Chapter Fifteen

Sophie purred as she awoke. The wonderful, unique scent of her mate was heavy in her olfactory organs. Her purr deepened as she gently tightened her grip on the soft body she held so tenderly. Her fingers gently ran over the soft skin of her mate, caressing his skin and muscles with supreme tenderness and care. She knew her claws could be dangerous weapons, and was always careful with them. One hand gently caressed his soft belly, the other lovingly laid over his beating heart. She could feel the scar on his chest, the very place of her birth, his beautiful heartbeat making her recall her early memories of when she still was inside him, sharing his wonderful life. His heartbeat was still the most beautiful tune to her. She very gently pulled him tighter against her, his back to her front. For some reason, humans called this a "spoon" position. Whatever name they gave it, it was their favorite way to sleep. Kyle felt safe, it kept his back warm, her dorsal tubes were not bent or squished, nor was her tail kinked. She moved her head and gently kissed his shoulder, his mind still asleep, but she could feel him coming back to wakefulness.

She breathed in his scent, her breath gently caressing him as it passed in and out of the holes between her ribbed thorax. Something else she had noticed about the human form, as they breathed through their heads, not their bodies like she did. It was one of the things she found fascinating. She loved Kyle not just because of their mental Bond, but because of how interesting he was. He was different from her in so many ways. He had such soft hair, his skin was soft, warm and felt wonderful. His fingers were small, delicate and dexterous. He smelled musky, heady and wonderful. His face was long, but round, his nose was delicately pointed, his pretty eyes so expressive and sweet. She trilled as she hugged him. He was infinitely fascinating to her.

Good morning, he greeted as his mind came back to consciousness. She kissed him on the cheek, that sweet, wonderful human gesture of love and affection.

Good morning, my mate, she replied, gently and lovingly enfolding his mind in hers in that most sacred form of communion of two souls, that was The Bond.

They shared so much more than words, but everything they were. Every sensation, every thought, every feeling, they shared them all. They felt when one was in pain, when one was happy, or sad, when they were cold, frightened, angry or anything else. Everything that a conscious mind could feel, they shared. Even things that they would normally be ignorant of. Having no eyes, Sophie would never have known what color was, if not for Kyle and his sharing how his kind perceived their world with eyes. Likewise, Kyle felt how her people felt the world around them with a wide array of senses that formed a mesh that coalesced into an image of their world, including some senses from organs the human body lacked.

Kyle slid his hand over hers, and her long fingers gently enfolded them. Her tail gently and carefully slid between his legs, up to caress his chest. He turned his head and kissed her tail just under the blade, on the ribbed flesh between the segments, a sweet spot she loved when he touched. She trilled and let him feel the pleasurable sensations he gave her. He smiled and snuggled close to her, letting her feel his mind, and the complete and utter safety he felt around her. She purred happily. She could hardly be happier when she knew he felt happy, safe and loved. More feelings tumbled back and forth across their Bond, some major, some subtle, but all were special. She loved to snuggle with him in their nest, their bed. She had made it to be the perfect sanctuary and haven, where they could cuddle, be safe, warm and comfy without worry.

She felt that Kyle needed to relieve himself, and she knew they needed to start their day. She gave him one more kiss on the cheek before she opened the curtains of the bed with her tail. Kyle sat up and stretched, Sophie able to feel his feelings as he stretched and stood. She didn't need to ask if he slept well, she could just feel it herself. While Kyle went to the bathroom, she got up and checked on the house. Little Josey was up, and scampered for her, leaping up and gliding to her. Sophie caught her and purred as she petted her soft fur. Sophie loved her little friend. She was cute. Sophie playfully nuzzled her with a trill before she got her some lettuce to eat. She was happy to have the little rabbit with them. The notion of having pets was foreign to her kind, but, she liked it. There was something nice and fulfilling to taking care of another species. Perhaps it was something humans had developed out of survival, perhaps they began keeping pets out of practicality, or maybe it was just loneliness. Regardless of why, she liked having Josey as a pet, liked having her around, and it made her happy to know the little rabbit felt safe around her.

"Hello, love," Kyle greeted as he walked in. Sophie purred as Kyle hugged her from behind, his arms circling her waist. She trilled as her tail lovingly curled around his leg.

It was not often that Kyle was behind her, something else about humans that was hard to figure out. Sophie guessed, it had to do with their eyes, and only being able to see straight forward. They were wary of anything sneaking up behind them, and it made them nervous. One of the reasons why it made Kyle feel safe when she cuddled against his back when they slept. She felt Kyle kiss one of her Dorsal tubes, and she hissed softly, her tongue flexing out of her mouth on reflex. Oh, how she loved it! Kyle rubbed her belly with his hands, nuzzling his face against the bottom of the back of her head. She purred and shared in the feelings for a few moments. These moments of sweet closeness were so special to both of them.

