Soul Ties

Chapter 8: Goodbye

"We'll have to meet together on Xoven. I think that's the only place we'll be able to stay unnoticed." I tell Seren as we walk back to the beach.

"Xoven is the most populated planet, right?"

"So I've been told. If we're not mated to a Sidin that is already born on Xoven, than we will have to convince our soul ties that we want to spend our lives there. And once we land and settle into a new place to live, we end them and find each other."

Seren looks up at me. "How will we do that? We know nothing about Xoven except the stories we've heard."

We finally reach the shore where the water is stretched out quietly. I hadn't really noticed before, but near here there were no waves. The water sat still for miles, letting the setting sun reflect over it in purples and warm oranges. The sunset reminds me of the time change Barlow had told me about.

"Did you know every planet has a different amount of hours in a day? Apparently, ours is one of the shortest." I tell Seren, looking off at the vast ocean that spread in front of us.

"What? That can't be real?"

"Thirteen hours. That's how long our days last. On Xoven they last about thirty-seven." I say as Seren gasps in disbelief. "Can you imagine days longer than ours?"

"What in the galaxy would we do with all that time?" she asks.

Reaching out for her hand, I turn towards her and place a kiss on her forehead. "Love each other."

Pulling her into my chest, I begin to cry again. Even though I was certain we would go through with our plan, this still felt like goodbye. There was no guarantee that everything would work out the way we wanted it to. There was still so many ways things that could go wrong. Between us not being able to kill them, to being found out, to not even being able to find each other once we did reach Xoven.

I couldn't be blind to the facts. Seren and I might never make it back to each other, but I wouldn't give up trying. I would gladly send myself on a one way ship to Plut for our love, with or without Seren.

I look over her shoulder at the ocean again. "We'll meet in the water."

"Okay." she says, pulling back to look at my face. "The water it is. Maybe we could swim and hide in one of those underwater houses we've been told about."

"Once we stab our mates, I want you to wait until the sun sets. Stay in one of those houses until night falls and I'll come find you. You can't move or else we'll be swimming around looking for each other and exposing ourselves to whoever or whatever else could potentially be in the water."

"I'll wait for you, I promise." Seren says lovingly. Giving her one last squeeze, we make our way into the water, feeling the unspoken wave of goodbye as we let go of each other.

-

It was almost impossible falling asleep that night. I tossed and turned for what felt like hours, trying to keep my thoughts in one place and failing miserably. I assumed the emotional exhaustion I felt would've worn me out by the time I got home, but was mistaken as I laid here, the most uncomfortable I had ever been.

Eventually, I decided to give up. Sleep was never going to come, especially with my departure only hours away. Getting up, I swim towards the small window in my room. The moonlight illuminates the water just enough for me to watch the fish lazily swim by. Maybe the still water would relax me if I just let my mind drift off.

But nothing could drive away the questions that took root in my head. Questions I always had when I thought about Thysus. What would she look like? How would she speak to me? Did her planet actually resemble a bright sunrise where night never took over?