Author: This is the last chapter but there's still the Postlude. For those of you who have read up to this point I hope it was a nice read for you and thank you! :D

Chapter Seventeen

By seven hours into the day Femka had awoken. She had lain in bed just clinging on to what time she had left and to the man that was beside her for almost an hour. Ratchet had promised her that today they would do anything she wanted. There were no other plans he had made today and if there were any previously they'd have to wait until Femka was back home on Earth. When Ratchet woke up finally they continued to lay around at Femka's wishes and merely talk about whatever came to their minds. Truth be told (again), she didn't want to do anything today but she didn't have the nerve to say it to him. She felt content lying about with him since something like this was invaluable and so simple. Some of the best moments in her life were just spent sitting around with Alexander in a bedroom. A sigh left her mouth after she made the decision to get ready to do whatever it was she hadn't decided on yet with the others. Femka's morning rituals took longer than usual today—she was determined to slow down time. While changing into her clothes she caught her reflection in the mirror in front of her in the bathroom and stop changing just to stare at herself. Her roots were coming still but the blue and purple color seemed to shine on the remainder of her somewhat long hair. The young lady completed her tasks at last and left the room to meet up with the others who waited in the kitchen with a nice meal already prepared. That was the first gift (in her mind) for her. Femka had no idea what it was when she saw it but it looked delicious—most likely. It warmed her heart to see the three of them so happy to see her. She sat down with them and gladly dug into her food not feeling sheepish one bit and tried to talk between bites. Everyone's conversation was a brief distraction for her. Soon an odd thought poked into her brain when she was about finished with her meal. Femka lifted her face from her plate and looked over at Ratchet who was telling Clank to turn on the holo-vision set near the table.

"Ratchet, I have a question." She placed her fork down.

"Uh-huh?" His ears perked.

"What am I supposed to tell everyone when I get back home after I've been gone for so long?"

The three sitting around her all glanced at one another at the same instance and then in different directions as to think of an answer.

"I mean, I know it's kind of random to just ask this but I've been gone for months and if I come back from the desert looking like nothing's happened to me, what am I supposed to say?"

"That's a very good question…," Arlis said in perplexity.

"I can't tell them I've been hanging out in a different galaxy with aliens. They'll think I've got head trauma."

"You have a very valid point." Clank pondered.

"I guess I'll come up with something. Or maybe I will tell them the truth?" She sighed with a thoughtful look and shook her head. "I dunno…"

"I'm sure you'll think of something. Even if you did tell them the truth it wouldn't affect us. But there might be some repercussions for you." Ratchet's ears motioned downward.

"Yeah, I know. At the off-chance that some people actually did believe me, I don't think I'd ever be left alone. And if they just didn't believe me, besides thinking of me having brain damage, I'll also be ridiculed until I die I'm sure." Femka exhaled with a shrug. "Whatever." She waved her hand lightly and ate the last piece of food on her plate and adjusted her glasses. "I'd rather just have fun today, even though I still don't know what I want to do."

"Don't worry about it," Ratchet smiled. "We'll just go all over by ship. You can see more of Kerwan that way."

"Alright." Femka returned the smile fixing her glasses again.

Right after breakfast Femka got ready for their departure to go sightseeing. When she was in Ratchet's room she was packing all of her things into her book bag. There was a brief moment of sadness as she just stood there and looked at the room when she pulled the zipper all the way up closing the bag. Femka bit her tongue and left the room leaving her backpack on the bed. When they returned from the outing she would have to come back for it. The woman walked down the hallway with a frown and went to the garage where the three were getting the ship ready. Femka hurried over to the ship and met up with the small group. When the preparations were complete it was time for them to take off out of the large hanger. The feeling of flight might be something Femka wouldn't miss since it still made her a bit nervous but well, it was a strange feeling that she could miss eventually.

