As Time Goes By:part2
by The Radiant Aeryn Sun
Feedback: RazberryWestie@netscape.net
Rygel was flying off on his throne sled, looking for a nice place to put up camp. He had been looking all evening, but nothing seemed to please him. I should have stayed with Stark, he thought. He’s bigger then me, and he would ward off these frelling creatures no doubt.
He finally sat down in a small clearing and put up his little tent, and had Crichton seen it, he would have been laughing hysterically.
“Yotz, I’m already thinking about that human” he said with a chuckle. “Now I’ll go to sleep and-“
Rygel stopped in utter amazement. What he saw before him was someone he hadn’t seen in ages.
“Ra-Nee” Rygel gasped.
She was his first wife, whom he had actually loved. Of all the females he had, he had liked her the best. She was actually a pretty Hynerian with cunning and spunk. She always got what she wanted. She was now wearing a golden and scarlet dress, also on a throne sled.
“Hello, Rygel. I knew you would be here. When I found out your cousin had taken your throne, I was outraged. After about a cycle of planning, I escaped successfully and began to search for you. I have to admit, I was starting to wonder if you were dead.........but I kept at your trail, and here you are now.” She smiled.
“Will you-be able to help me re-gain my throne?”
“That is all I have been hoping for. We will bring your army back, and we will take the throne by force.”
“Excellent.”
* * *
Aeryn had fallen asleep, her head still resting in John’s lap. She looked so peaceful, so quiet, so beautiful. I must be the luckiest guy in the universe, he thought. We have come such a long way. I swear, had I known that all of this would have happened to me a few cycles ago.............John stopped and chuckled. He was using every sort of word that back on Earth he would never use. Earth.............well, that was the only place I wanted to be a while back. But I’ve changed. I have the best friends that I could never find anywhere else. I have a nice, quiet home. I’m rich. And best of all, I have Aeryn. But, I wonder, what might happen to Earth in the future? Will humans survive? Not if the Scarrens invade. Everyone will be dead. Even if I did find a way home, no one would believe me. They’d think I was nuts. And if I brought proof, my friends would die, and I’d have nothing left. I can’t go back. I’d lose everything. Best to stay here, where I belong.
He sighed but smiled and looked back at Aeryn again. All of a sudden, an odd sensation overcame his body. It was as though he were made of jelly..........he was vibrating.
“What the-“
John all of a sudden had a flash. It was as though he was back on Moya, around the first weekens he was there, and they had visitors. One in particular, a woman who had claimed to be a Luxan. But she was lying. During her stay, John had flashes of-well-nasty things with her. But now, it was a bit different. It was Aeryn, and not so vigorous.
John shook his head and looked down at Aeryn again. He was back on the planet, and Aeryn was fast asleep.
John blinked a couple of times. “Well, that was weird.”
Aeryn stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She looked at John and smiled, but when she saw the bewildered look on John’s face, she turned more serious and cocked an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
“N-nothing. Nothing at all.”
“You are odd, John, but I know when you have that look on your face, something’s wrong. I’ve seen it too many times.”
“It-it’s nothing. I had a strange dream, that’s all.”
Aeryn, still looking a bit confused at John, pulled him down next to her and wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled her face in his shirt. They kissed and lied there for a while, taking in the sounds the animals were making at night.
“I had a dream” Aeryn said, looking at John. “About you.”
“I hope it was a good dream” John said with a grin.
“Oh, it was” Aeryn said, looking a little mischievous. “I’ll show you what it was like.”
Aeryn pulled John toward him and they started to kiss passionately, leaning closer to each other......................
* * *
Chiana and Jool were sitting around a fire near the edge of a cliff. They had caught some food the natural way, since they were in the ‘great outdoors, as Crichton would say’. The animal was delicious, and had you asked John what the food tasted like, he would say it came from El Pollo Loco with the salsa already on it. Chiana looked up at the stars, and for once she felt happy and content as could be. Had their lives been a bit easier, she would have had this more often. Chiana’s thoughts now turned to Dargo and Jothee, and she felt upset and ashamed. Why did I do that? I wrecked my life with one of the things I do best. I could have just said, ‘Dargo, I love you, you make me so happy, but I don’t want to live on a farm. I like the way our lives are, no matter how crazy they are. I’m happy with what I’ve got. And I don’t know if I’m ready to get married.’ No, that would have probably upset him. But still, it was the truth, and things would’ve been better now. But no, I had to take the easy way out. I can’t help it. That’s who I am. But now I don’t know what to do. I wonder if Jool ever lost a guy to something so stupid and tearing.............
Chiana looked at Jool. “Jool, have you-ever lost a guy to something you did that was-er-really stupid?”
Jool raised her eyebrows in surprise, as though she had gone through the same thing.
“Actually, I have. It’s a long story, mind you, if you really want to hear it..........”
“Mine is, too. Hey we have all the time in the time in the world. It’s fun to share stories.”
“Well, a long time ago, when I was about 16 cycles old, I had a boyfriend named Eshri. He was so sweet to me. I had never remembered in my life being so happy. He was all I could ever ask for.........sweet, funny, nice, and extremely handsome. But one night, I went to a bar. I got really drunk with a couple of friends. We met some guys..............” she hesitated.
“One of them was extremely hot. His name was Colandi. Since none of us were thinking properly, we.........well, I cheated on Eshri. I told them not to say a word about it. It never meant anything. And then one of my friends got drunk again and it slipped..............and I never saw him again. I did hear, before I was frozen, that he had been killed by a Scarren..........and I never loved again.”
Tears were in Jool’s eyes. Even though Jool hadn’t been with her very long, Chiana was a bit surprised by it. Like Aeryn, Jool had a painful past. Unlike Aeryn, Jool hadn’t moved on.
“I cheated on Dargo” Chiana said softly, Jool looking up. “And I’ll never forgive myself.......”