I laugh, I love,
I hope, I try,
I hurt, I need,
I fear, I cry,

And I know you do the same things too.
So we’re really not that different,
me and you.

-Collin Raye

Burns

Emma has fallen asleep with her head in my lap and I play with a strand of her hair. She doesn’t seem to like Nate very much, which is a little strange to me. He’s a human like her. And he hasn’t done anything to upset either of us.

Maybe she’s just nervous, being around new people.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Nate watching me. I hope I can get him to trust me. It was hard enough to win Emma over.

“You two are the strangest pair I’ve ever seen,” Nate comments. His eyes are on my hand that’s playing with Emma’s hair.

I look at her sleeping form. “Perhaps you are right.” But I can’t help the smile that tugs at my lips.

Nate chuckles softly. “You’re smitten, kid.”

I blink. “Smitten?”

“In love, son.”

“Love?” I blink again. I know I like Emma. I don’t want her to disappear. But love? I look at Nate confused.

He tilts his head. “Yes. Love. Don’t’ you know what that is?”

Of course I know what it is. Souls do nothing but love. It’s our nature.
But I know that’s not the kind of love he’s talking about.

“This body knows,” I say, “but I’ve never experienced it.”

‘You’ve never loved before?” Nate asks, “not even on your other planets? Or with your own kind?”

“We are not like you,” I explain, “all the other species I’ve been don’t have strong emotions like you humans. There’s mating. Or a feeling of mutual sense, but not love. These human emotions are so complex.”

There’s a smile on Nate’s face and I wonder who he’s thinking of.

“Do you feel like smiling whenever she’s around?” he asks, “and when she smiles at you, do you feel your heart speed up?”

I nod.

“And whenever she’s not around,” he continues, “you feel like something’s missing. And when she kisses you…”

I feel my cheeks heat up.

Nate laughs. “See? Smitten.” He pauses. “Can’t say I blame you. She’s a pretty one. Quite stubborn too. Vey protective.”

I look at Emma again and smile. I guess I do love her.

“You’re a different species though,” Nate says.

“This body is human,” I mutter.

It’s quiet for a while and I start thinking Nate has fallen asleep as well, but then he speaks again. “That body you’re wearing… who was he to her?”

I shake my head. “They didn’t know each other. She wouldn’t have liked him very much, I think.”

“So it’s not him that loves her? It’s all you?”

I nod.

“And he’s all gone now? It’s just you in there?”

I nod again.

“So all of his memories are gone? Simple as that? Do you even know his name? What he was like? Is he completely erased?”

I sigh.

Of course he has questions. Emma had questions too. “He’s not here anymore, but his memories are. I know everything he knew.”

“But you’re not him,” Nate muses.

“No,” I say, “maybe I’ve taken over some of his traits, but I am my own person.”

Nate looks at Emma. “She seems to trust you. What lies did you feed her?”

I look at him confused. Does he think I’ve lied to him? Everything I told him is the truth.

“Souls don’t lie,” I say.

“The others do,” Nate says, “they give us pretty promises and then they take us to their offices and put their own kind in our heads.”

I sigh.

He’s right.

There’s no denying it. But the Souls he’s talking about are Seekers. Seekers are different from other Souls.

“I know,” I say, “I’m sorry. They think they’re doing the right thing. They want to make this planet a better place. They don’t know any better.”

“You speak as if you’re different from them.”

I bite my lip. “Maybe I am.”

I think on it. Maybe I am different. I’ve changed. Humans may be violent, but there’s a different side too. I probably wouldn’t even have known if I hadn’t met Emma.

I think about my friends. If they met Emma, would they change their minds as well?

I sigh again. As much as I love them, I know it wouldn’t happen. They will never understand.

Nate nods thoughtfully and eyes me carefully. “Maybe you are. That got anything to do with the girl?” He nods towards Emma, who is still sound asleep.

I smile and trace Emma’s cheek. “Yeah. I think it does.”

Nate looks at me in wonder. I can tell he is a clever person. The kind of person that notices things no one else does. Perhaps that is how he survived for so long.

“Where are your friends?” I ask.

Nate’s eyes turn suspicious immediately. “Ah, there we have it. I knew it was too good to be true. It took a while though. But you’re not getting any information from me.”

“What?” I say confused, “No… that’s not what I meant… I… I saw you… on the road out of Toledo… I just… did they get taken?”

Nate leans his head back and closes his eyes. “No,” he says after a while, they didn’t get taken.”

And I wonder why there’s such a dead tone to his voice, but he doesn’t say anything else.

And I’m afraid to ask.