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She nodded slowly. "I understand."
My controlband chimed again, notifying me Rachel had arrived with an alert that she was parked in a temporary spot.
"My cousin is here," I said, unmoving. I knew I had to go, that it was time to say goodbye, but I didn't want to. "When are you leaving?"
"We're setting off right away. I was going to take some shore leave if you accepted the job so I could spend some time with you here, but maybe it's better if I don't," Atina said.
I selfishly wanted her to do it anyway but I couldn't ask that of her. Long distance relationships were hard enough on Earth; it was a whole other thing when she was zipping through space and was gone for who knew how long. It just wouldn't work.
My voice came out shaky. "When will you be back?"
"Our next trip is taking us to Port Amitin, it's three milky ways from here so we probably won't be back before the national holiday."
"That's a long time," I said, my stomach already twisting into tight knots that I wouldn't get to see her for this long. "Are you going to be okay?"
Atina took a small step forward, her smile not quite reaching her eyes. "Of course, I'm made of good stuff."
My band chirped again, twice, harshly.
"I'll let you go," Atina said. "Just know that I loved having you on the ship."
I rested my forehead against hers. "I loved it too. I'm sorry that I have to stay."
She chuckled softly. "I'll think of you when I'm among the stars. Goodbye, Heather." She turned and walked back up to the ship, her green hair dancing in the sweet Kyven wind.
I couldn't believe I was letting her go. With every step, my stomach twisted and churned more but I kept going. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was making a terrible mistake but what other choice did I have? I belonged on my farm. Well, the cottage... It wasn't really a farm anymore, or mine.
In the shuttle bay, I spotted Rachel waiting for me. "Heather!" She waved enthusiastically and ran to me, practically throwing herself in my arms. "You're back!"
I tightened my arms around her and some of the pain dulled. Not all of it, but some. "Missed me?"
"Loads. I think this is the longest we've been apart since we were like... I don't know, seventeen."
I chuckled. "Yeah, it's weird when we're apart, isn't it?"
Rachel nodded as she pulled me to the shuttle. She'd got one where we could sit upright instead of having to lie down. "So how was your trip? Tell meeverything.Did you like the spaceship? How was Earth? Did you visit the farm? What was it like?"
"Woah, slow down, slow down. What’s the rush? I’m back now so we have all the time in the world to talk,” I noted bitterly. Luckily, Rachel didn't notice.
"It's just good to see you. I have something to tell you and I'm not sure how you're going to feel about it. So some of the sheep escaped but don't worry, we got them back. But the situation sparked a conversation with Tamsia and I kind of adopted a hundag. It's sort of like a sheepdog but it can fly so it's even better at herding. I know I should've run it past you first but I saw his fluffy face and fell in love instantly."
I chuckled, not in the slightest surprised. Rachel always had a tendency of bringing strays home. "We did need a sheepdog."
"That's what I thought. He's green so I named him Kiwi. Timothy already loves teasing him," she babbled. "It's been hectic while you've been gone. Tamsia has been helping out a lot and she's actually really good with the animals. It's funny because she says she never really liked the Kyven creatures in their animal park but she likes ours."
"I'm glad to hear that." I did my best to smile, not wanting to infect her with my mood. As good as it was to see her again and hear about the state of things, I couldn't stop thinking about the spaceship leaving and Atina with it.
Rachel frowned and looked at me, the advantages of autopilot. "Everything okay?"
"Yes, everything's great. I'm glad to be..." I hesitated. Home didn't sound right. "Back."
"Tell your face that. Is something the matter? Did you not have fun in space? Or on Earth?"
Part of me wanted to tell her everything but I didn't want her to think I was going to abandon her. She was the only family I had left and we needed to stick together.
I offered her the most convincing smile I could muster. "It was lovely."
"Hmm..." Rachel studied me thoroughly. "I don't buy it. You have the same expression on your face as that time we purchased Hamish even though we technically didn't have enough money for a new bull but you went ahead with it anyway because I really wanted him. What are you not telling me? Do you want to move back to Earth?"
