Melia stared at the twinkling stars in the night sky, futilely attempting to calm herself. Desperately, she tried to concentrate on the dark city below, filling her head with hypotheses about the why of the power outage. But each one evaporated quickly, replaced by the reminder of her reality. Here she was, in a darkened room – a darkened, tiny room – with Dunban, a figure whose presence generated a hurricane of emotions within her, none of which she wished to sort through. This seemingly trapped situation was one she had gone out of her way to avoid these past two days.

This current situation is no different than last night when he came to the suite.

And yet it was.

It felt entirely different. There was no telling how long they would be stuck in the room. No way of knowing if help were on the way. And ultimately, no chance of avoiding him or any sensitive topics that could arise in an exchange. Conversation between them was already no less strained, no less awkward since his apology last night. In fact, perhaps it made their situation even worse; the gulf between them widened with each word and glance.

"I suppose the ether furnaces are malfunctioning." Dunban said, breaking the fragile silence. He joined her at the window, but stood quite a few inches away, as if aware of the unseen boundary that divided them.

"That is certainly one explanation." Melia agreed, compelling herself to continue the discussion cordially. It would be best to keep conversation to the matters at hand, and at a minimum. She forced her mind to churn through possibilities about the black out as she stared into the darkness, avoiding his gaze.

"What other scenarios do you have in mind?"

Observing the scene below, Melia made a few mental notes before responding. "The entire city is dark, which means it isn't a single sector of ether furnaces. It is possible that there is an issue in the main conduit between the ether receptor and the various sectors."

"The main conduit connected between the city and the ether plant?"

"Yes. Or..." she trailed off, her mind jumping ahead a few paces and spiraling on the worse-case scenario. Her muscles tensed. She didn't like thinking about the possibility. Her stomach churned.

"Or what, Melia?"

His voice was soft, and she heard the caress of his tongue in his words. A shiver ran up her spine; she liked the way her name sounded in his mouth.

Focus.

"Or something has happened at the ether plant."

"I thought that if there were any issues at the plant, back up generators would automatically come online and mitigate power failures to the city."

Melia swallowed as the gears in her mind rotated and clicked; heat rose in her cheeks. Was it getting hotter in the nursery? "Yes, that's true. But if someone were to override the system, they could shut the ether plant off entirely, which would shut power off to the city."

"I assume that override is gated by security codes."

She nodded. "Only myself, Shalen, and Jarrack have that level of access."

A bead of sweat ran down her forehead as Melia felt her dread grow inside of her, like a disease spreading like wildfire. This was no freak occurrence, no random accident. It was too much of a coincidence. Especially when Jarrack had resigned only hours ago. Had the entire thing with Shalen been a distraction? Was he using that to cover his tracks in sabotaging the election? But he couldn't have hidden the box if he were arguing with Shalen.

Her mind stopped in its tracks as she put the pieces together.

He isn't working alone.

"Oh no."

"What's wrong?"

"I think...Jarrack is the one who has been sabotaging me. And I think someone is helping him."

She could hear the edge of alarm in Dunban's voice when he asked, "How do you know?"

"He resigned this morning from the cabinet. And when he left, he was furious."

"Why did he resign?"

"The reason, if it is to be believed, is a matter of the heart." She proceeded to inform him about the love triangle gone wrong between Jarrack, Shalen, and Bozatrox. Every word she spoke, she doubted its validity.

Dunban was silent for a moment and then said, "It's a valid theory, but we shouldn't jump to conclusions yet. I think Jarrack was telling the truth."

Melia's eyes widened in shock, and a surge of elation rose within her. But she knew better than to get her hopes up. "Really? How do you know this? Are you sure?"

"I cannot be sure but I do know that Bozatrox and Jarrack were corresponding, though this was right before the Fall. She was one of the Machina we met in the outpost in the Mechonics Field. I remember when Shulk and I came across her on the Fallen Arm, she had found a letter in a bottle from our friend Jarrack."

Melia searched her memory in vain, but could not remember the woman he spoke of. But at least this anecdote provided some comfort. There was a possibility that Jarrack's motivations did lie with this woman, and with nothing sinister towards herself. It made her feel safer, even if that meant the villain – or villains – were still out there. It was a selfish thought, but she permitted it.

"There's no use in making guesses and worrying about it now. We're stuck here until the furnaces come back on."

Melia nodded, but her mind continued to ruminate on the puzzle that was Jarrack. She had come to like the Homs Entia man. He was a curious individual, always having a new set of analyses to share from his latest ether experiment. He seemed more interested in science than in human interactions. Could he really be working against her? Even if Dunban's story were true, the dalliance between Jarrack and Bozatrox may have ended months ago, and the Homs Entian man continued to use it as a cover story.

