Author: It's been moving rather slow but this is where it starts to pick up again.

Chapter Seven

About twelve days had gone by since the incident with the intercom panel and Femka still had no reaction to anything else ever since. It was nice and quiet living at the garage but there was no progression as far as getting the woman home went. Her fondness for Igliak was growing, though. In the past two weeks she had been attempting to learn some Markazian but was finding that to be a little difficult. Their alphabet was rather large and that was the first place to start. Clank offered her a book that was written in Kyzilian for those on Veldin who wished to learn the language but she still couldn't read that either. Logically, Clank asked her to exchange her language for theirs and they would work from there on. The woman couldn't keep frustration off her shoulders, so she settled on just learning how to read Kyzilian and then Markazian later. On one morning she was practicing her alphabet, sitting at a table and writing down the letters carefully and meticulously. She even figured out how to write her name all on her own. Yet another small victory she cherished. This was her hobby, though, and her job back on Earth. She was a translator—she loved to do this kind of stuff. After making some minor breakthroughs in the strange language she wanted to leave the garage for a little while to get some fresh air. Ratchet and Clank seemed to be busy most days, given that the Lombax was a mechanic, so he needed to work. When he was occupied, Femka would just do her own thing and exploring Meridian was one of them. The woman took to using the trams and the skyline finally without feeling nervous when the cars would teleport to another line. Outside of one of the cars she was in she could see a building up ahead that was rather large. She heard a voice over the intercom label the destination. It was the museum. The woman shrugged and exited onto the platform when the tram stopped in front of the building. She decided to go inside and see what it was all about. To her surprise (once more) the entrance was free and she was able to wonder in at her leisure and explore. Too bad she couldn't read the labels on the museum displays. This only made her more determined to learn the language. During her expedition she saw a familiar person. Anyone could guess that it was Ipsin.

"He must be working, right?" she mentally deduced.

She thought it would be nice to say hello to him anyway and traveled over to the area he was managing. He turned around in time to see the young woman approaching him and he smiled with a wave.

"Long time no see," he said.

"Hiya," Femka smiled back. "Are you working?"

"Only for a few more minutes. I have a break soon. I was going to go out to that café you were at before. Would you like to join me?"

"Sure," she nodded. "I haven't eaten yet, actually, so that'd be nice."

"Perfect. I'll be at the entrance to the museum in about fifteen minutes. We'll rendezvous then and be on our way, alright?"

"Sounds, good. See you soon."

Femka watched him walk off and she decided to take a look around while she had the time to spare until fifteen minutes were up. There seemed to be a lot to indulge in at the museum; Femka would have to come back some other time to explore the rest of it. When she reached the entrance Ipsin was already there waiting for her. He was rather punctual. She hurried her pace a bit and they were off on the tram. They talked a little bit along the way about their weeks since the last time they saw each other and continued the conversation when they arrived at the café. Femka stuck to the familiar item that she bought before and Ipsin ordered something the woman never saw here before—something sweet. When they sat down he offered some of it to her. She immediately went back inside and bought one for herself and came back to the discussion with a new favorite treat.

"So, how's living with the infamous mechanic?"

"Hm?" Femka looked up from her drink. "Oh! Well, it's nice, I suppose. I did get around to asking him about his past like you said I should. I wasn't disappointed. But it was definitely interesting."

"Of course!" he laughed. "I'm sure he's pretty fond of you by now, too," he winked an eye.

Femka shook her head quickly and smiled shyly.

"No, no, nooo… I don't think so."

"Why not? You're very beautiful."

She continued to shake her head, disagreeing with the doctor.

"I'm pretty sure we're just friends."

"Ah, if you say so, but that means you're available," he said boldly taking a drink of his warm brew.

"I think I'll keep playing hard to get, then," she stressed with a high, confident lift of her head.

