Cynthias hands were shaking within Zhaans. "ImIm what?"

Zhaan continued to hold the girls hands. "Youre human, child."

Cynthias face was etched with extreme confusion. "Butmy parentsdoes that mean they?"

Zhaan nodded slowly. "Your blood and Johns, other than the certain things that make you female and John male, theyre too much alike for it to simply be a coincidence. Johns parents were both human. Therefore, my assumption is yours were, too."

Cyn was gazing around the room in utter shock, trying hard to comprehend this. "But that would mean my parents lied to mefor all of our life"

Zhaan didnt answer this, not wanting to insult the memory of the girls parents. "Did they ever actually tell you that you were of the Sebacean race, child?"

Cyns eyes were the only things moving as she thought about it. "Wellno. They never actually told me, I always justassumed since I looked so much like Sebaceans that" Her voice trailed off as recognition dawned on her face. "But they never told me I was. And I always thought it was strange how I was okay with heat and Sebaceans werent, I thought I had some type of natural immunity or something."

Johns face was blank, like he was still trying to take it all in. "Wait a microt here, Zhaanare you trying to tell us that shes human, too? From Earth, same as me?"

Zhaans gaze switched to him. "Yes, John. Other than that she is the female of your species and youre obviously the male, your blood is too alike for it to mean anything else. Youre BOTH human. She was simply never told. She grew up believing she was Sebacean, and my guess is" She turned her gaze back to Cyn. "You know nothing of Earth or your heritage?"

Cyn was gazing at the floor, and she lifted her gaze to meet Zhaans and shook her head. "Before John, Id never even heard the word human before in my life." She glanced back at John. "I heard you and the others mention Earth beforethats the name of youruhOUR world?"

John nodded, not fully believing this could possibly be real, that a fellow human had somehow ended up here, with him, and she hadnt ever known until this microt that she was human. "Yeah, Earth is it, the home of the humans, and where I try to get back to every day."

Cyn nodded slowly, trying very hard to keep calm. "How far away is it?"

John looked at her, a realization suddenly sinking in for him. Shes suddenly going to start going through everything Ive gone through since coming here, only worse. I know I have family back home on Earth, she doesnt know if she has anyone He glanced over at Zhaan, who nodded and carefully released the girls hands, and John took them in his. "Okay, remember all the things I said about Earth?"

Cynthia nodded.

"Well, the reasons I talk about it the way I do, with uncertainty, all include the fact that I dont even know what galaxy Im in at this point, I could be halfway across the universe from Earth, I just dont know," he finished with a sad sigh, gently touching her fingers as he held her hands, trying to keep her calm.

Cynthia took this in, breathing slower. "So you dont know how far we are from Earth? We could be a Starburst away or we could be a million Starbursts away."

John gazed down at the floor with guilt in his expression as he nodded. He felt her fingers under his chin, lifting it up gently.

"Its not your fault, John. A wormhole brought you here, andwell, I dont even KNOW how I ended up here, so at least youre in good company!" she told him with an attempt at a smile.

John smiled softly as well, leaned over and kissed her softly. "Thanks, I DO feel like its my fault sometimes, that Im here, like theres something else I couldve doneand then I realize I wouldve missed SO much if this had never happenedadventures, life, love" He glanced at her with a smile. "Twice nowand I dont wonder to myself if its my fault then, I wonder if this was what was meant to be the whole time" He gazed off into the distance for a moment with a pondering smile. "Id really love to believe that, especially now" he looked back at her. "Maybe Im meant to be here to find you and teach you about human culture, about Earth, about this other part of who you are."

Cynthia smiled brightly at his last comment, which confused him. "Whatd I say right?"

She laughed softly. "You said that being human is another part of who I am. You didnt automatically assume that human is now who I am, because of all this. I just really appreciated that, thats all."

He smiled gently at her and touched her face softly. "I wouldnt ask you to give up who you are, remember? Sebacean culture is all youve ever been, what youve been brought up with. Im more than willing to accept that and embrace it. But Im also more than willing to help you accept and embrace your human culture and your home worldIF you decide thats what you want. If you decide its not, Ill understand that too."

Cyn, on an impulse, leaned over and gave him a lingering kiss. She gently pulled back a few moments later. His happily dazed expression matched hers from not too long ago. "What exactly was that for?" he asked with a smile.

