The birds sang non-stop in the trees. I listened to a conversation and some dishes moving from earlier and then fell asleep a little more. They apparently had a habit of starting the day before the sun rose. Oh wow.

A knock on my door made me react.

"One second!"

"Don't worry. I just wanted to let you know that breakfast is ready," Sirius said.

Oh my...

"I'll be right away, thank you!"

I had to get ready at full speed. What a shame!

I looked at the garden, and I got scared to see his mother watering some bushes. She looked at me askance. Confused, I waved at her, and she only managed to nod and leave.

I was frozen. Would she have noticed that I kissed her son last night and wanted to ensure that I did nothing to him when he came to talk to me?

I felt my face start to burn with shame, although maybe I was already getting paranoid.

***

To my surprise, the twins were in the living room.

"Hello, good morning," I greeted them.

"Good morning," they both replied at the same time.

"We wanted to say bye," said one of them.

"Come have breakfast," asked Sirius's mother.

"No, thank you, we already had breakfast," they both answered again.

I put the backpack on the ground and heard a noise as if a glass object had landed. I opened the bag and looked at the bottom. It was a bottle of milk. There was still one left? I had been so concerned with wrapping them tightly in clothes that I had not seen it.

"Hey guys," I told them. "Do you want to try this?"

They both planted their different colored eyes on the bottle. I turned to see Sirius, and he was looking at it too.

"Well, I will distribute it in equal quantities."

Sirius's mother put three glasses before I could stand up to get them.

"Thank you," I said with a smile.

I poured the milk into the glasses, ensuring that neither had more than the other, and I gave it to them. Sirius drank it right away. The twins brought their glasses to their lips, paused for a few seconds, and tasted them. They both looked at each other in admiration and drank again.

"Great, what is it?" asked one of them.

"It's cow's milk. I don't know why you don't sell it here." 

"They only drink their mother's milk for a while," said Enif. We all turned to see her. "After that, they never hear from it again. Strangely, humans mass produce something that is not meant for them. We hope that those animals don't suffer unnecessarily."

I got impressed.

"Well, I know it's not for us, but... we have been consuming it for millennia, to tell the truth, and no, animals don't suffer. They must be comfortable to give milk, like all animals."

Enif nodded with a slight movement of the head.

***

We started the trip. I felt delighted when I finally saw that Enif hugged her son and pressed her forehead to his, and somehow when she looked at me to say goodbye, I felt that she also thanked me. She gave us some food, and we left home. 

The twins followed us. They wanted to accompany us to the outskirts of the city.

"Sirius!" exclaimed a female voice, and we turned around. Ursa was a few feet away. "So, you don't plan to say goodbye."

"It is not necessary; I will try to visit," he replied.

The girl sighed and looked longingly at the ground.

"Yes, you better not die." 

"I will not," he assured.

She turned and left. I remained tense. In part, I felt that I was taking him from his world, but it was that, or he would be killed. I took a deep breath as we continued. The twins followed us a few feet away, perhaps to give privacy, but...

"If we continue in this direction, I think it will take longer to reach the city limits," I observed.

"I know. Let's get registered first," Sirius replied.

"What?" I whispered.

"Marien, you will join him," said one of the boys.

"Uh?" I looked at Sirius, who seemed annoyed at the boy for having spoken. "What does he mean?"

"We are going to make the nucleus official," he explained.

I got frozen; did he want to join me? It was not that I didn't want it, but I was human. Sirius continued walking.

"Wait..." I stopped him. "Are you sure?" He wanted to say something, but I continued, "Think about it, please. I'm human. What kind of future could you have with me?"

He frowned in confusion. I looked back, and the twins had moved a little further away, worried. Oh no...

"I thought I told you I wanted to give you all of me."

"Look. I can't do the things you do," I said with sadness. "I'm just getting in the way. I know you like to fight, hunt, and do all those things that I couldn't do with you."

He smiled slightly but was still concerned.

"I won't die if I don't do those things."

"It's not that. I don't want you to deprive yourself of your full happiness."

"You make me happy," he insisted, now somewhat more concerned. "Besides, I can still hunt for you."

I loved him, I did, but I was scared. The phrase 'nothing lasts forever' hovered in my mind, and he was still young...