He laughed lightheartedly at her response and proceeded to eat his lunch. To him that was sort of attractive. Femka seemed that she would be very firm on her feet when it came to men flirting with her. She was a beautiful woman—not picture perfect, but she didn't need to be. Her personality was very intrepid and solid. That's not all that was nice to appreciate. Her figure was slim and gorgeous. Her upper body was exempt of a voluptuous chest but what was there was perfect for her body type. She was lean and athletic. Whatever she decided to wear today was definitely accenting every curve on her body. Oh, to say that he liked Femka was a bit of an understatement, but he was a gentleman, nonetheless. He wasn't about to invade her privacy or make her feel any more uncomfortable. She did tell him she would be playing hard to get in any case. Maybe next time. For now, they just enjoyed the rest of their lunch and continued to chat about whatever came into their minds. Femka enjoyed his company, though, and was disappointed when they had to part ways.

"Oh, before I get back to work," the researcher began, "perhaps we could get together again sometime? Maybe we could go to the holo-plex and see a movie—if you want to, that is."

"That would be nice, sure," she smiled calmly.

"Oh. Good! Good. How about three days from now, when I get out of work, nineteen hours?"

"Three days, nineteen hours." Her head nodded.

"Great! I'll come get you from the Lombax's garage."

"It's a deal," she smiled.

With that he was off in a hurry to get back to work. Femka was excited about her movie date. In her mind, on the other hand, she never really considered anything with a guy a date. She didn't date. She tried it once and it didn't work out so well. Every time she went out with a person of the opposite gender—and even if they invited her—she still considered it "hanging out", no matter what the "date" was. Admittedly, she did think Ipsin was attractive in his own way. Strange. She never thought she would consider a species other than hers attractive. Well, she barely found her species attractive to begin with. Femka thought about the topic the whole way home. When she entered the garage through the hanger she saw that Ratchet wasn't in there and continued to the building attached to it where he lived. He was in the kitchen taking a break of his own. The woman went in to take a seat across from him at the island counter in the stool she was accustomed to. She waved to him and he waved back unable to speak with his mouth full of food. Clank walked into the room a second later with a paper for Ratchet. As he held it out to him the mechanic looked it over and took it from his small hand. His eyes rolled followed by a grunt and he spoke in aggravation with his mouth partially full of food.

"I just fixed this, like, five days ago! This has to be a re-print."

"Unfortunately, no," Clank corrected. "Mister Bornu damaged his ship forgetting that he left the gear in reverse, consequently flying into his house."

Ratchet loosened his annoyed face up for a second to laugh at the reason of damage but soon returned to being unhappy since he had to repair his ship once again.

"Did you give him an appointment?"

"Yes. I recalled that there was an open spot for fourteen hours today, so I told him to come by then."

"Great", Ratchet griped with a large swallow of his food. "So, how was your afternoon?" he asked the daydreaming Femka.

She couldn't help but smile with raised brows at the irritated Lombax.

"It was good. I went to the museum and ran into Ipsin… again."

"Yeah, that's a surprise."

"We went to lunch together and in a few days we're gonna go to the movies apparently."

"Aw, and then you guys are gonna start holding hands."

Femka looked at the man across from her with a very dry expression. He only laughed at her for that reason. She wasn't laughing at all.

"We are not going on a date. Don't people just hang out anymore for fun? You know I don't see your girlfriend anywhere."

"That is because Ratchet does not have a girlfriend," Clank said joining their discussion at the table. "He cannot hold a relationship for very long nor is he very good with women."

"What? How would you know?" Ratchet argued. "I'm very good with women, thank you very much." He seemed proud when he spoke and he turned to Femka. "He has no idea what he's talking about."

"Oh, really?" she chuckled amusedly.

"C'mon." His head tilted just a bit and he leaned in more with a brow arced and his face a cool expression. "You'd date me."

"No." Her head shook.

Ratchet's ears and body went up straight while Clank appeared to have a victorious stare about him.

"Ouch," he said raising one corner of his mouth as his ears fell.

"Don't take it personally. It's just that I don't date period. I think it's kind of a waste of time. And I'd rather make friends and…," she explained feeling bad at the face that Ratchet gave her. "If it's any consolation, hypothetically speaking, if I was to think of dating as not a waste of time, I would go on a date with you."

