very little civilization other than a dozen major cities, small towns, an occasional cabin, and some villages populated by indigenous races and, unfortunately, mutants in a few places.

Towards dinnertime he stopped at a small town. After doing some sightseeing and shopping at the town's open-air market, he went inside a restaurant for some roast beef, seasoned potatoes, and ale. Azhem enjoyed a large slice of banana cake as well. Banana cake was his absolute favorite cake, just barely edging out cherry cake.

After dinner, he flew to his motel. He watched some videos before heading to bed.

The next morning he showered and dressed, then went out for breakfast. He went to a local museum and spent hours there. For dinner he had cheese meat rounds and spicy meat soup. His beverage was a hearty Summer ale, one of his favorites.

Azhem slept in the next day, waking up around 10. He decided to fly around the planet and visit a forested area he had spotted on his flight the first day. He planned on going fishing in a river he saw near the area.

He was divorced, had been for ten years, and was a relative loner. He'd dated a few times over the years, mostly for periodic stress-relief, but none of the relationships were ever serious.

Azhem enjoyed his scenic flight in the mountains and surrounding valleys on his way to the forested area.

He always enjoyed flying like this while on Leave. As much as he loved living in and flying in space, he thoroughly enjoyed flying around planets, seeing different landscapes and learning about his Empire's planets.

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One morning, two weeks after leaving the crash site, she came across a farmhouse with a barn behind it. She went to the front and back doors to see if she could come in for something to eat and drink and a place to rest.

Both doors were locked. The house seemed unoccupied, but lived-in.

Not wanting to break into someone's house, she took shelter in the barn.

Other than a few chickens and a goat, the barn was unoccupied as well. Aredhel assumed the rest of the animals had been taken to market.

She was tired and sore after walking along the river all night, especially since her ankle was sprained.

She went into the back corner stall on the left, ate some energy bars and cookies, drank a bottle of water, then lay down on the straw and went to sleep with her head on her purse.

Later that afternoon, Aredhiel woke up. She ate some cookies and an energy bar, then decided to start walking again, despite the heat, since it looked like a thunderstorm would be coming through soon.

Two hours later, four mutant-looking creatures attacked her. She screamed as they came closer to her with their knives drawn.

Terror was in her eyes. She was trapped, cornered. She knew it and so did they.

Suddenly, a loud roar was heard. The mutants stopped, then started moving closer to her again. Again, another loud roar was heard, followed by the sound of branches breaking. Azhem ran over to her.

”Back away from her! She's not yours!“, he yelled at them.

”YOU back away! We saw her first!“, a mutant said.

”She's mine! I claim her! Back away from her...NOW!“, he replied.

”GO FIND YOUR OWN PREY! WE SAW HER FIRST!“, another mutant yelled.

”YOU DARE TO DEFY ME?“, he raged. They lunged at Azhem.

He then viciously slashed and killed them all. Aredhiel screamed as he did so.

”Do you want to live?“, he asked her.

”Yes.“, she said nervously.

”Come with me and do exactly as I say! We must get out of here before others arrive!

“Despite what they probably led you to believe, I do not wish to harm you. THEY, on the other hand...”, he replied, grabbing her purse and tote bags. He threw her over his shoulder, then swiftly left the area.

He ran with her over his shoulder for a good half mile before stopping by a river. His transport pod was parked nearby.

She took a good look at him after he gently set her down and put her purse and tote bags in the pod.

He was tall, 6'5", with short brown hair. He had scales like snakeskin all over him, tattoo-like markings that looked like flames in the shape of dragon wings on his chest, plus markings that looked liked winged dragons on his upper arms. The only parts of his face without scales were his chin, lips, and nasal area.

He was shirtless and wore black pants and black boots that came up to his knees. A bear of a man, he had a six-pack and looked quite menacing. His physique could take your breath away.

He smiled ever-so-slightly at her and looked at her, studying her closely, intrigued by her.

“Forgive my manners. I am Azhem. I'm an Ulzuix. You're on Sauria, seat of our Empire. You are safe with me. Please, step into my pod. We need to get out of here. I smell more of them headed our way.”

They boarded the pod. Azhem then strapped her in, strapped himself in, and took off towards the town twenty-five miles away, where he'd rented a motel room for Leave.