"What if you change your mind after a few months?"

"Why do you say that?"

"People change."

"I do not."

"Sure, you will."

"Well, it will be for the better, don't you think?"

"I don't mean that. We don't really know each other, not much."

"I will get to know you more on the way. Do you think I don't know that the union means working on our relationship? And even so, I know certain things about you. I know what affects you. I know that you like nature and have overcome forward despite the things that have happened to you. I know that..." He leaned closer to me, gently taking my hand. "I know you sob and mention your mother some nights while sleeping." I was surprised, not even I had noticed, but I sometimes dreamed of her. "I'll take care of you every night from now on..."

"It's just... Thinking of you getting married at twenty is something... hasty..."

"Not at all. I want to spend as much time as possible with you. Why wait to spend half my life alone if I already did find you? The couples of a nucleus become one, and they accompany each other throughout life. That's what you have become to me. I didn't believe in that until I met you and began to want to protect you from everything."

I rubbed the top of his hand with my thumb.

"My Sirius..." I murmured. "I am glad you want to be with me, but... think ahead, we don't even know if we can have children or..." I didn't know how to explain it.

"What do you mean?" 

I pursed my lips. I was trying to explain about children to someone who probably had no idea how babies appeared. I sighed, frustrated. We didn't know the chances of being compatible and if we could have children. However, I didn't even know if he would want to have them one day. Those things should be known before forming a marriage, but I couldn't give him sexuality classes now, either. Plus, the twins were very attentive even though they were somewhat far away.

"Listen. I was going to ask you, what's more, I would have even talked to your parents first to get their approval. Now, if you want me to ask you as humans do, just tell me how they do it, and I'll do it."

"Don't worry. Being with you is what I want the most. I feel you as my home," I whispered. "You don't have to ask me, but..."

"I don't want you to feel bad about doing something that you think is against the rules," he said. "And I feel this way. You won't escape or leave me."

I smiled.

"I will not leave you unless you want to," I clarified. "Besides, you are the one who has not wanted to sleep next to me, so I think you are the one who will feel better."

"That too, probably," he admitted with a mischievous but innocent smile. "And don't worry, I'm not going to leave you. It doesn't seem like you believe it, but I'll show you."

"You are a stubborn and insistent boy," I reproached him, smiling sweetly. I took a deep breath and looked at the sky for a second to then look at him. "I'm sorry for making you believe I didn't want to. Is that... in my culture, it's different, but I'm not lying when I say that I want to be with you, so yes, I accept. I would accept no matter what."

***

We arrived at a white building, somewhat classic in style. I was surprised that plants didn't surround it. We got into an office, but the twins stood in the doorway. We sat in front of a desk that seemed to be made of black marble. Shortly after, an older woman appeared from a door on the side. She had those eyes characteristic of the EH of a color similar to amber but darker. 

The woman slightly smiled and greeted, "Sirius." She stared at me for a second longer than necessary. "Did you finally decide to do it? It is late..."

"Yes," he replied. "It is okay. I don't need ceremonies."

The lady looked at me doubtfully. It was evident that she was not expecting me. She sniffed the air a little.

"She's not the young woman..." Oh boy, everyone knew who was going to join him. She was waiting for Ursa. I felt ashamed. "My smell sense is not the same as it was a few years ago, but she smells a bit like..."

"Human?" Sirius said.

"Oh, I see. So she's a young lady in transition." Another interesting fact.

Sirius wanted to clarify things, but I took his hand, asking him not to say anything with my eyes. Preferably, I wanted to avoid possible disagreements. The woman prepared some papers with some emotion returning to her face.

"Usually I should not do this without the group ceremony with everyone and without the presence of the parents who approved this, but your mother spoke to me, and as you know, I am very fond of her, so..." I was shocked. Had Enif accepted me?

The woman put the papers on the desk and began to fill in the blanks.

"Let's see..." she muttered as she wrote. "Sirius, son of Arcturus and Enif... He agrees to form a nucleus with the young lady..." She looked at me.

"Marien," I said nervously.

"A peculiar name," the woman inquired.

I wanted to say my last name, but apparently, Sirius also suspected what I would say.

"Only Marien," he told me in a sweet voice. "We don't use surnames. We don't have them."

"Oh, what?"