Oh, Kyle I love you so much, she gently crooned. She held his hands as she let her feelings of love, tenderness and protection flow across their Bond. Far more than words could ever share, their Bond was special. When she told him she loved him, she showed him, let him feel her feelings, and know they were not a few empty lungfuls of air, but truly meant. Never any falseness, deceit or lies to see through, no guessing, no games. They always were straight and from the heart. Normal humans could only ever dream of what they had. She turned and pulled him into a loving embrace, cuddling him against her, tail caressing his back, hand upon his soft hair. She thrummed as she kissed him on the forehead. He was so special and precious to her. He finally looked up at her, all smile, letting all his feelings flow to her.

"So, what's the plan for today?"

XXX

Today, they were doing more cleaning, and also setting up their new appliances. Sophie took care of all the heavy lifting, and got the new fridge in with Kyle's help and direction. Once she got it set up and plugged in, she trilled and looked at the kitchen. It was already shaping up how they wanted. Next they set in a device humans called a microwave. Sophie was still amazed at how it worked. Granted, she liked food cooked on a stove better, but it did a wonderful job on some things. Humans never failed to amaze her with their inventions and devices and contraptions!

She watched as Kyle took measurements of the kitchen and noted them down. She could see in his mind he was thinking about buying an iron pot-rack from Hank and Niju, and Sophie agreed. She rather liked the humans' hammered metals, they had a certain quality and look to them she found nice. It made her wonder why humans had stopped this . . . blacksmithing. It was very useful, and made such pretty things! Granted, she didn't exactly like the fire, but she could see how useful it could be, if used well.

"Hmm, let's see. If we hang it here, then the ladles and spoons will hang right here," Kyle mused, thinking on how high the rack should be.

Write down the measurements and make sketches of the kitchen, Kyle. Then, we can show Hank and Niju just what we want. Kyle smiled and gave a positive.

"Good idea. I think black iron will look best. What do you think?" Sophie thought as she wiped off the counter with a rag.

I agree, the hammered, black iron looks good. I like those hooks with the curled ends and the pretty twist in the middle. Kyle grinned and agreed. They shared images and ideas back and forth, working out all the subtleties without any words. Kyle wrote down the last of the measurements on a pad of paper, looked it over, and nodded.

"That should do it. Now, we just have to give it to Hank and Niju, and get a quote." Sophie purred as she stepped back and looked at their handiwork. They now had a working refrigerator/freezer and microwave in their kitchen. Once it was cold enough, they would bring the food in and put it away. He smiled and put his arm around her waist. "Good job, pretty lady. So, why don't we take a break?" Sophie agreed, picking up Josey and heading for their room with Kyle.

XXX

A few hours later, they began unloading their stores of food from the Talon. Most of the meat went into the freezer section, but some went into the fridge for that night's dinner. Sophie rather liked the human idea of keeping meats cooled until they were needed, so there was not a need to hunt as much. While she liked hunting, she also was prudent. While her kind knew how to store food away, it was nothing like this. She grinned as she put in a bag of frozen clams from their lagoon. Kyle shared in her happiness as he helped put vegetables into the fridge. Josey was close by, looking for any opportunity to pilfer some greens. Sophie broke off a leaf of lettuce and gave it to her little rabbit, purring happily as Josey nibbled her treat. Kyle put some of the wonderful bread into the section of the fridge for such foods, and closed it. "Ah, done! Now we've got a nice, stocked fridge!" He grinned at her, and Sophie purred, hugging him.

This is nice. Now we have our food right here in the house, instead of in the ship. Kyle nodded and gave a positive.

"So, what's next?" Kyle musd as he looked at his notes he had made to remember what they had planned.

We were going to try and put some of the plants into the ground. What was the human word for it? Kyle smiled.

"Ah! Gardening! That's right! Thanks, Sophie." She purred and gave him warm thoughts and feelings.

XXX

Outside, it was warm and nice. The air was pleasant and fresh, the sun was warm, the grass soft. Sophie liked it very much, purring as she looked around. She felt Kyle coming out of the house. She giggled at her mate, loaded with tools and human things. His mind was awash with happiness as he set down the tools and went to get the plants. Sophie looked over the tools, amused that a tiny shovel had a blade that reminded her of her tail. She looked at her tail, and used it to dig experimentally in the soft, moist dirt. It worked perfectly. She gave a soft grunt of satisfaction. She wouldn't need tools. Kyle came back out, happy and excited, carrying bags of seeds, and a few plants. Sophie shared in his excitement.