“It's very nice to meet you, Azhem. I'm Aredhiel. I'm from Aekzhea. Thank you for saving my life.”

“Aekzhea? What are you doing all the way over here in our territory?”, he asked.

”I was traveling with friends. We were moving to Porzhu. We must've gotten lost, because where we crashed obviously is nowhere near where we were supposed to be traveling to.“, Aredhiel said.

“Where are the others?”, he asked.

“They died in the crash a couple weeks ago. I ended up with a twisted ankle and wrist, plus bumps, bruises and cuts. I've been traveling ever since.

“It's been hot, so I've been traveling at night by foot, bathing in the river every night before starting to walk.

”It looked like it would storm, so I started walking earlier today to get as far as I could before the storm hit. Am...am I your prisoner?”, Aredhiel asked.

Azhem smiled ever-so-slightly at her.

“No, you're not my prisoner.

”We aren't at war with your kind, nor are we at war with the Aekzhean Federation. We're not allies, true, but we're not enemies either.

“I had no idea your kind still existed. We thought your race was extinct or, at the very least, the stuff of legend. Obviously, and very happily, you're not.”, Azhem replied, taking a good look at her.

She was beautiful, as were all the members of her kind. She was buxom, had sharp angular features along with light bone structure.

Her face was shaped like a diamond, narrow at the eyeline and jawline. Aredhiel had high dramatic cheekbones.

Her eyes were large, almond-shaped, and had an angled appearance that followed the lines of her eyebrows.

Aredhiel had long reddish-brown hair that came halfway between her shoulders and waist, and pointy ears. She wore dainty earrings that dangled, along with three other small earrings in her earlobes.

In Terran mythology, Aredhiel would have been called an elf.

They had a nice meal in a restaurant, her first really decent meal, other than when she caught fish, since the crash. She ordered a beef, and he ordered a beef and sausage, along with potato wedges, deep fried cheese, and carbonated drinks for them.

After getting back to the motel, they watched some videos on the large-screen. When it was bedtime, he said,

“If you're willing, I'll take you to my ship in a few days when my Leave is over.

”I'll have our ship's doctor check you out, make sure you're not dehydrated, check on your ankle and injuries, things like that.

“Aredhiel, we'll sleep in the bed here platonically. We'll both be able to stretch out.

”I'll be a perfect gentleman.“, he said.

”Alright.“, Aredhiel replied. She then went into the bathroom to shower.

Once back in the room, she got into bed. She wore a sleeveless flowered purple nightgown that came mid-calf.

”That shower felt SO good!“, Aredhiel exclaimed.

After turning off the lights, Azhem climbed into bed, clad only in sleep pants.

”I hope you don't mind, but I don't like sleeping with a shirt on. I'll put one on if you'd be more comfortable.“, he said.

”No, you're alright like that.“, she replied softly.

”Move over towards the center. That way you won't fall out if you turn over like you would if you were sleeping close to the edge.“, he told her.

”Alright. This bed is so comfortable! I haven't slept in a bed in weeks.“, she said.

”Really? That's interesting.“, Azhem replied as he put his arm around Aredhiel and held her close.

”I thought you said you were going to be a gentleman.“, Aredhiel said.

”I am being a gentleman. I'm simply keeping you from falling out of bed, and I'm keeping you nice and warm. I promise you, your virtue is perfectly safe with me.

”Goodnight, Aredhiel.“, Azhem replied, smiling ever-so-slightly.

”Goodnight, Azhem.“, Aredhiel said.

They lay there for a few minutes, unable to sleep.

”Azhem, will your wife be upset that we're sharing a bed?“, Aredhiel asked.

”Not at all. I'm divorced. Have been for 10 years now. We had four kids.

“I begged her not to leave, told her over and over how much I loved her, the night she handed me the divorce papers.

”I did everything I could to make her stay, but she didn't love me anymore. She'd found someone else. I begged her to let me have the kids, or at least see them regularly.

”She took our kids, filed a Restraining Order on me, and I haven't seen them since. I can't even look for them without violating the Restraining Order. I've no idea where they are or if they're even alive.

