Sirius' POV
After leaving Marien, I went to see Mom.
I noticed that the clothes I had in my arm got a little wrinkled from hugging my girl, but it didn't matter. I left it on a chair before going in to see Mom.
To my surprise, she had a slight smile.
"So, are you going with her?"
Oh, she heard us. Well, the door was open...
"Y-yes..."
"What a relief," she whispered. She sighed and moved closer until her forehead was against my chest, so I hugged her. "She finally convinced you. She was stronger than your stubbornness."
I smiled guiltily.
"Mom, I didn't know it worried you, too. I'm sorry."
"Of course, it distresss me," she claimed, and she looked at me with some anger and happiness at the same time—a strange combination. "You are my son. I don't care about my honor; I haven't cared since I had you. I don't want you to surrender to Orion and the crazy old leaders either."
I was surprised.
"Mother, what a way to call them."
She laughed silently, turning away.
"I know. I'm sorry."
"It's okay; I also call them old and crazy."
"Yes, I have heard you," she commented with her smile.
I was glad that the most important women in my life were happy. It was true. I agreed with Mom. Sometimes, honor couldn't be more important than people.
I sighed and smiled like a fool again.
"Mom... I want to join her..."
She thought about it for a second.
"But she is human."
"And us, aren't we?... And what I feel for her is..."
She sighed again.
"I know she has feelings for you." Her lips formed a slight smile. "And you too. You are going to discover wonderful things thanks to that... But you know that humans do not have unions, and joining someone is not as simple as the elders here make it seem."
"She wants to be with me and I with her. Isn't that what warrants a good union?"
"Yes. Partly."
"It's what I have to do."
"Again, with a new whim. First, you get infatuated with dying just because, and now this," She snorted, smiling. I laughed and scratched the back of my neck with some embarrassment. "Can you help me with breakfast tomorrow?"
"Of course."
"Well, first thing in the morning, I'll go talk to Ganymede so he can do the ceremony. He's the only one of the old leaders who likes us."
I smiled widely.
At around five in the morning, when many people in town woke up, I helped mom make breakfast while she went out. I fed the chickens and collected some eggs from the hens to cook. When I returned through the other garden, I looked askance at the windows of my room where my sweet Marien was.
I smiled slightly, seeing that she seemed to be resting well. Having been around humans, I now knew they tended to sleep more. I understood, of course; I also took the opportunity to sleep more when I was with them.
Returning to the kitchen to see how the soy milk was going, the twins arrived.
"Good morning," they greeted.
"Where's Mrs. Enif?"
"She went to do something..." I explained while I stirred the milk so it wouldn't stick to the bottom of the pot.
They both looked at each other and smiled.
"We saw her going towards Ganymede's office."
"If you already know, why do you ask?" I blamed them with amusement.
"Are you going to join someone? To Ursa?"
I was silent, and that made them understand. They opened their eyes with great surprise.
"You're going to join...!"
"Shh!"
They covered their mouths, and Deneb uncovered his to continue speaking.
"I can't believe a human would want to join an evolved human."
I pursed my lips and continued with my thing.
I hadn't told Marien. Should I? I thought she understood herself, that if we wanted to be together, we had to join first. That's how things were. I mean, in my culture... Well, I didn't know.
Mom returned, and they both went to greet her. I sighed.
Breakfast went well; Marien even bought us milk, which she kept in her backpack. Mom told me in the morning that I should hurry up and leave since, after a day, it was more than evident that Orion could appear to talk to the elderly. Although his pride would not make him come that easily, it was worth being safe.
After Mom gave us containers with some food to take, we finally left. The human capital was not far away.
"Sirius!" Ursa called me, and I turned around. She was angry. "Of course. You don't plan to say goodbye."
"It's not necessary. I'll try to visit."
She looked down.
"Yes. You better not die."
I smiled slightly.
"I won't do it," I assured.
She left after nodding, and we continued walking, accompanied by the twins.
I didn't know why they were following us. I figured they didn't have to go hunting with Ursa or their parents. It was good. They were curious, and I always liked their company.
Maybe the twins wanted to see how I would join Marien. Uhm... I had to tell her. Even though her parents were not there and I couldn't speak formally with them. I wanted it to be the way it should be.