Ratchet shook his head slowly at her with perked brows but smiled anyway. It was all in fun at any rate. Femka smiled back at him taking a piece of food off of his plate to try it and he scooted the dish loser to her having said he was finished with it. Upon putting another bite of food in her mouth an electronic voice over the intercom announced a visitor. It must be that guy who flew his ship into his house. Ratchet mumbled under his breath before leaving that Markazians weren't only bad at dancing but flying as well. Femka watched him and his partner leave the kitchen to tend to their customer and finished off the leftover food on his plate. The rest of the day she spent trying to master more of Kyzilian phonetics and things of that trade while the duo was at work until late evening. It gave her something to do anyway. She would play some of Ratchet's game from time to time, but when it came to a portion that required her to read, she had no idea and usually just ignored it. Learning some Kyzilian would definitely prove handy in the long run. Though she needed a foundation for the languages she was attempting to learn, Clank did mention that Veldin was sparsely inhabited and not many people spoke its languages to begin with. Well, she'd already come this far, so Femka wanted to keep going. But Markazian was definitely next on her list.

The next three days she spent doing just about the same things she had been doing all her stay. Drawing, studying, other mundane things. It was only midday and she was looking forward to her movie "date" tonight with Ipsin. Her two hosts were busy—as they almost always were—tending to the shop. Sometimes she watched them work; and it was interesting to see it all happen. She never witnessed a rocket being assembled before—or disassembled for that matter. The job seemed rather technical but Ratchet made it look easy, because of his vivacious demeanor. No matter how hard she tried to rationalize it, everything still seemed unreal at some point and she observed all the ships that came in to dock and the aliens that came along with them she smiled so engrossed in it all. Aside from just watching Ratchet work and studying his customers, Femka new she needed to get herself ready soon before Ipsin came to pick her up. She had a few more hours relax and what better to spend your time on than practicing foreign languages. Her dedication wore thin after about two hours of studying, so she only took in so much knowledge throughout the day—breaks not accounted for; otherwise, she learned a lot in one day's worth of practicing her Kyzilian. Femka found her eyes on the clock when it was less than one hour until her "date" came. She went to prepare herself for the outing, getting dressed in the bathroom into something not too formal but not so casual—she wasn't out to impress the guy after all; also her wardrobe was still limited. The intercom in the bathroom was still on the fritz. Ratchet hadn't gotten around to repairing it yet. The others worked fine. And to prove that point, the voice appeared again when a visitor came into the garage while Femka was readying herself. Ratchet was done working by then and went to the main door of the establishment to answer it only to see Ipsin standing there with a small smile. He completely forgotten about that thing they were doing and stared scrupulously at Ipsin with a why-are-you-here-look to accompany said stare.

"I'm here for Femka?" his voice perked unsure of what to say.

"Oh, yeah. I'll go get her for you."

The Lombax left Ipsin in the foyer to retrieve the man's "date". The alien looked about the shop with his eyes what he could see from where he was standing. He'd actually never been at the mechanic's establishment before having not needed a repair to his ship. From what he could gather it seemed orderly in some places and in others a complete mess. His ears picked up Femka's voice as she made her way near the door talking with Ratchet. She greeted the man with her warm smile and began walking out the door with him to his ship waving back to Ratchet. It occurred to the woman that she hadn't been in a ship since she arrived in Polaris—and the first time it didn't really count, because she was unconscious. For that fact she was nervous just to step inside. Sure, she enjoyed flying in planes back on Earth but that in itself was frightening sometimes. Femka wouldn't let her anxiety show, though. She wanted to blend in with the life style. She already dug a hole for herself earlier when she said she just out of the galaxy not mentioning the real story. Ipsin probably thinks she's just an out-of-towner and that she's already flown to other places plenty of times. She would've had to flown to get to Igliak, right? Oh, brother… Luckily Ipsin was good at keeping her attention with a nice conversation. She needed a distraction. He was just telling her the itinerary for their evening. He picked out a movie for them to see first, something he hoped she would enjoy, then came dinner second and afterwards a walk and then straight to bed.

