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His hands wrapped around her ribs, and he straightened, holding her up for the kiss with her legs dangling off the ground.

She pressed her arms to his shoulders as heat spilled through her, and she missed her pleasure unit.

He leaned back. “What is purple?”

She slowly opened her eyes. “Hmm?”

“What is purple?”

She opened her eyes and stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

He set her on her feet, and he took a lock of her hair and held it where she could see it. “Purple.”

“Oh. Lust, I guess. It’s been a while.”

He smiled. “Good. For me, lust is white.”

She looked at the silvery pale streaks in his skin. “Oh. Got it.”

He cradled her head and kissed her again. “Your cousin is eager to see you.”

“Yeah. Wait. What do I look like?”

He chuckled. “Mostly the same. The majority of differences are internal.”

“My brain is back together?”

“It is. You will slowly return to the self I have never met. I am very interested in meeting the result.”

He released her, took her hand, and walked her down a few sets of stairs when they crossed to a gathering area. Jasmine was there, and she sprinted over, yelling, “Reem!”

Reem stepped forward and looked down at her cousin. “So, that is one change.”

“Whoa. You grew a foot.”

“You are just jealous because you are stubby.” She hugged her cousin. “You made it, Jaz.”

“You made it, too, with a chunk of helicopter in your skull. I know that is the way you wanted to go out.”

Reem felt her mouth curving, and then she started laughing—a rusty, unused laugh that made Jaz burst into tears. She giggled. “Nailed it. That was the way I wanted to go out, and I went, bought the t-shirt, and now I am back.”

Jaz laughed and sobbed at once. “You’re back.”

Reem ruffled her hair. “Yay. I am back.”

Jaz held onto her like she was trying to squeeze out a prize.

Wenvari tried to intervene, but Reem shook her head and stroked Jaz’s hair.

When she lifted her head to smile, Reem smiled back at her.

It set off another wave of crying, but she was able to stop herself, and Reem wiped her tears.

“You have me living as a relative somewhere in the universe. With a little notice, you can come and visit if you like.”

“Why notice?”

“I have a one-bedroom apartment.”

Wenvari said, “You can keep it for guests, but you won’t be needing it.”

Reem looked at him, and he was giving her a bland expression. His expression was matter-of-fact.

Reem tried something, and she found his ship above them getting ready for the push home. “We are leaving?”

Wenvari grinned. “You can still use computers.”

“Yeah. Answer my question, flappy.”

He blinked. “Flappy?”

Jaz muttered, “Don’t piss them off. Hmrain are usually calm, but they can be unpredictable.”

“What is the reference for flappy? ”

Jaz said, “I think she meant the sound and motions your wings make while flying.”

“She has never seen me fly.”

“She was trying not to call you something objectionable, so she used a verb.”

Reem nodded. “What she said.”

He nodded, removed her from her cousin’s embrace, picked her up, and headed out of the pyramid, taking flight with a few sweeps of his wings.

“I do not hear flapping,” he murmured in her ear.

“Me neither. Oh, look, cities!”

“Not afraid of heights?”

“Never. We had to pull the seats from the helicopter so that we could use the lightest thing possible. I did most of my flying on a webbed seat. It was almost like this but more forward-facing.”

He did barrel rolls, launched skyward, and plunged toward the ground while she giggled.

He snorted. “Well, you have regained your emotions. That is good.”

As he flew back to the pyramid, she sighed. “It is like opening a door inside me that I need or that someone else needs. Jasmine needed to hear me laugh. I used to laugh a lot. That is how she feels my presence, knows I am alive.”

“And that was important.”

“I came here for her, and I know she will do great things with the skills she has from being a primal.”

“You heard all that?”

“Heard? Maybe. Downloaded, definitely. Do we know what the computer was?”

“Designer artifact used in biological computers. Your brain was perfect for it.”.

Reem nodded. “I thought that might be it. I have also seen the extent of my alterations. Was that you or the nanites?”

“Both. I would like our time together to be enjoyable, without stress or pain. I do not enjoy those emotions.”

She smiled. “I know.” Wenvari had been at her side the last two weeks of her transformation. He had fussed over the setting and smoothed every bit of discomfort from the pain of being realigned by nanites. He had remained at her side and spoke to her as soon as she was awake.

He moved on silent wings and landed at the base of the pyramid. Ra, Harwin, and Jasmine were waiting.

Wenvari nodded to Ra. “Thank you for the use of your restructuring unit.”

Ra smiled. “Thank you for the tech to continue my research. The components you have offered in exchange for helping Reem are sufficient.”

Harwin frowned. “How much did you charge him?”

Ra smiled. “Enough. Wenvari has a number of worlds that create the most astonishing technology, and then he goes on to the next to plant trees, grow food, and then the technology creeps in again. He can’t help himself.”

Reem was tired and smiled. “That sounds like him.”

Harwin said, “You are beautiful, Reem. You take my breath away.”

Ra nodded. “Your features are lovely, Reem.”

“And you are both very shiny.”

Harwin chuckled. “She doesn’t like compliments.”

“It isn’t that I don’t like them; I just never knew what to do with them.” Reem leaned her head against Wenvari. “I just want to go home and get back to my routine.”

He kissed her temple. “Then, that is where we shall go.”

Harwin sighed. “I thought we would get to hang out more.”

Jasmine said, “Yeah, but knowing that you are in one piece and can communicate with emotions again, I guess that’s enough for me. Can I get another hug?”

Reem tapped Wenvari’s shoulder, and he set her on her feet. She swayed, and he steadied her. Jasmine came in and hugged her, muttering, “Aside from the unfortunate line up with your boobs, you are still a great hugger.”

Reem looked down at the top of her cousin’s head. “Are you comfortable or using me as a crash device?”

“You are too solid to be an inflatable, maybe gel pads?” Jaz looked up at her.

Reem kissed the top of her forehead. “Moron. I look forward to setting up a com schedule with you and sharing gossip when Ra manages to find your match. He’s having a lot of fun with that.” She let Jaz go.

Ra’s eyes widened.

She shrugged. “I was in all the systems. Everywhere. My body was supported, so I had plenty of energy to follow signals across space.”

Reem sighed. “It was strange, I thought I would lose myself, but I was fine. I followed my path home over and over.”

“You could sense your body over distance?” Wenvari asked softly.

“No, I could sense you. You glow with a distinct signature that is all you. I could find it back all the way from the designers’ station. They caught me in their systems, and we had a nice chat, and then they sent me home.”

Wenvari lifted her into his arms. “Home is where we are going.”

Harwin squeezed her hand, Ra inclined his head, and Jasmine smiled with teary eyes. “Bye, Reem. See you at the next family gathering.”

“I will be hosting on Wenavik in ten years. Food’s on me.” She said the last as her Hmrain launched skyward.

There was only one shuttle left, so Zell and Essan had left with their consorts. “Did you get the plants?”

Wenvari landed, and he walked in through the hold ramp. The space was filled with plants, carefully arranged and tethered in place. “We have the plants.”

She grinned and leaned against him as the hold ramp came up, the shuttle was pressurized, and he sat down while holding her as the pilot took off.

They were on their way home.