Epilogue

A little girl’s laughter rippled along the air. Her mother smiled as she watched her little daughter play with her older brother.

Ten years ago, Nari had married Chenn. Two years later, they'd had a precocious little boy, whom they'd named Ali in honor of Chenn’s best friend, Ali.

The couple watched Ali grow up into a fine three-year-old boy. When he was three, Nari became pregnant with their daughter, Hanna. They were delighted when Hanna was born, and so was her brother, Ali.

Now Nari watched them playing happily in the brilliant sunshine that was filtering through the trees in the jungle near West Base. Her little copper-headed son and silky, blond-haired daughter played side-by-side and chased the exotic blue and pink butterflies.

Hanna was five, and Ali was eight, but that didn’t seem to matter to the two siblings.

Chenn joined her in watching them. He placed his hands on her hips just as he had that day he took her to that enrapturing clearing of gold and silver trees with the one wild rose bush blooming profusely in the center. They never returned to that forest. Both of them stayed on West Base, and when Indri was promoted to lead East Base, Andrew made Chenn the Lieutenant General in his place.

Nari had a lot on her hands raising the two children, and Chenn pressed her to quit working. His pay was enough to support them, and Nari respected his wishes. She quit her job as a field agent, and turned to raising Ali and Hanna.

She spent her days schooling them while Chenn worked in his office, and at night, Chenn came home to their quarters on West Base.

 Life was everything they could have wanted and more, and Earth was safe from threats once more. The Balance was restored, and they were secure in the knowledge that for a while, it would stay that way.

It was a good ending to their story, and both of them would tell you today that they wouldn’t do anything different even if you gave them the chance. They had gotten what they wanted out of life even if it was a hard road to get there. And that was the end.