rip at his heart at the sight. She turned and hugged him fiercely and he hugged her back, holding her as she cried into his chest. He felt tears at his own eyes. It was hard not to cry around someone else who was crying, but he hated most of what she had told him, hated that she had to endure this. She was such a good person, she just wanted to help people, she didn't deserve any of this. And so he sat there and held her while she cried for a long time.

He had the idea that she was crying not just for what had happened recently, but maybe for what had happened over the past however long of her life, since her parents had died. Maybe longer. There was a lot to cry about nowadays.

When she was finished, she stayed in his embrace for a few more minutes, then slowly disengaged herself from him. "I'm sorry," she murmured, looking at his shirt, which was very wet now. "I really cried a lot."

She sounded a lot calmer now. "Don't be sorry. I'm not. You needed that," he replied.

She smiled slightly. "I guess I did. I feel a lot better now. Well...a lot less bad. Empty of sadness and anger and despair...I think there might be room for happiness again." She gave him a brief kiss on the mouth suddenly. "Thank you so much for that. I really, really needed that." She yawned. "I need to sleep. Goodnight, Seth. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Seri," he replied. She got up and left. He watched her go, wondering how to interpret that little kiss.

Finally, he decided not to over-complicate things, and that he was exhausted, and needed to get some sleep himself. He walked back to the cargo ramp and raised it up for the night, locking it into place. If Yex showed up, he knew how to activate it. He then walked to the bridge and double-checked the security systems, then made his way back to his and Nova's room. He stripped down, made sure he had a clear path from the door to the bed, then turned out the lights all the way. Carefully, he made his way in the darkness to the bed.

As he got back beneath the blankets and settled in to sleep, Nova came awake. "Seth?" she whispered. "Are you okay?"

"I'm okay, Nova," he replied. "I'm fine. Everything's okay."

She let out a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. I just...I was so worried..."

"I'm sorry for today, for being reckless, for making you worry," he replied.

She yawned. "It got the job done, I guess...but for the record, don't do that again or I'm going kick you in the shins."

He laughed softly. "Understood."

"What time is it?"

He checked the chronometer mounted on the wall, a faint glow in the darkness. "It's just past two in the morning."

"Okay, good. Lots more time to sleep."

She rolled over and he pressed himself against her warm, soft body. Wrapping his arm around her, he held her close to him and quickly fell asleep.