The strange smile, Shalamorn had given him, should have been a warning but the surprise which awaited him was the last thing he would have expected when she had told him about a private phone call for him in his room.

"Mum?"

His voice almost broke. The last two months, he had tried so hard to banish her sudden absence in his life out of his mind and his guts, trying to ignore the stinging pain whenever he thought about her, always wondering why she reacted so much out of her character.

"Hello Jason," Diane said, her eyes glittering. "Oh Darling, I wished I could hug you now."

Instinctively, he took a small towards the screen, then cleared his throat which felt thick. Blinking and swallowing hard, he finally succeeded to regain control over the rush of emotions inside him but still wasn't able to answer.

Why did you leave me? I needed you. Where have you been? I missed you. How could you leave us alone? How could you hurt Neri like that?

"You're right," she went on, obviously noticing the struggle which must be written on his face. "I have a lot of question to answer to, although I'm not sure, I really can."

"Try." Jason defensively crossed his arms. From deep within, a hot anger began to stir him.

Diane's expression changed from love to guilt to pleading. "I should have never left," she whispered. "I am so terribly sorry. I should have never left you alone and I will never forgive myself for what I said to Neri."

"Then why did you?" His tone sounded poisonous in his own ears and Diane flinched. He felt the anger now radiating from him like a toxin leaking out of every pore. "Why did you leave when we needed you the most? Do you have the slightest idea of what we've been through since you decided to take off? I know you didn't like the idea of Neri and me in a serious relationship but she is my heart, and you crushed her! I thought you love her like a daughter. But I guess that kind of love doesn't really much to you since you broke with me as well! I thought, you understood how important all of this is and yet you just ..."

The jumbled questions and accusations poured out of him, his voice getting louder with every word while Diane was shrinking in sync.

"From the start, everything was bigger than us," he cried, "and I thought we were on the same page! Why did you leave? HOW COULD YOU JUST LEAVE?"

The last outburst also threw the last drop of anger at her, leaving him somehow exhausted and hurt. His eyes burned and he had almost no energy left to hold the tears back. He had been so good in closing up all the feelings of being alone and scared to be so.

He had missed her. No day had gone by wishing her to be at his side.

"You have no idea," he whispered slouching, "how it feels to do this without you. Of how much we need to know you're there as it used to be."

Diane wiped her face. "I will be from now on. I love you so much, the both of you. I have never stopped seeing Neri as my daughter since I deleted my data on her."

"I don't get it, Mum," he replied quietly. "You say one thing but your behaviour is somehow else."

"I first didn't either, Jason. Until I realised, that the last time I behaved this irregularly was when I was pregnant with you."

Jason blinked. "What?"

"I lost a good friend back then," Diane blubbered, smiling sadly. "I turned into a lioness, biting everyone around me. Expecting women can be a pain in the ass but I was a nightmare."

Jason sat down on his bed, still processing the news. "You're pregnant?"

Diane bit her lip. "I was. But not for long. I lost it," she continued after a short pause while Jason just looked at her questioning.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. "What happened?"

"Stress, I guess," she grimaced. "With the heightened emotions I felt like drowning. The minute, I left the pyramid, I wanted to come back. I fainted on the floor in ORCA and they brought me to the nursery. When Dr Mince gave me the positive result for the pregnancy, there were so many things racing through my mind at one. But above all, there was this one in particular. The desperate hope to have the chance to at least have one child I wouldn't lose to this intergalactic struggle. One child, I could raise apart. This thought was somehow sticking with me, clouding everything else."

"You know that such a place as apart, doesn't exist?" Jason told her carefully. "The inducing process is about to start. In less than a year, the whole planet will be involved."

Diane nodded. "Yes, Winston told me. And I will do my part. As you know, I have a good reputation in the scientific community." She hesitated. "Of course, only if you'll let me?"

"We need every help we can get," he replied, his voice demure.

"I don't expect you to forgive me," she added quickly, obviously getting his neutral tone. "I can only imagine how much I hurt you. All of you."

"You know Neri," he said and shrugged. "Mera, Shalamorn. I guess they're simply not capable of holding a grudge for long."

"I love you, Jason. I hope, you know that."

"I'm sorry, you lost the child, Mum," he said instead of the reply she was hoping for. "Did Dad know? I mean, he is … "

Diane nodded quickly. "Yes, he is – was the father. To be honest, I think it was for the best. Another child in my age? And with your father?" She grimaced. "I think, we're both relieved that it did work out the way it did. We took it as a sign to end things for good."

Jason nodded slowly. These pieces of information didn't mean much to him at this very moment. He had too much to process on his own.

Diane let him.

"Thank you for calling me," he finally said, after some time of silence. "We can talk when we're back home."

"I hope so." She made a gesture as though she wanted to touch him before she remembered the distance between them. "Jason, please be careful. And give my love to the girls."

"I will."

The triangular screen disappeared, leaving the room somehow dark and lonely. He kept sitting on the bed for a while before lying down. He crossed his arms under his head, using his hands as a pillow.

There was no trace of anger left, just a stinging hollow in his chest. He lost the sense of time, staring at the ceiling. Lost in thoughts, he almost didn't catch the soft knock on the door.

Neri didn't ask him if he was alright or about the call but simply slipped into the bed next to him. He offered her his arm and she snuggled up against him. They lay in the dark, and deep in thoughts, he stroke her arm. He could feel her hair on his cheek and her hand on his chest. She felt warm and comforting to him.

"She left," he finally murmured.

"She come back," Neri replied just as quietly.

He shifted to turn his torso to face her without withdrawing his arm. The light left was sparse but yet enough to see her looking at him.

"I wished it were that easy," he sighed and touched her face with his left hand.

With his fingertips, he traced the lines of her cheek, her eyebrows and hairline. She closed her eyes and smiled while letting him redraw her features. He stroked over her hair and shoved a strand behind her ear. Cupping her cheek, he finally bent over to cover her lips with his.

The kiss was tender, and he quickly lost himself in it. He pulled her closer and she responded immediately by wrapping her arm around his waist. The soft touch of their lips felt intimate in a consoling way.

Somehow, in tight embrace, feeling her breath on his skin, he fell asleep.