It's decided I will continue my original mission as soon as the doc clears me. They agree to let Britt accompany me this time. It helps he not only has an amazing combat record but is one of the finest field pilots in Armada.

I listen to the door slide shut behind them, as Sica and Nekkal make their exit. Looking over to Britt I am amazed to see he is still frozen in place. Damn, he's intense. I am uneasy and at a loss for words. Sica had been a good distraction. I feel myself swallow a lump in my throat.

Britt finally stops staring at the door and looks at me. His face blank as he keeps his military strict posture.

Something in my eyes must tell him how awkward and uncomfortable I am feeling because his face soften slightly.

He finally shakes off his cold stance and takes three swift strides towards me. We are finally alone. However, the doc could come back at any time.

I feel torn between screaming my frustration and wanting to cry from it. Once again he intuitively just knows what to do. Sitting down on the bed he scoops me up and hugs me tightly. I curl into him, bringing my knees up and burying my head in his shoulder.

"Don't worry Zea, it will be ok. I promise."

"How are you not furious at me?" I hear him swallow hard. I brace myself for his answer.

"How would you feel if I told you I knew everything the whole time?"

My heart stops. What in the stars?

"Explain."

My muscles stiffen and Britt pulls back a little to look down at my face. His thumb strokes the fine lines on my furrowed brow, down my jawline, to rest on my chin. He tilts my face up and looks me square in the eyes. Then his mind speaks to mine.

"The Orikai sent me to watch you. They couldn't tell you how important you are because you weren't ready. But whether you're ready or not, the truth always finds a way out. And they wanted someone they trusted with you when it did."

I feel sick. He had been sent to watch me.

"How long?"

I had left the sanctuary of the Orikai and went directly into the Armada Academy at the age of seventeen. Had Britt already been there? I couldn't remember. The first time I remember meeting him, was my first mission. We had been placed in the same unit.

"I was with you on Orik. They just made sure you never saw me. I had to watch you, learn everything about you. Right down to the subtle twitch in your eye when you're about to lose your temper. Or the darkening of your eyes when your heart is breaking." He whispers the last part looking guilty as he holds my gaze.

"Why?"

I can't breathe. No! This isn't happening. Not Britt. I need him!

"They needed someone to guard and protect the Universe's only hope at finding the one who will save us from the Zu'Lar. They need you to find the one who can stop this Universe from self destruction Zea."

"What the hell are you talking about Britt?" I jump out of the bed, out of his arms, away from his reach.

I stand chest heaving, eyes blazing. I feel a tear trickle down my left cheek. How the fuck could he do this to me? He is supposed to be my friend!

"Zea, please. Is this not better than thinking you had been hiding, lying to me, for years?" Was it? I don't know what to think.

I am supposedly a Krog and not just any Krog. The one hope this Universe has at finding the one who can save us? My head hurts. I feel ill and I want to kill something, all at the same time.

"I don't know. I... What about your Ak'ia? Was she a lie?"

"She was my partner, that is true. We were close. But the day she died I had to choose. Yet it wasn't a choice. We both knew, no matter what happened to the other, you had to live."

"She wasn't your soul mate?"

Britt just shakes his head, eyes sad.

"Then why the weird behaviour. Why the fucked up episodes were you kept losing control and making screwed-up decisions?"

"It was my fault she died. We had been friends since we had been babes. It was also my own negligence that caused her death. I wasn't paying attention. I was distracted. I will never forgive myself."

We clash eyes. His are hard and cold with his resolve to punish himself. He has accepted his mistake but he appears to be utterly disgusted with himself. No forgiveness.

It is as if whatever had distracted him, had been wrong. Very wrong. However, the male is the epitome of military perfection. What could distract him from his assignment?

I remember the day she died. He had saved my ass from a Zu'Lar, who had portalled right behind me. Silent as a fucking shadow.

One moment I was picking off Zu'Lar bastards with my sniper rifle, and the next I was knocked down while Britt tackled my would-be assassin. Then we had heard the scream. It turned quickly into a gurgle.

We had rushed over to her but we had been too slow. I killed the Zu'Lar while Britt went to her. Honestly, it had looked like he loved her with all his body and soul. Perhaps he had, but thinking back, I honestly can't say if it had been the love of friends or lovers. What did either even look like? Stars!

"We need to practice your control Zea. Here in the med bay for some reason I can hear all your thoughts." His one eyebrow raises up at me. Typical Britt teasing. Even now, after everything.

"I need time. I ... I don't know how I feel or what to think."

"I understand."

As much as I want to run away and hide, I don't seem able to stop myself from talking. I am a glutton for punishment.

"If you knew about me, why did you get so pissed at Ufrik yesterday? And why the hell didn't you warn me about this ship's screwed up security system?"

"Ufrik is another story, for another day. And Zea? Would you have been ready for this talk yesterday?"

"Fuck! Fuck and double fuck!"

Swearing makes me feel better. It is all I got at the moment. I look up at the white ceiling and rub my face with both hands.

Britt isn't going to explain his issues with Ufrik or why he'd been so upset. Where had Ufrik gone anyway? I will find him.

"Zea. I wish I had done things differently. But we are here now. And I can't change the past."

Britt stands up, his eyes showing more than they normally do. I see regret and longing.