“In my culture, when a person signs divorce papers, the divorce is final. The other spouse's signature isn't needed.

”Unless other arrangements have been made before papers are filed, the one being divorced automatically loses all their parental rights.

”She filed, so she automatically got the kids. I've got four kids, but I have no kids, if that makes any sense.”, Azhem replied.

“I'm sorry. I didn't know. What she did to you and your kids was absolutely horrible and unconscionable!”, Aredhiel said.

“Thank you. What about you? Are you married?”, Azhem asked.

“No. I'm widowed. My husband died two years ago. We didn't have kids, although we were trying to.

”Azhem, are you a dragon?“, Aredhiel asked, turning over to face him. He smiled ever-so-slightly.

”No, not exactly. My ancestors were. I'm reptilian, though. I can't handle cold very well. What about you? You're awfully petite for an elf.“, he said.

It was now Aredhiel's turn to smile ever-so-slightly.

”My ancestors were elves. We do have similarities to them but, for the most part, we're not true elves. We're not immortal. We don't live in homes built up high in trees.

”I wish you could see my home, Azhem. It's as beautiful as what I've seen of Sauria.“, she replied.

”You should see Fyrah, my home planet. It's even more beautiful than Sauria!“, he said.

He then snuggled her even closer and told her all about his home planet before they both drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, she woke up before Azhem and looked at him. His snoring had woken her up. He was a LOUD snorer!

She'd heard about his kind, but had never met one before. She thought he was very handsome. As vicious as Azhem was with the mutants, he was the exact opposite with her.

She knew he'd saved her life, and felt she owed him a debt.

Eventually he woke up and they looked at each other.

He couldn't resist. He leaned over and tenderly kissed her. The kiss lasted several seconds. He then said,

”I hope I didn't frighten you. I'm not going to hurt you.“

She tenderly caressed his cheek and kissed him. He returned her kiss, then they kissed passionately for a few minutes.

Afterwards, he went into the bathroom and showered. Aredhiel dressed while he was in there.

“Today I thought we'd go shopping. What do you think?”, he asked after he came out of the bathroom.

He was shirtless and wearing a pair of denim pants.

“That sounds good.”, she replied.

He finished getting dressed, putting on a gray tshirt. After breakfast at a local diner, they flew to a local megamart.

They went to the hair accessories aisle. She picked out some hair ties and fashionable barrettes.

Aredhiel also bought two lipglosses, eyeshadows and mascara. A worker in that department told them to follow her to the makeup counter.

She gave Aredhiel several samples of skincare products, makeup, and perfumes. She gave Azhem men's cologne samples as well. They both thanked her.

Next they went to the grocery section and picked out several snacks plus fudge, donuts, and drinks.

After paying their bill, they stopped for lunch. They ordered sandwiches along with small bags of chips and carbonated drinks.

They dropped off their purchases at their motel room, then relaxed abit before going out for dinner.

For dinner, they went to a restaurant with cuisine from the planet Earth's past. They chose what had been known centuries earlier as carnitas suizo and steak burrito suizo, plus tacos. Azhem had ale for his beverage and Aredhiel ordered a margarita.

They enjoyed their meal so much they ordered another carnita, burrito and tacos to go.

As they neared their motel on their flight back, he stopped at a coffeeshop and picked up iced coffees. He was a coffeeholic and found out she loved it as well.

After returning to their motel, they brought the burritos and coffees in. Azhem locked the pod as well.

They spent the remainder of the evening relaxing, snacking and watching videos.

The next day they decided to go to a local museum, the Museum of Intergalactic Science. They spent hours there perusing the exhibits, most of which were interactive.

A video presentation and exhibit about the beginnings of intergalactic space travel by several Empires and Federations was extremely interesting.

Exhibits about different alien cultures intrigued them as well.

Before they left they bought souvenirs, especially tshirts, hats, pictorial discs, and the like. They also took pictures and videos of themselves and each other by the exhibits throughout the day. He sent several of them to his best friend, Conh, who lived on Fyrah, one of the planets in the Empire. Fyrah was also Azhem's home planet.

