Chapter 9
A lonely heart, stretched thin by the calls of duty. Yet hidden from the views of her comrades. The Alliance had allowed Melina to take time off after the murder of her husband, but she insisted on leaving for her deployment. Duty allowed her mind to escape the sad tragedy of losing the only love in her life. Sitting in her bunk, the woman's eyes gazed up at the ceiling, empty from thought. Her husband would always send her flowers the day she left. That soft rose smell would fill the cabin, making her bunkmates jealous. Outstretching her hand, she looked at her wedding ring, a deep sigh shuddering from her core. The woman's fingers wrapped around her band and slowly slipped it off her finger. Lifting it up to her lips, she kissed the band and held it close to her heart, tears beginning to spill from her eyes.
Waking up from her dream, Melina looked up at the ceiling from her bed. Chewing at the inside of her lip the woman let out a gentle sigh. Turning over, she blindly reached over to her nightstand and skittered her fingers over it until she came acrossed her data pad. Lifting it up and flicking it on, the woman squinted when the bright light popped on, momentarily blinding her.
"Ugh to bright." she muttered to herself.
Scanning through the extranet, the woman scrolled through endless articles about the Reapers closing in on Thessia, colonies becoming cut off from the Citadel and over all things looking more grim. Nothing on the extranet read up on good news. News was never positive to begin with. Switching her data pad off, Melina dropped it back on her night stand, staring back up at the ceiling.
"Teyshan!" Melina called out
"Yes?" She heard his soft voice carry from his room.
"Are you awake?" Melina asked.
"Yes." Teyshan's voice grew a bit more soft.
"Uhm.. Can I come join you?" Melina's voice strained a bit.
"Yes."
The woman chuckled. That was all the Prothean ever seemed to say sometimes. His answers were never 'yeah' or 'sure'. He was always proper. Either saying yes or no. Leaning up from her bed. She rubbed her eyes and brushed her messy curly hair from her face. The woman stood up, walked over to her door and flung it open. Her eyes tired and heavy, feet dragging along behind her. Stepping up to Teyshan's door, she nudged it open. Her eyes rested on the tired Prothean's form. He sat on top of his bed, legs tucked up under him, hands placed on his knees. From the look of it, he was previously meditating before the woman interrupted him. Stepping in his room, she leaned back against the wall.
"Do you ever sleep?" Melina joked
"No.." Teyshan's voice grew tight.
"You are joking." The woman snorted in her laugh. Trying to hold it in.
"Yes." His head tipped.
"You still need to work on your sarcasm." Melina laughed, she could see a smile growing weakly acrossed the Prothean's lips.
"Really though, how often do you sleep?" The woman asked, swinging her arms in front of her a bit.
"Protheans don't require much sleep." Teyshan looked back up at the woman, his eyes following the movement of her arms.
"I can tell." Melina's tone dropped. Stopping her arms, she walked up to the Prothean standing next to his form.
"Mind if I?" she inquired
"Go ahead." The Prothean nodded.
The woman slid next to Prothean, sitting down next to him on the bed. She crossed her legs in front of her. One hand reached out and rested on Teyshan's shoulder. Two of the Prothean's eyes gazed in her direction, a warm smile spreading acrossed his face. The Prothean slowly turned himself to face Melina more. His hand reached up at his shoulder, intertwining his fingers with the woman's. He pulled her arm close to his lips, placing a gentle kiss on the top of her hand. It was little motions like this that pulled at every little heart string Melina had tucked deep inside of her.
"Teyshan… I have to ask. We have grown quite close over the past few months. Is this something you really want? To be with me? I mean.. You don't ha-"
Teyshan interrupted her. "I have made that choice, in my mind, in my heart, in my spirit. You have proven yourself, you have saved my life Melina. I've hailed you my hero, someone to hold dear. Yes I want this." His golden eyes gazed deep into her own. Hearing the Prothean say this, Melina's heart fluttered, causing the woman to tighten her grip a bit on his hand. Leaning up close to Teyshan, the woman placed a gentle kiss upon his cheek before pulling away from him. The woman slowly laid down on his bed, staring up at the ceiling. She crossed her arms on top of her chest, her eyes growing heavy.
"You must of not slept well Melina." Teyshan's eyes gazed down at her.
"Yeah, old memories. I had a hard time letting go." Her voice grew soft.
The Prothean pulled out his legs from under him, slowly sinking down by Melina's side. He leaned his head up on one arm gazing down at the woman. Melina's brown hues opened up feeling his weight shift over to her side. The woman pulled herself closer to his side, leaving no space between them. She heard a deep rumble escape the Prothean's lips, his warmth radiating off of his form.
