Wewalked without a word for a while, hearing the others talk in front of us. Ididn’t know what to say. This was so unexpected, so strong, so primal, I couldn’tdo anything but obey my body’s needs.
MyHuman rejoiced; my Senthien was out of her mind.
Ilooked at him, but he was looking away.
“Whatis it?” I asked.
Heshook his head. “Nothing.”
“Youdon’t… seem very happy,” I said, feeling the anticipated pain of his answer.“You don’t like what we just did?”
Helooked at me. “No, no, it’s not that. It’s just…”
“What?”
Heexhaled.
What?
“Thelast time I kissed someone like that was… my wife. And, it… it just bringsmemories back, that’s all.”
Ilooked to the front and let go of his hand.
How can I compete with a dead person?
“Dora!”He took my hand again and stopped. I stopped as well but didn’t turn towardhim. I had a lump in my throat and I didn’t want him to look at my eyes.
Thenhe embraced me in a hug, wrapping both of his arms around me. I leaned my faceon his chest, feeling weak and vulnerable.
“I’msuch a fool! What am I saying? Don’t listen to me! You are… you are a gift fromheaven, you really are. I was just… I was certain that I wouldn’t want anyone else anymore, that I wouldn’tneed anyone else… that I wouldn’t love anyone else… and then, you came. Ha!You literally dropped out of the sky!” He laughed at that. “And I don’t evenknow why you want to be with me—”
Imoved my head back to look at him. “It was meant to be, J. Before there was anyindication of this probability, of this possible future, I saw it, I saw you, I saw us so many times in my Visions, that—itcouldn’t go any other way… I was yoursbefore I even came here.”
Helooked down at me, then cupped my face with his hands.“You are such an amazing woman, Dora. And I am so lucky you’re with me.” And hebent down and kissed me again.
Chapter 21
Wereached the edge of the forest.
Infront of us spread the ruins of a forgotten city. Blocks of concrete that usedto be buildings, walls, and houses were overgrown with crawlers, moss, bushes,and trees.
Icontinued walking, and then realized I was the only one. I turned around. Theothers were standing still, their gaze empty and sad as they stared at whatused to be a vibrant city.
Peterlowered his head. Simon walked over and put his arm around his shoulder. No onesaid anything for a long while.
Ilooked back to the city, then up at the sky.
Thedark gray clouds hovering over the ruins threatened rain. Even the green of theplants looked gray under the thick layer of vaporized water blocking the clearsky.
Ilowered my gaze to the city again and waited. It seemed to me the clouds onlyemphasized the history and tragedy of the place, and I wondered what it wouldlook like in the bright daylight.
Rick,who’d spent more of his life in the untouched nature than in the high-techworld of the past, started walking forward. He came to stand next to me, thenturned around and said, “Let’s go, guys. It’s easier to see things indaylight.”
Severalheavy sighs came from the group as they continued walking, but I was focused onJ. He was still standing, looking far away to the left side of the city. Ilooked in the same direction: several sharply broken skyscrapers and the collapsedremains of a large building, oval in its footprint.
“That’sa…” J pointed to the oval building but then dropped his hand. “That was a rugby stadium.”
Helooked at me and then took my hand in his. Smiling sadly, he said, “Timeflies.”
Ismiled back, although I knew that his eyes carried a high degree of sadness.
“Let’sfind some computers,” he said, winked at me, and tugged me forward.
Wewalked on the road. The only way I knew it had once been a road was becausethere were several patches of flat concrete spread in roughly one direction. Inbetween them, grass, bushes, and vines poked out. The roadwas surrounded by bits and pieces of what were once building walls, butmost of them were no higher than a few IPs. The rest of the buildings were crumbledon the ground, tangled among the dense vegetation.
Weall walked a lot slower than we had in the forest, even though the path was a lotclearer. After passing under some kind of arch that amazingly still stood, weturned right and walked uphill. At the top, we entered what looked like ancientremains made out of stone rather than concrete.
“Thiswas the South Cape University of Technology,” said Patrick as he turned to me.“This is where I worked.”
Thegroup continued, but I stopped for a moment. I was in the middle of the field borderedby large square-shaped blocks of stone neatly set into the high grass. Unlikethe concrete, the stones were not so densely covered in moss, and it made the distinctcolor contrast between the stone and grass even greater.
Thesemust have been the remains of a large hall of some kind—an auditorium,perhaps. I turned around in a circle, looking at this structure that once helda roof, potentially even a few floors, imagining what it would feel like to belistening to the lecturer, closely—too closely probably—surroundedby so many determined and knowledge-driven people.
Would I fit in there?
Would I fit in the life that J hadbefore his cryo-time?
Would he even notice me then?
“Hey.”
Iturned to see J coming.
“Kingdomfor your thoughts,” he said and stopped really, really close to me.
Evenif I knew what he was asking of me, I wouldn’t have been able to answer withhim being so close.
Thiswas not the broken IP.
Thiswas him—his face so close to mine, feeling hiswarmth, inhaling his scent.
Idropped my gaze and thought about his words again.
“Ido not understand you,” I said, still looking at the high grass next to hisfeet.
Heslowly bent forward until our foreheads touched. “I knew you wouldn’t,” hesaid. “But I like to teach you our ways, our language.”
Thenhe lifted his head and kissed my forehead. “What it means is that I would give upsomething very valuable simply to be able to know what you are thinking,because it is that important for me
