>ON: Ayana's Office
Tio exhaled deeply. He loosened his hold on her a little so he could look down into her eyes. He said quietly, "The ship I was on....I..." he paused trying his best to remember. "Something happened...I am not sure what. I cant remember." He looked frustrated, trying to come up with answers for his lover. " We ended up drifting for what seemed forever." His hands gently moved up and down her back. "Ayana, I would not leave you willingly." he said, in hopes to reassure her.
"I had no way of knowing, I just...assumed you were going to the IRC and then... nothing. I knew your reputation when Ii met you but I had hoped it wasn't true, but I was so angry that you had left without a word of what your intentions were. I never even got to tell you about Edmond," Ayana said softly, searching his eyes to see if he was truly telling her the truth.
Tio looked back at her, his eyes on hers. He missed her beyond words and felt himself sinking as she spoke. "Ayana, I was going to the IRC. I just do not know what happened." He paused, thinking about what she said about his reputation. "They have the ship, if you need to go over things I understand. Things changed for me the second I met you." He had no defense other than the fact that his ship was in a severely crippled state and everyone aboard was suffering from aliments of one kind or another. Either from whatever happened to them or from the long term effects of being on the damaged vessel.
"So what do you plan to do now?" Ayana implored, "We have a war at our doorstep and a son... can I count on you to help raise this nation and our son if something happens to me?" Ayana felt that she knew what the answers to these questions already but she wanted to hear it from Tio's lips. She was tired of wondering.
Tio was well aware of what faced them, both as a family and as a nation. He said, "I want to be a family Ayana. I want to be here for you and our son." His eyes searched hers, he wondered what she was thinking. "As for the UOC, I am the Crowned Prince and I plan to be here as such. I will not accept failure, we went through hell after Taiie to get here and we will find a way to endure."
Ayana smiled softly, feeling better about the decision she had to make for herself but that would have to wait for another time. She gave Tio a loving hug, 'Welcome home. I've missed you."
Tio hugged her back, his eyes squeezing shut as he whispered quietly, "I love Ayana, I am so glad I am back here with you again." It bothered him that he could not remember, it gave him a lack of control. He had always relied so heavily on his intelligence, now he felt like he was working with a book that had pages ripped out.
"I'm guessing that the doctors cleared you since you're out of the hospital, but how are you feeling otherwise?" Ayana asked before kissing him gently on the lips.
He nodded, "I am feeling okay, I walked in from the block this morning. It is a beautiful day." He kissed her back, the feeling of her lips against his made him think of their walk on the beach, it was hard to believe so much time has past. He rested, feeling completed again.
"What about you?" Tio asked, having heard of how ill she had gotten. "What are you doing back here so soon?"
"I have work to do," Ayana replied simply, "I'm as good as any woman that has a baby versus a youngling but I'll be fine. They can't keep me locked up in a bed forever."
He let out a sigh, neither of them should be back at work yet. The NMX do not wait for world leaders to recover. "What is your opinion, are we entering this war?" Tio questioned, tone becoming serious, yet his arms still were wrapped around her.
"We won't survive without a fight. We might be able to accomplish something but its chancey. I have to search out Melisson again. She's the one to talk to, she was willing to talk last time and I am more than willing to listen," Ayana replied making the arrangements in her head. She frowned slightly. "We can't keep any sort of peace without being willing to fight for it but we have to try to give diplomacy a chance. I know that Yamatai and Nepleslia have entered into the fight again but I don't want to pick sides unless I make this attempt."
"Diplomacy is something we need to give a chance to." Tio considered thoughtfully the ramifications of what she was talking about. "Ayana.." He loosened his hold on her again, leaning up against the side of her desk. "I believe seeking out Melisson is the way to go, but I do not want you doing it personally. Your the head of state. If something happens to you we could land ourselves in some real hot water here."
"I don't know if she'll listen to anyone else. She'll let me leave, she did last time and I don't think she'll respect us if we sent a proxy instead," Ayana replied thoughtfully, "My term of service is almost up and it's almost time for re-election so I might as well go out doing something to avoid this war. I doubt it'll work but I want to try."
Tio in that second was faced with a nightmare, losing her...again. Tio's eyes closed and he did everything in his power to keep a level head. He knew he could not go with her, they had a child to worry about. No answer was the right answer, and not one made him feel any better. "What are you thinking? How will you find her? Is there any other options?"
"We have reports of attacks at the edges of our space, we send an open broadcast to invite her to talk and hope she deems us worthy to answer," Ayana replied with a deep sigh. She remembered vividly the nightmares she had after the last meeting but she thought it was worthwhile to possibly lose her life on this endeavor. "If I'm lucky she's here, if not, I might be looking for her the old fashioned way."
"I was thinking, we might want to consider a strategic withdraw from Yuukan, E-4, and E-7. That would pull all our assets back behind the old Fifth Expeditionary Fleet line." Tio said, a little unsure of his own suggestion. "If we show we are willing to get out of her way. Maybe she might leave us alone."
"We do need to pull back for a better defense, we're spread too thin as it is. But I don't think pulling back as a condition will help us in the long run- we then run the risk of upsetting our other neighbors," Ayana said with a sigh, "We can't appear to be consorting with the enemy but.. we're stuck in a very bad place. We have to speak to our big brother and sister as well.'
"That just struck home, dear." Tio said with concern, the sudden reminder of Yamatai looming over them. "Yamatai could consider your attempt at diplomacy us conspiring with the enemy. Then we will have two problems instead of one."
"Anyway, I jump I'm outnumbered and outgunned we have to talk to them all at the same time," Ayana sighed again and hugged Tio tighter. "At least I know Melisson will give me a chance before she eats me."
>END