There's no Place like Home Chapter 7

There's no Place like Home

Chapter Seven:

"How am I going to get home now?!" I moaned after a moment of shocked silence. Slowly I sank down until I was sitting on the hard gravel covered ground. I'm never going to get home! I'm never going to see my family again! I'm-

A pair of arms wrapped around my shoulders, bringing me into a hug. Tears began to fall from my face; I quickly wiped them away with the back of my hand. Raphaelle just continued to sit next to me, holding me in a hug. I tucked my legs to my chest and dropped my head onto my knees. Morph rubbed up against my hair, no doubt trying to lift my spirits. I sat there and did nothing, I didn't cry or scream, they only thing I felt was the horrible feeling that I'd never see my home again.

No one moved for minutes, but to me it felt like hours. I was about to stand up and scream 'Do something! Don't just stand there!' but I couldn't move; I was too shocked by the turn of events. Finally I heard the crunch of gravel; I looked up to find Austin walking over to the ruins. He stooped down, picked up a piece rubble the size of his head, and examined it thoroughly. Then he set it down, picked up another piece from another pile and examined that one as well. He continued to move though each pile examining a piece from each one.

"You know," he said to no one in particular, "there are markings on all of these … I wonder …" He began to hold together pieces from the same pile. Austin finally looked at the rest of us, "Um, little help here guys?" he asked.

Jim, Jay, Gabriel, Nerita, Jennifer, and Adelaide were the first to move; Raphaelle, Angela, and Iris followed shortly after. Even Morph hovered over to the rubble though he wasn't much help. All he could do was hover around and pick up the smallest pieces of rock. I continued to sit there; finally I stood up and walked over to the ruins. I plopped down on a rock next to one of the piles, crossed my legs, put my elbows on my knees, and rested my chin in my hands.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked. My voice was weak and quiet.

"I'm going to see if I can get you home." Austin answered.

"Really?" I sat up straight in surprise, "You'll do that? For me?"

"Why are you so surprised?" he asked, turning to look me in the eyes, "You want to go home and it's the right thing to do."

I smiled, "Thank you. Thank you very much, Austin." I jumped up, slid down the rock, and began helping piece together the ruins.

***

"Klutzy, wake up!" Strong hands grasped my shoulders and gave them a shake, "Up!"

"Ugh! What time is it?" I glanced up through partly opened eyes. Jay stood over me, his sandy blond hair hanging down in his face. I hadn't noticed it before, but in this lighting he looked kind of … cute. Oh God! I did not just think that! I was more tired than I thought!

"It's midnight. Come on." He grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. "It's time to get back to the ship." Jay took my forearm in his hand and led me back to the ship. Looking over I saw the others had set up big spot lights around the ruins so they could continue working.

"Do you think Austin can really fix that thing?" I asked.

"I'm sure he can."

"How do you know that?"

"Jim believes he can. No, Jim knows he can and believes in him. If Jim believes in someone they can do anything."

"Are you bro-crushing on him or what?" I teased, "You do know he's married right?" He glared at me, "Okay jeez! I was kidding! Take a joke will ya!" I snapped. I thought the sarcasm in my voice had been obvious.

"Oh … is that an Earth joke?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Ah …"

We walked in silence until we got back to The Journey. In truth, the planet gave me the creeps in the daylight, but at night … I didn't want to be alone. Once we climbed aboard, the two of us stood on deck; the gray clouds covered the starry night sky.

"Are you going back to help?" I asked.

"Yeah it's still my shift. I took a break to walk you back."

"You know, when Jim suggested we work in shifts I didn't realize we were coming back to the ship."

"The girls thought it would be nice to sleep on actual mattresses, but you were already out cold, and they didn't want to wake you. They said you looked too peaceful."

"The girls?" I questioned, "So whose back here?"

"Raphaelle, Iris, and Jennifer."

"Cool. I'll see you later then. Night." I turned to leave but he grabbed my upper arm, "What?" I asked turning back to face him, an annoyed look on my face.

"I …" the look on his face, I couldn't quite place it, but it seemed like he was … lost. But he shook his head and the lost look in his eyes was gone. "Nothing," he mumbled, letting go of my arm and not looking me in the eye. "Nothing. Just um... Good night, Kisa. Sweet dreams."

I blinked, "Um, thanks. You too Jay, you too." I gave him a smile, "G'night." With a small wave I descended the stairs to where the crew sleeps. I expected to find Iris and Jennifer curled up on their cots; I didn't find them. They weren't anywhere in the sleeping quarters. Where are they?

I threw on my PJs and my boots before I ran across the deck (I don't like being outside, alone, in the dark) to the captain's quarters. I stuck my head inside and found Raphaelle, Iris and Jennifer sitting on the bed.

"Kisa!" Jennifer exclaimed, she patted the bed next to her, "Come on in! When did you get back?"

"Jay just walked me back …" I took note of the look that passed between their faces. I didn't know what the look was about, but I did not like it! I climbed up on the bed between Raphaelle and Jen. "Sooo …" I started, "What's up?"

"We were just reminiscing about our time in the Academy." Raphaelle answered.

"Ah… Well I'm going to go curl up in that corner. I'm beat."

"You feel asleep on the hard ground; we could have told you that!" Iris said.

"Sarcasm … that's new from you Iris." I raised my eyebrows at her.

