Love and Money

"Not sure where all to begin.... Gorram Xoxo and her cheap skatin'. We do a job for her. Ok, so yeah, I couldn't find the gorram warehouse. No Blue Sun sign on it. Just a blue hands symbol.... I think she put it up this mornin'. Another thing to cheat us out of money." Slammin' my fist on the counter didn't help how I was feelin' 'cept maybe ease up some of my anger. "I told her to at least pay my crew. They worked hard. I didn't need her money Didn't go for the money. Instead, she up and tells me to use my own cash. I was tempted to just load it all back up and return it here to Hale's. Let her find another crew to transport her trash. Even called her a cheap skate to her face. Didn't get shot for sayin' it either."

AuroraBlue at Al Raqis. Not sure what she's searchin' for...

"Ok, so I had my own motives for headin' to Paquin's Spinwheel. She was there. Lily even said she was. Said somethin' like she was there to learn from the Companions. Aiya! I didn't want her to go join up with em. Not AuroraBlue..... As it was just seein' her had me spun 'bout. To go off and be somethin' she wasn't meant for.... " Frownin', I reached for the datapad again and thumbed through the manifest pics for the ones I really wanted to see. "She was becomin' a beautiful young woman. Lately seein' her, had me just starin'. Hehe, sort of embarrassin' to be gawkin' like that when I saw her all filled out the first time. But then she left Hale's Moon and headed for Al Raqis, Baumonde, And a couple other places. I know..... I got the pics to show of her journey."

One picture faded slowly into the next one as my hand rested on the datapad. She was grown, or near grown up now..."Not sure why she went off. Maybe to find knowledge, or her own self in all the confusion." Blue sent these pics to me. Lettin' me know she was ok. Of all the stuff goin' on Blue was there in my corner. "She hadn't had much time as a little one to understand it all. Lily couldn't give her the info she really needed. but Lily did give her the peace from outside sources when it was crucial. One thing she did say of AuroraBlue this last time she was here. Somethin' wasn't right. I noticed it too. AuroraBlue was real pale. I could see it. She was smokin'.... Just like I was at her age.. or mindset..... Maybe she was rebellin'... Who knows......"

Couldn't keep lookin' at the pictures of her... I'd end up goin' back there again for the third time on a little over a week. "Xoxo offered me a job to transport the cargo to Paquin and like a gorram fool I jumped at it. I didn't care. It gave me a legit reason for bein' there. I had to know she was all right. Didn't doubt she felt what happened here... Feeling the possible loss of Krenshar..... Some say he was there when it hurtled down from the atmo. Didn't want to leave with the rest. But then there's that small reserve for self preservation..... Yeah, Most likely he was ended, but there is the small chance he made it into the catacombs far below." It didn't help when I said as much to Tillery, Lily, and the new feller... Put my gorram big feet into it."

It struck the whole of Destiny, levelin' it in one night...

"When We got to Spinwheel and off loaded We decided to grab a drink The three of us joked over the money in the bar when Dav offered to cover." Guess the joke was on me. Xoxo needs a dose of kindness to the folks who do jobs for her. "Later Rita and I got to talkin' 'bout stuff. her on her family business.... Bank robbin'... And her wantin' to roll a bank sometime soon. With my strange luck it'd go all weird on us. When the others went off to sleep, I went for a walk along the beach near the landin' area. Needed to try and refocus. Talkin' to Rita 'bout what happened to my family reopened a few old wounds I thought I had control over. Sleep was out for now. Couldn't with AuroraBlue so close... Didn't want her to see those things in my brainpan. Her connection with me went deeper then most folks think. Memories from a past that was both old and new.... Was in AuroraBlue's brainpan.... All jumbled, and I could see it in my own head..." picking up the duffle I'd taken out of the Monster, I removed a seashell. A real special one.

Turnin' it over, I put it to my ear and listened to the quiet sounds in it.... "AuroraBlue was near. I caught her scent real strong. She come up and sat with me for a while as I talked. Told her I wasn't spyin' on her. Had a good reason for bein' there. Said it was a Blue Sun cargo transport. All legal. She sat and listened. There was a mo when I was tryin' to figure how I'd talk to her 'bout smokin'. Said it was cause Lily and Xoxo asked me to stop my smokin' and drinkin'. They knew I needed to when AuroraBlue was born. Not sure if it got through or not to her. Was hopin' it did. She don't need to be behavin' like I was." Set the seashell down gently on the counter, with my hand restin' on it instead of the datapad.

"She gave me this shell. Didn't need words to tell me what she meant with it. She touched a finger to her heart, then to the shell restin' in my hand. When she did that she put her hand on mine to say she was givin' it to me. Its not the shell itself what was important, but the meanin' behind it. She was givin' me her heart." Sighin', I rubbed my face. Hadn't slept much on the trip back.

"AuroraBlue let me know in her own way how much pain she was in over the Meteor hit too. First she stood tall like Krenshar, then she lay there in the sand all curled up, cryin' and suckin' her thumb. All I could do was scoop her up and hold her through the sobbin'. Did what I could to comfort her. Was like she was all little again and needed someone to be there for her. Can't say I wasn't effected by that. I was hurtin' too.... for her and the loss. When she got to feelin' better, I let her up so she could walk a few feet away. She needed to do one more thing. The one sound she did make was familiar..... She howled. Not sure why, and didn't care, I joined in with my own. Sort of a goodbye in a way....."

AuroraBlue preppin' for her walkabout.....

"Can't say why, but bein' there for her was maybe somethin' we both needed at that time. Both needed to share the hurt and the comfort. Not alone...." My mind was startin' to spin back to the here and now. "Then when I get back ro Hale's there's Xoxo waitin' for me. She was none to happy. Refused to pay us and treated me like a dummy. Well at least I know she don't really hate me. If she did, I think I woulda been headed for the clinic with a hole in me. So I let the crew go back to their places, paid, and I went back to Spinwheel to do damage control. Someone broke into her offices and trashed the place. Tossed boxes out into the street, and stuff everywhere inside. Spent a good couple hours cleanin' up the stuff, gettin' it moved to the warehouse, and repairin' her desk. She best be grateful to that."

All said and done. Was able to give my crew some cash to survive on a little while. Fixed my own mistake and took care of somethin' for someone who aught not deserve it. And got to see AuroraBlue again. Went to see someone I love. Didn't go for the money.