"Names of your parents?" asked the woman.

"George and Micaela."

The woman frowned again, confused. Sure, 'strange human names,' right? She kept writing, and she handed us the paper after a while.

"Sign." We did so, and the woman smiled. "Okay, come by here," she indicated as we stood up.

Sirius smiled at me and took my hand. We follow the woman across a large garden. The one that apparently all the buildings and houses had. They were incredibly involved with nature.

We came to a room that overlooked that garden. It was white and almost shining from the daylight that entered. An elder EH was also there, sitting behind a white desk made of marble. The woman approached and murmured something to him. The man arched an eyebrow and received the papers.

"Sirius," he said in a deep voice, his eyes fixed on me, and he seemed to realize that I was definitely not an evolved girl. He looked at Sirius again. "You are something else. You always were, in some way." He smiled very slightly.

The man walked over to a white bookcase, opened a drawer, and pulled out a small box to come to us.

"We were saving this for you." Opening the box and showing two rings. The nerves attacked me. I had to assimilate that I was really getting married, just like that. The boy had not been my boyfriend, and now he was suddenly going to be my husband. "Congratulations. Swear you will be together forever, taking care of each other."

"Yes," we both answered, and I was surprised by my prompt and sure answer.

"I swear," Sirius added.

"I swear," I repeated.

I didn't think that one day I would receive something like that. I never thought that I would get married. 

I squeezed Sirius's hand. This was more than I expected. The happiness that had flooded me didn't fit in my body. The man handed the box to Sirius. He took out the ring for me and put it on my finger. Their customs didn't vary much compared to humans in this aspect.

The ring was made of gold and had small diamonds around its circumference. My hand was shaking with nerves and happiness. I never imagined that I would end up 'marrying' him just like that, but such were his ways, and I loved him. I put him his ring, and he smiled, looking radiant. He leaned down a little and laid his forehead on mine.

"Alright, that's it. Since there is no ceremony, you can leave," said the man.

He withdrew, and I hugged Sirius as tightly as I could. The twins ran in happily.

"Good!" exclaimed one, excited. "Too bad you were late one day."

"It's fine. We already saw the dance last night," Sirius said, then looked at me. "Now we can go."

We held hands and left, heading back towards the outskirts of the town.

"Well, my Sirius Anthony. You already made me commit the youthful madness of my life," I chuckled. "Now, I hope to get to the capital soon."

"We will. We are closer than you think," he replied.

"Hey," interrupted a twin. "Don't you plan to take the learning lessons for those who form a new nucleus?"

Anthony smiled. Right, that mysterious class. I was sure they would tell them many things there, including how to have children. Wow, what a curious society.

"I'll do it later," he replied casually, then lowered his voice to speak only to me. "You could teach me, right? They are not hiding anything from you."

I smiled embarrassedly.

"Yeah, well, they're not hiding it from us. Of course, I'll show you," I said sweetly.

Shortly after we reached the town's outskirts, the fields of crops were present. I had not been in that city for long, but I loved it and felt I would miss it. The twins stopped, and we turned to see them.

"It was nice meeting you," they both said.

I smiled.

"Oh, guys. I am glad I was able to meet you," I confessed. "I'll see you again, don't worry."

They both smiled, and I could see they already had fangs. Their pupils would become long, perhaps, in a matter of hours. With Sirius, it had been the same. Both boys waved their goodbyes and turned to go back to the city. I would miss those two. 

I continued my way with my husband, and I laughed slightly at that word. I still had to take it in.

"You are happy," he told me with a sweet smile.

"Yes, I am," I replied, but soon I remembered something and sighed. "Although... I think they expected to see Ursa..."

He got a little thoughtful.

"Don't worry about that. They know the future couples as they must forge the rings, but that is it."

"But Ursa told me... that you disgraced them. S-since when did you guys agree to join?" Maybe that was something I didn't want to know, but I had already made the mistake of asking.

"About five years ago. Actually, our parents talked and agreed, as she suddenly said she wanted to join me, but I never felt that I should. I mean, at that time, it was something that was just going to happen one day, you know, not because I cared or wanted. My mind was on Orion's training."

