Over a week later
I walked back and forth from the kitchen to the living room. My legs still felt a bit unsteady but they were working better than they were yesterday. It had been slow progress. I had expected to simply be able to jump up and be ready for life but that turned out to be rather impossible.
I had to take everything slowly, my body was still weak from the stasis they had placed it in so it wouldn't die completely before my soul could be returned. That and the fit of my body sometimes didn't feel right. Like I was still settling under my skin.
I heaved out a heavy breath and moved across the room once more. I was doing a lot better than when I first woke up but I still had a bit to go to gain back all the muscle I had lost. I blew an errant strand of hair from my face as I heaved out another breath.
"Do not push yourself, Liv." Ani's voice came from her bedroom and I rolled my eyes slightly as I started the trek again after I touched the couch.
"I'm just a bit winded. I'm not done yet." Back and forth, back and forth until I was better. I didn't like feeling so vulnerable and weakened while still on the ship. Something was brewing. I wasn't sure what it was but I could feel it.
"I do not care. Take a rest." Her tone was stern and I rolled my eyes again as I touched the kitchen counter before turning around and heading back towards the living room.
"Fine, mother." I emphasized the word and Ani made a sound of irritation.
"I have every right to mother you. Leave me to my incessant worry." She was right in that. Ghilesh and Nadila had told me she had been nearly inconsolable after the incident. She felt she had failed me, hadn't protected me like she should have. She refused to listen to anyone when they said there was nothing she could have done, the attack had been too quick to stop.
After I woken up, she hadn't left my side. She was with me everywhere I went, attached to my hip as she glowered at everyone who attempted to come close. She was worse than a dog with a bone. I couldn't say I disliked it, being so vulnerable and surrounded by people who hated me, I kind of liked her tenacity.
"Are you sitting down?" Her voice held a thread of warning and I touched the couch before sitting down on with a groan.
"Yes, mother." I sang it mockingly and I could hear her scoffing from my place on the couch. I didn't want to prove her right but sitting down did feel like heaven on my trembling legs. Perhaps I was pushing it a bit too far.
"Drink some water!" She turned on some music, the soft tones of the music were relaxing and I leaned my head against the back of the couch. My chest gave a faint ache but it had been not as bad as before.
I half wondered if it was because of the whole, nearly dying and having my soul ripped from my body thing. Like my soul was still settling into my body so I wasn't quite as aware of the separation as I should be. However the thought of Rhex pained me. I hadn't been allowed to call him for my usual weekly dose of hearing his voice.
I didn't like it. Not one single bit.
Those phone calls seemed to sometimes be my only grip on sanity. Without them I felt lost and alone. I hated that Rhex must have felt that a thousand times worse when I had been stripped from my body and lost in the darkness. I couldn't imagine that. I couldn't imagine feeling the loss of him that acutely and not perishing from a literal broken heart. The separation was bad enough, draining enough, hard enough.
I stared at the light blue ceiling, my eyes glazing over at the uniformity of it. No cracks, no bumps, just a flat clear surface that was enough to make someone tear their own hair out. I missed my old room that I had at my parents. The cracked paint and the unevenness that it had. I had it memorized but it was still different.
I had been stuck in the apartment for nearly a week, only leaving to see Ghilesh and the four other Soul Makers that had helped him find my soul. They had wanted to make sure I was situated properly, that my soul didn't have any long lasting issues and effects from being lost in the darkness. Other than seeing them, I would go to the medical bay and get checked out by the bots. My overall health seemed to be fine, it was just my soul that was settling, making me feel off.
"Ani." I was bored and feeling down and staring at the stupid ceiling was not going to help me.
"Drink some water." She seemed distracted and I wrinkled my nose as I talked myself into getting up. The couch was really comfortable and my legs were telling me not to get up rather nastily. I gave a heavy groan as I stood up on my shaking legs. They really weren't liking me at the moment.
I grabbed the arm of the couch, using it to prop myself up as I shuffled forward. Just one more trip to the kitchen and then back and I was good. I mentally pumped myself up as my legs dared me to take an actual step. I rubbed at my face. This was ridiculous.
I hesitated before I took a step and nearly cheered when my legs didn't buckle. I had succeeded in the first step, only thirty more to go. I made another step and my confidence was growing in my ability to actually make it to the kitchen and back. I smirked to myself, I could force myself to do it once more.
The door to our apartment was booted in rather violently. I jumped my eyes wide as I stumbled backwards several steps. My heart pounded hard in my chest as Ani gave an angry shout. My eyes landed on the intruder as he shouldered the door open. His form was large and foreboding and I whimpered slightly, unable to hide my fear. His face came up and my whimper turned into a cry as tears flooded my eyes.
