Blah, blah, boring stuff, blah, blah, blah… *evil little Author grin*

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Knives looked down at the sleeping form beside him. She was resting her head on his shoulder, having finally succumbed to sleep. Their fingers were still entwined, and he felt no urge to let go of her. There was something about her, something that pulled at his heart and made him feel things he knew he shouldn't. She looked so sweet in repose, her face relaxing and almost unguarded as she slumbered. He could still see shadows, parts of her that never relaxed, but the set of her chin and the wariness around her eyes lessened until she looked almost innocent. He felt the urge to wipe away the shadows that lingered, to see the woman who hid behind the darkness. She should look like this when she was awake, instead of showing the world the guarded mien with which she greeted the day. He felt the urge to protect her, and did his best to stifle it.

She was human, after all. And she wanted to stop him. She desires to keep things the way they are, his people dying at the hands of hers. And besides, the person most likely to harm her was… him. He shifted his gaze from her face to the stars. He should kill her now. Now, while she slept, while she lay against him, trusting him. She should know better than to trust him at all. She knew his goals, his desires and plans.

His eyes traced the lines of the constellations again, and he smiled. She thirsted for knowledge about this world, about where she found herself. Obviously, she was trying to find out where she belonged, to find something familiar in an alien environment. Her periodic bouts of depression attested to her lack of acclimation. It was amusing to watch her struggle to deal with the situation she found herself in. He kept waiting to hear her complain, to expound on how lost she still felt here, but she never did. She just got moody. He didn't know if he would rather hear her complain or not.

He didn't blame her. This planet was entirely different from earth. Many of the early colonists had gone through the same problem when they were awoken from coldsleep. Of course, they had been expecting a different world, had had woken filled with hope, surrounded by what friends and family managed to survive the fall. She had died in misery and despair, then found herself in a world that echoed these emotions in the wind and dust. Alone, knowing no one and not knowing how to fit in. Small wonder she was struggling.

He knew how to end her struggles. She might even thank him as he saved her from the need to adapt, to learn how to live in this world. She might open her eyes at the end and gaze at him thankfully, as he took from her the thing that only gave her pain. He shifted his gaze to her again and sighed. An act so easy to commit, but so hard to commit to.

He contemplated delaying his plans again. He had already put them on hold for the sake of his brother; she wouldn't live much longer than his brother's pets. Surely the situation would not devolve too much more in those few years. He pushed away the traitorous idea. Every plant that died now, every one of his sisters who was destroyed by the greed of these humans, their passing weighed on his soul. If only he was free to act, to destroy the infestation now, today, he would. Waiting until after she died would be too entirely selfish of him, putting his needs above the greater good of his family.

What right did he have to keep her alive, anyway? She was a threat to him, and to his entire family. She would see them all enslaved to the demands of the humans. He knew now that she would not work under him; she was too strong-willed and too peace-minded to work towards the downfall of her own kind. She will work against him, and while she fights him, more of his family will die.

Could he put her life above theirs? Could he be that selfish? He wanted to be. He wanted to explore these feelings that flooded his heart, to see what they were and what they could turn into. He wanted to kiss her again, and hold her hand forever, and be with her and make her smile. He wanted so many things, but he couldn't put his desire above those of his own people. It wasn't right. It was… human.

He took a deep breath and tried to lock away his feelings, tried to reach that state of calm that got him through times like these. Times when his heart tried to argue him out of doing what was right. He could feel the softness that had begun to envelop him strip away, could feel his soul grow cold.

She must die.

His free hand came around and gently cupped her cheek. He slipped his hand out of hers and placed it on the other side of her face. He looked at her face, trying to memorize it before the slackness of death changed it forever. He took a deep breath and…

Stopped.

A hand was pressed on his knee and a pair of bright blue eyes pierced the air between them.

*No.*

"I have to," he whispered.

*No. You will not kill her.* She pushed at him, harder.

"I'm doing this for us," he whispered around the lump in his throat.

*No. You aren't doing it for me. You aren't going to do it at all.*

"If I don't now, I might not be able to," he said, trying to explain the weakness that was falling over him.

*She isn't a threat to us. Killing her will serve no purpose.*

"How can you know that? Look at her. She will fight for her people, when the time comes."

*Then fight her when the time comes. Not now; not like this. This is not how I want my brother to act.*

His hands grew more gentle on her face, traitorous adherents to his heart. He knew that he should do the deed now, but his right hand slipped down and took hers again.

"Fine," he whispered. "Let the deaths be on your head, then. I have enough on mine."

She nodded, then snuggled close, carefully squeezing in so as not to disturb the still-sleeping woman.

*You aren't the only one who cares about your family, anymore,* she assured him before drifting off into sleep.

He sat there awhile longer, wondering how he had managed to get into this situation, and what he was supposed to do now. Lacking any clear set of directions, he decided to follow his heart for a bit, and see what sort of trouble that got him in.