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T he air was thick with the scent of warm metal, starship fuel, and the faint spice of Kryla’s market drifting from the settlement beyond the towering walls. The landing bay was illuminated by soft, ground-level lights, their dim golden glow casting elongated shadows against the stone pathways and the sleek hulls of docked ships.

The settlement’s containment wall loomed high, its reinforced metal plating reflecting the soft glow of the stars. A large circular blast gate was set into the far end, partially open, allowing a stream of workers to pass in and out as they transferred cargo from the ships to the storage bays and merchant stalls. The night was alive with the rhythmic hum of machinery, the distant murmur of conversations, and the occasional hiss of hydraulics as loading ramps extended or retracted.

Mei stepped lightly along the stone-paved landing platform, her senses still sharp, her mind still turning over every movement of her fight with Zoak. The echoes of their clash were etched into her muscles, her body still humming from the precision of each counter, each strike. The fight had been instructive, but it had also been a warning. Zoak would be back. And next time, he wouldn’t run.

She pulled her cloak tighter around her, but she wasn’t cold. No, she was still in battle mode, her awareness of her surroundings heightened. She moved to the side, letting a crew of dockworkers pass, their arms laden with crates of supplies they had brought for the settlement.

She waited, watching as they disappeared into the streets beyond, before she turned back toward the ship and froze. Her breath caught.

Dorane was standing near the edge of the landing pad, speaking with Ash, Kella, and another man that looked vaguely familiar. The tall, dark-haired man, his posture calm, his expression unreadable—but it wasn’t the stranger who held her attention.

It was the poised woman beside him.

Julia.

The sound that left Mei’s throat was involuntary, a sharp, disbelieving cry of delight and relief. Julia’s head snapped up at the same time, her face lighting up like a sunburst, her eyes widening.

Mei surged forward, and Julia did the same, their movements colliding as they threw their arms around each other, Mei pressing her face against Julia’s shoulder, feeling the solid, undeniable presence of her friend.

For a moment, the universe felt still.

“I’m so glad you are alive,” Mei breathed against Julia’s hair.

Julia let out a soft chuckle, the sound warm and full of amusement, her arms tightening around Mei. “You aren’t the only one who is difficult to kill.”

Mei pulled back just enough to tilt her head up. Julia, several inches taller, was smiling mischievously, her hands resting lightly on Mei’s back, as she asked, “Are you always this heavily armed? Or are we expecting an ambush?”

Mei blinked, then realized what Julia was feeling beneath her cloak—the subtle but unmistakable outline of her weapons.

Mei shook her head playfully. “I see you’ve already forgotten all the defensive training I gave you onboard the Gliese.”

Julia’s eyes gleamed. “Oh, trust me. I haven’t. The kick to the groin? Very effective; thank you for that little lesson.”

Mei laughed, pulling back fully, her gaze flicking to the dark-haired man standing beside Julia. He had an imposing presence, though he radiated a calm, steady intensity rather than raw aggression.

Mei’s brows lifted. “Did you…?”

Julia giggled and shook her head. “No, I didn’t use it on Roan.”

Mei’s eyes widened slightly as realization fully set in. Roan Landais. The son of Coleridge Landais.

In person, he was different from what she’d expected—but there was no mistaking the resemblance to the infamous Legion General.

Julia casually threaded her arm through Mei’s, as if this were any normal reunion, as if they weren’t on an alien planet in the middle of a war. Mei held onto her for a second longer, grounding herself in the miracle that they were here, together, against all odds.

“It’s unbelievable,” Julia murmured, as if reading her thoughts. “The fact that we both survived the Gliese breaking apart, ending up in the same system?” She gave a small shake of her head. “Nothing short of impossible.”

Mei inhaled deeply, still struggling to process it all, then asked the question that had been burning in her mind for months. “Do you know how far we are from Earth?”

Julia’s smile faded slightly. “Not yet.”

Mei hesitated. “Do you want to know?”

Julia’s sharp eyes flicked to her, searching her face. “Do you ?”

