I am Number Ten

CHAPTER 9

I could barely speak between the kissing. Just to hold him again, just to see his milk chocolate eyes again has me sobbing in between our embrace. I'm allowed to run my fingers through his sleek brown hair! For a few moments I'd thought we'd lost everything, but just to have something back, gives me some solace.

"I missed you so much!" I sob when we manage to break apart.

"I missed you too," he says. His voice! Oh, my Gawd his voice! A little raspy, but perfect.

"You have no idea how much I missed seeing your smile!" I say through the tears, holding his face in my hands. He's a little pale and his face is slightly sunken, but that's probably from dehydration. There are dark circles under his eyes and his hair is now shagging over his forehead, but he's awake and I can hold him again.

"I-I missed you too," he says, trying to console me and himself.

        After a long embrace, I look into his eyes. I trace my finger along the ridge of his chin. I never want to let go. Noto clears his throat to break us up.

"I-uh-I thought you'd like to see him. When he woke up and he was asking for you. It was a couple of hours ago, my wife was in the car and she heard them stirring. She called me and both of them woke up. Blake was pretty anxious to see you, but we have a bigger problem. The uh- the guy we called Michael, he's...he knows more than you'd expect."

"What's his real name? What does he know? How did you end up in the coma? Did you see anything?"

"I don't..."

        Something flashes in my mind. I stop short, breath catching in my throat. I see images. Pain, the boy, the black eyes of the Mogs, the cold, fire, the body...blood, tears. A massive ship dropping from the sky, the earth shaking.

"Christina-"

        I look up at a concerned Blake. I have my hand against the car window and my Externa has acted up. I remove it and regain my balance.

"What'd you see?" Blake asks.

"Just images, really, impressions, blood and the cold..." I stop. "And a ship dropping from the sky."

"What kind of ship?" Noto asks.

"An invasion ship..."

        I stare up at the sky. Trillions of innocent stars twinkle above us, but I know what I saw and it certainly wasn't harmless. We need to face the inevitable, the invasion is coming. I NEED to find the other Garde really soon. We don't stand a chance alone. From what I saw and heard at Dulce, we can fight and win... my heart sinks when I think of the recently fallen Garde and the betrayal of the boy... my friend and my closest connection to Lorien.

"Christina, what's wrong?" Blake insists.

I look up at him again, his eyes filled with exhaustion and worry.

Protect.

"I'll explain later, but Noto needs to get the family and make themselves scarce," I say. I turn to Noto. "Does Max have my chest?"

"Yeah, he won't let it out of is sight. He sees it like a treasure chest."

"What about this Michael character?"

"He's real name is Jason Heaton, he's astronomy professor at Harvard, or rather he was until he was abducted for doing too much research and posting information on a blog known as 'They Walk Among Us.' He's in the restaurant right now."

"I can deal with him later, right now I want your family out of harm's way," I order.

        A few minutes later, I have Noto and his family in the car ready to depart with passports and luggage.

I meet with Max first.

"Thank you for taking care of my Chest," I say, kneeling down to his level. I can see he's reluctant to leave the country. I tilt his chin up so our eyes meet. "Don't worry buddy, my friends and I will beat the bad aliens and then you can come home. I promise you that. Okay?"

Max nods. "Kick some bad alien butt!"

I smile and pull him into a hug. I help him into the car and turn to Noto's wife. She's still hesitant about me, but that's fine with me.

"Thank...you," she says.

"You don't need to worry, we're going to end this war and then you can live in peace." I hold my hand out and she shakes it subtly.

"I agree with Max, kick some butt."

I snicker as I turn to Noto. His shaggy hair is unkempt an he's growing a beard now. His dark eyes are bloodshot and set against dark circles of exhaustion.

"I guess this is goodbye..." He says, scratching the back of his head.

"For now..." I say encouragingly.

"I-I..."

"You've made a lot of mistakes,"  I say for him.

"Yes..."

"But I think you've redeemed yourself a bit." I smile.

        Noto cracks a small grin. I think this is the first real smile I've seen on his face. It looks nice, it makes his eyes seem brighter.

You look nice with a smile. I think to him.

"Chrisina...I-I"

I just hug him.

"You're forgiven," I say, through the folds of his shirt.

I glare at him and poke him hard in the chest. "But don't ever double cross me again," I say in a threatening voice. Noto's eyes go wide in fear, but then I smile to show him I'm kidding.

"That seems fair, I deserved that," Noto says, stifling a laugh.

        I can't believe we have to say good-bye. We've been to hell and back, together. We had a rough start, but now I know that we are allies and friends. I couldn't have made it this far without him and vice versa.

"I want to thank you for saving my life, multiple times back there." He lowers his voice. "And for not telling my family about what...I tried to do to you and Blake..."

"We all make mistakes, it wasn't your fault fully anyways. The past is the past, the least you can do now is protect your family." I murmur pulling out of the hug. I realize I'm tearing up a bit and I wipe them away.

"Okay..." I say changing the subject. "Have a good trip, stay hidden and I'll hope to see you..uh...after the war."

Noto heads toward the car and pauses at the door.

"You kick some serious ass okay?" he says.

I grin at him and turn my hand stainless for him. He smiles again as I whack my fist against my palm. I watch the car and rev off into the darkness.