Started: 4/6/00

(It means let's dance but in the sense of two people nara literally means two people and yes Laka does mean to dance. Just a note I never was very good at writing in the language. So um I'm going to do most of this the way it would be pronounce or as close as I can get *^_^;;. IF you have any questions or so forth I'll be happy to answer them so please e-mail me at

JayaKorin@ratedg.com and I'll see what I can do for you. The language. I called Mota it comes from the Island country of Vanuatu in the South Pacific, from an Island in the northern part of the country called Mota. I also used many of the settings and so forth when I wrote this. The house is the house I stayed in while I lived there besides the fact that it had more then two

rooms but other than that most of the settings are more or less the way they where when I was there.)

**That which is Alien Repels Us.

It also Draws us, fascinates us, Obsesses us.

How many Wars have been fought down through history?

For the sake of those conflicting instincts?**

These Alien Shorts

By: C.S. Jensen.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

The Story:

The air was cool and clean on the island. Calmness seemed to settle across the minuet speck of land hidden in the oceans grand vast expanses. Just as over head the huge bowl of the sky spread out as if it had no beginning and no end.

Even here in the village you could hear the quiet crashing of the waves throwing themselves against the reef below the village. In the trees birds were chirping their good nights and all around the village seemed golden in the dying sunlight. Suddenly a shout went up from farther down in the village.

"NAUGHT YAKA OHH NAUGHT YAKA AAAIIEEE!!" Almost instantly the cry was carried around the village, he smiled as the children took off running towards the trail that lead to the reef cove at the base of the hill that lead up to the main plat-form of the island on which their village and others around the highest point on the island near the center were situated.

How long had it been since he'd arrived here? He wasn't sure... Wasn't sure he wanted to know either. At first every time the boat had returned from the larger island of Vanua Lava about a mile or so across the open seas he'd gone down to the sea with the children hoping that maybe just maybe one of the others had come to visit him after all...

But they never did...

So finally he'd just stopped going down unless they had supplies that needed to be carried up. Though usually there was more then enough people already down there to carry everything that had come. It was just something you did, around here. He sighed and headed back into the small three room house he'd been using since he'd arrived. Today he didn't feel like descending to the Cove, besides this had not been a supply run anyway. There should be nothing to carry up and if there was, well they didn't need his help.

Shin glanced around the one large room that served as his kitchen, living and dining room all at the same time. Picking up his now cold plate of rice and canned corn beef he carried it back out side and took a seat under the mango tree that stood in the front yard. The grass was soft and the air out here was cooler then inside the tin roofed house even now that things had started to cool down for the day. As night began to throw its dark oppressive hand across the sea and it's island. Besides this gave him a good view of the path that came up from the sea.

He smiled slightly it had been almost what?... Three years since he'd come here to work on his project. He was officially here to study the Pacific Marine life. But the unofficial reason was because of the argument, the need to get away. He'd been planning on turning the offer down to stay closer to them. To his friend and everything he truly cared about. But then...

So he'd left and none of them had ever come after him. He'd even managed to write them all now and then. Between learning the language And doing his research. But no one had ever written back. Besides the one letter Nasuti had written nearly a year ago telling him what had happened and about the others since then...

He enjoyed his work here and knew his way around the island without help now. Had visited the different reefs and snorkel around a few. Studying them, watching. Most of them on the other side of the island had been badly damaged by recent storms not to mention that they were subjected to the constant pounding of the open sea. While those on the lee side were still recovering from the last round of hurricanes that had just finished their rip through the place. But they would all come back and he would get the pleasure of watching them come back to life...

Slowly his thoughts shifted back to the letter and everything else. Things he hadn't let himself think about for a long time. Making sure he was too wrapped up in his work to have time to think of anything else. Not wanting to remember. Just wanting to go on and forget. While in his heart he didn't want to let it go, didn't want to give up on them. Didn't want to believe that none of them were truly coming or would ever come...

Still even now he wondered how much of that letter had been true.. Or how much of it Nasuti had been hiding from him. What could she have hoped to gain by that though? Spare his feelings, nay? Unless it was even worse then what she said as he suspected. Did it really matter any more? He was here they were over there. Shin sighed, yes he still cared deeply for all of them.

Deep down he knew they did as well.. But if that was so, why had no one ever come to visit? Why had Nasuti been the only one to write? Even he had written the others, begging their forgiveness, anything. But no one had ever written back.

~Damn!~

He glanced towards the path to the sea but no one had come up yet. Strange...

~Oh well.~ They'd probably stayed for a swim or something.

He headed back into the house without a back ward glance, empty plate in hand. He tossed it into the blue plastic tub that sat in the corner near the house. He used to run water from the outside tank into the house. Only if there was enough water that is... Didn't matter the tank was nearly full right now, nothing to worry about.

