Author's Note: Soooo how about those spoilers? Anyone still alive? If you are, you probably don't follow a bunch of fools on tumblr who are all slowly killing each other with feels (and who doesn't love every second of this glorious death?) ANYWAY, thank you all for your tremendous support for this fic, it means so much to me! hope you enjoy this chapter!. Trigger warning, I think, there are mentions of violence, nothing graphic, but still worth a warning. Also, in case you want to know, I listened to Sara Bareilles' Gravity a lot while writing this.


Santana was the first to process what was happening, the first to attempt to solve the mystery of what the eyes locked on her meant, and slowly, she began shaking her head back and forth. The shapeshifter was mistaken. Santana Lopez was as human as they came. She had pictures of her mom pregnant, pictures of herself in that little plastic bassinet in the hospital. There was no possible way that a shapeshifting alien from a far off planet could be her mother. No possible way at all. Looking over at Brittany, who was beginning to realize what was being said, Santana tried to will herself to speak, but her voice felt stuck in her throat, as the creeping doubt the everything she'd ever known rose up.

"I think you're mistaken." Brittany spoke before Santana could, never releasing the tight grip she had on her girlfriend's hand. "Santana isn't...Santana's human."

"I was born on August 14th, 1994. At Lovelace Regional Hospital. I've lived in Roswell my whole life. I didn't even know that aliens existed until Brittany saved me in the diner." Santana began babbling, because the longer Holly's eyes bored into her, the more she felt like she had to defend herself.

"All of those things are true. I know everything about you." Holly confirmed, and Santana wasn't sure if she should curl into Brittany, or listen to the promise she made to her and run, because it felt like things were getting dangerous, and she was terrified. "I also know, beyond any doubt, that you are my firstborn daughter. You're wearing the necklace, are you not?"

"Look, Holly, Mom, Shima, whatever." Quinn snapped, her own emotions going haywire after she had learned she might actually have a connection with another being...or two, out there. "Can you just stop with the cryptic stuff? Please. We don't know anything that's happening, and you're kind of freaking us out."

"Okay. Maybe I should start at the beginning."

"Is this going to be some in a galaxy far, far away stuff?" Sam asked, and both blonde girls glared at him, while Brittany wrapped her girlfriend, who looked like she might flee, in her arms.

"I guess you could begin there." Holly nodded. "So, in a galaxy far, far away..."


There's a story that happened on the planet of Uecridis, like perhaps every culture has, of love against the greatest odds, of love that maybe should have never been, of love, that unfortunately, ended in the deepest tragedy. Where here, you've learned in school of Romeo and Juliet, or Tristan and Isolde, of Heathcliffe and Cathy, Uecridis has Reyneva and Caderyna. The only difference is, where the other stories are works of fiction, woven into the canon of literature to the point where you forget they never actually occurred, the story of Reyneva and Caderyna is one that's true.

One family had ruled the east side of Uecridis for as long as time there had existed, and they were a much beloved royalty; fair, generous, and truly noble. When King Fudrich and Quinn Polerma gave birth to their daughter Reyneva, the girl who would someday be queen, there were celebrations all throughout, gifts showered upon her, the whole works. When their second daughter, Azar was born not much later, there was almost no distinction, Uecridis had a new princess, and in their eyes, that was just as exciting as the birth of the one who would be their ruler. Reyneva and Azar grew up together, as close as any sisters ever were, and they were much beloved in their home, beloved by everyone but the group of rebels that inhabited the west side of the planet.

The rebels, the faded ones, most Uecridians call them, because it seemed as if the souls of their race had long ago wasted away, had been at odds with the royalty of Uecridis for what in our time, is the equivalent of a thousand years, always seeking to rule the planet wholly, and always, always failing. Hatred for the royalty, for the Uecridian way of life as a whole, is bred into each new generation, and very, very few defect from their ways. On the day of Reyneva's birth, there another monumental birth on Uecridis, a twin birth among the faded ones, rare among our kind, and seen by the rebel leaders as a prophecy that after all that time, they would finally overtake the throne and change the planet to suit their dark ways. Fearing that the royals would be proactive and take the lives of the two they believed were the chosen ones, a fear that was much unfounded, because murder is primarily non-existent among mainstream Uecridian society, the birth of the twins, Caderyna and Ozkari was kept under great wraps, and they were sent like very other child of the Fadelands to train for the eventual takedown of the kingdom.

While Caderyna and Oskari trained, unbeknownst to the leaders of the rebels, hating every moment of it, born of a demeanor that no other child in their generation was, born with souls, Reyneva and Azar lived the happiest of childhoods that could be imagined. The thing I've learned about royalty here, in this world, is that they isolate themselves from society, but not on Uecridis. There, they're fully immersed in culture, in the people, in the world that they so love, and Reyneva and Azar were no different. They went to school, they engaged in friendly competition- or perhaps not always so friendly when it came to each other, because though they loved and respected one another to the fullest, when it came to sports and games, the princesses were known to fight amongst themselves like no one had ever seen.

Unfortunately for Reyneva, in the midst of her teenage years, her father, already well up there in age, passed on, and as is customary, the rule of the planet became hers. Unprepared and grieving her father, Reyneva, with the help of her mother and her sister was far more suited to rule than anyone expected, but the rebels still believed they'd found their opportunity to overthrow the crown, and with a vengeance, began preparing Caderyna and Ozkari for the role they were born to fulfill.

It was Caderyna who came up with the idea to run, and not only because she'd seen that her brother wasn't nearly strong or capable enough, and was more or less unfit to ever fight a battle, but because she couldn't imagine murdering anyone, let alone the Queen. Ozkari, eager to follow the sister that was born just shortly before him, agreed to run with her, agreed to leave behind all that he'd ever known, and make a new life with her far from the Fadelands. In the middle of the reddest of nights, the twins escaped the training encampment and made their way east, stopping only when food and water proved necessary to continue, and by morning, they weren't far outside the kingdom, and were well out of range of any rebels who were designated to track them.

