Chapter 7:

Green Lantern rapidly sped upward through the Earth's atmosphere with the energy bubble close in tow, into the cold vacuum of space. He looked around cautiously suspecting that there were Thanagarian vessels in the area, however there were none to be seen. John shifted his focus back to the energy bubble. There she was, ...she looked a little rattled ... but other than that she was ok... he thought to himself with a sigh of relief.

He floated slowly down towards the energy bubble as he noticed that she was wearing the same jeans and white top she'd worn the day before, the weapon that she had in her right hand was a thick tree branch, which at one end was chiseled to a sharp point, and it was all the protection that she had. The look on her beautiful face was one of shock and disbelief. His heart began to beat faster as he slowly phased into the energy bubble until she was standing in front of him. His eyes locked on hers.

"Are you ...ok?" he spoke with concern in his voice.

Shayera couldn't believe it. How was this possible? How did he find her? What did this mean? Should she tell him that she had just given up? That she was tired of the way she was feeling and was about to attack however many hawkmen that were in the cloudbank? She didn't know what to say... all she knew was that she had another chance to tell him that she loved him... another chance to feel him next to her once again.

"J-John, w-where... d-did...?" she stammered.

"I tracked you..." he smiled. "I had to find you..."

They stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity until finally they kissed.

Shayera couldn't believe it. Her mind was in a whirlwind... he came after her. He loved her... even after all that has happened... he still loved her. She could feel it through his touch ... she could feel it down to her bones.

"I love you..." John whispered to her.

They held each other so tight, as if they were afraid to let go. John didn't want to let her out of his sight. He wanted to talk more about their relationship, but decided that they should talk about it once they returned home. He was going to ask her to stay with him until they could figure things out. Home, he thought, wasn't a home when she wasn't there with him, and it took less than twenty-four hours for him to figure that out.

"John?"

"Yeah..."

"I'm ... s-sorry... for h-hurting you." Shayera said quietly. "I didn't really know how to tell you about Hro. I never expected to meet anyone like you... and I wasn't prepared for any of this..." she said calming down.

"Any of what...?"

"Falling in love with you, John. I wasn't prepared... for us," she looked into John's face. Shayera wanted so much to love him; because she knew that without him she couldn't breathe. As long as he was with her, everything could work out.

John realized he felt the same way, he didn't expect to have such strong feelings for her, but he'd always felt the attraction especially when they were searching for War World about a year ago. Ever since then he'd always wanted to find a way to get closer to her. However, this will have to be a subject for another time. What was important now, was the impending threat on her life.

"We can talk about that later," he said still comforting her. "When we get home. Right now, we need to figure out what we're going to do about those soldiers that are after you."

"I'm wanted for high treason... dead or alive," Shayera remarked with a sad tone to her voice. "I heard the order myself, when I was hiding in the cloud bank."

John looked around, "I don't see the Mothership..."

Shayera followed his gaze, "You're right. I don't see the Command ship either."

"Do you think it's on the other side of the planet?"

"Only one way to find out, but before we go... here..." John took a shimmering energy bag from around his left shoulder. He opened the bag so that Shayera could peer inside. "Maybe these will help..."

She saw the two communicators and weapons that he'd commandeered earlier. "You've been a busy boy..." she said sarcastically. "How'd you get your hands on these?"

"I came across two Thanagarian soldiers at the cabin you stayed at..." Lantern replied. "I made them see the light."

This is more like it, she thought, as she picked up the energy club, and took it out of the bag. "This is way better that my first choice of weapons..." She smiled as she motioned toward the makeshift spear. "I'll turn on the communicator and see if we can hear anything," she suggested.

"Good idea..." Lantern agreed.

Lantern made a note of their position, and then willed the energy bubble to propel itself. While going around the Earth, he checked for any spatial anomalies, in which he found one halfway around the world just above the Asian continent.

"There's an ion trail...big one, too," John said, not convinced. "Could be the Mothership... let's see where it goes."

They followed it out towards the stars, passed the moon, towards Jupiter. "It looks like the Thanagarian armada pulled out..." John finally admitted.

"If that's true...then who's been chasing me all night?" Shayera wondered.

"You think these guys are dissidents?" John mused, as he willed the bubble to change course back to Earth and headed to their last position.

"Its possible, no command structure... yeah, I think these guys went renegade..." Shayera acknowledged. "They're looking for a little revenge."

"Maybe I ought to oblige them..." Shayera sneered, sounding more like her old self.

"Maybe "we" should...oblige them..." John added. "We're in this together... remember you're not by yourself anymore..."

"Yes... "we" are," she smiled, as she put her arm where his left arm intertwined with hers. Feeling the warmth from his body, she then realized that she was no longer alone.