The half Mutator Formarum, who was sporting a pinkish hair color, grinned. I couldn't help myself; I laughed. Hard. I'm not sure what was so funny; being tired does strange things to me. I'm either incredibly happy and laughing (a lot), or I'm a complete pain in the ass. (Pardon my French.)

The other three looked wiped as well, so we decided to hit the hay. Jennifer curled up on the floor in a pile of blankets, Iris was small and petit enough to be comfortable on the small coach in the room, and Raphaelle and I shared the bed.

As I crawled under the covers, I heard Jennifer mumble something along the lines of, 'Are you sure it's okay for her to sleep in that bed, Raphaelle? I mean nothing's happened there right? You haven't been having too much fun with Jim have you?' There was a sly tone to her voice. Raphaelle threw a pillow at her head. Iris and I laughed. The other two joined in a moment later. Unfortunately, once we started laughing we couldn't stop for a good ten minutes, and it wasn't even that funny! What is it about being tired that makes everything so hilarious?

"We used to have sleepovers and we stay up and talk in the dark about anything and everything. Remember that?" Raphaelle whispered to me in dark; we were lying on our sides facing one another. Iris and Jennifer could be heard breathing deeply and slowly in their sleep.

"Course I do. We'd talk about life and about your huge crush on Jim." I smirked at her even though she couldn't see me. "It's funny, I used to tease you about that, but now look at us. You're married to him and I have no boyfriend … funny how the world works."

She laughed, "yeah … that was back when our biggest issues were acne …"

I snorted, "Hello? Have you seen my face?" I motioned to it even though it was pitch black and neither of us could see a thing, "That's still one of my biggest issues!" I exclaimed.

She kicked me under the blankets, "It's not that bad! You have a pretty face and you know it!" She had a point, my acne used to be much worse. Still … "Although, I'm glad my issues are bigger now. I love my life. And my husband." I could hear the dreamy smile in her voice.

"Well I'd hope so!" She kicked me again, "Alright I'll stop, I'll stop…" We laid in silence for a moment.

"Well, G'night Melody. Sweet dreams."

"G'night Ariel. Sleep tight."

We both rolled over and within minutes we were fast asleep.

***

"I can remake it!" The door to the cabin flow open.

"AH!" The four of us shot up in surprise from where we had been sleeping. Austin and Jim burst through the door, both grinning from ear to ear.

"You can … do what now?" I gasped placing a hand on my chest, trying to slow my heart rate.

"I can fix the mechanism! I can get you home!"

"What?! Really!" I sat up on my knees and began bouncing up and down, "When will it be ready?!"

His grin faded. "That's the thing … I don't know. But I do know that I can make it smaller, I'll have to. We're going to head back to the Inn, I'll make it there."

"So long as I can make it back home sometime soon, then I guess I can wait." I told him, "Oh and Austin?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"No problemo Kisa, no problemo."

***

"We're just stopping here for the day to get some supplies for the trip back and the device Austin's making." Jim informed us as the crew filed off the ship. We were back on the market planet, and to tell the truth, I did not want to get off; I'd had enough pirate run-ins to last me a life time.

"Um, can I stay on the ship?" I asked.

"Um … sure." He looked over at his wife; she shrugged, "But why?"

"Oh um … I uh…" I hadn't thought through the 'why' part. I was just making up an excuse on the fly.

"We saw enough of the planet last time. Stalls and aliens. Way too many aliens on one little planet, it almost makes one claustrophobic." Jay covered for me, "I'm going to stay as well. I'm not a people person. And besides, who knows what'll happen if we leave her alone on the ship for too long," he jammed his thumb in my direction.

"Hey!" I snapped. What, did he think I'd burn the ship down or something? I'm not a pyromaniac!

Jim and Raphaelle looked at each other. If they suspected anything, they didn't let it show. "Alright. Just don't kill each other. We'll be back in a few hours and we'll bring some dinner with us." With that, they all left. I saw Morph slip into Jim pocket just before he walked off the ship.

I turned to Jay, "Um thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome, I guess." He turned and walked away. I wrinkled my brows in confusion. What is up with this boy lately? It's almost like he's being … I didn't finish the thought; why bother?

An hour later, I was swabbing the upper deck. Yes, I was so bored I was swabbing! What is this world coming to, Kisa?!

I splashed the last inch of water onto the deck, mopped it around, picked up the bucket and made my way to the stairs. I placed my foot on the first step and it flew out from under me. I had failed to take notice that when I had been mopping water, it had splashed down the steps, making them slippery. I squeezed my eyes shut; this is going to hurt!

Nothing. I opened one eye, I wasn't falling. I opened the other.

"Careful."

I turned my head; Jay had caught me under both armpits, and he'd told me to be careful without adding 'Klutzy' or using a sarcastic tone.

He started to pick me up and carry me bridal style. "What are you doing?" I asked in in confusion, struggling a little bit.

"Just relax," he said with barely any traces of annoyance in his voice. He carried me down the stairs and set me down on the main deck. I stepped away and stared at him with confusion and suspicion.

"Don't want you to have to go home with any broken bones," He shrugged. Again, there wasn't a single ounce of sarcasm in his voice.

With that, he just walked away, his hands in his pocket, acting as if nothing weird had just happened.

I let my brain finish my earlier thought. He is being nice… But … why?