She touched his face softly. "For being really, really understanding. My whole world is spinning around me right now, and I dont understand much, but I DO understand that youre here for me if I need you, no matter what. And that makes my confusion much easier to deal with. So, thanks," she finished with a gentle smile.

"Youre right," he replied quietly, returning her soft touch. "I AM here for you if you need me, no matter what. And Im glad that even though they consider me to be inferior on this boat that Im capable of making someones life a little easier. And you know what?"

She gave him a questioning look. "What?"

"Youve made my life easier, too."

She gave him a bewildered look. "That could not be less frelling true! Its because of me that you and--"

He held up his hand. "No, that was a decision by way of the three of us, and she was trying to make it easy on us."

She gave him a wary look. "Are you trying to say she didnt WANT to make that decision, she had other reasons for doing it?"

He held her face in his hands so their gazes were locked. "No, Im not trying to say that. Im trying to say that she made that decision based on all three of our feelings. Answer me something. Before she talked to me, after she talked to you, did she have any time in between to ask us if she should do this to make it easy on us?"

She thought. "No, she walked with me right after we finished talking to talk to you."

He nodded and smiled. "Exactly. So, wouldnt you tend to conclude that means she based her decision on the facts of the situation alone?"

She sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I suppose I would. I just hate Im half to a third of the reason shes hurting."

Johns gaze went to the floor. "You and me both, Cyn. I hate hurting people, and hurting herwelljust plain sucks."

She reached over and gently touched his arm, and he looked up at her questioningly. "I want to go talk to her," she told him.

He looked at her more intently. "Are you sure? After all this, youre really up for that?"

She nodded. "Definitely. Maybe I can help, I did before. Maybe I can say something right and make her smile, or at least be in a little less pain. Maybe we could talk about our families, our past, what we have in common." She sighed deeply, keeping her gaze locked on Johns. "I want to be friends with her, John, I can somewhat understand where shes coming from, and maybe I can help. I at least want to try. Okay?"

He nodded, smiling softly at her, gently playing with her hair. "Yeah, I actually think that might be a pretty good idea. If you want to talk to her, Im all for it." He tipped her face into his hand. "Just go easy, okay?"

She nodded, gently touching his hand on her face. "I will, I dont want to be the cause of any more pain."

He nodded, his gaze dropping to the floor again for a moment before meeting her gaze again with a pained smile. "Yeah, I know what you mean."

She held the hand on her face in her own. "I wont let you down. Ill do the best I can by the both of you."

He smiled softly at her. "I know. I wouldnt expect any less from you." His face changed, taking on an unreadable expression. "You know, theres something I really want to tell you and, uh" he chuckles softly. "Im not exactly sure how or if I can."

She still held his hand, and looked at him knowingly. "Yes, you are, and you can. Just tell me, whatever it is."

He looked in her eyes, and knew she meant it. "Oh, manuhok. Here goes nothinguh, you remember earlier? What I was saying in the hallway? Being afraid of what what I was saying meant for me? For us?"

She simply nodded.

He looked down at the floor for a moment and sighed. "Okay, here we go. Uhwe talked about there being nothing better than being in love, no matter what came of itand thats generally how I can tell when Im there, in love, I mean."

She nodded again.

"Well, Ive been getting that telltale feeling, and because I was scared, I wanted to ignore it. I really, really BADLY and DEEPLY wanted to ignore it, but now I realize I cant andI need to tell you," his gaze locked with hers.

She swallowed quietly. "Okay, then tell me."

He reached out with both hands, took her face in them, leaned over and gave her a soft kiss. He stayed with her that way for a moment, then pulled back. He waited until her eyes slowly opened. "Iam falling in love with you."

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Part 18

He gently caressed her cheek with his right index finger, watching for her reaction.

Cyn felt her eyes widen, and her jaw open wider, in something she could only define as delighted shock. She felt a tear slide down her left cheek and saw worry light in his eyes.

"Oh, god, should I not have said that?" he asked anxiously.

She lifted her own left index finger to his mouth to quiet him and shook her head. "No, you definitely shouldve said that. That," she said, pointing to the tear coursing down her face, "is one very happy tear."

