Okay, so Maraline wasn’t the last thing that Nicole ever expected to see. She had come to accept that the enemy general had some sort of obsession with her and that she would come after her again. But rather than at the head of a formation of machines, Maraline was sitting peacefully in a park while strumming a harp for a crowd of children.

The woman attempting to destroy humanity, one of the few faces that could be linked to the machine menace since the invasion began five years prior, and she was just sitting there.

Playing an instrument.

It should have defied all logic, yet it aligned perfectly with how Maraline presented herself. It was anathema to everything she knew about being a Ranger and their mission, yet she couldn’t deny her own eyes. Or her ears for that matter. The melody was downright haunting with its beauty, conveying an immense sorrow and longing to everyone listening. Nicole was entranced, and not through any nefarious effects either.

Maraline was just that damn good at playing.

A gentle nudge drew her attention from the blissful melody. Grace wore a soft frown as she looked down at the villain as if it was the first time seeing her. In truth, Grace had only ever seen her right before the fighting started, she’d never seen Maraline acting like a normal person.

“Something’s off here. Like, how do we even approach a situation like this?”

“She’s not currently hurting anyone,” Nicole said carefully. “Maybe we should observe for the moment, and step in only if she starts attacking the crowd. I don’t want to put the kids at risk if I don’t have to.”

“Damn, you’re right,” Grace said, her face pained.

“I don’t want to spook her either,” Nicole added, remembering their last encounter. “She was fine with just me last time, maybe that would hold true this time as well?”

Grace looked from the field back to Nicole. “Like hell I’m letting you go in there alone!”

“I won’t be alone,” Nicole said with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “I’ll have you watching my back, ready to step in at a moment’s notice. Don’t forget, the watches have a quick morph option if I need it.”

She tapped the watch for emphasis.

“This is reckless,” Grace muttered, then pulled her into a hug. “Don’t do anything stupid and be ready to morph at the first sign she’s up to something.”

“Will do,” Nicole said, and approached the scene.

The crowd was surprisingly dense given it was mostly composed of children who were very much engrossed in the performance rather than their phones. Their parents were also nearby, similarly entranced by the soft tones of the harp. Nicole stopped just on the edge of the crowd as she leaned against a sturdy tree. As the performance continued, Nicole’s fingers brushed the buttons that would signal her transformation, almost as an idle tick. She refused to be caught off guard, not with the enemy right there, but she couldn’t risk endangering everyone.

Nicole knew she should do something, especially after the last battle that they had, but something kept her hand from reaching out, to call for help. Maraline hadn’t opened her eyes, but Nicole could see the sorrow lingering, feel the pain that she was pouring into her music.

Whatever she was witnessing, it was a genuine display. Monster she may be, but there was more there, a depth to the woman who had reached out to her. Nicole had resolved to fight that day, and she still carried that flame within her.

She didn’t understand Maraline, her persona was very much an enigma in many ways. She seemed to love the Earth, the planet she was created to conquer. Maraline spoke so fondly of life, her words carrying a conviction to them that Nicole knew she couldn’t replicate no matter how hard she tried.

Yet here she was, entertaining the people, bringing emotion with her performance as though she were a master of her chosen instrument. Actually, there were good odds that she actually was. Nicole had no clue how long she had lived or practiced her craft.

The final note strummed, and only then did Maraline open her eyes and smile for the crowd. Once again Nicole was struck by how genuine that smile was, how much raw emotion was projected through such a simple act. Many of the children, and all of the adults, clapped for her performance. Even Nicole found herself clapping along with them. For a bare instant the air turned charged as ethereal lilac eyes locked onto her own. Recognition then flooded her visage and Maraline’s face softened from her winter fae queen persona into something almost human.

The Sylan stood, harp still in hand, and she approached the waiting Ranger. Nicole did her best to not appear the aggressor, she didn’t need another disaster so soon after the last. Maraline continued past her, eyes never once leaving Nicole’s own, then Maraline stopped shortly after passing, and Nicole knew she had leaned against the opposite side of her tree.

She could probably wax poetic about the symbolism, but that was no doubt Maraline’s intent in doing so. The woman never seemed to lack purpose in her actions, and she seemed to revel in being cryptic. Fitting for someone who affected themselves a queen of the fae.

She was just glad that Grace wasn’t far, watching over her in the event things did kick off. It didn’t escape Nicole’s notice that Maraline’s new position would allow her to keep an eye on her fellow Ranger.

“I will admit,” Maraline began, “I did not anticipate this encounter.”

Nicole scoffed, looking out at the dispersing crowd, the children who were laughing and smiling following her performance. Several of the girls were even miming as if they had their own harps. Just what was the ploy here? The Sylan killed people, indiscriminately and brutally, yet…

“What is this?” Nicole asked, for lack of a better question. “First you try to reach out to me, then you sic a veritable army on me, and now, just days later, you’re entertaining children.”