While her people were mainly carnivores, that did not mean they did not eat foods from plants and such, but that they formed a smaller part of their diet. Her kind also did not do anything like humans did, to raise plants for food. She was very interested. "Okay, let's see . . . celery, onions, garlic, lettuce, and some squash. Okay, I think this will do for a first try," said Kyle. Sophie purred as she stood next to him. They heard nibbling. Kyle looked down at Josey, who was nibbling on a bundle. "Josey, no!" he scolded. The little rabbit shook her head and backed away, snorting and stamping her foot. Sophie was surprised when Josey ran around in a circle and scampered for the house. "Serves you right, you fat flying rat!" he called.

Kyle, what in the world-? Kyle grimaced and opened the bundles.

"Horseradish plants. I wanted to surprise you." Sophie giggled a bit at this.

Oh, poor Josey . . . They both giggled at that as Kyle set aside the one Josey had nibbled on.

"Well, provided we don't have any more furry little bandits interrupting, I think we're ready to start." Sophie purred.

Just show me what to do.

Sophie never would have thought that something as simple as digging holes and putting plants in would be so much fun. Her claws and tail proved to be perfect for digging. Sophie was amazed at how tiny some of the seeds were. Now that she was very close, and focused on the plants, she could sense the life in them. It made her happy, purring as she carefully planted an onion and covered it delicately with soil. She watched as Kyle carefully planted seeds and watered. Sophie got to her feet and looked at all their work. They had done quite a lot. Pulling out weeds, churning the soil, watering it, planting. It was all so new and fascinating to her. Sophie looked over at Josey, who was sitting by the bushes, grooming herself. Sophie walked over to make sure she was okay after nibbling on the horseradish. The poor bunny had been eagerly gulping down water. Sophie was a little amused, and glad she hadn't hurt herself. She gave Josey a gentle pet. The rabbit looked up at her and wiggled her nose before moving off a little, and digging in the mulch and leaves at the base of the bushes around their house. Curious, Sophie came over and watched. She noticed some small plants that had the beginnings of berries of some kind. Kyle, come look at this, she called. Kyle came and looked. He knelt down with Sophie, and smiled at the discovery.

"Oh my gosh. Sophie, I think these are wild strawberries." Sophie purred. She has tasted strawberries before. She liked them when they were not too sweet.

Josey found them. Kyle chuckled and looked at Josey.

"Somehow I doubt she intended to share." Josey seemed insulted, thumping her foot and grooming her ear, as if ignoring him. Sophie giggled a bit at this. "Well, this is good. We'll leave these here until we can look up what they need and where they grow best." Sophie agreed and helped Kyle up. She noticed he smelled heavily of dirt, but also had that nice sweaty smell she so loved. Kyle's scent always made her happy. Her mind gently caressed his, warm feelings of happiness and tenderness flowing through.

We did good. Kyle looked at the beginnings of their garden and nodded.

"Yeah, we did. Lets put the tools away. I could use a nice, warm bath." Sophie agreed, helping Kyle gather up the tools.

XXX

At first, Sophie had not understood why Kyle would always wash his wonderful smell away, and it saddened her. Once she had learned more about humans, and how their bodies worked, she understood. She wanted Kyle to stay healthy and happy. She also had to admit, it was wonderful to soak in nice, warm water after a day of work. What was even nicer was to share this wonderful experience with Kyle. Sophie sat pleasantly in the bath, Kyle in her lap as he scrubbed his dirty nails with a small brush. "I don't even have long nails, but this dirt really likes to stay under there," he mused. Sophie gently took the brush from him and, with all the gentlest care and tenderness, took his hand and very gently scrubbed the dirty away, pouring a handful of warm water over and kissing his clean fingers. Kyle just relaxed against her, enjoying the warmth and the closeness, Sophie's tail lovingly caressing his abs. Sophie purred as Kyle almost dozed against her. They were surprised when there was a splash. Kyle sat up as Josey, ever the little mischief maker, paddled about in the water. Kyle threw his head back and laughed, as did Sophie.

Once they all had dried off, they decided to snuggle in bed as night fell. Kyle dressed in some sweat pants and a clean t-shirt. Sophie purred from the bed, opening her arms lovingly to her mate as he crawled into bed with her. Kyle brought up the PDA and began researching various plants and gardening. Sophie purred from where she laid against the pillows, her arms and tail tenderly wrapped around her mate. Josey was snuggled right next to Sophie's hip, comfy as could be. The lamp above their bed gave a soft, golden glow, a gentle breeze from the window softly blew the silk curtains.

As Kyle was looking through the various files, a thought suddenly occurred to Sophie.

Kyle, you can access all of Reinhardt's files, right? He stopped and looked up at her.

"Yeah? What do you want me to find?" Sophie gave a soft huff.

