Chapter Text
Malacholla: Transformation, Healing, Empowering
Unsuur was…losing time. This hadn’t happened in years—since he’d fully settled in Sandrock, in fact—but was happening again. One moment he was staring into the abyss, wondering if there was any way to climb down, and the next moment he was on his horse and they were nearing town. Another blink and he was awkwardly standing back as Justice explained to Trudy what happened with the mission, but before Justice got to the part about the cliff, he was in the stable, brushing his horse.
He looked around and realized that he was in Rynna’s stable, not the Corps’. He filled the manger with the horses’ favorite foods and did his usual loop of the yard. He filled feed bins and food bowls. He emptied the recyclers and made sure the garden was watered.
He blinked and he was in their—her—living room. He stared at the heart-shaped rock propped up next to the fossil from the day they’d first talked. He looked at the collections of rocks and books, artifacts and curiosities, and decided to leave all of it for her parents or anyone else who wanted to remember her.
Unsuur stopped on his way out the door and picked up the box of wedding rings. These are mine. At least the one. The rest can stay. He swallowed hard and opened it. There were more than he remembered in different materials and styles. And the one he’d liked the most? That one had a twin nestled next to it. No, not a twin, but one with the same pattern and materials, just slightly more delicate with a smooth diamond embedded in a setting without prongs. It was a Builder’s ring, practical and feminine and beautiful. Just like her.
Unsuur took the matching rings from the box and put them in his pocket. He locked the front door behind him and walked out into the desert. He didn’t have a destination. There was no “home” for him here. Not anymore.
Justice found Unsuur shortly after dawn. He got off his horse and just walked by his side as the sun left the horizon. He eventually said, voice calm and quiet, “C’mon. There’s a memorial thing at the Blue Moon. We’ll get breakfast after—“
“I need to write to her parents. How do I tell them?” Unsuur’s gaze skipped across the desert without really seeing it. He repeated, “How do I tell them? How do I make it make sense?” Nemo leaned against his leg in a corgi-hug.
Justice sighed and put his hand on Unsuur’s shoulder. He said, “You don’t have ta write it alone. It was technic’lly a Corps mission, so I’ll take a first pass at it.” He squeezed his shoulder and let his hand fall.
They made it to the train station right as Minister Matilda stepped up onto the Blue Moon’s outdoor stage. She looked across the gathered Sandrockers with sadness in her eyes. She said, “It is with a heavy heart that I stand before you today, citizens of Sandrock. It’s never easy to share tragic news, but it’s even harder when it’s about one of our own.”
Unsuur stopped at the very edge of the crowd and let the minister’s words wash over him without making an impact. I don’t want them or their words or their sad looks. It won’t bring her back. I just want to be done with this and then— He lost his train of thought as Timón suddenly scaled him and stood at attention on the top of his head. Unsuur automatically reached a hand up to steady the meerkat and felt it looking out into the desert. He glanced down and saw Nemo co*cking his head and twisting his ears back and forth.
Justice glanced over and did a double-take. He asked, “What’s gotten into the critters?” He looked down at Captain urgently tugging on his bootlaces.
Unsuur looked around the crowd. No one seemed to notice. They were listening to Matilda in varying levels of shock and grief. He started, “I don’t—“ but stopped.
From up by Hugo’s workshop, X was flying off into the desert at top speed. Behind him, Doctor Fang was running. Nemo took off after him, stubby legs churning in the dust.
Justice pulled his radio from his belt and tossed it to Unsuur, “Fresh batteries. Call back when you know something.”
Unsuur jammed the radio into his pocket and ran after them.
They passed the train station, Rynna’s workshop, the recycling yard, and neared the windmill. X dove out of the sky and disappeared down the cliff behind the windmill. Nemo barked and veered to the side to go down the slope instead of over the edge.
Unsuur and Fang scrambled down the steep hill and saw…a miracle. Rynna was there, bloody and battered, but alive!
They rushed to her and took stock. Fang said, “Meimei. How bad?” He took her chin in his hand and examined the visible bruising. Her clothes were a tattered mess, but she was here and breathing. One of her arms was limp at her side, the hand mangled and swollen.
Rynna opened her eyes and winced. She said, “Fell down the cliff. Hit a tree. Got caught halfway by the damn goat. Lost my bag. Ribs are…messed up. Shoulder again, too. Sorry, Gege. Fought my way out of the gorge then walked all night to get back.” She grabbed Unsuur’s hand with her good hand and held on.
Unsuur’s heart was crowding his throat. He looked at the animals and said, “But your keys with that whistle were still in your pocket. Smart.” He dug a water bottle out of his pouch and held it for her.
Fang said, “Clinic. Stay there. Concussion, Meimei.” He glanced at Unsuur and added, “You, too.”
Unsuur pulled out the radio and clicked it on. He said, “We need a yakmel cart out past the old windmill right away. Rynna’s alive, but hurt. Need to get her to the clinic.” Staticky swearing came over the radio, followed by acknowledgement.
Fang pulled poultices from his bag and applied them to the deeper gashes. He frowned at the pattern of wounds and asked, “Fighting?”