For dinner they went to his favorite restaurant. It served hefty helpings of Ulzuix and Saurian food. He ordered a porter steak cooked medium rare with a spicy salsa-like topping. His steak came with a bowl of spicy beef soup, salad, mashed potatoes and a spicy vegetable blend. His beverage was a light ale.

Aredhiel had a porter steak cooked well with a salad, mild beef soup, mashed potatoes and corn. Her beverage was sangrila, a sangria with a touch of tequila in it.

For dessert, Azhem had the mile-high chocolate cake and she had the mile-high carrot cake. They also split a bowl of ice cream.

The next day they decided to go to an outdoor food and craft fair.

“I need to get a few things for my cabin while we're there.”, Azhem said.

They thoroughly enjoyed themselves there. Each bought quite abit. Aredhiel bought handcrafted jewelry, wall hangings, as well as several scented candles.

Azhem bought wall hangings as well as scented candles. They snacked often and drank lemon sugar water, known centuries earlier on Earth as lemonade, throughout the day. They drank alot of iced coffee and iced tea as well.

That evening, they relaxed and ordered zappi delivery for dinner.

The next day, it was time for Azhem to return to the ship.

“Are you sure it'll be alright to bring me there? I'm not an Ulzuix, you know.”, she said.

“Absolutely, Aredhiel. Everything's been arranged.”, he replied, smiling.

“You've been so kind to me, Azhem. I just don't want to get you into trouble.”, said Aredhiel, standing on her tip-toes and giving him a chaste kiss on the cheek.

“My Commander's personally given me his approval. He's looking quite forward to meeting you. He's never met an Aezkhean elf before. We've never had any dealings with your kind.”, replied Azhem, smiling broadly.

“I truly don't know what I'd have done without you, Azhem! You're my hero!”, she said, giving him a tender hug; a hug which he very happily reciprocated.

They loaded up the pod and flew to the terminal to turn it in and return to the ship in a shuttle with other crewmembers.

As Aredhiel and Azhem boarded the shuttle, iced coffees and bags of purchases in hand, the crewmembers looked at her with intense curiosity and interest.

They were extremely polite to her. They teased Azhem about his “retail therapy”, their name for his mega-shopping.

“Really Azhem? Did you leave anything on the planet for others to buy?”, one man asked.

“Attention Saurian shoppers! The planet will be restocked shortly! We appreciate your patience as the planet recovers from Colonel Azhem on Leave!”, another man joked.

Azhem just laughed it off. He loved shopping. He was a shopaholic, and wasn't the least bit ashamed of it!

Like their Commander, Azhem's fellow crewmembers had never met an Aezkhean, especially an Aezkhean elf, the ancient name Ulzuix had given the kind of Aezkhean she was.

As Azhem had told her the day they'd met, Ulzuix thought her kind was extinct or, at the very least, the stuff of legend.

One day, about two weeks after she'd moved to the ship with him, Azhem had to go on an away mission. Aredhiel said she'd like to explore the ship. He agreed it would be a good thing to do, especially since folks were now used to seeing her on the ship.

After he left, she ventured out to explore the Ulzuix ship on her own. Up to now she'd mainly stayed in their cabin, rarely even venturing out for meals. She preferred to cook their meals in their cabin. She did go on patrol with him occasionally, though.

Aredhiel wore makeup, a tshirt she'd bought at the museum, what had been called yoga pants centuries earlier on Earth, and flipflops.

She'd braided her hair, letting it hang on her left side. She wore a baseball cap from the museum and dangly earrings of Sauria's solar system as well.

She'd also lightly put on some perfume. The perfume smelled of flowers that were native to Aekzhea.

He'd given her a map so she wouldn't get lost walking around, and she looked at it before stepping out of the cabin.

She decided to go to the observation deck for awhile. Once there, she looked out at the stars for an hour or so, thinking about how her life had changed since meeting Azhem.

Crewmembers occasionally stopped by to look at the stars. They greeted her politely and she nodded in return, occasionally saying, ”Yes“, or ”Yes it is.“

Unless she was with Azhem, Aredhiel generally avoided the crew, and they did the same with her. She was nervous around them, and the feeling among the Ulzuix regarding her was mutual.