Gradually, the Empress pushed the thoughts aside. Dunban was right: there was no point in getting herself worked up about the matter. She couldn't action on it any more than she could escape the room in that instant. Exhaustion forced anxiety to quiet and the conspiracy theories ebbed away into the recesses of her overactive mind.

Silence settled between the Homs and the Homs Entia. It felt awkward, as if it were watching to see who would make the first move. It blared in her ears, baiting her to shatter it. Something in her did want to broach the sensitive subject, but she knew better. The Empress could not allow herself the opportunity. Would not. Instead, she walked away from the window towards one of the planters, and knelt to smell the flowers.

"It's getting warm in here. I assume the climate control is offline as well?"

"Unfortunately so." She replied. The woman could feel beads of sweat start to accumulate on her chest and back under her blouse. Certainly not ideal places. Carefully, she removed her blue blazer, folding it neatly before setting it down next to the planter. She most definitely did not need the extra coverage right now, magicked or not.

"At least we won't run out of air."

She turned to see him smiling ruefully gesturing to the plants, his face illuminated by the moonlight. Casually, he brushed a few droplets of sweat from his forehead. An image flashed before her eyes: Dunban shirtless in the fields. His muscles rippled under the blaring light of the sun as he worked. Heat rose in her already warm cheeks at the images playing in her brain.

Stop.

Quickly, she turned her face back towards the darkness and said hastily, "The flora in here are mostly of the rainforest nature. They came from the High Entia city on the Bionis' elbow and are now extinct in the wild."

"How did you preserve them?"

"My mother collected the seeds herself and created this sanctuary. Many of the plants have medicinal properties. Some of the flowers too, but most of those are just pleasant to look at." Thinking of her mother, she felt the familiar sense of longing that tugged at her heart. "Coming here and taking care of her plants is one of the few ways I can honor her memory."

He nodded, solemn. "Fiora told me that you did not find any of your mother's family amongst the Colony 3 refugees. I'm sorry to hear that."

"It was probably for the better." This was a gateway conversation to things she had not interest in speaking of. Even after her discussion with Avalia, Melia still had no ideas on how to tackle it without disappointing her constituents or the High Entia's diplomatic relationships. Her mind flashed to the elderly man she'd spoken with while visiting Colony 9. He'd had a few stories to share with her about her mother, and she'd been so grateful to hear them. But now, her mind forced her to entertain the thought if he had been one of Avalia's tormenters. A combination of horror and shame rolled through her body. She'd been so eager to hear anything about her mother. Had she missed the signs of their prejudice? Had she not been blindsided, would she have noticed any suspicious behavior, and possibly saved the lives of Mikau and Talon? The bubble of stress and regret burst, leaving weariness in its wake. It was all too much to sort through. And with the heat, too overwhelming.

Trails of sweat ran down her back, causing her blouse to stick to her. Standing, Melia actively rolled the sleeves up on her blouse, exposing her forearms. It was a small relief; the air was cloying. Desperately, she wanted to loosen the top two buttons of her collar, but was painfully conscious of how that would appear to her companion.

He, unperturbed, had removed his jacket and stood now in a white tunic, its sleeves cut off at the shoulders. Even in the moonlight, she could see his muscular form under the white cloth. The way he carried himself...there was something mesmerizing about it. She couldn't take her eyes off of him.

Dunban met gaze and smiled. She didn't smile back, but she didn't look away as her heart thumped in her chest. Here they were, forced together. It seemed fate had intervened, no matter how much she had endeavored to circumvent it. There were so many things she wanted to say to him, some more pleasant than the others, but she couldn't allow herself the opportunity. She'd already allowed herself to be distracted once, she couldn't let it happen again.

Silently, Melia moved to the left window, placing her hands against the glass, her thoughts running amok. It wouldn't create a distraction if she asked. She just wanted closure. Surely it would be best to procure the information she needed in order to stop the constant speculation. That way, she could move forward and devote all mental energies to her tasks as Empress.

But, the woman knew that this reasoning was just an excuse. An excuse to satisfy her curiosity. And curiosity killed the cat.

But satisfaction brought it back.

"Dunban...why did you come back? To Alcamoth?"

Silence. It was deafening. Her pulse raced as she pulled at the collar of her blouse, nervously undoing the very top button, ignoring ingrained rules of decency and propriety.

"Because I wanted to help you."

"Why? You could have stayed in Colony 9."

"I knew there was more work to be done. Not just in restoring the city, but also in bringing peace to the High Entia. You said so yourself when we parted."

"Well, my people are forever grateful for your service. It is very selfless of you to lend your time and energy to us when your skills could be utilized elsewhere."

"It's not entirely selfless. I came back because I wanted to see you."

What? Her heart skipped a beat and then hit the ground running.

She turned to face him. "Why?"