A moment of silence followed, the laughter of children in the distance filling the void. “Once the war is finished, I will be the shepherd of this world. I wish to understand my charges, to know how to lead them to prosper.”

“Yet you slaughter us,” Nicole hissed. “You invaded us, cast the entire world into a bloody conflict where soldiers weren’t the ones giving their lives. Why?”

A heavy sigh wafted from the other side of the tree. “Had I a say in it, we would have chosen a different approach, one of peace and prosperity. I cannot claim to understand our Administrator’s will, but they set the course, I just followed.”

Administrator? Was that what they called their leader? She knew that Maraline wasn’t the top dog, that was obvious, but to hear her actually name the force behind all of the death and chaos? It sent a chill up her spine and dread settled within her core. That was the foe she would have to defeat if she was determined to survive to see tomorrow, to keep her promise to Grace.

So be it.

Be they man or god, she would find a way to keep that promise. It wasn’t a realistic goal by any stretch, Nicole knew that, but she was determined to try. So long as she could stand, she would fight, so long as she continued to breathe she would resist. That was all she could do, all any of her fellow Rangers could do.

Strive ever forward in the face of oblivion.

“You follow the orders of a monster,” Nicole spat. “You would do well to study our history and what we think of those who were just following orders.”

Trilling laughter followed. “Yes, a lesson that your people have already forgotten in less than a century. I have little doubt that within two hundred of your years, the people will readily welcome my leadership and lament those of the past that resisted the utopia I will usher in for all.”

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Only if you don’t teach them what was lost,” Nicole said softly. “I won’t pretend to claim that our civilization is a paragon of freedom, far from it, but we still have some measure of choice. Tell me, Maraline, are you free to do what you want?”

“Are you?” Maraline countered.

Nicole recognized the bait for what it was and pressed on. “If you chose to lay down arms, what would happen? Just how free are you to claim you’ve come to liberate us?”

“I am here now,” she said, her voice melancholic. “You’re not wrong, but not right either. I have freedom, but also duty. So long as one does not interfere with the other, I am free to indulge my own desires. Can you claim the same?”

Nicole scoffed, the audacity of that making her blood boil.

“So what, you entertain a few kids on the weekend to make up for slaughtering thousands? Does that help you sleep at night?”

“I don’t sleep,” Maraline said. “I spend my evenings lamenting what I have done, and what is to come, all for the hope of a better tomorrow.”

Nicole could practically feel the power of the Ranger crackling beneath her skin. She talked of a glowing future just waiting for humanity to accept on groveling knees. Maraline truly believed that what she was offering was better than what had come before.

Nicole was having none of it. “Your ‘better tomorrow’ cost me everything I held dear.”

“Yet, you have endured,” Maraline paused, and Nicole could practically hear the smile in her voice. “Humanity is tenacious like that, or have you not found someone new to hold fast to? She is watching us now, is she not?”

Nicole’s blood ran cold at the mention of Grace. They weren’t dating, not officially at least, but she did care about her fellow Ranger. If Maraline thought she could just casually threaten her like that, she had another thing coming.

“You are damn close to crossing a line,” Nicole said, her voice filled with cold fury. “If you truly seek to understand humanity, then you should know why that statement was foolish.”

Maraline hummed for a moment, then abruptly cut off. “Ah, you think I am threatening your fellow Ranger. Rest assured that was not my intention, though with you both being Rangers, there is every possibility that you will not live to see the changing of the year.”

“Because of you and your invasion,” Nicole snapped.

“Yes,” Maraline whispered. “Things will not be easy for you, the Administrator has seen to it. All I can tell you is that you must survive, no matter what is sent your way. I ask you to prove us wrong, show that tenacity that humanity is known for. Prove to our Administrator that they can make mistakes. Let them see that peace was the better option for once, and maybe other worlds will be spared this one’s fate in the future.”

Her words hung heavy, a request spoken earnestly even as a ripple of power flashed through the air. Nicole knew that Maraline had departed, and soon Grace came to her side once again. Nicole let herself be engulfed in the warm embrace of her friend, who she so desperately wanted to be something more. Grace had no doubt heard every word shared, Ranger senses tended to be sharpened far beyond mortal limits in her limited experience.

Administrator. The name hung heavily in her mind, spoken of with reverence and devotion. Maraline referred to them as if they were a deity, with the reverence that a devoted follower of a religion spoke of their god. Just what the hell was their opponent if they could be referred to as such? Nicole didn’t want to understand, it felt like to do so would rob her of any hope that remained.

Yet…

Nicole wanted to do exactly as asked.

“We need to get back to training,” Nicole said. Grace pulled back so they could look one another in the eyes. “You heard her, she expects us to do something she believes to be impossible. How much do you want to bet that we’re about to be put to the crucible?”

“Perfect,” Grace said, her shoulders slumping. “Think Devon will get off his pity party to train with us?”