Rynna flinched as he probed a slash along her side. She said, “So many traps. Weird animals. Haru. And Logan. Won. Mostly.” She shut her eyes.
Hoofbeats came up behind them and Nemo started barking his head off. Unsuur tore his eyes away from the miracle of Rynna being here and alive and not gone forever to see the damn goat coming up from the valley. It shook itself and Rynna’s bag fell from its back. It nodded at Rynna and then jumped down the cliff and vanished.
Nemo dragged the bag over. Unsuur looked at it without moving away from Rynna’s side. Both straps were broken—one sheared from the bag and the other slashed through. He looked back at Rynna and saw Fang applying a poultice to her chest in the same place as the cut strap. “When you make new straps, maybe armor them, Gem? Just in case?”
She hissed out her breath and said, “Yeah. And avoid goats.”
A loud clatter from the top of the hill announced the arrival of the yakmel cart. Unsuur reluctantly let go of Rynna’s hand to help Fang get her up the hill and back to the clinic.
At the clinic, Fang had Unsuur stand outside the door and keep everyone else out while he checked over Rynna. She’d muttered something about cutting off her boot and he’d closed his eyes for a second before silently berating her for walking, climbing, and fighting on a broken ankle. She’d grumbled back and the sheer normalcy of the exchange ratcheted down Unsuur’s lingering fear of this being a dream.
Justice was the first to arrive. He tipped his hat back and said, “If she fought ‘em, they’ve prolly pulled up and headed to a diff’rnt hideout. Too bad. Maybe we can try luring out that damn goat again in a couple weeks. I’ll relay it to Trudy.” He clapped his hand on Unsuur’s shoulder and said, “Get some rest. Yer on leave as of right now. Take care of you and her.”
Mi-an and Elsie and Burgess were easily turned away, once they were assured that Rynna was safe. Miguel was oddly belligerent about wanting to go in and monitor the treatments, but Unsuur did his best Wilson impression and thought, Amirah, Bronco, Catori, Dan-bi, Ernest, Fang, um…Grace, and then… Miguel eventually stomped off in a huff.
It was past noon when Fang unlocked the door and pulled Unsuur inside. He locked the door behind them and steered him to a chair next to Rynna’s bed. She was bandaged from head to toe and very pale beneath her tan. Unsuur sat and took her hand. She was barely awake, but squeezed his hand.
Fang pointed at the table next to the chair. He said, “Eat. Tea. Rest.” He waited until Unsuur drank the tea and took a bite of the sandwich before heading up to his room.
X helpfully cawed, “Coco said. Walked all night. Need sleep.” He was perched on the foot of Rynna’s bed, keeping a sharp eye on everything.
Unsuur ate and watched Rynna breathe. He didn’t taste the food and was surprised when it was suddenly gone.
Fang came back down the stairs and said, “Ten minutes to talk. Then sleep.” He picked up X and tugged a fabric divider to close off the section of the room they were in. He dimmed the lights and Unsuur heard the clinic door unlock, open, close, and relock.
Unsuur touched Rynna’s cheek and whispered, “I thought I lost you. I should have know that you wouldn’t hit rock bottom.”
She didn’t open her eyes, but smiled faintly. She said, “Of quartz, love.”
“Rock puns. And you don’t see why I would want to date you.” Unsuur brushed a tendril of hair off her forehead. He swallowed his nerves and said, “I didn’t do a lot of thinking last night, Gem, but one thing occurred to me. I’ve been going about my priorities all wrong.”
Rynna opened her eyes and met his gaze. She dropped her focus to his lips and he continued, “You are the most precious and wonderful part of my life. Not my job, not our friends, not our rocks. Just you. And I don’t want to waste another day with you and all of Sandrock not knowing that.” He pulled the pair of wedding rings out of his pocket and asked, “Do you still want to marry me, Gem? Because I need you, in sickness and in health and for every day from now until the stones all crumble to dust.”
Rynna’s smile grew and she said, “Grab my bag?” She directed him to a hidden pocket between the lining and the outer layer.
Unsuur pulled out a stack of papers. A recall petition to remove Yan as Commissioner. Citizenship paperwork for Fang. Promotion forms for me. He shot her a look and she just shrugged. He got to the last one and laughed. He said, “A marriage license. All filled out except for the date and the witnesses’ signatures. How long have you had these, Gem?”
“A while,” she admitted. Then she said, “Yes. Love you, Unsuur. More than rocks or glass or books.”
Unsuur put the rest of the paperwork back and spread out the license on the table. He said, “Burgess can sign as officiant, and Justice and Fang as witnesses? And—“ he yawned so widely that his jaw cracked. He finished, “And I think Fang put something in that tea because I can’t keep my eyes open. I love you, Rynna.”
Rynna tugged on his hand and he leaned forward, pillowing his upper body on the bed next to her. She said, “Yeah. That tracks. When we wake up. Get signatures. Make it all official. Love you, too.”
When Fang came back to check on them fifteen minutes later, they were sound asleep. He carefully moved the dirty dishes away from the license. He smiled at the page and signed his name and dated it for the next day. He left it on the table and told X with a silent stare that if the bird messed with that sheet of paper, he’d be sleeping outside for a week.