"Because...I didn't like how things were left between us. For one, I wanted to make amends, as I said last night." He began to walk towards her.

"You had business to take care of and I needed to come back to Alcamoth. There is nothing more to the matter."

"We both know that's not true. I was not a true friend to you and I apologized for that."

"And I've accepted that apology. But to what else do you refer?"

"That conversation we had on the balcony. The night of the party."

"And?" She swallowed; her throat was dry.

Dunban raised an eyebrow and said, "It was more than a friendly conversation. Wouldn't you agree?" He closed the distance between them, stopping only a few feet in front of her.

"Of course. It was a battle of wits." She looked straight into his brown eyes, unyielding, though she felt the tremble in her voice. The heat was growing to be too much. It was getting harder for her to concentrate.

"I don't believe that's all it was, Melia. And I don't think you believe that either."

He resumed walking towards her. Adrenaline flushed through her veins. Now, he was only an arm's length away.

Too close.

"Even if what you say is true, what does it matter? Would you have come back to Alcamoth had things with the Colony 3 survivors ended up differently?"

It stopped him right in his tracks. Melia bit her tongue, instantly regretting the question, but it was too late. She'd crossed the line they had so carefully walked along. The subtext hung in the hot air between them, unwilling to be ignored.

Silence bellowed in her ears and she watched him as he turned his face into the darkness. Without seeing his face, she couldn't catch the slightest glimmer of his thoughts. A lump grew in her throat. She wanted to wrap her arms around her sides and squeeze her eyes shut. She wanted to run to the darkest corner and hide. Anything to temper the excrutiating anticipation. It was agonizing, the wait. But she stood her ground, and awaited his response.

Finally, Dunban turned back to face her. "I don't know what you know about my relationship with Senara. I gather Fiora shared some of our history with you." He shook his head and continued, "I won't deny that I needed to see if she was alive. And when I realized that she was alive, I allowed myself to be taken by a childish fantasy. That we could pick up where we left off. But the truth is, I mourned her years ago. With her death, I was forced to reflect on the good and bad of our relationship. Even had things turned out differently, I know it would have only been a matter of time when it would become unavoidably apparent that Senara and I are wrong for each other."

Melia exhaled quietly. Her lungs decompressed and her chest loosened. She hadn't realized she had been holding her breath.

"If I had truly wished to reengage in a relationship with Senara, I would have devoted all my energy to it. But, even after you left Colony 9, I didn't stop thinking about you."

Her heart fluttered but the heat filled her throat, rendering her speechless.

Determined, he took one more step towards her. Now, there were only inches between their bodies. "Melia, I will be frank with you. I enjoyed our time together and getting to know the bit of you that you were willing to share with me last month. And I would like to know more of you."

The Homs Entia remained silent, hesitant. She did not trust herself to speak just yet.

"If that is not something you desire, tell me and I will respect your decision."

He fell silent, awaiting her response. Her heart thudded in her chest, threatening to explode from her body. What could she say?

"As Empress, I am beholden to my people."

"I am not asking the Empress. I am asking Melia."

"They must be one and the same."

"Then why did you ask me why I came back?"

Suddenly, white light filled her vision, momentarily blinding her. The Empress clamped shut her eyes and after a few moments, slowly reopened them. Fluorescent light illuminated the previously darkened nursery. A rumbling was heard overhead and cool air breezed into the room, prickling the back of her neck. The power was back on.

Blinking several times, Melia looked up at Dunban, who was also adjusting his vision. The blaring light shined harshly down upon them, scrutinizing the close proximity of their bodies.

He took a step backward, the heat between them dissolving. But in a low voice, as his eyes pierced into hers, he said, "You don't need to answer now. Tell me when you decide."

Clearing his throat, Dunban eyed James and Elrich, who had miraculously appeared by the teleporter. Melia turned scarlet and quickly redid the button on her collar. How long had they been standing there?

"Have a good evening, Empress." Without another glance towards her, Dunban went to pick up his coat, strode towards the teleporter, and, after a nod to the guards, disappeared.

Melia stared at the spot where he departed, her pulse beginning to slow. Already the Homs Entia felt bereft of his presence as she forced herself to roll down the sleeves of her blouse, calming the tremors in her hands. But her mind reeled, trying to make sense of it all. Never had she expected this outcome. Was it a dream? An illusion carefully weaved by the heat inside the room, taking inspiration from her taboo fantasies?

But she knew it was not. She knew in her bones that everything he said was real and true. Dunban was a man of honor and not one to weave deception. He had laid his cards out on the table, and now he awaited for her to do the same.

But what would her answer be?

Deep in her heart, she knew what the answer was. At least, the answer that she wanted to give to him.

But could she?

A/N: Hi all, I am sorry for the delay. I spent quite a bit of time writing and rewriting this chapter. Please leave a review and let me know what you think :)