Finally feeling safe, Caderyna found a river to bathe in, and while she poured the gelatinous water over her bare body, she felt the eyes of another being on her. In a panic, she made to run, but in the process, she slipped on a stone and fell below the water, gasping for the help of her brother. Ozkari didn't hear her, he was off under a fall, washing the journey off of himself as well, and just as Caderyna believed she was as good as dead, she felt a hand slip around her wrist and pull her up from below the surface. Caderyna, fearful that she was being captured, that she'd be dragged back to the place she'd so carefully planned to escape, struggled, attempting to remove herself from the grasp of the female who held her. Though she'd spent her life in training to fight, it was like this other being, so different from all she'd ever known, had a hold over her, and no matter how she tried, she couldn't escape the helping hands.


Brittany, still holding Santana close, tracing her fingers over hipbones, was entranced by the story, and as Holly continued to speak, she felt as if she was actually seeing the events come to pass.


"What are you doing? Stop pulling away from me, you're going to drown yourself." The voice, like music, ordered, and Caderyna stilled, just to listen. "What's wrong with you?"

"I-nothing. Nothing is wrong with me." Caderyna huffed, shielding her nakedness, wishing her sheath wasn't so far off on the shore. The other being's eyes were all over her, and she felt her whole body turn the deepest purple. "It's rude to stare at someone nude."

"It's rude to speak in such a way to the person who saved your life."

"You didn't save my life, it was you who startled me in the first place, and I could have got myself up, had you not grabbed me."

"Well alright then. Your lack of gratitude is appalling. Who raised you to speak in such a way?" Caderyna froze at those words, fearful that she'd been caught, fearful that this creature, more beautiful than any she'd ever seen, would go running for help, would alert someone in the highest of power, perhaps, even, the queen herself.

"My apologies." She tried, a forced smile hiding a grimace, because she didn't feel apologies were all that necessary. "Please, let me dress now."

"Of course."

Caderyna realized that it took longer than an instant for the female to let go of her, and she noticed that though she tried to push the feeling away an emptiness, unlike anything she'd ever felt, seemed to wash over her when their contact was broken. Quickly, she tread to the shore, wrapping herself in the thin material, but feeling those burning almond eyes on her all the while.

"So are you going to introduce yourself, or what?" The other woman asked, finding a seat on the bank, and tucking her fine clothing beneath her, seemingly oblivious to the way her daring jump into the stream had ruined it, staining it entirely black.

"But you haven't introduced yourself to me."

"Oh." The being laughed, sounding more beautiful, even, than when she spoke, Caderyna thought. "You don't know who I am?"

"Am I supposed to?"

"I can't tell you what you're supposed to know, or not. You know what it is that you know. I just assumed. I'm not accustomed to meeting anyone who doesn't know me, or doesn't have some type of expectation of me."

"You must be very important, then." Caderyna couldn't help but laugh back, almost smitten.

"I guess you could say that, stream girl. I'm Reyneva."

The moment the name escaped from Reyneva, Caderyna felt her body go rigid. It couldn't be, it couldn't be, that the queen, the very being who Caderyna had once been meant to kill, just walked around, saving strangers from their demise, unarmed, unguarded. Immediately, Caderyna's hatred for her own people increased exponentially, with their desire to destroy innocent lives, beautiful lives, and she feared for her own. What would this queen do, if she knew that the one standing before her was born of the faded ones, was the one prophesied to end her very life? She'd be the one killed, for sure, and though those eyes continued to pierce into her, Caderyna knew she had to go, knew she had to get Oskari and keep running.

"Your majesty, thank you for saving me, but I have to go."

"But wait-" Reyneva reached out, the pads of all four fingers brushing Caderyna's shoulder.

"I apologize, but I'm in quite a hurry." She pulled away, ignoring the burning sensation left in the wake of the Queen's touch, and she ran, she ran like she'd never run before, crying out for Oskari to follow.


Santana gripped Brittany's hands tightly, the story felt all too familiar to her, like she had read it in Brittany's memories, and hadn't fully recalled it until Holly spoke. As the tall blonde began her tale of Reyneva's frantic search to find the girl from the stream, Santana closed her eyes, envisioning it down to the very last detail.


"I don't care if it's crazy, Azar!" Reyneva shouted at her sister, standing in the center of the palace, hours later. "I felt it. She's the one. She's the one I'm meant to be bonded to, and I'm going to find her."

"Stop putting so much weight on the tales that mother spun for us when we were children, Neva! You know how rare it is to find your soul bond mate, and I think you're just confused, the way you always get, when you see a pretty female."

"I am not confused, Zar! It is her, I could feel it, the pull toward her, before I even saw what she looked like. And when I touched her, my body felt like it was blooming. I have to find her again."

"You know nothing about her. How do you propose we search?"

"When she left, she screamed out for Oskari to follow her. It's a name I've never heard before, there cannot be all that many named Oskari around here. We search for one of that name, and it leads us to her."

"And if he is her betrothed?"

"He is not. I would know it, if he were."

"You sound insane, sister, if the people of this land knew what you spoke of-"

"If the people of this land knew that they could have another soul bonded pair at the crown, like grandmother and grandfather, they would rejoice." Reyneva countered. "Please, I know you don't believe in these things, but they are real, and I feel like this physical ache in my whole being will persist until I find her again."

"Fine. I'll help you, but if this proves to be a foolish endeavor, don't say you weren't warned."


Quinn felt herself stiffen, an impending sense of dread seeping into every pore of her being, and she looked beside her. Brittany and Santana were wrapped entirely in each other, and she could see the slight tremor in Santana's body. Could it really be what Holly had said? That they were both her daughters? That Santana was her sister? It hardly seemed possible, but hearing the story, was the purpose to tell them that they were Reyneva and Azar? And Brittany, could she have been...? No, it was entirely impossible, all of it, it was a fairy tale, no truer than Prince Charming searching for Cinderella with a glass slipper.


Despite the obvious obstacles in her quest, Reyneva did not falter, and refused to stop. The girl in the stream had taken hold on her, and with each passing day, she was only more certain that it was her bonded that she sought. While Azar tried to convince her to give up, Polerma encouraged the hunt, understanding what her younger daughter couldn't, the thing her parents had described, that pervasive emptiness that Reyneva would feel until the other half of her soul was found. Soldiers were commissioned, and soon word spread to across the kingdom in an effort to find Ozkari and his mysterious female companion.

