Aaron stood by the doorway as he watched David leave. He was confused by David's last statement. What did he mean? He wondered if David was referring to Arus and his gang. But, of course, he hasn't seen Arus since he was followed to the hotel since that day. But then again, he hasn't told David about that encounter or when he had encountered Alex that same day.

He went back inside while that question lingered in his mind. He wished that David could have been more clear about it, but he can only wonder until then.

The morning started with their usual routine. The younglings took their bath and ate breakfast afterward. Their breakfast consisted of canned fruit since Christopher used the last meat for their dinner the night before. This meant that Christopher would have to stock up on more meat since the Poleepkwa need plenty of more protein than humans.

"I will need to get more meat today after work." He told the younglings as they were walking out of the shack.

"Can I come with you after school?" Oliver asked.

"No. You stay here with Aaron."

"But Aaron will be with his friend after school. I will be all alone."

"Where I'll be going, you won't be safe."

"Please, father?" Oliver looked up at his father with pleading eyes. But it had no effect.

"No."

His antennas drooped, and he pouted.

"You can come with me, Oliver. I won't mind." Aaron said.

Oliver's antennas rose as he turned to look at Aaron beside him.

"Really? I get to meet Sequoya."

"Yes."

Oliver then turned and looked up at his father.

"Is that okay with you, father?"

Christopher looked at Aaron questionably.

"How far does your friend live?"

Aaron knew he had to choose his words carefully. So, thinking quickly and not wanting to lie to Christopher, he quickly replied, "She stays not too far from here."

Christopher seemed satisfied with the answer and shifted his gaze to Oliver. "I want you to stay close to Aaron. Do not wander off!"

"Okay, father." Oliver trilled excitedly.

The trio then walked the rest of the way to the unofficial Poleepkwa school.

After school...

Aaron walked to the spot where he was supposed to meet Sequoya, and Oliver followed close. Although he was anxious to meet Sequoya finally, he was also fearful of MNU patrols. The closer they got to the barbed wire fence, the more nervous he became.

Aaron stopped by the fence just as he was about to walk through. He looked back at Oliver and noticed him standing a few feet away, eyeing the fence carefully.

"Aaron, are you sure about this? What if we get caught?" Oliver glanced around.

"We won't get caught. I've done this many times before."

Oliver slowly inched his way closer to the fence to stand next to Aaron while he continuously glanced around for any signs of other Poleepkwa or the MNU patrols. Finally, Aaron turned to look out through the fence and waited for Sequoya to arrive. Oliver kept his back to the fence.

"Where is Sequoya?" Oliver asked.

"She will be here soon."

"How soon?"

Just then, Aaron caught a glimpse of someone approaching from a distance. He squinted his eyes and knew it was her by the way she walked and her long ponytail swaying back and forth.

"She is coming right now."

Oliver turned around and saw her approaching them from a distance.

Aaron wanted so much to run through the fence and meet her halfway, but he thought of Oliver and knew that he would end up leaving him behind the fence. So he decided to wait until she approached.

He noticed Sequoya carrying a paper bag, which he figured was another bag of goodies she bought from a local store.

A swift, warm breeze brushed past Aaron, and he picked up on a strange scent. Slightly alerted, he glanced around to ensure no one else was approaching, but he saw no one else. Oliver noticed his alertness and tensed as he also picked up the strange scent.

"What is it, Aaron? Is it the MNU?"

"I don't know. I don't see anybody else coming."

The strange scent grew stronger as Sequoya reached the barbed wire fence.

"Hi, Aaron." she greeted and noticed the other youngling at his side. "You brought a friend with you."

"Yes," Aaron replied. "His name is Oliver."

Sequoya smiled at the youngling. "Hello, Oliver."

Oliver eyed her shyly and greeted, "Hello."

Aaron rushed through the fence and approached closer to her. The strange scent grew much more potent. That's when he sensed it coming directly from Sequoya.

"You smell different!"