The first thing on their improvisational to-do list was to fly over Metropolis city solely for the beautiful view. Femka was able to see most of the things beneath while on the ship and of course as predicted she took a picture of it. She wondered how much she could store on such a small device but even the technology on her planet surprised her sometimes. She could only imagine how efficient their data storage devices were! Ratchet guided the ship away from the city that seemed to stretch forever and into a different territory over some large body of water. There were even buildings sticking out of the ocean as well. The places she saw never ceased to amaze her one bit. Naturally after flying for awhile it was time to walk and explore places by foot (or by train). Unfortunately for the woman, a Mag-Train was needed at some point that required teleportation to the next line. That feeling would forever leave her body tingling. For some reason Clank enjoyed it, something Femka couldn't understand. It also finally made her realize that Clank was a robot who could feel. All this time and she never knew. At one point in their walk she had asked if there was anything present on this planet that was considered ancient architecture. Ratchet answered stating that there would have been old things if they weren't always being destroyed in past invasions. A weird universe indeed. Despite all the strange things she learned it felt natural to take them in as facts now. To make a comparison from when she first arrived nothing seemed real or factual even though it was all there and tangible. But now it was so normal. Femka would miss everything about this new world she was introduced to. Come lunch time the woman was already feeling tired but food was a good pick-me-up and so was continuing on with the day with her company. But the day went on fast after that, so it felt to her this way. Maybe it was because she was anxious and didn't want it to end. Regrettably everything good must come to an end. Femka knew it was almost time when the four of them were flying back to Metropolis inside the ship. Her eyes stared out the windows and she would close them intermittently just thinking about the day and the many days before this one. The ship reached the garage within a few minutes and landed outside in the front slowly bringing Femka out of her day dream. Her head lifted and her hands took the seatbelt that was around her off and she stood up when the ship was turned off while the others did the same. Arlis and Clank stood by the side door and Femka joined them. To think, this was the last time she'd ever be in a ship that could fly into space. It was hard to swallow the idea. Ratchet joined them as well and opened the door to let everyone outside. As assumed, the mechanic gave Femka a hand off of the ship and smiled at her keeping her hand within his.

"Are you ready?" he asked quietly.

Her head nodded slowly trying to look at him, though it was difficult. He hugged her tightly and she did the same clutching her fingers tightly on his back.

"This is… a little more difficult than I thought," she said closing her eyes. "I wish I could stay or take you with me." Her voice was quiet but a smile was on her face.

"I wish I could go with you, too. But I don't really think your species would be so accepting at first," he joked.

"Hey, you'd be surprised." She smiled again and squeezed him tighter bringing out a frown on her face. Her eyes shut tighter making it harder to let him go. "I guess I should get my things now." She pulled away from him still frowning but trying to smile.

Arlis and Clank watched as Femka hurried past them going inside the building. The small robot looked up with a frown to Ratchet who seemed to have the same expression.

"We'd better get the teleporter started to see if it'll take the coordinates from my nav-unit."

Clank nodded his head and stared up at the Remilien who also gave the same gesture. The three went inside to the garage and prepared the device. Arlis started the computer up and allowed Ratchet to input the numbers for Femka's home. The computer accepted the numbers but gave no information about the area; they expected that result. Meanwhile, Femka stood in Ratchet's room as the sun continued to hide further underneath the horizon. She sat on his bed one last time letting all the feelings that she felt in this place take her over. Her hands rubbed her eyes pushing her glasses up out of the way. She felt like crying but over and over she told herself not to. Before she was ready, her hands dug through her backpack to bring out her sketchbook. She wanted to take it home with her but instead she laid it on the bed near Ratchet's pillow. With a shaken breath she exhaled deeply and stood up taking her backpack and slowly walked down the familiar hallway to the garage where the three stood in the corner by the humming machine. All eyes were on her when they noticed her entering and continued to follow her when she approached them. She set her things down next to her and shyly stared at the three in front of her and swallowed.

"So… Does it work?"

"There's only one way to find out," Ratchet replied. "The computer allowed me to enter the numbers but we'll have to see if it works. When we start the teleporter I'll go first."

"Okay."

Femka turned her head to Arlis and smiled. He was the reason this was all possible, that this was able to happen. Well, a lot of things were the reason she was able to go home but he was one huge factor in it all. The woman walked over to him and stared up at him wanting to thank him for all that he had done. She went up to him and hugged him faster than he could compute. Arlis was a tad surprised but promptly responded to her action by hugging her back with a humble smile.

"Thank you, Arlis. I can actually go home thanks to you. I'll miss you." She took her face away and looked up at him.

"I'll miss you, too. It was wonderful to have met you. Be careful on your way home."

"I'll try." She smiled.

Her grip around him loosened and her attention went to the small robot nearby. Femka sat on her knees to appeal to Clank's level and embraced him as well. It fascinated her yet again to know that he could feel her warmth while to her he felt so cold; but it didn't keep her from holding him tightly.

"Robots aren't like you where I'm from, so you've left a very nice impact on me. I'm gonna miss you a lot, Clank."

"You will be missed just the same, Miss Femka. Please, take care of yourself."

