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The banty’s eyes blinked open. They were also purple. He chirped and jumped down, shaking his cut paw and glaring at Ash.

“Happy now?” he asked Georgia.

She nodded. “Yes! We’re all alive.”

“Let’s keep it that way. We should get out of here before the gas gets to us again.”

Georgia didn’t move from his arms. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Ash glanced around. “Don’t make me wait, or we’ll both collapse from this poisonous gas. What is it?”

“You... you told me you loved me.”

“I did. I do. I’ll always love you.”

“I didn’t say it back.”

“I didn’t expect you to. You’ll get there in the end.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Is that so?”

“I know it. We’re right for each other. And I don’t mind waiting for as long as it takes to get you to see that. We’re meant to be together. I know your past is complicated. So is mine. Our lives are messy, but we can mix that mess together and make something incredible.”

“Two messed up warriors, trying to make it work,” she said. “That sounds difficult.”

“It will work. So long as you let me in.”

Georgia bit her bottom lip. “I will. I mean, I am. Ash, I love you, too.”

He lifted her into his arms again, and when they kissed, he held nothing back, making sure she knew exactly how he felt about her.

The banty jumped onto Georgia’s shoulder and chittered a warning at Ash.

“When we get back to the ship, you’re staying out of the bedroom. I don’t want any interruptions,” he said.

Georgia grinned. “He’s protecting me. Just like you are.”

“How about we get out of here and continue this somewhere safer?” Ash said.

“That sounds perfect to me.”

He set Georgia back on her feet, grabbed her hand, and looked at the toxic water in front of them. There was no way they were going through that.

“We’ll find a way around,” she said. “There must be one. And if not, we’ll go back and face-off with the Siblet and their mutant puppies.”

Ash turned and his eyes narrowed. His hand went to his empty weapon’s holster.

Georgia turned. “What is it? Did the mutant beasts follow us in?”

“Not beasts.” He cursed as three Siblet appeared. They wore some kind of breathing apparatus, with canisters on their backs and tubes feeding through their helmets. They were all carrying weapons.

Georgia’s hand tightened in his. “The fight has come to us. There’s no going back now.”

He gripped her hand. It was time to stand and fight.