How did humans ask it? Maybe I could have done that.
We wanted to be together, so it was understood that we should join, so I was officially hers, and she...
"If we continue in this direction, I think it will take us longer to reach the city's edge," Marien murmured.
"I know, let's register first," I blurted out.
"What?" She whispered.
I stayed still.
"Marien, you will join him!" Rigel exclaimed, and I looked at him with annoyance.
This snitch boy. This was not how I wanted her to know!
"What?" Marien looked at me. "What does he mean?"
"We're going to make our join official," I confessed.
"Wait. Are you sure?" I wanted to tell her that I did, but she continued. "Please think about it; I'm human; what kind of future could you have with me?"
I frowned in confusion. Yes, maybe I should have told her sooner, but it was obvious that I wanted to be with her like this.
"I thought I told you I wanted to give you all of me."
"Look," she sighed with some sadness, "I can't do the things you do. I get in the way. I know you like to fight, run, and do all those things I couldn't do with you."
I calmed her down with a slight smile.
"I won't die if I don't do those things."
"That's not it. I don't want you to deprive yourself of your full happiness."
"You make me happy."
"What happens if you change your mind after a few months?"
"Why do you say that?"
"People change."
"I don't."
"Of course you will."
Well, it was true; Altair changed, but that was different.
"It will be for the better, don't you think?"
"I don't mean that. We don't know each other very much."
"I'll get to know you better as we go," I explained. "Do you think I don't know that joining means to work on our relationship?... And yet, I know certain things about you. I know what inspires you; I know that you like nature and have moved forward despite what has happened to you; I know that..." I approached and took her hand, lowering my voice a little. "I know that sometimes at night, you sob, and you mention your mother." She looked at me with her pretty lips parted, surprised and sad. I discovered that when I watched over her while sleeping in the forest. "I'll take care of you every night from now on," I promised.
She smiled faintly and sighed.
"It's just... Thinking about getting married at twenty is something... hasty."
If only she knew that in my culture, I was already missing the opportunity to have a companion, although that was not why I wanted to do this.
"It's not like that, not here, and I want to spend as much time as possible with you. Why wait to spend half my life in solitude when I already found you? That's what you've become. Here, the couples are one being who accompany each other throughout their lives. I didn't believe in that until I met you and started wanting to protect you from everything.
"My Sirius..." She kept her smile, and that gave me hope. "I'm honored that you want to be with me, but... think about the future. We don't even know if we can have children or..."
"Huh?"
She pursed her lips and looked back at the twins who stood far away, though I knew they were listening. They were there attentive, without even blinking.
I shook my head at them in disapproval.
"Listen," I murmured, "I was going to ask you. In fact, I would have even talked to your parents first to get their approval. Now, if you want me to ask you the way humans do, tell me how they do it, and I'll do it."
"Don't worry, being with you is what I want most. I feel you like my home. You don't have to ask me, but..."
"I don't want you to feel bad for doing something you think is against the rules," I added, since she even insisted on sleeping on the couch last night. "And I feel that this way, you won't escape from me or leave me."
She smiled wider now.
"I won't leave you unless you want me to. Besides, you're the one who hasn't wanted to sleep next to me before, so I think you're the one who will feel better."
"That too, probably," I admitted. And I wanted at least this relationship with her to be official in every way. "And don't worry, I'm not going to leave you. You don't sound like you believe it, but I'll prove it to you."
"You are a stubborn and insistent boy," she said in her sweet voice and sighed. "I'm sorry for making you think I didn't want to; it's just... in my culture, it's different, but I'm not lying when I say that I want to be with you, so yes, I accept. I would accept no matter what."
It made me happy. She understood that this was important to me. Without letting go of her hand, we headed to the Townsquare. The joining was eternal for us. Humans did not feel that way, but my devotion to her was unbreakable. She didn't have to worry about me changing my mind.
We arrived at the white building where the elder leaders were. We went to see Ganymede, who, in addition to being an advisor and leader, was the one who joined the couples. We entered the office and sat in front of his black marble desk, contrasting with the white walls covered with sillar. I knew this because Dad and I had helped them a few times to fix some walls.
