While it started out rocky, we managed to navigate into a comfortable companionship. The soup was...well soup. Even across cultures, the dish seemed to maintain a semblance of similarity. The stringy vegetable broke up into largely flavorful 'noodles' and the longer you let the steep the stronger the entire flavor of the meal got.

Esayr and I sat at the table in the dining area and chatted easily about mundane things. We'd drifted past the "you tell me a fact I tell you a fact" game we'd played earlier and instead spoke freely about our lives.

There were a lot of things Esayr hadn't experienced, having grown up on this ship. Many of them were things I hadn't anticipated, like the rain and the ocean. He'd experienced a lot of marvelous things I couldn't imagine, though, too, like stepping foot on a planet that kicked up storms of pure beryllium or happening upon old derelict crafts that were seemingly forgotten throughout the eons. And, we couldn't forget the fact that he'd met other aliens.

I'd had to accept a lot of things very quickly, being human on a planet that was suddenly visited by creatures from another planet and then I had to accept even more things in being the first human called up to this ship. But, when Esayr nonchalantly talked about trade ports, star hubs, and Dyson spheres nonchalantly at our dinner table over some alien chicken noodle soup? I felt decidedly small like there was more and more to this vast universe and I could never hope to comprehend it.

"That's fascinating."

Esayr was smiling easily again, wistfully almost. It warmed my chest to see it, worried that whatever the tension was between us had spilled over across all of our relationship, even the friendship. "Yes. It is. Between searching, we tend to forget that the things we see as normal are near mythical to other races."

"Near-mythical to races not in space, certainly." I held my quip about the near-mythical concept of their soulmate as well. That one didn't feel quite like the joke I might have once taken it to be, not now.

Esayr nodded. He'd stack our dishes and cutlery together in the center of the table, and now say leaned back in this chair. "It is something we deal with on most Temani Bercaris. Most searching races are pre-space age. Historically speaking we had a lot of issues with being compared to Gods."

"I can see that." Even now the Val'Dornn were viewed as awesome in that archaic way; that way that could lend itself to 'awe-inspiring' or just as easily as 'awful'. They were a wild card that certainly kept the normal human masses on high alert, and I'd imagine our governments as well. We weren't a terribly trusting race. "Why do your Searches always target civilizations that aren't in space?"

"They don't always. There are some written records of Temani Bercaris that were held in space, but those were millennia ago. As for why it chooses who it chooses, we're still not entirely sure. Some theories argue that we're all offshoots of a race that seeded the galaxy in its beginnings. Some argue that our Gods change the genetic makeup of every planet they set foot on. And, some argue that in an infinite universe where life tends to form in the same way there is a chance, however minuscule, that compatible life could exist: and we just happen to be adept at finding it."

"What do you believe?"

"Maybe a little bit of everything?"

"That's very pragmatic of you." I laughed at his stunned expression, "If I'm going to way in my uninformed position I'd lean towards the idea that there's some link between our races. Lions and Tigers can breed but Cats and Dogs can't. I'd assume that even upgrading from planet to universe level that law would stay the same without interference."

"Entirely possible. For all of our technology and all of our history dealing with this form of bonding, we're still remarkably far from untangling any of its mysteries, hence the continued genetic study Searching after Searching."

"Well. One thing's for sure if there was a seeding ancestor, it would explain the odd accounts throughout history that sound eerily similar to abductions." I'd made the comment as a joke, but the look on Esayr's face changed to something unreadable, "What?"

Esayr rubbed out his neck, "That's likely exactly what they were if I had to guess."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Obviously, the Val'Dornn showing up on our metaphorical doorstep had lent credence to abduction stories. Hell, conspiracy theorists were in a riot for months after their appearance. Yet, most couldn't shake the ingrained stigma associated with claiming to have been abducted in the night and returned without any witnesses.

"Your celestial bodies, they're remarkably coincidentally scaled. They were at one time a massive draw for tourism. It was unfortunate that your planet happened to be where one could view the eclipse associated with the intersecting movements of your moon and sun. It made it secondarily a massive draw for trafficking. In recent centuries, once you'd begun approaching a more scientific era a conservation ban was placed over the immediate vicinity of your solar system. There were always smugglers willing to risk for a hefty reward. For a non-space faring race, humans have a surprisingly large presence in the universe at large."

"So...aliens have been stealing people. And, other aliens have tried to stop it by quarantining us, but criminals are criminals?" What the fuck.

"For the most part. Over the past few generations, since we learned of our destination, there's been a concerted effort on behalf of most Riniere's to break up illegal trade of humans."

"So...how exactly are you allowed to be here? If we're quarantined?"

He blinked a few times.

Don't you dare tell me you're not allowed to be here.

"We acquired special permission."

Thank god.

"The Temani Bercari is headed by a Prince. Princes are always guided, and while we don't exactly know the ins and outs of their guidances, we understand that it's a general tug toward a place in the universe, and the Prince uses their ability of foreknowing to determine our course on our searching. However," Esayr paused, "it is imprecise unless our Prince encounters a member of the race we're to bond with. Prince Roan was the first to encounter a human. She's a freed slave and runs a mining station on an exoplanet orbiting a star not too far from here."

