Dum Vivo Amo ( While I live I love)

Kane

"No! She stays! She stays!" He had to save her. He was sobbing, gasping for air. "Abby!" He wanted to scream, and yet his voice was merely a breathless whisper. He felt panic sweep over him. He would not reach her in time. He desperately tried to step over the sea of bodies that separated them. A hand reached out and firmly clasped itself around his ankle, preventing him from moving forward. He looked down in horror and could feel the bile begin to rise in his throat. His mother was staring up at him, dark, hollow sockets where eyes had once been. "Mom...?" Marcus froze in horror as a sharp pain tore through his chest.

"You could not save me, and you cannot save her!" She hissed, pointing a bony finger towards the empty spot on the floor. "You're too late!"

"No!" His silent cries trapped in his lungs. "Forgive me," he whispered as the crushing weight of his guilt forced him to the ground. Laying on the ground, prostrate, he wept. "Forgive me..."

Kane's eyes flew open, he was panting heavily. His lungs greedily taking in oxygen. As his pupils adjusted to the fluorescent lights which illuminated the room, 12 stoic faces slowly came into focus. It had been a dream. A nightmare. Abby was safe. "I-I must have dozed off... I have not really slept much since..." He felt his face grow warm. Had they heard him as he cried out to Abby in his dream?

"No one here has been able to sleep, Kane." Octavia's voice was low and controlled, her face concealing any trace of emotion. Octavia stood from her chair and looked sternly at the 12 ambassadors still seated before her. "Go, we are done for today," she commanded. They were dismissed.

Kane remained seated, trying to regain control over his breathing. Breathing is important, Abby had reminded him. He slowly closed and opened his eyes, still not yet completely lucid. His nightmare had seemed so real.

Octavia placed her hand firmly on his shoulder. "Hodnes ste kwelnes." (Love is weakness.)

Kane looked up up at the new leader. Her pale green eyes bore into his. He could feel her strength. The girl under the floor. The girl whose existence was hidden for 16 years, was now heda kom Wonkru, leader of the human race. He felt a strong sense of pride and admiration for the young leader. Octavia had come a long way from who she had been on the Ark. They all had. Perhaps one day he would be able to explain to her how much he loved her, as a father loves his daughter.

"No," he whispered gently. "Hodnes ste uf." (Love is strength.) Please don't forget that." He nodded to Indra, who stood dutifully at Octavia's side, always faithful and loyal. And as Kane walked out of the room, he thought he caught a glimpse of Octavia wiping her eye.

Abby. Kane began to run down the long hallway that separated them. He had to see her. He needed to see that she was alive and safe. Arriving to the medical room, Kane's eyes began frantically searching for Abby. He breathed a sigh of relief as his eyes registered her small frame. Abby was laying on a small cot, sleeping. He felt his pulse and breathing accelerate, a warm and  familiar tingling sensation fluttered in his stomach.  His body responded to the mere sight of her. How could someone so small possess such tremendous power over him. He couldn't help but smile. And she had said that he was the terrible influence. He kneeled on the floor beside her, lightly brushing his lips against her cheek.

"Hmmm..." Abby murmured slowly opening her eyes. She reached out and softly caressed his beard. His entire body was responding to her touch, to her deep yet soft voice. Abby smiled, her face was glowing, illuminated by an inner light that served as a constant beacon in the darkness that surrounded them. The same light which he had once feared; he now desperately craved. He was in awe of the woman lying before him. She had saved him, in every sense of the word. And he vowed that he would spend the rest of his life showing her that she too was worth saving. As he stared into her eyes, he noticed the redness and hint of moisture. She had recently been crying.