It was a young soldier, barely past the age of conscription that found them, sleeping in the low brush on the banks another stream, far from the palace. When he roused them from sleep, commanding them to follow his instructions at the order of Queen Reyneva, Caderyna cried for Ozkari to run, believing they were being sought for punishment, believing that the beautiful creature who'd saved her life had discovered her true identity, and would now take that same life with her own hand. Ozkari, the loyal brother, refused to leave Caderyna, and with no other choice in the natter, they were led by the young officer to their fate.

Caderyna would have been lying, had she claimed that her body didn't hum at the thought of seeing Reyneva again. In the time that had passed, she hadn't ceased thinking about her, summoning up every memory of the brief moments they'd spent together, burning for her, if that was possible, imagining the what ifs. What if she hadn't ran? Would the Queen of Uecridis have felt the same strange tingles that had come over Caderyna? Or was it all an illusion? What if she'd told Reyneva right then and there who she was? What if she'd tried to explain to her that she had no intention of following through with the task she'd been born to complete? Would it gave changed anything? It was all Caderyna could think of, as she walked toward what she was sure was her own execution.

When they arrived at the palace, Caderyna grabbed Oskari's arm, she held him tightly, she squeezed an apology to him. Perhaps if she hadn't been startled in the stream, she wouldn't have encountered Reyneva, she wouldn't have revealed herself as to precisely the wrong person. Caderyna had no idea that the Queen had no idea who she truly was, or what past she carried with her, or that the twins even existed at all, she simply sought the creature that had touched her soul, simply desired to know her, to understand whether what she believed she'd felt was truth, or only a precious illusion. Together, Caderyna and Oskari were led down a long hallway, into a massive, open room, where, in the very center Reyneva sat, her mother and her sister flanking her.

"You've found her." Reyneva exhaled, her joy radiating, seeping into Caderyna, confusing the runaway entirely. "Thank you, Surony, you will be greatly rewarded for your services."

"Your majesty." Caderyna bowed deeply, urging her brother to do the same, trying to save as much face as she possibly could, trying to save their lives. "We come in peace, I swear it, we mean no harm."

"Well I should hope not, I've gone through great troubles to find you, and I still don't even know your name."

"I am Caderyna, and he is my brother, Oskari. But you, you don't know who we are?" She was confused, much as Reyneva had been that day in the stream, by her anonymity.

"Caderyna." Reyneva spoke, and Caderyna thought that the singular word from her throat was the most gorgeous sound she'd ever heard, a thought she shouldn't be having, not about the one who could, and probably would, sign her death order. "How would I know who you are, if you left without telling me your name?"

"This is confusing me, your majesty. Why would you seek me, if you did not know who I am?" Caderyna felt the dark eyes of the two who sat beside the Queen, Azar and Polerma, she fluid on my assume.

"You didn't feel it? The signs of the soul bond?" The Queen sounded rejected, her once perked antennae drooping, and Caderyna felt the sadness course through her in waves. "It's possible I was mistaken, then."

"I don't know what a soul bond is. I'm not even sure I was born with a soul."

"Of course you were born with a soul." Reyneva stood from her seat, and breaking free of the grasp Azar had on her arm, approached Caderyna. It was like all else in the room dissapeared, and Caderyna felt herself purple again, her desire for the beautiful female burning hot through her entire being. "Everyone is born with one. Where are you from that you don't know such a thing?"

"You truly don't know who we are." Caderyna marveled, and though she knew lying could potentially save the lives of her and Oskari, she found herself so deep in wide, almond eyes, that she couldn't have, no matter what the consequence. "We are Caderyna and Oskari, twins, born in the Fadelands, and according to our people, we were born to end your life, to end all of your lives."

"What the hell? Why wouldn't she lie?" Sam interrupted the story, aghast at the revelation. "It wasn't just Caderyna's life, it was Oskari's too!"

"She wasn't able to lie, not to Reyneva. Just listen to the story." Holly silenced Sam.

The next thing Caderyna knew, she was waking up in a low lit room, shackled by her hands and ankles to the floor. Try as she might, she couldn't escape the cuffs, and she searched around frantically, looking for any sign of her brother. Instead, she saw, sitting quietly in the corner, another pair of familiar eyes, watching her, waiting, perhaps, for her to come to her senses again.

"Why are you here? Why am I still alive?" Caderyna asked, her voice weakened.

"Two of my guards shot you and the other with tranquilizers before I could hear the rest of your story, and I want to know it. I am here, because I believe that if you had truly intended to take my life, you'd have done it in the stream that day, when I was all alone, defenseless." Reyneva moved closer to her, and Caderyna startled when she felt the Queen's hand reach up, felt it almost tenderly caress the side of her head, and when she pulled it away, it was coated in thick silver blood. "Tell me, Caderyna, am I wrong in my thinking?"

"You aren't. I have no desire to kill you, to kill any of you, nor does my brother. Is he-?"

"He is still alive. We don't kill here, even an attempt on my life wouldn't have taken yours. Imprisonment, yes, but death? We are not barbaric."

"My people, they're quite the opposite."

"So I've heard in tales, and now I see first hand." Reyneva sighed, eyes darting over Caderyna's features, a tug at her insides omnipresent. "Why do they wish for you to kill me? What reason have they given you to justify that? "

"They...they never did. They have no souls, it's not a myth. I've seen things, I've seen too many things." Caderyna shuddered.

"And you, Caderyna, you said you didn't think you had a soul. Do you still think that's true?"

"I'm not sure what is happening, your majesty. If I may be frank?" She asked, and the queen nodded. "I knew I was different, knew both Oskari and I were different, but I didn't know what it meant to have a soul. Then I met you, that day, and I understood, somewhere inside of me there was something. I think now that I do have one, and I only know such a thing because I can feel yours reaching out for mine."

"You feel it too." Reyneva marveled, tentatively reaching out to stroke drooping antennae, making Caderyna release an embarrassing purr. "I'm going to un-cuff you now."

Waving a device over the shackles, Reyneva freed Caderyna from her binds. Caderyna, who hadn't realized how long she'd been like that, hadn't expected that her legs wouldn't support her fully, and she wobbled, only steadying when Reyneva's hands pressed into the sides of her slim torso. At the contact, a white hot fire burned within both women, and Caderyna gasped for air, losing even more has she turned her fearful eyes up to look at the queen.

"My mother warned me of this when I told her about you. It's a little terrifying." She spoke softly, the side of her head pressed to Caderyna's.

"What is this?"

