The Indestructibles

Chapter 9: But Love Is

I jolted awake to the sound of an opening window. Slowly and silently I pulled in my limbs and stood, careful not to wake anyone. I carefully tiptoed down the hall and glanced in Harmony's room to see an empty bed. Just as I started to panic, I noticed the still-made sheets. The bed was unlaid in. Glancing out the window I saw a curled up, familiar shape. I let my foot land on a creaky floorboard and she jolted around. Harmony's eyes were wet with tears, shining in the starlight.

"It's me," I said softly, slowly walking across the room. She shifted to face me, sniffling. I climbed out the window, wincing as my feathers caught in the narrow space. I settled down next to her and gazed at the stars overhead.

"It never gets old," I said, breaking the silence. "Looking at the sky. Every time is just as magical the first. Every moment bears a different sky with different stars, clouds, shades of blue. It's always so beautiful." We paused before I continued. "So what are you doing out here?" I asked, glancing at her out of the corner of my eye.

"I always come out here when I'm sad," she answered. "Helps me clear my head. My aunt is really giving me a hard time. She hates what I wear, how I act. She..." Her voice broke. "She blames me for my parent's death. Her and my mom were super close. She said they rebelled for me, fought for me. For my future. And that if I wasn't born they..." She took a shaky breath. "They would still be alive." I didn't know what to say.

"Well, did your parents love you?" I asked. I had never had any, but I assumed that's what they did.

"'More than the number of stars in the sky,' they said," she whispered, lifting her tear-stained face to the sky. "That's why this is my favorite place. Seeing all these stars. It's almost like they're here with me." Her eyes closed, squeezing out a few more tears. "Like I'm not living alone." I gently grabbed one of her hands and we touched for the first time. I was surprised at the softness of her skin, so different from my thin, stiff teammates.

"You aren't living alone anymore," I whispered, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. She turned to me and I felt the breath get knocked out of me. Her beautiful eyes shone in the starlight, shadows playing along her face just so. When she smiled, it was brighter than every star combined.

"I guess I'm not," she answered, squeezing my hand back. We sat in silence, but not awkward as it usually was. This was a content quiet, just the both of us staring up at the stars.

"Look," she said after a bit, pointing up with the hand not entwined with mine. "It's you." As I tilted my head in confusion, she laughed and gestured again. "See, it looks like a person with wings." Suddenly it clicked, and I could see it. A person with hands on their hips, lines stretching out to either side that did indeed look like wings.

"I see it," I breathed, gently laying my head on her shoulder. She rested her own head on mine, a few stray curls falling in my eyes. As I blew them out of the way, Harmony squeezed my hand again.

"Your turn," she said. "What do you see?" I scanned the stars, but I couldn't manage to arrange them into new shapes. All I could see are our navigational maps. As I was about to give up, something caught my eye.

"There's you," I said, shifting a bit to point. She turned her head on mine and giggled.

"What on earth are you looking at?" she asked.

I pointed again and said, "That one. It's the biggest and brightest." I felt her cheeks shift in a smile. "And the most beautiful. Just like you."

"That's the north star," she said. I already knew that, but I didn't say anything. "My parents told me that it was the most used star for navigation." She looked at me and grabbed my chin, turning my face to hers. "They said it would always be there to lead you home," she whispered as her lips landed on mine. My feathers ruffled in surprise. I had seen Human Jamie and Rose do this, but I only now understood why. I pressed my lips against hers, relishing the gentle give of her mouth. My hand lifted to the back of her head, fingers tangling in the dark ringlets.

"Who needs an aunt who loves you," I whispered against her lips, "when you've got a mutant bird-fish who does?" She laughed, and it was like the stars shone three times as brightly. Our lips came together again, this time more gently, slow in the assurance that neither will pull away.

I hesitated as I remembered that I am here on a mission. That I would have to kill Harmony. But now I pushed that thought aside. There would be a way to spare her, I assured myself as I pressed my mouth against hers again. There had to be.