He headed back into the room. His bedroom. Pulling the thin black water proof case from under the bed, he lay it on top of the mattress and carefully opened it. Inside there lay a few priceless possessions he'd brought with him. On the very top lay the letter still inside it's original envelope. Nasuti's neat hand writing jumped right out at him. Slowly he picked it up with trembling hands and a sigh. He knew the entire thing by heart but started to read it again anyway.

(His eyes lingered on his clearly printed name and wondered just what had been going through her mind when she had written that name. Shin sighed pulling his legs up to sit cross legged on the end of the bed next to the case. The dim light from the setting sun coming through the green over head piece of roofing and the far window just enough to still read by.)

You are probably wondering why I am writing now all of the sudden again. But I decided that it was time to since you never responded to the other letters. (He paused what letters? He'd written her back asking about that. She'd never written back. That was when he'd started to wonder if their mail was getting through and like wise was his ever reaching them? He'd even gone to Vanua Lava with the boat one time and called the University in the capital that was forwarding his mail. They'd swore to him that nothing but that one piece had come to them, and that all of his letters had been sent off as soon as they had received them. But that they would of course look into the matter.)

(That had been a surprise he'd never thought Nasuti of all people would cuss. The others yes but Nasuti!!! It just went to show how much people could change in even a short amount of time.)

(~Forgive me Nasuti.~ He sighed glancing up at a sound out side. Then it stopped.

~It must have been a chicken.~

"Perhaps you did not know me as well as you thought." He whispered to no one in particular. "Maybe none of you did.")

(Why had Ryo stayed longer...)

(Shin sighed leaning closer to the clean sheet of paper, fighting to read. The neat writing in the dim light.

~Neh, Nasuti, Ryo has not shown up here.~ He paused to rub the back of his neck.

~I wish that he had.~ He sighed and leaned back over the paper.)

(Where was Ryo now? God how I would love to see him again.. Shin brushed his slightly shaggy now much lighter reddish-brown hair back.)

Slowly Shin set the paper back down on the top of the envelop falling back onto the thin mattress he let out a long slow breath...

Suddenly there was a knock on the door panel from the other room. Shin sighed and quickly folded up the letter putting it back into the envelop and replaced the envelope in the case, he shoved it back under the bed and back out of his life for a little while longer or at least that's what he thought.

"Knock, Knock."

"Coming." He called taking a long slow deep breath and letting it out even slower, before heading out into the main room.

"Shin?" He glanced at the younger boy who stood in the door a smile. "Osaa Bruka?" (What Bruka?) He asked quietly.

"O Mariata may vama a'lo naught yaka. May vet was nei may vama pay ello e'nego." (A man came on the small boat. Said he came to see you.)

"Elo enow? Bay'sa?" (See me? Why?)

"E'see? Na hughta'la'la." (I don't know.)

"Ne may vet wasse nasana?" (Did he say what his name was.?)

"O'O Ot." (No) Shin stared at the boy for a long second puzzled.

"Ala, Naaraa va." (Okay, lets go.)

"E, Rahi a'ca'calo ma loc'nak. E bob may bet waas na cama a vet moon go." (They are coming up now. Grandmother told me to come tell you.)

"Aaa, vet varian moon bobo Lengus." (Tell Grandmother Lengus thank you.)

"OH na vet." (Yes I tell.)

"Ta." (thanks) (The shorted or baby form of the world more of a universal form also used in bishalama.)

With another smile Bruka turned and run back off down into the village, leaving Shin to stand there in the door wondering what the hell was going on.

~It couldn't be... No he wouldn't even let himself contemplated that.~ Shin sighed.

~Still...~ he stepped over the high door step and down the rough cement steps and headed slowly after Bruka towards the path to the sea. His curiosity aroused now.

~Who would come to see him?~

~Gods.~

I stopped in my tracks when I saw him walking slowly across the grass towards us, and my heart started going double speed in my breast.

~Was this really happening?~

Then he looked up and I saw the mix of emotions that appeared there before he could hide them.

~Perhaps he had not changed so much after all.~

"Ryou?" He asked in surprise. I could feel the eyes of the people on us as he took another step closer.

"Hey Shin, long time no see." I said for loss of anything better to say.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Shin had managed to collect himself faster then he used to I noticed, as he turned to the man who had insisted on carrying my one bag, despite my protests and said something.

The man listened and then nodded and said something back before heading up the way Shin had came.

There was another pause and then Shin turned and headed up the hill after the man and not knowing what else to do I followed him.

