Comfort.

That word was on Rocki's mind when she woke up the next morning. The bed was comfortable. The room felt comfortable. Her wings felt comfortable on her back for once. It was even comfortable knowing that Kofi had been next door all night, making sure she stayed safe.

At this hour of the morning, the moment when she first awoke, everything was warm and soft. There was only a very faint glow filtering in through the frosted windows, giving the space gentle shadows and highlights.

There wasn't a sound around her. The world was silent except for the noise of her breathing through one congested nostril. The sound was actually beginning to annoy her, so she parted her lips to breathe through her mouth instead, wondering how different things would be if people just didn't need to breath at all.

Kofi's room was silent as well. He probably wasn't awake. He seemed more like a night owl than a morning bird.

Kahinu was a morning person. She recalled. He liked getting up and going right away. Her mind flashed to the memory of him getting ready to leave. Just like he did that day. Got up and left. I wish I knew what he was thinking that day ...

She didn't like stewing over those thoughts, so she threw herself into a sitting position and stretched before getting out of bed. She got ready as quietly as she could since she didn't know how much Kofi would be able to hear in the adjoining room, and he needed sleep almost more than she did.

Her leg was still injured, so it still hurt to walk on it, but the limp had decreased significantly. She took a shower with the bandage on, but afterwards checked to see how the wound was doing. It seemed to be as well as it could be, so she wrapped it tightly again.

Just my luck that I would be injured and have someone trying to kill me. First the stupid lopenants had it out for me, then some unknown person. Why would anyone want me dead anyway? I'm supposed to be their savioress. I'm going to at least try to end the war. Who wouldn't want that? She groaned a little as she sat back on the bed, wishing for her life back home, as rough as it had been the last month.

Her eyes caught on her glasses she had left on the entry table the first night she slept here. Another reminder of her life back home. I don't miss wearing them exactly, it's nice to see without needing glasses or contacts, but it's weird knowing that I don't need them anymore. I traded my glasses for a pair of wings. She spread those wings now, smiling a little. That would make a good hook for a story.

She sat on the bed for a while, letting herself relax alone with her thoughts. She was sure it would be another hectic day, so she wanted to enjoy the quiet while she could. During her quiet time, she figured out how to put her translator back in her ear. She had let it charge all of last night, so hopefully it would work for a long while.

After a time, her stomach growled, forcing her to walk over to the kitchenette in search of food. As she searched the cupboards for something appealing, she heard a knock on the adjoining door before Kofi let himself in.

"Welcome to the day," he mumbled, stretching his wings as soon as he was fully inside the room. He looked a mess. His long golden hair was splayed out in all directions from a bad case of bedhead, and his clothes were rumpled from sleeping in them. His usually bright and playful eyes were hazy as he shuffled over to her, dropping his head onto her shoulder with a moan even though he had to double over to do it.

"Hey—" she said, not expecting the sudden contact.

"Why did you have to get out of bed so early?" he muttered, letting his arms dangle towards the ground like the cord of a ceiling fan.

Rocki clenched her stomach to keep an unexpected giggle in as she stepped away from him, throwing the man off-balance and making him stumble a little. "You can go back to sleep."

"Nooo," he whined, straightening up only to let his head fall backwards. "I have to take care of you."

She allowed a smile to touch her lips. "It looks like I should be taking care of you. You're like a zombie this morning." She shook her head as he rubbed his face. "Do you want me to make you something for breakfast? If I can figure out how this food works anyway."

He shook his head, half protesting, half trying to wake himself up. "No, no, no, I'm going to make you breakfast. But we're having breakfast sandwiches because I don't feel like doing any real cooking." He pulled her out of the kitchen, taking her place in the small area to dig through the cabinets, similar to how she had a few minutes earlier.

She sat down at the two-person dining table and crossed her leg as she watched him grab the supplies he needed. His movements were a little slower than usual due to his sleepiness, but still confident in what he was doing.

His hair was a mess, but his breakfast skills were still in good shape. His hands skillfully began crafting an easy meal for him and her. No ... I wouldn't want to use "skillfully" twice. Maybe "adroitly", but that word always seems too awkward. I don't think my brain is awake enough to think of other synonyms. Probably for the best. What am I doing trying to describe his cooking—well, food-making—anyway?

After a few minutes, he put a plate with a what seemed like it wanted to be a sandwich, like he had said it would be, but it didn't have a top piece of bread to hold everything together. She watched him eat it like it was toast or a pizza, so she copied.

The food seemed to rouse him, encouraging the man to start a conversation to fill the silence Rocki had contentedly kept up. "Do you want to try flying today?"

Her eyes snapped up. "What do you mean?"

"I thought you might like a flying lesson. You've had your wings a few days now, and they don't seem to be bothering you, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to learn. It might be useful if you need to escape something."

