Vailen and crew were surprisingly amenable to the idea of offering Cecelia asylum on the ship. There was a decided air of excitement in the room as I laid out my plan to offer her a tour of the ship and a first-hand account of their story, as well as my own opinions.

When it came to the matter of locating her? It deflated a little. Not entirely, but it was a palpable change.

Prince Roan and Bask were elsewhere. Part of me suspected that Esayr was going to attempt to field Bask away from Laene and myself for the time being. He'd mentioned he was going to see him, at the very least. And what he could possibly be inclined to say aside from "You're a little bitch for punching me" was beyond me.

"We could track devices that she uses to update her information," Vailen mused over Yarro's shoulder. The two, along with a few other males were working to divine the quickest way to reaching what amounted to an invisible woman.

"Tracking the devices she uses to update her blog would probably work well enough," I offered. The males turned to face me as one. Where I'd expected a look of annoyance for stepping into their conversation regarding an area I was unfamiliar with, I was only met with interest. Shamed burned in my chest at the disarmed feeling that overcame me. I had valuable input, if only as the sole creature able to relate to this human woman.

I shrugged the feeling off as best I could, "At the very least it will give us an idea of the area she frequents, if not her actual whereabouts."

Vailen nodded swiftly as Yarro's fingers raced over the interface in front of them. It was a sleek clear glass with no discernable keyboard, and yet as Yarro tapped away at it, I saw flashes of those swirling characters that only recently began to coalesce into words in my mind.

I resigned myself to quiet supervision as I watched the males work. I shot a careless glance over my shoulder, looking for my quiet shadow --Laene-- his gaze curiously was diverted on the screens that showed the swirling image of Earth.

I stepped up beside him, "Thinking about her?"

He didn't startle, and I guess it was bold of me to think that he might, instead he just nodded. It was stiff and overly formal, but his voice was contemplative, "Most days."

I looked back at my home planet, trying to see it in the same way that he did, as something worth hoping for. Instead, the only thing that came to mind was the idea that someone once upon a time ago had referred to it as a blue marble, and the description was oddly compelling.

"Sometimes it doesn't feel real."

I laughed a little at the idea, "I can understand that feeling. At least you grew up knowing about this possibility, though."

He was quiet. I'd expected some kind of smile in response, or at least a nod, but Laene was somber.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

"About what?" That pulled his eyes away from the screen at the very least.

Laene was one of Esayr's Riniere. I still wasn't entirely certain of the significance of the term, but it was easy to see that he was one of Esayr's closest friends. I searched his face for some kind of understanding. I'd gleaned bits and pieces of the insinuation of a troubled past, but no explanation.

Laene was quiet, like Esayr, but in a more melancholy way. I knew he could smile from the faint tracing of laugh lines near his eyes, and I'd seen his careful military stiffness melt away when he was around Esayr, but they all came back when he needed to be controlled when he needed to fight the stress.

"About whatever is worrying you."

I watched the flicker of vulnerability flash in the depths of his eyes for only a moment. I expected to see it shutter tight, to disappear behind that sterile cultivated look, but it didn't. Instead, Laene seemed to consider me for a moment before he let out a quiet breath.

"If you were given the choice to go through all of this again, would you do it?"

The question surprised me even when it shouldn't have. I'd thought about it my fair share of times on my own. Some times the answer had been a resounding 'yes', but there were other times when the answer had been a certain 'no' as well. Would I do this all over again?

While I took the time to consider my answer, the questions Laene had been considering on his own continued to spill out.

"There's a belief among our people that those who are tied to each other will find that fate will ease their bonding. They'll find that they can overcome those struggles that present themselves throughout their relationship. It's a pretty notion, but I find myself hard-pressed to believe it," Laene ran a hand through his hair, mussing the neat lines. "My tantamount concern is: Is it better to hope and be wrong, or ist better to be safe and wonder? Will she hate me? Is my desire for her worth upending the life she's built already? Is it worth laying eyes on her if there is that possibility of dooming the both of us to a life being stuck in proximity after our souls realize the other exists?"

I could feel my heart squeeze painfully for Laene. I wished I had better answers for him --or any answers. "I wish I could give you the answers that would comfort you. But, those questions are the same ones that have haunted my people throughout history. 'Is it better to love and lose, or is it better to have never loved at all?' Even now the answer depends on the person," I turned to face him fully, "What I can tell you though, whatever your decision, you have a group that's willing to support you and to help you every step of the way, myself included."