"I do." She reached up and pressed her nose into the fabric of her shirt, and sniffed. "Oh yeah! It's cedar."

"Cedar?"

"Yup."

"What is cedar?"

"I'll tell you about it later. Right now, we need to leave before someone sees us."

"Okay!" Aaron turned back and waited for Oliver to follow, but he stood there by the fence.

"Come on, Oliver!" He called to him.

Oliver took one last look toward the outskirts of District 9 before rushing through the fence to meet them on the other side.

"This feels wrong!" Oliver said to Aaron as they walked side by side.

"I know, but it's not so bad once you get used to it."

"Easy for you to say."

The younglings followed Sequoya to an open field ahead of them. Neither of the three had said a word until they were about halfway from District 9 and the city limits of Johannesburg.

"Sequoya? What is cedar?" Aaron asked curiously.

She slightly slowed her pace to look at Aaron and see his curious eyes peering up at her. She noticed Oliver peering up at her with the same expression.

"It's an incense to help cleanse away the bad things." She had hoped she explained it simply, but both the younglings looked at each other and then back at Sequoya with equally confused expressions.

"What is incense?" Aaron asked.

"What kind of bad things?" Oliver asked.

Sequoya merely chuckled and replied, "The incense comes from the cedar when you burn it. It can protect you from all bad things. You send a prayer of protection, and you meet it halfway. Or at least that's what my grandmother always tells me."

"I still don't understand," Oliver said.

"Is it like a shield?" Aaron curiously asked. "Can it protect against guns?"

"Uh, no. It can't. It's more of spiritual protection."

"Oh." Aaron turned his gaze toward the ground, wondering.

They walked in silence for only a minute until Aaron curiously asked, "Where are we going today?"

"You see that hill over there?" She said, pointing to the hill up ahead of them in the distance.

"Yeah."

"We are going up that hill today? I wanted us to have our little picnic there and enjoy the view."

"A picnic?"

"Yeah. I thought we should do something different than going to the park."

"But I like the park!"

"I know. I just don't think we'll be safe at the park today."

"Why?"

"I just have this bad feeling about going to the park today. I think we'll be safer being away from other people."

They got closer to the hill. Sequoya glanced at the sky above. It was fortunate that today would be cloudy with a little bit of sunshine. The cloud cover will help shield them from the intense heat of the sun.

Once they started hiking uphill, Aaron walked alongside Sequoya while Oliver stayed behind them. Sequoya glanced at Oliver, then at Aaron.

"I'll race you two to the top."

Aaron and Oliver looked at each other and eagerly nodded their heads.

"Alright. First, one to the top gets to pick out a snack."

"Okay!" Aaron trilled excitedly.

"Okay, get ready!" Sequoya stopped and waited for Oliver to catch up until he stood alongside Aaron. Aaron glanced uphill, it was fairly a long climb uphill, but he was confident that he would reach the top before Sequoya and Oliver.

"And ...Go!"

The three sprinted uphill. Each one kept up with the other until they reached the halfway point. Then, Sequoya began trailing behind while Aaron and Oliver ran side by side, one trying to get ahead of the other. The younglings had reached the top in no time.

"We made it to the top!" Oliver happily announced.

"But which one of us is the winner?" Aaron asked.

Oliver shrugged and replied, "I don't know."

Aaron peered back at Sequoya and waited for her to catch up to them.

"Wow. You guys are fast." she panted.

"Sequoya? Which one of us is the winner?" Aaron asked curiously. Oliver gave her the same curious look.

"You are both winners! So, therefore..." she knelt and set down the bag in front of them. "You and Oliver get to pick out a snack."

Aaron excitedly went through the snacks. The paper bag consisted of nuts, cut pieces of apples and oranges, a couple of tuna sandwiches, and two small bags of something that smelled deliciously like meat but appeared to be something else entirely. It looks like dirt in a bag. Curious, Aaron grabbed one of the small bags and held it out in front of Sequoya.