"Really?" A slight smile touched her lips. "I would love that." The concept of flying was thrilling. Like so many people, she had wished countless times that she could soar through the clouds, and now she would. All because I'm half alien. No—full alien, just two different kinds. It does come with some cool perks ... But there are too many downsides for me to actually want to be what I am. I mean, now I'm involved in a war, with my sister held prisoner on the other side, and I'll probably never be able to see my parents again.

Unless I find a way to make myself seem human like I was before Kofi found me. She put down her 'breakfast sandwich,' mind starting to speed up with possibilities. How was I human in the first place? Lindka said she had a friend hide me. Did that friend know a way to cloak me? Could she do it again? Would it be possible for Aley and I to return home after all of this? I never got to say goodbye to Mom and Dad, or anyone else in the family. I don't want to give all of them up, none of this was my choice. My parents are going to be worried sick when they find out we're gone if they haven't already.

She had completely tuned Kofi out as he expressed his interest in teaching her, but he most have noticed, because he stopped for a moment, a little amused. "What are you thinking so hard about?"

Rocki moved her chin up a little, forcibly pulling herself out of her revery. "Hm? Oh, nothing. Just ... thinking about different stuff." She picked up her breakfast again, taking a big bite to keep herself occupied.

He gave her a bemused smile but shrugged. "Okay. Do you want to head out to our flying date right after breakfast?"

Her eyes widened at him, trying to convey her message as she chewed and swallowed. "Date?" she finally said, raising an eyebrow. "I think you mean our flying lesson."

Grinning, he put his elbows on the table. "But a date is way more fun."

She shook her head. "It's not a date."

"It's definitely a date now."

"Not a chance."

"Fine, you call it a lesson, I'll call it a date."

"I think we should both just call it a lesson." Both of her eyebrow raised expectantly when he hesitated.

He ejected a forcible breath of air. "Fine, have it your way. But only because I can't freaking say no when your blue eyes are looking at me like that."

Am I blushing? Stop blushing! She pushed her plate away, standing. "I'm done. I'm going to use the bathroom." She made a retreat to said bathroom, leaning against the sink and looking into the mirror. Burn it all, Rocki, get a grip! You just got out of your last relationship a month ago and you're in the middle of a war. And need I remind you that you're having a baby? Now really isn't the time to blush over some guy flirting with you.

What is it about him that makes me blush anyway? I'm not usually like that. I need to spend less time thinking about Kofi and more time trying to figure out what to do with myself while I'm here. I don't know how I'm going to end the war and I don't know how to get my sister back. Kofi shouldn't even be a problem to consider, so why is he?

#

"Careful!"

Rocki barely heard Kofi's shout over her own yelp as she was tipped sideways midair by a gust of wind. She flapped her left wing harder to make up for it, but overcompensated and tilted the other way. Before she could completely fall over, she quickly lowered herself to the ground in an ungraceful stumble, wings and arms splayed out.

Kofi was by her side in a few long strides. "Are you all right?"

She shook her arms, trying to dispel her nerves and the pain from landing hard on her bad leg. "Yeah, I'm fine. Didn't expect that though."

He snickered. "I could tell."

She wacked him with her wing but couldn't help smiling. "Shut up. It's not my fault my teacher decided his wings hurt too much to go flying with me and actually teach me."

"Hey, I'm under doctor's orders."

"Sure you are."

"Besides, didn't I tell you? I'm not your teacher, I'm your date." He grinned rakishly, grabbing her hand.

She tried tugging it away, but he had anticipated that and gripped tighter. "Yeah, well, a date especially wouldn't make me fly by myself." She finally jerked her hand away while he laughed, but she didn't mind as much as she thought she would have.

"Excuse me for getting injured while I saved your life."

"You didn't save my life, the Sheeri did."

"What about when I ran you back to the ship after you got your leg blown up?"

Rocki rolled her eyes. "I'm sure Lindka would have taken care of me."

"But she didn't, I did. Don't I at least get a little recognition?" He widened his eyes, lips giving her a pout.

She fought a smile, shaking her head a little. "Whatever. Can I just try flying again?"

Kofi stepped back, giving her a mocking bow. "Of course."

Getting off the ground was the hardest part. There were multiple ways to do it, but of course, Rocki had to do the hardest one. She had been practicing taking off from a stand-still, heading straight into the sky. She could have jumped off the side of the building, but she didn't have enough faith in her flying skills yet to even jump from a shorter point. She could have taken a running start, but her leg wasn't allowing her to move that quickly yet. So, she was stuck trying to lift her entire body weight off the roof of the compound.

She beat her wings as hard as she could, taking a large step/jump at the same time. It took a few tries, but she finally got her body into the air and began climbing towards the warm sky.

"Be careful of the wind this time!" Kofi shouted.

She glanced down, stomach clenching at how far away he suddenly seemed. Her wings faltered, making her drop before she caught herself again. There is nothing to keep me from just falling ...

