Werayne, 6 months before the Wedding
There's a lot to take into account. Sophie and I have gone to the council to talk about the possibility of holding a wedding on the hill near my parents’ house. More out of politeness than anything. Politically, since the Weraynian war, the Paladanian councils have lost a lot of favour in the public eye. My village had the very divisive scandal with the knowledge spreading that Ray of our very own council tortured Weraynians, including Jayken, in a Halapatovian prison. Our council was only still standing at all because of the unanimous denouncing of Ray as a rejection of Paladanian values, whilst simultaneously not denying Paladanian complicity in Weraynian oppression. It was complicated. A lot of people didn't know how to think or feel following the war. It was worse in the bigger cities though, where people had invested a greater interest in the war and its outcomes. I have been very involved in the conversations surrounding Staarus propaganda, and the role my council is playing in educating those around us. I knew that they wouldn't say no to us hosting this event, even with the potential spread of aliens who we want to have as guests. They want to appear welcoming and genial. Without too much discussion, the wedding gets approved. It is, of course, deeply unusual as paladanian weddings go, but it seems right for Sophie and I to do wedding ceremonies that make sense to both of us, to our peoples.
Once the event itself is confirmed, we have loved ones to inform of our plans, and we agree that it feels right to tell them in person. It will involve a bit of travel, and we have decided that since the most important people to us are in two distinct places, that we will split up and tackle our engagement announcements separately.
So I go to Werayne. Lexie and her brother have moved into a sharehouse with Jayken, his mother and some of his friends, in one of the many wartime buildings which has been repurposed for more mundane utility now. In the aftermath of the war they essentially got their pick of empty buildings that hadn’t been reduced to rubble, and Jayken, being the kind of person he is, chose one where they could live in the upper floors and convert the lower floor into a community space. He operates a restaurant/bakery as his main day-to-day job and they often hire out an open plan part of the building and have it run as a daycare or foodbank or health centre or other such initiative. It is also a centre for help for Aandriggians settling in Werayne, and a resource hub for Aandriggian and Weraynian culture. This was especially important for Lexie, who has always been a staunch activist. I admire these two so much, and though I've tried my best to do what I can in the post war time, I couldn't hope to match their dedication and ambition. They are beacons of light for their communities, and I am beyond joyed to see them getting the love and recognition they deserve after everything they have suffered.
Things on Werayne are not perfect, obviously, even five years on there is so much work to be done in rehabilitation, infrastructure and reparations. It's all complex and important work, and slowly conditions are improving after the consequences of decades of the planet being enclosed in a force field.
It is far from my first time here - Jayken has made it clear that we are always welcome to visit, and in fact has gone to great lengths to entice us here in the past - but I still feel uneasy on Werayne. I know it is mostly the guilt; I wish I could look away from the oppression my people and the Halapatovians wrought on this planet and pretend that I never benefited from it, that I wasn't raised in a system designed to uphold their oppressed status. I have all of these mixed impressions of this world - my childhood fear from Weraynian scares and watching a Weraynian murder people and torture Sophie in front of me, our horrible trip here during the war when Sophie was taken from me and Beth was almost killed, my thankfulness for the way Sophie was treated as a prisoner of war, even given medical care and provided her prosthetic arm, the struggle to undo the work we had done for the Staarus government and the inevitable fallout that ended the war, but mostly as I approach my time here I think of my love and adoration of Lexie and Jayken and happy associations with staying in their house.
I organised this visit ahead of time with the two of them, and they have kindly cleared their schedules for me. I am welcomed upstairs and Lexie leans against the counter facing me while Jaylen busies himself in the kitchen, the ever eminent host.
“Surprised you're visiting without Sophie.” Lexie comments, in her usual blunt way. I have in the past postponed visits until Sophie is free to go with me, mainly due to my anxiety with traveling, but I have gotten better over time, especially since our Halapatov trip. A solo visit is still a rarity however.
“Well, I have a special reason. And Sophie is visiting her Alliance people right now for similar reasons.” I say measuredly. Lexie raises her eyebrows at me. I have learnt how much she loves gossip only since the Weraynian war ended. Between her and Jayken I am expecting a good reaction.
Jayken is predictable as ever. He stops mid-reach and turns to face me with a gleam in his eye. “Abigail! Go on… tell us everything!!”
