We shut the door behind us with cheers from Felicity to go enjoy our day with our friend. It's only about 10 and the sun is high in the sky, the winds a freezing chill to our bones, ahh winter in Australia how fun! Already missing the heating in the unit, we set off towards the bottom of the building. It's only about a 10 minute walk from home to the train station, or at least the entrance, once we get there it seems to keep going and going.

“Didn't Keeks leave us a message?” Zel inquires as I realize I’d completely forgotten, our morning of Zelia being sick and getting ready to leave as well as Fia’s naming and all my stress and anxiety around that. I pull out my communicator and open up her message.

< Hey you crazy sex addicts, I'm on the train now, will be a few hours until I arrive. What sexy clothing are you both wearing so I dont miss you both? > I laugh a little and message her back quickly.

< We should be in Sydney in a few hours as well, unlike you we have to take a surface train, none of that fun magnetic rail stuff in the outer regions! I’m wearing the most boring jeans and tank top with a jacket but Zelia is wearing the cutest black witch outfit, impossible to miss us both! I’ll get Zelia to send you the lunch place coordinates >

I show Zelia the message before she gives me the thumbs up to send it, gotta make sure I’m not sending anything super dumb to our new friend. She seems to soften and pout a little when I mention her outfit though, she really does look amazing while I look plain in comparison… I really need to find a style that fits me, way too easy to relegate back to jeans and shirts though.

The station entrance is getting a steady load of people entering and exiting. Zelia grabs my hand as we enter the twisting hallways with signs and messages, resulting in a blush rising to my cheeks. She seems to enjoy it so much that she leans into me as if we were snuggling while we were walking, resulting in way too many eyes on us. I push the feelings of panic down and try my best to not trip over as she lives out the moment in happiness.

“I’ve been wanting to do this with you for so many years Lilia… Just being able to be out together in public, not having to hold back my feelings… As much as it scares me for people to think things about us in their own delusions, this is just right!” I lean over and kiss her on the forehead in agreement, nearly running into a pole as I do.

I check my comms unit and see that our train is on the 2nd landing, we navigate our way with yellow signs pointing us towards it, when we do we see the train in all its glory. Years since I’ve been on one and their design has definitely changed… no longer were they the repurposed older trains used before Sci-Axium took over, now they were a white stone looking shape with green lines passing horizontally across it all, like it wasn’t made of any kind of metal I’d seen before. Was this something that was made out of some new Oscium combination? Not that it was anything that I’d tried to learn about before.

“Ahhh I love the new designs! It feels so futuristic, there are no seams anywhere on it, like it was created out of a single enormous piece of marble or something!! Ugh I gotta message dad about this, he’s got to have heard something crazy from one of the conspiracy people!” I laugh and grab her hand, pulling her towards it. As we get closer from what looked like a full piece of marble a door slides in and to the side… damn that's crazy. Zelia starts going a little bit wild over the fact that it basically just appeared. I pull her fully in and see that blue cushioned seats line the whole way across with… windows?! I swear I didn't see any windows on the outside!

We get in and find a seat and see that the train extends downwards, only knowing that the compartments are separated by a wall where the door should have just come from and outsides of what would be the separation of the trains… this is something else. Zelia has started frantically taking pictures to send to dad, each one with a description and lines upon lines about the possibilities with other technologies, desperately asking if he has any knowledge.

I laugh imagining him back at home getting message upon message, trying his best to type back with all the trouble he has always had with such things, I bet he’s making mum do it instead. Oh… has… Zelia told them about it yet?... That we were together… Would they see it as a betrayal, I mean we grew up together and want me to see them as my parents as well… fuck.

“H-hey Zel love?” She pauses and looks over at me, seeing the worry in my eyes.

“What wrong love? Are you okay?” I nod and breathe out, preparing myself.

“H-have you talked to the parents about us uhh… being together?” I brace myself for the answer, always expecting the worst.

“Oh, Lilia… they have been waiting for us to get together for years! You think we could hide about how we felt about each other from them?! They are a goddamn psychologist and genetic engineer! I mean mum maybe, but she’s always been sharp but dad probably knew I liked you before I did and kept his mouth shut… wait… you… you didn't think they would approve of us being together or something?” Stunned, I nod sadly. “Of course they do… it's not like they ever wanted us to be siblings… I mean we met each other when we were practically adults… it was friends or uhh… more I guess and it became pretty obvious that more was the choice we both picked… my silly big strong woman.”

“So you like… actually told them? Or just like… that's what you think they think…” She sighs and brings up the comms to the home number, hitting the dial number.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“W-wait I'm not ready that's too so-” A female voice answers within seconds.

