"Landing gear deploying, set down in 5...4...3..2...1…"
The spacecraft Cygnus landed on Belmatroth, ready to explore the newly discovered planet. As soon as the ramp touched down, the head of the expedition ran onto the strange soil. Anne Shirley, the ships head exobiologist, had been waiting for this moment her whole life.
"It's beautiful," she breathed, staring at the purple sky in awe.
"What was that?" The ships Chief Medical officer, Gilbert Blythe, strode down the ramp, swinging his medkit over his shoulder.
"I said it was beautiful. Except, beautiful doesn't seem to describe half of it."
Gilbert smiled, his expression one of fondness and delight. Anne usually had that effect on people.
"Right. Well, let's start to collect samples! And since we don't know how long the days are, we should better start now." Anne walked over to one of the trees, its trunk black, and its leaves a mixture of red and yellow. Scattered around its roots, the foliage was a multitude of colors, but predominantly blue.
She knelt down, then carefully collected a leaf off of one of the plants. Then she put it in a container, labeled it, and put it back into her bag. She repeated this action for hours, only stopping when the sky was midnight blue. She made her way back to the ship, still drinking in the alien environment.
"Come on, Shirley!" It was Gilbert, coming to check on her. "We don't have all day! Did you forget about the celebration we're having tonight?"
"Oh! It slipped my mind. I'll be right there!"
The Gilbert smiled, then disappeared back into the ship.
Anne quickened her pace, her body on autopilot once she reached the ship. Her legs took her to the mess hall, but her mind was still with the beautiful foliage.
The doors to the mess hall swooped open. Inside, there was a throng of people, celebrating their newest successful landing.
"Anne!" A dark-haired woman wearing science green gestured towards Anne.
"I'll be right there, Diana!" Anne pushed her way through the crowd, saying apologies left and right. "Isn't this amazing?"
"What do you mean? Aside from the fact that we just, you know, landed on a new planet without a scratch on the hull?" Diana laughed.
"Oh, certainly not that," Anne said seriously. "I was talking about the chocolate truffles that Ruby made."
The two girls fell into laughter once again, prompting other members nearby to join in the conversation. Shipwide, laughter could be heard, but to one person, only a certain red-haired exobiologist's laugh mattered. Across the room, Gilbert Blythe was engaged in conversation, but his eyes were only on Anne. The whole crew knew of his infatuation with her, except for the person in question. But what hardly anyone knew, is that she reciprocated the feelings. Not a soul in the solar system knew, save Diana. Feelings aside, Anne never let her personal life interfere with her work. Because of that, she put aside any desire towards Gilbert and maintained a professional relationship with him.
That is what she did now. Ignoring his piercing gaze, she continued to make merry until she found a quiet moment to slip away. She exited the mess hall, following her instincts until she found herself at the alien grove again. "At last, we meet again. I apologize for the brief intermission, and I do so hope that we can continue where we left off." Anne walked among the trees now, marveling at the range in color, able to express herself since she wasn't officially on duty. She wandered, no real destination in mind, dancing among the trees and asking questions to the flowers.
"Do you think that a purple sky is better than a blue sky?" and
"Isn't the scent of honeysuckle amazing?" and
"I'd rather live in isolation with flowers than in a city without any flowers. I couldn't bear to live without nature, but I rather think I could without civilization."
She was in a blissful trance until one of these questions was answered.
"Auburn is a pretty color, but I much prefer orange," said Gilbert Blythe.
Anne started at his voice, taken aback. "What are you doing here? How long have you been here?" Her voice rose with each word.
"I was looking for you, silly. And I only arrived a moment ago."
Anne sighed in relief. "Why were you looking for me? I've only been gone for a little while!" She crossed her arms.
"Well, truth be told, I wanted to talk to you." He scratched the back of his head.
"Well? Talk!" Anne said the words more forcefully than she meant to.
He exhaled. "Oh. Well, um, I guess I'll start from the beginning. Since day one, I've thought you were the most passionate individual I've known. You're passionate about everything! Your job, the world around you, your friends and family." He paused as if coming up for air. The next sentence came out in a tumble. "And because of all that and more, I've wanted to have something more than a professional relationship with you. I understand if you don't, but I can't ignore my feelings when they're this strong." He stopped and pressed his lips together anxiously, awaiting an answer.
Anne, like any sensible girl, took a moment to gather her wits. After all, it wasn't any day that a young, handsome man confessed his undying love to you. Gilbert, though, took the silence the wrong way. Muttering apologies, he pushed his way past Anne and took off in the direction of the ship. It only took Anne a split second to make the decision to go after him.
"Gilbert, wait!"
He looked back for a second, then slowed down.
"You idiot!" Anne said, panting. "When you say stuff like that you have to give people time to answer!"
He gave a weak smile. "I panicked."
"Anyways, as I was going to say before you bolted, I'd like to pursue a relationship with you as well."
Gilbert stared. "Really?"
She smiled back at him. "Yes, really. And next time you confess your love to someone, don't run off before they can answer."
He looked sheepish and he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Alright, now that we've got that over with, it's high time we turned our attention back to the trees." Without letting Gilbert get a word in otherwise, she grabbed his hand and marched towards the trees.
Gilbert offered no resistance and followed the girl of his dreams into the alien surroundings. Unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, a beautiful relationship had started to blossom.