Surely, Yunho had to have spent months in this hole in the wall that passed for a cell.  With no access to lights, clocks, or really anything to tell how long he had been trapped in the Tu brig, Yunho’s usually keen sense of time failed him.  His food didn’t even come at regular intervals.  Whenever he was hungry, a tray with bread and some kind of meat appeared.  Sometimes there was even fruit or vegetables with it.  There was a pitcher of water in his cell that never seemed to run dry.   He even had something that passed for a bathroom, complete with a shower.  That is, if he could find it in the pitch-blackness that passed for light in his cell.  The only thing that gave him hope that there was a world outside his cell was the bond.  Kari had been unconscious the entire time he had been aboard the Tu ship, but at least she was still alive.  Badly hurt, yes, but alive.  He clung to that knowledge and the bond.  It was his only hope of keeping his sanity intact.

Kari groaned.  Her entire body felt like it was on fire.  Surely unconsciousness was better.  Unfortunately, her body had other ideas. 

“Kari?  Are you awake?”

She looked up to find Heka’s concerned face above hers.  His expression was a mixture of sadness, concern, anger, and compassion.  What an odd mix.  Her answer came out as another groan as she opened her eyes.  Even the dim light in the room made her head spin and her eyes ache. 

Heka placed a hand on her shoulder.  “Don’t strain yourself.  You’ve been hurt pretty badly and been in a coma for nearly a week.”  Pain washed away the rest of the emotions written on his face.  “I’m so sorry.  I didn’t know they were going to do this to you.  I tried to stop them, I really did.  I’m sorry.”  Ugh.  If Kari could move, she would’ve told him to stop whining, that he wasn’t the one who tortured her.  It was the others on the ship.  She felt bad for him.  He was blaming himself for something that clearly wasn’t his fault.  She wished she could tell him that. 

Pain seared through her body.  What was happening to her?  Was the general back to finish what he started?  Her heart beat faster, causing the pain to increase even more.  She heard Heka’s voice talking to someone else nearby.  Some of the words were unfamiliar, as she had only recently begun to learn the Tu language.  But, she was able to piece together what she understood and followed the gist of the conversation.

“She’s awake and she’s scared.  You should tell her before you inject her with more of your medicine!”

“She’s Elanari ilk and she probably doesn’t even understand what language we speak.  Forgive me if I sound rude, Magicker, but I am not lowering myself to learning the Elanari’s slave language.”

“Then tell me, and I’ll tell her.  What did you inject her with this time?”

“Please calm down, Magicker.  It was just a light anesthetic to help with the pain.  I am trying to help her here.”

Well, at least the doctors here were trying to help her.  Sure, they were probably under orders to make sure she didn’t die before having a child, but whatever.  Heka cared.  Yunho cared.  And he was onboard and alive.  That’s all that really mattered. 

“I’m sorry about that.  The medic just gave you an anesthetic.  The pain should fade shortly.”  He wasn’t a liar.  As Heka was speaking, the paralyzing pain began to slowly fade, and Kari gladly drifted back off into oblivion. 

“…as the sun sets at the end of the last day, he walks silently and alone down magic’s dreadful way.”  Heka paused in his reading.  “I’m sorry it’s so dark.  I wrote that poem while I was still at the academy.  I had just been told to quit writing, that it was not a productive pastime for one such as me.”  The look on his face made Kari angry with the ones who stripped Heka’s dream from him.  She had no experience with magic on Earth, but on Filarin at least, people with magical abilities were respected, even lauded.  But, they always had the freedom to choose to not use their abilities if they wanted.  She never imagined a world where those with magic weren’t allowed to do anything other than magic. 

Pain ripped through her yet again, cutting off all of her thoughts.  Heka set his journal down and leaned forward, concerned.

“Are you okay, Kari?”

She managed to nod.  The pain didn’t come as often as it had during the first few days after awakening from her coma, but it was still excruciating.  She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, willing herself to forget about the pain. 

Heka got up and poured a cup of water for her.  “Here.  The medics said that until we get back to the homeworld, you’ll have to deal with the residual effects of your time with the general.  None of the medics onboard have the ability to help anymore than they already have.  I’m so sorry.”  The pain began to subside.  Kari shook her head. 

