Once they arrived at the cabin, everything looked the same as they left it, making Jasmine sigh with relief. No aliens surrounded the place, no signals or anything like that, just the children playing their game.

However, her joy was short-lived as the pain she had done her best to suppress while they traveled back to the cabin returned with a vengeance. It was as if all there was, all she could focus on was the aching.

"Jasmine! You are back!" Arman and Ariyana exclaimed at the same time, running toward her motionless figure.

"Easy there, munchkins," Asher said, catching both children under his arms. "Jasmine has been injured, so we need to be careful not to cause her any additional pain."

"What happened? Did you run very fast and then fall down and hurt yourself?" Ariyana asked innocently.

From how she said it, with a painful grimace on her face, Jasmine could tell that those types of things happened a lot to the little girl, so it was something that she could sympathize with. It was also a good enough excuse that would avoid scaring the children even more than they already were.

"Yes, that's exactly what happened," Jasmine said, trying to keep her voice steady.

She wanted to focus only on her pain but knew that would be selfish. It was necessary to make sure that the little girl was okay.

"It happens to me all the time," Ariyana said energetically. "I trip on rocks and stuff all the time. And my knees bleed, but Daddy always makes it better."

"You trip on your own feet," Arman said mockingly. "Sometimes you even trip on nothing at all."

"Daddy, he is making fun of me again," Ariyana said sulkily. "Tell him to stop!"

"Alright, you two, stop it right now," Asher said sternly, seeing Jasmine's jaw tighten in pain. "You must be on your best behavior now while I help Jasmine treat the wound."

"Will you kiss the boo-boo and make it better?" Ariyana asked inquisitively, looking up at him with her big eyes.

Upon hearing that innocent comment, Jasmine blushed from head to toe, uncertain why she was so embarrassed. It could have been because she had such a vivid imagination and could imagine the scene perfectly. And not only that, she could see herself not disliking the contact.

In general, Jasmine was a person who detested physical contact, especially with strangers. However, there was something about Asher that made her feel comfortable, that made her feel safe.

Therefore, touching him didn't sound so undesirable to her. It was quite the opposite, which was a startling realization in itself but mixed with the excruciating pain she was experiencing, everything was so much more confusing. How could she even think about those things when everything she knew was gone, and she was shot a short time ago?

Yet, her hyperactive brain refused to settle on just one train of thought and continued torturing her with sensations and emotions she couldn't explain, mixed with large doses of ache that made everything so much worse.

"Come on, Ari, let's go find Isaac on his tree," Arman said when the awkward silence that followed her previous words stretched for so long that even he realized something was off and that it would be wise to leave. "I am sure Dad will give Jasmine the medicine she needs."

The moment the children left; Asher helped Jasmine to her feet while she let out a painful yelp she couldn't hold in anymore.

"Are you okay?" Asher asked nervously. "Do you need me to carry you up the steps?"

"I am fine," Jasmine said, not wanting to make Asher uncomfortable. "Let me just lean on you, and I'll be able to do these few steps easily."

Soon, Asher helped Jasmine into the room, helping her lower herself on the bed, careful not to agitate the painful leg too much.

"I should check your wound now," Asher said, looking at her cut-up trousers, lost in thought.

"It's fine. The medic guy there dressed my wound," Jasmine said tiredly.

Asher's eyebrows scrunched up, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he started rummaging through his bag until he found the medicine bottle and offered it to Jasmine.

"Take this. It's good for the pain," Asher said gently. "Ariyana says that it gets rid of it like magic."

Jasmine took the offered pills gratefully while Asher poured her a glass of water from the pitcher on the table, the action feeling very unfamiliar. She couldn't remember the last time someone cared for her like that. Maybe it was when she was still a kid.

"Thank you," Jasmine said, those regular words, failing to express the depth of her gratitude as she took the offered glass and drank the so-called magic pill.

"You're welcome," Asher said, smiling gently at her formality. "You just rest, and we'll talk once you feel better."

As he said that, he got up to leave, but a gentle pull on his hand stopped him.

"Wait," Jasmine said, releasing his hand once she realized what she was doing. "I am fine to talk now. After all, I won't be talking with my leg."

Her weak attempt at a joke earned her a small chuckle from Asher as he sat on what passed for a chair in the strange little cabin he used to hate and that was now the only shelter they had.

The truth was that Jasmine didn't really want to speak as she could still feel the pain radiating from her leg. However, telling him everything that happened sounded like a good distraction. Besides, she didn't want to admit she was afraid to be alone.

The day's events had caught up with her, and she wanted to prolong her time with him as his company helped her stay centered. It helped her stay calm.

As she told him everything that happened, Asher's face seemed like a battlefield on which all emotions were fighting a losing battle. One recognizable sentiment would become apparent and then be suddenly wiped out by the next feeling. Keeping track of them was impossible, and Jasmine was frustrated that she couldn't figure out what the guy was thinking.

"Hm, I wonder what he meant by 'when the time was right'?" Asher said as he started pacing the room, thoughtfully as if the exercise would get his brain cells to work in sync with his muscles. "What were they waiting for? What's different now from the past?"

"I don't know, and he didn't seem to know either," Jasmine said, thinking back to his exact words. "The information they got about the aliens was limited at best. Still, they knew more than we did, so that's something."

"Adults are worse than ever before," Isaac said, suddenly joining the conversation without Jasmine and Asher noticing that he was eavesdropping on their discussion. "They yell more, argue more, litter more..."

"That's it!" Asher suddenly exclaimed, startling both Jasmine and Isaac.

"They were waiting for more litter?" Jasmine asked, confused as it didn't make any sense to her.

"No, no, not litter itself, but the conditions of our planet have rapidly deteriorated," Asher said, hastily as if he was afraid that the words would escape him if not spoken out loud. "Global warming has become a bigger issue than ever, the ozone layer is thinner than ever, and so on."

"Okay..." Jasmine said, trying her best to understand his thinking, failing miserably. "But what does that have to do with it 'being the right time'? Wouldn't that be a good reason not to occupy a planet? If the planet is doing so poorly, why would anyone want to invade it?"

"Maybe they breathe garbage," Isaac said instantly without even considering his words.

Just as Jasmine was about to scold him for talking nonsense when adults tried to speak seriously, she saw Asher's expression suddenly shift to wonder.

"Isaac, you are a genius!" Asher exclaimed with the enthusiasm of one who had just solved a complicated puzzle.

"They eat trash?" Jasmine asked suspiciously, as that was a ridiculous idea to contemplate.

"No, no, that's not what I mean," Asher said excitedly. "I mean, we always assume that everyone would need oxygen, clean air, and so on to survive. We try to apply the same rules that we apply to our lives to those of the aliens, but by very definition, the aliens are alien, different. So, unlike us, they might need completely different conditions to survive, maybe even the opposite ones."

The bomb of understanding exploded in Jasmine's head, erasing all the notions of what she thought she knew.

Were there any rules left?

Was the world a lawless place?