THE WATCHER
Part One
I have watched them for years.
In the beginning, we all watched each other. We were all new, each an unknown quantity to the others. I watched them all, to learn not just about them but about their culture, their world. They watched to see if his trust in me was well placed, to see if I could become part of the team. Soon they stopped watching me, satisfied, accepting me as one of their own.
I watched them still. Slowly suspicion turned to respect, unfamiliarity to ease. He learned to work with her as a warrior and as a scientist. She learned that he would repay her loyalty with his own. He learned that she would never leave him behind, no matter how small the chance of success. She learned that he listened and valued her input. He gave her his trust. She gave him her trust. They became friends.
Still I watched. I watched him watch her. I watched her watch him. Long after we all stopped watching each other and became a team, became friends, they continued to watch each other. They thought no one saw.
I saw. I saw him spend time in her lab, watching her work, getting in her way. I saw her let him take the last dish of blue Jello. I saw him prepare her for her own command. I saw her succeed, to make him proud. I saw them hide their feelings. I saw them each try to create those feelings with others. I saw them fail.
I watched them realize that there would be only her for him, only him for her. I watched them put their feelings aside for the good of the team, the planet. I watched them convince themselves that the job they did was more important that their hearts. I watched them realize that no job should stand in the way.
I watched them fall in love. I watched them love from a distance. Now I will watch them acknowledge their love and stand with them as they join two lives into one.
I will watch no more. They will now watch each for the other, safe in the love that binds them together.