“Hey love! What are you up to on this fine holiday!? I was just messaging with your dads phone about all this train business!”

“Hi mum! Me and Lilia are going to Sydney to meet a friend, which is why you're doing all that for dad, sorry my fault hah! I just wanted to let you know that we are officially dating!”

From the background of the call I hear, “It's about time, you're not getting any younger waiting and pining over each other like that!” Miss Lanz sighs and repeats it again over the phone to us.

“Your father says that it's about time and you're both old enough to have finally made up your minds to be together! I think you both just needed to find each other again, you know I love you both and if this means that we don't have to deal with all the unknowing flirting anymore that will be a relief for both of us. Oh shit… one second…” We hear the phone being put down and the sound of papers being moved around, then in the background we hear mister Lanz speak up, “I can’t believe you won this bet… fine, no I won't go back on it… do you want me to wear the chipmunk costume or the vampire costume… really, the vampire… the chipmunk costume was growing on me to be honest…” We look at each other mortified at having to listen to this… bets on when we got together… really? I knew this entire call was a bad idea.

“Mum, dad please, we can hear you! We don't want to know about those sorts of things!” Dad starts laughing in the background as Miss Lanz picks up the phone again seeming flustered.

“No! No, it's not a sex thing I promise! It felt like it was getting close so we made a bet for halloween! There's a party on and if I lost I would wear a Morticia Adams outfit which you know how much I would hate having to wear such a long wig, it would get in everything! So I told him he would have to be a chipmunk or a vampire, he thinks vampires are silly anyway! Not a sex thing, it was just something we have been waiting for… anyway! I have things to do, have a wonderful day and stay safe. You know how Central regions are, too many people bustling around! Bye loves!” The call ends and we both bend over laughing holding each other before the wheels of the train run the metallic noise through the entire compartment.

“And we are off! I’ll send Keeks the info on the food place so we can pick something up before the movie.” She smiles up at me and gives me a quick kiss on the lips before she goes back to her comms, the messages noticeably slowly coming from dad, abandoned by mum in her embarrassment.

I relax back into the seat and look out the other side of the carriage at the window, all I can see is dark stone but my heart is more at peace. Was I really that obvious?… It's impossible to say… I know I can be pretty dense sometimes, always feeling like I had to hide how I was feeling. Never feeling like I deserved such a pure person, someone willing to give everything they had to a stranger.

I think back to my dream this morning, I think it was before I met Zelia… someone telling me I no longer had to run, that I was allowed to be…free? Was I not free before then? I was stuck in poverty and the never-ending fear, sure… I constantly tried to find a home all by myself, but I was never strong enough, every time I reached out it would all go wrong. Not until she reached out to me was I saved.

The bricks outside the window were quickly replaced with pipes and metal, then larger white stone just like the one the train was made out of and then finally as it pushed upwards, we greeted the sky and the endless greenery outside the city, I lean back in my seat and stare back out at the city, the white stone, it now covered the city, being constantly built up and up by machinery, next to the train is also trailing the same white stone, forming a small barrier between us and the outside world.

“Huh, that's the same type of material… I need to send more of this to dad… Oh there's something on it on the Axi-Web, ‘The Sanctuary Project’ something to enforce the walls of the city and to create a barrier between people and the world, an initiative due to the increasing sightings and findings of creatures increasing in size, mass and intensity, this is a possibility that is being caused by the changes in our planet due to Oscium, although it has had a positive effect on the environment there are still studies being involved, as much the sanctuary project is just a precaution” She looks up at me and squints, “Precaution my ass, they wouldn't put so much work into it if it wasn't important, or someone thought that the wildlife or something would be a threat… look at all these pictures of other regions that are getting the project done, pretty much all of them have started if not half way finished! This is a lot of effort for a precaution… although… they build entire cities just for people to live in… so maybe not… could be that material production is a lot easier because of Oscium, hard to say… ugh I’m going to be thinking about this all day!” Enjoying her rambling to the fullest but not wanting her thoughts to ruin her day I do the one thing I can.

I pick her up and put her sideways in my lap, grab her head with both my hands and pull her in for a kiss, her arms wrap around me and I feel her body relax against mine, all the tension leaving her as we indulge again and again, I finally release her and make sure she’s good now.

“Feeling better love?” She mnns contently and puts her head against my chest as I stroke her hair, she leans fully into me and quietly tells me she loves me, I kiss her forehead and tell her it back, we have a 2 hour journey left ahead of us, we might as well enjoy a cuddle for some of it.