"I will explain it all, if you'll hear me. My sister, she thinks I'm crazy, she thinks this is a mind trick on your part, and she thinks I'm falling right into your trap." Reyneva confessed, struggling to get her own bearings, with so much of Caderyna's smooth skin touching hers, making her eyes ooze and her skin purple. "But my grandparents, they were soul bonded mates, the perfect halves of a whole. It's a rare thing, they say, but if one finds their missing half, they cannot resist the bind, and these feelings, they don't ever leave."

"I don't...I can't understand what this means." Caderyna tried to wrap her mind around all of what was being said, but it was as foreign to her as the rainbow stars in the morning sky. "I've barely come to understand that I have a soul, now you're telling me that I have a soul mate. That you are my soul mate?"

"Soulmate." Reyneva laughed, that beautiful music making Caderyna shiver. "I've never heard it called that, but it makes sense, the true mate of your soul. I believe it's true, that you are mine."

"Okay. I don't know what that means."

"It means nothing you don't want it to mean." The Queen promised, placing her hand on top of Caderyna's. "I ask you, no, I beg you, to give me a chance, to see what comes of this, but I will not force it upon you. I give you your freedom, either way, for you and your brother, because I know you will not harm anyone here, but I hope, maybe, that you would stay and learn me, maybe see if within our bond, we could fall in love."

"I don't know what it means to love another, though." Caderyna's face fell, wanting nothing more than to know the beautiful being before her, wanting nothing more than to see what this falling in love was, but she felt unworthy, felt like she'd been raised so far from society, that the queen could do better, even if they were soulmates. "I don't know how to answer you."

"You can have as much time as you like to think it through. I'll find a place for you, and for Oskari too, within the palace, or away from the palace, if that's better, whatever it is that you need, it is yours."

"You are too good to me. I've given you nothing, and you're not only offering me my freedom, but a home?"

"These are just things, really, Caderyna. I give my soul to you, and I hope someday my heart, nothing else matters quite as much."

"I think that...I think I would like to stay within the palace, I think that I feel safer, knowing you are close by."

"Then I will have a section of rooms prepared for you and your brother." Reyneva gave her word. "May I ask something of you?"

"Anything, your highness."

"Maybe two things, then." Caderyna shivered again at the laugh, and felt the invisible ties to the Queen tighten, felt the feelings she couldn't quite understand surge. "I ask you please, call me Reyneva, or Neva, even, if you like. And I ask you, if you would walk with me in the morning, if we could possibly learn about each other, away from those who tend to pry in my business."

"Okay, your- okay, Reyneva." Caderyna spoke, tripping a bit on the informality.

"I don't think my name has ever sounded more beautiful, than coming from within you." Reyneva marveled, and Caderyna was so purple, she was nearly black, having had an identical thought earlier. "Don't burn at my words, because they are very true. I'll leave you now, to see your brother, to be settled, but I'll see you when morning comes. Goodnight."

Reyneva struggled to leave the room, wanting nothing more than to press her open mouth to the crown of Caderyna's head, to whisper secrets there, to learn all there was to know about the one she'd finally found. But she knew she couldn't, knew that she had her mother and Azar to deal with, and could feel Caderyna's itching desire to see her brother, to know for sure he was safe, after they'd been separated and temporarily imprisoned. She'd see her in the morning, and though decisions were still to be made by the one who would complete her, Reyneva could feel within the cartilage in her body what that decision would be, a feeling that made every bit of her hum with joy and excitement.


Santana was crying, hot silent tears as she listened to the story, tears that she couldn't quite place. She felt the truth to it all in her bones, and she held Brittany's arms tighter around her, feeling as if that reeling intensity might sweep her from her feet. Brittany, for her part, was trying to keep it together as best as she could, having never, ever in her wildest dreams even imagined that their short search for the fourth alien would have led them to this place. Star-crossed lovers, she thought, picturing it written on the board in tenth grade English, though she wasn't sure why that thought came to her mind when Holly hadn't spoken it. Star-crossed lovers never ended well though, and she had a terrible feeling that Caderyna and Reyneva were just that, and whatever it is that had happened between them was what brought them all to the very place they stood.

"Why would she trust Caderyna, without knowing for sure that she wouldn't kill her? She didn't even know her." Mercedes spoke for the first time, and Holly flicked her eyes quickly over to Santana and Brittany, before looking back to Mercedes.

"The mind doesn't always know best who to trust. The heart is usually better at that. Reyneva didn't need proof that Caderyna wouldn't kill her, because she understood soul bonding. This is the thing, it is impossible for them to hurt one another, they physically feel each other's pain, though dulled to a degree. To kill the other is to kill oneself."


There was a loud argument that night, between Reyneva and Azar. Azar, was certain that they'd just led the proverbial cat to the cream, as humans say. Reyneva, though she never invoked her title, reminded her sister who the crown belonged to, who had the final say in all decisions. She didn't care what Azar thought, Caderyna and Oskari were staying, and whoever didn't like it could leave. It got ugly, uglier than things had ever been between them, and had Polerma not come in when she had and separated her grown daughters, things would have gotten physical between them. In the aftermath, Azar locked herself away, screaming that she hoped she never had to say I told you so, but Reyneva just ignored her, and went humming about, her body content to know that Caderyna was close by, and even more content to feel her comfort there.

When morning came on the first full day of Caderyna's residence at the palace, she was a nervous wreck, trying to get herself together for her walk with Reyneva, trying to dress herself properly, and feeling like no matter what she was doing, she was falling short. She finally settled, not wanting to make the Queen wait, and as soon as she was in the other's presence, she felt herself relax, and they fell into an easy rhythm, walking side by side. Caderyna didn't speak much at first, but she listened intently, absorbing Reyneva's tales of childhood, of her relationship with her mother and her sister, about the loss of her father, and Caderyna's antennae were perked with interest, making Reyneva smile.

It continued like that for some time, their meetings each morning, and eventually, Caderyna accepted the repeated invitations for she and Oskari to dine with the queen and her family. During the first of those dinner's, Azar was sullen, glaring at the one her sister felt so connected to. But as time went on, as the bond between the Reyneva and her future mate grew, and Caderyna came into her own, even Azar couldn't help but warm up to her, going as far as entertaining Oskari, at her sister's request, so that he too felt comfortable with life at the palace. After several weeks of the developing friendship between Caderyna and Reyneva, and the intensification of their undercurrent connection, they were alone together near the place where they first met. Sitting the bank, their smallest fingers twisted together, a development had come earlier, when Reyneva wanted so badly to touch Caderyna, but feared startling her, the queen watched Caderyna as she stared out over the water, smiling in that way she did sometimes, like she was in a far off world.

