Free Ha'ven's Song by S. E. Smith

broken record in her head. She
couldn’t stop thinking about him and it was beginning to drive her
even crazier than she thought she already was!
    Sara walked quietly across the room and sat
across from her. They sat in silence for several minutes before
Sara sighed loudly. Emma knew something was wrong when she felt the
tremble in Sara’s fingers as she touched her hand.
    “I’m going away for a little while, Emma,”
Sara said reluctantly. “I’ve been invited to go up into the
mountains where there are some very unusual plants. I… I miss my
research,” she admitted softly. “I need to find a place for myself
on this world and this is the one thing I know I’m good at.”
    Emma looked at Sara’s tear-filled eyes. She
could see the guilt waging a war with the need to start living
again. She knew that Sara had put her own wants and desires on hold
in a misguided effort to help her. She felt the weight of her own
guilt surface as she realized that Sara was waiting for her
approval to move on.
    Emma forced herself to respond. She gently
touched Sara’s cheek with the tips of her fingers. Her lips curved
into a ghost of a smile in understanding and acceptance. She didn’t
blame Sara at all for wanting to move on. Sara squeezed her hand in
return.
    “You have to fight back, Emma. This is a
good place to live even if it is different. The people here are…”
Sara paused as if searching for the right words. “The people here
are strange and different as well but they would never hurt us. Not
like Cuello did. You have to fight back. I can’t stand watching you
fade away any longer. I… I need to heal and I can’t do that unless
I get back to doing what I love,” she finished in an emotion-choked
voice.
    Emma stroked her thumb over the dampness on
Sara’s cheek and nodded. She understood what Sara was saying. Sara
was strong. She had fought against the men who had kidnapped them.
She had lived a life back on Earth. Something had broken deep
inside Emma during her captivity. She wasn’t sure if she could ever
be fixed.
    I just don’t fit in, she thought
sadly. Neither here nor on Earth.
    I think you fit perfectly with me, Ha’ven’s husky voice broke through her dark thoughts.
    What are you doing back in my head? She asked testily. I thought you were busy,
    Never too busy for you . Will you
have dinner with me tonight?
    No, she thought back, looking out the
windows. I… I think it best if you left me alone.
    Never, came the dark promise before
he had faded away again.
    *.*.*
    Emma signed as she picked at the hem of her
skirt. She sat at the small table near the windows overlooking the
gardens, impatiently waiting for the sun to set. Her mind was
focused on a certain tall, dark-haired alien. She touched her lips
as she remembered his kiss yet again. She swore she could still
feel his lips touching hers!
    She impatiently rose from her seat and
looked around the empty room. Everything seemed so much quieter
since Sara had left almost a week ago to travel to the mountains to
study the plant life there.
    At first, Emma had wandered around the empty
space trying to convince herself that it was what she wanted. She
thought if she was alone she would be able to find the icy solitude
that she had surrounded herself with before. So far, it wasn’t
working thanks to one very irritating male who refused to leave her
alone.
    She still didn’t understand how or why he
could talk to her the way he did. She had briefly fought against it
before she just accepted that there was no way to totally shut him
out. She had tried to understand how this could have happened but
she kept coming up with a blank. She finally decided it was just
part of the crazy world she now lived in and should just accept
that she would never understand it.
    She glared out the windows into the brightly
lit garden in frustration. She was looking forward to nightfall
when she could escape out into it without fear of running into
anyone. Well… anyone