Author's Note: Okay, so this is gonna be a series of one-shots. I got inspiration from one of my fave stories, Thirty Kisses. So... R&R!!!!!

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer *sob*. I'm just playing in her universe for a bit.

Theme #1 - To Trust or Not To Trust

His name was Burns Living Flowers. Burns, they called him. Of course. It would be odd for humans to call souls by their full names. I wasn't sure whether to call him Burns or Burns Living Flowers, but, if he called me Wanda, I suppose I could call him Burns.

The fact that he came from the Fire World frightened me. It was one of the very few planets I had never inhabited. One that I didn't want to inhabit.

I intentionally averted my eyes from him, trying to concentrate on Jared and Nate, whom were deep in conversation. Both seemed to be cautious, not sure if they could trust the other. I was certain Nate could trust Jared - but I wasn't as sure about Jared trusting Nate. But I trusted Jared's judgement.

But even with all my efforts, Burns' gaze bore into me; it was as if he was peering at me through a magnifying glass, a stare that burned me, like it would burn an insect or blade of grass because of the sun. It made me antsy, my cheeks flushed, the hair on the back of my neck raised, my scalp tingling and a shiver running down my spine. My hand blindly searched the darkness for Ian's unconsciously. I only realized that it had when my fingers brushed against his wrist and he immediately grasped my searching hand tightly.

I squeezed his hand feebly, asking for a response, some sort of reassuring action. Surely he could sense my unease about this Burns. But why wouldn't I trust Burns? He was, after all, a soul. My own kind. And souls always trusted other souls. Except for...

Even now, I gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of The Seeker in black, my Seeker. But she was long gone, deep in space inside a cryotank, traveling to a different planet. Lacey had taken her place - and the cold, suspicious stares that The Seeker once gave me were much the same as the murderous glares her tiny host now directed at me.

Deep in thought, I had nearly forgotten Ian's presence - not to mention Burns' and Nate's. There were also the other humans with them - ones holding big guns and other types of weapons. One human in particular - a middle-aged woman with shoulder length, curly red hair and a mouth set into a permanent pucker - watched me warily, finger inches from the trigger of the big machine gun in her arms, her narrowed eyes zeroed in on my every move. It occurred to me then that the bright, fiery shade of her hair was very similar to Burns'. Perhaps his host was related to her? A sister? If that was so, then why wouldn't she despise the alien who had taken her brother away from her?

Before I could stop myself, my gaze darted back to the other 'native' soul staring into me. It was a bad move on my part.

I instantly cringed into Ian when I locked eyes with him, my face growing warm with my blush, and I quickly glanced away. Ian looked down to give me a questioning stare.

I couldn't meet his brilliant blue eyes, but tilted my head to him so he could see my eyes, and stared in Burns' direction from the corner of them. Ian didn't have to look. He knew what I was worried about. My body language was clear. Burns was making me uncomfortable.

Squeezing my hand, he gently tugged me along as he strode over to Jared, his sapphire eyes sweeping over the armed humans as we went.

He came to a stop next to Jared, whom had stopped speaking to Nate and turned to look at Ian expectantly. Ian leaned in to talk to Jared, without an eavesdroppers.

I glanced over my shoulder, only to find every human staring at me. Burns continued to look at me as if I were a fascinating insect. The red-haired woman with the machine gun continued to watch me like a hawk sizing up her prey. With Ian speaking in a hushed tone to Jared, I was exposed. Out in the open. No protective body shielding me from their cold stares.

And suddenly, Ian tugged my hand again and made me rip my gaze from the eyes of the enemies - if that was what they were. I whipped my head around - my hair bouncing - to see him motioning to me to follow him.

I let him pull me into the darkness surrounding the patch of light from the car headlights and flashlights and waved a feeble little goodbye to Melanie.

As we climbed into the blue pickup truck he and I had driven, I could still feel the stares. I quickly closed my door so the light turned off and flipped the visor down, hiding my eyes.

"You alright?" Ian asked as he revved the engine as quietly as he could and sped off into the dark desert.

"Mmm." I was too occupied to answer him coherently. Weren't the caves the other way? We were barreling through the dirt and shrubs in the wrong direction.

"Aren't we going the wrong way?" I blurted out, my stomach twisting. Why would he make that mistake? How long had he been driving to and from our underground home? Four years at the very least.

"Yeah, but we have to."

My eyebrows pulled down together. Seeing the confusion clearly written across my face, he continued. "Jared doesn't want us to lead them to the caves. So we're gonna go this direction for a while and then turn around and head back, while they can't see us. "

I was silent.

Ian sighed, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. " But how could they have survived this long? And where?"

I sighed as well and leaned into the back of my seat, exhausted - though I didn't know why, since we hadn't even followed through on the raid. All I wanted for the moment was to go back home and sleep on our mattress, on the cave floor, surrounded by my ever-growing human 'family'.

"I don't know yet," I murmured, my head abuzz with thoughts. "I guess the question is: To trust or not to trust?"

Author's Note: Okay!!! So... how was it? So far? Should I keep going? PLZ, R&R. If you don't, well... *slaps butt of imaginary gun (much like Jeb)*. Ciao!