It All Started With Magnets

.18.

Three weeks later

I stared at the ship. She was... she was beautiful. Her hull was sleek and black, she was a touch bigger than she had been previous and she looked magnificent sitting at the sky port. She really, really did.

But all that beauty and magnificence made my chest ache.

"It will not be for too long, right?" Loril-ee said it brightly and I swallowed hard, adjusting my bag over my shoulder. "You will go and share everything with your people and then you will come back." Her antenna twitched nearly as strongly as her wings, the only sign of her unease and dislike of the situation.

"Yeah." I nodded as I croaked it out.

"And we will be contacting you every time you place a comm buoy. It will not be so bad." Mare-aide said it with an almost forced lightness and I nodded again.

I had to go back to earth. Over three months living on Torin, making what felt like a life, and I had to go back. I wanted to stay, I wanted to stay more than anything but I couldn't be that selfish. I had to bring the Accords to earth, I had to get someone, anyone, to listen. I had to check on my family, had to hand off all my collected samples to the scientists, had to upload my videos to my channel, had to figure out what to do with everything I left back on earth.

There was too much to do to stay, even though I didn't want to leave.

I cleared my throat, trying my hardest to ignore the lump that was growing. "I'm gunna miss you guys. You know that?" I gave a short and almost weak laugh as I looked at the Council of Torin, my friends.

Mare reached out and hesitantly, picked up a chunk of my hair and gave it a gentle but playful tug. "And we will miss you. But you will make us proud and you will return with glory." Her pale, glowing eyes shimmered and I nodded, not trusting myself to speak before I was lifted off my feet by large arms as Gal'rug hugged me tight.

"If you do not contact after a solar, I will come get you." He set me down, his giant hands grabbing my shoulders as he looked at me intently. "I need my friend, everyone else is boring." He gave a crooked smile, his tusks glinting and I smiled back as best as I could before looking at the others. Hint and Liress were at home, she was too pregnant to travel far, the doctors had advised against her leaving the house unless it was go to the hospital for the birthing. I had already said my goodbyes to them both this morning.

Dunnerton stepped forward and held out his hand. I stepped towards him and took it. "This is not a goodbye. As your humans say, fair thee well. We will see each other again." He bowed slowly over my hand and I smiled at him softly. After translating and converting my data stores, they had all discovered movies and Dunner really enjoyed historical movies. It was more than adorable. But the thought just had another pang move through me at the fact I wouldn't be able to enjoy that or our weekly lunches, not for a while.

"Do not take too long." At the anxious clicking of At'kat'vo I turned and looked at him.

He was greying and I shook my head quickly. "No moulting. You promised me you wouldn't." It didn't reverse the greying of his chitin but it seemed to halt it, at least for the moment.

"You are going to be in space, all alone, my friend without me, without her pod." He gestured to the small group with those creepy ass fingers and I gave a wry smile, trying my damnedest not to get teary.

"You're gunna make me cry and that's not fair." I pointed at him before moving over and giving him a hard hug. I knew their species wasn't as tactile as some, his chitin containing very few nerves but he had learned what a hug was and he carefully hugged me back, the fingertips brushing my face and arms, the only parts of him that registered tactile sensation. It was his version of a hug and I didn't care that it was slightly creepy and gave me a small case of the jeebies.