(Y/N)’s POV

I lay on my old bed, sobbing harshly. How could I ever possibly have done all of this? Andy had a life, a girlfriend, pets, a family, a career, and I had stripped him of the things he loved most. Shit, I had taken everything from him! I had to do whatever I could to make this terrible mistake right.

What had I been thinking? All I could recall caring about was myself.

With each moment that passed, I felt like I remembered more and more. It was as I was lying there, my weeping slowly dying off, that I remembered the transport pod. It was how Andy had been transferred to the ship originally, and was equipped with a single cryo bay. I hazily remembered bartering with the bounty hunters that had used it to procure him; they had all wanted performance enhancers in exchange for their services.

My mind caught the gist of my idea and rolled with it. Using the pod, I could send Andy back to Earth, without returning myself. I had no desire to spend the rest of my life in prison. I could just live out my days here on the ship, or possibly find some far-flung, nondescript port to build a new life.

I found my heart hurt, thinking of sending Andy away, leaving me here in solitude. I didn’t want to be all alone again. Wasn’t that the very set of conditions that had led to this whole situation? Me being lonely, rich, and jealous of what other people had?

I shook my head and forced down my feelings for Andy, my selfish desire to keep him close. I needed to send him back to Earth on the transport pod as soon as possible. I had done all of this, after all; what if I had some kind of psychotic tendencies that would start to resurface? I had to keep Andy safe, and the only way to do that was to get him away from me.

My mind was made up. I grabbed a tissue and wiped at my face, then took another to blow my nose before heading into my old restroom to wash my hands. I thought for a moment. “Kama, where is passenger Andy Biersack currently?”

It replied quickly, “His assigned sleeping quarters, for the last twenty minutes.”

I nodded needlessly. “Abandon romantic programming until further notice.”

Kama didn’t hesitate, “Mission objectives successfully modified.”

After I was all cleaned up, I headed out of the command wing of the ship and started towards the sleeping quarters.

---

Andy’s POV

I sat on my bed, finally empty of tears. I felt like I didn’t know anything anymore. (Y/N) had talked about finally being able to leave, but how was I to know that was true, when everything else she had said seemed so impossible?

I resolved to go back and find her, to sort everything out for good, when the door to my quarters snicked open. I turned, only to see (Y/N) looking absolutely terrible. Her face was streaked by drying tears, and I instinctively stood to comfort her.

When she held up her hands and stopped me from embracing her, my sense of alarm grew. “Ok, ok, but what’s wrong? What’s going on?” When she didn’t reply immediately, I tried again, but more gently, “I’m sorry I lost my temper, it was a lot to take in-“

(Y/N) gripped my hands in hers and her eyes welled up. “-It only makes sense that you lost your temper, it makes perfect sense. And I’m going to do what I can to make this right. There’s a transport pod with a cryo bay, you can-“

I pulled my hands out of hers, disgruntled as I connected the dots mentally, “-So you’re going to send me away somewhere? What about you? I can’t just leave you.”

Two tears wound their way down the soft skin of her cheeks, “You have to. I’ve committed an internationally recognized crime; I kidnapped you. There’s no life for me-“

Impulsively, I reached for her arms and started to rub them lightly, not liking seeing her upset, “-There is a life for you, I won’t press charges, everything will be fine-“

She shook me off, “-No, it won’t. You’re only safe once you’re away from me. Come with me to the cryo bay in the transport, I can program it right now.”

She turned to leave my quarters, and I didn’t move to follow her right away. I scowled, my heart hurting, “Give me a reason to stay. Just say something.”

She was silent, bowing her head and avoiding my gaze, but she stayed standing in the doorway. She looked like she was struggling, and I felt like she needed a push to let it out. “What is it? You can tell m-“

She held up her hands defensively, “-I love you, I really love you, and I’m so sorry! This is such a terrible thing I’ve done, I don’t know how to fix it!”

Naturally, I moved to hold her, cradling her head against my chest. I let her sob for a while before I felt like I had to respond or I would burst, “I love you too. I, I didn’t mean to, but I do. We’ll figure something out together, ok?”

She looked up at me, all puffy-eyed and miserable, but with a new spark of hopefulness glimmering behind her gaze. Without thinking, I bent to kiss her. Just a soft, chaste kiss, but I wasn’t expecting what followed.

