Before they opened what seemed to be the last hatch in their quest for Asher and Isaac, Jeremiah offered Jasmine a machete that she didn't even realize the guy was carrying with him. With her mind a bit clearer, she noticed the three rescuers had weapons on their person, but since Melissa and Plague were still carrying the children, they couldn't use theirs.

Jasmine wrapped her hand on the machete's handle with disgust. She wasn't even sure if she could use it. The mere idea of it cutting into a living being was repulsive to her. Jasmine was the only one who couldn't even kill the chicken for dinner when visiting her grandparents' house.

Not paying much attention to Jasmine's facial expressions, Jeremiah gestured for Melissa and Plague to stay behind the two of them, pointing at the children and their inability to use their weapons if need be. And even though Plague didn't seem too happy about it, he obeyed his grandfather without arguing. It was a first for him.

Jasmine probably could have taken Arman from Plague and let him deal with whatever threat lurked behind the door, but she was shocked to realize she didn't want him to. There was a strange need deep inside of her to be the one to protect her family, which she decided to fulfill.

As they opened the hatch, they found themselves in an enormous room with an oval-shaped portal glimmering nearby. Next to it were two bald men with their backs to the entrance, trying to push Asher and Isaac into the portal without using their weapons. It was clear that they needed them alive.

The two seemed to have resisted for far longer than the aliens anticipated. From the blur of clicking sounds between the two aliens, it was clear that whatever they were communicating was agitated and that they were close to using violence.

Her family was running out of time.

Jasmine rushed forward, and before she knew it, her hand was wet and covered in the sticky goo that was the alien's strange blood.

Her eyes blinking rapidly, Jasmine realized she had stabbed through the alien closest to Asher multiple times without realizing what she was doing. Only when the alien crumbled to the ground and revealed a stunned-looking Asher did she relax and drop the blade, which clattered when it hit the floor.

Jasmine was about to join it with loud sounds of fighting in the background when strong hands caught her in her downward spiral, holding her up effortlessly.

"Asher," Jasmine mumbled, recognizing the gentle touch by how rapidly her heart started beating, trying to escape her chest and join Asher's heart, forming that romantic image of a heart people usually drew and that only recently she had realized were two hearts put together.

She was also aware of Isaac holding onto her leg, and she looked him over giving him a gentle smile once she noticed he was okay, then shifting her attention to Asher again.

"Jasmine," Asher said, sounding breathless. "You saved us."

Jasmine knew that wasn't exactly true, but she no longer had the strength to speak or do anything. All the shock and horror were finally getting to her, causing her body to perform an emergency shutdown. Still, her eyes fluttered open, looking into Asher's wonder-filled eyes with fascination. How could someone's eyes feel so much like home?

As if in a dream, she managed to lift her hand, gently stroking Asher's cheek, his eyes shifting, a feeling written in them that she couldn't read. Yet, her whole body moved forward until her lips found sweet relief in the gentleness of his mouth, and she drank up the precious nectar that Asher gave her, offering her strength like nothing else could.

His lips parted like flower petals opened to the spring's call, deepening the kiss.

"Ahem, guys, we need to get going," Plague said, entering the room once it was clear of threats.

At the same time, Arman and Ariyana jumped out of Plague and Melissa's arms and ran to their father, who hugged them tightly while still holding onto Jasmine. However, Jasmine, once she was able to see her surroundings again, moved to the side and started violently throwing up.

"Should I be offended?" Asher smirked at her after ensuring his children were safe and sound.

"I've never... I've never killed anything before," Jasmine muttered, pointing at the alien she had stabbed so viciously, all to save Asher and Isaac, who was now clinging to her hand.

Asher's expression went from amusement to pity as his children moved around restlessly, afraid, in the unfamiliar surroundings.

"You did what you had to do," Asher said soothingly, moving her gently away from where she had thrown up and brushing away her hair while offering his handkerchief for her to wipe her mouth with. "You saved our lives."

As he said that, he planted a kiss on her forehead, and they all got up to follow Jeremiah as they needed to leave the spaceship before the rest of the aliens found them.

Asher tried to support Jasmine's wobbly frame and take care of his children simultaneously, but that was impossible because, scared as they were, his children kept trying to climb into his arms, making him lose balance.

"I'll help her," Isaac said, shooing him away, and Asher reluctantly agreed as he continued to coo and soothe his children to the best of his ability.

"Are you okay?" Jasmine asked when Isaac came to her side to help support her weight while Melissa and Plague took up the role of protectors.

"Yeah," Isaac said quietly. "I did what you told me. But it wasn't easy. That man is as stubborn as a mule."

Jasmine snickered quietly.

"I know. Thank you for keeping your word," Jasmine said, gently kissing Isaac's forehead, relieved to see the boy wasn't traumatized too badly, that he was still himself. "It must have been so hard for you."

Isaac shrugged as if saying, it was hard, but I still did it.

When they went into the hangar where Jeremiah and the others had left the shuttle, Jasmine got an idea.

"Wait," she told Isaac as he tried to drag her to their escape vehicle. "Take me to that computer thingy."

"Why?" Isaac asked, looking between her and the shuttle as if he wanted them there as soon as possible.

"I think I have an idea," she said, sounding tired but excited at the same time.

"What is it?" Isaac asked suspiciously, wondering if she had gone mad.

"Have you ever watched the movie War of the Worlds?" Jasmine asked, grinning widely. "Or the Independence Day?"

"Sure, but what does that have to do with our current situation?" Isaac asked, confused, wishing others hadn't gone so far ahead and that someone else could stop Jasmine's sudden madness.

"A virus is often the downfall of the aliens," Jasmine whispered. "I can't bring down the whole fleet, but maybe I can bring down this ship. These aliens are newly arrived. They aren't like the ones we met before. They probably haven't yet adjusted to the conditions here."

"Jasmine, do you even know how to infect it with a virus?" Isaac asked skeptically because she didn't look like the type who was good with computers.

"Well, no, not really," Jasmine admitted blushing sheepishly. "But the idea is similar. In this case, all we need to do is change their environments and make the air as dry as possible, and that will probably mess with both their physical and mental abilities like that one time there was a sudden tropical heat in my country with humidity so high that I could barely breathe. I was almost run over by a taxi because I was so sluggish, and I wasn't thinking straight going out on the street when the light was red instead of green."

"I like the way you think," Isaac said, grinning evilly. "But let me do it as we need to be fast, and you look like you might faint at any moment."

Jasmine wanted to argue with him that she was the adult and should be the one figuring it out, but then she realized she had barely come up with the idea itself. Also, if the controls were as intuitive as they said, then who better to use them than a child whose instincts were so much better than her own, corrupted by so many negative experiences she went through in her life?

"Very well," Jasmine said, leaning into the wall while Isaac put his hands inside a hole, trying to figure out the spaceship controls.

Shortly after, Isaac's face lighted in a smile, his hands moving like he was playing a sweet melody.

"Well, that's easier than I expected," Isaac said, a huge grin splitting up his face. "I adjusted the settings to dry ones. I would be surprised if they know their names, let alone what's happening."

With that said, they hurried towards the shuttle in front of which a worried-looking Asher was already pacing after having secured his children inside; worried that something was wrong with Isaac and Jasmine but not seeing any immediate danger, he chose to stay with the shuttle, torn between staying close to his scared children and checking on Jasmine and Isaac. When they reached him, he picked Jasmine up and carried her inside with an eye-rolling Isaac, who followed close behind.

Soon after, the shuttle left the spaceship, and Jasmine hoped they would reach the Earth's safety soon.

Still, she couldn't help but worry if they would splash against the ground like one ugly stain on their beautiful planet.