When Laene turned to look at me this time, there was an odd guarded look in his eye. I wasn't familiar with this expression, at least not in the same way I was with his stiff formality. This one looked guilty almost, but before I could pry into it the sound of Yarro and Vailen's confusion caught our attention and the look vanished.

Yarro's gaze skimmed over the text on the screen, and Vailen was leaning closely over his shoulder, reading the results intently as well.

I could see the faint hint of irritation on Yarro's face whenever Vailen breathed a little too loudly in his ear, "Is there a problem?" The question was more from my own curiosity, but I did get a faint sense of amusement watching both of them startle out of their concentration.

Vailen straightened immediately as if he weren't familiar with the unrefined posture of being stooped over a computer lurking over someone's shoulder. His hands quickly found his uniform and righted it. Yarro swiveled in his seat but cast me a grateful look.

I glanced between them both, but Vailen was studiously reading through the information over the top of Yarro's head. I returned my look to Yarro.

He rolled his eyes at the intensity and relative obtuse nature of his supervisor, but turned to show me exactly what had them confused, "Her electronic signature is odd. She's accessing her forums from many different locations."

Not terribly surprising when the government likely wants you to disappear. "I'm not all that surprised. She's probably trying to stay off the radar." I shrugged as if the concept weren't appalling, "If the American government found her, she'd be in a lot of trouble. Not to mention the fact that she'd brought in other government's confidential information as well."

He shook his head, "You're misunderstanding. The signatures we could glean from where she's accessing her portals to where she displays this information are...frankly impossible. They aren't localized in any one area but are pinpointed all around your planet. The time of access between points of her contacting the gateway do not afford enough time for her to get from one place to another." Yarro spun again toward the screen with information quickly sliding along the interface in frosted swirling letters, "Come. See for yourself."

I stepped up to the desk. I could feel Laene and Vailen flank me as Yarro pulled up key bits of information and highlighted each. I read the dates and times listed, "Is it possible you're confusing our timezones?"

But even as my brain consolidated the information --and the new language for that matter-- it became obvious that wasn't the case. The timestamps were cataloged in a standard time scheme based on the rate of universal expansion, and how I knew that was a whole new topic of conversation I wasn't will to touch on just yet.

Regardless, however was accessing the website as Cecelia Marie Bird was making jumps from Texas to Sudan, to Egypt, the UK, and then to Thailand in increments of time comparable to twenty or thirty minutes.

"It might as well be within the blink of an eye." The Earth euphemism rolled off Vailen's tongue easily.

Without thinking I reach forward and dragged the information along the screen to view the other timestamps, "And it's not possible she's faking her location? Through some computer hardware thing?" It wasn't eloquently put, but I hoped they catch my meaning.

"She was...but she was altering the location to appear as if it were only centered in the area surrounding Houston, Texas."

"Her birthplace," I bit the inside of my cheek, worrying the skin there, "One person can't be in two places at once." I paused, considering what this meant. "It would explain why no one has been able to find her."

"It doesn't explain how she's making those leaps in location," I could feel Yarro's confusion in the air around us like a cloying fog.

"No?" Yarro glanced to me with interest and it was such an odd feeling seeing so many people interested in my input as if it were actually important. I'd become so used to living in the periphery, reduced to a set of hands placing plates on a table, or occasionally an ass for ogling as I walked by.

"I don't think Cecelia Marie Bird is a woman at all...or I suppose the better way to put it is this: I don't believe she's just one woman."

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

It's been too long and for that, I apologize.

But I've read each and every one of your comments. And what can I say, ask and you shall receive. Figured I'd take advantage of the forced free time and sit and add a little more to this story that I hold so close to my heart.

It's so mindboggling to me how many of you have commented, read, and voted on this story. Thank you. I can't say it enough, honestly. It means so much to me.

I hope you are all staying safe and keeping busy as you can. I plan to update as I can! I can't say that it will be every day or every week like it was once upon a time ago, but I do hope to slowly keep this story moving so that y'all can one day have as much fun with all the other girls and their boys, haha. And maybe, just maybe, we'll get some of those questions y'all left in these comments answered on the way.

...And Fond Mornings,

Layla