“Don’t be.  You didn’t do anything wrong.” 

“Still.  I didn’t help, either.”  There was silence for a moment, neither one wanting to concede the other’s point.  Then, Heka’s face brightened.  “I think I may know something that will help.”  He jumped up and ran over to his computer console.  “I can’t believe I didn’t think of this before!”

“What?”

He was busy typing away at what passed as a keyboard on his computer.  “We’re going to take a walk.  It’ll help, I promise.”  He paused and looked over at her.  “You think you can walk for a little while?  Where we’re going’s on the bottom deck.  About ten levels down.  But we can take the lift, so it’s not much walking.”

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.  But I think it’ll cheer you up.  Do you think you can make it?”

And not be stuck in Heka’s quarters any longer?  Of course she could.  “Yes.”

“Good.  Hmmm…maybe you should change?  Yeah.  I’m going to run an errand.  You should freshen up.  I’ll be gone about an hour.”  With that, he flew out of his quarters in a swirl of excitement.  Kari stared after him for a moment.  He hadn’t left her alone in the quarters while she was awake for the past week.  What was going on?  Well, whatever it was, she was going to enjoy her hour to herself. 

An hour later, she emerged from the bathroom in clean clothes feeling refreshed to find that Heka hadn’t returned from his errand, yet.  She had enjoyed her privacy with no further incidents of pain returning, but she couldn’t help but wonder why Heka was acting the way he was.  If he hadn’t been such a sweet captor, she would have suspected that something horrible was coming. 

He burst in the door and seemed very pleased to find her ready.  “Do you still feel up to walking?”  She nodded.  “Let’s go, then.”  He gently took her arm and walked her out the door.  Under any other circumstances, Kari would have pulled away from him, but, as it was, she was grateful for the support.  She would have had a lot of trouble walking all the way to the lift without help. 

The way down to the bottom deck of the ship was filled with thoughts of Yunho.  The bond grew ever stronger as they neared wherever he was being held, and Kari prayed with all her might that Heka would take her as close as he could to Yunho’s prison.  She had been feeling Yunho’s depression deepen throughout the week she had been awake and had worried about him incessantly.  She was so caught up in her thoughts of Yunho that she almost walked into Heka when he stopped in front of a pair of ominous looking doors.  But, the thing that made her breath catch in was her proximity to Yunho.  He was behind those ominous doors.  This was the closest she had been to him in a month. 

Heka opened the doors by placing his hand on a pad on the wall next to them and led the way inside the pitch-black room.  There was some kind of humming noise, like a thousand bees swarming around somewhere to her left.  He mumbled a voice command in his own language for the lights to turn on.  They were so dim that Kari had to strain her eyes to find where the humming was coming from.  She heard someone clearing their throat from beyond the humming. 

“Who’s there?”  That was Yunho’s voice!  Her heart leapt into as the bond confirmed that he was indeed in the room.  “Kari?  Is that really you, or have I finally started hallucinating?”

It took her a moment to find her voice.  “It’s me.  Besides, what kind of a question is that?  If I was a hallucination, wouldn’t I tell you that it was me and not a hallucination?”

There was a long moment of silence.  “You have a point.”  Kari felt amusement flow through the bond for the first time in a week.  It felt so good to feel a positive emotion coming from him.

“Do you want to talk to each other without the barrier?”  Heka’s voice startled Kari.  She had forgotten he was there. 

“Can we?”  She knew the answer already, though.  Heka wouldn’t have offered if he didn’t plan on delivering.

“Sure.  I can’t leave it open, but I can let you in if you want to talk to him, Kari.”

“Please.”  It was all she could do to keep from screaming at him to hurry up and take the barrier down.  She forced herself to stay polite and calm.  Yunho’s amusement at her impatience was almost drowned out by his own impatience.  He wanted to see her face to face just as much as she wanted to see him.  If not more. 

It felt like Heka was walking with exceeding sluggishness, but that was just because of Kari’s eagerness to see Yunho.  Finally, the barrier’s hum quieted and Heka motioned for her to join Yunho in his cell.  As she stepped through, the hum started up behind her.