How did Reinhardt first find out about my kind? Kyle blinked and brought up the files. He was not surprised to find they were all classified data from Weyland-Yutani. What was surprising was how old some of that data was. The oldest file dated back to the 2100s, nearly six-hundred years ago. Kyle brought up the files, Sophie reading through his eyes. It had seemed to have started when they detected a signal of unknown origin in the Zeta Reticuli system. They delved further, and were shocked at what they read.

Most of crew of a towing ship, the USCSS Nostromo, had been killed and the ship destroyed. The only survivor was the Warrant Officer, Ellen Ripley. That, though, was just the tip of the iceberg. Sophie moaned sadly when she read that a whole colony of humans had been wiped out, what was referred to as the Acheron Disaster. The only survivor of the doomed colony was a little girl. Sophie moaned sadly, the more they read. She felt horrible, about all of it. Sophie was especially heartsick about what happened to poor Ellen Ripley, and how she lost her daughter as a result of the mess. Oh, Kyle . . . This is . . . so . . . Kyle felt Sophie's sorrow. He put the PDA down, turned and hugged her.

"It's not your fault, Sophie. Or your people. The Company did this." Sophie knew he was right, but she still felt awful.

I know, but Kyle, a whole colony of people died, including children. The thought made Sophie sick. Kyle hugged her tighter, giving her soft, loving thoughts to comfort her.

I know, Sophie. I feel sorry for that poor, lonely one on the Nostromo. Sophie agreed. She could barely imagine the pain, horror, anguish of that poor Sister who had been born on the Nostromo, surrounded by frightened humans who wanted to kill her, wracked with mental pain at the loss of her Bonded One, with no Sisters or Mother to comfort her. Sophie was sure she must have gone insane, into a psychotic rage that fueled the killing. She hugged Kyle tighter to her, so grateful to have him. Her kind were not meant to be alone. She gave a shuddering moan as Kyle stroked her and caressed her, mentally and physically to comfort her. Sophie saw the picture of Ellen Ripley, displayed on the PDA. If I could, I would apologize to her. She never should have been put through that. Sophie lacked eyes, but she cried nevertheless. Josey sensed Sophie's distress, and crawled into her lap to try and comfort her. Sophie gave a weak laugh and snuggled her pet and mate.

"It's not your fault, Sophie. It was all a long time ago." Sophie gave a positive, knowing he was right. Kyle moved to turn the PDA off, but Sophie stopped him.

There was more. I want to know. Kyle looked up at her.

"Are you sure?" She gave a positive as she scooped up the PDA, and Kyle took it and began to read the rest.

Sophie was saddened further to see that neither Ripley, or the girl, or their friends survived the ordeal, all of them dying on some backwater planet humans used as a prison for some of the worst their society could muster. Even more disgusting was when they read what the United Systems Military did with their cloning program, Project Helix, two-hundred years later. All of this fell under the Auriga Fiasco heading, and was just as bad as any of the previous incidents. She was interested, though, that there was no mention at all of what happened to the clone of Ellen Ripley. While Sophie was curious, she was glad, and hoped she was able to live her days in peace. When they finished at last, Kyle turned off the PDA and set it down before turning and hugging Sophie tightly. "I love you, Sophie." She returned the embrace eagerly.

And I love you, Kyle. I'm so grateful to have you as my Bonded One and my mate. Kyle gave her warm, loving thoughts in return as they cuddled.

The startling revelations left them with so many questions. One in particular grabbed Kyle's thoughts more than the rest.

"Sophie, they said the signal from Acheron was from a ship of non-human make. That makes me wonder who they were, and why your people were on it," he mused. Sophie gave a soft huff, trying to recall. Her Hive Memories were fragmented and vague, rather like a human mirror, shattered with the largest and most important pieces gone, and some turned down, leaving only a few to give a few glimpses of a partial image. They were more feelings than true images or memories. Feelings of anger and resentment. Feelings of imprisonment and hopelessness. Feelings indignation, of vengeance.

She felt Kyle's soft, gentle and warm hand on her face, and cooed softly as he comforted her. "I love you, Sophie. From the bottom of my heart. I swear, I will never let anyone hurt you. Human or otherwise." Sophie felt Kyle's conviction, the truth to his words. Kyle, her sweet, calm, gentle mate had his protective side, as anyone did. She curled her arms and tail around him, rocking back and forth. Even Josey joined in. She purred as he kissed her dome lovingly, and she returned the gesture on his cheek. They were so much more than mates. They were friends, companions, partners. They were Bonded.

Author's note: I want to apologize to my readers for being silent so long, especially on Kyle and Sophie's story, but things were getting very stressful in my life, and the dark thoughts were bleeding into the story. Things have improved a bit, and I was finally able to get back to our favorite couple.

Many readers have been asking for a long time for a chapter told from Sophie's point of view, and I finally found a place to grant that wish! I hope it lives up to expectation.

As always, read, review, and have a nice day!