"Rhex!" I held out my arms for him. His expression was severe as he stalked towards me, his chest heaving as he did so. I could hear Ani behind me but I took a trembling step towards him. He gave a low growling sound before his large hands wrapped around my waist and he threw me over his shoulder. He held me there tightly as he turned around and stalked out of the apartment.
I lifted my head and caught sight of Ani, her face red with anger and her eyes wide with fear. I smiled at her, trying to ease her fears. "I'm okay." My voice was a croak and I felt a lump form in my throat. Rhex was here. It didn't matter that he was early or that I still felt a bit weak, he was here.
My chest felt full and my chin trembled as I gripped the back of his dusty army jacket tightly in my hands. I wasn't going to let him go, never again. His hands were possessive on me, holding me tightly, as he kicked open the door to the stairwell, carrying me down the stairs.
I swallowed hard and tightened my grip on his jacket. He was taking the stairs two at a time, his long legs eating the distance between us and his apartment. I was going home. Tears leaked from my eyes as my fingers started to hurt from clutching his jacket so tightly but there was no way I was letting him go.
He pushed through another door and I glanced up. There were several soldiers who caught sight of me on Rhex's shoulder and cheered, smiles on their faces as they whistled and clapped loudly. I felt my face flush but was happy that Rhex had found such happy companions on his training detail.
I lifted myself up slightly, looking over my shoulder. Rhex's door came up quickly and without a word he shoved it open. The interior of the apartment was dark and it smelled almost stale, as if the air had been recycled too many times. The lights flickered on as he kicked the door shut.
I loosened my grip on him slightly, my hands needing a rest but before I could grasp him again he quickly set me on my feet. I felt suddenly dizzy at the head rush it gave me and swayed slightly. I glanced up at Rhex and his expression was severe, his mouth was set in a deep frown and his light green eyes had nearly darkened with anger. He looked almost... scary.
"Are you okay?" His words were rumbling as he quickly grabbed me looking me over as if searching for an injury I knew he wouldn't find. There were no outward signs that a soul had been torn from a person's body but I let him inspect me, lifting my arms and turning me around. I pressed my lips together and tried to blink the tears away as he turned me so I was once again facing him. "Are you okay?" He gave me a rather intense look and I shook my head.
"I was so scared!" It came out like a sob and I reached for him, needing him close as I sobbed out all of the terror I had felt in the past four months, especially the past two weeks. There had been much to fear since then. He pulled me close, pressing me to his chest tightly as he stroked my hair. There were no words to adequately express how much being in his arms meant to me. "I missed you so much." So much. Words could never describe the depths of how much I truly had missed him. The sobs tore at my throat and he made soft sounds in return, running his fingers through my hair, unravelling my braid as he did so.
"My Liviya. Shhhhhhh it will be alright. I will never let you go again." It was a soft promise that he whispered in my ear, his voice sounded more guttural than normal.
I sniffled and clung to him tightly. "Don't leave me." I couldn't bear it. I couldn't survive another separation, not after the last one. On Earth I would have a chance but on the ship, I wouldn't survive again. I had barely survived this one.
"Never again, Liviya. Never again." It was a harshly spoken promise that rasped against my ear, making me shudder in his arms. I felt safe, protected. "I could never abide it." He took in a deep shuddering breath that I found myself mimicking unconsciously.
"When I felt you disappear, there were no words I could use to explain it. Just unending sorrow and anger flooding my veins and filling up the space where you resided." His grip tightened on me, his fingers digging into my muscles but there was no pain or discomfort, just him and his touch. "I will never leave you to be harmed again. I wish to remove Kher's head for what he did but I cannot. I am bound by our laws." He trembled as hot rage curled around his words. I said nothing, there was nothing to say in response to it. I buried my face in his chest, inhaling the scent of dirt and ash into my lungs. He must have gone straight to the ship without changing his clothes. His need to be with me sooner, throwing everything else to the side.
His hands moved from my back to my face as he cupped it, his green eyes tracing my features as if committing them to memory. I let my eyes close slightly at the sheer pleasure I felt from his touch as his thumbs stroked my cheekbones, wiping away the tears. He brought his face down to mine, pressing his forehead to my own.
"Are you truly okay? Has this left any ill effects on your body?" His words were low as his eyes looked into mine. He was worried, it was painted clearly within them. I shook my head.
"It doesn't show up physically. How can it when your soul is not something one can touch?" When the attack was not physical, it wouldn't leave any visible marks. Rhex let my face go and grabbed my hand, his expression once again severe before he stepped around me and pulled me down the hall. "Rhex, what are you doing?" I wasn't sure what he wanted. I would follow him but I still wanted to know what he wanted to do.
"I need a shower." He glanced at me over his shoulder, his eyes narrowed slightly. "And to make sure my wife is all in one piece as she claims." His words made my mouth go dry and my eyes widen slightly.
"Oh." I couldn't help the small exclamation.
Oh indeed.