I can’t help myself from grinning deviously. “Sophie and I are getting married!”
The room basically explodes. Lexie and Jayken take turns swinging me up in the air in bonecrushing hugs, and scream unintelligibly, then ask a thousand questions in rapidfire sequence.
“Can I be your wedding planner? Please please please please please.” Is Jayken’s main question, looking at me with big pleading eyes. I was anticipating this but not relying on it.
I lean forward. “We would be honoured, Jayken.”
“Aaaah!” He ends up basically squealing. “I need to start thinking! So much to organise. Food and decor and music and lighting and so so much.”
“It’s not meant to be a massive event. Just two ceremonies really. A human one and a paladanian one. They can easily take place on the same day. And we’ll have maybe twenty guests? It’s hard to say. I know there’s a decent amount of Alliance people Sophie wants to invite, plus her siblings, plus you guys, plus my family.”
Jayken is nodding and I can see him doing rapid calculations in his head, readily slipping into event planning mode. Lexie smirks at him and inclines her head to me curiously. “So what’s the difference between a paladanian and human wedding?” she asks.
I think about this for a moment. “The main difference that I understand is that human weddings are individual while paladanian weddings are communal. The ceremony at my town takes place with all those getting married having it legally honoured together, through a tree planting ceremony. Whereas humans seem to have a party that is about the couple. Oh, and Sophie told me years ago that it’s only romantic couples who get married on Earth, whereas on Flauraan marriage can recognise any commitment. It’s just a legal connection that makes things logistically easier. Sophie’s always been fascinated by the paladanian ceremony though, and her main argument for us getting married is to mark the big change of us moving to Halapatov.”
“You guys are a romantic couple though. So are you getting married for the Paladanian reason… or the human one?” Lexie asks pointedly, and I stare at her for a moment.
“...the Paladanian one.” I respond as if it’s obvious, and up until this moment it had been, but now I’m not so sure.
Flauraan, 1 month before the Wedding
Robyn sits at one of the tables in the market square, surrounded by a strange array of items. It's kinda funny to me, observing her here in what my brain will always think of as Abigail's world. It's not as if Flauraan isn't technologically advanced, but this town is about as rural as you could get. Robyn is apparently enjoying the ‘agricultural delights’ of the town, which I think mostly means the different potent fermented drinks there are on offer. She swirls a glass of one around now, not really a wine but something with a kick that really chips away at the cognitive function of a human but apparently is as weak as juice to a Paladanian. I think Robyn is probably somewhere in between. I hear the hiss as the liquid is excreted within her suit, atoms being converted to a form easily absorbed by her gaseous self. I've always wondered whether things would be tastier like that.
Placing the glass down again, she picks up one of her comms - her work one I think - and starts stabbing at it with her fingers. I used to think the noise and intensity of her typing was a byproduct of her mechanical limbs, but since I've begun using a variety of mechanical limbs myself - including one of the same material as Robyn’s solid suit - I’ve realised that, no, Robyn just types like that. I've met a lot of unique beings in my travels around the universe but I genuinely don't think I know anyone else like Robyn.
Was confused but pleased to learn that she was going to come a month ahead of the wedding to stay on Flauraan. She came on the Knife Edge with Steve and everyone, so I guess it makes sense from a carpooling perspective, but I felt very flattered because I didn't think my wedding was important enough to Robyn for her to take so much time off work.
Okay, I was flattered until I realised that she actually brought all her work with her and has mostly been spending this ‘vacation’ in Alliance meetings and doing paperwork. Oh well, she's here. And that's almost as shocking to me as the idea of her taking time off work.
I don't have the greatest grasp of what normal people relationships are like, but I'm pretty sure it's not super normal to end up viewing your coworker/boss as family. That feels like the right word for it. I mean, it's hard to think of Robyn as a friend. We don't really have anything in common, besides the fact we used to work together. We’ve never like, hung out. We’re only sitting here across from each other this morning because everyone else is late, and so Robyn is ignoring me and focussing on her work while I sit here thinking about how weird it is that she’s here.