"What are you thinking about, Cady?" She asked, calling her by the nickname she'd given her in their first days together.

"I think I'd like to stay.'"Caderyna turned a bit, so she was facing Reyneva, her face turning purple again, as she made her shy request. "For always, I mean, if that's still alright with you. I think I like it here a lot, and I'm sure I like you even more."

"Caderyna." It was the Queen's turn to color, forgetting to stop herself from bringing her hand up to the crown of Caderyna's head, affectionately brushing the shining skin there. "I'd love nothing more than for you to stay."

"Nothing more? Not even if I were to kiss you now?" She asked, her mouth twisting wryly.

"Well, I definitely wouldn't object to that." Reyneva's antennae twitched in anticipation of their first kiss, and slowly, carefully, Caderyna leaned into her, opening her mouth and bringing it to Reyneva's

It was tentative and careful, that kiss, on both of their parts, but as quickly as they pulled away, they'd gone back in for another, the second full of far more passion than the first. In those moments, their physical relationship was awakened, and when they returned back to the palace after, it was apparent to everyone, especially to Polerma, who was keen at spotting their conjoined aura, the sudden change in both of them. It wasn't long after that Caderyna moved from her own section of the palace into the queen's bed, and though Azar teased her sister mercilessly about her perpetual need to touch her lover, despite the amount of time they spent coupling, she was truly happy to see the Reyneva as happy and complete as she was.

In only a half a year's time from that point, Reyneva asked Caderyna to be joined with her, an offer that Caderyna readily accepted. Early one morning, accompanied only by Oskari, Azar and Polerma, they the two stood together on the bank of the stream, committing to each other until the end of eternity. Symbolic of their commitment, and also for the protection of both their eternal bond and physical body, they clasped chains around each other's necks. They were chains that could be touched by no one else, chains that held the yellow light of the other's soul in a heavy stone medallion that fell to rest in the center of their chests.


"Brittany." Santana breathed, crying, as her fingers closed around the yellow stone, "I don't. I...I can't understand."

"You will, very soon." Holly promised. "But it is at this point, where the story begins to darken."


The first few years after Reyneva and Caderyna's joining were uneventful. They existed in domestic bliss, and the Uecridians rejoiced in their joint queenship. Of course, the military kept a watchful eye of the Fadelands, knowing that word had reached back of Caderyna's new position, and knowing that they were apt to try something. It was quiet there though, and though Caderyna stirred about it often, Reyneva would kiss her, would pull her close to her, or would close her hand around the necklace that adorned her mate, and promise her they were safe, especially when they had each other. Eventually, even Caderyna had to let her guard down, and knowing that Oskari had chosen to take part in the watching made her feel significantly safer. It was around that time that talk turned among the queens to completing their perfect union, by bringing a child into their world. Unlike on Earth, the fact that they were two women had no bearing on their ability to have a child that was genetically both of theirs, using the technological advances at their disposal, and before long, Reyneva was pregnant with their first.

Gestation tends to be difficult for Uecridian woman, most of their life force devoted entirely to the unborn, and lasting nearly twice as long as a human pregnancy. From the very beginning of hers, Reyneva wanted to curl up and sleep a lot, and Caderyna was more than happy to oblige her partner's need for closeness, more often than not, holding her tightly, covering her body entirely, rubbing down her skin that turned scaly, and kissing her when her mouth was dry, offering as much of her life force as she could to her mate. Of course, there was still the duties of their position of power that needed to be done, and late in her pregnancy, when Reyneva could hardly move from their bed, Caderyna had taken them over almost entirely.

It was weakness that Caderyna and Oskari's people were searching for in the royal family, and with Reyneva laid up, they'd found it simpler than they'd expected. Because a child of Caderyna's was growing inside of her, their usual connection was amplified, with Reyneva feeling nearly every emotion that passed through her lover's body. One day, with only three months to go before the baby would come, Caderyna had to travel to meet with engineers on a new program they were trialling. She was anxious about going, but Reyneva promised her over and over again that she'd be alright, before pressing her head to her swollen abdomen and making her listen to the strong pulse of their unborn child. With kisses and promises that she'd return as soon as possible, Caderyna left. For the entire day, Reyneva felt her anxiety, as if it were coursing through her own body, and it unsettled her. Shrugging off the company of her mother and her sister, wanting to go sit on their stream bank and calm herself, hoping she could telepathically pass that on to Caderyna as well, Reyneva left the palace, and ended up falling asleep, curled on her side.


"Oh, fuck." Quinn hissed, unwanted tears leaking from the corners of her eyes, the familiarity of the story terrifying her. "Why would she leave? You just said she could hardly get out of bed."

"She always roamed about freely, there was never any kind of problem. There were always guards about, and she felt she had nothing to worry about."

Neither Santana, nor Brittany could speak, they both had an inclination of where the tale was headed, and Santana had all but curled up into Brittany's body, holding on for dear life.


From here, the story gets fuzzy, the accounts very unreliable. One story says that Reyneva was taken in her sleep, and didn't wake until she was far from her home, from her family. The other, the one I tend to believe over the first, was that someone appeared to Reyneva on the bank, and told her that Caderyna had been kidnapped on her journey, and was taken back to the Fadelands. Having felt the disquietude of her soulmate that day, Reyneva would have been inclined to believe it was true, and she wouldn't have wasted a second, even in her most vulnerable state, to get to Caderyna.

Whatever it was that brought her away, when Caderyna came home and found Reyneva gone, she went into a full fledged panic, searching every possible place nearby. As she felt Reyneva's fear quicken inside of her, Caderyna came to accept the worst, and she quickly prepared herself to go, calling for Oskari and all of the best soldiers of their military to accompany her. They weren't even out the door when Caderyna collapsed, shrieking like no one had ever heard her do before. It was Polerma who went to her, Polerma who knew what was happening, and though she was Reyneva's mother, she put aside every ounce of fear that rose inside her to care for Caderyna.

