Caelum looks at the older boy with Luc in his arms.

He's curious, he never thought he'd see another alien mated to a human and vice versa. From what he's heard, humans aren't wanted.

But even he can see Arun's mistrust of the aliens guarding them.

"Hi," he greets with a shy smile, "I'm Arun, Arun Saros."

Caelum finally brings himself to relax around Thuban's mate, "I'm Caelum Novak-Halcyon."

Arun's smile softens, "Thank you for watching over Luc, for taking care of my little troublemaker."

"I'm glad we found you, or well, you found us. We we're searching for his parents, but guess we were only looking in the wrong places."

Luc rests his head on his daddy's shoulder, a soft yawn escaping pink lips.

"Hope that your little one doesn't turn out like this one," Arun snorts.

"I'll definitely keep an eye on him," Caelum nods, "how, um.. how far along are you?"

"Five months," Arun answers easily, "bloated as ever."

"Tell me about it," Caelum mutters.

"Hard pregnancy?"

"Difficult birth," he admits, eyes straying to his baby boy, "but I wouldn't trade Halo for anything in the world."

Arun smiles at the sight, "I know the feeling."

Soon Caelum takes a seat in order to feed Halo. He does so with a blush high on his cheeks, but Arun doesn't say anything and their guards turn away for their comfort and privacy.

Arun gladly takes the seat across from Caelum and runs his hands through Luca's messy hair.

"You think they'll come to an agreement?" Caelum asks after a minute of silence.

"I hope so," Arun nods, "Thuban promised."

They continue watching the closed doors in hopes of fixing this misunderstanding.

They hold onto the possibility of a new friendship, of hope for new beginnings.

And when the doors open, it's to small smiles of agreement from both parties.

Caelum can't help but sigh in relief, especially when Aerglo bends down to kiss him.

Thuban and xyr family leave shortly after with promises of visits and friendships.

Caelum's relief only multiplies at that.

"So... no more war?"

"No," Aerglo smiles, "no more."

Caelum grins, "really?"

"Yes," Aerglo chuckles, "after Thuban's stunt, I made xem consider open trade and safe travel back and forth between our realms. I proposed to demolish the borders separating us in order to create a connecting passage. It's been years, decades, since we've last seen each other. We've gotten along despite the divide among our people, and I told xem I'd like to reconnect, to invite xem to our home and open our doors in sincerity and alliance just as they've opened their doors for us once."

"And Thuban agreed?"

Aerglo smiles even more.

Xe can still see the small grin twitching on Thuban's lips. The laid back expression reminding Aerglo of the little brat xe used to be.

The little brat that was kind to xem. The brat that has matured into a great ruler, but above all else, a great person.

And even back then, they both new they'd be the change, the catalase that would finally set everything right.

"Xe agreed."

Caelum beams at xem, his smile radiant.

And Aerglo knows xe would be lost without xyr seno elttil.

Xe can't even contemplate a world without them.

"I'm glad I found you," Aerglo admits.

"I'm glad you found me," Caelum whispers breathlessly, "I'm glad you found us."

The End.

: We're actually at the end 😀! Sorry for any misspellings forward or backward. And thank you for reading this out-of-the-world story.

Many will ask for an epilogue but for now I'll give you information that might be even better:

1. There will be a prequel focusing on Aerglo and Thuban's past along with Thuban and Arun's story.

And

2. I'm considering a sequel which will probably focus on the kids... or maybe focus more on Caelum's new home and life with Aerglo as xyr mate. Maybe it'll be a mix of both.

Honestly there is so much more that needs to be said in/about the story, but the war is over even though there's many open ending questions, and they have a happy ending.

That's all that matters... right?