Her head nodded gently letting the small robot go and finally she stood to her feet and stared at Ratchet for a moment only to turn to Arlis who held her necklace in his hand. She gave him the signal that she was ready—as ready as she was going to be. The mechanic stood beside her as she pulled her backpack over her shoulders and stared at the portal that faintly glowed blue. Arlis put the Neroltrium stone inside the compartment and commenced to press the buttons to turn the device on. It hummed low and loudly and flashed brightly opening up the portal that would potentially take Ratchet and Femka to her home.

"The computer says you have eight minutes," Clank spoke.

"Alright, here we go."

Femka watched as Ratchet headed toward the portal and with hesitation entered slowly through it. His body was consumed by the light and he disappeared. The three stood there watching anxiously. A few seconds later Ratchet's head came back through the glowing gateway with a smile relieving everyone's worries in the room.

"It really works," Arlis said again amazed.

"You must hurry, Miss Femka," Clank urged reluctantly.

The Lombax walked back through the archway and gave his hand out to Femka. She took it slowly and looked at him sad as ever. He slowly pulled her through as she took one last look at Arlis and Clank before the light consumed her body next. Everything was bright all of a sudden. When she turned her head around she saw the sun high above and a vast desert before her. The teleporter prevailed. She knew exactly where she was standing. It was on one of the trails she rode with her bike. The feeling was so incredible it left her mouth was hanging open in astonishment. The air was humid and the wind was warm. Femka's eyes closed in disbelief but it was all real.

"I'm actually home… I'm really back home…"

She quickly turned her body over to Ratchet. Her expression was full of every emotion except a smile. She was happy to be back but now there was this moment.

"Do you live all the way out there?" Ratchet asked pointing to a town in the distance.

"Yeah, that's my hometown. I can walk there." Her head looked down at her feet. "Ratchet… I can't say goodbye." She stared at him again with gloss-covered eyes.

"I don't want you to say it, either." He let her hug him as she finally let herself start to cry. "It'll be alright." His hand stroked the back of her head. "Don't think this'll be the last we'll see each other, okay?"

He lifted her head to look at him and he smiled for the both of them as a few tears streamed down Femka's face. His thumbs pushed them away along with the strands of hair that got in the way and he kissed her deeply holding onto her arms firmly. The woman closed her eyes and clasped onto his shoulders. Ratchet gradually pulled away from their lip-lock and Femka opened her eyes. Her hand cupped the side of his face while he held her close and her fingers sifted through his fur until she took them away just to wrap her arms around his shoulders and hide her face in him. When she looked at him again he was frowning now and the young lady knew it time for him to leave. Her arms left his neck and were about to return to her sides until Ratchet kept them between him and her in his own hands.

"Be good, Femka," he said with a lighthearted smile and kissed her on the cheek soon stroking the area with his hand and began backing away letting go of her hand. "Don't get into any trouble," he continued as he backed closer to the portal. "Stay away from obsessed researchers, too."

Femka's frown grew to a small smile but her lips curled inward trying to keep herself from crying again as she watched him go further.

"And don't go for late night walks. And try not to get kidnapped. Do you promise?"

"I promise," she said quiet with a forced smile.

"Femka, don't be sad. I've got the resources to see you again. Just stay by your comm-link for now, alright? And I'll see you sooner than you think."

"Before you go, I left my sketchbook in the bedroom for you. Don't look at it until you're by yourself. I've been drawing some pictures that you haven't seen yet."

"I did something for you, too. When you're alone check the messages on your comm-link." He stepped back again. "See you later, Fem."

Ratchet smiled until finally he disappeared through the portal. Within a matter of seconds the pale, blue light dissolved and behind it Femka could see the rest of the desert. Her heart felt heavy and all she could do was stand there. She had to accept that he wasn't there anymore. Something like that was difficult for her, especially when it was the person she loved. It took her a minute to finally look back at her hometown. The walk would take her about a half an hour. Eventually she found the energy to truck on forward.

"I still haven't come up with any ideas," she said aloud. "And I forgot to change into my regular clothes, like that matters." Her nose sniffled.

Femka adjusted her backpack to fit more comfortably over her shoulders and she continued to walk onward towards home.

"What am I gonna say to my mom? She'll never believe any of this. Alexander, though… He might believe me. I've got some proof." She sighed.