The war was obviously a turning point for all of us. Our Alliance team… we were all friends beforehand but I don’t know if we would’ve all gone to such effort to stay in touch if not for everything that happened. We came to rely on each other. Robyn wasn’t here of course - I’ve always wondered a little bit if she feels left out of our Weraynian war stories - but she agreed to babysit Mickey’s kids while he was away. And became an unofficial aunt figure to them in the process. Then Steve and Beth moved in together after the war. Then Mickey and I adopted a kid together. We started having dinners and rotating between houses and planets. Our lives became intertwined. Now a person who used to be my boss and get pretty fed up with me is here and helping plan my wedding. Of course the wedding is to a person that Robyn approves of to the extreme. Don’t even get me started on Abigail and Robyn’s friendship, actually. They play chess together. It’s super weird. I can’t exactly put my finger on why it freaks me out so much. I guess it’s because I kind of see Robyn as the closest thing I have to a mother figure. Which is super embarrassing and I would never actually admit out loud.
I don’t know. All the family stuff with the wedding is stirring up all of these thoughts for me. Robyn’s like the first person who ever took an interest in the messed up stuff that happened to me as a child and got protective of me, in that maternal sort of way. Abigail and I aren't including any formal family roles in the event; it's more the clothes we're wearing, carrying them with us that way. But if we did have some sort of parental role to fill I think Robyn would be the person I'd ask. Although I guess every other potential option is dead anyway.
Robyn picks up her other comm, and what I interpret as a fond smile lights up on her display. I peer over nosily and see that she's gotten a message from Zara. I feel suddenly maternal myself. It's weird to have Zara on Flauraan with us but not staying in her room in the house. But her sisters asked her to stay in the Knife Edge with them and she couldn't refuse. I can see that Zara has sent a picture she took with the girls. I guess we now know that their lot will be late to this meeting.
As if on cue Abigail strolls towards us. Is it bad that I actually expected her to get here last? She’s super not a morning person. Here she is though, with a smile on her face and a spring in her step, fresh as the morning dew. You'd never guess that most days she is still half asleep at this time.
“Good morning Abigail,” Robyn says in her professional way as Abi slides into the seat beside me, perching almost on my lap, wrapping an arm around me. I get mad at the voice in my head that is a little embarrassed to display affection in front of Robyn, and I defiantly kiss Abi on the cheek hello. That’ll show you, I think, about no one in particular.
Abigail is glowing. She is floating on some sort of happy feeling that is radiating out of her in waves. It’s nice to see. Maybe all the wedding stress is starting to melt away from her now that so many of our friends are here to sort through it with us.
She is laughing and chattering away with Robyn, who rarely chatters; those two are just on some weird wavelength with each other. I don’t even understand half of what they discuss sometimes. They go so technical in ways I can’t at all get.
Now that somebody other than me is here, Robyn has put aside her Alliance work and takes up the digifile among her belongings, intending to sort through some of the wedding prep Jayken has assigned to us.
Jayken has an elaborate planning system that Robyn has somehow arranged even more perversely. There are colour codes for the schedule (the wedding taking place over four days, of course), an incredibly detailed list of decorations according to theming, the guest list to go over, and a spreadsheet of different cultural accommodations and a bajillion other things that need to be considered.
We barely make a dent in anything before more people start to trickle in. Jayken arrives laden with boxes of supplies and is pleased to see the attention Robyn is putting to his list. Mickey arrives with the girls and we give Zara some tokens to take them to check out the markets as long as they stay within yelling distance. Steve and Beth amble over not too long after, and immediately inject their own conversation about wedding clothes into our discussion. Last of all Lexie arrives and just sits and listens, occasionally glancing over at Abigail with a disturbing glint in her eyes. I hope Abi doesn’t notice it. I wonder if I am the only one who does. Everyone else is completely absorbed in the planning. I know I should be paying more attention myself, but I’m in one of those antsy moods where nothing important is making it through whatever passes for a brain in me. Instead I am noticing only random details, and fixating on things that probably don’t matter, and losing myself in the fuzziness of it because there’s nothing else I can do. At least Abi isn’t stressed today. It’s no good when both of us are out of action. She is still sitting beside me, but more professional now. Occasionally her elbow bumps against me.
I tune back in as Robyn says, “We have to make sure that all of the guests have applied for clearance to land on Flauraan. Steve, how are things progressing with the landing field?”
“Going good Rob. Sophie’s been helping me with the design. It’s similar to a mock up we did on Suptutia, right Soph?”
