With all the girls he ever fell in love with – said he fell in love with, thought he fell in love with – there was always an element of similarity. After a while, all of the us 's blurred together. He couldn't pick out how he had felt from one to the other. How it felt when he fell in, how it felt when he fell out, or whether he was even the one to fall out. But he did eventually. Always on the move. Always slicking up his hair and straightening his tie and all the girls blurring together like too many cheap movies. Always trusting his luck because that's what he was, wasn't he? Carswell Thorne was incredibly lucky.
But when his big grand plan fell short and he landed face first in the dust, he didn't think that was so true anymore. Oh, well, until he saw her. All that shimmering golden hair. And flaming stars above, those blue eyes. But it was her voice and her soul that made him fall. His eyes had darkened and she became his vision. His wasted soul eclipsed in light of hers, in light of her big dreams and heart that was capable of such vast love.
He wondered where she'd been all this time. Well, duh. Up in a spaceship. But he wished that he had known this love before. It would have made him a better man. But he could start now. A new beginning. A better man. His heart was with her, and it was never going to leave. For the first time, an us stood out so boldly, brilliantly, flaming like the light of a thousand shooting stars. By the time he could see her again, by the time they had fought so hard for freedom and justice, by the time he had fumbled through so many mistakes on his way to trying to be a better man, he knew it for sure. This wasn't just any old us. This us was worth taking a shot at forever. Yes, Carswell Thorne was incredibly lucky. More so than ever before.
