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I’ve played my part Has she played hers? Could she play hers, after having a gliain? I re to the real world Best not to make promises It’s not as simple as either of us would like it to be

For an endlessin my exhaustion There’s no hint of the Lilac I came to know on the planet

My heart wants to stop, and I want to let it

She’s the one to break the silence "Tarver, are you--"

I move toward her before I can stop myself, and halt half a pace away "I’ at me, blue eyes intent I must look like hell "What did you tell theWe’re alone in this corridor and yet I can feel the weight of the reporters waiting to photograph us, the incredulous people in Lilac’s circles, and the soldiers too, the shadow of her father over us Is it too much for her?

Is it tooto ignore how badly I want to reach out, close the gap between us "I’, dumb soldier What do I know?"

Her lips curve a little, amused, and for the first tiain I scan her face, looking for traces of the black eye she used to have, for her fading freckles, for anything to make her mine, not theirs "What about you, Miss LaRoux?"

"Me?" She takes a deep breath, and with a jolt I realize she’s as fearful as I am "I’"

And then she sht we iven then; it’s lopsided and true, and full of anxious hope I reach for her, on fire For abefore the hunger takes over Then I rabs handfuls ofme with her as we crash into the wall of the hallway She’s holdingher face as her lips part and I kiss her, one

But she’s here, she’se break apart, and I lean in to rest et out of here?"

She wraps her ar up in a smile once more "Think we can outrun the ca in the art of stealth and ca in return, helpless

She opens herflash fro backith a cry I turn, half blinded ht sweeps on past the ship, rippling outward froes, I’ to understand what I’ over the surface of the planet like cracks in an eggshell, as if so from the planet’s depths Lilac rabs forinto fire

There’s no sound across the vacuuthe destruction of the planet before us

Lilac is the first to move, the first to speak "Now no one will ever knohat happened here" She ss, gaze still fixed on theas a series of soundless explosions eject streams of molten rock out toward the old fire consu them In her face I can see the echo of the planet’s destruction, the loss of the last shred of proof of everything she went through

I wrapDucking , steadying breath "We’ll know," I whisper

We don’t ines kick in We keep watching as the shattered planet and the remnants of its moon recede into the distance, back and back into the infinite dark Until our eyes have to strain to see theht

The hyperspace drive gives its telltale whine, and Lilac leans back into et home faster Home to cameras and reporters, and questions from people who’d never understand what happened to us I haven’t given up on finding answers, not yet, even if we only whisper those answers to each other

But just now, as ait for the engines to kick in, all of that is far away For a e before us is frozen: our world, our lives, reduced to a handful of broken stars half lost in uncharted space Then it’s gone, the vieed by the hyperspace winds streaes away

Until all that’s left is us