The minutes passed on and Femka was finally at the edge of her town and walking on the main road as the cars drove by. It was weird seeing that now, just normal, everyday cars. As Femka stood by a light to wait for it to change, some people stared at her, most likely because of the clothing that she wore. Some may have thought of her as familiar. After all, she was the missing woman some were still searching for. Femka walked across the street feeling awkward and nervous. She decided to see her mother first but unfortunately a solid plan escaped her for what she could possibly say to her.

Femka stood in front of her mother's house fifteen minutes later and stared at the door with her hand ready to knock only remembering that she did live there and walked right inside. Instantly she was greeted by her small, dog. It barked at first but soon recognized Femka and began to wag its rear end with a happy cry. She was so happy to see her it made the woman wonder how long she had actually been gone. Femka knelt down and pet the whining, little creature until there were footsteps that were coming her way. A blond-haired woman came halfway down the steps and stopped when she saw what was standing in the foyer.

"Femka?" her voice gasped with a hand to cover her mouth.

"Hi, mom," Femka whimsically replied standing up.

"Oh, my god. Femka! Where have… you're back…" The woman couldn't form words but hurried down the stairs. "Femka!" she cried out and hugged her daughter tightly beginning to cry.

Femka held onto her mother just as happy to see her as well while their small dog cried around their feet.

"Oh, Femka…," she sobbed. "I can't believe you're home…"

"Neither can I," she said ironically.

"What happened?" The mother pulled her daughter out in front of her. "Where in God's name have you been? And your hair…, your clothes… Femka…"

"Oh, mom." Femka rubbed her nose. "You'll never believe me in a million years." Her head shook slowly. "I've had the most intense journey of my life."

The older woman stared at her daughter confused but Femka kept the same expression. She was looking at the young lady like she wanted to hear her story. She wanted to know exactly what happened to her daughter!

"Femka, it's been a little over three months since you've been gone. What happened?"

"Alright. I'll tell you." Femka's stare was grave. "But you need to listen and you need to believe me. Everything I'll tell you is the truth. Just let me tell you the story… You'll probably need some coffee and a Tylenol. Actually, I'll need some coffee, too. I'm exhausted."

Femka sat down with her mother in the living room and like requested she held a cup of coffee in her hands and sipped it lightly. She didn't know where to start because it all would sound weird but she started from the very beginning. Femka just eased into the story telling her mom what had happened that day when she went bike riding in the desert. Her mother's face went skeptical when Femka brought up the ship and what was inside it. Her daughter wasn't lying, though. She brought up the bright light, surely she saw that. And she did. But no one explained it or could explain what it was. It was a topic that was on everyone's mind for awhile. But Femka just continued with the story regardless. She watched her mom's facial expressions change every time she brought up a new highlight in the story or described something. She explained why her hair was the way it was and it took longer to describe and clarify than she thought. It only meant that her mom was trying to understand the story, however, as she kept questioning everything. Femka told her all about her necklace in that process which was why she wasn't wearing it any longer. Somewhere in the middle of her story she showed her mother her comm-link.

"See? This is proof. This doesn't exist on Earth, mom. And I'll show you something else, too…"

The girl pressed a few buttons on the device until the holo-display came up reviewing the pictures that she took. She amassed over five-hundred holo-pix in the time that she figured out the camera function by Ratchet's help. Femka showed her mother the pictures she took and the aliens she made friends with. Every picture was mind-boggling to her mother.

"These are real?"

"Yes. They're one-hundred percent authentic pictures of the people and places I've met and been to."

Her mother stared at a picture of a building in Metropolis in shock. Femka continued to scroll through all the photos and let her bewildered parent examine them. There were even the pictures of space that Femka captured on the communication link—those especially made her mom gasp out quietly in awe.

"Is this… is that a planet?"

"Yep. And this one's another planet, and this one's a nebula, these are artificial moons…"

Her mom just sat there with her mouth agape as Femka scrolled between photos. She let her daughter finish up her story and tell her how she got here at long last. When the conclusion came about Femka's mom stared up at her daughter from where they both sat and didn't know what to say. She had proof of where she had been but… how? It was so inconceivable for her! She continued to stare and then looked away causing Femka to frown.

"You don't believe me…"

"No, no, no, sweetheart." She placed her hands on Femka's shoulders. "I do believe you, I promise you. It's just… There's a lot to take in. I also don't know what I'm supposed to tell the rest of the family. Femka, you were gone for awhile. Everyone thought you were abducted or that you got lost in the desert. A lot of people thought you were dead." She hugged her daughter again. "I'm just so glad you're home."