Her partner, Calisto, came in and smiled slightly at us.
"Sirius." She looked at Marien for a couple of seconds. "Did you finally decide? It is late."
"Yes. It's okay, we don't need ceremonies."
She sniffed the air.
"She's not that young woman... My sense of smell is not the same as a few years ago, but she smells a bit like..."
"Human?" I commented with some amusement.
"Oh, I see. She is a young girl in transition."
I wanted to explain, but Marien took my hand, and I looked at her. Her expressive eyes made me understand she was okay with that, so I said nothing. And well, it didn't matter. The important thing was that Ganymede united us.
"Usually, I shouldn't do this without the group ceremony with everyone and without the presence of the parents who approved this, but your mother spoke to me, and as you know, I am very fond of her, so..."
The lady began to fill out the papers that would later be put in the book of the town's couples.
"Let's see. Sirius, son Arcturus and Enif's, agrees to form a family nucleus with..." She addressed my partner.
"Marien."
"A peculiar name."
I saw that Marien wanted to continue.
"Only Marien," I smiled, "we don't use surnames. We don't have any."
"Oh. What?"
"Names of your parents?" Callisto asked.
"George and Micaela."
"Sign here." We did, and she stood up. "Okay, come over here."
I smiled at Marien, taking her hand, and we followed the lady. We passed the garden, and my sweet nature lover admired it since it was huge. It had trees with white flowers, flying birds, and many small plants. We arrived at the room, which was well-lit by daylight, and stood before Ganymede's desk.
"Sirius." He received Calisto's papers and looked at us both. "You are something else. You always were in some way." I smiled guiltily for the times he was a victim of my pranks. He went to take a box from the shelf and approached. "We were saving this for you." He opened it, showing the rings made by the town's artisans. "Congratulations. Swear that you will be together forever, taking care of each other."
"Yes," we answered at the same time.
"I swear," I added.
"I swear."
Marien squeezed my hand. Her breathing faltered. I looked at her, and she smiled at me. She was happy, and so was I. I had a silly smile. Suddenly, I was so eager to be hers, her eternal companion, and I saw her so radiant and beautiful, with the garden trees behind her and on her sides, that I felt like my nerves would end me.
I was going to join this beautiful woman, and I didn't know what I did to earn such an honor.
Ganymede gave me the box. I took out the ring for my lady and put it on her finger. She did the same, and I leaned down to press my forehead to hers, closing my eyes and breathing in her sweet scent.
"Very well, that's all. Since there is no ceremony, you may leave," said Ganymede.
He left, but not before offering me a slight knowing smile.
Marien hugged me tightly, and I hugged her back. The twins also approached.
"Awesome!" Deneb exclaimed. "Too bad you did it a day late."
"It's okay. We saw the dance last night," I reminded him. "Now we can go to the capital."
Marien took my hand happily, and we returned to the road.
My feelings for her were solid as a diamond. I was as sure of this as I was of how I felt about my parents. My eternal companion was that important. She was mine, and I was hers. I was going to give her my protection. I was going to spoil her. I was going to give her all of me.
"Well, my Sirius Anthony," my lady murmured, "You already made me commit the youthful folly of my life. Now, I hope to arrive in the capital soon."
"We will. We are closer than you think."
"Hey," Deneb spoke. "Don't you plan to take the lessons for those who form a new family?"
Oh well, it didn't matter. I already had my girl all to myself.
"I'll do it later," I told them. I looked at Marien. "You could teach me, couldn't you? They don't hide anything from you."
She smiled.
"Yes. Of course, I'll show you," she offered.
Soon, we were on the town's outskirts; some farmers saw us from afar. The twins said goodbye and watched for a while as we walked away.
I sighed after taking one last look at them. I was willing to return soon but had to achieve something first. I had to help stop the humans.
Marien gave a short, silent laugh, her hand clutching mine. I smiled sweetly at her.
"You are happy."
"Yes, I am," she assured, but then she thought for a second and sighed. "Although... I think they were hoping to see Ursa..."
So attentive to details.
"Don't worry about that," I downplayed, "Many of the future couples are known to them since they must order to forge the rings, but that's just it."