They were still getting used to the idea that there was someone on their ship whose race they'd believed was extinct, if it had even existed at all. In private, the crew spoke of her as ”Azhem's Elven Woman.“

Eventually she sat in a corner on the floor to look at the map and decide where she wanted to go next.

She decided to visit the library. Once there, she walked around, looking at globes of Sauria and other Empire planets, checking out the maps of various galaxies and solar systems that had been mounted on the walls.

Aredhiel looked at several astronomy books. She found one book with maps of solar systems and looked in it, hoping to see where Aekzhea was.

After she found it, she looked in a book about the history of flight. She found pictures from Earth's early days of flight to be quite comical.

She was fascinated by the pictures of Earth and its moon that were taken from space.

She'd heard about the planet and its solar system, but had never seen pictures of it. She decided Earth looked alot like Aekzhea only bigger. Aekzhea was similar in size to Venus. Neptune looked closer in size to Porzhu, the planet she'd originally been traveling to before crashing on Sauria.

The Aezkheans weren't enemies of Federation Directorate, but they weren't allies either. They knew very little about Earth, or humans for that matter. She'd never personally met a human, although she'd seen pictures of their kind.

The pictures of Earth's solar system intrigued her as well.

Eventually it was time for lunch. She decided she'd go to the dining hall for a meal. After looking at the selections, she settled on a shredded chicken sandwich and pasta shells with cheese. She got some iced tea, a spoon for the pasta, then sat down to eat.

There were a few crewmembers in the dining hall, but not as many as there usually were during breakfast and dinner.

After finishing her lunch, she was still hungry, so she selected the same meal again. After finishing her second helping, she was full and decided to look on her map to see where she wanted to go next.

She settled on the fitness center to explore. After putting her garbage away, she followed the map until she found the fitness center.

Crewmembers were using exercise equipment. She decided to try out a treadmill since her ankle was finally doing much better.

Aredhiel started at a leisurely pace, gradually working her way up into a nice jog.

The crewmembers looked at her, intrigued by this polite elven woman, but said nothing. They merely nodded politely to her.

She jogged for a good thirty minutes at an extremely swift pace. Being descended from elves, their legendary speed was in her genetic makeup.

She then walked around the fitness center. She saw the weight room and pool. In a room to her right she heard fast music.

Going over to investigate, she saw women doing what looked like dancing.

”That looks like fun.“, Aredhiel said to herself.

In another room she saw crewmembers doing graceful movements with peaceful music playing in the background.

It looked very similar to Aezh Chhi, an exercise and meditation discipline every Aezkhean learned to do. She'd done some of it herself that very morning in the cabin before leaving for her walk.

Aezh Chhi was a form of self-defense as well, but Aezkheans rarely used it for that.

She stood there for awhile watching the crewmembers doing the Ulzuix form of Aezh Chhi, smiling wistfully, before turning to leave. A female crewmember, having noticed her watching, came up to her.

”Hi. I'm Cressa. There's another class starting in 10 minutes. I'm the instructor for it. Want to join us? You're more than welcome to if you'd like.“, she said.

Aredhiel thought for a few seconds, then nodded, smiling ever-so-slightly.

Five minutes later the first class ended. Cressa walked in and Aredhiel followed. More crewmembers arrived, both male and female. She walked to the back of the room, away from the bulk of the Ulzuix.

Cressa didn't make a big deal about her, instead acting as if nothing unusual was happening.

The class started and Aredhiel followed along with the movements quite easily.

”This thing they do is slightly different than Aezh Chhi, but it's not that difficult.”, she thought to herself.

At the end of the hour-long class, the crewmembers left while Cressa was putting her supplies away.

“Thank you for inviting me. I enjoyed it.”, Aredhiel said.

“You're most very welcome! Here's a list of my classes. There's also a fast-paced dance and exercise class listed. I teach aqua-aerobics as well. Feel free to join any class you want.” Cressa replied as she handed her a list of classes.

“Thank you.”, Aredhiel said, smiling politely before turning to leave.

She decided to retrace her steps back to the dining hall for some iced tea. It was more crowded than earlier, but she ventured in anyway.

The Commander was there, and invited her to sit with him and other crewmembers he was dining with. She wasn't sure about it, but did so out of respect for him. He asked how her day was going.