"I will be honest with you Melina, sometimes when we try to let old ghosts rest. We will never let go. Others are just better at hiding it." Teyshan's voice dropped into a gentle whisper.
"Have..you?" Melina inquired.
"Yes, I knew about my comrades deaths when I woke up, yet having to send their ghosts off had placed things into reality. It is hard to let go, so we must do our best to cope and move forward into a stronger future." Teyshan glanced down at the woman, brushing her cheek with his finger.
The woman buried her head into his shoulder, bringing herself up against him. She felt his head rest down on the pillow, his other arm wrapping tightly around her.
"I've heard a rumor floating around that Prothean's liked Asari." Melina blurted, holding back a giggle.
"It is true we had found them attractive, though limited in their knowledge." Teyshan's voice rumbled.
The Prothean felt a finger dig into his ribs as Melina poked him, giggling. Blinking a few times, Teyshan leaned up, half of a smile growing acrossed his face. Returning the poke, the Prothean deeply laughed. Melina wriggled against his side, playfully trying to roll off the bed. Teyshan reached out and grabbed the woman, keeping her from being able to get away, laughter escaping her lips, letting go the moment she stopped wriggling around. Sitting up, Teyshan looked down at Melina, her brown hues bright.
"Your hair tresses are messy Melina."
"Oh hell Teyshan, its not always going to be perfect." she chuckled.
The Prothean only rumbled, running his fingers through her hair. His golden eyes soft, searching her face.
"Can I sleep in here tonight?" the woman asked.
"Yes. I have no problem with that." Teyshan's fingers gently stroked her head, not phased by her question.
Melina pulled herself close once more to Teyshan's form. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, embracing her. It didn't take long for the pair to doze off into gentle dreams.
#
Melina was standing outside of her small house, her leather coat draped over her muscled shoulders. It was brisk outside, just barely dawn. Breathing out slowly, Melina watched as her breath puffed away in the cold air. Shivering slightly, the woman noted the sun glowing against the clouds, pinks oranges and purples dancing in many shades. A weak smile spread acrossed her face. For as hard as the Reaper war was bearing down on humanity and every other species calling the Milky Way home, her little colony was lucky in not getting hit. Yet the news quickly spread around that the Reapers were beginning to grow interested, and this was not good. Melina felt safe at home, felt like she had her own little part of heaven. Away from the chaos, away from the pain. Between the dig site and her house, the woman didn't see much of the war, hardly heard of the war unless she was giving the Alliance Intel. Yet with the Reapers beginning to breath down her neck, she was growing incredibly worried as each second passed by. How long was her little heaven going to be able to hold together until they found a way to defeat the Reapers? It might be time to pull out her guns and to start fighting again, to defend her home.
Hearing the front door creek open, the woman turned her head to find Teyshan standing next to her. His eyes golden eyes looking tired. The Prothean rolled his shoulders, his joints popping. The woman's face looked worried, this Teyshan quickly noticed.
"What is on your mind Melina?" he softly pressed.
"News isn't looking so good lately Teyshan." Melina shook her head.
"It was never good with the Reapers." Teyshan's eyes narrowed.
"Not what I meant, I got news that the Reapers had began turning their attentions here. I knew it was only a matter of time for that to happen, but.. You live blindly in happiness until reality slaps you in the face. It's a wake up call." Melina sighed.
"Then we fight." Teyshan stood up a bit, placing his right hand on the woman's shoulder.
"Fight for everything we have. I am not letting you go.. Any of this go. I am not losing one more thing in my life." Melina nodded.
"They will hear the battle cry of the Protheans one more time. I will let them know we have not all fallen, that the Reapers have failed and their time has come to an end." Teyshan's voice grew more rich.
Sighing deeply, the woman turned her attention from Teyshan back up to the sky. The fight had grown close, to close. Yet she was not going to let anyone, anything' ruin what she had built up for herself. If it meant fighting until her last breath for the things she loved, Melina was going to do it.
Authors Note:
Hey everyone, so it's just a short, filler chapter. I have a lot more coming up in the story that will be exciting. I had to actually think more of what I wanted to put in the plot after the attempted assassination scene. Been stuck for a bit. I've also been crazy busy working lately. Thank you for your patience and I promise to have more written soon. Now that I know where I am going with this story. I plan to write a prequel an perhaps a new story involving Shep and Garrus! Still debating on the later. I also hope to be revising chapter 1. A lot of my reviews comment on the bumpy dialog so I hope to fix that. Thank you all for the love!