Cousin woke in her cabin. Haven was still, and there was a strange echo. The sounds of the crew were louder, distorted. She lay there long minutes listening to the sur-real quality of Haven.
The memory of the cave came back slowly. Though the filter of her power, she remembered the flicker of the lives on the ship. Remembered the feel of wood and weld while she touched it. How the ocean had answered her will. She remembered being beyond herself. Seeing everything from a distance. Then not seeing at all.
Last she remembered Kraken’s voice.
Cousin stomach rumbled, and it brought her fully back to herself. She tried to rise. She fell back. She struggled to sit on the edge of her bunk. Bare feet touched the floor. Cousin sat still breathing hard. She needed meat.
Kraken’s voice sounded out, giving orders, demanding response. It’s timbre shivered through Cousin. She listened, trying to pull the sound into her core. She wanted to be next to him. To touch him. To? She didn’t know. She only felt a longing for him she couldn’t define.
Heavy foot falls sounded in the hall. Gabb stopped in front of her cabin door. Cousin smiled and nudged the door with her mind so it clicked open a fraction. A long moment passed before he sighed and pushed the door open, and stepped in.
“Shut the door,” Cousin said.
Gabb leaned on the door looking at her bedraggled state. “Well?”
Cousin smiled. Then the happy fell away like a shed autumn leaf. “I need to ask something. I’m not sure how.” Cousin chewed on her lip.
Gabb waited.
“What happens when . . . I mean, how do you know . . .” Cousin looked at Gabb wanting for him to understand. Wanted him to sense her feelings, though she couldn’t bring herself to force them into him. “Why do I like you and Kraken different?”
“Different how?”
Cousin shrugged. “You’re nice. I feel protected and comfortable with you. I would fight for you, help you. I more than like you.” Cousin shrugged again.
”Love,” Gabb said. “Do you know what love is?”
Serpent Shadows crossed Cousin’s eyes.
“Love is the deepest caring. It is more than loyalty, and friendship, and family. Love is beyond all other feelings. It is more.”
“Love,” Cousin said. Past phantoms taunted: “No one will ever want a freak like you.” A tear trailed down her check. She shook her head. “No. No one.”
Gabb shook his head. “Every man on this ship would die to defend you. Not a single one would harm you. Most would give up their rations so you could eat. Everyone, Cousin. Not no one.” Gabb closed his eyes. “I love you,” he whispered. “I love you. You’re my Cousin.”
“Every,” Cousin said. “Why?”
The openness on her face broke Gabb’s heart. “Some because you’re powerful. Some because you’re crew. Some because you’ve touched their hearts. Some because you saved their lives. Some because Kraken trusts you. Me, because I see the beauty inside you. Kraken? You’ll have to ask him.”
“Kraken loves?”
“You’ll have to ask him,” Gabb said. “But what about you? Do you love those here? Do you love this ship?”
Cousin ran her feet over the smooth floor boards. She felt out for the soul of Haven, and found the spirit of the people mingled with experience and time and events. All coexisted in the fabric of Haven. She expanded her perception, and found her place in the spirit of Haven. Cousin found home.
“I’m not too young,” she said.
“Who said you were?”
Cousin wrinkled her nose. “Different kinds of love?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not too young,” she said and stood up. She walked to Gabb, and wrapped her arms around his waist, and laid her head on his chest. “My Gabb. I’m hungry.”
Gabb stroked her hair. “Then let’s get you to the galley.”
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