The movie was beginning soon, so Ipsin made sure to get there quickly so they wouldn't miss a thing. Once again, she had to hide her surprise at the movie theatre when she saw it. It was much more grandiose than anything she'd seen on Earth. However, she was informed that Meridian was the capital city of the Polaris galaxy. Maybe that's why things here were so amazing and over the top. Femka kept her amazement to herself, only commenting that it was a nice theatre. She was still allowed to pretend that she was a tourist, since she sort of was one. The two entered and made way to the movie that Ipsin picked out for them. It was a Suspense Drama of some kind. Femka had been watching lots of television (or holo-vision) during her stay but this was the first cinematic film she would be seeing in a theatre. She was excited to some extent and the company she was with was making it more the worthwhile. Even the start of the film made her think of the movies at home. She didn't consciously mean to make comparisons but she couldn't help it. When the opening credits rolled on her eyes were seized by the screen and she barely blinked. Throughout the holo-film, Ipsin would look her way to see if she was enjoying herself or not. By the entranced expression on her face he could assume safely that she really was having a good time. So when it was time for the end credits he definitely made sure to look again at her expression and it was still in the same place. It made him laugh on the inside.

Femka exited the theatre at Ipsin's side giving commentary about the movie describing what parts she liked most and what parts she didn't. Overall, it was a success. Dinner was next on the list of things to do and the researcher suggested a place that was pretty casual and served nice late dinners. It was already passed twenty-one hours at the time they arrived and Femka was starving. She asked Ipsin to help hear read the menu. At least she could get away with that. When she ordered something that sounded good she told Ipsin about her self-language courses. He seemed impressed that she wanted to learn something as difficult as Markazian. Ipsin commented that it took him years to learn, since it wasn't his mother tongue but it didn't intimidate the woman's young mind at all. They continued to discuss similar topics and share small bits of information about each other while they enjoyed their late night dinner. Afterwards the two went for a walk through the city. Femka made it a point for Ipsin to know that she wanted to go home soon. It was late and she was getting tired. He told her about a shortcut that would take them back to the ship in about ten minutes or less. She followed by his side through a tight alleyway. The moon was directly above them and Femka stared up at it as they walked. The moon's light made the alley brighter than it would have been without it. Femka's gaze came back down when she heard other footsteps quickly approaching them. She looked behind her to see two men hurrying in their direction. It worried her for some reason. Ipsin didn't seem to notice but the woman kept looking back when they continued to get closer. Her pace quickened and her friend stared at her quizzically when she did. His head looked back and he saw the men coming closer. His face retained its puzzled expression and walked quickly with her. He made the suggestion to turn around a corner and she agreed. But after a minute they were still trailing behind them adamantly.

"Are they following us?" Femka whispered keeping a fast pace.

"I have no idea," he replied hurrying again. "Let's go."

He took her hand and they began running ahead. The nervous Femka turned her head back just an inch to get a glimpse at the two strangers running faster and faster behind them. She was frightened now. What did they want? Were they robbers or something? Something worse…? It didn't matter how fast they ran ahead, they reached a dead end in moments. There was a large wall in front of them and Femka turned around. The two men were shadowed by the buildings where the light from the moon hit the other side. Slowly they moved forward. She saw a gun in one of the stranger's hands. Her body was stiff and petrified with fear. Femka stayed by Ipsin's side holding on to his arm.

"Stay back!" Ipsin yelled. "Leave us alone!"

His words didn't affect the shadowed figures nearing. When they came closer Femka could see some of their features. They kind of looked like Ipsin. Before another thought ran through her mind one of the men came running again at them. Ipsin moved in front of Femka who screamed from the sudden jump of the attacker. He lunged at the researcher taking a swing at his face and tossing him onto the ground by grip of his arm kicking him in the side with his foot. Femka was frightened beyond belief after that display and the other came closer, the one with the gun. His partner kept a grip on Ipsin when he tried to get up again. When the man pointed his gun at her coming closer he made an odd demand pointing to her chest. It was the necklace. Probably for the fact that it looked like jewelry; it was already glowing again, as well.