Mei’s gaze drifted to Dorane, whose eyes held a quiet intensity that made her heart flutter. He held out his hand to her. She didn’t hesitate as she took it and shook her head in response to Julia’s quiet, searching question.

With a gentle smile playing on his lips, Dorane’s other arm encircled her waist, his touch light yet reassuring. Mei felt the warmth of his body, the unspoken promise in the way his fingers curled against her side—but before he could say anything, another voice called out.

A teasing, familiar voice.

“ Pandochka .”

Mei stiffened. Her lips parted. She turned toward the ramp of Dorane’s ship?—

“Sergi!” Mei breathed, her heart pounding as she stared up into Sergi’s grinning face.

Sergi stood at the top of the ramp, looking exactly the same—tall, lean, sharp-eyed—with a smirk that could melt glaciers. But he wasn’t alone. A young woman stood beside him, watching with quiet amusement.

Mei couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. For a moment, the entire galaxy felt like it had shrunk down to just him.

Sergi opened his arms, the familiar crooked grin on his lips and affectionate warmth dancing in his eyes. With a sharp intake of breath, Mei launched forward, sprinting toward him.

She didn’t slow down. She didn’t care that they weren’t alone. All of her father’s training about discipline vanished as she hit him at full force, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist as she buried her face against his shoulder.

“I hate you,” she muttered against his skin, her voice shaking, her fingers digging into his shirt.

Sergi’s low laughter rumbled through him, and he tightened his grip on her, supporting her easily as he turned in a tight circle.

“I missed you too, Little Panda.”

Mei sniffed hard, blinking rapidly as her chest constricted with emotion too big to name. She pressed her forehead against the curve of his neck, inhaling his scent, his presence, the very essence of home.

“You’re an idiot,” she whispered, her voice thick. “You don’t even want to know all the ways I’m going to make you pay for making me worry.”

“I can’t wait,” Sergi chuckled, rubbing slow circles against her back as she released her legs around his waist and slid down to the ground.

Mei stayed pressed against his body, too overwhelmed by her emotions to face him yet.

“I love you, Sergi,” she softly confessed, finally looking up at him. “You… you are my family.”

She clenched her eyes shut. His arms curled around her, holding her like the brother he had always been.

“I love you too, pandochka. You scared me as well,” he grudgingly admitted in a voice that wasn’t quite steady.

“Hi, Mei. I’m La’Rue,” the woman next to Sergi greeted.

Mei pulled back and gave the woman who was about her age a wavering smile before she raised an eyebrow at Sergi. “Are you robbing the cradle now, old man?”

Sergi released a long groan and ran his hand over his face. “Old man? I’m not that old!” he grumbled while Ash and Julia snorted out a laugh.

Mei winked at La’Rue and looked up at Sergi before glancing at Ash and Julia. A sigh of contentment flowed through her. All they were missing was Josh, and he wasn’t far—in terms of space travel.

They had already done the impossible once. And no matter how many threats Zoak or the Legion hurled at them, they would do it again. Together.

We’ve become living legends! she mused, looking back up when Sergi laughed at something Ash said.

The dim glow of the room’s ambient lighting bathed the cabin in warm, muted golds. The air was thick with the lingering warmth of their bodies, the scent of skin and sweat, of shared whispers and tangled limbs. Dorane lay on his back, one arm curled around Mei, the other draped lazily over his stomach. His mind, however, was far from at rest.

Mei’s fingers trailed absently across his skin, tracing lazy patterns along his abdomen. He loved the way she touched him—not just with heat, but with purpose. As if every brush of her fingertips was a reassurance, a quiet claim. A part of him wanted to lose himself in that feeling, to let go of everything but this moment.

But the night weighed heavy on him.

He was still processing what Mei had told him earlier. Her encounter with Zoak. And the fury that had stoked within. At the risk she had taken. The danger she had walked into. His gut reaction had been to demand why she had done it, but he had swallowed the words. Mei was no reckless fool. She was calculating, tactical. She had baited Zoak for a reason.

That knowledge didn’t lessen the fire in his veins.

Or the jealousy that had crept up like a slow, insidious burn when he saw her reunite with Sergi.

