The Solar Flare (39 page)

     Ava tried to concentrate on doing normal bedtime activities to take her mind of
f of the situation. She managed to get through brushing her teeth and changing into her pajamas without choking on her tears. She grabbed some tissues and laid down on the bed, trying to stay calm. She could feel the energy flowing around from all of the Asterions downstairs and wondered what they were up to. At least she didn’t hear any shouting and took that as a good sign. She heard a door shut and wondered what was going on. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the sensation of energy from James and Wesley. They were nearly identical, though Wesley’s seemed to be growing fainter and James’ energy seemed to be staying in one place.

    
She had seen movies in her past about love triangles where once person had to choose between two different lovers but this was not the same. What do you do when the two people you have to choose between are the same person? Ava couldn’t bring herself to think about choosing between them tonight, so instead she thought about Kyanos and how it compared to Sphene. They were definitely not on the same level as far as development and technology, but Kyanos could get there in time. She would be needed on Kyanos, she could get back to helping to take care of people. Here, she had pretty much been on vacation with no real purpose. It would be dangerous on Kyanos. With Kaden still out there, there was no telling what could happen. She had to admit, she did feel safer and more secure on Sphene. She went back and forth in her mind thinking about the pros and cons of each until she felt herself becoming tired. She faintly heard the sound of James playing the piano downstairs; the music was slow and peaceful and eventually helped her fall asleep.

Chapter 28
: Departure

     Ava
had a tumultuous night sleeping intermittently and ended up oversleeping into the late morning before she showered and made her way downstairs into the kitchen. Mrs. Maclaren greeted her as usual with her coffee and Ava sat at the breakfast bar wondering if this would be the last time that she did. Mrs. Maclaren patted her shoulder affectionately and tried not to stare at the dark circles under Ava’s puffy eyes. She couldn’t be sure, but somehow Ava knew that someone had briefed her on what was going down at the house right now.

     After not eating much of her late breakfast, she decided to wander down onto the beach for the first time since she almost drowned. No one was around, and no-one disturbed her. She no
ticed that some of the staff was cleaning up the remains of the party-turned-into-brawl last night in the garden. She meandered down to the water’s edge and slipped off her sandals. She walked up and down the shoreline in front of the property, letting the shallow waves flow and retreat over her feet as she walked.

     After some time, she sensed Wesley coming towards her. She turned and gazed upon him and smiled. He looked refreshed and perfect again, wearing his typical captain’s attire of black boots and pants, a navy blue T-shirt and his utility belt. There was no sign that he had ever been in a vicious fight less than a day ago.
She walked further up from the shoreline and into his outreached arms. It felt so good to be with him again, she closed her eyes and leaned into his strong embrace.

     “How are you?” He asked softly.

     “I didn’t sleep much,” she admitted truthfully. “You?”

     “Not at all,” he laughed softly, gazing at her.

     “What are we going to do now?” She asked, letting her thoughts be spoken out loud.

     “Ava, I cannot make this decision for you. Things have changed, but above all else, . . . what it all boils down to
, is that I want you to be happy.”

     “I know. Thank you, that is very selfless of you. I don’t know
what I did to deserve your love . . . or his. No matter what I choose, I’m going to hurt one of you, and myself in the process. It just isn’t fair.”

     “No it isn’t and I’m sorry you are burdened with this.”

     Ava let the comforting sensation of his energy flow into her as she leaned into him, feeling herself relax in his embrace. For a long time they stood holding each other. She let her thoughts wander through the past year of her life. She closed her eyes and remembered how she felt when she was falling in love with him and all of the times that he had been there for her. She recalled all of their adventures, the scariness of the virus that almost took her life, and their good times. She couldn’t let it go . . . it didn’t compare to her life now. She needed him as much as he needed her. Suddenly she opened her deep blue eyes and looked up into his warm brown ones. It was all the assurance she required to know that she could never be separated from him again. There was just no way.

     “It’s you! I choose you!” She said breathlessly as she pulled his face down to kiss him. He returned her kisses with a ferocity she did not know was in him until they were both breathing heavy.

     “Are you sure Ava? I cannot promise that our life together will be easy until Kaden is dealt with,” he said honestly.

     “Your problems are my problems, remember?” She replied, smiling up at him. He returned the smile and kissed her once more.

     “We should leave now,” he said softly.

     “We can’t just leave. I have to tell him. I owe him that much,” she said solemnly.

     Wesley held her out at arms length. “No way Ava, there’s no telling how angry he could become. He might lose control and hurt you. No . . . it’s not worth the risk.”

     “I’m telling him in person whether you like it or not. I cannot just simply run out on him. He deserves an
explanation . . . wouldn’t you?” Ava tried to reason with him.

     “I suppose so,” Wesley said with uncertainty. He didn’t like this, bu
t he had to honor Ava’s request. He did not want to argue with her now that she had made the decision to go back with him.

     “I need you to go back to the ship and make what
ever plans that you need to. I need some time to speak with James, . . . and pack.” Ava’s voice trailed off. She was already getting emotional at leaving her home. “Can you give me three hours?”

     Wesley nodded, squeezing her hand. “Be careful Ava. I don’t know what I would do if he hurt you.” Together they walked back up to the house. Ava walked inside, and Wesley disappeared, teleporting back to his ship. She stood for a few moments in the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water trying to collect her thoughts before approaching James.

