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Her mates stood, and Paxt took the necklace and put it around her neck. The magenta crystals in the pendant and along the chain glowed as did the gem in the middle of her forehead. She looked like an ethereal spirit—slender, silver, and achingly beautiful. Paxt gently took her lips with his, the action so intimate and tender even though it was in front of thousands. Evelyn didn’t even try to speak. She merely brought all her mates to her and surrounded herself with them.

Kyel knelt in front of Lucie, as did Zaen and Juliran. They peered up at her with looks she couldn’t quite define. That, and they weren’t holding anything.

Kyel held his hand out and she took it. “Lucie, our most beautiful, kind, caring, and gentle mate. Your voice can sooth the ire of thousands. Without it, we would never have joined with our fellow Homelands and stopped fighting enough to become one whole Homeplanet. I ask this of you…”

Zaen and Juliran stood and uncovered a huge box at the side of the stage she hadn’t noticed. When she recognized what it was, she gasped. “How did you...?”

“Well, we did know something of your gift,” Riley said.

“We hope we got it right. I can only remember childhood music lessons from school,” Evelyn said.

“And I sang so many songs, I hope they got the notes right, but I’m a bit tone deaf. We have to leave it to you,” Riley said.

“We also had help from musicians and craftsmen who probably did a better job than us at tuning it,” Evelyn said.

“I’m a hundred percentsurethe master craftsmen did a better job than us. At least they’re the ones who made it,” Riley said.

“You knew… They did… For me?” Lucie couldn’t seem to form a coherent sentence

“Let’s hope you can string some words together to play something for us,” Riley said.

Lucie’s gaze bounced from Riley to Evelyn to her mates.

Evelyn squeezed her hand. “Please, Lucie. I’d love to hear some Earth songs.”

“And we would love to hear your voice in this world,” Juliran said.

“I have dreamed of nothing else. Well, apart from my hands on your body,” Zaen said.

Kyel pulled out the stool and waited. She took a shaky step towards their gift and sat. It was perfect, albeit it with a few differences. While the white keys remained white, the black keys were a brilliant blue. The body of the instrument was finely crafted with deep blue wood and carved with flowing intricate designs. Inset in the design were gems the size of her fist.

A perfect, and very large, grand piano.

“Oh, my god, this is…” She felt the push of tears and somehow managed to stop them from falling. “This is too much.”

Her mates surrounded her. Kyel knelt next to her. “Nothing is ever too much. Without you, we would have nothing. We would be nothing. Our Lucie, with a voice that literally stops evil in its tracks, will you show us all what only we have been able to hear? Bring your voice into our world.”

She kissed Kyel, and then Zaen, and then Juliran. “I love you so much. Do you know that?”

“We know this to be true. As we love you, Lucie of Earth, our precious human female,” Zaen said.

“Please, Lucie. Play us a song.” Juliran placed his hand on her shoulder.

Evelyn and Riley and their mates stood around the piano. She knew there was a crowd waiting for her to sing, too, but they blocked the view of the audience, making it all so much more intimate.

“What are you going to play, Lucie?” Evelyn said.

Lucie splayed her hands on the keys. “I have the perfect song.”

One time, Grant had told her she sounded too much like Alicia Keys, that she had to make herself different. But here and now, she knew she didn’t have to be anyone else but herself.

She began to play and the world dropped away, like it always did when she sang. The first few notes rang out in perfect harmony and the room became still and silent. She began to sing the first song that came to her mind. The most perfect song she could think of.When You Really Love Someonenever sounded so true or so real.

The notes flowed around her, floating perfectly in tune. She sang, and the music wrapped around her and through her. Music usually took her to her happy place, but now she stayed in the moment. She didn’t need to go anywhere else.

She had everything she’d always wanted, and more, standing right next to her—the only place in the universe she wanted to be.