Dorane exhaled sharply, his mind flashing back to earlier, when he had stepped out of the ship and into the cool night air of Kryla, needing space, needing to breathe.

Earlier:

The night air had cooled from the oppressive heat of the day. The faint scent of dust and distant spice from the market beyond the walls carried on the breeze. The hum of the settlement was softer now, the workers fewer, their murmurs drifting into the desert winds.

Yet, beneath the ordinary sounds of Kryla, Dorane felt something else. A pressure. A presence. Zoak was watching. Somewhere, in the dark, unseen. Waiting.

Dorane clenched his fists. It wasn’t just Zoak that made his stomach tighten—it was the way Mei had melted into another man’s arms, her body unquestioningly at home in Sergi’s embrace. He breathed deeply, trying to understand the conflicting emotions coursing through him as he stood at the top of the loading bay ramp, arms crossed, staring out over the sealed entrance to the landing pad.

He was still angry.

He was still jealous.

And he hated himself for both.

He couldn’t forget the way Mei’s face lit up at the sight of Sergi. The way she launched herself into the other man’s arms without hesitation. The way she clung to the stranger with blue eyes, her relief so raw, so unguarded, that it sent something dark curling through Dorane’s chest.

It was jealousy, yes. But more than that—it was the unfamiliar, suffocating fear that he was too late. His jaw ached from clenching it too hard. His fingers curled into fists at his sides before he forced them to relax. A slow breath. In. Out. But it didn’t stop the tightness in his chest. The fear that whatever bond they had formed wasn’t strong enough to compete with what she had lost.

“I love her.” The words had felt so easy to say in the quiet of their cabin. But now, in the open air, surrounded by everyone else who already had a place in her heart, he wondered if they were enough.

He pulled in a deep breath when he heard the soft shuffle of boots on metal behind him. He squared his shoulders, expecting a challenge, but instead, the other man shot him a crooked, knowing smile.

“Beautiful night, isn’t it?”

Dorane shrugged and looked back out at the night. Sergi stopped beside him and leaned casually against the frame of the bay doors. Dorane glanced sideways when Sergi shoved his hands into his pockets, noticing that the other man had a thoughtful expression on his face.

Dorane barely restrained a sigh. He wasn’t in the mood for conversation, much less one with the man who had so effortlessly pulled Mei into his arms earlier. He started to turn away, ready to brush Sergi off, when the other man spoke again.

“She loves you, you know.”

Dorane let out a slow breath. “You can read her mind now, can you?”

“It’s quite fun seeing your jealousy. I am enjoying it immensely, thank you.”

Dorane blinked. He hadn’t really expected the man to be so honest. He waited, turning back as Sergi paused.

Sergi continued, quieter—serious. “She wouldn’t have confronted Zoak if she didn’t.”

Dorane’s chest tightened. He had spent so much time doubting, questioning… Maybe it was time to stop.

“You know,” Sergi said, his voice quiet, “when I first met Mei, I was supposed to kill her.”

That stopped Dorane cold. He turned his head to stare at Sergi, his brows furrowing, but the other man wasn’t looking at him. He was looking at the night sky, his expression unreadable.

“I was sent to the Gliese 581g mission by my country, Russia. It’s the largest country on Earth, further north than where Mei was born, and our countries, they squabble, da ? They compete. My orders were clear: infiltrate the mission, document everything about the alien object, especially if there were advanced weapons… and if necessary, eliminate the crew.”

The words settled over Dorane like a slow-moving avalanche. He turned his head slightly, his expression carefully blank, but his pulse had kicked up a notch. Exhaling slowly through his nose, he fought the sudden, irrational urge to knock Sergi off his feet. Instead, he clenched his jaw and remained silent.

“The plan was simple,” Sergi continued. “If the alien tech was too valuable, I was to take control of an escape pod, destroy the Gliese, and return to Earth with the data.”

Dorane unclenched his jaw enough to speak. “You didn’t follow your orders.”

“No.” Sergi let out a soft chuckle. “I made the decision long before things went sideways that I wasn’t going to. Julia changed that first, but all of them did. I started to see the mission differently—bigger than my government or thirst for power. In space, there was no nonsense from the selfish leaders back on Earth, there was just… us. Humans. Trying to survive. Together.”

