Eleventh

Chapter 17

MADI's POV:
we all stop at a motel for the night in the Everglades as we figure out what to do next. Most of us have our own rooms besides Six and Marina, and Sam and his dad. I'm getting ready for bed as I hear a knock on my room door. I open it to find Adam standing there, with tears running down his pale cheeks. "Madi.." he says, coming in. "What's wrong?" I say, sitting down with him, and hugging him. "I just. I know he was a terrible person, but when we were leaving, I saw my mother. She was kneeling beside him, heartbroken. I never even got to say goodbye to her... or my sister. I know my mom didn't support me but she still showed me love. Always..." he says, sobbing.

"Adam, I'm so sorry! I can't even imagine how hard that must have been.. why didn't you say anything at the time?" "Because, I was scared to be judged. But I just needed to talk to someone about it.." "of course. I'll always be here for you. I.. never mind." I say. I almost said something that would have been wayyyyyy too risky.

He looks at me, and then we both sit there in silence for a few moments. "You..." he starts. "Nothing, it isn't important." I say, trying to change the subject. Then, he quickly and suddenly pulls me in, and we share a short, but sweet, kiss. It's sentimental, and I can feel my face go bright red. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-

"It's okay," I tell him, grabbing his hand. "I just. I was also thinking about that.. and all the emotion came out at once.." he says, starting to calm down a lot. "About what?" I ask. "I don't know, I guess I've liked you for a really long time, but then seeing you and Sam, I figured you guys had more in common, so I tried to push it down, and-

I cut him off with another soft kiss, and then take his face in my hand. "Adam, I've liked you for a while too." I smile. I catch a small smile on his face as well. "And Sam and I, we just have stuff in common. But we don't have chemistry. Him and six do though, jeez" we both laugh. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He says.

I start to frown. "But, we're in the middle of a war... I just don't know. I like you a LOT, but we both know it isn't wise to start something in the middle of war. It's just not a good idea," I state.

"You're right, but we wouldn't have to let it get in the way of our fighting ability." "But Adam, a mog and a Loric together? That just puts us both at target. Extremely. Also, being that I'm pretty strong, they'll have no problem trying to kill me. I won't go unnoticed. I mean, we could try to keep it a secret, but I just can't live in a lie. I mean, would you be able to live like that?"

"I guess you're right about that... but hey. We both know how we feel. So I guess that's all that matters." He smiles. "I know it's getting late, so I should probably get back to my room," he tells me, heading for the door. "Wait, please stay just a bit longer. I don't mind if you don't. You still deserve comfort, and I can tell you need it" "oh okay. I don't mind," he says. We both sit together for a little while, with the lamp on, talking.

"Just so you know, it isn't that I don't want to be seen together with you in front of the others." I reassure him. "It's just a safety precaution. That'll put a target on both of our backs." "I know. I get it. And after the war, things will be different," he says, giving a small smile. We go outside for a little while and lay in the grass to watch the night sky.

"Adam!! Shooting star!!" I whisper, shaking him. But no response. He must have fallen asleep. I lightly levitate him up, and into the room once more, and then I tuck him in to one of the beds, and then I go to the other since there's two in a room. Then, I slowly drift off to sleep.

We wake up in the morning and meet with the rest of our group. "We have to get to our temple, down in New Mexico. It's our last hope, our last connection to Lorien. I'm hoping that maybe, it'll give us more power." John tells us. "There's a temple down there? Is that what they always told us about?" Marina asks. "Yes," he answers. "And it looks like the Mogadorians plan to go there too..." "Then it's our job to protect it, it's our land, and we need to preserve all that we have left." Marina says. "I agree, but there's something else. There's a human who's involved with the Mogadorians, and he wants to meet to negotiate with the Lorics." Malcolm informs us. "I'm not sure if that's wise.." John says. "Why don't we just kill Him?" "John!" I say, shocked. "We don't senselessly kill. It's not our way. It's better to try and negotiate, and only do that if we have to,"

"But this is the mogs, they don't show any mercy. Why should we?" He says. He's been different since we lost eight. "Listen, I get that we lost eight, and I'm sad too, but we aren't going to stoop down to their level, the Mogadorians. We can't. It's not right. If we become merciless, we are just like them!"

He stops to think a bit. "Besides, the dude might have answers." Nine says. "I second him," Lucy says, smirking. "He seems pretty smart with that type of stuff." "Why, thank you," he says, puffing his chest out a little. "By the way, what you did on that roof top with the bow and arrow?? Totally badass" he replies. "Duh, I know," she says. They start to chat, and then John says "I guess.. I guess you're right. We can't become like them. So, who's going where?"

"You, Nine, Lucy, and Sam should go to New York to meet up with him," I suggest. "Me, Six, Marina, and Adam should go to the temple?"

"I think that's wise," Marina says. "Yeah, and then you can have some alone time with your man," Lucy whispers, smirking and gesturing to Adam. I smile and blush, and tell her "it's not like that.." "oh sure. I see the way he looks at you," she says, poking me in the upper arm several times. "Hey, stay in touch, okay?" She says. "Of course!" I reply. And so then, we split up.Malcolm takes them al in a car to New York while the rest of us take the ship down to New Mexico. It sucks splitting up, but I know the others are strong enough to hold their own.

We arrive at the temple, shocked when we discover... "oh shit.." six says, realizing the place is surrounded by Mogadorians