He reached up to it and caught it on the tip of his finger, softly wiping away the trail it had left down her cheek. He looked into her eyes, which were now filled with tears, and with one blink, two more coursed down her face. He leaned over and softly kissed each one from her cheeks, and wiped away the trails theyd left again. He gave her a mock stern shaking of his finger. "Now, you stop that."

She laughed softly. "Ill try." For some reason, she couldnt stop looking at him. Then it came to herhe was the only person who wasnt related to her that had ever said anything like that to her before in her life. And she felt something that she needed to say, and by the way he was looking at her, she knew hed want to hear it. "I, uh, have something to say, too," she told him quietly.

He simply nodded and waited.

She gave a soft, almost imperceptible laugh. "I feel the same way." Then she waited.

His face suddenly lit up the same way hers had done earlier when he said hed loved her song. He leaned over and kissed her deeply, and she was glad she was sitting down because her legs went completely weak underneath her. He pulled back a moment later, and just held her face in his hands for a second. "Thank you," he told her softly.

She gave a shy smile. "Youre more than welcome." She reached up and put her hand over his, simply reveling in his touch and gaze for a few moments. Then a thought knocked her back into reality. "Oh, Ive got to go talk to Aeryn," she reminded him.

This seemed to shake him loose as well. "Yeah, yeah, you do. Ill let you go then." But he didnt move.

A slight half-smile appeared on her face. "Anytime this arn would be good."

He still didnt move.

She gave him a mischievous look. "Now, if you dont let me go, Im going to be forced to tickle you, and I KNOW you dont want that."

This time a smirk turned up his mouth. "And how would you know that, Little Miss Innocent? For all you know, that could be what Im trying to get you to do."

She raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She gave a little jump towards him, and he jumped backward slightly. She restrained a laugh. "Doesnt look like it to me," she said, jumping backward and away before he could get close enough to hold her again. "Now," she said, holding up a finger to keep him where he was, "I have to go to talk to Aeryn. You do whatever youd likeEXCEPTfollowing me. That is NOT an option. Got me?"

He restrained a laugh at the last question.

She shook her head, laughing softly. "Yeah, just came to me, dont answer that last one."

He did laugh softly at that, knowing shed thought the same thing he had. "But it would be so perfect!" he told her with a laugh.

She shot him a look. "Im serious! Now, Ive got to go. Ill see you later, ok?"

He nodded. "Yeah, go talk to her."

She nodded and started walking toward the bridge, having somewhat found her way around Moya after many walks. She knew she wanted to talk to Aeryn, for all the reasons shed already told John, and she had some idea of what they could talk about. But what exactly was she going to say? She sighed softlyshed just wing it, follow her heart, that never led her astray before.

After a few minutes of walking, she gazed into an unfamiliar doorway and found Aeryn checking something on a gun. She peeked in shyly. "Hello."

The raven-haired woman looked up and smiled softly. "Hello, Cyn. How is everything with you?"

Cyn laughed softly. "Umreally strange actually. A lot of things just changed."

Aeryn looked perplexed. "With you and?"

Cyn shook her head. "No, no, not those things. Um, things that big in importance, but of a little broader scope actually."

Aeryn nodded slowly, still with the perplexed expression. "Want to talk about it?"

Cyn contemplated whether or not to tell the woman something that essentially meant Cyn was closer to John than Aeryn could ever be, species-wise at any rate. Then she sighed and decided to go through with it, as shed learn soon enough anyway. "Can I sit down?"

Aeryn smiled softly again and nodded, gesturing towards a seat. Cyn walked into the room and sat down.

"Zhaan asked me to come to the infirmary or medical bay or whatever you call it for some tests. She said she found something she needed to talk to me about."

Now the expression changed from perplexed to concerned. "Ohis everything all right? Is it your health?"

Cyn smiled gently. "Thats the first thing I wondered, but Zhaan said no. Actually, she asked John for a blood sample as well."

The perplexed expression returned to the womans face. "Well, what would she need that for?"

Cyn watched Aeryns face carefully. "Comparisons in the blood."

The warriors eyes narrowed, trying to decode the puzzle before the answer was handed to her, as all her years of Peacekeeper training had taught her to do. But this time she was still left baffled. She shook her head slowly. "I dont understand, Im sorry."

Cyn nodded. "Zhaan compared my blood and Crichtons and came to a rather startling conclusion based on the apparent similarities in the structure, the make-up of the blood." She waited to see if the woman understood what this meant.