Lucky I tuned in for this one. “Mm hmm.” I say convincingly, reaching into my brain for the designs me and Steve went over… who even knows how many days ago. They’re all blurring together. One month, I think. One month until the wedding.
I am still distracted, still elsewhere, when suddenly I register Robyn’s tone changing. I have become fine tuned to recognise when Robyn is unhappy about something, but this is somehow worse than that. She is staring at the digifile like she can’t believe what she is seeing. What on earth could be going so wrong - it must be work related, rather than wedding. I mean, it’s just a wedding. But no, she glances at Jayken, then to me and Abi, and I know that there is some horrible problem pertaining to the wedding.
Robyn’s voice comes out almost raspy when she speaks. “Do any of you know why there are over a hundred ships cleared for landing on Flauraan for the wedding?”
“What?!” Abigail snaps to attention beside me and her rubbery, happy haze evaporates instantly. Oh no.
“This is a problem.” Robyn starts talking rapidly as she pores over the device. Jayken peers at it with apparent mild concern; it’s always hard to tell if something ruffles him or not. Lexie is frowning, eyes still darting to Abigail. I frown too. “Evidently someone has been issuing additional invitations without consulting us.”
We all look at Beth first, who gapes at us all offended. “It wasn’t me.” They say, and then ponder for a moment. “It must be someone Alliance adjacent.”
“I bet it was Greg.” Steve mutters.
“Fucking Greg.” Robyn hisses and then composes herself almost back to normal. “Alright, obviously this has become a bigger ordeal than we’ve been preparing for, and it’s impractical to reach out to all the owners of these spacecraft and ask them not to attend the wedding, but with a bit of hard work we can get it done.”
Abigail speaks up, tone thoughtful. “Would it be more or less work to try to accommodate the extra guests?”
Robyn surprises me by deferring to Jayken. His eyes are almost gleaming as he considers the challenge. “Well it looks like most of the extra ships will only be here for the second half of the festivities, and most of the food can be scaled up without too much fuss. We might need some extra hands on the day, but if you and Sophie are okay with the extra people, we’ll make it work.”
No. I think. No. This is too much, surely. But when Abigail looks at me all smiley I realise she actually is okay with it. I guess I don’t really have any complaints if Abi doesn’t. We tell Jayken and Robyn that we’re happy for the extra guests, and now the wedding planning picks back up with a new intensity.
We’ve got extra work to do but it doesn’t seem too bad, and before too long the conversation moves on and it feels like we are just hanging out. Robyn switches back from her more focussed work mode and gets herself another glass of paladanian wine to reward herself for a successful meeting. I place my hand on Abi’s spine and she leans into the touch, turning and smiling at me. She’s back and she’s happy again. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding.
Then barely a minute later it all goes wrong again. The glass in Robyn’s hand shatters all of a sudden. Robyn stares at her own hand in shock, as do the rest of us, and then the rest of the glasses on the table shatter too. Now we all look at Abigail, and for a second I am really really scared. Her eyes are stormy and unfocussed.
Then she laughs awkwardly, and she’s back to normal. “Haha, sorry. Let me clean that up.”
She leaps off the bench and makes an elaborate swirling motion with her hand, and the glass fragments all coalesce into one big pile that she sweeps along in the air with her. We watch her go, open-mouthed. I’m worried about her, will never stop worrying about her, but I don’t think I’ll ever stop being in awe of her either.
Flauraan, Abigail is 15
My brother’s wedding is going forward less than a year after Sophie left, really not that long after their engagement, and I am still in this state of desolation that I fear I may never emerge from. I have never had a great relationship with him, and I haven’t been looking forward to the wedding, not least because we have to travel to the city where he lives on the other side of the continent for the event. The thought of going that far makes me feel ill, and this is amplified by the bad blood between us. I don’t think he or Mari have forgiven me for stealing their thunder when I accidentally deduced the reason they were engaged when they announced it. He has also been cruel to me about Sophie, and my involvement in the Weraynian scare on Flauraan and the incident on Halapatov, though our parents have scolded him for this. I am not sure how I am going to cope with this wedding.