The idea that humans were being abducted and traded throughout the universe made my blood boil, "Is it still happening?"

"To our estimation? No. We have a perimeter alarm around the nearby air space and haven't detected disturbances, but as with any security system it isn't foolproof."

I rubbed my temples, feeling the phantom pain of a headache forming.

"We've done as much as we can for now. We are fully in the grips of this Searching. Our bonds are tightening a little more each day, keeping us from running back to the stars on jobs. However, once bonds are formed and completed and we settle into our families we will take to the stars again and fight for you again, Addy."

"I know. It's just awful...wanting to do something, but not being able to." I heaved out a breath and my shoulders deflated along with it, "It's too much to worry about. I have to deal with the issue on the planet first. For now, I have to fix the issues here."

"This isn't your responsibility, Addy. It's the responsibility of the Working Counsel and those tasked with criminal extraction, which is sometimes us but most of the time not."

Let's table the question of what "the Working Counsel" was. That was for another time. "I know it isn't my responsibility. But, that just makes me feel powerless. Like I have no say in the safety or well being of my race."

"You have a say in the future of your race that lives on Earth."

That stirred up a host of other anxieties. I let out a humorless laugh, "Yes. Yes, I do have a say in that. But I don't even know how to deal with that." I shot a glance to the stack of papers on the shelf by the door. We'd organized them and placed them out of the way of the table, but they still sat there, haunting me.

"I want to help you."

I need help. The thought burned the back of my throat and behind my eyes. I'd never liked relinquishing control of things that I'd determined were my responsibility. But, I was one woman trying to take on the world. "I need help." I felt tears pooling in my eyes. I need some kind of help. I need someone --anyone-- to help me with so many different things.

I needed help righting the Val'Dornn story in the minds of humankind.

I needed help understanding the Val'Dornn and where I stood as a Val'Kier.

I needed help sifting through the intricacies of a relationship I never anticipated and was far from experienced enough to handle.

"What can I do to share this burden, Addy?" Esayr's hand was warm as he tugged me out of my thoughts with a swipe of his thumb across my palm.

I need to compartmentalize. I closed my hand tight catching his hand in mine for a moment to ignoring the tingle that raced up my arm. "First things first," Esayr nodded allowing me the moment and silence to think through the barrage of thoughts, "I need help telling your story. I need someone reliable and unbiased. Someone that people will trust to tell the truth."

"You'd mentioned the woman who broke the news of us before."

He was right. I had mentioned Cecelia Bird. "Cecelia Bird." She was near impossible to reach after earning the ire of our government, conducting her studies and interviews on the road. She abhorred any correspondence that could be tapped into.

"Yes, what of her?"

"This needs to be face to face. And I can't get to her without taking you along." My mind drifted to the line in the contract that forbids any Val'Dornn from setting foot on Earth.

Unless in response to a genetic match.

I was 'a genetic match'. My blood was rushing in my ears.

It didn't say 'their genetic match'. It didn't specify a timeframe. It was an oversight. A vast oversight. I'd have to recheck the phrasing, but I'd spent long enough pouring over that document that I was near certain. There was nothing legally keeping the Val'Dornn from the Earth's surface. Not after finding me, after all.

"Bring her here," Esayr said it like it was the only logical option, and maybe to him, it was. Maybe to a race that didn't twist words and rules like we did it was the only logical option. "Bring Cecelia Bird to the ship. I can't set foot on your planet, but there's nothing stopping anyone from coming here. We wanted to maintain an environment for diplomatic relations," he smiled a wry smile, "oddly none have accepted the offer."

"I don't think she'd accept."

"You won't know if you don't ask her."

"I feel like the ingrained fear of possibly being forced into marriage enough to keep her from coming here."

Esayr stared at me for a few seconds, "You could argue that the fear of becoming an enemy of her own government would have been enough to keep her from doing what she's already done."

Fair. I nodded absently as thoughts sped through my mind. They want to be planetside, but if they showed up now that would easily be the last straw. They'd be crucified in the media as twisting the contract to their own gain despite it being entirely within the realm of acceptable. They can't go to the planet until they've done damage control...and even then there'd be resistance from the groups predisposed toward hating them. Bringing Cecelia here is the only viable option.

"Addy?"

"I'll try to get a hold of her."

*****A/N*****

Hello all! This was a longer update, which is fun. Not too much happening aside from moving the story along. How has everyone been?

I started certification classes this past Monday. I dropped my binder in the parking lot and all of my papers flew out right before class. 0/10 not the way I wanted to start the class, but aside from that, it was great! We had our hands in classmates mouths and that was crazy!

This week I start my actual college classes, so it's gonna get real busy for a hot minute, but I'm excited. I forgot how much I love learning new things. I'm excited to keep moving forward, with school and this story.

Don't want to get your hopes up, but I'm trying my hand at sitting down all weekend and just writing and writing to see if I can get this first draft finished :). Then I'll give myself some time to edit it a little while I work on a few parts for the next iteration in the story.

Does anyone have any guesses what quiet troubled boy book two will be about (if I haven't already said who it was about that is? I can't remember anymore, haha)? :P

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and here's to hoping I inundate you with updates on this story over the next few hours.

Dare to dream,

Layla