     The house was quiet and Ava didn’t see anyone, not even the housekeepers. She looked through all of the rooms on the main floor but didn’t see or sense James. She decided to head downstairs into the basement where the studio was. Sure enough he was sitting at one of the keyboards writing music with his headphones on. He was clearly trying to distract himself from what was going on. Ava could feel his energy trembling around him as if he knew what was coming. He saw her approach, removed his headphones and stood.

     “Hi,” he said softly.

     “Hi,” she responded shyly. She took a deep breath. It’s now or never, she thought. “James I want you to know how thankful I am that you saved my life several times. I truly appreciate all that you’ve done for me and the experiences that you have given me, but I have to make a decision and my decision is that I will return to Kyanos with Wesley.”

     James placed his hands on her shoulders and pleaded with her. “No, Ava. Please don’t go back with him! I love you, I can’t bear it if you leave now. His enemies are still out there. He could be putting you in terrible danger!” There were tears
forming in his eyes.

     “I’m sorry James, I’m so
sorry. This was not an easy decision for me.” She began to feel tears welling up herself.

     “You have feelings for me Ava, I know that you do!”
His energy pulsed around the room, rising in intensity, absorbing right into her. He embraced her, holding her to him in desperation.

    
She gently drew back from him and looked directly up into his eyes. “I do have feelings for you . . . I love you.” She hesitated as he sucked in his breath at her admission. “And if I could split myself in two and stay with you I would. But I love him, and I made him a promise I will not break.”

     “Stay with me, don’t throw your life away fighting in his war!”

     “I can’t, . . . I’m sorry.  We’re leaving at five o’clock,” she looked down at the floor, wiping her tears away with the back of one of her hands.

     Ava felt his energy run cold and start to collapse in on itself. He began to feel like a dark, empty void until she couldn’t feel him anymore.
She had never seen him, or Wesley for that matter, this way before. He was breathing heavily with his nostrils flaring and his bright blue eyes boring into her, but she did not let the sensations around her intimidate her. He pressed his lips into a severe line, removed his hands from her shoulders and stepped back from her. She could feel his anger smoldering within him.

     “If this is your decision
. . . then so be it Ava. I can only hope that he will keep you safe,” he said harshly looking at her one last time. Then he stiffly marched quickly out of the room, leaving her alone with tears running down her face. She wasn’t supposed to feel this sad but she couldn’t help it. She hurt him badly and she could feel how awful it was; he was absolutely devastated. She could feel her heart breaking for James despite the love that she felt firing up inside for Wesley. She didn’t even know how such a thing was possible. She remained there for a few moments to pull herself together before heading back upstairs to pack.

    
She stood in front of her dresser just as she had done many times before. She stared at the photograph of her and James at the concert, taken by one of the reporters. She removed her Sphene ID card from her wallet and placed it on the dresser. Then she numbly took her hands and undid the clasp on the necklace James had given her the night before and set it down in the jewelry box next to the earrings she had been wearing. She picked up the gold locket Wesley had given her long ago and put it back in its rightful place around her neck. Next she put her grandmother’s earrings that she had always been so proud of back in her ears and managed a weak smile at herself to give her the strength to keep going.

     And now for the closet. Ava pulled out a rather large travel bag and pondered what to take. She didn’t have many cold weather clothes, at least nothing suitable for th
e frigid temperature of space travel. She felt guilty about taking anything from here because all of it was given to her. Then she reasoned that they wouldn’t know what to do with it anyway and started packing some of her favorite clothes and workout attire. About half way through she glanced down at the small safe sitting on the floor of her closet.

     Sh
e knelt down and opened it to reveal the case containing the gun James had given her. She picked it up, feeling its weight in her hands, wondering what to do. Quickly she made a snap decision and grabbed the photo from the dresser and put it in the case. Next, she carefully set the gun back down with the charger, closed and locked it and placed it in her bag. She proceeded to carefully pack more clothing and shoes around the case to conceal it. There would be no customs inspections where she was going and Wesley didn’t need to know about it . . . yet anyway.

     At quarter to five she lugged the heavy travel bag downstairs to the foyer and gazed up at the beautiful stained glass ceiling for the last time. She opened the front door and stood there waiting. M
rs. Maclaren appeared from the back of the entryway and gave Ava a big hug. There were tears in her eyes. Ava hugged her back and said she was sorry she had to leave. Even Travis came out to shake Ava’s hand and wish her well. Ava nodded, taking the handkerchief he offered her.

     She wasn’t prepared for what came next. Suddenly they started arriving, leaving their Velas parked all over the front drive. Melanie, Lucas, Lizeth, Nicholas, Blayke and Emma
all arrived at the same time. Ava dragged her bag out onto the porch and down the steps onto the drive to meet them.

     “We heard you were leavin
g us,” Melanie said softly as she came to hug Ava. Ava hugged her tightly, wondering why life was so full of hard decisions and heartache. Melanie was her good friend and she felt so sad that she had to leave all of them. In a short period of time, they had become her family.

     “I’m sorry,” was all Ava could manage.

     “We understand how it is. Don’t apologize for your decision. You love him and that’s all that matters. Your heart and your mind are like our energy and our essence. You are an exquisite example to us all on what it means to be human. It is what we strive for every day.”

     “Thank
you Melanie.”

 
   “Take care of yourself kid,” Blayke teased, holding up his fists in a guard position. It made Ava smile.

     “I will
. . . I promise.”

     Lizeth was next. “I’m sorry about what happened to you on the beach. Please be careful Ava.”

     “That was my fault, I was being foolish. Thank you for your friendship, I’m going to miss you. I’m going to miss all of you.”