Rayne listened to Mori, explaining about how he was different like she was. That pulled at her heartstrings, if she was honest. She’d felt so much uncertainty and anxiety from just being a cripple for a few hours-what must it have been like his whole life? When he asked her about a lift, she responded timidly, “Yes please.”
It was a short fly to Mori’s den. Once she was down, he asked, “Well, Rayne. Would you like to bear children with me?” Astonishingly, she wasn’t caught off guard. And surprisingly, her answer wasn’t a resolute no.
“Well. . . . To be honest, I’m not completely sure. I think so. It’s not like I have any alternate jobs anyway; I’m just a zeta. And to be fair, I feel lonely. My family is nonexistent.” She thought some more. “I say . . . let’s give it a go.” Her heart fluttered, then settled. And Rayne knew, deep in the bottom of her splintered heart, that this was what she really wanted. Children would make her life worth living again. And if she had Mori, things might begin to look up.

“I’M DONE RUNNING FROM YOU”