Chapter Text
In the rebuilt flesh, Xaku had the pieces of her lovers. A round, red pauldron. A narrow waist. A white visor and familiar faceplate. Their body was a patchwork of their parts.
She could trace what remained of each of her lovers, like picking out each individual stone in a mosaic. Or she could take Ticker's advice and embrace who they were behind the eyes, the only part that really mattered. She held out her arms. "Xaku, do you remember me?"
They stepped close, tracing the contours of her slender body as though refreshing their memory.
She shivered at their touch and hoped. “I’m sorry it took me so long to find you.”
“Nova,” her name, spoken in all their joyful voices.
Her heart leaped with answering joy. “You’re all here? You all remember me?’
Their familiar touch made her body sing in ways that promised, yes, they did remember every detail of her. Hand in hand, she pulled them back to her personal quarters as they explained, “When we traveled into the Void, it was stranger and more wondrous than we ever dreamed. We’re now joined in body and mind.”
Bitter loneliness had nothing on cuddles, comfort, passion, and pleasure. “Since the Void brought you back to me in the end, I guess I could be persuaded to help you with further Entrati expeditions.”
“Later.” They promised.
It wasn’t the same, of course. Xaku had only two hands to hold her with a lover’s tenderness. She had only one body to embrace.
They would be enough for her, most days, and when it wasn’t she’d follow Ticker’s advice: “Be brave with that heart of yours, Stardust. At the end of the day, those we love are what matters. Don't leave things unsaid.”