“I’ll leave you two alone for a little while.  I’ll be outside if you need me.  Just yell, and I’ll hear.”  The doors to the brig shut behind him, leaving Kari and Yunho staring at each other.  Neither of them reacted to Heka’s departure.  They were too focused on each other.  Yunho made the first move.  He crossed the remaining distance between them and enveloped Kari in a fierce hug.  She was so happy to feel his arms around her, she didn’t even notice that her pain had come back.  Unfortunately, Yunho did and he broke off the hug, holding her by the shoulders at arms’ length.  That was much too far away for Kari’s liking.

“Kari, what did they do to you?”

She shook her head.  “I don’t really remember.  All I know is that it hurt, and I don’t care about that right now, ‘cause you’re here.”  She slipped out of his grip and leaned against him.  This time, when he put his arms around her, he was careful not to crush her.  Kari could tell it was a struggle for him not to, though.  Emotions flowed down the bond from him, a mixture of anger at the Tu, joy at seeing her again, and other, far more powerful feelings that made Kari’s skin heat up as she realized what they were.  He was really holding himself back by restricting himself to a hug.  She felt her face flushing and started looking for a topic to distract her from his feelings.

“So, why is it so dark in here?”

He had to have heard the struggle in her voice, and maybe felt her own feelings that mirrored his, because his voice sounded frustrated as well.

“I’ve been in total darkness for the last however long it’s been.  This seems as bright as daylight to my eyes.  Any more light, and I probably wouldn’t be able to see at all.”

“Oh.”  She racked her brain for a lighter topic, but got distracted by Yunho’s emotions again.  She blushed harder.  The bond was becoming a nuisance.  How could she think straight with him feeling that.  It was bad enough that she had to feel her own desire, but now she had to feel his too?  Oh screw it.  She pulled back from him enough to look into his eyes for a moment, then she pressed her lips against his.  For a few blissful moments, everything around her faded away.  Then Yunho had to go all noble and break the kiss.  At least he had the decency to struggle with his desire for several minutes before he was able to control himself enough to pull away.  But, Kari wasn’t about to let this opportunity pass her by.  She put her arms around his neck and leaned in to kiss him again. 

“Kari, stop.  You’re in pain.  Don’t deny it, I can feel it.”

“And, I don’t care.  I’ve waited far too long to kiss you in person, for real, with no purple drink influencing us.  I don’t want to stop.”

He pulled her arms away from him and put them back at her side.  If she hadn’t been so weak from whatever torture the general had put her through, she wouldn’t have been so easily handled.  “Kari, you know it’s hard enough for me to stop right now.  I’m afraid that if I don’t stop now, I won’t stop at all.  And you are definitely not in any condition to do that.”

She hated his logic.  As much as she wanted to, as much as her body was driving her emotions, even she knew she wasn’t in the best condition.  Actually, now that she wasn’t kissing Yunho any longer, her legs refused to hold her up.   Yunho caught her as she fell and carried her to the soft, but narrow bench that doubled as his bed.  Thankfully, he didn’t set her down on the bench, but sat down himself with her on his lap.  This was much better than the alternative. 

“So.  How long have I been in here?”  Yunho’s tone was light, but something about the bond told Kari that his question was serious.  He had really lost all sense of time down here.

“Well, I was told that I was unconscious for a week and it’s been a week since I woke up.  So, I’d say about two weeks.”

“The captain of the Elanari ship that caught up to this one said it would take a month for you to reach Tu territory.  Did this ship make it?”

Kari shook her head.  “Not yet.  We’re hiding in a small star system on the other side of a dense nebula so the Tu can make repairs.  Apparently, the Elanari did some damage after you came aboard.”

He was silent.  Kari knew what they were both thinking.  What would happen to them if the Tu made it back to their homeworld with them still in captivity? 

“Kari.”

“Hm?”

“No matter what happens, I will find you.  I promise.  They can’t keep us separated forever.  I won’t let them.”

Kari stared in shock at the fervor in his voice.  Her only reply was to curl up against him, comforted by the warmth of his arms and content that nothing would come between them for long.