His voice grew quieter.

“Julia knew who I was, what I was sent to do, and yet… she never judged me. She never betrayed me. She gave me her trust, even when she had every reason not to.”

Sergi exhaled, shaking his head. “That trust changed me. But it was Mei who gave me something that had been taken from me a long time ago.” He turned then, meeting Dorane’s gaze with something deeper, something weighted. “She gave me back my humanity. She taught me how to love.”

Dorane’s throat tightened.

Sergi smirked suddenly, waving a hand toward the settlement. “She is a shadow and a bright star. She can blend in anywhere, move unseen, yet light up a world with her smile.” His voice turned wry. “She is also dangerous. Far more than even I expected before I met her. It was difficult to find any information on her at all, and I suspect half of what I found was inaccurate, or at least misleading.”

Dorane’s lips twitched. That, he had no trouble believing. “And when you finally met her?”

Sergi chuckled. “I tested her. Teasing her, provoking her, breaking things so she would have to fix them.”

Dorane arched a brow. “And?”

Sergi’s grin widened. “I failed. No matter what I did, she continued to intrigue me, make me laugh, challenge me, and… I fell in love with her.”

Sergi lifted his hand when Dorane exhaled sharply, shaking his head. But the jealousy that had burned in his gut earlier and had started to ebb flared again.

“Not as a man loves a woman, but as a brother would love his younger sister. Don’t get me wrong, I wondered at first what it would be like… but—” Sergi shook his head and chuckled. “She’s good, but you already know that. She is brilliant in everything she does. That’s why you need to trust her.”

Dorane’s jaw clenched. “Zoak will strike.”

“Yes,” Sergi agreed, “but Mei would never have confronted him if she didn’t think she could win. She was doing what she was trained to do—seek information, analyze the situation, plan.”

Dorane was silent for a long moment. “I love her.”

Sergi nodded as if he had already known. “Then trust her.”

Dorane hesitated. “I’m afraid.”

Sergi’s smirk returned, but it was softer this time. “Then ask her what her plan is.”

Dorane narrowed his eyes. “And if she doesn’t tell me?”

Sergi’s expression was knowing. “Then you’ll have your answer.”

Dorane frowned. “What do you mean?”

Sergi’s eyes gleamed. “People like us—like you, like me, like Kella, like Mei—we don’t trust easily. We never, ever trust someone we don’t love.”

Dorane blinked, pulled back into the present when Mei shifted against him, rolling onto her side to face him. Her dark eyes searched his face, her expression soft, curious.

“What’s wrong?” she murmured.

Dorane inhaled slowly, then exhaled. “I was angry about your confrontation with Zoak.”

Mei’s brow lifted slightly, but before she could speak, he continued.

“And jealous.”

Her expression flickered with something unreadable. She started to pull away, but he caught her face between his hands, guiding her gaze back to his.

His thumb brushed lightly over her cheekbone as he studied her, as if committing every line of her face to memory. “You amaze me,” he admitted, his voice rough. “I’ve fal— I…” He cleared his throat and looked away quickly, blushing furiously. “I mean, I…” He drew a deep breath and locked eyes with her. “I adore you, Mei.”

Mei’s lips parted slightly, her breath hitching.

“My anger, my jealousy—it all comes from fear,” Dorane continued, his voice quieter now. “Fear of losing you.”

Mei’s expression softened. Slowly, she leaned down and kissed him, long and lingering, her fingers threading into his hair as she poured every unspoken word into the press of her lips.

When she finally pulled back, he let out a breath, searching her face.

Quietly, he asked, “What’s your plan?”

Mei studied him carefully as she gave him a small, crooked, secretive smile, her dark eyes shining with an inner light that was warm and deep. Then, slowly, teasingly, she trailed one finger down his bare chest, her touch light but deliberate. Dorane inhaled sharply, his muscles tensing under her fingertips. She leaned in just enough that her breath warmed his lips, her voice low and filled with dark promise as she said, “I thought you’d never ask.”