"Give it," he said in a low voice.

"What?"

"The charm, give it over or I'll kill you and your friend."

Her face stiffened and she looked down at the necklace as the blue and purple light gleamed out from the stone. Did he know what it really was? No. That's not right. It was just a theory anyway. But what if? What if it really was the same material as the artifact? All that stuff she discussed with Ratchet and Clank a couple weeks ago, it could be true. She needed to think of something. That man was getting impatient with her.

"C'mon, bitch, I don't have all day!" His finger nearly pressed on the trigger.

"Just give it to him, Femka!" Ipsin yelled as the other man kicked him again causing him to cough.

Femka quivered an exhale through her nose. Her eyes remained on the malicious stranger in front of her and her hand traveled around her neck to pull off the necklace. She had an idea surge through her brain. She quickly grabbed the comm-link Ratchet had given her after that morning's incident and squeezed on it in panic as the electric shock came rushing out from it and she threw it at the man. It hit him on the neck electrocuting him as he fell and hit the ground. The other man watched with an alarmed face. Femka noticed the residual sparks on her hand and with a face just as alarmed as the man standing over Ipsin she charged at him and put her hands on his face giving him the same amount of voltage as his cohort and let him fall on the floor hard with convulsions. Ipsin sat up from the ground and watched in amazement and utter confusion. Femka was still in a mode of panic as the sparks from her hands still emanated. She struggled with her other communicator knocking it off her belt with her elbow and stepped on one of the buttons to call Ratchet. When he answered she couldn't speak right and all she did was talk in circles starting to cry when she did. He told her to stay as calm as she could while he made his way there. She kept the line open as the comm-link remained on the ground. She was afraid to touch it. The two men slowly rose from off the ground and stared at the woman with electric hands.

"Get away from me…," her voice shook. "I'll do it again… I'm warning you…!"

They both started to step away from her and above them a ship was coming. They looked up as the wind blew around heavily from the vessel's mass. Ratchet came hovering down with Clank's help and with the boots that he wore. The men backed further away when he touched the ground holding his wrench at hand. He smiled smugly at the looks on their faces and watched them run off in fear. Ipsin was finally alright to stand on his own two feet when Ratchet began toward Femka. Clank detached himself off of Ratchet's back and walked alongside him noticing the fright on the young woman's face. Femka was looking at her hands as the sparks were fading away. She sniffled through her nose and glanced at Ratchet who was nearing her. She didn't wait for him. She ran straight to him seeking his comfort and hid her face in his neck letting her tears slide down her face.

"It'll be alright. I'm here. Everything's fine." He spoke softly holding her tight and doing his best to keep her calm.

"I want to go home…," she said in a quiet squeak.

"We'll go home."

She nodded her head weakly and kept her face hidden in him. Clank walked over to the woman's communicator and picked it up meanwhile looking at poor Ipsin. He had an injury on his face and a couple scrapes from falling on the ground so violently.

"Are you alright, Doctor Ro?" the concerned little robot asked.

"Yeah." He breathed deeply wiping his lip of some blood. "I'll be fine. I'm worried for Femka, mostly."

"Do not worry too much. She is in our excellent care."

"Just make sure she gets better."

"Affirmative. But will you need a lift home?" His eyes blinked slowly with a turn of their metal shutters.

"It's alright. My ship isn't that far from here. I'll be fine," he reassured with a faint smile.

Ratchet looked over to Clank giving him the signal that they would be leaving now. Clank made his way back to his friend as the Lombax took out the hypershot to grapple them back onto the ship hovering steadily above their heads. He held onto Femka tightly with one arm and Clank balanced on Ratchet's foot and leg as they were pulled upward until the bottom hatch closed after they entered the ship. Ipsin watched the ship take off in the other direction and sighed deeply starting his walk back to his own vessel. He needed to get some first aid for the cuts he received. His side wasn't feeling so great as well.