Oh. Now I felt guilty. Had I taken away her love? Was I the bad woman in the story? He put his arm around my shoulders to bring me close to him, kissed me on the forehead, and I shivered with happiness. I never came to believe that he would do that. Or maybe he never would have done it if I didn't show him.

"I can almost smell your stress," he whispered, and I got embarrassed. "There is no reason for you to stress."

Perhaps he was unaware of the situation due to his different culture and way of thinking. However, he had already apologized to her and her family before going to my city.

I sighed. Maybe I was the one who was exaggerating.

"I am sorry..."

"Don't be."

"I'll be fine. I like to know about you." I stood on my toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, taking him by surprise and making him smile.

We continue until we pass through a city in ruins.

"Oh, now that I remember... Where is your dad?"

"Probably in some of his trips, watching over his works."

"So, his name is Arcturus."

"Yes."

"Another star name."

He smiled at me.

"You are brilliant," he beamed.

"I know," I giggled proudly.

He gave another short laugh.

"It runs in families. Some other families use names of different matters, especially natural phenomena and things like that."

"And why don't you guys use last names?" I wanted to know.

"I assume that because we already have another second way of recognizing ourselves, which is the aroma. You know, every family has a certain scent."

Wow, a world in which you could already relate their scent to their person and family just as we did to surnames, only by smelling someone.

I looked to my right and noticed something on the horizon. It was something I had only seen in photographs, most of them being old. It was a natural beach, not like these days, which didn't even look like beaches, just forest and rocks that continued until it drowned under the sea, and the shore didn't have sand on some occasions.

The ancient beaches had disappeared along the coast as the sea levels rose.

"Sirius," I mumbled, shaking his arm slightly, "look, a beach."

He turned to see.

"Yes, I know. Do you want to go closer?"

"Just a few minutes," I asked.

"If you like. Tonight we will be arriving in the capital anyway."

I smiled at that. It was not going to be long before I saw Rosy and Marcus.

We went to the beach, the city's ruins ending a couple of feet from us. We saw the shore and, about twenty feet away, the sea. The sand was almost white, pure. The wind was blowing against me.

I took Anthony's hand, and he looked at me. I lost myself in his sight. I kept my silly blush and my smile. I couldn't escape those eyes. They made me feel like a frozen deer before the eyes of the lion, which was a strange comparison, but I was so lost and so in love that I thought inconsistencies. I hugged him.

"Hey, uh," I mumbled.

"Yes?"

"I..." I looked straight into his eyes. I wanted to tell him what I felt. I wanted to explain that I loved him.

Sirius turned to look at the city suddenly, completely tense and worried. When I spun to see, I got horrified. Two evolved men watched us from the city's ruins a few feet away. They were the two with scarlet eyes that dragged me to my cell that day. I remembered their names were Apus and Antares.

"We found you," one of them muttered.

"Sirius, I thought you were smarter, and you had run away like the coward you are," said the other.

I started to think about the worst. My temperature and my blood pressure dropped.

"How easy you made it; we're going to tear you to pieces."

"Do you already have the approval letter from the elderly leaders?" Sirius replied in a cold tone of voice.

One wanted to speak, but the other stopped him.

"We will, so the order of the facts doesn't matter."

"Now, if you want to redeem yourself, we must tear her to pieces between the three of us. It would be funnier. Where is your killer instinct?" I could almost hear him purring as he said all that.

Sirius slowly slid the backpack off his shoulder and dropped it on the sand. I panicked. He would fight those two solid and ruthless killer brothers.

They noticed it and got ready.

"Do you think it is reasonable? We trained with you; we know all your tricks," warned one.

"If you don't have the letter, I have the right to defend myself," Sirius retorted. "And you won't be able to touch her unless you beat me."

"We will pass on you and go for her," affirmed the other. "We don't need to waste time with you first."

"So, you think I could beat you?" he asked defiantly.

I was already breathing, agitated because of my nerves.

"Do not say foolishness! You know well that we are going to kill you!"

"I know," Sirius said without hesitation, and I panicked more. "Since you're so sure, go ahead." He showed that challenging smile.

I picked up the backpack, ready to flee since he would surely ask me to do it, but I also knew I could not leave him there.

I swallowed hard at the lump that had formed in my throat. These two were blocking our way. I regretted having asked to detour here. Maybe we would be further away now.

The two brothers attacked.