Through Space and Time

Nineteen

"Are you ready?" All Miguel wanted to do was help the apprehensive Raegan, but she was beyond his reach, deep inside her head. "Do you need a few more moments before we go?"

"I think so." She shook her hands hard by her side. "I just keep thinking of the zombie disaster, you know? What if that ruined everything? What if I make another error like that?"

Miguel wanted to tell Raegan that she didn't need to worry for long because some 'True Ruler' would eventually become obvious, but something stopped him from speaking those words. He wondered if the angel had done something to him, so he didn't spill details that didn't need to be out there just yet. He had to wait until the time was right.

"You can't prepare yourself for this," he informed her instead. "Not until we get there. There must be a part of you that's excited to be back on Earth once more..."

If Raegan closed her eyes, she could feel it already, she was almost eight-years-old again with her father by her side, drinking in that comfort from him.

"And the radiation levels will be okay?" she checked once more as her hands fluttered over her sickly nervous tummy. "Because it isn't that long ago there was a nuclear war..."

"The goblins took the radiation with them when they crossed your planet," the angel informed them. "It's a source of food for them, so there is nothing left."

Raegan nodded as if this wasn't totally insane. After everything she'd seen it seemed there were still some oddities left in the universe for her to wrap her head around. One day, this could all seem normal, she would be adjusted to it, but that day wasn't right now.

"So, where are we going to land when we get back?" Miguel asked her curiously. "You grew up in England, didn't you? Is that where you would prefer to restart? I don't think there is anything left of Spain. It got hit really badly by one of the bombs."

"I think home did as well." Of course Raegan wanted to be home, but she had to remember this mission wasn't for reminiscing alone. They had a job to do. "Maybe America, if that's still there. There isn't any guarantee anywhere looks the same..."

"We can work it out when we get there." Miguel held her hands softly. "Let's just get there."

The angel surrounded them in a glowing white light, one that lifted them from the ground and twisted the universe around them. The sensation sickened the humans, but they managed to keep the nausea to a minimum by recalling where they were headed. The place where they had always been trying to get to. It had been a very long time, practically a lifetime, but Earth was coming for them and they were about to embark on a brand new chapter...

"Woah." Raegan tumbled to the floor as soon as something firm appeared underneath her. The sensation of grass surrounded her, transporting her back to way back when. "Earth."

She wasn't sure how long she lay there on the floor just soaking it all in, but the angel and Miguel left her to take all the time she needed. Thank goodness, because there was so much to wrap her head around. Least of all the concept that she needed to lead from here on out...

"Other people," she rasped, finally pushing herself upwards. "Where are they? How will we get them here? I really don't want to do this by myself. How will I delegate?"

"Don't worry, Little One." The angel patted her gently on the head in a way that managed not to be patronizing. "I do not intend to leave you here alone. Now you are on the planet and ready to rule, it is written that the angels will help you all return."

"You'll get them?" Raegan stared up at the ethereal being through her slightly sodden eyelashes. "All of them? Including my father?"

"Alan Stevens, he is on my radar. I will bring him back to you."

"Miguel told me that he has a group of humans," she gushed, desperate to get across how important this really was. "He's leading right now. If anyone can give me advice on how to make this work, it's him. I need him. I don't know if I can do this without him."

Raegan barely even got to the end of her sentence before the light vanished and the angel was gone, leaving her and Miguel alone on Earth at long last.

"I've never been to America before," Miguel declared to break the tension of the moment. They both needed a bit of a laugh before they delved into the serious stuff. "It's big, isn't it? And look, you can see in the distance that the White House is still standing, of all places to have survived. We need to go and check it out, right? We can't pass up on the chance..."

"There will probably be information there too," Raegan replied with her head firmly on work, not that Miguel found himself surprised. "We have time before everyone else arrives. I don't know how much time, but I want to use it wisely. The more we can learn about the mistakes of the past, the less likely we'll be to make them again. We have a higher responsibility this time around, more species relying on us. We have to make it work."

"You're right." Miguel nodded determinedly. "What better place to begin."

Their hands connected as they admired the journey ahead of them, and that didn't just include the walk to the White House, but everything else to come afterwards. Raegan and Miguel had a lot to deal with, a lot to overcome, but since they'd already survived so much together, there was one thing of which they could be certain...

That this was a journey they would walk through together.

Together and in love.