"No! No! No!" She screeched, her entire body going cold as she tried to fight off the attendants who'd tried to lift her to bed, at Polerma's order. "Help me get to her! Help me!"

"Caderyna. Caderyna. It's too-"

"Don't you say it, Polerma!" Caderyna sobbed, her chest, where the pendant laid, glowing sickly orange, and dark sweat pouring off of her. "It's not! It's not! This feeling is wrong. She's just alone and scared, and the...the baby. We need to get to her!"

"Mother, what's happening?" Azar ran into the foyer, returning from her own day out, and finding Caderyna thrashing about on the floor, trying to regain her footing. "What is wrong with Caderyna? Where is Neva?"

"Help me! Help me, Azar! I need to find her!"

"Mother." Azar repeated, voice calm, too calm, while she tried to hold her emotion inside. "Where is she?"

"They took her. They took her, my Azar. They took her, and they've killed her."

"You!" Azar roared, looking at the flailing creature before her, the one who had just lost her other half, who had lost part of herself, and who writhed in pain, unwilling to accept the truth that she felt at her very core, and she seethed. "I learned to trust you, and now my sister is dead."

"Azar! This is not her fault!" Polerma shouted, trying to keep her own pain at bay over losing a child, continuously trying to calm Caderyna down, though she knew it was impossible. "Leave her be!"

"I will sooner leave than leave her be! Would you lose two daughters tonight?" She challenged.

"Either way, I lose two." Polerma cradled Caderyna in her arms, trying to stop what seeped out of her body, draining her already fragile life. "You make your choice, my daughter, because I will not choose between you and your sister's mate."

"Please, please, Polerma!" Caderyna continued to beg. "She needs me, and I need her, help me get to her!"

"What she needed, was for you to have stayed far, far away from her." Azar knelt down so she was face to face with Caderyna, who had tugged away from Polerma, and was rocking back and forth. "Cry all you want, it was your presence here that got her killed. Don't you ever forget that."

"You know that isn't true, Azar! You heard Caderyna's story when she came, they wanted us dead long before she was here! She cannot fight you back, the life is draining out of her before our very eyes."

"And you should let it." Azar stood, and without another word, turned and walked out of the palace.

It wasn't over that night, it wasn't over in the days that followed. Azar didn't return, not until Oskari dragged her back, hands burned and the broken pendant of Reyneva wrapped in cloth in his pouch, and sickly grey blood covering his clothes. He'd gone back to his homeland, he had to, had to see, on his sister's behalf, that Reyneva was truly gone. Though he'd wanted to bring back the body of the late queen, let Caderyna see her lover once more, let them properly entomb her, it was too late. All that was left in the small holding cell, the cell he himself had been put in before, for his lack of ability, was the necklace that had been meant to protect the women who wore them, the necklace that had been brutally torn from Reyneva's throat, probably killing the one who had been assigned the task of it, and blood, silver blood everywhere. In a blind rage, for the first time in his life, Oskari felt the ability to kill rise up within him, the ability born of the murder of the one his sister loved, the one who had taken them both in and accepted them as family, and he used that ability to kill the four who attempted to accost him.

With Azar reluctantly at his side, after he had pleaded with her to return to the relative safety of her home, Oskari returned to the palace, and he found the place in a terrible state. Caderyna was still weakened in bed, with Polerma, the previous day, having carried her off the waterfall in the stream where she'd met Reyneva, the waterfall where she'd intended to take her own life, because the physical pain was too excruciating to carry on. When Oskari offered up the pendant to his sister, she did nothing but cradle against her own and sob, sending him from the room, as she drowned in her own grief.


"Stop. Please, please stop." Santana begged, Brittany's arms around her the only thing keeping her from sinking to her knees. "I can't...I can't hear anymore. I can't hear anymore, because I know you're going to tell me that I was Reyneva and Brittany was, or is, Caderyna, and I can't hear that. It's enough that I can feel it."

"Can we have a minute?" Brittany asked, and even Quinn, with tears in her eyes, nodded her affirmation as Brittany led Santana away from the others, holding her tightly in her arms and pressing soft kisses to her hairline.

"I don't need her to say it, I know that it's true." Santana whimpered into Brittany's chest, feeling entirely confused and helpless as she clutched the glowing stone on her neck. "The necklace..."

"I know. I know, Santana. I know, and I don't know what to say."

"I wish that I never knew this. Who even am I? Am I Reyneva, Queen of Uecridis? Am I Santana Lopez? Am I something in between? This is fucked up, and I feel like I'm going to-" Santana pulled away quickly, before she could finish the thought, and retched, emptying the contents of her stomach into the desert sand. Brittany moved quickly, trying to gather up her hair, and to hold her up, but before she could even process, Santana had dropped down to her knees, burying her face in her hands,

"It's okay, it's okay." Brittany cooed into Santana's ear, not even knowing what else to do. "I'm here, I've got you. If you don't want to hear anymore-"

"But I need to. I need to know why I'm here, why you are here, how the hell you found me again. Just, I need a minute. Can you give me that?"

"Yeah, of course."

Aching, Brittany helped Santana back to her feet, and then stepped away. She moved back toward the others, but never took her eyes off Santana, as she paced, she ranted, she tore at her hair. Holly watched her too, and when Brittany finally looked to the other alien, all the woman did was give a simple nod, confirming what they all already knew to be true.

"How?" Quinn gasped, the air stolen from her chest in shock. "How are we here?"

"She needs to hear it too. I promise, once the girl has calmed herself, I'll tell you all that you want to know."

They waited, entirely in silence, as Santana's minute turned into five, and then ten. Just as Quinn was beginning to consider going to speak with her herself, the swollen eyed girl turned back around, and dragged her feet toward them, resuming her position beside Brittany.

"Go ahead." She said simply, and tentatively, Brittany offered her hand, a hand that Santana slowly took, tangling their fingers and gripping hard.


It was only a matter of time, they all knew that, before the rebels came for the rest of them. Oskari, fortified by his newfound combat abilities, wanted to fight, Azar was with him on that, she wanted them to all pay the price for the murder of her sister, but Polerma was concerned about the feasibility of that plan. They'd grown in numbers and strength, the faded ones, a new group of children coming of age to fight, with them ruthless and unwavering, and with the royal family and the kingdom in mourning. Polerma was convinced that they would all end up dead anyway. Caderyna was incapable of making decisions, decrying the role of queen, since there were no children to take over for Reyneva. She'd never asked for it, she'd only wanted to love Reyneva, and with her gone, the title was empty, and she passed all decision making to Polerma. Fearful, Polerma urged the citizens of her planet to evacuate, to seek shelter on other planets, to leave Uecridis for good, and trusting her, most of them did.

