A grin spread across my face as I finished the end of the last cornrow on her head and curled the tip around my finger to make her hair coil, enjoying it's spring like movement around my hand. "And done!" I told her excitedly before glancing up at the mirror to look at my work.

Her white hair laid flat and neatly tucked into each braid, glistening slightly with the gel we'd found that she'd told me Teegan used to enhance her curls. The hairstyle suited her and was practical considering it would finally fit into her helmet without ripping some of the pieces out.

Most importantly, at least to me, it took her hair out of her face allowing me to look at her delicate features more clearly. Each part of her face was soft and round, you could tell she'd never been hardened by life as her skin lacked common scarring or even blemishes from sunlight and long days of hard work.

Her hair out of her eyes also meant I could notice how big they actually were, like twin pools of midnight rain that sparkled with her naivety and innocence. Out of habit I leaned down and pressed my lips on the front of her hairline before smiling down at her "What do you think?"

It was then I noticed she'd been staring at me the whole time through the mirror with almost a trance in her face. "Oh I'm sorry force of habit, it's something we do on my planet after we finish another's hair," I explained, realizing the reason she was probably looking at me with such a bewildered expression on her face, "I guess it's something I never really grew out of."

This snapped her out of her trance, "Oh no it's fine you can kiss me whenever you'd like," Her words floated into the air and she looked like she wanted to swallow them immediately afterwards "No I meant the hair looks great, you did a great job."

A cheeky smile spread across my face as I took in the sparkle that began to fill her cheeks as she blushed a dark silver. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind sweetness," I laughed running a thumb across the side of her head making her shiver slightly. "Do you actually like them? We could try something else if you don't, I'm a bit rusty so some of the lines may be a bit off."

Her eyes were now on her reflection in the mirror and a smile spread on her face once again revealing the deep dimples in each cheek that made her happiness contagious. "I absolutely love it, Sunshine, you'll have to teach me sometime when we're not," She waved her hand, "Escaping a planet."

"Or a prison," I reminded her of the day we met, "Don't worry, I find doing my hair super easy once I get the parts down, and besides the back of my head is none of my business anyway."

"Not on me silly," She giggled, standing up to admire her reflection better in the mirror, "On you."

My eyebrows flew up, "You want to do my hair?"

She shrugged, pulling her uniform down her shoulders, "If you'd let me, sure," Her eyes met mine briefly before she looked away again shyly, "Why would I learn to do my hair anyway," She joked playfully shoving me, "I have you."

My eyes burned into the back of her head, my next words barely getting out my throat, "Yeah, you have me."

"You gave me a lot of time to think about this whole thing and you're right," She sighed, standing up straight and turning around, "We should follow up on this Moon thing, someone's gotta know something right?"

"Easier said than done," I grumbled, settling myself into the chair she'd just stood up from "I don't even know what exactly we'd be looking for."

"That's easy, Moons tend to stand out," She gestured to herself, "We take physical form similar to the beings of the planets we protect but lack color and the abilities the people of the planets have."

I raised an eyebrow, "Are you trying to tell me you look like a human?"

This made her roll her eyes, "Yes, I would blend in quite nicely on the planet if I had a bit of pigment in my flesh but there's a certain level of paleness that is accepted on Earth before you are presumed to be rather...uncanny."

"Uncanny is not the word I would use to describe a face like yours," I scoffed, "So we're looking for a pale Martian basically?"

"Martians," She corrected me, "Mars had two moons."

"And now they're down to zero? Where do the rocks in the sky go when they come down to fight?"

"The 'rocks in the sky'," She air quoted sassily, "Are our reflective forms, even I had one, it's easier to radiate energy from the sun when you're that massive and guide the people of your planet when their side isn't facing the light."

"I guess protection comes in many different ways," I acknowledge, nodding my head at the explanation, "And what of your suns? Do they not want you back?"

This made her straighten her posture tirelessly, "Honestly," She pushed her glasses back up her nose, "They're probably working tirelessly to get me back."

I slapped my hands on my knees, "We better not be here when they come looking then," I gave her a reassuring smile to remind her I was still on her side. I could tell her freedom was important to her, tragic as this situation was she seemed to enjoy the adventurous aspect and practically glowed when she got the chance to interact with the humans.

Big burning gas in the sky or not, no one got to choose the freedom of others. It was a star, not a god.

"You don't understand, I had a chance when I was a couple of solar systems, heck even a galaxy away but right on their fourth planet. They already know I'm here," She admitted, "Maybe they think I've come back? Changed my mind and came to fix things? I don't know, but what's for sure is this won't go unpunished."

"And what is the price of your betrayal?"

She chuckled darkly, "Hopefully nowhere close to the price of my life," She looked away for a second before looking back, "Anyways, I have an idea of where we could begin looking for the moons."

"A location? Okay, Rock girl, I'm impressed."

She leaned back into the sink, "You aren't gonna like it."

My lips twisted into a scowl the longer I stared at the big bright golden 'A' on the door. "I think I'd rather get caught."

Astra elbowed me, "No you wouldn't, don't say that," She cursed, "Remember what I told you."

"You had to give away an arm and a leg to get this meeting?"

"No, after that."

"Astra, I'll behave if I want to."

The large A suddenly glowed a bright gold and the door began to slide open. Inside stood Ambrose with his arms wide and a bright white smile ready to greet us. "My favorite couple in the dome! Come in, come in!" He ushered us inside with a beckoning hand, the same cheek-splitting grin on his face, "Now what do I owe the pleasure, you know I had to cancel my meeting when I heard Teegan wanted to meet me."

"Yes yes, my wife's been talking about this all night," I fake laughed, taking my seat in front of his desk. Astra soon realized that if she'd sat on the opposite chair to me our hands would have to be extended which would expose our handcuffs so she made the split-second decision to plop herself into my lap.

Ambrose's eye twitched at the exchange but the smile stayed wide, "So tell us Tee, what you've been so eager to meet for, especially in the middle of your maternity leave. I've heard you two," He eyed me, "Have been out a lot lately, which is unlike you but I digress."

Astra took in a deep breath and I squeezed her hand in encouragement as she went along with the plan. "I know," The smile on Ambrose's face dropped, "I know about everything."

He took a second to glance at me nervously but with my helmet on he was unable to read my expression and released a sigh. "Thank heavens he told you, I was afraid it was going to have to be me," He laughed.

Astra continued on, "Yes, you know how Kofi is, cracked on just about everything so you can finally tell me-

"So how is my baby?"

*+:｡.｡　　｡.｡:+*