We travel over a few days before the event, and our little family is welcomed into the house of Mari’s parents, who my parents have only met once before. It is a nice house, very ornate, and Mari’s family are polite hosts. I still feel a strong sense of unease staying in a room in someone else’s home, unsure how to navigate socially and practically in an unfamiliar environment. Staying with us also are Mari’s extended family, siblings, grandparents and cousins, and also my grandparents - my father’s parents who already lived in the city and were the reason my brother moved here in the first place - and my mother’s mother, who has lived a somewhat nomadic lifestyle since her wife, my other grandmother, died and my mother took over caring for their portion of farmland. I haven’t seen any of them many times in my life, and though it’s nice to see my parents’ warm reunions I feel isolated and awkward. I don’t really know any of these people.
The day of the wedding we dress in finery and join a processional in a very old stone building with stained glass windows. A council official waxes at length about marriage and family and legacy. It all sounds unfathomable to me. Mari and Nyles are in dark shades of green, and stand with arms crossed over each other and intertwined, with family flanking them in all purple. They don’t have a proper tree planting like I’m used to in our town, but Nyles does have our mother and father bring one of the saplings from the council nursery in a delicate piece of pottery to present as part of their role in proceedings. Mari and Nyles offer tokens to each of us and then to each other. As they speak vows of commitment to each other the words are transcribed into a bound tome, in which us guests are later to add messages of inspiration and support. It is all very meaningful and beautiful, to them. It completely washes over me without effect. Maybe I am the heartless, selfish child my brother thinks I am. I think we are just too different. I haven't thought much about getting married, but I can't imagine a wedding for myself resembling this in any way.
In the midst of the recessional, standing alien and alone in this foreign city, so unlike my own home, I try to envision what I might want, what a future and a wedding could hold for me, but all I can conjure is the image of myself abandoned on the hill, heartbroken and afraid. I shudder in the warm air, and rejoin my family, disappearing back into my role in the wedding as sister of the groom.
After, I will be praised by my parents for being so accommodating to my brother and helping his special day be so perfect. I bristle with the knowledge that there is a version of me that picks a fight in the face of mine and my brother’s storied hostility, and reflect that I am yielding to Nyle’s vision in the absence of any sense of self worth clinging to. There is simply no fight left in me.
Day Three of the Wedding
I am used to inhabiting this hill at night, sitting under the stars in the cool air, but tonight it is illuminated by the strings of light Jayken has rigged up around the tables and decorations. We have feasted on a plethora of mostly human and paladanian delicacies, and have watched a dance performance to Earth music arranged by Mickey and Zara. It was a pretty wonderful experience. More music was played in the background afterwards and Sophie and I twirled around briefly surrounded by our friends and community and now I am completely, pleasantly exhausted.
Sophie is continuing to dance, currently showing off moves with Mickey while Zara and the girls try to copy along, but I have sat down for a break with Lexie. She has remained pretty vigilant throughout the day, helping Robyn run interference with the press and haranguing Greg and Max Jones, as well as putting out fires for Jayken’s and our sake. I’m glad to see her sitting down for now, but she is still upright, arms crossed, scanning the crowd.
I nudge her shoulder. “I appreciate you being on bodyguard duty, but you can relax now, you know. Everything’s okay.” She glances at me. I watch her expression flicker and I frown, heart sinking. “Alright… what have you seen?”
She hesitates. “I’m really not sure. I know something goes wrong, but you know how my visions are.”
I nod, thinking of the Weraynian war - and Lexie’s sporadic glimpses of things within - against my will. “You should’ve told me, Lex.”
She raises her eyebrows at me. “Abigail, you have been so stressed. You did not need an extra source of things to worry about. But you’re feeling better now, right? You talked to Sophie?”
I smile at her. “I did.” She smirks back, and I punch her lightly on the arm.
We sit in silence for a moment and then the music changes to another human song, one by the band Baab, I believe. I know it vaguely, but am immediately amused to see Lexie absentmindedly tapping her foot and humming along to the music.
She catches me watching her and realises what she is doing. She shakes her head and sighs.
“Damn it, Jayken’s been playing all this wedding music so much I’ve learnt it by accident.”
“It’s not that bad.” I laugh and she scowls at me.
“It’s not my type of music, okay?” I laugh more and start singing along to the song, causing her to scowl more. I nudge her and she rolls her eyes and sings along with me. We are singing and giggling and it’s immeasurably nice.