There was small scale fighting, trying to hold off the rebels, but because Polerma had been so concerned with the safety of her people, there were very few left to fight, and the faded ones grew closer and closer to taking the throne, the throne that meant next to nothing with no citizens below it. In a secret meeting, Polerma urged her daughter and Oskari to begin making plans for them to leave their home as well, and they quickly agreed, attempting to decide what was the best way possible to leave the planet. The faded ones weren't stupid, Oskari knew, and he feared that even leaving was not an option for their safety. They would want them all dead, they would want the guarantee of their eternal rule, and after discussing this with Azar, and allowing her to help him formulate a plan, they asked Polerma to appeal to Caderyna, who was still secluded in bed.

"Take Oskari and Azar and run. Let them finish me off, they've already killed half of me." Caderyna declared listlessly. "They can't take much more away."

"Caderyna, there's a way we can all get out, I won't leave you here to die."

"And I won't leave the place I last saw her. What if she's not truly dead? What if she comes back to me, comes back with our child, and I'm gone? What would she think then?"

"She is dead. She's not coming back." Polerma shook Caderyna. "I understand that you're in terrible pain, but I will not leave you here, and neither will your brother. If you refuse to leave, you put both of us in danger too."

"But the light, her light has not gone out." Caderyna held up the broken chain, revealing the dim yellow light that still emanated. "Doesn't that mean she isn't dead?"

"It means that her soul is not dead. Cady, have you been listening to me at all? I've been trying to make you hear this for weeks." She sighed, and the way Caderyna screwed up her mouth told Polerma that she had not been listening at all. "As long as her soul exists, you'll be able to find her, someday, wherever you are. We'll use her stone to guide us to where she'll be. Please, it's the only way."


"So then what happened?" Sam asked, when Holly paused to watch the reactions of each of them, particularly Santana.

"There is technology on Uecridis, or there was, I suppose, beyond the wildest dreams of anyone on Earth. It was Azar who came up with the plan, they would leave their bodies behind and combine their essence with human genetic material. As far as it would appear, they would be dead. The three of them, Caderyna, Oskari and Azar would go through a secondary gestation, while Polerma, too old for the rebels to care about, along with her most trusted guard, would be their guardians, would keep them safe until it came time for their rebirth."

"And Reyneva?" Mercedes asked.

"Like Polerma told Caderyna, like I told Caderyna, if you hadn't figured that out yet, Reyneva's soul found a new body, close to the place where she lie in waiting. The dozens of human years they would be separated meant nothing, because once they found each other again, they would be whole."

"So you're..." Mercedes looked around at the stunned aliens, at her quietly weeping best friend. "And Santana..."

"For all intents and purposes, Santana, is entirely human, but yes, her soul is the same as Reyneva's, the stone confirms it."

"So Santana is...she's my sister?" Quinn asked, and Santana suddenly snapped.

"Reyneva is Azar's sister. This...I just...I don't..."

"Honey." Brittany breathed into her ear, trying to calm her, but Santana violently shook her head.

"All of this, it's just too much. Everything I've ever known, except for Brittany, is a lie."

"It's not a lie, Santana." Holly purposely used her human name, though she couldn't help but smile to herself just slightly, seeing a bit of the spirit of Reyneva in her, and wishing she could take her into her arms again. "Your human life, it's all real. It's just that you've lived before."

"Yeah, I lived before and got murdered. Fantastic. And you've just been out there knowing all this." Santana pointed her finger accusingly at Holly. "Why didn't you find them? Why didn't you tell them all this sooner? They had to search for you? This is bullshit. Maybe it's all a lie."

"I have to agree with her." Quinn didn't want to, as awful as it all was, she did want it to be real, she wanted a mother, she wanted a sister, she wanted something that mattered to her in the universe. "You brought us here, and your guard, where is he?"

"He was captured, tortured, killed, he's the one you hear about, when people tell tales of the forty-seven crash, the one they did experiments on. And they would have done the same to the rest of us, would have had us meet the same fate we'd tried to escape, if I didn't act quickly." Holly's eyes turned dark, terrified, Brittany realized almost immediately. "I had to move you to safety and leave you behind quickly, because I couldn't risk it. And even when you were born again, I couldn't get close, not when you were so young in your hybrid form, not when meeting you might raise a red flag that could cost you your lives. I've been watching you for years, making sure you were okay, but I couldn't approach you until you were ready."

"Why don't we remember any of this?" Sam asked, though Brittany was slightly distracted, feeling like Santana was about three seconds from rocking back and forth, her breathing ragged and her palms sweaty, trying to handle the deluge of information that had been poured upon them, information that changed everything.

"It was the crash that changed our plans entirely. Because your new forms weren't fully developed, your memories were deep inside still. Had things gone the way they had been planned, you would have come out of your pods, as you did, you would have looked six years old, but you would have been essentially the same as what you'd left behind. But most of your memories never resurfaced, and now you are decidedly more human than we'd ever expected."

"And that means...?"

"It means you blend in more in this society than we had ever imagined possible, you blend in far better than me. It was an unexpected benefit of a poor judgement call on the part of Yiofre."

"This is so insane. This is a bad science fiction movie. This isn't real. I'm going to wake up soon." Santana muttered under her breath, pinching herself a little. Brittany's heart broke, watching her struggle. She had always known she was different, but Santana, she was a small town girl who'd wanted something out of the ordinary, and had gotten more than she'd ever bargained for.

"I have...I have so many questions, and I don't even know where to start." Quinn finally spoke again, in awe of it all.

"Are you okay?" Brittany whispered in Santana's ear, and she simply shrugged. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry about there, and here, and I'm just sorry."

"You've got nothing to be sorry about. It just...it just is, I guess. On this planet, I'm the daughter of a diner owner, on that planet, it was an assassinated queen. Not every day you find that out." Santana tried to joke, but it came out as more of a strangled sob, a sob that earned her concerned looks from everyone else in the circle.