"What is this?"

"That's dried elk meat."

"Elk meat?" Aaron held the bag close, practically tasting the scent.

"Yes, you should try it. It's good."

Aaron opened the bag and grabbed a pinch of dried meat. He held it close to his mandibles and slowly tasted the strange meat. Once he got the taste of it, he couldn't stop eating it. Oliver could also sense the delicious meat that made him salivate instantly.

"Can I try some too?" He approached Aaron.

Sequoya dug through the paper bag and pulled out the other bag of dried meat.

"Here you go, Oliver. You can have mine." she held out the bag to him.

Oliver eyed the bag of dried meat. He slowly reached out and took it from her. He opened the bag and grabbed a piece of the dried meat, and tasted it.

He looked at Aaron and smiled, "This is good meat!"

"Yes. Good meat!"

Sequoya pulled out a tuna sandwich and ate in silence as the younglings happily enjoyed their new favorite snack. Aaron and Oliver had practically turned their ziplock bags inside out to lick away the remains of the dried meat. Not knowing what to do with his ziplock bag, Aaron set it on the ground and buried it under the dirt. Oliver did the same with his. Not paying attention to them, Sequoya gazed out toward District 9 in deep thought. Aaron gazed up at her. He noticed her eyebrows slightly furrowed in deep thought.

"Sequoya." He said, bringing her out of her deep thoughts.

"Hm?" She turned to look at him.

"What are you thinking about?"

She seemed to ponder that question as she looked back toward District 9. "I'm thinking about what it might be like if things were different between humans and Poleepkwans. If things between our species were more peaceful, then no one would care about seeing us together."

"Is that why you didn't want to go to the park today?"

"Yeah, but I was more worried about running into any more of the Poleepkwan gang members, especially Arus."

"Have you seen him lately?"

"No. And I don't plan to."

She took a couple more bites out of the sandwich. Aaron crawled into her lap as she sat cross-legged.

"If I could, I would protect you from them," Aaron said.

Sequoya merely smiled in response and cradled him in her arms. Oliver stood close by and watched them, a little curious to see how close they were. Sequoya noticed him watching.

"Would you like some more snacks? I have plenty more." she gestured to the paper bag next to her. She pushed the bag closer to him when he seemed hesitant to come closer.

"No thanks." he pushed the paper bag away. "I rather have more dried meat. I liked it."

"Me too!" said Aaron. "It's the best snack I ever had."

"I knew you guys would like it. Wanna hear a story on how it's made?"

"Yes." Aaron and Oliver said at the same time. Oliver sat in front of Sequoya as she carefully placed Aaron next to him.

She started by telling them where the meat had come from. Her uncle was an avid hunter who had hunted the elk and processed the meat himself. Her aunt would hang pieces of raw meat to dry. Then when the meat is completely dry, it is placed on a canvas and ground into small pieces with either a rock or a hammer.

"...but my grandmother always told me not to eat too much dry meat," Sequoya concluded.

"Why?" Aaron asked.

"Because it expands in your stomach."

Aaron glanced at his abdomen and glanced back up at Sequoya. "But I feel fine!"

"Me too!" said Oliver.

"Yeah, that's only if you eat more than one bag of dried meat."

"I wish I had another one," said Aaron.

Sequoya smiled and turned to gaze back at District 9. Oliver sat down nearby and also viewed the land below.

Later that day ...

Sequoya had spent most of the afternoon getting to know Oliver. They mainly talked about each others' families while Aaron listened to them. Not that he minded. Sequoya had interesting stories to tell about her family and her Shoshone culture. Oliver only talked about his father, Christopher.

"What is your father like?" Sequoya asked Oliver as they were walking back to District 9.

"He is the best father in the whole wide world," Oliver replied. "He knows how to fix things that others see as junk."

"Really?"

"Yes. And he's the only one who knows how to fly the ship," he said and pointed up at the large spaceship hovering over Johannesburg.