I close my eyes and hear Lexie trail off suddenly. When I open them she is staring, eyes wide, and I whip my head around and take in the sight of Robyn, absolutely plastered, dancing erratically and staring intently at Alexa. I should have seen this coming; Robyn has been drinking a lot of paladanian substances which inebriate other species far more potently than us. She gestures at Lexie, demanding for her to get up and dance with her. Lexie is blushing furiously and I am laughing desperately, bent over and fighting to catch my breath.
“Damn it.” Lexie mutters again. I put my hand on her shoulder.
“Off you go, you’ve been summoned.”
“Come with me.” She begs. “I don’t know her that well.”
I cross my arms. “Nah, I’m okay.”
Robyn is calling her by name now, and people are turning and looking at us in bemusement. I lean back and gesture for her to go over.
“I hate you.” Lexie says, and she pushes back her seat. I watch, feeling lighthearted, as she crosses to Robyn and is immediately grabbed by the hands for a ridiculous drunk dance session. She gives it a good go, to her credit. I keep my eyes on them for a glorious minute before letting my gaze wander back over to Sophie, who is nowhere near as inebriated as Robyn but dancing just as crazily, right now in some sort of routine with Kris. They complete a wild but coordinated movement, and then spin around by the elbows and each move on to a new partner, Kris with Beth and Sophie with []. I breathe in this moment of joy and light and movement, content, now, and then I get back up and rejoin the fray.
Day Three of the Wedding
I have already visited Sierra and Jason since the birth of their son, but Sophie obviously had forgotten Sierra was ever pregnant, and she is very excited to see a baby. She reaches out to play with Aether’s hands, and looks up all smiles at Jason and says simply, “Wow! Jason, you’re a DILF now!”
Sierra and Jason both look to me as if for translation, but I am as bewildered as they are. I’ve seen the word before - on Mickey’s fishbank profile - so I make the educated guess that Sophie has learnt the word from Beth and does not know what it means. I turn quickly to her, hoping to dispel the confusion, but Zara is pulling at her arm, looking incredibly embarrassed and smiling in a way that tells me the word is far worse than I had been thinking.
“Come on, ammi, Jayken wants to ask you something.” She lies deftly, and Sophie cheerfully excuses herself, oblivious to the bemused atmosphere she leaves in her wake.
“What did she mean by that?” Jason asks curiously.
“My analysis is that it’s a joke descriptor, though I think she meant it sincerely.” Sierra smirks goodnaturedly.
“It’s not worth analysing everything Sophie says, she says a lot of things that have a nonsensical basis behind it.” I say fondly, and smile widely back at Sierra.
“And this is the person you’re marrying?” Sierra teases me, and I raise an eyebrow at her. She winks back.
It’s nice to have someone I know as well as Sierra here to talk to, to ground me a bit, after the overwhelming amount of Alliance people I’ve been greeting. My talk with Steve earlier helped a little, but the opportunity to slip back into the Paladanian banter I was brought up with is helpful. I feel like a normal person, I convince myself. The three of us talk for a few minutes more on work updates and baby things, and then with the weight of social expectations and all the other wedding things needing my attention, I move on.
Flauraan, Sophie is 23
On my way home from the spaceport I am enjoying the walk and the air so much that I decide to detour to the hill near Abi's house, take my time ambling around it. Even though it has been years since I have arrived here via teleport watch, it is as if I can feel the electricity in the air, weaving round me, heralding my return. What a lark what a plunge! It was always like that, as I found myself on the hill near Abigail’s, the sun low among the trees. I watch her running to greet me - sometimes I surprise her, sometimes she sees me arrive. Her hair is long, heavy, shrouding her face. I am ecstatic to see her, there is an Alliance story I want to tell her. Is that it? Or maybe the weightlessness is from a time earlier than that; from finding the expedition. She glows and the air warms us both. We embrace. We kiss. Her hair tickles my arm wrapped around her back. I poke my head around the door and the expression on Abigail's face, framed by the trees behind her, frightens me. I shake my head, attempt to dislodge the guilt that haunts me still. As I round the crest of the hill I get a glimpse of the house; the windows are dark. She must be out in the fields today, or in the nursery. I will be bereft of the warm greetings that swirl in my mind. But that doesn't matter because Abigail's home is my home now. Our home. Hi honey I’m home. I am home.