"Where do we go from here?" Sam asked, bringing his hand to his head,

"There's nowhere to go for us, nowhere but here."

"I didn't mean it literally. I meant, how to we handle this information?"

"You all need time to process. I've told you a lot,"

"But-" Quinn began, and was immediately cut off by Brittany's glare. She needed to get her girlfriend home, she looked like she might burst, and her knees were obviously still weak, and in all honesty, Brittany needed time to deal with her emotions on the matter. She may not remember it, but she'd left her home planet, in a state of utter despair, the only hope keeping her alive being that the soulbond connection she had with her mate might actually work, and there she was, nearly human, with her other half back in her arms.

"Thank you." Santana spoke so only Brittany could hear.

"I will work on getting a placement at West Roswell, then I'm a little more accessible. I want to know you all again, my long lost family, but this is our home now, and I won't put us in jeopardy." Holly was matter-of-fact, though she looked at Quinn, knowing it would be hardest for her, her Azar, the one who had missed her so deeply without even remembering who she was. "You need to go now, you need to keep from drawing attention, but we'll meet again soon."

They watched as Holly turned and seemed to disappear off in the distance without so much as a goodbye. Quinn watched wistfully, and Brittany, though occupied with Santana, kept one eye on her, knowing that now that Holly had revealed herself, Quinn wouldn't be able to stay away, no matter the cost, and though Brittany was concerned, she couldn't even blame her. The entire thing was confusing, more to take in than any of them could imagine, and worried for Santana, Mercedes gently pulled her to the side, while Brittany spoke quickly to Quinn and Sam.

"Are you alright?" She asked, furrowing her brow as Santana averted her eyes and kicked at a dusty stone on the ground.

"I don't know, 'Ce, I really, really don't even know. I just want to go home right now and sleep, honestly."

"Okay. If there's anything you need though..,"

"I know. I'll call. Can you just...?" Santana gestured over to Quinn and Sam, and Mercedes nodded, understanding that she wanted Brittany to take her home, alone, and she didn't want to have to worry about the others.


It was silent on the ride back to Roswell, Brittany staring out at the desert road ahead of her, and Santana looking out the passenger side window, watching the vast expanse of nothing that they passed. Brittany could feel the rising anxiety of the other girl, her soulmate, in the words of Caderyna (she couldn't yet reconcile that they were one in the same), and not a soulmate, in the way people are quick to say. They were inevitable, Caderyna and Reyneva, she and Santana, brought together by some invisible force, bonded, physically, emotionally, everything, and it pained Brittany to feel the panic that radiated in waves from her girlfriend as she clutched the glowing stone and sighed deeply. When they pulled up in the alley where they'd taken to hiding Brittany's car while Santana got out, Santana didn't move, not for a long while, and she still didn't speak, she just stayed, feeling like it had been torn to shreds.

"Stay with me?" Her request was soft, so soft that had Brittany not been so in tune to every fiber of Santana's being, then she wouldn't have heard it.

"Always." Brittany promised, causing Santana to let out a gasp at just how true that singular word was. "I'll text Sam to get the car, and I'll meet you upstairs, okay?"

"Yeah. Upstairs. Right." She looked dazed, and she leaned over, pressing a kiss to the corner of Brittany's mouth. "I'll see you in a few minutes."

By the time Santana somehow managed to get through talking to her father about school, about when she was going back to cheerleading practice, about so many things that just didn't seem to matter in the slightest to her any longer, Brittany was already up in her bedroom, sitting on the edge of her bed, waiting. Her stormy eyes darted up, the moment the door opened, and looking in Santana's dark ones, she could feel her trying to emotionally distance herself, feel her trying and miserably failing, because all either of them wanted, or really, needed, was to cling to the other.

"It's not just me, right? This is totally fucked up?" Santana kicked off her sneakers and sat down on the bed, instinctively curling into Brittany's side, letting Brittany stroke her hair, letting Brittany attempt to calm her down, even though it was a futile effort.

"Santana. It's beyond fucked up."

"We never had a choice, you and I. Part of it sounds incredibly romantic, the other part, I don't even know..."

"I love you, Santana. I loved you when I thought I wasn't supposed to, because we were different. I love you, because you are you, because you're Santana. I love the way you crinkle up your forehead when you're thinking really hard in class, I love the way you put on this huge smile in the diner, and then roll your eyes the moment you turn away from someone who is pissing you off. I love the way you tuck your head under my chin, just like this, like you're letting me protect you. I love the way you're fierce and brave and loyal. I love so many things about you that those don't even begin to scratch the surface. I love you for so many reasons that have nothing to do with Caderyna and Reyneva, with soulbonding, with destiny."

"Brittany." Santana had tears streaming down her face, and Brittany gently wiped them away as they fell. "I love you too, you know that I do. I'm just so confused. I'm sorry, this was a huge deal for you, meeting Holly, finding out why you're here, and I'm making this all about me. I'm just freaking out, that feeling like I'm going to throw up again hasn't gone away, and my mind is so noisy that I can't even hear my own thoughts."

"I know. Trust me, I know. I feel the same way."

"What are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know. I thought meeting the fourth alien would give us all the answers, now all it's done is make everything even more of a mess. What do you want to do?"

"Right now? Right now, I want to sleep, and I want you to hold me tight, because I'm so scared that I'm going to run."

"Okay. Alright." Brittany released a shuddering breath as ice cold fear pricked her very being, ice cold fear at Santana running, at losing her, not her soul, but her, the human girl that her human self loved beyond anything else. "I can do that."

They were silent for a long while, having lied on top of the bed, still wearing their jeans. Brittany was certain Santana had fallen asleep, but she was wide awake, staring at a speck on the ceiling and wishing she found turn off her mind. Just as she decided to try to close her eyes, she felt Santana stir again, and she felt dark eyes burning into her.

"Brittany." She whispered her voice cracking in fear. "You see the parallels, don't you? Reyneva saved Caderyna, Azar warned her not to get involved with an outsider, someone from the same group that was a threat to them..."

"Yeah, I do." Brittany sighed softly, cradling Santana closer, understanding what she was getting at.

"Of everything, of all the fucked up that today was, what I'm afraid of the most, is the end of that story, and of the way that somehow, history always, always seems to repeat itself."


End Note: So much more to come, see you soon!