Mel waited in her Hab Unit, anxious and afraid. It was dark out and Abigail still hadn't returned. “Are you sure you don't want me to stay with you, Melrose?” Sylnathi's voice came through the data pad.

“Yes, I'm sure.” Mel said. “Abby doesn't trust the Affini, It'll be better if it's just me. I do wish she'd come home though!” Mel paused, then said “I'm going to make another loop around the place, just to be sure!” She left her data pad on the bed and donned a light jacket before heading out into the cool night air. Briskly, she walked the perimeter of the hab unit and searched any nearby nooks she could think of. There was no sign of Abigail. “Maybe she's back at the park.” Mel told herself, changing course and heading into the trees. Besides the few lights along the main path, the park was shrouded in darkness. Mel could hardly see, but she kept up hope that one of the shadows around her might prove to be her friend. She checked the dim seating area outside Orion's Blossom: still nothing.

 

Dejected and worried, Mel made her way back to the hab unit to call Sylnathi again. But as she walked through the corridor to her home, she noticed a flash of movement ahead. Walking further down the hall, she saw that the door across from hers was open just a crack. The same room where the raid had occurred the other week. Mel felt a terror welling up inside her, but she swallowed her fear and peered through the slit into the room. A dark silhouette moved through the empty hab unit, a Terran shaped figure which gave off flashes of dim light. The light caught their face and Mel gasped in surprise and relief as she recognized Abigail. Flashlight in hand, her friend was hastily rooting through shelves and drawers.

 

Mel began to enter the room, but something stopped her. She couldn't imagine Abigail would enter the wrong hab unit accidentally. She watched curiously as Abigail ran a hand over an upturned desk. The hand stopped, moved back slightly and lightly knocked twice. Abigail produced a knife and began cutting into the spot she'd found. “Gotcha!” She whispered excitedly, retrieving something from the hole and placing it in her pocket. She then made her way briskly towards the door. Mel panicked and stepped back, but not soon enough. As Abigail quickly exited the room the two came suddenly face to face. Their eyes locked.

 

“Abby, I-”

“SHH!” Abigail hissed nervously. She pointed back towards Mel's door and the two of them quietly crept back into the familiar hab unit. Abigail slid the door closed behind them and locked it, finally daring to exhale. She turned and faced Mel, then immediately choked as she saw her friend's pained expression. “Mel, look, I'm sorry, I can explain, it's just-”

She was cut off as Mel wrapped her arms around her, sobbing. “I was so worried about you, why did you disappear like that?” Mel cried.

 

The two calmed down and sat together in the kitchen. “Abby, please, tell me what's happening.” Mel said quietly. Abigail looked at her, then averted her eyes and remained silent. “You can trust me!” Mel said, forcing a smile.

Abigail shot an incredulous look back at her and replied “Can I, Mel? Because it sure doesn't feel like it!”

Mel could see the fear in her friend's eyes. “I promise, Abigail,” she said gently, “whatever's happening, I want to help!”

 

Abigail gritted her teeth and groaned. “Fuck it!” she spat. “Mel, I joined the Terran resistance. After I left. All those different worlds I told you about? I didn't see them on some traveling freighter, I've been fighting back against the Affini!” Mel anxiously watched her friend's resolute expression as she continued, “We lost comms with our informants here and I volunteered to retrieve this.” Abigail produced a small data chip from her pocket before putting it away again. “I volunteered because I knew the area, because I had contacts here. I did really want to see you again, but- coming back here was a mistake.”

 

Mel took it all in. “I- I'm not sure what to say.” She said slowly. “I guess- do you really hate the Affini so much?”

Abigail glared back at her and growled, “Of course I hate them! Look at what they've done to us! Look at what they've done to You! For fuck's sake, Mel, do you not see the way that Weed looks at you?”

Mel couldn't understand why Abigail was so upset. “Don’t call her that!” she said firmly, “Sylnathi cares for me, and I care for her!”

“She doesn't care for you, she's possessive of you!” Abigail snarled, “Like you're her fucking pet or something!”

“Abigail, you're reading this wrong!” Mel pleaded, “It's mutual, she asked me to be her Floret.”

“She 'asked' you? And what did you say?”

“I said I'd think about it!”

 

Abigail stared sorrowfully at Mel for a long time. Finally she stood up and said “I'm sorry I didn't help you, Mel. I should have taken you with me. I left you behind and I’ll never forgive myself for that!”

“I don’t understand why you’re apologizing, but I’m really worried about you, Abby.” Mel said desperately. “The longer you keep going like this, the more likely it is that you'll end up dead. Why do you fight them? The Affini won, why can't you just accept that?”

Abigail stared down at Mel with a viscous look in her eyes. “I fight them,” she said, trembling, “because I keep losing the people I love. Because you're not the only person they've taken from me. And because if I have to choose, I would rather die than end up enslaved like you.”

 

Abigail's façade finally broke and her tears flowed freely. “Goodbye, Melrose.” she said, choking down a sob. “I love you.” Mel’s heart ached as she watched her friend leave the hab unit. She wanted to say something – anything – but the words wouldn’t come to her. The door clicked shut with a devastating finality. Mel sat at the table for a long while, lost in thought. Finally, she moved back to the bedroom and grabbed her data pad. Sylnathi picked up almost immediately. “Melrose! Thank goodness, I was worried when you didn't call back. Is everything alright? You look like you've been crying.”

Mel sniffed back her tears and said “Would you mind coming over, please? I'd like to talk with you.”

 

She met Sylnathi by the door. The Affini woman stooped down to fit herself into the Terran-sized hab unit and practically carried Mel to the bed. They sat quietly together until the first glimpses of sunlight climbed over the treetops outside. “I've made my decision.” Mel said finally. “I want to stay here with you. I want to undergo domestication.”

Mel felt a rustle of excitement travel through Sylnathi's tendrils as she said “I'm so very happy to hear you say that! It'll be hard work for us both, but I know you'll do just fine! If I might ask, what helped you make your decision?”

 

Mel's thoughts flashed back to Abigail; her pain, her hatred, her sorrow. “I guess I realized I was still resisting.” Mel said. “But Abigail gave me the perspective I needed to make up my mind. There's no reason to hold myself back, I don’t want to resist anymore. I want to be happy. And I want to make you happy as well.” Mel looked up at the Affini woman and saw the joyful spark in her shining blue eyes. She blushed deeply and smiled back at her.

“My dear little Melrose,” Sylnathi said happily, holding the Terran girl tightly to her, “You've made me very happy!”