Flauraan, Abigail is 14, Sophie is 16
We watch the Eridanus II disappear into the sky, back on their expedition to who knows where. I still can’t believe that I had no idea there even was another expedition. I will have to grill Louise about this when I eventually return to Earth myself, how a detail like that could possibly not be something we knew. Although apparently communication between Science Institution centres is really poor, so I guess it’s not that weird. Still. Wow. Embarrassing.
But I’m happy at least that that oversight meant that I was able to be here to help bridge the conflict between my people and Abi’s, and to fight the Weraynian (even if I was pretty useless at that). And of course if I hadn’t been here I never would have even met Abigail. I look at her now, turning my head a little. Most people are already starting to dissipate with the expedition’s departure, but she still has her head raised, staring at the spot in the sky where it went from a bright spot back to nothing. She is watchful, but there’s something else in her eyes. It’s the same look she gets when she’s stargazing. She has this love and curiosity for the universe that I think is so awesome. I hope she gets to explore the universe herself someday. I’ll happily take her with me too, if she wants. She’s probably not ready for that, it’s a big shift, but still. The idea makes me excited. Regardless, I’m gonna be on Flauraan a bit longer. I’ve got my report to do, which will take longer than normal given this planet, this system, is completely unknown to anyone outside it, that I know of anyway. There’s so much to document! And it gives me the perfect excuse to spend more time with Abigail, and maybe get around to asking her if she wants to go on a trip or something with me. Hmm, what a nice thought. The part of my brain that doesn’t shut up tries to remind me that my research should be secondary to the search for my dad. My dad who is missing along with a whole bunch of other people and possibly got into a similar crisis to the Eridanus II. But I tell myself that Abigail is smarter than I am, and she’s offered to help me look over my files, my searching route. Everything will be fine.
Finally Abigail tears her eyes away from the sky above us and smiles at me.
“Ready to go?” she asks.
“Of course.” I say, and follow her in the opposite direction of the dispersing crowd, towards the forest, the hill, her house.
So many of the trees were burnt during the Weraynian incident, and now that the giant spaceship is gone the forest around it looks even more depressing. We pick our way around the most scorched patches of ground, and I start speaking my thoughts aloud.
“So sad that all those trees are gone now.”
She stares around her solemnly. “It is. My town will just have to hold more sapling planting sessions on top of the seasonal ceremonies.”
“The what now?” Abi’s people are very different from mine, and this is yet another new concept to me.
She tilts her head at me and smiles. “We have a nursery in the council building with saplings for ceremonial purposes, and we hold plantings for all of our major events. In one portion of the year we do the funerary plantings, and we also have the marriage plantings.”
“You plant trees when people get married? Why?” I ask. I wonder if people do something like that on Earth. I don’t know anything about weddings.
She shrugs. “It symbolises the new stage of life, which is the whole point of marriage.”
“Oh, because people have babies and stuff? I know people on my planet used to do that.”
She frowns. “People do often get married because they’re having a child, but that’s not the only reason. It’s just any committed relationship you know - people get married when they’re moving in together, when they’re creating a business or a research project, even when they have shared finances.”
This is so interesting. “So it’s not a romantic thing?”
She looks at me curiously. “It can be. But romance is just one reason people commit to each other.”
I nod, thinking of my own commitment to stay with Abi, my desire for us to join forces somehow. Her people’s concept of commitment feels a lot less restrictive than the Earth rules around couples and babies and stuff. You don’t really get married on Earth except if you’re romantically with someone. It’s never been something I’ve thought of myself doing, but now I’m thinking about what if me and Abigail got married. The planting ceremony sounds pretty cool.
“Do you think they’ll do more planting while I’m here?” I ask.
“Hopefully, if the council decides it’s the appropriate time and we have the right sort of saplings. It probably won’t be as impressive as the marriage ceremony though, it will be more of a rush to organise it.”
“Well I hope I can see the marriage one as well.” I say. “That sounds really cool.”
She stares at me for a moment. “It is.” She shakes her head and holds out her hand. “Come on, let’s speed up.”
I take her hand gladly and we disappear deeper into the forest, away from the scorched battlefield.