“It's going well. Thank you, Sir. You have a very nice ship.”, she replied nervously. He thanked her, and they chatted abit more.

After finishing her drink, she pulled the map out to choose her next destination. She decided she'd go back to the cabin to relax abit before exploring again.

The Commander invited her to join him for dinner, saying he'd like to get to know her better.

Seeing Aredhiel's uneasiness over his invitation, he explained that he made it a habit of getting to personally know each person under his command on the ship. She then accepted his invitation.

Politely excusing herself, she got up and went back to their cabin until dinnertime. After taking an hour-long nap, she showered then put clean clothes on. Her hair was still wet, so she let it hang down and air dry until she got back to the cabin for the evening.

Soon it was time to head to the dining hall for dinner with the Commander. She didn't want to go, but she'd promised him, and she wanted to keep her promise.

The Commander was not as discreet about her presence there as he was earlier.

“AREDHIEL!”, he called to her, motioning her to come over to where he was sitting with seven other crewmembers.

Everyone in the hall looked up when he called her name. They were curious to see the elven woman who'd recently joined Azhem on the ship.

“Come on over!”, he said to her, smiling.

Forcing herself to go into the hall, she went to his table.

Lieutenant C'oor, a member of the Command Team, pulled a chair out for her next to him. Sitting down, she nervously thanked him.

The Commander introduced her to the crewmembers. Lt. C'oor was married to Cressa, the instructor in the class Aredhiel had attended earlier. Cressa joined the group at the table as well.

Aredhiel excused herself as she got up to select her meal. She settled on pork roast and iced coffee, then returned to the table. She thought the roast was delicious.

She didn't speak much during the meal due to her nervousness, but was polite when people spoke to her. The Commander asked her how she was adjusting to life on the ship.

“I'm adjusting fairly well, Sir. Everyone has been extremely polite. I feel quite safe here on your ship.”, she replied.

When dinner was over, she politely excused herself and went back to their cabin to wait for Azhem.

Relaxing in the recliner, she sipped iced tea and read a fashion magazine on her small-screen.

A realization crossed her mind. She missed Azhem. She missed his bad jokes, their conversations, his scent. She missed...HIM. Her Ulzuix friend had grown on her.

She couldn't wait to see him again. She wondered how much longer it'd be before he returned.

Eventually it was time to go to bed. Azhem still wasn't home. She slept fitfully for a couple hours then, just around 1am, heard the cabin door open. “Hello?”, she called out.

“Hi Aredhiel. I'm home.”, a tired voice replied.

Springing out of bed, Aredhiel yelled, “AZHEM!”, and ran to him, nearly knocking him down. He gave her a big hug and kiss, which she very happily returned.

“You're home!”, Aredhiel said, smiling broadly.

“Yes, I'm finally home. How've you been? Did you do anything interesting while I was away?”, he asked.

She hugged him tighter, then told him about her day, including her trip to the library, the fitness room, exercise class, and dinner with the Commander and other crewmembers.

She threw her arms around him again, telling him how much she'd missed him. She also asked how his day had been.

She poured him some tea and offered to make him a grilled sandwich with cheese and ham. He told her he wasn't hungry, having eaten earlier, but was definitely thirsty.

She then did something neither of them expected her to do. She threw her arms around him and kissed him passionately.

She hugged him tightly before giving him another very passionate kiss. Azhem gladly reciprocated both the hug and the kisses. He didn't know what had come over her, but he most certainly was NOT going to refuse her hugs and kisses!

After chatting for about an hour, they were finally ready to get some sleep. They climbed into bed and, within two minutes of laying down and covering himself up, Azhem was snoring loudly. Aredhiel was happy he was home again and, within five minutes, she was sound asleep herself, snoring softly.

The next morning they slept in until 10. After they got up she made them breakfast. She cooked sausage, diced potatoes seasoned with a type of seasoning similar to ancient taco seasoning, and scrambled eggs, all cooked together in one skillet and topped with cheese.

Azhem loved it, and finished over half the skillet. He was to go on patrol that day, and invited her to come with.

He enjoyed her company immensely. His friends told him she seemed to "bring him out of himself“. He tended to agree with them.

For the first time in years, he seemed completely content and truly happy with life.