Sequoya glanced up at the ship and back at Oliver, looking baffled.

"Your father is the only one who can fly the ship?"

Oliver nodded his head.

"I always assumed it took more than one Poleepkwa to fly a ship that size."

"No. The ship only needs one to fly it."

"That's interesting. What about the rest of the Poleepkwa? Are some of them engineers? Co-pilots?"

"I don't know. My father never talked about what the other Poleepkwa did."

"Oh. Maybe you should ask him."

Oliver peered up at Sequoya. "You should ask him yourself. He has no problem talking to humans like you."

"Humans like me?"

"Yeah. Humans who are kind and friendly."

"Maybe I will," she said.

They continued onwards until they neared the border of the district. Aaron couldn't help but feel nervous. He hadn't stopped thinking about what David had told him about meeting Sequoya.

"Sequoya."

"Yeah." she glanced down at him.

"I need to tell you something." Aaron tried hard to hide the worry in his eyes, but Sequoya seemed to notice his apprehensive look.

"What is it?"

Aaron peered at the ground and replied, "David said he wants to meet you."

Sequoya slowed to a stop. "He wants to meet me?"

"Yes." Aaron peered up at her. "I told him that I would talk to you first."

She glanced around as if pondering about it.

"If you don't want to, I can tell him ..."

"No," she replied abruptly. "I'll do it."

Aaron couldn't help but feel his anxiety level rise. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can do it. Did David say when he wanted to meet?"

"This Sunday."

"Okay. Where are we meeting? I hope he's not expecting us to meet somewhere in District 9."

Aaron glanced toward the fence line. "I don't know. He just said he wanted to meet you on Sunday."

"He didn't say where he wanted us to meet?"

"No."

Sequoya and Aaron pondered what they should do while Oliver watched in silence. He seemed to be just as surprised as she was.

"How about this? You can tell him to meet me at the park at noon on Sunday."

Aaron gazed at her with worried eyes and reluctantly agreed. "Okay. I will tell him."

Sequoya knelt close to Aaron and gently placed her hand on his shoulder, hoping to reassure him.

"Don't worry about me, Aaron. This is a good chance for us to finally meet."

"But I am afraid of what he might do if he sees that you're...human!"

"David will have to know sooner or later who I really am. Whether he'll like it or not, I am human."

Aaron was silent for a moment. She was right, but that didn't stop the fear of David's sudden outburst to hurt Sequoya. Aaron did not like the idea of them meeting in the first place. He can only hope that David will keep his promise to him.

"I hope your right."

Sequoya lifted him and embraced him in her arms.

"It will be."

She set him on the ground and turned to Oliver. "It was nice to meet you, Oliver."

"It was nice to meet you too."

"You should come to hang out with us more often."

"I will. Are you two meeting here tomorrow?" He glanced between Aaron and Sequoya, who gave each other questioning glances. Sequoya then looked around the area before replying, "I don't see why not. This seems like a safe place for now."

"Then we will meet here tomorrow." Aaron declared.

"Yeah." She turned to Oliver. "Are you coming tomorrow?"

"Yes! But I have to ask my father first."

"Well, I hope he lets you come. I hope to see you again."

"Yes, I hope so. See you later!" Oliver walked between the gaps in the fence.

Once he was on the other side, he stood by, waiting for Aaron to join him. Aaron leaped into Sequoya's arms to embrace her once more before they departed. They said their goodbyes and parted ways.

Shortly after, Aaron stopped and glanced across the landscape in the direction of the dark alleyway. The place is close to their old meeting spot. He couldn't help but get the feeling that he was being watched.

"Aaron, are you coming?" Oliver called after him.

"Yes. I'm coming." Aaron took one more glance in that direction before running off to catch up with Oliver.

In the distance, Arus watched as the younglings ran toward the shacks. Then he glanced at Sequoya walking away from the District 9 border and toward Johannesburg.

Now is the time to set his plans into motion.