Stranded on a Tiny Planet
Epilogue

Two years later…

“Gampa tell me a story!” the four-year-old begged.

Merco smiled fondly, setting Millie down in her bed and tucking her in, “What story would you like to hear my little pixie?”

“Tell me about the fairies again!” she begged, brushing her pile of dark curls from her face.

Again, Merco smiled at his granddaughter. Even though he’d kept his adventure with the Ansheetans a secret, even from his own sons, he would tell Millie stories of little flying “fairies” that echoed the real experience he had not two years prior. Millie loved to hear about Pixie’s adventures and about her friends Anu and Traynar the brave warriors. She particularly loved it when her grandpa would speak in “fairy talk”, clicking and whistling amid funny words. For the little girl they were wonderful bedtime stories, for Merco they were memories.

In his mind though he had been formulating a plan for a visit to that remote world. He’d taken leave of his job as a transport pilot for a while, so getting aboard a ship would be the first obstacle. He was determined to return and keep his promise...as well as tell his sons the whole story.

…

Sometime later on Anshai-tee…

The day had begun just like any other. Seraysa awoke and put on her EFP uniform to report for her scouting duties and to make a diplomatic trip to see the Rogashay settlement. Since Merco left Anshai-tee and there was no longer need for an ambassador, the Elder appointed her to be the liaison between the Rogashay and the Ansheetans. Though peace had been established and relations were diplomatic, there were sometimes minor spats that needed to be ironed out. Since the Rogashay leader Boroxle and his mate Kriees had high respect for Merco they gave little argument when Seraysa was appointed. If Merco trusted her then so did they.

With a small hop she ascended into the air to the reporting station where Anu her scouting leader would establish where she was to go today. Both Anu and Traynar had ascended the ranks of the EFP. Traynar, through democratic selection of the EFP and the Elder, had become the new Commander of the EFP upon Commander Madala’s death. Anu his mate and Seraysa’s mentor, had become the leader of the EFP scouting division.

Her new job was fulfilling and she had even started to catch the interest of a few males in the EFP. And yet, she still missed Merco. Some days she would venture out to the empty mat that he used to sleep on; unmoved and undisturbed since he left rotations ago. More often than not she would swing out to Lake Anashee to her place of Emergence just so she could stand in one of the massive footprints he’d left behind. They were slowly fading with each passing rotation but they always reminded Seraysa of her friend. She even had a dried scale of a Gold Scaled Leviathan decorating a wall in her home.

But, as she promised him, she carried on with her life.

She often wondered if he’d made it back to his home planet and reunited with his family. Who knew how far his home world was from Anshai-tee anyway? He might still be traveling. It had been almost five rotations since he’d left.

When she arrived at the scouting hub to get her daily assignment she entered Anu’s new office and received a smile.

“Hey, Seraysa. You’re early for your shift.” She commented.

“I have to go meet with Boroxle today don’t I?” she inquired.

Anu checked her assignment notes and nodded, “Yep. Apparently there’s a dispute about fishing rights in a part of Anashee Lake that needs smoothed out between the Rogashay and the Trits.” She made a face, “Shall I go with you? Might help to have two peacekeepers?”

Seraysa shook her head, “I can handle it.”

“Very good, then.” She noticed the young female’s far-off look, “You’re missing Merco aren’t you?”

Seraysa’s plumage lifted with surprise and then fell before she nodded.

Anu gave a sympathetic smile, “He’ll come back one of these days. He promised he would.”

The young Ansheetan managed a small smile and then nodded, “Yeah. I hope so.”

With that, Seraysa left the hub, flew over the wall and over the rocky border of Anashee to the forest beyond. She was halfway to Anashee Lake when a distant hissing seemed to cut the air. Seraysa picked at her ears to make sure she they weren’t plugging up. But the hissing continued and seemed to grow in volume. She stopped midair and stared up into the sky. A metallic flicker caught her attention from way up and her jaw seemed to drop open in disbelief.

It couldn’t be…

But as the hissing morphed into a deep rumbling and the metallic shape grew larger and more distinct her heart bloomed. She tipped forward and flew as fast as she could over the forest, never taking her eyes off the descending ship. But no matter how fast she flew she knew it would land before she ever reached the Wasteland.

Excitement filled her, anticipation. It had to be Merco…it had to be! However, as she watched the massive ship grow larger and louder in the distance she noted that it didn’t look anything like the ship he’d left in. Part of her dreaded to think that it wasn’t Merco but some other alien. But still she flew on.

Just as she thought the ship landed in the Wasteland long before she made it to the edge of the forest. Its landing impact coupled with the gust of wind from its backwash made the trees ahead of her rustle wildly and throw off her flight.

When she finally arrived at the border she could easily see the ship looming larger than almost everything she’d ever seen. It wasn’t the same ship Merco left in, that was certain. It looked more box-like and was a whitish color. Uncertainty halted her eagerness. She paused in favor of caution, landing in a tree to observe a moment. If it wasn’t Merco she needed to maintain secrecy.

From across the expanse of sand, Seraysa scouted the scene. The ship’s ramp was lowered on the backside and she could see a tall, dark silhouette that definitely looked like Merco. But then she saw a second silhouette moving down the ramp and then a third. She held her place. That is, until she heard the rumbling deep voice calling out across the expanse.