"But Ursa told me... that you disgraced them. Since when did you guys agree to join?"
"About five years ago. Our parents talked and agreed because she suddenly wanted to join me one day. At no point did I feel like I should; at that time, it was something that was going to happen one day, you know?" I shrugged, "And my mind was focused on Orion training."
She looked forward, her expression suddenly changing to one of concern. She exhaled. I could hear the difference. I could feel the very slight change in temperature in her hand.
"I can almost smell your stress," I whispered, wanting to calm her down. "There's no reason for you to stress, really."
She sighed.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't worry."
"I'll be fine. I like to know about you." She leaned up and put a sweet and quick kiss on my cheek.
I looked at her with my stupid smile, happy to see her calm. She didn't have to feel bad. Nothing mattered anymore. I was hers, so she didn't have to worry.
"It's true, now that I remember it... Where is your dad?"
"Surely on one of his trips, keeping an eye on his works."
"So his name is Arcturus."
"Yes."
"Another star name."
"You're brilliant," I said, smiling.
"I know."
I laughed and realized I loved seeing her so confident in herself. She was a woman who knew what she wanted.
"It runs in the family," I explained. "The names. It also depends on the visibility of stars or galaxies when you are born. Some other families use names of different kinds, especially natural phenomena."
"And why don't you use last names?"
"I assume because we already have another second way of recognizing each other: the aroma. You know, every family has a certain aroma."
We walked near the ruins of some city that once belonged to humans. I observed the surroundings since the air did not help me. It blew, carrying our smell to the forest, which was a problem.
"Sirius," Marien caught my attention, "Look, a beach."
"Yes, I know. Do you want to get closer?"
"Just a few minutes," she asked, turning to look at me with those beautiful eyes to which I couldn't deny anything.
"If you like. Anyway, tonight, we will be arriving in the capital."
She smiled widely and headed to the place. I followed her closely while my eyes once again traveled over her body. I liked to see her. I liked it a lot. She stared at the horizon, the water churning, and I became somewhat absorbed in her curves.
Her body was also gorgeous. It caught my attention for so long. I was too attracted to her in a way I couldn't explain. Her body was unique, delicate, and pure. It had to be in songs.
We had songs about nature, but not about a woman's body. Why? It was nature's masterpiece. Well, Marien was. She provoked me to touch her, explore her, take her by the waist, and press her against me, as I had done when I had kissed her.
My lips formed a slight smile, and I didn't even blink as my eyes ran through her, like I did the first time I saw her, and the world seemed to stop...
I reacted and shook my head. What was happening to me?
When I reached her side, she took my hand and looked at me, losing me in her innocent gaze.
She hugged me.
"Hey..."
"Yes?"
"I..." She looked up, wanting to tell me something, but a slight noise immediately made me alert.
I turned towards the ruins, frowning and immediately tensing up when I saw Apus and Antares watching. Shit!
"We found you," said the first one.
"Sirius, I thought you were smarter, and you had run away like the coward you are."
Coward?
I clenched my teeth and fists, wanting to growl.
"How easy you made it. We're going to tear you to pieces."
"Do you already have the approval letter from the elder leaders?" I responded coldly so that they wouldn't see me affected.
"We will. The order of the factors doesn't alter the product."
"But, if you want to redeem yourself, we all can tear her to pieces. It would be more fun. Where is your killer instinct?"
I took a deep breath to calm myself. They just wanted to provoke me. I could lose Marien if I lost control, which would be my end. I dropped Marien's backpack I was carrying since it would get in the way while I smashed those two.
It didn't take long for them to notice.
"Do you think that's reasonable? We train with you. We know all your tricks," Antares boasted.
"If you don't have the letter, I have the right to defend myself," I counterattacked. "And you won't be able to touch her unless you defeat me."
"We'll ignore you and go for her. We don't need to waste time with you first."
"So you think I could beat you?" Now, I was the one trying to make them angry.
And it worked.
"Do not say foolishness! You know well that we can easily kill you!"
"I know. Since you're so sure," I smirked, "Go ahead."
They began to growl, like mad dogs, and lunged.