He paused to say something to the man as he took the bag on the steps of a bush house and then motioned me in as the man turned and left. We stood there for a long minute and neither of us said anything...

"If you want me to leave?" I shrugged, "But that's a bit hard and you’re the one with water for an element not me."

"Uh.. NO please." You force a smile. "Sides there's plenty of room. Course..." Shin paused with a shrug. "I can probably get Selwyn to put you up in the Translation Center. That's where everyone else usually stays."

"Uummm..."

"Hungry?" He asked abruptly changing the subject. "Sorry I don't have much but leftover's right now but I'm sure I can whip something up if you..."

"No, no, no... That's okay." I replied quickly. "I'm so hungry I could eat anything right now..."

There was an uncomfortable pause before finally Shin stepped into the kitchen and pulled a plate out of the screen covered cupboard heaping rice on it, he dumped the rest of the canned corn beef and picked up the half empty can of beans.

"Here." he set them down on the table in front of me. "Have something to eat."

The food long since cleared away, before they had started talking and now neither one was sure what time of night it was. There was no sounds from outside in the village of people. Shin figured it must be rather late for it had been a Cava night and that usually meant there were people up later. But he didn't feel like getting up to go and see what time it was. He wondered why he'd hung the one clock up in the kitchen where he couldn't see it from here and stared at the sand floor with a sigh.

"So um...." Ryo stopped with a sigh glancing out the still open door.

"I, um...guess we'd better get some sleep." Shin stood up, and picked up the flashlight. "You wanna use the out house first or should I?" Shin smiled as Ryo's grimace and shrugged. "You get used to it after a while."

"I'm not so sure." Ryo muttered. "Why don't you go first."

"Kay." Shin shrugged and headed out the door and up towards the back while Ryo glanced around the house studying the surroundings that was so much Shin and yet different at well. It no longer had that boyish look to it, it was more grown up. Ryo peeked into the bedroom and grinned when he saw the old roughed up stuffed whale still sitting on the pillow.

"Some things never change." He whispered with a sigh. "Oh god what the hell am I doing here...."

Shin glanced up with a half smile as Ryo came back into the house and closed the door behind him. Sliding the small bolt into place he, unlike the others in the village, valued the small bit of privacy he had when he could get it and turned back whipping the sand off the small cement walk way as he glanced up to find Ryo watching him.

"So um." Shin shrugged. "You want the floor or the bed. I don't care."

"Floors fine with me." Ryo said with a grin. "I've slept worse places before."

"I know." Pulling out a couple mat rolls Shin unrolled and shook them out. Tossing one to Ryo he spread the other out on the floor and then headed into the bedroom. "I think I have an extra mattress back here somewhere..." He glanced around and then shook his head and made his way over to the bed, pulling the extra mattress out from under the first one. "Here we go."

"Wow." Ryo grinned. "First class." Shin laughed shaking his red brown hair out of his eyes with a grin.

"You always did know what to say." He muttered putting the mattress down. "I don't know if we can rig up a mosquito net in here though."

"That's okay." Ryo said with a shrug. "Got any coils?"

"Ya." Shin grabbed a pack off the top shelf and tossed them over to him. "There's matches in there."

"K." Said Ryo as they slipped out of his hand to the floor and they both went after them knocking heads together. Shin and Ryo sat back and grinned at each other sheepishly.

"Sorry." muttered Shin rocking back on his heels letting Ryo pick them up.

"My fault." Ryo blushed and stared at the package of mosquito coils in his hand. Then he looked up and their eyes met. Shins brilliant sea green blue eyes meet Ryo's azure sky blue eyes that sparkled in the light.

"So um I guess...."

"Ya." Nodded Ryo even though Shin hadn't finished his sentence and then before he realized what he was doing Ryo dropped off the edge of the couch where he'd been sitting and onto his knees before Shin leaning forward till their lips met in a gentle kiss.

For a long second neither of them moved as Ryo pulled away without a word and Shin just sat there in surprise.

"Why...." Shin's voice trailed off again as Ryo placed a finger across his lips.

"Ssshhh." He whispered. "I have something I want to tell you Shin, something I should have said a long time ago but I never did. You remember the day you left?"

Shin nodded.

"I came back to tell you I was sorry about... About what happened. But when I got back you were gone. And so I wanna say it now. I'm sorry Shin. What I said and did was wrong and I hope that you can forgive me."

Shin started to say something and then stopped lifting Ryo's gaze from the floor Shin kissed him. "I wasn't mad at you Ryo." He said quietly. "I always loved you then and I still do."

"Really?" Ryo met Shin's gaze as the other slipped his arms around him and they knelt there on the make shift bed wrapped in each others arms.

Once lovers soon to be again...

The End

Lady Jaya

5/6/2000

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