Nicole considered that, but ultimately dismissed it. “Who cares if he does? We’ve got a Ranger on speed dial that’s willing to make house calls who has far more experience than we do, why not just ask him to help us train?”

Grace blinked, then a smile cracked her once serious expression. “Now that sounds like a plan. Only one problem with it.”

“And what’s that?” Nicole asked.

“We have classes in the morning.”

Nicole blinked at the absurdity of it all, that something as simple as classes could compare to the pressing need to hold off the end of the world as they knew it. Yet, she didn’t want to give up that tie to who she was before the power had come to her. Nicole Hayes may not have held many ambitions for the future, but she at least understood the need to plan and prepare.

Which was why she was determined to make these lessons happen.

“I’ll get in touch with Carlos,” Nicole said, firing off a text to the number he had left with her. A few moments later a reply arrived and she had to fight down a grimace. “We’ll either be training bright and early before classes, or in the evening after and only on days when he can arrange to visit.”

“That’s not so bad,” Grace said.

“For the first week,” Nicole continued as another message arrived. “We’re going to be doing both following that. Apparently he was going to reach out to us regardless once he managed to work out a rotation back home.”

“Wonderful,” Grace said. “If that’s the case, we should probably start heading back so we can turn in early.”

“Yeah,” Nicole said, glancing at the time. “Though, I think we still have time for dinner, if we hurry.”

“Why Nicole,” Grace said in a sing-song tone. “It’s almost as if you’re taking me on a date.”

She swallowed, her throat suddenly dry. Nicole could read between the lines, see what the day had meant to be before Maraline crashed things, they both knew, but now Grace was all but asking her to admit it. Well, if Grace was willing to play that game, Nicole would play it right back.

“You didn’t think it was a date?” Nicole said, feigning hurt as she gripped her chest in mock surprise. “Damn, and here I had gotten my hopes up. Oh, you wound my ego so.”

Grace snorted. “Nice try, we both know you’ve been just as nervous and awkward about this as I have.”

“Twin disasters,” Nicole agreed enthusiastically. “Still, can we agree that this was a date?”

Grace bit her lip, looking off to the side for a moment. “Yeah. I think we can.”

“Worst first date of my life,” Nicole immediately declared. Grace winced, her shoulders wilting and Nicole abruptly realized her idea was backfiring. “Alien invaders aside, it was also the best first date of my life.”

“Oh fuck you,” Grace said, giving her a playful shove. “Wait, best and worst?”

“Uh, yeah,” Nicole said, rubbing the back of her head. “Best, worst, and also first date of my life.”

“Oh.”

That single exclamation hung in the air, because it was the truth. Nicole had never been on a proper date. That day she kissed her best friend and was thoroughly rebuffed? It was meant to be a date, but ended up being nothing of the sort. She’d never made another attempt, not with how her school turned on her, then there was the growing depression after losing her family to the incursion last year.

She’d poured everything into her gymnastics, then lost even that on what was supposed to be the most important day of her life. Her attempt had come shortly after, and it still pained her that Becca’s parents were the ones to find her. She’d never even considered dating someone until Kayla barged in like a damn wrecking ball and upended her expectations.

She’d have to thank the woman for that, despite her better judgment telling her not to.

Warm arms enveloped Nicole, pulling her close. She let out a gasp of surprise, but didn’t resist. Instead, she let herself lean into Grace’s embrace, savoring it. They stayed like that for several moments, Nicole letting herself enjoy being held by someone who cared about her.

Then, before she was ready, Grace pulled away. Nicole wanted to protest, but when she looked up, any such words died on her lips, because they were now quite occupied with Grace’s own. Dozens of thoughts tried to race through her mind, from how soft Grace’s lips were, to how her legs were threatening to give out on her but Grace had caught her firmly and kept her from falling.

Because she was falling, wasn’t she?

Nicole closed her eyes, her head lifting in an attempt to deepen the kiss. Grace obliged, but didn’t make any attempt to push for something more complicated. A chaste kiss, perfect for a first between a new couple, Nicole had to admit. She couldn’t help but smile into it, giggling ever so slightly.

That set Grace off as well, the pair of them falling into fits of laughter as they separated just enough to not accidentally bump teeth.

“Another first?” Grace asked.

“Technically no,” Nicole said. “I did kiss a straight girl once.”

Grace shook her head, grinning widely. “I think we can safely say that doesn’t count. Which makes me your first gay kiss.”

“And what a first it was.”

“Happy to hear that,” Grace said. “I hope I can provide many more firsts to come.”

“Grace!” Nicole exclaimed, her face now on fire.

“What?” she asked with a frown, then her eyes shot open wide. “Oh shit, I didn’t mean, I meant… Fuck! But not like that! God—”

This time it was Nicole that cut her off with a kiss, because as cute as her rambling was, she would probably appreciate being bailed out in such a manner.