It was a beautiful day outdoors, and John was sitting on the sand of a beach, watching his wife and son dig in the sand. He smirked to him self, before swooping down on Dargo, lifting him up and dragging his feet through the tips of the waves. Aeryn smiled, and sat, watching them from the sand, staying well out of the reach of the waves.
"Come on Aeryn, the water's beautiful!" John called, as he dangled Dargo upside. Aeryn's eyes widened and she shook her head fiercely, making her long black hair brush lightly across the bare skin on her back, between her board shorts and halter shirt.
"I'm fine here, John," She said, and John picked up on the slight waver to her voice. He frowned, and held Dargo close to his side as her splashed back through the waves, to sit beside Aeryn. She avoided his eyes, staring out at the water, trying to hold back the flood of memories.
John reached over and turned her head to look at him. She held her bottom tooth between her teeth, and her eyes were moist with unshed tears.
"It's too cold, John. The waters too cold, and Chiana and Jothee went skiing and I can't go back into the cold water," Aeryn mumbled, and John was confused. What did skiing have to do with anything? And then it hit him. Cold water. Ice. Snow.
"Hey, it's okay, babe. You'll be all right. I'm sorry, I didn't think," John whispered into her ear as he pulled her closer, letting her bury her face in his chest. Dargo stroked his mother's hand, and John smiled, the little baby knew Aeryn was upset.
"Its so stupid John, but I just can't block the memory. You sounded almost glad I was going down when he was in control, and I didn't want you to snap out of it. I didn't want you to blame yourself. But you did, and you do. The water was so cold. It was squeezing the air out of me, and I remember thinking…thinking that it was Scorpius in the neural cluster."
"It wasn't. You're okay now, Aeryn. Zhaan brought you back. She wanted to bring you back. She-" There was an explosion behind them, and John instinctively threw himself over Aeryn and Dargo, shielding them. Several more explosions continued, and Aeryn slipped a pulse pistol she had kept in her bag into John's hand. He spun around, and saw the rest of Moya's crew had arrived, in a transport pod. To the other side, several humans were battling police, firing automatic guns toward the transport pod. John pulled Aeryn to her feet, and she sprinted toward the pod, while John fired shots towards the humans.
As the mob surged forward, John recognised them as part of one of the anti-alien groups. The police could no longer hold the back, and they swarmed towards the others before John realised what was happening. He was still over 100 meters away from the pod and he knew he wouldn't make it. As the police tried to get closer to contain the mob, John reached the pod, with the mob just meters behind, Aeryn stood in the entrance to the pod.
"Jothee, go!" John yelled, firing off warning shots from his pistol. He may be angry with them, but he wasn't going to hurt his fellow humans. Chiana appeared behind Aeryn, yelling for him to hurry. The mob surrounded the pod. "Go!"
"No, John! We're not leaving you!" Aeryn passed Dargo to Chiana, and reached out to him, trying to pull him into the pod.
"Go, please! Get to Moya, and go back through the wormhole!" Hands grabbed at John from behind, but he remained focused on Aeryn.
"Don't! Don't you dare!" Aeryn cried, holding John's gaze. "Don't say it," She whispered.
"Jothee, go NOW!" John said, "Goodbye, Aeryn."
"NO! JOHN!" Aeryn's heart wrenching cry was heard over the sound of the transport pod, and the cheers of the mob as they pulled John away. The pod headed straight back to Moya. John stared up watching it go. The police pulled him away from the crowd, and into a government car.
Aeryn stared down at the planet they were leaving, Thaya had pulled her away from the door, but she didn't remember. She just kept whispering John's name.
THE END….
Sequel will be out next month. It's called Going Back. Thank you all for reading.