> "Sometimes a feeling is all we humans have to go on."

> — Captain Kirk

~

The night was calm and quiet. The half-moon only cast a pale sheen over everything, stars peeked out from behind the clouds - twinkling in the night. Or, at least, as much as they could, with the light pollution from the city. Aphelia sighed. She wished she could see the skies in their full glory - a bright multitude, shining light in absolute darkness, the milky-way within grasp. She had been to the local observatory many times, but she imagined seeing it with the naked eye brings a magic that isn't comparable. Here, in a grassy field behind her home in the suburbs, she could almost imagine what it'd be like.

After a while, she could hear muted footsteps in the grass. She looked around and she saw her crush, Elisa, run up to her. She was pretty, the moonlight simply didn't do her justice. Her whispy strawberry-blonde hair fluttered in the wind. She was wearing an oversized sweater against the cold, which, in Aphelia's opinion, only made her look prettier. Aphelia couldn't see her eyes, but her body language made it seem that it was urgent.

She yelled something - she could see the shadow of her mouth moving, but the sound was blown away in the wind. Aphelia sat up straighter, to get a better view. Elisa was still so far away, running barefoot - as if she'd just stepped out of her room moments before. Her expression was still mostly in the shadow, but it was pained, panicked - Aphelia tried to get up from the grass, but she couldn't. Elisa reached out for her, but then - a bright light, and nothing.

Aphelia shot up from her bunk and instantly hit her head on the ceiling. She yelped in pain, clutching her head; her incredibly curly, brown hair was tousled from a night of restless sleep.

A'turaca stirred in the lower bunk, the bird-woman groaning as she stirred. "Keep it down, man." She clicked her beak in annoyance. "I need my beauty-sleep."

Aphelia sighed. "Sorry, 'tur." She hopped out of the bed. Glancing on the display, she saw it was almost time for her night's watch. Ah well, she needed to use the restroom anyway. On the way, she peeked into the cockpit. She could see Elisa's strawberry blonde curls fall on her back like a waterfall. She sighed and opened the door to the tiny bathroom and looked into the mirror. She looked like hell. Her hair was a mess, she had bags under her eyes and she still had an oil stain on her cheek from last night's mishap. She hadn't taken a shower in a while - water was scarce in space, and their vacuum-condenser wasn't exactly working right.

She splashed a tiny amount on her face, just to wake herself up, and picked up her hairbrush. She held it in front of her, pointing at herself in the mirror. "En guarde, old foe." After the battle of hair, she made her way back to her bunk and changed into a set of clothing that didn't reek of oil or less savory materials.

Once that was done, she walked to the cockpit. Elisa was there - her long hair in a messy bun, sitting crossed-legged on the captain's chair. She was engrossed in a map, a piece of yellowed, crumpled paper. Aphelia took a deep breath and lightly touched Elisa's shoulder to get her attention.

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"Hey."

Elisa sat up straight, a bit startled. "Oh, Aphelia! I didn't hear you come in." She smiled tiredly and put down the map, her attention on Aphelia.

"Oh, sorry, I just - I came here to relieve you from your watch, I - you should get some sleep..."

Elisa glanced at the time-display. "It's not time yet." she said lightly.

Aphelia shrugged. "It's almost time, and I'm awake anyway." She sat down in the co-pilot's seat and looked out through the window.

Their little ship, the Freefeather, was going at cruising speed. She could see stars and galaxies shoot by in the inky-black darkness. The display's many lights and switches were blinking lazily, a sign everything was in order. Some of the buttons were pale and a few displays were cracked, but that'll happen at an older ship like this. Despite its age, however, it's still in great shape; that'll be A'turaca's doing. With Aphelia's help, someday, this ship will be as good as new.

They sat in comfortable silence for a while. Elisa had the crumpled map in her hands. It appears as if she'd been studying it.

"Got any clues?" Aphelia said, attempting to start up a conversation. In all honesty, she hadn't been able to take a look at it yet.

"Not really. It may be English, but it's so... disjointed. I mean, what the hell does "The apple bites the sun" mean? Or this - " She said up straight and mock-cleared her throat.

"The scales horrid gold,

The life flames extinct,

Oh, lively bird old

Save our lives with ink."

Elisa sighed. "Why couldn't he just have written 'hey, this is my name, this is where we are, come find us."

Aphelia shruggd. This sort of stuff was beyond her. The map is mostly just Elisa's little pet project. She found it on a flea market on the Derii-va outpost - she hadn't even bought it, it was thrown away because the map itself was so scribbled over, it was nearly useless. However, to Elisa and Aphelia, the scribbles were far more valuable than the map itself: it was English - the writer was human, like them. It was a link to home, someone who had also survived so far. Sure, they were either onto something or on something, but it was worth it to take a closer look. However, right now, they were en-route to a new 'quest' - they were to go to the Derii-nict settlement not far away and help cull the population of beasts threatening the population. They were a bit low on money and taking these kinds of jobs were only a little dangerous and well worth it.

"Well, I should head for bed then." Elisa said, awkwardly.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Aphelia nodded. "Sleep - sleep well, I'll wake you when we've arrived."

"Bye," she said quietly, and with a small wave she headed towards her bunk to the back of the Freefeather.

With a melancholy expression, Aphelia watched her go. When Elisa disappeared, she turned towards the stars. She remembered her dream - a memory, of way back when. It all felt like a lifetime ago. She didn't want to think about it, so she tried to focus on Elisa instead. She's her one link to home, to Earth, and not just that - Aphelia had a crush on her. A huge one, at that. Elisa always had something funny or interesting to say. She is level-headed under pressure, and she's a wonderful pilot. She is beautiful and graceful and spending time with her filled Aphelia with a sense of home. There was nothing they couldn't do when they were together.

But Aphelia had no idea if Elisa felt the same way. She didn't want to ask, either, she didn't want to sound creepy or ruin their friendship. Hell, she didn't even know if Elisa was attracted to her at all. Aphelia could only hope she would find the courage to ask her out someday, when they weren't in immediate danger for once.