…

Martin and Tony had grown very impatient with their father’s cryptic explanation of this “vacation” they were taking. The last space port had been near the outskirts of anywhere they’d ever been before and the vague explanation of this entire trip was making them doubt their father’s sanity.

“All right, Dad. Enough. What’s this all about? Where the Hell are we?” Martin finally asked when they’d landed on a world that neither of them recognized or had even heard of before.

“This is it.” Merco stated, unbuckling his harness once he landed the ship and it powered down.

“What is?” Tony asked.

Their father gestured out the window, “This is where I was marooned.”

Both his grown sons looked at him and then one another, “Here?”

“That’s right. This is where those mercenaries left me.” He stated as he stood up from the pilot seat and moved to the back to lower the exit ramp.

Martin grabbed his dad’s new prosthetic arm, “Wait, Dad. Is this safe?”

Merco bobbed his head.

Before he pressed the button to lower the ramp he faced his sons, “Tony, Martin, I want your word of honor that you will never speak of this place or this location. We will wipe our ship logs of this place once we leave. Do you understand?”

Tony squinted, “But Dad, wiping the ship’s logs is practically illegal.”

Merco nodded, “I’ll still pay for the fuel but I don’t want anyone but myself and you to know about this place. This is a secret that I’ve kept from you…from everyone. But I’m sharing it with you now.”

“Why? Why the secrecy?” Martin asked.

A knowing smile crossed his bearded face as he pressed the ramp button, “You’ll see momentarily.”

The ship ramp lowered and he exited. Both Martin and Tony gave each other worried looks as if they were certain their father had gone completely off the rails and they were going to have to do something drastic. But they both exited the ship after him to stand on a flat sandy expanse of ground bordered by a huge swath of vegetation that was mostly chest high.

Merco walked out a bit, scanning the area pensively.

Then he raised his voice and called out, “Pixie?”

Martin and Tony stared at him when he suddenly began calling “Pixie” and then began whistling and making strange nonsense words. Tony had heard him using the strange noises when he told his daughter Millie stories.

Merco was silent for a moment, waiting.

“Um…Dad?” Tony cautiously questioned.

“Shh.” Merco shushed him with a subtle hand gesture. “Just wait...and don’t move either.”

Martin leaned in and whispered, “What’s he doing?”

Tony shrugged.

And then suddenly Merco made a happy, gentle noise and both the men saw a blur of blue and lavender fly toward them. Merco’s hands came out in front of him and all but caught the tiny blur, bringing his hands to his chest.

…

When Seraysa heard Merco’s voice it was instantaneous relief and a landslide of joy. With all the speed she could muster she flew out to the ship over the sands.

“MERCO!” she shouted as she flew.

Eventually she was close enough that he could see and hear her. He had a new robotic arm and his facial hair was shorter now but it was him. The giant human’s hands opened and she flew into them with notable energy.

“Merco! You came back! You came back!” she cried, jumping from his hands and clinging to his shirt.

His massive hands followed behind her, covering her completely in a huge but delicate hug, “Pixie! Oh, my little Pixie. You’re here.”

She gripped to his shirt as if to never release him as her eyes flooded, “I thought you’d never come back!”

“I’ve been trying to get back here for a while. But I finally made it.” He assured her. With a gentle pinch he held her up, “You’ve gotten bigger. And your little feathers are so tall now.”

She smiled and fluffed them, “And you got your arm back!”

“Yeah. Got a new one.” He laughed.

At length, the little Ansheetan felt another huge presence encroach closer and her eyes shot open when she beheld a second gigantic human and a third approaching Merco.

Merco smiled knowingly and looked up from his little friend to his sons, “Martin, Tony, this is Pixie.” He switched to Ansheetan, “Pixie, these are my sons, Martin and Tony.”

“From the pictures?” she inquired.

“Yes. From the pictures.” He confirmed.

He moved his hands and Pixie floated up and slowly toward the two enormous humans who were just as big as Merco. She stared at each of them and strangely she could see parts of Merco’s features in them: the color of their eyes, the shape of their jaws, their statures. They looked just like the pictures she’d seen save for the imposing size. The two giants stared at her with expressions that appeared almost fearful or bewildered.

“Sey-tala, Mar-tin. Sey-tala, To-ny.” She greeted, somewhat fumbling over their alien names.

“It-it talks?” Martin sounded stunned by the tiny being.

“She, Martin.” He corrected.

“What did she say?” Tony asked with amazement.

“She said hello.” Merco smiled.

Awkwardly, the men gave small waves to her.

Pixie stared at them and then looked to Merco, “Do-Do they like me?”

Merco chuckled, switching to Ansheetan again, “I think they’re a little shocked. I never told them about you…but I wanted them to meet you.”

“You-You speak her language? How?” Martin asked. “What is she?”

Merco held out his hand and Pixie landed in it, “I’ll tell you all about it.” Merco assured him, “Now, I can tell you the whole story.”

A/N: And that concludes my story :) Thank you all so much for making me feel like it was worth it to put hours/days of my existence into this story. I had this concept and a few drabbles written on my computer for years but I never did anything with it and holy cow it actually became something. So thank you SO SO much for all the support!

And if you feel inclined I’m also writing another G/T story “The Shadow of Beauty” that is still ongoing if you want something else to read.

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