Longing... It does something to my insides. How could I be so utterly confused and still be so attracted to this male?

His rugged handsome features stand chiselled before me. I see the faint outlines of his muscles through his shirt as it pulls tight across his chest when he places his hands behind his back.

His eyes darken and he licks his lips slightly, chewing on his bottom lip. It's what Britt does when he is trying to make a decision.

Suddenly I realize I am wearing a skimpy medical gown. It barely covers my butt and my nipples are poking out through the thin material as I stand here on the cold hard floor barefoot.

The air grows thick with tension, as my gold eyes clash with his stormy brown. Deep brown with green flecks. Since when did his eyes have green flecks? Until the other day I had never noticed this detail before.

Shaking my head I look away. How the blazes can I be so turned on by him? I just learned he had been lying to me for the entire duration of our friendship.

Staring at the floor in front of me I feel frozen to the spot. I don't dare move, in case I accidentally find myself wrapped around the male.

I don't know what to say. Is this worse than just moments before, when I had been thinking I had been the one lying, for our entire friendship?

This is such bullshit! I hate this. I hate feeling at a loss, confused and not in control. I can't even control my own damnable body around him!

I feel my energy start to build inside me. My K'ai reaches out for more. It feels starved still. I find energy everywhere and it feels so good.

My shoulders roll backwards and my head tilts up more. The energy sweeping my body is better than a hot bath.

I start to forget all the hurt and confusion. I focus on the euphoric feeling of energy coursing through every cell of my body. I relish in the tingling sensation of raw power running over my skin. I suddenly feel the need to destroy something.

I inhale deeply, my eyes landing on the med bay equipment, then my temporary bed. Maybe if I just blow up a few things I will feel better. I start to build a small ball of energy in between my palms.

I have barely gotten started when I feel a hand on my shoulder. I look over to my right. Britt stands there, concern in his eyes and a look of admiration.

"Zea, love. This isn't the way. Please."

With his words come with a flood of emotions. His emotions. Everything he has ever felt for me slams into me with a force of a solar flare. I lose my breath and the energy ball sizzles away instantly. His emotions roll over me like a warm wave.

I feel his concern from the first time he saw me in Orikai. His dislike of the thought of having to babysit me. The sorrow he felt for me when they told him my story. Finally begrudging respect. Then the fear of losing me, anxiety over having to live a lie, admiration for my combat skills, the longing to be close to me always, the need to be by side until death.

Then he lets me see myself through his eyes. The image steals my vision and I drop to my knees chest tight. I don't feeling the pain of my knees slamming into the hard floor, with all my dead weight, my every thought hijacked by Britt's.

This male is one hundred percent in love with me. Tears slide down my face. After everything, I have done to him, to others. The things he's seen me do, he loves me?

The confusion of my own contradicting emotions floods back as Britt stops the onslaught of his. It doesn't consume me like before though. Britt still has his hand on my shoulder. His feelings of love and longing still longerurdu, and it helps. What the hell do I do now?

I look up at him. I feel lost, broken. I had originally thought I'd been lying to him. But it turns out he had known the whole time. And he had an even bigger secret. I will never hate him. No matter how much it hurts. And really if I am honest, I would rather be the one to hurt. Not Britt. Perhaps it is better this way.

Stars, we haven't even gotten to the "Warrior Princess" part, or what the hell that means.

Screw it. I will be what I decide. Not some title told to him by the Orikai. He is right, the past is messed up in more ways than one.

His dark eyes meet my fiery gold. His hand strokes the side of my face.

"Ahhhh, Zea. Shit woman. I can't do it anymore. I can't pretend it's just convenience that brought me to your bed." His face becomes very serious then. "I will kill any male that tries to touch you. So if you don't want me, you might have to kill me first."

The crazy male is serious. As always, serious and intense once he's made up his mind.

Staring into his dark eyes I realize I feel the same though. The thought of him with another female brings me to the line of psychotic. I just nod my understanding. I decide that even though I have no clue what to say, I will never hide anything from Britt again.

I open the flood gates of my emotions and let him feel everything.

He sucks in a sharp breath. Visibly surprised at my outpouring of emotions. There is one thing that bothers me more than everything else.

"She died because you saved me."

Britt simply nods. It is a heavy burden no matter what. I am the reason she died, and he had had to save me. And not just because he had fallen in love with me.

"I am sorry Britt." Without thinking I reach up and touch his face. "I wish we had been honest with each other sooner. I could have helped carry this burden."

"You have no idea how badly I wanted to tell you everything. I was at my end wits after that." I nod. I get it.

I would have been too. Choosing between your best friend since birth and the woman you secretly love and are sworn to protect. Yet he never had a choice. In that split second he had been forced to accept she was already dead.

My heart breaks for him. If I hadn't been a part of the Armada military for so long, I may not have understood. But when you get specific orders, and your purpose is greater than yourself... Well, you don't have a choice.

I wrap my arms tight around him. Somehow I am in his lap again, this time sitting on the floor. Then without my conscious consent, our mouths find each other, as if they have a mind of their own. Then before I know it we are sprawled out on the floor, not caring who walks in for a free show.

With our emotions flowing freely between us, and our naked bodies inflaming sensations everywhere, it is one hell of an experience. I black out in the end. Completely forgetting where we are and falling blissfully into a euphoric sleep.