"Trust your wings!" he yelled at her. That had been one of the first things he told her at the beginning of her lesson. "Your wings are a part of you. You've just got to trust yourself. You're not going to let yourself fall, right?"

She flapped a little harder. I don't let myself down. I'm an overachiever. I trust myself to do everything else. I have to trust in this too. I'm smart, I'm brave, I'm strong enough to get over a small fear of heights and literally letting myself down. There's nothing to worry about.

"Make a circle!" Kofi instructed from the room.

Rocki slowly made a wide circle in the air, bracing herself against the wind that hit her in sudden bursts. "I feel a little shaky," she shouted down at him. "How do I fix that?"

He shrugged. "Just by spending time in the air. It'll come naturally soon, and you won't even think about it. Your wings will steady out on their own."

She noticed she was getting near the edge of the roof and glanced back to see if he would warn her away from it. He was only watching, a bit of a smile on his face. She looked back at the edge of the roof, hovering just a few feet away from it.

I'm not going to fall. I'll catch myself. She steeled herself, taking in a deep breath as she moved forward, slowly inching to the edge, then over it, then away from the roof. She didn't trust herself to look down yet, instead keeping her eyes on the wide horizon. The low sand dunes were almost blinding in the sunlight, but she couldn't keep her eyes off the line where the white met blue. Sand met sky. Ground met air.

"Rocki!" Kofi shouted after a few seconds. She turned back, again surprised by how far away he was. Her wings were faster than she thought. "Don't go too far."

She nodded, spinning around to take another look at the horizon. "Wow," she whispered to herself, smiling at the absolute beauty of it. Finally, she got the courage to look down and internally cringed. The ground was a ridiculous distance away. But I trust myself, I'm not going to fall.

Taking a breath, she tilted herself forward, propelling herself faster like she had seen Kofi do before. The speed thrilled her to the bone as she zoomed high over the dunes. The wind blew into her eyes, but with a blink it was gone, a clear film settling in just like it had at Sheere.

She laughed, arching her path back towards the roof. "What a feeling to be so alive. I have never seen me so alive." That song feels different when I'm up in the sky rather than listening to it on my phone.

When she went to land, Kofi ran up and grabbed her hips as soon as she was close enough, helping her to settle gently on the concreate. Her hands grabbed his shoulders for balance, still giggling a little.

"That was amazing!" she said, trying to catch her breath.

"I thought you might like it," Kofi said with a grin.

She blinked and felt the clear film that protected her eyes disappear. "Hey—what was that?"

One of his wings raised slightly. "What was what?"

"Sometimes a sort of ... film I guess goes over my eyes. It happened once on Sheere and then just a second ago when I was flying." She realized she was still holding onto his shoulders and let go, stepping back, but he didn't seem to have any incentive to remove his hands.

"Oh, that's just to protect your eyes from the wind. We all have it."

She relaxed a little. "Oh. That's good." Thank goodness I'm not more of a freak than I already am.

"You know ..." he said, pulling her a little closer. "It was nice to see you smile like that. You should do it more often for me."

Rocki raised her eyebrows skeptically. "For you?"

"Yeah, I liked it. You have a beautiful smile, blue eyes."

Her cheeks reddened, but she couldn't find any words to say, so she only stared into his dark eyes, trying to figure out why he would offer such a compliment and why his hands were still holding onto her hips.

His head bent down slowly, drifting closer until he stopped suddenly, eyes dimming a little. He leaned back, taking in a breath. "This has been a great date. Do you maybe want to end it with a kiss for your favorite teacher?" He puckered his lips teasingly.

Rocki wrinkled her nose, stepping back again. This time, he let his hands drop to his side. "No, thank you. My favorite teacher is a fifty-year-old woman back on Earth. And this hasn't been a date, it was a flying lesson."

He took in a breath to argue, but his watch buzzed, emitting a blue light like a phone screen would. Face dropping into a more serious expression, he took the earpiece out of the watch again and put it in. "Crem." He listened for a moment. "I'm in good health. And yourself?" There was silence as he frowned. Rocki looked towards the edge of the roof, trying to be as unintrusive as possible. "I don't think ... Fine, I'll ask." He looked at her, taking the earpiece out for a moment. "Rocki, do you want to join my family for dinner tonight? My brother says my mother is eager to meet you." He saw her hesitation and hurried to add, "you don't have to go. We don't have many family dinners since all of us are adults now, so I'm not sure what to tell you to expect."

Rocki gave herself a moment to think. It might be nice to relax and enjoy a dinner with his family. Is that kind of ... intrusive though? Family dinners feel like they should be special, without strangers joining. His mother did specifically invite me though, so she must not mind. "I think that might be nice," she admitted. "I wouldn't mind going."

He smiled at her, putting the earpiece back in. "Great. She said she would come. I'll see you tonight."