The three arrived back at the garage well passed zero hour already. Femka was still shaking to some extent when Ratchet led her inside by guide of his hand. Clank returned her comm-link to the table she was using in Ratchet's bedroom while his friend took Femka to the bathroom to wash up. The tears on her face were dried up now but her eyes were red and tired. Ratchet took a washcloth and dampened it with warm water giving it to Femka to wipe her face with. She sniffled again when she was finished with the small towel. Her tired eyes looked at the mechanic with embarrassment and lingering fear. He smiled with a concerned face and gently pushed the hair in front of her face away placing it behind her ears. Her lips curved to form a little smile back at him and she wrapped her arms around him for a hug resting her head on his shoulder.

She opened her mouth just a little after a small moment of quiet.

"I'm sorry… I didn't…"

"Why are you sorry?" he said cutting her off.

"I don't know…"

"Fem. Nothing that happened was your fault. You're just lucky you didn't get hurt. You shouldn't be walking around so late in alleyways."

"That's why I'm sorry…," she said wanting to shed tears again.

"Fem, I'm just glad you're okay," he said placing his hands on her shoulders to look at her shy face. "So, there's no reason to be sorry. Just promise you won't take anymore late walks," he said with an awkward smile.

"I promise."

"Good." He smiled more easily rubbing her shoulders with his hands. "Would you like to go bed?" he asked looking at the woman with a dipped head and cute eyes.

His faces made her feel better or whenever he looked at her like that. She gave him a small smile. But she wasn't sure that she'd be able to sleep right away. Her head shook lightly before she gave him an audible answer.

"Would you like me to stay up with you until you fall asleep?"

Femka nodded her head softly and Ratchet chuckled through his nose.

"I'll let you get changed or do whatever you need to do and when you're finished come get me."

There was one more nod of her head and the Lombax let her to her business with the door closing behind him. Femka looked at her face in the mirror seeing the red in her eyes. Her nose sniffled yet another time and she held the charm of her necklace in her hand. There was a faint glow that gave her chills when she stared into it. The woman left the bathroom only to return a minute later with her night clothes. She took a quick shower and changed into her pajamas. Her nerves were calming but she was still in shock of the event that came about. It didn't make sense to her why two random guys wanted her necklace. Were they following her the whole night or something just to be able to get a good glimpse at it? It wasn't big, so how could they know what it was from so far away? And who threatens to kill two people over a necklace if they didn't know its theoretical ability? They must have known what it was—but it just seemed so impossible! She wanted to dwell more on the subject but it just hurt her rattled head. Femka went into the kitchen to get herself something to drink before hunting down Ratchet. She took her glass with her and found him in the living room picking up some junk that was scattered on the floor. She cocked her head to the side a bit and spoke.

"What're you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, I, uh, before I left to get you I sort of flew over the table and knocked all this stuff off of it. If you wondered how I got there so fast, well, there ya go."

Femka's smile came back and she went over to help him pick up the things that were all over the floor.

"Thank you, Ratchet."

"You don't have to thank me." His head shook lightly. "Remember what I said? I'm there for you if you need me. I promised."

The woman felt her cheeks go warm as she watched him finish up his minor cleaning job. She couldn't keep the gentle smile away from her face despite the events that happened earlier. She patiently waited for him to finish standing near the uncomfortable couch and drinking what liquid was left in her cup. Ratchet placed the things back on the table where they were before he fumbled over them and turned to Femka with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Well, that's taken care of. Would you like to get to bed finally?" he smiled.

"Mhm," Femka answered with the same smile.

Ratchet escorted her down the hallway and back to the room he hadn't slept in about three weeks or so. She crawled onto the bed placing her glasses on the table, along with her translator, leaving it on of course. She sat Indian style with her legs folded over each other and patted the bed to invite her friend on to it. He gladly joined her taking up the other half of the bed sitting like she did. Femka brought one of the pillows onto her lap and then placed it next to (slightly against) Ratchet laying her head on it and sighing quickly from her mouth. He glanced down at her hunched over somewhat and smiled softly.