At this point, her training was starting to work, but as the answers started becoming clearer, she didnt want them to be. But Aeryn kept her face stoic. "Your blood has extreme similarities to Johnsits structure and make-up" She shifted her gaze slightly to the side for a moment, thinking, then back to the girl. "I thought you were Sebacean."

Cyn nodded her head quickly, the fear and confusion starting to appear in her face. "So did I, all my life, thats what Ive believed. But according to Zhaan, Im wrong. My parents never said I wasnt, but they never said I was either. I dont know if they didnt want me to be an outcast or what their reasons were, but they never told anyone the truth I dont think."

Aeryn nodded slowly, her fears of betrayal starting to dissolve again. This girl just had everything shed ever believed about herself thrown into question. She wasnt trying to hide who she was and lie to anyone, she was trying to FIND who she was, all of a sudden. "So" it took her a moment to actually force the words out of her mouth. "youre humanlike Johnfrom his world."

Cyn nodded quickly again, the emotion still in her face. "Its really scary to have someone tell you that youre not who you thought you were, to have so much change in a microt."

Aeryn nodded, completely understanding. "I can imagine."

Cyn looked at her. "John told me what happened to you, a few years ago, with him and DArgo and the Peacekeepers. You probably felt then like Im feeling now."

Aeryns eyes glazed over a bit. "I imagine I still, every now and then, feel like that a bit, how you do now, the way I did that day. Like a part of me that I knew and understood since birth has changed forever, and I cant get it back. That everything changed about who I was in a microt. For me it was my upbringing, my training, my background. For you, its more, your species, your culture, your world."

Cyn shook her head. "Not my world, I never really had a home, so my world could never change. But yeah, my species, and some of my culture, some of what Ive learned and lived, Ill have to adapt." She looked the woman in the eyes. "So, none of you have ever been there? To Johns home world?"

Aeryn shook her head. "Weve never even seen a photo of it. We have very little idea what it looks like, what technology it has"

"What the people are like," Cyn finished.

Aeryn smiled just a little. "Well, if were lucky, theyre like John: accepting, adaptive, intelligent, irreverent, passionate, dedicated, loyal, and friendly." She glanced at Cyn. "Isnt that how you see him?"

Cyn met the womans soft smile with her own. "I see a lot more than that in him, and my bet is you do too."

Aeryn was quiet for a moment, than nodded slowly. "Yes, youre very right. I do see much more than just those things in him. Hes a complicated person, much more than I ever thought when I first came here and had to adapt my own lifewhich he actually saved."

Cyn nodded. "He told me. He still partially blames himself for what happened to you."

Aeryn looked over at her in shock. "He does? I thought hed long gotten over that."

Cyn shook her head. "Gotten over what he perceives as tearing you away from your people, your life, everything youve known? Because you spent too much time with him? No, he definitely hasnt gotten over it."

Aeryn ran her hands over her face and the top of her head. "II just always assumed, I never thought hed still be thinking about that. Weve been through so much together"

Cyn walked over and sat next to the woman. "Aeryn, he loves you. I dont know how long hes loved you, but I DO know how much he still does. He hates the idea of putting you in pain, he hates being the reason youre in pain. So you can imagine how much guilt he would put on himself from taking you away from a life, THE only life youve ever known, and bringing you into a situation you never wanted to be in. Even if you have made the best of it, and made a life for yourself here, hes never fully forgiven himself for being the reason you had to in the first place. You need to talk to him. Explain to him that things are better for you now, tell him theres no need to blame himself anymore. Tell him you forgive him, so he should forgive himself." She stopped for a second and touched the womans hand softly and Aeryn turned to look at her. "Aeryn, have you forgiven him for that?"

Aeryn nodded. "Yes, I forgave him for that a long time ago. I love him, I dont blame him for that, I actually think of that day now as a blessing, not a curse. Everything I ever thought I knew about the Peacekeepers was lies, and he knows that now, too, he HAS known it, as long as I have! I thought hed know because of that"

Cyn shook her head slowly. "He doesnt. You need to tell him. It cant come from anyone else. It has to be you. He needs to hear this from you, Aeryn."

The woman met her gaze again. "Come with me. Ill tell him right now, Ill talk to him right now and sort everything out. But come with me."

Cyn nodded, and the two got up from the seat and walked out of the doorway.