(Y/N) grew a bit limp in my arms and groaned, far more than any kind of romantic swoon. I managed to maneuver her onto my bed, where she panted lightly. I pressed a hand to her forehead, and it was a little clammy. “Are you ok?”

It took her a second to focus on where I was, “I, I’ll be fine. I just feel a little weak and my head hurts; I think I’m remembering more. Just give me a second.”

Worried, I decided to try and keep her blood sugar up, just in case, “Kama, can I have some juice?”

The little panel at the end of the bed pipped open, and a tray with a glass of what looked like orange juice slid out. I went and got it, then offered it to (Y/N). She needed my help propping herself up with another pillow before taking a tentative sip.

I waited, kneeling quietly on the floor like that, holding (Y/N)’s hand, for some time. I thought over everything that had happened, and I still had no idea what to make of it. The (Y/N) I knew would never have done all this, but clearly she had. She must have changed as a person, the heart doesn’t lie-

I noticed she had frozen stock-still, her eyes wide. I took the juice from her so she wouldn’t spill it if she grew weak again. “What is it; are you ok?”

Her eyes were watering heavily and she stared pointedly at the bed. “Andy… shit, I’m so sorry. I remembered where we are.”

Instantly everything seemed to brighten! “So? That’s great! We can take the whole ship back even faster then, right, the both of us?”

But (Y/N)’s lower lip was trembling. She spoke reluctantly, “Andy, we are forty-three years’ travel from Earth.”

I wasn’t sure what significance that had, for one, lucky, instant. Then it hit home and I felt like I had been shot in the chest. “But, Jules… my family… my life…”

(Y/N) covered her eyes, “Yeah. There’s nothing I can do to make this right. It’s all my fault.”

I stood up and slammed my fist against the wall, pointlessly hurting myself before I collapsed into a sobbing heap on the floor by the bed. Everything I had ever loved would be gone by the time I got back to Earth.

Though, as I cried, I realized that didn’t have to be true. There was still one thing left to me. Regardless of what (Y/N) had done, I loved her.

---

(Y/N)’s POV

Hours later, my guilt had settled enough that I was able to communicate, and Andy’s profound grief had abated such that he accepted my comforting. I pointed out that his family was most likely still alive, that if we sent a communication now, it would arrive in only a few years, far before any material transport. The thought gave him some closure, that he could send messages to his loved ones.

Before Andy took the time to compose his messages alone in his lair, I also told him that, if he left soon, it was possible that some of his loved ones could still be living, though aged, by the time he returned. That pepped him up a little bit, and I kept as cheery a façade going as possible until he left to take some time alone.

I wasn’t sure what time it was, how many hours had passed, or even if it was night or day when Andy came to see me in my sleeping quarters. (Needless to say, I had not relocated to my old bedroom in the command wing.) He had a look of determination on his face that alarmed me a little. I sat up from where I had been curled in a self-pitying ball on my bed. “Yeah?”

Andy knelt right in front of me, “I believe you when you say you’re sorry. I believe that you would never do something like this now, that you’re a different person. I don’t know why, or how it happened, but you are. And the fact is that I love you. I don’t want to go back to Earth alone. After these messages are all sent, I want you to come with me, just the same as however we both came here in the first place, in the ship. We can start a new life, a real life, together.”

I sputtered, “I love you too, but I did all of this! I’m the reason-“

Andy took my face in his large hands, “-Just say yes.”

Starting to tear up, I nodded, an unexpected flower of happiness blossoming in my chest. Seconds later, we were kissing. Minutes, and we were making love. Hours, and I was transmitting Andy’s messages. One day, and I was programming the command center to take the whole spaceship to Earth’s orbit on auto-pilot, and we were on our way.

Afterwards, Andy came with me to the twin cryo bays in the command wing of the ship. I entered the codes for my auto-recovery once we were orbiting Earth. After one last kiss, I initiated Andy’s bay, and he winked at me as his capsule filled, our hands pressed together through the pyrex. Subsequently, I maneuvered myself into my bay and pushed the internal initiation button. Hope flickered in my chest as my disorientation grew, followed by nothingness.

Notes

~The (Final) End~

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