"I'm glad I'm home, too." She pushed up her glasses. "I guess I need to tell the same story to Alexander," she smiled lightly with a hint of comedy on the corners of her lips.

"Oh, baby, he's been worried about you so sick. But I think you should tell him tomorrow," she suggested noticing the sleepiness around Femka's eyes.

"Yeah. I'm tired." She smiled. "I'm gonna take a shower first and then go to bed."

"Alright."

Her mother stood up kissing her daughter on the head and left the living room. Femka stood up next turning off her comm-link and she took her backpack to make the slow climb upstairs to the bathroom. It felt good seeing her home again. At the same time, though, it was all new. She had been gone for awhile and being back in her own house felt strange. She first entered into her room and smiled just at the sight. She tossed her book bag onto the bed and immediately went to the shower. Being in her bathroom was even weirder. It was simpler compared to what she'd been showering in for the past three months—she loved every second. After her blissful moment of simplicity she tiredly sauntered back to her room falling on the bed in her towel and stared up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes and turned her head to look at her communication link and remembered what Ratchet said earlier about it. Femka sat up and reached for it and fiddle with it in her hands.

"You know, Ratchet, you never told me how to check messages on this thing." She smiled and shook her head.

Her fingers pressed more buttons it as she hoped that maybe she could accidentally figure it out. A low sigh tumbled from her lips when nothing happened. She was presented with options but unfortunately she couldn't read the language. An idea struck her mind soon, on the other hand.

"Um," she spoke out, "can you check my mail?"

"You have one unviewed holo-video in your inbox," a female voice responded.

"Really? Could you open it?"

"Opening unviewed holo-video."

A blue light flickered that displayed a frozen image of Ratchet in a smaller scale. Her head cocked slightly to the side and squinted at the device and the image projecting out of it.

"Um, play video?" her voice perked.

"Playing holo-video at normal resolution."

The scale increased and Femka widened her eyes quickly placing the thing on the floor as it flickered again before playing. She sat on her bed while the image faced her and began to play.

"Uh, well, I wanted to surprise you with something but I was having trouble of thinking about what to do, so I settled on making this instead. Right now, you're actually asleep, so, y'know, it's easier to surprise someone when they're not watching what you're doing. Anyway, I hope wherever you are as you're watching this you know that I'm still thinking about you. You've come a long way since I met you and it's gonna be weird not having you around. I'll miss having you at my hip. When this teleporter's finished I wanted you to watch this, because I just wanted you to know that even though we're galaxies apart we'll still be close together by thought alone. Heh, I… I'm not really good with saying this kind of stuff. It's a little schmaltzy. But it feels somewhat obligatory, because we've been intimate together."

Femka chuckled and smiled brightly with a small sniffle of her nose as she continued to watch.

"Anyway, just make sure nobody's watching this—it's embarrassing. But I never mind (or will have minded) showing that I care in public. Just in case you had any doubts, or anything like that—okay, we're gonna digress into another topic. I'll just assume that you're home already and safe and you haven't been kidnapped or you're not out going for a late night walk. I made a point to remind myself to tell you that before I see you off. I just hope that even if you're safe you're at least happy. I know this whole thing will work out fine and I'll come see you again eventually. And if you really aren't that far away then maybe we can make transmissions between locations."

The young woman smiled warmly at the mere thought and watched Ratchet's display talk on.

"You know, I'm really glad that you happened upon Clank and myself. If not, then, well, you know the rest. But I know that this whole thing's been pretty rough on you. I think you'll be able to see it all as an accomplishment sometime down the road, considering I know you've had such a hard time picturing things from my point of view. You've been through a lot, Fem; make the most of that. Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to lecture you. I just want you to be happy. I care a lot about you. Even before I loved you I still cared a lot for you. And even when we're apart I'll still care about you. Until we see each other again, be good, Fem and take care of yourself and don't lose your glasses. I love you."

"Holo-video ended," the computer spoke.

Femka kept her smile only feeling her face blush and the urge to cry overcome her again. The woman fought back her tears and picked up her comm-link to shut it off finally getting dressed into her nightclothes. She got underneath the covers and rested her head on the pillow with a slow exhale. Femka put her communicator on the night stand by her bed and stared at it before closing her eyes. Her thoughts played every happy moment she could think of before she could let herself fall asleep. Her day was longer than it was supposed to be and even though the sun hadn't set yet, she wanted to pass out anyway. In due course she was off to dreamland. Her future days afterwards would never be the same again. Her dreams would forever be altered and influenced by the events that happened. Everything was truly extraordinary.