"How do you feel?"

"I'm alright. I'm not as shook up anymore."

"Good."

There was a moment of silence for awhile. Femka was still awake, though, when Ratchet spoke again.

"So, I talked to Clank while you were in the bathroom and I thought it would be a nice idea to show you around the galaxy or maybe leave Polaris and show you something else. He was so worried about you he suggested some place like Pokitaru to help loosen you up," he chuckled softly.

Femka's head turned to see Ratchet from below and her eyes looked up at him.

"What's Pokitaru again?"

She remembered vaguely the name from the stories that he told her those days ago.

"It's that really nice place that the Blargians dumped all their waste into. It's in the Solana galaxy, where I grew up. It's a resort planet."

"A whole planet dedicated just for one purpose?"

"Yep. But it's up to you if you want to go or not." He looked back down to her.

Her eyes blinked as they moved away from his view to think about it. Of course she wanted to go. She wanted to see everything this universe had to offer.

"If we go to Pokitaru, can I see Veldin next?" she asked looking back up at him.

"You wanna see Veldin?" He looked surprised yet glad when she nodded her head. "Of course we can go."

"When are we gonna leave?"

"Hmm, how's this weekend sound? It'll give me time to finish up work in the garage and after we can get going. Sound good to you?"

"Sounds perfect…," she spoke with a yawn in the way of her words.

Within a matter of minutes Femka was out like a light. The uneasiness she would feel in her stomach when things were wrong was disappearing. If it was still there even she was too tired to notice anymore. She was off to dreamland muttering a small goodnight to the person next to her. She felt lucky to have someone like him by her side. The last thought she had in her head was that he was so much like her friend Alexander back home. She admired him just as much as well and like her Earthling friend, she'd come to know so much about the Lombax in such a short period of time. She liked being this close to him. He proved to her today that he meant what he said before and that he would keep her safe. There were no obligations either. And that's what made it more special to Femka.

When she drifted away into her slumber a loose thought invaded her mind weary of a nightmare—she didn't want that. That's what she was scared of. She was afraid she'd have a nightmare about what happened today and that it could play as something worse in her mind. But the thought was released as her dreams took over and created something completely different. It seemed like it would be a nice dream; but Femka always thought of her dreams as weird. They never made sense to her. Nothing connected together. In other words, her dreams were rather nonsensical. Tonight was no exception either. Her dream started back on planet Earth. It'd been over two weeks since she had a dream about home. The backgrounds of her dreams were always unclear and fuzzy but her subconscious knew where the place was. She was at home with her friend Alexander. They were walking and talking about something. Ah. She was telling him about her journey through space. She was describing the planet she was on. Some of the context was out of place and some things were added in that never happened. There was laughter spilling out from her mouth when she was with her friend. Her dream shifted to something else eventually. Now she was back on Igliak or maybe some kind of made up planet. She was walking outside during the evening and she came to find Ratchet who said he was looking for his wrench. Femka said she would help him find it but instead found something that looked like a banana. She was even confused in her dream and tossed it aside turning back to Ratchet who was sitting down now and inviting her to come join him by a fountain. When she did, she sat close to him and leaned against him resting the side of her head on his shoulder. He motioned his head to smile in her direction wrapping one arm around her and taking her hand in his. Her fingers laced with his and she smiled at him.

"I like you," she said still smiling at the man beside her; her cheeks were rosy.

"I like you, too," he said back.

The last thing she did in her dream was kiss him and it sent chills up her spine in her reverie. She kissed one person before in her life that wasn't her mother or father and it didn't feel like this. This was a dream but it felt real. The texture of his face was different than hers and she felt every detail in her dream. So, that's how she really felt, wasn't it? Her dreams liked to exaggerate, though. But would it be something she would forget come morning? Undoubtedly not. She didn't want that dream to end.